Until Then (Stray Kids Hwang Hyunjin)

Twenty-four

"Perfect!" The ginger cat exclaimed upon stepping back and gazing at Alex. Despite the cat's statement, Alex couldn't help but feel uneasy. Her hair was braided into a complicated updo which didn't fail to make her seem much older than she actually was. Then that got her thinking. How old was Suzy anyway?

Her dress was big and too much for her liking. As if they had given a five-year-old sparkles, lace and jewels and told them to decorate the dress with it.

Her red stilettos were plain, the polar opposite of her dress but the calmness of it was what made her like it the most out of her whole attire.

However, her least favourite by far had to be her make-up. A white powder dressed her face alone, a contrast from her slightly tanned skin. Her lips were bright red, same applied for her eye make-up. Incredibly long mink eyelashes framed her eyes which had been covered by large, black contact lenses. In other words, Alex looked like a mixture of a Russian doll and an anime character.

Beside her, the sixth princess Minjung couldn't help but squeal at how pretty she thought Alex looked but Alex struggled to even fake a smile.

"I have to go," she excused herself. "Promised to meet Eunbyul before the ceremony."

Alex wanted to meet Eunbyul, alright, but she didn't want to spoil her special day by accusing her of something she may or may not do.

She dreaded leaving the changing room as soon as she bumped into Seungmin.

"What happened to you?" He roared with laughter after casting his eyes on the unamused girl.

"Ha ha, very funny," she replied sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. "Where's your outfit anyway?" She glanced up and down the boy in his normal attire.

"That's the reason I'm wandering around the palace. If there's any way to narrow down the time I spend in that robe-dress, I'll take it."

"Robe-dress?" She questioned before Changbin made an appearance in it.

A long red robe with even more jewels, sparkles and lace than Alex's own was what he wore. Not to mention the red slippers, his lips and eye make-up of a bright hue of red. His face was also coated with a white powder and his hair was tied into a man-bun.

Alex couldn't hold her laughter back, earning a quick glare from Changbin before he motioned that it was Seungmin's turn to play dress-up with the cats.

Seungmin was hesitant, of course, so Alex decided to push him into the changing room, she couldn't wait to see the result.

***

The ceremony started not long after. The princes and princesses were to make their grand entrance down the hall and that was when Hyunjin finally made his appearance.

He was dressed the same as the rest of the princes but something about him made the outfit seem less funny and more charming. It was clear to everyone that despite being Eunbyul's special day, Hyunjin would bare all the attention. And something got Alex thinking deeply about it...what if that was exactly what Eunbyul wanted?

"Hyunjin!" The royals cheered before rushing to him, all except two: Alex and Hyuna.

"You look bitter," Alex teased the Fifth Princess but the glare she got from her was far from funny.

"Shut up, peasant. Just because my sister likes you doesn't mean I do. Oh, and quit the act, would you? We all know you didn't have amnesia."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you wanted attention you should have just asked I stead of pretending there was something up with you. We should have killed you the day you made up the lie. Would have benefited us all."

"Good to see you haven't changed much, Hyuna," Hyunjin commented as he approached the two. She simply rolled her eyes at him.

"What happened to you? Thought you died," she said bluntly.

"I decided to o your family a favour. I guess I get no 'thank you' for my act of kindness."

"You may be terrible at lying but I must give you credit, you're good at guessing."

"Missed you too," he replied sarcastically with a smile. "Suzy," he turned to Alex. "Heard you had amnesia. That means you forgot me, right?"

Alex nodded. It felt strange but she had to keep up with the act. To everyone else, except Seungmin, she had no idea who he was.

"I'm Hyunjin, the Fifth Prince."

"Oh," she bowed. "Hello."

He simply chuckled before whispering under his breath, a word only audible to Alex's ears. "Cute."