“Hmmm?” a groan came on the other line and Dara stared at the phone, furrowing her brows. She thought she dialed the wrong number.

 

“Um, hello? Is this G-Dragon?” she asked. She stared around her to make sure no one was listening.

 

“Yes,” the guy on the other line said. But she was still furrowing her brows. The guy’s voice didn’t sound like what she heard from him yesterday. His voice sounded raspy.

 

“This is Sandara, the one you offered a job to. And I’m wondering, can I meet you today?”

 

“Hmmm…” he just groaned. “Room 3324 Classic 500 Pentaz Apartment, 90 Neungdung-Ro in Gwangjin-Gu.” And then he hung up.

 

Dara blinked rapidly, not understanding what he was saying until she realized that it was an address. She quickly took note of what she had remembered on the palm of her hand. She then stared down at it. “3242 or 3224 or 3324?” She then shook her head and frowned. “It would be a long day ahead.”

 

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

 

Dara’s cheeks were flushed as she took off the elevator. She was sweating and unwanted thoughts were running her mind. On room 3224, she found out that the resident wasn’t G-Dragon but a hormonal teenage guy who had his release before opening the door to where she knocked. He wasn’t wearing anything except for his boxers which, by the way, looked like it was worn messily and hurriedly. The room reeked of indescribable and gross scent that she just wanted to throw up right then and there. She remembered the teenage guy inviting her in thinking she was one of those hired call girls. Before she turned around and left though, she threw up on his face and floor and then ran towards the nearest bathroom.

 

That was the worst scenario she had experienced for the “G-Dragon’s apartment room hunt”. It had been three hours she started this ‘mission’ and she hadn’t found it yet. She had tried knocking on more than ten different rooms only to be embarrassed or be scolded about by the resident.

 

As she arrived at the 33^rd floor, she was already praying that this was the right room. She stood in front of the room 3324. She breathed in first before she rang the doorbell thrice. If this would be the wrong door again, she planned on going to room 3342. She was feeling that his room was already close.

 

She waited but was interrupted by a commotion made by high school girls who were running in the hallways. She thought she was imagining it but she heard the words “G-Dragon,” “GD,” “Jiyong,” and a lot more. She furrowed her brows as she realized two things.

 

 

First, these are G-Dragon’s fangirls.

 

Second, the G-Dragon who was going to be her boss was the same guy whose fangirls stepped on her after being thrown to the ground when he bumped into her without him going back to help or even just apologize.

 

She hit her forehead as she chanted inside her head “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” repeatedly for realizing it belatedly. Of course! GD, short for G-Dragon. She remembered how much she loathed the unknown K-Pop idol who caused her ankle to be injured for a week to the extent that she wasn’t able to go to work and miss some of her gigs until they decided she could just be on the backup vocals parts if she really wanted to be a part of the band during that time.

 

Thinking back, they were already equal! He injured her. She injured him. Equal! There’s nothing to pay for. But, this is an opportunity. But she didn’t want to have a jerk as a boss.

                                        

However, before she could even decide for herself, the door burst open and she looked forward where G-Dragon stood, one eye being rubbed with his fingers and his hair disheveled. On top of it all, he was also shirtless.

 

Dara’s eyes widened upon seeing this and her mind stopped working for a while.

 

“I-I-I think they’re y-your fans,” she stammered the first thought she had.

 

G-Dragon’s eyes immediately widened upon hearing that and as if by instincts, he pulled Dara inside before closing the door.

 

It caught Dara by surprise and the next thing she noticed, her back was firm on the door with an arm behind her head and another on her side as if trapping her. A scent entered her nostrils and she realized that it was oozing from the man who was in front of her, who was trapping her on the door, whose bare chest was just inches from her face. His scent – it was enough to make her go mad.

 

H-He smells nice, she thought.

 

Her eyes ran to his throat to his chin, to his lips, to his eyes. He was peering into the eyehole and she almost forgot that this awkward position they were in was because of the fans who were running wildly on the apartment corridors.

 

“U…Um…” she tried to speak but Jiyong covered with his hand.

 

Jiyong leaned away from the eyehole and stared down at her, a look of fear plastered on his face. He just kept on staring at her as if the solution to his problem at hand was found on Dara’s face. Underneath his palms, he felt her skin burning.

 

He leaned away completely from her and hid behind the sofa, leaving Dara standing alone by the doorway, wondering what was happening.

 

“They’re going to ring the bell. Tell them you’re the owner, you don’t know who I am, and that you have been living in this unit for years now,” Jiyong said rapidly before ducking and hiding again.

 

True to his words, the doorbell rang, shocking Dara. She took a peek on the sofa where he hid and he just waved his hand. She faced the door and opened it.

 

“KYAAAA! GD OPP—wait, you’re not oppa,” the girl in the middle said.

 

“Oppa? Who’s your oppa? Are you going to visit your brother? How come you don’t know his apartment number?”

 

The girls furrowed their brows. “Are you sure G-Dragon oppa does not live in this apartment?”

 

“G-Dragon? Who’s that? I don’t know him. And I live here, for three years already,” Dara said.

 

The girl with a blonde hair looked down at a piece of paper she was holding. “But, I’m pretty sure I got the add—“

 

“WAIT, WAIT, WAIT A MINUTE!” the girl in the middle said. “You don’t know who G-Dragon oppa is?! THAT’S UNBELIEVABLE!”

 

Dara’s head tilted to the side. “Well, believe it. I don’t know your oppa.”

 

“HOW CAN YOU NOT? HE’S THE HOTTEST GUY ON EARTH!”

 

Dara scoffed, wanting to disagree with them. “Well, there’s only one thing to do. Show me a picture and I’ll be the judge,” Dara said, having fun at this.

 

They showed her a picture of him with a black wide-brimmed fedora hat, black glasses, black suit, and a cane on hand. She burst out laughing at this.

 

“THAT’S YOUR HOT OPPA? BWAHAHAHAHA! HE LOOKS LIKE A MADAME OR A RICH AHJUMMA!”

 

The girls furrowed their brows at her and then showed another one. Dara willingly looked at it. Maybe it would change her mind. This time, what they showed was a picture of him with a black and white wig and a cap.

 

“BWAHAHAHA! CRUELLA DE VILLE? IS THAT YOU? BWAHAHAHA!”

 

The girls were already trying to suppress their anger and showed another one. This time, it was a picture of him with some of his hair on the other side with the other side shaved.

 

“BWAHAHAHA! NO WONDER THE SEAWEED ON MY SOUP WAS LOST! BWAHAHAHAHA!”

 

Hearing all of these, Jiyong was tempted to get out from his hiding place and strangle the life out of her. How dare she insult me?

 

“How dare you insult Oppa?!”

 

“I’m sorry but I don’t find your oppa hot,” Dara said, her arms crossed over her chest. “Now, just scamper away. Shoo! Stop bothering me.”

 

The girls hurried away but not without glancing at her with a deadly glare. Dara scoffed, feeling victorious. She stuck her tongue out at them before she closed the door.

 

The moment she turned around, she immediately took a step back as Jiyong appeared in front of her, a glare the same as the girls flashed her plastered on his face.

 

Dara smiled. “I did a great job right?”

 

“If doing a great job includes insulting me, then you did.”

 

“Thank you,” Dara said, feeling proud of herself.

 

“What? You certainly didn’t understand me right? I wasn’t complimenting you. I was sayi—“

 

“Let’s get this over with, Mr. G-Dragon. But first of all, can you please get a piece of shirt to cover yourself? You’re polluting my eyes.”

 

Jiyong grunted before he picked up a shirt that was on the sofa and wore it. “Alright. I’m dressed. Now, why are you here? How did you find me? Are you secretly my sasaeng fan?”

 

“First of all, I don’t know what a ‘sasaeng fan’ is. Second, I called you today with the number you gave me and you answered and gave me your full address. Don’t you remember?”

 

Jiyong raised his brow. “I did?” he asked and looked through his call logs and saw an unregistered number. He guessed it was her. “I must have told it to you unintentionally. I guess I answered it while asleep.”

 

“So, you were asleep,” Dara said, nodding. “So, I’m here now.”

 

“You’re accepting the job?”

 

Dara nodded. “I need money ASAP. Can I get an advance payment?”

 

“Wait a minute. We have to talk it through. I can’t just give you money, you might run away.”

 

“I wo—“

 

“And, I have conditions,” Jiyong said and retreated to his room. He came back with a piece of paper on his hand.

 

“Wow. You really prepared eh?”

 

“Of course. I knew you’d come,” he said and then went on to read on the paper. “’1. You are not going to come close to me. At least one meter of distance is needed.’”

 

Dara immediately took a step back and lazily crossed her arms over her chest.

 

“’2. You are not going to talk to me except for important things that involves your work,’” he read and Dara nodded. “’3. You are not going to touch any of my things except when I tell you to, like when you clean my home studio or my desk, etc. 4. You are not going to tell everyone about my address and who you’re working with.’”

 

Dara sighed dejectedly. She was planning on telling her friends about this.

 

“’5. You are not going to leave this apartment without my permission.’”

 

“WHAT?! I can’t do that. I have a life too. This is just my sideline.”

 

Jiyong shook his head. “No. This will be your fulltime job.”

 

Dara was silent, thinking thoughtfully. “But I also need to go out once in a while. My friends will notice my absence and they’ll worry.”

 

“You’ll get to see them when you really need to. Now, the last condition: You are going to be my personal maid for a year.’”

 

“WAIT! A YEAR! THAT’S TOO MUCH!”

 

“Look at my foot! It’s caused by you! I might not be able to walk for a year with this!”

 

“A YEAR! YOU’RE KIDDING ME, RIGHT? You’ll be able to walk in just two or three weeks. Don’t fool me!” Dara said.

 

“Okay then, six months. How about it?”

 

“No. Three months!”

 

“Okay then, a hundred days. That’s final,” Jiyong dismissively said. Dara was left silent though she was still glaring at him. “Okay. That settles it. I need you to sign here.”

 

Hesitantly, Dara reached out for the pen. She stared at him for a while and then went on to affix her signature. A hundred days might not be so bad, right?

 

Well, I just wish it wouldn’t be, with a jerk as a boss, she thought while affixing her signature. There’s no going back.