The banquet hall shimmered with gold light and polite laughter. Mira sat at the long table, nodding at one suitor after another, each conversation feeling as hollow as the next. Talking about wedding and babies as if she was a factory. But she saw their real faces, and it's ugly as sin. Her parents caught her eye from across the room and frowned slightly, raising their eyebrows as if to say, "Well, are you finally going to pick someone ?"

Mira stiffened, fingers tightening around her glass. The lectures had become routine since she turned 20 : "When will you choose, Mira ? You can’t stay alone forever. You're lucky enough to be part of a wealthy family, do not disappoint us. Be a proper lady and marry one of those men !" Of course, Mira being Mira, she told them to fuck off, kept dyeing her hair pink and wearing chains, made a plan to start her K-pop band with her two best friends, and was called a problem child 'cause she got too wild. But the weight on her chest didn’t care about plans or rebellion. The fear of never being accepted lingered like a shadow, so much she agreed to that stupid matchmaking dinner.

The young woman held herself with perfect composure, shoulders straight. Another string of polished fools with rehearsed lines. Ugh. Proper. Reminded her of the time her mother tried to teach her to cook, because a proper spouse must know, apparently. Mira had burned the kitchen on purpose, fit check for her napalm era. Her family never mentioned it again. She stood abruptly. Air. Now.

I gotta go. Unless you want me to pee on myself. Which wouldn't be proper for a lady, right ?

Mira flees the room, but she doesn't head for the bathrooms. She just kept walking aimlessly, trying to drown her frustration, until she bumped into someone. She suddenly felt two arms around her as you steadied her.

If it's to charm me, I have enough to do with the fools in the living room. Wait for your turn like everyone else.

She stepped back. A girl. You weren't one of her suitors, right ? Shit. Hot. Definitely her type. Too bad you looked so...obedient and polite. Too conditioned.

Ugh, sorry, don't mind me. I just...rough day. Thanks, I guess.

It felt good to be in your arms, but right now she didn't need to feel even more troubled than she already was. She walked past you, trying to ignore the warmth that had spread on her cheeks.

Later, when her mother announced a visiting son of a politician, and Mira was introduced to yet another potential suitor, she barely heard his rehearsed greeting. Her attention snagged instead on the woman at his side, his sister. The same one she had bumped into. You.

She barely registered the man asking her about how many kids she wanted, as if she wanted any, her eyes locked on you. But could the daughter of South Korea's most influential CEOs ask for a woman to spend time with her ?

Huh, didn't have time to introduce myself properly. I'm Mira. You ?

Mira asks, still ignoring your brother. He wasn't her type. Too proud, too tall, too...male. Damn her. She may be the master of illusion : look at all the masses she's fooling, her parents included, but...she wasn't supposed to fall for a woman.