“Stop laughing,” Yoochun mumbled while glancing down at his feet, face beet red, “We owe you one for helping me and sherry get together. And Sherry just wanted to cheer you up because Jae…”

He was cut off by Sherry who elbowed him in the arm. She shot him a warning look as if cautioning him against entering a forbidden territory. The rest of the group looked at each other before returning their glances to me, making sure that I didn’t break down into tears.

“Come on guys,” I said with an effort to place a smile on my face, hoping to distract them, “are we here for the dance or what. We’re going to waste away out here if we don’t go in soon.”

I didn’t know if my friends saw through my bravado and my forced grin but they played along regardless. Yoochun turned his attention to Sherry and from that instance, she was all he could see. Sherry gazed into his eyes before threading her arm through his. They turned away from us and got ready to enter the dance hall. Smiling shyly, Junsu inched towards Chelsea, who flashed him a heart-warming grin. They joined arms as well and stood beside Yoochun and Sherry. Changmin and Yilina walked towards each other and turned to face the dance hall entrance as well. While everyone else found their partners simultaneously, I stood still, witnessing the affections between each couple. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yunho turning his head my way to flash a weak smile, as if assuring that he understands how I feel about Jaejoong and that he won’t make it any harder for me to be here right now. I smiled apologetically as Yunho turned to join the couples, all lined up and ready to make a grand entrance at the dance. I motioned to join my friends as I felt a warm hand on my waist, guiding me to the centre of the lineup. I glanced up and saw that Zorro was smiling down at me encouragingly. Therefore, out of courtesy and a resolution to enjoy the night without constantly thinking about Jaejoong, I showed him my warmest and most radiant smile. He seemed pleased with my response and proceeded to taking my right hand with his left and placing it on his left arm. So, I wrapped my arm around his and walked to where he was leading me, the centre of our crowd. On my left Sailor Mercury Sherry and Sailor Mars Yoochun followed by Sailor Venus Chelsea and her Junsu. On my right is Yilina, sailor Jupiter, Changmin and Yunho. Our sailor scout was complete with sailor moon taking her place in the middle. Seeing that everyone is ready, we moved towards the entrance to the dance.

“If I take of my mask, I bet I can pull off a Tuxedo Mask,” Zorro whispered in my ear as we walked together, pulling off his mask with his free hand.

His uncovered face was shockingly gorgeous, even more so than I had anticipated. And he was right. Without his mask, his black outfit did make him resemble Tuxedo Mask. It must have seemed to outsiders that we have coordinated this all along, Tuxedo Mask and Princess Serenity, the perfect love. I smiled bitterly at the irony of the situation at hand: seeming like the perfect love, perfect couple on the outside, but suffering from a broken heart on the inside. Ironies.

We reached the entrance of the dance hall, and entered all together. One by one, the students sitting at the tables stopped their chattering to face us. The people eating at the refreshment tables paused with their chips midway to their mouths to observe our entrance. Like a ripple effect, the dancers on the dance floor also halted and spun their heads around to our direction. Then, I realized that the spot light was no longer directed at Yoona, it was focused on us.

We walked deeper into the dance floor and the couples dispersed to dance and to find some privacy. Zorro took my right hand in his left and placed the other on my waist, motioning for me to join in on the slow dance.

“I suppose one dance won’t hurt,” I thought to myself as I followed his movements.

“You are very beautiful Mia,” Zorro leaned in to whisper, “I’m very glad I came tonight.”

“How do you know my name?” I asked curiously trying to hide my blushing cheeks. Besides Jaejoong, A boy has never stood so close to me or whisper in my ear like that. And when Jaejoong did it, it was more like a brother-to-brother whisper, asking me not to rat out that he didn’t do his homework, again.

“My name is Hyunjoong,” he said, not answering my question, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“From who? If it’s Yoochun, you better not believe him,” I added teasingly, guessing that he was Yoochun’s friend since they were talking when we came in, “that boy better not be spreading rumors about me. I still haven’t completely forgiven him for stealing my darling Sherry.”

I joked with a little pout and we both laughed.

“No, no,” he chuckled, “on the contrary, Yoochun said some very nice things about you. Besides, I’ve heard of rumors about you, even in my school: the smart, pretty girl who is good at dancing.”

“Have you heard nothing about me?” He asked with an exaggerated air of narcissism, “The handsome, intelligent and sportive boy who is good at most things he does.”

His teasing and exaggerated tone made me laugh with him once again.

The next hour passed quickly. We danced, ate, talked and laughed until my stomach protested. Hyunjoong was very easygoing and so amiable. I found out that he goes to a school not too far from mine and that he was going to transfer next semester. He is Yoochun’s childhood friend and from what Yoochun told him about our school life, he developed a curiosity towards a girl in Yoochun’s stories, the girl in the rumors at his school, aka, me. 

In the hour we spent together, I laughed the way I hadn’t in such a long time. I probably lost my heartfelt laugh around the same time I found out that Jaejoong liked Yoona. Next to Hyunjoong, I forgot all anxieties towards my unrequited love and my apprehensions. I didn’t have to keep myself in check the way I did when I was with Jaejoong, out of fear that I might do something he disliked. Beside Hyunjoong, I felt like me again.

Hyunjoong and I were chatting animatedly in the sitting area when I saw him, Jaejoong. In a silver suit with a black dress shirt, Jaejoong looked so handsome and dashing that I felt my eyes glued to his figure. He was walking into the dance, probably just arriving, with Jessica on his right arm, just as he told me he would ask her. My previous euphoria from seeing him disappeared, replaced by a sharp pain in the chest. Noticing that my expression dropped, Hyunjoong asked me what was wrong before turning his head in Jaejoong’s direction. Without receiving an answer from me, Hyunjoong stood up and took my hand, leading me into the dance floor once again.

We swayed to the beat of the music. My head was down and my eyes constantly peered over to look at Jaejoong. Every word he spoke to Jessica, every smile, genuine or forced, he showed her seemed to drive deeper the stake stabbing at my heart. It was so painful and I am so tired. Even though I go through all the trouble of dressing myself up, he won’t even spare one glance my way. What do I do to relieve this exhaustion of my feelings?

I was deep in thought when Hyunjoong suddenly called my name.

“Yes,” I replied as a reflex without hearing what he had said.

“I was wondering if you wanted to take a little walk outside,” He asked patiently, “you seem really sad for some reason. Maybe a change of scenery will help a little.”

***

The night air was chilly but strangely serene. Hyunjoong led me outside the hotel through one of the side doors and into a beautiful courtyard. The courtyard was very grand and I guessed that this was where people held weddings during the summer. Now, at the end of October, the tall trees and small shrubs all had gold or crimson leaves that adorned their branches. On the ground, colorful leaves gathered as well. It was now pretty late and the sky had darkened completely. In the clear sky, the moon shone quietly, a brilliant sliver that matched what I wore on my forehead, the symbol of princess Serenity. The view was truly breathtaking.

We stayed in the courtyard for the rest of the night. I didn’t have enough courage to go back to the dance and see Jaejoong not only trying to impress Yoona but as Jessica’s date as well. Hyunjoong and I talked about everything from university application to astronomy to celebrities. It turned out that he was interested in studying business just as I was. And like the keeners we are, we both finished our common applications way before their due date. He had applied early decision to the Wharton School of Business while I only applied to the State University since that was where Jaejoong would go. Then he drove me home. As I was about to leave his car, he turned to face me and looked me in the eye.

“Mia, I really don’t think that you affections should be getting in the way of your future. If you want to pursue a degree in business, why limit yourself to a mediocre school you may or may not like? You should apply to Wharton too. It’s one of the best business schools. Besides, you didn’t apply as an early decision candidate to anywhere yet so you could still apply through ED to Wharton. Anyways, please think about what I said. The ED deadline isn’t until a few days later, so you still have some time to consider what you really want to do,” Hyunjoong said to me in a soothing, paternal voice.

Then, he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek before saying good night.

In my room, I considered his proposition. It wasn’t anything that I hadn’t thought of before: did I really want to spend another four fruitless years in pain watching Jaejoong in the shadows? Hyunjoong was probably right: maybe a change of scenery will help.

That night, I submitted my common application to the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, as an early decision candidate.

******