Pov: Chu Scarlett
The meeting ended successfully, even though the wound on my palm was deeper and stung more than I let on.
In different circumstances, I would have never gotten injured against such a weak opponent. However, my client would have died if it weren't for me hurling my own body in between his, and the rodent's. A miniature cut like this was actually nothing compared to what could have went down.
I was forced to acknowledge Roche as one of our own this time, since it wasn't that easy to find him a good enough replacement. I couldn't downplay the fact that he was an S rank with 1 gold, and 2 silver stars.
Now that he's staying, it's time to let go of my grudge. I can't let my personal feelings get in the way of my work.
We had decided that agent Venus would be guarding Christopher right now, which is why they took their leave.
Agent Pak and Minji were in the middle of a discussion when I spotted Roche looking at me from the corner of the room, with guilt consuming his eyes.
Sigh..
I'll try to hear him out this time.. I'll just have to stop myself from leaving a hand sized bruise on his face.
Approaching his seat, I knocked on the desk, signaling for him to follow me outside. His emerald eyes widened astoundingly fast and glistened in hope. He looked like a lost puppy that just found its owner again. In other words, absolutely pathetic.
He didn't even wait till we were completely out of the room to start speaking. "Are you actually going to hear me out??? You kept me in the team!"
So annoying.
"You are staying, but-"
Hold up-
"Why are you crying?" I've never seen him like this before.
"Scar I'm so, so, so, so, SO SOOORRYY!!!" He managed to reply in between sobs.
He looked quite funny to me. His eyes were roaming around, trying to see if anyone was watching him.
I had gotten a bit familiar with the secluded hallways, so I grabbed his wrist and guided him there.
"Scar, I promise I didn't mean what I told you back in France! I was in pain and I needed someone to blame! We all did! I truly apologize for everything!"
I don't care.
He started crying again, "I.. *sniff*...I searched for you everywhere, but you had left the country.. *sniff*.. With no prior notice too.. " He took out some tissues and blew his nose.
What a kid. A 23 year old kid.
"I tried to call you, but you'd changed your number too!" he exclaimed with huge, round eyes. His hair had gotten disheveled from the amount of times he'd ran his hands through it today.
"I've been drowning in guilt ever since, but I figured it was nothing compared to your pain. Knowing that you were out there, somewhere, probably in more pain than most of us combined, while also blaming yourself, made me realize that I did not deserve your forgiveness. I turned on you when you needed me the most, Scar... I let you down." he chocked out. "I don't expect you to go back to being my best friend, but I need you to know that I don't blame you. Deep in my heart, I never did," he whispered, as he finally started to calm down.
I looked up at him, but he avoided my gaze. To him, the wet tissues fidgeting in his hands seemed to be of utmost importance at the moment.
I wasn't sure about how to react. I was not expecting for him to have been in so much pain. Under the circumstances we parted in last time, I could have never guessed that he'd end up apologizing to me. Even though what happened was technically my fault.
I hate to admit it, but seeing him like this really hurt my heart. He'd always been the life of the group. He knew how to lighten up any situation, and make even a crying person laugh with how goofy he'd get.
After a long period of silence, he tried fixing his loosened tie, but failed. This guy will never grow up, will he?
I unintentionally let a quiet giggle slip out. His head whipped towards my direction so fast, I was worried about his neck. His face clearly read, 'Did I hear that right?'
Why do I still have a soft spot for these two french people, known as Olivier and Liliane? They broke through my defenses so easily.
"Listen Olive, I think I can gradually learn to forgive you. It might take time to get used to, but I-"
I couldn't even form a whole sentence, when I felt two muscular arms wrap themselves around my shoulders. He was too excited to control his own strength.
Cue to us both toppling over to the ground. Well.. At least he made sure he wouldn't crush me under all of his weight.
He carried himself up in a plank, and looked down with a huge boyish grin plastered on his face.
"You just called me Olive!" He stopped, "SCAR! You JUST called me Olive! I never thought the day would come when I'd be so happy to hear you call me that!!!" he chortled, and moisture coated his eyes again.
I tried to dry them up while pushing him off me. We ended up sitting cross-legged on the ground, with our backs leaning on the wall.
"You didn't let me finish! I'm not the same person I used to be. It will take time for us to get used to each other again," I resumed.
"So we're both a little more broken than we used to be. Big whoop," he sighed wistfully while resting his head on top of my shoulder. "I missed this. I really missed this. I think I can now start sleeping comfortably at night. My joy is impossible to express in mere words," he mumbled wearily.
After a few minutes, I looked down at him to be surprised with his sleeping face. This must have been such a huge burden lifted off his back. We were fairly inseperable back then.
His face looked so serene and untroubled at the moment. So much so, that it calmed me down as well.
Maybe I can slowly move on from everything that's happened. Maybe the others feel the same way that Olive does.
The floor had never felt so comfortable before. I wished this moment would last longer, but it was cut short by agent Pak's loud, weighty footsteps penetrating through the empty halls.
"Agent Chu, I would like to speak-" And every muscle in his body stood still when he finally caught up to us and saw Olive's peaceful figure on my shoulder- "with you.." He completed his sentence almost inaudibly.
Cautiously lifting Olive's head up, he carried his whole weight on one arm and took off. This man had one of the largest builds I'd seen during my whole career as an agent, and that said a lot.
I assumed he'd be back, so I waited. The image of Olive softly snoring on my shoulder creeped its way back to my mind, and it got me feeling drowsy too.
Wake up Scarlett, you're on duty next.
"Agent Pak. You're back," I declared. His weighty footsteps gave it away.
"How did you get him to sleep? Did you two finally make up?" he blatantly asked.
"What do you mean?"
Did Olive tell him about our fight? When did he even find the time to? We all just met.
"I believe we forgot to mention that agent Roche and I worked on another mission right before this one. Even then, he had trouble falling asleep and always complained about a Scarlett forgetting about him. When I saw you two having your first encounter, I put two and two together."
He stopped for a moment , and then continued, "I was actually looking for you to ask that you'd give him a chance to explain himself. I don't know what's happened between you two, but the young adult looked depressed without you. Now that it's cleared up, I will get going. It's already time for your shift to start."
Wow, I don't think I'll ever hear him talk for so long again. I'd better savor this moment.
He abruptly turned around and left while I checked the time. We'd already made it to the afternoon.
My shift starts now.
I finally left the hallways, making sure that all the evidence of this morning's attack was cleaned off the floor.
No knife, and no bloodstains anywhere to be seen.
Agent Venus had told me to switch posts with her at our client's studio. Apparently, he's in there most of the time, working on his songs.
"I'm here," I told her when I got to the studio. Agent Venus smiled at me and opened the door, gesturing for me to enter. "Wait, won't we disturb him if we stay in there while he's working?" I wondered.
"He said he needs someone around till he feels safer alone. It's not unusual for such clients to feel cynical." And with that, she left.
Sigh. Fine. Let's do this.
"Good afternoon, Christopher," I apathetically greeted.
It seems he was surprised to see me, since he looked taken aback by my sudden appearance.
"Oh, hello! Scarlett, is it?" He smiled.
What a pretty smile. Must be an idol thing.
"That's what I'm called," I replied as I stood as far into the room as I could, trying not to distract him with my presence.
A few minutes passed by with him sitting in front of the screen, but not doing much. He looked puzzled.
Then he faced my direction, evidently hesitant to speak up.
"Can I ask you some things?" He blurted out. Was I making him nervous? Good.
"What would these things be?" Well, this was interesting.
"Firstly, thank you for saving me earlier. How's your hand doing, though? I feel responsible for it," he let me know, as he stared at my bandages.
What's with him and my injury? I'm the bodyguard here.
I waved my hand around while rolling my eyes. That should give him his answer.
He laughed, even though I was not trying to be funny. Afterwards, he opened his mouth again, "Secondly, I was curious about your name. Your last name is korean, but you don't look the part. Do you happen to be mixed?"
And why, exactly, does he care about that? I guess it wouldn't hurt to give him a terse reply. He looked like he wouldn't be able to go back to his screen otherwise.
"I'm actually american. I just happen to be a Chu thanks to my guardians." I knew this wasn't enough of an answer to his enquiry, but my tone made it clear that I wouldn't be elaborating any further.
He hesitantly nodded and got lost in his thoughts again. "So you were born in America," he whispered to himself.
Born..
Found..
Potato potato..
"I think it's about time you go back to work, Christopher. It's my job to protect you, not to entertain you. It's utterly ridiculous for you to feel any sort of guilt because of your bodyguards' injuries. It is our job to risk our own lives to save yours. Keep in mind that I'm getting paid accordingly. If I were to die protecting you, your job would be to forget I ever existed, and move on. That's how bodyguards work."
I don't need to be nice to him. He doesn't need to be nice to me either. I should let him know that any of us can disappear at any moment. If he gets attached to us, he's going to end up in a whole lot of pain.
I'm drawing the line before he starts deluding himself into thinking that it's okay to ask me about my personal life.
We're not friends.