“What do you know about Tiger?”

The man smirked, his eyes never leaving you, watching your every move. He stepped forward, launching a jab aimed at your head. You sighed internally. Why are they always so predictable? You ducked. Sidestepping to his left, you launched a punch to his stomach, surprising him with your agility. Your fist made contact with his stomach, possibly fracturing a few of his lower ribs. I should probably control my punches a bit more, you thought. Before the man can even react, you grabbed his arm and turned, pinning it on his back. Without warning, his legs gave out, making him fall flat to the ground with you perched on his back, still holding his arm tight.

“I’ll ask you one more time. What do you know about Tiger?”

After calling for backup to take care of the rest, you buckled on your seatbelt when your phone rang.

“Yes, chief?”

“I heard you just caught one of Tiger’s ex-accomplice.”

“Yes. We’re on our way back to the headquarters to interrogate him. I—“

“I need you to come in now. We’ll be meeting for your next assignment. I’ll send you the address.”

The line went off before you can even reply. Shaking your head in disbelief, you pulled out of the parking lot and made your way to the main road.

You arrived at the hotel in 15 minutes, making your way towards the elevator and to the 14th floor. As soon as the elevator doors opened, you saw the backs of 2 agents from your agency huddled together, watching and laughing at a video on their phone. You walked towards them and stopped just behind the nearest one from you. Unbelievable. They haven’t even noticed me yet.

“So what are you guys doing?”

Their bodies flinched at the sound of your voice, returning to stand on their original posts with serious faces and eyes trained on anything else but yours.

“Relax. It’s just me” you coaxed. “By the way, you’re the one in charge right?” you said, turning to the man on your right.

“Y-yes.”

“You know, you shouldn’t let the chief catch you slacking off next time…okay?” you smiled.

The guy nodded, allowing himself to relax a bit.

“Oh and one more thing,” you stood in front of him with a smile. You reached out and gave him a light smack on the back of his head. “Never let me catch you slacking off as well. Understood?”

The guy nodded, not daring to move or do anything more and decided that is was safer to just endure the sting of your slap.

“Is the chief inside?” you asked the guy on your left.

“Yes and the VIP is with him as well” he answered, still facing forward.

“The both of you will do your punishments later back at the headquarters, understand?” The men nodded as you opened the door to the room.

“Ah. Here she is.” The chief turned to your direction and nodded in acknowledgement. Seating across him was a man you’ve seen before on TV.

“CEO Choi. It’s nice to officially meet you” you bowed.

He motioned you to sit on the empty chair next to the chief before continuing. “I heard you just finished an assignment?”

“Yes. I was just on the way to interrogate him when I was called in.” You emphasized on the last two words, eyeing the chief.

“Yes, well,” the CEO continued, “I needed you to.” CEO Choi turned to the chief, his eyes as stern as the other’s. “I trust that your daughter is more than qualified for this job, yes?”

The chief straightened up and studied you with pride. “She is. She’s been training and participating in official operations since she was young. I can assure you that she won’t have any problems looking after him.”

“Looking after…him? I’m afraid I don’t understand.” You turned to look at the chief.

CEO Choi unfolded his legs and turned to you. “Starting tomorrow, you’ll be my son’s personal bodyguard. His name is Seungcheol.” He handed you a picture of a young man, dressed in casual clothes hugging a dog. “You’ll be watching over him full time at school and after until he gets fetched by his driver.”

An exclusive job? And in the middle of an important case? What was he thinking pulling me out from the Tiger case? you thought, eyeing your dad.

“You’ll be undercover when accompanying him in class to not raise any unnecessary attention, including his.” CEO Choi continued.

You raised an eyebrow. “Including his?”

“I…think it’s best if he doesn’t know about this. Not yet. I don’t want him worrying over anything else while studying. I expect only good things Ms. Y/N.” CEO Choi said, nodding at your direction.

The chief turned to you and nodded an encouragement. Or maybe encouragement isn’t the right word. More like a silent sign that says ‘We’ll talk about it later’. Years in this field taught you a lot and it included ‘ask questions later if it was a direct order from someone with a higher rank’. Of course, that didn’t stop you from getting mad at being pulled out all of a sudden. But what can you do? The way they put it, it already looks like a done deal.

“Since when did we started a daycare business?” you asked, after seeing CEO Choi out and to his car at the hotel’s entrance.

Your father sighed as he stood beside you. “Y/N, we’ve got a possible lead now and you’ve been working on this case for so long. You need to take a break.”

“A break? A crazed psycho is out there, doing who knows what, who knows where and who knows with who and you’re telling me I need a break? Chief, we need all the help we could get and I’m not just about to sit on the sidelines!”

“Y/N, it’s a done deal. Mr. Choi has graciously assisted us for the past years. Now, he needs our assistance. Besides, no one else is more fitting for this job than you.”

You huffed, shaking your head in disbelief. How can he not see how important this case is more than this Seungcheol person? “So why does he need protection and why now?”

“Seungcheol is almost of age. He’ll be directly participating with their business soon and he’ll need someone who could look after him closely.” Your father turned to glance at you. “You don’t really expect anyone from our agency posing as a student right?”

“Seungkwan can.” You shot back.

“Your partner? He could but then he’ll be in another grade. No.” he turned, placing his hand on your shoulder. “You’re the perfect fit for him, Y/N. You’re the one for the job.”

And so this whole new thing started. All the necessary preparations were already taken care of: Paperwork, alibis…basically a false background. Everything was arranged for you to be in the same class and the same schedules with him. That way, the only time you’ll have to purposely stick to him (or maybe watch from a distance?) would be during lunch and free time. All you needed to do was to act like a normal student. Except you never went to a normal school. All the education you needed were taught to you by your tutors and seniors in the academy.  But really, how different could it be?

“Watch out!”

You jumped in surprise as you almost collided with someone and felt a strong arm at the back of your shoulder that held you from falling on your back. You hugged your textbooks closer as you realized how close you were from injuring yourself on your first day, not to mention how close you are with that person’s face.

“Don’t worry. I got you.” The guy smiled. You immediately right yourself and turned, searching the surroundings if there was anyone that saw your embarrassing moment. “And so the male lead ran into the female lead and fell for each other in first sight…just like in dramas huh?” the guy spoke with a hint of something in his voice. Was that actual flirting you hear? Your brows furrowed at the thought. “Uh…you don’t have to glare. A little thanks and maybe your name and phone number would be nice?”

Definitely flirting. After glaring some more, you started walking away, desperate to just get out of there. “Or maybe just your name?” the voice called out.

That was him. That was definitely him. You shook your head and continued walking until you were out of his sight. That was definitely the guy you’re now bound to babysit for who knows how long: Choi Seungcheol.

“Everyone, I have an announcement to make,” the teacher moved in front of the table and surveyed the room. She then turned to you and motioned you to come in. You walked in the room, watched by more than a dozen pairs of eyes. Who wouldn’t? Classes officially started almost a month ago. And there you are, being introduced by your teacher, explaining to the class that you father got reassigned causing you to move and transfer schools. An overused but a surprisingly effective excuse, you thought.

“I hope you don’t have bad eyesight, Y/N.” The teacher placed a hand on your shoulder before pointing at the empty seat at the very back of the class. “You can seat beside Seungcheol over there.”

Your heart sunk. Seating next to him after that encounter? Well, that sounds just like torture. You sat down and got yourself settled and prepared for today’s class, distracting yourself with thoughts of how different it would be from the academy. Maybe this whole thing isn’t as bad as it looks? As much as you hated it, you had your pride and dignity to uphold. You have to be professional. Or at least try.

“Hey” you heard a rather loud whisper next to you. “You’re the one from earlier! The girl I saved from falling!” You turned to see him behind his book, giving you a little wave. “I’m Seungcheol.” He smiled.

You studied his appearance properly this time and he looked just like in the picture you were given. He’s…the same age as you? He’s like a child. You pursed your lips and turned your attention back to the teacher.

“So your name’s Y/N, huh?” he continued, oblivious of the fact that you weren’t interested. Back in the academy, something like this would’ve immediately earned you both disciplinary exercises and you never liked that. “I already got your name but I still haven’t received your number as thanks.” He tilted his head and smiled innocently.

You closed your eyes as you let out a sigh. He’s definitely one of those really bright and friendly people that you just found exhausting. “Here’s my thanks…” you turned to face him and looked him square in the eye.

Seungcheol’s smile slowly fell as he read your lips. “Leave me alone.”

You picked a bench near the shade of a tree and sat, unwrapping your 3-layered sandwich. Nearby, you can just see Seungcheol playing basketball with some guys from your class, a perfect spot to keep watch over him and not look like a stalker.

“The day’s almost over. So far, so good.” You took a bite off your sandwich. “And as much as I hate you right now,” you turned to his general direction, “maybe seating beside you will make the job easier. If only he’d keep quiet and stop distracting me though.” You sighed.

You pulled out your phone and sent Seungkwan a text message.

“Any updates on Tiger?”

“Still not talking. I officially hate this guy.”

You shook your head, still in disbelief of the time being wasted. You stood up and started walking when you felt a hand on your shoulder. Out of instinct, you grabbed it and pulled, rolling the person off your hip and watched as the ground knocked the wind out of him. Realizing who it was, your eyes widened and you immediately crouched to see if Seungcheol was alright. “I’m sorry! I…uh, does it hurt that much?” you winced, seeing the pain on his face.

Seungcheol rolled on his side, wincing as he tried to make sense of the pain. “You know, I’ve done this a lot in taekwondo but it still hurts” he said, confusion visible on his face at your sudden action.

Great. You were asked to watch over him but you almost injured him. Almost. Maybe. Thankfully, that part of the land was soft and only had grass to cushion his fall. Also, it was a relief that there was no one nearby to witness what just happened. It would be a pain explaining what just happened.

“Well, that’s what would happen if you’re to continue talking to me.” You said, helping him stand once you were sure there were no serious injuries.

“Why?”

You raised an eyebrow at him.

“Why don’t you want me talking to you?” he said, massaging his shoulder.

Because you’re the reason why I’m here babysitting you instead of capturing Tiger! “Because I hate people,” you lied. Well, that or you had to explain everything to him…which you are not allowed to say. Besides, he doesn’t have to know. Not yet at least. “Just stop talking to me or your back will get broken for real next time.” You turned to walk away and hurried back to class.

“All people?” you heard him yell.

Apparently, he did not get your message. Or at least, he found a loophole to your statement. During class, a neatly folded paper landed on your desk. You looked up to see if the teacher was looking before taking a glance at him. He motioned to the paper and smiled as you started unfolding it.

“How about teachers? They’re people. P.S. I’m not talking to you, right? I’m writing to you ;)” You turned to shoot a glare at him as you crumbled the paper and throw it into the trash bin.

“How about parents? They’re people too.” He jogged beside you after school ended. You turned, ready to fight him for real when you saw that he was holding his phone, playing a recording of his voice. He wiggled his eyebrows, smiling, knowing that he wasn’t doing anything wrong.

“Seungcheol!” a voice called before you even got the chance to. You turned to see the long-haired guy he was playing basketball with during lunch. Walking next to him was a guy with weird hair color from your class. Was it Joshua? “Are you coming with us today?” the guy probably named Joshua asked.

“Nah Josh. I gotta be home early today.”

“Oh hey.” Long-Hair turns to you with a smile. “I’m Jeonghan. You’re new, right? I haven’t seen you before.”

Great. More people. You turned to them and offered a nod before walking away. You can’t wait to go back to HQ and get away from all of this.

“What’s with her?” Jeonghan asked, adjusting his bag over his shoulder.

Joshua shrugged. “She’s new in class. Probably shy or something.”

Seungcheol turned to see you almost at the gate and spotted a black car. “Anyway, my ride’s here so I’ll go with you guys next time, okay?” he patted their shoulders and ran.

Nearing the gate, you saw a black car parked nearby and a person standing guard next to it. The man turned to your direction and locked eyes with you, standing straight the moment he recognized who you are. Ah. It’s one of the guys from the agency, you thought.

“So…you got dragged in this too?” you said, stopping just a few feet away from him. The guy gave you an unsure nod just as Seungcheol caught up.

“Oh were you guys talking?”

You glanced at the guy, his mouth opening and closing but not saying anything. Looks like he’s sworn to secrecy too, you thought. “He was asking me if I knew a Seungcheol and where he was.”

“Ohh you’re talking to me!” Seungcheol beamed at you.

“And you’re talking to me when I clearly told you not to.”

Seungcheol turned to the guy with a questioning and look of disbelief on his face. “Jeez. So angry.” He shrugged as he tucked his hands in his pockets. “Well, I’ll try again tomorrow. Bye Y/N!” he waved at you as he got in the car.

The ’s eyes met yours once again, giving you a small nod as he got in the car and drove off.

“Ah…it’s been a long day.” You shook your head as you walked back home. Hopefully, the next days would be better than today.