Kim Hanbin wasn’t one to complain.

Sure he didn’t grow up in an ideal neighbourhood, his parents weren’t rolemodels and life had threw him onto harsh concrete but he had dealt with it, he had gotten up. He endured the slaps and punches, he had come across every obstacle he had crossed and he had fought his way through if he had to. He knew it would have been in vain to wish for a better, shinier life, no,  he didn’t want to be a charity case or someone to pity. Instead he gave his blood and sweat to make a name for himself. He wasn’t one to give up either.

But Jeon Soyeon made him reconsider.

Oh no it wasn’t that bad, nothing too brutal and he wasn’t sure which of her doings chased her earlier drivers away. She didn’t complain endlessly, nor tried to do her makeup in the car yelling at him to drive slower, in fact she hadn’t criticized his driving style at all but she didn’t make his life easier either. However, instead of behaving annoyingly and almighty like a typical Gangnam girl the reasons rather laid in different aspects.

It was the way she dressed, her style balancing on the fine line between tomboy-ish and girly. She most often wore comfortable, loose clothing paired with a skirt or shorts in the summer heat. Hanbin couldn’t not notice how nice and smooth her legs were and he had caught himself staring multiple times while watching Soyeon exiting the car. It was in the smiles too, those secret ones she had hidden in the corner of while she was texting with someone or those suppressed ones whenever she found something funny, for example when he quickly changed radio station when a cringeworthy Twice song came up just to find an equally lovey-dovey boy group song on a different station. It was in the glint of her ebony eyes whenever she held his gaze through the rear mirror, those dark pits were rather cold on most days but sometimes he could catch the fire in them. Be it after an argument with her brother, being annoyed or even passionate about something, it was there. What’s more, it was in the confidence she walked and in the pride that made her chin held up high.

It all prickled his skin.

He could feel that something in his lower abdomen crawling its way upwards waiting for him to just break and snap. It’s not like she was doing these things on purpose, at least Hanbin doubted she was that sneaky. Still, he found her more and more attractive each day and in his weakest moments, he wished he didn’t waste the chance he got all those weeks ago.

But the day when he really changed his mind about her being just another rich girl ungratefully dissatisfied with her life was supposed to be like any other. He was driving her home from her best friend’s home when the car started to give out rattling sounds whenever he accelerated. The engine had been emitting an annoying ticking sound ever since morning but Hanbin didn’t have time to check on it. He thought it would be fine to do after he finished with work but with the sound getting louder he didn’t want to risk a malfunction. So he pulled down the road and undoing his seatbelt he made a move to get out but Soyeon’s voice stopped him in mid-actions.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked with eyes boring into his through the mirror.

“I will handle it,” Hanbin simply dismissed her question. What would a girl like her know about cars anyway? It’s not like telling her about the chance of the engine being blown could help at all, most likely it would freak her out.

With that, the guy got out of the car and opened the hood to check on the engine. The first thing he noticed was the nose-itching oil smell and he quickly registered the open oil cap. Nothing else seemed off which didn’t explain the weird sounds but he closed the cap, shut the hood and sit back into the vehicle. He barely started the engine again, went forward 10 meters, the rattling sound was back. Sighing he stepped on the brake again and got out. This time he took off his stupid, fancy jacket throwing it onto the passenger seat and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt underneath. Working in a car repair shop and fixing up his own baby taught him a lot of mechanical things, so he had quite some idea what can be the problem, but he knew it would be a quite slow process if he kept going back and forth, so putting his pride aside he leant back into the car.

“Miss Jeon…”

The name always tasted foreign on his lips but Soyeon had never said anything about being annoyed of his formality and this was what his job required, so he stuck to it whenever he couldn’t avoid talking to the girl. At her name, she looked up with in an unimpressed, firm line and crooked a brow questioningly.

“Would you help me with the car? Just starting the engine, nothing more,” he explained and didn’t know what he expected. For her to be offended by the mere thought of doing the dirty work? Being absolutely laic about cars? Whatever it was, he certainly didn’t expect to see pleasant surprise and a bit of pride flashing in her caramell orbs.

She wordlessly got out of the car not even waiting for him to open the door and sat in the driver’s seat with practiced movements.

“Okay, now start it,” the oil cap popped off again and the pistons barely started moving but the sound was there. “Stop.”

He leaned down not minding getting his hands dirty as he tightened a few components, fixing up anything that looked just a bit off. They kept going back and forth, starting the engine, stopping, fixing but it seemed pretty useless and Hanbin was getting annoyed. Damn, he must have missed something obvious. Surprisingly Soyeon wasn’t whining like a lot of busy, rich girl would have done and she didn’t left either to catch a taxi home.

“Have you checked the rings?” she leaned out of the front window when still nothing changed after long minutes of trying.

“Of course I checked the-” Hanbin snapped but froze in mid-sentence when he realized he haven’t tightened the ones on the cylinder’s sides, just the ones on the end of pistons. So he did that now and voilá, the crackling sound ended. Huh, so she knows something about the cars. Honestly, the driver would have never guessed or was he only being judgemental?

“Nice catch,” he cleared his throat after he closed the hood of the car. He wiped his oily hands clean in a cloth from the glove compartment and they both went back to their original places without saying another word. Hanbin didn’t bother putting the jacket back on and only when he looked back in the mirror he saw the faint blush on Soyeon’s cheeks. Good thing he wasn’t the only one affected then.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. When he pulled up in the driveway and went around the car to open the door for the girl, instead of walking away without saying anything, he spoke up.

“Have a nice evening, Miss Jeon,” he bowed respectfully, painfully aware of the watching eyes through the cameras. The change in his behaviour didn’t go unnoticed by the girl either who mumbled something under her breath.

“Pardon?” Hanbin blinked, waiting for her to turn around and say it to his face. She looked over her shoulder, coal black hair falling on her back like a curtain. Her eyes were like onyx, dark and mysterious but there it was, the fire in them that made his breathing a little more difficult.

“Call me by my name when my parents aren’t around,” she said firmly, leaving no place for objections. It was the tone of an arrogant Gangnam girl and yet, it didn’t annoy Hanbin.

“Okay,” he nodded slowly and his lower lip he already played with the taste of her name on his lips rather than the usual formal greeting. “See you tomorrow, Soyeon.”

Driving Soyeon around after that didn’t become easier. In fact, it had only brought more difficulties. It was harder to say no to the urge to look back at her. But that would have been plain stupid. He needed this job, he needed the money and there were some boundaries coming with it despite their past… or especially because of that. It was better if he kept his distance. But she really, really didn’t make it easy to keep his composure.

When Hanbin checked Friday’s schedule and saw that the girl would be celebrating her birthday with friends, he knew that was gonna be a long day. But working overtime meant double pay, so he didn’t complain. Not even when beside Soyeon two chatty girls got into the car in the evening. All three of them wore pretty daring clothes but Hanbin’s eyes caught on Soyeon the most. She wore a flannel skirt with a dark crop top and a leather jacket thrown over one shoulder. She looked like she had the time of her life laughing along with her friends who requested to be driven to Shine, one of the most famous clubs in Gangnam.

“You haven’t told us your new driver is so hot,” the ginger one of the unfamiliar girls whispered shamelessly scanning Hanbin’s features in the rear mirror while the other one gasped.

“He can hear you, Soojin,” she warned her friend who apparently didn’t seem to care because she just shrugged. But much to Hanbin’s pleasure they quickly changed topic as they started talking about this or that celebrity visiting this certain club and they were guessing their chances of meeting them. The guy behind the wheel needed a lot of power in him not to roll his eyes.

“We’re here,” he exclaimed once he parked not far from the neon lights of the place and the girls got out one by one leaving Soyeon last.

“Hey, it’s gonna take a while so… I don’t know, make yourself busy or nap, I will text you when I wanna leave,” she turned around before getting dragged away by her friends who yelled ‘birthday girl’ all over the streets.

Hanbin was actually relieved when he was finally left alone in silence and he had to admit that a nap sounded very tempting but in such a lively area, during the busiest time of a Friday night, he couldn’t really, so instead he was texting with his friends and scrolling mindlessly on his phone, even playing a few sudoku game out of sheer boredom. Time ticked by painfully slowly, each minute felt like a little infinity and everyone somebody left the club, his head snapped up expecting to see the girls leave.

It was well past 2AM when he finally recognized the wild red-haired girl supported by another as they were walking down the street.

“Hey!” he yelled at them rolling down the windows but the two girls didn’t stop. So he had no choice but to get out of the car quickly and run to catch up with them. He could tell it from far too but neither of the two was Soyeon. But at least she wasn’t the totally drunk one. “Hey… where’s Soyeon?”

At his question and sudden presence the girls froze.

“Um… I thought she left already. We lost her on the dancefloor and she didn’t answer when I texted her that I will take Soojin home,” the brown haired-girl, Miyeon if Hanbin remembered correctly, looked up and explained only to be interrupted by the very drunk Soojin.

“'n whatcha doing, handsome?” she giggled when she noticed that they stopped in the middle of the street.

“, I didn’t want to leave her there. I…” the partly sober girl seemed conflicted as she looked down at the other one gripping on her arm. She was obviously thinking about going back but Hanbin didn’t want to trouble her further.

“Don’t worry, I will get her out. Take care of your friend and leave Soyeon to me.”

“Thanks,” Miyeon nodded to him with a tired but grateful smile and the two girls got into the first taxi they could catch.

Hanbin wasn’t sure it was part of his chauffeur tasks to make sure the birthday girl didn’t get in trouble in the club but not doing anything would have gone against his moral sense.

“I didn’t sign up for this,” he muttered and with a deep sigh he walked towards the club’s entrance.

Of course he had to pay an entrance fee about the quarter of his monthly payment but at least it was the Jeon’s credit card this time. The club itself was even flashier, larger and more chaotic inside than he would have thought from the outside, so he had to look closely to find Soyeon under the artificially dim lights. Around him there was a mass of people grinding on each other, making out on the couches or flirting shamelessly at the bar. Sure the decorations were fancier but the people here were doing the same things his circle of people did on the streets for free. So if paying an arm and leg for it wasn’t being a snob, then nothing else could have compared.

“That’s it, baby, show them what you got!” A man hollered by the bar and Hanbin automatically turned around at the harsh voice. He scanned the area, his gaze running through the girl’s figure who danced on the top of a table quite seductively but he moved on without a second thought. He actually needed a moment for the realization to hit and his jaw literally dropped when looking back he recognized Soyeon in the girl. She had left her jacket somewhere else but it was unmistakably her, so Hanbin elbowed his way through the crowd to get to her and her audience.

“Soyeon,” he called out her name loudly when he reached the table and he was actually surprised that the girl’s head snapped to him immediately. A beautiful, loose smile spreaded on as he reached out her hand.

“Hey Mr. Cold and Mysterious Guy, wanna dance?” she crooked an eyebrow challengingly. She was obviously drunk, her tone and the lack of focus in her eyes were all telltale signs of her high state. When she realized he wasn’t gonna climb up to the table (they wouldn’t have fit anyway), she jumped to the ground but as she lost her balance, it was only Hanbin’s grip on her arm that kept her up.

“No, not really. We are leaving. Now,” he stated clearly and firmly trying not to get affected, not now, from the way Soyeon clinged onto him, fingers curling around his collar, hot breath fanning his throat. She looked mesmerizing even now with sweat drops rolling down on her beautiful tanned skin and with wide, blown eyes.

“What a buzzkill! Let the girl have her fun. Don’t you see we were enjoying ourselves? Who are you to her anyway? Her boyfriend?” One of the guys from around stood up, annoyed that the show got cut off and he grabbed Soyeon’s elbow pulling her towards him.

“And if I was, would you take your filthy hands off of her?” Hanbin scoffed and swatted away the guy’s hand, sneaking his onto the girl’s cheek, cupping it gently.

“Soyeon… I will take you home, okay?” he was trying to make the girl look at him but she kept dozing off as if she just lost all her energy suddenly. But at last she wasn’t trying to protest.

“Okay,” she nodded and turned around to wave to the others more enthusiastically than she should have. “Bye, guys.”

Maneuvering with Soyeon on one arms and getting out of the club as quickly as possible was another challenge but when they were finally at the car, Hanbin let out a relieved sigh. He had no idea the hardest part was still coming with helping Soyeon in the car. She had a bit of coordination problem, so he helped her get seated without bumping into anything. When he was trying to pull back after fastening the seat belt he was stopped midway by the girl grabbing on his neck tie. Their faces were barely centimeters apart and Hanbin’s breath hitched in his throat at the realization. He could see every mole, every eyelash clearly up this close and he couldn’t not notice how Soyeon’s hazy eyes focused on one thing only: his lips.

“Do you know you touched me for the first time today?” she whispered sad and melancholic, yearning lacing her delicate voice. “You should touch me more. I like it.”

The confession was so straightforward, so sudden that Hanbin tore his hands away from her waist and shoulder as if she burnt him. However, the lack of contact seemed to dishearten the girl as her fingers slid off his neck tie. Only then he could breathe again.

“Am I really that unattractive to you? Are you disgusted by me?” she mumbled and even her voice changed with the unshed tears. Turning her head away and closing her eyes her trembling hands curled into the material of her skirt, and the sight made Hanbin’s heart ache. It was almost unimaginable for him that a hot girl like her could think that.

Now that he had held her close he realized he also yearned to touch but right now she was under the influence of alcohol, proving her wrong would have been wrong on so many levels. He had no plans of taking advantage of her, especially not in such a vulnerable state.

“No. It’s not about that,” he shook his head but as Soyeon’s head fell forward, he doubted she heard him on the margin of dreamland. He gently adjusted her head on the seat and brushed some messy lock behind her ear, careful not to wake her up. Under the silver light of the moon, listening to her even breathing and the loud thumps of his own heartbeat, it was a moment like no other.

Before driving her home, he said one last thing not caring if they got lost in the wind and the moon kept his wish as a secret.

“Happy birthday, Soyeon,” he whispered.