With Hongjoong's arm linked with Seonghwa's, the couple stepped into the building. The tall earl took off his hat to look around in the brightly lit corridor while Hongjoong lingered by his side. When Seonghwa's hands came up to help him out of his coat, Hongjoong willingly stripped out of it. Seonghwa put it next to his own, among the many other expensive jackets of the guests.

Hongjoong was just about to venture into the house when Seonghwa caught his arm. He yanked Hongjoong back, perhaps a tad too roughly for his perfect persona, but nobody was around to see it. The party and the music were upstairs.

"Wait," Seonghwa hissed at him. Hongjoong scowled back. His heels came to his advantage, so he didn't have to stand as far below Seonghwa as he was used to.

"What is it?" Hongjoong whisper-yelled back.

"This." Seonghwa reached into his pocket to produce a velvet pouch. From its insides, he produced a pretty comb with delicate fingers. The silver metal and grey gems on it matched Hongjoong's dress.

"Hold still," Seonghwa muttered as he reached for Hongjoong's head. While he tucked the comb into Hongjoong's updo, the tips of his pinkies rested on Hongjoong's temples to keep his head in place. Hongjoong worried his lip as he stared at their shoes. His self in this dressed-up body still felt alien to him.

"I want you to make sure you mention this later tonight. Say I gifted it to you for your anniversary, and that it was made in Italy." Seonghwa spoke above Hongjoong while he tightened in the comb.

"Using all methods to manipulate people into accepting you again, earl?"

Seonghwa dropped his arms to step back from Hongjoong. The glare he levelled at Hongjoong was guarded for their public setting.

"Perhaps I should have started my experiment with you."

Hongjoong had to laugh.

"You could have been nice from the beginning and I never would have pointed out your shortcomings. Since you insisted on your manner-less nonsense, however-" Hongjoong broke off when Seonghwa suddenly wrapped his arm around Hongjoong's shoulders. Hongjoong face-planted into the man's chest and tried to push off with feeble struggles so he wouldn't ruin his hair.

"Oh no, darling, do you not feel well? Should we have stayed home, after all?" Seonghwa crooned in his ear. His hands fluttered, as if helpless with the forceful hug.

Hongjoong picked up on two female voices coming down the stairs. When they picked up on their closeness, they abruptly fell silent.

"Earl Park, has something happened?" One of them asked in a hurry while their heels clicked closer. Hongjoong struggled, nearly suffocating in the lavender stench of Seonghwa's clothes.

"My fiancée, she suddenly felt faint! Are you alright, dear?" Finally, Seonghwa allowed Hongjoong to lift his head. Confused, he blinked between the two concerned strangers and Seonghwa's puppy eyes.

If Hongjoong's dress were floor-length, he would have used it as a curtain to stomp on Seonghwa's foot.

He had warned the man. Getting so close even for their play irked Hongjoong.

"Ah, my apologies." Hongjoong stepped back and smoothed out his dress. His reassuring smile swayed left and right of the wary observers.

"The earl just gifted me this wonderful comb, and my happiness overwhelmed me. I feel better now," Hongjoong lied with the same sickening tone he copied from Seonghwa.

The ladies smiled again.

"That's a relief. Why don't you accompany us upstairs? You could sit and drink some water while the earl greets his friends."

Hongjoong nodded. He was left no time for another gaze at Seonghwa when the earl ushered him up to the second floor.

For the first blissful time at their evening parties, Hongjoong didn't have to stick to Seonghwa like an accessory. Instead of introducing Hongjoong to everyone and stressing how close they were and how virtuous he was, Seonghwa allowed Hongjoong to join the two women on the couch and rest. The earl took off between the mingling people, his slender body weaving into the mass effortlessly.

Finally, Hongjoong got to breathe and settle in this society himself. He could spy on Seonghwa, could form his own opinions on him based on what people around him knew, and he could delight in the occasional glance Seonghwa sent his way as if he still worried Hongjoong would betray him.

Hongjoong wanted to. As Yeosang had said, Seonghwa's reputation was a pawn in Hongjoong's hand to play.

"Do you feel better already?" The lady in the sky-blue dress next to Hongjoong inquired. Her delicate fingers used her fan to cool him down. Genuine worry stood in her eyes, one that didn't have to do with the wariness they treated Seonghwa with.

"I do, thank you a lot," Hongjoong grinned back. He liked the attention of both ladies on him since they appeared to be accompanied by their chaperones, not males, and thus were available, but alas, he was still in role, and they would certainly not be interested in his real self.

"I am Silla, and that over there is my sister Rose. What is your name? I heard from my friends that Seonghwa had a partner now, but we haven't had the pleasure to meet yet."

Sisters even. What a bummer his charade was. Even if Hongjoong could convince them to dip off with him, Seonghwa would have something to say.

"I'm Hongjoong. I am just as delighted to meet you two."

"Say, is it true? Are you really his wife to be?"

"I am; we will marry next autumn. Is there a reason to mistrust this?"

Rose and Silla exchanged a gaze before Silla leaned closer conspiratorially. Hongjoong could see the fine lines of the make-up clogging her pores no matter how natural she had tried to make it look. Under the smell of flowers clinging to her lingered a sweaty heat in the sweltering room.

"You must have heard about what he did, right? According to the report, he did it while you two were already promised to each other," she whispered so nobody else would hear. Hongjoong appreciated the effort, but this was how rumours spread.

"Isn't that more reason to not believe it?"

"If the earl is the type of person to seduce married women, he would not be above abusing your trust as well; no? Do you know anything about it? I bet he denied the scandal." Silla switched between fanning Hongjoong and herself. With his glass of water cradled in his lap, Hongjoong watched the room. Some men played cards, some people laughed in groups together, and others stood at the entrance to the open balcony and relished the night air. The golden shine of the room blurred in front of his eyes.

He found Seonghwa in the crowd by his styled hair. He was amid greeting a couple and dipped to kiss the woman's hand charmingly.

As a reminder of those lips on Hongjoong's hand back when Seonghwa still had an earnest interest before he ruined it by his drunken mind telling him something was off about Hongjoong that repelled him, Hongjoong's knuckles tingled.

"He denied, and I know to trust him. We love each other so much, he wouldn't be able to fool me. I know every lie in his eyes," Hongjoong muttered, distracted. Seonghwa laughed with the duo he had met, his hand gesturing in the air as if fending off compliments. From this distance, it was impossible for Hongjoong to tell how sincere the act was.

"I am soothed to hear that. I also believed the earl is an alluring man, but so many people started to look down on him. Good, that he brought you along to assure us all. It would have been a tragedy if a man as attractive as he would have fallen out of grace."

Hongjoong just nodded. He sat up straighter when Seonghwa disappeared from sight further back in the room. A moment later, the idling piano piece that had played in the distance ended. From his seated position, Hongjoong couldn't see what was happening.

A new melody played, one sweeter than before. It was a melody Hongjoong knew, for it was an easy one the people in the slums liked to replicate for their dances. The memories yanked on his heart as he abruptly missed a home he had never left.

Murmurs got loud in the room. At first, they sounded malicious, but it took a while for them to carry over to where Hongjoong rested with the sisters.

"He's playing it for his fiancée. I thought he had none?"

Hongjoong sat petrified in his spot. He didn't know whether he was supposed to stand up and watch Seonghwa play or if he should let the man do this by himself. His heart hurt in his chest, and he knew Seonghwa did it on purpose, but he couldn't tell if the purpose was malevolent or meant to gift Hongjoong a piece of home in his foreign surroundings.

"It's been a while since I heard him play," Rose said with yearning in her voice. When she and Silla both directed their scrutiny at Hongjoong, Hongjoong ducked his head with a blush. The sudden spotlight made him shy.

"Why don't you go over? He's playing beautifully, and I believe your cheers might delight him."

Hongjoong assumed the opposite, but he still handed his glass to a butler who stepped in ever so conveniently while pretending he hadn't eavesdropped.

Hongjoong made his way through the people with polite nods and excuses. The crowd parted for him with the greedy interest of vultures in a piece of meat. Their eyes waited full of ecstatic hunger for whether they would get to rip Hongjoong apart. Like the main actor on a stage, they waited for him to please their demand for entertainment.

Hongjoong watched his step as he crossed the hall. By the time he finally spotted the black piano behind the last row of people, Seonghwa had noticed him coming closer.

Their eyes met, but Seonghwa paused for not a second. The piece continued as his eyes invited Hongjoong to approach him. When he did, the melody picked up its pace to flutter fast, like a butterfly's wings. It took Hongjoong's heart with it as it danced in joy and the warmth of his home.

Hongjoong's hand settled on Seonghwa's shoulder as if he had to hold on to an anchor as the tune took him far away from reality. Seonghwa's fingers flew over the keys until Hongjoong thought he had twice as many of them as natural. For a moment, his touch carried Hongjoong's mind to vivid memories of dancing with his people, with his parents, while no worries in the world passed him.

Tender like a mother's arms; the music brought him back. The grand finale ended to lower Hongjoong back to his feet smoothly. He blinked, disoriented, as he had forgotten what just happened. He remembered the room full of people, the curious eyes on them, and the whispers filling the hall. Hongjoong's name fell several times.

He panicked.

His fingers dug into Seonghwa's shoulders, but the music became impossibly more comforting. Seonghwa played with one hand, and every note resonated in the tall room. Silent in anticipation, the crowd waited out its end that left them all yearning for a memory they never knew. Breathless anticipation took over anyone but the balanced performer in their midst.

Seonghwa reached up to his shoulder with his free hand to grasp Hongjoong's fingers in his. His long lashes fluttered over his cheeks when he kissed Hongjoong's hand for everyone to see.

Hongjoong's stomach lurched. The last note evaporated in the air.

Polite applause greeted them. Some people muttered compliments under their smiles, but it was all behaved and nobody jumped or cheered. Not the people Hongjoong wanted to be with.

Someone wanted to talk to Seonghwa, but the earl stood to turn his back to them. His hand still held Hongjoong's in his as he looked at the distraught male.

"Shall we breathe some fresh air? You look feverish," Seonghwa suggested. His charming grin was more diluted than usual. His fake persona mixed with a frown that would have been considered too depressive for a soiree.

When Hongjoong nodded, Seonghwa took him away from the spotlight. He thanked some people in passing and promised them more interviews later.

Once the frigid air of the night met Hongjoong's cheeks, he noticed how hot he was under his dress. With a sigh, he fanned his red face with his hand.

Next to him, Seonghwa leaned on the railing of the stone balcony wordlessly and stared out over the gardens.

"Do you want to go home soon?"

Hongjoong stared at a dead tree and its branches that reached into the air like a witch's fingers.

"I don't mind staying so you can greet your acquaintances." Hongjoong's breath was white in the night air.

Seonghwa sighed. His silky voice was barely audible over the noise of the party.

"No, I also want to leave. Away from here to where the stars are."

Hongjoong nodded. He could relate. Amid the shining city, the stars they were used to didn't reach them with their guiding light.

"Then let's retire soon."