*SHK’s POV*

I blink a few times upon realizing what’s happening. My eyelashes flutter as well as my heart as I feel his lips brushing against mine. What is happening? Is he really kissing me? Am I not dreaming?

Seeming to answer my silent question, he pulls me closer by the waist and deepens the kiss, his other hand still on my neck with his thumb slowly caressing my jaw. Now fully comprehending what’s really happening and getting carried away by the kiss itself, I close my eyes as I let him kiss me.

At the moment, the night becomes so silent that all I could hear are our uneven breathing and the deafening sound of my erratic heartbeat.

After a while, he finally pulls away and I slowly open my eyes to meet his, silently asking him what just happened. He seems to have read my mind that he blushes, his eyes looking down as he takes his hands off of me.

“I…uh.. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you… I…” he seems to be at loss for words and I just stand there waiting for him to collect himself. Seeming to notice that I’m silent, he looks up to meet my eyes and I see something there that I wasn’t quite sure I noticed to be there before – longing, want, mixed with sadness and a bit of desperation.

Did I just make it up in my mind or…

“I was afraid I already lost you,” he says quietly. What? “I was worried. I kept thinking things while I was back home. I couldn’t stop myself. I thought that…” he looks at me searching for an answer I’m not ready to give just yet, not until he explains what is happening.

“Please don’t tell me you already said yes to him. Please tell me I still have a chance,” he says, desperation present in his voice and my eyes widen, surprised at all that’s happening.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been a jerk. I’m sorry if I offended you, if I kept pushing you away, if I made you feel as if I didn’t want you. But I do,” he says. What is happening? What is he saying? “So much. I like you,” he adds and my heart continues to beat really fast.

“Miss… I love you.” There, he said it and I in a deep breath. Did I just hear him say that? I guess I did as he’s now looking at me, waiting, anticipating my response.

Finally, after getting a hold of my bearings, I find it in me to respond. “And you’re only saying that now?”

“I’m sorry. I was afraid and I didn’t believe it at first, that someone I’ve had feelings for so long also feels the same way,” he says. He’s had feelings for me for a long time? Since when? “But you’re much too good for me. You deserve the best things, a good man, you don’t deserve to love someone like me, your bodyguard,” he adds quietly, looking down.

“I’m disappointed that you assumed that that’s what I want, Agent Song. But I’m more disappointed that you think so lowly about yourself,” I tell him. “But it’s all in the past now,” I add calmly, though my heart is beating wild. He looks up.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I only think you deserve what’s best for you...” he says quietly then meets my eyes. He looks at me sadly, pleadingly. “Am I too late?” he asks as if in pain.

“Too late for what?” I ask him.

“I thought that maybe since you went out on a date with Director Lee… and since he fits the criteria of what’s best for you… wealthy, influential, stable, a good man…” he says and I almost roll my eyes. He’s looking down on himself again, something I don’t like him doing. So stubborn.

So, he thinks Dong Wook and I are a couple? I meet his eyes and realize that indeed, that’s what he’s thinking. I should get back at him, teach him a lesson for looking down on himself.

“Well, you are right. Dong Wook’s a good man. Rich, has a lot of connections, pretty much successful for his age, funny, a good conversationalist…” I say and I see him flinch every time I compliment Dong Wook. “He seems like the perfect match for me,” I add and this time, he looks down, looking dejected.

“But he’s not you,” I say, and this time, he looks up, surprised. It takes every inch of me not to laugh at his reaction.

“And he’s also got someone else,” I add.

“W-what? But I thought you and him…  You even went out on a date and he embraced you outside their building twice after telling you something and…” he says and I raise a brow at him.

“Are you going to continue making assumptions?” I ask him, but he blinks, looking more and more confused. I decide to stop torturing him. He does look kind of pitiful looking like a lost puppy like that. “Alright, since you finally stopped assuming, I might as well explain it to you, so you won’t get the wrong idea again.”

“Dong Wook and I are good friends. Surprisingly, he turns out to be a genuinely good guy and I found it easy to become friends with him, but that’s just it for me,” I say, turning to him and realizing that he’s listening, holding on to my every word. “And it’s the same way for him, too. That day after the meeting when he asked us to talk alone, he worried that I might’ve gotten the wrong idea. But I laughed it off and told him that I only consider him as a friend. After feeling relieved, he told me what he initially wanted to talk to me about. He told me about his girlfriend,” I add, but he’s still silently listening.

“He told me that he, too, was worried about them not getting accepted because his girlfriend didn’t come from a wealthy family. That’s when I told him about you. I even glanced at you back then but I guess you didn’t notice since you were so busy ignoring me,” I laugh while he blushes. “Anyway, he took me out tonight on a ‘date’ to meet Da Hae, his girlfriend. So, does that answer your question?” I ask, but he’s still looking stunned.

“H-he’s not your boyfriend?” he stutters and I shake my head.

“You’re not a couple?” Again, I shake my head.

“Y-you’re not in love with him?” he asks and this time, I roll my eyes then smile.

“No, silly. I’m in love with you,” I tell him and he looks as if he wants to pull me closer to him again, but hesitates.

“Go ahead, you can kiss me again if you want to,” I tell him, but he looks at me shyly. Aigoo, he didn’t look shy when he came barreling towards me earlier, catching me by surprise. I roll my eyes and before he could even speak, I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him.

He seems shocked at first that he doesn’t move, but when I wound my arms around his neck, starting to feel unsteady, he wraps his arms around my waist and kisses me back, his kiss full of longing, of love, and of something I couldn’t quite pinpoint.

Deciding to catch some air, we slowly untangle ourselves from one another and look each other in the eyes, my heart surprisingly filled with love and happiness.

“So, you watched us from afar that you even counted how many times he hugged me. And there I thought you were ignoring me.”

“I had to look after you. It’s my