“So Mark’s partner…?” Kun let his question hang, and knew from his co-pilots silence that his suspicions were confirmed. They were flying a few mafia members back from a small trip they made. “He should have taken out those construction members,” Kun sighed. He felt bad, of course, that Mark was now alone, but Kun couldn’t fathom having a partner and putting them at risk like that.

“Well, no way Mark will ever not complete an assignment now,” Yangyang sighed. Upon landing, Kun was always the last one to disembark and leave the plane, making sure that any names were scrubbed off the books and no one left anything behind. He never wore a uniform since he was a private pilot, but he always brought his cap with him for good luck, so he slipped the cap back on as he made his way through the airport.

The terminal he had left from was fairly empty, most other aircrafts having recently taken off. He was alone. And he was okay with that.

“You did so good, sweetheart!” Kun heard a soft voice chirp. He glanced over his shoulder, backpack swinging as he saw you crouched down, meeting the eyes of a small child that was crying.

“I don’t ever want to fly again,” they cried, and your face contorted into a frown. 

Instinctively, Kun moved towards you. You looked up confused as he knelt next to you, already taking out the small weighted baggie in his pockets.

“Did this little hero just make it through their first flight?” he asked, smiling widely. He was gorgeous, you thought to yourself. Insanely so. And he was so sweet to your sister’s kid, making the sad child cheer up as soon as they laid eyes on the small pilot wings pin pilots give to kids going on their first flights.

“Thanks again, that was very sweet,” you hummed, walking out of the airport with Kun and the child’s hand squeezed tightly in your own. “This little one is visiting me for the week so I’m glad we got to get rid of the tears.”

Kun didn’t know why he offered to walk you two to your car, or why he asked for your number, but everytime he learned something new about you he fell more and more- and all that did was terrify him.

“Don’t come closer, I’m going to shoot you!”

“... Filthy, hollow...” Jaehyun still walks closer with dark eyes. His jaw is clenched, just like his hands. Knuckles white as snow.

I take a deep breath and turn my head away, firing the gun. The clap back makes me stumble and I fall backwards. My back hits the wall harshly and I slide down.

“Motherfucker”, he whispers and clutches his chest. Jaehyun stumbles back before losing his balance and falling backwards, his breathing quivery and blood pouring out of the wound profusely, staining his blouse. 

At that exact moment, another person walks into the alleyway. I look up and curse realising it’s Doyoung. 

“You bitch!”, he growls as he sees his partner on the ground with a bullet wound in his chest. He raises the massive shotgun in his hands while pulling back the fore-end to reload, “I knew you couldn’t be trusted.”

He storms towards me while firing the gun, nearly all of them missing me. Except two. One pierces me through my dress into the flesh of my stomach and the other my shoulder. 

A scream escapes my lips and I buckle over, my hand towards my stomach and the other on the dirty ground for support. A pain far more painful than anything I have experienced. It feels like my inside gets ripped to shreds and then burned. 

Before Doyoung can get any closer, another gunshot is heard from behind him and he gets hit right through his skull, Doyoung’s blood splattering on me. He drops down and I focus on the person on the other end.

Kun runs towards me and drops down on his knees, grabbing me and bringing me closer to him. 

“Hey, hey, look at me. It’s going to be all right, okay?” Kun takes my hands and presses it against the wounds. “Press it nice and tightly, yes.” He gets up and takes me in arms, walking out of the alleyway and towards a car, stepping over bodies. 

He lays me on the backseat as Lucas steps behind the wheel. “Drive quick and call Ten, we need him”, orders Kun sternly and Lucas nods.

I lay my head to the side and blink a couple of times, my vision blurry. The only thing I want to do is just shut my eyes and sleep as I have not enough energy to keep away. 

I close my eyes, ignoring the muffled yells coming from Kun to stay awake. Right now I want to be selfish and just sleep. Yeah. Maybe if I sleep everything will turn out to be a dream. A really bad and fucked up dream

I open my eyes slowly. The first thing that greets me is a white ceiling. A groan erupts from my lips as I get aware of the pain in my body. My head hurts like a bitch. My left hand goes to my forehead and I feel the cotton of bandages. 

My brows furrow and I sit up. Only to be cursing slightly at the sharp pain in my shoulder and stomach. Oh right, last night. 

My eyes travel around the room and land on a sleeping figure in an armchair right by the window. It’s Kun, he looks tired despite his sleeping form. He has a five o’clock shadow, his hair is sticking out from all different sides, and his clothes ─ the same suit from the gala minus the jacket ─ look dishevelled and have dark stains on them. Not like the Qian Kun I’ve ever seen. 

Without making any sounds, I walk out of the bedroom. My body aches and my feet hurt, them also being in bandages. I must have stepped into some glass last night. 

I turn left and down a flight of stairs before I shuffle into the same living room I saw before, this time giving it a good look. It’s industrial, with dark tones and lots of woods. The scene outside the window gives me a perfect overview of Hong Kong. 

Next to the living room is the dining room and kitchen, all of course in the same style. The walls of the diner room are plastered with rows and rows of wine bottles. The kitchen is black and has all the new and high tech appliances. 

Two figures stand in the kitchen, Yangyang and Lucas. Lucas is cooking, Yangyang sitting on the countertop and scrolling through his phone. Most likely Twitter. The boy is addicted to the app. 

Lucas looks up from the frying pan as he hears me walking into the room. He almost drops the utensils, pure shock on his face. “(Y/n)”, he says lightly. 

Yangyang turns around with big eyes and jumps off the countertop, running towards me before engulfing me into a hug. “You’re awake!”

I let out a loud yelp and push him away, clutching my stomach. “Watch out, dumbass. I got shot, remember.” 

He apologises with a guilty smile before softly nudging me towards the kitchen island, making me sit there and wait for Lucas to plate up the food.

“I erm... for how long has Kun sat there?” 

Both the men look surprised. “Since when are you on first-name-basis with Qian?”, questions Yangyang, as he points with his thumb over his shoulder. A light blush spreads on my face. 

“We-well he asked me last night to call─”, I stutter out but Lucas cuts me off mid-way. 

“Excuse me? Last night? (Y/n), that was three days ago.” Lucas turns his full body towards me as he lays a plate full of food in front of me. 

Three days? Holy shit, the amount of schoolwork I’ve missed must be huge.

“How much blood did I lose?” I cock my head to the side, softly feeling the badges around my stomach and shoulder. 

“A lot, I guess? Kun wouldn’t let us go near you when Ten worked on your wounds.” Lucas shrugs as he moves around to grab more plates. 

I frown. “Ten? Is that...?” I stop and mimic someone putting a bag over my head.

“No, that was Winwin. He’s the one doing the kidnappings and interrogations. Ten is our doctor”, explains Lucas with a shake of his head. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been to hell and back? My body aches with every step I take and let’s not forget the bullet wounds. This is going to be a fun one for my therapist.” I roll my eyes and push some egg in my mouth. 

Yangyang sighs in relieve. “Thank God you’re alive. We had our doubts.”

I give Yangyang an ‘are-you-kidding’ look. “Sure, misses Doubtfire. You only worried because you had to find a new roommate if I were dead.”

“Yo- you really think I’m that heartless?” Yangyang fakes being hurt, earning a slight scoff from me.

I push myself off the chair, putting my empty bows in the sink. “I know you’re dead inside, YY, let’s not pretend otherwise. Shall I bring this to K-- ...Qian?”, I say, pointing to a bow with noodles still standing on the countertop. 

Lucas nods and without much talking, I scoop up the bowls and walk away, every now and then hissing in pain as I walk up the stairs. 

With a deep breath, I open the door to the bedroom slowly and peek my head in. A relieved sigh leaves my lips as I see Kun still sleeping. I place the bowl on the side table and softly squeeze Kun’s knee. 

“Kun? Wake up. Hey, Kun?”, I whisper and Kun’s eyes shoot open, jumping on his feet and pulling a gun out of nowhere. He holds the gun up and points it at my head. 

A shriek leaves my lips and I stumble backwards, tripping over the carpet and falling on the ground. I scramble away from the gun, memories of that night and three days ago flooding back. The panic coming back into my system.

My sigh narrows and all the horrible things flood in. The gun, a dead Jaehyun, the cold eyes of Kun, the pain of a bullet ripping through my skin. I pull my knees up and bury my face in it, my thick tears wetting the fabric of my sweatpants.

I feel two hands grabbing my shoulders and stroking it calmly, a shushing in my ear telling me to calm down. My hands act on their own and I let go of my knees, holding onto a shirt instead, my knuckles turning white.

“Hey, look at me. Look at me and everything will be fine.” I raise my eyes and look into a pair of dark brown ones. “Nobody can or will hurt you, you understand? Now take deep breaths until you feel all right again.” 

I do what the voice says and I stay like that for the next couple of minutes until my breathing slows down and my body stops shaking. I pull away and soft cotton wipes over cheeks, drying them from my tears.

I look up and see Kun looking at me with worry in his eyes. “Hi”, he whispers.

“Hi”, I whisper back, blinking at the alien way Kun acts. He’s normally so... hard and stoic, his eyes cold or filled with anger. But now, he’s warm and helping. His eyes are soft, almost comforting.

“I... I am sorry.” I let go of Kun’s crumpled up shirt. “I erm... I panicked at the sigh of... the gun.” The last part comes out of my mouth in almost a whisper, scared if I say those two words out loud, Kun will pull that devil’s device out of his pocket. 

“It’s okay, I understand. You’ve been through a lot. The only thing what helps is time. And maybe talking about it. I know a person who helped me a lot.”

I frown and look up to him. “Helped you?”

Kun nods and gestures next to me. I nod and scoot over, pulling my knees up to my nose, my interest piqued.

With a sigh, Kun lay his hands in his lab. “When I joined my old gang, I never dealt with the real deal before. Yes, I shot a gun and my father trained me in combat with both knives and my bare hands. But I never could fathom how my first mission in the field would go.” 

Kun stops, glancing at my side. I nod slightly and lean closer to him. His hair falls before his eyes and I swear, I can see a tear in the corner of his eyes. 

“My first mission was a bit like what happened to you. There was a car chaise, our car crashes and I ran away, a... gun in my trembling hands, ready to protect myself. The enemy had cornered me and I shot five men. Dead withing seconds. It felt weird, how much power I had over someone’s life with just such a silly thing.” 

The room is silent as I hang onto the story. It really sounds like a couple of days ago.

“The leader, he saw that I was struggling with what I’ve done and brought me to a psychiatric, so I could talk and work on my nightmares. She told me tips on how I could calm myself down when I had a panic attack.”

At that moment, for the first time since I’ve known Qian Kun, he seemed more than just a crime boss. At that moment, right there, he was human. He showed me a part nobody ever got to see of him. How human he truly is under his thick skin. In the end, he was just a twenty-something with demons just like every other person.

“Would you... would you like me to take you to her? Because I couldn’t forgive myself if your life is ruined because of me.” Kun turns away and lets his head hang low in shame. 

A sigh leaves my lips and I lean with my forehead on his shoulder. “I just... don’t want to do it alone, please?”

YY and Lucas are the only faces I knew before I accidentally saw a photo of Qian on YY’s screen. 

YY had to do a background check on someone and accidentally opened Qian’s file when he wanted to show me how he did it. 

Of course, my first thought ─ like probably every other female he came across ─ is that he’s handsome. Not the big and buff way of handsome with a sixpack and a V line where you can cut fruit with. 

But the timeless kind of handsome. He’s still young but has a mean stare, thick eyebrows, and an okay bone structure. Not like that makes sense, but for him it does. 

So imagine my surprise when, the first thing I see when I walk in my first class of the day, I see Qian himself standing next to the teacher, talking to him. 

I quickly take place in the back of the class next to Ah Ran, one of my girlfriends, to hide between the masses without him seeing me. 

“Who’s that?”, I ask her in a whisper as we grab our laptops out of our bags. 

“I don’t know”, she replies with a shrug, “isn’t that the guest speaker of today? The one about business strategies?”

I look back to the front and my eyes lock with Qian. I gulp before quickly looking away. This couldn’t be any worse. 

“Settle down everyone.” Mr Li’s voice booms over everyone’s muffled chatter and the whole room grows quiet. 

“Today we have a guest speaker. This is Qian Kun, he owns a small business in the economics field and will be telling you guys about the ins and outs of economics.”

I swallow thickly, what is he planning? Qian is lucky this isn’t my class with Jaehyun. Otherwise, it would have been a total disaster.

The hour passes slowly, with me not concentrating on any of Qian’s words. I feel his intense stares on my figure but I try my hardest to ignore it. The girls around me giggle, thinking he’s looking at them. 

After the presentation Qian prepared finally turns black, Mr Li reminded us to finish our paper on business strategies with the newfound information of Qian, he dismisses us.

“Hey, can I take a look at your notes after school? I couldn’t keep my attention to the presentation”, I ask Ah Ran as I quickly put my laptop in it’s designated spot in my bag. 

She rolls her eyes but complies. “Only if you buy me lunch.”

I laugh and push her hair away from her shoulder. “For you and your amazing notes, anything.” Ah Ran and I walk down towards the exit when Mr Li stops me. 

“(Y/n), can you come here for a second.” 

I stop in my tracks and look at Ah Ran. “Go to your class, I have a free period after this anyways.”

I turn around with a fake smile and walk towards Mr Li and Qian. “Yes, professor?” 

“Can you accompany Mr Qian to his car. The building is such a maze for someone outside our organisation..” Mr Li laughs a charitable chuckle, Qian joining him with cold eyes and I nod, knowing that I have no choice but to see Qian out. 

“Of course, sir. No problem.” I turn towards Qian and nod. “Ready to go, Mr Qian?” 

He nods and holds up his briefcase. “Yes, shall we?”

I bow one last time to Mr Li before leading Qian out of the classroom, my fake smile falling. 

“I got so lost on my way here that I didn’t want that a second time”, chuckles Qian as if he’s not some gangster with probably a .48 Glock in that briefcase of his. 

As we enter a deserted corridor, I stop and turn towards him. “No offence sir, but why are you here? Do you know how risky it would be if one of the two suspects saw you?”, I hiss the last part while taking a step closer towards him, still keeping enough distance between us. 

Qian coughs before looking around. “Hendery actually had to go but he has a... more important job right now. And I have the morning free so I thought why not? I didn’t even know this was your college.”

A humourless laugh leaves my lips. “Don’t tell lies, Sir. I know you did a background on me, YY told me.”

With a sight, Qian looks away and runs a hand through his hair. “No lying to you, I guess.”

I roll my eyes and start to walk towards the exit, almost jumping three steps at a time down the stone stairs. The faster Qian is away from school grounds, the earlier I can discuss this with YY and rage about it. 

Qian follows me quickly, not wanting to be lost again in the school. “How are you? Did your neck heal?”

“Sir...”, I sigh, holding the doors open for him to walk out. “Just... let me handle this, okay? I can do this.” I scan the parking lot and walk towards the most expensive-looking car. 

“Thank you for escorting me out. And I do trust you with this assignment, even though it’s not your field.” Qian opens the door on the drivers’ side and throws the briefcase on the backseat.

I nod shortly before turning around, quickly walking away. 

“(Y/n)...”, he calls behind me and I stop, “I have to ask you something.”

‘Shit’  I think and turn around on my heels. “Yes?”, I smile uncomfortably. 

“I need you to be my date for a gala this weekend.” 

I look baffled at Qian. This has to be a joke. He can’t be serious right now. Doesn’t he have escorts or sugar babies for that? 

“You’re kidding right?” But the blank look on his face makes me realize that he is serious.

I shake my head as Qian begins to talk, explaining his motive. “I am expected to bring a partner with me. I can’t bring Lucas with me. Rumours will start and that’s not good for the economy. Since you’re the only... female I know and trust─”

“So you decided that it has to be me who you take with you to that meeting-thingy. Like a piece of arm candy, a pawn to use.” I cut in with slight anger rising in my tone, the idea of just sitting there and being pretty going strongly against my moral. 

“Do not cut me off! I am your boss, you have to comply with my order”, he urges angrily and takes a step closer to me, towering over my figure. Our eyes lock and I see those familiar cold eyes I saw back in the basement. My breathing hitches in my throat and I take another step back, the anger replacing with slight fear. 

Qian notices my sudden change in behaviour and posture pulling him out his trance, his eyes softening slightly. He takes two steps back and exhales deeply, closing his eyes to calm himself. 

“I apologize for my outburst.” He looks away and neatens his suit jacket and dress shirt. 

“No, you are right, sir. You are my boss and that was an... order. Just call or text me what I have to wear and when to expect you. I’m sure you could get my number from Lucas. Now if you excuse me.”

I turn around and speed walk away from Qian Kun and his unnecessary expensive-looking car. As I turn around, I bump into a chest and stumble backwards. I land on the ground with an ‘oof’ escaping my lips. 

“Oh, (Y/n)!”, calls out Jaehyun and helps me up by my arms. Great, just what I needed, more mafia men in the middle of me having a beginning panic attack. 

My vision starts to blur and my knees give in, making me drop to the ground. A loud gasp leaves Jaehyun’s lips and he quickly catches me, pulling me towards one of the many benches in the hallway. 

“Breathe”, he whispers and pushes my hair away from my face, his eyes falling on the light scar on my neck. “Focus on my voice and close your eyes. Breathe deeply in, hold for a second, and then breathe out. Breathe in... hold... breathe out.”

I concentrate on Jaehyun and lean against him, focussing on how deep his voice is and the way his thumbs rub circles on the top of my hands. 

“When you feel ready, open your eyes and look into mine. Focus on them and, if you can do it, describe them for yourself.” 

My eyes flutter open and I study his face first. How his bangs cover most of his forehead, his angular eyebrows, the small rings piercing his ears. 

I finally look up, expecting to see cold eyes. The eyes I meet are everything except cold. They are warm and look at me with great worry. 

“I see... warmth. And comfort. Little specs of lighter brown in them. I like them, they shine in the sunlight”, I mutter to myself, the words escaping my lips.

It seems like Jaehyun still heard it because his breath stops. He comes closer but stops just millimetres away from my face, quickly standing up from the bench and coughing. 

“Let me take you home. You can’t continue your day like this.” Jaehyun takes off his jacket and places it over my shoulders, engulfing me in an earthy smell. Strong hints of sandalwood, patchouli, and rosewood. 

I don’t ague and let him lead me outside, into his car and drive me home. As Jaehyun opens up the door of my apartment and placing me on the couch with a blanket and a glass of water before he leaves again with a sad smile on his face, a single thought crosses my mind. 

“I had a panic attack”, I mutter hoarsely, my throat dry from sleeping and not drinking anything the whole day. “For how long did I sleep?”

Yangyang checks his watch. “It’s now almost half-past five. At what time did you get home? How did you even get home?” 

I swing my legs off the couch and stretch, a loud groan escaping my lips as my shoulder blades pop. Yangyang grimaces and moves away. 

I shuffle into the kitchen and as I grab a glass of water, I stop. “He was there.”

“Who?”, questions Yangyang as he walks into the kitchen, taking place on top of the countertop. 

“Qian Kun. He came as a guest speaker to my first class of the day. Nothing really happened until it ended and Mr Li asked if I could walk Qian out.”

Yangyang takes a sharp breath. “And then? Did he say something?”

I nod and turn around, my eyes filling up with tears by just thinking about it. “He, Uhm...”, I lick my lips, “he wants me to be his date for some formal gala he has this weekend. Something about me being the only female he trusts.”

A scoff leaves Yangyang’s lips. “The audacity to ask you of such favour while he almost cut your throat not even a month ago.”

“Right!” I look at him and start to fill my glass. “I said that to him too. Of course not in that way, more subtle. But Qian being a big, bad mob boss, he pulled a reverse Uno card and started to yell at me how I have to obey every word he says.”

My hands start to shake again. Yangyang takes them in his over and pulls me closer, resting my head on his shoulder. “You don’t have to continue if you can’t...”

“He had the same look, YY. The same murderous, cold look from back in the basement. He towered over me and just... the feelings of fear came rushing back into my veins. It filled me up and just consumed me from the inside.” 

At this point, tears roll down my cheeks and staining Yangyang’s sweater. He sighs deeply and strokes my hair, trying to comfort me. 

“I am so sorry you had to... endure that again. You know what, that’s it. You’re gonna stop working for WayV.”

I sniff, wiping away my tears and shake my head. “I can’t... YY, I’m too deep in right now. And besides, it’s not like he would let me walk freely with all this dirt on WayV.”

Yangyang nods, thinking deeply. “Maybe making a deal with Qian is the best option. Do it this weekend, when you two have a moment alone. Say you want out after you’re done with spying on those Korean scum.”

I chew on my bottom lip. “You think he will agree?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. Qian is an unexplainable man, you never know how he will react. But trying can’t be wrong. When even is that party?” 

I shrug while grabbing my phone from my backpack by the door. “He would text me about it.” I unlock my phone and go to messages. And at the top, I see a message from an unknown number. Him.

Next day I, while I put my jacket in my locker, I see Jaehyun approach me with a smile on his face. 

“Hey, how are you? Feeling a bit better?” He leans against the wall of lockers as he folds his arms in front of him. 

“Yeah. Thank you for your help yesterday.” I close the door and turn towards him. “Let me repay you.” 

The smile falls slightly off his face and he shakes his head. “No... you don’t have to. Every decent human would help you at that moment.”

Now it’s my turn to shake my head. “Not everybody, believe me. How about lunch today?” 

This isn’t even about the whole spying thing, I just want to thank him for taking care of me. 

Jaehyun glances over my shoulder and his eyes harden. I turn slightly around and see Doyoung standing at the end of the hallway with his arms folded over each other, a stern look on his face.

“I can’t... sorry.” He pushes himself off the wall and I frown. Jaehyun gives me a slight smile before rushing towards his friend.

I turn around and catch Doyoung’s eyes. He glares at me and I raise my eyebrows. He wouldn’t be on to me, right? 

To my dismay, Saturday rolled around quicker than I thought and I drag my tired body out of my bed around eleven, not having the motivation to get out of my bed earlier.

Yangyang left the house to hang out with some classmates so I have the whole apartment for my own.

So I decide to make sure I at least look presentable for tonight. And by presentable, I mean making sure my legs are hair-free, my skin somewhat cleaner, and my hair clean.

Just after I put on my boots, my phone chimes. I grab it and frown. A text from Qian.

He wouldn’t be... picking me up, right? Well, he did say ‘I’.

I fly down the stairs ─ as gracefully you can do that in heeled boots ─ walking out my building. And lo and behold, there’s he, leaning against his expensive black sports car with a bored look on his face while looking around.

He looks up as he hears the door slam closed after me and straightens up. Qian’s eyes study me up and down. “Let’s go”, he says with a sigh and turns around, walking towards the driver’s side.

I quickly walk towards the co-driver's side and slide onto the smooth leather.

The inside of the car is for sure just as expensive as my apartment. State of the art dashboard and touch screen, matt black detailing, and dark, smooth leather seating. 

“A team of stylists are waiting for you. They will make sure you look... presentable for tonight.” Qian glances towards me as he speeds off into the busy Hong Kong traffic. 

I hum, playing with the hem of my sleeves as I nervously watch out the window. 

Now’s not the time to ask about my departure, he doesn’t seem in a good mood. To be fair, he never does. Maybe tonight. Yeah, after the party.

Thanks to his quick drive style, we arrive at a skyscraper and he leads me in the building, towards the elevator. 

He stands with his hands in the pockets of his dress plants while we wait for the elevator to reach the first floor. 

“You don’t have to walk on eggshells around me, I’m not going to hurt you.” Qian’s voice is in comparison to Wednesday and just a few minutes back, softer. Almost normal.

I look up to him and when our eyes meet, I expect to meet the same cold ones he always has. But this time, I am greeted with a pair of soft brown orbs. They look... human?

My feet move on their own and I move one small step away from him.

The elevator doors finally open and we get in, raising to the top. Of course, Qian would own the penthouse. Crime bosses always own a penthouse or lavish mansion. 

As soon I set one step into the entrance, I get whisked away by a pair of ladies dressed in all black and put in a chair in front of a mirror in a bathroom. A wide arrangement of make-up lay in front of me as someone else rides in a rack with ten or more dresses on it. 

As my whole appearance from hair to nails and my face get all dolled up, one of the stylists starts to converse with me. 

“So, what dress do you like?”, she questions and rides the rack so it’s in my vision. My eyes scan the many colours and it falls on a slither of wine red. 

“May I see that one, the dark red one, please.” I point towards the dress and the stylist takes it off the rack, holding it out for me to see.

The dress has spaghetti straps and a triangle top, a high split at the right side that almost reaches the waistline. 

I nod with a smile. “Yes, that’s the one.” 

After my hair and make-up are done, I get up from the chair and take the dress with me to a corner of the bathroom that’s equipped like a dressing room. 

I slide quickly out of my normal clothes and into the beautiful red dress. I nervously walk from behind the curtains holding up the top. “Can someone zip me up?”, I question while turning around.

“I’ll do it”, says the deep voice of Qian behind me and the muscles in my back tense up. He strides towards me and places a hand on small of my back and the other he pushes my curled hair over my shoulder, reaching for the zipper. 

I hold my breath as he zips up the zipper, the places where his fingers touch my skin burn. 

After what feels for eternity he’s finally done and takes a step back, letting the stylists fix up my hair and make-up. 

“I’ll wait for you in the entrance hall”, says Qian before I hear a door close. I let out a big sigh of relieve and close my eyes so they can redo my eyeshadow. 

“The dress is a bit too long right now. But with the right pair of heels, it’s perfect”, says the same stylist from earlier and grabs a pair of black high heels from the rack and slides them on my feet.

I turn around to look in the mirror. And indeed, with the right pair of heels, the dress is perfect. I glide my hands down the curves and discover that there are pockets in it.