She stands there in her black stilettos, feet planted on the ground, sipping the wine that the hostess brought her three hours ago. But she can't understand why they all stand in their masks, pretending that they're the facade that the mask clothed. The dark haired girl sips on her wine once again. She readjusts her emerald mask hiding all the scabs and scars she doesn't want others to know about. Men in suits look her way, noticing the mermaid gowned girl, how her body fits it perfectly. They need a piece of her, it's not majestic or beautiful, it's attraction and perhaps love, a game she doesn't gamble with. Finishing the bitter ambrosia, she finds an empty table in the dimly lit ballroom, away from the crowds, away from the noise, away from everything. 

"Hey Yuri!" the hostess giggles. Lighthearted and happy like the lilac gown she wears or the sequined mask that only attracts others to know her, to admire her, to press their dainty lips along her cheekbones. "Have you met Zitao?" she asks with a giggle, pointing at the boy that Yuri doesn't notice because of Yoona's shining personality, but his arms are linked with hers and he looks scared to even talk to talk to someone like her. But she's also surprised that Yoona has allowed the man to cling to her, there's not a slightest hint that Yoona is quivering with such physical intimacy, Yuri would say something, but the man catches her attention once again. His smoky eyes pierce through behind his dark mask and it's almost as though he wants to curse her and have her wooed by his own stare. He runs his fingers through his blonde hair and stares at her once again. Once, he steals her breath away. Yoona then nudges the boy to take a seat next to the girl, fixes his blue tie and kisses his cheek before running off to speak to who she presumes is Jongdae.

They sit in silence for a few minutes. She asks another server to get her a glass of more wine. She sips it, not sure how to approach a man who fidgets in his seat, stares at her with those smoky eyes and readjusts his white button down shirt. She's tempted to let her lips speak for themselves and leave a trail of desire down his bones and heal his wounds with her kisses. But she doesn't, she doesn't have the want to do something as stupid as that.

"He's scary," he says, his voice is soft and hesitant, carefully pressing words in accented Korean. He points to the man in a blue mask who tilts his head back in laughter after hearing a joke. Choi Siwon, one of Yoona's friends, one of her many friends to be accurate. She tries to recall his love story that involves her intertwining her fingers with his, how he steals the stars in the skies and puts them in her eyes for that moment and that moment only, they write love stories, he weaves his fingers through her hair and she smiles at him, she remembers his dark luscious hair, his smile at dawn, she remembers his lovely eyes most of all, but she reminds herself of one thing that not a lot would know of. And it makes her smile all over again. 

"You're kidding, right? He cries at the beginning of Lion King," she replies with a small grin. Her eyes look at Siwon who responds back with a grin. Yuri remembers him well, he dances divinely, he's an heir to an Oil Company and he enjoys Disney movies, well the ones that don't make him cry and wet her shoulders of course. The foreign male blinks in confusion, the words process slowly and he understands her Korean a few minutes later, nodding his head as an answer.

"You are not afraid?" he asks softly. It's slow and he still seems hesitant to say more than enough. She wonders if it's because he isn't like the rest of them or if it's because he's foreign. But behind the painted blue mask, he's a tint of yellow and there are no that differentiate him from the other humans. 

"Afraid of what?" Yuri asks with an amused smile. The foreigner is vexing her with a slight rumble of his voice. He creates a melody that screeches in her left lobe and it almost pains her to listen to the harmony of a coward. 

"Of souls?" he continues to question, holding his head on his hands and she continues to be bemused by oddities. But he's young and innocent, the heir’s life hasn't tainted his blood, yet. He knows that quite well, he knows that he’s the youngest of his family, he knows that the Huang Company needs his help more than ever that their equity would go down without him, that he's important and it makes him quiver because he doesn't even understand the language that they speak in, jargon, the beauty of numbers and assets. So he becomes hesitant, composing his thoughts like melodies and shyly asks questions that he wouldn’t dare ask anyone else.

"Now souls," she starts, swirling the red liquid in her glass, she tries to comprehend his words in a polite manner, but she replays the memories of love and how the game of love numbed her soul, how they took her heart and never gave it back, but any emotion she felt was hidden behind the masquerade and a smirk replaced her worries. "They're difficult," she pauses. She's afraid to speak her mind, to tell him of her past, her future, her broken heart that has been torn apart by the others who have not slipped their dainty feet into the blood curdling ballet slippers, or the knives that make her scream as she continues to glide across the floors. 

A girl comes to view, her lips open and her dark brown hair cascading down her back, she gestures towards her and the boy stares at her with interest. She knows her too well, she knows of her scars and the stardust that she hides from others because she was taught that. She knows the fingers that have made swirls on Yuri’s thumb or the limits she creates all on her own. "Hwang Tiffany drinks too much," she chimes, watching the girl sway back and forth, her laughter filling the air once again. And it's expected of her, it's expected for Miyoung to drink so much, her mother's death takes a toll on someone and she notices how lifeless her eyes are now that she's gone. He smiles, grabs her fingers and points to someone else. 

She doesn't know the name of this man or why he takes her fingers to point at him or why she can feel a blush reach her cheeks. But she knows that his fingers are like savages and she'd like to have them back. "Wu Yifan cries during The Notebook," he adds. She doesn't know of him, or know that he used to be what the foreigner would lust over, or how he smells at seven in the morning (it’s lavender, Zitao remembers) or how his fingers intertwine with his or - oh dear, how he can take his breath away with just one look, one look. He doesn't mention it, he doesn't dare mention it because it's strange and not something you tell a stranger. And because Yifan is in love with another and he wouldn't dare tell her of it.

So they stare at each other for a minute before cocking their heads back in laughter, only imagining the hilarity of what ridiculous conclusions they reach. But they know with one look, one unspoken action that there's more under these tidbits of information and that they would say more if it isn’t a taboo subject. She goes for his fingers that are suddenly becoming a game to her and points to the man near the tall brunette the foreigner has pointed at and smiles.

"Lee Donghae dances in his boxers," she laughs, his pointing finger become attached to her fingers and they get closer and closer until they sit next to each other, pointing at others that they know something about, embarrassing or beautiful. An underlying idea, a phrase, almost a secret code that Donghae is someone Yuri would be in a hushed whisper with because he's the type or person she dreams to be. And they continue this game of humor and enigmas, until they reach the hostess who is still sparkling under the chandelier, dancing with Changmin (who is in love with her but won't let anyone know of it, but he's truly the only person she trusts Yoona to, the only one who could spin a fairy tale with or without the happy ending, a sick fate, truly). 

"Im Yoona is the only female to bring out my courage," he answers and she looks at him once more. She stares at his orbs and she swears that there's something hidden that she doesn’t see before. It's a sense of familiarity, a sense of warmth, almost as though he- no, it couldn't be. And the evidence arises because he's too obvious, his facts become too personal, too tangible, too sentimental that they cannot laugh and they cannot utter any more than what's given. 

"You don't love her, do you?" Yuri asks. And he goes silent, he only stares at the girl, he blushes and reaches for her hand, but instead of pointing it to someone else, he presses his lips to her hand. She catches his thoughts, she catches him under the light, there's nothing more he can do but unveil himself, take off the masquerade and tell her the one truth that he hasn't told anyone else. 

"Is that what you fear?" he asks. He wants to avoid this conversation, avoid the secrets. Fear, fear, she doesn't fear anything, she swears that, but his piercing brown eyes steal her soul like Ariel and he has taken something she never knew she owned, her secrets. She feels a rush of emotion, a tale that doesn't need to be told because he has found out about her story. He has unraveled her tale without her even saying a word. "How do you live in fear all the time?" he continues to question and she wants to dodge and weave, pretend and forget that he ever utters such sentences to her. He knows what she fears, he knows after this stupid game and it's her fault. He points to himself. 

"Huang Zitao, a person who believes in love," he says and all the emotions that she wants to ignore, regret, come rushing back and she prays, twirls her hair, but he cups her face, tastes her lips that remind him of baked goods that his mother made in the past, nostalgic memories and the faintest hint of candy. Someone he barely knows has captured his heart. He pulls at her finger tips, dangles around with an idea of love, pulls her into his story and tells her of his story. And he knows quite well that she has tied the knots around her heart, around the veins, around the capillaries so no other can do her harm. And when he says that, he takes her hand, forces her to take off the mask and stands up from his seat. She plays the game, she knows of his ideas, she knows everything, why would he sit there and pretend any longer? But then she forces his hand upon her mask. 

"Kwon Yuri, numbed from the alcohol of love," she whispers and he stares at her. It's almost a secret they share, it replaces the humorous comments they make about others, they stand there, complete opposites, and he can tell from the way she looks at him that she's afraid of feeling emotion, which isn't an incredibly bad thing, it's almost pleasant to hear, but he can't help himself and cup her face, let his fingers trail to her hips and make it so that she can entangle her miseries into his lack of miseries, to pull her in once more at this game they called love and to break her curse once and for all. 

He shows the world the girl that had been intoxicated by sadness. How he restores her, sips the poison out of her veins and believes in her once again. She's gambling in the game of love, finishing her bitter ambrosia for the last time. 

in my hands:

` exo tao x snsd yuri. ( the characters.

` "Scary, you're kidding, right? He cries at the opening of Lion King."  ( choi siwon, dude, he be a big teddy bear. 

` Romance.  ( it's really subtle, i don't know if it's enough to be called romance romance, but it's romance, not at it's fluffiest but they kiss and yuri blushes and yeah, it's kinda cute. 

`"How do you live in fear all the time?" ( okay, this is also actually what i wanted to talk about, she's scared of love, but there's something more she's scared of, she's scared that he'll solve the puzzle, that she's hiding something, but what it is, well, only you decide. it's not love.

` new love blossoms.  ( i think this is kinda obvious, don't you think?