“Why do we have to go there?” Kyungsoo pouted. She hated loud parties. She’d rather stay at home and read a book. And Joonmyeon hated them, too, but for some reason, she just appeared on her doorstep with her stretched limo, three stylists and a rack of party dresses and forced her to dress up for Wu Yifan’s party.

“I’d like to know if the rumor is true.” She won’t miss this party for the world. Joonmyeon’s fan club was enraged when they learned that he ignored their idol but they stopped plotting his premature death when they realized who he was. In fact, the whole school was abuzz because of the event. And because of the incident last Monday, she never thought her friend would think of going. But she guessed she spoke too soon.

When they arrived at the party, Kyungsoo immediately spotted Jongin and went on her merry way. But not without getting a go signal from Joonmyeon. She was glad that the night won’t be a drag.

Tons of people offered Joonmyeon drinks—alcoholic drinks and she wondered why nobody called the police yet. The music was heard from a block away and the cars occupied almost every street of the whole village. A total of eighteen people already asked her to dance during the first five minutes of her stay but she purposely ignored them all. She wasn’t there to party anyway. She was just there to see for herself if everything they said about the stupid transfer student were true.

The house was huge. Not as big as the Kim mansion but it was too big for someone who lived alone. The party overflowed with expensive drinks and the food was catered by a popular exclusive restaurant whose reservations extended up to a year. She didn’t see Yifan or any of his friends and everyone else seemed to have fallen into little groups and she never felt so out of place.

She went to the kitchen and sighed in relief when she found it empty. She rummaged for a non-alcoholic drink and found a chilled can of soda. She immediately downed half of the can and cringed. The bubbly drink stung but she welcomed the much needed taste of rebellion. As a ballerina, she must watch everything she ate and drank. Food being prepared by the help was based on a recipe approved by her mother. Everything was bland and tasted like paper and she was not allowed to consume anything but water. She will probably pay for this one night of carelessness but it was the last thing on her mind.

The back door opened to a porch and a vast lawn. She traipsed through the greenery until the party was just a muffled noise. She was surprised to see a small lagoon behind a tall shrubbery. She sat on the wooden bench and marveled at the sight.

She wasn’t there long when she heard the distinct sound of an incoming message. She took her phone out of her clutch. It was an email from Seoul Dance Company. It was her audition schedule. She wanted to jump for joy. She immediately dialed her mother’s phone number.

“Omma! You—ah, yeh, chwaesonghamnida.” She bowed even if she can’t see her mother. She forgot how nobody raised their voices at home and her mother was quick to let her remember. “Um, I just called to let you know that I was invited for the final audition round for SDC. If you’re not busy then maybe you can—oh. C-Chincha?” She was silent for a moment. “It’s okay, Omma. I’ll be fine. I just thought that—yeah, I know. Anyway, good night.” She sighed heavily, all excitement gone. All hopefuls were required to submit a video recording for the preliminary audition and those who passed will be invited for a final audition. Thousands of aspiring dancers joined and she was one of the chosen few.

She really wanted her parents to be there. She worked really hard for her first major audition. She needed the dance company to raise her chances of entering the New York Dance Academy. Hankyung, her mother, was a celebrated alumna and nothing less was expected of her daughter. Although she always looked confident, she’s close to cracking under pressure.

The last time she saw her parents was months ago. They had dinner together because it was her birthday. Siwon was always somewhere, taking care of the business. Her mother was always touring around the world for her foundation. She guessed she had to go alone then. She can’t tell anyone about the audition. What if she didn’t make the cut? It will not look good for mother.

**************************************

Yifan was feeling stuffy. He went to the back garden to get some fresh air. His parents allowed him to buy any property that he fancied and when he was showed the house, he fell in love with the magnificent garden right away. The property even came with a man-made lagoon and a mini golf course.

The party was his mother’s idea. She said it was a good way to gain new friends in Korea. She even arranged for everything. He could care less if he’d have any friends or not. Most of them liked him for his money anyway. She always told him he was so young to be so cynical but he can’t help it. He had his own share of incidents to totally ruin his trust for other people. Why would his parents throw him to this god forsaken place anyway? It’s because he trusted a woman to understand that he wasn’t the type to take a relationship seriously.

He was getting close to the lagoon when he heard someone speak. He almost jumped out of his skin. “—know that I was invited for the final audition round for SDA. If you’re not busy then maybe you can—oh. C-Chincha?” They were silent for a moment. “It’s okay, Omma. I’ll be fine. I just thought that—yeah, I know. Anyway, good night.” The owner of the voice sighed heavily and they were silent for a while until they broke the relative silence by shouting, “Ahhhhhhhhhh! Kim Joonmyeon! You’re so unlucky!” The night birds were startled out of their wits that they flew from different directions.

Kim Joonmyeon? He remembered his conversation with his friends. Make the girl fall in love with him and immediately get the status of the school’s Kingka. Though it wasn’t important to him, all things that were said about her promised a great challenge. And challenges he loved. Luhan will throw in his 1967 Roadster, too, so it wasn’t too bad. He smirked and eyed the girl in question.

He thanked heavens he transferred in the middle of spring and what she wore showed some skin and he can see that her skin glowed—even in the dark. Her hair was tied in a messy knot on the back of her head. The pink dress that she was wearing hugged her curves in all the right places. It shouldn’t be hard to pretend since he liked pretty things. He remembered the one-sided conversation he heard and a plan formed in his head.