Hyukjae stood still in the middle of the living room, his eyes staring down at the set of speakers on the showcase that he was sure enough, was placed outside before. When he looked up, there was Donghae coming towards him, with earphones hanging around his neck. He frowned instantly at the sight of the man that he wanted to punch so badly, the first person who actually dared to stand up to him.

“What the hell is this?” Hyukjae asked, pointing his index finger at the speakers.

“I fixed them,” Donghae simply answered, without even looking at the redhead. “You don’t have to throw them away.”

“You fixed them?” It’d be a lie to say that Hyukjae wasn’t amazed. But of course, he would never say it out loud, especially to this kind of person. “I thought you said you wanted to leave?”

“I’m not going to leave,” Donghae said, bending down slightly to take a look at the speakers he had just repaired. “I signed a contract to be your bodyguard, and I’m being paid.”

Hyukjae snorted. “So it’s all about money after all. Just leave, I don’t need someone like you in my house.”

“I’m not running away from my responsibility.”

“Just ing leave,” Hyukjae said harshly, but Donghae showed no sign of leaving, let alone feeling intimidated by the tone of his voice.

People would never want to deal with his rage, but this man standing so calmly in front of him seemed to be different from any of them. His face showed no emotion, it was like he was living in a body without a soul. But somehow, Hyukjae could feel that there was more to this man than meets the eye.

He was quite sure that it was Donghae he had seen at the wine shop that night. What was he doing in that kind of place, not to mention at night, anyway? He wanted to ask, but something seemed to be stopping him from pointing out the question.

“I won’t cross the line,” Donghae finally looked at the younger as he turned around to face him.

“Whatever you say, Mr. Responsible,” Hyukjae sarcastically said, “You’ll eventually get tired of being here.”

Hyukjae knew he could never get along well with Donghae. There were obviously too many differences between them. He didn’t even know why Jungsu hired him in the first place, when there were thousands of people out there for him to choose.

He stuck his tongue out at Donghae before making his way towards the front door, sometimes glaring at anyone who’d look at him in the eye. It was Saturday, and he needed to get out of this haunted place as soon as he could. And he’d kill anyone who’d dare to stop him. He was even willing to walk if he had to, as long as he could escape from this life he hated so much. Being treated like a prince was not what he wanted. The only thing he needed right now was a normal life.

“,” Hyukjae cursed as soon as he took a look into the empty garage outside his mansion. He totally forgot that his father had ‘locked away’ all of the cars, including his CBR bike, to make sure that he would be staying at home like a good little boy. And now he really had to control himself from burning this whole mansion down.

“Going somewhere?”

Hyukjae wasn’t sure just how long Donghae had been standing beside him, but he was probably laughing silently at the pitiful state he was in right now. He was starting to feel it; his flaming anger. He could only hope that he wouldn’t end up chopping Donghae to pieces, because he knew he was reaching his limit. Or maybe burning this place down wouldn’t be a bad idea after all, since he practically had nothing here.

“I’ll come with you,” Donghae said out of the blue, snapping Hyukjae out of his ‘evil thoughts.’

“What?”

“I can take you out if you want.”

“Have you ever heard of the words personal space? That’s what I need right now. Don’t ruin my perfect weekend.”

“I won’t be a burden.”

“Yeah, right,” rolling his eyes, Hyukjae entered the garage, searching for something that could be used as ‘transportation.’

There was only an old bicycle that belonged to his father’s gardener in there, but it might be better than nothing. Riding a bicycle in this cold weather wouldn’t be a good idea, but staying in this huge mansion by himself was definitely out of the question.

“I’m being paid, so I’ll do my work,” Donghae insisted.

“I don’t need a bodyguard!” Hyukjae stubbornly said, staring right into the latter’s emotionless eyes. “I don’t need people to die for my sake.”

“I won’t die. I can promise you that.”

Hyukjae was quite taken aback by the latter’s words. To say that he wasn’t affected at all by what he had just said would be a lie. But he couldn’t let his guard down around a stranger. He would never want to show his weak side to other people, especially an outsider like Donghae.

“Whatever,” he muttered as he left, walking towards the black Mercedes parked at the front yard, the only car that Jungsu had ‘kindly’ left to Donghae.

He wasn’t sure if he was only imagining it, but he swore he could see the corner of Donghae’s lips slightly curved upward right before he got into the car, as if he was laughing at him.

_____________________________

MILAN, LOMBARDY

ITALY

It was past midnight, but Jungsu was still there sitting at his desk, looking out through the windows that looked over the night view of Milan. He was supposed to be resting, but there were too many things in his mind that kept him from sleeping.Letting out a sigh, he took a paper placed on the desk, and read through the contents for the third time.

He was anxious, but he had a feeling that things would get better eventually. He’d never want to leave Hyukjae alone at times like this, but he had to. Hyukjae knew nothing of what was happening, and there was no need for him to know. He had suffered enough. He’d never want to add more troubles into his life.

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