Taeyeon and the Soldiers were discussing about the Masquerade Ball. It was their first time attending to such events as she gave a short briefing about it.

"So, just make sure to behave yourselves later on. We'll probably follow the events that are planned on tonight's schedule. Any questions?"

Wooyoung raised his hand. "Who planned the events?"

"Yoohwan, of course. He's the official emcee of all occasions."

"Oh..."

"Well, if there aren't anymore questions, go and fix your tuxedos or something. Oh, and Jaebeom. Feel free to mingle around with your new buddies~" Taeyeon stood up and left the gentlemen alone.

"We only have a few more hours to go~" Wooyoung face-palmed himself and sunk in the sofa. The others sighed as well, having no idea of what to do. Nichkhun then jerked up from his seat and looked at his team mates.

"There will be a waltz conducted later on for sure." As he uttered those words, everyone's eyes widened and sighed even harder.

"They'll probably ask us to dance with the opposite gender and stuff. But to think about the waltz, anyone of you know how to dance?" Taecyeon crossed his arms and glanced around him. The others hesitantly shook their heads.

Junho bit his thumb anxiously. "I think we have to practice, NOW."

"But how?" Chansung asked.

"Man, I don't want to get embarrassed in front of Yuri..." Nichkhun accidentally slipped her name from his mouth. The guys's lips curled into a sneaky smile.

"And who said that you're going to dance with her? Hmm?" Wooyoung raised his chin up and nudged him on the shoulder.

Yonghwa stood up and clapped. "Okay guys, let's find Sunny-ssi now."

The Soldiers stood up and headed to Sunny's office.

Sunny heard a knock on her door while she was reading a book.

"Yes, boys?" she flung the door open, shocked to see the Soldiers.

"Can you help us with the waltz?" Yonghwa asked.

Sunny knew what they were thinking, and smiled. "Let's head to my training room then."

-At the Palace, 7pm-

The evening had came. The sun was setting, trees swaying along with the cool breeze and guests parking their luxurious cars near the front gates. Ladies stepped out of their limousines as they wore their glamorous gowns and dresses. Gentlemen wore various tuxedos and looked rather dashing, with their perfectly gelled hair. Both gender wore different masquerade masks to suit the occasion. The servants were promptly greeting and helping the guests at the lobby. There was a red carpet rolled along the staircase at the entrance and led towards the ballroom itself. The ballroom was simply huge and magnificent. The golden chandeliers hanging from above, the white marbled fooring whom you can see one's reflection, the red velvet curtains which suits the tall windows and the tables and chairs clustered into one corner near the stage. The guests settled down onto their seats as Yoohwan fixed his own dark blue suit, preparing himself on the stage.

The Soldiers who were waiting from the second floor, peeked downstairs and witnessed guests chattering away.

"Let's get ready guys!" Wooyoung dashed towards the staircase and waited for Yoohwan's command. For the last time, they fixed their tuxedos and brushed a hand against their styled hair.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the 25th Masquerade Ball Anniversary, and of course it is a special year due to the appearance of our almighty Soldiers once again. Now, let's put our hands together to welcome them. Shall we?" Yoohwan clapped, followed by the applaud of the guests. The Soldiers went down the stairs slowly as they smiled and waved at the guests who gave a warm welcome. The ladies swooned over them since they were much more handsome than before. The Soldiers wore silver masks, making them different from the other gentlemen.

"And of course, we can't miss out our dear Queens of the Solitaire who had fought for us throughout these years. Everyone, please welcome our royal highnesses."

The guests stood up and gave an overwhelming applaud for their Queens. As soon as they saw Taeyeon, Yoohwan and the guests bowed out of respect. The Soldiers kept still as their jaws were about to drop from seeing them. The Queens wore gorgeous gowns and dresses and all of them wore their masks which were in different colors. They stood on the stage, while the Soldiers stood beside it. The guests were bewildered to see a group of good-looking people as if it was their first time.

"Good evening to all of you. It will be a night to remember and I hope that all of you would enjoy yourselves tonight. So, have fun partying all night people~!" Tiffany shouted at the microphone and the guests cheered wildly.

The royal group headed to their own tables and settled down quietly. Yoohwan went back onto the stage and took out a card.

"Alright, let's start the night lively so let's invite our DJ, Simon D up here on stage!"

Simon dashed towards the stage and grabbed the mic from Yoohwan.

"Come on ladies and gentlemen. On your feets up and let's start groovin' on that dance floor!"

Without hesitation, the guests stood up and began to dance crazily while Simon rapped along with the music. Thee Queens joined in as well to brighten up the mood among the crowd. The Soldiers followed behind them and probably started dancing as if they were in a night club. Jay showed off his b-boy dancing skills as he performed a handstand, Junho did a moonwalk that caught some attention with the ladies. Hyoyeon, being the famous dancing queen, broke down on the dance floor dancing with the beat. The others raised their hands up high in the air as Simon rapped.

When the music halted, everyone immediately stopped and confused to see Yoohwan awkwardly standing on the stage.

"That was just a warm-up. Now, I would like all of you to have a partner, to celebrate the Masquerade's Waltz~"

The crowd dispersed to different directions as they looked for their partners. The Soldiers and Queens awkwardly stole glances at each other while standing on the dance floor.

"Good luck with them, guys~" Sunny smiled as she passed by the Soldiers. Jessica, Jay and Sungmin followed behind her.

Yonghwa took the initiative as he bravely approached Seohyun to ask her for the waltz.

"Would you like to dance with me, Seohyun?"

"I would like to~"

Both of them held hands as they walked to one corner.

"May I?" Wooyoung reached out his hand as he asked Taeyeon.

"My pleasure~" she grinned.

Nichkhun, Chansung, Junsu and Junho asked Yuri, Sooyoung, Tiffany and Hyoyeon respectively as they joined Yonghwa, Seohyun, Wooyoung and Taeyeon in one corner.

Yoona looked at the pairs who were ready while Taecyeon anxiously stood beside her.

"Don't you have a partner? A pretty girl like you should be asked for the waltz." he said cheekily.

Yoona turned to face him and smirked. "Nope, why?"

"Then, may I invite you to dance with me your highness?"

"I would love to~"

She took his hand as Taecyeon led her to the middle of the dance floor, garning some attention from the other pairs.

"This is embarrasing! Why did we stand here?!" Yoona blushed when she noticed people looking at them.

"Relax. Just look at me then." he smiled.

She blushed even harder while he chuckled quietly.

3 gentlemen were seen standing on stage, adjusting their own mic.

"They are Jay, Jino and Jonghyun everyone." Yoohwan announced quietly.

*S.M. The Ballad: Hot Times*

The waltz began and the pairs danced along with the soothing music tardily. Jay noticed Jessica staring at the pairs who were dancing and he walked towards her, wanting to ask her for the waltz.

"Hey, want to dance? I can't stand ladies looking sullen."

Jessica hesitated but flashed him a hearty smile. "Thank you~"

Jay felt his heart skip a beat once she smiled at him.

Sunny sat beside Sungmin who was spacing out. "Don't you like to dance?"

He shook his head. "I just don't feel like it. Sorry."

"I wasn't asking you anyway~" Sunny grunted in a childish way, making Sungmin giggle.

Yonghwa carefully spun Seohyun around as he felt himself blushing. Seohyun grinned when she noticed his face as red as a tomato.

Wooyoung kept on focusing on his foot steps since he was afraid that he might step on Taeyeon's foot.

"Stop looking at our feet Wooyoung~"

He looked up, feeling embarrassed. "Sorry, Taeyeon."

"It's alright. You're doing great, so don't be afraid to look at me." Taeyeon winked at him, while he felt shivers running down his spine.

Nichkhun and Yuri were amusingly looking at each other as they smiled. Nichkhun flashed a toothy grin and Yuri almost fainted the moment she looked at him. Chansung and Sooyoung were too shy to look at each other due to the awkward glances from each other. Junho and Hyoyeon were dancing like professionals since both were good at any genre of dancing. Junsu tried to avoid Tiffany's eye-smile since his face might turn red.

The guests were amazed to see the royal highnesses dancing again for the first time in a decade. They were stunned to see them paired up with one Soldier and agreed that each of them were a perfect match. But what caught their attention the most were, Taecyeon and Yoona. They complimented on how beautiful they were and thought as if they were a match-made from heaven.

Admist of the guests whispering about them, Taecyeon and Yoona were the only pair who seemed to be engrossed in their own waltz. Yoona admired how Taecyeon was looking at her with those gentle eyes of his, despite the mask he was wearing. Taecyeon never did avoid Yoona's eyes for once since he was too captivated with her doe-like eyes and pink-rosy lips. He wrapped one arm around her waist, while Yoona placed her hand on his left shoulder. The pairs around them cooed to themselves as the music ended.

The guests cheered and clapped for the pairs who did a fantastic waltz of the night. Yoona was about to head back to her seat, until Taecyeon held her wrist. She looked back at him, with curious eyes.

"Yoona, can we chat for a while? Somewhere quiet?"

She blinked for a while before she gave her response. "Sure...?"

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