As the birthday approached, guests who had received invitations began to gather at the mansion. The guest rooms, which were rarely ever fully occupied unless for a special occasion, became completely booked, and as a result, the attendants were busier than ever.
Feeling uncomfortable with the unfamiliar faces I encountered whenever I stepped into the hallways, I had spent the past few days holed up in my room. Vin, following my lead, stayed inside as well. While we were in the room, the butler came by, carrying a completed outfit along with a small box.
“What is this?”
At the butler’s urging to open it quickly, Vin cautiously lifted the lid and checked the contents. Upon seeing what was inside, Vin raised an eyebrow and looked at the butler, his gaze practically asking, Why are you giving this to me?
“What is it?”
Setting aside the newspaper I had been reading, I slowly approached and peeked inside the box. Expecting some kind of grand gift, I was instead met with something completely unexpected—a wig and a pair of glasses.
“A wig and glasses?”
“Yes. While the guests are here, I thought it would be best for you to wear them, even if it’s inconvenient.”
“Do I have to wear these?”
Vin picked up the wig, letting it dangle loosely in his grip as he asked. He didn’t say it outright, but it was obvious what he meant—Why do I have to disguise myself and hide my identity?
“If someone who was ‘disposed of’ by the First District Leader suddenly appears in public, don’t you think that would cause some confusion?”
At the butler’s blunt words, Vin had no choice but to clamp his mouth shut. To the First District Leader, “disposing of” someone meant deeming them so worthless that their very existence was denied.
Vin’s hand trembled slightly as old wounds he had tried to forget were forcefully reopened. I reached out to comfort him, but the butler shook his head, silently telling me not to. I had no choice but to lower my hand.
“…Fine. I’ll wear it. That’s all that matters, right?”
After a long silence, Vin finally spoke, letting out a deep sigh. He set the box down and pulled out the wig, placing it on his head. Since he had no idea how to put it on properly, the butler stepped in and adjusted it for him.
“Do you want to look in the mirror?”
The butler gently pushed Vin toward it. Hesitantly, Vin stepped forward and, upon seeing his unfamiliar reflection, widened his eyes in surprise.
“Try the glasses too.”
When he put on the glasses the butler handed him, his striking red eyes were immediately concealed. On the outside, Vin no longer looked like a Shining. He simply appeared to be a boy from the Fifth District with an eye-catching appearance.
I approached Vin and adjusted the slightly disheveled wig. He flinched, his shoulders tensing momentarily, but then he subtly lowered his head to make it easier for me. The entire time I fixed his hair, his gaze darted around uneasily from behind the glasses.
“Black hair suits you, too.”
“It’s a relief, then.”
Only then did Vin give a faint smile, as if reassured. Looking at our reflections in the mirror, he seemed pleased, saying that now he looked a little more like me.
“Young Master, your outfit has arrived. Would you like to try it on?”
“Oh, right. I forgot about that.”
Caught up in the wig and glasses, I had completely neglected the outfit. With the butler’s help, I put on the complicated formal attire, layering a shirt, vest, and other pieces before stepping in front of the mirror.
Fortunately, it wasn’t as flashy as a peacock, but the golden embroidery scattered throughout the suit made it unmistakably clear who the protagonist of the day was. It was suffocatingly burdensome.
“It suits you so well!”
The butler’s voice was exaggeratedly cheerful. Did he really think this looked good? Sure, even though Han Seo-yul was short, his proportions were good, making most outfits look decent on him. But this was just too much.
“Do I really have to make it this obvious that I’m the birthday boy?”
“Well, it’s better than walking around in a party hat like when you were a child.”
The butler was obviously joking, but I was genuinely horrified. Holding back a laugh, he straightened my blue tie and then took a step back.
“I’m not joking; it really does suit you.”
“…Thanks, butler.”
Hiding my bitterness, I forced a smile at his sincere words. While I studied my reflection, turning this way and that, the butler moved to help Vin, who was struggling with his own outfit.
“You tie the knot like this and tuck it in here.”
Vin furrowed his brows as he fiddled with the tie, following the butler’s movements. After a few tries, he managed to tie it perfectly, just as the butler had shown.
“Is this right?”
“Yes, that’s right. Well done.”
Vin shrugged as if it were nothing. While he looked satisfied with his work, I found myself fiddling with my own tie, feeling strangely inadequate. Our eyes met just then. Vin, who had been expressionless, suddenly broke into a bright smile.
“Seo-yul hyung, look! I did it!”
“Good job.”
Vin had been indifferent to the butler’s praise, but now, his cheeks flushed, and he beamed. His drastically different reactions left me bewildered, but the butler merely shrugged as if he was used to it.
“Well then, I have work to do, so I’ll take my leave. Vin, make sure to tidy up the clothes properly.”
“Yes, I will.”
Only after the butler left did Vin rip off the suffocating wig and glasses, tossing them aside. Standing before the mirror, he ran his fingers through his tousled hair before turning to me.
“How do I look?”
“Huh?”
“Does it suit me?”
When the outfit was tailored, Vin hadn’t been wearing a wig, so it had originally complemented his red hair much better than black.
Seeing Vin exude such elegance, like a prince from a fairy tale, I nearly lost my train of thought. It was strange. My outfit was the more extravagant one, yet somehow, Vin looked like the real protagonist.
“It suits you perfectly.”
“Really?”
Vin beamed and took my hand. As he drew closer, a deep floral scent filled the air. He lifted our joined hands slightly, wrapped his other arm around my waist, and began twirling me in circles.
“Connor told me. There’s going to be a ball at your birthday party this year.”
“A ball?”
“Yes. In front of everyone, two people will dance together like this.”
I clumsily followed Vin’s steps, moving my feet this way and that, but it was more flailing than actual dancing. I nearly stepped on his feet multiple times, our foreheads bumped, and the whole thing was a complete disaster.
“Ouch, that hurts.”
I had tried to be careful, but in the end, I stomped right onto Vin’s foot. Feeling awful, I quickly apologized, but Vin reassured me not to worry about it.
One, two, three—matching his rhythm, I moved my feet as best as I could. Back when I was Jung I-hyun, I had been fairly confident in dancing, but in Han Seo-yul’s body, I was far more uncoordinated than I had expected.
“So even Seo-yul hyung has things he’s bad at.”
“I’m bad at a lot of things. You didn’t know?”
“No, I knew.”
The arm around my waist suddenly lifted me off the ground. Startled, I instinctively clung to Vin as he spun us around before gently setting me down again. Was that part of the dance? I had no idea, and the fact that I had freaked out was a little embarrassing.
“Where did you learn to dance, Vin?”
“You mean dancing?”
“Yeah. Did the butler teach you this too?”
I was curious if dancing was included in the butler’s etiquette lessons. Normally, Vin would answer right away, but this time, he hesitated before murmuring, “Well…”
“It wasn’t the butler?”
“Who would bother teaching a servant something like this?”
If it wasn’t the butler, then who? As I raised an eyebrow at his vague response, Vin seemed to be drawing out the suspense on purpose. Only after a moment did he finally give me an answer.
“Se-yeon taught me when I was really little.”
The name was buried in my faint memories, but I eventually recalled it—Se-yeon, the Omega who had given birth to Vin.
Had I asked something I shouldn’t have? As I hesitated, Vin told me it was fine.
“Se-yeon was hardly ever in his right mind, but there were moments when he was lucid. When that happened, he would hold onto me and dance like this. There wasn’t even any music—we just spun around and around. But I guess I must’ve liked it back then.”
For him to remember it like this…
Vin muttered the last part so softly that I almost didn’t hear it. He hid the flicker in his eyes behind a smile, slowly letting go of my hand.
At the sudden loss of warmth, my fingers twitched involuntarily. His lips had come so close, just for a moment, as if they were about to brush against mine—only to pull away as if nothing had happened. When I snapped out of it, Vin was smiling as usual.
“Since Seo-yul hyung is a terrible dancer, you probably shouldn’t dance at all.”
“I could just learn from the butler.”
“But there are only a few days left. What if you step on your partner’s foot while dancing? That’d be humiliating.”
Was he that convinced I couldn’t improve in time? The certainty in his crimson eyes was almost cruelly unwavering.
I was about to feel slightly offended when Vin suddenly slipped his hand back into mine. His voice, barely above a whisper, failed to conceal the real truth behind his words.
“So… don’t dance with anyone else.”
His red eyes darted anxiously to mine. This was what he really wanted to say—so why had he tried to hide it? I shouldn’t have laughed, but seeing Vin so restless, almost fidgeting, made it hard to hold back a smile.
“Seo-yul hyung…”
Vin called me in a wavering voice, urging me to respond.
I decided to tease him a little, the way he had done earlier, pretending to think it over. His anxiousness grew, and he even began tapping his foot. If I dragged this out any longer, he might actually cry.
“Alright, I’ll just drink non-alcoholic champagne instead.”
“Then drink it with me.”
“Kids should drink juice.”
“I’m not a kid.”
Even though he pouted, the corners of his lips twitched upward, unable to hide how pleased he was that I had agreed not to dance with anyone else.
“Promise me.”
Vin suddenly held out his pinky. He sure knew how to put what he’d learned to use.
I hooked my pinky around his and gently shook it up and down.
“I promise.”
