Chapter 1

The Mansion, The Dog & The Cordial Invitation

It was a warm winter day when Seonyul decided to take her dog for a walk. Her father was at work while her mother was out of town on a business trip. Instead of staying cooped up inside her own house, she decides to go out and enjoy her free time on her winter vacation.

"Balto! Where are you boy?" She looks around for her dog and finds him in the kitchen lying on the floor. "Come on lazy head, we're going outside. We both need some fresh air!" She smiled looking at him lying on his back, trying to get her attention as she patted on his stomach.

Once she was warmly dressed, she walks outside her house, heading down the stairs and down the sidewalk, staight to the park. The snow was filling the streets of her neighborhood making it much enjoyable for her pet and herself for their walk. On her way to the park, she passes by a beautiful mansion that immediately caught her attention.

"Balto, stop here for a second, I want to look at something." As if he understood her, he stops and sits down waiting for his queue to move on. She carefully looks at the house, through the closed gates, and contemplates on its looks.

'I wonder who is rich enough to be able to live in a house like that.'

She suddenly snaps out of her gaze when her dog starts to bark. "Yah! Stop it, will you?" She looked at what direction Balto was barking and saw a tall, well-built man in front of the gates.

'Looks like some kind of bodyguard.'

She walks towards him hoping that he will be able to answer her questions. "Excuse me, sir?"

"What may I do for you miss?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me about this house?"

"Nothing that is of your concern, miss"

How rude. Jacka**.

"I just wanted to know how old was the house. Do you know anything about it?"

The guard looks down at her, trying to figure out what kind of stranger she is. Seeing that she wasn't getting any response she added by saying the reason as to why she got so curious in the first place.

"I'm a student at _____ University and I was just curious to know about the house. Since I'm majoring in Art History, I guess my curiosity got the better of me. But in all seriousness, it's a beautiful house." She smiles at him, trying to show him that all she wanted were innocent answers.

"It is, but that is all I know. The people who live there know more about it than me I suppose."

"It's okay, thank you though"

As she was about to leave, a young man came towards the gates seeing the guard and the young girl interact, picking on his curiosity. As he was walking towards them he calls out to his guard making him look around to see his boss and bows at his presence. And again, Balto starts to bark.

"Stop it Balto!"

"Nice name for a dog like this."

"Thank you"

She bows in front of him before having a quick lock on the man from the other side of the gates. He looked quite handsome for his young age. Dark reddish hair and a beautiful smile. She couldn't see what he was wearing since he was wearing his winter coat, which was quite stylish as well, but what made her stare was his smile. She found it pretty contagious.

"May I help you with something miss?"

"She was just asking about the house sir"

"What about the house?"

"I was just curious about it since it looked quite old but still beautiful though and surprised about the structure of it and how it resembles a certain old palace in France." She chuckles, seeing how he seemed so interested in what she had to say as he placed his hands behind his back and nodded. He smiles at her and thanks her for the compliment.

"My name is Cheolyong, or Mir by the way. It's nice to meet you"

"It's nice to meet you too sir. I'm Seonyul, and this is Balto… my dog." She looks down at her pet and ruffles his head as he happily barked for the attention he was getting.

"A beautiful one at that, what race is he?"

"A Samoyed, sir. It's has his similarities with a husky… Well, just a little bit though." He gets down on his knees and gently her dog's fur while he barks another time. "Well you are one nice little dog, aren't you Balto?"

"Looks like he likes you"

"He isn't cold?"

"He is a winter dog sir. He loves it. Especially the snow. It's the summer he can't really stand."

"I see. I guess I will let go and take care of him then. I'll see you around." He gets up on his feet, his smile never leaving his face, as she lightly bows, greeting him back. "Yes, goodbye sir."

"Come on Balto, let's go, boy."

As she walks away from the mansion and headed towards the park, Mir and the guard looks at her walking away and they both return to what they were doing: Mir going back inside the mansion and the guard well, guarding. As the young man walks back inside his home, an idea suddenly pops up in his head and walks towards his friend's office sharing the moment he just had with the young lady.

A few minutes later, she finally arrives at the park and heads towards the space especially reserved for dogs. The place was filled with snow, really big and encircled by a fence. Entering it, she lets go of her pet and watches him running around and playing with other dogs that were also there along with their owners who were watching by the side.

It went on for at least 30 minutes. Despite the cold weather, the heat of the sun made it all better and in all honesty, she didn't really mind the cold, she loved it actually.

While she was enjoying the cold breeze, she didn't seem to notice that someone was carefully observing her and he has, ever since she came to the park.

She seems so carefree…

Unlike her, he is unable to feel. He lost all sense of emotions and it's already been three years. A sorrowful and cold look overtook his eyes and it seems like he won't get out of it anytime soon.

She was sitting on a chair watching the dogs enjoying their time running around after each other and as she was relaxing, she saw something she didn't like coming from her dog and called him back to her.

"Balto! Come here!"

The man next to her chuckles as he hears her yelling her dog's name. At that sight she turns her head to the left and spots the man who is sitting next to her. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing really"

"No seriously, what is so funny?"

"Seeing your dog jumping on mine?" She quickly took a glance back to the two pets and back at the man next to her, suddenly feeling embarrassed by the situation. "Ah… Sorry about that"

"Don't worry about it, I guess he is just enjoying some company." He looks at her and smiles and he hands out his hands, introducing himself. "I'm Byunghee, or you can call me G.O, it's nice to meet you." She did the same and smiled back at him, enjoying the friendly attitude he was charming her with.

Once again, she called him and as he heard his name, Balto came straight to Seonyul and jumped on her, making her almost fall from her chair, but luckily G.O was there to prevent her from falling backwards. "Thanks"

"No problem. He seems pretty excited for an adult"

"Adult? That big ball of fur is still a baby! He's not even one year old yet." She laughs at his reaction suddenly realizing his mistake. "Really?!"

"Hmm"

"Whoa, that's some… dog"

"I know, but I do love that ball of fur." With her pet in front of her, she leans closer to him and cups his face, lightly shaking it. G.O leaned in and looked at the pet and ruffles his head, enjoying the scrunched up face he had. "You're really lucky to have her"

As they were both laughing, the man who was watching her from afar came closer and pats on his friends shoulder signaling him that it was time to leave. "Looks like I have to go"

"Already?"

"Yes, unlike some others, I have work to do."

"Well, if you want I can keep an eye on your dog, let him play a little bit more with mine"

"I wouldn’t mind… What do you think Cheondung?" He turns to his friend, who didn't show any sign of interest to their conversation while he was gave a look at Seonyul and turned his head to his friend, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't care. I just want to get out of here."

"Then I wouldn't mind. His name is Amos by the way."

He soon gets up and was about to leave when he informed her that he would pick him up at the park at the end of the day. "That's his lace. If it's okay, I'll come back to pick him up here. How about six o'clock?"

"Six o'clock is perfect"

Before he was about to leave, he calls out his dog and signals him to behave. She chuckles at his warning and promises that she will take good care of him. At that, he leaves with his friend and heads back to their mansion.

On their way there, G.O suddenly snaps at Cheondung for his behavior towards her.

"You could've been more polite, you know"

"Who cares, she's just like every others we meet: an attention ."

"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"What is wrong with me?! I'm not the one who left our dog with some kind of stranger. From all we know she could be the enemy!"

"The enemy? She's a freaking kid!"

"Well don't come yelling at me if we get attacked because of that b*tch!"

He stops walking and looks at Cheondung with a desperate look on his face, while the other continues walking not minding his friend behind him.

'Oh Sanghyun, where are you? I need you back… We all need you back…'

Everything went fine with Amos.

After G.O left, Seonyul stayed for another 10 minutes and went back home with both dogs. Since it was only 2 o'clock, she had a lot of free time on her hand, which she used by cleaning the house and by cooking.

It was now 5:40 pm and since the park was not to far from the house, she got dressed and went to bring Amos to the park, leaving her own dog at home. She was sitting on a bench when she saw G.O walking towards them waving and smiling at her. "Hey!"

"Hey"

"I hope he wasn't too much trouble"

"Actually he behaved; you trained him really well"

"Glad to know that the money spent was put to good use"

"I guess so"

"Anyways, I better get going. Thanks again for taking care of him"

"My pleasure"

"I'll guess I'll see you around?"

"Sure, I'd love too"

"Good then!"

As he was getting further away and completely out of her sight, she walked back home and spotted a familiar car parked by the driveway, making her rush inside her house.

"Mom! Where are you?"

"Right here honey, in the living room!"

As she walked to the living room, she jumped on her mother giving her a big hug which startled the woman, at first, but quickly hugged her daughter back. "I missed you mom"

"I see that, how have you been?" They pulled away and sat on the couch, catching up on what they missed during the mother's absence.

"Good, how about you? How was the trip?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Meetings here and there"

"How long are you staying though?"

"A week. But then I'm taking you and you're father away for a real vacation."

"Oh…" She noticed the strange tone in her voice, making her concern about her daughter's sudden change in her mood. "What's wrong?"

"Well, it is going to be your wedding anniversary so it's better if I don't come along, and plus school is about to start again."

"Are you sure you don't want to come?"

"100% sure. We'll just catch up when you come back"

"I just hate to leave you alone"

"Don't worry about me, I know how hard you and dad work and you both deserve it." She tightly hugs her mother, showing her that she was truly okay with staying behind to let her parents celebrate.

"Well, at least you only go back to school next week, so we'll get to spend some mother-daughter moments, what do you think?"

"Sounds good to me!"

"By the way, you received this through the mail today." She hands her an intriguing envelope that was beautifully decorated, with Seonyul's name nicely written across the paper, gaining the girl's full attention. "For me?"

"Yes"

She opens it and sees that it's an invitation to some party in the neighborhood.

A masquerade party? Really?

We cordially invite
Kim Seonyul
To our Masquerade Ball
&
Celebrate
On the 7th of February at eight o'clock
The 25th birthday of our dear brother
Lee Chansung.

In the hopes of seeing you there.

Dearly, the Jung family

"Can I go?" She handed her the invitation as she looked at her mother, anticipating a positive response. "When is it?"

"Hmm… Thursday night"

"Your father and I are already going to be on our way so I don't have any problem; you'll just have to ask your father for his permission." She gave her back the envelope and gently placed a kiss on her forehead, and made her way out of the living room. "If he says yes, then we have some shopping to do!"

"No problem, honey"

Seonyul walks to her room and sits on her bed wondering who could have sent her the invitation, since the owner forgot to put the address on the card and since she doesn't know who the boy's name on the card was. As she reads it again she turns the card around and spots a small message on the back corner

The important thing is not to stop questioning.

Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

- Albert Einstein

She lightly chuckles and shakes her head, realizing the person who sent her the invitation. She lies back in her bed, the excitement still in its effect as she imagined her wardrobe for the night of the masquerade.

I guess I don't need an address after all…

A little introduction before the story starts :)

Enjoy! ^^