ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗘𝗡
─◌✰್ 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗎𝗀𝗀𝗅𝖾𝗌，
❝𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘀.❞

"Are we alone?"

Mrs. Choi paced back and forth, arms crossed over her chest. Her husband stood in front of his wife, frowning at her. Only one parent was allowed to attend the ball, and you had seen Mrs. Choi at the ball shortly before this. How had Mr. Choi managed to sneak his way inside? Your parents' security was always top-notch. You pressed your ear closer to the door's glass window, trying to listen.

"Yes, we're all alone. Everyone is back dancing, you know that."

Choi Robin sat in a leather chair a few feet away from her parents, gazing at them with cool eyes. Her arms were crossed as she gazed at them both expectantly.

"What do you want? I think a hot duke was going to ask me to dance, when you so subtlety called me out here. Unlike the rest of this family, I don't need love potions to get a guy to like me."

You weren't sure how long you could stay quiet. The raised voices came from the room across the way of the bathroom, and the door was opened all the way. You weren't sure why, but you weren't going to question it. Now, you were wedged in the half-foot of space between the wall and the door, trying not to push it shut, or be heard at all.

Mrs. Choi shared a look with her husband, before looking back at her daughter. "Robin, this isn't something to joke about. Of course you need potions. This is incredibly important. For both you, and our family."

"What could be more important than this courting ceremony?" she pressed, raising an eyebrow. "I could be securing our family's name by wooing a guy, and instead I'm here with my parents discussing chemistry."

"Robin, your mother is right," Mr. Choi interrupted. "This is even more important than that. If you- if we don't do this exactly right, our entire family could be in trouble."

"Okay, if it's so damn imports, tell me what we need to do," Robin uncrossed her arms.

"You know the Han family," Mrs. Choi began, shifting uncomfortably. It was clear she didn't enjoy talking about this.

Robin nodded. "Of course. They killed like half of our ancestors. And you've only told me about them a billion times. What's so important about them?"

"Everything," Mr. Choi said evenly, squeezing his wife's arm as she opened her mouth to snap something in response. "You know why they killed so many of us, right?"

Robin cocked her head and shook it. "No. You've always said I can't know."

"Well, the story goes that one of your mother's ancestors used a love potion to kill one of their men. He was a high-ranking army general, and his death supposedly led to an Obsidian defeat. And since then, they've been out for our blood." Mr. Choi sighed.

"So it was our family's fault?" Robin demanded. All traces of jest were gone, replaced with indignation. "I thought you told me this was all their fault!"

"Well, the reason why she killed him was because he had already killed members of our family - specifically women - because of their love potion-making abilities," Mr. Choi replied. "It's always been dangerous for women like you."

"So what do you want me to do about it?"

Mrs. Choi opened her mouth to reply, when she suddenly looked up, towards the door where you were not-so-sneakily eavesdropping.

You ducked as quickly as you could, hoping that none of them had seen you. You weren't sure why, but it felt like a situation that you shouldn't be listening in on. Besides the fact that Mrs. Choi seemed so jumpy. Family business was just that: family business.

Mrs. Choi hurried over and shut the door. You shrunk down as low as you could so she couldn't see you even if she looked out the door's window. Your breaths came hard and fast as you silently prayed that you would not be caught. You had always been nosy, you just couldn't help it.

As you finally caught your breath, you plucked up the courage to press your ear to the thick wood door once again.

This time, with the door completely shut, you couldn't hear anything except muffled voices. Damn royalty and their well-made architecture.

But before you could turn and run away, you heard Mr. Choi's voice, which was louder than both women. He was still muffled, so you could only catch a few words.

You heard "Potion", "Earl" and the most disturbing one, "Death".

Your eyes widened, and before you could fully decide what to do, you were running down the hall, away from the Chois. You didn't know where you were going, you just wanted to get away.

You had to stop, think. What the hell did any of that mean to you? The Choi and Han families were obviously old rivals, something that you didn't know until now. You had known that the Choi women had been demonized for as long as they had existed, because of their love potion-making skills. You thought it had just been a rumor that they used their knowledge for seductive reasons. Now, you knew those rumors were true.

But before you could continue that train of thought, you heard even more voices, coming from a room behind you. Was every royal using this ball as an opportunity to gossip?

You whipped around, drawn by the irresistible urge to listen in once more. It couldn't hurt, could it? You hadn't been caught yet.

But you nearly crapped your pants - or dress, rather - as you almost ran headfirst into Lee Minho.

"Holy shit!" you exclaimed, glowering at the man, embarrassed that he caught you spying. What the hell was he doing here? Shouldn't he still be at the ball, dancing with one of your best friends? Once again, you felt the urge to hit him.

But before you could decide if you actually wanted to follow through with it or not, he slapped a hand over your mouth, effectively cutting off any other potentially harsher words you had in store for him.

Your eyes widened as you glared at him, shoving his hand away from you.

"What the hell was-" you began, but Minho shook his head, gesturing silently at the door, which was just slightly cracked open.

"Listen," he whispered, grabbing your wrist and pulling you closer. The voices drifted louder over your ears, and you immediately quieted, straining to hear.

Thankfully, you didn't have to try very hard, because the voices were loud.

"What if I don't fucking want to do what you're asking?" Han Jisung demanded.

His arms were crossed tightly over his chest. He glared at another man. Based off the resemblance - the same eyes and round cheeks - you assumed he was Mr. Han, Jisung's father.

"We've been over this multiple times," the man snarled. "You have to follow our plan exactly. You want to get revenge on the Choi family, don't you? Be a man, for once?"

Jisung swallowed, and you could see his Adam's apple bob. His brows were pulled so low you could barely see his eyes.

"Of course I do."

Mr. Han nodded in approval, his face returning to a more neutral state. "Good, me too. We should discuss the plan even further, don't you think? Before you leave for this dating show."

"I know, I will do my job," he replied, his voice now so quiet you could hardly hear.

"I know you will," Mr. Han smirked, "because you don't have a choice."

"I'll just leave now, if you're going to be an ass." Jisung glanced in your direction, and you and Minho slid around the corner as fast as you could.

"You should close the door, son," Mr. Han snapped. "We need to ensure the plan is executed perfectly. If not... Well, you know what's at stake. We can't have you chickening out, like usual."

Jisung gazed at his father for a few heated moments, the man staring back unflinchingly. Clearly, the Han men were warriors through and through.

"I know, dad," Jisung murmured, his eyes closed, like he was praying. "You know all I want is to make you and mom proud."

He opened them again, and began striding towards the door, as his father watched him, an expression of determination printed across his face.

"Shit, he's coming over," Minho muttered as you watched the Obsidian earl come closer and closer.

Before you could react, Minho grabbed your wrist and yanked you down the hall, around the first corner he could find. The two of you stood panting, hearts thudding in time with one another.

As you tried to catch your breath, you became acutely aware of Minho's hand still gripping your wrist. Such close contact with him was stifling, and you couldn't breath. Your chest hurt as you glanced down. His hands were very large, and slightly sweaty. 

You found that you didn't mind him touching you. The last time you could think of him being this close would have been back in middle school, when the two of you were comfortable around one another. You would hug him, or put your head on his shoulder. He would be annoying and put his elbow on your shoulder, just to prove that you were shorter than him. (Not by much, mind you.) What had been a nuisance then was more than welcome now, you realized with a pang. Why did you continue to yearn for his touch? Now that was annoying.

Minho glanced down too, pulling his hand away from you like he'd been burned. You tried not to feel offended, but your body ached at the sleight. He acted like touching you disgusted - or at the very least embarrassed - him.

Pushing past the uncomfortable silence, you demanded in a hushed voice, "Well??"

"Well what?" Minho raised an eyebrow at you. But for once, it wasn't in a judging manner. He was just as curious as you.

You pressed further. "What did you hear??"

"I didn't hear much, before you nearly knocked me out," Minho began, brows furrowing as he thought back to the conversation. Right now, he didn't seem bothered by your tenacious spirit, or your habit of accidentally injuring those around you. "Jisung and his dad were talking about the Choi family, and how much they hate them. I've never heard Jisung talk like that before. Do you know anything about that?"

You nodded, eager to share your newfound knowledge with him. "It's crazy, because before I ran into you, guess who I heard talking?"

Minho rolled his eyes. "You know I don't like guessing games."

"Whatever." You glowered, but let it go. "It was Robin and both of her parents! And they were talking about something really similar. So I got to learn a bit about them."

"Spill," Minho commanded. You raised your eyebrows at him, a little surprised that he was this interested in what you had to say. But you weren't about to turn down the opportunity to continue talking to him.

"Well, apparently all those rumors about their families are true," you started. "Years ago, one of the women of the Choi family used her love potions to seduce one of the Han men, and killed him in revenge for him killing her family. He was some big army general, and they lost an important battle because of her. They've always hated love potion-makers, and they started targeting the Chois. And since then, I guess the families have hated each other."

"That's crazy," Minho's eyes widened. "All this time, I've been friends with Jisung, and he's told me none of this."

"It's a bit of a crazy story, isn't it?" you agreed. "I wouldn't go sharing it with anyone either. Did you hear how angry he sounded at the Chois though? I thought Jisung was a nice guy."

"He is," Minho responded. "It makes me wonder if he really means those things. Mr. Choi? I understand. But Jisung has always seemed so different from his family."

"And you think it was all an act?" you asked.

Minho shrugged. "I guess we can't really trust anyone, can we?"

"I guess not," you said slowly. "But I don't think that Robin feels the same way about Jisung's family as he might about hers. She didn't seem to care. But her mom was very... adamant."

"What else did you hear?" Minho pressed.

"I didn't hear much," you sighed. "They shut the door on me too. But I caught three words that her father said: potion, earl, and death."

"Not ominous at all," Minho smirked.

You laughed, surprised, at his words. Since when had you seen Minho make an actual joke? Especially one not made at anyone's - namely your - expense?

"I know, it feels like we're in a mystery movie or something," you joked. "Except these people are our friends. How long have you been friends with Jisung?"

Minho shrugged. "We're not really that close, actually. His dad just works with mine, so I see him a lot. Same with Chris. We're friendly, but I wouldn't call us friends."

"Why?" you asked quietly, trying not to offend him.

"I dunno," Minho's cheeks reddened. "I haven't really had any close friends since..."

Your eyes widened with realization, but you didn't react any more than that. You didn't want to embarrass him, or stop him from opening up further. You didn't know that Minho didn't have any close friends.

Not since you.

"Well..." you paused, unsure what to say. "If we can't trust anyone else around here, maybe we can trust each other? We can try and listen for any more information, and see if we can piece it together. Like real detectives," you chuckled at the thought. "What do you think?"

For the first time in over a decade, Minho smiled at you. When you were younger, you loved when he smiled. Not that his scowl wasn't broodingly attractive, but as much as you denied it, you liked seeing him happy. You wanted him to be happy. Your heart tingled at the sight.

He said quietly, "I wouldn't mind that."

laska's note —
oooooh we're getting tons of drama now! clearly, robin and jisung's families do not like each other. how is that going to affect their time at the mansion? obviously, their parents want them to do something to the others family... i wonder what it is? and what about all the other contestants? everyone seems to be embroiled in their own problems. and minho and tessa! they've finally started really talking again. what are your thoughts on that??? are they finally getting closer again? 🥹 give me all your thoughts in the comments!

𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖴𝖯：
𝟭𝟱 - 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗱,
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