On Friday before the dancing ball, the school is dismissed earlier for some reasons regarding the ball. I don’t like the ball, but I’m thankful that because of it, I get to go home early. Besides, I get nothing else to do since the basketball team has no practice today.

I pack my stuff slowly as I wonder what I should do after this. I could go home and get some rest, beside it’s been a long time since I have a lot of leisure time. However, I should have thought of including Hyuna in my imagination because as soon as I decide on what to do, she speaks.

“We should go shopping the dress for tomorrow!” Hyuna clasps her hands excitedly. Her face is one of a dreamer and I sigh.

“I believe I said no.” I say with hard tone.

“Nah, don’t be like that.” Hyuna grins playfully. Seeing that I won’t budge, she changes her tactic. “You’ve been busy, you know. We get no time to get together. You will always be busy with the basketball team, and everything else. I wonder if you still think of me as a friend.” She fakes a sob.

Though I can perfectly see the lies, I decide to ignore it and say, “Fine. Fine. Let’s go shopping. But I don’t know about tomorrow.”

“Good enough for me!” Hyuna brightens up immediately and smiles at me wickedly.

With a weird look from me, she drags me out from the school ground.

We arrive at the usual shopping mall and she drags me to the first cloths shop she can find. She pushes me down on the cushion seat that is made for customers to rest.

“Wait here.” She says and winks, then walks to the rack of dresses on the other side of the room.

My eyes widen as she carelessly takes the dresses into her arms, one after another. She then pulls me up and drags me again, this time to the fitting room. She throws the dresses over the fitting door, and the dresses fall on me.

“What the…” I stop myself from cursing.

“Try all those dresses and show me okay? No, wait, don’t answer that!” She giggles like a witch she is.

I know that I have no choice and I try on the first dress while grumbling. It is a casual pink floral dress that goes under her knees by five cm. It is really typical kind of dresses; nothing really special. “Are you done??” She asks and I sigh.

I open the fitting door and she looks at me from hair-to-toe before shaking her head. “Uh-huh, too flat.” She crosses her arms. “Don’t tell me I take them from the wrong racks.” She goes inside the fitting room and inspects the other dresses. “Oh gosh! I really do take the wrong ones.” She sheepishly giggles.

I narrow my eyes on her. “Can I ask what are you doing?”

“Perhaps I’m trying to doll you up…?” She giggles again as she takes all the dresses out. “Change back to your clothes while I’ll bring another type of dresses.”

Another type…? I furrow my eyebrows in distaste as I see my reflection in a skimpy black dress, the end of the dress is a little over my and it feels like the dress is my second skin. She tells me to come out, but I reject her, quickly changing into another dress that I deem more decent.

“Huff,” Hyuna plops herself down on the seat.

We are in a traditional Korean restaurant, where it is famous for the bibimbap. I really like the food and Hyuna as well. We order the same thing and as we wait, Hyuna grumbles over the fact that I only buy a dress.

“If I haven’t forced you to buy that one, you wouldn’t even have bought anything!” Hyuna slurps on her watermelon juice. “The dress really looks good on you! It will be a shame if you had let it gone by!”

I shot her a look. “Seriously, Hyun? You’re exaggerating!”

“You know well I did not!” Hyuna pouts. “Besides, you have dress for tomorrow so you can no longer avoid on going to the ball!”

“I still not going, Hyun. What don’t you understand?” I sigh, frustrated by her stubborn nature.

She crosses her arms. “No way I’m letting you be at home again this time! I swear, it will be so much fun!”

I sigh again, sipping on my hot tea. “I don’t know, Hyun. I hate parties. I hate being in a room with many people.”

“Don’t worry, Inna. It will be fine. I’m there, am I not?” She begs with her famous puppy-eyes.

I’m beginning to feel my heart waver over her words. Sighing, I let out a soft and defeated smile and nod. “Fine, I’ll go.”

“That’s my best friend!”

“You look pretty, sweetie.”

I look at my mom from the reflection in the knee-length mirror. I smile awkwardly at my mom as she stares at me.

“Where do you get it?” She asks, slowly moving forward into my room and eventually standing behind me.

“I went shopping yesterday with Hyuna. She forced me on this.” I fake a pout and my mom laughs.

“I can’t scold her this time. She picked a good one this time.” My mom says as her eyes wander around my dress.

It is a knee-length gold color dress. The stomach part is pulled back by a ribbon, showing my flat stomach and the curves on my hips and . The upper part doesn’t have sleeves, exposing my skin although I really hate it. But since my mom says it’s pretty, then I’ll stick with that.

“It’s a masquerade?” Mom asks when she sees the golden color mask with fake diamonds around the eyes part.

“Yeah.” I reply, smiling tensely.

Mom brings her hands to my shoulders and begins to massage me softly. “Why so nervous sweetie? There’s nothing to worry about. It’s just a ball.”

“It’s true, but you know me, mom. I never like this kind of things. Parties. Loud music.” I say with an obvious dislike.

“Well, but not all party is all that bad. Beside, this is a ball, not a place where they’d dance and make out.”

“Mom!” I raise my voice but then laugh along with my mom. She’s such a funny mom. Sometimes I feel like we’re more like sisters than mother and daughter.

“Don’t be such a prude sweetie. Get loose tonight and let yourself have a break. Don’t take so much pressure in life and lift the burden on your shoulder tonight.” Mom says encouragingly. “Set yourself free.” She pauses before continuing, “But no inappropriate act is allowed.”

I shot her a look. “Mom!”