章 1: An Unexpected Encounter

WHERE? Seoul Marina Hotel, 5th floor, Seo Publishing Inc.,

ADDRESS? 160, Yeouiseo-to, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Korea

WHEN?! Tuesday, November 3

TIME?! Masquerade Party starts at 8 PM.

I looked at the invitation one last time, and I handed it to the muscular man in front of me. He lifted his right eyebrow and scanned me from head to toe, probably judging my outfit. I wore a silver Venetian mask, with lace scroll, beads, feathers, and gems themed like a queen, paired with a silver Venetian Carnival costume as a full-skirted ball gown. I wore simple beaded earrings, a bib-styled necklace, and only had a bit of makeup on. The man who was acting as a bouncer nodded and motioned me to get inside.

I anxiously entered the room, and it was a voluptuous scene, a masquerade. It was an imperial suit. In many hotels, however, such suites form a long and straight vista, while the folding doors slide back nearly to the walls on either hand, so that the view of the whole extent impeded. There was a sharp turn at the right and left, and it was in the middle of each wall, a tall and narrow Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor of which pursued the suite. That at the eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue -- and vividly blue were its windows.

There was only a bit of an emanating light from lamps and candles within the suite. It was hard to tell people apart. Most women are wearing corset dresses or ballgowns in white, silver, or black. Men tend to wear formal suits or tuxedos with court jester mask, Greek warrior mask, phantom half mask, steampunk mask, or anything that are a mix of classic and new masquerade mask designs with a tuxedo.

A heavy tripod in the corridors followed the suite. It bore a brazier of fire that projected its rays through the tinted glass and opposite of each window. And thus, were produced a multitude of gaudy and fantastic appearances.

Why am I here, you might ask? Well, I am looking for my reincarnated prince. The crown prince that I saved from the brink of death during my past life in the Joseon era was that same man I fell in love with and sacrificed my voice to become human. Li Suji is now a reincarnated human being but still bounded by the mermaid's tail curse. To become fully human, I would have to make the reincarnated prince, who happened to be present in this masquerade party, fall in love. Did you think it was easy, no?

For 24 years of my life, I have been waiting for this day to come! It's not easy. I don't even know how the prince looks like, it's in my dreams, but I vaguely remember his face. My mom claimes that when the prince is in front of me, I'll get the 'feeling' of it. If you may ask, my mom, who happened to have the same thing, broke off her curse by marrying the reincarnated merman lover of her past life too. The thing is that I promised myself that in this life, I would be able to make the prince fall in love with me! I don't care if there is an emotion involved or not, but my ULTIMATE GOAL in life is to become HUMAN, and FIND love, of course!

Easier said than done, I guess? I felt stuffy wearing this eye mask, not to mention most people here look almost the same. I sighed, and wondered how I will be able to find the prince here? I only knew that he reincarnated as a handsome man, probably equal to that of a prince in real life and he would be here in this masquerade ball, but with all of these masks around, I wouldn't be able to distinguish who is who. I heard from my mom that I found someone who can undo the curse at events like these.

"Suji?" A man wearing a formal tuxedo and a black mask appeared in front of me while holding a glass of red wine. His voice sounded familiar as I hear him walk towards me, "Li Suji! Is that you?"

I tried to look at him and squinted my eyes as that makes me see him any better. The guy does look familiar, and his overall physique seemed like someone I know. "Hi, I'm sorry, I can't determine who you are because of the mask."

He laughed and signalled the waiter to give me a glass of red wine. "Haha, it's me, Woojin."

Kim Woojin? He must have had a higher position in the company ever since he graduated from business management. His ex-girlfriend was a great friend of mine.

"Oh, I see." I took a sip of red wine. It's sweet yet bitter at the same time. The smell of it lingered in Suji's system. "What brings you here?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you," he smirked and tapped my shoulder. "What brings YOU here?"

"I just became a full-time copyright editor here in Seo Publishing Company, and I'm here because I was invited, of course." I trailed off, "I guess you must be one of the higher up?"

"Yes," he answered shortly. "I am."

Suddenly, I felt like something hit my head, and I felt dizzy. Was there something wrong with the red wine that I drank? I guess that it's not? I thought I was strong enough to stand tall in front of him, but I'm still a weak person who doesn't even know how to judge people correctly.

My legs felt numb and weak, "I gotta go, bye."

And with that, I tried to take a few steps away from him. I just felt the need to get away with that Kim Woojin. I tried to look back, and he was trying to approach me again. I felt a little bit scared. He was someone that I needed to ignore in this lifetime. I need to make a scene so that he'd leave me alone. I saw a guy's broad back, and the guy turned around, and I threw the remaining red wine on my glass unto his chest.

"Oh, my god! I am so sorry!" I said, and I got a handkerchief in my bag and tried to pat in on his suit, at least to minimize the damage. "I didn't do it on purpose!"

I stared at his face. He was wearing a phantom half mask, so I only got to see the right side of his face. His brown eyes were shimmering under the candlelights. I felt a slight pang in my chest; I felt even dizzier, and my voice quivered. His gaze seemed very pretty and mesmerizing, yet suddenly, his right eye turned violet and its pupil formed into a slit. I closed my eyes and shook my head — his eyes were normal again. Was it just my imagination?

"It's okay," he smiled and got the handkerchief I am holding from me and tapped it on his suit. "I'm okay."

"I am so sorry, perhaps, I can offer it to be dry cleaned?" he took off his suit, and a long-sleeved white polo was under his black vest. "Is that okay?"

"CEO!" The man who was wearing a tacky pink suit and black slacks with a court

The guy with the jester mask exclaimed. He looked as frivolous as he sounds too. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He then turned to look at me, "Miss Suji? You should have been careful! You just threw wine to CEO Seo!"

What? Did I hear it correctly? This man in front of me was the CEO of the company? It's scary! Why did I even decide to pour wine and make a scene in front of the CEO?

I frantically tried to speak, but my voice wouldn't come out. Is this Seo person, the prince that I was looking?

Love.

"You should feel the emotion of love," I remember my mom's words. "You loved the prince in your past life, and I'm sure you'll feel the same way the moment you see him, the same way you'll fall in love with the same person over and over again."

I dropped the wine glass and felt weak, and CEO Seo caught me in his embrace. He examined my face and said, "It's you."

Huh?

Did I meet him before?

His pupils turned into a slitted form, and its colour turned into violet again. And with that sudden change, everything turned black.

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