Soora's POV

The dinner went well. Zelo didn't say anything else after he had unintentionally complimented Hye-sun, which was very cute by the way. After Hye-sun had cleaned up, he asked me if he could leave for his room and I agreed. I mean, I didn't really want to spend time with him in the first place... But I decided to compliment him for his good acting skills later.

I checked the social networks for news, but there were none. I had received two messages. One from Jongup and one from Sohee.

From: Jongup

“He isn't doing anything to you, right? I'll kill him if he does so just tell me if there is a reason, okay?”

“It'll be alright. He's a good actor after all”, I replied with a sigh. Overprotective. The thing I normally liked about him.

Next.

From: Sohee

“Hey, Soora! :D Wanna hang out tomorrow? You can bring Daehyun or your dancer too, if you want to!~~”

Hanging out with Sohee would mean: Drinking a coffee with her and talk about the people that were passing by. It could be really fun sometimes, even though she made fun of all the poorer people...Why not? I couldn't possibly bring Jongup again. He didn't like her at all, because of her attitude and it was his free day tomorrow... Daehyun would come along if I asked him to and I texted him, asking if he had some free time then. He replied a few minutes later with a happy 'Yes'.

But...Oh, damn it. There was another person to take care of now... Zelo would never accompany me to meet up with my friends, but...”I think he'll act polite again when I'm with my friends. He promised it, right?”, I mumbled with an evil smirk on my face. Yup, Zelo should accompany me, I would make sure he would!

To: Sohee

“Sounds like fun! Daehyun will come for sure. I have a new servant I want to bring too, is that okay? :*”

Of course it was and I was already looking forward to the next day. I thought of the Polite-Zelo as more interesting than the rude one – the reasons were quite obvious, right? I walked downstairs and Hye-sun came to me, whispering me in the ear. “He's quite handsome, don't you think? I'm sure he has a girlfriend!”
I rolled with my eyes and grinned. “You think? I didn't notice”, I replied with a cold voice. “And I don't think he has one. He can be very... moody at times.” It was hard to describe him without ruining Hye-sun's perfect image of him...

But the maid ignored my negative statement. “I'm sure he does. Ask him or I will do it”, she concluded with a wink and a silent chuckle before walking off again. She was such a little girl when it came to boys. She was married, she should watch towards her husband...I was worried she'd have to raise the kid on her own already! Well, not really; I knew how much they loved each other.

I sighed. “I'll ask, but that won't mean he'll answer me. Is there anything left for you to do here?” She shook her head with a smile. And I blinked at her. “Then go home for now. See you tomorrow. Greet your husband from me, please”, I said and escorted her to the door where she waved me good-bye.

As soon as I had shut the door, I walked up to Zelo's room. He was talking to someone, probably on the phone and I could barely make out the words until I pressed my ear against the wall.

“...I know, it's not the best solution, you don't need to tell me that...”, I heard Zelo mumble. “...Yes, I'll stay away for two whole months. I'm okay, don't worry... Yongguk-hyung, don't make such a fuss! They won't find me here. Who would expect me to hide in this neighborhood, huh? … No, she won't... Uh-huh, I'll come home as often as possible... Yes, I'm polite and watching my manners. Gee you're sounding like my dad already. At least I think he would have talked like that...” A muffled chuckle could be heard. So he was talking to his friend, Yongguk? They really seemed to worry about each other. “Okay, I'll hang up then, she'd want to talk to you if she found out I called. See ya. Bye.... take care of yourself, old man, there's no need to rescue me. I have no way out anyway.” That sounded kind of sad and I felt sorry for troubling him with my lie, but it seemed like he had ended the call and I acted as if I had just arrived while knocking at his door.

“Zelo?”

The door opened slowly and the boy stared at me with his cold eyes again. Nothing of the embarrassed guy from dinner seemed to be left. “What do you want?”, he asked, his voice a mixture of irritation and sleepiness.

I pushed the door more open and sat down on his bed on purpose. He wouldn't get me away like that and I could see his thoughts by looking at the aghast expression on his face. I stared him straight in the eyes. “You're some kind of great actor, aren't you? Your behavior can change so suddenly, I was surprised earlier.”

Zelo yawned before answering. “My whole life has been filled with acting an facades, this is nothing new to me. But what did you really come for?” He sounded sad while telling me that and I reeaaally wanted to know more about him, but he wouldn't let me anyway.

“I...well...” I shrugged. “I just wanted to inform you about tomorrow. I'll go to school, which is why you'll be free to do what you want from 8am to 1pm, but I want you to drive with Jongmin to my school afterwards.” My opponent raised an eyebrow.

“Why?”

“I'll meet two friends from my class after school and you'll accompany me. One of them is just so curious about you, she can't wait to meet you”, I lied. Well maybe it wasn't a lie after all... I bet Sohee was curious.

“I'll go meet your friends? No thanks”, he stated and began to play some game on his phone. I took it away from him. “Hey, I was playing-”

“You'll come with me, got it? I won't discuss about this so don't even try to escape. I promised to bring you along.” Zelo snatched his phone back from me with a pout and a glare.

“Alright, alright, understood... I'll be there then...Is that all? I think so. Just leave and do whatever you normally do”, he grumbled in obvious dissatisfaction. Serves him right, I thought, turning around and walking out of the room.

As I was lying in bed, I thought about the day again. A day that had kind of ruined the next two months for me and I promised myself never to lie to my dad again. Damn, I didn't want to be with Zelo at all, but he'd be nice as long as there were other people, except for Jongup, around, which is why I decided to become more sociable.

I was just so tired from all the excitement that day and my eyes closed before I had even realized it.

Thursday.

Even worse than Monday. But at least I'd have some fun in the afternoon... Still, there were the teachers...and homework...especially math.

You can tell: I was almost falling asleep on my desk, making me earn a scolding from my most hated teacher and an apologetic smile from Daehyun. As always...well, whatever. Then, school was out. Yay!

“Soora!”, Sohee shouted across the schoolyard and I waved back at her as she ran towards me.

“Sohee-unni! Daehyun has something to talk about with the teacher, he'll be here in a few minutes too”, I explained, but Sohee didn't seem to pay attention.

“Now tell me: Where is that servant of yours? You didn't have someone to play with since we were five years old.”

I showed her a nervous grin. “Well, I'm kind of lonely at home right now, because of dad's work. He'll come along with Jongmin- Ah, there is our car!”, I mumbled while waving at the big black car that was driving towards us on the parking area. I had looked for some nicer clothes for my giant in Himchan's cupboard and hoped sincerely that they'd fit...or that he'd even wear them.

However, I was relieved when Zelo got off the car with a shy smile on his baby face and walked up to us. “Hello, Miss”, he greeted me with a slight bow of his head before turning towards Sohee. “You are the young lady's friend, I guess? Please call me Zelo. Speak comfortably.” Woah, his voice was as distant as always, but his choice of words was daebakk. I couldn't believe that there was that brat standing in front of me – my brother's clothes looked good on him, even though the pants could have been a little bit longer... “Uhm. Excuse me?”

I blinked a few times to get back to reality and noticed that Sohee was staring at Zelo in amazement while the boy seemed kind of lost, searching for help by looking at me. “Oh”, I cleared my throat. “That is Sohee. She is your noona, in case you need a term of address, and she is from my class.” Zelo retreated until he stood beside me again, obviously a little bit scared of the fact that she was just staring at him. Seems like he had amazed her a little. “Good job”, I whispered silently and an unsure grin played around the corners of his mouth as I glanced at the school's main entrance. “Just ignore her if you're uncomfortable”, I mumbled, making her wake up from her trance, but she didn't have a chance to say anything. “Ah, there is Daehyun coming! Daehyun-oppa~!”, I shouted and signalized him to come closer.

A frown showed on his face as he spotted Zelo beside me and he walked up to us, a certain mistrust in his eyes. “Yo, Soora”, he said as he smiled while his eyes were glued to the boy that was taller by...like... a head. Seriously? I had thought Daehyun was tall already! “And...you are?”

Zelo bowed once more, his lips. “My name is Zelo. I'm the young lady's new servant and she wants me to accompany her today”, he introduced himself and Daehyun sighed a little bit.

“Her servant, alright. I'm Jung Daehyun, but you can call me Dae, in case my name is too long to remember.” Zelo seemed relieved when he heard that offer and I could guess why: He had problems with remembering names for sure. One syllable would be short enough though and I chuckled.

“Alright, now that you got to know each other, let's go for some coffee! I was way too tired during class today!”, I stated, causing Daehyun to laugh when we walked towards my car.

“You looked like a zombie. Like, why don't you ever sleep enough? You're nothing without coffee, just like your brother!”, he mentioned, making me pinch his cheek to shut him up. “What? You are just like your brother!”

Another girl wasn't interested in my family at that moment. “Zelo-yah, do you have siblings?” Sohee clung to Zelo's arm, who immediately flinched and took a step back to get away from her. She was surprised and started to pout. “What? Am I not allowed to touch you?”

I glanced at my 'servant', who apologized on the spot. “S-Sorry. I don't like- I mean, I'm just not used to being hugged or something like that. I'm not into skinship...” He awkwardly patted her shoulder. “I'll try not to be too gruff if you touch me, but I'm...easily scared.” That boy surprised me again and again, I was kind of proud of him for dealing with that situation that well...but still, I was curious why he didn't let anyone touch him.

Zelo cleared his throat as he opened one door of the car to help me get on and tried to distract us. “But to answer your question: Yes, I do have siblings, an older brother, to be exact.”

Daehyun was still staring at him as if he was an alien. Not that I thought anything else. “Is he as tall as you? You can't tell me there are more giants like you, can you? What is this, Attack on Titan?”

The other one forced a smile and rubbed the back of his neck as he sat down in the front seat next to Jongmin. “I haven't seen him for many years, I don't know, to be honest...he...uhm, he went to America when I was young, which is why I don't know much about him.”

“That sounds sad”, Sohee commented and I grinned at Daehyun who mouthed a silent 'she's interested' and I nodded in reply.

We spent the whole afternoon in a café – not Daehyun's to my surprise – and I talked to Daehyun, while Sohee was trying to get to know more about Zelo, failing without exception. He was like a wall, not letting any information in or out. A polite wall, because his smile never faded.

She gave up after some time and joined us while we were talking about our exams that were coming up soon. I glanced at Zelo from time to time, who followed the conversation while looking at the random by-passers.

“Okay then, I have to get going, Soora”, Sohee stated after some time. “There will be a new collection out soon and Mum wants me to help later. Well, mothers, you know?” She rolled with her eyes and a half-joking snort before we said good-bye. No. I don't know. I don't have a mother. “Bye, Zelo~ It was nice to meet you!”

Zelo only replied with a smile and a short nod before she left. Daehyun looked at me, his eyes filled with concern as soon as she was out of sight. “You're looking as if you've eaten a whole lemon at once. She didn't think about it-”

I noticed Zelo's interested stare, probably because he had asked me about Mum before and I had responded kind of...rough. No wonder he was curious. “It's alright”, I broke Daehyun off with a smile to prevent him from spilling useful information. “But I'll have to go soon too...Jongmin will pick me up at half past five.” It was a quarter past five then.

Daehyun nodded with a serious face. “When you're having a hard time, you know who to come to, right?”

I smiled once again. “Sure. My “colorful-hair”-oppa will take care of me, I know. By the way: You didn't have rainbow hair yet”, I tried to change the topic. Zelo seemed to play along as he glanced at Daehyun with a frown.

“Rainbow...hair? You're dying your hair quite a lot, I suppose?” The dark-haired nodded.

“I'm not satisfied with just one color, to be honest. I..euh...get tired of them...”

Zelo exchanged glances with me. “I'm sure you get along well with gra- I mean, that purple-haired friend of the young lady.” He was about to say grape-head again, I'm sure of it. “His hair is rather extraordinary, isn't it?”

I decided to take part in the conversation. “Well, Daehyun once had pink-”

“Don't you dare telling him! Please...”, he interfered and added the last word shyly. I was glad Zelo understood these things without having them formulated and he grinned a little. Zelo grinned again! I should take the picture of him as stick-figure when my friends were around so that he'd smile, I thought. A car was blaring behind us and I turned around to see our car in the parking lot.

“I'll tell him”, I teased Daehyun with a wink while slowly standing up. “I even have a picture of that time. See you, oppa~”

The addressed male jumped to his feat. “Oh no, you don't! Don't ruin my manly image!” Zelo laughed out loud all of a sudden and Daehyun frowned. “What?”

“It's just that...I know... Now I think I know what mistake you made and I promise not to treat you less manly the next time we meet! But I'm too curious to give up on that picture”, he explained, trying to hold in his laughter. “Did he really have pink hair?”

“It was an accident!”

I ignored the ridiculous defense. “Yeah, but it actually looked quite good on him, I have to admit”, I replied and hugged Daehyun as a good-bye. “Don't worry, you're looking as handsome as always on the picture.” He calmed down on the spot and bit his lower lip.

“I...I hope so”, he mumbled and I swear I could see the tips of his ears running red before I turned around to go to our car with Zelo.

It had really been a fun afternoon and I hoped to crack Zelo's facade again with Daehyun's photo like I had already done it with his “big” room the day before. I wanted to know about why he was chased, I really did. And why he didn't want to be touched by anyone. He was so interesting after all, but I didn't want to admit it myself.

During our whole ride home, Zelo behaved as polite as with my friends, but I saw Jongmin glaring at him from time to time. Right, he knew about the truth behind those bruises and band-aids and he wasn't happy about that. When Zelo got off before me, I glanced at the driver. “Don't worry, I know how to handle him”, I said with more confidence than I actually had and the other male sighed.

“I don't trust him, that's all, Miss. Have a nice evening.”

“You too, Jongmin. See you tomorrow.”

As soon as I was back in the house, Zelo stared at me for a second and I gave him a questioning look to signalize him that he should speak. “There are some things I saw in this house to day and I want to ask you about them. May I?”

“It depends”, I answered with a raised eyebrow. “I have some things to ask in return. I think we'll be able to agree on something. So, you told Sohee you're not into skinship? I think there's more to that, could you tell me?”

He stiffened and I almost lost him to his cold mask again when he calmed down on his own. “I just can't. Let's leave it at that, alright?” I nodded and we took off our shoes. I led him upstairs – he didn't seem to be in as much pain as the day before – where he sat down on my bed and I waited for him to ask his questions.