Chapter 19

This is the closest representation of Seo-Yun's white dress, which I have in mind. 
(And no, Seo-Yun is not Taylor Swift xD)

“Are you sure about this?” I mumbled as Unnie fussed over my hair.

“Of course!” She slapped my hair away when I tried to touch the messy bun. “Who do you think I am?” She smiled and twirled my straying hair locks. “Perfect!”

I looked at her hesitantly before getting up and walked to the full length mirror.

“This is a bit revealing.....” I tried to pull up my dress hem when my sister slapped my hand away.

“It’s fine the way it is!” She protested and forced me to look at my own reflection. “Look! Whoever has chosen this dress has great taste!” Staring at my sister’s soft lavender gown that flared out subtly around her knee length, making her looked so elegant and graceful, I couldn’t agree more.

I smiled as my eyes followed to a mirror image staring back at me. My smile faltered as my lips parted slightly in surprise.

I could hardly believe that the person staring back at me.....

...is me.

“Come on…” Unnie tugged me away from the mirror. “We are going to be late!”

“Just one moment!” I grabbed hold of my phone to check my message.

My heart slumped in disappointment when I saw that none of the new message was from Taemin. It has been two weeks since I last messaged him to tell him I couldn’t attend Kibum’s birthday celebration. But there has been no reply back.

Is he mad?

“Don’t worry!” I looked up to see Unnie giving me an assuring smile. “It will all work out fine.”

"Fine?"

Ignoring my questioning look, she pulled me again. “Better get going!”

**********

Our family was chaffered in two cars. Unnie and I were chaffered by Uncle Lee, our daily chauffeur. As the car slowed to a stop, he turned around to pass us two hand-sized golden cards, elegantly decorated with beautiful handwritings. My eyes peered at the name written at the bottom. Hwon….it can’t be another weird coincidence right?

But I couldn’t focus on the question as Unnie ushered me out of the car. The first thing that greeted my sight sent my heart thumping and my breath away. In front of us was a long roll of red carpet, leading up to a beautiful white arch gateway, manned by tall men dressed in black tailored suits.

“Your invitations please.”

One man held out his white gloved hand towards me. I passed the card over and in return, he gave me a white Venetian stick mask, decorated with beautiful gold linings.

I looked up in surprised.

“It’s a Venetian-themed party, Miss” He simply replied.

“Let’s go!” My Unnie grinned and took my hands, her face now half covered by a deep purpled cat mask. I raised the mask to my face and started walking in.

The red carpet continued to a hallway that had large oak doors at the end. Upon nearing it, the doors automatically swung open, revealing an impressive grand ballroom filled with hundreds of well-dressed gentlemen and ladies wearing Venetian masks of all kinds.

Watching as these beautifully-dressed crowd walked around the huge balllroom, the first thought that ran through my head was that I do not belong in this type of world.

Yes, we are rather well-off and my father held high ranking position in one of the richest conglomerate in Korea.

But these people here…they probably held chaebol statuses with wealth that far exceeded what my family owed. 

And besides, I have never shared any similar manners or interests with them. So how could I blend in?

I wanted to look at my Unnie for some help to handle this crowd of rich strangers. But she has already left my side, comfortably chatting with a gentleman who had approached her.

I sighed and made my way into the crowd, hoping to will time away by admiring the ballroom’s extraordinary architectures. Classical music was played live by a group of orchestral at the corner but it was overshadowed by chattering of people who took no interest in them.

I swirled the glass of untouched red wine in my hand just to keep up with the pretense as I observed my surroundings.

The ladies were all carefully dressed into perfect goddesses, weaving through the crowd, actively seeking conversations with several men, as if they were trying to find one particular person.

I smiled. Were they trying to seek for the leading actor and most eligible bachelor of this party, Hwon?

The men, I noticed, were more than welcome to the random attention thrown on them. Who could exactly blame them? It’s not every day to find a ballroom full of chaebol goddess.

I wanted to laugh out at this strange world I was monetarily trapped in, but I held it in. 

I felt the glances from other men and I kept my eyes on my wine glass. Meeting their eyes would be akin to an invitation over, something that I would dread terribly.

I walked away, trying to position myself in a more secluded spot where I can just enjoy my observations. But a commotion was fast rising up within the ballroom. Like everyone else, I turned my head to the source and found my eyes landed on a group of women, who were surrounding a tall masked man with bright blond hair.

“Are you seriously Hwon? Lee Hwon?” One lady giggled as he placed an arm around her bare shoulders.

“Of course!” Hwon declared quite loudly. “Didn’t you hear that I was away in the States for a couple of years? That’s why I dyed my hair blond!”

The small group started laughing along with him.

“What nonsense.” I muttered to myself, trying hard not to roll my eyes at the ridiculous scene.

“Tell me about it.” A voice quipped next to me, almost causing me to drop my glass in surprise.

I snapped my head to the right and looked up to see a tall man donned in a smart tuxedo suit, his smiling face half hidden by his black-golden mask. “Hi.”

I recomposed myself and forced out a slight smile. “Hi.”

Meanwhile, my mind was hurling thousands of words, trying to make up a sentence to excuse myself.

“You can tell that man is not Hwon?” Mysterious tuxedo man continued talking to me, his finger pointing towards fake ‘Hwon’.

Seeing that he was not going to let me have a chance to escape, I gave up and answered him truthfully. “Of course. If Young Master Hwon has decided to set up his welcome party in Venetian style in the first place, he wouldn’t be standing there right now and declare his identity out to everyone. That will be a waste of his earlier efforts, won’t it?”

The man nodded. “Very perceptive. But you’re not entirely right either.”

 I looked curiously at his smiling face.

“That idea was thought up by his parents.” He said with a shrug. “I heard that they held this welcome party as a way to find a potential suitor for him. The Venetian mask was so that he could walk around freely and chat to anyone without having girls simply hoarding onto him for his wealth and fame….” He jabbed his thumb towards the small group. “like that  guy over that.”

His eyes twinkle, as if he was finding amusement with the situation. Unable to stand it any longer, I started chuckling, almost causing the red wine to slosh out of my glass. When I finally stopped, I realized I have committed a grave error of attracting the surrounding’s attention, particularly that fake ‘Hwon’s”.

“Well, well, what joke were you listening to? For you to laugh so sweetly?”  Fake 'Hwon' turned towards me and started approaching closer, while I silently cringed at his choice of words.

Each time fake ‘Hwon’ took a step closer, my heart was screaming at him to get away. The smile on his face, however, only got wider and wider with each subsequent steps.

“As you may have know, I’m Hwon.” He gave a slight bow when he stood before me.

I forced a smile on my face, hoping it didn’t come off as too fake. The black-golden masked man beside me simply chuckled, as if my plight has increased his amusement.

“May I have the delight of knowing such a beauty’s name?” He continued, his hand held out before me, an indication for me to place my hand on his.

Behind him, the group of pretty goddess looked as if they have turned into a group of lioness, ready to eat me up right now. 

I took a deep breath as I mentally groaned at my circumstances. I thought I have been deft and nimble in avoiding bullets in this ballroom, but who in the world would have thought that my dodging have landed me right in front of a firing cannon?

I ignored both his question and his held out hand. Instead, I responded his gesture by rising up my glass wine, hoping he could take my subtle hint of ‘no interest’ and walked away.

However, his face immediately turned dark and he took a step forward and grabbed my raised up hand.

Surprised by his action, my body could not react as he pulled me forward.....

But a steady arm encircled my waist and stopped me from falling into fake ‘Hwon’s’ embrace.

I turned my head to face Mysterious tuxedo man, who was still smiling, but the smile on his face was not as cheerful as it was before.

In fact, his smile almost seems to emit a dangerous aura.

He gently pulled me back to my standing feet and looked at me for a while. I nodded my head slightly to indicate I was fine and his usual smile reappeared.

“What is this?” Fake Hwon’s voice was almost trembling in anger. “Don’t you know who I am?”

Mysterious Tuxedo man finally faced him properly. “Of course I do.” With that, he swiftly took the glass of red wine from my hand and poured the entire content over fake ‘Hwon’s’ head.

“You’re a shameless imposter.”

Everyone, including me was flabbergasted, as we watched the red liquid trailed down, coloring his blond hair into a weird color and then dripped on his white suit, staining his outfit with patches of red.

“What are you doing!” Fake Hwon shrieked and the classical music in the room stopped abruptly. “How dare you do this to me? Don’t you know how expensive this hair style and suit are? Now you ruined my hair color!”

No one dared to speak.

The ballroom fell into tense silence as everyone watched with abated breath. As for me, I was trying hard not to smile at the funny state of the angry man.

Beside me, Mysterious Tuxedo Man still remained nonchalant about his outburst and calmly set the empty glass on a nearby table.

“I know Hwon enough to know that his tastes wouldn’t be so awful as to have that kind of hairstyle and hair color. Even your choice in clothes is tasteless.” He smiled and the blond hair man visibly stiffened upon his words.

Everyone started mumbling again while the imposter’s face got redder and redder by the second.

“Y-You!” He raised his fist towards Mysterious Tuxedo Man, and I gasped, horrified by what he was about to do. But before his fist could even come near the latter’s face, several arms pulled him back.

In a few moments, the handful of bodyguards had pulled him away from the ballroom venue.

In the next moment, classical music started filling my ears once more.

I blinked my eyes in a daze, unable to get accustomed to the rapid change of events. I couldn’t believe how much of a commotion I have just caused.

When I finally snapped out of my daze, I realized I was no longer in the ball room but in a dimly light outdoor garden, with Mysterious tuxedo man walking in front of me as he pulled me along by the wrist.

“H-how did you know he’s not Hwon?” My mouth automatically said out the first question in my mind.

He turned around and grinned, then lifted his black-golden mask down.

I could only gasp when I see that familiar cheeky face.

“Hwon!” I exclaimed in surprised.

He stared at my jaw-slacked expression and grinned winder. “Told you we will see each other again.”

I set down my Venetian stick mask. "How did you know it's me?"

He took a glance at me and smirked. "Even if you turned to dust, I will still recognize you."

Hwon led me into an amazing white gazebo and sat me down while he took a step back to examine me seriosuly.

“Perfect.” He commented, while nodding his head.

“What perfect?” I rubbed my arm, feeling conscious of his stare.

He smiled. “You.”

I looked away immediately, hiding my eyes as my heart thumped hard at his word.

He sat beside me.“I do have good taste. This dress looks as if it was made for you.”

I looked back at him in astonishment, the jumbled pieces of events now clicking into place.

“You’re the one who sent all these outfits to my family? Why…why are you doing all these?”

Despite the darkness, his eyes seemed to burn into mine. “Because…….” He left the word hanging as if he was trying to find an appropriate answer. But he simply smiled and continued no longer. A peaceful silence fell upon us as we watched each other intently.

“Can I ask you something?” I spoke softly, still hesitant of my actions.

He nodded his head, all the while; his expression was wistful, pleading,

“Why.....” I stopped briefly to summon up my courage. “why did you call me Yeon Woo?”

His eyes invariably widened before he relaxed. “Why are you asking me that?” But the look in his eyes remained cautious.

“You told me before....that I looked like someone you know....is it her?”

He nodded slowly. From the corner of my eyes, I could see his fists clenched tightly. I wondered whether I should continue with my questions because I felt like I was treading on unknown water.

Half of me wanted to take the first step, to finally erase some of these persistent questions that have been in my head for God’s know how long. 

But my other half feared to take the first step, fearing that once I step in, I might sink into a depth where I cannot resurface ever again.

So in my entire hesitance, I was stuttering the question out.

“I-I’m asking be-because…I have been having this weird dream about me being Yeon-Woo and I have a servant called Woon and…..”

Hwon suddenly grabbed me by the arms and his eyes met mine, a crazed desperation look swirled within his black orbs.

“Have you remembered?”

I sat still, more frightened of him than I had ever been.

The crazed look in his eyes slowly dulled and his expression turned tranquil.

“I’m sorry….” He let go of his hold on me and faced away. “I…” He looked at me with soft, repentant eyes.  “So don’t be afraid of me. I promise….I will never let anything hurt you.”

Seeing his sad eyes....hearing his soft whisper...a sudden strange sadness poured into me.

I do not understand why I was feeling such tender pain for the man before me. But there was a feeling growing strongly in my heart, a feeling that wants to ease whatever pain this man had locked up deep within his soul.

I reached for his clenched fist and gently pried his fingers to relax his hold. “Why should you apologize?”

I stared at his large hand against mine. “I should be the one to do that. Thinking back, I have been acting so horrible to you, thinking you’re an annoying person. But all this while....I realized you have been helping me in your own ways.”

I looked up and smiled at him. “So thank you.”

His answering smile was dazzling. “You’re welcome.” His lips parted to say more but a voice cuts the quiet ambiance.

 “Seo-Yun!”

This voice…!

I couldn’t believe my ears. I let go of Hwon’s hand immeidately and stood up.

In front of me, under the dim moonlight stood a masked man, dressed in a black Tuxedo, his black hair looked messy and tousled as if he had been running.

It was a completely different image but....

It’s almost funny how easily I could recognize him instantly, this man standing before me....

“Min!”

#Author's Note

*chaebol means large, conglomerate family-controlled firms of South Korea. That means those people in the ballroom are the future owners of big big companies. (o_o)

Do anyone enjoys this chapter? I acutally have quite a bit of fun writing this up, because I was imaging the ballroom setting, the elegant crowd, the music and the cheeky Hwon who comes to save Seo-Yun....that part sent me squealing at my own works. LOL.

Maybe you readers might bit slightly disappointed by the lack of Taemin in here, but don't worry, he will have plenty plenty of appearances! Kekeke...I don't want to reveal much because I haven't  written them down yet. But it will have stars and dance!

Are you curious? Kekekekeeke.

Oh I'm curious yeah!