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Handong was so sick of it. The pretentious jazz playing through the speakers, the uncomfortable roughness of the tulle of her dress against her skin, the extreme dullness of the conversation she was stuck in, the tasteless pastries they were being served. The man sitting in front of her was handsome, or at least she had been taught to think that of men that looked that way. He was rich, owned a few companies, and loved to talk about himself. Most importantly, her parents had picked him for her. She had tried to say no, tried to make up any sort of excuse to get out of yet another blind date set up by them, but to no avail. Sometimes even princesses couldn’t get what they wanted, especially if the king and queen themselves had decided their daughter needed a husband.
Handong didn’t need a husband. She didn't then, at 26, and she doubted she ever would. What she needed was the chance to go out into the real world and meet real people, people who didn’t spend all of their time among race cars and luxury clothes, who didn’t get invited to rooftop parties every weekend and didn’t think the universe belonged to them.
She knew perfectly well that the real world she so craved would always be out of reach because she was born on the other side of a barrier nobody could ever remove. She could pretend for a while that she could walk around it, like she did when she snuck out at night to have a taste of life outside the mansion. Eventually she’d have to go back to her crystal cage, her throne and her crown and her stuffy dresses that made her shoulders sag under their weight.
The blind date had been even worse than she had predicted, once the guy had figured out she wasn’t particularly interested he had started ogling at the waitresses, constantly calling them up at their table to add to his order of fancy mixed drinks and snacks to go along with them. Handong had felt mildly nauseated by his actions, and his voice had given her a killer migraine. She smiled apologetically at yet another waitress who had made her way to their table to bring them more food. As she left, Handong’s date had the audacity to wolf whistle at her, and Handong swore she had never come this close to slapping someone in her life. The waitress turned around too, and Handong saw anger flash through her eyes. It was just for a split second, though, because in a moment she had turned back and had continued walking away as if nothing had happened.
Handong felt like she was suffocating. She couldn’t find a single redeeming quality in him, but she couldn’t leave. Her parents had tricked her into going with his driver, so she had no way to go home without him. She briefly considered the idea of running, but his bodyguard was stationed right outside the cafe and wouldn’t let her leave on her own. The next best thing was to take a restroom break, be away from him for a few minutes and come back calmer and more collected. She excused herself, realizing the tone of her voice was colder and harsher than what she’d been taught to use but not finding it in herself to care at all.
Splashing cold water on her wrists seemed to help with her headache, but it didn’t make the annoyance disappear. She took her time fixing her hair and dress in the mirror, wanting nothing more than to be home in her pajamas. She hated dresses. The ones they made her wear were especially awful, rigid and tight around her waist, always made out of the most uncomfortable materials. They made her look regal, her mother often told her, just like a princess should look. Apparently royalty relied a lot on clothing to establish its status.
As she was looking at herself in the mirror one last time, as ready to go back to the blind date torture as possible, someone else walked in. It was the waitress that he had whistled to, Handong realized. Her bright red hair was pretty noticeable. Her mother would have disapproved, but to Handong it looked awesome. She thought the other girl looked pretty cool in the formal cafe uniform with her fiery ponytail swinging behind her.
“You should dump him,” the girl said to Handong, a hand on her hip and a fierce look in her eyes. Handong wasn’t used to people being that blunt to her, but she could tell that the girl had good intentions.
“He’s not my boyfriend. It’s an arranged- it’s a blind date,” she replied.
“Then you should walk out,” the girl said with a shrug. She made it sound easy, as if Handong hadn’t been thinking about it for the past hour, as if it wasn’t something she so desperately wished she could do.
“I can’t. I came with him and I have no way to get back home,” Handong explained. She was careful not to say too much, just as she had been taught. She could have small talk with people that didn’t recognize her, but she couldn’t reveal her identity. If they knew who she was, she wasn’t allowed to be alone with them.
“My shift is over. I can drive you home.”
“I can’t.” Handong wished it was that simple, wished she could just call a cab or get a ride but then she’d have to tell them her address and that would give her away.
“Is there anything you are allowed to do?” the red haired girl asked, but she sounded curious instead of frustrated.
“Not really, no. If they see me walk out of here they’ll just have me get back inside, so I can’t really go far anyway. Thank you for offering, though,” she added, remembering her manners.
“I can think of a thing or two to fix that,” the girl said with a smirk. “By the way, I’m Jiu.” She held out her hand towards Handong who shook it cautiously. She didn’t offer her own name back, hoping the girl, Jiu , wouldn’t notice.
“How about we get you out of all of that,” Jiu said, gesturing vaguely towards Handong’s voluminous dress, “and I let you borrow my spare uniform. We hide your hair under a hat and you are free to walk out. There’s a staff exit at the back too if you want to be extra safe.”
“And then?” Handong asked, carefully going through the plan over and over in her head.
“And then I’ll join you and drive you somewhere else. It doesn’t have to be your place, we can go to mine or anywhere you’d feel safe,” Jiu said, and the considerate words started spreading warmth on Handong’s cheeks.
“...Okay.”
“I’ll be right back with a change of clothes for you then! Start getting out of that thing, it looks like it might take a while,” Jiu told her before leaving.
Alone once again, Handong locked herself in the first stall and began the objectively complex process of unzipping her dress, wondering if she had gone fully insane. She was about to run off with a girl she had barely met, with nowhere to go and no real plan other than getting in a car and driving. The girl might have been a stranger, but she felt way more friendly and nice than her date.
“I’m back! Are you in here?” Jiu’s voice said, and Handong hurried to reply.
“These should fit you. If you don’t know how to wear the tie, I can help you once you’re dressed,” she continued, handing her a bundle of clothes through the gap at the bottom of the door.
“I can do it,” Handong replied. Part of her training to be the best wife possible included learning how to make four different types of tie knots, so she was confident she knew how to do that. The white shirt and the tie were familiar to her, but the pants were what she was truly excited about. She was rarely allowed to go out in them, especially if they were unisex black slacks like those. They looked nice and were comfortable, allowing her to freely move her legs and bend as much as she wanted. She finished changing and opened the door, finding Jiu waiting for her on the other side.
“How do I look?” she asked Jiu, a small smile on her face.
“Like you’ve been serving tables all your life. Just kidding, you look good. You look even hotter in these than you did in your dress,” Jiu replied, and once again Handong was left blushing. Her compliments didn’t feel rude and suggestive like his had felt.
“You should hurry and leave before he realizes you’ve been gone a while and starts looking for you.” Jiu handed her a baseball cap and a key, and pointed at a door that said employees only on it. “Go straight until the end of the hallway. The back door should be unlocked, but just in case that’s my key. I’ll grab my car and meet you there.”
And just like that, Jiu was gone again. Handong stood in the empty restroom once again, staring at her reflection and noticing how different she looked from a few minutes ago. She was on her way to freedom. A girl who had just called her hot , who smelled like lavender if the perfume on Handong’s borrowed clothes was to be trusted, was helping her run away. For a bit, at least. Handong wasn’t ready to run away from home completely. She was ready to make a friend, however. A red haired friend, helpful and a bit reckless, pretty and a quick thinker…
A noise of glass shattering pulled Handong away from her thoughts. Someone must have broken something in the main room, and it was time for her to go. Jiu’s voice, loud and apologetic in the most exaggerated and fake tone, travelled all the way to her ears.
“I am so sorry, Sir, I have no idea how this could have happened. I’m just so clumsy, I must have tripped over something. I’m sure you’ll be able to get the stain out very easily .”
For the first time in weeks, Handong laughed.