He was aware she was playing with him. Through the years that they grew up together, she sometimes pay too much attention to him that he felt like she was genuinely interested in him but then she would suddenly ignore him as if he didn’t exist at all the next that he even questioned his existence himself.

“But probably not now,” her voice broke into his reverie, bringing him back to the present. “You’re still too innocent and naïve for what I have in mind.”

“Innocent? Naïve?” he repeated.

“Yep,” she said, smacking her lips. “I’ll give it a few more years, let you see the world and experience it then I’ll do what I want with you. I don’t think you can keep up with me right now.”

“I can’t keep up with you?” he repeated again. She laughed. If she wasn’t such a , Jiyong would have told her how her laughter reminded him of tinker bell for some reason but then since she was a , he preferred to keep his mouth shut and just glared at her. So the girl thought he was too innocent and naïve to keep up with her, huh?

“Aww, don’t be too sad. You’ll get there,” she said with a wink and then turned around, laughing. The sound of her laughter made him ground his teeth together and just snapped. With a growl, he grabbed her arm and turned her back around to face him. With a deeper growl, he pulled her body to his and smashed their mouths together.

They shared an open-mouthed angry kiss and he can’t help but pull her body closer to his, wanting it to sink into his. He wanted to get close, closer if possible. The logical part of his brain seemed to have disappeared and nowhere to be found. All he could think of was , her tongue, her skin – everything about her was smooth, sweet and soft – so soft it was driving him to the edge.

He felt him smile against the kiss – that and the need for air made him pull away. He was breathing hard, his chest going up and down. He stared at her for a long time before the realization hit him. He jumped right into her trap. He just then realized that she was egging him on to get what she wanted. She must have read the look on his face because he grinned wide at him. “What Dara wants, Dara gets,” she whispered.

With a light giggle, she turned around again and waded through the water until she reached the end of the pool. Without another glance at him, she climbed out of the pool, went to the lounge chair and lied down on her stomach.

He remained where he was for a few seconds, wanting to kick himself in the shin. He should have known she was just egging him on but he just. . .lost it. Anyone in Adam’s league would probably understand how it feels to be questioned regarding your innocence and your ability to keep up with a girl in terms of. . . intimacy.

He always slips. Years of practice and he still slips. He had years of practicing not to react to anything she does. One, every employee of the household (who survived her wrath and tantrums) learned it was the best way to handle her. Two, he wanted to prove that she can’t get everything she wants because it was just too impossible for someone to have everything.

Although not intentional, but he always slips and she still always ends up getting what she wanted. He felt so stupid that he suddenly had the urge to drown himself in the pool. But since he can’t do that, he resorted to frowning and mentally swearing himself off. He waded through the waters and climbed out of the pool. He then marched to the little cottage where he was staying with his mother. The moment he entered the place, he went straight into the bathroom and cooled down under the shower spray.

He leaned his palms against the wall and slightly bowed his head. With his eyes closed, his head suddenly gave him a flash of the girl’s face just when he shortened the distance between their faces. He remembered how soft and sweet she felt – the softest and sweetest he had so far. It makes him wonder just how a she-devil could be that soft and sweet. Now that he had a taste of her, her popularity among guys seemed justified.

He shook his head to get rid of thoughts of her. The last thing he wants is for him to develop an interest on her. They live in two different worlds and besides, he won’t be able to stand her iness. She’s used to getting what she wants with just a flick of a finger or a few words but he’s used to working hard to get what he needs. He stopped wanting as he learned it was better to think of what you need and you’ll need instead of wanting things that you can survive without. Although there’s one thing that he both wanted and needed and that would be getting out of the household.

He’s not being ungrateful. He could actually not thank the patriarch for financially supporting him since primary school but he couldn’t say it was that easy being an errand boy of the household. If it was only the old man, maybe he wouldn’t even think of leaving but the old man never stays in the house for more than a month so they’re usually stuck with the she-devil and she pretty much made it not easy on them.

He was in the middle of drying himself with a towel when he heard the front door opened and closed. “Jiyong?” his mom called.

Securing the towel wrapped around his waist, he went to greet his mother. “Mom?”

“What did you do?” she asked, looking half-worried and half-angry.

He knew what she was talking about. For years, his mom never failed to remind him his place and role in the household. When he was just a kid, he used to always want to play with the she-devil since she was the only person around his age in the place. He wasn’t the type to disobey an order or anything his mother asked him to do but there were times when he did attempt to try to play with the girl. She had always been grumpy and she used to always throw a tantrum a lot every time she loses a game they play. This usually ends up with a servant or an employee getting fired just because she was having one heck of a tantrum. It was a miracle he and his mother were never kicked out from the house.

“She egged me on, I reacted. That was my mistake. It’s not going to happen again.”

“You better make sure it won’t happen again,” she said. “The last thing we want is for her to develop an interest on you.”

He nodded. He knew what that meant as well. Sandara Park gets interested on a lot of things and when she does, she makes sure she’ll get it but she easily loses interest as well and can easily throw a lot of things away. He knew that if the girl develops an interest on him, get what she wanted and gets tired of him, they’ll probably end up living in the streets.

“I’m going to assign you to the greenhouse for the mean time,” she told him. Not knowing what to say, he just nodded. His mom was the head of the servants. She organizes things and assigns tasks to others. Now it was probably a wise decision to let him work in the greenhouse because the she-devil only went there once and never went back in again.

A knock on the door made the both of them jumped in surprise. His mother turned around and headed towards the door. Jiyong went back to the room to put some clothes on. Since the cottage was small, he managed to tune in to what was going on. “We’re so scared; we don’t know what to do. You and Jiyong are the only ones who could face her at times like this without getting fired.”

After buttoning up his jeans, Jiyong went out of the room and joined his mother at the door. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Young madam just received a phone call from her father telling her he’s arriving with her sister and she just started throwing a fit.”

“Sister?” he repeated. “But Dara’s an only child.”

His mother’s eyes turned towards him and narrowed. It was too late to realize his mistake, he already said out her nickname out loud. He knew he’s going to get probably an hour or two of scolding later.

“Half-sister,” Jiwoo amended, her eyes bugging out.

“Oh dear,” his mother muttered.

“She got a half-sister?” I asked again. “It seemed like she also just found out today.”

Silence embraced them. They were all shocked. The old man was kind, unlike his daughter although he is not a saint but he was devoted to his late wife that he even kept her ash in the greenhouse where the madam used to always stay (well, at least that’s what his mother told him. He never saw the she-devil’s mother because the time they were employed, she was already dead). Words would not be enough to describe how shock he was to find out the old man actually looked the other way and even produced a child.

Now, Sandara Park has a foul attitude but she’s foulest when her father’s around. He can’t help but feel she’s doing it on purpose – probably to get his attention or to simply piss him off. He tried figuring her out for a very long time and he just can’t that he gave up on it. It was human nature to think that there’s always more than meets the eyes but Sandara Park is just how she is. She may be beautiful outside but he can’t imagine how rotten she must be on the inside.

He confess he used to have a crush on her when he was younger and stupid, maybe still has but he would never fall for her or even think of her as an ideal woman to marry. She’s high maintenance and he prefers simple. “Get dressed,” his mother turned to him.

“I’m already dressed up,” he answered.

“Wear your uniform,” she said then turned back to Jiwoo and started giving instructions. That made him smile. He likes watching his mother give orders or instructions to others. It made her sound so confident, strong and in control and he liked hearing her sound like that.

He went to get his uniform from his room and started changing. He wasn’t really sure if it was right to call it a uniform as it’s more of a suit made for servants but it was nevertheless a mark of his occupation. He only usually only wear it on special occasions or if there are guests as what the master of the house decreed. He was allowed to not wear it all the time as his tasks usually involves getting literally soiled – he’s responsible for the garden, the pool and majority of manual jobs which requires the strength of a guy. There used to be fifty to a hundred employees before but there were only ten of them now. Out of the remaining ten employees in the house, there are only three guys left and out of the three, he’s the only unmarried guy who happened to be the same age with the she-devil.

There were a lot of guys the same age as him who used to share the work with him but they obviously got fired. The she-devil played on all of them and all of them made the mistake into falling prey into her tricks. She would openly flirt with them for a couple of weeks before seducing them into her bed. They always end up falling into her tricks no matter how many times they warned them or for that matter he warned them.

Next thing they knew, the she-devil is laughing at a shirtless employee and starts throwing insults. She’d always ask out loud for everyone to hear, “Did you seriously think I’ll sleep with you?” And she’d follow it with, “You’re fired”.

After changing, he stepped out of the cottage and went straight into the main front door of the house and joined the five other servants who were already waiting there. “Where are the others?” he asked.

“The kitchen,” one answered. “They’re panicking as the master will be here few minutes and they haven’t got anything prepared yet. I can’t understand why he didn’t call earlier. He usually informs your mother of the date of his arrival early to give us time to prepare but this. . . and I heard he brought his daughter with another woman. Is it true? Do you think she’s as devil as Miss Sandara?”

“I can’t remember gossiping about who pays you part of your job description,” a sneer came from somewhere, making most of them jump. “You’re fired.”

“Wh-what? B-but. . .”

The she-devil stepped in front of the poor maid and raised a brow at her. “I suggest you get out my sight or I’ll make you jobless for the rest of your life. You decide.”

The girl started hiccupping until she eventually breaks down into sobbing and started running towards the kitchen. When the sound of the girl’s footsteps and sobbing faded out, awkward and tensed silence filled the air. Jiyong was tempted to do something but he held himself back. He mentally reminded himself of his position in the household, of the promise he made to himself and his mother. Hold back, he scolded himself.

They all kept their mouths shut as they waited while the she-devil would make growling and hissing sounds every now and then. When the sound of a car’s purr started getting nearer, they all straightened up and tensed even more. They all wanted to steal a glance at the young madam but too scared to do so but they felt the change in the air. It grew heavier and they could sense it was coming from her.

They started hearing voices from afar, the words indistinct. Not long after that, a loud laughter rang. Jiyong’s glanced at the she-devil, not being able to stop himself from doing so. They all knew who that person was. But the girl’s face was blank. Then they came to view. They all said bowed their heads and welcomed Park Deojeon back.

Sandara Park didn’t bow nor greet her father. She just stood there, carefully eyeing him. “Dara,” the old man simply nodded at her. To this, the girl crossed her arms in her chest and kept her silence. Deojeon didn’t show any reaction to this but instead turned towards the door and called, “Kiko dear, come.”

They all straightened up and held their breath. A tall girl with a young-looking face and a short hair materialized in front of them. She was wearing a dress which showcased her long legs perfectly. “I want you all to meet my daughter, Kiko”

“Daughter?” Sandara Park snorted. “Or mistress in disguise as a daughter?”

Jiyong watched Kiko flinched as if she’s been slapped as she stared wide-eyed at her half-sister. He was too busy looking at her that the sound of a resounding slap and a chorus of gasps made him jump. As he looked, he saw Mr. Park right in front of the she-devil. “Kiko is your sister and you better show her respect!”

“Wow,” she breathed. “Did you really just slap me because of your new precious daughter?” She then laughed and then turned her attention towards the other girl. “Congratulations!”

“I. . . I’m. . . I’m sorry, I didn’t. . .” Kiko stammered.

“I. . . I’m. . . . I’m sorry,” the she-devil mimicked in a mocking tone. In a blink, she suddenly jumped on the other girl and started pulling her hair out. Deojeon immediately wrapped an arm around Kiko and tried pulling her away from Sandara’s hands but to no avail. Jiyong jumped into the rescue and wrapped two arms around the she-devil’s tiny waist and pulled her away from her half-sister.

The other girl started crying in her father’s arms and the latter did not have any option but to console her. He had the urge to face his other daughter again but he stopped himself. Instead, he fixed his stare on her. “You better learn to respect my wishes, Sandara Park or you won’t enjoy the privileges you have right now again.”

“I’d like to see you try,” she hissed. “Let me go Kwon or else I’ll fire you as well.”

Jiyong glanced up at the old man and when the latter nodded, he let go of the she-devil. “You,” the she-devil pointed at her half-sister. “You’re going to regret you came here and oh Daddy, thought you might want to know. Respect begets respect.”