The dress Jinki had bought me complimented Hyerim’s body well. It accentuated all the right curves in an elegant manner. The freezing wind whipped the bottom of the gown every which way, creating a stir of blush pink waves at my feet.

I looked down at the phone in my hand to check the time. Jinki was supposed to be here five minutes ago.

I was waiting outside of the firm, hugging my arms to keep me warm. Lifting my gaze from the steps, I saw the headlights of a white Beamer approaching.

Jinki emerged from the car, dapped down in a sleek black suit with a tie matching my dress. His brown hair swept into his eyes and he smiled widely as he greeted me.

It hadn’t dawned on me how attractive he truly was, until he took my hand and led me down the stairs to the car. He opened the door and motioned for me to get in. A single white rose lied on the seat.

“Pour toi, Mademoiselle,” he grinned, picking up the flower to hand to me.

“I-it’s beautiful Jinki. Thank you,” I nodded, accepted the rose and sat down in the passenger seat.

While he hurried back to the driver’s side, I took a quick look back to see if the briefcase was still there.

Luckily it was, ribbon locks still intact.

As he sat himself behind the wheel, I exhaled a relieved sigh.

My worst worries were gone. He hadn’t even touched the case.

“Tell me, how well do you dance?” he giggled, pulling away from the firm’s curb and mingling with traffic.

 “Oh, I’m pretty foot savvy,” I admitted.

He nodded his head. “Ah, where’d you learn?”

Truthfully I’d learned ballroom dancing during training, one of the miscellaneous teachings of all of them.

“Back at Cambridge,” I lied, tapping the frame of the door, “it was a ballroom course. Being in England, I guess it’s safe to learn those types of things.” I stifled an unconvincing laugh and turned to look at him.

His head was faced forward, eyeing the road, but I could tell he’d been stealing glances at me from his peripheral.

“Are you excited for tonight?” he asked coolly, steering the wheel to make a left turn.

“I really am,” I nodded, patting his left thigh.

He jerked at my touch and I pulled my hand away.

“You always startle me,” he laughed, shaking his head at me.

“To be fair, you’ve always been nervous around me,” I argued.

“Can you blame me? It’s not that often a beautiful woman appears before me and shares my same feelings.” He glanced at me quickly then, and I hid my face by staring out the window. “Honestly, I’m so lucky that you feel the same way. I hope you’re looking forward to our future together just as much as I am.”

I nodded silently and kept my gaze out at the trees and street lights.

He thought we had a future together. Kibum thought we had a future together.

The lies kept burying me under them.

“I’m rude,” Jinki spoke, “I just jumped to conclusions. You do feel the same way about me, right?”

The silence should have given him his answer. I could tell his head kept turning from me to the road, then back to me, anticipating that I would break the silence with a positive response.

“Of course Jinki. You’re amazing.” I slowly placed my hand on this thigh and tapped it with my fingers. He didn’t jump this time.

In fact, he took one hand from the wheel and placed it on top of mine.

He looked down at me with a peculiarly sad face and spoke.

“We’re here.”

I broke from his stare and looked outside the window, eyes falling on a massive brick building, about the size of the firm.

It was ordained with Western Christmas decorations; lit up reindeers and an over jolly Santa Claus.

There was a large pine tree, decorated in colorful bulbous ornaments. A star at the top shined a light that stretched for blocks.

Cars were surrounding the entrance and people hurriedly entered the building to escape the cold.

“Wow, this place makes our firm look like a preschool,” I joked.

Jinki didn’t laugh, he just stepped out of the car and walked around to the passenger’s side. He opened my door, extended his arm out, and I grabbed on to him.

I tried to move into him a bit, but there was an unspoken static that told me he wanted his distance.

I squinted at him as we walked to the front entrance.

At the door were too bulky guards, holding out their hands to collect our invitations. I pulled mine from my clutch and handed it to one guard, and Jinki handed his to the other. Jinki’s guard nudged him slightly and gestured towards me. Jinki smiled and pulled me inside.

The scene was laid out just like Kibum’s engagement party: a group of snobs sipping overpriced soda water and laughing at dry jokes made by their coworkers.

I hadn’t met the famed Lee Minho, and the thickness of the crowd told me I wasn’t going to get the chance tonight. But Jinki pulled me through to the center of the crowd, and there stood Kibum, his fiancé, and a tall lean man with a Santa hat.

“Onew! Eunji! You made it!”

Kibum’s eyes widened at the sight of us, while Arisa slouched and smirked at me.

We all shared respective bows and the man in the Santa hat grabbed my hand and kissed it.

“Wow, you are stunning,” he smiled cheesily and dropped my hand, then looked at J