Warning: Boring chapter ahead. This is not a happy chapter.

Favor

Jieun let out a puff of air, probably to release tension. “You know the plan. Act natural.”

Youngmin nodded.  The two of them went around the corner, when suddenly Jieun stopped.

“On second thought, act awkward.” She turned to him, before heading towards the hotel.

“Good evening, Agassi.” The doorman greeted Jieun, eyeing Youngmin  who was right behind Jieun.  Jieun immediately tensed, she looked back at Youngmin and saw him bow at the doorman. “It’s alright, he’s with me.” Jieun said as she avoided the doorman’s eyes.

They approached the front desk, and Jieun could clearly see Mr. Lee talking to a guest. She swallowed nothing and patiently waited for them to finish.

“This is it.” She mumbled, as the guest left. She led Youngmin to the front desk and smiled as he greeted the old man.

“Mr. Lee.”

He looked at them, eyes unreadable. “Ah, I’ve been expecting you.”

“Ne?” Jieun said, tensed. Youngmin was beside her, with his stuff and all. The two of them exchanged nervous glances before Mr. Lee spoke again.

“Is this him? Your father called about some exchange student thing your school apparently has.” The hotel manager said.

Jieun breathed out a sigh of relief. She remembered that she sent her dad an email about the identity they’ve built from Youngmin before they left. “Uhm, yeah. This is him. Youngmin, this is Mr. Lee, he’s the hotel manager. Mr. Lee, Youngmin, he’ll be staying with us for a while.”

Mr. Lee shifted his gaze from Jieun to Youngmin. “A handsome young man.” He smiled. Youngmin bowed and introduced his self.

“Shall I prepare a suite for him?”

“Ah, that won’t be necessary. He’ll just stay at the penthouse with me.”

Mr. Lee gave her a weird look. “Agassi, are you sure? We have plenty of suites, it wouldn’t be a problem if-“

“No, no.” She cut him off, rushing. “I already called my dad. He’s cool with it. Besides, if he stays in a different place, what would be the point of the exchange program, right? Hehe.” She let out a nervous laugh. “Well, we’ll be going now Mr. Lee.” She said, running off, grabbing Youngmin and taking him with her.

“. I’ve never been that nervous in my life.” Jieun breathed out when they reached the penthouse.

“I think it went well. And watch your mouth.” Youngmin told her, as he put his clothes away.

“Pff. Easy for you to say. All you had to do was stand there and smile.” She answered, plopping herself on the sofa. “And it’s my place, I’ll say what I want to.”

“So, what do you plan on doing tomorrow?” Youngmin asked, sitting next to her.

“Hm? Ah, we leave together, I leave you somewhere, pick you up after school, then come back.”

Youngmin pouted. “Eh? What kind of plan is that? I’ll be alone all day!”

“That was the plan we decided on, idiot.”

“Pff. I never agreed to that. I just didn’t have a choice.”

Jieun looked at him. “Ah. See how it feels when you don’t actually agree to do something but the other person still does otherwise?”

Youngmin just looked at her, sticking his tongue out. Jieun rolled her eyes and looked the other way.

Jieun pulled out her laptop and logged in to her email. Being the only heir to all of her father’s assets, she usually received invitations to events that her father has sponsored or other such things. She skipped past some usual business letters that she would send to her secretary later. She got a reply from her dad from the message she sent him earlier.

“Jieun-ah, annyeong. Are you doing well? How is Youngmin? An exchange student is a great idea! I’ll pull some string