“____!” He called for me, his smile growing as his footsteps quickened and grew louder in the hallways. His voice was deep and full of confidence as he ran towards my room. He knocked on the side of the door with one hand, while the other struggled to hold onto the tower of boxes he had. His arms were muscular and his veins popped out of his skin as he held the boxes. He opened the door without another word other than his deep chuckle going through the air. I jerked my head back to look at the handsome man peeking through the opening of the door. He eventually came in, his footsteps unsteady and prone to falling anytime.

With a smile, he announced proudly while puffing his chest out slightly, “Hey, look at these! They’re really pretty.” I felt my worries lighten up and soften up to form something softer and nicer in me. I chuckled, looking at him with a fond smile. He scanned through the tower of the boxes and grabbed one out of the many to go towards me. Applying the last blotch of creamed foundation on my face, my heart palpitated as I moved away from the mirror. I smiled fondly at him, moving my chair closer towards him. His dark brown eyes twinkled as they looked at mine with a soft, subtle curve in his eyes.

He opened up the lid of one of his boxes with his wide, bright smile that reminded me of the bright moon. I smiled and stood up slightly before sitting back down at his hand gestures. He fished out the delicate red shoes from the shoebox with a smirk as he placed them in front of me. I cocked my head to the side as he pulled off the dusty, old socks, relieving the soreness and the pain of my feet. He massaged it gently before slipping on a newer pair of cotton, knee-high socks. I heaved a sigh of relief as I slipped my feet into the shoes with a smile on my face. He looked at me, a grin forming on his strawberry coloured lips.

“Like it?” He asked me as my feet slip into the shoes beautifully. I loved how the bright redness of the leather shoes complimented the bright red colour on my hair. I looked at him, a bright smile forming on my face as I bobbed my head up and down rapidly. He chuckled, standing up while taking the box in his hands. He turned my chair around, staring at my reflection with me. His fingers brushed my hair to the side, cleaning up the stray bits of hair to the side. He picked up some dark eyeliner and moved it along the curve of my left eye delicately, careful of my lash line as he covered up the lash glue that seemed obvious to him.

I turned my head to look at his sharp profile as he took a curling iron and a comb. He heated my hair slightly to add the curls to the last few locks of hair. I chuckled, blushing a beet red as my eyes met his dark grey ones. “I love it so-so much,” I continued after several seconds later, which felt like several eternities. He smiled, looking at me with a smile as he nodded simply and lightly. He placed his hands lightly on my shoulders, moving closer towards the mirror. He placed his chin atop the crown of my head. “Thank you,” he continued, his smile brightening as he pulled away, curling with the last lock of hair.

He walked away, moving towards the pile of boxes and carrying them towards the door. I stood up, taking a few baby steps in his direction, hesitant in calling his name until he turned back with a smug smile pulling on his face. “Good luck, ____, you’ll do great as always,” he cheered softly with a teasing smile and a playful glint in his eyes as he walked out of the door with the towering pile of boxes. My cheeks fluttered a soft shade of cherry red as his shadow faded out of the doorway. I smiled proudly to myself, balling my hands up into a fist as I heard the emcee announcing the start of the performance.

“And now, the performance shall begin, please sit back and enjoy yourself,” he finished off. I forced a bright smile to appear on my face as I dashed towards the entrance of the stage. I pulled on my hair, moving it behind my ear before the music started to blast through the stage. The moment the music started, my feet began to dance to the music, tapping and moving along to the beat and melody of it. I looked at the audience, catching sight of a bright smile clad in overalls and a dirty white shirt. He clapped gently, a smile forming his face.

As he cheered sincerely and clapped softly, all of the nervousness flowed away from my grasp and my legs began to move towards the bright, uniquely vintage music. I laughed slightly, keeping the microphone away from my face. I continued moving, in sync with the beat and melody as if it was nothing. The bright lights landing on my face accentuated the makeup and hours worth of contouring spent. I smiled brightly, feeling a sense of accomplishment and adrenaline running through my veins. The music ran through my head, letting a feeling that resembled some warm honey on a cold winter’s day run through me.

If there was only one thing that I felt, that feeling was confidence.

When the music finally died down, I felt my body form the ending pose of the whole dance routine. I gleamed brightly, giving a thumb up at the end. As people gave the standing ovation, I held the hands of my fellow dancers and bowed in front of everyone else. They cheered and my eyes glanced upwards, seeing him stand up and clap loudly like a seal. He did wolf whistles and shouted my name proudly with a fond, affectionate smile. I flushed as I picked up several flowers that landed on the stage. I held them closer to my chest as a sense of confidence rushed through me. I glanced down at my shoes, my heart palpitating as something clicked in my head.

Confidence was the best feeling I had ever experienced.

---

He greeted me backstage, with a wide smile and a big bear hug to match. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer towards him. I rested my head against his chest, feeling my smile growing brighter and the sense of adrenaline pumping through my system again as he shook me around like a toy. He ruffled the crown of my head, careful to not mess up the tiny details in my hair. His chest felt sweaty yet muscular the longer I buried my head in his scent. I pulled away to look at him with a grin as I pinched his cheeks.

“You did wonderfully! I’m very proud of you, ____. Good job, tonight!” He cheered, clapping his hands again as he looked at me. He pulled me into another hug again but it barely felt as intense or hardcore like the first one. He sniffed the top of my head with a bright smile. His hands rubbed my back gently; sending warm chills up my spine when I pulled away to look into his dark orbs. I felt the newfound sense of pride and accomplishment over throw my senses as I cupped his face and pull him closer to me. I had never worn a pair of shoes that felt this perfect on me, neither have I felt and tasted a pair of lips that I loved so much.

He blushed as he widened his eyes, his handsome face flushing as he pulled me closer with his hands resting on my waist. I moved my body closer towards him as my chest felt his warm one. I felt myself going into him harder and harder with more lust and affection lacing every move we made towards each other. He pulled away, his eyes looking intently into mine as he straightened out every lock of hair that seemed to be out of place. He gulped, cold sweat dripping down his face as his heart banged against his chest, so loudly both of us could hear from a mile away.

He smiled hesitantly, moving a lock of hair to the side as he stared at me intently. His eyes curved up slightly to make way for the expansion of it. Clearing slightly, he held my hand and began to pull me along with him with a bashful grin on his lips. Sighing heavily and contently, he pointed towards the sight of red and off-white lights flickering in the distance. I chuckled while running to his side as I adjusted the straps of his overalls with a smile. “Let’s go to the party, alright?” He barely managed to choke out as he led me towards the sight of the after party with a smile.

---

The next morning, I remember peeling my eyes open to the sight of the same handsome man sleeping soundly next to me. His shirt was off, tossed towards the floor as my leg was atop of his. I pressed my head closer towards the crook of his neck, letting myself get lost in some sharp, toxic stench of alcohol mixed in with sweet scents of sunshine and sweat. I placed my hands on his chest, pulling him closer towards me. He laughed softly when his eyes finally opened to see his room fully lit with sunlight. He twirled and played with the sides of my hair as he sat up straight with a small smile on his face.

He smiled teasingly as his deep voice was laced with affection and a sense of deepness no actor or performer could replicate in a million years. “Good morning, pretty lady,” he flirted, pulling me up with him as my head fell lazily on his toned stomach with a drowsy expression. I squeezed his leg gently as my heartbeat raced the longer I looked at him. This was the first night out of many, that we would spend almost every morning like this; after a night of crazed lovemaking, bright lights and a performance, there was nowhere else I would rather be than in his arms. That gentleman of a wild wolf was smiling down at me endearingly as he caressed my shoulders.

“Morning, Sul Il,” I mumbled aimlessly as my head rolled over to his chest with a drowsy, dreamy smile. It all felt like some, odd dream that I could never get enough of. Still, despite waking up at noon – twelve hours after the embrace backstage – the energy, confidence and arrogance that was in my veins remained. The difference was that they were all stronger than ever before. I looked up at him, with lust pulling up on my lips as I wrapped my shoulders around him to pull him closer towards me. I pressed another kiss on his lips but this time, he was the one taking over, love lacing his dominant touch.

---

“Where are they?” I barked, slamming my fists on the dressing table as I rubbed my hands along my forehead, heart palpitating as I shook my head in disapproval while my face flushed from a pale peach colour to as red as a beet. I growled softly to myself, shaking my head as the tight heels began to constrict blood flow towards my legs. I stomped on my foot, reluctant to admit that the sugar high from the very first time could be one hundred percent wrong from the get-go. He peeked from the door, hesitant in entering as his fingers trembled. He bit his lip, knowing better than this as he came into the dressing room.

I whipped my head back to look at him, a hot, blazing fire raging at him. I growled at the sight of his quivering frame as he looked at me with a worried and confused expression. He stumbled inside, hesitantly loosening his tie as he placed his hands in his pockets with a sigh. He looked at me, his lips quivering as he looked at me. The suit hugged his broad frame tightly and affectionately. His hair was combed back while holding onto his rose hesitantly. I snatched it away from him, placing it on the counter when I saw my name written on it. He flushed, keeping his head low while messing his hair.

“____? Is there anything wrong?” He asked meekly before earning another fist on the counter, sending his nerves into a frenzy. He looked up again, keeping his hands behind his back as he looked at me, with stars twinkling in his eyes. He knew what was clearly wrong; yet, he chose not to say anything out of fear. He studied the white gown that I wore helplessly and hopelessly as he took in a deep breath while keeping his eyes away from mine. He folded his arms while his lower lip. “You know damn well, what’s wrong, Sul Il. Those red shoes- where are they? I need them, now!” I snarled at him, clenching my fists as I leant closer to look at him.

He shook his head regretfully as he took a step back with a false smile on his face. He smiled falsely, his heart banging against his rib cage. He looked at me again, finding the words to say as he finally straightened himself out before any more volcanoes could explode in my heart. “____, I’m sorry but it wouldn’t match with the ‘ice princess’ theme, neither would it be good for you-” I stomped my foot on the ground, standing up to glare at him. He continued to freeze, while his expression froze and hardened into nothing. He sighed, knowing that this was the end of something of utmost importance to him.

“Not good for me? Are you serious, now? Sul Il, the moment I wore those shoes, I had never felt so alive and ready to show what I got,” I snapped back, my eyes turning to hard stone and ice as I glared at him. He nodded, feeling cold sweat drip down his temples as he folded his arms to attempt to get some sort of confidence in him. I placed my foot in between his as I looked at him, cocking my head to the side. “You are the costume designer; you should have known how to get those shoes in the whole thing. If anything, you should have known how I felt about them,” I continued.

He sighed, his face flushing a bright red as he prepared to unfold his arms to point somewhere but decided against it as he looked into my eyes. He was disappointed, but he knew that tonight’s show needed to come around. Still, like me, his pride that was crumbling and falling apart got in the way as he looked at me helplessly, as if hoping I could change my mind.

He growled under his breath as he looked at me with a heavy frown pulling on his lips as he chose to avoid my gaze completely without a second word as he folded his arms again. “____… My dear, please know that I’m only hiding them away from you because-”

“You’re hiding them from me? You’re hiding them from- me?” I barked back at him, my face flushing a bright red as I took a step closer towards him. He nodded, his tears on the verge of falling out of his reddening eyes as he looked at me desperately like a lost puppy. He shook his head, hopeful but quickly had his dreams crushed. He felt like someone grabbed a hammer and smashed his heart like smashing a mirror into a million pieces. “Please, no, I really didn’t mean it like that-”Anger only built up inside of me as I forced myself to talk as professionally as I could without scaring the rest of the dancers.

“You’re fired as my costume designer,” I said simply, gesturing for him to leave through the very door he came in from. His eyes widened, as he got lower, bending his knees as a look of desperation filled his expression. He shook his head in denial the more he stuttered and trembled from fear at the mere prospect of it.

“Wait- what?”

“Get out!”

---

Before the music started to play, I peeked out of the curtains to glance at the audience. This time, there was a flood of people occupying the seats, all with expectant and excited expressions. I squinted my eyes, with some glimmer of hope inside of me that the same man would be somewhere. I shook my head, confirming to myself that the empty near the front would never be filled. Tears formed and all shred of confidence and pride deserted me, leaving me alone to fend for myself in the dark. The silver set full of silver diamonds and fake jewels intimidated me as I felt the fake snow on my fingertips.

Fake snow fell down like the tears I envisioned in my head as I sat back down at the seat with a hesitant expression. I rested my head against my knuckles as I looked at the blood red rose. I unfolded the note that came along with it, reading each word carefully. In a soft voice, I whispered, “You don’t need a pair of shoes to do well; all you need is some support! Look in the front row and you’ll find me, cheering you on-” I walked towards the curtain, peeling it away to still find the front row empty, without a single person occupying it.

“I’ll always have your back and I will always love you.”