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“Rin?” I heard in a distance, it wasn’t very clear. “Rin? Wake up.” I felt someone shaking me and I opened my eyes.

“Good morning princess.” I was greeted by Soryong’s face and messy bed hair. “Breakfast is ready. Go and brush up.”

“Whattimeisit?” I mumbled and stretched my arms and legs.

“It’s almost 12 noon.” I raised my eyebrows and sat up.

“That won’t be breakfast anymore. It’s brunch.” I said and he ruffled my hair, making it messier than it already is.

“I know. Come out when you are ready.” He smiled and left the room.

It felt good to wake up to my family. It’s been so long since someone had to wake me up. I got up and went to wash up. I looked at the mirror, my dark circles don’t seem that dark anymore. It was still visible but not that bad. My skin looked healthier, a bit pinkish instead of the pale sickly colour. I could say that I looked much better than before. It’s amazing how a good night’s rest can do to your body. I wasn’t that tired anymore.

They smiled as soon as I came out of the room. I flopped down on the seat and looked at the spread in front of me. We had pancakes, eggs, ham and sausages. There was a loaf of bread on the side as well.

“That’s a lot.”

“For three people, it’s normal. Eat up, you need it.” Soryong ruffled my hair.

“You look much better compared to yesterday.” Daeryong said as he poured maple syrup into a small dish for me. I like to dip my pancakes in to syrup rather pouring it all over the cake. I spread the butter on the cakes and cut it into small pieces before eating.

“I think so too. I’m not so tired anymore.” I placed one piece into my mouth and bit on it. It taste heavenly.

“That’s good.” We ate and cracked jokes along the way. I couldn’t laugh along with them but they knew that I found it funny. I would just shake my head side to side when they crack a ridiculous joke. They would just laugh and laugh until their stomach hurts. It was nice to be home for once, hearing them laugh and us bonding over breakfast was something I looked forward to doing every day from now on. I wanted to spend time with my loved ones.

We clear the dishes and it was about 1:30 in the afternoon. I sat on the sofa and switched on the TV. I watched the TV programme quietly as they organised their work. I didn’t want to disturb them, knowing that they wanted to finish whatever they needed to do as soon as possible so that they could return to Korea to be with me.

My phone buzzed and I looked at it. I received a text messaged.

From: Ge ge

Good afternoon!

I hope you are awake by now. Did you have a good night’s sleep? It feels weird not to have you around me, I miss you. I hope you remember about tonight’s arrangement. The dinner starts at 7PM so call me around 5PM or so, I’ll come pick you up!

I stared at the message for a while. He was the only one who messaged me. Seeing ‘I miss you’ really made me feel loved.

To: Ge ge

Good afternoon to you too. I had a good sleep, I’m feeling much better already. Isn’t 5PM a bit early?

From: Ge ge

Hi! That’s great, continue to rest okay? I want the old Rin back. We are meeting around 5PM so that I can dress you up for the party, under the instructions from mama. We want to make you the most beautiful girl there. Be ready! :)

To: Ge ge

I thought the dinner was for business purposes? I’m not in the business so I don’t think I need to dress up that nice.

From: Ge ge

Nonsense! Just trust me okay? You are going to be my date tonight so you have to be presentable. I don’t want to hear any buts because once Yixing makes up his mind, he stays that way. Understood?

I could literally see him pouting as he wrote this text message. Even though he is older than me, sometimes he behaves like a child. I found it cute when he wrote himself as a third party. It was adorable.

To: Ge ge

Okay. Come at 5 then. See you.

I texted him the address to where we were staying. I looked out the window and it was a beautiful day. The stay here in China wasn’t all that pleasant but I guess it made me realise things that I forgot or never realised before.

Though my life now is in pieces, torn and dull, there are still things that makes it full of colour. I’ve grown to take this life given to me by treasuring it and living life to the fullest. Every day meant a great deal to me. I was no longer zooming pass each day, busy with work of other things. I’m going to slow down and take in the scenery, the people and things happening around me. I only had one life and I’m going to do what I wanted from now on.

I got up and walked to their room, knocking on their door gently so as not to startle them.

“Come in.” I turned the knob and went inside. They looked up from the work and eyed me curiously.

“Need help? I’m bored. Yixing won’t be here until 5PM so I still have time.” they looked at each other and didn’t say anything. They, being twins can somehow communicate to each other through their minds. I’ve tested them before and they got everything the same. It’s a twin’s thing.

“I guess, one more person means going back faster.” they smiled and I settled myself next to them.

“Tell me what to do.”

For the next few hours, we searched and went through the information they had. They were researching on a group called LEON. And while I looked through the things they found, it dawned on me that Starship may be related to them. It was weird, LEON had a clean record, nothing fishy or dirty can be found. They were just a normal group. But for them to have dealings with Starship was what startled me. Both groups are total opposites, one known for their good reputation, another for their bad reputation. Were they working together?

“Dae oppa.” He looked up. “Have you heard anything about Starship recently?”

“Starship?” I nodded. He paused what he was doing and thought about it.

“So far, they haven’t been up to anything recently. Now that you mentioned it, it’s a bit too quiet for comfort.” He was right. Normally there would be news or tip offs about them doing something. But this time, they were too quiet. It made me worried.

“If you find out anything about them, do let me know.”

“Why are you so interested in them?”

“Just something.” I shrugged and went back to work. A few moments later, my phone rang.

“Hello?”

“I’m downstairs.” I looked at my watch.

“It’s only 4:45PM, you are early.”

“Better early than late.”

“I’m not ready yet.”

“Take your time, I’m early anyway.”

“I’ll be down in 10.”

“See you.” I hung up and went to change out of the twins clothes. I wore my clothes and looked in the mirror once more. I looked more like myself.

“Have fun later.” Soryong hugged me. “See you back in Korea.” I nodded and hugged him back

“Thanks for your help today. We gather more than the 2 of could. I’ll let you know if anything comes up.” Daeryong hugged me and I hugged back. “Oh, here this is for you. Just in case anything happens.” He passed me a devise. “Just placed this in your ear and press this button. It will call us straight away. Stay healthy okay?”

“Thanks, I will. You two too okay? Take care and see you soon.” with one last greeting, I left. Coming out of the lift, I immediately spotted him. He was wearing black jeans and a V-neck printed purple sweater. He was leaning against the car which I presumed he drove here. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw me and ran over.

“Hey.” He waved and I nodded. “You look much better. The wonders of staying with your family.” He smiled and grabbed my hand. “Come on let’s go.” He opened the door for me and made sure I didn’t hit my head entering the car. Once safely inside, he ran round to the driver’s seat and started the car.

“Where are we going?”

“Mama insisted on dolling you up so she hired a makeup and hair stylist. We will be heading to their studio. Your dress and heels are in the back.” I turned around and saw the dress carefully folded, resting on the back seat.

“Where’s yours?”

“In that bag.” I looked at the black bag in a corner.

“Won’t it be crumpled?”

“They have a steam iron there. Don’t worry.” he smiled. “Oh and about you being my date for tonight, don’t think too much about it. I just wanted to keep an eye on you, just to make sure that nothing happens to you. I hope you don’t mind.” I shook my head. I didn’t mind at all. We drove quietly and about half an hour later, we parked in front a small studio.

Entering the shop, the employees immediately came forward and greeted Lay. It was like a scene in those dramas where he was the rich son. He told them something and passed them the dress and shoes.

“Please follow me.” one lady came up to me and I nodded. He smiled and pointed to the other side.

“See you in an hour.”

I was ushered into a different room, it was slightly smaller and was made to seat on a chair. The room was slightly smaller and in front of me was a whole range of cosmetics. Never in my life had I seen so many cosmetics in one place.

“Miss, you have very nice features.” The makeup artist smiled brightly. “You just need some touch up and you will look lovely.” She took a brush and some cream looking thing and placed it on my face after pinning my fringe out of the way.

“Close your eyes.” I did as she said. This was all new to me. I’ve never wore make up before, I didn’t need too in my line of work. Okay, maybe I did once or twice but I didn’t like the feeling. The most I put on was just BB cream. I had no idea what she was doing, I couldn’t feel and I couldn’t see, I was a bit worried but hey, she is a professional so I’ll leave it to her.

“I saw your dress just now, it’s beautiful.”

“Thank you.” I said with my eyes still closed.

“You know, you are the first person that Mr Zhang has brought here. His mother personally book the whole place for you.” I was a little taken aback and wanted to open my eyes.

“Don’t open your eyes, it will ruin the eyeliner. Don’t worry, she insisted that we made you look presentable. But with your smooth skin and nice features, just a little makeup can go a long way. You will be the most stunning person there.”

“I don’t think so but thanks for your compliments.” She did her work for a while and I just sat there with my eyes closed.

“Okay, opened them.” she instructed and I did as I was told. She stared at me for a while before breaking into a smile. “Just as I thought. You suit natural the best.” She put down her brushes and waved the hairdresser over.

“I’ll make you look you best.” He said as he covered me with a cover and immediately starting doing my hair. I sat still, really still almost like a statue. There wasn’t a mirror in front of me so I couldn’t see how I looked with the makeup. I heard some snips and watched as some hair fell to the ground. Soon he took out a rod and whine my hair over it.  I didn’t know what they were doing, I only knew that they were taking strands of my hair, curling it and pinning it up.

“All done.” He said. “Your dress is inside that room. The assistant will help you change.” I thank him and walked into the cubicle.

“Do you need help with the dress?” a young lady asked.

“I don’t think so, I’ve tried it on once and it’s quite easy to put it on.” she nodded.

“I’ll be outside if you need help, just give me a call.” I went inside and looked at the dress hanging on the clothes hanger. Slowly, I took my clothes off and put on the dress. I smooth the dress down and opened the door. As soon as I opened it, the lady gasped. He eyes were open really big and was hanging. I looked behind me wondering what she saw made her like this. I stepped out of the cubicle and the rest of the staff stopped what they were doing. They were all staring at me.

“Is something wrong?” I asked as put on the heels.

“N-Nothing.” One of them came up to me and adjusted my dress. “You look beautiful.” Just as she said that, all of them in the room smiled. I bowed to acknowledge their compliments. I made my way to the waiting room where I’ve been told that Lay was waiting.

“Are you ready?” I heard from behind the door then the door swing open. The assistant gave me a slight push and I stumbled out. I gathered myself and straighten out my dress before looking at Lay. He was staring at me with his mouth open. I took a good look at him.

He wore a blue blazer and black tapered pants. Underneath his blazer was a grey T-shirt. His hair was styled upwards and made him look manlier. In short, he was oozing with handsomeness. I looked at my dress and back to him, he told me that it was supposed to be a formal event but what he was smart casual and it made me feel overdressed. I was starting to feel awkward by him staring at me when one employee tapped him on the shoulder, breaking his gaze on me.

“I’m sorry, but you look absolutely gorgeous!” He breathed out before smiling.

“Taking a picture would last longer.” The employee said.

“Why didn’t I think of that?” he took out his phone. “Stay still, just like that.” I just looked at his phone.

Click.

“Now, that’s a picture to keep” He smiled.

“You don’t look too bad yourself.” I walked closer to him.

“Thank you. You should see yourself, it’s like you are a different person.” he ushered me to the mirror where I saw myself for the first time.

He was right, I did look like a different person in a good way. The stylists did a good work. They pinned up my hair in a half updo and framed my face with slight loose curls. And my makeup was light, natural looking. But she emphasised on my features, especially my eyes, making them look brighter. It almost seemed like I didn’t wear much make up at all. The dress colour matched me well and I knew I made the right decision. We stood side by side. We were matching.

“You should take a picture together.” they suggested and he immediately handed him his phone to them. Because I was wearing heels, I was almost as tall as him. He smiled and stood next to me.

“Closer, hook your arms together.” He grabbed my right arm and wrapped them around his.

“Ready? 1, 2, 3!”

Click.

“Beautiful!” She exclaimed and handed him the phone. I bowed and thank them for their work. With that we left. I got into the car with his help.

“Could you send me the picture?”

“Sure.” He immediately send me the photo before driving off. I looked at the picture and realised that we really did look alike. We had the same nose. It might be our first and last picture together.

“We will be reaching soon.” he said and I looked at the time. It was past 7PM. We were late already. He turned into a hotel and the valet on duty opened the door for me. I stepped out and bowed. Lay then passed him the key to the car and a tip before patting his shoulder. He walked to me and held out his arm. I linked my arm with his and we walked up the stairs. Soon we were outside the door of the event, I could hear the music being played and some chattering.

“You ready? Better late than never.” He smiled at me and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. I took a deep breath and nodded. He pushed open the doors and we walked in. As soon as we stepped in, all eyes were on us and the whole placed turned quiet, only the music could be heard.

“It’s okay, just look ahead and follow me. I won’t leave you.” I did as he told me. As we walked deeper into the function room, eyes trailed after us, it made me feel uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry, it’s because you are beautiful.” He whispered into my ear. “Don’t worry and relax. Your shoulders are so stiff.” He rubbed my shoulder and smiled. I gave a timid nod and he held my hand this time, pulling me to one corner. And for a second, I could actually feel his touch. It was warm and his hands were soft and big.

“Rin!” I looked up and saw mama coming towards us. She gave me a big hug and looked at me. “You are really beautiful!” she exclaimed.

“Thank you.” she looked at me with a proud smile and his father came over and gave me a smile.

“Pretty.” He said softly. I felt at home.

“Are you feeling better?” mama held my hand and rubbed it gently. “You should have rested.”

“Yixing said that you wanted to see me. And I promised you that I would wear this dress. I couldn’t break my promise.”

“Thank you Rin.” she smiled sadly and I shook my head.

“It’s my pleasure.”

“Yixing, why don’t you bring Rin over to the eating area? She must be hungry.” My father suggested.

“I’m fine, sir.”

“Tsk, call me papa. Since you already calling my wife mama, do the same for me.” I looked at Lay and he just smiled.

“Papa.” He smiled. “Yixing, go show her around.” he held my hand and pulled me to the buffet table. I gave them a small wave as they went back to talk to their business partners.

“Are you thirsty or hungry?”

“Thirsty.” He grabbed a glass of fruit punch and handed it to me. He got himself a glass of red wine.

“You shouldn’t be drinking when you are recovering.” He smiled and took a sip of his drink. I looked around the room, they were filled with people, and all dressed formally in suits and dresses. Compared to them, I and Lay seem to be under dressed.

“Stay close to me okay? If you feel uncomfortable, let me know.” he was that caring. He made me feel like a princess.

“I will.” There were people eating and talking about business related things. It made me wonder, what made him want to become an agent? He could have worked in his father’s company.

From a distance, I spotted the rest of the members. They were all dressed in suits and boy were they handsome. Majority of them had their hair styled upwards while some of them tousled their hair and wore it down. My eyes immediately landed on Kris. He wore a black blazer with white dress shirt and tapered pants. He wore it with a pink tie, matching Xue’s dress. His hair was swept upwards showing more of his sharp features. He was really handsome. I caught eyes of Chen who smiled and waved at me before giving me two thumbs up. He wore a black suit with a white dress shirt and a skinny black tie. He didn’t look too bad himself. I nodded as he smiled and turned back to Lay. My heart was beating really fast just by looking at Kris.

“Yixing!” one middle aged looking guy approached us and smiled. “It’s nice to see you again. How are you?”

“Uncle.” He bowed. “I’m fine. How about you?”

“I’m doing well.” He then looked at me. “Who is this lovely young lady? Your girlfriend?” Lay but chuckled.

“No, this is Rin, my friend. She is like a sister to me.” he smiled at me as he said that. “She is the one who took care of Xue when she was in Korea.” The man seemed surprised.

“You are the bodyguard?” I nodded. He sighed and smiled sheepishly but his eyes said otherwise. “Thank you for taking care of my daughter. I know that she is a bit hard to take care off, we have spoilt her a bit too much.”

“I did my best.” I said. So that was Luhan and Xuehwa’s father. He was handsome and I could tell where Luhan got his looks from.

“You are a lovely young lady. It must be an honour to you to be the date of the son of the Zhang family.”

“Yes, it’s an honour.”

“It’s nice to see you again, Yixing. You should drop by more often.” He patted his shoulder and Lay just smiled.

“I’ve been busy. But I’ll make it an effort to come back home more often.”

“You should, If not someone will take over your father’s company.” The man said and I caught the hidden sarcasm and intentions he had. Lay relaxed a bit as he walked away. I could tell that he had his guard up when he was talking to the man.

“Who is he?”

“Luhan’s father, my uncle. Luhan and I are distant relatives.” I had my suspicions before but now it was clear. I was related to them too. We were relatives, cousins to be exact. “He can be a bit overwhelming at times.”

“Just relax.” I gave his arm a squeeze. “You are doing just fine. Don’t worry about him.”

To know that that man was my uncle, I was a bit sceptical about it. He may look like a normal middle age looking guy who runs a fashion business but from the looks of his eye, he wasn’t that simple. Just thinking how Xue is acting, some part of her personality traits were definitely inherited from him. I didn’t like it.

Not one bit.

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♥

Imagine that they are wearing these.

Picture credits to owners.