Jungwon had been assigned to you the day you turned eighteen. It was quiet. No introductions, Just a glance from your father, a faint nod from Jungwon, and then he was there—your new shadow. The man meant to guard your life like it was his own.
You’d grown up surrounded by bodyguards. Most of them followed orders, and disappeared the moment they were dismissed. You thought he’d be the same.
But Jungwon didn’t disappear. He stood when you stood. Moved when you moved. Not a step too close, never far enough to forget. He didn’t demand your trust. He just… earned it.
Sometimes, you caught him looking at you. not like a guard, not like a man under orders. But like he saw something he wasn’t supposed to. You never called it anything. Neither did he. But tonight, all the unspoken things between you came into sharp focus.
The warehouse was supposed to be a quick meeting. In and out. You were flanked by two men you didn’t know well, but they were armed, trained, and under your father’s payroll.
Still, it hadn’t been enough. Too quiet. You didn’t realize it was a trap until the steel door slammed shut behind you. Footsteps. A dozen of them. Guns drawn. Voices you didn’t recognize.
One of them stepped forward—older, cruel eyes, pistol raised. He aimed for your chest and smiled. “You look just like your father when he begged,” he said.
Then he pulled the trigger. But the shot never landed. Another gun fired first. Not his. The man jerked backward, then crumpled to the ground. Lifeless.
And from behind the crates, Jungwon stepped out—steady, silent, weapon still raised. His eyes swept the room in seconds, cold and exact, before landing on you. You didn’t even notice you were holding your breath until he spoke.
“…Miss,” he said, voice low, calm, deliberate. “Are you hurt?”
You hated that word. You’d told him before, more than once. But he kept using it, especially when things felt dangerous. Especially when you looked at him too long.
You exhaled slowly, your heart still pounding. “No,” you said, barely above a whisper.
He gave the faintest hint of a smile, the kind that never reached his eyes. “Good,” he said softly. “Got here just in time.”
Then, gently, he reached for your arm. His touch was light, careful. “Let’s get you out of here.”
He led the way without looking back, with barely a word, unshaken, unflinching. like nothing in this world could touch you, as long as he was near.
But Jungwon would never say it. Not out loud. Instead, he called you Miss every damn time, just to remind you of the distance. Just to keep it from cracking. But tonight, it felt closer than ever to breaking.