MIL | YG [✔]

07. Beomgyu

The wind was harsh when it met my cheeks, and I pulled my beanie to my eyebrows, chin tucked low as I piled from the back of the car. Kyung shivered as he held the door for me.

"Have a good afternoon, Gyu."

"Thanks, Kyung."

I flashed him a quick smile, practically jogging into the pub where I was meeting Soobin for lunch. The smell of beef and day-old french fries assaulted my nostrils the moment I stepped through the doorway.

"Gyu!"

He was seated in the back, waving at me with two fingers. I made my way toward him carefully, weaving between high-top tables and leather back booths. He was dressed like a civilian today, in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt donning our high school's mascot.

I sat across from him, settling back into the leather that caged me. Pulling off my gloves, I shoved them in my pockets and began to unwind my scarf.

"You look good." Arms over his chest, he ran his tongue over his teeth. "The cold isn't too bad for you?"

"Well, it isn't my favorite but I'm staying warm."

"Clearly." He tapped at the menu. "I ordered you a hot chocolate. Do you still like those?"

"Sure, yeah." I glanced over my shoulder, eyes trailing the dimly lit pub. I noted it was mostly men, sitting at the bar and inhaling fries. "Do they have hot chocolate here?"

"Yeah. It's good. Everything here is good." He passed me a menu. "Get whatever you want. It's on me."

I shook my head. "I can pay for myself."

Yeonjun would lose his ever-loving shit if he knew another man bought me lunch, especially this man.

I didn't know where his men were, if they were perched in the booth beside me, acting as an everyday customer, or if they lurked in the shadows with 3-piece suits and microphones on their lapels. Perhaps, they watched from afar somewhere, with binoculars and other spy gadgets or they hacked into the security systems around town and watched me move around a computer screen.

It didn't matter—he was watching.

And I liked it—the knowledge that he knew where I was at all times, that he took breaks during his work day just to check up on me.

It thrilled me, and I knew that meant I probably needed to see a therapist.

Soobin opened his menu, pretending to scan it. "You can pay or your boyfriend can?"

"Excuse me?"

"I did some research," he said, pausing only when the waiter came to drop off our drinks before moving to the next table. "Gyu, do you have any idea who this man is?"

Wrapping my hands around my mug, I felt my palms heat the way my blood suddenly was. "I know exactly who he is, Bin."

"Do you really, though?" He tore the wrapper off his straw, shoving it into his drink with enough force, that a chip of ice flew over the rim. "Do you know what he could be involved in?"

"I know Jun quite well, Soobin." I took a sip of my cocoa. "I live with him."

Diet soda dribbled down his chin as he sputtered, looking at me like I'd confessed to chopping off my foot. "You live with him?!" He slammed his cup on the table, cheeks hard as a boulder. "Are you insane? This man is twenty years older than you. He's a rumored mafia boss. What were you thinking?"

My temper flared, and I pushed my cocoa away, pinning him with a look I learned from Yeonjun. "I was thinking about the time he offered me a home after he found me asleep in his company locker room. I was thinking about how stubborn I was when I left to walk four miles back to the crappy apartment I lived in after your mother moved to Ansan without telling me. I was barely coherent when he found me, Bin. I slept for over a day and woke up to an IV, fresh food, and a doctor's care. That man is the reason I'm not dead, so watch your mouth."