“Miss Hana?” I can hear you but I’m not saying anything. “Miss Hana…” Noooo not now!!! “Miss Hana, you must wake up.” I felt heat on my eyes and slowly opened it to see the curtains open and the sun shining right into my eyes. I squinted before turning around and throwing the blanket over my head. I heard a sigh from behind me before I felt the shaking. “Miss Hana, the madam wants you awake.” I let out some noise that I’m sure was not human but didn’t get up.

“Let me try.” My eyes shot open and I froze. I know that voice. “Kids!! Let’s help your aunt get up this morning.” I could hear the sound of feet running towards me. Oh no. I felt two heavy things collide on top of me and I felt something like a knee dig into my hip. I couldn’t recall if I groaned or screamed at the moment but it seemed to have worked because the two things pulled my blanket away. I sat up quickly to glare at my brother, who was standing in front of my bed with his hands on his hips and a smirk that I really wanted to punch off his face. 

“Woah! Aunty your hair is actually sticking up on its own!!.” I saw Jeno standing next to me on the bed and I felt my hair being pulled in various directions. “Jaemin look! It’s not going down!”

“I wanna see!!!” I saw Jaemin stand up and felt more tugging on my hair. I sighed while the tugging got slightly more painful before turning my gaze back on my brother. 

“Why are you here?” From the corner of my eyes I saw three more people enter through the door.

“Boys! What are you doing?”

“Mom look! It’s just sticking up!” I winced when the tugging got even more aggressive.

“Kids come on! Off the bed. Taeyong! Why didn’t you pull the kids off?!” I saw my brother pout before helping his wife at grabbing the two kids that seemed more amazed with my bed head then at any toys I had gotten them. I felt hands on my hair again and noticed it was Anna trying to untangle the mess on top of my head. 

“Why didn’t you tie it up?” She murmured and I shrugged. 

“It’s the day of the ball.Why aren’t you up and running around. You usually have a hard time sleeping on days before events.” I winced when the tugging got a bit more aggressive but tried to hold still.

“That’s the thing. I didn’t fall asleep until four because I was thinking about today.”

“Mom told us about your shopping trip with Johnny. How did it go?” Sora was standing with Jeno in her arms, who perked up.

“Johhny? Mommy can we see him again?” I could feel the smile growing at my lips but winced again at the hair pulling. Jaemin was nodding along with a long please to follow his brother’s question.

“Yesterday was really fun. We went to go grab the dress and then went shopping for a tie for him.

“Again?” I looked to see Doyoung leaning against my study table with his arms crossed. “Is this the thing you guys will do when attending functions? Matching dress and tie?” I laughed but stopped immediately when my hair got tugged more. 

“Probably…” It got quiet and the kids squirmed in their parent’s arms to be let down. “What time is it?” I saw Taeyong look up behind me before looking back at me. 

“It’s 8:30. The ball is at 6 but we have to show up at 5:30.” I remembered that mom was running around last night screaming “no time” every five minutes. 

“What happened last night? I tried asking mother but she pushed me towards the stairs telling me not to worry about it.” Taeyong heaved a sigh before crossing his arms and leaning on the wall behind him. I saw Sora walk towards my vanity before turning towards Taeyong. 

“Apparently the things that she had ordered and prepared for the ball were at a different location and she was trying to get all of the deliveries towards ours. She finally got everything sorted and the ballroom is decorated, but she is only running on an hour of sleep so she is currently ready to bite everyone’s head off. “ My brows furrowed before pursing my lips. I soon felt more tugging on the other side of my hair and saw Sora trying to brush my hair out slowly. I curled my feet up and wrapped my arms around them while I placed my head on my knees. 

“What’s wrong?” I looked up to see Doyoung staring at me with his eyebrows raised and I could feel my chest tighten. 

“I feel bad. If I had known, I would have tried to help her out. Why would she push me away when it was obvious she needed help?” I bit my lip when I felt the tears starting to spring and tried to push it away. Am I that useless that she won’t even let me help? Why was she so quick to push me away? I’m not reliable like the others am I? 

“I know where your thoughts are going and I’m telling you now to stop and that it’s not what you think it is.” I looked up and saw Taeyong frowning at me, his stern glance making me look away in shame. “She hates asking for help and wants things done her way. Plus, it’s your ball. Why would she have you do anything?” I felt something heavy on my right shoulder and saw Anna’s head there. 

“You are a responsible and smart girl. Believe me. Believe us! Have we ever proved you wrong?” I looked away from Anna and shook my head. Sora continued to brush my hair, slightly less painful than before. 

“Remember what I said. Keep your head up and shoulders back. You are a Lee and a Lee never lets someone bring them down, understood?” I glanced at Sora before looking away and nodded. I heard heels clacking up the stairs and I, along with the others, turned towards my door to see our mom show up outside with a frown on her face. 

“Hana, it’s almost 9! Why are you still in bed? And all of you, did you bring everything you need for the ball.” I glanced around to see everyone nod their head and she sighed while rubbing her head. “Breakfast is at 9:30, please don’t be late.” She turned around and went back down the stairs. 

“There!” I heard Sora exclaim and soon saw my long hair frame around me, tangle free. I ran my fingers through the bangs and sighed when I didn’t feel any resistance. 

“Thank you!” I was glad that I atleast didn’t have to worry about my hair for the time being. 

“Turn around.” I turned my back towards Anna, who kneeled behind me and grabbed all of my hair. 

“So you’re officially going to be engaged today! How do you feel?” Sora was sitting in front of me with the biggest grin on her face and I gulped. Uhhh

“I...I’m excited?” She blinked at me before frowning. 

“Is he not good towards you? Do we need to talk to him?” I saw from my peripheral vision that Taeyong quickly straightened and I shook my head vigorously. I felt a yank on my hair and winced.

“Hold still.” I stopped fidgeting and stared at Sora while trying to keep still for Anna. 

“No he’s been good to me. In fact he always makes sure I’m comfortable wherever we are or whatever we’re doing. I just feel like we’re going a bit too fast with all of this, don’t you think?” I saw a hand at the side of my face and quickly glanced down to take the hair tie that was on my wrist before handing it to the hand. “On Wednesday we called the place we’re going to live in as our house. We talked about how I can decorate “our” house however I wanted. We planned on where “we” can take the kids out to play with them. He was so quick to adjust to the fact that we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.” Sora nodded but had a small smile gracing her face.  

“And yesterday?” I thought back to our shopping trip yesterday and smiled at the fun I had. He was letting me do all of the shopping while he stood back and watched. 

“I wasn’t thinking of the time and just dragged him from store to store. I would try to pick shirts for him and he would try them on without any complaints. I would hold up ties up to his neck and he just smiled.” I glanced up at Sora, who was smiling at Taeyong. I saw his shoulders deflate and I felt a pat on my shoulder. 

“Well, what do you know?” Anna wrapped her arms around my shoulders before dragging me back. “Who would have thought hmm?” Sora giggled behind her hand.

“Do you think he knows?” I watched back and forth between the girls.

“Know what? Thought what?” What are they talking about? Anna gave me the most exasperated face she could give before pushing me away from her. 

“You really don’t know?” She sighed and shook her head before nodding her head towards the bathroom. “Go freshen up. We will meet you downstairs.” They all slowly got up and walked out the door, Sora stopping before she left and turned to look at me. Taeyong stopped too and turned to look at her before looking at me. 

“Remember to trust your heart okay? As cheesy as that sounds, you need to listen to it and see what it says.” I blinked at her but she winked at me before turning around. Taeyong held his hand out towards her with a smile, which she took and smiled back before they both descended the stairs. I glanced at the clock and got up to go brush my teeth. I went downstairs after that, still thinking about what Sora had said and almost missed the last step if I didn’t hear someone call my name. 

“Miss Hana?” I froze and looked up to see Jay, our butler, staring at my feet before looking up at me. “There is still one more step ma’am.” I looked down and scrunched my face while feeling the fire burning from my neck up. I cleared my throat and nodded at him while keeping my gaze down and took the last step before walking towards the dining room. I sat down as soon as my siblings, the kids, and my parents reached the dining room and sat down. 

“Hana, do you feel like eating anything?” I looked at my mother, who was still massaging her temples with her eyes close. I pursed my lips and shook my head.

“No I don’t. Can I have some tea?” I heard a slight cough and looked to see Taeyong stare at me with an eyebrow raised. I felt a tap on my right hand and saw Doyoung look at me with concern. 

“You should eat something. You can’t function on an empty stomach the whole day.” I felt my stomach clench and I felt sick about just the thought of food. I was about to shake my head when Sora piped up.

“Just a little bit.” I sighed and knew they were right. Maybe I can just skip lunch. 

“Ok.” I looked at my mom and saw she was glancing at the kitchen with a frown on her face. Soon the food was served and a plate was in front of me with a glass of water on the side. I quickly took a hold of the water and drank to somewhat try to calm my stomach down. What the hell is wrong with me? I saw a  pancake being placed on my plate and some fruits on the side and glanced at Doyoung who was putting food on his plate now. Soon I saw two pieces of bacon from my left side being placed on my plate and looked towards the kids, who happily munched on their bacon while trying to not look at me, which they were failing at. I chuckled under my breath before taking the bacon and eating it while looking at them, both smiling really big and kept munching away. I shook my head with a smile and at as slowly as I could and thoughts from yesterday kept resurfacing, especially that one scene.

I had dragged him to another store into one of the malls my family owned and started to look around for a dress shirt that would go well with the event tomorrow. I laughed when I remembered Ten calling us earlier that day and begged me to find Johnny a shirt that wasn’t “a boring white”. I kept looking around the area when I noticed the sound of giggling coming from the side. I glanced up to see two sales associates talking and giggling behind their hands while staring at something. I followed their glance and blinked when I noticed their gaze was on Johnny, who was on his phone with a frown on his face. He has been frowning a lot lately which made me worried for him. I heaved a sigh before turning back to the shirts, skipping the ones I thought wouldn’t work with the maroon tie we had bought earlier. I started to lose hope when an idea hit me. I smiled and turned towards Johnny, but stopped short when I noticed the two girls in front of him now. 

“Hi! Umm, we couldn’t help but notice you stand there and wanted to see if you needed help.” I blinked at the girls before shifting my eyes towards Johnny, who still didn’t look up from his phone. He offered them no response and kept typing away when the same girl cleared . “Umm excus-” 

“Please excuse me, but I am really busy right now.” I felt a chill go down my back when I heard his tone. Both of the girls' eyes went wide and stood still before looking at each other. I figured I might as well go ask them for help cause they weren’t doing anything. But first I need to tell Johnny my idea. 

“Johnny?” His head snapped up towards me and I walked towards him holding a white dress shirt. I felt a burning gaze on my back but decided to ignore it for now. He smiled at me and I felt the heat rush towards my cheeks and quickly held up the shirt in front of my face. “I had an idea. I can’t seem to think of any other color that would go with maroon, so I figured that we should buy a suit with a vest. It won’t look “super boring” as Ten would have put it.” Johnny laughed but took the shirt in his hands before looking at it. 

“If that’s the case, should we buy the shirt?” I shook my head and gestured for the shirt back. 

“No. You were going to wear a gray suit right? We could just buy a gray vest and somehow persuade Ten to leave it with the vest instead of changing the shirt.” He nodded and I turned around to look for vests, but didn’t see any. I figured I would ask those two girls and tried to look for them, which I soon did, as they were standing where they were before, whispering towards each other. 

“Umm excuse me?” They both turned towards me and glared, which stopped me short from taking a step towards them.

“What?” The other girl snapped at me and my eyes went wide at the hostile tone. Then I noticed her eyes travel from my face towards my feet before scoffing and glared. “Don’t you know this place is for those who actually have money to spare.” Ok I knew that a simple t-shirt and jeans with shoes and my hair in a messy bun doesn't exactly scream “rich”, but that doesn’t mean that they can still treat a customer like this. 

“Excuse me?” She scoffed again before gesturing towards my outfit with a look of disdain. 

“This place is owned by the Lee’s. Do you think someone dressed as scattered as you would have the money to pay for these things? Please leave before we call security.” I was close to letting my title come into play but tried to refrain from saying anything while glancing at the girls and looking at their name tags. 

“Look. I came here to shop. Who are you to tell me where I can and cannot shop? Two, is this how you treat all of your customers who apparently don’t look the part?” I would have said more but I heard a voice in the background.

“I need to see your manager.” I turned to see Johnny look at the two with a glare. He came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, tugging me towards him. The heat was flaring up my face, I could feel it, coating my cheeks especially. 

“You want us to call the manager? Why? What we said was right. This place is for the wealthy, something I’m sure she isn’t.”The girl smirked at me and I raised my eyebrow back at her. 

“If this is how you treat my girlfriend then I need to see the manager about this.” And the heat returns full blast, but I kept my gaze on the girls, who seemed to have paled at the comment. One then laughed before shaking her head.

“Girlfriend? Please, you only said that to save her from the embarrassment right?” She let out a haughty laugh before turning  her glance towards me. “You should know your place and know where you are welcome and not.” I blinked at her before shaking my head. I mean, what is with these typical “mean girl” associates. I thought they only existed in books. Soon a man came stumbling from behind multiple racks towards where we were and blanched when he saw us. 

“Mr. Seo! Miss Lee! What a pleasant surprise to see you here.” He bowed to us and I nodded my head at the man before turning back towards the girls. They looked confused before one turned to look at the manager. 

“Sir! This girl won’t leave the store. I told her that there is nothing here that she would be able to buy since I am pretty sure that there is nothing here she could pay for.” This idiot just lost her own job. I glanced up at Johnny, who looked down towards me and shook his head with frown. I looked towards the manager, and saw his face blaze in anger. 

“Have you lost your mind? This is Lee Hana, the owner of this entire mall! Show some respect!” I watched both of the girls go white before turning to look at me. I raised my eyebrows at them before turning to look at the manager. 

“Look, I don’t care that they didn’t know who I am. In fact, that’s the last thing I want them to worry about. What worries me is how they both treated me just because they thought I was someone from the lower class. How many more people have they treated like this?” I turned towards the girls, who both had their heads bowed down. “People come here to shop and buy what they want to buy. You are no one to judge them, do you understand?” They both nodded their heads, but still wouldn’t look at me. 

“I’m sorry ma’am! I will fire them right away.” I sighed and shook my head and turned towards the manager. 

“Don’t fire them. I just hope this is a lesson they have learned and will no longer judge someone for what class they are. Have I made myself clear?” They both nodded their heads again and I nodded at the manager before leaving the store. 

“Why didn’t you have them fired?” I glanced back at Johnny before turning completely towards him. 

“My siblings would have in a heartbeat, but I wanted them to learn a lesson, not completely destroy them. You never know if they need this money for something important.” I shrugged and he smiled before holding his hand out. I took it and he spun me around and kept walking, not letting go of my hand. 

“That was kind of you.” He held a small smile before walking into another store, still holding my hand. 

“Hana?” Huh? I glanced up to see everyone staring at me. 

“Yeah?” My mother sighed before looking at me with narrowed eyes. 

“I asked if you got the dress ready for today?” I nodded my head and she nodded her head before glancing back towards her plate. I picked at my fruits, not really bothering to eat. Soon breakfast was over and we were all excused to go do what we needed before 3. I walked back towards my room and sat down on my bed again staring out the window. I heard a knock on my door and turned to see Anna standing there with crossed arms. 

“May I come in?” Her eyes held a bit of mischief and I felt wary all of a sudden. What is she planning?