It was a cloudy afternoon during free period. Exams were fast approaching but it seemed like most of the class were too relaxed about it. While most of the class were outside to watch some guys play futsal, you chose to stay in the room to let a classmate copy notes from you. It started drizzling and you wondered where Seungcheol was since he said he’ll be playing with them. A classmate came up to you and asked about one of the subjects you shared. When you turned back, you finally spotted him enjoying the game despite the rain.

Just before the next class started, you went out to buy a drink in the vending machine in the hallway only to be greeted by a drenched Seungcheol coming up the stairs with a small towel around his neck. 

“Did you win?” you asked nonchalantly, opening the cap of the bottled juice.

Seungcheol smirked. “Of course” he flung his arm around your shoulder, dragging you towards the hall. 

“Get away you’re going to ruin my uniform.”

He shook his head, scrunching his nose. “Not gonna.”

As soon as you got back in the room, Seungcheol let go and sat in front of the fan, drying his hair with the towel. You sat in your seat, fixated at his back appearance. Was his back always this broad?

“You were watching.” He called.

You blushed, quickly shifting your gaze to your desk. “Huh?”

Seungcheol rested the towel on his head and turned to you. “Earlier. I made a goal after I saw you watching. Did you see it?”

“What are you talking about? I wasn’t watching you.”

“But you were.” He smiled. “That’s part of your job right?”

Ah. Right. “Well yeah. But you were with your friends so…” He chuckled some more, turning his attention back to the fan. He was teasing. Definitely teasing. “Just dry your hair properly.”

“Oh now you’re concerned.”

You picked up your eraser and threw it, perfectly hitting the back of his head.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“For being such a smartass.”

Seungcheol pouted, scrunching his nose before smiling. “I’m alright. I don’t catch colds easily. Anyway, we’re playing again at lunch. Watch me properly this time.”

Classes passed by fast and it was lunchtime. Before you can even say no, Seungcheol grabbed your hand and ran to the steps near the field and made you watch them from the sidelines. As annoying as he is at times, you liked seeing him like this. When he’s with his friends, he’s not some heir of a big company. He was just a regular student like everyone else. A kid who just does what he loves most. A simple person who’s friendly and sweet. And at times like this, you can’t help but feel pity for both of you. With his case, although he managed to have a normal life, he still can’t escape the inevitable future of having a really big responsibility and with his life being in constant danger. As for you, you had no choice but to see the world as it is at a young age, dealing with criminals all the time. How twisted the world is for the both of you to be forced to mature early.

“You alright?” Seungcheol asks, leaning down to study your face. School just ended and you were both waiting for his driver at the gate. “You look tired. You’re not sick are you?” he said, placing his palm against your forehead.

You moved your head away from his palm, your nose scrunched in disgust before smiling at him. “No schedules for tomorrow?”

Seungcheol frowned. Something’s up but you obviously didn’t want to talk about it. “None. We both get to rest tomorrow.”

A black car came into view and stopped in front of you. Seungcheol opened the door and went in, lowering the window and poking his head out. He sat there, studying your face.

“What?” you said, letting out a small laugh.

“Go home and rest okay?”

You smiled. Seungcheol was a lot of things. He’s a kid. He’s friendly. He’s very playful almost to the point of being annoying. But he’s also very caring. “You too.”

“Remind me why I had to actually go to school…again?” You whined as you ran your fingers through your hair in frustration.

“Cause I was too young to be in his class and no one else was fit for the job.” Seungkwan replied dutifully, munching on his bread.

It was a Saturday and there were no schedules at all. Not from Seungcheol or from the office. Nothing. Even though it was basically a rest day, you went to the office to see if there was anything to do. Maybe even updates on Tiger. But there was none. Except for an appointment between you and homework. And it’s taking you ages that it’s past lunch time already. Normally, you would’ve enjoyed school work but you were just so out of it that you can’t concentrate anymore. And as if it wasn’t stressful enough, exams were just right around the corner and you haven’t finished studying half your subjects yet.

Seungkwan shook his head and laughed. Today was one of those rare moments where he sees you completely unorganized and would rant to him about it and he’s determined to enjoy it. “Isn’t it fun though? Who knows? You might even experience school romance this time” he teased.

“What do you mean this time?”

“Oh you know. That one time when you had the cutest little crush with Officer Jeon when we were still in training.” He wiggled his eyebrows at you.

You picked up a pencil and threw it at him, hitting him on his shoulder.

“Ow!”

“That was ages ago. We’ve never heard from him again after graduation, you know?” You turned to back to your screen. “Besides, I’ve got my hands full with Seungcheol.”

“Eeeexactly.”

You turned to raise an eyebrow at Seungkwan. What was that supposed to mean? You shrugged and went back to typing when your phone rang. “Seungcheol?” you answered.

Seungkwan turned to you, his lips curved into a teasing smile.

“Hey. Are you at the HQ?”

“Yeah. Why?” you rolled your eyes at Seungkwan, turning your back on him. “Do you have to go somewhere?”

“Yep. And I need you to go with me.”

“Uh, okay. Let me just finish some stuff. I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”

“No, I’m on my way there. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Wait what—he hang up. Unbelievable.” you turned to Seungkwan in disbelief.

You managed to add a page’s worth more on your essay before you saw him walk in the office and he looked handsome. Beautiful, even. He waved a hand in front of your face. “Hey. You ready to go?”

You snapped at your thoughts and forced yourself back to reality. “Yeah sure. Let me just go get some stuff. You can sit here.” You motioned at your seat and went to your locker.

Seungkwan was side eyeing him, as he sat there with his hands folded, taking in the details of your desk. It was pretty neat for someone usually swamped with work. His eyes went from your ring binders, a stack of documents, the one and only photo on your desk (your graduation photo from the academy according to the handwriting at the bottom), some textbooks and a sticky note on your computer screen that says

“Hoshi-Woozi?” He asked out loud.

“They’re her favorite artists. She always watch their videos.” Seungkwan informed him without looking away from the monitor screen. “She doesn’t look like it but she actually likes their type of music. A lot.”

“Huh…really?” Seungcheol muttered to himself.

Just then, you came in from the other room with your bag at hand. “I’m all set.”

“Alright let’s go.”

Seungcheol the engine of the car and put on his seatbelt, motioning you to do the same, after arguing that he didn’t want you to drive.

“So, you drove here?”

“Yeah.”

“Without your driver?”

“Yeah.”

“By yourself??”

“…yeah?”

“Do you know how dangerous that could’ve been??”

“Look. I got here safe right?”

“I told them not to give in. I’ll have to talk to them when I get back.” You mumbled to yourself. “Where are we going anyway? Do you have another emergency meeting with Mr. Kim?”

“Nope. Not this time. This one’s much more important.” He smiled as the car entered the main road.

You frowned, thinking about your own ‘appointment’ later. “So…where ARE we going?”

The two of you entered a clothing store filled with casual looking but definitely expensive clothes. You checked.

“Uh…you’re going shopping?”

“First, we got to get rid of that strict looking uniform and go casual. Why were you wearing your uniform anyway?” He asks as he walked towards the first rack of clothes he saw.

“In case you needed to go somewhere last minute.” You nodded to yourself. “Good thing I did right?”

“Uh, no. I told you. We need to go casual for this one.” Seungcheol picked a black jacket and examined it.

“You should’ve told me then. I could’ve went home and change. Don’t you need to change too?”

“Nah I’m good.”

You looked over him. He was wearing a simple black button shirt, black pants and white shoes. You had to admit: he did look stunning even with the simple clothes.

“What kind of meeting are we going to that I have to shop for clothes??”

He walked towards you with a handful of clothes and walked you to the changing room. “Try these then let me have a look at them.”

You tried on the first set he picked out for you and admitted that he’s got good taste in clothes. However, you can’t help but wonder why you had to do this. Did you have to go undercover? After trying on a couple more of clothes, Seungcheol finally chose one, bought it and had you wear it.

“You know, normally the female lead tells the male lead that they don’t want the clothes they bought even though they actually like it.”

“You watch too many dramas, Seungcheol. And for your information, they usually shop for a dress and go to a fancy dinner or an art exhibit after.”

“Shhhh. Let’s go!” he grinned.

All throughout the car ride, Seungcheol dodged any question about this appointment but he was clearly excited like a kid going to the amusement park for the first time. At last, you arrived at the back of a building. You entered from the backdoor and to a well-lit backstage. Just then, a tall guy with bluish black hair and a shorter guy with light brown hair came out from the dressing room. As you stood there, your mouth agape, Seungcheol walked towards them and did complicated hi-fives with both guys.

“Long time no see, long time no see!” The three of them sang in chorus.

“You finally had time to visit us huh?” the tall guy said, patting Seungcheol’s arm. “Thanks for coming.”

“I was surprised when you called me earlier. Is that her?” the shorter one asked, nodding at your direction.

Seungcheol turned to you and motioned you to come closer. “Yep. Well Y/N, you already know them. Hoshi, Woozi, this is Y/N. A friend.”

You turned to look at Seungcheol. A friend?

“I’m a classmate. And a fan.” You smiled at the two in front of you, hoping that it didn’t looked creepy at all.

“A classmate, huh?” Hoshi said, his gaze on both you and Seungcheol. “Are you sure that’s all?”

For some reason, you stood there frozen. You studied his face and he seemed to be studying you back. It’s the real deal: the piercing yet melting signature gaze that he has. You just can’t believe it. It looked even cooler in real life!

“Seungcheol-hyung never really introduced us to any of his classmates. Especially his female…friends,” he smirks.

“Hey.” Seungcheol glared at Hoshi, with the latter replying with an eyesmile. Seungcheol then leaned forward and whispered to them, “Well, she’s actually my bodyguard but let’s not tell the whole world about it.”

They nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, Y/N.” Hoshi said, offering his hand.

“Same here” you squeaked, trying to contain your emotions, and shook his, all traces of being a trained agent leaving your very being to be replaced with your inner fangirl. You really can’t help it though. Kwon Hoshi, who danced to any song given to him with so much passion, is standing right in front of you. And he knows you and smiled at you and even shook your hand! And next to him was the youngest genius composer and producer in the Korean music world. And he was smiling at you with the cutest dimples ever! You’re amazed as to how you’re knees haven’t even gone weak yet.

Seungcheol stood beside you, watching you with great interest and amusement. This was a definite 180 from how you usually act.

“Ah. The person who literally turned Seungcheol-hyung’s world upside down.” Woozi said, extending his hand and shook yours. “You must be really good if you can flip him easily like that.” He says, laughing at Seungcheol.

“What—he told you?” your eyes widened as you looked at him and then Seungcheol. You felt your cheeks turn warm despite the cold temperature in the hall.

Woozi nodded, a Cheshire-like smile on his face. “He was either really impressed or really scared. Probably both.”

“Hey hey what are you talking about? Isn’t it time for you two to go out there? Go away now. Your fans are waiting for you.” Seungcheol said, shooing them away.

“We’ll catch up with you later okay?” The two waved at him and walked towards the entrance to the stage.

You waved back at them and Seungcheol grabbed your hand. “Let’s go find some seats!”

Hoshi and Woozi’s performance was definitely lit. Obviously Woozi made the new song they danced to and Hoshi choreographed it. With the amount of people that showed up, it almost felt like a mini concert. And when it ended, the best thing happened. You and Seungcheol went backstage to meet and hang out with the duo. You also learned that they were friends during middle school and a few more things about Seungcheol.

“You sing and rap??” You turned to him, eyes wide. You were in the car on your way back to the office with Seungcheol driving as bargained. Though he insisted on driving you home, you didn’t like the idea of you getting home safe while he drives back alone. So you both settled on calling his driver to wait for him at the office and Seungkwan will drop you off on his way home after checking if he was still there.

Seungcheol smiled looking like he was still in memory lane. “Yeah. Those were the days. After school we would just hang out somewhere and do music. Weird huh?”

“Kinda. I’ve never heard you sing or rap before.”

“Do you want me to?”

You looked at Seungcheol with a questioning look.

You dress neatly,
though only my eyes think it’s not appropriate
You need to cover even your knees
And only then that I’m satisfied
Buttons all done up until your neck
Don’t let your collarbones show

You raised an eyebrow, looking down on your ripped jeans. “My knees are showing though?”

Seungcheol laughed. “Cause it suits you.” Seungcheol took a quick glance at you and smirked. “Your collarbones are showing though.”

You gasped mockingly, your hand over your collarbones. “Oh no. A tragedy.” You laughed.

A comfortable silence settled between you two as you watched him drive. It was nice to be in an informal environment with him for a change. Just a bit.

“I can see how you three are friends.” You acknowledged as you settled back to your seat. “So why do you not do music with them now?” You turned to face him, studying his expression. “Is it your dad?”

Eyes still trained on the road, Seungcheol let out a sigh. You remember the look of pride on his face while watching his friends. And also how he looked like he wanted to join them badly. “Yeah. But also because I chose this. My dad is a businessman. I’m his heir. So naturally, I’d have to be focused on the business. I know I said before that I didn’t care. But to be very honest? It’s kinda fun. I get to go to places I’ve never been, meet lots of people, and I get to have a cool bodyguard like you,” he turned to smile at you who just gave an eye roll in response, making him laugh. “I’m not kidding!”

“Yeah, whatever” you said facing the front with a smile on your face as the car slowed down to a stop in front of the office building. You looked around. Except for the guards in the night-shift, the place was practically empty. Even the lobby that was usually bustling with busy people looked peaceful. “So what’s the real reason for today?”

Seungcheol thought for a second. “What? Can’t I just hang out with you?” He smiled, facing you.

“…I don’t know. I mean, we already do hang out…kinda…with me watching over you and stuff.” You shrugged. “Still, it was a really nice change of pace. I needed it. Thanks.” You smiled, looking him in the eye.

He turned to the front, feeling warm even though the AC was still on. Today definitely had the most amount of expressions he saw from you and he doesn’t understand why his heart was pounding. Was he coming down with a cold after all? “I know life with me wasn’t exactly what you had in mind–I mean. Wait. That sounds weird. Rewind.”

“It most definitely is Mr. Choi Seungcheol.” You turned to him with a teasing smile. “Go on.”

Seungcheol looked at you only to find himself not able to. His gaze wandered, having trouble on where he should look. “Right. We had a rocky start.”

You nodded, remembering how you met. “You flirted with me on my first day.”

Seungcheol gasped. “I was being nice!” he shook his head. “Anyway, that happened but then I got to know you and you were actually pretty cool so I wanted to do something nice because you deserved it. I was actually going to take you out for dinner like you said earlier but then there was the meeting with Mingyu so that was a fail. Then, I cleared my schedules for today so that we could go but then I saw this note you had on your computer. So, I called Woozi and told him that we’re dropping by. And that’s basically it.”

You smiled. “Thank you sticky note.”

“Hey. You’re supposed to be thanking me.”

“I already did though?” you laughed. “You know, it was definitely a good thing that you found out about it.” Seungcheol turned to face you and saw a look of relief on your face. “I hate wearing fancy dresses and fancy restaurants.”

Seungcheol’s expression softened into a smile. Seeing that look, you gladly ree to him and exited the car.

Seungcheol’s driver who was standing by went in the driver’s seat as Seungcheol exited.

“Oh and Seungcheol?”

Seungcheol turned to look at you.

“I really had fun.” You smiled. “Get home safe.”

“You too. Good night Y/N.”

“Good night.”