I chose to play innocent. “So, are you trying to say that he’s some. . . some sort of bodyguard?”

 

“Seohyun,” a voice said in warning.

 

The girl sighed. “Why don’t you just tell her the truth?” the girl asked.

 

“Yeah, why don’t you just tell me the truth?” I seconded, turning to the pest.

 

“Come with me,” he said. Eh? I thought he wasn’t going to be easy. Did he change his mind? Grr! I really can’t understand him. He’s got a lot of mood swings!

 

“Okay,” I answered anyways and followed him as he turned to leave. “So, are you going to tell me now?” I asked.

 

“Maybe,” he shrugged.

 

“What does that mean?!” I exclaimed.

 

“You’ll see,” he said.

 

Stupid pest! Ugh! What’s he up to now?! Grr. . . My frown deepened as he didn’t change direction. He turned right, into the forest. There was a tiny trail that weaved deeper into the wilderness. “Ya! Where are we going?” I asked.

 

“Just follow me,” he said.

 

“Are you planning to prank me again?”

 

“If ever I do, I won’t tell you,” he chuckled. “Do you want to see a waterfall? Or swim in a river? The river’s crystal clear here.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked and stopped on my tracks.

 

He must have sensed that I stopped because he stopped too and turned to me. “I have a dare. If you win, I’ll tell you what you want to know about me,” he said a playful and confident smile in his eyes and lips. “Scared?”

 

“Of course not!” I denied. “What do you think I am, a coward? Huh! Well, lead the way then!”

 

I was grumbling the whole way. Then, I started hearing something.

 

“What’s that sound?” I asked.

 

“Waterfalls,” he called back on his shoulders.

 

Soon after, the trees lessened and we stepped into a clearing. I squinted my eyes as I saw the waterfalls from up ahead. We continued walking through the rocky steps. Then, the pest stopped just at the foot in the left side of the falls. He ran a hand on a hanging ladder then turned to me, a playful smirk on his face. “If you can dive from the falls down the river, you win,” he said.

 

“Easy,” I grinned. “Get out of the way,” I snapped then went to the hanging ladder. I hold on to it and looked at the pest suspiciously. “Is this safe?”

 

“Of course,” he answered.

 

“Why don’t you climb first?”

 

“Okay,” he shrugged and started climbing up. When I was sure that the thing was safe to climb on, I started climbing, too.

 

I was only halfway up but I’m already panting. Gah! How high is this thing? Aish! I’m not really used to physical things like this. But I guess, if I didn’t live in the farm, I wouldn’t even reach this high.

 

I bent over my knees as soon as I reached the top, breathing heavily. I glanced darkly at the pest as I heard him chuckle, totally at ease. When my breathing was back to normal, I straightened up and started removing my shirt and sweatpants. I was wearing red matching bikini type undies, courtesy of the pest, of course. I saw something shift in his eyes but he quickly composed himself.

 

I walked over to the edge and looked down. I suddenly staggered backwards. I shouldn’t have looked down; it made me dizzy, made my knees tremble. Dang it! My heart is racing up against my chest. I didn’t expect it to be this high!

 

“Scared?” a soft voice said behind me.

 

“Of course not!” I answered, barely able to control the hysteria in my voice.

 

“Time’s running,” he said. I walked over back to the edge again. A wave of panic came over me for the second time. I don’t think I can do this. It’s just too scary! But I don’t want the pest to think that I’m a coward. So, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and exhaled slowly. The wind suddenly whipped, making me tremble. I jumped a little when I felt the pest’s hand on my back, moving up and down. The action relaxed me a little, making me feel warm. “Your time’s up,” he whispered.

 

“What?” I asked, my head turned to him. “I can’t remember anything about a time limit.”

 

“Forgot to mention it,” he shrugged. “Sorry you lost.”

 

“That’s not fair!” I burst out.

 

“You obviously can’t do it,” he said.

 

“Of course I can! I just need some time,” I said.

 

“Motivation, more like it,” he chuckled and put a pressure in my back and gave me a push. I gasped in surprise.

 

“KWON JIYONG!” I screamed as I started falling down. It felt like all my intestines went up to my throat. Gah! Then I hit the water pretty bad, making me flinched at the sharp brush of the water against my skin. I sunk uncontrollably. When I started feeling that I’m in control, I started swimming back to the surface.

 

“Ya! How’s the water?” a laughing voice called from up above.

 

I glanced up darkly. “I’m gonna kill you for this, Kwon Jiyong!”

 

He just laughed in response. I saw him disappeared for a moment, and then I heard him shout as I saw him jumped off. He was now on his shorts, shirtless. He did a somersault in the air.

 

“Show off,” I muttered.

 

“Wohoo!” he cheered again as he was now in a dive. He fell to the water a bit quietly than me. He was laughing as he resurfaced, shaking the water off his hair.

 

“I’m gonna get back at you, you pest!” I hissed.

 

He laughed louder. “Catch me then” he winked and started swimming to the side. Okay, so he’s a lot faster than me, I know. But I’m not gonna let this pass by that easily. So, I started swimming after him. As soon as I pulled myself out of the water, he was already up in the ladder again.

 

I growled and started climbing after him. It’s a good thing I removed my clothes. It would have slowed me down. As I reached the top, I quickly stalked towards the pest. He still had the laughter in his face as he was facing me, his back to the edge.

 

“You are so dead!” I threatened. I put two hands on his chest, ignoring the tingling sensation that crept to my fingers down to my whole system.

 

“I’m scared,” he laughed. His laughter did it for me. I gave him a big push. A smirk automatically curved my lips as he staggered backwards. Surprisingly, he was still smiling. It was when I felt his hands on my wrists that I understood why. My eyes grew wide as he pulled me with him. He automatically put my arms around his neck, his arms around my waist as we started falling. I was about to scream again but I was silenced by his lips.

 

My eyes, in their own accord, shut close. I know I should pull back, I know I should not kiss him back but I wasn’t being rational right now. My lips parted, trying to breathe his scent in. But he was thinking differently. His tongue darted forward, making me gasp. Then, he withdrew and traced my lower lip slowly, grazing tenderly. I shivered.

 

Time slowed. Instead of falling, I felt more like floating, like flying. I can’t hear anything aside from the soft brushes of his lips on mine, our labored breathing and my heartbeat. I can’t fell anything except his heartbeat, his lips on mine, his wet hair. Instead of feeling my intestines go up my throat, I felt different. I felt a knot twisting in my stomach quite intensely.

 

I kissed him back. I kissed him back with the same intensity he was showing me. Sensing a change in me, his arms tightened around my waist. I bit his lower lip and sent my tongue forward, too. I teased his tongue with mine, the tips touching each other. I pulled him closer, never wanting the kiss to end.

 

I angled my head to the other side and delved in deeper. I don’t know how or why I did it, but I wrapped my arms and legs around him despite the fact that I feel so weak. We separated for a moment to catch our breath. But our lips met again the same time I heard a splash somewhere but I ignored it. With the dizziness clouding my mind, I now feel like I’m being downward. My fingers tighten in his hair, our lips still moving against each other. I started running out of breath, so I pushed him gently, planning to catch my breath when I noticed that I can’t. I opened my eyes and noticed that we were already deep in the river. I unlocked my arms and legs off him and started swimming back to the surface.

 

As I broke out the surface, I took deep breaths and let myself float. After a while, I looked around and noticed that the pest hasn’t resurfaced yet. Where did he go? Then I gasped. Did he ran out of breath and didn’t make it to the surface? But that’s impossible! I saw how he swims. He’s way, way, way faster than me.

 

I was about to submerge again and look for him when I heard a chuckle. I looked up and there he was, a few feet away from me. “Ya! Where have you been? What took you so long?”

 

“Concern?”

 

“Of course not!”

 

“Sorry,” he smiled naughtily. “I was distracted by a, uhm, very nice view underwater,” he winked.

 

“Why you erted pest!”

 

He just laughed out loud, and swam towards me. He reached for my hand and pulled me with him, swimming to the rocks. He put his hands on my waist and put me on one of the smooth, flat surfaced rocks. He pulled himself beside me. I know I should shout at him right now, for kissing me. I should be disgusted, but I didn’t feel anything close to that.

 

“The men in our family are quite adventurous,” he started. My head snapped up to him. He had both hands leaned behind him, his head turned upwards to the sky. “I guess it’s hereditary. And, every male are required to undergo some sort of training and test. It all started way, way back. My father started the so-called training the first day I learned how to stand on my feet. Quite strict, right? I can’t even walk yet,” he chuckled.

 

I patiently waited for him to continue.

 

“I was trained earlier than the others because a “mission” or so what they call it came unexpectedly. It was from your Dad.”

 

“Dad? But how-”

 

“They were friends even before,” he said.

 

“Friends?” I blurted. “But how did that happen? Your father works for. . . I can’t understand.”

 

“We’re not who you think we are,” he said. “My mom isn’t really a cook. My father is not just your father’s personal assistant. And I’m not just your personal driver,” he said. “My father didn’t really want to be paid for the. . . services we’re rendering but your Dad said it would be suspicious. So Appa just let him be.”

 

I was silent, forcing my mind to absorb it all. So, I was right. “So, you’re my. . . my bodyguard?” I asked, confirming.

 

“Hmmm. Well, I guess you can call me that, partly.”

 

I frowned. “What does that partly mean?”

 

“It’s quite complicated. I can’t explain everything to you right now.”

 

“You said you were trained earlier than the others. . .?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Meaning, you’re like the youngest to become err, a bodyguard?”

 

“My mission began when I was six years old.”

 

“Six years old?” I asked. That’s his age when he came into the house. “You were . . .before?”

 

“Why do you think we’ve been sent to the same classes? And the fact that your father’s being lenient to me? Why do you think my room’s beside yours?” he asked with raised brows, his head turned to mine. There was intensity in his eyes but it gentled after a while. “I’ve been following you everywhere, all your life, just keeping my distance. You were quite a party-goer, always ruining my sleeping habits. That’s why I stop you from going to the parties sometimes, playing pranks,” he laughed.

 

“You mean, all those pranks were to stop me from going out?!”

 

“No, not all of them. I just love making fun of you most of the times,” he chuckled. “Ah, you were really the best person to make fun of. You always fall into my trap.”

 

I gasped. “It was you! You’re the one who carried me out from that club when I was drugged!”

 

He rolled his eyes. “Jeez. I can’t believe it took you this long to figure that out.”

 

“But why?” I asked. “Why are you doing this?”

 

“I told you, we’re being paid for it. And I love my job, the adventure.”

 

“Yeah, following me everywhere’s quite an adventure,” I grimaced.

 

“You’re so full of yourself. I’m not really a bodyguard, only to you. I’ve got other. . . jobs. Why do you think I disappear sometimes or why I’m always away every summer, Christmas and other days?”

 

“But if you were really my bodyguard, shouldn’t you be always by my side?”

 

“That would be too suspicious,” he snorted.

 

“Well, your father always beside my Dad isn’t suspicious?” I asked.

 

I saw his eyes narrowed for a moment. But then, he smiled. “At that time, they’re not really sure if the microchip has been destroyed or not.”

 

He’s hiding something from me. He deliberately didn’t answer my question. He’s not telling me everything. But I know even if I insist, he won’t tell me if he thinks it’s something I should not know. “How did you know they weren’t sure? And who are they, really?”

 

“I’ve been doing some investigations,” he slowly said, clearly uncomfortable.

 

“Operation Kitten!” I exclaimed. “That folder in your laptop!”

 

He squinted his eyes. “I didn’t know you’ve got a sharp memory,” he mumbled.

 

“What’s in that folder?” I asked.

 

“Just some. . . stuffs.”

 

I waited but he didn’t continue. “You know, you going away was really risky,” I said instead. “What if they found out that the microchip wasn’t destroyed? And you were gone for six moths!”

 

He gave me a knowing smile. “I didn’t know you missed me that much.”

 

“Ya!” I burst out. “I didn’t miss you! Not even a second! I’m just thinking about my safety and your negligence! If you were really my bodyguard, you shouldn’t have left!” I cringed as I heard the needy desperation in my voice. Dang it!

 

He chuckled, sounding very amused. “I went to a training camp because I felt I’ll need it.”

 

“Oh,” I mumbled. “Was that what Seohyun was talking about in the email?”

 

“Yes,” he answered.

 

“Then she’s. . .?”

 

“Yeah, she’s like me. We work in the same agency. We used to be partners on missions given to us.”

 

I still had a lot of questions that I wanted to ask but he suddenly dived into the water again, splashing water to my face.

 

Then, I felt his hands on my ankles. I gave a squeal as he pulled me down to the river with him. Aish! I glared at him and put both of my hands on his shoulders and pushed him down, drowning his stupid head.

 

It went like that for a while. He was back to making fun of me. We chased, or should I say, I chased him around, trying to avenge myself. But of course, he’s a fast swimmer. I was quite ready to go all day fighting with him but he decided I had enough water and swimming so we emerged from the river. “What about our clothes?” I asked.

 

“I’ll go get them,” he answered as he went to the ladder and started climbing.

 

After a while, he was back. There was another gleam in his eyes. Grr. What is he up to now again? But I was pretty surprised when he tucked a white lily in my ear. Eh? Where did he get that? As far as I know, flowers like that don’t grow here, by mistake that is.

 

“There you go, you look like a river nymph,” he laughed.

 

I frowned. “I noticed you’re in a very good mood today, seeing how you keep on laughing,” I darkly said.

 

“Hmm,” he mumbled. “I wonder why I’m in a good mood?” he whispered, his face nearing. My eyes widen. I quickly took a step back and slapped him in the face. “Aww. That hurts!” he said, clicking his tongue.

 

“You deserve it!” I hissed.

 

“If you say so,” he shrugged.

 

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*a/n: White lily: ity, Purity, Majesty, It's Heavenly to be with You