Where Do I Go | Choi Jongho

2

Having Jongho as a bodyguard was proving to be... difficult, to put it simply.

He wasn't being a bother, not at all. He wanted eyes on you at all times when you were not in your room, and since you were mostly behind the counter or with the customers, all you needed to do was let Jongho go unnoticed as he seated himself in the corner on a chair with newspaper and an endless refill of coffee or tea- whatever he'd feel like.

However, you did not like being watched even though it was necessary. It was just him making you aware of his presence time and time again that irked you. Stealing 'casual' glances whenever someone official he recognised entered, smirking when he'd catch you making a deal... a mere bodyguard should remain invisible to you. That's what you told him in your evening break.

"Well, I'm not a 'mere' bodyguard, it seems," Jongho shifted. "What exactly did I do?"

"You couldn't have made it less obvious that you're keeping an eye on me," your face was emotionless so that anyone else watching wouldn't catch on. "I get that it's new for you but can you wipe that permanent smirk off your face whenever I'm dealing?"

Jongho laughed heartily at that. "Is that how it seemed? I'm pretty sure I had no such expressions on my face."

"You don't even realise it, do you?" You tsk-ed at him, fixing your midnight-blue sleeves before pointing at the left corner of your lip. "This gets lifted up like this, ever so slightly. It's annoying."

It lifted up again as a smirk creeped up his face. "Does it now? I'll hide my face behind the newspaper then-"

"That's worse," you shook your head. "If you don't improve by tonight I'm sending you back home, with a message to my dear old father that he can do better than this."

"Go ahead," Jongho, unfazed, went back to reading his newspaper that you were sure he had memorised by now. "I'm his best."

"So arrogant," you muttered, scanning him as you pondered your decision. "Just try to make it less obvious. We'll deal with this later."

Jongho, however, didn't improve even slightly. You were just glad your customers weren't noticing, and by the end of the night, you thought that perhaps, he did blend in. Since your staff was aware of him now and he could go inside and outside as he pleased, you supposed no outsider noticed him... for now.

And tonight, you needed to see just how good he was as a 'bodyguard'. You were meeting with someone whose identity was better left hidden, though you were sure at least your father was aware of your dealings with the younger prince's little gang of misfits. Even if he wasn't, it was a little test for your bodyguard- if after this meeting, your father finds out whose side you are actually on, he would take swift action.

Before every meeting, it was your strategy to think of every possible outcome and plan according to it. Tonight, you were meeting Park Seonghwa- Prince Hongjoong's Right Hand, had he been allowed to have one officially. It was sad how the king and the elder prince had pushed the wiser one of their family out of the picture. What made you giddy with satisfaction, though, was that the younger prince was no fool at all. He was one of the smartest individuals you had ever had the chance to encounter, and you were sure he would one day take his position at the very throne he deserved to rule. Not his elder brother Prince Woobin, but him.

People suspected that you were in cohorts with the younger prince, but only to the extent that you provided him with the 'gossip'. Thankfully, the reputation you had built for yourself preceded you. As it was a public fact that the younger prince had negligible power in the matter of the courts, no one cared. The only person who would care was your father, who had learned the hard way that everything you did had a purpose.