probably not historically accurate but in this era, there is no such phase as "girlfriend and boyfriend". engagement was their version of girlfriend and boyfriend, hence, if you are only engaged, you are not officially 'taken' but rather, in the talking stage.
The moment Hannuri saw a white rose sitting inside a glass dome in Renjun's room, her heart stopped. That was the rose from her masquerade mask and Renjun seemed to be taking quite good care of a fake flower.
"Shit" She cursed. She can't imagine what would happen if he found out his own servant was the girl he was infatuated in at the masquerade. Lucky Hannuri hasn't been attending lately—Jaemin had convinced his own father that his fiancé is down with a terrible fever.
Thinking fast, she opened the glass and snatched the rose away. The best way to get rid of a crush is to forget them. If he never saw the rose again, he'd simply forget the existence of her fake identity. How naive of her to think that way. Shoving it in her pocket, she was greeted with an intimidating pair of eyes when she turned around. Yelping out of shock, her hands hit the table behind her to stabilise herself.
"What are you doing" Renjun grunted. Anyone could tell he was not particularly happy today. Renjun's eyes shifted to the glass dome behind her, immediately noticing the absence of a white rose. Shoving her aside, he grasped the dome, anger rising up to his head.
"Where did you put it" Renjun whipped around to face her "What did you do to it"
"It was withering so I threw it away, sir" Hannuri pursed her lips.
"It was a fake flower Hannuri"
"Oh" So he did know it was fake.
Before Renjun could question her even more, Renjun's father had called him down. Quietly trailing behind him, Renjun was greeted by a stern man in his 50s. He had a cane in hand, a long coat dragged down his body and a hefty crown upon his head. It was the first time Hannuri had seen the king himself in person—He seemed a lot more feeble than she expected. She could tell by his turned down lips and pale face, the veins in his neck subtly bulging for no reason.
"The celebration is held tonight. Take your assistant with you in case you get drunk"
Renjun scoffed, "You know me so well, father"
"It'll be another masquerade. You will keep attending these masquerade till the end of the year. It's what the hosts always do. Before they secure an alliance with the partnering minister, the balls will not stop" Renjun's father announced, staring Renjun right in the eye.
The masquerade will continue? Hannuri thought, cursing again and again in her mind. She didn't know how long she was going to hold out pretending to be someone she's not. If the Na family, and the Huang family for that matter, find out she's simply a poor girl dressed rich, they'd surely decapitate her without a second glance.
"You heard him, Hannuri" Renjun took her wrist, dragging her out the room.
"Wait- wait, Renjun" Hannuri blurted
"I'm sir to you, Hannuri"
"Yes, whatever, sir. I cant go" Hannuri tried to lie her way out again "I have a detrimental disease called...uh...photosynthesis and my white hair is growing out and I'm working so hard for you everyday that I can feel blood coming up my throat"
"Photosynthesis is for plants"
Anyone could tell she hasn't been the school before. In fact, photosynthesis, was a word that she heard one of the kids playing football scream.
Renjun pulled her wrist over so that she faced him directly "You won't escape from me, Nuri". Once again, Renjun messed up the strands of her hair and walked away with a smirk.
"What do I do, huh? I cant just split myself in half" Hannuri groaned as Jaemin dragged her into the centre of the ballroom.
"Look, if you just don't appear at the same time it'll be fine" Jaemin explained as if it was an easy feat "Just follow our plan and nothing will go wrong"
"This is all your fault" Hannuri threw her fist at him "You promised last time it was going to be the last masquerade. What happened?"
"My father desperately wants to see his daughter-in-law. Only way to do that was through the masquerade—I told him you didn't want to be seen often, said you were really shy. So he basically concluded that the only place you'll ever showed up is behind a mask at a ballroom hall"
"If I get fired, I'm going to murder you" She growled. The plan was simple. She had strategically placed a bag of her 'low-class' ballroom gown in the bathroom cabinet and the corset she wore today was rather tight to compliment both the ballroom dresses. Renjun is expecting her in an hours time, so she was to meet Jaemins father for 30 minutes, then change outfits to then greet Renjun. The mask she had opted for her other outfit was strikingly similar to the usual one she wore, but she prayed no one would catch on.
Soon, she arrived in front of Jaemins father, his eyes lighting up at the sight of her.
"Hana!" Jaemins father stretched out his arms as if to go in to hug her. It was halted by Jaemin, placing a hand on his father's shoulders. Her hand was clinging tightly against Jaemin's forearm, her body tense as she clammed her mouth shut.
"I would like to organise a dinner with you some time" Jaemin's father proposed. Before she could answer—not that she had an answer—she noticed Renjun walk this way.
She immediately cursed in her head
He arrived an hour early what the fuck
Jaemins glanced at her in confusion, also puzzled as to why Huang Renjun himself arrived early to a ball he often called irrelevant.
"Jaemin, he's coming what do I do" She whispered inside Jaemin's ear, slipping her hand out of his grip
"It's ok, your mask is on you're in the right clothes" Jaemin reassured with a not very reassuring smile.
"The Na family" Renjun greeted with a polite bow. Hannuri's eyes danced away from his, edging away from their conversation only to be brutally thrown back in.
"Is she the lady that..." Renjun's eyes latched to hers, the words from his lips dying instantly. He recognised that mask that complimented her glossy lips. Though something stood out to him—the white rose on her mask. He was sure that it fell off last time, he even yelled at his maid, Hannuri, for throwing away the flower. Yet, here it is, magically appearing on the mask once again.
Jaemin slowly wrapped a hand around her wrist, as if signally to Renjun that he wasn't to touch her, that the girl with the white mask was his girl. Jaemin and Renjun's eyes sliced into each others, fighting for possession silently.
"I would like to discuss something with her" Without waiting for an answer, Renjun dragged her away, leaving Hannuri to silently plead that he won't find out about her true identity. It was surprising enough that she hasn't been busted yet. Pretending to be on the top tier of this society was quite hard.
Renjun wrapped a hand around her waist, bringing her closer to him as their other hand intertwined. His grip around her waist felt so tight yet gentle, like he was afraid that she would disappear if he were to let go. The music was slow and calm, their faces merely a short distance apart. They tapped their feet to the music, Renjun holding a bittersweet smile.
"So you're engaged" Renjun murmured, obvious disappointment in his voice.
"Kind of" She replied vaguely. She was to 'break up' with Jaemin sooner or later; it would just make things a lot more complicated if she were to admit that she was technically engaged to Jaemin.
"Kind of?" Renjun's eyes lit up
"I don't know if I'll agree with the uh marriage. I don't know...it's a bit complicated"
Renjun pulled her body towards him, her nose touching his. Her arm naturally lay on his neck, her round eyes widening.
"What do you think about a new man?" Renjun's words provoked shivers down her spine, her throat becoming dry instantly. He continued "For example, the man right in front yo-"
"OK OK Aha..." Her face heated up as she placed a hand on his chest, shoving him away. Renjun seemed to laugh at her reaction.
"My servant will be here soon, I'll get her to give you my background if you'd like. Truly, I'm infatuated by you. It seems as no one strikes me like you do. Im serious about the-"
fuck
Hannuri's hands started fumbling, backing out without even letting him finish. Bowing deeply, she tried to make a bolt for it to the bathroom. She was 5 minutes late, as Renjun's servant. Unexpectedly, Renjun caught her wrist, shocking her to the point she almost let out a yelp.
"Wait for my servant, she will be here very soon" Renjun insisted.
"I don't think I will..." She continued to laugh awkwardly, wiggling her hand out of his grip
"Please, if it's not too late, I want to make myself available for you"
This man has lost it
Hannuri thought. It made little to no sense why Renjun had grown such a liking to the facade she was holding up. Hannuri was clumsy and dressed like every other woman in this ballroom, yet Renjun was so adamant Hannuri was doubting whether Renjun was blind or not. But to Renjun, her smile was the brightest smile he has ever seen. She didn't act formal for such a formal event and the slight carelessness that was carved into her bones highlighted everything about her.
"I'll be a moment, I'm going to get grab my servant" Renjun laughed awkwardly, finally letting go of her.
Of course, Hannuri immediately made a run for it towards the bathroom.