August Ballet (12 Months Series - Part 1)

Chapter 04

A day after the ballet, Hak Yeon was passing a coffee shop when he noticed a familiar face. It took him a while to recognize her as lady Victoria was sitting in the coffee shop with old-fashioned glasses on. He entered the coffee shop and looked at her. She was sitting there, swiping on her phone, wearing a true and dreadful crime against fashion and a good taste. Hak Yeon sighed. What is it with British women that they always wear the least fitting clothes available? Lady Victoria was wearing brownish greyish formal trousers and jacket, both completely covering her beautiful figure and making her look like a box. However her shoes were even worse and Hak Yeon was nearly moaning painfully seeing it.
"Good day, lady Victoria!" He said.
Victoria looked at him and smiled. "Good day to you, sir. What brings you here?"
"I spotted you while passing through and you looked so lonely that my tender heart couldn't bare it."
Victoria giggled a little bit. "I'm not lonely. I'm waiting for a journalist. He wants to make an interview with me for American Science. Unfortunately he got stuck in traffic jam so he won't arrive for another hour. If you have no obligations elsewhere, I would be glad if you keep me a company for a while."
Hak Yeon smiled, satisfied with the outcome. She invited him to stay with her for a coffee. He agreed and called the waitress. He was about to tell her his order when he realized something. He sent the waitress away. "I can't allow this."
"What do you mean?" Victoria looked confused.
"I just can't allow you to meet the journalist dressed like that." Hak Yeon made a gesture taking in her whole clothing. "It would be a crime and deadly sin."
"I beg your pardon!" Called Victoria. "What's wrong about my dress? I admit it's no ball gown but..."
"It's hideous. I'm sorry, but it's genuinely appalling." Hak Yeon was quickly swiping on his phone. "Excellent! There is a boutique nearby. Come with me." He took her by her hand and pulled her up, heading to the street.
"What are your intentions, mister Cha?" Whispered Victoria as she was trying to keep up with his quick stride.
"I will give you a lecture about a good taste."
"I'm an aristocrat!"
"That has nothing to do with it. I don't care if you are a queen or a janitor. You dress like if you were blind."
"You are being very rude."
"I'm being very honest. And I'm trying to help you. Don't you want to make a good impression on that journalist?"
"I see nothing wrong about the way I'm dressed." Mumbled Victoria.
"Then you need new glasses as well."
Hak Yeon stormed inside a small exclusive boutique and asked the shop assistant to lend him a tailors meter. "Take off the jacket." He instructed Victoria and quickly measured her to find out her size. Then he ran through all the racks with blouses and picked three of them, two skirts and one tight trousers. He looked at Victoria skeptically and then went through underwear to pick two lacy bras. He sent Victoria to try it all on and in meantime he picked two elegant and sexy tight boleros for her to wear over the blouse. One of them was emerald green like her eyes, very chic and sexy, it was his favorite.
At the end Hak Yeon persuaded Victoria to wear black tight satin trousers, decent and elegant white blouse and his favorite emerald green bolero. He also picked new shoes for her - simple black ones. She looked taller and the tight clothes were flattering her figure. The only trouble was her hair. She let them stream down around her face, mostly covering it. Hak Yeon couldn't understand it - she has a pretty face, why to hide it behind the hair? He took two silver needles and used them to fix a loose hair bun. She wasn't wearing any makeup so Hak Yeon used a little bit of smoky eye shadows, just a drop of cheek blush and little bit of red lip gloss.
Victoria was staring at her reflection in the mirror like if she wasn't recognizing herself. Hak Yeon used that moment to pay at the cashiers and then took her by the hand to lead her back to the coffee shop.
"Wait, I have to pay for it!" Called Victoria.
"I took care of it."
"You what?!"
"At least you see I'm not going after your money, my queen."
"I can't allow you to..."
"I think the journalist has arrived." Interrupted her Hak Yeon and stood close to her. He looked into her eyes. "You are magnificent and amazing woman, lady Victoria Arran. And now you even look like that. I would kiss you so that you would forgot not just your status but also your name. However that would ruin your new makeup and therefore we have to leave it for next encounter same as your payback for the clothes." Hak Yeon kissed her on a cheek. "See you next time, Victoria!" Hak Yeon walked away. It was the only sensible thing to do.

Hak Yeon sits in the briefing room, he is lost in his memories. He realizes that he was searching for Victoria the whole year. He made himself believe his perfect woman is somewhere instead of admitting he already knows her. Luckily the faith is kind to him and is giving him another chance to win a heart of a woman that captivated him. There is a chance, she is no longer single. However Hak Yeon believes she is free and waiting for him.