The Royal Gala begins.
“Heyo.”
Voidborn turned around and nodded at Robert who was approaching them.
“Chaewon!” Jimin smiled, waving to the duo. “How was your shift?”
“Intense…” Chaewon muttered. She ran towards Jimin and gave her a small hug, before doing the same to Rei.
“Oh? How intense was it?” Rei smirked, giving Chaewon a small grin. “Weren't you and Robert working?”
“O-Of course we were working,” Chaewon stuttered, pushing herself off Rei. Her cheeks blushed red, giving Rei’s shoulders a small push. “Can you not tease me?”
“Tease? Who's teasing Chaewon?” Robert asked, joining the group.
“No one's teasing me,” Chaewon shot, her expression flipping into a disapproving frown. “Stop worrying about me already.”
“No can do. Not when I'm in love with you,” Robert confessed.
“What?” Chaewon said.
“That's a little bit much,” Rei said. “I don't think any lady would fall for it. Right?”
Jimin looked at Rei and chuckled.
“It’s a little cheesy, but yea,” Jimin said. “Although, if Elian said that to me, I’d melt.”
“Oh please, you’d melt at anything related to your boyfriend.” Rei rolled her eyes and turned to Robert. “Besides, I bet you're using such lines because Voidborn taught you, didn't he?”
“No comment,” Robert said, puffing his chest. “I cannot betray my brother.”
“Sure, sure,” Rei lamented. “Anyway, was it really that bad? We've been indoors the entire time so we don't really know.”
“I mean, it's just like any other protest,” Chaewon said. “It's just there a lot of people this time round. Three times? Four times? Much much more than the protests that happened before. The aerial overview showed an estimated count of about two to three thousand.”
“What? That's a lot!” Jimin exclaimed.
“Yeah,” Robert nodded. “They aren't really aggressive per se, but with that many people, they're kind of hard to control.”
Robert took out his communicator and activated a hologram, showing them the live view of what's happening outside.
“They look angry,” Voidborn remarked, before deactivating his emotion sight. What he saw was a sea of pale red dots. A small ball of firey red flickered in every single one of the protesters’ chest.
“Of course they would be,” Chaewon said. “We were also listening to the assembly, you know. Those darned representatives. Apart from Gaeul and Garnas, none of them seemed interested in actually fixing anything. What was the point of spending the entire day talking if they're just going to throw everything into another committee? What kind of half-assed answers were those?”
“Now now, calm down,” Robert said, fanning Chaewon with his hands. “You know that this is how politics work. There really isn't much we can do.”
“How can I calm down? It angers me. It makes me mad that there are people with the ability to fix—no, not even fix. To even make the situation a little better, but because of their ‘oh mutual benefit’ thoughts, th—”
Robert reached his hand out and ruffled her hair.
“You're so cute.”
“Can you not mess up my hair? I wanna look nice for the gala later and I’m so mad, and ugh!”
Chaewon lashed out aimlessly, face as red as a tomato.
“You’re probably hungry,” Robert smiled. “Let's go. The gala should be starting. I heard that there's lots of delicious food.”
Robert took the chance to grab Chaewon’s hand, pulling her in the direction of where the delicious smells came from.
“Smooth~” Rei grinned. “Shall we go as well? I'm hungry.”
Voidborn nodded.
When Rei ran to catch up with Robert and Chaewon, Jimin turned to look at Elian.
“Whatever that happens in there, you’ll still love me right?” Jimin asked.
Elian looked at her and nodded.
“Always.”
She beamed and held his hand, pulling him towards the gala.
The moment the doors to the gala opened, the group was met with a display of grandeur.
Glimmering reflections of majestic lights. Bustling movements of energetic crowds. Resonant echoes of light music. Decadent indulgence of luxurious food. The entire ball room was filled with the atmosphere of prestige and revelry. Enormous chandeliers graced the ceilings, sparkling bright as numerous glass drops hanging on its polished silver refracted light across the floor in prismatic rainbows.
Elian swallowed a gulp, his Adam’s apple moving outwards to allow the heavy saliva to pass through his throat.
“Nervous?” Jimin asked.
“A little,” he replied, squeezing her hand a little tighter.
“You’re so cute,” she giggled. “Come, let’s get some food.”
Elian nodded.
Robert, Chaewon and Rei had already disappeared into the crowd, standing between deep trays and carving stations as they filled their plates with delicacies like slow-roasted applewood smoked beef and jet-black truffle squid ink pasta.
Elian stood beside Jimin, hooking her arm around his before they walked in. The loud chattering and clinking of utensils on plates instantly faded; eyes glancing over in mesmerisation. Hushed whispers of ‘it’s her’, ‘she’s beautiful’, and ‘wow’ rippled through the room. Ladies narrowed their gazes in admiration and jealousy; men parted their lips to fawn and leer. Jimin stood there in confidence, taking in every opinion, every praise.
Then came the inevitable scorning. Admiration became confusion. Confusion swelled into curiosity. Curiosity churned into disgust.
Elian took half a step back instinctively, but Jimin held him tight.
“Stand proud. It’s my turn to protect you.” She looked up at his face and gave a reassuring nod, before scrunching her nose cutely.
Elian studied the room. The eyes were still there. He didn't need to use his special sight to know what they were thinking. It was written all over their faces.