Faded lights gave the illusion that the crowd below Minho was a seething mass of angular darkness.  Like water running over a bed of rocks, or snakes writhing in a pit as they begged for sustenance.  There seemed to be more than one hundred bodies down there on the floor underneath the raised balcony that he and his band mates stood on.  The mask that adorned the upper portion of his face hindered his eyesight, although there wasn’t much to be discerned anyway.  The one hundred lucky fans had each won a place at SHINee’s very own Romeo and Juliet style masquerade ball.  The excitement seemed to radiate from the crowd and rebounded amongst the band members as they prepared to make their descent.

 

“Watch the stairs as you’re going down Dubu, we can’t have you tripping,” Key murmured to their leader, who rolled his eyes and poked the boy gently in the side.  Minho shared a smile with his friends as they fell into their order, waving to the crowd as they traipsed down the stairs to join them.  Security and managers followed close by in case the fans became overwhelmed and forgot their orders not to crowd the boys.  For the next few hours SHINee would mingle with the one hundred girls that filled the hall, signing autographs and taking pictures.

 

With a small nod from Onew, the five boys split up, each heading in a different direction around the room.  It seemed to Minho that the others had already picked out a destination, girls squealing as they were approached.  Instead the tall boy hung back, taking the only direction left and moving slowly to allow the fans to approach him.

 

“Minho oppa, you’re my favourite!  Can you sign this please!” a high pitched voiced caught him and he soon found himself surrounded by teenage girls.  As his pen scrawled over paper after paper and he was all but blinded by the flash of cameras everything seemed to become a blur of feathers and sequins surrounded by the smooth obsidian of hair.

 

At first he mistook the flash of red to be trick of his eyes affected by the cameras, but as he caught it again he turned to absorb it.  Long, tousled, fiery red locks that were streaked to give the illusion of flames.  They framed an elaborately designed silver and black mask that covered a greater portion of her face, though it didn’t hide a pale jaw line.

 

“Would you like something signed?” he asked and it took her a moment before she nodded slowly, revealing a CD.  He traced the marker slowly across the case as he tried to prolong the interaction, noticing more about her with every second.  She was so painfully not from his world.  Her skin was a supple creamy colour and an absence of heels meant that she barely reached chin level on him. 

 

Finally he could prolong it no longer and held the CD out for her to reclaim, a small smile spreading across his face.  As she leant in to take it from him one of the ever searching laser lights hit her and he was met with a flash of blue-grey from behind the mask.  She stammered out a thank you before stepping back and his eyes followed her as she disappeared back into the crowd.  It wasn’t until someone nudged him that he realised there were still girls waiting around him for their few seconds of attention and he shook his head, apologising quietly as he turned to them.

 

 

     Almost two hours later and Minho was beginning to feel suffocated in the dark hall.  Unlike the other members of SHINee he found that spending extended periods of time in a crowded room tired him out.  He had successfully managed to spend at least a few seconds with every girl in the room, his eyes always peeled for the mysterious red head from earlier.  Letting out a sigh, he gazed around himself for his band mates, adjusting his mask as he did so.  He could see Jonghyun talking to several girls by the stairs, a smile spread across his face and Minho rolled his eyes at the older boy’s flirtatious intentions.

 

It was then that he caught the unmistakable blaze of hair disappearing through a side door.

Realizing that he had a quiet moment, he bowed politely to the couple of fans that were heading his way again and excused himself, making his way to the door.  He only hesitated for a moment before twisting the handle and slipping through to the other side, finding himself on a small balcony.  The girl was yet to notice his presence as she leant against the railing, her flame of hair tumbling down her back and he tried to close the door behind him as quietly as possible.

It seemed the sudden absence of music and voices drew her attention however, and she turned to him, her mask still adorning her face.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” he muttered an apology and she flashed him a small smile, shaking her head.

 

“It’s ok.”

 

Stuffing his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans nervously he shuffled towards her, mirroring her as he leant against the railing.  Biting down on his lip gently, he lifted his mask away from his face, closing his eyes as the cool air met it.

 

“It’s pretty crowded in there hey?  I needed to catch my breath,” he said, scrambling to justify his presence there and the girl looked at him, her brow furrowing with confusion.

 

“I’m sorry, my Korean is not good,” she apologised with a slight dipping of her head and he reached up to ruffle his hair.

 

“The party.  A lot of people,” he reiterated simply and the blue-grey orbs behind her mask lit up with understanding.

 

“Yes, it was... hot,” she replied slowly, obviously grasping for words and he nodded encouragingly at her.

 

“Where are you from?” he asked, swallowing thickly as he focussed his gaze on her.  He had never been the sort to open a conversation, always waiting for others to take the lead.  But she intrigued him, this girl who was so different from anyone else he had encountered before.

 

“Australia.”

 

“Why did you come to Korea?”

 

“Why not?” she answered with a shrug, turning back to view the lights of Seoul and he nodded silently, his eyes falling to the railing.  He couldn’t help but stare with intrigue at her hand as it rested against the metal, so pale that it almost shone in the moonlight.  Before his brain could even register his own hand was reaching out to hers, the tiny electric shocks as his fingers brushed against her skin jump starting him.  With a gasp he retracted his arm, bowing deeply to the girl as head snapped to regard him.

 

“I am so sorry madam, I don’t know what I was thinking,” he cried, the horror of his actions clear in his voice as he apologised to her again and again.

 

“It’s ok, please.  I don’t mind,” she said, her face etched with concern as she placed a hand on his shoulder and he looked up into her eyes.  “Am I that... different for you?”

 

He nodded solemnly as he tried to pull himself together, ashamed of his uncouth actions.  He watched as she chewed on her cheek thoughtfully and after a few seconds she raised her arm slowly so that it was stretched out in front of him.

 

“Go on.”

 

He blinked several times, unsure of whether he had heard her correctly and it was only after she poked him gently that he felt himself relent.  The previous horror diminished as he traced a finger lightly over the back of her hand, soaking up the silky texture of her skin.  It felt no different to his, or any other persons and he wondered why he had thought otherwise.  Tentatively he flipped her arm over, trailing a path over the smooth skin of her forearm and his heart started hammering as he felt her shiver beneath his grasp.  Slowly he raised his eyes until they met with the tendrils of fire that had first caught his attention and he swallowed hard again as he reached for them.  He almost shied away as he brushed against the tips, half expecting them to burn him, but like with her skin he found it no different to his own.  Minho toyed with several strands entranced, before gently raking his hand through the bottom half, feeling it wrap around his fingers.

 

“Different?  To feel?” she questioned, breaking his spell and he withdrew with a shake of his head.

 

“No.  But to look at, very.” She smiled at his conclusion, her eyes still wide despite it and he cleared his throat quietly. “Behind the mask?” He posed, raising his own disguise to indicate and her grin only grew, revealing pearly white teeth.

 

“A face.  Like you.”

 

He let out a soft laugh at her answer, scratching the back of his neck as his characteristic shyness took over once more.

 

“Can I see?  I want to see your eyes clearly,” he pushed and she bit down on her lip, turning her face away.  He felt something come crashing down inside of him as she denied his final wish and he let out a sigh.  “It is too far, I’m sorry.”

 

He made to turn around and walk away from her when her voice cut through the silence that had descended.

“Is it that important to you?”

 

When he glanced up he found her looking at him and he shrugged, suddenly feeling lost in the thoughts that were cluttering up his mind.

 

“Yes, though I don’t know why,” he admitted and she stepped towards him with a nod, her hands reaching to delve into her hair.

 

The ribbon that held her mask in place fell away and he moved to help her, the disguise coming away in his hands.  The full view of her face met him, the large blue-grey eyes that were do delicately shaped were surrounding by a fine scattering of freckles that were barely visible in the moonlight.

 

“I hope it hasn’t taken the... I don’t the word,” she trailed off, her brows furrowing with frustration and he felt dizzy at the ability to see her expressions properly.

 

“[i]The mystery[/i]?” he offered in English and she nodded her head vigorously, her eyes growing wide.  “No, it has only caused more.”  She broke into another grin and he returned it, holding out the mask for her to take once more.

 

“That’s good,” she said, her fingers brushing against his as she reclaimed it and he chuckled softly. 

 

“I’m not normally like this you know.  So forward,” he mentioned and she raised an eyebrow at him as they both reattached their masks.  He was shocked when she reached out and took his hand, colouring deeply and it was her turn to let out a soft laugh.

 

“You can only have so much courage in one day,” she said and he nodded in agreement, indicating to the door that would take them back to the masquerade party.  It was true.  All it took was one small act of bravery for him to open the door to the mystery of his very own Juliette.