The car was a van, and his dad greeted the driver, who indicated they could get in. His mother sat with him in the back, whilst his father joined the other man in the front.
“Greetings, Family Lee! We were already introduced this morning Mr. Lee but for the others, I am Mr. Han’s current assistant, Mr. Kim!” the friendly old man in the driver’s seat tipped his hat in the direction of the back of the car, “I will be filling you in on what is to happen now that a deal has been made! Let’s head to the mansion!”

The word mansion made Hongbin look up; this was going to be the first time ever seeing one of these big mansions up close. In their old neighborhood, people had big houses but nothing compared to the Seoul mansions you sometimes saw in TV dramas. He wondered if it was actually going to be like that, glamorous building with large garden and a mile long drive way.
“Alright, as discussed Mr. Han only agreed to help you with such a great problem for something in return, it isn’t anything strange, nothing you should be ‘worried’ about! He is a very humane man!” Mr. Kim chuckled as if he had just made a joke, “Anyway, it should be something you are capable of. He asks first and foremost: for your loyalty. Do you understand?”

Hongbin’s parents nodded simultaneously, Hongbin on the other hand remained quiet, it still didn’t sound right to him. ‘Loyalty’. His soft protest was glared at by his parents, which they wouldn’t stop until he had nodded in reluctant agreement and the smile on Mr. Kim’s face didn’t falter.

The car turned a corner and Mr. Kim steered for the next road towards the highway, “Good! Now, you may have noticed I am getting on in age, which in your case is good timing! My retirement is around the corner and that’s why Mr. Han was even able to attempt to help you and accept your help. If I had been a year younger, judging by that black eye on you, why you would be in big trouble!” again the strange old man laughed, Hongbin shot his mom a look of frustration -how could he joke about her black eye? -  She just shrugged.
“If you do promise him loyalty and are willing to accept his conditions, he will be able to help you! Understood?” with more nodding it was settled, “So his conditions are that you become his new assistant and personal body guard,” he nodded at Hongbin’s dad, he in return nodded back a serious look on his face, “as well as an assistant for the Madam,” he nodded at Hongbin’s mother, “And lastly, I am happy to see you inherited your father’s size m’boy, the young sir, will assist the body guards in take care of his son! The young master has gotten wild in his young age”
“’young master’?” Hongbin spat out in disbelief, those words and ‘take care of his son’ had made his insides bristle, his mother immediately clutched his arm, silently gesturing for him to stay quiet, Mr. Kim wasn’t finished after all.
“Yes, young sir, you will be tested on your physical abilities to see if you are fit for the task, if not, well, your records in school show you to be a very bright boy -however only if you went to school, that is- so you could also be able to help the young master with his homework and later perhaps help in the company!”
“My school records?! What are you talking about? How do you know my records?!” Hongbin couldn’t bite his tongue; his mother gave him a stricken look as he lashed out at Mr. Kim. What did this happy go lucky old mad know about his school records?
Suddenly there was a deadly silence in the car as Mr. Kim’s big grin disappeared and he pulled over to the side of the road, other cars zooming past them. He turned around to look Hongbin directly in the eye, his face wore a very serious expression and his voice had lost its cheerful tone from beforehand, “Young Hongbin, are you currently aware of your situation?

Yes, good. Because your mother, father and you have next to no chance of surviving if those thugs come after you again. How I know your records? Well I am Mr. Han’s assistant, it is my job to research and find out everything about people who come to my master asking for help.

 All the frauds, liars and cheats didn’t make it past me, because of how well I do my job. Know your enemy as one would say.

Now, your family is a different story, I’ve done my research and I know you actually need help; you don’t really have much choice in the situation. Mr. Han could dismiss you without so much as a second thought, his life will carry on. However, after seeing the man your father used to be and seeing the potential you have somewhere deep within all that anger of yours, we thought it the perfect opportunity to exchange help for help. Mr. Han will help you and in return, be loyal to him and his family. Protect his son and teach him. If you cannot do that then get out, immediately, I will tell him you weren’t able to accept his conditions.”
Without missing a beat, Mr. Kim unlocked the doors and gestured for Hongbin to leave. Hongbin glared at him defiantly, fists shaking at how angry he was. This wasn’t happening, this old man knew his records, his fathers and probably evens his mothers, and asked for ‘loyalty’ for this Mr. Han? Were they in a movie? Things like this don’t happen!
Out of his blind rage, he almost got up and left the vehicle, when he felt a hand on his arm. His mother looked at him, with a stern expression on her face, “Hongbin, think about it. For our lives, our safety and for one another, this is a small price to pay. Your father and I decided we need to do this for us all to survive, we understand it will be hard for you. Would you please come with us, we don’t want to lose you… We will still be there for one another we will still be a family! That is more then you could say we would be if we refuse this offer.”
His eyes automatically drifted to her fresh black eye and shot to his father’s arm, she was right. They didn’t stand a chance, and this offer was indeed one they couldn’t refuse.

“Was my job looking after the ‘young master’?” Hongbin asked Mr. Kim, the old man’s stern expression blossomed into a smile once again, “Why yes! He is three years younger than you I think!” “So, 14… that shouldn’t be too hard…” Hongbin settled back down onto his seat as Mr. Kim burst into laughter, locking the doors and starting the car again. “We shall see, young Hongbin!” they took off again, “We are actually nearly there, if you look to your right, on the hill!”
Every passenger turned in that direction and over the road, on a small rise on the hill was a … forest. “Mr. … Kim?” his dad asked slightly confused, the old man waved for him to be quiet. “Give it a second!” the road curved right, bringing the car closer to the hill and sure enough, there amidst the trees in the distance was the making of a white building! “This is our turn!” with some force, Mr. Kim turned right off the busy road and only a smaller one, which took them into that forest and they didn’t stop until they came to a large gate. It was huge, made from black iron with golden decorative patterns. From what Hongbin could tell it was still far away from the building they had seen on the hill. So this was the real deal, if you were rich.
After Mr. Kim had spoken on the intercom for a bit, the large steal gate groaned open and they took off up the road taking them deeper into the forest. Everyone was quiet, Hongbin and his family were taking in the surroundings, awe written all over their faces and Mr. Kim couldn’t stop grinning.
“Now then, family Lee, welcome to the mansion!” he said, as the road made a turn and they drove towards what Hongbin could only describe as the most massive house ever. Three stories high, with white walls and a red roof, made it seem very humble for its size, but the giant fountain at its entrance and the road leading from it to a garage, which looked like it could fit an army of cars, spoke a different story. As they drove past the mansion, he almost had his nose pressed against the window, taking in the window panels, which were decorative with beautiful carvings of flowers much like the ones on the gate, and the front door, which was made from dark wood and had two grand golden handles also styled in a similar fashion.
They drove past the garage and Hongbin counted six garage doors, Mr. Kim explained, “One for each family member, two extra for the Master and one for the Madam, the garage for the servants are here.”
The road came to a stop behind the large garage next to a smaller garage, for two cars, next to which was a small house. “This is the servant quarters, I will show you around and then we will go to the mansion, they are connected by a small passage along the back of the garage.

With that he showed them the smaller house, it was small, fit for about five people, “The maids, cleaners, florists and cooks stay here,  these are their living quarters, however as you will be assisting, the Master has arranged a section for you in the mansion, my old living quarters here in the Flower Palace.” Hongbin cocked his head, “Flower Palace?” “Ah yes, this place, is called the Flower Palace as you may have noticed the decorations are mainly flowers, just wait till you see the garden! It is the main residence of the family and you will find them living here a majority of the time. They have of course other residencies like this around town and the country! Each has their own name; I’m sure if things go well you will get to know them!”
Before they knew it they were being led down a corridor to what was the main mansion of the ‘Flower Palace’, Hongbin for the first time since he was a child held onto his mother’s sleeve, almost like it was the only thing holding him in reality, everything felt surreal.
They entered through a door and ended up in what looked like a secretaries office, Mr. Kim explained it was his former office, which Hongbin’s dad would be taking over. Then they moved on and entered the lobby, Hongbin froze, it was bigger than he had ever imagined a lobby. It was open, all three stories with a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. In the center was a table with the most beautiful flowers, he had ever seen, arranged in a gorgeous fashion, soft pinks, baby blues and yellows. Before he could pick his jaw up from the ground, Mr. Kim ushered them on in the direction of the ‘Master’s study’.  As they reach the doors, Mr. Kim turned around and said, “Now, Hongbin, would you please wait out here, Mr. Han would like to speak to your parents first! The young master should be finishing his chess lesson and join us soon!”
Nodding, Hongbin, took a step back and watched his parents enter the room, his mother giving him a reassuring smile. Then it was quiet.
Now that he realized it, it had been awfully quiet since they arrived, for all the ‘cooks’, ‘florists’, ‘maids’ they didn’t make much of a sound. He hadn’t seen anyone since their arrival, the place was spotless so, he wasn’t surprised but in movies, weren’t these places constantly bustling with servants and people?
As he heard some steps from further down the passage, his head whipped around and saw… wasn’t that that little dweeb from the other day? The twelve years old that had stared at him so rudely! He was standing there, doing exactly the same thing. Staring at Hongbin!
He didn’t have a school uniform on, but something resembling a tennis outfit, white shoes, shorts and a polo shirt, very similar to a uniform.
“It’s you!” Hongbin pointed, still shocked, how small was this world! Was he here to see the ‘young master’? Why would a fourteen year old want to hand around a twelve year old? Maybe they were related?
“You know it’s rude to point?” the young boy spoke, his voice was soft and Hongbin barely heard it, but when he did his eyes narrowed.

“So you did see me back then! It is rude to stare at people didn’t your parents teach you anything?!” Hongbin yelled, annoyance clear in his voice.
“Why are you here?” the boy ignored his question and Hongbin couldn’t believe his ears. “Don’t ignore my questions! Why are you here?!” this little brat, just because he had some connection to the family didn’t mean he could act so snobby!
The boy raised an eyebrow staring at him more intently, and Hongbin faltered. What was he looking at anyway? Did he have something on his face? Self consciously Hongbin felt his hair, it was wavy and a bit on the longer side, the chances of it sticking out in places at the wrong time were high.

“You aren’t perhaps… Lee Hongbin?” he froze, this little kid knew his name?
“How did you know? Did the ‘young master’ tell you?” Hongbin crossed his arms, this little know it all, “Where is he anyway, Mr. Kim said he should be here soon!”
Too more of a shock the boy’s stoic staring face broke into what looked like a small, tiny smile, was he laughing at him?! Hongbin started fuming, he might have to teach this kid a lesson-

“Young Master! Your father said to let me you to the meeting! You shouldn’t run off with strangers in the house!!” an exhausted looking man in a suit appeared behind the boy, coming to a stop just next to him. As he saw Hongbin across the hall he tried to pull himself to his full height, barely taller than Hongbin and started looking over the boy as if to see if he was harmed.
Wait, had he just said ‘Young Master’? Hongbin felt his blood freeze, he was barely five minutes in the main mansion and he felt like he had already blown everything…
“You … aren’t possibly…”
“Hello, Lee Hongbin, I am Han Sanghyuk, son of Mr. Han and as you put it ‘Young Master’” Sanghyuk’s face had gone back to the neutral staring, but Hongbin couldn’t shake the feeling like he was laughing on the inside, “Father said you were smart, we might have to reevaluate that…”
Hongbin clenched his fist, Young master or not that little brat was going down! This time the man by ‘Sanhyuk’’s side stepped in, placing himself between Hongbin and his young master, stretching out a hand in greeting, “Hongbin, it is a pleasure to meet you, I am Tao, I am a temporary body guard and guardian of the young master until you are deemed fit for the job. Nice to meet you! I will be training you along with my partner, if you’re up for it of course.” There was a pause, as if the whole house held it’s breathe, Hongbin looked at the hand in front of him. Was this a challenge?
It certainly felt like one, this Tao person, he took a closer look, looked very exotic for the setting but also very well built and he defiantly could learn a thing or two from him. ‘Sanhyuk’ was watching him, his gaze piercing like usual, and Hongbin rolled his eyes. This person was supposed to be fourteen and the one he was meant to look after? At least he was sure he could over power him physically should it come down to it. It couldn’t be so hard.
He took the hand in front of him, grinning at Tao, “Let’s give it a go!”










In the secretary’s room, there was sniggering and . A group of people looked over the CCTV at the hand shaking outside the ‘Master’s Study’.
“Look look, you owe me 20 bucks, he is agreeing!” “But Mr. Kim said he was never going to agree to this! Even his father said he might not agree! How could I lose such money?!” “Shut up and pay up! They did say he was feisty but maybe we can train him!” “True we are far more than him!” “…” “…” “…” “That said, why were and are we hiding from them?” “…” “…” “…” “True!” “It’s too tight in here!” “That’s it everyone back to your jobs now!” “Fine but I bet fifty bucks, he will quit within the next month!” “…” “…” “…” “100!” “70 from me!” “You guys are awful give the kid a chance!” “Do you really think he is going to make it, Yixing?” “Have faith!”


A/N: Next chapter "Mr Han" changed the title of this