You hear the clear clink of a crystal glass, which is what your father had gently struck with a silver spoon, gaining the whole hall’s attention as the chatter quieted down to complete silence.

Back straight and chin up, you stand beside your mother while Rin and Kris take your father’s side.

“Honorable ladies and gentlemen, I hereby declare that this annual dinner party has officially begun.  Enjoy,” Your father’s voice rang, loud and clear, a simple sentence that evoked the applause of the attendants of the party.

You find Chen and take his arm, letting him guide you around the hall; something you dislike doing but cannot avoid.  It is in the etiquette book that the host of a party must attend to each guest possible, to maintain perfect manners and reflect politeness. 

“Dear, you look stunning,” You hear a woman say. 

“ I am gratified to hear so, ma’am,” You bow towards the source of her voice and extend your hand for her to shake, feeling her ring under your gentle grip.  “Your jewelry is marvelous, ma’am.  Truly, it is carved and polished to perfection,”

You hear her chuckle in satisfaction and you give her a smile before excusing yourself, moving on to the other guests.

“Young lady, meet my son,” A man says in front of you. 

You politely chuckle and bow towards the source of the man’s voice, once again extending your hand for his son to shake.

“Pleased to meet you,” You say first.

“I, too, am pleased to meet such a beautiful woman,” The son replies.

You give him a smile and dip your head in a thank you bow.  “May we be better acquainted in the future,”

For half the night you share conversations with other people, whose voice are both similar and not to your ears.  Although so, you do not speak unless you are spoken to.  Your inability to see has become a public excuse for your little detachment from the people around you.  That’s how you are always to them; different.  The words they say to you may be both compliments and critiques, but the two different things are given to you with tones that judge.  That gauge you of your intelligence, manners, etiquette, and whatever little detail they could see. 

The soft classic music plays through the speakers in the room, mixed with the constant clink of silverware and the harmonious chatter of the guests.  You’re already familiarized with the things going on in parties like these.  Now, for example, you completely know of the screens that are put up in a nicely visible spot in the hall, displaying a monitor that shows the conditions of he stocks and the general graph of the company’s development.  Of the continuous arrival of the guests, adding in to the already considerable amount of people inside the hall.  Of the muffled, repeated shutter of cameras outside the hall, noisy, busy and bustling with the people that represent their media companies.

“Hi,” You suddenly hear, a tap on your shoulder followed by a familiar voice.

Baekhyun.

You don’t turn completely towards his voice but you slightly tilt your head, giving him a little bow and a thin smile.  “Hello, Baekhyun-ssi,”

Something’s strange.

“I figured that I should, you know, at least say hi, considering that we attend the same party,” He says.  “ ‘cause I don’t really know how to, um, face you,”

You shake your head, your attention irritatingly unfocused.  “Hello.  It’s fine, please, it has passed,” Your arm unconsciously lift itself, as a sign of wanting to halt the conversation.

“Still, though, I—“

“I’m sorry, but, can you please be quiet for a moment?” You quickly say, focusing on the sound the speakers are playing.

It wasn’t music.

It was the audio to a camera recording.

“—ris-ssi, abbut the engagement; do you plan to break it?”

“—planning to break it,”

Of your meeting with Kris at the usual restaurant.

You hear the crowd gasp, exclaiming their surprise towards what they saw and heard.  The crowd falls to a piercing silence as they directed their attention to the recording unfold in front of their eyes.

The recording noisily rustles, cutting off the audio.  You thought that it would stop there, but no; it goes on.

“—should know.  But I don’t know how to break it down to them,”

“—too.  We’ve been going on for quite a long time, we have to let them all know,”

“It would be difficult.  Considering that I haven’t broken off the engagement and I’m seeing you like this.  You; my sister’s boyfriend,”

It was another recording of your sister and Baekhyun.

The silence breaks, murmur rippling throughout the audience of the recording, undoubtedly taken in secret.  You hear words, harsh words, that are directed to Rin and Kris, as they were the point of the recording.  Only a bit of you and Baekhyun got through. 

“What is the meaning of this?!” You hear your father bellow.  His voice, his tone, only you know that it reflected anxiousness, bewilderment and fear.  People only started to pay attention towards what was to come.

“Dear,” Your mother says after him, calming him down.

And then comes the voice of your sister.  “Father, I—“

“Without our consent, Park Rin, you do this?”

You hear nothing from the Wu family, whose voices you are familiar with.  They know of this, then.

“Sir, if I may,—“ You hear Kris quietly say, but he is shortly cut off.

“Ooh,” A woman says from the crowd.  “So the daughter is engaged, but is seeing another man, which coincidentally turns out to be her sister’s boyfriend.  Or is it coincidental?” Her tone slices through the silence, spreading out the fact literally. 

You judge from her tone that she, too, is shocked.  But she’s using the facts to make your family and the Wu’s waver.  Similar sentences excape people’s lips, the guilty verdict sharpening towards your sister and Kris.

“Engagement is broken off, then?”

“How foolish.  They are oblivious to the situation,”

“So that Park Rin isn’t what she seems.  She’s using her sister’s blindness to her advantage,”

At the line, you snap.

“Oh, really?” Your voice, unexpected to everybody, rings loud and clear, the attention immediately falling upon you as you feel their gazes on yourself, the person who they consider a victim.  “Do you really think that this unfortunate event will turn into the downfall of the alliance between my family and the Wu’s?” It just pours out of you; the words, the sentences, never prepared, but it just escapes your lips.  Their fake words and gestures, their hushed nature, it irks you to your core.

“What do you have to say, second daughter?” A man says.  “You are blind.  You know nothing of the matter.  You may be involved, but you understand nothing,”

You turn towards the direction of his voice and smile.  “Do I?” You quietly chuckle, then continue, now addressing the crowd around you.  “Do you see any conflict going on between my sister and the Wu family’s son? Do you see the Wu family experiencing outrage towards the matter? Now I’m the one confused here.  Is it I, that is blind, or is it all of you, honorable ladies and gentlemen of the higher class, that is oblivious to this matter?”

A murmur of protests follow your words, increasing in volume until someone in the crowd says; “Why don’t we all listen to what she has to say?”

You nod towards the voice in thanks and once again, you begin.

“With all due respect, ladies and gentlemen, mother, father.  Your conclusion in the matter is true; that my sister has been seeing another man although she is engaged.  But the only change in the things that this event might alter is the fact that there is no engagement.  For the second time tonight, I ask you; do you notice a strange occurence between my sister and the Wu family’s son? Even I, who does not see, knows that no fight has taken place.  And what does no engagement cause? They did not cancel it with muddled thoughts.  They did it with composure, and thus, the relationship is preserved.  They stay as friends.  And it does nothing to affect the alliance between my father’s company and the Wu’s.  I’m sure that the Wu family knows of this matter.  Their only son was the one who told them of his decision, made after a discussion was done with my sister.  Surely you might think that these are the words of a mere second daughter, who is, even worse; blind, but does it not make sense?”

Another ripple of murmurs coursed through the crowd.  You hope your words do make sense and dawn on them, because it’s just a collection of raw sentences that your mind had told you to announce.

“This might be disrespectful, but it’s reality,” You breathe in.  “Competition is inevitable.  I am sure that not one person in this hall does not wish for a lapse to occur in the business of my father’s company so that it can be taken advantage of and thus, success shall avert its eyes away from the Park company.  But do take this into account; the contract between the Park family and the Wu’s is not and shall not be broken.  And do not ever, speak bad about my sister,”

You spin on your heel and quietly say, “Excuse me,”

And you leave the party, a thousand pair of eyes following your back.