With time running out, she bolted down the stairs, her gown cascading behind her, and her mask slowly slipping off her face. Footsteps pursued her, and a single voice rang out into the old night.
"Wait! Please wait! I don't even know your name!" he shouted. The boy from earlier. He had brought her night alive, presenting her with dance after dance, until her feet felt sore. He had the most gorgeous eyes behind his solid black mask that perfectly matched his professional looking tuxedo. The Korean boy band "Shinee" had come to this ball for strictly media popularity. Her friend, who was the newest staff member to help the boy band, had only invited her. She didn't feel like anything special. But why was Jonghyun chasing after so fiercely? Did she do something offensive? She didn't understand it! She had to get going, however. Her new mother was waiting for her, stalling her terrible father. She had been thinking on what was awaiting her home instead of what was in front of her, and she tripped and fell to her knees.
"Ah!" she screeched, and looked at her bloodied hands, "Aishhh! Why am I clumsy at a time like this?" she cried to herself. The footsteps were fast approaching, gaining speed and momentum.
"Unni, are you all right?" he asked urgently, now coming to the stairs. She was now at the bottom, frozen on the ground.
What do I do? She thought. Numbly she got up and ran, leaving her shoes and bag behind. They were useless to her now; they were only dead weight. If her father caught her sneaking out of the house… she didn't want to think about that now. She bolted through the doors, and cold air blasted into her face and she sighed happily. She was almost free. She glanced both ways quickly. No one was in sight. She sighed again with relief and hurriedly crossed the street to safety, slipping between two buildings, her gown barely fitting soundlessly through the hard walls. She heard the front doors open, and heard Jonghyun groan with disappointment. She bit her lip. She didn't like running away from a guy she just met, and he was the only one who seemed to understand him. But she had to. She slipped in and out of the darkness, making her way home silently. Not long after her house stood menacingly before her, threatening her with its silence and darkness. She sighed unhappily. Her beautiful night had come to an end, and with it, the certainty that she would never see Jonghyun again, and that made her heart ache. She had liked him immediately, but it wasn't meant to be. She made her way towards the back door, and opened it slowly, wincing at the creak it made. The house welcomed her with cold air and her step other was sitting in the living room chair, fidgeting.
"I'm sorry I took so long Mother… I had some…. Difficulties." She whispered, remembering Jonghyun's face when she told him she was leaving and when she ran off. Her stepmother looked up and sighed with relief.
"Jae! Your father is going to be home any minute! Get dressed quickly!" she whispered urgently, glancing out the window. Jae raced upstairs, stripped the gown off her body and throwing it in the closet nearby, and hurried to put her pajamas on. Jae heard the front door open and her heart froze. He was home. She rushed down stairs in her slippers and pajamas and stood beside her mother with her arms crossed, looking straight ahead. Jae's father walked straight up to her, glared at her, and in a deep voice growled, "You ungrateful brat!". Jae's heart flew up to her throat as his hand rose into the air towards her.
Jonghyun's point of view:
Jonghyun sat down on the stairs and sighed. He had lost her. He heard footsteps behind him and glanced up to see Minzy from 2NE1.
"Hey bud!" she said cheerfully and sat beside him, "What's the matter?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"The girl I met tonight, the one I danced with, she's gone." He murmured sadly, staring off into the darkness down the street. Minzy sighed and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Did you get her name?" she asked, but Jonghyun was shaking his head before she even finished the sentence.
"I don't know anything about her." He frowned and put his head in his hands, resting his elbows on his knees.
"What am I going to do?" he asked himself quietly. He had fallen for her the moment he saw her; her golden gown, making her chestnut hair shine, and her dark brown eyes sparkle. She had been sitting down the entire ball, until he had spotted her. He knew he had to know her, so he went to talk to her. They had the most amazing conversation. It was like she actually understood him; how he felt about the stuff he loved. She was so kind-hearted and overall amazing, and he had let her slip through his fingers.
"I'll help you find her." She offered and smiled, squeezing his shoulder.
"Would you?" he asked hopefully. Minzy nodded and stood up, offering him a hand,
"What are best friends for?" she asked with a soft laugh, helping him to his feet.
"You have no idea how much this means to me Minzy, thank you so much!" he grinned at her and gave her a huge hug before running back inside to be with the rest of the band.
~Short Minzy point of view 3 ~
Minzy watched him climb back up the stairs and enter the building, heading back to the ball, before following slowly behind. Something caught her eye at the bottom of the stairs and she looked closer. There before Minzy's eyes were a pair of golden yellow shoes and a small white handbag! Minzy rushed over and picked them up and examined them.
Could these be from Jonghyun's mystery girl? She asked to herself. She clutched them close to her and rushed inside.
"Jonghyun! Junghyun!" She called, searching the crowds for him. She looked around franticly, excited that she might have found a clue. She finally spotted him sitting at a table with the rest of the "Shinee". Onew and Key were teasing Jonghyun, ruffling his hair and making puppy faces at him. Minzy shook her head and headed over, plopping the shoes and handbag on the table in front of Jonghyun. He looked up at her, surprised and then glanced at the objects on the table.
"What...?" he began to ask when Minzy held up a finger. She opened the handbag and began to dump out the contents of it. Lip balm, a notebook, a small pocket sized comb, and a small plastic card fell onto the table. Minzy ignored the lip balm and the comb and began inspecting the other things. The entire boy band had their attention on Minzy now, and she tried to fight a smile.
Boys. She thought, they are easily entertained.
Minzy picked up the small notebook and flipped through it. Tiny drawings, lists of songs needed to be downloaded, and to do lists filled the entire notebook, except one page. Minzy grinned and threw the notebook in front of Jonghyun's face, and he began to read the note out loud.
"'Hey! I can't believe you don't even have your best friends phone number in your cellphone! Tsk tsk! Now now, here's my number, and try not to forget your phone next time!' signed by someone named Ae Sook," Jonghyun glanced up at Minzy, "And then there's a number. What is this?" He asked, now staring at the notebook.
"I think these are Cinderella's handbag and shoes, and that is her notebook." Minzy said proudly. Jonghyun examined the bag and grinned,
"You're right! It is hers! Minzy you're amazing!" he laughed and jumped out of the chair he was in, giving her a giant hug. Key cleared his throat and everyone turned towards him. He held his phone to Jonghyun and grinned.
"It's already ringing." He said simply and handed the phone to him. Jonghyun took the phone nervously and pressed it to his ear. Cinderella-girl's best friend must have picked up the phone, because he cleared his throat nervously,
"Uh… Annyeong! This is-" Jonghyun was cut off when Key took the phone sharply.
"It doesn't matter who we are right now, we're looking for a girl. She left her bag at an event and we don't know who she is. Apparently you're her best friend. Can you please tell us who this bag belongs to so we can give it back?" he said rather quickly. Minzy hoped that the young girl had understood correctly.
"What? Wait! No-" and Key removed the phone from his ear, staring at it with disbelief. Jonghyun looked up to Key anxiously,
"What happened?" He asked franticly. Key shook his head,
"The stubborn girl hung up on me after calling me a con-artist. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! If I ever get my hand on that stubborn Ae Sook… Game over! Little brat…" He retorted, slamming the phone back onto the table and then pouting like a cute puppy. Minzy laughed and poked his cheek.
"Stop pouting." She whispered and laughed, turning back to Jonghyun. He looked like a sad lost puppy, and just seeing him like this made Minzy wanted to cry. She gave him a tight squeeze and smiled sadly,
'We'll find her, sweetheart." She whispered and ruffled his hair.
"She won't stay hidden for long…" key grumbled angrily, obviously still upset about being called a con artist. Onew clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. Jonghyun looked up hopefully,
"You have a plan Onew?" Jonghyun asked, his eyes sparkling with hope. Onew nodded,
"As leader, I think we should search everywhere for her. But first, we need to know EXACTLY what she looks like." Onew said, looking Jonghyun straight in the eyes. Jonghyun shifted uncomfortably.
"Short chestnut hair, about to her chin," he touched his chin, imitating the length of her hair, "and dark brown eyes, the color of dark chocolate." He said dreamily. Onew motioned him to continue.
"She was about… four inches shorter than me… maybe five, I'm not sure. I just remember that she had to look up into my eyes when we danced." He explained, running a hand through his hair.
"Remember the little stuff, Hyung." Minho spoke for the first time, leaning onto the table, his arms crossed. Taemin was at his side, and he nodded,
"The smallest details are important too." Taemin said smoothly, playing with his bottle of water. Minho nodded in agreement. Jonghyun huffed and fidgeted.
"I can't…." he mumbled and Minzy grabbed his shoulder.
"Yes you can." She said firmly, and he nodded. Jonghyun closed his eyes to further memories.
"She said her father remarried, and she really likes her new mother, after her birthmother left the family… she also mentioned that she worked at a café and a barn…?" he scrunched his nose, his eyes still closed.
"A barn?" Minho, Key, and Taemin all asked at once.
"A café?" Onew asked a few seconds after.
"Yeah, with horses and stuff. She really liked it when she got to ride the horses. And she loves the café, her best friend works along with her." Jonghyun smiled, remembering. Minzy smiled, he must really like this girl already. Onew nodded, now in leader mode.
"That should narrow that down a lot… anything else you can remember?" He asked firmly.
"She liked it when I told her about how much I travelled. She told me she really wants to travel the world when she becomes a writer," He said simply, but sighed, "That's all I've got." He frowned.
"That's just enough, Oppa." Minzy patted his shoulder, smiling.
"So we go to every barn, looking for a girl with short chestnut hair who wants to be a writer and loves to travel?" Key asked, "We don't have much time for that." Everyone groaned. Key was right, they were singers. They had a job they had to do. It's not like they could take their time off of everything.
"But I want to find her myself." Jonghyun pleaded. Onew looked at Key, then Minho, then Taemin, and then lastly Minzy. Minzy shrugged helplessly.
"Maybe we could tell the manager Jonghyun wants to take some time off to create more songs and search for inspiration." Minzy said simply, shrugging again.
"Would that work?" Jonghyun asked, franticly looking around. He was the only one sitting at this point. Minzy shrugged,
"I don't know…. Would it?" she asked, looking towards one of their managers who were always near by.
"What would work?" the man asked, putting down his class of mysterious liquids. Everyone looked around at each other, debating whether or not they should tell the truth. Onew was the first one to speak up.
"Jonghun wants to go on a little vacation to think up new songs and find inspiration. Would that be okay?" He asked, crossing his fingers behind his back. The manager thought for a moment, then shrugged.
"I don't see why not." He answered slowly, as if to test the words in his mouth. Jonghyun jumped up, about to shout with happiness, when we all dragged him back into his seat. I pressed a finger to my lips; a command of silence and obedience. This had to work perfectly. The manager turned back to his drink, talking to some fellow staff members. Jonghyun was grinning from ear to ear, his pearly white teeth shining brightly.
"Calm down, we're not finished planning yet." Onew scolded him, patting him once on the shoulder. The gesture had meant to be a playful slap, but with Onew's craziness and gentile personality, being violent on purpose was impossible. The only way he would be violent was if he tripped and hurt someone by accident. Minzy's mouth twitched as she fought a smile. Jonghyun cleared his throat and tried not to smile.
"Look out Cinderella… here I come!" he whispered to himself, his hand clenching into a fist.