Seohyun's POV

Changmin-ssi's stunt took me by surprise and for a moment, i was astonished as to why he did that, rather than ashamed of the fact that I had nearly allowed myself to kiss a half (if not total) stranger. Kai maybe alluring and handsome but under no circumstances in the past had I taken any attention to men, nor have I flirted with men or held hands with them or whatsoever! So what has gone to me, seriously, to get ahead of myself? Have I been possessed?

But there's no one, absolutely no one, in my social circle, who would be able to understand the dilemma I'm in... if I shared it with appa, he'd simply congratulate me on taking such a big step in life and losing myself for once; The unnies would chuckle and laugh as to how I've grown up overnight because of their influences; Minho, Jonghyun and Hae oppa would be surprised but agree that it's to be expected for a girl in her late teens. You see, none of them would see how troubling and unsettling this all is!!

There are more things in life than romance and I simply can't allow any of that crazy stuff to get in the way of more meaningful things, for instance, education and a good career! It's rude of me to deny romance as something useless, but it's just not it in my dictionary. When people are in love, they lose their selves, spending every seond of the day thinking and daydreaming about that one guy. If things become more serious and the two get involved physically as well, what is there to do when a baby's on its way? Well, life is short and I'd rather spend my time on better things I consider more important. So, thanks but no thanks, boys aren't just for me. 

Yet, no matter how much I try to trash romance, I feel that it's creeping its way to my doorsteps, ready to lunge at me anytime when I least expect it. You can't blame for being dramatic and exaggerating things but it's true! No, I'm not only referring to my butler (who I'm still in doubt as to whether I really like him or its a misconception I choose to believe because my unnies keep feeding me with it), but Minho and Kai as well! I wish I was back in the US, in an all-girls' boarding school where everyone ignores me, than maybe, just maybe, these annoying things will be out of my system and I'll be one happy and intact student once more. 

After Hae oppa had ushered me to leave so that he could have a private talk with Changmin-ssi (and I wonder what the conversation could probably me since oppa has explicitly expressed his uttermost dislike for the other man), I wandered about without purpose until someone tapped me on the shoulders. It was Minho and Jonghyun, so we talked for the rest of the night. At first, I was a bit conscious as to what both my unnies and oppa had both warned me of Minho. In the end, I decided to let that thought slip, the "Tweedledum and Tweedledee" before me would always be my besties and I wouldn't allow anything to get in between our friendship. When the other guests had left, I was too wide awake to join my tired and beaten-up unnies to bed so I lurked around the pool, hoping to seek some sort of silence.

I was on the verge of dozing off when I hear the sudden rattling of leaves, which prompts me to open my eyes.

"Who's there?" 

"I'm sorry, my lady, I did not mean to disturb you!" My brain immediately traces the voice back to my butler's and I smile involuntarily.

"Shouldn't you be having your rest, Butler Shim? I thought you were returning to father for the night! Or did unnie not arrange a room for you?" I ask calmly, hoping that my tinge of concern is not too obvious to be noticed.

"Oh no! Ms Hwang had the servants clean up a room but I'm just not sleepy, that's all." I can hear that the hostility he once had is now fading, just by the way his eyes have softened and his tone no longer harsh and blunt.

I gaze into the glistening blue waters, taking note of each ripple formed from the fall of one leaf.

"Maybe deep in thought as I am?" I mention carelessly and I observe how his eyebrow arches upward as if surprised. "Never mind me. By the way, how rude of me to leave you standing, do take a seat." I pat at the seat next to mine, yet, he hesitates. "Don't worry, I don't bite." He doesn't seem the least amused with my joke but manages finally to sit down, shuffling uncomfortably. 

"You're right, my lady. Thoughts have been troubling me all night to spare me any sleep." He admits after a whole 3 seconds of silence and I am astonished that I'm counting the time with such detail.

"You must be saying this to cheer me up, Mr. Shim. I'm sure whatever troubles you have, you could tackle it in no time like the grade A butler you are." But noticing his solemn expression, I know that he's serious. "So what is that that's giving you a hard time?" He makes no attempt to respond and continues staring into the empty space. I make my guess. "Family?" No response. "Money?" Once again, no. Hesitantly, I mutter another possibility. "Perhaps, love?" His reaction nearly shocks me off my seat when he suddenly turns his head to face me.

"Bwoh? What did you say?" His voice suddenly turns cold and his shoulders stiffens.

"Nothing... I was just asking if it was love that you're troubled about..."

"Wae? Why'd you suggest that? Do you know anything?" He seems quite nervous and agitated at my guess.

"Well, there are only so much things in life that bothers a person. If it's not money, family or work then it's most likely to be love, isn't it?" I point out the obvious and his face softens a tad bit. "So who's your crush?" I ask, trying not to give away the fact that I'm desperate to know. 

He looks at me with a bewildered look. 

"What's the matter? There's no rule in our contract that forbids us to speak of our lives! Moreover, it's nice if we can learn more about each other and be less foreign." I tell him, hoping he'll reveal more to me.

"It's better if we keep a distance though..." I seem to hear him mutter but I'm not sure if I heard wrong so I dropped it.

"Fine then! If you really want to know... my crush is forbidden."

Changmin's POV

"Fine then! If you really want to know... my crush is forbidden. But to be fair, I don't even know if I like her." I say, finally picking up the courage to speak it out loud. 

“You're for real?!” Seohyun bursts into laughter, causing me to frown from confusion and annoyance. “I'm sure you've lots of experience in the 'battlefield of love',” she adds in an air quotation,“you should be able to identify if you really like a girl or not, right?” In a way, she's not utterly wrong in that I did have a couple of girlfriends back when I was still a model and a student. But things have changed since I became a butler, the busy schedule and my contract meant I neither have the time nor the chance to meet and date. Not to mention this time, things are under different circumstances and I simply can't allow my career to be tainted by my assumptions of a maybe non-existing attraction, planted into my brain only by noona and Donghae-ssi. That's the dilemma I'm in and I don't expect anyone to understand...

"It's nothing a girl like you will understand anyways." I reply plainly, no longer wanting to continue with this dangerous topic.

"Wait here then, I'll get us something!" She says and leaves for the house. I do as I am told and within minutes, she has returned and to my surprise, with two glasses of red wine with her. 

"Don't look at me all queer and shocked. I am of age to drink and I did not steal these! They are leftovers from the party, doesn't hurt that we take a sip. It would probably help loose you up." She pushes a glass into my hands and I could do nothing but take hold of it. Seohyun gives me a hard stare as she sips the alcohol and I follow. The moment the first drop of it hits my tongue, I can't stop and soon enough, she had a whole bottle of wine in her hands, pouring more into my cup. 

No one's POV

In fact, Joohyun had not only prepared the drink for butler, she had done it for herself as well. She feels like blurting out the truth, but without the alcohol in her blood, she doubts she will have the courage to admit to anything. In reality, she used to think people who drown their problems in wine, silly and stupid, yet, she finds it ironic how she's doing the exact same thing. She's never thought herself as someone to break her own principles, but maybe, for him, she could and would. 

Within an hour, the two have managed to consume a whole bottle of the stuff. The wine was not high in alcohol content, still, both of them find themselves woozy and hot in the face.

"You ready to tell me your story, then?" Joohyun says, trying to coax her butler to open up. 

"If it's only my life story you want to know, I'll tell. But don't expect to hear about the other part as well." He replies with a hiccup.

A silly grin forms on her lips and asks teasingly, "What other parts?" And the butler rolls his eyes. 

"So sit tight for a very long story."

And he begins to reveal the fact that he was from a poor family. Wanting very much to make quick money, he had done modelling jobs during school to support his large family, consisting of his parents and four siblings. It was difficult but he knew he had to do it since his father's pay was too meagre while his mother had to stay home to take care of the children. It was by chance that the highschool he attended was in fact funded by Mr. Seo, who admired his good looks and hardwork, thus offering him to model for the campaigns and catalogues of the company. In the end, after graduation, his earnings from modelling were insufficient so Mr. Seo, very fond of him, sent him to a butler institution to be trained. He worked extra hard and aced all his task and tests. His skills and looks helped him to build his career and in no time, he was the most-wanted butler in the country.

"You impressed?" He says with a smirk and that confident gesture widens at Joohyun's expression of surprise.

"Don't flatter yourself." She sticks a tongue at him. "But from all the self-improvements books I have read, your story is even more inspiring than most of them."

"I'm glad I did." He puffs up his chest with pride, causing the girl to nudge at him. "Stop it, you're being way too cocky!"

"By the way, I've seen the photos from our shoot. you still remember that day right?" She asks and he nods.

"Why's that you looked the way you did in the first shot?" He looks cluelessly at her and she attempts once more. "In the first shot, when I had my back facing you, I could not see what you were doing. But from the photo, there's a queer expression on your face that I simply can't put my hands on." She slurs. "What have you been thinking?"

"Oh that! I thought you looked really beautiful." He answers bluntly, much to Joohyun's and his surprise. Her face reddens further (if possible) and he looks down in embarassment, but tries to pass it off as careless words of a drunk. "But I think croackroaches are beautiful as well."

Joohyun maybe drunk, but her mind is clear enough to identify it as an insult. She rises quickly and turns to leave. "A drunk man's words are the truth, they say. So, goodbye and good night, Butler Shim."

The alcohol has not completely fogged up his mind and he can tell that she's furious and upset. He grabs by her wrists and whispers, "Mianhae, my Lady. Please believe me when I say that my first answer to your question was true as gold and that the second part was but a lame attempt of mine to cover up my slip of the tongue."

She does not say if she has decided to forgive him but gives him her confession instead. "You know why I was frustrated tonight to the point that I could not sleep? It's because of you! I can't figure out if I like you or not or whether you feel the same way. All of this is too confusing for someone as inexperienced as me to handle. I'm also furious at myself for throwing myself to Kai when he's but a stranger. These pile up to agitate me and I wish they'd all go away. But now, butler Shim, you've pointed out that we should not get too close and have made it clear I'm but something as unimportant as a cockroach to you. So, please, just let go and allow me to get some sleep." She tries to fling his hand away, yet it only tightens.

He can't believe this was what she had been thinking the whole time and is most surprised that they were sharing the exact troubles all along. 

"That's what's on your mind?" He asks, trying to make sure. She gives him a defeated nod and wills him to realease her.

"Because those are exactly what's been keeping me awake." He admits with all the strength he could muster with the alcohol as his catalyst.

The girl's eyes widen with disbelief and her attempt to struggle fades as well.

"How about we experiment and see if all of our imaginations are facts? That we do have a mutual attraction?" He suggests.

"What's on your mind?" She replies timidly, slightly trembling from nervousness.

"This..." he whispers before pulling her into his arms and lifting her chin with one hand. 

Slowly but gently, he places his lips on hers. 

However, the moment they kissed, both of them knew they were doomed ---- instead of the lack of chemistry they had hoped and pleaded for, the peck could only be described as fireworks and explosions.

AN:

I did not know if I could make the deadline of my beloved Seohyun's bday and I'm glad I did!!

You see what I had given Seobaby here as a bday present? Yes!! A Kiss from Changmin!!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please leave a comment if you can spare the time!!

Tell me if you find the story way too detailed or if you like the present pace, it'll help me a lot in determining the plot of the future chapters :D

Thanks subscribers, upvoters and comments!! Millions of love to every one of you!! 

Btw, you all like the new poster? Thank you BaddestFemale2o!!