Chapter 31: Masquerade (4)

Daniel stared at Stefan in the eye. And Stefan looked back at him, he had removed his mask earlier when they arrived at the porch so the sadness in his eyes was evident. He regretted what happened 7 years ago. But no matter what, he can no longer bring back the time.

Daniel treated Stefan like his brother as they met in high school and decided to study together in France where they met a young woman who was also from Country K. Because the three of them were from the same country, they became friends easily until Daniel and the young woman became a couple. They dated for about 2 years when Daniel caught them cheating. He was devastated because of his friend's and his then-girlfriend's betrayal.

Stefan swallowed, he doesn't know what to say anymore. He's too ashamed of the past.

"But I guess I have to thank you both... If it's not because of what you did, I wouldn't be where I am today.", Daniel turned around, "Let's try not to bump into each other in the future.", he said before he left Stefan alone.

---

Back at the event hall, Hannah and Seo Joon were sitting at the table while enjoying the entertainment on stage, with wine in their hands.

A lady in a purple dress came over and spoke, "Umm… You're Seo Joon right?"

Seo Joon and Hannah looked at the lady, "Yes, may I help you?"

"Actually… I saw you earlier, and I thought you looked... Um… handsome. Would you like to have a drink with me?", said the lady as she fidgeted with her hands.

Seo Joon smiled, "Sorry but I have a date.", he said as he put his arm around Hannah's chair. Hannah glanced at his hand that slightly touched her bare shoulder. Then she turned to look at Seo Joon.

The lady looked at Hannah then gazed back to the man, "Oh... I see. Enjoy the night then.", she said before she turned to leave.

When Seo Joon felt Hannah's eyes on him, he turned to face her, "What are you looking at me for?".

"You just rejected a hot woman who obviously likes you. Are you possibly sick?", Hannah reached to touch his forehead.

He caught her wrist and said, "Do you want me to leave you here alone then?"

"You really rejected her because of me?"

"Yeah, why is that so surprising? I'm a not a jerk, we agreed to come together because you and I both have no partners. Since your my date, I'll be a gentleman."

"Woah... I didn't know you have this side of you. You're always... with girls."

"Hey. You make it sound like I'm a playboy... I date from time to time okay? But I don't date multiple women at the same time."

Hannah just looked at him like he was an alien. Ever since they were young, he just saw Seo Joon as an older brother who was always teasing them when he's not playing with other little boys, he does care about Samantha and often looks out for Hannah too but she never saw him as a man. So when they grew older, with Seo Joon's good looks, he attracted a lot of women and he had dated a lot of women too. It's probably the first time that Hannah found Seo Joon's gentlemanly ways towards her. It made her blush a little.

"What about you though?", he asked.

"Has Samantha told you about what happened?"

Seo Joon nodded, "Are you okay now?"

"Of course, although that happened, I didn't really know what transpired after I fell unconscious. I just woke up when the police got there and I chose not to look at the photos too. So I guess, I got scared that it happened but I'm okay now."

"You know... I think she feels guilty about it."

"I know... That's why I didn't show her when I was scared after that. It wasn't her fault."

Seo Joon looked around before he grabbed Hannah's wrist and pulled her up. "Come with me, I have something to tell you."

They reached an outdoor space with a pool and Seo Joon let Hannah sit on a sunbed and he sat opposite her.

"Why do we need to talk here?"

"Hannah, I saw Nancy.", Seo Joon said with a low voice as he looked at Hannah in the eye.

"Nancy? Nancy who?", Hannah said with a confused look.

"Nancy Jung."

As soon as Seo Joon said this, Hannah froze. She looked around and hissed, "Are you crazy? We all agreed not to mention those names. What if Samantha hears you?".

"That's why I brought you here, she's at the table with Daniel's parents, she won't hear us. Listen, we may not be able to hide the truth from her when the time comes. City M is a big city but even I saw her after all these years. Who knows what will happen in the future?"

Hannah was so worried, she got nervous. "Joon, what will happen if Samantha sees her? What if she remembers?".

"That's what I'm worried about. We almost lost her once, that can't happen again.", he said as he ran his hand on his face.

None of them spoke for a few minutes.

"Did you tell your parents? What are we gonna do?", Hannah asked.

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"Yes, my father said that we'll just continue as we are and not to let Samantha find out about it. You have to look after her, Han."

Hannah and Seo Joon talked a bit more before they went back to the event hall. When they sat down, Samantha came over.

"Where were you guys? I was looking for you."

"Uhh.. we were outside.", Hannah glanced at Seo Joon.

Samantha was puzzled, "What were you doing outside?"

"Just went out for some fresh air. Damn, I'm hungry... Han let's go grab some food.", Seo Joon and Hannah stood up and walked towards the food table.

"Ookayyy..", Samantha muttered.

She brushed it off and found a chair to sit. While she watched the group of contortionists on stage,

"Ooof. Kids nowadays. Why do they do these sort of things? Don't their bodies hurt when they twist and bend like that? They don't seem to have bones in their body.", an old man dressed in a grey suit was sitting next to her with a cane beside him.

Samantha chuckled, "You don't like watching contortionists grandpa?", she said to the old man beside her.

"I feel like my own bones are cracking just seeing them like that.", he said with a horrified face.

"What would you like to see then?", she asked, amused by the stranger's facial expression.

"Ahh... Fire performance!", he said with a smile on his face.

"You mean those entertainers who dance with fire or eat fire?", her eyes grew.

The old man looked at her, "Yeah, aren't they amazing?"

"Sure... But it's also dangerous...?".

This old man doesn't enjoy contortionists but likes to watch people eating fire. Huh.

"You must be an adventurer, grandpa!"

"Oh little girl, you have no idea. When I was young, I used to travel around the country and I did a lot of odd jobs just to get by. I learned a lot of skills too.", the old man was so proud.

Samantha enjoyed listening to the old man more than watching the performers on stage. He reminded her of her grandfather Kim; An old hand.

While Samantha and the old man were having a conversation, a warm hand landed on her bare shoulder.

"I see you met my grandfather."

The old man looked at Daniel, "You know this young lady?".

"Grandpa, meet my girlfriend, Samantha."

"Ahh... I see... she was the girl with you earlier.",

"Oh, what a coincidence, it's nice to meet you... um... Grandfather Cho.", Samantha didn't know what to call him.

"You've been calling me grandpa earlier, why would you suddenly call me that."

The three of them laughed.

"How will I see your face if you don't take your mask off?", said Grandfather Cho.

"Ah... I can't take it off so easily...",

"Grandpa, she handpainted it on her face..."

The old man squinted his eyes to look closer, "Oh, you have good hands. You drew well. That looks nice."

The music changed into a mellow one. Daniel extended his hand as he said, "May I have this dance?".

Samantha smiled at him gently, "Of course.", she said as she placed her hand in his.

"Excuse us, grandpa.", Daniel said to his grandfather.

"Go. You kids enjoy. I'm too old for this.", he said as he waved his hand.

While Samantha walked to the center of the hall with Daniel, she was actually nervous because she noticed the guests looking in their direction. So when a waiter with a tray of drinks passed by her side, she hurriedly grabbed a glass of wine and downed the entire content to shake off her nerves.. Daniel chuckled when he saw this, "We're just dancing, why are you so nervous?".

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