The place (or palace-like hotel) Suho parked his darker than Satan’s soul Mercedes Benz in was clearly close to where Suho’s house resided. The area in itself was high class. Nice roof houses, large buildings with back and front yards, with canopies and other luxurious settings Mina would take too much time naming. She had passed through this hotel before whenever she and the boys were heading to Suho’s house a lot of times, but she never really stopped so close to grasp everything about it.

Now that she was, with Suho standing beside her; waiting for her to collect her jaw from the floor, she realized it was amazing.

“Woah, this place is actually real?” She murmured breathlessly, her chest suddenly stopping moving upwards and downwards, which meant she truly was holding her breath. Her eyes, Suho noticed, were glinting with a not-so-foreign flash of light that always ignited her brown iris whenever she was seeing a nice structure. Knowing she was both a mathematician and an artist meant she appreciated art when she saw it, art in the form of massive houses and buildings. 

“What’s wrong with it?” Suho found himself asking, even though he absolutely knew what that reaction of hers meant. He took a step closer to her and in the chilly air of the night, his werewolf warmth was highly appreciated, especially when she was wearing a revealing dress. 

“It’s beautiful, Suho.” She rolled her eyes, momentarily forgetting that she was with her crush. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it!”

“I’ve seen better.” He mumbled uninterestedly, walking away from her towards the main gates of the building. Meanwhile she was gaping at him instead of the building, wondering just how he wasn’t able to see the beautiful design she was seeing. Shaking her head at her thoughts, she followed behind him

Suho, who noticed her warm temperature right beside him, and the musky scent that always seemed to follow her; extended his arm towards her without sparing her a stare, knowing she was paying attention to him enough.

“Slip your arm through mine.”

She did so without much protest; wrapping her soft arm around his and feeling the bulging, yet gentle muscles adorning his arm. Her fingers grazed biceps, and whether she was aware of what she was doing or not; the gesture electrocuted his body, and soon the spot she was touching was set aflame. He took a deep calming breath, making sure she wasn’t paying attention to the rapid descent of his chest.

 “I have to warn you beforehand that I’ll be called forward to give a speech about the importance of this party, for it is thrown in my honor.” 

Mina realized that while he was talking, his words lacked the aggressive passion she always found in his eyes whenever he talked about his company, and she knew instantly that he didn’t like giving speeches. The thought brought a smile to her face. Knowing his likes and dislikes was oddly entertaining. 

She peered up at him through her lashes, and while she didn’t want to appear adorable on purpose, Suho still found her cute. “Do I have to stay with you through it?”

“You’ll be a few steps backwards with the other companions of the funding companies, don’t worry.” Suho shook his head lightly, and a sneaky brown lock of hair fell on his eyes. He crossed his eyes, eyeing it with exasperation, and it was Mina’s time to find him delightfully cute. “You won’t have to stay right beside me.”

“Just so you know,” she started, murmuring softly and drawing small patterns on his bicep. Suho was certain she was aware of what she was doing this time, and he secretly liked the fireworks her gesture created in his arm. “I wouldn’t mind standing right beside you at the podium while you say your sappy, winning speech.”

She smiled tenderly when she noticed him fighting on a smile, giving the man standing behind the counter, past the gates; a professional nod, before dragging her towards a small steps of stair, until they were once again facing large, red double doors. Before he got to open them, or acknowledge the guards standing on each side; he turned to give her a small smile, the sides of his eyes crinkling at it, his white, gorgeous teeth showing on full display; and while her heart fell down to the pits of her stomach, his rocketed high to his throat.

“.. I know.”

His tone of voice was trusting, honest, and Mina’s smile turned bashful, shy, her head registering the fact her crush was giving her a smile he rarely showed.

A guard came to Suho’s side and Suho said something to him she didn’t understand, for she was busy trying to straighten herself, regularizing her heartbeats, and forcing the blush in her cheeks away. The guard nodded respectfully, and then went to his desk. The guard was a puff, muscled guy, and he owned a mop of hair as dark as midnight. He would have been handsome in Mina’s eyes, but he was too big and she was too tiny. It wouldn’t work out.

The guard lowered his head towards the desk and announced the arrival of CEO Kim through his microphone, and the gates were opened immediately after that. Mina’s heartbeats started to race again, and unconsciously, she squeezed Suho’s arm tightly, taking deep breaths in and out. 

Suho gave her a reassuring look, as far as a reassuring look can get, and walked forward, her legs in tow. The minute her feet connected with the lush; black carpet of the giant hall the ball is held in, past the red gates, she was attacked by the sight of elegance and finery. Her eyes slightly rounded and she ticked her head everywhere, taking glimpses of every single person around, whom were all staring at both her and Suho, since they were announced to come inside. Mina’s throat was then constricted, and the feeling of being claustrophobic dawned on her again, despite the large hall and the little to nothing crowd that fitted it. Thankfully though, the feeling was gone as soon as it came by Suho’s nod, which broke everyone else of their reverie, and made them look away with dazzling smiles. 

Suho led her further inside, and she allowed her legs to follow him, avoiding the piercing stares from everyone that followed them, wondering mostly about the lady their CEO had brought with him. 

“What the , this place just got better.” She found herself harshly whisper in Suho’s ear, eyeing the buffet a few meters away, holding every type of food she could ever dream of, along with a giant six stories cake with red frosting. She could imagine what it would taste like and she salivated. 

“What did I say about the language?” Suho whispered back, much softer than her tone; while smiling a pleasant, diplomatic smile towards a bunch of people who bowed at him while passing them by. 

“Right, right, act like a pompous lady.” Mina was harshly urging herself not to roll her eyes and maintain an equally pleasant smile as his.

“Will you be referring to all these wealthy ladies as that?” Suho whispered again, nodding at a giggling girl with her parents, who seemed to be younger than Mina by five whole years. “Because I don’t think either of us would appreciate it.”

“..Oops?” She mumbled through a smile. 

“Just refrain from acting with too much comfort in here.” Suho continued to whisper and she realized she was being scolded, again. “It’s a little different than the parties you go to, it has its own theme and its own formality. If you think you wouldn’t be able to withstand saying something sarcastic or.. funny, turn around and leave the scene with an apologetic nod. Once they all know you’ve came here with me, they’d excuse you right away easily.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

“Don’t do that too. You know what, don’t do anything; just smile and nod.”

She did just that, nodding and smiling throughout the entire two hours Suho was being greeted by people he knew, introducing her to them and telling them a little about her since apparently, it was surprising everyone that he appeared with a date. Mina, although burning with question, didn’t ask him about it. Was she really the first girl he was seen with? Usually, she’d know about everyone’s love life, crushes, and the dates they take everywhere; but it seemed that Suho didn’t invest in that at all. She didn’t speak anything of that matter, concentrating more on the fact everyone in this ballroom wanted to talk to Suho, or even breathe in the same space. It was weird how everyone respected him, despite being younger than half the guests. By the twentieth three business man, she was already forgetting about his love life and focusing more on how draining everything was, even when she didn’t say much.

“Does this not bore you to death?” She asked, the minute Suho finished greeting another one.

“All the time.” She was a little taken aback by Suho’s sigh of irritation. “But being a successful CEO in the young age of twenty six, it is expected of you to act in a certain way.”

“Don’t you ever want to quit?” She furrowed her eyebrows wondrously.

“Why would you ever think like that?” He paused to gauge her reaction, a frown of his own adorning his face, even though he understood where she was coming from. “Sure, it gets too boring, too mainstream, and it is an industry that needs intelligence and a constant open eye. Sometimes, it is difficult to maintain such hard work all the time. But this company is my dad and mom’s hard work, the least I can do is look after it when they no longer can. And, really, I like doing it. It gives a purpose in my life aside the pack.”

Now these words of his were filled with passion, the passion she was accustomed to seeing in Suho’s eyes whenever he talked about something he loved, something like the company.

“I mean, sure,” Suho continued with another bow of respect towards an elderly. “Such large business changes a person’s mentality, personality, likes and dislikes. I feel like I’ve changed into a different person ever since I got the company. The Alpha’s awakening in me was also a huge part of making me the person I am today, boring, as you say. But I don’t really think I can be someone else if I’m not Suho.”

Mina understood where Suho was coming from, she really did; but that wasn’t important, not at the moment (at least in her head it wasn’t) because he sounded and looked like a character from a Manga, a character fiercely in love with their work, their hobby, or something silly like a jar of sticks, what it mattered was that there was clear, coherent flashes of fireworks in his eyes; and his body was relaxed, happy to talk about his company just as much as she was happy to talk about sculpting things. It was fascinating. Did she sound like the way he sounded when she talked about being an architect? Sure, she doesn’t talk much about it, and she believes that she doesn’t look like she enjoyed talking about it. But did she really? Did she look so in love while talking about it without her realizing?

“What?” She heard Suho ask, bringing her out of the voiceless thoughts swarming her head.

“..Nothing.. That’s..” She shook her head. “I understand, I think. I’ve never known you think like this about the company and ..about everything else that happened to you so far.”

“I know what you mean.” He did sound like he knew exactly what she meant, and knowing him; she was sure he truly did. “I haven’t exactly been the most open person about my feelings the past two years, and my change of character just.. popped down on me. You and the pack never had the chance to ask about it and I never had the chance to explain it.”

She was once again being swallowed by the infinite loop that is Kim Junmyeon, and she gaped at him, eyes twinkling with fascination, adoration, and respect. Before being her Suho, the man she was crushing on, or the Junmyeon she was best friends with once; he was the CEO of a large furniture company. Suho was, at this point, eyeing his surroundings with impassiveness, the tings of passion clearly wiped away. His eyes caught on to something, and with a small tug to her arm, he pulled Mina away. 

“Come, lets get you some wine. Red or white?”

“Mostly, I’d go for red wine because it’s stronger, but we are in a formal ball and white wine is softer. I need to be in my calmest phases.” Of course she said so to impress him, she was an idiot when it came to Suho, and it always seemed to work because he too, was secretly oblivious when it came to her. 

“Atta girl. That’s the spirit.”

“I didn’t know you say such phrases.” She grinned, stretching widely – and ugly-ly, she was sure, she turns hideous whenever she is with Suho so she doesn’t try to stop it anymore – she clung herself closer to him, taking from his somewhat neutral body warmth, and she wondered if the boys secretly could control their body heat like how Suho was suddenly a tolerable hot instead of lava hot. 

“My mom uses them a lot, don’t mind it much.” He shared, not smiling; but his eyes were soft and his pupils were shaking with tenderness; which meant it was as far as it could get to a smile. She would take that any time. 

They stopped in front of a fancy bar with elegantly dressed bartenders, whom resembled waitresses more than bartenders, which was understandable considering how high-standard this ball was. 

“.. here you go. White wine at its finest.” Suho handed her the same glass the waitress/bartender gave him, and she took a generous sip from the glass using her free arm, squeezing Suho’s arm in the process. 

“Thank yo—“

“Junmyeon-shi?” 

The both of them turned backwards to catch the feminine voice’s owner that called Suho, and like all of those cliché fanfictions, there stood a girl five inches more taller than Mina, wearing a gorgeous green chiffon dress that hugged her curves in all the right places to her feet, where it then puffed into extra layers of fabric, sweeping the floor behind her. Mina’s eyes widened at her beauty. The girl was clearly older than her by five years, and suddenly she was the giggling girl that was five years younger than herself and wishing for Suho’s attention. 

“I thought I recognized your back,” the girl mumbled softly, shooting the older boy a tender smile. Mina realized the girl, whoever she was, had those fangs-like teeth, like Baekhyun’s teeth, and her smile was sultry, y, and entirely too beautiful, Mina couldn’t dare to disagree. She looked way too mature, like Suho’s level mature, and she had the body of a woman, not a twenty one year old junior of college girl’s body. Her skin was also enticingly bronze, unlike all Asians, and her eyes were wider, which meant she has a mixed blood; unlike Mina whose blood was pure Korean—

‘Hold on a second,’ Mina thought, ‘Why do I keep comparing myself to her? I’m just as gorgeous if not more! Yes, Mina, hail yourself, you’re the perfect-est in this whole place.’

“I see you’ve brought yourself a lovely date.” The woman’s voice was small and girlish, and so was her eyes; but when they landed on Mina, they turned devilish in a mere second. “It is a shame it isn’t me in that gorgeous red dress and dancing with you.”

She somehow managed to compliment Mina’s dress yet insult her in the same time. Mina blinked her eyes. Damn, she thought, she’s good.

“What a lovely greeting, Miss Wu.” Came Suho’s absolutely uninterested voice, eyes appraising the girl like she was nothing but an annoying guest he wanted to go away. Mina understood pretty much everything that was going on right away, and she felt a little sorry for the girl. She was obviously trying only to get rejected, as it seemed from Suho’s unresponsive physique. “It is not a shame at all the dress is not on you, for the body it currently enwraps is equally as