𝐝𝐞𝐜 𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟒
"i can't dance at all." yunhee told aerin as they wandered through the courtyards behind the boys.
"neither can i." aerin replied, huffing. "that sucks. do you have to attend the yule ball?"
"i mean, i'd love to attend a ball. it sounds so exciting! like cinderella." yunhee exclaimed, clasping her hands together.
"like what?" aerin scrunched her nose from the cold. yunhee stopped to tighten the younger girls's scarf around her neck to keep some warmth in.
"it's a book i used to read. i'll explain it another day. let's catch up with the boys." the two girls linked their arms as they ran forwards to join the others conversation. "what are you lot talking about?"
"how are we supposed to get dates? this is going to be impossible." chenle groaned.
"surely mark will have no issue getting dates. he's so popular—actually all of you are." yunhee said and at their looks of confusion, she gasped. "you're telling me you haven't noticed all these fans trailing behind you?"
the group turned around to see a group of girls following them and when they were noticed, they dispersed, yelling and screeching.
"jeno, the amount of people who have asked me to ask you to go to the ball with them is so gross. why don't you go with one of them?" aerin complained.
"but i want to go with someone i actually like." jeno mumbled, shaking his head. "none of those girls."
"good luck with finding dates then. i plan on not going." renjun said.
"what? no, renjun, you have to go!" yunhee exclaimed, grabbing his arm and shaking it.
"i won't be able to find anyone. there's no point." he replied, stopping her aggressive shaking.
"at least try and if you can't find anyone, i'll go with you." she said and he shook his head, not having registered what she had said. when he did, his face turned red at the thought of going as dates to the ball. his lips parted to agree but he was cut off by chenle.
"wait!" he exclaimed. "if none of us can find dates, then we can all go together as a group of friends."
"that sounds like a great idea!" jeno agreed.
"yeah, you all have fun with that. i have my eyes set on an older guy so i can attend the ball. see you all later." aerin hugged yunhee then left to find her friends.
"mark definitely needs a date though. he's a champion and has one of the first dances." renjun said.
"yunhee, you can be his official date, but we'll all still go as friends." jeno suggested, elbowing her to get her attention since she was too busy trying to catch snowflakes.
"that could work. two weeks to get a date! good luck!" yunhee yelled.
she ran after aerin who was by the fountain with her friends. recently, she had starting hanging out with them because she decided she needed more friends. as much as she loved being around the golden trio and her childhood best friend, it could sometimes get suffocating always being with them.
"got a date, yunhee?" one of the girls, a ravenclaw, asked. "i'm jealous that only fourth years and above can go."
"no, not yet."
"why aren't you going with mark? aren't you two a thing?" someone else asked.
"we're just friends." yunhee replied, laughing.
and just like that, the following day, the rumours, the glaring, the harassment, all stopped. everyone went back to either ignoring her or being nice. all it took was for one person to ask and find out the truth.
⚯͛
𝐝𝐞𝐜 𝟏𝟖 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟒
"there are..." yunhee paused to count on her fingers. "seven days till the yule ball and i don't have a date yet."
"didn't five boys ask you though?" aerin questioned, raising an eyebrow. "you seem quite popular."
"and you didn't say yes? you want to go to the ball with me so bad?" mark joked, scrunching up a piece of paper he had been scribbling on. he was meant to be doing his homework but got distracted very easily.
"all those boys were the year below me. three of them asked because they're only allowed to go if they're invited by an older student." she explained, closing her defence against the dark arts book. she had barely read anything from it because every time she looked at it she would remember what happened in her first lesson with professor moody.
"and the other two?" renjun asked, opening the book for her again and pointing to the page they had to read.
whenever they studied together he would act like he was a tutor and be so strict with her. she hated, but also admired that about him, hated it only because some days she wanted to slack off and admired it because it meant he was hard working and a good friend for wanting to help her.
"well, they probably liked me, but i'm not into younger boys! people in our year are yet to ask me." she sighed, smacking her head down onto the table.
"those poor boys got rejected." jeno wiped away a fake tear and placed his hand on his chest. "they must be going through heartbreak right now."
"they'll be fine... i hope."
"looks like we're going as a group and aerin isn't going at all." chenle clapped his hands, happy to be going as a group. he didn't want a date anyway. it sounded like too much effort.
"uh, for your information, i'm going to ask someone to go with me and he will most likely say yes because he's too nice." aerin straightened her back proudly.
"you're only using him so you can go with your friends, aren't you?" yunhee questioned, flicking the younger's nose.
"obviously." she said, flipping her hair behind her as she walked off to the ravenclaw table.
"no way my sister will get a date before me. wait a minute! you're not allowed to go on a date!" jeno yelled after his sister who picked up her speed to get away quicker.
"actually, i remembered there is someone i can ask. i'll catch you lot later." mark said. he quickly got up and hurried out the great hall doors where they saw a girl had walked out of.
"looks like mark has a date. yunhee, you've been kicked to the side." chenle teased.
"that's okay. i'll dance with her." renjun said, trying not to get embarrassed by his sudden words. he found himself doing that often, blurting out things, then getting embarrassed when everyone heard.
"i have a better idea. let's all dance together. we can hold hands and twirl in a circle with flower headbands." chenle suggested, laughing at his own imagination.
"what goes on in that brain of yours?" yunhee laughed as well, knocking on the side of his head.
"alright, enough of date discussion. let's get going to potions so that snape doesn't murder us for being late." jeno interrupted.
the group made their way to class looking for mark as they did. he seemed to be nowhere in sight. yunhee hoped things had worked out for him and that the girl he wanted to ask had said yes. she'd feel bad if she didn't.
"wonder what's happening with mark." renjun mumbled taking a seat next to another ravenclaw. just as he said that, mark walked through the doors with a sullen look on his face.
"she already has a date." he announced, sinking into the seat in front of yunhee and chenle.
"i'm sorry, mark." yunhee leaned across her table to rub his back.
"no, it's alright." he shook his head, turning around to face his friends. "i'm sort of glad she didn't say yes. i'd rather spend the night with my friends than someone i'd be awkward with the whole time."
"you're so adorable!" chenle exclaimed as he pinched the gryffindor boys cheeks. he turned to yunhee, holding mark's face in his hands. "can i adopt him?"
"why are you asking me?" she laughed at his squished face.
"i don't know."
"sure, chenle, sure."
⚯͛
𝐝𝐞𝐜 𝟐𝟏 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟒
"you're yunhee... right?" colin creevey, a gryffindor boy a year younger than yunhee, stood next to her at the table she was sat at in the library.
"i am." she replied, turning to face the boy. he handed her a rose then pointed to the doors.
"there's a guy from durmstrang waiting for you outside."
yunhee glanced from the rose, to the boy then the doors. a durmstrang boy giving her a rose... the only person she could think of was nikola.
"okay, thanks." she said, but the boy stayed standing there as if he was waiting for something. "is there anything else you need?"
"i was wondering if you could get mark's autograph for me." he replied, fiddling with his fingers.
"i'll see what i can do, but i can't make promises." she smiled and he cheered before running off.
aerin smacked the girls arm. "are you going or not?"
"i am, i am." she stood up and headed for the doors, slipping past them where nikola was waiting.
"you called for me?" she asked, twirling the rose between her fingers.
"hello, yunhee. i was wondering if you would like to go to the yule ball with me?" he asked, standing with his hands behind his back.
"oh... i sort of promised i'd go with my friends..." she mumbled, before she could stop herself. her mistake quickly dawned upon her that the promise was for if they couldn't find any dates. "wait. never mind. i'll go with you."
"really?" he took a step closer, taking her hand in his. he brought it to his lips, leaving a kiss on her fingertips. "i'm glad to be going with such a beautiful girl."
⚯͛
"guess what?" yunhee sang as she stepped into the kitchens. she spun around then took a seat, grabbing one of the cookies placed on a platter.
"you look awfully cheery. did you find a date?" jeno asked, taking another cookie.
"actually, i did." she replied, almost making him choke as he wasn't expecting that answer.
"no way!" mark gasped. "it was that durmstrang guy, wasn't it? can't believe it! he stole my date! but i'm happy for you."
the others agreed, cheering that she managed to get a date, all except one.
"why would you say yes to him? we were meant to go as a group." chenle spoke up. "you ruined the ball now."
"what? i didn't ruin it. we said if we couldn't find a date, we'd go together." she stared at him confused by his sudden attitude.
"yeah, but you could've said no so you could hang out with us. how could you pick someone else over us and worse from another school?"
"i'm not picking someone over you guys. we can still hang out at the ball together."
"yeah, sure. you'll be way too busy with that guy." he scoffed.
"i... i thought you'd be happy for me." yunhee whispered, loud enough for them to hear. she got up from her seat and immediately left the kitchen.
"chenle, why would you do that?" renjun criticised, glaring at him after he saw the dull look on the girls face.
"she betrayed us."
"no, chenle, she was doing something that would make her happy. you should've been nice about it, even if you are jealous." he shook his head and left the kitchen to find yunhee.
"jealous? i'm not jealous."
"if you're this upset about it then you should've asked yunhee before someone else did. now you've projected onto her and upset her." mark followed after renjun.
"make it up to her soon." jeno patted chenle's shoulder and left as well.
"i'm not jealous." he muttered, shoving a cookie into his mouth.