"No, TaeCyeon. I will not keep going like this! You promised that this would end after the 3rd year.  It's been 5!  5 years!...No, no, I am done! Done with this marriage, done with this company, and done with you!"

Her voice starts to fade away.  

"DaeAh, let's go..."

The memory turns blurry.

EXO's 'Growl' is playing in the background.

What?

Im DaeAh opened her eyes and looked around her room.  She felt a tear slowly fall down her cheek.  Her heart was beating really fast.  

Ugh, not again.  she groaned.  
 

She wiped away the tears of the repetitive dream and reached for her phone.

7:00 AM

She turned the alarm off and tossed her phone back on her night stand. She stretched her arms upwards and lets out a loud, deep groan.  When will this dream stop haunting her? Her alarm rings again. Time for school.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

DaeAh smoothes out her Shinee Academy uniform and straightened her name tag pinned to the left side of her chest.

Im Dae Ah...the last time you'll ever have to wear a name tag to school.

"DaeAi-ah!  Breakfast is ready!"  

She jumped from her aunt's voice.

"Coming, Auntie!"  she shouted back.

Make every day a beautiful day, her mother would say. 

She took one last look at her reflection and she gives herself a big smile.

"Beautiful day...for the last-first day of high school."  she said to her reflection.

She grabbed the navy book bag off her bed and her phone, and skipped down the stairs where she found her two best friends, Wang Jackson and Heo YoungJi, already eating.

"Good morning!"  she greeted them, taking a seat next to Jackson.

"About time.  Jackson almost ate your food."  YoungJi said, sipping on her tea.

"Shwwe'sh lyin."  Jackson mumbled through his mouthful of food.

"Eww."  YoungJi groaned, motioning for Jackson to close his mouth.

DaeAh shook her head at her friends' morning bickering. She pours herself a glass of orange juice, just in time for her Aunt SooYoung placed her plate in front of her. 

"Goodness gracious, girl, could you look any prettier for your last day of high school?" SooYoung said, giving her niece a nudge on the cheeks.

DaeAh flashes her cheeky eye smile at her aunt's compliment and begins to butter up her toast. SooYoung takes a seat at the end of the table and sips on her morning coffee. She lets out a big sigh as she leans back and soaks up the sun rays coming through the huge French glass doors in her kitchen. DaeAh, Jackson, and YoungJi looked at each other with confused faces and back at Aunt SooYoung. DaeAh placed her toast down and wiped . 

"Auntie, what's the matter?" DaeAh asked.

"Just enjoying this last first day of high school with you guys reminds me of my days back in school. Man, do I miss it." She said, still eyes closed and leaned back in her chair. 

"Unnie, weren't you homeschooled a lot 'cause you were always traveling for your modeling career?" YoungJi asked.

"Yeah, that's mostly why I miss it. Not being able to experience the real high school experience." She said. 

Choi SooYoung was recruited in Busan at the age of 14 to be a model for a famous fashion designer. She has gotten so much praise for her natural looks and elegance on the runway that it took her career to a whole new level. She was barely in school, but her agency agreed to have her home schooled when she couldn't make it to school and she was allowed to attend all the school dances and events when she wanted to. She at least got to spend most of her senior year in an actual school.

"Noona, you didn't miss much. High school is so boring." Jackson complained. "I'm so glad it'll be over in a few months."

YoungJi just rolled her eyes.  DaeAh chuckled as she continued eating her breakfast. Jackson never had anything nice to say about high school, or school in general.

"But SooYoung-unnie was homecoming queen all four years and prom queen her senior year. So she got to experience the best part of high school, right?" YoungJi countered.

"What both you said is true: high school was boring but there were some parts of it that made it all worth it." SooYoung said. "And speaking of events."

A maid walked into the dining room area, holding a ribbon-wrapped box and a bouquet of daisies.

"A package and flowers for Miss MinYoung." She said, holding the letter out to DaeAh.

In the corner of her eyes, DaeAh could see a metallic silver box sitting under the bouquet of daisies.  She continued on with her breakfast, no acknowledgment to the maid nor the package.  YoungJi and Jackson stared at her in confusion. SooYoung rolled her eyes and motioned for the package.

"Thank you, Suji-ahjumma." She said, taking the package from the maid.

As the maid left the room, SooYoung took out the card in the bouquet and proceeded to read the message.

"To my dearest MinYoung:

Congratulations on your last day of high school. I hope this letter finds you well and I wish nothing but the best for today. I look forward to seeing you tonight.

Love always,

Dad."

 "What's happening tonight?" Jackson asked.

Youngji kicked Jackson from under the table. Jackson winced in pain as Youngji threw him a look to be quiet. DaeAh was unphased from the message and puts down her silverware to take a drink of her orange juice. SooYoung puts the letter on the table and unties the ribbon on the box. DaeAh continued on eating her breakfast. SooYoung opened up the box and pulls out a white, lacy eye mask, accompanied by loose rose petals falling off of it and a sparkly gold letter.  

"Ooo.." said YoungJi, taking the mask from SooYoung.

Soo Young cleared as she begins to read the letter:

"You are invited to the OTC Hotel 25th Anniversary Banquet and Masquarade Ball.

Saturday, September 20th at 5PM

Location: OTC Hotel, Jeju Island

We hope to see you there.

Cheers, The Oks."

DaeAh rolled her eyes and chugged the last of her orange juice. 

"Time for school. You guys coming?" DaeAh asked, shooting up from her seat. "Thanks for breakfast, Auntie. Bye!"

DaeAh gave a quick kiss-tap to a photo on the wall and walked out the door.

"Oh, yes, thank you, SooYoung-unnie/noona!" YoungJi and Jackson said in unison as they rush after DaeAh.

SooYoung watch as they ran through the doors and chase after DaeAh to the bus stop down the block. She shook her head and neatly placed the mask back into its box. As she closed the box, she looked up to the photo that DaeAh tapped to: it was a photo of her mother and DaeAh when she was 10 years old.

"Oh, Yoona, your DaeAh is just as stubborn as you. But don't you worry, I will make her the most beautiful goddess ever, even Aphrodites herself will not argue with me."