Song inserted in this chap: The Love That You’ve Been Looking For by 98 Degrees (credit to owner)

Park Shin Hye opened her eyes and as usual, everything was black and dark. She slowly pulled herself up in a sitting position, leaning her back against the headboard. Her lips curled into a soft smile as last night’s memories slowly replayed in her mind.

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“Don’t worry about the charity ball. I’ll protect you and I won’t let Choi Seung Hyun touch you.” Min Ho said as his head rested on Shin Hye’s shoulder.

Tears started to well in Shin Hye’s eyes as her white cane dropped on the floor. She slowly moved her hands up and grasped tightly onto Min Ho’s arms that was wrapping securely around her upper chest.

Shin Hye bit her lower lip and faced down. “How many times can you protect me? Sooner or later, I’ll need to marry him. You couldn’t protect me forever.” She sniffed softly and chuckled sadly. “Or maybe I don’t need to wait that long. Before my father could even marry me to him, someone already kill me.”

Min Ho inhaled deeply. “As long as I’m still alive, I won’t let anybody hurt you. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He said in a stern voice.

Her fingers caressed his arm softly as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Why are you trying so hard to protect me? I know because of this job you think it’s your responsible to keep me safe but this is just a job. Even if I was killed, the worst scenario is you will lose your job. You don’t need to make that promise to me.” She paused for a second before she continued. “You don’t need to take it so seriously.” She whispered.

Min Ho tightened his arms around her when he felt her tears dropped on his hands. He found his heart clenched and twisted in a painful grasp. “Do I look like I just treat you as a job?”

Shin Hye lifted her head as her eyes widened slightly in surprise. What he just said made her heart beat twice as fast.

He inhaled deeply in her sweet scent, trying to calm himself down. “I don’t know what is going wrong with me. I don’t understand why I act weirdly especially in front of you. I’m very confused.” He sighed. “Can I ask you for a favour?”

Shin Hye turned her head slightly to the side, her cheek touched his. “What?”

“Stop appearing in my head. Please stay away from my head and give me a peace of mind before I go crazy.” He said softly.

She bit her lower lip again, panting heavily. Her heart was beating furiously with what he just said. “I-I don’t understand what are you talking about?”

Min Ho sighed again. “Never mind. I don’t understand what I’m talking either. My main concern now is to keep you safe.”  

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Shin Hye shook her head, trying to clear her mind and stop herself from thinking. She slowly gets up of the bed and walked carefully to the bathroom to clean herself before she go down for breakfast.

After she changed her clothes, she walked towards the door and opened it. But just as she took her second step, she gasped in shock when her head bumped against a hard chest. She straight away recognized the person who was standing in front of her.

“Ouch.” Min Ho uttered with a grin on his face.

Shin Hye’s face blushed immediately when she heard his voice. “W-What are you doing here standing in front of my room? You should avoid me when you see me walking towards you. You know I can’t see.” She said as her hand massaged her forehead. His chest was as hard as stone.

Min Ho chuckled cheekily at her cute expression. “I know you can’t see but I thought you can recognize my scent already even I don’t need to open my mouth. You always know it was me before I need to say anything.” He narrowed his gaze at her. “It’s kind of creepy if you ask me. How can a person recognize another person’s scent, heartbeat and even breathing without looking at them? Are you a vampire or something?” He .

Shin Hye bit her lip as she felt her cheeks started to burn with blush. She cleared before she pushed him away softly and walked towards the staircase with her hand touching on the wall.

Min Ho who was still smiling like an idiot followed behind her.

Shin Hye spooned the soup into and shifted uncomfortably on her chair. Even though she couldn’t see but she can still sense Min Ho’s gaze was following her. She sighed silently as she put the spoon down. When she was about to stand up, she heard Min Ho’s voice behind her.

“Park Shin Hye-sshi. It’s not a good habit to waste food and there are still a lot of leftover in front of you. And you barely touch your dinner last night.” He said.

Shin Hye turned her head at his voice as she bit her lip. She wanted to protest but then, she just let out a deep sigh. She took the spoon up and started to eat again.

Min Ho smiled satisfyingly behind her.

Han Ki Ae who was standing at the other side felt curious with their sudden change of attitude, as if nothing happened before. She continued to look at their suspicious interaction.

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Shin Hye closed the book she was reading when she heard someone walked towards her. It was Han Ki Ae.

Min Ho who was standing beside Shin Hye looked at the big box that Han Ki Ae was holding. “What is that?” He asked.

“Someone deliver this box to Shin Hye just now.” She replied.

Min Ho stared at the box suspiciously before he looked up at Han Ki Ae. “Put the box down on the coffee table. I need to check it first.”

“Okay.” She put the box on the table and walked to the side.

“Be careful.” Shin Hye said worriedly as she heard him walking passed her.

“Hmmm.” Min Ho uttered as he squatted in front of the coffee table. He held both side of the box cover and opened it carefully. His brows rose up as he saw the things inside the box. He took the envelope that was laying inside and slowly pulled the card out. He then turned to Shin Hye. “It’s a dress and an invitation card inside the box.”

Shin Hye leaned her body forward, looking curious. “Please help me to read the card and see who send it over.”

Min Ho opened the card and his face immediately hardened. “It’s from Choi Seung Hyun.” He said in an annoyed tone. He inhaled deeply before he read it out loud.

“I believe your father already inform you about the charity ball on this Saturday. However, I think it will only be right for me to personally send an invitation to you. I hope you don’t mind that I send the invitation card together with a small gift. It’s my pleasure for sending a pretty dress to a beautiful lady like you. I’m very sure you will look gorgeous and y in that dress and I can already imagine you wearing it. I really can’t wait for the day to come and have my first dance with you.”

Min Ho paused for a moment, took in another deep breath before he continued.

“You have no idea how much I missed you after we met the other night. Your unique sweet scent was like a drug that make me addicted to it. I can’t imagine how good it will feel, holding you close in my arms, inhaling in your addicting sweet scent.”

Shin Hye’s face turned pale just by listening to what it was written on that invitation card. She closed her eyes as she massaged her temple.

Han Ki Ae saw the change of her expression and quickly walked to her and sat beside her. “Are you okay?” She asked worriedly as she her back. “I already have goosebumps all over me just by reading his card. Are you sure you can really handle him alone on that night?”

Shin Hye opened her eyes slowly as she let out a long sigh. “I think he won’t dare to do anything inappropriate to me in the public. This is a charity ball that a lot of rich and well-known people who will attend.”

She then lifted her head and turned to the direction where Min Ho was standing. “How does the dress look like?” She asked.

Min Ho threw the card on the table and took the dress out of the box. His jaw clenched as he looked at Han Ki Ae. Her eyes widened and sighed looking at the dress. “It’s a red colour strapless, low cut, full length dress. It’s kind of revealing.”

“I think you shouldn’t wear it. He is trying to challenge you and dare you to wear it on that night.” Min Ho said.

Han Ki Ae shook her head, disagree with Min Ho. “I think she should wear it and show him that she is brave enough to take that challenge and she is not afraid of him.”

Shin Hye nodded. She totally agreed with her teacher. “Don’t worry about the dress. As long as I’m not , I’ll be fine.” She assured him with a smile.

Min Ho let out a frustration sigh.

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Shin Hye heaved a sigh as she lifted her head up, facing the dark sky. “Oppa, what will happen tomorrow?”

“Nothing will happen. Don’t worry.”

She turned around when she heard Min Ho’s voice. His footsteps were heading towards her direction.

“You never learn from your lesson. No matter how many time I warned you not to sit in the garden alone late at night but still, you are here now.” He continued.   

Shin Hye smiled as she turned back to the front. “I know you will sure saw me through the CCTV and will come here right away to protect me. I don’t need to worry.”

Min Ho sighed deeply. “You are really getting me restless and exhausted. Tomorrow is Saturday and it was supposed to be my off day but yet I still need to work because of that damn charity ball.” He complained in annoyance.

“Don’t worry. I’ll pay you extra for working overtime.” Shin Hye joked.

Min Ho chuckled. “I thought you are planning to call your father to terminate me.” He .

Shin Hye’s expression changed as the memory on what happened on the night that someone broke in crossed her mind. She faced down and kept quiet.

Min Ho walked closer to her and sat down beside her, causing her to squirm slightly to the side.               

She shifted uncomfortably on the swing with their sudden closeness as she felt his warmth around her. She can feel his breathing fanning on her face and guessed he was looking at her.

“Can I ask you a question?” He asked softly.

She turned to him and nodded slowly. “What you want to ask me?”

“On that night when someone almost break in and I rushed back to check on you, why are you so angry with me? You were shouting at me.” He asked carefully.

Shin Hye was taken aback by his question and quickly turned away, doesn’t know how to reply him.

“If I remember correctly we were still fine before I go for my off day. I’m sure you were not angry with me just because I barged into your room that night.” He continued.

Shin Hye cleared , trying to hide her embarrassment. “T-That night… I-I was kind of frightened and lost my temper. It really got on my nerve when you keep breaking my rules and never listen to me.” She stuttered nervously.

Min Ho narrowed his eyes at her, looking unconvinced. “Is that so?”

Shin Hye took a deep breath as she bit her lower lip. “And… I hate the rose fragrance perfume on you that night. That scent annoyed me.” She said very softly, almost whisper.

His brows rose up and looked dumbfounded. “Rose fragrance perfume? I didn’t put on any perfume that night. I don’t like that kind of stuff and even if I put perfume I won’t use flower fragrance perfume.” He looked at her curiously. “You hate rose scent?”

Shin Hye continued to chew her lower lip annoyingly. “Yes. I hate it.” She said in a certain tone. But she knew she just hated that scent on him that night or to be exact, she hated that girl who answered his phone.

Min Ho who was still looking confused quickly held his collar and sniffed himself. “Is my scent annoyed you today?” He asked.

She couldn’t hold it and laughed at his question. She knew she was ridiculous but she felt good when he was so concern about her.

Min Ho froze in place when he saw her laughing. His lips slowly curled up into a smile. “This is the first time I see you laughing after working for you in these few months. You looked very beautiful when you smile and laugh. You should do that more often.”

Shin Hye’s face was flushed as she quickly turned away from him.

“Was it because of Park Yoo Chun-sshi?” Min Ho asked softly as his face became serious.

“What about Yoo Chun oppa?” She asked in confusion.

He exhaled sharply. “You acted so cold and strange in a sudden, was it because of him? Was it because he wants you to stay away from me?” He asked again.

His question startled her. “N-No.” She lied.

Min Ho sighed. She was obviously lying. “I could feel he don’t like me, but at the same time I don’t like him either.”

Shin Hye turned to his voice and asked him curiously. “Why you don’t like him? You don’t even know him.”

Min Ho shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know why but I felt uncomfortable whenever he is close to you.” He said softly.

She smiled at his answer. “Is this a guy thing? Both of you were saying the same thing to me.” She paused and let out a silent sigh. “He cares for me and because of all the incidents that happened lately, he was very worried.”

“And he loves you.” Min Ho cut in.

Shin Hye didn’t reply him. She guessed anyyone could sense that.

“Do you love him?” He asked in a serious tone. His heartbeat raced, waiting for her answer.

Shin Hye turned away and face down. “Why do you want to know?” She asked him back.

“I don’t know. My head told me that it’s not right to ask such a personal question to the person who pays your salary but it seem like my heart wanted to know the answer very badly and the question just slipped out of my mouth.” He replied.

Shin Hye clenched tightly onto her skirt as she bit her lip. “I don’t know.” She paused as she took a deep breath. “All these while I knew he have a special feeling for me and I thought I feel the same. I like him but I started to question my feeling lately. Is like consider as love? And my poor heart. It felt like the space inside has suddenly become narrow and it’s very packed in there. It seem like someone else have just moved inside.” She said softly, without facing him.

Min Ho’s chest tightened as he roughly understands what she was talking about. He doesn’t dare to ask who was that person because he was afraid that it’s him. He doesn’t dare to think where the path will lead them if they make their feelings clear for each other. He slowly lifted his hand up, wanted to pull her around to face him but stopped mid-air when Shin Hye continued to talk.

“But it doesn’t matter anymore. No matter whom I love and who I don’t love, my father already chose the person that I need to marry. My feeling will not change anything.” She said sadly.

Min Ho inhaled deeply as he turned away from her. She was right. Woo Bin was right. No one could change her father’s decision. Who he thinks he is that he could be able to stop it when even Park Yoo Chun couldn’t do it.

“Are you really going to wear the dress that Choi Seung Hyun bought for you?” Min Ho asked, trying to change the sensitive topic.

Shin Hye turned to him and nodded her head. “Yes. Why?”

“The dress is very revealing and red colour doesn’t suit you.” He said in a frustration tone.

She laughed softly. “Doesn’t matter. I can’t see it myself anyway and I don’t have the intention to look good or pretty tomorrow. I just hope tomorrow will end faster and everything will be fine.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll stayed close to you tomorrow and make sure you are safe.” Min Ho said firmly as he looked straight at her.

Shin Hye smiled as she nodded her head softly.

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Min Ho was standing at the front porch with all the other bodyguards facing him. He was giving his briefing about the security at the charity ball tonight.

“Please be extra careful and make sure no one get close to the car that Park Shin Hye-sshi will be taking. I’ll be staying close to her in the ballroom while two of you will be guarding outside the door. The rest of you will be checking and in-charged at the lobby.” He said and just then, everyone’s eyes were widened and locked at the front door of the house. Min Ho turned around and his eyes almost popped out looking at the person who was standing at the door.

Shin Hye just came out from the house and was now standing at the door with Han Ki Ae holding her hand. She tilted her head at the side, trying to catch the sound around her. She was curious with the sudden silence.