(This is the second part of my double updates tonight. I suggest you read the previous chapter [chapter twenty-five] if you haven’t read it)

“Sorry, what its name again?” Yonghwa asked Doojoon, his friend who just explained their sudden duty for that day. He and Doojoon were asked to fetch and bring a group of people from South Korea foundation that would do charitable works in Iraq.

They were still in army uniforms. But instead of a black beret, Yonghwa wore light blue beret this time. It marked him as UN Peacekeeping Officer.

“I’m not sure but Captain Jo said it’s JHS Foundation,” said Doojoon as he put his hands on the hips as he kept looking around, hoping that JHS Foundation people would appear soon.

“So, we will bring them to our barrack?” Yonghwa repeated what had explained by Doojoon some minutes ago.

“Yeah. But I don’t know that JHS Foundation is one of UN Foundation partners,” added Doojoon innocently. “I never heard about them. Have you heard about this foundation before?”

Yonghwa shrugged as he was trying to remember about this foundation too. He had a lot of patrons but he never heard about this foundation either. He didn’t remember that JHS foundation was in Top 10 Best Charitable Foundations of South Korea too. That foundation should be invited to his mother annual gala dinner if they were that good.

But not long after that, a group of people that consisted of eight people finally came.

“Are you guys from JHS Foundation?” asked Doojoon to one of them.

“Ne, I’m Jung Hyesung, the CEO of JHS Foundation. Nice to meet you,” a girl with big eyes and long hair introduced herself cheerfully. She wore a casual blue blazer with white pants.

So, JHS means Jung Hyesung? Yonghwa asked inwardly.

“I’m Lieutenant Yoon Doojoon, and this is Junior Lieutenant Lee Yonghwa. We are in charge of fetching your team to our barrack.” Doojoon explained politely.

“Ahh, ne. Nice to meet you too,” Hyesung greeted Yonghwa politely.

Yonghwa was surprised by her reaction. She didn’t act so formal even though she knew who he was. People would always suddenly be awkward to act normally around him. But she acted like professional.

They then arrived in barracks two hours later. Yonghwa and Doojoon were about to go back to their base when suddenly Hyesung stopped them.

“Here, please take this and share with your friends in the base,” she gave a box of drinks to Yonghwa as she smiled widely. “Thank you for fetching and guarding us safely, Yonghwa-ssi. Please take care of us from now on.”

“Ahh ne, thank you so much, Hyesung-ssi.” Yonghwa thanked her sincerely.

She was so nice and the fact that her foundation became on of UN Foundation partners meant that she was not an ordinary people. But there was something in her that made him feel uneasy, and he didn’t know what it was.

“She likes you,” commented Doojoon as he chuckled.

“What?” Yonghwa was not so dense but he didn’t want to conclude about a girl’s attention easily like that too.

“Eiiiy, I know that you realize it too. But I heard you have a girlfriend already. Poor her then. Or why don’t you try to use this chance to know her better? Who knows that she was better than your girlfriend.”

Yonghwa knew that Doojoon liked to joke around but he didn’t like his joke this time.

“I think you’re interested at her, don’t you? Why don’t you take this chance to be close with her instead?” he replied him calmly then left Doojoon who was just chuckling.

“Yahh, you’re upset? I’m just kidding…”

But Yonghwa just left him alone.

Four hours later, Yonghwa finished his shift. He just arrived in his barrack, when one of his friends come to him in a worried expression.

“Have you read the news?” asked his friend to the point.

Yonghwa was stunned. He didn’t ask further and chose to check the news right away. He knew that there was something about Seohyun. And after reading the news, he suddenly felt so angry. But he felt so angry to himself. He failed again in protecting her.

The article said that Seohyun came back from the UK to Seoul but got attacked by paparazzi and reporters in Incheon Airport. She was stuck in the cab for more than one hour until Airport security helped her get out of the crowd.

He knew that he was not in the right mind at that time. He also knew that he would get scolded by his mother but he really couldn’t stay still. He dialled his mother numbers right away.

“Eomoni.” Greeted him right after his mother answered the call.

“If it’s about your girlfriend, you know exactly that we can’t do anything, Yonghwa-yahh.” His mother replied in a stern tone.

Yonghwa clenched his jaws. But no, he was not angry at his mother.

“Could you at least release a Royal Statement so paparazzi won’t bother her anymore, Eomoni? Jebalyo…” he sounded so desperate when he asked this question.

His mother took a deep breath before she said, “I know how you feel. But I’m sorry, My Dear. No, we can’t."

Yonghwa was about to argue back, but her mother added, “She is not a royal family, so we can’t do that. That’s final.”

Yonghwa gripped the phone hard until his knuckle turned white. “Could you make the exception for this one?” he was still begging.

“The exception means breaking the rule. The answer is still a no.” But his mother was still in her stance.

“Rule changes from time to time, Eomoni. If the rule is not relevant anymore, it should be changed eventually. Remain silent won’t bring any good for this situation. Besides they won’t stop until they get what they want. Joohyun must be terrified. Please help her, Eomoni.”

“I know how you feel. But you’re obviously not in the right mind right now. Please be calmed and be patient. You should follow the rule, Seja.” If she called him formally like this, it means she was serious.

“Eomoni…” he knew that he was not being himself due to the anger. But he really should do something to protect her.

“Please understand that changing the rule is not an easy matter. Let’s say that I change it right here right now, but it still has several processes that must be passed and I can’t guarantee it would be accepted too. I’m so sorry, My Dear, but you have to be patient.” His mother was still trying to calm him wisely.

His mother was right. But he was so desperate.  He took several seconds to find another way, before he suddenly asked, “Then could I send my personal bodyguards to her?”

Since he joined the army, all his personal bodyguards stopped protecting him. Some of them were going back to the army or police, the other bodyguards were protecting other Royal families.

His mother took a deep breath but she was considering it. “It will be so obvious. People will assume that we are confirming your relationship with her implicitly.”

“I know. But it doesn’t break the rule. We don’t confirm anything.” Yonghwa was impatient.

“And if I refuse?” his mother asked him back.

Yonghwa tried to clear his mind. He should answer this question wisely. “I will find another way. But still, I don’t see any harm by doing this. We don’t break the rule, Eomoni.”

But his mother didn’t reply him right away after this, so Yonghwa kept on pressuring her to give the answer, “Could we do that, Eomoni? Is there any rule that forbids Royal personal bodyguards protecting people who are not royalty?”

His mother took a deep breath again because of that. “Wait a minute. Secretary Lee is searching about that right now. Just to make sure we really don’t break any rule.”

Yonghwa was glad that his mother always acted fairly. He then waited as he was still feeling uneasy. He kept praying inwardly, hoping that his idea was not forbidden.

He then could hear the discussion between his mother and Secretary Lee through the phone. Several seconds after that, his mother said, “Ne, you could send your bodyguards to her. But you should be ready, it means more uproar from the public since we are just confirming your relationship implicitly. We never did this before. It couldn’t guarantee she will be safer after this. She could get bashed more.”

“I know. At least, I won’t be so worried if she is protected by my people.” He said that as he tried to calm himself by this decision. “Please send Mr Park and Mr Yoo, Eomoni.”

Both of them were the best bodyguards that he had had after Mr Ham.

“Don’t worry. Secretary Lee will manage it all.” His mother replied simply.

Yonghwa finally could let out a relieved sigh after that.

“Thank you so much, Eomoni. And I’m so sorry for always troubling you. I’m being too irrational this time but you are still supporting me.” He couldn’t help to feel so grateful towards his mother.

“Ohh you don’t have to be so understanding. Just wait until you have your own children in the future then tell me how you feel.” But his mother replied him coldly.

That sentence made Yonghwa laughing for the first time since he called his mother. His mother must be so upset but he was still so grateful.

“Mianhaeyo, Eomoni. And saranghaeyo.” It was the only words that were in his mind. He just wanted her to know that he really meant it.

“I know. But please, you should manage your anger, Yonghwa-yahh. You couldn’t let the situation control you. It’s you, who should control the situation.” She advised him more after this.

“Ne, mianhaeyo. I’ll try to be more mature after this. Thank you for always making sure I’m on the right path.” He knew that his mother was so disappointed at him.

He heard his mother took a deep breath again. “Now, you better call your girlfriend. She is the one who needs to be calm.”

“Ne, I will. Once again, thank you so much, Eomoni.”

He ended the conversation with his mother after that. He was glad that at least he got a solution for that situation. He just needed to persuade Seohyun to accept his idea since he was so sure she would refuse it.

“Joohyun-ahh…” he greeted her right after his call was answered.

“I’m okay, Yong. Don’t worry.” Said her calmly.

“Mian…” he didn’t know what to do and decided to just apologize.

“Don’t start it, Yong. I’m okay. Let’s stop that topic here, jebal…”

She sounded like she was about to cry, so Yonghwa couldn’t force her to talk about that accident any further. But he should make her agree with his plan.

“Eomoni agrees to send two of my bodyguards to you,” Said him to the point.

“But…”

She was about to argue him back before Yonghwa cut her right away, “You promised me before, Hyun. If anything gets out of hands, you’ll agree with my decision. So please, don’t be so stubborn. Let them follow you, or I’ll be so worried.”

“But I’m really okay, Yong.”

“I’m begging you, Hyun. Please, don’t refuse me this time.” He begged in the end.

But she didn’t reply him right away, until Yonghwa should ask her again, “Hyun-ahh…”

“Oke then, if it makes you feel less worried.”

“But…” Yonghwa needed to explain the risk of this decision, “people will know that they are my bodyguards eventually. I hope it’ll be okay for you.”

As expected, she silenced after hearing that. “I can bear with the negative comments, as long as they don’t attack me directly like yesterday. So, you don’t have to worry, Yong.”

Yonghwa let out a heavy sigh because of that. “Oke then. How are you feeling now?” he asked again to make sure she was really okay.

“I admit that I was so terrified yesterday. But I’m really okay now.”

Yonghwa’s heart hurt after hearing that answer. He could imagine how scared she was yesterday. How he wished to be there with her at that time. He was about to say something again before Seohyun suddenly said, “Don’t apologize, Yong. We can go through all of this, remember?”

“Ne, Hyun…”

Seohyun took a deep breath after that then asked, “You just finished your shift, don’t you? You must be so tired. You should have a rest, Yong. Let’s talk again in the morning there, shall we?”

The time difference between South Korea and Iraq was six hours. It was already morning in Seoul but it was still midnight in Iraq.

“How can I sleep after this happened to you…” he knew that he sounded so childish at that time but he really couldn’t sleep after knowing this accident.

“Don’t be silly, Yong. I’ve agreed to your plan. You shouldn’t be worried anymore. Please, you have to sleep after this. I promise we will talk again later. Jebal…”

“Oke then.” He agreed to her suggestion in the end. “Hyun-ahh…saranghae…”

“Ne, I love you more, Yong. Now go to sleep…”

He knew that her sentence was final. They ended their conversation after that. He just hoped everything would be okay after this.

***

One Month Later

Se