The sweet music of a violin piece played from a corner where a woman showed off her skill and delighted the room with rich harmonies. A group of bystanders watched her and relished in the music that accompanied their light conversations. Hongjoong rarely heard music in the slums, perhaps the occasional accordion when a person in the slums was drunk or mad enough to dance the streets with it. His fascination with the music distracted him from his dread and the stifling anxiety that his setting cast upon him.

Five people played in their round. Hongjoong was glad to know the rules as he was dealt his cards. It was common that women didn't play themselves and rather supplied their charm as support for their male companions since most females lacked the intelligence for these types of games, but Hongjoong got included still. He didn't touch the glass with alcohol by his side, even though he might have needed it.

Seonghwa's glass was half empty by the time he had sorted his cards in his hand.

"Tell us, dear Hongjoong, how have you come to know the earl?"

Hongjoong watched as everybody played their cards. Cheating was against the rules of propriety in the upper society, but Hongjoong didn't care about those. His subtle glimpses at the other's cards where everyone else politely averted their eyes got unnoticed.

"I met him during his travels in the north when he passed by my hometown. The earl greeted my father during an evening of casual conversation with shared friends. When he visited our home, I was charmed by his looks and his kindness," Hongjoong lied. His concentration surpassed his annoyance with his restrictive dress. As long as he didn't glance down on himself, he could pretend this was a folksy round of games with people who sought entertainment. Only their bright and shining dresses in the bright light from above disrupted his senses.

"Oh, wonderful! So he started courting you back then already?"

Hongjoong nodded along. The deep night behind the heavy red velvet curtains that reached until the floor called for him, but he couldn't go home yet. The evening had only just begun.

Seonghwa's glass clicked on the table when he set it down again and dropped his card on the pile.

"Her father and I got along well, so we didn't have trouble understanding each other. I returned after several months of missing her to propose. Recently, she agreed to visit London with me to get to know the area where I live."

Merry, the tunes of the violin danced through the air. One piece ended, but a new one began right away in an endless roundelay. The enthusiastic music eased Hongjoong's heart.

"Splendid! Though she might have felt more at ease with a chaperone at her side. Given your most recent escapades, I fear for her virtue." The woman who said it hid behind her fan once more. Her dark eyes curled above the fuzzy rim, betraying her malicious grin.

Hongjoong replied with a frosty smile. A butler came over to refill Seonghwa's drink and he put the rim on his lips right away.

"There is no truth behind those tasteless rumours. If Hongjoong didn't trust me, she wouldn't have visited," Seonghwa said. His sharp voice slurred around his syllables and took some weight off them. The smell of alcohol wafted off him.

Hongjoong played his card that would force the player after him to give up his good one.

A different gentleman diffused their frosty tension in the warm room full of lighthearted laughter.

"Please, everyone, let's not accuse each other. Perhaps this was yet another wicked accusation that bears neither truth nor purpose."

"The lovely Madam Culpepper hasn't appeared in public ever since. What assumption are we to make? Is she being kept for punishment by her husband? Or has she lost face and is too embarrassed to appear?"

All eyes, including Hongjoong's, found Seonghwa with interest. The man lowered his cup with expensive champagne inside and frowned at them. His eyes were glassier than earlier, and Hongjoong discovered his anxiety in the nervous bounce of Seonghwa's leg.

"We haven't exchanged letters, if that is what you are wondering. Her image took a hit as well as mine, though I believe she also found it quite tasteless that our natural conversation got mistaken for an affair," Seonghwa grumbled. He leaned over to Hongjoong, as if wanting to wrap an arm around him or whisper in his ear, but thought better of it. With a grunt, he adjusted his seat.

"Wasn't the rumour much more direct than a simple conversation? I heard you have been spotted with her through the window of a questionable establishment doing imprudent things."

The comment had several other people on the table around them gasp and whisper with each other. This time, the slam of the glass on the table was loud enough that Hongjoong shifted in his seat. Was it his place to intervene?

"Neither I nor Madam Culpepper would partake in such scandalous activities with each other; both of us are promised to someone else. I would appreciate it if we could drop the topic. You are making my fiancée uncomfortable." Seonghwa reached for Hongjoong's hand to squeeze it in his heated grip. Unsure, Hongjoong looked between him and Seonghwa's so-called friends, that were none the better than the shady figures of the slums that Hongjoong avoided taking favours from.

Another person at the table just opened their mouth to comment when they got interrupted. A couple had appeared behind Seonghwa, and the man placed a hand on the earl's shoulder for a friendly squeeze.

"Seonghwa! You here?" He asked; successfully interrupting the harmful conversation that had turned from its focus on Hongjoong to publicly humiliating Seonghwa. Hongjoong found no shred of empathy for the other man. From what he had heard, he believed the people accusing the earl. Seonghwa's drunken protests barely spoke of class in his denial.

Seonghwa craned his neck to look up at the newcomer. The man had jet black hair that was slicked back to leave only a playful strand to fall into his face. He wore an elegant green suit and was accompanied by a lady in a deep red dress.

"San," Seonghwa said with an intoxicated grin. This one seemed honest, or at least less veiled through the rush of alcohol in his veins.

"May we take him off your hands? It has been a while since we last met." San grinned at the crowd. The dimple in his cheek convinced the gathered people instantly. They let him go, and the women whispered about him as Hongjoong and Seonghwa excused themselves from the game that Hongjoong had been about to win.

The man named San led them to a corner in the other room where the music was faint and fewer people milled around. A buffet took up most of the area, and Hongjoong's stomach grumbled as they sat on the gaudy green couches. Hongjoong sunk right into the cushions and his skirts spread out around him. The position relieved the strain of his body in the corset.

Hongjoong eyed the woman accompanying San. She wore a wedding ring on her gloved hands and donned her dress with grace. It wasn't as playful as Hongjoong's, but it held a certain youth to it still. Blood-red earrings dangled between her golden curls.

"Thank you for the save," Seonghwa sighed with a roll of his eyes. San chuckled, understanding of the dilemma.

"You are most welcome, friend. Who is this? You haven't told me you would bring company."

Seonghwa glanced through the room to see if anyone was nearby before he leaned over the table between the two groups conspiratorially. His voice lowered as he spoke to San.

"She acts as my betrothed, but we have no legitimate ties. I needed her to ease the tension of the eyes on me," Seonghwa murmured. With an understanding nod, San leaned back to smile at Hongjoong.

"Thank you for looking out for him. Seonghwa is a good man, no matter the stories spread about him. If you ever find yourself bored or in need of a friend, my wife will be happy to spend time with you." His silky voice urged a more genuine smile out of Hongjoong.

So Seonghwa had at least one close friend.

San's wife smiled at Hongjoong with her full lips. The lower one was dotted by an enticing birthmark that Hongjoong would have dreamt about kissing if they had met in any other setting.

"You seem drunk, friend. Perhaps you should take your leave before any more nonsense leaves your lips. I can accompany you to the door," San offered with a glance at Seonghwa's reddened cheeks.

Seonghwa nodded with a sigh.

"I should. I will have to introduce Hongjoong to my home. But we can go ourselves. Thank you again. I hope you and Wooyoung have a wonderful night."

San grinned and bid his farewells as Seonghwa stood. When he floundered, Hongjoong reached for his arm to disguise his assistance as being led by Seonghwa.

On their way out into the corridor, Seonghwa leaned to talk at Hongjoong's ear in secret. His warm breath made Hongjoong shudder with discomfort.

"Wooyoung is actually no woman. He poses as one so those two can be married, but he is a man under his dress." Seonghwa giggled. In his drunkenness, he didn't notice how Hongjoong stiffened.

"Even a fool can notice, no? Though so far, nobody found out. I find it very obvious to recognise."

Did he know? Was this a subtle hint? But no, he wouldn't care so little if he did, right?

Confused, Hongjoong accompanied him outside. Seonghwa slipped on the steps but caught himself again as they walked down the street to the rendezvous spot with Seonghwa's coacher. The man's wobbly steps forced Hongjoong to seize him with more force than a woman with his build should have, but the earl didn't notice as he stumbled in a crooked line.

"Thank you for tonight. I feel your presence alone eased the outcome of my reappearing in this company. Yeosang picked well. How could anyone resist you when you are so pretty?"

Hongjoong made a face when Seonghwa's arm flailed as he missed Hongjoong in his attempt to grab him.

"No reason to thank me, this is what I came for." Hongjoong's sentence ended in an indignant shriek when Seonghwa's arm wrapped around his waist suddenly, tighter than appropriate in the public eye. Hongjoong lost his balance when Seonghwa pulled him in until they stood pressed together.

With weak pushes against the man's chest, Hongjoong tried to part them in a manner proper for the few people milling the streets nearby or possibly watching from their windows.

"Mylord-"

Seonghwa's eyes gleamed from the alcohol as he careened into Hongjoong. Hongjoong's heels scurried over the pavement as they tried to stabilise the earl's weight. When a wall met his back, the two were cast in the shadow of a house's corner.

"You are so lovely. I believe I might truly fall for you," Seonghwa whispered. He was close, uncomfortably so, and the stench of alcohol clouded Hongjoong's brain. Repulsed, he tried to shove the man off once more, but Seonghwa held onto him with surprising strength.

"Won't you indulge me, adorable Hongjoong? No harm shall come upon you. How else could we play our masquerade better if not by cultivating an actual relationship?"

"I'm not interested," Hongjoong pressed out. The grip of the taller man on him was smothering, and the corset and the skirts were in the way of Hongjoong defending himself.

A frown tugged on Seonghwa's dark brows. Then, he dipped in to kiss Hongjoong unexpectedly.

Hongjoong dodged by turning his head away. Outrage rose in him when the wet kiss met his cheek instead. The drunken man's weight on him infuriated Hongjoong. After all, Seonghwa proved no chivalry and threw himself at the person he thought to be a defenceless actress.

Hongjoong shoved at him until Seonghwa stumbled. For a moment, Hongjoong got to breathe, then the man tumbled into him again, faint. His heavy limbs held no tension. On his way to catch the foolish earl, Hongjoong parted his stance for balance. He flinched when Seonghwa's leg slipped between his, expecting pain.

Seonghwa's knee met the wall before he could hurt Hongjoong. For a moment, they stood pressed against each other in a peculiar position.

When Seonghwa rose his head to eye Hongjoong, suspicion sobered up his eyes. They flicked between his thigh pressed against Hongjoong's middle, and Hongjoong's shocked features.

"Could it be that you are a man?" Seonghwa asked. His voice had lost all playfulness and drunken stupor.

Hongjoong panicked, but before he could say anything, Seonghwa grimaced. He pulled away from Hongjoong to swing further into the alley and vomited up the amount of alcohol he had drunk. The bitter stench of his bile nauseated Hongjoong, but he picked up on the clop of hooves nearing them.

Seonghwa was too weak to react anymore as Hongjoong slung Seonghwa's arm over his shoulders to drag the earl like a sack of potatoes. Once they were in the carriage, Seonghwa passed right out while Hongjoong sat on his other side in a rumpled dress and with his features pale as they rode into his doom.