"So where is this Jennie girl, Jisoo?" 

Seulgi poked Jisoo on the arm as she and Irene stood behind the second princess. The ball had started since a quarter hour ago or so, and Jennie still had not shown up. It was not like Jisoo cared; well, she did care actually, but what bothered her the most was that her sister and sister in law kept asking her about the Martian. 

"I don't know, maybe she is scared to ruin her image because she cannot dance. So she ran away?" Jisoo then took a small sip of her syrup.

"Aren't you being too cold to her? You know she is not here because she wants to either" Her sister answered. "Although I have a feeling she wants to"

"I don't care, it doesn't really matter. I am marrying her anyway" 

Seulgi and Irene left her in silence after that. Jisoo took another sip from her glass while she scanned the room for the nth time after the party began. Was Jennie really annoyed by her? 

The sight of a girl with chubby cheeks got her attention then, and Jisoo widened her eyes right away. Jennie finally arrived. She was clad in a short, black dress. It was a bare-chest and sleeveless one, so Jisoo could see her milky shoulders and... cleavage. Her eyes went down and she was welcomed to Jennie's healthy thighs. The Venusian involuntarily had to swallow her saliva. 

Jennie found her orbs then, and immediately smiled at her before walking to her direction. 

"You were late" Jisoo said while throwing a deadly glare at the other girl. 

"Sorry. I was trying my best to find the right dress for tonight. I cannot taint my kingdom's image" The Martian replied. "Moreover, I had some trouble finding my way here. I thought I should go with you" 

The statement worsened the guilt in Jisoo's heart. "You should have told me so maybe I could have asked one of the maids to go with you or... Or so that I could have walked with you"

"It is okay. I am here already anyway" Jennie smiled again. "You look gorgeous tonight" 

Jennie observed as Jisoo's pinkish cheeks turned a shade darker. She was not lying though. The Venusian looked even more ethereal in the rose-gold gown that revealed her smooth chest. The single straps on each of her shoulders did a great job in decorating her skin. 

Irene and her wife coud only chuckle as they watched the two younger girls in awkward silence, each getting starstrucked by the other. Seulgi initiated to step forward and reach out her hand. 

"Hello, I am Seulgi, Jisoo's sister in law" 

"Oh, hello. Nice to meet you" Jennie gave her a firm handshake and a confident smile. "I heard from some people that you are from Jupiter?"

"Yes, I am. I believe your mother, The Queen of Mars, has been there before. Have you?"

"I don't really remember the details, but I could recall being there when I was a toddler" 

"Nice" 

Their conversation was cut off by the music that started playing. Jennie turned her head and, in the corner of the hall, spotted a group of violinist, harpist and flutist. A few seconds later the crowd around them began stepping into the middle of the large room, splitting into pairs before they began dancing. 

"Should we?"

Jennie and Jisoo heard Seulgi from behind, and soon the tall Jovian had stepped into the dance floor with Irene in her company. For a few minutes or so the younger couple stayed behind, not moving a single inch as they watched people swing here and there and the lights that warmed up the romantic vibe of the occasion. 

Jennie looked at her right side and caught the sight of a nervous Jisoo. She smiled before bringing herself before the Venusian's second princess. Her left hand was bent to behind her back and her right hand reached out gently forward. 

"Should we?" 

Jisoo gave the Martian a hesitating gaze for a split second, but accepted the hand offered to her at last. Slowly Jennie led their way to locate an empty spot for them. When they finally discovered one, Jennie stopped and let go of her hands. She turned around and flashed a smile. 

Jennie's left arm sneaked to linger around Jisoo's waist. Her other hand then seeked to find Jisoo's other hand, and the fact that their fingers intertwined so smoothly amused the Venusian. Jennie locked their eyes, staring intensely as she began swinging Jisoo left and right in slow, small steps. 

"Hey, you're not that bad" 

Jennie whispered, and she was soon replied with a glare from her companion. 

"I told you I am not that bad" Jisoo said. 

However, it did not take one minute for Jennie to feel a sudden sting on her toes.

"Ouch!" She tried her best to mute her scream, but then she felt several stabs on her feet. "Ow! Ow! Didn't you just say you are not that bad?"

Jisoo halted their movements at once and put a distance between them. "I didn't step on your feet okay? You were stepping the wrong way!"

"How could I be wrong when I was literally leading the moves all the time?" The Martian frowned. "Don't tell me you did it on purpose"

Jisoo's eyes increased in size and her nostrils enlarged slightly. "How dare you accuse me!? I didn't want to ruin the party in front of my mother just so that I could hurt you!"

Getting no response from Jennie, Jisoo showed her back to the other girl and clenched her fists. "If you find me a bad partner to dance with, then go find a better one and a better fiancé too! I don't want to do this anyway"

She had not even made a single motion when she felt Jennie grab her by the wrist. She felt the pull that managed to make her turn around. Jennie fixed her eyes on her; the level of boldness that Jennie delivered through those orbs almost made Jisoo melt right on the spot. 

"If you really don't want us to get married, then at least let's do this as friends first" Jennie spoke calmly. "You don't have to force everything at once. Let's just do it slowly, just like this dance" 

Jisoo's expression still had not brightened up, but she let Jennie take her hand and wrap her waist one more time. The two then came back to swinging slowly, without words exchanged. Jisoo kept her stare at her feet, mainly for two reasons: first, she did not want to accidentally hurt Jennie again and, second, every time she looked up she would find Jennie's gentle gaze and she was too afraid to fall for it. 

Trying to distract herself, Jisoo flew her stare to the rest of the hall. People were still into the dance and the music. From afar she could locate her sister and Seulgi; they were no longer dancing, but were talking to her mother and Artemis. She moved her eyeballs a bit to the left where she found the troops guarding the hall gate in full alertness. 

"This is weird" She talked to herself. "On events like this, even the troops are normally a bit more laid back. They do not even stand by the gate all the time and also even drink around" 
She started counting the number of the troops that were there. For some reasons she just felt like there were more of them than usual. 

...Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen...

"So, do you mind telling me more about yourself rather than keeping the silence all the time like this?"

Jennie's sudden inquiry ruined her counting. Jisoo finally dared herself to look at the Martian's eyes again. 

"You ask me and I'll answer" 

Jennie rolled her eyes. "When was the last time you laughed so hard?" 

"That is the question?" 

"Yes. Why?"

"No, it's just... Every time people do this with me, they would ask things like, favorite color, favorite food... Simple stuffs" 

"Well then I am different from most people" Jennie's lips turned up crookedly. "So, when was it?"

"A week ago, before you arrived here. I challenged one of the maids to put a chicken meat on her head and walk without dropping it. She was actually succeeding at it when my mother came. She got shocked and dropped the food, but managed to catch it before my mother saw it. She pretended to eat the chicken with her bare hands then! She looked so awkward that I couldn't stop laughing!"

Before she even realized it, Jisoo had let out a set of laughter. Jennie swore she wanted to stop the time, just so that she could witness the prettiest smile she had ever seen all over again. Noticing that the Martian was watching closely, Jisoo stopped laughing, and looked down in embarassment. 

"That was hilarious. I can see that you are the energy pill of the whole Kingdom" Jennie commented. "Your turn to ask me something"

"Hmm... I will just copy yours. When was the last time you laughed so hard?"

"Are you sure you are going to ask that?"

"Yes, well... I can't really think of anything else now"

"It's okay actually. It's just that... The answer to that will be 'I don't remember'" 

"Oh c'mon, you are just too lazy to recall! A week ago? Two weeks ago?"

"No, Jisoo. I really don't remember" Jennie threw a weak smile. 

"Perhaps the last time there was a party or a ball in your Kingdom? Something like that?"

"I don't think so. We only hold parties and balls for official celebrations, such as when the Kingdom finally establishes a cooperation with another planets. Even then, we simply just talk about formal things during the occasions"

The short explanation put Jisoo into a long silence. The Venusian pondered as she unconsciously fixed her gaze at Jennie's eyes. What kind of planet did Jennie live in, that she did not even remember the last time she laughed? Venusians would probably do once a week, minimally. Besides, what kind of parties and balls only talked about serious things? 

"...Which is probably why I am not good at making jokes or entertaining people, because I have never been in a situation where I have to. I must have bored you or annoyed you to death every time we talk" Jennie continued, chuckling at herself. 

The Venusian broke the eye contact again. She could not really admit that she was in fact drawn into the  other girl's mysterious side, nor could she explain why. "No, not really. I'm sorry too if I always come out mean to you. And you know... I am not always as playful or childish as you may see it"

"Sure, I believe that" Jennie made a playful smile. 

"I know you won't believe me, but I read thought-provoking books and like philosophical study" Jisoo snorted. "I will prove it to you someday" 

"Okay, fine, I believe you, really. Can I get my turn to ask now?"

"Yeah, sure"

"Which part of the Kingdom you like the most and why?"

"Hmm" Jisoo's eyes rolled up. "I think I like the gardens the most. You probably know why" 

"Because of the trees?"

"Yes! I love the flowers as well, but looking at tree always amazes me. Because they are-"

All of a sudden, they could not see each other's face. The colorful lights that filled the room had been replaced by absolute darkness. Soon, gasps and panic whispers were heard all over the hall. 

"What happened?"  Jisoo heard Jennie's voice, and had tigthened her grip on Jennie's hand without realizing it. 

"Five troops on the left side and five on the right side of the gate, stay on your position! Don't let anyone walk in! The other twenty, spread to all over the hall and guard every side!" Artemis' instructions filled the room. 

"Somebody, bring the torches!" Jisoo heard her mother shout after that. 

Jennie and Jisoo were both aware that their fingers were still intertwined, but none focused on that as they observed their dark surrounding. The crowd still made worried sounds and whispers here and there, but most stayed still and calm on their spot. 

In a matter of seconds, all those changed when they heard sound like arrows being shot. Somebody on the other side of the hall then screamed in pain. Jennie turned her head around, and it dawned on her that arrows were being fired with no clear targets. It was obvious that they could injure just anybody present in the room. 

More and more people screamed. Jisoo made a grunt as someone bumped onto her. The crowd had begun running in no direction, not caring if they stepped on each other. 

"Jisoo! Where is Princess Jisoo!?" 

Queen Sandara yelled again. It was quite hopeless to be able to hear any response from her daughter in the midst of people's shouts and the arrows hitting the guards' shields in front of her. Soon after that, some of the guards had brought her a torch making her face visible. 

"Jisoo, we need to go!" 

Jennie whispered loudly to the Venusian. Not even caring if Jisoo agreed, Jennie pulled her hand right away and started to run. Thanks to some of the torches that had been brought into the room, she could at least see the wall and pillars. She lost count of the number of people she bumped onto, but the only thing she cared about at that moment was to bring Jisoo to her family or the troops. She cursed herself for not coming with her sword or any weapon, but again, who would expect that somebody would be so cruel to ruin a ball like this? 

She widened her eyes at once when she saw an arrow flying towards her head, ready to make her brain bleed. Thanks to all the years of training she had had, her reflex was undoubtedly fast. 

"Jisoo, crouch down!"

The Venusian heard her, and, not losing to her in terms of speed, obeyed right away. She ducked and waited for Jennie to give her the next instruction. 

"Ah!" 

Instead of an instruction, she heard Jennie make a painful scream instead. 

"Jennie!?" She crept closer towards the girl. "Jennie, you alright!?"

Jennie had not given her the answer when suddenly all the arrows vanished as quick as they appeared. Jisoo watched the surrounding as more and more lights were brought in, and soon it was almost as bright as the beginning of the ball. 

"Jisoo!" The Queen found her at last. Seulgi and Irene were following behind, and worry did not escape each of their face. 

"Jisoo, are you alright!?" Her mother inquired. "Where is Jennie!?"

"I am fine, mom. Jennie is here" 

Jisoo walked closer to the Martian again. She was about to help the struggling Jennie to stand up when she noticed something wrong. A small pool of red liquid had formed on the ground where Jennie had just crouched on. The Venusian's eyes went to Jennie's right arm and found a long, deep cut. It was still so fresh that blood was still gushing out from it. Jisoo widened her eyes and mouth. 

"J- Jennie..." 

 

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Sending my gratitude to those who have left a comment. I hope you will continue giving this fic some support through comments because you have no idea how much they motivate me. Gamsa :)