Third person.
Awoken by the alarm of her phone, Jieum stirs to the other side of the bed, snoozing the alarm off to get a few more minutes of sleep. She would've gone back to her slumber if it weren't for the knock on her door.
"Jieum-ssi? Mr. Moon's asking you to be downstairs in five. He wants you to meet someone." Said on the other side of the door, followed by another prudent knock.
'It's seven in the morning, for the love of God.' Jieum wants to say, but instead, she nods out of her mind, as if they would see her responding.
"Okay." She answers, in the loudest way possible with her hoarse voice. Jieum knows better than to go back to sleep and disobey her father's order.
She unwillingly sits up, her feet touching the cold floor. Taking a few more seconds to wake her body up, she makes her way out of her bedroom with gradual steps. Making sure she at least looked presentable was the least of her concerns, because she forgot the last few words she was told by one of the housemaids who woke her up, and the only thing on her mind was that her dad wanted to see her right now.
With disheveled hair and in her black pajamas, she walks through the empty hallway while looking around for her dad, greeting the housemaids along the way with simply a nod.
"They're in the living room." One of them informed her, holding a laundry basket. Before Jieum can ask what she meant by "they", they already left to continue their duty.
She halts at the doorway, scanning the room yet no sign of her father could be seen.
However...
Sitting on their long beige-colored sofa, Jieum spots a man. She's standing a few meters away from the sofa behind, so she is faced by his back only. Muttering a curse for then she only remembers that they do have a guest, she doesn't make a sound when she quickly combs her hair with her slender fingers and looks down at her pajamas, a lot more awake than a second ago.
The man has not recognized her existence. Jieum would prefer to let it stay that way until she manages to make herself out of the living room and proceed to look for where her dad could be.
But her slow quiet back steps were no use, as while she attempted to leave, that's when the man turns around, and she sees him.
Him.
Him...
Him?!
Who in the actual f — Who is Jieum seeing in front of her right now?
Both the only people inside the living room at a great distance from each other stare at each other with blown eyes. Jieum's heart falls to the bottom of her stomach as she realizes who the man is.
No, no, no. Just, no.
Jieum must be dreaming. Oh, she wished this was merely one of her dreams where he suddenly appeared out of nowhere to make sure she hadn't forgotten about him. Inside her mind right now, she's begging for whatever exists to wake her up from this nightmare and get her back into reality.
This is the reality.
Because fucking Park Jongseong, her heartbreaker, is real and here at her own house. He looks up and down at her frozen figure with his mouth glued shut, just like Jieum.
"Y-you-?!"
"Ah! You're finally awake!" The sound of her father coming in and passing by her to go to him interrupts what Jieum was about to say (or rather, scream).
"I see you've met already, huh? Well- god, Ji, why are you still in your pajamas? It's quite embarrassing for you to meet your bodyguard in this such state." Kangmin says, dissatisfied by how this first impression of each other is turning out.
That should be the least of his concerns, really.
The young man next to him choked on his saliva by what he said, not because of — erm, the girl in her morning look or whatsoever — but because now he regrets what he had gotten himself into.
He should've known better than to agree immediately with the job offer of being a bodyguard of a businessman's child, but you see, he specifically thought he'd be looking after a child.
"B-bodyguard...?" Jieum, still dazed, hesitatingly points at him, then to herself.
"Yes. Jieum, meet Park Jongseong, as I recall, he is months older than you. He just came back from America; the son of one of my very close friends, and I hired him to be your bodyguard. It's a relief, thus finding you one wasn't as hard as I thought it would be." Kangmin formally introduces him to his daughter.
Though it was no need, because hah! Jieum knows him very well.
"And, Jongseong, and this is my only daughter, who's a model, Moon Jieum. I hope you keep her safe at all costs, as that is your main job." Kangmin pats him on the shoulder with a small smile.
"A-ah, yes. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Moon Jieum. I'll be your personal bodyguard starting from today... so I hope we get along well...?" Jongseong bows at her and flashes a tentative smile.
Thousands of questions lap inside Jieum's body, but all she does reciprocate is a tight smile back.
Her father might think it's genuine. But Jongseong knows, it's the kind of smile that gives off that she wants to kill someone (him, precisely).
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The moment Jieum gets back inside her bedroom, she slams the door close and locks it. She slaps her hand to her forehead in able to process what's been going through.
Was that actually her ex — No, not ex. Was that the guy she was in love with in high school?
She has moved on, or at least, better than the first couple of months without him. God, she still remembers. She couldn't go on a day without his image showing up inside her mind and crying every night that Sohee had to sleep over at her house for a week.
Would you call her dramatic for having a hard time getting over a guy who wasn't even her boyfriend? In her defense, he did act like one. They acted like a real couple. They were always together and secretly went on dates every after school (and in between classes sometimes). He got her fresh carnations or lilies every week, and they always surprised each other in small ways. Jongseong always made her feel better at times when she was down. He did a good job making her feel loved and treated her right, for a while. No wonder Jieum thought he was the one for her. She thought they were meant to be.
Does he do that with other people after he did it to her, too?
Life became different when they broke apart and never saw each other again for years. Just as she thought she'd never have to face Jongseong ever again, he returned. In the worst way possible.
Surely Jieum told her dad about getting heartbroken over a guy when he caught her sobbing after school. He was even furious when she told him. Her father had to give her a list of love advice which was pretty impressive coming from a busy man. Though, she doesn't remember if she ever mentioned Jongseong's name to him, or showed a picture of him.
Hearing from Jongseong's friends that he started to live in America rather than coming from himself took the place of her heartsickness with rage that has remained ever since then.
"Why the fuck did he have to come back?" She cusses out in frustration. She could scream right now for all she cares, but she doesn't want to show how affected she is by the situation. They're only gonna think of it the wrong way, plus, what if Jongseong hears her? He'd think she's still into him, would he?
The digital clock on the wall shows 7:16 in the morning. She has work to attend to in about an hour. There is a ton of time to get ready, but she badly wants to get out of these pajamas that will remind her of how embarrassing she looked in front of her ex (not her ex) a while ago from now on.
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Her simple elegance is displayed as she changes into finer clothes and gets her hair and makeup done. She lastly sprays her perfume on herself to complete everything. And now, she's set to leave the house.
Placing her hand on the doorknob, Jieum pauses midway twisting it open as she remembers who's possibly waiting for her outside. A groan escapes her mouth and she stomps her feet.
Jieum takes a couple of deep breaths, telling herself to keep sane whatever it takes when she sees him downstairs. Closing her bedroom door behind her, she holds her chin up and walks with a straight face on, heading downstairs.
'What are the chances he's not here anymore and decided to quit his job before he could start?' She gives it an attempt to lift her spirits, praying desperately he's gone.
He's not gone at all. Jongseong is still in the living room, talking civilly to her father. Jieum stops her track again in the same place where she stood upon seeing him this morning.
Both men haven't acknowledged her presence, giving her the time to observe Jongseong.
Jieum might have recognized him promptly the moment she saw him a while ago, but years away from Korea seemed to still change him quite a lot. His physical features have grown more mature compared to himself prior to his disappearance. His hair, though still in natural black, is styled differently as it's parted sideways with half of it covering his forehead while the other is slicked back. He used to claim dark and neutral colors suited him more, and she reckons that's turned out to be his whole personality as he's currently wearing an all-black attire of a denim jacket with a shirt tucked in his jeans.
Enough of her eyeing him until she got to his shoes, Jieum cleared her throat to grab their attention, crossing her arms to her chest.
"It seems like Jieum is ready to go. I've already told you everything you need to know about her and your responsibility. As long as you stay close to her with some distance and well, follow her orders, you'd be good." Her father tells him, giving him a thumbs up. Jongseong awkwardly chuckles and nods, before turning his head to meet Jieum's glaring eyes.
"Jieum, don't think of plotting anything to get rid of having a bodyguard. Just pretend he's not with you if that's what you want. Your manager must be waiting for you, I'll see you later or tomorrow morning." Kangmin smiles at Jieum's huffy expression.
"Bye, dad." She mumbles.
"Have a good day ahead, Mr. Moon." Jongseong bows his head as the father heads out.
With only the two of them left in this minimalist living room, they stare at each other with distinct emotions. Jieum slowly treads forward, creating intense eye contact with him. Jieum is a tall woman, but no matter what, he's still always going to be taller than her. Sighing heavily, she swiftly turns around and strides by herself.
"Aren't you coming?" She voices out without looking back and alternatively hears footsteps behind her.
Jieum led them outside the garage, and two cars were on display. She can't believe she won't be able to drive any of these cars by herself anymore. All because Park Jongseong, her first bodyguard hired by her very own father, is tasked to do the job.
"Hey, Jieum, wa-"
As he called her by her name, Jieum completely lost her temper by hearing his voice tickling behind her, stirring around to aimlessly strike him with her Prada bag. It wasn't her intention to hit him directly across his face, but she did, causing the man to almost stumble down by the impact.
"What in the world are you doing here, Park Jongseong?!" Jieum yells fumingly, her eyes narrowing.
It's absolutely not so good to see each other again.
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2.1k words wow.