Soyeon peeked out of her window, eyes falling on Hanbin waiting for her at the car in all his glory, looking like a god wearing that expensive tuxedo; though it didn’t matter what kind of piece of clothing he put on, she would have found him just as hot.

Soyeon was scheduled to go to university this morning, but she was running quite late on purpose. The idea of seeing the man after the awkward club incident wasn’t tempting at all as she was utterly embarrassed by her stupid actions. She wished she drank enough to forget, but Fortuna was mocking her dearly, making her remember every painful detail. The hours spent in the club were mixed in a big mess of blur, leaving the only remaining memory to be the hungry eyes on her body. Soyeon felt dirty even if she didn’t do anything with any of those guys, but their touches weren’t nearly as burning as a certain chauffeur's were.

Soyeon stepped back from the window so vigorously when Hanbin looked up that she almost fell backwards. She closed her eyes, still hearing Hanbin’s explanatory voice that tried to calm her down when she desperately yearned for his attention, his touch and oh how pathetic she was! She would have never done such things sober, she didn’t need to hear another rejection face to face, especially when she knew Hanbin didn’t want anything from her. She wasn’t the type to run after boys in hope of changing their minds about her.

With all her dignity, she held her chin up high and walked into the bathroom to retrieve the thermometer and after a few minutes, she was lying in the bed, holding the warm water-rigged device. She couldn’t go to school if she had a fever. Her parents were away for the week on a business masked personal trip to Thailand, so her mother’s nagging wouldn’t be a problem.

“Miss Jeon, are you awake?” Mr. Lee, their butler knocked on the door, waiting for the girl’s approval to come in. He didn’t expect to find her still in bed, it was unusual when Soyeon overslept her alarm. “Is everything alright?” His tone was wary, like talking to an untamed animal that could lash out at any second, though his voice was laced with evident worry. Unofficially, the young girl was his favourite Jeon, the only one who treated the staff as humans.

“I have a fever,” she mumbled, trying to look convincing. The old man walked to her to take the thermometer she held out for him. “And I’m feeling weak.”

“Is that so?” He hummed examining the small device. “Alright then, Miss Jeon, get some rest and I’ll have the maids bring you some soup later,” was all he said. Whether he saw through the facade or not didn’t matter, Soyeon was grateful he didn’t press the topic any further.

“Thank you,” she nodded. “Oh and please, notify Mr. Kim we don’t need his service today, I don’t want him to wait unnecessarily,” she couldn’t stop from putting a request in for Hanbin, and she hated herself for not being unaffected. Why did she have to care about him? No one died from some waiting, nevertheless, the mere thought of Hanbin getting annoyed because she made him show up and wait in vain filled her heart with uneasiness.

“Of course, Miss Jeon, don’t worry about that,” the gray-haired butler finally let out a smile, then closed the door, leaving Soyeon alone with her own thoughts to ponder over what that unfamiliar smile meant.

Luckily for Soyeon, she was saved for two more days from seeing Hanbin because Mr. Lee had called the university and explained them how sick the mayor’s daughter was, so since they didn’t want any troubles with the politician, they kindly let her skip the important test she should have written during this time. But the only problem was that she felt bad for deceiving everyone when it was obvious she was just faking it, and Junhoe’s constant whinings didn’t help either. Thus on Wednesday morning she got up super early to prepare herself for the upcoming meeting with the chauffeur, and though she never really cared what others said about her dressing style, she made sure to choose the prettiest - and hottest - clothes she owned to at least feel somewhat comfortable in her own skin.

After breakfast she mustered all her strength to walk out confidently like she had no reason to be ashamed of, but she kept her phone close in her hands in case she needed her best friend’s moral support to survive the long ride to the university in Hanbin’s company.

Hanbin had already waited for her with the car parked out front and him leaning on it, hands in his pocket, looking like an absolute perfection. Soyeon cursed herself for letting her eyes roam and discover his clothed body she was already familiar with thanks to this bad habit of hers.

“Good morning,” she croaked out not to appear so rude, but her voice was quick to betray her. Fortunately, she could blame it on her fake sickness.

“Good morning, Soyeon,” he nodded, opening the door for her and she clumsily climbed into the back seats. Warmness spread through her cheeks as an effect of the way he pronounced her name, it sounded so unique coming from his mouth like it was something special, or did she just want it to be like that? She wasn’t sure. “I heard you got sick. Are you alright now?”

Soyeon was stunned to say the least. She wasn’t expecting him to inquire about her wellbeing, they had small talks here and there, but they were about neutral topics, the guy never talked or asked about personal stuff, though it was a pleasant surprise.

Of course he asked, it’s just natural politeness, nothing more, she tried to reason with herself before she got into assuming things too soon.

“Yeah, I’m much better now, thanks,” she answered, looking into Hanbin’s waiting eyes through the rear mirror.

“Glad to hear that,” turning out from the gates he nodded at her, which resulted Soyeon raising a brow at him in return.

“Are you really?” She questioned a little too sarcastically before she could stop and think things through. She couldn’t help it, the constant remarks were in her nature thanks to her dear brother and she didn’t need fake words wishing her good just because the guy probably wanted to maintain a good relationship with his employers. She’d have rather had silence embracing them because at least that wasn’t forced on both parts.

“What do you mean?” Hanbin furrowed his brows, glancing back at her through the mirror while trying to pay attention to the road as well. Not that this quiet neighbourhood was packed with busy roads, but it was better to be cautious, especially with a mayor’s daughter sitting in the car.

Soyeon snorted, rolling her eyes, but that just made Hanbin observe her reflection more, which annoyed the hell out of her. He clearly should have understood what she meant, and now he must have been just playing dumb on purpose, right?

“You clearly don’t give a damn about me, so don’t pretend that you do,” she said it more furiously than she intended, but felt much better after she got it all out. She knew she was being unfair to him because it was right to accuse him of things he shouldn’t have been blamed for. It was his right to decide whether he liked someone or not, but somehow it didn’t console Soyeon. On the contrary, although she was used to getting hate from almost everyone, boys rejecting her, but why did Hanbin have to be one of them? Why did he act like her touched burned him when she was just a stupid drunk girl back on her birthday?

Hanbin seemed kind of loss at words, just blinking slowly after hearing Soyeon’s angry reply. Gotcha, she held the eye contact through the mirror until the chauffeur had to break it to concentrate on the road. All the ugly feelings such as satisfaction made her feel bad, but she couldn’t do anything about them, no matter how hard she tried to deny them, they were still there.

“Soyeon…”

“No! Don’t give me that condescending look like I was some crazy chick because I am not! You know what? Stop the car, I’ll walk to university today,” she crossed her arms and looked outside the window. She was acting like a spoiled Gangnam girl that couldn’t be satisfied with anything, so what? To some extent, she was.

“Miss Jeon, please-”

Why Hanbin thought it would calm her down if he addressed her formally was a mystery, because it did more harm than good.

“I said stop the damn car, or else I’ll jump out!” She yelled, leaving Hanbin no chance but to step on the brake hard before she did something stupid. The moment the car abruptly halted on the side of the road, Soyeon grabbed the handle and her bag, quickly hurrying out the door before the man could react.

They have just reached a secluded part of town where there were barely some houses around at the outer side of the rich neighbourhood, Soyeon headed to the neglected playground alongside the road which was not fancy enough for parents to take their children there anymore, but it was also connected with a huge park, which led back to the busy streets of Seoul, she just had to be persistent to march through it in her high-heels.

She heard the door to the driver seat also opened, so she quickened her pace, though it was useless, Hanbin caught up to her pretty fast, gently grabbing her elbow to make her stop.

“Soyeon, please! Get back in the car and let’s talk this out there,” he got in front of her to block her way. “Or not, I can just drive you to school in total silence,” he added when she let out a grunt. He was observing her face for any reactions, Soyeon’s eyes however travelled down to his hand still holding her elbow. It wasn’t a rough touch, but she still felt it on her skin like the weight of thousand rocks.

“Wow, you have no problem touching me now?” She mocked him, the words leaving without hesitation. Hanbin looked down at his own hands, his eyes became dark as he suddenly understood while letting go of her.

“Is this really about that night?” His tone was noticeably lower as he spoke maintaining the eye contact, but Soyeon totally barricaded her emotions behind safe walls. Which night he had just referred to, Soyeon wasn’t sure, maybe both, the first night they met and the night of her birthday, it didn’t really matter, she wasn’t about to ask him to specify.

“Well, if it is then what? What’s it to you anyway? I’m just the burden you have to bear in order to have your paycheck, aren’t I?” Every word stabbed through her heart, but she felt oddly relieved after lashing out on him, letting him know what was bothering her for a while. Technically, no one said anything that could justify her cruel accusations, she just simply felt it that way and she was fed up with constantly torturing herself with these insecure thoughts, ergo the bomb blew up hard.

“Who the hell told you that?” The confusion was evident in his eyes, though he might have realized how dumb his question was considering he was dealing with an emotionally conflicted young girl right now, who didn’t have to hear things to just assume them. “Are we really going to have this childish conversation in the middle of practically nowhere? Let’s go back to the car and let me explain everything.”

In any other moment Soyeon would have appreciated the way he handled things, how he kept his cool and never raised his voice despite her constantly doing it, but today she was exceptionally tired and y, so it just fuelled the fire burning inside her more. It was also because she felt horrible for yelling at him at every given second and not managing to get him to do same, it wouldn’t have been that good, but at least she wouldn’t have a bad remorse for acting like that.

“You don’t need to explain me anything, just go and be my mother’s lapdog as you already charmed her!” Soyeon walked past Hanbin, battling with her tears, feeling already awful, so she didn’t want to hear lame excuses, but what Hanbin did next she would have never expected that.

He grabbed her elbow once again, more forcefully this time, not enough to hurt her, but certainly enough to have her turn around on the spot as he yanked her towards him, chests colliding and lips clashing. Soyeon’s instinct reaction was to break out from his clench, though her plan failed on the first try as she got immensely weak under the sweet attack of Hanbin’s lips.

Once she got over her initial surprise, she hooked her arms around Hanbin’s neck, bringing their bodies impossibly together, it was easy to get lost in the intoxicating feeling, opening to provide the man access as he invited her tongue into a passionate dance. His hands slid down, balancing on the border of her hips and lower parts, daring, but not touching.

Unfortunately, the kiss didn’t last forever as they soon ran out of breath, panting heavily when they parted, foreheads connecting and eyes not wanting to leave the dark dreamland filled with hundreds of stars through the mind-blowing experience. Soyeon still felt the tingling that Hanbin’s lips left behind, and she was so ready to drown again if it meant she could be with him.

“I never thought of you as a burden, you were just always so beautiful that I didn’t know what to do with myself because I badly need this job,” Hanbin whispered the sweet confession onto her lips, hot breath fanning over her face. Soyeon got herself to open her eyes - it was a difficult task, but she managed -, and gulped, not knowing how to respond because this was the first time a guy spoke so honestly to her. And not to mention, it wasn’t everyday someone said such things about her.

“Having this job doesn’t mean you can’t have me,” she finally replied after trying to think things through, though she kind of failed at that as her brain was a mush, only filled with sweet numbness. Saying cheesy stuff was odd to her, but it felt right to share that with him.

“Is that so?” Even though she saw it, she also felt the smile formed on Hanbin’s lips that were so captivating she couldn’t really take her eyes off them. She hummed as a reply and welcomed the kiss pressed to her forehead before he pulled away.

“I can’t let you  be late from school, but we’ll definitely talk about that.”

Soyeon let herself be pulled to the car, while all she could do was grin widely while watching their intertwined fingers.