*SHK’s POV*

“Good morning, Miss. President and Madame Song are waiting for you at the dining area,” a helper says the moment I step down from the stairs. I nod then make my way towards where my parents are to have breakfast. I don’t really have an appetite, but then, my mother would only worry about me if she finds out about it. So, I drag myself to take a bath then get on with the day. After all, I’m due to attend a meeting after breakfast. I might as well eat something to help me get through the day.

“Good morning, Appa, Eomma,” I say as I kiss them on their foreheads. A number of bodyguards, including mine, are stationed inside the dining area but I choose to ignore them. I don’t need them to add to my already unpleasant mood.

“Good morning, sweetie. Did you sleep well?” my mother asks as the server pours her a glass of water.

“Yes, Eomma. Thanks for asking,” I answer, giving her a faint smile. She and my father then proceed to talk about something I couldn’t quite digest with my mind a bit fuzzy.

The servers start serving today’s breakfast – pancakes, egg and bacon and seeing that my parents are still preoccupied with their conversation, I inconspicuously rub my temple, hoping that the headache that has been bothering me the moment I woke up would go away.

I woke up with a boring, throbbing pain on both sides of my head today – the very cause of my bad mood. I was still wondering what on earth I did for me to merit such discomfort when the happenings of last night came crashing down on me.

I immediately sat down as I recalled what I did last night, which turned out wasn’t such a good idea since the sudden movement caused my head to throb more. I remembered the party starting to get wild, my friends dragging me to play a round of beer pong with several people we know, me actually starting to have fun, us losing the game and downing a few shots of vodka, that arrogant Agent Song stopping me and then poof. Nada. I don’t remember anything.

Whatever happened after that? How did I get home? Who put me to bed? Was it him? And… I looked down on the pair of pajama tops and bottoms that I was wearing.

Oh my goodness, did he….. I was about to scream when the door opened and In came Min Ji.

“Young miss. Finally, you’re awake,” she said with a smile and I instantly took the chance to ask her.

“Min Ji, how did I get here? Who brought me home?” I asked.

“Oh, you don’t remember?” she asked and I shook my head. “Figures. You were pretty passed out last night. Just how much did you drink? You don’t usually drink too much. You….”

“Min Ji! Who???” I prodded.

“It was Agent Song. He carried you to your bed. As I said, you were passed out,” she said and I felt my cheeks redden.

“Did he.. uh…” I said, unable to continue, not able to accept the thought and just looked down on what I was wearing.

“Oh, no. He left after making sure that you were settled. I changed your clothes to make you feel comfortable. That dress you were wearing wasn’t exactly comfortable looking,” she said and I exhaled a breath of relief. At least it wasn’t him who undressed me. I thought and even just the thought itself made me blush.

“Wait, why are you asking?” Min Ji asked, interrupting my thought. “Did you somehow think that he….”

“Of course I didn’t,” I instantly cut her off before she could even continue. “It’s just I was wondering what else happened last night,” I tried to sound as if it wasn’t a big deal and she looked at me funnily, clearly not believing me.

“Well, if you say so,” she said before leaving me to prepare for the day.

I am about to take a drink from my glass of orange juice, hoping that it will make the pain go away when my father clears his throat.

“Hye Kyo,” he says and I look up to meet his gaze, but he’s still focused on his food so I continue on with my drink. “You know, it’s not good for lady to drink so much,” he says and I choke on my drink. I wipe my mouth with the table napkin then look at him, who is now staring at me.

I want to deny it, but then I don’t know how to. My fuzzy, hungover brain isn’t helping, so I decide to just stay silent.

“And I don’t want you attending parties which are prone to trouble. I’m honestly a bit disappointed with Mr. Kim. You might’ve been put into danger,” he says and I continue staying silent. “Thankfully, Agent Song and his men were able to pull you out before anything worse happened,” he adds and my eyes immediately shoot to where Agent Song is standing with his arms behind his back. So, he reported me to my father.

He catches me looking and I shoot daggers at him with my stare, causing him to flinch a little. His involuntary action makes me smile in triumph internally.

“You should thank them,” he continues to say and I shoot him an incredulous look. Thank them?! Thank him?! No way.

My father waits for me to do so and when I’m still not saying anything, he gives me a look and I stop myself from rolling my eyes before obeying him.

“Fine. Thank you, Agent Song and company,” I say without any emotion and my father is about to tell me off when Agent Song moves and bows.

“It’s our duty to protect you, Miss,” he says and this time I roll my eyes.

“Anyway, are you ready for the meeting, dear?” My mother interrupts and I’m more than willing to participate in the change of topic.

“Yes, mother. I’ll get there after breakfast,” I say. She assigned me to co-chair the upcoming charity event at the orphanage. She’s part of the board there and it’s one of her missions to make every child happy despite their lack of parental figures.

“Good, I’ll tell Miss Kang to assist you there,” she adds and I nod, before taking another bite of my pancake.

“I’m so happy that you decided to take on this project,” she continues.

“Me too, just don’t stay too far away from your bodyguards, okay?” Appa says and I again nod, hesitantly this time. Bodyguards, sheesh. I don’t need them.

---

I was planning on