Ren shot a glance when Mizuki snatched the umbrella from her hand and opened it to cover her and Elli. “Café.” Replied her simply, jerking her head at Elli’s direction. She grew irritated at the fact that Mizuki leaving most of the umbrella for her and Elli. “I will stay until the rain stop, you can go back first if you’d like.” Added her, feeling uncomfortable for some reason. She saw him turned around to walk on the roadside, and she didn’t like it. Ren hate it when he did that, when Mizuki being what most of girls called “gentleman”.

She had the urge to snap the umbrella away but she, too, believed Mizuki won’t let that happen easily.

Soon as they arrived, Ren asked him to get a table for them on the outside, remembering every restaurant and café usually didn’t allow pet. She got herself two caramel mocha lattes and two buttered croissants. “I don’t know what’d you like.” She said while transferring the meals onto the table. Ren set down on the opposite and began to shredding the bread pieces by pieces to Elli who accepted it with wagged tail.

Ren recalled the earlier event. It must be a lie if Mizuki didn’t know why she hated to have someone guarded her in the first place. He and his team should have known it clearly before taking the assignment. The corner of her lips tugged. Though there was another reason besides that… Ren’s gaze fell upon him. Just as she opened , her cellphone rang.

“Tch…” she glared at the screen. “Ren speaking.”

She stayed silent for a while and let out a sigh afterwards. “Fine. Drop the thing at our usual place, Minhyuk will pick them up.” Said her, closing the conversation and hanged up the phone. She turned to Mizuki now. “I’m going out of town from tomorrow and will be back three days after.” Announced her, taking a sip at her drink.

- - -

To say Mizuki was surprised when she bought him some food was an understatement. Was she opening up to him finally? Had she accepted that he was with her? Whatever the answer to those questions was, he’d take what he could get, at this point of time.

He straightened up on his seat and leaned forward on the table. “This is already more than enough, thank you,” he said, lifting the caramel mocha latte to his lips for a small, slow sip before he set it back on the table. 

He watched her shred the croissant to pieces and then stopped her hand. “You should just eat that. We can use mine to feed her,” he said, letting go of her hand to gently shred his own croissant to feed the dog under the table. 

They were soon interrupted by a phone call, and Ren told him that she would be out of town for three days.

“Where are we going?” Mizuki asked. 

For him it wasn’t a matter of whether or not she let him join her—he would rather willingly wrestle her right into it if she didn’t agree. She was his client, her safety his number one priority, and no matter how difficult she was being, he wasn’t the type to abandon his responsibilities just because he hit a stonewall.