I felt like the next morning as I woke up. My eyes were sore and puffy, my face looked like a piece of paper, crumpled and unpresentable to the people around me. I was in no position to go school at this moment, but I had to. I need to talk to Minho and apologize for everything that I did. I know I was immature and reckless, the best thing I could do right now is make him talk to me again. I want him to know that I still love him . . . but . . . only as a friend. 

I take a hot shower, rubbing cinnamon scented soap against my body and cleaning my hair with vanilla flavored shampoo. I brush my teeth, clean my face, dry my hair and brush my hair. I wear my uniform and head down to the dining table. My father looks at me as takes a hold of his coffee. 

"Good morning, Min Ri" my omma greets me 

I kiss her cheek and take a seat next to my father, "How's school?" he asks 

It's like . I cheated on my boyfriend and now, I'm dating my Economics teacher. I kissed him and we almost had last night in my room while you and omma were sleeping, "It's good" I say 

I nods, "Come home early today, okay? the company will hold a charity ball. Wear something appropriate" my father says 

My family owns a large power supply company and we basically supply electricity throughout South Korea. I'm an only child and as rich as we are, I'm not a spoiled brat like other rich kids. I live that simple yet complicated life of an heiress of a company but I asked my father for one great favor, I will never inherit the company. He could sell it if he wants to and I don't care. I want to start my career without being under his influence. My father was an orphan during his younger years and luckily he got adopted by a rich couple. He was the only son and through his involvement with family business, he met my mother. My mother’s family owned a big real estate company, she worked there as some sort training for her. When my father was searching for a place for his expansion, my mom was the one who showed him the best place for his desired expansion. After getting hit my Cupid, my father had the courage to court my mother and after three years of being in a relationship, they got married and came me.      

I nod, "Ne, appa"

I ate breakfast in complete silence and after, I asked the driver to take me to school. Since, Minho is not my boyfriend anymore, I'd have to ask my driver to take me to school. As he opens the door for me, the girls look and start whispering to each other. I think they were used to having Minho around me. My lip hardens to a line and I continue walking. I punch in my I.D. for attendance and walk to the coffee shop in the campus near my building since my first period doesn’t start for another hour and a half. I place my order and patiently wait for it at my table.

I checked my phone and I was not used to having zero messages from Minho. I’ve decided to talk to him again today and if given the chance, I’d tell him more than I should about the new man who’d swept me off of my feet. When my coffee arrives, I smile at the waitress but my smile quickly fades as someone enters the coffee shop. Minho and Ae Cha were walking together and smiling at each other.

My heart breaks at the picture for the day. Ae Cha’s arm clung around Minho’s and he looked at her the same way he looked at me before. Warm, tender and sweet. He tucked her hair behind her ear and they lined up for their order. I bite my lip as to prevent me from letting out a tear fall from my face. I quickly take my things and coffee, hoping they won’t notice me, but I spoke too soon.

“Min Ri!” Ae Cha calls as I was near the door

I hesitated to turn and look at my instant replacement, but I did, “Hello!” I greet them with a smile

“So, are you coming tonight?” she asks

Minho breathes in and looks at me and I do the same, “Yes. I will be there” I say

She flashed a smile. A smile that says ‘I’d-love-to-see-you-there- ALONE’ smile and looks at Minho, “Well, she’s going, aren’t we?” she asks

Minho smiles down at her and kisses her forehead, “Sure”

Ae Cha closes her eyes at Minho’s gesture and then open them again to look at me, “See you later, Min Ri” she smiled at me victoriously

I walked back and smiled, “See you”

I walked out of the coffee shop and there, a tear fell from my eye. I ran towards the car park where no one was around to notice me crying. I sat on the cemented pathway and behind the cars, I let it all out. My tears running across my face like a big tidal wave, a tsunami that hit me alone. I know I deserve this. I cheated on Minho and here he is now, not even twenty-fours have passed and he already has a replacement for me, someone better and someone who wouldn’t cheat on him. I sat there for what felt like forever and a good thing was I only had three subjects for the day and none of those three classes did I have same with Minho. First two periods were English and I was with Min Hee and Kim.

“So . . . you broke up with him?” Kim asked me

I nodded, “Yes” I answered faintly

“Why?” right, she doesn’t know my situation

“Complications” I sniffed

“So . . . he’s dating Ae Cha now?” Min Hee rubs my back

I nod, “I think. He kissed her forehead and all that ” I sniffed again

They looked at each other and then back at the little fragile version of me, “Plus, I have to go to this party tonight. My family is throwing a charity event and I want you guys to come” I say

“Sure” the both say in unison, "Henry asked me to go with him tonight" Kim added 

“Masquerade” I say and they nod

After all my periods have ended for the day, I walk out and see a sleek Audi R8 with heavy tinted windows. How could the driver even see where he’s going? The R8 was parked outside of campus, right in front of the gate. I know it wasn’t my car so, I walked passed it. Thing was, it followed me. I raised a brow and walked closer to it. The windows roll down and I see a man inside.

I looked around and opened the door then got it, “Nice ride” I smile at him, closing the door

He looks at me, bemused, “What happened to you?” he asked, touching my eyes

I shake my head, “Nothing” I regain a smile, “Don’t you have class today?” I asked

He shook his head, “It’s a Friday. My free day” he spoke

I touched the dashboard of his car and smiled, “Kyu . . . this is one hot ride” I say

He smirks, “I’m a hot user” he says, “Early lunch?” he asks

I nod

We drove off to the far end area of Seoul. It was an area that I’ve never been to before.  A little over a half an hour later. We arrived at a fancy French restaurant. Walls made up of glass and black curtains blocked everything that is to be seen inside the restaurant. I looked at Kyuhyun with a questioning look.

“I can’t have people seeing you around here” he spoke, “You can get expelled and I could get fired”

I nodded and he opened his door and got out of the car. He opened my door and I stepped out. We walked towards the glass door of the restaurant and French music flooded the whole area. There was a wall made up of glass cupboards and you can clearly see the bottles of imported wines displayed. There were only a few tables, it was evident that the restaurant is strictly for reservation only.

“Kyu . . . this is . . . “I trailed off, not knowing what to say

He smiles down at me and kisses my temple, “This restaurant is accommodating customers exclusively for diner and I thought, why not take you here for lunch” he spoke

“You must’ve paid a fortune for this place” I took as seat that he pulled out for me

He took a seat across me and the waitress came to take our order, "Not really. I own this place" he says

"You do?!" I asked, shocked

He chuckles, "We'll have two plates of escargot, a glass of 1820 red wine, a cup of dark hot chocolate, and boiled asparagus" he says and the waitress wrtites down the order

"Anything else, sir?" she asks

Kyuhyun turn to me, "Dessert?" he asks

I nod, "Banana split?" I asked

Kyuhyun chuckles, "Banana split"

The waitress nods and then walks away with our order. Kyuhyun stares at me with amusement which made me laugh a little, "What?" I asked

He shakes his head with a smile, "You're in a fancy French restaurant and you order banana split" he says, taking my hand in his and kisses my knuckles.

I bite my lip at his gesture, "Well . . . I am sixteen" I say

"So young and beautiful" he whispers

After thirty minutes, our food arrives and we eat. We were a little silent and it was awkward for the both of us. I would clear my throat and he would do the same. He stops eating in the middle of his course, takes his napkin and wipes his mouth.

"Tell me" he says 

I look up at him, "Huh?"

"Why are you eyes puffy?" he asked 

"Nothing" I spoke

"Min Ri, tell me"

I sigh in defeat, "I broke up with Minho last night and this morning, I found him with another girl" I say

He breathes in heavily, "Just like that? You have an instant replacement?" he asks, his fists clenching

"I'm not really sure is they're . . . together, together" I say

He doesn't answer and we continue eating. The atmosphere is heavier than before. It scares me. I look up at him and see that his eyes were on me, observing and waiting. He pulls out something from the inside pocket of his jacket and places it on the table. I take it in my hands and my eyes widened.

"You're attending?" I asked

"My family is a stock holder at your company so, we're most likely to be invited" he says, "I want you to be my date tonight" he says

"What!?"

"I'm asking you to come with me tonight at the party" he says again

I raise a brow, "Are you crazy!? We can't be seen together" I say

"It's a masquerade ball . . . our eyes will be covered and no one will even notice

"What about Minho and Ae Cha, they will be there" I reasoned out 

"So? They won't even recognize me" he says 

I sit back in my chair, looking at him. I was debating on whether I should say yes to this invitation. Yes, I will still go because I'm asked to and he will be there and what difference would it make if we just meet up at the venue? I bit my lip and think . . . hard. 

I was standing in front of my mirror with my light make-up on. My three-inch pumps were a perfect fit. My long black strapless dress exposed a great part of my back. My black mask covered my eyes. I breathed in and went out of the room. I went out of my house and Kyuhyun was there, leaning against his Audi R8. Black suit and tie complimented him. He was so beautiful, like angel that fell from the sky. He smiled at he saw me and I bit my lip to suppress a little girl's giggle. 

"So beautiful" he whispered 

He took my face in his hands and kissed my lightly, "So are you" I spoke 

We drove to the gala and there were lots of people who attended. I in a breath as I saw Minho and Ae Cha get out of their car just in front of us. Kyuhyun took my hand in his and kissed my knuckles. I turned to him with a smile and he wore his mask and so did I. We left the car to the valet personnel and entered the building. New reporters took photos of us as we entered and my nails dug onto his skin  out of nervousness. I hear him chuckle and he kisses my temple.

We enter the hall and there more or less, six hundred people around us. People of different nationalities and profession area. There were a lot of tables and drinks were served on silver platters. The floor was made up imposter wood and the lights were yellow-is orange, giving a dramatic lighting to the party. Kyuhyun kissed my temple and smiled down at me.

"I want you to meet someone" he whispered

I clung onto his arm tighter as we walked to a group of men who was together with a middle-aged couple. They were all holding glass wines and they were talking and laughing. They saw us walking and a middle-aged woman approached us. She smiled at Kyuhyun and kissed his cheek.

"How nice to see you, dear!" she greeted Kyuhyun

"Omma, this is Min Ri" he introduced me

"Annyeonghaseyo" I bowed

She smiled at me, "What a pretty young lady" she smiled

Then, we walked towards the group of men and they smiled at me, "Annyeonhaseyo" I greeted with a bow

"Leeteuk, Siwon, Hangeng, Heechul, Eunhyuk, Sungmin, Ryeowook, Zhou Mi, Kibum, Kangin, Yesung, Donghae and Shindong, this is Min Ri" he introduced me, "Henry is with Kimberly right now" he adds 

"Annyeonghaseyo" they greeted in unison

They smiled at me like it was okay with them that their brother dated his student. The music suddenly began to play and Kyuhyun laid out his hand to me, asking me for a dance. I accepted and we dance in the middle of the room. There were a few couples on the dance floor and one of the few was Minho and Ae Cha. I didn't care at that time. All I cared about was Kyuhyun and our moment together. We swayed in rhythm and I didn't know how because I know I can't dance that well.

"You're a good dancer" he says

I shake my head, "No I'm not"

He leans in for a kiss and says, "Learn to say thank you when someone compliments you"

"Ne"

We connect our foreheads together and smile. When the music ends, Kyuhyun leads me out to the garden, outside and away from everyone in the room. We stand my the cemented ledge and he turns to me.

"You looks so perfect tonight" he whispers and leans in to kiss me

He envelopes my lip between his, his teeth grazing along my bottom lip. My arms snake around his neck and I smile against the kiss that gets me lost. He slid his tongue in my mouth and my teeth. He wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. He tilts his head to the side gets a better angle for the kiss. I breathe through my nose and he chuckles. I bite the corner of his lip and he kisses my jaw.

"Min Ri" someone calls

Kyuhyun and I quickly pull away and my eyes widened at the tall figure in front of me. He comes closer with his nose flaring up, a sign that was greatly angry. 

"Minho" 

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