part twenty-eight,
16:55- ;

"Miss Hana," Lynn gushes, slowly opening the door to my bedroom and closing it behind her, "you look beautiful."

I smile at her words, looking back at myself in the mirror. I had just finished getting ready for the award ceremony, a limo would arrive any time soon to pick up my family.

My dark hair was curled down my back, makeup done to perfection as I wore my black dress and a pair of black heels.

"Thank you Lynn" I smile widely, running my hands over the soft material as I step away from the mirror to grab my small clutch.

"Mr Hansol should he here any second now, I'm sure he will be blown away" she grins with excitement, rubbing my shoulder in a comforting matter, instantly calming the nerves in my stomach.

Tonight was the award ceremony, the event that I had been studying intensely for, the event that resulted in Father getting me a tutor.

My thoughts were interrupted when the sound of the doorbell rang through the Park mansion, making me feel giddy inside, Hansol was here.

"Well you finish collecting your items and come down when you are ready, i'll greet Hansol" I nod at her words, watching as she disappeared from the room and down the hall.

I grab my phone and place it in my clutch, along with a few other necessities before taking a deep breath and making my way downstairs.

Laughter could be heard from the top of the staircase as I made my way down, it sounded like my father, Lynn and Hansol were having a good time. This night was already starting off so well, I thought to myself.

"Oh Hana, you're here!" My father gushes when I walk into the room, settling down the chatter to a mere silence as all eyes focused on me, making me feel slightly uncomfortable under all of the sudden attention.

"Yea-" I start to say, before cutting of my words when Hansol stood up from his seat abruptly, walking over to me quickly to wrap his arms around my waist in a comforting embrace.

Smiling from ear to ear I wrapped my arms around his neck, listening to Father and Lynn make small talk, but getting distracted when Hansol's palms rub soothing circles on the small of my back.

"You look beautiful" he whispers in my ear, I break away from the embrace to kiss him lightly on the cheek, not wanting to give too much PDA in front of my family.

"I hate to break the two of you apart, but the limo is here" I hear Father's aging voice call, I step away from Hansol to start making my way to the door, but not before Hansol pulled me back to wrap his hand in mind.

"Are you nervous?" He asks as we step into the cold air, no doubt that Christmas was only just around the corner, his thumb rubbed gentle patterns on the back of my hand, instantly making me forget about the cool weather.

"Yeah, I'm really nervous" I reply, side glancing him to see a bright blush form on his ears and the tip of his nose from the cold, I laughed slightly at how cute he looked at this moment.

"Remember when I snuck you out of your room, and we hid behind all of these trees to get to my car?" He asked, bending down slightly to whisper in my ear so Father wouldn't hear. I nodded hastily, never forgetting a moment of our old times.

"And just to think, that was months ago" he smiled, eyes dazed as his mind ran over the events from the past. I took the time to notice his attire, a simple black suit cradled his body perfectly, outlining the slight hint of his muscles, his hair was gelled and combed and he smelt of something pleasant.

"Where did you get the suit from mr.chwe" I mocked him, lowering my voice to exaggerate my words, he rolled his eyes at me, pulling me closer to him by our enclosed hands.

"That's a secret I'll never tell" he laughed, leaning down to place a quick peck on my cheek, instantly making my face heat up.

When we finally made it to the limo, Father was already inside, smiling as he stared out the window. I'll never get used to seeing Father smile this often, he hasn't smiled this much since Mother left.

The ride was short and sweet to the ceremony hall, not far from the land of mansions and the metropolis of Gangnam.

Stepping into the hall was like something I had never experienced before. Large chandeliers surrounded the ceiling, men and women finely dressed and sipping champagne scattered around numerous tables. The atmosphere smelt like cherries and alcohol, something that I wasn't very used to.

"Now from what I can remember, we are on the same table as the Kwon family" Father thought out loud, scanning the room to find my competition.

"Ah, there" he spoke, ushering Hansol and I over to a table on the other side of the room.

When Soonyoung and Nicole came into view, I couldn't help but grit my teeth, the incident at the restaurant coming to mind.

"It will be okay" Hansol whispered next to me, obviously noticing my discomfort as his hand never left mine.

"Ahh Hana" Soonyoung gushes, standing up from the table with arms extended as he enveloped me in a hug. As much as I didn't want to return his embrace, I did it in spite of being polite.

I side glanced Hansol to see Nicole's arms wrapped tightly around his neck , and I almost laughed at the look of discomfort in his face.

"So how have you been?" Soonyoung's voice brought me back to reality. I turned my head back to face him as we both took a seat at the neatly decorated table, Hansol and Nicole doing the same.

"I've been good, I guess" I reply bluntly, turning around to look at Nicole, her blonde hair tied up in a neat bun and gold dress caressing her figure.

"You look lovely Nicole" I smile, even though my smile was fake, as my Mother used to say, you had to befriend the enemy first. Nicole smiled back, probably not very comfortable with her Korean to reply.

The table made small talk for what seemed like forever, Soonyoungs father and mine laughing continuously at things, which made me think again if what Father said about him not liking the Kwon family was even true.

Butterflies started to go off in my stomach, the announcement for Soonyoung and I's category was going to be announced very soon, and I knew that Father would be greatly disappointed with me if I didn't win, even though he didn't like to admit it very often.

Soonyoung and Nicole continuously made eye contact with each other across the table, hints of raised eyebrows and faint winks didn't go unnoticed to me, and I found myself even more nervous because of their suspicious attitude.

"I'll be back soon babe, I need to go to the restroom" Hansol leant down to whisper in my ear, breaking me from my train of thoughts. I looked up to him and smiled, placing a hand delicately on his bicep.

"Okay, be back before they announce the winner though, it will be in the next ten minutes" I replied, taking my hand off of his arm as he nodded, before scurrying off to the restrooms so he could be back in time for the announcement.

"Oh, I should probably use the restroom as well, I'll be right back" Nicole spoke up in perfect Korean, instantly making my head shoot up from my gaze at my hands. I watched with furrowed eyebrows as she sat up, giving Soonyoung a side glance as she pushed her chair in, following in Hansol's direction to the restrooms.

"Not too long now" Soonyoung smirked, eyeing me up and down from the corner of his eye, making me shift in my seat, the nerves erupting in my stomach.

Five minutes passed, and there was no sign of Hansol and Nicole, I bit my lip as I nervously looked around, there was only another five minutes until they announced the winner and Hansol said he would be back before then.

It wasn't until another two minutes passed when I got out of my seat, prepared to go and look for him. I wanted to share this experience with him, I needed to share this experience with him.

"Hana where are you going? They are going to be announcing the winner any time now" my Father spoke up when he saw me stand up from the table, I continued to look around nervously, biting my lip as I grabbed my clutch.

"I'll be back in a second; I am just going to go and find Hansol" I said hurriedly, making my way away from the table and to the direction where Hansol and Nicole went.

"Where the hell are they?" I whispered to myself when I stepped out of the ballroom, looking left to right down the hall to try and find any sign of the restrooms.

A loud laugh sounded through hall, making my ears perk up at the sudden sound. It was a girls laugh. I continued to bite my lip as I walked in the direction of the sound, looking around for any source of movement.

"Oh Hansol" the same voice spoke up, instantly making me stop in my tracks. What the hell was going on?

I picked up my pace, breathing heavily as another giggle could be heard from down the hall. Gulping I turned a corner up ahead, where the source of the noise was from.

Gasping I stopped in my tracks when I saw the view in front of me. Hansol was pressed up against the wall by Nicole, her bun was now out and hair messy as her arms encircled Hansol's neck, their lips locked in a hungry kiss.