Sometimes, the lifestyle can bleed into everyday life.

“Are you okay, little one?” Bae Joohyun said with the softest voice and the tenderest of touch as Kang Seulgi slowly regained consciousness.

Bit by bit the blurry clouds around Seulgi became coherent and started to morph and shape into people, familiar faces contorted in concern as they looked at her. Seulgi already slowly sitting up and taking in her surroundings. Just as slowly, she realized Joohyun said something. She called her ‘Little One.’

Her eyes traveled to Joohyun’s ethereal face, noting the concern of her eyes and the furrow in her eyebrows. “H-huh?” Seulgi asked softly, absentmindedly at that.

Joohyun looked at her co-workers and waved them away. “Give the little one some space, go on,” she said as everyone walked away and back to their business, keeping a concerned eye on Seulgi.

Seulgi heard it again, that special little nickname that Joohyun saved for special occasions. She heard it so freely, without making her beg for it, so out of nowhere… “H-hyun?”

With a gentle smile, Joohyun helped the confused Seulgi up and led her to a cozy café chair, that soft motherly smile doing heaps to make the confusion slowly dissipate. Everything was going to be alright, Joohyun was there to help.

“What happened?” Seulgi asked softly, softer than usual in fact, feeling small in Joohyun’s presence.

“You fainted, sweetie,” Joohyun said simply, caressing Seulgi’s head tenderly. “Are you okay now?”

Seulgi looked up, nearly purring at the tender gesture. A smile softly came to her, leaning against that subtle affection. “I think I’m okay now,” she said, her voice turning sweet automatically at the gesture. “Still… weak in the knees.”

Joohyun smiled, looking around at her co-workers cleaning and setting everything up for the café to open soon. All of them busy, all of them unaware that Seulgi was a little melting puddle at the moment. Looking back at Seulgi, she let her caressing hand go down to her cheek, caressing it and brushing her thumb against Seulgi’s lips. They’re a little pale, but nothing too strange considering what happened. Still, the poor girl had been working really hard these days, studying really hard…

So, perhaps, beyond her duties as a manager, she would sit down and talk like a girlfriend. “I think you should call in and get some rest,” Joohyun said, her voice a mixture of that lovingly stern managerial voice.

But to Seulgi, that voice was more than managerial. It was specific, sultry, the voice she was so familiar with when she was bound and blindfolded. A sweet, stern voice that asked if she was okay, if everything was good to go. 

If the ties weren’t too tight.

“J-Joohyun…” Seulgi said softly.

With a soft smile and a tilt of her head, Joohyun said nothing.

“But,” Seulgi, who was still recovering but very stubborn, tried to get up. “It’s gonna be a busy day and I–.”

Joohyun’s firm hand stopped her, the smile still there. “Yah, don’t be stubborn. We’ll make do.”

Seulgi looked up at those firm eyes, mouth slightly agape and eyes twinkling like she had the tender eyes of a puppy.

Leaning down, with a clear look, Joohyun softly spoke again. “Don’t disobey me now, little one.”

Seulgi gulped and nodded, feeling the way the shivers tickled all over her skin and spine. Looking around, she realized that no one but Seulgi had heard that and no one but Seulgi had seen this little moment. A moment that stretched a little deeper than what most would think. It was right there in front of everyone and no one noticed, so busy with the chit-chat and the preparations for a busy day at the café. Right there, yet no one noticed. And something about that was so enticing, so thrilling, so forbidden.

“Yes, mistress,” Seulgi gasped softly, sitting up straight.

Joohyun smirked. Sometimes, Bae Joohyun let that side of herself bleed into her real world, just for a second, to get her way.

And Kang Seulgi played accordingly, knowing she’d be handsomely rewarded for such.