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Unknowingly, you breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for bringing her," Johnny directs his attention towards Justine for the moment. "You're dismissed."

Bowing, she sees herself out, leaving you alone in the room with Johnny. You stand in your spot, back straight as you watch him cautiously.

"Well, are you going to join me for our first lesson or will I have to drag you over here by force?" He quirks a brow, and from his lighthearted tone you think that that's his attempt at being funny. You don't laugh.

Moving stiffly, you enter the ring, keeping as much distance between the two of you as you physically can for the moment without being suspicious. Unfortunately for you, he notices.

"Relax," Johnny sighs. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Your lips purse into a thin line, having to bite back the remark you want to spit at him. Instead, you opt to ask him some questions that popped up in your mind while you were thinking on this matter last night.

"Why are you the one training me? Why can't you just get one of your other lackeys to do it?" You huff, crossing your arms over your chest.

"Because," amusement shines in his eyes as he mirrors your stance, and you hate the way his muscles are now on clear display, showcasing just how out of your league you are even if you wanted to catch him off guard, "I don't trust anyone else to teach you properly."

Narrowing your eyes slightly, you let out a breath through your nose. This'll be a long morning.

"Fine," you uncross your arms, somewhat reluctantly. "Let's get this over with."

The next few hours are spent with Johnny going over basic defensive maneuvers and him having you repeat them until he deems them good enough to move on. You even learn how to get into a fighting stance and throw a few punches. Needless to say, you think you impress him, but perhaps his prideful gaze is just a trick of the light. Not that you want to impress him, anyways.

Throughout all of this, one thing still grates at your mind. You still don't quite understand why he's making you protect him in order to pay off your debt. It's better than what you originally thought he would make you do, but still. He could have simply had you work as a maid, or even as a chef considering your business did cater food. So, near the end of your first session, you voice your concerns. "I mean, why go to all this length to teach me combat skills?"

"Because to me," he takes a breath, something flashing behind his eyes as he meets your gaze, "you're a liability."

Geez, you knew you weren't physically trained for something like this, but you didn't think he would so bluntly point out your weaknesses. Shouldn't he be trying to get on your good side if he wants you to protect him?

You frown, and Johnny can clearly tell you don't like his answer.

"Think about it," he continues with a sigh. "I've already told you that this is the easiest way to keep an eye on you. If I made you a cook, there's no guarantee you wouldn't poison the food you serve either me or my people. I don't trust you enough to be roaming around the house as a maid by yourself. Besides, my bodyguards are paid the highest compensation for the risks they have to take, so I figured you'd want to spend the least amount of time paying off your debt."

"That's..." you pause as your eyes narrow at him, "considerate of you."

"What can I say?" He shrugs. "I'm a nice guy."

"Yeah," you scoff, rolling your eyes, "sure."

"I want you to join me for dinner this evening-"

"Like hell I'm going to agree to that-"

"You don't have a choice," his eyes narrow sharply, clearly displeased at your attitude.

"I thought I always had a choice with you." You throw his words from the other night back at him.

At this, he lets out another sigh, expression smoothing out as he meets your gaze. "Think of it as taking an extra bit of payment off of your debt."

"So, me spending time with you outside of our little arrangement takes more off of my debt?" You ask him, tilting your head slightly as you quirk a brow and sounding a bit too hopeful for his liking.

"If you want it to." He frowns.

You huff. Why didn't he tell you this before? You'd obviously be planning to spend more time with him then, but you have a feeling there's more to his words than meets the eye. You bet it has to be something he also agrees upon, rather than you just being in the same room as him. Either way, you might just find yourself doing some extra small favours for him in the foreseeable future to help with your debt, and you have a feeling that he knows that that's exactly what you plan to do.

So then, why does he look so... disappointed?

"We're done for the day." He states bluntly, turning away from you. "See you at dinner."

Without another word, you exit the basement, leaving Johnny to himself. If only your obvious rush to get away from him didn't make his heart ache in his chest, even if he didn't necessarily see you leave. If only you had turned around one last time to see the way his fists had clenched at his sides.

Running a hand through his hair, Johnny sighs. This is going to be a long and painful process. For him or for you remains yet to be seen, but something tells him that he's the one that's going to end up suffering the most.

Dinner that evening passes much too quickly for his liking, yet much too slowly for yours. Every opportunity Johnny makes to converse is immediately shut down by you, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of acting all friendly towards one another. This is a business transaction, after all, between two opposing parties none-the-less.

Almost each day is more of the same. Training with Johnny takes place in the morning, followed by dinner in the evening with him. You don't know how, but the chefs have managed to make some of your favourite meals at times, and you grow suspicious of how Johnny seemingly already knows little things about you. Perhaps Minju told him in order to reduce your debt, but no matter how you look at it, that just doesn't make any sense.

There are even some days where he's not at home and you actually get a break from him. Most times this happens, he'll usually return a little beaten up, and you know he's been 'doing business', as he so puts it. There are some instances where he up and disappears for a few days at a time, and in the back of your mind, you wonder if he's actually coming back. Who knows what really happens to him during these little trips of his. You're honestly surprised he hasn't ended up dead in a ditch somewhere, but then again, each time he returns, you realize just how much he lives up to his reputation.

Every time he leaves, there's always only one thought on his mind: coming home to you. No matter what state he's in, as long as he knows that you're waiting for him, that's all that matters. Even if it may not be in the way he hopes for.

Soon, he tells himself. You'll look forward to him returning home to you each time soon.

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