At a certain nightclub.
Kwon Tae Yang leaned back in his seat, watching the people mingling on the dance floor while holding his drink.
The noise mixing with the music buzzed in his ears, causing him to have a small headache. Yet, he did not find it annoying. He revelled in the atmosphere which seemed to be bursting with life and activity.
It had been ages since he came out to play, and after being invited by one of his old friends, he didn't see a reason to say no.
His day off had been awfully uneventful—he ate, slept, and worked out—and the sheer inactivity caused him to feel a little restless after spending months being on guard. Some parts of him still felt worried after being away from his young miss' side for so long. What was she doing, he thought, was she as safe as she had promised him, quietly tucked in the safety of her apartment?
Kwon Tae Yang sighed as he ran his hand through his hair at the thought of the young miss, Lee Yeo Ri. When he joined under Heo Woo Seung's leadership at his father's behest, he hadn't thought that this was where he would end up in—a mere bodyguard and assistant to a girl almost a decade younger than him.
He didn't really hate it as much as he thought. Perhaps because he was still young, he felt that being able to run around was great instead of being confined to a desk.
"What's got our young master here all stressed, hm?" His friend nudged him with his elbow.
"Your job isn't fun enough for you?" Another asked. Continuing with a mocking tone, he smirked, "Well, suck it up, rich boy. Nepotism can only bring you so far."
Kwon Tae Yang frowned, not hiding his annoyance. "So what if I got my job through nepotism? What are you going to do about it? Cry to your daddy? Oh—that's right—your dad disowned you, didn't he? Because you didn't wanna go to the army?"
The man who had been ridiculed glowered hatefully. "I wasn't disowned, okay?! I was the one who chose to leave, got it?!"
Kwon Tae Yang harrumphed, smirking over his win. Instead of continuing with the argument, Kwon Tae Yang went back into his reverie. He focused on his glass as the music slowly ebb into a jazzy tune. He found himself nodding to the beat, immersing himself in the music. His old high school friends might be one tier above trash, but at least they knew where to party.
One by one, his old friends got up to find some girls to hit on or dance with. However, he remained stationed at their seats, under the guise of saving the seats from being taken by strangers despite the fact that the booth he shared with his friends had been reserved and booked solely for their use for the night.
Kwon Tae Yang observed the inglorious b*stards as they drunkenly grind against the female club-goers on the dance floor in what appeared to be a nigh nonconsensual manner.
—Once upon a time, he might have joined them in their conquest.
Kwon Tae Yang raised his glass to his lips and drank all the liquid in one go. He slammed the glass on the table, groaning as the hard liquor burned his insides.
—Now, he could not afford to be like them.
He'd survived expulsion, two degree changes, a beating by his dad, and two years of military service to be where he was now. There was no way he was going to go back to his old ways after struggling so hard these past few years.
And then there was also that girl.
Godd*mn Lee Yeo Ri, always messing with him. Making him do things as she wanted. Ordering him around like he was her servant.
And the worst part was that he didn't hate it.
Heavens forbid, he actually enjoyed it. F*cking Lee Yeo Ri, crawling into his heart like her father owned the place.
—Well, technically, her father does own the place, considering that he was getting paid good money by him. Granted, the bossman hadn't told him specifically to go with all her whims, but he figured he might as well, if it would keep her where he could see her.
Kwon Tae Yang could feel his phone buzz in his pocket, so he took it out.
There she was—
—Lee Yeo Ri. Texting him to let him go tell his employer not to contact her again. Something must've happened between them that made her upset. Probably just a simple birthday wish, going by the date.
Sometimes he wondered why she didn't just block the man if she didn't like it so much. Couldn't she just blacklist him in her contacts? But then again, the girl was always a little bit unpredictable. He doubted she even realised that she could do such a thing on her phone—or perhaps—could it be that she was still harbouring some sort of expectations for the guy? He should tell Mr. Heo about that one of these days—when he wasn't so drunk—that maybe there was some hope left in salvaging their father-daughter relationship.
Despite his increasingly muddled and dark thoughts, Kwon Tae Yang felt a smile quirking up the corners of his mouth.
Lee Yeo Ri.
What a troublesome girl.
But oh, so lovely.
She was just so cute in his eyes. Despite all her little quirks and scary depth, he felt as if she needed to be protected. It must've been her brainwashing, turning him all weird. Just a little bit of favour and he was ready to throw more than his hands for her.
Lee Yeo Ri had been his first serious assignment since he was employed by Heo Woo Seung. All he ever did prior was shadow his father, learning all the tips and tricks of being the head secretary of a politician. He was to succeed his father as the older man prepared for his retirement, and he was actually looking forward to it—to have a bigger purpose in his life, under the wings of a charismatic and capable boss.
But then Lee Yeo Ri appeared. Instead of shadowing his father, he had to shadow the girl instead. It was boring, and sometimes rather dangerous, but he treated it like a game. He was always interested in those cool spies and hitmen in movies and games, and taking care of Yeo Ri gave him an opportunity to live out his fantasy. The cool bodyguard—Agent 0-0-Whatever—in charge of protecting the VVIP's daughter... how cool was that!
By the time he realised it, he had become much too invested in the girl.
His thoughts were disrupted once again as his phone buzzed again, more incessantly this time.
It was a call from his father.
He quickly picked up the call as he left the booth in search of a quieter place to talk.
"Hello?"
"Tae Yang-ah, are you hanging with those punks again? I told you to stop hanging around them; they're a bad influence!" The senior Secretary Kwon scolded, noticing the loud, booming music of the nightclub in the background.
Kwon Tae Yang rolled his eyes, remembering that this exact attitude of his father was the reason he had rebelled so much in his teenage years. "I know. I just came out for a breather. I only drank a little and that's it," he reassured the older man.
"You better not be regressing, son," the man warned.
"I'm not." Kwon Tae Yang sighed, annoyed that he was still being patronised by his parent even after reaching adulthood. "Why did you call?"
"What? I can't call my own son? Think about your parents, why don't you? Oh, poor old us! Your mother and I are getting on the years but you don't even care!" Senior Kwon sighed woefully.
"Alright, stop being so dramatic. I'll visit you two on my next break, okay?"
"—Oh, how pitiful us two old people are! With an unfilial son and no grandchildren to take care of us, how are we going to be able to pass on peacefully!"
"..."
Kwon Junior sighed again. He rubbed the bridge of his nose after listening to his father's dramatics. "You're still young. Don't say such ominous things, dad. It's bad luck," he patiently replied.
"What do you know about bad luck? Not being able to raise you as a proper upstanding citizen was bad luck. Thankfully you got back on the right path. Now stay there," the older man grumbled.
"Is that all you called me for? To curse me for being unfilial?"
"Tsk, you little b*stard... is that any way to talk to your father... forget it, I called because your mother misses you, and also, Mr. Heo wants to know if his daughter is open to doing a DNA test. He's thinking about putting her name in the family registry once the elections end, if she agrees to it."
"I said I'll go home soon, geez. And a DNA test?" Kwon Tae Yang paused, pondering on the little miss' reaction if he mentioned such a thing to her. "I don't know. Miss Yeo Ri doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with Mr. Heo right now, but I can try asking her tomorrow."
Senior Kwon let out a heavy sigh. "What a mess. It would've been better if that girl lived quietly, instead of getting into all this show-business stuff." It would have been easier to wipe out traces of her existence as well, even with how much their employer doted on his illegitimate daughter.
Kwon Tae Yang frowned. "It was the miss' choice. She is her own person, you know? Being Mr. Heo's daughter won't change that. Also, Mr. Heo himself supports her decision."
"You don't have to lecture me on that, boy. I know." He was the one doing all the paperworks, after all.
Kwon Tae Yang kept quiet.
"Alright, I won't bother you anymore. Don't party too hard."
"I won't. I'm going home now."
"Good."
The father-and-son duo hung up the call without so much as a goodbye, as they always did.
Kwon Tae Yang opened up an app to call for a designated driver, as he had a little bit to drink earlier, and texted his old friends about his departure.
Soon enough, the designated driver arrived and they got into his car.
As he slouched in the backseat, his gaze drifted to the bulge on the pocket of the back of the passenger seat.
He reached into the pocket and pulled out a simply decorated box that was the size of his palm. He opened the box to inspect the item contained within it.
It was a hairbrush, custom made for his little miss. On the handle, right under an almost-invisible line, was her initials, written in cursive, 'LYR'.