1934

Yunho spends most of his night and early next morning at Yoona’s bar, drinking down all the alcohol he can afford and watching Changmin struggle to keep his hands off Yoona and vice versa. The hangover that follows is so painful that he nearly ran a paperboy over on his way back to the mansion.

BoA already finished with her morning routine and is chatting with the maid at the dining table. She’s all done up and perfect, yet she wasn’t dressed for the day. Yunho wouldn’t know the exact amount of time he stood there at the entrance of the dining room with his mouth hung open, practically drooling. He’d never seen this much of her, she’s still in her barely there night dress with only a see through robe to cover the rest. For a moment Yunho his own ego with the fleeting thought that she might have done this on purpose, knowing full well that he’d be here at this hour.

As badly as he wanted to get the hell out of this house, hop back on his car and drive away, an order is an order. Straightening, Yunho takes quick long strides into the room and chooses to sits down with two seats between them.

“Oh, good morning, mister Yunho!” The maid greets in enthusiasm, “Would you like some breakfast too?”

Throwing her a charming smile, he shakes his head. “No, but thank you for the offer.”

The old woman gives him a small nod before dismissing herself and to his delight, leaving the two of them alone.

“Good morning,” BoA says after a moment of tense silence, taking a bite of her buttered up toast, “Did you have a good night rest?”

I wish, Yunho grumbles to himself. “Oh yes, yes.”

She nods in acknowledgement but says nothing to that. Yunho reaches across the table, snatching up today’s newspaper and flips through it like all the headlines are surprises to him when in fact everything that’s been printed is what they’ve all known for weeks now – killing in the south, bank robbery, mob wars, another moll’s dead because of her in-debt lover – yes, it’s all very dull to him now. Try as he might, Yunho doesn’t know how to put a lid to his dirty thoughts, even with his eyes feasting on the picture of some dead corpse on page three. He regrets not taking up that offer on breakfast because now all he can think of is marching over there and throwing her onto his laps so she can feed him eggs and hams while he puts his paws all over her exposed skin.

“I’d like to go into town to catch a movie today.”

This crashes his train of thought. Thank god for that.

~*~*~*~

The most Yunho recalls of the rather soppy romance movie that BoA picked, is the opening credit, after that he’s fallen asleep. BoA looks like she finds it incredibly amusing when she wakes him after everyone else has left the cinema.

“You don’t look so much like the big bad gangster when you sleep,” she grins, brushing the hair away from his eyes, “You look cute, actually.”

Absentmindedly (dreamily), Yunho thinks he can wake up to this every day.

~*~*~*~

Though it surprises Yunho, BoA is not a girl who indulges in socializing much. Her set of friends are rather permanent; he suspects her group of close acquaintances has stayed this way for years down. Unsurprisingly, it consists mainly of young ladies within the same age group as she and is nowhere as brazen as let’s say, Sooyoung. Today’s luncheon appointment is with an equally wealthy and well-mannered lady – who, as rude as he is, has nodded and smiled at her at first glance and misplaced his memory of the encounter within the short ten minutes after.

The nature of politics has come down harsh on the town – consumption of alcoholic drinks during day time had gained a limit. This has resulted in more bootlegging – more dough but less drinking for his part and like Jaejoong always say; drinking can cure last night’s drinking.

Speaking of the devil, Yunho smirks back at his friend at the café’s door and raises his shot of espresso in a form of salute.

“No company during work hour, I take it then?” Jaejoong greets with a devious grin, shrugging off his suit jacket and pulls out the seat across from him, “Tell me, do you feel like a creep? Just sitting from the other end of a café, watching a beautiful girl and her company feasting in a little afternoon tea?”

Yunho rolls his eyes. “Not when I get paid to do so.”

“Oh, certainly!” Jaejoong mocks, snapping his finger at a waiter and order, “Yes, boy, I’d like what my friend here is having and some of that cheesecake you’ve got showing in display.”

“Right away, sir.” The rugged boy nods and runs off, his ruddy shoes skidding against the floor.

“Do you take pleasure in scaring these poor eager beaver?”

Jaejoong his teeth. “I’m only practicing for the day that we become the big cheese.”

He quirks a brow. “You mean you?”

“Now why do you say that?”

“Say what?”

“That me,” He points to himself, jabbing a finger at his chest, “Kim Jaejoong, a lower class turned big time illegal mobster, will be the boss one day and not you.”

Yunho takes a sip of his coffee, says, “You want it, don’t you?”

“Don’t you?” Jaejoong retorts, waving the boy off when he puts the plate of the desert down.

He chuckles a little, bitterly or not, he is unsure. “You and I want the same thing, Jaejoong but that very same thing, comes differently for each of us.”

“Well, well,” Jaejoong leans back in his seat, clapping slowly but loud enough to get BoA to turn her attention away from her macarons, “Aren’t you a wise guy today?”

She’s staring at them, caramel orbs darting back and forth between the two of them, almost as if she, herself is unsure who it is that she should lent her attention to – who she should smile at first, who she should stand next to if she was to come over, who she would let accompany her but then BoA stops, letting her gaze hover over him for a second too long before turning away all together.

“You can say that,” Yunho’s not looking her but then again, isn’t he always looking at her in his own secret way? “I have my moments.”

~*~*~*~

Jaejoong, determined to be the one to drive BoA home, is unfortunately called away at the last minute to ‘straighten out a few minor details’. Practically a code for ‘time to put my pistol to use’. Yunho is shocked to see recognition pass BoA’s face at the exchange of those words. Perhaps she knows much more about the family business than her daddy tells her.

“How much do you know about your old man’s job?”

Curiosity killed the cat but Yunho’s not a cat, he’s also much smarter than one.

“Enough to know that it’s not wise to go around asking about it,” She says rather snappishly, “You, on the other hand…”

Yunho laughs, drumming his finger against the steering wheel in ease as they make a right turn. “I, on the other hand, know more than you could ever hope for, little miss.”

“Oh yes, of course, the big bad wolf that you are would know more about the mafia boss than a stupid, little dame than me.”

“Don’t call yourself a dame,” He frowns, “You’re a lady.”

“A lady?” BoA’s wide eyed all of the sudden, “Mind you, I’d rather be a moll.”

“A moll?!” Yunho yells, almost hitting the brake at the thought of that very name being associated with her, “Do you even know what that term means?”

“A gangster’s girl,” She replies without as much of a blink of an eye, “Isn’t Jaejoong a gangster?”

It always strikes him as odd; how much of erratic BoA is. Her attitude towards him could go from sweet to sour in a flash. Yunho had not dared to ask her the meaning of this treatment – if it was in her personality, her mood for the day or just him, in general. For this very reason, he is taken with her. Other girls he has met had been transparent. They had giggled at his jokes, coo at stories of his experiences, eat up his compliment and is readily available at any hour or any given day. BoA, however, is dignified - any form of flattery will cause her to flush but she will not fish for more nor will she accept it unless she knows it to be the truth. She is not afraid to correct him if he is wrong and she will most certainly argue ‘til the end of this earth if it means she could coerce him into seeing things her way.

“Jaejoong doesn’t know how to take on a woman like you,” He blurts, regretting it almost as soon as the statement left him.

BoA doesn’t look appalled, nor scandalized. Instead she looks the calmest since she’s been since he’s started the car. It occurs to him then that she’d been on edge this whole time, though he wouldn’t know why.

“No, he doesn’t,” She announces with a proud tip of the chin, “But I doubt any man really does.”

“You think I can’t?” He asks, not being able to stop himself from going down that road.

“Oh, you can,” BoA says brightly, her kitten heel brushing against his calf, “But you won’t.”

“I won’t,” Yunho doesn’t know why he’s smiling but he never could explain what it is about her that makes him feel so light, so satisfied…dare he say, happy, “I won’t”

~*~*~*~

“Please –“

“No “

“But –“

“No”

“Yunho –“

“No”

She sighs and throws her stockings down on the couch. “You don’t even hear me out.”

Yunho offers a comforting smile and walks over to the drink trolley. “Only because I know you’ll try to talk me into saying ‘yes’.”

“How do you know that when you haven’t even heard a word of what I have to say?!” BoA throws her arms up in the air in exasperation, “Be a darling and make me a dry martini, would you?”

“Isn’t it too early for a drink?”

“Look who’s talking, boozehound,” She retorts, letting out a very unladylike snort, “Anyway, that’s what I wanted to talk about. Let’s go for a swing; dance for the night and drink into the next sunset.”

The glasses in his hands come close to slipping out of them but he quickly slams them down on the tray. “You’re asking me to take you to a speakeasy?”

BoA blinks. “Did it sound like I was talking about someplace else?”

Yunho shakes his head, pouring himself a glass of whiskey. “I was right to say no from the very beginning.”

“Oh, come on,” She sulks, “I know what you get up to once you leave here. You can take me with you this time. It will be fun!”

“Until I end up doing something stupid,” Yunho murmurs under his own breath, “Like feeling you up, or worse, kissing you.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing” He says quickly, spinning around to face her before shoving her requested drink into her hand, “If you want to drink, you can drink here –“

“Oh, really?” She glares, voice dripping with sarcasm, “I didn’t know that I was allowed to do whatever I want in my own resident before this. Cheers to that!”

“Look,” Yunho tries, plopping down on the chair next to hers, “Your father would kill me, would you really want that to happen to me?”

She flashes a cheek smile. “Maybe”

“And here I was thinking that I’ve grown on you”

“But you have,” BoA sits up, tugging her knees under as she looks at him with eager eyes, “I’ll like you even more if you take me to out.”

“You would?”

She perks up even more at this. “I really, really would.”

Yunho scoffs, getting up on his feet and heads for the bathroom. “Too bad.”

~*~*~*~

If anyone asks him later on, Yunho will say the party came to him and not the other way around. Changmin spent the first twenty minutes honking from outside the gate then finds even more guts than he already has (he blames Yoona for that) to climb over, falling with a loud ‘ow’ onto the freshly cut grass. How he manages to locate the door with his condition, Yunho will never know but he gives him credit for the five minutes of persistent ringing of the doorbell. More credit for forcing him into the backseat and BoA, well she didn’t need any encouragement, she was more than happy to cooperate with Changmin’s wild antic.

“This will be fun!” Changmin parks the car with a violent screech, sending BoA to tip forward like a ragdoll. Luckily, Yunho’s quick enough to make a grab for her arm or else it’d be both their heads at the next weekly meeting.

“This is a bad idea,” Yunho whispers to the younger man, slamming the car door with the hope that it would come right off, “You’re playing with fire, Changmin.”

“And you,” Changmin sways on his feet as he jabs at Yunho’s forehead with his fore finger. He shoots the doorman a charming smile, then continues, “You, mister, you need to take that stick out of your .”

“I’m on duty –“

“Changmin is right,” BoA interrupts, glancing at Changmin with a real sense of fondness, “You can’t go on manhandling me! You’ve got to let me have some real fun. I promise I won’t speak of this to anyone.”

“That’s the spirit!” Changmin cheers, clasping his hand over Yunho’s back as he leads him through the door.

It’s dark inside before it gets bright. Ten seconds in the absence of light is all it took for BoA’s cold fingers to warm itself in his palm.

~*~*~*~

Yunho likes fun – he likes big parties, small parties, after parties. He likes BoA – her quips, her wits, her flare. Expectedly two of his favorite things combined, should be more than pleasing. Except that’s not the case.

She’s not a flapper. She’s not a Jazz singer. She’s the daughter of the most feared mafia boss of all time and she’s dancing on the bar stool.

“You’re off your nuts!” Yunho yells over the drums, the trumpets and whatever the musicians get up to this day but BoA doesn’t hear him; how could she over all this commotion?

“You should sit back and enjoy this,” Sooyoung drawls in amusement, “It’s not often that you can say that you’ve seen the great BoA Kwon boogie at some downtown club.”

Pushing pass a couple of whooping boys, Yunho bites out, “Precisely why this will be the talk of the town by the end of the night.”

“You worry too much, ya know?” Sooyoung chuckles, “We’re at the cheapest place with the cheapest kind. I doubt her father will associate with this lot.”

“This lot?!” Siwon appears out of nowhere, throwing his arm around her shoulder, “You should watch what you say, girl, this cheap place is providing you free drinks seven days a week.”

“Wh –”

“Have you seen her?” Yunho butts in, shutting the both of them up at once, “If you have then you know it’s not very hard for her to get free drinks elsewhere.”

“Thank you,” Sooyoung mouths in gratitude, pushing him forward into the growing crowd.

Yunho tries not to watch. It’s wrong to do so. Because even if he’s established it hundreds of time that he does, indeed find her incredibly attractive and admirable in every way a man could possibly feel for a woman – he should never let it show. But how long can a man hold it in before his true intention shows? A long time for him, Yunho had always been told to have the most tolerant out of the whole gang but clearly, BoA’s his open wound.

“Get down!”

She casts him a carefree look over her shoulder, rubbing shoulders with Yoona and her barely there outfit. “No! How ‘bout you get up here?”

“You tell him!” Yoona encourages, blowing a kiss to Changmin who’s sitting behind the barstool, practically drooling like a love sick idiot, “It’s about time that you stop actin’ like such a wet blanket, Yunho!”

Ready to explode, Yunho knocks out the two boys in his way despite their very unhappy ‘hey’ that follows. “You’ve had your fun, BoA. We’re going home.”

“Says who?”

Pulling down the hem of her scarlet red dress, Yunho groans and begs, “Don’t do this”

She leans down to his level, her smirk so smug that it makes him want to kiss it right off her face. He will not smile, Yunho keeps telling himself like a broken record but he can feel it bubbling up again – the burst of warmth whenever she’s around. Yes, he wants to kiss her. He think he’s been wanting to do that from the moment he laid eyes on her but especially now, when she looks like nothing can beat her down.

“Give me an Abe’s Cabe”

Yunho can barely breathe. “W – what?!”

“Tip me.” She repeats herself, this time with more confidence in her demand.

Yoona breaks into jolly laughter, rocking her hips to the music. “You heard the girl, give her what she wants!”

“You can get down here and I’ll give you the dough”

“Nu-uh,” She wags her finger, then winks at Yoona, “Here.”

‘Here’ is down the deep V cut of her dress, where Yunho’s been trying not to look all night. BoA wants him to stick the bill between her s. Changmin’s been serving too much booze, if not then BoA had hit her head back on the car ride here.

“Go on.” The devil urges, twirling a curl around her painted finger.

With a grunt, Yunho pulls a five dollar bill from his pocket and nods at the bartender. The man seems to under his trouble and slides over a shot of vodka. You’ll be the death of me, Yunho narrows his eyes at BoA and downs the drink in one go because god knows he needs it if he’s going to do this. Taking one last big breath, Yunho straightens the little piece of paper and quick as he can, slides the bill down the front of her dress. Her skin is so soft, even softer than he had anticipated. Yunho gulps down his moan but he knows it’s clear to her that he’s enjoying this way more than he should.

It’s funny how she looks taken aback by what she had asked of him in the first place. It’s funnier how they’re smiling at each other like age old lovers the next second when she jumps into his arm and he catches her with a small groan.

They laugh at or with each other, Yunho will never know but he will always know that when she presses a kiss on his cheeks on this night; it means…everything.

There’s something about BoA that he can’t quite put his fingers on – it’s not the way she throws her chocolate curls over her shoulder when she laughs, not the way her rouge painted pout curves into the most beautiful of smiles when she looks over to him under her set of lashes, not the way she blushes the most delightful shade of red whenever he’s near. It’s not any of those things; Yunho suspects it’s her subconscious flirting that gets him so much. At least he thinks she’s not aware of it – mob boss’s only daughter sweet on her lowly bodyguard doesn’t seem like a very realistic.

Yunho’s been leaning against the side of the fancy new car for hours now, the sun has fallen and the moon has risen. The spare packet of cigarette that Jaejoong keep in the front seat is the only thing that’s keeping him from doing something stupid; like sliding his hands along her creamy thighs and eases up the hem of her ridiculously long dress – yes, definitely a bad idea. But he wanted to, so badly and maybe she wanted him to too. Maybe.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding from me”

He has to hold in a groan at the sound of her silky voice. Dropping a freshly lit cigarette on the ground, he puts it out with the heel of his polished shoes. “I wasn’t aware that we were playing a game of hide and seek.”

“It doesn’t have to be if you stop hiding,” BoA says with a coquettish grin, her heels clicking against the ground as she comes closer.

Chuckling, Yunho stuffs his hands in his pockets and avoid her curious gaze. “What’s the fun in that?”

“Do you prefer that I leave you alone then?”

Yunho wants to pretend that they’re not on the same page in this conversation; that he had no clue of the double meaning of her words. She’s playing with fire, he thinks she doesn’t know it yet but if she keeps pushing him like this then she’ll get a taste of the true nature of men.

“No,” Yunho shakes his head, flashing her a small smile, “Your father, my boss has given me order to keep an eye on you. How am I supposed to do my job if you’re far away.”

BoA sniggers, now standing so close to him that her fur coat is tickling his side. “It’s nice to know that I’m just a job to you.”

“Of course not,” He denies without a moment of hesitation, “You’re not ‘just a job’, you’re my favorite job.”

She looks up at him for a moment then bursts into a melodic laughter. He’s relieved to hear that his little joke has evoked some humor, hopefully enough for them to move pass this subject. It’s making him incredibly nervous. Funny really, he has killed countless men, had a gun held to his head, dealt with first rate criminal and a doll like her is the one that makes him tongue tied like a schoolboy on his first date.

“Is that so?” BoA teases, “Are you going to keep this job then?”

No, it will be Jaejoong’s soon enough. “If I could, I would.”

Then she’s leaning in close to him, her heel claded feet touching his own and wetting her red lips. Yunho watches as her tongue brushes over her bottom lips before disappearing into that hot little mouth again. It’s such an innocent gesture, one that shouldn’t excite him so but every move she makes is so incredibly mesmerizing to him.

“I think you should.”

He’s been so well-behaved this whole evening – at the restaurant, on the drive back but now, he feels his restraint against her weakening. “I have to follow order, you know that BoA.”

“Whose? My father’s?” She asks, her eyes burning into his, “You’re my bodyguard. Don’t you think you should be following my orders?” 

She wakes up with sunlight in her eyes and her comforter firmly tucked around her, swallowing in pain when she feels the headache coming on from last night’s alcohol. There’s a bottle of water resting on her bedside table, as well as a glass of orange juice. She gratefully drinks it, waiting for the pressure inside her head to subside a little.

What happened last night? She furrows her eyebrows then massages her temples. She vaguely recalls the feeling of his strong arms holding her up, feather-like touch upon her skin, gentle whispers, and the fringe of his hair falling across his forehead. The image causes her cheeks to flush a few shades more red. She hopes with all her might that she didn’t say or do anything stupid in front of him, but no matter how hard she tries to remember, she has no recollection whatsoever. Dang it, Soojung. Her heart dreads seeing him again this morning but she can’t forget the image of his dark silhouette hovering over her, murmuring in her ear, and somehow, with Jongin, she feels…safe? It’s a foreign feeling, and she would be lying if she says it doesn’t scare her.

Soojung is snapped out of her reverie when Chorong knocks on the door. “Breakfast is ready,” she smiles sweetly, and Soojung decides that she really likes this Chorong girl. By the time Soojung gets ready and walks into the dining room, she almost forgets that she’s trying to avoid Jongin until she sees him right