Chapter 33

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Hoogjoong’s POV

    The man in front of me was tall , taller than me. To be more exact, I was average height, but most men seem to surprise me with their height .  However, his height felt familiar, a comfortable height that I … I stopped thinking,  putting my professional face on. 

    We met halfway, meeting each other's eyes. His mask embellishments  highlighted his cat like eyes who reassembled  an  adorable kitten met in an unknown situation. 

Maybe it was … 

   Images of the man who had torn my heart apart , and I couldn't help comparing the smile, a small lift from the corner of the lips , to the one that greeted me every afternoon in the forest. It was a ridiculous thought to think  of a man who had clearly stated that he wanted to do nothing with me, and hoping for the said man to appear at the ball. 

    He bowed, and the announcer gave us the okay to dance, the guest moved to the side to give us space and the orchestra started. Took his hand into mine, slipping slightly due to the other sweat the other was emitting, I pulled him close by the waist, and guided his body to the centre of the room. He hesitantly placed his free hand on my shoulders. 

    I raised an eyebrow atteh incorrect position and moved it to my chest. He averted his eyes. Maybe he was embarrassed. 

   After 5 minutes , I realised that he was a terrible dancer . He continuously  stepped on my toes and made me trip a total of 10 items after the intro. I was getting annoyed . And he looked mortified  , which was good because my feet were killing me . He had a sense of guilt which I should applaud him for, a rare emotion among the rich class. 

    A small sigh came over my lips, and I took the matter in my own hands. 

“Go left”,  I said.

    Looking at me puzzled,  the resulting kitten with his head cocked to the side, he followed instructions, and now we were actually dancing. He thanked me and his voice made me halt, not physically but mentally. All emotions washed over me and all I could think of was how good his voice sounded . He gave them awkward side smiles, and it was so cute that my heart made a thump sound. 

    I looked away from him, embarrassed, as I had been staring at him for a good while. 

    To cover it up, I made small talk , just to know about his family. He was surprised by the question, begging to stammer through his words, letting out a curse at the end . He backed away, covering his mouth.   I couldn't help but laugh. 

    It was refreshing to see someone so uncompromised in front of me when I was officially the prince. 

    After that, he didn't hold back. He went on to talk about interest, myself sharing a few from my life. I noticed that his interests were similar to “who shall not be named” and a slight ache in my heart, I hoped that “who shall not be named” was doing okay. 

Even as far as to believe that maybe…

    The song ended . I did a curtsy before bringing  my arms to his waist and holding his hand just like I did before, noting that he was sweating less.  The warmth emitting from his body and the bruising of our clothes created a relaxing sound as we swayed to the rhythm of the new symphony .

     However, it didn't last long. My attention was brought to the door which opened revealing an amount of guards. Our guests , frightened by the sudden intrusion, were running away.

“Guards! GO GET MY SON!” 

    My partner looked startled and ran for  the other exit, I was impressed that he was running in what seemed like glass heels. For the moment of wonder, I ended up following him, wanting to know what was happening. Just as he was about to reach the door, I caught up with him.  

“Why are you running away? ”

I can't explain”, he said,  surprised and panicked. 

Did you do something? We could go back-”, I questioned, not wanting him to go since I had no other information about him. 

No, Hongjoong, i- I  have to go. ”

How did he know my name ? 

    I had hidden my first name from the public only a few close people knew. 

“WAIT!”

   And he was gone,  running down the staircase before disappearing from my sight completely. The guards caught up, and in the chase, pushed me aside making fall on the floor. 

   As I tried to see where they were heading, my hand hit something hard. I brought it up, and it was one of the  glass slippers that the man had been wearing.

    It seemed that it got stuck on a piece of chewing gum, leading to it being removed from his feet. 

    I got up and ran to the exit , hoping to see the guards and maybe the man who made me curious. No one was there . What was his identity ? What had he caused to get guards following

   I went back to the ball, as I  found no traces of the guards following the man in the mask. I was hoping to find something, however, the tracks of the carriage had melted due to the stamps from the shoes of the guards due to the wet ground. 

Why was the ground wet to begin with

   Mulling over the facts  he had just gathered,  I realised that there were bigger problems to solve. 

    At the main hall, all the guests were whispering and frightened in corners at the sudden appearance of police guards judging by the colour of their uniform.

     My mother and father had come all the way from their private chambers, they were supposed to join the ball later so that they wouldn't embarrass any of my partners with my childhood stories. 

   A distressed woman was currently talking to them , to explain her sudden arrival at the ball. The woman was verified at the gate, however, she was stopped since she had skipped the line. She argued with the guard that she had an important thing to do in the hall , as she explained something threatening was going to happen to the prince. 

    Jongho noticed my presence and came to tell me the whole situation himself. 

    He took the statement seriously since he had just met the woman and to make this sort of very serious statement. So he decided to alert some of the guards masked in the ball, but the woman stopped, having already called a few back-ups. 

    The back-ups came all dressing police attire and then she went  in . 

    Jongho was so affected by the entire situation  to even stop them and when he arrived at the scene, chaos was already happening and I was missing. 

    He then asked if I was okay and if nothing happened. I told him what went on in my end, the guards following the man with the silver dress and mask. Jongho recognised straight away. 

     Yunho and Mingi introduced him as their house mate and friend. 

    Since I trusted my guard and his statement,  it seemed suspicious then that the man was being followed. 

    Yunho and Mingi were very cautions of who they started friendship with. 

I had to get to the bottom of this. 


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The outfit he was wearing:

The outfit he was wearing:

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⏰ Last updated: Sep 08 ⏰

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