The Academy

Chapter 3

Harris felt a surge of pride as he observed his mentee take one final deep breath before she gave a couple sharp wraps on the door and pushed it open, entering the board room that they had been directed to. Despite her asking him if he had any final words of advice and his answer being something along the lines of it's not too late to back out, she was professional, poised, and ready. Everything that he had trained her to be. As of this moment she was no longer a student of The Academy.

The conversation that had been taking place was immediately paused and all eyes were on them. Harris felt uncomfortable with the number of people that were looking at him, but it didn't escape his attention that Yuri was giving the impression that she had done this on many occasions before. She made a point to meet everyone's eyes. She could see the interest and curiosity in some. She could see the attraction in others. Yuri was used to these kinds of stares. She had been receiving them for as long as she could remember. Every time there was a new trainee who joined them at The Academy, every time they did training exercises, these were the looks that she received. She also saw the looks that Harris was getting and wondered if she would ever get those kinds of looks. They were the kind that held immediate respect, awe, and on occasion fear.

"Mr. Harris, it's good to see you again," Mr. Lee, the man responsible for all of this stood, breaking the silence that had fallen around them. Since their original meeting the day before Yuri had learned that her employer was Baekhyun Lee, CEO of Lee Communications. With CEO Lee at the helm, it had grown to be amongst the biggest corporations in the world.

"Just Harris, sir," Harris corrected before turning to acknowledge Mr. Nam with a respectful nod.

"Have a seat" CEO Lee waved towards the empty chairs at the end of the table, "I believe that introductions are in order,"

"This is my son, Heeseung," the man gestured to a younger looking version of himself, "and his closest friends Jungwon, Sunoo, Jake, Sunghoon, Jay, and Ni-ki," CEO Lee gestured towards each young man as he introduced them. Each of them in turn gave some kind of acknowledgment to confirm that they were the face to the name that was being stated. "And of course, you remember Mr. Nam, my head of security,"

"Yuri. Harris." Mr. Nam coolly greeted. His eye wasn't as swollen as Yuri had thought it would be but the deep purple colour surrounding it was proof of her victory over the man.

"We received the briefing packet that was sent over. Thank you," Yuri confirmed, recognizing everyone from the profiles that she had received. Whether or not she recognized their faces she recognized their family names. It seemed that Heeseung kept very select people around him. Which would explain why he looked less than thrilled to be sat here meeting Yuri and Harris.

"Wonderful, so you're familiar with what has led me and the board to this decision?" CEO Lee phrased it as a question, but it was clear that he expected nothing less than the affirming nods that both Yuri and Harris gave. "Then let's move on—"

"I have an issue with this," Heeseung interrupted, "Our agreement was that I would be able to have one year after I completed university before I had to step into my role within the company. That was supposed to include all the obligations and responsibilities that come with it. How am I supposed to enjoy myself when I'm constantly being trailed by someone like him?" he gestured towards Harris.

His friends nodded their agreement, showing their support for their friend. "Respectfully sir, he only draws more attention. Could that not cause more problems?" Yuri recognized the one who was speaking as Sunoo.

"Harris is not who we've hired. He is here as a representative," CEO Lee corrected, self-satisfaction rolling off him in waves. It wasn't hard to recognize that he was very pleased with the decision that he had made, "Miss Yuri has accepted the contract and the terms that were stipulated within,"

Everyone's eyes fell onto Yuri again. It was quiet for a moment before anyone chose to speak.

"She's going to be Hee's bodyguard?" Jay voiced what everyone else was clearly thinking. The corner of his mouth lifted into a skeptical smirk.

The one Yuri knew was Jungwon seemed stunned into silence. His eyebrows were half-way up his forehead and his mouth was parted as if he wanted to speak but couldn't find the words.

"What are the stipulations that you mentioned?" Heeseung questioned. Yuri was having difficulty reading his expression. He didn't seem as hostile towards the idea of her being hired instead of Harris. But he still seemed wary.

"It's simple really," CEO Lee began, "She has been hired to keep you safe while allowing you the liberties and freedoms that we agreed upon,"

"But how will she be less obvious than him?" Heeseung pressed, taking notice of the lack of details his father was offering.

CEO Lee continued his rambling, trying to skirt around the details. It was clear that he was anticipating a problem from his son who was growing more agitated by his father's refusal to answer him directly.

"What's the difference between her following me and him?" he gestured to Harris, "Or him?" he turned to Mr. Nam. Both men remained silent, feeling that it wasn't their place to speak.

"I'll be acting as your girlfriend," Yuri finally announced, growing tired of the back and forth between father and son, "As far as anyone outside of this room is concerned, you and I are in a relationship. This allows me to go wherever you go without it raising any unnecessary attention,"

"His girlfriend?" Jay once again spoke up.

"Does this mean that your mom is going to stop pushing for you to settle down and get married?" Jake voiced, not resisting the urge to make light of the situation and tease his friend.

"Or maybe she'll push harder?" Sunghoon joined, laughing with Jake.

"I can't wait to see how this goes!" Ni-ki chimed in, nudging Jay who was seated next to him.

As the six young men started to gain more confidence in their teasing Yuri observed CEO Lee, trying to see how he was reacting to what seemed to be an entertaining situation to his son's friends. Clearly, they did not share the same concerns or feel the same threats that he feared. She expected to see him look unimpressed and impatient, but it appeared as though he was used to these kinds of outbursts as he sat quietly waiting for them to finish.

Yuri allowed her eyes to shift over to the younger Lee and found that his eyes were already on her. She raised her eyebrows, silently challenging him to speak out against anything that she had said. He wore a cocky smirk and made no effort in trying to disguise his gaze as he shamelessly took in the sight of her. Yuri didn't flinch and waited for him to finish his appraisal before his eyes drifted back up to hers, his own eyebrows lifting in question as if he was saying 'are you sure you're ready for this?'.

Heeseung and Yuri continued their silent exchange for a few more moments before he spoke for everyone to hear, "I accept,"

"Wonderful! This makes it much easier if you cooperate," CEO Lee seized control of the room once more, taking advantage of the shocked surprise that had fallen over his son's friends. "Yuri, you begin your duties tomorrow. Take this evening to get yourself moved in and settled,"

"Moved in?" Sunghoon questioned, while wearing a mischievous smile that told everyone he already suspected the answer.

Heeseung also had put everything together and met Yuri's eyes once more as he spoke, "She's moving in with me,"

"This is going to be so good," Ni-ki laughed, looking back and forth between Heeseung and Yuri.

Heeseung maintained his eye contact with Yuri while allowing a satisfied smirk to appear on his face while he spoke, "And what do you think, Yuri? Is this going to be good?"

Yuri didn't miss the seductive tone or the hidden meaning behind his words. She expected nothing less than this based on everything that she had learned about him so far. But she couldn't resist the opportunity to play his game, "I'm sure I'll be able to take care of anything that comes up,"

His smirk grew into a full-fledged smile while he sat back nodding in approval of her response, "I think you and I are going to have a great time,"

Everyone in the room was busy observing the pair but Harris was focusing on Yuri. He couldn't help the nerves that began to rise in him as he silently hoped that history wasn't about to repeat itself.