Before I knew it, the next morning arrived. I woke up and got out of bed, then immediately went to my closet to choose the best festival dress. Then I ran a brush through my hair, leaving it to lay naturally curly on my shoulders and reached for my glasses out of habit. Then I remembered last night and let my hand relax. I checked my reflection in the mirror and smiled. When I stepped foot outside my apartment, other townsfolk were excitedly making their way to the main town square. Glancing at it, I could see many decorations lining the signs and building along with small booths with various people attending them. Wasting no time, I made my way over.

The festival seemed already deep under way as people walked around, ate food, and chatted with each other pleasantly. In the middle of the entire build-up was a large, wooden dance floor with a small wooden stage next to it. A couple of townsfolk were seated on the stage, playing various string instruments. The sound was lively but only a couple of people were dancing.

“Jill!”

I turned around to see Siwon wave me over. He cleaned up well, even t his thick, black mustache.

“Good morning.” I chuckled and bowed.

“What do you think of the festival set-up?”

“It’s nice! Everyone looks like they’re having fun.” I glanced around.

“When it gets darker, even more fun will break out. I hope you look forward to it. I’m going to just walk around and make sure nothing suspicious happens. Have a great time.” He tipped his hat and moved away.

I stood idly in place, watching everyone. Then I felt a soft touch to my arm and looked to my right.

“Hello.” Ryeowook nodded a little. He wasn’t wearing his glasses and his bangs were straightened out across his forehead. He was wearing what I guess was the town’s equivalent to a tuxedo: a plain white shirt and fashionable dark blue dress jacket.

I felt myself blush and nodded as well. “Hello.”

We were both quiet for a moment.

“…you look beautiful.” He cleared his throat a little and his gaze flickered away.

I chuckled. “Thanks. You too.”

“I’m not handsome?”

“Yeah, that’s what I meant.”

“I was joking.”

“Oh.”

We chuckled a little and went quiet again.

After a moment, he leaned in a little. “Can I fix your hair?”

“I figured you’d say that. Sure.” I smiled at him.

He took me to the barber chair, uncovered it, and took off the “Closed” sign for a moment.

“Did you sleep well?” He took my hair in his hands after I sat down and brushed it out.

“Yeah I did. Did you?” I asked.

“No.”

“Are you okay?” I glanced behind me.

“Not really.” He gathered some of my hair and pinned it up.

“Are you sick?” I was starting to get a bit nervous.

“Not exactly. I just…wanted to do more stuff last night.” He mumbled the last few words but I heard them and blushed even harder.

“Oh? Um, what kind of stuff?”

“Nevermind.” He quickly replied.

I let him fix my hair for the next minute or so until he put his hands on my shoulders. “I’m done.”

I didn’t move. “Cool, thanks.” I smiled.

He didn’t move his hands. “It’s my pleasure.”

“Do I look better than before?”

“Just a little bit. I just added something special.”

I glanced at him from behind curiously. “Can I see?”

He handed me his hand mirror and helped me angle it so I could see behind my head. Clipped into my hair was a lovely green butterfly pendant. The strands of my hair below it were braided nicely.

I blinked and gasped a little. “Oh my god…that’s beautiful!”

“It’s a gift. For all of your help with my business.”

I turned around so I was facing him. “I love it! Thank you so much!”

He nodded and smiled softly. “I hope we can work together for a long time.”

“I don’t see why not.” I smiled back.

His hand rose up and tucked some hair behind my right ear. “Shall we go?”

I nodded and we returned to the decorated area of the town center. For the next couple hours we joined in the activities and talked with many people. Kangin was selling fresh fruit as one of the booths and even his attitude toward me seemed a bit better. It must have been the atmosphere. Sungmin and Kyuhyun hung out a lot together, constantly talking and drinking. I didn’t see Eunhyuk too often. I think he was doing all he could to avoid running into me, especially when Ryeowook was by my side. He would mostly stick next to Donghae as he moved around constantly like Siwon, keeping his eye on everything and everyone. He wasn’t even drinking. Then I finally saw Heechul positioned at a small bar booth across from the wooden dance floor. The task I was forced into doing shot into my brain like an arrow and anxiety rushed into my heart. I was standing alone some distance away from the bar when this happened and I suddenly had to lean against something because my heart jumped very high into my eyes. I nervously glanced around the outskirts of the festival area and saloon, afraid of seeing Leeteuk or Shindong peaking behind something and staring at me expectantly.

“Hey what’s wrong?”

I jumped again and turned to my side. Ryeowook’s fingers were close to mine and I felt them bump into mine as I turned.

“I-I just remembered…” I glanced in Heechul’s direction.

“…you have time.” Ryeowook said.

“I don’t know about that.” I rubbed my head.

“You do. Don’t worry about him right now.”

I lowered my head and didn’t respond.

“Hey.” He wrapped his hand around mine. “I said I’d protect you today, didn’t I? So stop worrying.”

I slowly glanced at him. There was nothing but sincerity in his eyes.

“…okay.” I nodded softly.

At that moment, the small band on the wooden stage started to play a ballad and many people took this at an opportunity to run onto the dance floor and slow dance. It had gotten a bit dark by now and the sunset was starting to make the sky various colors of light pink and orange. I sighed a little and watched the sky for a moment.

“…come on.” He pulled on my hand and onto the wooden dance floor.

A small smile formed into the corners of my lips as he took my left hand in his right hand and set his other hand softly on my side.

“Just like last night.” I said quietly.

“Except with people around.” He muttered.

I laughed and shook my head a little. “It’s still nice.”

We danced along with the pleasant ballad. By the end of the song, his hand was holding my back securely and our faces had gotten very close again. I had gotten so lost in the moment that when the song ended, it took me a moment to notice that the band started playing an upbeat song again and everyone around us either walked away or started dancing with more energy. I chuckled softly and leaned in to wrap my arms around Ryeowook tenderly. He wasn’t taken aback this time, but he didn’t move either. My eyes wandered around a bit and landed on Heechul’s leaned back figure. There was no one at the bar at the moment and he was looking off to the side. After thinking about it, I sighed quietly and pulled back. “I should go talk to Heechul now. Before it gets too dark.”

“…I will make sure you don’t get hurt.”

“I don’t want Leeteuk or Shindong to see you.”

“They won’t. I’m not breaking my promise to you.” He didn’t let go of me.

“Just please be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.” I said quietly.

“I won’t.” He shook his head. “Just trust me.”

I watched his eyes for a moment longer, then sighed. “Fine.”

“Go.” He said quietly.

I nodded and backed out of his arms even though every part of me wanted to stay in them for the rest of the night. I turned around and walked up to the bar.

“Hello.” I nodded at Heechul.

Heechul looked at me and straightened up. “There you are. I was wondering when you were gonna come over.”

“Yeah, sorry. I…got distracted.”

“I can see that.” He chuckled. “I can see you and the barber are getting along well.”

I grinned and blushed. “Yeah. So, is now a good time?”

He nodded. “Yeah right now’s fine. I can talk for about a minute or so.” He motioned me to the area behind his booth. The area was quiet and dark. Everyone in town was attending the festival and there was very little lighting where we were standing. After Heechul brought out a small lantern with a small, flickering light dancing inside it, he turned to me. “So what did you want to ask me?”