The whole of the city was abuzz. The biggest ball of the year was that night and every one from paupers to the modern-day princesses were anticipating the grand affair.

 

A blonde stood gazing out of her window at the town. She'd made a bet she never should have accepted and now there was so much more at stake than just her pride.

 

--- 

 

A month ago, Im JinAh and Jung Sooyeon, two of the most sought after girls in the city, were messing around in the observing station at the city's rail depot. 

 

"The Lighter than Air Ball is in three weeks, what should we do this time to make it interesting?" JinAh, the younger of the two suggested. 

 

"I don't know," Sooyeon sighed. Maybe it was because she was older but she was growing tired of playing games with all the other daughters of impressive men, whose sole purpose in life seemed to be pleasing either her or JinAh. The truth was Sooyeon was just tired of being the daughter of the president of Jung Locomotive. She'd be willing to work hard for the rest of her life just to get some peace.

 

"Oh, come on! Where's your enthusiasm, Jessica, you're the one who started all of this!" JinAh coaxed, knowing full well that Sooyeon was less likely to back down if she used that name.

 

"Well, let's just…" Sooyeon was stalling. What should she suggest? She knew JinAh was challenging her; Jessica Jung had a reputation and even if Jung Sooyeon didn't want it anymore, she would never let Im Nana know that. "Let's make a game, you against me. Let's both pursue one person and whomever they choose to go to the ball with is the true player among us." Lacking inspiration, Sooyeon had just picked the premise from one of the serials in this week’s reader.

 

“Sounds like fun,” JinAh said, looking out the window and scanning the crowds of people below. “Let me pick!” She pleaded, using the little girl voice that always convinced Sooyeon to let her get her way. 

 

She may be twenty this year but Sooyeon has been caving to her since they met when she was six years old. As two only children, and in spite of the age difference, their fathers’ had placed them under the same governess growing up. They were like sisters, but when JinAh was sixteen and Jessica was eighteen they started pushing the boundaries of sisters. 

 

JinAh was scanning the crowd looking for the right person to act as the third player in their game. Looking for someone that would please them both, she found it difficult to choose because, as long as she’d known her elder, JinAh had never really been able to peg the older girl’s type. Then her eyes landed on a cute little brunette that looked greener than an infant. “Look there! That one,” JinAh pointed down into the terminal. 

 

Jessica zipped her skirt so that her shirttails were left unsecured and made her way over to the window. “That flustered looking one?” She knew that JinAh preferred the innocent looking ones.

JinAh nodded her head. “Okay, you picked so I call the rules. First, she must never know; no cash bribes. We give each other a fair chance; you don’t sabotage me and I won’t sabotage you. Everything else is fair,” Sooyeon announced.

“Got it.” JinAh and Sooyeon sealed the deal by shaking hands before JinAh sprinted down to the ground level to get started.

 

Sooyeon sat at the ledge, watching her junior begin her seduction of that country girl down below.

---

 

 

“Hey…” JinAh said, out of breath because she’d actually run all the way down there. Huffing and puffing a little, she noted, “You looked lost, can I help you?”

“Um, yeah, okay,” the brunette, answered. She was kind of caught off guard. Her father had always told her city people were mean and didn’t care about anything but themselves.

 

JinAh picked up one of the trunks and looked, “Hey beautiful, where should I drag these? They’re pretty heavy, do you want a cab?”

Flushing in response to the stranger’s praise, she stammered, “I think so.” JinAh chuckled a bit; this girl sure was easy enough.

 

Waiting at the curb, JinAh leaned against the wall and the charm. “So, beautiful, where are you coming from? This sure is a lot of stuff,” she noted, kicking at the two large trunks.

“Far, far away, just some rural nowhere.. The future’s in this city,” she said resolutely, even giving a cute nod in confirmation at the end.

JinAh laughed again. A motorcab pulled up. “Miss Im, were you waiting long? Let me get these for you,” the portly cabbie said, rushing out to tie the trunks into the back of his cab. 

 

The brunette’s eyes went wide as she witnessed this. JinAh ushered the stunned girl into the cab.

 

 JinAh got the girl to her apartment and roped the cabbie into lugging both trunks to her fourth floor room.

 

“Hey beautiful, I got you a cab and I got all your stuff up here, can you at least give me your name?”

 

“I rather like being called beautiful,” the brunette replied, giving her a playful smile.

 

“Okay, how about if I promise to keep calling you beautiful, then will you tell me?” JinAh flirted back. 

 

“Hmm, I guess, do you promise?” 

 

“Yep, I do.”

 

“It’s Nicole.” 

 

“Okay beautiful Miss Nicole, care to join me for dinner? You can have anything you like, the city is yours.” JinAh stated. 

 

“It’s my first night here, why don’t you pick, show me the best this city’s got to offer.” Nicole said, trying to match the aggressiveness that this girl was showing hers. 

 

“Alright then, I’ll come back her at eight and let you get settled.” JinAh said grabbing her jacket to leave.

 

“Hey stranger,” Nicole called, “You got a name?” 

 

“Im Nana.” She hollered back over her shoulder as the door slammed shut.

__

JinAh’s game was simple woo the girl with all that she could materially muster, as the daughter of the second richest man in the town, who was also the mayor every soul knew to stay on her good side. 

 

Nicole was impressed with the gifts, the expensive outings; she’d never met a girl like Nana before. Nana was crazy, she seemed to live life with out a care, she’d spend a thousand dollars without batting an eyelash.

 

This, Nicole thought, this is what I left for, living life just like she’d read about in the books.

 

 

 

--- 

 

 

 

JinAh had the upper hand since she’d met Nicole right then at the station, so to play fair she’d tipped Sooyeon off to lunch diner that she’d suggested Nicole got to.

 

Maybe it was more calculating, but Sooyeon let herself bump into Nicole exactly two times before she introduced herself. 

 

That day she slid her lunch over when she saw Nicole sitting there, “I’ve seen you inside here a few times, do you like it here? The food’s pretty good.”

Nicole took a of her chocolate milk to wash the bits of food from before she spoke, “Yea, it is. And honestly I don’t know too many places around here.”

 

“Oh,” Sooyeon confirmed, and went back to her meal.

Sooyeon was finishing up and Nicole was getting near the end of her meal as well, “I was headed to the bookstore, it’s a few blocks away but if you’d like I can show you a few other spots with pretty good food too.”

 

Nicole smiled brightly nodding her head stupidly before she swallowed her mouthful of potatoes. “Yeah, that’d be terrific”

 

Nicole left sufficient bank notes on the counter before she hopped of the barstool and followed Sooyeon out. 

 

“I’m Sooyeon, by the way,” she said, sticking out her hand in greeting.

 

“Nicole,” she replied, taking hold of the outstretched hand.

 

Sooyeon gave Nicole a foot tour of the neighborhood showing of her favorite little spots. She inadvertently started getting herself invested in Nicole. Sooyeon was giving rare pieces of herself to Nicole. Showing off facets that she didn’t even let JinAh see. 

 

Sooyeon and Nicole agreed to meet for lunch the next few days to try out some new spots. Sooyeon was winning Nicole’s friendship, part of her didn’t care because Nicole saw her as Sooyeon, not Jessica Jung: world famous heiress. 

 

Nicole found something refreshing about spending time with Sooyeon; it wasn’t like when she was with Nana, even though she always felt like a princess at those times. Sooyeon was real.

 

Sooyeon took Nicole for small dates, went for outings and grew quite close in the weeks since they’d met. When the month was up she asked her to the ball.  

 

It was the most awkward exchange between the two since their meeting. Sooyeon was stammering, honestly afraid that Nicole would flat refuse; since she was sure JinAh has already asked her.

Nicole paused, she’d told Nana she’d attend with her. “Sooyeon, someone else has asked me.” Sooyeon’s heart dropped and she turned away from Nicole to pull herself together to say that it was okay, she was just asking.

 

“Sooyeon, I want to go with you. Let me see if I can get out of the other date? Okay?” Nicole offered. 

 

“Yeah? Okay, how about if you can go with me we meet at the back gate of the Jung building? I’ll wait for you. I’ll know if you don’t show.” Sooyeon was in far too deep.

 

---

 

Sooyeon stood in her father’s lounge; the helium airship would take off from the roof of her father’s building and land there when the night was over. She was scared that she’d still lose. 

 

JinAh was primping herself in the powder room while countless other girls clamored around her. JinAh adored the attention of these girls like it was her sole source of energy. 

 

JinAh smiled gaily, she had a card up her sleeve tonight, on that was coming it to play quite nicely.

 

“Miss Jessica, Miss Nana is calling for you.” An attendant informed.

Sooyeon turned around, her elegant ball gown following her movements “Tell her I’ll join her on board, I’ve some things to attend to downstairs right now.” Sooyeon informed, while heading towards the door.

 

She stood at the gate, with thousands of butterflies aflutter inside her. She sat on the bench beneath the lamppost near the gate. She could see the Jung clock tower, thirty minutes until the lift off. She heard a noise and looked up.

 

---

 

Original a/n- I’ve never written to a prompt like this before. This is au all the way. nana/nicole/Jessica, right? Kind of. PG. Not a sad ending (it’s kind of happy if you want it to be). I wrote out all the side characters in my drafting because I was over ambitious while I was outlining. It is beta-ed.

I really hope that gyuljing likes this or at least doesn’t hate it. About the ending, 

 

um, well there was something strange going on inside of Jessica in the beginning… she was basically just wanting to settle down, she loves nana unconditionally. But then she meets Nicole and she’s like her first friend besides nana, and she kind of jaded and naïve because she basically falls in love with Nicole. In the end she’s torn, so you know if you want to believe that nana’s card was knowing the Jessica loved Nicole and sent her after her, that the sound was just a tin can or that nana was the only one there for her…or any other way, it’s up to you. any way I think it’s a pretty okay ending, I think.

 

Beta-d by magdachill@lj

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New A/N- So guy's I've shown you some stuff, if you're really industrious you might be able to find my regular accounts! OOH. they you might find my OLDER works... but these are a few of the things i've completed in the last five or six months.

So request something, you can even bend the rules a little.

I'm waiting see you soon.