Red ↠ JENYONG

VI

The car was completely silent with only the sound of Jennie's erratic heartbeat filling her ears. Her palms became clammy and she dug her newly manicured nails into her palms. Her face felt heavy and caked due to the glamorous makeup and her dress shined in the dimly lit car with only the heavily tinted windows providing little light.

The man with brightly colored red hair sat on the opposite side of the limo, directly in front of her, and the only other two people in the dark stretched vehicle was the driver and the representative of Neo City, who sat next to Taeyong with a look of boredom etched onto his face.

Jennie was pretty sure she saw him briefly during breakfast last week. His name was Jaehyun, if she remembered correctly. Ever since then, she had food delivered up to her room by Jungwoo. Now that she thought about it, she was only ever introduced to 2 of the seemingly infinite number of boys eyeing het every move. Oh, 3 actually if you count the person who styled her for tonight. Johnny, she thought his name was, good taste in clothing she must admit. She wouldn't say she was ever properly introduced to Jaehyun though, she just heard someone call his name.

There were, of course, other people helping her get ready for the prestigious gala. Though they were female so she doubted they were apart of the gang since she only saw males at the breakfast meeting. In fact, she was pretty sure she's seen some of them on TV and even follow one of them on Instagram. Those world-renowned famous beauty bloggers are related to the mafia?

Bright flashing lights and the sound of chaotic shouting neared. The gala. Jennie took a deep breath in and exhaled out slowly, calming her nerves, or at least attempting to. After a few minutes, the car came to a stop and the shouting was out of control.

Jaehyun opened the door and exited the vehicle first with Taeyong following closely behind. The moment the door opened, the chattering which already seemed inhumanely loud, got even more deafening. As she moved out of the car, Taeyong extended his arm and smiled subtly, catching her by surprise.

As Jennie got out of the car, she linked her arm with Taeyong's while the reporters bombarded them with questions.

"Mr. Lee, Miss Kim, are you both dating now?!"

"Miss Kim! Miss Kim! What about Kim Jongin?!"

As Jennie caught the words of one of the reporters asking about Kai, she stiffened slightly but recovered quickly enough for anyone to notice. Taeyong, although, seemed to have caught her slight falter as he gently squeezed her arm. In any other scenario, she would've found it comforting, but in this case, it instead felt like a warning.

It was like a subtle reminder not to mess up because he was certain that she couldn't afford the consequences. He was probably right. This made her more determined to take the risk and try to escape tonight though. As soon as he left her side, she'll take action.

Jennie had no choice but to force a smile and wave gently, ignoring the blinding flashes and ceaseless chatter, as she walked slowly towards the ballroom. As they entered the room, the polite conversations between the business men and women, paused.

They look at the unlikely couple with curious gazes. As part of high society, they will of course, never ask about another persons private life in this type of formal setting. Such a thing is considered rude and is looked down upon, as this is a place to make connections and socialis, not gossip.

Though their eyes alone hold many questions. Are they really together? Is it a publicity stunt? Though these thoughts got shut down fast. The CEO of Neo city and the beloved daughter of the Kim fashion company need a publicity stunt? Ha! That would be the joke of the year.