I awoke the next morning to see Choa sitting next to me and staring at the dress we had bought last night, which was hung up on a hook near my door.

“Choa?” I asked sleepily. She turned to me.

“Your awake! You’ve got 3 and a half hours to get ready. Your team is here to help you get you ready!”

I looked at my clock. 4:00pm. Wow. I slept in that late?

“I tried waking you up but Hyunseong said you punched him one time so I didn’t wanna risk it…”

“Yeah it’s happened… wait, what team are you talking about?”

As if on cue, Hyei and Jiyoon burst into my room, Jiyoon carrying a fruit salad. Hyei bounced over and dragged me out of bed.

“Sleeping beauty’s finally awake, go wash up before we eat your brunch!” she pushed me into the bathroom, where I closed the door and stumbled to the sink, washing my face and brushing my teeth. After I dried my face, I brushed out my hair and stepped out of the bathroom, where Jiyoon stuffed a strawberry into my mouth and sat me down in front of my vanity table. As I chewed, they went into a quick discussion on how to do my hair. Choa began to separate my hair into parts as Hyei grabbed the curler and began to curl my hair. Jiyoon fed me as Choa quickly curled my hair. Hyei used her fingers to loosen the curls up, making my hair look longer than it was already. I finished eating and Jiyoon opened the door to find Hyunseong standing there, hand reached out as if to grab the doorknob.

“Oppa!” I looked at him out of the corner of my eye since I wasn’t allowed to move my head.

“3 hours left Joo, you almost done?” he looked at his watch.

“Just one last curl… there, finished!” Choa slid my hair out of the curler. Hyei quickly loosened that one too and they both stepped back to admire their work when I turned to face them. Jiyoon returned from the kitchen. Hyunseong left as I pulled the dress off the hanger. Hyei sighed.

“How much was this thing anyway? Wait, don’t tell me. It looks expensive,” she said. I laughed and they helped me into the dress. Jiyoon picked out a pair of silver and gold shoes I had to match. Since the dress was still a bit long, the shoes helped the hem rise just barely off the ground. Choa brought out a small flat box. She opened it to reveal a small expensive looking tiara. The diamonds glittered in the light. Hyei, Jiyoon, and I oohed and awed over it as Choa proudly took it out of the plush box and held it up.

“You can borrow it for tonight, I knew this would come in handy someday,” she said as I lowered my head and she placed it on my head, making sure it didn’t fall off and fixing my curls as well. She stepped back, analyzing my outfit before giving me a thumbs up, looking extremely satisfied. I grinned and walked out of my room. Hyunseong was sitting in the living room, reading a book. He looked up at me and grinned when I stumbled a bit from the shoes. He got up and steadied me, helping me get used to the shoes that I hadn’t worn for a long time. When I got the hang of it, he spun me around a few times, making the dress fly up as I twirled around. We played around for a while until Choa and the girls left an hour before Seungyoon would pick me up. Hyunseong set up a card game and we played for the rest of the hour. When the doorbell rang, I rushed into my room to make sure everything was okay. I heard Hyunseong open the door.

“Hi. You must be Seungyoon?”

“That’s me. Pleasure to meet you in the flesh,” I heard Seungyoon say. I peeked out of my bedroom and saw them shaking hands. Seungyoon was wearing a suit and tie, with a silver and gold handkerchief in the front pocket, matching my dress. I stepped out into the hallway and cleared my throat. Seungyoon looked in my direction and his jaw dropped. Hyunseong used his hand to push it back up. Seungyoon quickly regained his composure and offered me his hand.

“Shall we go?” he asked.

“Let’s,” I gave Hyunseong a hug before taking Seungyoon’s hand. We stepped outside.

“Take care of her!” Hyunseong called from the doorway. We both turned around and waved to him. A white limo was waiting in front for us. Seungyoon opened the door and I carefully climbed in, making sure I didn’t step on the dress. Seungyoon sat next to me. We talked about random things and took selcas with each other’s phones, making them our wallpapers. I leaned my head against his arm and felt his cheek on top of my head. We sat like that for the rest of the ride. When the limo stopped, Seungyoon climbed out first. He offered me a hand out and I stepped out and onto a red carpet, which led up to a magnificent mansion. I looked up at it.

“You live here Yoon?” I asked him, wide eyed.

“Yeah,” he shrugged. We walked up the stairs hand in hand and into a huge dining room that had at least a hundred people milling around and many tables set up around it. A table that was two times bigger than the rest was at the other end of the room. Seungyoon led me over to it and we sat down together. We heard a bell sound and Siwoo came over, looking dashing in a navy blue suit and a black tie. He sat down next to me and the rest of WIN quickly came over and took a seat. Everyone else followed suit, sitting at a table, waiting for dinner to be served. After everyone had settled down, waiters filed out of the kitchen, holding a silver platter covered in a silver dome in each hand. They set a plate down in front of us and in unison, took of the lid to reveal a steaming bowl of hot soup. Seungyoon and the others began to eat and I picked up my spoon as well, feeling hungry. It was a simple and light soup. The flavors were combined well and it had the perfect amount of salt and pepper in it. Then after our plates were cleared away, the waiters brought out another dish, which was a sizzling steak with vegetables. As I used my knife to cut into the steak, Seungyoon turned to me, his mouth full of steak.

“How’s the food?” he asked, a bit of steak flying out of his mouth as he talked.

“Dude, you’re disgusting,” Rokhyun, who was sitting next to him, handed him a napkin. Seungyoon wiped his mouth quickly and grinned at me. I shook my head as I continued eating. After the steak, a crisp and fresh salad was served. Seungyoon picked at it, poking at it with his fork. I ate as much as I could, starting to feel full. When the plate was gone, I clutched at my stomach and fell back into my seat.

“Yoon, I’m stuffed,” I complained.

“I’ll eat your dessert if you want,” he offered as the waiters carried trays of small little chocolate lava cakes to finish off the dinner. I took one look at it and grinned.

“Hands off Yoon, this one’s mine.”

The waiter put the cake down in front of me along with a small fork and I dug in, happy to eat something I had been craving for a long time. After dessert, I went out to the main hall and outside to the gardens. Seungyoon joined me a minute later, taking my hand silently and we walked around the garden, looking at the flowers and plants. When we stopped, I looked up at the moon and Seungyoon wrapped his arms around my waist in a back hug, his head resting on my shoulder as he looked up with me. We heard a bell ringing.

“Let’s go back in and dance shall we?” Seungyoon offered me his hand. I took it and we walked back to the mansion, where music was already playing. Most of the dining tables were gone but a few remained on the edges of the dance floor. WIN came up to us.

“Did you like the garden Hyojoo? We planted some of those plants,” Rokhyun told me. A butler suddenly came up and looked at Seungyoon, who sighed and began to drag me towards a large staircase, WIN following right behind us.

“Yoon, what’s going on now?” I was a bit confused. Before he could say anything, Daesung cut in.

“He’s part of the hosts’ family, which means he has to be announced to the entire world that he’s stepped into the room,” he explained.

“I thought this was a formal dinner and not a ball,” I was still confused.

“You can say it’s a bit of both,” Gunwoo said. We reached the top of the stairs, where another couple was waiting patiently. They looked over at me and Seungyoon holding hands and smiled.

“You’ve finally brought one along Seungyoon?” the lady asked.

“Be glad that I did this time Mom,” Seungyoon pouted and we walked over to stand next to her. “Mom, dad, this is Hyojoo. She’s new to the city.”

“I’m Kwak Hyojoo, pleased to meet you,” I said as I shook each of their hands. So these people are Yoon’s parents… I snapped out of my thoughts as Seungyoon’s father asked me a question.

“So what are you majoring in Hyojoo?” he asked me.

“I’m majoring in designing,” I said. I quickly added, “Fashion designing.”

“You should see her drawings, they’re incredible,” Seungyoon pulled me close and smiled like a proud father as I blushed and his parents laughed.

“We’d be eager to see your incredible drawings Hyojoo,” his mom said with a smile.

“Ahh, yes someday…” I was cut off by a bell sound. Everyone straightened up and looked forward at the huge doors. Seungyoon’s parents walked ahead first and stood in front of the doors as they slowly opened. The butler announced their names and they began to walk down the steps as the doors closed. Seungyoon rolled his eyes and tugged me over to stand in front of the doors.

“I’ve done this every year, but it was always by myself. This is the first time I’ve brought someone.”

“I’m honored,” I laughed. The doors opened and we stepped into the room.

“Kang Seungyoon and Kwak Hyojoo entering.”

I gulped as I began to walk down the stairs, holding onto Seungyoon’s arm, making sure I didn’t trip. When I reached the bottom, we joined Seungyoon’s parents in the middle of the dance floor. The rest of the WIN members were announced as well and they walked in one by one, going up to a random lady and asking them to dance with them. The music didn’t start until we were all standing on the dance floor, paired up. A soft ballroom melody began to play. Seungyoon, who was gazing off somewhere, hurriedly put his hand around my waist, and took my hand. I put a hand on his shoulder and we began to sway back and forth to the music. After a few more minutes, more people joined us on the dance floor until Seungyoon and I were squashed against each other. We danced our way towards the edge of the floor and escaped to the garden again. We found a bench and sat down. I checked my phone. 11:45pm. Wow, it’s so late. Time seemed to have flown by while I was here.

“I’m pretty sure my parents like you,” Seungyoon said as the WIN members came outside as well.

“Yeah, your mom wants to know where Joo got her dress,” Gunwoo said.

“They approve of you,” Daesung told me proudly.

“Thank goodness,” I breathed a sigh of relief.

“The past dinners we’ve had when we had to do this were crazy. Seungyoon never brought anyone, which made his parents worry. Whenever he was announced, he would walk into the room like he owned it,” Gunwoo began to tell a story.

“Technically, he does, it’s his place anyway,” Rokhyun cut in.

“Anyway,” Gunwoo ignored Rokhyun and continued with his story. “I was talking with them earlier before you guys got here and they were looking through the guest list. When they saw your name, they were suspicious at first at how you managed to grab an invitation but I told them Daesung invited you. They were really happy when I said that you were Yoon’s girlfriend.”

“That’s good then…” I was happy about being approved by his parents. After a few more minutes of chatting outside, we headed back inside, where most of the guests were beginning to leave. We found Seungyoon’s parents talking with an elderly couple and walked over to them. The elderly couple looked over at us and the lady gave Seungyoon a big hug before stepping back and admiring him.

“My goodness Seungyoon, you look just like your dad when he was younger!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, you told me that last year…” he scratched his head.

“And the year before that, and then the year before that, and the year before that as well,” Daesung muttered under his breath as I stifled my laughter. The lady looked over at me as Seungyoon grabbed my hand.

“Are you finally settling down Seungyoon! She’s a perfect fit for you!” the lady came over and gave me a hug before stepping back and pinching my cheek as I smiled awkwardly.

“Not settling down, we just started grandma!” Seungyoon protested as she kept smiling proudly at me. She looked over at him.

“Well get to it then! We’ll be going now!” she smiled and took her husband’s hand and together, they walked out of the room. Now the room was completely empty except for Seungyoon’s parents, me, and WIN. They shook my hand again and gave me a small hug before leaving the room as well, leaving me with WIN. I looked at my phone.

“Yoon, it’s almost one, I should get going before Seong gets worried.”

“Sure, let’s go. We’ll drop off the guys along the way,” he said as we headed towards the exit. We got into the limo as we headed off to drop me off first. I texted Hyunseong, making sure he knew I was coming home. He stepped out of the limo first when it stopped, helping me out next. When we reached the door, Hyunseong flung it open first. He was wearing his pajamas already, toothbrush in his mouth. He quickly closed the door when Seungyoon leaned in to give me a hug and a kiss on my forehead before heading back to the limo and driving off. I opened the front door again and went into my room and change. Hyunseong came into my room as I finished putting on my nightgown.

“Tell me about it tomorrow?” he asked.

“Sure,” I yawned. I gave him a hug and he closed my door softly. I fell into bed and went to sleep.