𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 | 𝐚 𝐭𝐱𝐭 × 𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

nine - the plan is to die rich

the plan is to die rich

glamourous was an understatement because the hwangs were having it like an inauguration ceremony to heaven rather than a wedding anniversary. jaw slacked and wide eyed, lia carefully trudged inside the reception hall the hwangs had made out of scrap in their garden. everything was white and golden, a dazzling combination which was also very painful to look at because lia had a rough day and she was tired.

let's not even get started on the people. lia was so glad she bought a new pair of heels because, well, for one they were yet to lose their shine and two, if she wore her old shoes she would've been greatly embarrassed. she barely managed to fit even with new clothes.

she also recognised a few people she saw from the news; a bunch of politicians, celebrities that had her even more wide eyed, and some kids from her school. and much to her dismay, the kids even recognized her too.

"what is this? are my eyes betraying me or is this trash prez?"

how unfortunate, she had caught the interest of the nastiest of the bunch. rich kids were always a headache for her but this bunch seemed to be even worse and the one who was leading this nasty group, what was her name again? that girl who got into a fight with ryujin. anyways, she was leading them towards her with snide remarks and lia just wished the ground would swallow them whole.

"prez, you have a leaf stuck in your hair." she said as her hand reached forward making lia flinch but the girls' nasty giggles made her freeze as the leaf was plucked off from her hair. the girls began to giggle louder.

the garden had a small canopy of wisteria. the leaf must have fallen on her when she walked by it.

"prez, you didn't sneak your way inside, right? if you did then that would be a real shame to ace. a class president from an esteemed academy like yourself shouldn't be sneaking around like a rat, how shameful."

lia wanted to ask if they even know what shameful means but she chose to keep quiet. it was not worth the time and energy to pick a fight with these half-brained spoiled brats, and also because yeji was walking towards them with a scowl.

"ladies," the girls snapped their heads around when yeji's stoic voice rang.

"yeji-ah!" they squealed happily and lia wanted to puke.

"would you mind if i borrow lia? after all, i personally invited her here," a forced, rigid smile took over yeji's face as she grabbed lia by the arms, linking them together and dragging her away.

"i am so sorry about those idiots," yeji apologised quickly when they got away.

"oh, no. it's alright. being their class president, you pick up some valuable lessons about patience," lia replied.

yeji laughed and lia smiled along. when at the corner of her eyes, she saw mrs. hwang. "wow. your mother is so beautiful," it was a natural reaction because the woman, despite having a teenage daughter, was gorgeous.

yeji's smile became rigid. "yeah. she does her best. anyway, where are the boys?"

"boys?"

"yeah, your clubmates. that basketball kong and choi soobin."

"oh. yeonjun did pick me up but he just told me to go ahead while he parked the car. soobin... i haven't seen him," lia explained, a bit confused and suspicious as to why yeji was prying so much into her relationship with the boys but she couldn't be sure.

"really?" yeji was acting extra suspicious. "oh, there's soobin... and that kong," she trailed off, "but come on, let's go say hi!"

why?

there was a lot of whys rotating around lia's head but she couldn't find the time to ponder about each why as yeji had already dragged her across the garden and towards the boys. it was only the two boys, until beomgyu showed up behind their back and waved at them, and lia thought he looked like a puppy.

a retriever.

"congratulations, yeji!" exclaimed beomgyu, sounding a bit too half-hearted despite his loud clapping.

"thank you, beomgyu. i survived seventeen years with them so it means a lot." a forced, rigid smile smeared yeji's face.

"oh, please. at least your father isn't an obsessive compulsive old man," said beomgyu, rolling his eyes.

lia's eyes shot wide, so beomgyu's dad has ocd. unasked but news.

"no, but my mother is. thank you for coming, guys. i needed something to keep me busy besides these pompous narcissistic middle-aged people," said yeji.

"anything for you, sweetheart." yeonjun casually grabbed a drink from a bartender's tray. he downed the entire glass in one sip, smacking his lips as he exclaimed, "i needed that shit."

lia's eyes grew wide. "wasn't that alcoholic?"

her question gained puzzling looks from the boys. yeji clicked her tongue as she cleared up the atmosphere, saying, "guys of course she doesn't know." then turning to lia she clarified, "alcohol is like a necessity in this social circle. all you can do is pray you don't get too addicted to it."

the rest of the evening went by with a performance from a band, a soloist and then a harp musician. the boys took turns yawning not a minute after the harp performance began. somehow or someway, ryujin joined them but she was immediately ushered away by her parents because they wanted to introduce her to some relatives. the girl went away with disdain.

more disdainful was beomgyu as he kept training his eyes on ryujin in hopes of joining the girl but to no avail. the night had come to another point with cake cutting and another band performance. lia was already tired by then, and her mom had texted that she had sent her father to pick her up. while the party looked endless, most of the teenagers were tired while the adults were having a blast, lia knew she had to go. she bid farewell to the group, thanked yeji for the invite since she couldn't gather the courage to thank her parents instead, and along the way, met ryujin. they exchanged a short impromptu 'goodnight' and that was it.

when she woke up the next day, she sat in a daze trying to swallow everything that had happened yesterday. from the boys visiting, getting invited personally by yeji, to the voice giving her a heart attack, to shopping, to hanging out with the rich kids she just met and to returning back from the party.

what the hell even happened?