Today's lesson----
Firstly, never be overconfident thinking you can survive anything "for the sake of the mission" and blah blah blah~
Secondly----never leave your playlist open.
Your seonmuria seonmuria will pass out.
And if you've wrapped yourself with a walking hell like Soakjin----
congratulations.
You're officially on the list of the next mental patient ☆
My muscles finally surrendered.
The last thing I felt was his breath ghosting against my ear, his fingers drawing lazy circles on my back, and his whisper:
"Good night, Taemin."
My final thought before sleep swallowed me----
Nah… he wasn't totally a whore.
Morning came----
but peace didn't.
The car didn't feel cold at all through the night.
I was basically wrapped around Soakjin against my will…
but exhaustion is a cruel thing.
My whole body ached from last night's chaos.
I woke up with eyes so dry it felt like someone had successfully stolen every drop of water out of them.
The first thing I felt was my bullet-wounded arm.
A sharp hiss escaped me as I blinked my vision clear.
"Good morning~" Soakjin said in a soft, mocking tone…
yet there was something twistedly affectionate in it.
Then I realized----
I was sleeping on his lap and he was absentmindedly playing with my red hair.
Before I could react, he suddenly slapped his palm on my chest----hard.
His smile darkened as he spoke through clenched teeth:
"Get. Up. And find a motel for me!!"
"SIR!! Don't hit me like that! My body is already sore from last night!!" I barked, curling into a ball and falling between the car seats.
I'm huge, yes----
but why does everyone treat me like a robot with zero pain receptors?
Even ChatGPT feels pain if you script it badly!
"I don't understand anything!!" he kept yelling, and I swear my ears were about to explode.
Then he added, breath ragged,
"Just find something good! It's your fault you brought me here and now you're sleeping like a pig!!"
Does he have no political manners or is that charm only reserved for me?
I sat up, rubbing my temple.
"Yes sir… as your wish," I muttered, resisting every urge to curse him.
I got out of the car.
Cold wind stabbed my skin like knives.
The whole place was covered in thick white snow----
even with slip-proof shoes, I struggled to stand.
Great.
Just great.
Nothing around.
Now how was I supposed to push a dead car through this?
"Found anything?" he asked flatly from the window, his dark eyes as warm as a glacier.
There was a motel nearby----White House Paradise----
but it wasn't visible from here.
And honestly…
I feared telling this golden-spoon brat he had to walk.
He probably ate nothing except gold.
How would he walk?
"Oy, I'm asking you."
His patience was wearing thin.
"Sir, there's a motel named White House Paradise… a bit far," I lied.
Half lied.
Because it wasn't in sight.
Before I finished, he stuck his head out of the window, snow wind whipping his hair.
"Where? I can't see it."
"It's not that far, sir… but the car has no gas.
We'll have to leave it here or ask for help later."
His eyes widened.
"You're saying I have to walk?!"
"…yes, sir."
"I'm not walking. Fix something else."
What does he want now?
For me to carry him while I'm the one injured?
"Sir, there's no way---"
"Then find one! Why are you my bodyguard if I can't even rest?!"
That was it.
Annoyance: Maximum.
I grabbed my phone, slung my coat over my shoulder, and started walking.
"HEY---where the hell are you going?! Are you insane?!"
His yell cracked----
he was actually panicking.
I turned back, raising a brow.
"The motel is actually five hours away, sir.
So please wait here. I'll bring help."
It was thirty minutes away.
But he needed a lesson.
His face drained of color.
"YOU'RE LEAVING ME FOR FIVE HOURS?!"
Excellent.
Perfect reaction.
I walked again.
3… 2… 1…
Door slammed open, then shut.
Footsteps behind me.
"God knows what else you're going to show me," he muttered, finally walking beside me, hands in pockets, sulking.
I smirked silently.
After a while---
there it was.
White House Paradise Motel.
A duplex beauty covered in snow.
Warm air welcomed us---
soft jazz… the smell of cinnamon tea.
It almost felt unreal after freezing outside.
Soakjin glared at me.
"You said it was five hours."
His face reddened.
He was tricked.
"But it wasn't even thirty minutes!!"
I cleared my throat.
"It was necessary, sir.
Otherwise you'd still be starving inside that car.
Walking a little to reach warmth isn't that bad.
I'm just doing my duty."
He huffed like a spoiled fox and marched inside.
The bell tinkled above us.
We entered like two lost puppies----
cold, silent, pretending nothing was awkward.
"Two rooms, please," I said.
Soakjin grabbed the counter's phone----
his own was broken.
He called his friend's house.
Calling his father would've caused a national disaster.
I glanced at him.
He glanced back.
I quickly looked away.
The thought of falling asleep in his arms last night flickered in my mind---
but I killed it immediately.
He's trash.
Trash with 50% positivity compared to me.
Not worth thinking about.
"Ah----sir," the manager said. "I'm sorry… all rooms are booked."
Both of us froze.
"Not even one?!"
Soakjin leaned forward.
"You'll let me freeze?"
The manager trembled.
"W-wait… There's one room. A couple room. One bed."
A couple room.
A honeymoon suite.
My soul left my body.
Soakjin turned slowly, a smug smirk rising:
"You'll sleep more comfortably tonight, my lovely bodyguard…"
And that's when I knew---
this night was about to be hell.
He made it worse:
"We'll take it. Prepare everything."
WHAT?
"Y-yes sir…" the manager gulped.
I cursed myself internally.
I'd always bragged I could sleep with a man for a mission---
but I'd never actually done it.
Not like this.
Not with someone like him.
He twirled the key with a grin.
"Come~ now we can rest properly."
I followed helplessly.
Maybe I should try sleeping on the floor.
Room 232.D
The moment he opened the door---
A rosy scent slapped me.
Romantic.
Unwanted.
Horrifying.
Rose petals on a giant heart-shaped bed.
WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS FOR TWO MEN?!
I cleared my throat.
Suddenly everything felt hot.
"Sir… will you shower first or me?"
"Let's go together~" he teased.
"Not happening," I cut quickly.
At least I found a C-type charger matching my phone.
Messages were definitely blowing up---
even though this wasn't my real phone.
I grabbed a first aid box too.
He collapsed onto the bed, sinking into the mattress lazily.
"Then I'm going first," I said and went to the bathroom.
The shower finally relaxed me.
But before 40 minutes passed---
I heard familiar music.
Then Soakjin's mocking chuckle.
"Seriously… BTS fanboy?"
OH NO.
HE WAS LISTENING TO MY PLAYLIST.
MY PLAYLIST.
I BURST out of the bathroom like a missile---
my last shirt flying into the bathtub---
and now I had no spare shirt left.
But who cared?
My dignity was dying.
There he was---
half lying on the bed, shirt wide open,
holding my phone on loudspeaker.
Playing War of Hormone.
My seonmuria seonmuria died on the spot.
"Taemin, you like BTS?! And War of Hormone??
Are you having war of hormones inside you too?~
Yes, I'm a bad boy, so I like bad boys too~"
My face combusted.
"GIVE IT BACK!!" I lunged.
"Ohh! My bodyguard is embarrassed just by a playlist?
Let's see more~"
My phone unlocked in full view.
My baby.
My poor baby.
He burst out laughing.
"Hotel Transylvania OSTs… Lady Gaga albums… oh?? The whole Map of the Soul and even JJK playlist downloaded??!!"
"SIR. YOU ARE. IN. MY. PRIVACY."
He raised an eyebrow---
his gaze sliding over my bare skin---
and only then I realized…
I was half naked.
Chapter 9 (Spoiler)
"Let's play Truth or Dare," he said, leaning against the balcony railing, smoke curling from his lips.
"Each task will be harder than the last.
Once you choose, you can't back out.
Ten points for every success.
If I win, you do what I say.
If you win… I'll do what you say."
He exhaled smoke.
"Let's make it interesting.
Just because you're my bodyguard doesn't mean you'll stand like some puppet."
I swallowed---
not from fear.
But curiosity.
That dangerous curiosity every reader feels when a chapter ends with a cliffhanger.
"Is this… a challenge?" I purred, sipping my wine.
"Yes.
Let's see which part of Bulletproof you are…
Part 1 or Part 2."
" OK.. ok..let's go.." and I accepted.