“Isn’t that Yuseon-hyung? Is he finally back at school?”

“Hey, that’s the Dragon gangster next to him! What are they doing together?”

“The son of police officers associating with the son of gangsters?”

“What kind of friendship do they have?”

“Maybe Yuseon-sshi owes him money?”

Well, that last bit was true but I gritted my teeth and tried to ignore the neverending gossip as we headed towards Myungsoo’s next class. The day had gone by without much incident, except of course in a few instances where my old friends came up to greet me and I, unfortunately, had to turn them away. I can’t hang out right now, I would tell them, but I’ll definitely keep in touch. I doubted they held it against me though; Myungsoo’s fierce expressions were enough of a reason to leave.

Not one person came to see him.

I glanced down at his schedule, which ridiculously happened to be the same as mine.  

THIRD PERIOD: SWIMMING

…What the hell? How did I not notice this before?!! What should I do? If it was another sport, then I would be fine but I couldn’t watch over him while trying to conceal myself as well. And hiding my gender came before protecting his stupid .

“Now that I think about it, you were always sick during this period,” he stopped and examined my face. “And you were always the last one to shower and change at the end. Why is that?”

“I… just don’t like swimming. There’s nothing wrong with that!”

He stared at me for awhile longer before entering the locker room and changing. I breathed a sigh of relief before following him inside. Since “sick” students only had to clean up the pool area, I just had to change my bottoms. I pulled off my uniform trousers, revealing my dark boxers, and threw them in the locker. Right when I was about to pull on my track pants, I felt a pair of eyes on me. I turned around to see Myungsoo resting his chin in his hand and examining my… lower regions.

“For a guy, you have a really small ,” his eyes lowered. “And really smooth legs.”

Years of past experiences had trained me for this. “Eh, genetics… but what can you do?” I shrugged.

As I wiped down the bleachers, I observed his swimming. He was an expert, no doubt, greatly surpassing his peers. That was one area I was willing to admit inferiority in; I at swimming. No, I fail at it. I even nearly drowned four years ago. Luckily, someone jumped in and saved me in time but that event scarred me for life. 

He came over and grabbed his towel. That’s when I noticed something odd in the corner of my eye.

“MYUNGSOO! GET DOWN!”I pushed him underneath the bleachers, expecting a bullet to come flying towards us at any second.

“Get off of me!” he huffed, rubbing the sore spot where his head had banged against the seats. He tried to stand up but I yanked him back down again. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m saving your life!”

“From what?!”

“That!” I pointed in the direction from which I had spotted the odd activity.

He was shocked that I had actually managed to notice a threat. That’s right; it. But then his expression quickly changed to one of condescension. As Scooby-Doo would say it, “Ruh-roh!”

He grabbed my head and turned it to face the direction in which I was pointing. The shiny item I had noticed was just a soda can that Dongwoo was holding. Of course this would happen to me. Woohyun and Sungyeol pointed and laughed, rolling around in their mirth while I waited for my punishment. I bravely looked up into his eyes; I wasn't about to take it with my eyes closed and cowering in fear. We just stood there, staring at each, him with his eyebrows cocked and me with my defiant stance.

“You do realize that it’s not in your job description to admire my looks, right?”

I grew red in the face. “You’re not going to do anything? Like punch me or shoot me or stab me or drown me or throw me in a shark tank or taze me or pull out my fingernails?”

Myungsoo shook his head.

“Not even a flick?!”

Woohyun and Sungyeol laughed even harder. “What kind of people do you think we are? We don’t hurt our own people unless they’ve betrayed us or done some other unforgivable deed! You’ve got a funny guy there, boss!”

----------

When I was sure that everyone had left, I finally entered the showers. Although there were individual stalls, there was no way I was going to take any risks. I buried myself under the hot water, enjoying the feel of heat against my skin before beginning my shower. I had just turned it off when I heard chatter and movement. Afraid to confirm what I suspected, I peeked outside and almost collapsed at the sight of students coming inside. The other physical education classes had finished early!

There were footsteps coming closer to the shower area. Instead of backing away, I banged on the door, trying to be as intimidating as possible. If it worked for bears, it will work for me. “No one come near here, got it? Nobody better open this door or I’ll knock you out!”

A pair of feet stopped right in front and refused to move. “Take this!”

The door opened at the same time and Myungsoo stood there glaring at me, my fist missing his face by a mere inch.

He threw me a change of clothes and my chest protector. “Idiot. You can’t fight a man and cover your body like that at the same time. If you’re going to pretend to be a man, do it properly.”

The door slammed behind him and I hurriedly changed back into the uniform. Pretend to be a man…

“Wait a minute! Hold on!” I yelled as I ran after him in the hallway. “So you know?”

His steady gaze confirmed it. “Don’t worry; even if you were the last girl on earth, I wouldn’t stoop to the pathetic level of touching you,” he whispered.

I thought about it for awhile before snapping my fingers. “That’s right! All of the girls you’ve dated in the past were quite… memorable. You only like y girls that are ‘big’,” I gave him a thumbs-up. “Oh Myungsoo, you stud!”

“Why, you punk!” His right leg jerked forward; it was time for me to escape. “Come back here!”

Dongwoo was shocked. “Boss! You’re… running!”

He chased me down the hallways where other students froze in alarm. “Kim Myungsoo is running! He’s really running! And look at his face! This is the first time I've seen something like this!”

We had reached the chemistry side of the school. I made the wrong move and took a left turn, faced with a dead end blocked by crates of equipment stacked to the ceiling. Myungsoo slowed down and stalked towards me with Dongwoo, Sungyeol, and Woohyun beside him.

“Fine, gang boy, let’s fight this out,” I announced, cracking my knuckles.

“First, you try to deceive me and now, you’re taking my lines. Don’t expect me to go easy on you, cop child,” he retorted, flicking his nose.

A commotion started in the hallway; students came and gathered around us as news of “Yuseun vs. Myungsoo” spread through the school. We circled in on each other, going through a cycle of attack and defend, attack and defend.

----------

“Ow! Can’t you be more gentle with that?”

Dongwoo was currently applying the ointment to my bruises and bandaging my cuts. “You’re a guy; learn to endure it.”

Myungsoo didn’t tell them yet? My thoughts were cut short as he jabbed the cotton swab at my purple-blue skin again. “! You at this!”

“Yuseon-sshi, you’re pretty good at fighting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone mark up boss’ face like this before! No one’s even been able to lay a finger on him!” He smiled. “Considering how he knows taekwondo, judo, karate, aikido, wing chun, jiu-jitsu, boxing, not to mention he’s also skilled at using a sword and a gun.”

…Is this person even human? I thought it was just taekwondo... Does he even need a bodyguard?

“I see you’re surprised. He’s been training to be the next boss ever since he was a kid. He needs to be someone every member respects. As you probably already know, he can’t show his emotions. And what’s worse is that all he thinks about nowadays is revenge; for him, this is too long to go without some real results. He’s determined to take down Old Bosses’ killer with his own hands. But that changes when he’s with you! It’s like he just becomes a regular boy!” Dongwoo flashed a smile.  “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen him that way; it makes me really happy, you know? So even when the deal’s over, promise to keep in touch, alright?”

Somehow, I felt pleased to hear those words.

Damn it.

----------

-Third-person P.O.V.-

On the other side of nurse’s office, separated away from Dongwoo and Yuseon by a curtain, were Myungsoo and the twins. Their hands shook as they tried to hold in their laughter while bandaging Myungsoo. He continued to glare at them but that only caused them to shake even harder. “Boss! Sorry but you just look so funny!”

“I never thought I’d see the day when you would come back from a fight looking like a mummy!” Sungyeol added.

When they finally finished patching him up and took in his whole appearance, they just burst out and started rolling around on the floor again, bumping into chairs, the wall, each other.

That thing is NOT a girl, Myungsoo thought bitterly.

Woohyun grabbed onto the counter to steady himself. “But seeing you two like that, you guys really do look like childhood friends!”

“WE’RE NOT FRIENDS!”

----------

In another city, two people met in the shadows.

“It’s been a year since Kim Minho has died. Why hasn’t there been any progress?”

“My apologies, sir. It’s been difficult with the new precautions they’ve taken. They have more than doubled the number on their bodyguard team and defense team. They’ve also updated their technology and security.”

“Excuses are for men who can’t fulfill their tasks.”

“I’m—“

“I don’t want any more of your useless apologies. Either do the job or get someone else to do it. I just need the damn Dragons to crumble as soon as possible.”

“I understand but it’s going to take awhile if to find a way to assassinate him at the Kim house.”

“He doesn’t have to die there; he was a worthy opponent so he needs to be killed at a worthy place.”

“And what about his new bodyguard, Shin Yuseon?”

“Your target is Kim Myungsoo, no one else. However, if someone gets in the way, don’t hesitate.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Good. I don’t want to see your face again until his execution or your funeral, whichever comes first.”