bodyguard ; kth

5 ; rules, rules, rules

we all sat down in silence. my eyes darted at everyone around the circular table. gun stood behind aera's chair. junsoo pulled out his pen, writing something down on a notepad. i was seated next to jaeho, who broke the silence.

"so, taehyung has agreed to be your new bod-"

"let's get one thing straight first," aera interrupted his words. everyone turned to her.

"i don't need a new bodyguard and i never did. why would you ask him to be my bodyguard when i already have one?" she asked jaeho while pointing a finger towards gun. jaeho slightly hesitated, biting his lip nervously. i peered at jaeho, not knowing why he was acting strange.

"exactly, i'm the only one she needs," gun called out, specifically towards me. i kept my eyes on jaeho, slowly growing annoyed.

aera continued to say, "this whole thing is your idea, jaeho. i think you're wasting your time, there's no point."

jaeho finally spoke, he looked at her and said, "we need to take more precautions. something..might happen if we're not careful."

"i don't see why we need more precautions, aera's not in danger," junsoo said, looking up from his notepad. i creased my eyebrows at junsoo's words. last week, jaeho practically begged me for help. he said aera was in danger and that she needed me.

but why doesn't it look like it?

jaeho ignored junsoo, continuing to look at aera, he said with more consideration, "aera, please. just do it for me, i need to know that you're safe at all times and taehyung is the best person i know."

aera leant back on her chair, staring back at jaeho. i turned towards aera, watching her. after a couple of seconds, she tiredly let out a sigh. jaeho smiled when she nodded while saying, "fine."

junsoo shrugged and said, "if she's okay with it, i'm cool." gun stayed quiet, clearly not liking the idea of me staying. jaeho looked at me joyously and uttered, "so, whe-"

"but! i have some conditions," aera interrupted jaeho again. he sighed and let her continue.

"number one, i don't want any changes done to my house. no new electric fence, new security cameras or any of that," she demanded.

i blinked.

'has she not seen the shitty home security? this place doesn't even have the basics down,' i thought, beginning to feel like this was a mistake.

"number two," she resumed, looking at me this time, "i don't want you to follow me everywhere. i'll go where i want, when i want."

jaeho noticed my stern look on her requests, he voiced, "aera, you have to consider taehyung's posi-"

"i'm just asking for some privacy," she responded quickly, disturbing him yet again. i was starting to get really tired of her constant interrupting.

"anyway, number three."

jaeho sat back in his chair, crossing his arms and looked at her tiredly. i lower my gaze on her, feeling agitated by the second.

"i don't want to be ordered around, remember that you work here so i'm the boss."

growing impatient, i spoke up, "miss mae, i think you have fo-"

"let me finish. lastly, i don't want anything to happen to kitae. he's jiae's son. i want you to treat him as number one priority."

"miss ma-" i tried again but she kept talking.

"he is very young and if anything ever happened to him, i don't know-"

"miss mae!" i harshly yelled, making the whole room go quiet. she looked at me with wide eyes, clearly offended by my interruption. i held my strong gaze.

"my job is to protect you. i can't do that if you're not gunna let me. these rules are rubbish, it goes against everything in my job description. of course i have to improve your security, of course i have to follow you around and give you orders. that's just how it is. if you're not going to consider my rules, i'll save us a lot of trouble and just leave."

"you can go by the pool," gun pointed to the back exit. i gave him a dirty look, not saying anything. aera remained quiet, picking at her nails. i looked around the table, no one said anything. junsoo continued writing things down in his book, aera and gun were ignoring me and jaeho was blanked out.

seriously? that's it?

taking that as my answer, i muttered quietly, "it was nice meeting you, miss mae," before rising from my seat. the room remained silent as i left.

i don't need this shit.

'jaeho was clearly over-exaggerating, she doesn't need my help," i thought, making my way down the stairs.