A/N: WOOWWW OKEEYYY this chapter combined with the next is 7,000 words people! Double update :) The longest we have written, ever T__________T. Sorry we took so long to update, hope you guys are still reading. NEEDED SOME SEOJONG, SO YEAH, LOL. Oh, and some of you are probably thinking.. what the hell does this fanfic have to do with assassins.. right? Well, we just needed to develop the main leads and have Seohee settled in before anything happens, so hope you bear with us, plz ;A; BTW, THIS MAY WELL BE THE LAST CHAPTER HYUKXIN AND AYSHIENJULIE WILL BE CO-WRITING BEFORE GOING ON HIATUS... Yeah, just in case we don't update and you guys are like thinking we gave up or something. s: school dnw, sighhhhh :-( SPOILER ALERT: NEW CHARACTERS COMING IN IN CHAPTER 009, kekek. Subscribe, comment and enjoy :3

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► Kim J o n g h y u n :

It was like a typical Friday night at the club, something I had gotten quite used to over the years. The DJ pumped it up and soon the whole house thundered in inconsistent beats, attracting its dancers like bees to a honeycomb. Already, bodies were melting into the dance floor. Music drove the entire building, working magic on everyone, adrenaline running through the veins of those who were there to experience it.

I extended my arm until the glass vial containing the reddish coloured liquid on the coffee table was within my reach, and then poured myself a cup. It tasted like watermelon. Letting the sofa I was sitting on devour the back of my jacket, I bit onto the edge of my cup, watching as my mates got themselves wasted on the punch, unamused.

“25, 26.” Someone began, beckoning with a confident voice for the next person to make his move.

“27.”

“28, 29… 30!” Another one yelled, only to receive a light punch to his shoulder when the guy next to him had realised he’d lost.

“F… You guys all cheated!”

“Pay up and drink up, loser.”

Unable to find any point in staying longer, I was almost convinced to leave and go find myself some real fun, when someone arrived through the front door and had everyone putting down their cocktail glasses. I didn’t need to turn my head to see who that was–

Diva boy.

–We hung around so much together when we were younger his presence and his scent were like second nature to me now.

Suddenly, little murmurs rendered into gossip, and an even bigger buzz than the music was sent through the mansion. Something inside told me to stay for a tad longer. Turning my head only then, my empty cup still hanging from my mouth, I let my feet control me as I stepped up from where I was sitting and shouldered past the ladies crowded around me. I was pretty sure that that was Key, so I didn’t know what all the commotion was about, but being the inseparable Kim brothers we were, I just couldn’t bear letting my roommate hog all the fun. I needed at least some attention to myself.

Advancing towards the front of the crowd now, shoving to and fro past the clumps of people that seemed to glue together in networks, I finally got to an empty space away from everyone else which allowed me a clear view of the threshold of the house. I leaned onto the closest wall and adjusted the sapphire mask that sat uncomfortably above my nose, returning to my normal standing position only when I caught sight of Key in the body of moving shadows.

There he was, I thought, standing proud and almighty by the staircase, hair nicely done and figure snug under another one of his black, leather jackets. I wanted to make my way to him, but when the crowd closed in again, I resorted to tip-toeing in my high tops to cancel out the disadvantages my height gave me and removed my hoodie from my head just in time to see some girl stepping in after Key.

And damn was she beautiful.

All the men in the room had their jaws falling to their feet in an instant, including my own. Even the DJ stopped mixing his music to look, but my stare was so fixed on her that I almost hadn’t realised the silence...

And the cup dropping from my mouth.

► Choi S e o h e e :

It was suffocating.

Distracted by an unfamiliar environment, I hid my dismal expression behind my mask and endured as the intensity of the music scorched at my cheeks, and as the heavy linger of the perfume and alcohol wrung the oxygen out of my lungs. The mansion itself seemed just dark at first, for I couldn't see a trace of natural light when I looked straight ahead, but after realising the amount of people it was actually holding, I thought otherwise. In fact, the mansion was so deep that it had become almost impossible to sense an end from the entrance. If one stayed long enough, albeit being within a few metres of the door, time even seemed inexistent. No wonder I felt like Key and I had been standing here for a really long time.

As I further tried to acclimatise myself to the unsought atmosphere, I noticed also the beams of colourful lights that shot through the threshold of the house, guiding visitors to the body of the building, where the rest of the grade seemed to be lounging around and dancing. The music played repeatedly, notes rebounding off the high ceilings.

Looking at the people in the crowd that had started to form before Key now, there were a couple of faces I recognised, but very few people I actually knew the name of. Nevertheless, the assorted styles of attire and accessories they were wearing made me dizzy. It didn’t take me very long at all to realise that every student of Pyeong Moon High was probably a high roller.

Then, behind the line of students, there was a dance floor. Facing it was the DJ and his stage, and beside it, another staircase. Girls were wearing revealing clothing, some cropped short to the beginning of their thighs, dancing in heels that stood what seemed like twice the length of mine above the timber. Half of the boys were similarly crowded around the pool table, too indulged in a game to even realise what was going on around them, while the other half were either at the bar or sprawled on the sofas, already down and drunk.

I looked at myself, wanting to turn around and leave back through the front door, but when Key yelled out something about ‘being in the house’, I felt betrayed and even more people began passing glances our way. Trembling with all the attention I was receiving from everyone, I didn’t stop to think and proceeded to shutting the door instead. The music stopped.

Returning to Key, who had been completely composed this whole time, like he was meant for this, I gave him a light nudge of my elbow. “Um… what do we do now?”

Gossip travelled long and far, and it had made me reluctant to take another step into the house. However, when he looped his arm around mine, immediately I felt a little more at ease. His voice was smothered in honey. “We walk in.”

► Kim J o n g h y u n :

When she walked in, the feeling was equivalent to that of a beautiful, extraordinary girl entering herself into my life. I completely pushed Key out of the picture, and for the next few moments, all my attention was diverted to her. Actually, so was everyone else's, but that wasn't the point.

She was dressed a lot more sensibly compared to the rest of the girls here tonight. Against her fine, bare shoulders, her rich, brown hair waved in light curls to her collarbones. She looked puny and fragile from a distance, left only with her knee-high dress to protect her from the elements, but the longer I stared, the more I felt like I was going to die thinking about what might have had laid underneath.

My eyes, hungry for more, then continued to search along her smooth neck, which was free from jewellery, and up to her perfect jawline. Her lips were glossy and a carnation pink, y written all over them. Her eyes, too, were captivating behind the cerise mask hiding half of her face, ending just at the tip of her elfin nose. I didn't recognise her as one of Key's friends, but nonetheless she looked electrifying, especially with her thin waist in that cute dress and her long, butter legs in those killer heels.

And just when I thought things couldn't get any hotter, her delicate gaze situated on me.

Ba-bum. Ba-bum.

Then, her lips curled into a smile.

Ba-bumbumbum-ba-bumbumbum.

It wasn’t even directed at me, but it was enough to have my whole barrier come crashing down. My night just got a whole lot more interesting.

Finally realising all the attention she was getting, her cheeks flushed a rosy tinge. With everyone staring at her, she obviously felt out of place; her eyes kept averting between the door and Key, who was now standing beside her. They seemed close.

Was she Key's date?

Because I was going to steal her from him.

► Jang  S o r a :

I finished adding the last touches of make-up on and stood myself in front of the mirror, staring bemusedly into the reflection. The bodice of the dress I was wearing was decorated uniformly with light floral prints and an elegant hot pink, which I thought complemented my posh side ponytail and brought out my femininity perfectly. It was split down the front, so I could easily show off my chocolate legs, a sparkly corset belt holding the whole creation together. I twirled around in it a few times, content with the design. Of course, I had to be the only girl who could shine at this party. I had to be the centre of attention.

Sliding my hands into the top drawer of the bathroom cabinet, I pulled out my last and initially most important item. I couldn’t afford to put an old plastic mask over my facial features, so I prepared a handcrafted Swarovski masquerade mask instead. Matching it over the shape of my face, I appreciated the wearable half piece whole-heartedly, beautifully laser-cut into the wings of a swan and delicately embedded with bronze, Austrian crystals. The intricate design of the mask was supposed to let me stand out from everyone else, but it seemed to me that after my make over, it wasn’t even necessary anymore. I was already too beautiful. Impressed nevertheless, I held the mask in one hand, switched off the light with my other, and exited my bathroom in a breeze.

Reaching the landing just before the start of my staircase now, excited to make my appearance, I directed my eyes towards the large crowd at the front door of my house. What was happening? Why had the music stopped?

Cautiously making my way down the stairs, I ensured I didn’t trip over the tail of my dress that seemed to drag on forever behind me as I walked. When I was finally met with flat ground again, a few of the boys, who had swarmed like bees to the bottom of the steps just to greet me, began to gossip. Instincts told me that they were admiring my stunning appearance. Flattered, I asked politely for the details of the commotion, when the cute one in the front pointed me in the direction of some girl in a simple milk white, fitting dress. Accommodating my eyes to the disco lights and finally to the scene itself, the hopeful feeling that had settled within me shattered. Before I knew it, I had already pushed the boys out of my way, my hands clenching into half fists.

Jonghyun oppa and Key was... with her.

WHY WERE THEY WITH HER!?

I snapped.

Wanting to break their conversation, I ran almost instantaneously to the DJ in my wedged heels, grabbed the microphone hanging over the stage, and announced in my most glorious voice the first dance. I was too furious to even realise that Minji had made her way to my side, the spotlight on us.

I watched intensely as the crowd slowly dispersed and people started partnering up, not putting the mic down until Key had moved from his spot, and Jonghyun had turned around. I stared straight ahead, our gazes barely brushing each other's. Slipping the mask over my face, I shoved the microphone into Minji's open arms and approached my date, smirking as the crowd of girls pestering him cleared a path for me when they saw me coming. Including the one who was with him just now.

► Kim J o n g h y u n :

I was still hypnotically entranced by the charm my soon-to-be date was radiating, and was only revived when the crowd loosened a little and Key had spotted me. I retreated from my daze and watched as he retrieved his arm from the girl's side, bringing them above his head, making huge semi-circles in the air with them as he called for me to go over. I didn’t hesitate to walk over knowing the girl of my dreams was there with him, and anticipated the different feeling that would hit me upon meeting her. After all, it had always been the girls asking after me, never me chasing.

I jerked my head in acknowledgement of Key when I arrived, and then returned my gaze to the girl in front of me. Girls liked attention, apparently. I flashed her the iest and most charismatic smile I could choke up, making sure to leave with her a deep impression, and waited for Key to introduce her to me. He didn't.

Is your name Summer, because I think you're so hot you just melted me.

In my head, I pulled her hand to my lips and planted a kiss on it, but was stopped from doing so in reality when a spotlight lit the bottom of the stairway and the birthday girl had come down the steps. Everyone in the house turned to look, her cake-face and seemingly mile long legs hogging all the attention.

This year, she was changed into wedged heels, which were leopard printed, her dress exaggerating her s-line and her makeup looking smoky. Her fan base of boys from our school ran to her, all asking for her hand as she strutted her way down the steps, and then to her DJ's stage. In the eyes of the average male individual, she defined y, seductive, you named it. But I knew better. She was probably just trying to get my attention again, and I hated clingy women.

Too occupied with the girl in front of me, I whipped my head back and gave my full attention to her again, but in response she put her head down and took a few steps back. For seconds I tried to search for what I had done to make her so uncomfortable, and cringed as the heavy, musty perfume on her body found its way to my nose–

Actually, no, it wasn’t her perfume.

The scent was coming from behind, but without having to turn around, I already knew. Her perfume gave her away as I recognised it immediately. The girl seemed to shy away at her approach, and together with Key she left for the lounge (more like he dragged her away). I turned around to face the owner of this sickly intoxicating substance.

Queenka, Jang Sora.

She cleared , and her minion, Han Minji, who had just run into the back of her shoulder, began speaking. “Our pretty Sora unnie is giving you the honour to dance with her, will you accept?”

Maybe, if she wasn't always such a pain in the .

► Jang  S o r a :

-half an hour later-

My mind was still unable to pull away from Jonghyun and the girl he was talking to… No, wait, the girl who was talking to him. That two-timer, yes. I glowered intently with my arms crossed as she weaved through the pack of hyperactive children on the dance floor across from me with Key, and as they settled down at the lounge, my eyes not leaving them for even a second. Jonghyun’s dance with me earlier eased my temper a little, but not completely.

“HAHHAHAH, I am so going to update this on my Me2Day!” Minji hollered from the seat next to me, fingers typing away on the keypad on her newly bought mobile phone. My irritation bar was hitched up a level every time I heard her fingernails clack against the buttons, annoyed to see her so excited while my birthday party was coming to bits.

“Is everything that comes out of your mouth so irrelevant?”

She quickly put the device away. “I mean, that actually came...” Minji scoffed, her voice still buzzing in my ear despite this being the only good thing she said all night. “… first at school, then the shopping centre, and now here? Man, she must be pretty damn obsessed with Jonghyun oppa to be going against unnie and her rules all the time. Obviously, she doesn’t know who’s boss.”

Then, Key left, and Seohee was finally alone. Her guard was down.

"... And that is why we are going to have to show her."

Minji just stared at me, obviously not comprehending. "What?"

I rolled my eyes at her hopelessness, but when I had no choice but to whisper my plan into her ear, she 'oh-ed' and seemed to have understood precisely.

"Unnie, you're such a–"

"I know. Now go."

► Choi S e o h e e :

A new song came on and people started returning to their original positions on the square tiles, jumping and screaming like tomorrow was the end of the world. I sat down onto the leather seats, provided that my heels were already starting to hurt, and tried to rest myself as much as I could in the continual blare of the music. Impossible to keep up a conversation in this noise, Key however escaped to the dance floor. Within the matter of a few minutes, I found myself, too, bopping my head to the surround sound and its loud beats as they blasted away from the hi-tech stereos. I couldn’t help but giggle when Key had tried to roll his body into a wave, copying off the guy beside him as he arched his back and focused his movements above his hips. It was cute. He was cute. Why hadn’t I noticed at all?

But when the song was over, I stopped daydreaming. I remembered I hadn’t had any food all day, and suddenly I could feel my stomach eating away at itself. My throat a little dry, I picked myself up and started making my way to the bar, my mask still on my face despite all the other people I passed who have already taken them off.

When I got there, I selected the comfiest looking seat and snuggled myself into it as I watched the bartender play some cup tricks, when a girl with pink hair jumped up from behind and scared the living daylights out of me.

“Hi, I’m Minji!”

I didn’t think I had seen her around before. “H-Hi…”

“A new face. Can I get you a drink?”

“Oh, yeah, I just moved in today…” That wasn’t completely a lie.

“Two punches please!” She shouted, winking at the bartender. She then went around the corner and waved him in for attention, ordering the drinks in explicit detail. Out of the corner of my eye, I found that she had whispered something else into his ear, but I couldn’t care less. I turned my head back to catch the bartender pulling out a glass jar from the back oak cupboard, and examined him as he mixed with it a package of white, grainy powder, which to me had looked like sugar. One spoonful went into the green cup. He then took a few steps and counted three boxes until he took out another substance from another container, and added another spoonful to the red cup...

I watched in silent amusement as Minji studied her nail art, arms slumped over the counter. I noticed she was dressed in an unusually tight pick up skirt, its line lined with jade green sequins. Her hair, visibly straightened, was let down and as long as my own, if not longer. Then, she turned around and my eyes darted in the opposite direction. When she came back, so did the drinks.

“So, finding your place here in the party?" She started, sliding me my cup. "You know you can always come and join my friends and I at our seats over th–”

“Thanks, but I’m fine,” cutting her off, suddenly really suspicious of her amiability towards me.

“Hm, sweet. That’s good to hear.” She took a noisy sip from her punch. “Ah, sorry, if you would excuse me for a moment…”

“Oh, okay.”

She pulled away from me. “Anyway, nice meeting you!”

“Likewise.” I tried to smile, but that didn’t matter because before she even had the chance to register it, she clutched at her stomach tightly. It looked like she had to leave for the bathroom. Running with a hunched back, she pushed through the people in the direction of the kitchen, until eventually she blended in with everyone else and I let my gaze return to the punch in front of me.

Wanting to pacify my thirst, I let the edge of the cup rest on my bottom lip. The fruity flavour played with my nose and I was ready to take it in, when Key had come up beside me and popped his head in my face, perspiration and energy leaking out of him.

“I’m so thirsty!” he told me, and the first thing that came to my mind was to give him my punch. I watched as he drank the whole thing before I could even speak to him and ran off again, weirdly pleased with my decision.

And yet he told me he didn’t like parties.

► Han M i n j i :

I traversed like a ninja across the dance floor, not blinking an eye until I had finally found a hiding spot good enough to make me go by unnoticed at the party. The direly important task Sora unnie had set me was half way to its completion; I couldn't risk failing it now.

Turning the corner now, I squeezed past a few people and managed to camouflage myself behind a blooming green plant, shaped and coloured like my perfect dress. Bending down slightly, just so my height would fit the plant, I watched through shuffling feet as Seohee remained seated on the chair at the bar, contemplating the glass of punch – which was already spiked by Joe, our bartender, and me – and waited for the moments of glory to happen. Sora unnie would never call me stupid ever again after this. I imitated her evil laugh.

Just when I thought the plan was working to its perfection, though, a boy who had come next to her, panting, impeded the act. He said something to her, which my lip reading skills had failed to let me understand, and she handed him the drink. He gulped the punch down in one sip. I watched as he hopped away unaware and returned to the dance floor, totally skeptical of what he had just done. Because of him, my fantastic acting skills just went down the drain. My glare was enough to pierce through his silhouette.

Then I realised. 

… Key oppa?

!!!!!!

► K e y :

In the span of a second, I found myself being drawn back to the dance floor. I didn’t usually feel this way at parties. That punch must have had been some really good stuff. Rubbing my skin against the soft shoulders and backs of the girls who were starting to close in around me, I let my body take over. It was flaring and itching to get me out of my comfort zone. My vision seemed to blur with all the flashing lights, and in the middle of all the people, I felt my face heating up.

Was it just me or was it getting really hot?

hyukxin ft.  ayshienjulie ©