I followed Young-do up the street, him holding my hand the entire way. I was excited and nervous at the same time. He said he was going to be my bodyguard, and from the looks of it, we were heading back to his house. What was he going to do? I couldn't keep myself from shaking.
We arrived at the front door to his house. He paused for a moment, glaring at the door, remembering how this house brought him nothing but trouble and despair. He turned back to me and smiled. He could tell that I was nervous.
He did that thing where he held me by the shoulders and squeezed tightly. "Seo-yun, there is nothing for you to feel scared or worried about. I will take care of you." He furrowed his brows. "If we are going to be together, this is something I need to do. So just stand next to me and let me be your bodyguard. Okay?" I smiled at him and nodded. I reached out and squeezed his hand tight. "Okay, bodyguard."
Young-do smirked and turned back to the door. His soft expression melted away to his usual hard and scary exterior. Yikes. He pushed the little buttons on the side of the house and the gates swung open. He walked towards the house and, without knocking, burst through the door. All of his house staff were surprised at seeing us return and in such an urgent manner, and they clumsily bowed to the both of us. I tried to give them a look that said, "You don't have to do that, we're just people," but it didn't work.
Young-do strolled up to his father's office and burst through those doors as well. His father was sitting behind the desk, and another man with a notepad was sitting across from him. Young-do's dad had stopped mid-sentence, and I could tell that we had interrupted something. Young-do didn't seem to care.
"Hey, dad." Young-do said in a derisive manner. His father's eyes bugged out of his head. "How dare you interrupt my business meeting?" His father barked at him. Young-do didn't back down. He approached his father's desk, still holding my hand. I shuffled towards the desk as well, wanting to stay a little farther back, but Young-do was adamant. He squeezed my hand tight and brought me close next to him.
"Your business meeting isn't half as important as what I'm about to say to you." His father's eyes were still big, and his eyebrows furrowed angrily. I could tell that the vein in his forehead was next to make an appearance. "I know all about what you said to Seo-yun. The disgusting way you treated her and spoke to her, how you tried to bribe her to stop seeing me, and you threatened her." Young-do scoffed. "I am ashamed to call you my father, but I have to for this next part."
His father stood up and slammed his hands on the desk. "Young-do! You will not speak to me this way!" He yelled. Ah, there was the vein. Young-do slammed one hand on the desk. "Yes, I will!" He yelled back, his voice even louder. Young-do could be really frightening when he wanted to be. I just hoped I was never on the receiving end of his scariness.
"You dared to treat her this way just because she's different. She's not rich, and that's why you wanted to get rid of her. You didn't care about the type of person she was, or the fact that she makes me happy. I am the happiest I have ever felt in my life because of her." He turned back to me with a smile on his face. "And most importantly, I love her." I couldn't help but gasp. He loved me? He loved me! I didn't know three little words could make me so happy.
He turned back to his father, his scary face returning. "I love her. And there is nothing you can do that will ever stop me from loving her. So just give up." His father was seething with rage. "I hope you know you're throwing everything away for this...this trash!" His father screamed, pointing at me.
Young-do gritted his teeth and let go of my hand. He got really close to his father and slammed both of his hands on the desk. "You're the trash here, not her." He smirked. "Should I even talk about your illegal activity? Your arrest? Don't think I didn't know why that happened." His father hands shook. "How DARE you!?" He screamed, and raised a hand to hit Young-do. I gasped, but Young-do reacted quickly and grabbed his father's hand, preventing the hit. "I see you haven't changed. You're still using violence like a worthless person." His father audibly gasped.
Young-do threw his father's hand back down, turned back to me and grabbed my hand again. Young-do opened the doors out of the office and glared at his father one last time. "There is nothing you can do to stop us. Your threats won't work, because I will always be there to protect her." He smirked. "I am her bodyguard, after all." I couldn't tell you the look on his father's face if I tried. Just think of it as a mixture of shock and fury.
We walked out of the office, blazed past the house staff, and finally went out the door and were on the street. I looked at Young-do with tears in my eyes. "That was amazing. You didn't have to do that for me." I hugged him. He smiled and hugged back. "Of course I did. I'm your bodyguard, right?" I chuckled. "All the things that you said about me were wonderful. Did you really mean them?" Young-do smiled. "Of course I did, and I always will."
We both smiled at each other and held hands. We started walking away from the house and down the street. We were walking downtown and saw some TV's in the window. They were still playing our scandal story. I gasped and looked to Young-do. "The story is still on the air. Can you call them to take it off like you said?" I asked, nervously. Young-do nodded. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number, and the line began to ring.
"Hello? Seoul News? This is Choi Young-do...yes, from the scandal." He rolled his eyes when he mentioned scandal. "I just wanted to call to say..." He looked at me and smirked. "Seo-yun and I are available to come in and do a story on our relationship. We'd like the world to see that we are in love." My eyes went wide. I thought he was going to get the story taken off the air, not go on the air and confirm it! "Okay, thank you very much. We'll be in touch." He hung up the phone and smiled, chuckling a little.
"What happened? I thought you were going to get the story off the air!" I asked, confused. He shook his head. "Why do that when it's true? I love you, we're in a relationship, and that's it. Why shouldn't the world know?" He held my hand once again. I chuckled. "You're a romantic, you know that?" He shrugged. "I can't help it." We both laughed and started walking again, this time with a newfound sense of confidence. Young-do and I were in love, we were together, and the world should knew! We held hands proudly.
Suddenly, Young-do stopped. I halted to a stop too, to see Rachel standing 10 feet away from us, staring at us in shock. She had her eyes set on our hands, and then back at us. Her usual glare appeared on her face once more. She started making her way towards us, and I squeezed Young-do's hand even more out of nervousness. He looked at me with a calm expression. "Don't worry, Seo-yun. Your bodyguard's here." I broke a smile.
"You two are so brazen, it's shameful." Rachel said when she finally stood in front of us, her arms crossed. She looked at me. "I guess trash like you shouldn't be expected to know when you're being shameful. I'm expecting too much out of you." She digged. I curled my free hand into a fist. Young-do's eyebrows furrowed. "Don't start, Rachel." He warned her. Rachel chuckled. "I'm just surprised you like her so much, Young-do. There isn't anything there. No money, no looks, no personality." She glared at me with a smirk on her face. "You're nothing but trash."
No longer was I feel fear or nervousness. I was feeling pure anger. Young-do stepped forward and I could tell he was about to tell Rachel off, but I wanted to handle this one. It was about time that I stepped up for myself and put this girl in her place.
I stepped closer to Rachel, letting go of Young-do's hand. My face was exhibiting an emotion that I never showed her before - anger. "And YOU, Rachel, are nothing but a big bully!" I yelled. Rachel's eyes bugged out of her head in surprise that I was finally speaking up. "You bully people into submission, and when you don't get your way, you threaten, insult, and throw fits. You're nothing but a jealous, spoiled brat." Rachel scoffed. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous of you?" She asked.
"Because I have Young-do." Rachel's mouth was left hanging open. "I have a real relationship built on real love. That is something you could never have if you keep acting the way you do. You're jealous that despite the fact that I have no money, no expensive clothes or accessories, and no fancy house, I have true love. And that is something that nobody, not even you, can take away from me." I smiled at Young-do. "I'll always have love." He looked so surprised, but happy at the same time.
I turned back to Rachel, my angry face settling back in. "I advise you to change. Be nicer, and maybe you'll find love like I did. Until then, don't show up in front of me again." I smiled. "Oh, and by the way, I know it was you that leaked our story to the press. I want you to know, we're not bothered by that anymore. We've already confirmed the story and we're going to go on the air to further talk about our relationship."
I stepped a bit closer to Rachel. "Your insults and threats won't work on me anymore. I have my bodyguard and I have myself. That's all I need." I stepped back to Young-do and held his hand. I smiled at him, then looked back at Rachel. Her jaw was on the ground and her eyes were still bugging out of her head. She furrowed her eyebrows and clenched her hands into tight fists. "Y-You'll be sorry!" She screamed. "No, we won't. You will." I smirked at her, imitating Young-do's smirk.
For once, Rachel was out of words. I had gotten the last word! She stormed off in defeat, her heels still clacking behind her. I looked back at Young-do and giggled out of happiness. "I did it!" I smiled. He scooped me up and spun me around, then set me back down. "You did it!" I smiled. "Actually, we did it. We do make a pretty great team. Client and bodyguard." I joked.
He held my hand. "Yep. And guess what? I won't even raise my price." I laughed and sighed. "Ah, this price of yours. When will I get to learn what it is?" "Not until graduation day, Seo-yun. Just be patient." I smiled. "I don't know if I can wait half a year for that!" I laughed.
Young-do smiled and looked around. "Hey, Seo-yun? Let's go to our place." I tilted my head. "Our place?" I asked. Young-do nodded and took my hand, leading me. "Follow me." We walked a while until we arrived at the same rooftop where we had our first kiss. I smiled at Young-do. "I remember this place." He nodded.
He held my hands in his. "I'm so proud of you, Seo-yun. Throughout all the trials, you have kept your chin up. You helped me finally stand up to my dad and also stood up to Rachel once and for all." He sighed. "Not only that, but you have truly made me happy. This is the happiest I have been in my entire life, and it's all thanks to you. Thank you, Seo-yun."
I smiled. "No, thank you Young-do. You've helped me all throughout my days at Jeguk High. You're the one who offered to be my bodyguard, and you certainly have delivered. You've helped me through so much, and you're the only one who didn't care that I wasn't rich. You make me so happy, and I feel so happy to be with, Young-do."
We looked into each other's eyes before Young-do laughed dryly. "Ack, we're getting all sappy. Let's just look at the view." He offered. I smiled, knowing he was joking and just getting embarrassed judging by the red blush on his face. We faced the beautiful view of Seoul lit up at night. It was so magical! I didn't want this day to end.
I looked at Young-do. "I love you, bodyguard." He smiled and looked at me. "I love you too, Seo-yun."
We shared another kiss on the rooftop that night.