Moonbyul and Solar got along a lot better in the days that followed the incident with Solar actually listening to the bodyguard and inviting her to eat with them rather than alone or not at all; much to the delight of her entourage. She could see how much her staff already really liked Byul (although Jihyun, Sook and Hyunwoo had created a secret fanclub for her, called “Moonstar”, which was more than a little disturbing) and how she was just naturally very attentive and caring.

Which begged the question, why had she hated her so much initially?

Whatever the case, between herself and Wheein, the pair made sure to check on Byul’s back and also managed to convince her to stop riding the motorbike ahead of them, offering to add 15 minutes to schedules to allow for her security checks.
Privately, Solar and her entourage did feel it was a shame - the girl looked pretty cool riding around on a Ducati Monster.

Less than a week later, Solar had felt comfortable enough mobilising without the crutches or assistance, albeit with a slight limp. She was returning from the toilet during a break from filming some last minute re-shoots for a makeup ad and found Moonbyul on the phone in the corridor. This was highly unusual for the bodyguard, who never had her phone out whilst she was “on shift” unless it was work related.

She couldn’t help herself and crept closer, catching the end of the phone call.

“...evidence is still with the Seoul Metropolitan Police? Forensics? Yeah, I’ll try Hani, thanks. Talk to you later.”

Just as Byul hung up, Solar re-traced her steps and acted like she had just come out of the toilets and allowed the bodyguard to walk her back to set. For the rest of the shoot, Solar’s mind was preoccupied with why Byul would need evidence from Police Forensics. She remembered Wheein talking about Byul’s special forces background and even Eric had at some point mentioned that she had worked with the Secret Service - was she somehow working two jobs? Her next thought was how little she knew about Byul; she always liked to get to know the staff in her entourage but since they got off on the wrong foot (aka since Solar had acted like a petulant child initially) she decided to make an effort to ask.

     As if Fate was listening to her thoughts, a few members of her entourage ended up calling in sick due to the flu and this (un)fortunately included Driver Lee. So the next morning, Solar came down from her flat and was pleasantly surprised to find Moonbyul in the company car, having naturally offered to take over the driving duties.

“Byul-ah?” Solar asked, slightly amused. “What are you doing?”

The bodyguard popped her head out of the car at the sound of Solar’s voice and alighted from it. She was wearing a face mask and gloves and appeared to have been meticulously wiping down the whole car interior with antimicrobial wipes.

“Oh, Yongsun-ssi, good morning! Sorry, I was uh…” Byul wiped some sweat from her brow using the back of her gloved hand and shuffled her feet, looking slightly embarrassed. “I just… I didn’t want you to get sick.”

Why was she so oddly endearing?

Solar pushed the thought to the back of her mind as smiled at the younger girl and taking the pack of wipes from her hand, moved to help. She was stopped, however, by a hand grabbing her wrist and turned to find Moonbyul putting a mask on her face. 

And promptly blushed.

Whether the bodyguard noticed, she would never know, as she was focused on gently tucking her hair behind her ears and then placing the elastic loops of the mask over them. At some point, Byul had rapidly shed the gloves she had been wearing and Solar’s bright red ears felt soft fingertips brushing by them. Instead she looked up at the taller girl’s handsome face with brows knitted and eyes intense as she focused on the task at hand. She supposed that she should have been glad that the mask had covered most of her face and therefore most of the blush, as she was handed her own pair of gloves and the pair quickly got to work.

Solar wondered if Moonbyul was like this with all women, and then immediately wondered why she cared.

     During their drives the next few days, Solar took every opportunity to get to know her bodyguard. Usually, Driver Lee and Moonbyul would meet at the company first thing in the morning and would set out together to pick up the entourage. (The second car would follow, usually driven by one of the junior managers). Due to the location of her flat, Solar was the first to be picked up and last to be dropped off, which meant that since Byul became 'Driver Moon' temporarily, they got some alone time at the start and at the end of their day. 

And she really enjoyed these moments with her.

“Yes, seriously!” Solar grinned as Byul laughed incredulously, “I threw the vacuum cleaner at her so Yonghee-unnie sprayed me with that F-killer bug spray. That’s how we used to fight.”

“That’s crazy… but I can totally imagine you hurling a vacuum cleaner, Yongsun-unnie.”

“Aishi!” Solar shoved the nearest shoulder to her (not hard enough to disturb her driving but enough to get her point across) but her grin remained. She always moved into the front passenger seat when it was just the two of them, something she never did with Driver Lee.

But Solar's crowning achievement had been convincing Byul to call her “Yongsun-unnie” at least when they were alone together and it had made the younger girl more relaxed in her company, enough to sometimes.

They spoke about anything and everything: with Solar telling her about her older sister and how she was an overachiever, which allowed her to pursue a career in entertainment without too much resistance from her parents; although they were very supportive once the albums started selling well. Moonbyul in return told her simply that she became estranged from her family and that she joined the army straight out of high school.

“I was out on missions with the special forces by the time I was 20.” Byul had told her.

“How did you end up joining RVSM?”

“I was retired from the military following an injury and Seulgi offered me a job when I got out. I’m not really good at anything else, so…” 

“How did you get injured?”

Byul shrugged, “I got shot.”

Sensing there was an underlying story that was not for casual conversation, Solar had changed the topic at the time. 

She later found out that Byul had left the military and joined RVSM over 2 years ago, meaning that she had been 26. 

Aged 26, she had been shot and had to retire from the military.

Now, aged 28, Byul had joked that she nearly retired from the private security sector because of a spoiled diva and chuckled as she raised an arm to defend herself from Solar’s playful slaps.

Solar truly cherish