Jin was literally dragged by Xiao the whole way to the mall. She was so excited; she immediately headed to the dress store.

"Takeshi said it'd be a semi-formal party," she remarked, popping her head around the corners. She grinned at Jin. "I wanna get a really nice dress." She stared at the young man up and down. "You should have a look around too; maybe find a nice suit or something." Jin just stubbornly crossed his arms and looked away. Xiao shrugged and started looking for a dress.

She made Jin sit down while she tried on a few dozen. She was very interested in the oriental dresses, mainly the cheongsams. She picked out a beautiful white floral one, but she refused to put it on in front of Jin.

"I want you to see me at the party in this," she said playfully. She paid at the counter for it and then went to the next store; the make up store. Jin quickly grabbed a brochure and hid behind it as women stared at him, giggling and whispering to each other. He quickly went over to Xiao, who was examining the lipstick samples.

"Can I go now?" he asked, annoyed. Xiao shook her head, not looking at him. She picked up two colors and held the up to him.

"Which one would look better on me?" she said. She held up the one in her right hand. "Strawberry." She held up the one in her left hand. "Or raspberry." Jin rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he muttered. "Just get what you want so I can go." Xiao cocked her head to one side, a smirk on her lips.

"Okay," she said. "But if you go now, you have to take me to the party." She grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him down to her level. There was a sparkle in her eye. "As a date."

"As a what…?" he exclaimed. Xiao just smiled sweetly, and Jin gave in.

Nothing was worse than being asked out by a girl who using it as blackmail.

"Okay, fine," he sighed. Xiao let go and jumped up and down, clapping her hands happily. Jin held her firmly by the shoulders to calm her down. He let out a frustrated sigh. "But that doesn't make you my girlfriend or anything." Xiao stopped and put her hands on her hips, smiling smugly. Jin blushed a little.

"I never said that," Xiao giggled. She glanced at her watch. "Ooh, almost time for Stairway to Heaven." She ran over to the cash register. "I wanna know what Yuri is gonna do." She paid for the make up and then turned to Jin. "Toodles. See you at the party." She blew him a kiss and ran off, leaving Jin standing by himself, red-faced in a make-up store.


Julia and Asuka burst out laughing.

"So, you just left him there?" Asuka choked. She was sitting on Xiao's bed, watching as Julia fixed up Xiao's hair.

"Well, yeah," Xiao giggled. She winced a little as Julia pulled up her hair into an elegant bun. "Hey, that hurts!" Julia ignored her. She and Asuka were fully dressed, fully pampered, ready for the party. They insisted that they treat Xiao to it.

Asuka went over to Xiao's side and looked at her in the mirror.

"Your hair looks pretty good," she remarked as Julia started pegging some flower clips. "By the way, I love your dress." She looked down at her own. It was a powder blue gown, v-necked and ending at her knees. "Maybe I should have gone oriental too." She let her hair down, but it was much softer-looking than usual. She was wearing long glittery earrings. The look suited her well.

"Oh, relax," Julia said, taking out the make-up and applying it to Xiao. "You look fine." She was wearing a silky jade-green dress, very elegant but also very flirtatious. Her hair was tied in a loose braid, held up with a ribbon and a single feather. She was wearing a bead necklace and diamond stud earrings. Xiao coughed as she powdered her face.

"Thanks for letting us use your shoes, Julia," she said when the smoke cleared. She looked down at the stilettos. They looked good. Julia grabbed her roughly by the jaw and traced her lips with the pink lip gloss.

"Done," she exclaimed with an exhausted sigh. Xiao rubbed her jaw and glared at the older girl.

"You didn't have to be so rough, you know," she mumbled. Julia merely smirked.

"Okay," she said, taking a step back. She gestured Xiao to stand up. "Let's see how you look." Xiao stood up. The other two girls studied her for a moment.

"Something's missing," Asuka suggested. She went over to the drawers and took out the earrings she gave her. Xiao beamed as Asuka handed them to her.

"Oh, these would go perfectly with my dress!" She turned to the mirror and put the earrings on. Julia and Asuka walked up from behind her, looking at her reflection. Julia placed her hands on Xiao's shoulders. She smiled.

"Now, you look perfect."


Hwoarang and Jin waited impatiently downstairs. It had been almost two hours. The clock seemed to be ticking louder and louder. Hwoarang shifted on his seat, checking his watch constantly, while Jin seemed to have fallen asleep.

"We're ready, boys!" Julia's voice came. Jin jolted back to reality as the two men turned their direction to the stairs. Hwoarang stood up and stared with awe as Julia made her way down.

"You look hot," he said, extending his hand for her to take. Julia smiled coyly. As soon as she set foot down on the ground, Asuka followed up.

"Just wait until you see Xiao," she said excitedly to Jin. She hurried down the stairs and stood next to Hwoarang.

"How do I look, Hwoarang?" she asked, turning around in a circle. Hwoarang scratched his head.

"You…you look good," he muttered. Asuka grinned and wrapped her arms around his.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Xiao's voice came. She slowly walked down. Jin's eyes widened slightly as he saw her.

She was beautiful. Her hair was tied up, decorated with little flowers, her dress matching it perfectly. Jin almost lost his breath.

"Whoa," he muttered mindlessly. He suddenly realized what he was doing and snapped out of it. "I mean…humph." Xiao walked over to him as he stood up. She giggled.

"Is that really all you got to say?" Jin shrugged, blushing a little. He took something out of his pocket.

"Here," he said, holding it out. It was a gold necklace with a gemstone. Xiao stared at it in delighted awe. "After you left, the women there made me buy this." Xiao turned around so he could put it on for her. "They told me it was the gallant thing to do." Xiao turned back around and examined the pendant fondly. She beamed.

"Thanks so much!" she exclaimed happily. She reached up and hugged him. Hwoarang cleared his throat loudly. Xiao let go of a red-faced Jin and looked over at him.

"I think it's time to go," Hwoarang suggested. He looked over to the other two girls. "Don't you think so?"

"Absolutely!" Asuka said brightly, still gripping onto his arm tightly. Hwoarang sighed and looked over to Julia. He smiled and extended his other arm, to which she took. The threesome walked past Jin and Xiao.

"Yeah!" Xiao said enthusiastically. She took his hand. "Let's party!" And at that, she dashed after her friends, dragging her not-so-excited date with her.