“How dare you, insolent woman, hide these secrets from me? Did you forget that I am the one who pays you?”

The well-dressed older man clenched his teeth and loosened his tie before taking a quick sip from the heavy crystal glass in his right hand. He slowly turned around, fixing his chartreuse eyes on your stern visage. Even though you were in no position to oppose him as you kneeled on the marble floor with a gun pointed at your left temple, you still dared to meet your employer’s gaze.

“I hired you to care for Hari and ensure he stays out of trouble. Yet you dared to hide that he works as a dancer at a low-class theater restaurant? To think the child of a well-renounced politician is employed by a classless establishment in a third-rated area?”

The man spoke with such vitriol that it was as if he couldn’t even fathom the idea of someone daring to oppose him. Biting down on your tongue, you held back your anger. Was that all he could see? Did nothing else matter to him than his own reputation? What about Hari’s happiness and dreams? The gall of this man to call Hari his son when he doesn’t even know how to be a proper father. Despite your situation, you refused to admit your ‘mistake’ or apologize for wanting Hari’s happiness – even if it resulted in losing your life. Thinking it was your last moment on the planet, you closed your eyes and relived the memories dearest to you.

When you heard the words ‘son of a politician,’ you sighed heavily and rolled your eyes. Great, you will have to take care of a brat. While he remained professional in dealing with you, you noticed he treated you respectfully. It was a reminder that nobody is ever who they seem at first glance. Though your relationship was initially cold, it slowly improved with each interaction.

Although he initially followed all your instructions, you noticed a sudden change in his behavior. He began to lie to you, sneak out, and even give orders for you to stay behind while he went out alone. Out of concern and curiosity, you followed him to an unknown establishment in a questionable area. What was a politician’s son doing in such an area? You were not expecting the answer he gave you when you confronted him.

“My dream is to sing and stand on the stage, but my father will never allow it.”

Hari had always given you the impression that he was a well-behaved son who listened to every order his father gave him; instead, you realized he was a passionate young man with a dream he was desperate to pursue despite knowing his father would never approve. To see him willing to take a risk this high to achieve his goal truly showed his determination and courage. That was enough for you to support him, even if it meant hiding this information from his father and risking your job.

Each day, you saw how hard he worked to train his body to become a performer, but one day, you saw him stumbling out of the restaurant. He had pushed himself to the point of exhaustion during rehearsals that he couldn’t even put pressure on his leg muscles without wincing. As much as you tried to keep a straight face, the corners of your mouth curled upwards in amusement.

“Your muscles must be in a lot of pain,” you quietly said as you helped Hari walk to the car parked a ways from the restaurant.

He blushed and looked away, slightly embarrassed by his inability to walk on his own. “It’s not that bad,” he said, trying to downplay his discomfort.

“Oh yeah? Then why are you leaning on me to walk?”

Hari’s blushes deepened, but he didn’t deny your observation; instead, he laughed sheepishly and said, “Okay, they actually hurt pretty bad.”

“Mokuren kicked you on purpose?!” you demanded, seeing Hari wincing. “What happened?”

“I, uh, accidentally stole their food,” Hari admitted.

You were outraged by this revelation and wordlessly stomped toward the establishment to give Mokuren a piece of your mind, but Hari stepped in front of you.

“It’s better if you don’t mess with Mokuren,” he nervously laughed.

“You know I am a trained bodyguard, right? Wait. Are you saying you’re worried about me?” You teased.

“Yes, I am,” Hari admitted honestly, looking you straight in the eyes. Your cheeks burned red from his straightforward response. Your heart rate started to race out of control, you felt an odd sensation in your stomach, and your breath was uneven. But you couldn’t quite understand what your heart was trying to tell you at the time.

There were times after that moment when you felt the same sensations again but quickly dismissed them until the day Hari asked you to stay behind while he went on a ride on his motorcycle. Your initial thought was he wanted to do something you would not allow due to the risk of his safety.

“Oh no, you don’t. I will get the car and follow you.” You said in a tone that gave an air of command, as in you were not giving him an option.

“Get on.” Hari sighed, held out a spare helmet, and motioned to the seat behind him. While you were not the type to go on a motorcycle, you accepted, thinking it was best to stay close to him. In your mind, ‘stay close to him’ referred to protecting him in the case of danger, but once the motorcycle got on the road, your thoughts took an unexpected turn.

Though your hands were on his shoulder, you had to stay close to his body for the sake of balance. Your mind focused on the feel of his muscular shoulder under your fingertips. Had he always been this muscular? Then, your thoughts moved to heat radiating through his clothes and caressing your torso. Under the helmet, your cheeks heated as you felt your chest pressed against his back. The redness brightened when you realized your hips were molded against his rear. But wait, why were you blushing? Furthermore, why were you enjoying this? It wasn’t right, yet it felt exactly that – right.

Impossible. No, no, it couldn’t be. Were you in love? You went through a mental checklist of the cliche dialogues you had heard in romantic movies. When a person was in love…and you discovered the cliche dialogues were actually accurate, there were butterflies in your stomach, your heart felt light and heavy simultaneously, and time seemed to slow down. The only thing missing was the hallelujah chorus in the background.

While your heart was excited, your mind began to travel a path to stop your heart from getting out of control. You were a bodyguard, and Hari was the son of a reputed politician – someone who belonged to the elite class. Hari’s future was in politics, which could only mean he would want to be with a woman who could add to his influence in society and the government. Maybe the daughter of a businessperson or politician. Not a bodyguard. The butterfly fluttering in your heart shattered in small pieces just as quickly as it had appeared.

A few days after that, Hari invited you to one of his shows, and you were speechless. You had not expected the show’s quality to be on the level of high-quality theatrical performances. It left you wondering why actors with such talent were performing in an underground restaurant.

“Thank you for inviting me to the show,” you smiled at him as the two of you made your way to his car. “You have worked hard, and it showed in your performance. Hari, I am proud of you.”

He stopped in his tracks and stared at you with wide eyes and parted lips slightly, not knowing how to react to your words. Hari drew a deep breath and closed his eyes, but you saw a genuine smile tug on his lips. “This is the first time anyone has said those words to me.”

When he opened his eyes, you saw them glisten more than usual, but before you had time to process that your words had drawn him to tears, you felt his arms wrap around your shoulders. Feeling the heat of his body envelope yours, you blushed and tensed.

“Thank you,” he whispered but quickly released you from the embrace and stepped back. A sheepish grin tugged on his lips. “S-Sorry.”

Seeing how much this meant to him, you smiled with a gentle warmth deep in your heart. “It’s okay.”

While you were aware of your feelings for him, Hari hadn’t learned about your feelings or understood his feelings towards you. But that changed the day you saw his fangirls approach him and speak honey-dipped words, conveying their love for him and his performance. You stood a short distance from him with your eyes fixed on the back of the fans’ heads and a frown on your lips. Unfortunately for you, Hari noticed your reaction and wondered the reason behind it. Could it be?

To test his theory, Hari held his arms out to his fangirls and returned their honeyed words with sweet words of his own. Taking advantage of the situation, the fans hugged him while squealing. All you could do was swallow the urge to march up to them and tear them away from him, under the name of his safety, of course. As soon as you averted your gaze, Hari concluded his hypothesis was correct – you did like him.

“Were you jealous?” He asked in a neutral voice once the women left.

“What? Why would I be jealous?” You replied calmly, ensuring he didn’t catch any hints of your actual emotions from your expression.

“Good. That means I can hug all my fangirls.” He teased.

“You will not! Uh…I m-mean, it’s not safe for you.” You nervously spoke in hopes of covering your initial reaction. “Anyone can hurt you. I am your bodyguard, so-”

“I like you too, (y/n).”

His unexpected confession shocked you into a state of paralysis, but he continued to walk away as if expecting you to follow him. But upon noticing that you were frozen in place, Hari stopped and turned around. The corners of his lips curled into a soft smile – he had meant every word of what he had said.

“Father!” Hari sternly called out as he walked into the room with an air of authority. “(Y/n) had nothing to do with it. I threatened her to keep quiet about my connections to Starless.”

“Hari. Is this what your mother and I have taught you? How dare you attempt to lower the name of our family by associating yourself with a lowly establishment.”

Before his father could say another word, Hari met his gaze confidentially and spoke with anger but maintained his respect. “I only wish to pursue my dreams. Father, I am willing to do as you want, but I also want to fulfill my dream. Please allow me to fulfill my dreams before I fulfill yours.”

“By performing at a low-class theater restaurant?” His father scoffed.

“Isn’t it better that I perform at Starless?” Hari asked with a slight smirk, to which his father raised an eyebrow. “If I debut as a celebrity, everyone will learn of my relationship with you. That means your friends will believe that your son refused to follow in your footsteps, which will tarnish your reputation. So, is it not better if I stay out of the public’s eyes? The people you associate yourself with will never come to Starless, so my secret and your reputation are safe.”

The politician’s eyebrows raised at his son’s revelation, and he could not argue with Hari’s reasoning. Seeing that he was on the path to winning his father over, Hari continued his speech with determination and sincerity. “Father, I only ask you for two things: spare (y/n) so she can continue to be my bodyguard and allow me to pursue my dreams. That’s the least you could do as my father.”

Though the older man was angered by his son’s demands, he drew a deep breath and smirked. “This the first time you have stood your ground. I expect you to show the same determination you are displaying at the moment when you become a politician.”

Without waiting for Hari’s response, his father walked away, followed by his personal bodyguards. For a moment, Hari stood still as his mind processed that his father had permitted him to continue his work at Starless. Turning his attention to you, his eyes scanned your face and body for visible injuries. “Are you okay?”

He held his hand out to help you up as you nodded with a proud smile; Hari had handled the situation so well that you felt your chest swell with pride for him. He wrapped his arms lovingly around you when you stood up and whispered, “I am sorry for being late. I am glad you are okay.”