Do you know which sea possesses the most bewildering tides? I believe it's the human one...
the one inside you, just like the one inside me. And I'm certain you've felt its overwhelming force at least once.
Perhaps that salty, surging water has swept you away so violently that the memory is scorched into your mind—or maybe you suppressed it so fast, it's just a phantom ache....
"Hotel Transylvania OSTs… Lady Gaga albums… wait, the entire Map of the Soul series, and even a JJK playlist downloaded?!"
"SIR. YOU ARE. IN. MY. PRIVACY."
He raised an eyebrow, his gaze drifting coolly over my bare skin. Only then did the realization hit me: I was half-naked. His eyes fixed on me, and the sensation was palpable, almost physical—like a warm drop of water tracing a path from my neck to my chest.
I swallowed hard, not because this shameless man was looking at me, but because of what he might be plotting while doing so. He truly operates without filters.
He seemed momentarily distracted, lightly biting his lower lip and nodding thoughtfully to himself. Probably something filthy. Does he ever harbor a thought that isn't steeped in debauchery?
But this lapse gave me a precious moment to save my baby—I mean, my phone!
I snatched it from his hand. "Enough of billing your bodyguard, sir," I managed, the polite anger in my voice barely masking the fury simmering beneath.
He chuckled, his teasing voice slicing at me like needles. "Fine, fine... is my bodyguard planning on staying nude the entire day?"
I had been about to return to the bathroom to finish my shower in peace. But his comment brought a new, chilling realization. My one and only clean shirt was completely soaked. I would genuinely have to stay shirtless if he didn't buy me a new one, or until it dried.
I spun back around, completely done with his games. "S-Sir, I..." I started, but he cut me off.
"What? Coming back to your senses, are we?" he drawled, flexing the power of his status.
Then the shameless whore came closer, so close I could catch the scent of blueberry vape on his breath.
"You're in my privacy again, sir," I said lightly, retreating—unconsciously backing toward the bed. My eyes remained locked on him, needing to know his every move.
"You smell bad..." he murmured after a mocking, dramatic raise of an eyebrow.
I blinked. I thought he'd compliment my built biceps or my abs.
But that was an insult! Rain doesn't smell bad; that's the scent of hard work! But how would this spoiled fool know? He probably never even chewed his own food.
"Ex-cuse me, sir??" I tilted my head, letting him know he was pushing my ego again.
He chuckled, faint and subtle, then leaned in, his hot breath burning my earlobe. "You'll smell better in my perfume... wanna share? Because I don't share it with everyone."
Was he just talking about actual perfume, or was I the dirty-minded one here?
Before I could react, he shoved me onto the soft mattress. I gasped, and he was immediately on top of me, fully. Zero space between us.
"Clever... I could tell you understood by the way your breath hitched," he purred against my neck.
My body shivered lightly—already damp and wearing nothing but a towel on this cold day, and now he was on me. It was overwhelmingly uncomfortable. I regretted every prideful word I'd ever uttered for the sake of this mission!
"Y-Your gay..your father might faint if he sees us this way," I hissed, trying to push him away without actually breaking his neck.
He giggled like a devil—careless and confident, even though I was clearly threatening him. This laugh felt like it would be the end of my peaceful sleep.
"You think I give a fuck what my father saw... whether it's me laying on a guy or laying under him?" he scoffed.
Wait. What?
I looked at him, confusion and disbelief warring on my face.
"He knows I'm gay... we're fine as long as nobody else finds out," he said, tracking my silent, frantic pulse point with his fingertip.
God. I was trapped.
With a gay man.
Not a fictional one, but an actual gay man! I suddenly missed my brother and father back at the base.
Someone save me from this whore!
I was frozen, staring at him as if he were some kind of hybrid animal.
"What, don't believe me, hmm? " He took my phone, searched for his own Instagram ID, and then accessed a three-minute voice recording:
" ...||||...|...|||..|||||..|.|||.||...||||..|.||..||..||||...|||..=
his father = Soakjin, I've heard that you forcefully kissed a young bodyguard who resigned..."
Soakjin: "I liked him, so I kissed him. I'm older now. How will you understand your own son when you were never a proper father figure? (Coldly and sharply)"
His father: "You know how shameful it is? (Voice raised slightly)"
Soakjin: "You could sleep with lots of women... and I can't kiss a single man? Isn't that unfair? (Mocking)"
Father: "Soakjin... those weren't men... (Hissed)"
Soakjin: "Should I— (Threatening, about to speak)"
I blinked at this part.
Father: "...fine... but... I'll allow it on one condition... (Cuts in, voice tight, jaw clearly clenched)"
Soakjin: "Hm..."
Father: "Nobody should know about your... proclivities outside. If anyone spreads it... I'll burn the whole property with myself so that you can't even spend my money after ruining me... shameless boy..."
The recording ended with the loud click of boots.
"See? " he said, his face close to mine, his eyes half-lidded with a lazy smirk.
God, he was on a high rank of whoredom without officially being one. I didn't move; a torrent of questions flooded my mind.
What did his father cut off?
Did his father know something?
Why would he burn the entire property with himself?
How was it so easy for him to manipulate his older, presidential father?
Wasn't he happily married to his wife? Where did the other...
Now I wondered if this guy was truly a dumb bomb, or something else entirely.
I snapped back to reality with an unexpected squeeze on my bare chest—right on my heart—and a bite on the right side of my neck.
I felt a surge of current run through my veins. I squeezed my eyes shut, my heart pounding in my ears, fighting back a groan—the bite was deep. I roughly grabbed his head by the hair to push him away. The demon was crossing lines, but he bit down harder, like a snake.
"S-Stop biting me. I believe you're officially gay, sir..." I pleaded urgently, my voice embarrassingly heavy, almost slurred.
He moved away slightly, leaving a clear teeth mark and some cuts on my neck. He hissed and slapped my hand away from his hair. "Don't order me, or I'll bleed your lips now."
Ugh! Even I couldn't handle him when he was in "whore mode"!
Our eyes met—my cheeks were crimson and burning hot. In an overwhelming rush of embarrassment and discomfort, I couldn't help but headbutt him. It wasn't too hard, but it was enough to shove him off.
"Ah! Taemin! You're gonna regret that!" he groaned—more like a friend yelling than a boss.
I quickly moved away and pinned his wrists above his head. "Being your free, part-time driver, tourist guide, joker, or toy was not written in any document of my bodyguard registration, sir," I said, my breath silently irregular.
"I'll re—" I was about to say I'd resign, but I remembered the rule—a rule that might break me too: No turning back from any mission on hand.
"You what?" he challenged, his eyes reflecting my burning image.
"I... I'm requesting you not to push my limits, sir." I moved away from him completely, rubbing the bite on my neck, refusing to look at him, acting as if he didn't exist.
"Taemin..." he called, expecting a reply.
But I didn't speak. I was genuinely disturbed by him right now.
"I bit your neck, not your ear..." he tried again.
Still, I didn't reply. I snatched his vape and inhaled angrily, without having eaten anything.
He took it back from me. "Firstly, it's mine, and secondly, it's not lunch."
Silence followed.
He huffed proudly and put on his suit, leaving the room. "I'll be back in 30 minutes."
Chapter 10 (Spoiler)
Then, he suddenly whispered, "You really are both... my bodyguard, driver, joker, and friend with benefits."
My eyes snapped onto him. "Friends with benefits?! Never."
"You're already taking benefits and now resisting? Just watch. I'll make you so addicted that you won't be able to sleep without my hands or my mouth..."
"It's never going to happen."
"Watch me."