In the wee hours of the morning, Yves appears from a sleek black BMW as she walks up the stairs into the main building of Eden Academy. Her face wearing a cold facade. Yves drags her feet against the pristine marbled floors of the halls of Eden Academy, dreading yet another day in school. She spots Haseul's bob hair and Jinsoul's sheer black hair from a distance, it was hard to miss after all as she makes her way towards them. 

"Good morning," Yves greets politely once she's close enough for them to hear her. 

The two council members turn their heads, smiles upce they noticed Yves.

"Morning!" they reply simultaneously. 

"How are you feeling today?" Haseul asks with a motherly tone. 

"Fine" Yves answers half-heartedly.

Jinsoul scrunches her face, making her eyesbrows resemble the chinese 8 figure, "Still no news from her, huh?"

Yves sighs deeply, shaking her head.

"Don't worry too much about this, okay? I'll ask Vivi. Maybe she has an answer to all this," Haseul mentions. 

Yves manages a smile, bidding Haseul goodbye as she and Jinsoul head to Chemistry lessons together. 

Yves allows Jinsoul to talk her ear off about her plans to ask Lip to be her girlfriend and how she wants it to be as perfect as it could be because Lip deserves only the best. It was a welcomed distraction because of all the ridiculous suggestions that Jinsoul had like having a bunch of doves released, riding a horse, getting a marching band and the worst but funniest of all, writing the words 'Will you be my girlfriend?" on Lip's boba cup. Yves couldn't help but laugh when she heard the last suggestion which resulted in Jinsoul's excessive pouting. 

Yves clears and says, "Jinsoul. All of these are amazing ideas but I think the most important thing about asking someone to be your girlfriend is sincerity. A confession that comes from your heart. That's all it takes. I doubt the fanciest of items will beat heartfelt words." 

Jinsoul slowly takes in Yves's words, dropping her pout and smiles. "I think you're absolutely right." 

Yves chuckles, "Of course, I am!" Jinsoul joins in as the two laugh while walking to their classroom. 

Their conversations halt when Yves hears her phone buzzing. She stops, excusing herself as she pulls out her phone from her blazer's pocket. Her eyes widening once she saw who the sender of the message was. She rubs her eyes in case she was hallucinating but it was true. The text that she had been waiting for two weeks had finally arrived but why does she not feel happy at all? She's supposed to feel happy but the hurt and pent up emotions from Hana's ghosting were resurfacing and suddenly she didn't feel so good. 

"Yves, are you okay?" 

Jinsoul's question shakes Yves out of her stupor, nodding hurriedly as she pockets her phone, ignoring the text out of pettiness. After all, she wasn't the one at fault here. Hana was. 

Yves mumbles out a quick, "Yeah, I'm fine." 

Jinsoul didn't look convinced but even if she had doubts, she was not voicing them out. 

"E-Excuse me?" 

The two girls turned their head to the source of the voice, seeing a small petite girl looking at them nervously. 

"Yes, how can we help?" Jinsoul is first to ask.

The girl holds out a black and gold invitation card towards Yves who takes it hesitantly.

Without another word, the girl bolts in the other direction. Yves scrutinises the card with an intense look. 

"A love letter?" 

Yves turns to look at Jinsoul, shrugging in response to Jinsoul's question. 

"Well, open it up!" Jinsoul urges. 

Yves does as she's told, opening the card as she sees the symbol of the Roses stamped at the top of the card. Gold intricate cursive handwriting follows: 

To: Miss Yves Ha,

The Eden Academy Roses are cordially inviting you to join us as an honoured guest in our second event of the season, a masquerade ball on the 24th of July 2020. It will  be held at the Royal Empire Hotel at xxx street at 7pm. We look forward to your appearance to the event. 

Sincerely, The Roses

"It's not a love letter. It's an invitation to a masquerade ball hosted by the Roses" Yves says as she reaches back into her pocket to grab her phone, opening the text sent by Hana. 

[Hana 7.45 am] : Will you go to the masquerade with me? 

Yves turns her phone off, pocketing it as she looks up to see Jinsoul staring at her with a raised brow. 

"Let's go! We'll be late for class" Yves says as she drags Jinsoul by the arm, not allowing Jinsoul to question her course of actions.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh. My. God. IS KANG HANA POUTING!!" Hyejoo's airy shrieks fills the greenhouse.

"SHE IS!?! HYEJOO! SHE'S POUTING!!!" Lip follows with her inhumane pterodactyl screech. 

Hana covers her face with a pillow, growling a low, "Shut it, losers!" 

"Come on, people! Let Hana go from your teasing. She's already having a hard time because of her crush just reading her message," Heejin says, stifling her laughter. 

Hana screams into the pillow. She regrets asking her friends for help. Now, she's not only hurt from Yves reading her message and not replying but embarassed because of her friends' teasing her. 

"It's not that bad, Hana. She's probably busy in class or something. Maybe she'll reply to you later. Give her some time" Vivi says, trying to cheer Hana up.

Hana pulls the pillow off her face, smoothing her messy hair. Vivi was right, it's still early and she probably has to rush for classes. Hana inhales and exhales, cooling herself down, restraining her urge to murder Hyejoo, Lip and Heejin who was still cackling. Yerim on the other hand appears to busy swiping through something on her Ipad, ignoring everyone. Hana assumes it's about the masquerade ball happening three days from today. 

"Hyejoo, Jungeun, Heejin. Please stop your racket" Vivi announces strictly as the three girls immediately clamp their mouths shut. "Now, off to classes, everyone!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lunch bell rings as Yves walks out of class, deep in thought as she makes her way into the cafeteria - naturally, joining the council members with her tray of food. 

"I have a question" Yves says out of nowhere, garnering the attention of everyone present at the table. "Have you perhaps received the invitation to the masquerade?" 

A chorus of 'Yes' fills her ears. 

"We always do. It comes with the title" Hyunjin says, munching on her croissant. 

"Why do you ask?" Chaewon questions with her brow raised.

"Cause she received one this morning along with a text from presumably Hana" Jinsoul answers instead of Yves. 

Suddenly, all eyes were on her which made her feel self-conscious. 

"What did she say? Did she explain why she's been a flaky bastard for the last two weeks?" Chuu asks with a slight flare in her words. 

Yves stares at Chuu with a gape. She didn't expect Chuu to have a mean streak in her body but looks can be deceiving it seems. 

"-A..Ah, no" Yves stammers out. "She just asked if I wanted to go to the masquerade with her." 

"She isn't going to even apologize first?" Yeojin questions with a frown. "That doesn't seem right to me." 

"I agree with Yeojin for once" Haseul mutters with distant look in her eyes. 

"If you want to attend the masquerade, we can all go together instead" Jinsoul offers.

Yves smiles, "I'll think about it." 

When the others return to their own conversations, Yves sneaks out her phone, secretly sending a text to Hana. 

[Yves 12.47 pm]: Are you finally over avoiding me? 

[Yves 12.47 pm]: Don't I at least deserve an explanation?

[Yves 12.47 pm]: No matter how much I think about it, I don't think I've done anything wrong. 

Was I too harsh? No! She can't just ignore me and get away with it scot-free. It isn't fair. If she really likes me, she would do the right thing. 

While Yves was busy with her internal monologue, a reply arrives with a buzz, breaking her train of monologue.

[Hana 12.48 pm]: I'm really sorry, Yves. You've done absolutely nothing wrong. It's all my fault.

[Hana 12.48 pm]: What I did was really terrible and you don't deserve that.  

[Hana 12.48 pm]: I promise I'll explain everything at the masquerade and I'll make it up to you in every way possible. 

[Hana 12.48 pm]: You have my word, Yves. 

Yves doesn't know what to think. Was Hana truly genuine about her apology or was this just another trick? She opens her keypad and types in her reply. 

[Yves 12.50 pm]: Fine, I'll go to the masquerade but I'm going with my friends. 

[Yves 12.50 pm]: I'll meet you there.

[Hana 12.51 pm]: Okay, I'll be waiting for you then. 

Yves closes the app, shutting her phone off as she returns her attention to her friends. 

"Hey, guys?" Yves calls out shyly as they turn to look at her with curious eyes. "Would it be okay if I tag along with you to the masquerade?" 

They exchange glances with each other, turning back to her with a grin. 

"Of course, Yves. We would be happy to have you with us" Haseul says with a large smile.

Yves returns Haseul's smile as she engages them in a conversation, laughing along with their jokes. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hana sighs, dropping her phone onto the table with a heavy thud. 

"What's wrong?" Heejin asks, looking at her cousin worriedly. 

"I messed up really badly" Hana mumbles weakly. 

"No sherlock" Hyejoo mutters, receiving a kick to the shin and multiple glares from the others. 

Lip rubs Hana's head softly, "I know I've been a little harsh to you but you know it's cause I care for you too much. Now that you realized that you messed up, the only decent thing to do is try to fix it. It'll take time but if you really care for her, you'll continue even if it takes your whole life, Hana." 

Hana shoots Lip a grateful smile. 

"What did she say though?" Yerim intervenes for the first time. 

Hana picks up her phone, passing it over to Yerim who easily unlocks Hana's 6 digit password. Her eyes scanning the chats between Hana and Yves. 

"Wow, the girl is tough, I can tell you that!" Yerim chuckles amused by the tenacity of the new girl.

Thanks to Yerim's ambigous words, everyone leaves their seats in favour of crowding around her to take a look at the chats. 

"Wow, I've never seen you apologize to anyone before. This girl's got some fire in her!" Hyejoo exclaims in amazement. 

"Tell me about it" Hana mumbles to no one in particular. 

"It's a start, Hana. What you did was wrong so, naturally, apologizing is the right thing to do" Vivi says. 

Hana nods her head in agreement. While the others are discussing about Yves, Hana is busy figuring out what she should do now. A lightbulb pops up in her mind, a brilliant idea appearing. She wonders whether Yves will like it though. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After returning home from school, Yves lounges on the couch in her room, holding her notebook as she reads through the notes that she had written. She then hears Jiso's voice booming from downstairs. 

"Miss Yves!!!" 

She closes her notebook, placing it on the coffee table as she walks out of her room, standing by the railings. She tilts her head down, looking at the older woman and notices that Jiso was holding onto a large black square box. 

"What is that, ahjumma?" Yves asks. 

"I don't know but the front lobby says it came for you" Jiso answers. 

"Me?" Yves mutters questioningly. She doesn't remember ordering anything. Weird. 

Jiso nods in response as Yves walks down the stairs, taking the black box out of Jiso's hands. "Thank you, Ahjumma. I'll go check it out." 

Yves dashes back up the stairs accompanied by Jiso's yell, "Be careful! Don't run up the stairs! You aren't five anymore!!" 

Yves chuckles as she makes it back to her room with the package in her hand. She sets it down onto the coffee table right next to her notebook that she left earlier. Pulling off the gold ribbon, she recognizes the familiar YSL symbol as she leans down to open the box. On top of the neatly folded black fabric was a parchment paper addressed to her. She picks it up, a small smile etched upon her face as she reads it:

I know this won't help to reduce your anger towards me but I thought of you the minute I saw it. I hope you'll like it enough to wear it to the ball. I can't wait to see you again, Yves. 

Sincerely, Hana

 Yves sets the card down onto the table. She runs her hands across the soft black fabric, carefully lifting it up from the box as she watches the farbic tumble down to form a beautiful strapless dress with a high slit at the side. She walks over to her full length mirror, pressing the gown to her front, smiling happily. She had to admit Hana had great tastes :)