--   03   --   You showed Mother the gift Sunggyu gave you. You asked to keep it, and she gave you a look and said that a street trinket wasn’t something she was interested in, making you smile slightly before tucking it away and bowing. She rolled her eyes and dismissed you. You were so eager to get out of  your clothes, to bathe, and to try on the bracelet that you missed the fond look she gave you.   --   Sunggyu could hardly concentrate on his work because your question was burning through his mind. Did he believe you were sincere? Or did he believe you were acting? He kept comparing you to the other geishas he’d met until he realized there was nothing to compare. They weren’t you, and it would be unfair of him to judge you by their actions.   But that left him in another predicament. He would have to get to know you, the you outside of your costume, without your mask or your armor. And as far as he knew, there was no way that could happen. So, he did the only thing he could think of, and he asked his father.   “Father, what do you know about geishas?”   "Why? Are you planning on running off and becoming a geisha? One does not simply become a geisha."   Sunggyu gave him an exasperated look, making him chuckle and point towards the chair in front of his desk. Sunggyu took a seat and sank down into it, pinching the bridge of his nose.   “What do you want to know?”   Everything, he thought, but he tried to think of something specific. And after a few minutes, his father spoke again.   “I wasn’t kidding, you know, when I said one does not simply become a geisha. There’s school, training, apprenticeship before they become what you see in the teahouses. And even then, there are some that are better than others. Take for example, Gyuri. She’s quite beautiful, no?” Sunggyu’s father watched him frown and raised an eyebrow in question.   “But what do they look like without the makeup? Without the layers of kimono?”   Sunggyu’s father pursed his lips. “Like women trying to earn a living, I suppose. I’ve never really thought about this. I don’t think about much when the geisha are around.” He chuckled and gave his son a look over. “Why so curious? You seem to be getting along well with Gyuri’s apprentice.”   Sunggyu perked up. “She’s only an apprentice?”   “From what Gyuri’s told me about her, she is. She still attends school.”   “Where?” Sunggyu asked, leaning forward. Sunggyu’s father smiled.    Progress.   --   The head of the school sat across from Sunggyu with an amused look on her face. Sunggyu spent ages looking for your school in between doing paperwork for his father’s company. While boys his age were going to college and hanging out with friends and women, he was behind a desk doing paperwork, which for the most part, he enjoyed.   The woman whispered to another one, and she bowed before leaving the room, presumably to look for you. Sunggyu tried not to fidget in his seat.   “We only accept the best and brightest to this school. The girls come from very prestigious geisha families.” Sunggyu nodded at her words.   “Is there a uniform or anything?”   “Just the basic work robe.”   “No makeup or anything?”   “No. All girls come bare-faced.”    Sunggyu’s heart skipped a beat. He was going to see you without your makeup and without your kimono. He was more nervous than the first time his father said he was going to meet you.   “Won’t you come to the tea room? I’m sure the two of you would be more comfortable there.”   Sunggyu stood up hastily and apologized for interrupting as she swept her arm out, indicating for him to leave first. There was another girl waiting outside for him, and he followed her quietly as she led him to a small room with a table and a steaming teapot.   He stepped inside and the door closed behind him. His legs were threatening to give out from underneath him, so he sat down on one of the pillows to wait for you. Soon, there was a short knock on the door.   He turned around as you slid the door open and couldn’t help but stare. Shock appeared on your features for a moment before you wiped it away and stepped inside, closing the door behind you.   “They failed to mention you were the guest here to see me, Sunggyu-san. I’m sorry if my reaction seemed rude,” you said, panicking on the inside. You didn’t expect to see him again so soon. It’d only been a few days. Not long enough for Jia to stop teasing you about the bracelet, but long enough for you to let your guard down. You knew there were probably teachers standing right outside the door, making sure nothing improper was happening inside.   Sunggyu stood up hastily and bowed. You bowed back and the two of you took your seats across from each other. “Would you like some tea?”   “Yes, please,” Sunggyu said as his eyes flicked down to your wrists expectantly. You poured him a cup of tea with the ease and grace you always did, but this time, instead of staring, Sunggyu smiled when he saw the bracelet on your wrist. “You’re wearing the bracelet I gave you.”   You smiled at him and offered him the cup of tea you just poured. “It’s a beautiful bracelet,” you said, reaching down to play with one of the butterfly shaped charms.   “Not as beautiful as the girl wearing it.” There. He said it. Sunggyu watched you carefully as you froze. Did he say the wrong thing?   You lowered your hands to your lap before looking at him, meeting his eyes with your own. “You still say that even though you’ve seen my face with any makeup? Without my hair done up and full of ornaments? Without the expensive kimono wrapping my body?”   The look you gave him struck something in his heart. It ached for you, because you genuinely looked like you didn’t believe you could be beautiful without everything to hide what you naturally looked like.   Sunggyu carefully took in your appearance. Your hair was a shiny black and pulled back into a messy bun on top of your head. Your skin looked a real, healthy color instead of the stark white of the mask.