Eun-sang stopped short in her tracks in the middle of the hotel lobby, in both confusion and anxiety. “What the - what are you doing here?” she questioned, flustered by his very presence.

He stood up from his seat on the sofa and shoved his hands in his pockets, smirking at her. He didn’t seem to be offended by her question - in fact, he was rather amused. “You were the one that wanted me to stay last night -”

“I was drunk,” she hissed, shifting her purse from one shoulder to the other, before sighing. “I’m sorry; let’s start over. When I met you yesterday night at the bar, I wasn’t in my right mind. I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”

“If I didn’t want to bring you back here, I wouldn’t have.” She visibly sagged in relief at the statement, before he opened his mouth again. “I take payment in favors.”

“What?”

“Yesterday night, I drove you home from the bar, parked and carried you in after you fell asleep,” he started to ennumerate, ticking off his fingers, “charmed the concierge into giving me your room number, had to search your purse for your key card, and then finally made it into the suite. And after that, you begged me to stay with you.” His eyes glinted with mischief. “I think I deserve payment for all of those things.”

“Are you serious?” she asked in disbelief. “What the hell? Are you insane or something? I can pay you off for yesterday -”

“You seem to have a lot of money,” he noted. “If it was otherwise, you wouldn’t be staying in a Zeus Hotel.” His expression twisted, and for the first time since the conversation had started, she felt a pang of fear. “I don’t take things that are abundant, because they hold less value. I take,” he declared as he edged closer to her, “what is most precious to you.”

She stood there silently, for a few long moments, trying to analyze her way out of the situation. He couldn’t do anything serious to her, really - she was sure her father had sent over people to follow her every move, even if she was across the Pacific Ocean. As long as she had that protection, unwanted or otherwise, he couldn’t hurt her physically.

Mentally, though? Emotionally?

Rachel was leaving to visit her fiance. Bo-na had gone off to meet some producers in Hollywood, with another representative of Mega Entertainment. That left her in Los Angeles, lost and alone… and for once, with time to spare.

“You haven’t left yet?” Rachel was heading towards them, facing her directly. Her expression turned into one of confusion as she spotted the back of his figure. “Ah, hello. Did I interrupt something? Who are you?”

“The first favor can be granted right now,” Eun-sang quickly said as she grabbed the stranger’s hand and made for the hotel doors, ignoring Rachel’s calls from behind.

- : -

“What’s going on here?” Rachel asked, looking from one face to the other in both confusion and anger. “Eun-sang, are you crazy? Coming here, of all places?”

“Don’t be jealous, sister,” Young-do laughed, throwing his arm around Eun-sang, who was too horrified to say anything. “I already spend too much time with you, so why can’t I spend some time with Eun-sang here?”

“Don’t do this, Choi Young-do,” the RS heiress warned. “If all you can do is hurt her, how can I let you near her? How can you put her through this?”

“Because, she came to me,” he said smugly. “Something like… she became a flower, right before my eyes.”

“Not of my own accord!” Eun-sang defended, looking at her friend. “He threatened me; what was I supposed to do?”

“You threatened her?” Rachel screeched. Inwardly, Eun-sang couldn’t help but be slightly amused by her friend’s aggressiveness. Rachel had always been one to fiercely protect the people closest to her.

“Aish, so noisy,” Young-do winced. “No wonder they say little sisters are so annoying. Just let oppa go on his date, okay? I will bring the little lamb back, intact.”

“Intact, but not alive,” Eun-sang muttered under her breath.

“I came here to tell you to do something about the family photoshoot, but I think I might just steal your date instead,” Rachel shot back. “I don’t trust you with her.”

“The family photoshoot? I’m working on it,” he dismissed. “Just show up on Saturday, and watch the drama unfold. It’ll be like watching a show without even having to pay a subscription. And, as much as you want to think otherwise, Cha Eun-sang is a human being that can make her own decisions. She agreed to eat with me, so we’ll be going now.”

“Call me tonight,” Eun-sang added quickly, before her friend could open in protest. In a flash, she dragged him into the elevator before furiously pressing the button for the lobby.

“Yah, Cha Eun-sang!” Rachel yelled, angry that she was being ignored. The sound of her displeasure, however, faded as the elevator doors closed shut.

Eun-sang stood as far away as possible from him, backing herself into the corner of the elevator and staring as the floor number quickly declined.

She done almost the exact same thing that she had in California, all of those months ago. Acting on impulse, turning her back on her friends. She had forced her life into routine out of necessity, as a coping mechanism for the world she was born into. The life she had been fated to live. She had rules and order, and she didn’t break them. Ever.

So why did he always make her lose control? Why did she break every single rule she had, for him?

Over the years, she had learned to measure her comfort zone in terms of power. Being the daughter of the Jeguk Group meant that people deferred to her, and that was what she preferred. She didn’t flaunt her wealth, but she liked the feeling of being able to hold something over their heads. Strolling down the hallways of Jeguk High, there was no doubt in any student’s mind that she was the Queen.

With Choi Young-do, however, she felt absolutely powerless in every single situation. He was the first person she met that didn’t care about Jeguk. When they had been in America, he’d quickly agreed to the condition of remaining nameless, although she now realized he had probably known all along, even before he proposed the agreement. Of course he did; it was exactly what an elementary-school kid would do.

“I didn’t think deja vu would be that y,” he drawled, breaking the silence. “We should do it more, sometime.”

“Re-enact every California scene? Yeah, you’d like that,” Eun-sang scoffed.

“You know me so well,” he returned. The smirk was back again, but for some reason, it took her anxiety off-edge. It was almost a comfort, seeing it reappear.

She followed him as they exited the elevator and made it through the hot