Still disorientated by sleep, she managed to reach the side of the table beside her bed for her phone. Her eyes were barely opening as she peek through the caller ID.

DINO

What could he possibly want at this unearthly hour? It’s only 7a.m and it’s Saturday, he couldn’t be awake yet. Or did he not even sleep at all?

Pressing the phone against her ears lazily, she mumbled, “ yes?”

“ Rise and shine ! Time to come down for breakfast, you know what they say“ Jonghyun greeted her brightly “ the early worms gets the birds! “

Despite the tiredness that she’s still battling with, Jessica couldn’t help but fall on her back against the silky sheet and burst out into a soft laughter, “ your English ! “

He chuckled. “ I know right. But get down here already! “

Jonghyun persuaded her as he sat looking over the big white table full of food. “ Bring some milk please!” , he whispered, covering the receiver with a palm, to one of those housekeepers at the door. One of them quickly returned with a huge glass jar, pouring the milk as she smiled endearingly over Jonghyun, who would have thought this rascal could ever be so polite?

Meanwhile, rolling against the bedsheet, Jessica found herself smiling to herself before she slid her feet down to the carpet floor. “ Okay okay.. just give me a minute more! “

Thoughts of last night was still lingering on her mind, her skin felt funny as the thought of him hugging her flew across. Something was stirring inside her, like a strong urge of attraction towards Jonghyun had suddenly began to build up.. oh no.. could this really be happening?

What he had done last night had got her thinking in bed for quite awhile, figuring out if he could possibly have a little more affection than any person should for his nanny. The way he protected her.. it just made her feel so.. loved. And it felt so genuine and right. On the other hand she couldn’t say for herself too. She didn’t really know how she felt but this morning hearing Jonghyun’s voice felt different. She heard Jonghyun calling out from below again. It was time to really move now.

Putting on the first set of clean clothes she could find and washing up, Jessica didn’t even bother checking herself out in the mirror. She tried to ignore the crazy feelings she’s been confused with and told herself that she would definitely realize just how much she dislikes Jonghyun. As she walked down the stairs, Jonghyun was sitting on the dining table staring up at her with an amused expression and Jessica has never felt so self-conscious around him till now.

“ Oh hi ugly, your eyes look better. “ He grinned.

Oh right. How could she forget.. all those crying.. no wonder she could hardly open her eyes this morning. Suddenly pricked with vanity, Jessica swirvled around to find the nearest mirror hanging on the wall. But as soon as she caught sight of her own reflection she shut her eyes tight.

Omg, I.look.so.fugly

With slopped shoulders, Jessica pulled out a chair and took a seat. She was too occupied about her swollen eyes that it had taken her a few seconds to actually realized there was a village worth of food set infront of her.

Jonghyun seemed to be in a good mood, judging from the large amount of food piled on his plate. Maybe he finally got sick of eating cereals and decided to have a variety more, who knows really, he’s been changing a lot lately.

“ You know what, since the swelling isn’t that bad now I’ll promote you to the next level.” Jonghyun said, passing her a bun. She waved it off, reaching out for the cereal box instead.

“ Which is?”

“ awful. Hi awful ! ” Jessica rolled her eyes at him and laughed, he was half smiling and half chewing his bread. Gosh, he is really such a baby.

“ Don’t talk with your mouth full, “ she reminded him, taking a gulp of the fresh milk from her glass. It tasted so good! Everything today had so far turned out so well even her taste buds were in a good mood.

“ You like the milk?” Jonghyun looked up at her eagerly, sniggering proudly like a kid. “ Yeah well milk always tastes good to me” she lied. It really did taste better today.

Jonghyun suddenly looked visibly irritated and Jessica frowned back, shrugging her shoulders to show her indifference. Then he realized this stupid ungrateful girl wasn’t worth the effort he went through to get the super fresh milk. He was up so early to get down to the farm the the cows were hardly awake when he arrived. He wasn’t sure why he was being nice too either, he just let that sink on the excuse that he owed her a lot last night. That seemed a good enough reason.

Jessica tried to focus on her own food, but she noticed Jonghyun had been staring at her every few minutes and it was making her a little nervous. She pretended to sink back on her chair lazily after she was done with her food, stealing glances at Jonghyun who she haven’t quite realized was actually pretty handsome. Wiping his mouth clean, she noticed he had really nice features.. sharp nose.. puppy eyes.. y lips.. jawlines..

Snap out of it. Now. She ordered herself.

“ Stop staring at me. “ Jonghyun said, not even looking up.

“ I wasn’t! “ she argued defensively.

Jonghyun looked up now. He met Jessica’s eyes. She was pouting and it was kinda cute. “ Yes you were! “ He insisted. He could never get tired of arguing with her.

“ How would you know?” she questioned back, hoping to brush him off.

Jonghyun almost replied but he realized it meant that he had been looking at her too.

Whoa, what was all these weird vibes coming from?

Jonghyun looked away abruptly, looking uncomfortable then he cleared his throat. What’s wrong with me?!

“ ANYWAY,” he began awkwardly. “What are we learning today?”

The whole time Jessica was watching Jonghyun rather amusingly fidgeting in his own seat ( unusually ).

“ Oh uh.. about that.. “ she said, quickly snapped to reality. Quick think, surely there must be a billion more things to teach this brainless dinosaur! He can’t have learnt everything that he doesn’t know! Sewing? Washing shoes? Scrubbing toilet?

Jessica was running out of practical ideas.

“ Swimming?” She suddenly heard herself said. Where did that even come from?

But sitting across her, the living individual namely Jonghyun was struck with a dismayed expression. Then he firmly shook his head, saying in the most shocked and defensively voice, “ No. You know I hate water. Can’t we do something else?! “

“ Then get over it! You have to learn not to drown when you go falling down clumsily in swimming pools or rivers the next time! I can’t be there to save you 24/7 !” She made a point. But Jonghyun doesn’t seem to be taking it.

He made a cute pout, and Jessica felt her heart skipping a beat. A tiny smile was spreading across her face then as soon as she realized she pursed her lips, stopping herself. My god. She was shocked at her weird behavior.

Jonghyun had to admit, swimming really did scare him. But the prospect of having to see Jessica in a bikini had been particularly appealing to him lately. Not that he was a ert really. But he was curious to see how hot she could really look, because all she seem to be wearing all day was so boring it shouldn’t be made legal for any citizen of this country to wear.

He sat there thinking for awhile, weighing the pros and cons of learning to swim. Then after a few seconds of justifying himself he finally agreed and Jessica looked a little shocked at his willingness in the end.

“ Seriously?” She said, almost laughing.

“ Yeah.. I meet you at the swimming pool in awhile. “ He was already halfway across the living room.

--

The trouble with swimming was though, as Jessica had discovered, you had to wear a swim wear. And she reckoned someone her age shouldn’t be wearing a one piece swim suit anymore and scuba diving suit didn’t seem appropriate for Jonghyun’s indoor swimming pool.

Jessica reluctantly dug out a simple black bikini that she had packed in her luggage a month ago when she first got here. She took a good look at it again, it didn’t look too bad really. Infact it was gorgeous, which was why she bought it. It was classic, minimal but y. She felt a little embarrase about having to wear it infront of Jonghyun- her heart skipped a beat again at that name. 

Fifteen minutes later she found herself sitting by the pool waiting for Jonghyun, towels draped over her shoulder shyly as she sat there calming her nerves. Suddenly she felt conscious of being around Jonghyun and it was really all so strange. What would he think of her B cup size? Or her thighs that might have gained a little weight? Or her slightly ugly belly button? Oh these thoughts.. do they never stop coming in?

Disarrayed by the thought of Jonghyun, Jessica didn’t even realized Jonghyun was already walking through the indoor swimming pool door.

“ I really still can’t believe you’re making me do this, “ He complained aloud, stretching his arms as he walked.

Through the corner of her eyes Jessica could see him now coming towards her. She almost jumped up in her own seat.

She thinks she’s calm but here’s the real ugly truth- she isn’t. And she’s also summoning every mind power she has to control herself as she chants silently in her head:

Let’s not be adolescent about this. So he’s here and I’m in my bikini, it’s no big deal. No big deal!

He tossed his shirt to her, who catches it quickly without looking. I am not going to look at him.

I am NOT going to look at him.

This is ridiculous, I’m a grown-up, mature girl. I can look at a man, especially Kim Jonghyun with no shirt on without falling to bits. What I’ll do is.. just talk casually. Yes. She decided after struggling inside.

“ It’ll be fun, “ Jessica told him and looked up.

Oh my heavenly lord.

Immediately she turned her gaze to the swimming pool abruptly instead.

She didn’t see anything.

Okay fine. She just saw Jonghyun half .

And maybe she also did see some broad shoulders.. toned perfect abs.. strong stable chest.. biceps.. his body was just.. burning hot.

I did not just check Jonghyun out.

Jonghyun was hoping to get a glimpse of her in her black bikini but with the stupid blue towel she had wrapped around her like she was a freaking mummy wasn’t helping.

“ You’re gonna swim with that?” He asked sarcastically.

Jessica looked up, squinting her eyes at him. “ No.”

Then he grabbed her elbow, pulled her up with a hand, tugging the towel out with another. She squealed immediately, fighting to grab the towel back but Jonghyun playfully brough it even far back, forcing her to move in closer to him.

So there she was, as he had expected, body every inch as hot as sekyung. He must say he was pretty pleased with himself for having a good eye of these while. So she did have been hiding this hot body all the while ! He was quite impressed with those curves.. and that .

“ Give it back! “ She managed in a strangled squawk and hastily look away again, her heart thumping.

Great. Just great. One glimpse of his body and she has lost her mind.

She honestly thought she was a bit deeper than that, and it wasn’t just some random boy or even TOP. It was Kim Jonghyun. That stupid Kim Jonghyun for god’s sake.

“Come on let’s go in!” , Jonghyun said enthusiastically and grabbed her swiftly by the hand, pulling her down the swimming pool. Her heart was officially pumping harder than ever and she thinks he doesn’t even realize that they’re having skin contact and she is just being totally weird about the whole thing.

As they got into the water finally Jonghyun could feel his body curling up already. Times like these was when he wished he was at least as tall as Onew. Then he calmed down, told himself this wasn’t the time to act like a coward infront of Jessica. He was here to swim and he was gonna do it.

Meanwhile stuck at an awkward spot, Jessica was standing with her back pressed against the border of the swimming pool. Jonghyun turned around to face her, tilting his head in amusement at her stiffness, as if she was the one who didn’t know how to swim.

“ What’s wrong?”

God, even his voice sounds cute today, Jessica thought. Then she wanted to kill herself from even having that strange thought.

She’s suddenly not so sure if this whole just-talk-casually-but-don’t-look plan is going to work after all.

--

He began swimming again and asking him her repeatedly if he was doing it right but she don’t hear a word. As he tried to kick his leg mindlessly up and down, she was pondering obsessively on 1) Jonghyun 2) Jonghyun’s hot body or 3) is this hot body really his?!

--

All that swimming had made Jessica really hungry, as she pulled a tshirt over her head she could hear her stomach growling for food.

Well at least he knows how to swim now.. She pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail. Glancing at the clock on her table, it was only 4pm.

There was a knock on the door. It was Jonghyun.

“ Are you done?” He yelled. That was the thing about him. Even if she was just behind the door that wasn’t even thick he didn’t understand that. He had to shout through it everyday as if they were living in a separate universe.

“ Yeah! “ She called back, still struggling with her hair.

Then he pushed through the door, wearing a light blue shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a loose brown trousers rolled up at the bottom.

She raised her eyebrows “ What’re you wearing? Are you going for a photoshoot or something?”

“ Get changed we’re going out. “ He announced back then snapped the door shut. Jessica stared at the back of her closed door, trying to make out what just happened before the door swung open again in a matter of seconds.

“ Make it fast I’m gonna wait for you downstairs,” He smiled. Then he shut the door again, this time it didn’t open until 20 minutes later after Jessica had finally done choosing her little cute sundress and put on light make up.

At 6pm the mystery had finally resolved as Jonghyun drove them down to the beach. Jessica haven’t been able to speak a word but could only beam from the minute her feet touched the sand till she sat down on a chair ( that Jonghyun pulled out for her too ).

Everything was surreal as Jonghyun told her to sit still, to which she stupidly nodded and grinned, then he disappeared somewhere, leaving her alone by herself staring at the huge white table, set randomly in the middle on the beach. The sun was setting, the place was empty and it was beautiful. She haven’t felt this happy before. She didn’t know what he was up to and why he was even doing this for her but whatever it is she was glad.

“ Ta-da,” Jonghyun’s voice interrupted her. He had came back balancing two huge trays on his hands and then proceeding like a professional waiter, he began serving her a rather delicious looking seafood pasta along with wine.

“ What’s this for?” She questioned, laughing. Jonghyun took his seat and shrugged his shoulders. Jessica was really shocked. She honestly didn’t know what to think of this. But immediate feeling tells her she’s happy. And touched. Wait, it’s not her birthday yet is it?

“ Dinner?” He replied in a cheerful tone.

Their eyes met, it twinkled. Then they both smiled at the same second.

“ Very funny, “ she laughed. “ Did you made this yourself?”

Jonghyun twirled his fork, wrapping the pasta around it. “ Yeah well. I supposed compared to you I am a pretty good cook. “

“ I thought you said dinner by the beach is gross? Aren’t you afraid of the sand getting into your food?” She teased.

Jonghyun pretended to contemplate hard with a frown then he playfully smiled, “ You’re right.. I am still. So you better eat those portion that has sand on them! “

“ Don’t be stupid. They won’t fly into your food okay?! Just eat!” She said, kicking him lightly under the table. The wind was blowing softly against their faces, the sun was setting, the orange shade was on her perfect fair skin. Jonghyun hadn’t planned on this but he realized he couldn’t help but stare a little longer at Jessica everytime she spoke.

“ Ah right, I can’t eat these. “ Jessica said, picking out the prawns from her plate carefully and piling them on the side of her plate. Jonghyun frowned and poked them with his fork instead. “ Why not?”

“ Because I’m allergic to it.” She explained as she continued to eat.

“ You’re really missing out ! “ He argued, shoving them one by one into his mouth.

She laughed, handing him a napkin to clean his mouth, “ Nah I’m fine with my fish here actually.”

“ Yeah well.. I guess it’s not too bad too. I heard fish is food brain.” He shrugged.

She shook her head softly as she laughed. “ Then you better eat a whole whale !”

“ Oh Shut up” Jonghyun teasingly dismissed her.

Then she suddenly remembered, “ oh yeah and your father told me that he was very pleased with your progress,” she paused, putting a hand on her chest, “ thanks to yours truly”.

Jonghyun rolled his eyes.

“ So he decided that you don’t have to attend lessons with me anymore! “

“ SERIOUSLY?” Jonghyun had his eyes so wide open it could come off from his eye socket.

“ Yeah, “ Jessica smiled. But truthfully she kinda wasn’t expecting him to be so excited about it, because somehow she wasn’t.

Jonghyun forced his most pretentious smile he could, joking that he was finally glad to be spending his afternoon doing whatever he wants. Truth was he didn’t understand why. Just when he began enjoying it everything had to end. Although the consolation was that Jessica would still be living with him till she at least graduates. That’s still many more months to go..but he probably can’t see her as much as before.

--

A planned hour of dinner had turned into 2 then eventually it turned into 3 where they ended up diverting from Jonghyun’s original plan of talking over dinner on the table to walking on the warm sand with their bare foot, talking about life and everything. At one point it even came to his childhood dreams.. things he loved doing.. things he wants to do in future. Then it was her turn, Jonghyun listened attentively, not realizing that he had found every bit so interesting and admirable that he could almost memorize them well.

The sky was complexly pitched dark and they had decided to head home now.

Finally Jessica had resolved her mixed feelings and she decided perhaps she was just experiencing a very short live effect of admiring Jonghyun for helping her last night. And it could also be because her mother had told her to be nicer to Jonghyun from now on because he really cares for her which was usual for Jonghyun because he’s quite a wildchild that doesn’t really shower any one with much concern other than his boys. Whatever it is she figured this faint happy feelings being with Jonghyun would soon disappear tomorrow morning when she sees TOP in school and maybe she’d even laugh about it later. But for now she decided that its no harm letting loose for awhile. And it wasn’t like it was their first time having dinner out together, they had done it countless of times before only that Jonghyun had cooked it himself this time round.

Besides, he has a girlfriend and he’s not the sort to cheat. Surely he’s just being nice because he is nicer now. Jessical thought.

Yet many unsettling questions about this were still running through her head as Jonghyun drive them home later. She remained silent for awhile, just humming along to the song. Jonghyun was singing softly along the background. She even secretly smiled hearing it.

“ Thanks.. for this you know..” She said suddenly. Jonghyun turned and looked at her, he smiled cheekily.

“ You’re welcome”

Jessica didn’t say anything for the next few minutes. Then finally she began “ Why…”

“ Hmm?”

“ I mean why did you do this out of a sudden?” She pretended to ask casually.

Jonghyun froze. He didn’t know why.

“ I don’t know. “ He shrugged. “I just wanted to thank you for helping me yesterday. And you looked so sappy and horrible after all that crying and I felt kinda guilty. I bet you planned it. Anyway it worked.. so you got what you wanted.. !”

“ So.. this is a thank you dinner?” Jessica repeated, disappointment rather obvious in her tone. She was staring ahead blankly. She didn’t even know why she was surprised.

“ yeah.. a thank you dinner. I know its romantic so its kinda misleading but hey.. that’s the only thing you mentioned you liked.. I would have taken you to sky diving but I didn’t know whether you were scared of heights of something…” he uttered out. He knew he was screwing it up big time. Somewhere inside, he felt sick. He felt terrible for lying. He didn’t know exactly why he did it for her but he knew it wasn’t because he wanted to thank her. He looked over across at Jessica. She looked disappointed. But she quickly covered it up with a smile. Maybe he was thinking too much. She probably wished it was TOP having this meal with her. And.. he should be wishing it was Se Kyung that he was having this meal with too. Right.

He had a girlfriend. The only girl that he should be liking and feeling his heart beating fast when he’s with her.

This was Jessica. This wasn’t his girlfriend. This was his nanny. And anyone should be able to have a meal with their nanny and not have romantic feelings for them. That’s how it works, that’s the law of the universe! Even if he had spent 4 hours preparing it.

Up till now the whole night was wonderful but everytime she looked into his eyes something inside kept nudging her, telling her that it was wrong to even feel like she could fall for Jonghyun because he had a girlfriend and she didn’t want to steal anyone away from anyone.

But at this present moment things seemed to have been made clear to her and honestly she felt stung. But it was true. Why else would he have done all these? And because he probably trusted her so much like a bestfriend now he’d become so nice to her that she forgot to remember why.

Jonghyun had felt the tension in the car. Jessica’s head was resting against the glass and she wasn’t speaking. Something feels wrong but he didn’t know what to say. So instead, very stupidly he commented, “ You should be happy, you know I don’t even do this for Se kyung! “ 

Jessica didn’t reply. Immediately at the sound of Se kyung’s name she can feel her guilt ebbing away and her annoyance starting to ebb in.

She was determined that this feeling she felt about Jonghyun would definitely be gone the next morning when she wakes up. It would all be just a funny, stupid dream.