Party

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Lae Sybounma:9/16/20XX:7 p.m

I look at myself in the mirror. My strapless white dress reaches my ankles. It was split in the middle at the chest area, stopping at my waist. I put on a necklace gifted to me by my father and picked up the matching purse. My long hair was in a half-up-half-down style in beach waves.

After deciding that I looked fine, I went downstairs to see my mother waiting. She looks at me from head to toe and nods approvingly.

"You've finally gotten one thing right in your life."

I try my best to ignore her comment and join her in the limo.

Our time together is mostly filled with silence. When my mother says something to me, it's normally about something I did wrong. I avoid talking to her. She doesn't like how my voice sounds.

"Remember, you're either smiling to please someone or you are neutral."

I nod. How many times have I heard this?

We soon arrived at the Kang residence. They hosted a party last week, and the week before. They must love hosting parties.

My mother and I stepped out of the car, only to be met with a large crowd of reporters and mics shoved to our faces. They do this every time and they get nothing. Must they do it any longer? It's annoying.

With my usual stone cold face, I push past the crowd and into the large building in front of me. The interior hasn't changed. The floors are still marble, their gigantic chandelier is still here, the walls are still white and the trim is still gold. Doors leading to rooms other than the main hall and ballroom were closed, with the exception of the kitchen doors opening and closing every five minutes. They had a bar, but I wouldn't be caught dead over there. My mother wouldn't like it, that's for sure. Maybe not hard liquor, but a red wine would be fine.

Together, we walked to the ballroom where the guests were. At every party I go to, even if it's my own, I'm required to talk to the other guests. To create a "connection," my mother says.

About an hour into the event, a guy from a popular skin care company, Song Minju, approaches me.

"Hanging out alone, are you?"

I look at him head to toe with an icy gaze. My face remains the same as I look away, completely ignoring him.

"Come on, talk to me," he slyly persuades. "You wouldn't want to miss out a special opportunity from Song's Line that would be offered just for you."

Knowing that he wouldn't leave me alone, I walked away from him to a spot across the room. My effort was in vain, as he simply followed my pace.

"Where are you going? Your skin would look beautiful with my product-"

"I highly suggest you remain at least a bit professional at an event hosted by the Kang's, Mr. Song. I think you're too slow to realize that my family owns a makeup company too, and it would be considered a disgrace to try products from one of our rival companies."

Song Minju fell silent. Taking his silence to my advantage, I turn and walk away with even steps. Though I was currently fuming with anger, I kept a calm attitude and headed towards the main hall to cool off.

As I was walking in a blind rage, I suddenly felt a cold liquid on my stomach, running down my left leg. I look up to see a guy I have never seen before with his mouth agape. My dress was now stained with the red wine I was holding before, and the glass was shattered on the ground.

"I-I-I'm so sorry!"

He bows at a 90 degree angle and repeats this about five times. I remain quiet in an attempt to control my overwhelming emotions. I debated in my mind whether I needed to find a way to say "it's okay" in a way that was acceptable, or to just not say anything and keep my emotionless face, but it was too late. The guy ended up running away before I could even open my mouth.

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Hong Seohyun:9/16/20XX:8:30 p.m

I run off in a panic, away from the girl and the staring eyes. I was almost out the door until I had to suddenly stop before slamming into Eunsang, who asked me if I was okay.

I tried to catch my breath and noticed a small wine stain on my tie, but was big enough to be noticed.

"Calm down, I'm sure it's not too bad," Eunsang says.

"Dude, I just spilled wine on someone's white dress, and shattered that glass. It's bad," I say as soon as I catch my breath.

"Oh- do you know who it is?"

Before I could answer, there was a loud announcement in the ballroom. It was something about a paired dance.

"Crap." Eunsang rolls their eyes. "I want to hear you out but the paired dance is starting and my mom will kill me if I'm not there with my 'girlfriend'."

"It's fine, I understand."

They look at me with an empathetic look. Then, their face brightens.

"There's someone here that is 100% your type. I heard she's single too! You should dance with her!"

"After what just happened?" I start, shaking my head. "I don't think I could go back in there."

"It's okay," Eunasang consoles. "Only a few people here are more powerful than my family so the chances of you doing that to one of them is low."

"That doesn't make this better. Everyone was watching. By everyone, I mean everyone," I say, putting an emphasis on the last "everyone."

"There's nothing they can do about it. It was a mistake and they'll forget...eventually." They pause. "....Hopefully." they then change the subject. "Anyway, you're here to take a break and have some fun, so let's go."

Before I could protest, they grabbed my arm and dragged me to the ballroom. I quickly adjust my tie to hide the wine stain.

"See that girl in the red dress?" Eunsang points to a girl wearing a bright red dress with wavy hair that reached the middle of her back. Her back was turned so I couldn't see her face.

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea-"

Eunsang cuts me off and pushes me towards her before running off to find the girl they hired. I shake my head in disbelief. I wanted to turn and leave, but it was going to be hard with everyone surrounding us. The girl in the red dress finally turns around and my eyes widen as I realize who she was. Her eyes slightly widen as well, but she recovers quickly. I see her turn as if she was going to walk away from me, but she suddenly stops. She almost sighs before facing me once again and taking my hand. I hear a slow classical song start to play, signalling the start of the dance. Unfortunately, I was clumsy when it came to dancing. Or almost any other sport in general.

"A-about earlier-" I criticize myself in my head for stuttering. "I'm sorry about that..."

She remained silent. I don't deal well with silence. It was killing me, so I tried to start another conversation.

"That's a nice dress. The white one was nice too, hopefully you can get the stain out."

She still says nothing. Her face was void of emotion and her steps were precise. I have been doing well so far, but it didn't last long. I muttered a "sorry" when I stepped on her for the first time. Then the second time. Third, fourth, I messed up a lot.

For about two more minutes, the awkward silence lasted between the two of us. Finally, the song was over.

Immediately, she steps away and says coldly, "That dance was the easiest for us to learn."

I look at her with disbelief. She doesn't seem to care, and makes her way out of the crowd. I scoff, rolling my eyes. I understand if she were mad at me for the accident, but she's something else. I apologized like ten times, yet she doesn't speak to me and acts rude? I swear, are all rich people like this?

In front of me, the crowd starts to make a path. I see Eunsang running straight towards me.

"Bro bro bro, the girl she-" They stop to catch their breath. "She tried to kiss me!"

I smack my forehead. "What did you do?"

Eunsang lets out a weak laugh. I shake my head in disapproval. "What will your parents say?"

"I hope they didn't see..." They look around for their parents, who weren't around. "Oh! How did it go with Lae? You know, the girl."

"Eunsang," I start seriously. "She's the one I spilled wine on. And she's pissed."

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