Dahyun did not want to be here. She had sweaty hands and kept trying to smoothen out the wrinkles in her shirt. Except her hands were sweaty and weren't helping to smoothen anything out. Everytime she had to refill a pastry station, her hands would shake so much, she was sure she was going to drop everything. It didn’t help that her boss was off trying to make connections, and her co-worker disappeared when they got here and had been nowhere to be seen since. 

It was so intimidating here, a large ballroom with at least three fancy chandeliers. She was sure that the kingdom's whole population could fit in here. And that was a lot of people. Everything was pretty much decorated purple and gold, and the floor was made of marble that shined so expensively that Dahyun was sure that if she scuffed it she’d have to pay as much as she was worth. Which is why when she wasn’t refilling the pastry area she was up against the wall, people-watching. She was pretty sure she could see the thrones from here, though all of the food was in the back as far from them as possible. 

While she was stretching her neck trying to see if she could see any of the royals in the crowd, or by the thrones, someone walked right up to her. She blinked for a second because this was clearly a guest. He had a fancy purple suit on and everything, he seemed to be drunk because he was unbalanced and couldn't stand still. 

“Can I help you, sir?” She moved past him to the side so he couldn’t corner her against the wall. She didn’t like feeling trapped. 

He didn’t say anything at first but held out his empty glass towards her. She noticed he had black gloves on, why would he wear gloves? Were other people wearing gloves as well? Was it a noble thing? She wanted to check but the man was still in front of her not saying anything.

“Sir, if you’re looking for a refill then the bar is that way.” She pointed to a bar situated up against the wall in the middle of the room. That was where most of the richer guests were hanging out, so Dahyun wasn’t as panicked as she thought she would be. Since they clearly had a thing against eating publicly. 

The man grumbled and pushed the glass into her hand. “Help is help. They have the scotch I want in the kitchen, go get it for me.” His breath reeked of alcohol and she wondered how much he’d had to drink already.

Dahyun was mad but she couldn’t do anything because she didn’t want to mess up this job for her boss. “Sir, I'm not authorized to give anyone alcohol. You’ll have to go to the bar.” She wished he would just leave her alone.

“Oh! So the help here is useless.” He was starting to make a scene and now Dahyum didn’t know what to do. He was waving his drink around and seemed mad. She was getting nervous, so many people were staring at them now. 

She started tugging on the cuff of her sleeve. “Sir. Sir please calm down. I can get you another-” Suddenly another woman, in the uniform of one of the permanent staff came over. She was beautiful with long black hair and a fierce gaze. 

“Making a scene again huh? Don’t frighten the poor thing, she’s clearly not staff. Give me the glass and I’ll get you another drink.” He seemed embarrassed at her scolding him but he handed over the glass and walked away. 

Dahyun bowed at her. “I’m sorry you had to come over here. I should’ve handled it better.” The woman laughed.

“Don’t mention it, he’s a frequent complainer so we always keep an eye on him. My name’s Irene. Now come along dear.” She started walking away towards the kitchens.

“Huh?” Dahyun looked back at the pastry table, it seemed to be full for right now but she didn’t want to leave it unattended for too long. Plus s