Hurt - The Masquerade [EXO Fanfiction]

The Masquerade

"An elegant evening filled with grandeur! The masquerade ball hosted by Prince Junmyeon. Festivities to go on until late," said the invitation.

He took in a deep breath before folding up the invite and putting it away inside his clothes. The Prince's first ball had been the talk of the town for an entire moon. 

It was definitely a grand event, the guest list extravagant, and the Royal House had withheld any relevant information, leaving the pesky press to speculate and theorize what the young royal had in store for the night.

The aforementioned night had arrived, sooner than he expected, and he along with many other prominent guests pulled up to the royal mansion. He stepped out of the vehicle, making sure to place his mask on his face. 

He looked around the elegantly decorated ballroom, filled with elites in gowns and suits, all with masks. He managed to spot a few familiar faces among the crowd, like the son of the governor, Yifan, the sons of prominent lords, Jongdae, Baekhyun and Chanyeol and the son of the foreign minister, Luhan.

Whether he spotted more of his allies and acquaintances or not, he didn't mind as his eyes fell upon the host of the night himself, Prince Junmyeon.

He readied himself to greet the young Prince when he felt something by his ear.

"Sehun."

He whipped around, but there was no one standing behind him.

"Sehun."

Once again, he furiously turned to find the source of the sound, but there was no one in his immediate vicinity.

"Sehun."

The voice was a sweet, feminine whisper, nothing more than a small breath of air past his ear. He struggled to find the source of the voice, that sweet, melodic, hypnotic voice. 

"Sehun."

This time, the voice was fainter, and he followed it to the backdoor. Beyond the glass, all he could see was a dark wood alight with yellow fireflies.

He turned his head back. Maybe he wouldn't be missed for a few minutes?

He slid the door open and stepped out into the cool night air, faced with a blue and black forest with fireflies dancing within the depths. 

"Sehun."

He heard the voice within the forest's depths this time, and it had an effect on him he hadn't imagined. His feet moved of their own accord and began taking him into the blue wood.

His masquerade mask lay on the black grass, unnoticed.

***

"Glad that you could make it, Jongin," Junmyeon smiled at him, shaking his hand.

He nodded. "I'm always ready for one of your parties, Suho," he chuckled.

The two shared a laugh rooted in deep memories and then the host moved on to greet the other party guests, leaving the youngest lord in the state by himself.

He sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. He made his way to the corner as the music started and the guests began adorning the dance floor in pairs. Silently contemplating whether he should just ask Kyungsoo to get him out of there, he walked past the many party guests without giving them a second thought until he spotted something in the corner of his eye.

Red hair.

He turned around to catch a glimpse of the owner, but found no one there. Dismissing it as a hallucination, he turned to continue on his way when he spotted something across the dance floor.