“I can’t believe my little baby is all grown up,” Yixing cooed.

Baekhyun groaned, half-terrfied of the upcoming evening and half-exasperated at Yixing’s teasing. “Stop that,” he muttered. “You’re making things worse!”

Yixing only laughed. “If Mr. Shin thinks you’re ready to take your place at the head of the family, it means you’re ready. He doesn’t give his seal of approval to just anyone.”

“I thought he still hated me,” Baekhyun grumbled, trying to stand perfectly still as Yixing straightened his tuxedo.

“Oh, I’m sure he does,” Yixing agreed lightly, straightening Baekhyun’s bow tie one final time. “Mr. Shin hates everybody except Madam. But if he gave the okay for you to mingle with civilized society, he must think you’re ready.”

Baekhyun still wasn’t convinced. “Maybe he just wants to see me crash and burn.”

“And bear the wrath of Madame?” Yixing demanded skeptically. “Mr. Shin may be an , but he’s not an idiot.”

Baekhyun looked himself up and down in the mirror. He’d been at the Kim estate for nearly six months now, and he hardly recognized his own reflection. Everything about him seemed different.

He’d already lost the tan he’d acquired back home in Mangyang from spending all his free time outdoors, running wild with Jihye and her little sister Hyejin, who had been like the little sister Baekhun had never had. Now his skin was as pale as porcelain, courtesy of all the skincare products Yixing insisted he use every day. His hair, which had always been a bit of a mess, had been fashionably cut and Yixing had taught him how to style it to match the men being featured on the covers of the popular magazines. His clothes were all high-end and expensive. Even his face looked different, with dark circles starting to form under his eyes and his signature box-like smile nowhere to be seen.

“Don’t let them get to you,” Yixing said, as if reading Baekhyun’s mind. “After tonight, you’ll officially be the head of the house. Madame will still order you around and you’d still be wise to listen to her, but she’s going to be a little scared of you from this point on. You’re going to have the real power and she knows it.”

“I don’t want it,” Baekhyun insisted for what seemed like the hundredth time. “Seriously, all I want is to go back to Mangyang and get away from this place.”

Yixing’s smile was a little sad. “That’s not going to happen anytime soon, pal. Sorry.”

Baekhyun’s presentation was being held in the grand ballroom on the east side of the manor. He’d never been there before, as he’d had no reason to venture into that side of the house. He didn’t know what to expect from the party. According to Mr. Shin, anyone who was anyone was going to be there. The Kim family was such an important and influential family and everyone from politicians to celebrities would be there. And he was expected to impress them all.

“Just take a deep breath,” Yixing told him. They were outside the ballroom by that point, and it was nearly time for Baekhyun to be announced. “Just remember what Mr. Shin taught you and be the charming person you already are. Not all of the people on the other side of these doors are as stuck up and superficial as your relatives.”

The servant waiting to open the door let out an unexpected snicker at the comment, but Yixing shushed him quickly.

“Alright. Deep breath…and go.”

Then the servant was pulling open the door and someone inside was announcing Mr. Kim Baekhyun. Baekhyun almost retorted that his surname was Byun, not Kim, but he remembered at the last minute that he rather valued his life and he didn’t want Madame to kill him right there at his own party.

The applause that greeted him was subdued and reserved, everyone silently judging him. He tried to ignore the way an elegant middle-aged woman leaned over to hurriedly whisper something to her husband, who Baekhyun was fairly certain was a politician. He definitely didn’t want to give them a bad first impression.

He bowed low the way Mr. Shin had taught him, so low that his back was completely vertical even though technically now he was one of the most important people in the room according to Mr. Shin. Then he made his way towards the front of the room where Madame was waiting, leaning heavily on her expensive cane. He stopped to greet various celebrities and politicians, making sure to keep all of Mr. Shin’s lessons firmly in the forefront of his mind.

He made it to the front of the hall while the music from the classical orchestra continued to play and the guests’ conversations slowly resumed. Madame was waiting for him there, Mr. Ji standing nearby. She was leaning heavily on her expensive cane, but for once her strangely un-lined face didn't look like she’d smelled something nasty.

“You’re passable, Baekhyun, but just barely,” she said through a fake smile. Reporters were snapping photos from several feet away, about as close as they could get to the illustrious Madame. “You’re going to have to work hard to keep these wolves at bay.”

Baekhyun was a little surprised that she was talking to him rather than at him. It was the first time she’d treated him as anything more than a disgusting bug that had somehow manage to crawl into her immaculate house.

Madame chuckled, but it was rather humorless. “They watch your every move, Baekhyun. For the rest of your life, they’re going to be watching you.”

“Well, I probably won’t live all that much longer because of the family curse,” Baekhyun said, feeling bold by their almost civil exchange.

Her look hardened immediately. “I thought I told you not to mention that again, boy?” she hissed. She glanced over at Mr. Ji. “Make sure you stick with him while he makes nice with our guests. I certainly don’t want anyone realizing he’s a country bumpkin.”

“I’m not-!” Baekhyun started to say, but he quickly realized the futility of it.

So, when he was forced to walk around the crowded ballroom to socialize with the elite of Seoul society, Mr. Ji followed behind. He wasn’t close enough to bother the guests, who probably assumed he was some sort of diligent bodyguard, but it still bugged Baekhyun. He already had Yifan and Zitao trailing him everywhere; he didn’t need Mr. Ji to follow him as well.

“So you’re originally from further south, right?” a woman asked him eagerly. He was pretty sure she was some kind of reporter for a gossip magazine. “It must have been a huge change for you coming here.” She had a mini-recorder in her hand and Baekhyun felt suddenly very nervous.

He tried very hard to remember all the answers he and Mr. Shin had rehearsed diligently for questions just such as these. “Yes, it was quite a shock for me,” he agreed. “However, while I was living in my hometown, I attended a prestigious private academy that prepared me well to take my place as the head of the Kim family.” It was a lie, of course, but one Mr. Shin had assured him repeatedly was completely necessary.

The reporter didn’t quite seem to buy it but she also wasn’t going to come right out and ask if he was lying. “Is it true that you were unaware of your affiliation with the Kim family until your grandfather’s death?”

Another difficult question, but another that he had rehearsed with Mr. Shin. “No, that is not true,” he lied with a bright and very fake smile. “Though my mother was not on good terms with her family, I always knew about them and knew that I would one day become the head of the family. I have spent my entire life working towards this moment.” He bowed politely. “If you’ll excuse me, I must go and greet other guests. I look forward to speaking with you again soon.”

He felt a wave of relief to get away from the nosy reporter, but she wasn’t alone in her morbid curiosity. He next found himself talking to a middle-aged politician smoking a cigar, who, despite not having to write a gossip column, was incredibly interested in Baekhyun’s life before coming to Seoul. After the politician it was an actress, and then a television host, followed by two more politicians and a singer. Pretty soon, Baekhyun was sweating and it was getting harder and harder to keep up the façade that he actually belonged in this opulent ballroom, wearing a tuxedo that cost more than his entire house back in Mangyang and rubbing elbows with Seoul’s finest.

He needed to get out and he needed to get out fast.

The problem was that Mr. Ji – not to mention Yifan and Zitao – were still tailing him. He had to create a distraction to get away from them.

He ran into Junmyeon not long after he made his decision to try and escape. His cousin was hanging out in a corner, sipping champagne sedately and having a conversation with a pretty girl wearing diamond earrings.

“Junmyeon, I need your help,” Baekhyun said when he caught up to his cousin. “Mr. Ji has been following me all night and I need you to distract him for like five minutes. Can you do that?”

Junmyeon smiled. “Consider it done. Besides, you’re officially head of the family now. I have to do whatever you say.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “I’m asking you as a friend, not as the head of the of the family.”

Junmyeon only winked at him and he and the pretty girl drifted over to where Mr. Ji was keeping an eye on Baekhyun. The girl pretended to trip and spill her champagne all over Mr. Ji, her glass shattering on the floor. The commotion didn’t last long, but it was long enough for Baekhyun to ditch Mr. Ji.

It was harder losing Zitao and Yifan, who were much better at keeping an eye on him than Mr. Ji was. But as people crowded around the girl to make sure she was okay, Baekhyun ducked behind an inordinately tall man, then hid behind an enormously fat woman whose dress hid him quite well. Then he was out of the ballroom and sprinting for the side door that would lead him out into the gardens.

The night air was cool, verging on cold, but Baekhyun didn’t care. It felt refreshing after the stuffiness of the ballroom. Part of him wanted to sit by the familiar fountain until the party ended, but he knew that these gardens weren’t far enough away from the main house and that it wouldn’t take long before Yifan or Zitao – or worse, Mr. Ji – managed to find him. He needed to go further.

So he headed out for the stables. It was long past time for the commuting servants to go home, so he was surprised when he found Chanyeol in the barn, brushing down the coat of one of the mares.

“Fancy seeing you here, young master,” Chanyeol joked when Baekhyun appeared, winking to show that he was teasing. “Don’t you have a big party to go to?”

Baekhyun made a face, coming over to stand beside his friend. “I hate parties, especially ones that revolve around me. What about you? It’s nearly midnight. Don’t you have somewhere better to be?”

Chanyeol shrugged. “I like being with the horses better than being in my little apartment by myself,” he admitted. “Besides, this one here is pregnant. It’s her first time, so she’s been getting really skittish. If I stay late, I think it comforts her.”

Baekhyun felt warmth spread through his veins. “You really care about them, don’t you?”

Chanyeol looked back at him seriously. “If I don’t care for them, who will?”

“I’ll make sure that they’re always cared for,” Baekhyun promised impulsively. “I’m head of the family now, right? So I’ll make sure that the horses are always well taken care of, even if you’re not here anymore.”

Chanyeol smirked a bit, and Baekhyun was suddenly away of just how close their faces were. Had they been standing so closely this whole time? “Are you planning on getting rid of me, Mr. Kim?”

Baekhyun couldn’t even bring himself to correct the surname. “Of course not!” he exclaimed. “I would never get rid of you!”

The smirk slid off Chanyeol’s face and the air seemed to get thicker, heavier. The mare whinnied but neither of them noticed.

Baekhyun’s heart was pounding. Was Chanyeol going to kiss him? The way Chanyeol was currently looking at him made him feel like he was about to get devoured, and the thing that scared him most was that he wouldn’t mind at all if Chanyeol did just that.

But before anything could happen, Yifan and Zitao appeared.

“You gave us quite the slip, Mr. Kim,” Yifan said disapprovingly. “Madame is about to have a fit. You’d best return to the party without putting up a fuss. We will take you back forcibly if we have to.”

Baekhyun couldn’t tell if he was relieved or disappointed by his bodyguards’ sudden arrival. “O-of course,” he stammered, taking a step back and feeling a blush creep up into his cheeks. He nodded curtly to Chanyeol. “Until next time.”

“Until next time, Mr. Kim,” Chanyeol replied solemnly, and it was impossible for Baekhyun to tell what his friend was thinking.