ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗜𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗘𝗡
─◌✰್ 𝗁𝖺𝗍𝗋𝖾𝖽
❝𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲.❞

For the first time since you returned home, you were completely alone.

Your mother had just left the room, along with Eun-Ji and your hair and makeup artists. You only had a few more minutes until you had to walk down the aisle, and they wanted to give you some time to reflect.

You wished they hadn't. You didn't want to be stuck in this private room, alone with your thoughts. Because none of them were good.

You gazed at yourself in the mirror in front of you. You had to admit, you looked gorgeous. If you looked this good for something that actually mattered.

Your makeup was done in a smoky, seductive look, dark eyeliner around your eyes with dark blue eye shadow, to commemorate your marrying someone from Obsidian. Your white gown with dark blue accents was a stunning mermaid-cut that hugged all around your hips and chest, and flared out around your ankles. You had wanted something form-fitting and sexy, while also being romantic. Of course, Eun-Ji had pulled through. Your hair was styled in a complicated top-knot that only took the genius hairdresser two tries to perfect. Everything was flawless.

Except the person you were getting married to.

However, had things changed? Last night had given you a small glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, your relationship with Minho wasn't completely destroyed, even after all these years of general vitriol towards one another.

You had made him smile, laugh even. That was something you hadn't accomplished in awhile.

You'd had a good time in his presence. And until you experienced it again, you hadn't realized how much you missed it. And as much as you hated yourself, you wanted this marriage - forced as it was - to work.

You wanted him to want to be with you. Even though you found yourself wanting to punch his nose in or scream in his face, you still cared about him. You cared what he thought about you.

But he had chosen someone else as the target of his affections. As recently as last night, he had snubbed you, to your face.

You were tired of being everyone's second choice. And you hated him for being one in just a line of people who didn't pick you first. Your emotions were complicated, to say the least.

You tore your eyes away from your reflection, just as footsteps and loud voices sounded outside. You were stuck in a room adjoining the wedding room, and your mother would come get you when it was time for your entrance.

Turning around, you couldn't help but smile as your friends, Lanhua, JJ, Alaska, Mya, Riley, and Renee all entered.

"What are you guys doing here??" You asked incredulously, shifting the large skirt of your dress around so you could fully face them. "And where's Robin?"

"We came to say hi before your big day, of course!" Lanhua exclaimed, hurrying over and taking a seat on the gray leather couch across from you. "And she's talking with her parents, they refused to let her join us."

JJ and Renee sat down next to her, and Alaska, Mya, and Riley squeezed onto the loveseat next to them.

"So, how are you feeling?" Alaska asked, eyeing you curiously. "You look fucking fabulous."

You forced a laugh and shook your head. "I feel... what's the opposite of fucking fabulous?"

"What's wrong?" Mya asked, brows creased with worry.

"Did you skip breakfast again?" Renee sighed. "You're probably lightheaded. I knew I should have brought something from JJ's."

JJ rolled her eyes at her friend. "No girly. She's upset because she's getting married to Minho."

"What's wrong with Minho?" Riley queried.

"He is a guy," Mya agreed. "They're pretty gross, most of the time."

"What about Yang Jeongin?" Lanhua grinned at her. "I saw you two dancing all last night. How was that?"

Mya flushed and ducked her head. "He's a great dancer, isn't he?"

"Not as good as me!" JJ protested. "We ate that dance floor up."

"He's not quite as good as you," Mya agreed hurriedly. "But it was... really nice to dance with him again."

"Again???" Alaska's mouth fell open. "What the hell don't we know?" She looked at Riley expectantly.

Riley held both hands up. "Hey, I have no idea either! You better spill, Mya."

"No!" Lanhua broke in. "Tessa's wedding is even more important. I need to know what happened with you and Minho! I thought you liked him!"

"I would love to hear too!" Renee gasped softly. "I wasn't there, how much did I miss?"

You glanced at JJ pleadingly. She seemed to be the only one who had paid close enough attention last night to truly understand. You weren't sure what she knew, but it was clear she got it.

JJ sighed, crossing one leg over the other. "Well, I saw Minho last night, when he asked you to dance, Alaska. And Tess wasn't happy about that, obviously. Why would she want to marry a guy who likes someone else?"

Alaska mouth gaped even wider, no sound coming out.

"Wait, Minho actually likes Laska?" Riley exclaimed. "I thought he was just messing around, like he always does."

"He does attract a lot of girls," Mya nodded. "We thought he was messing with her because he thought it was funny."

Alaska frowned. "I kind of knew he liked me... but I didn't even think how that would make you feel, Tess. I'm sorry. I should have rejected him immediately when he asked me, but I felt bad."

You shrugged, swallowing hard to keep your voice level. "Nah, it's okay. You were being nice. He's the idiot who asked another girl to dance when he was getting married to someone else the next day."

"That's really messed up," Lanhua mused. "If I was paying attention, I would have tripped him on that hardwood floor."

"You were having way too much fun with Seungmin," JJ glowered. "You know he likes someone else, right?"

Renee's cheeks turned so red you thought she might explode, but she didn't say anything. She just looked back and forth between the two girls.

Lanhua shrugged. "Well, maybe I do too," she replied with a smirk. "Besides, Seungmin isn't my type. Too tall."

"How is he not your type?" Renee cried out, before slapping a hand over her mouth and falling silent.

"Well, if it's anyone except your broody personal guard, you'll be in trouble," JJ shot back. "He was about to crush Seungmin's skull for asking you to dance."

"Seungmin isn't even that tall," Riley frowned. "Who's shorter than Seungmin?"

"Cough Changbin cough," Alaska said obviously. Mya giggled behind her hand.

Lanhua glared at her. "Shut up, I do not like him. He's always trying to ruin my fun, why would I like a party pooper?"

"She's not wrong," you laughed. "He's obsessed with you."

Lanhua looked a little too pleased about that.

"But seriously, if you don't want to get too emotionally attached to Minho..." Riley grinned at Mya and Alaska conspiratorially.

"Oh no," Mya groaned.

"Ooh, that's true," Alaska giggled.

"What?" Lanhua looked at the three girls. "What are we missing?"

"It sounds sinister," JJ chuckled.

"Well... she could always have an... uh, you know," Riley winked at you.

"I have no idea what that means," you said flatly. What in the world could possibly save your relationship with Minho, besides not getting married?

"An affair," Alaska hissed, her cheeks flushed.

"What???" Lanhua nearly yelled. JJ covered her mouth. Renee's gaze widened so far you could see all the whites of her eyes.

"Why would you know anything about an affair??" JJ interrogated Riley.

She shrugged. "I don't. I just... know about liking someone and not being able to be with them fully."

"Oh girl, that's way too cryptic for me," Lanhua sighed, shaking her head.

"We're gonna need the tea on that later," Alaska agreed. "The fact Mya and I don't know where you went last night with Christopher is a crime."

"Definitely breaking friendship laws," Mya nodded furiously.

You ignored your friends, sitting stunned for a few moments. Were they being serious? If anything, an affair would make this whole predicament infinitely worse. Not only were they highly frowned upon, but if you were a woman and you got caught having sex out of wedlock (aka with anyone you were not married to), you were subject to imprisonment, or even exile. Even you as future queen were not immune to that punishment.

"Everyone does it!" Riley said defensively.

"Yeah, my cousin says she sleeps with a different guy every weekend," Alaska said, relishing the stunned looks from everyone else. "She says it takes the edge off of being married to her husband. He's pretty terrible."

"He is pretty gross," Mya conceded. "Even I would think about cheating on him. His breath... and his table manners." She shuddered.

You wrinkled your nose. "Absolutely not. Minho is not like that. He has lovely breath. And great table manners. Too great."

"Better than yours for sure," JJ nodded.

"Hey!" You swatted at her halfheartedly. "I just don't want to be a stuck-up bitch, sue me."

"It's just an option," Riley continued. "If you're really upset about getting married to him, you could find someone to entertain you for a little bit."

"There's a lot of hot guys going to the mansion with us," Alaska supplied. "I'm sure one of them would be down. You're gorgeous."

"They'd be so lucky!" Mya agreed.

"The true at least," Lanhua sighed. "But I don't agree with the whole affair thing. You really like Minho! I bet you could get him to like you."

"You two are so sweet together," Renee sighed.

"Pretty much every other guy likes you," JJ laughed. "Minho can't be that different from them. They're all apes."

"They definitely are," Alaska giggled. "Except Lix, he's a real gentleman. He even asked me about the ball when I got back home! Although I think he enjoyed the part where I ditched every guy who asked me to dance a little too much."

"We heard the way Jisung was talking about all the hot girls," Riley added. "He was practically foaming at the mouth."

"It feels like he would fuck anything that sat still long enough, though," Lanhua frowned. "But he is kinda cute, isn't he?"

"I think he actually has high expectations for who he would marry though," Alaska said seriously. "Anything past a few nights, and he's whipped. And he's really sweet, from what I know."

Mya nodded. "His family is a little... scary. But it feels like he doesn't fully fit in with them, ya know?"

"He's really kind," Riley confirmed. "He might be a playboy, but he's actually picky."

"Maybe he'd be a good candidate for your hookup," JJ teased, and you groaned.

"This not happening, okay?" You shut them down. "Besides, last night it felt like Minho and I..." you trailed off, unsure if you wanted to share with your friends right away. What if you were wrong? Then it would hurt that much more.

"You and Minho..." Alaska leaned in closer, eyes shining.

"Nothing," you mumbled, focusing on fixing your dress instead.

"Oh you can't leave us hanging like that!" Mya begged.

"It can't be that terrible," Renee encouraged.

You sighed. Could it really be that bad if these girls knew? "Okay, but you can't go all crazy. I don't want to get my hopes up any more than they already are. Deal?"

"Deal!" All six girls chorused back to you.

"Well, last night, I was pretty upset about Minho asking you to dance, Laska. I wasn't the most mature about it, and I ran to the bathroom so no one would see me embarrass myself and cry, or whatever. But when I left, I got distracted, and Minho must have left the ball too, because I ran into him. And... well, it felt like we actually got along for the first time in forever."

"Ooh, what did you guys talk about?" Lanhua wiggled her eyebrows at you.

"I'm not telling you."

"Well, if you feel like you guys could get along, then there could be some hope for you!" Mya said encouragingly.

"That's exciting," Alaska agreed. "You two would be so good together. I wish he would stop asking me out. He already knows I want to be with... someone else."

"He's only doing that because he knows you can't be with Felix," you murmured, trying not to show how upset it made you. "He thinks he might have a chance."

"Wow, that's fucked," Riley frowned.

"But if you felt like you really hit it off with him..." Rene said hopefully.

You shrugged, trying to still your fluttering heart. "Like I said, I have no idea."

"Maybe you won't need that affair after all," JJ grinned.

———————————

"Do you, Lin Tessa, take Lee Minho to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Your tongue felt as if it was glued to the roof of your mouth. You tried to speak, but no words came out.

Minho stood before you, looking absolutely perfect, as always. No hair was out of place, no wrinkle could be seen on his crisp white and dark gray suit, which he wore in commemoration of marrying you, from the Moonstone Kingdom. He looked stunning.

"Tessa?" He whispered, so quietly only you could hear.

Everyone, from the priest who was administering the marriage, to your parents and every royal who was invited, was staring at you.

You forced yourself to mutter, "I-I do," like it was torture just to say the two words. You could scarcely meet Minho's eyes as you did. It just felt wrong.

"And do you, Lee Minho, take Lin Tessa to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Minho nodded, smiling diplomatically at you. Like this was a business deal that he was going through with.

Your stomach roiled at the thought. Was that all this was to him? An economic advantage?

"I do."

"Then you may kiss the bride," the priest smiled expectantly at you.

Oh god.

You hadn't even thought about the kiss until now. How the hell hadn't you thought about the kiss? That was kind of... the highlight of the wedding. The part that you, as a young girl, had fantasized about. The sealing of a lifetime of happiness, with an true act of love.

And that, the fact that you had wanted this for so long, made it even worse.

He was leaning in, pulling the veil that covered your eyes away from your face. And now his eyes were closed, and those full, rosy lips were mere inches away from you.

God, you weren't ready for this. Your heart was skittering around so fast, you hoped it would run away, bringing you with it. What did you have to do for this not to happen?

But before you could stop it, his lips were on yours.

This was what little five year-old you had dreamt about, ever since the day you had met Minho. Being close to him. Kissing him, even. Wouldn't younger you be so happy?

His lips were dry. They faintly tasted of grapes and coffee.

You hated every horrible second of it.

And then it was over, and you were whisked back down the aisle and out of the room by your parents.

You had to talk to him. You had to know what he was feeling, thinking. Did he feel, after this shitshow, that you could still make this work? That after last night, there could be something there?

As your parents left you alone for a moment to check on the preparations for the reception, you whipped around, searching for Minho amongst the crowd of wedding-goers.

Finally, you saw him, a few feet away, talking to his mom.

"Minho!" You exclaimed before you could think twice.

His eyes met yours, and for a split second, you thought he was going to come over and speak to you. Maybe you could sort out everything out, make this twisted situation right.

Instead, he marched outside, where you would have your first dance, without a second glance. And that just confirmed everything you had begun to suspect.

Your wedding was nothing but business contract for him.

laska's note —
poor tessa, she just got married to someone who doesn't seem to care about her, and ignored her through the whole ceremony. i wonder why? i wonder what's going through minho's mind right now? is he really that malicious? and what about the other girls and their boy and other drama? everything will come to light when they finally arrive at the mansion, very soon! leave all your thoughts below, i love hearing them!

𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖴𝖯：
𝟭𝟲 - 𝗮𝗻𝗱
┊ ⇄ ◁◁ II ▷▷ ↻ ┊