Mephisto's Waltz

It was past 8 o’clock when Mi Rae finished her meeting and went home. There was no car to wait for her; at least not a car from her family. There was a black car parked around the corner and she didn’t want to get in it. At some point, the car started to follow her and she gave up. She walked towards it and told someone to roll down the window.

“Are you a stalker now, Joon Myeon?” He chuckled.

“You are really stubborn. I called you seven times and you didn’t pick up” She rolled her eyes annoyed.

“I was busy, in case you haven’t noticed. I don’t need you to come and pick me up. I have my own driver” Joon Myeon stuck his head on the window and glanced to the right and to the left. After that, he looked at her.

“I don’t see any car. Do you?” She scoffed but didn’t get in the car. She walked the rest of the way and even took the bus. All this time, there was a black car following her.

When she got home, Min Jun was nowhere in sight. He knew she was going to scold him so he hid. She changed her clothes and took a shower. She finished her homework an hour later and got ready for dinner. While she was on the stairs, she heard her father’s voice. She smiled automatically and greeted her father. He was dressed in a dark blue suit and his hair was nicely styled. He didn’t look his age at all and it annoyed Mi Rae.

“Dad, how was today?” That was a normal question in their family. He never asked his children how their days were but she always did.

“It was fine. The company is doing well, lately” She nodded and kept silent the whole time they ate dinner. Min Jun didn’t talk either. After he left the table, Mi Rae turned to her father.

“Dad, Min Jun is in a lot of trouble lately. A few days ago, he fought with a boy and left him with a purple eye and broken arm” The father started to chuckle. It sounded strained.

“As long as he won, I’m happy. He has to be strong to inherit the family” Mi Rae’s eyes narrowed.

“How can you think about that? He is 10 years old! He should concentrate on school not cause trouble” He raised an eyebrow and drank his glass of wine.

“It’s ok. If something happens to me, you will take my place. After Min Jun will become an adult, he will inherit the company. However, you will inherit the family, Mi Rae” She sighed. She couldn’t fight with her father.

“I heard that you look for a bodyguard for us” Her father nodded.

“I already found one. He will come tomorrow morning to drive you and Min Jun to school” She bit her lip and excused herself. She wanted to go to sleep as soon as possible.

The next morning, Mi Rae woke up first. She could hear voices from the living room but she didn’t want to interrupt. She entered the kitchen silently and ate breakfast. After she finished, she took the liberty to prepare coffee in advance and a second breakfast for Min Jun. In no time, she found herself forced to enter the living room to meet their new bodyguard. It was more than a surprise when she saw him. He looked to be in his late 20’s or early 30’s. He was tall and dressed in a suit and tie. He was handsome for his age.

“Mi Rae, this is Choi Siwon. He will take care of you and Min Jun while I’m not around. He is your new bodyguard. I hope he will be the last one” She nodded but she couldn’t know that for sure. Min Jun was hard to handle. The man bowed in respect but she didn’t. She was already too used to new bodyguards.

After her father left, Min Jun was still in bed. It was almost time for them to leave for school and Siwon was worried.

“He’s not going to miraculously come down all dressed up. When he doesn’t want to go to school, there is no way to get him out of his room” Siwon raised an eyebrow and started to chuckle.

“We’ll see” She titled her head to the side and watched her new bodyguard walk up the stairs, to her brother’s room. There was silence for a few minutes until Min Jun started to shout. She waited ten minutes until she saw Siwon carry down her brother. He was dressed and ready for middle school. He didn’t look happy at all, though.

“He’s a monster, noona” He mumbled and looked warily at the taller man. She chuckled bemusedly. Maybe Siwon wasn’t as bad as she thought.

The car ride to the school seemed to take forever. Min Jun started to ramble about how unfair his teacher was while Mi Rae didn’t say anything. She was silently watching the driver. That Siwon didn’t look fazed at all. After a second and closer look, she realized he was listening music at his earphones. She chuckled under her hand.

Because the traffic was really bad, they arrived at school 5 minutes later than they should have had. She ran to her classroom and tried to tidy her appearance up before she entered.

“I’m sorry I’m late. Please, excu-“ She stopped when she saw the same boy she met yesterday. He was dressed almost the same but looked more professional. “You” She didn’t know what to say. The man was amused.

“You are interrupting my class, miss. Please go and take a seat. I’ll continue my lesson so you better make up for this disturbance” The girls started to giggle while the boys rolled their eyes. She hurried to her seat and started to take notes. Surprisingly, he was better than the old teacher. He knew how to explain everything more clearly.

When he started to read in English, he started to walk through the class too. When he approached Mi Rae’s desk, she tried to ignore him.

“This character is quite interesting don’t you think? He seems like a bad boy, even a ert” He leaned closer to her. “But appearances can be deceiving, can’t they?” She turned her head quickly to the window and tried to cover her face with her hand. He chuckled bemusedly and walked in front of the class. “That’s all for today. Next week we will start reading Shakespeare. Read about it on internet, at least, I want you to know what I’m talking about in class” The girls started to laugh and giggle and sincerely, Mi Rae was getting bored of that.

After school ended, Joon Myeon couldn’t follow Mi Rae home. Siwon was there and he wouldn’t budge. At home, she simply went into her room and lay on the bed. She didn’t get up until dinner. There was nothing interesting that day.

Everything she could think about was how that English teacher was going to for the rest of the year. She was really tired and went to sleep early.

Unfortunately, she woke up well past midnight when she heard commotion downstairs. The house had a good echo.

She walked down the stairs and sneaked into the kitchen. The voices were pretty loud and she could hear everything they were saying from the place she was hiding into.

“I’m not worried for the police, idiot. I’m more worried what would happen if that rascal finds out we stole from his account!”

“He’s already doomed to bankruptcy. Boss, you don’t have to worry for neither. We’ll take care of that big mouth Jin too. He won’t survive to see the day after tomorrow” She could hear her father growl.

“Kill him before he gets us in more trouble” She didn’t react at all. Her father was like that all the time. She heard him tell his men to kill many times. She heard her father sigh and enter the kitchen. She tried to be silent. It was dark and she had 50 % chances not to be seen. Unfortunately, there were still 50% chances for her to be caught.

“I know you’re here Mi Rae. I can hear you breathe. You should work on that” She got on her feet and walked to her father.

“You kill people. Don’t you feel any remorse towards their families?” He looked down at her with his cold eyes.

“You will learn that some people are made to be killed while other people are meant to survive. You don’t decide who gets to die and who gets to live, Mi Rae. The circumstances do” She understood her father’s point but she wasn’t as ignorant as him.

The next morning, she looked like a zombie. She couldn’t go back to sleep so she spent the whole night thinking. When she got to school, she realized that she completely forgot she had a test on history. She didn’t learn anything. The whole day was a disaster. She fell asleep in the middle of a class and got scolded by her teacher. She was already under a lot of stress so she chose to skip the rest of the day. She went home on her own.

On the way, she realized that someone was following her. She did what her father taught her to. She was going to mess with her stalker’s mind. She started to walk in circle and stopped abruptly in front of a shop. She didn’t enter but she could see her stalker’s reflection in the glass.

“Why are you following me, teacher?” She turned around right on time to meet his chest. He was tall.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to follow you around. I thought you got lost. I guess I wanted to save the damsel in distress” She didn’t understand him at all. Wasn’t he supposed to do boring things?

“You are weird. I’m your student” He chuckled and patted her head. It was the second time already.

“Right now I am an ordinary man and you are an ordinary woman. We are outside school grounds so everything is fine” That was even weirder. His life theories seemed to surpass her imagination.

“You are weird. I’m going home” He didn’t protest. He just continued to follow her. “I’m going home alone” He didn’t stop.

“What if there’s a guy in a dark alley and tries to kidnap you? If I’m here, nothing will happen” She rolled her eyes.

“Trust me that would be very unlikely” He grabbed her hand and smiled down at her. She tried to shake his hand off but he was pretty powerful.

 “Why? You seem like the perfect prey” She was growing annoyed with him. He was prying in her life and she hated that. It wasn’t his business what, how or why. She wanted him to leave.

“It’s daylight and there is no dark alley” He rubbed his chin and hummed. She was right. There were a lot of people on the street as well.

“Well, it’s better to be safe than sorry, right?” She stopped and pushed him away.

“Why are you following me, seongsaengnim?” He shrugged and put his hands into his pockets.

“You’re fun. Unlike the rest of your classmates, you don’t pay attention in class and always find something to amaze me with. Right now, I just saw you pass by and I wanted to get closer to you and know what’s going on in that pretty head of yours” He was too sincere for her liking. In her family, people were always hiding something. She was used to lies.

They were still talking when a familiar car drove by. Siwon saw her immediately and honked. He rolled down the window and told her to get in. The teacher raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

“Are you her bodyguard or something?” Siwon glanced at him from the corner of his eye.

“Or something”

At home, Siwon kept a close eye on Mi Rae.

“Are you alright?” She was surprised when he entered her room after dinner. She nodded and placed her laptop on the bed. “That man, I’ve seen men like him before. Stay away from him”

“I can’t. He’s my English teacher” Siwon bit his lip and leaned against the wall. Now that she looked better, he looked really hot.

“Then try not to meet him outside classes. He can damage your reputation” Those were his last words before he left. She remained stoic. That took her by surprise.