Written by Mai and Miyu

Chapter 26:

The room was still and silent, that a pen could drop and be heard by the many people that was standing in there. All the male figures, even one female, gaped at Nona like she was a crazy maniac.

The first one to speak was Jay. “Are you crazy?!” he exclaimed so loud that it echoed throughout the room.

Chansung followed in behind him. “Why don’t we just kill OURSELVES then?”

“Might as well, that’s what it seems like we’re doing,” Mai agreed with him, for once.

Lilly just shook her head from their misconception. “As if you guys haven’t heard,” she said walking over to the girls with a distraught look on her face. “The ball is a masked ball. You know like a renaissance ball where they wear a mask.”

“Yeah, we get it,” Mai said shooting a look at her.

Miyu nudged Mai on the side and gave her a look that read ‘Leave her alone.’ Mai knew something was up at that moment, so she just shrugged.

“I think it’s a fun idea,” Lyssa said grabbing onto Taecyeon’s arm. “I think I found my date.” She beamed up at her boyfriend who looked ill from the idea.

“Are you sure if it’s a good idea to get us involved with your missions?” he asked her.

Lyssa grimaced. “You know we’ll protect you. We are the strongest group out there. Besides, you’ll be masked, no one will know who any of you are. Trust us on this.”

Chansung was about to speak up about trusting them, but Nichkhun cut in before he could preach about it. “It’s not a bad idea. I think we could pull off. I do trust these girls to take care of us, I mean, just look at them.”

Miyu and Nona nodded their head with approval. “It will take a lot of planning, but as a group that is based on strategy and killing, we will fill every loophole there is. You can count on us,” Nona beamed. “So are you guys in?”

Nona put her hand out. The first one to do it was Junho, who put his hand over Nona’s. Nona felt her face getting flustered and it was obvious that Junho was feeling the same way. Nichkhun added his hand into the pile and it kept going until it was Jay, Mai, and Chansung.

Jay gave in last minute. “Alright,” he said. “I guess I have no choice. If my boys are trusting you girls, then I’m in.” He put his hand on top of Junsu’s hand.

“Well?” Lilly asked looking at the last two. “You know if you back ou--”

“I know what happens,” Mai said angrily. “I just don't like the whole idea of taking one of these guys as my date. As if I don’t have to babysit them already.”

“Then what is it?” Lilly asked darkly.

Chansung, by surprise, grabbed Mai’s hand and they both hand their on top of Jay’s hand. Mai was flabbergasted by Chansung’s behavior.

The others all raised their eyebrows curiously but Lyssa changed the subject quickly. “Okay, so everyone’s in. Should we do 1,2,3 break?”

“Oh no, let’s do 1,2,3 DMG HWAITING!” Nona exclaimed happily.

“Maybe we should add 2PM to it too, since they are helping,” Lyssa added in.

“Oh my god,” Miyu said to both of them. “Who cares, let’s just break. I don’t like touching hands with all you people.” Miyu hadn’t forgotten that Lilly still had bloodstains on her hand from earlier. Her hand was on top of hers.

All in unison they yelled out 1,2,3 HWAITING.

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Everyone formed a circle in the middle of the training room, deciding who they should partner up. It was hard because there were only five girls and seven boys.

“So if two of you don’t get chosen, it’ll be okay, right?” Nona asked all the boys in the circle. The boys looked at each other and nodded in agreement. “Good.”

“And I already have my partner,” Lyssa pointed, hugging Taecyeon’s arm tightly. Taecyeon was not phased by her embrace and just smiled like the madman he was.

“I think I want to be partners with…Junho,” Nona said pointing at her chosen man. “I think our chemistry is good therefore dancing will be no problem."

Junho nodded his sheepishly. “I think so too.”

Everyone seemed to notice the strange relationship between Junho and Nona. They were making it too obvious that they liked each other. The only people who knew were Chansung and Mai, but they let it happened anyway.

Lilly decided to speak up next. “I think my partner will be Jay. We talked about this earlier and plus, you are a good dancer.”

“No fair!” Miyu exclaimed. “Well, then I guess I’ll pick Nichkhun. Are you a good dancer?”

“Well, I'm not as good as Jay but I think I'm pretty decent,” he said to her.

“Good!” Miyu exclaimed and wrapped her arm tightly around Nichkhun, mocking Lyssa. Except the only difference was that Junsu’s face expression was of jealously and that Nichkhun was phased by the idea of having them be close.

“That leaves you Mai. Who do you pick?” Lilly asked her

Mai scanned between Junsu, Wooyoung, and Chansung. Junsu was just staring at the ground, feeling defeated because Miyu chose Nichkhun over him. Wooyoung was just staring at Mai blankly, and Chansung looked relaxed and staring cooley at Mai.

“Hmm, I’ll go with...” she paused for a moment. “Wooyoung.” Everyone in the room was surprised with her choice. She just shrugged like it was nothing. “I’m sure Wooyoung is a nice dancer. Don’t let me down now or you’ll die.”

Lilly’s head lifted up and stared over at Wooyoung. Her stomach dropped to the floor and somehow she felt envious that Mai had Wooyoung as her partner. Though, she chose Jay because Jay was a very good dancer, the best out of 2PM and it’d just be awkward for her and Wooyoung to dance together. Still, she had that hint of jealousy running inside of her veins. She actually cared very much.

Chansung as well was feeling the same way as Lilly but he wouldn’t let himself make it more obvious than Junsu. Chansung wanted Mai to point at him and declare him her partner. Instead she chose Wooyoung and when she did, Chansung’s stomach dropped, the same as Lilly.

“Okay, so I think that we should start then today. I got an email from the people who are hosting the Masquerade and they told us that we have to learn certain dances as one of the festivities,” Lilly said getting up as everyone watched her. A projector popped out as soon as she pressed the light switch off and they watched as a video came out and showed different dances.

Jay watched, analyzing the whole dance routine. He nodded his head a few times and when the video ended he got up. “Okay, so I’m pretty sure I got it all in my head. I mean took a few classes while I was in Seattle, but it’s pretty easy. You got the music?”

Lilly nodded her head and popped in her ipod to the dock and orchestral music started to play, which echoed through the room. Jay grabbed Lilly’s hand and placed it on his shoulder then sliding his own to her waist. He took his other hand and placed it into hers.

“I step back one to the right, then to the left. I do it twice and then I swing you around and repeat it. You just follow my footsteps,” Jay said as he shuffled back with his feet to the music.

“Hey, it’s not as hard as I thought it would be,” Lilly said following Jay’s step. Slowly and steadily, they moved coordinating with eachtoher, "Now, you will take your hand off of my shoulder and pull it straight behind you and I will do the same, removing my hand from your waist. But our other hands holding eachother must remain connected, got it?" Jay spoke calmly.

Wooyoung watched from the sidelines with jealously. He wish he wasn’t partnered with Mai. Jaebeom and Lily were dancing along with eachother well and slowly adding more moves, learning each part slowly.

While watching them, soon Junho and Nona decided to join. At first they were a bit awkward with their movements, but once they got into the rhythm of the music they were now in unison with Jay and Lilly.

“There we go!” Jay exclaimed. “Everyone else should join in as well.” he grinned directing his gaze to the other three pairs.

So they did. Lyssa and Taecyeon were all over the place and they instantly got it. The chemistry that had with eachother was too strong for this dance, they needed something more challenging.

Nichkhun and Miyu had no problems either, although it was a bit iffy at first with Miyu’s feet getting stepped on and her cursing at Nichkhun and hitting him really hard. However, after that rough beginning they began to move in unison and Miyu actually had a smile she didn't realize was there on her face.

Junsu watched sadly from his place at the wall. Sighing, he leaned against the cold mirror and closed his eyes. He couldn't look anymore.

Wooyoung and Mai were very awkward. Wooyoung had put his hand on Mai’s waist but Mai pushed his hands up a bit. They started off clean but Mai started to step on his feet and they were falling over the place.

“OW! That was my foot, you bastard!” Mai yelled, finally snapping.

“You stepped on my foot first! You shouldn’t be yelling at me!” Wooyoung yelled back, annoyed as well. With a roll of her eyes, Mai tried again however, this time Mai tripped over Wooyoung’s feet and Wooyoung did the same. He had swung his hand too hard that she almost fell backward. They even went in the wrong direction that they bumped into Junho and Nona.

Chasung who was observing all this time was growing frustrated by the second. Those two were not working together at all. The moment Mai tripped over Wooyoung's foot's again, Chansung couldn’t take it anymore and marched over to Wooyoung. Chanung pushed him away and grabbed Mai’s waist with his one hand while grapsing her hand in the other. Everyone stopped dancing at this point and watched as Chansung waltzed Mai around the training room.

“It’s like watching a movie,” Lyssa whispered to Nona. Nona nodded her in admiration.

Mai’s expression was blank at the moment, but it felt like she was floating and Chansung was doing all the work with his feet. Her hair was swishing back and forth as he shuffled backwards twice and spun her around. Then with a small circulated dip, he brought her back up to be face to face with her.

With a satisfied grin Chansung let Mai go and put his hands on his hips. “If you don’t mind, I think it’d be best suited if I was her partner. Sorry hyung,” he said looking at Wooyoung.

Wooyoung shook his hands and smiled. “No it’s okay. You do what you want cause you obviously know what you are doing.”

“Let’s end practice here,” Nona said turning off the music. “Let’s go eat.”

Everyone all exited the room except for Mai, who was still staring in a blankly. Nona went back to Mai and waved her hand in front of her face. “Earth-to-Mai? Are you okay?”

“I don’t think so,” she said quietly.

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After having lunch and cleaning the plates and utensils, everyone seated themselves down at the dining room. Everyone was still discussing the ball and the dances that they'll need to practice. Miyu was sitting in between Nichkhun and Junsu, but she ignored Junsu and continued talking to Nichkhun about the dancing. Junsu sat quietly, looking down at the table.

Lilly and Jaebeom were also discussing the matters of the dancing in the ball and how to improve and work better with each other. Wooyoung listened and sometimes gave his own opinions and he was relieved that Lilly didn't ignore him and took his advice into mind.

Nona and Junho were facing around and practicing the dance while singing. Nona laughed when they messed up, "Ok ok! Let's go again" she giggled and connect her hand with Junho's. The warm feeling raised to her cheek when she felt Junho put his hand on her waist again. Junho smiled and began the practice again, mumbling lowly instructions like, "Left, right, turn, extend, and back in."

Mai was silent and didn't even look at Chansung. Chansung did the same and the both sat quietly. Chansung was waiting for Mai to speak, say something like, "You showoff." about him jumping into her practice but she didn't. In the end, they remained quiet and he sighed. 

"Shouldn't we go shopping for dresses and masks?" Lyssa said catching the attention of everyone in the room. "The guys need tuxedo's too and the appropriate shoes and everything."

"We could go shopping again" Nona said remembering the time she and Mai went to get 2PM they're new clothes, and even forcing them to tell the girls their underwear sizes. It felt like it was just yesterday when they kidnapped 2PM, but with slight surprise Nona realized they were nearing their two months together.

"You're not going to leave us home again, are you?" Taecyeon asked with a frown, "We want to go shopping too and--"

"No. We already told you its too dangerous and we're in Korea. The risk is even greater of getting caught." Mai said staring daggers at Taecyeon for even bringing it up. Lyssa frowned and took Taecyeon's hands. He seemed pretty upset and she felt guilty. 'He must be missing his freedom' she thought sadly to herself.

"We could disguise them with hats and wigs." she suggested giving Lilly a pleading look. Lilly sighed and glance at all the boys. They all had hopeful expressions on their faces.

"We could go with Lyssa's plan then. Lyssa should have plenty of disguises in her room since she is DMG's spy."

"Lilly, you can't be serious" Mai gritted through her teeth.

"I am very much serious Mai."
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The streets of Seoul were crowded, so it didn't look out of the ordinary when a large group of girls and boys were roaming the streets. Many people thought the group must be tourists or young adults on vacation since the boy's hair (wig) ranged from blond, black, red and brown. Taecyeon, Wooyoung, and Junsu were wearing caps to cover their eyes and Jaebeom, Junho, Nichkhun, and Chansung were wearing sunglasses. Looking at them, they truly did look like tourists with cameras in hand, and a map of Seoul. 

The camera and maps were Lyssa's idea and as Miyu stared at the boys she had to say to herself, "No wonder Lyssa is DMG's spy. She even got the little details down.

Miyu was wearing a black tank top with a pale pink leather jacket that stopped slightly above her waist with short jeans. On her feet were black boots that stopped at her knee. She wasn't wearing a purse, so the DMG members thought that for once she might not have brought her knives with her. However, they didn't know Miyu actually hid the knives on the inside pockets of her jacket.

Miyu was excitedly looking through the stores and walking beside Lilly. Lilly was wearing a black and white striped v-neck shirt and the sleeves of the shirt draped over he knuckles. Her gray denim skinny jeans defined her slender legs and she wore black combat boots. "Should we go into that this store?" Miyu asked glancing at Lily. 

Lily turned to the others and her gaze settled on Mai who was wearing black skinny jeans and underneath her over sized green hoodie was a tank top. Mai was also sporting her usual combat purple and black combat boots . She blew her fringe out of her face and shrugged, "Why not?"

They all stepped into the store and Nona glanced at all the dresses displayed throughout the store. "Everything is beautiful" she breath and she felt something take hold of her hand. She looked up to meet Junho's gaze and he smiled at her. Nona was wearing black short pant that stopped at her knees and a white laced blouse. Near the end of her blouse Nona strapped a light brown belt around it. On her feet were grey flat thong summer shoes. "Are you going to help me look for a dress, Junho?" she asked quietly.

Nona felt Junho squeeze her hand and a grin blossomed on her face. The ones who witnessed the sweet act was Taec and Lyssa who smiled warmly. "I think something is going on with those two" Lyssa smiled. Taec nodded beside her, his red wig moving along with him. Lyssa was wearing a light blue strapless summer dress and with some urging from Taecyeon, she also had on a bottomless white cardigan and with white flats. 

Lyssa began looking through the hanging of dresses and she turned to Taecyeon pulling out a white long dress that revealed most of the back. Taecyeon frowned and shook his head. Lyssa pouted, nonetheless, she placed the dress back. "How about this?" she tried again, pulling a light red short tight dress. However, Taecyeon still frowned, not liking how SHORT the dress was. Which was above knee length.

"Why not~~?" she whined and Taecyeon bite back the urge to pinch her cheeks by how cute she was acting. "I don't want other guys at the ball staring at your back OR legs" he explained. Lyssa rolled her eyes realizing that Taec was being a jealous idiot. "You know that even if other guys came onto me, the only one I love is you." she whispered staring lovingly into Taecyeon's eyes.

"I know." he said in a husky voice and kissed her on the lips. Pulling away he whispered into her ear, "Lys, how about letting me choose the dress."

Lyssa wasn't the only one dealing with a jealous person as Mai was also going through it. Even though she didn't realize it. Mai had already gathered a bunch of different dresses and was in the fitting room. Chansung, Junsu, Nichkhun, and Miyu were currently waiting for Mai to come out . Miyu had helped Mai in choosing some dresses and most of the dresses Mai had in her hands were from Miyu.

"Unni, you done yet?" Miyu asked slowly growing impatient. But a second after she said that Mai opened the door and stepped out. Mai was wearing one of the dresses Miyu chose which was a tight short dark green dress. The dress was mostly slim fit and at the end, there were ruffles. "Aww, you look so cute Unni!" Miyu exclaimed. Mai had a bored look and glanced at Chansung.

"You don't look flattering at all. Take it off."

Mai glared hearing Chansung's words. With a huff she stomped back into the fitting room and Miyu smacked Chansung on his head. "What was that rude comment for, jerk!" she sneered. Nichkhun and Junsu also gave Chansung a look of that clearly said they disapproved of his behavior. 

"Chan, I thought you were a gentleman. You didn't have to go and say that." Nichkhun lectured. Junsu sighed, "Aish this kid. He's so immature." The three walked away in annoyance, "Yah, if you two make any rude comments like that banana loving person over there, I swear you're sleeping in the hallway tonight." Miyu said as she walked away.

Chansung ignored them and folded his arms. In truth, Chansung didn't think Mai look unflattering at all in the dress. She looked beautiful but the thought of other guys at the ball staring at Mai he didn't like it. So, he ended up insulting her so she would change her dress.

His head snapped up at the sound of the door opening and his eyes widened before he could stop it. His breath hitch in his throat as he stared at the beautiful sight before him. Mai looked gorgeous in this dress.

The dress was white. Like the color of pearls. The strapless dress flowed to the floor and from the way Mai moved, her gracefulness was enhanced by the dress. The dress was tight around her chest and waist, however after going pass the waist, the dress became poofier and white flowers decorated the beautiful material. The flowers acted like pins pulling the outer layer of the dress up, creating long ruffles. Under the ruffles, there was lace. Mai looked like an angel and the fact that the dress was white made it seem even more graceful and beautiful. Chansung could still feel himself in trance, "She truly is an angel." he thought mentally to himself.

"Well, do I look unflattering now Hwang Chansung?" Mai said staring at Chansung. She felt her body heat up with the way Chansung was looking at her. Mai struggled to keep her face stoic.

"You...look...pretty." Chansung said with embarrassment. That wasn't what he was trying to say!

"I would say I am grateful for the compliment but remembering you calling me unflattering, I have to feel a bit of dislike toward you." Mai said and went back into the room to change. She slapped her face lightly to compose herself. "Mai, get a hold of yourself." she muttered and quickly changed out of the dress.

Miyu was looking through the dresses displayed and her eyes landed on a soft pink dress. She walked slowly up to it. The dress went from dark pink to light pink and it was simple yet an aura of grace was emitted from the dress. The dress had only one strap and it exposed the shoulders. Miyu touched the fabric with her hand, it was soft.

"Do you like this dress?" Nichkhun asked coming up behind her. Junsu stayed in the back watching. He felt a bit hurt that Miyu was not paying him any attention. She had been clinging to Nichkhun more lately. Junsu mentally slapped himself, 'It must have been because I kept following her around and annoying her' he thought.

"Yeah, I like the silver design on the top. It gives the dress a unique look." Miyu said. She glanced at Junsu who looked lonely. She turned away before he could catch her gaze. She has been avoiding Junsu a lot lately.

These days, Miyu has been noticing a change within herself. Whenever she was with Junsu a feeling of happiness engulfed her. When Junsu touched her, it felt like electricity sapped her. Miyu didn't understand why and every time Junsu was near her, she would feel nervous and fidget. However, she was able to blame it on the drugs whenever others noticed. Miyu had told Nichkhun about this a couple of days ago when she couldn't take it anymore.

They were both in her room and Junsu was somewhere in the living room watching television with the others. She saw Nichkhun reading a magazine and she before Miyu knew it, she spilled everything out to Nichkhun.

When Nichkhun heard, he was surprised. But he kept the information to himself. "Khun, I don't know why I am like this." Miyu had said, "Am I sick? I mean, my heart would beat faster and then I would get all hot and sometimes, it's even hard to breathe. Maybe I should get myself checked up?"

Nichkhun had laughed. Miyu thought she was sick and he realized. Miyu was raised within the organization almost all her life. She didn't understand the things normal teenage girls her age went through. So she didn't realize this weird feeling she was having was an attraction to the older. She patted Miyu on the head and smiled at her, "You'll know in time, Miyu. Don't worry too much."

Miyu went back to reality when she heard Lilly behind her. "That's a beautiful dress Miyu. Are you going to buy it?" Jaebeom and Wooyoung were behind Lily, each of them carrying a dress. Miyu nodded and stopped a worker, telling her she wanted the dress.

Jaebeom brightened up seeing Miyu and the two boys. He held up a dress, "You guys, which dress do you think is better? Mines or Wooyoung's?"

The dress in Jaebeom's arms was a black dress with a split on the side. There was a silver gem on the side of the waist and the dress showed most of the back. It truly gave off a y feel. Wooyoung's dress was yellow and it flowed easily when you moved. On the waist area, it was a sparkley silver and the dress was similar to a halter, but instead it tying around the neck, the two strings connected together and pulled to one side of the shoulder. It was similar to Miyu's one strap dress. It was simple but gave off an aura of iness without going too overboard. 

"Well, we're not the ones wearing it, Hyung." Nichkhun said, "Shouldn't you be asking Lilly that?"

Miyu and Junsu nodded and turned to face Lilly. She was looking between the two dresses and finally came to a decision. "I'll choose Wooyoung's dress. Jae, I know I am the seducer of the group but that dress is just too revealing. It's a ball, I should try to be modest." Lilly said. Jaebeom's expression fell but he nodded in understanding.

Wooyoung in turn, beamed. Lilly actually chose his dress! He didn't think she would since their relationship still hadn't turned back to normal. "Alright, we should go pay for it then." he smiled.

The worker from earlier came and gave Miyu her dress with a smile, but before Miyu could touch it, Junsu grabbed it, holding it for her. The worker smiled, "You have a wonderful boyfriend." she giggled. Miyu's eyes widened and before she could retort, the worker left.

"Awkward~" Jaebeom sang.
-
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Everyone was out on the streets again after buying their dresses, shoes, jewelry, and tuxedos. Most of the boys tuxedo's were similar. A black best, white lace button down shirt, black pants, and a black bow. They looked handsome in the tuxedos and Lyssa was definitely gushing over how manly Taecyeon looked. 

The dress Taecyeon had chosen for Lyssa was a long blue dress. It was tight around the chest and waist area, similar to Mai's, and it was poofy at the end. There was sparkling silver designs and little ruffles here and there. The dress was gorgeous and Lyssa was surprised Taec chosen a strapless one. "Well, you do have to show off at least a little bit, right?" he had said.

Nona's dress was silver. Junho had helped her look for it and it was beautiful. The dress was strapless and at the top there was a light gray design and then the tightened part around her upper body was a darker gray. As the dress descended downward, the silver/grey color became lighter. The next layer were some ruffles and then a soft lace fabric. Under that layer was a softer fabric. The dress had unique designs and Nona loved it. 

Lilly looked through the stores, looking for one that sell masks. They were still missing their masquerade masks. With a little more searching, Lilly's gaze landed on a small store at the end of the street. It was mostly empty in that area but the sign above it read, "Mystical Masks". Without hesitation Lilly walked toward the store with the others following quickly behind her.

Links to the dresses:

Lilly: http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff512/MaiHwango/Lilly.jpg

Lyssa: http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff512/MaiHwango/Lyssa.jpg

Mai: http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff512/MaiHwango/Mai.jpg

Nona: http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff512/MaiHwango/Nona.jpg

Miyu: http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff512/MaiHwango/Miyu.jpg