Bodyguard | PJM

7. Apartment

"You're growing up too fast." He pinches my cheeks and I lightly slap his hand away.

"Appa!" I whine.

I tried to tell him Jimin and I are looking for apartments for me today and he started babying me.

He grins. "But you're just a little girl-"

"Okay, we're going." I hastily push Jimin out of the main area and out the door, hearing my dad's chuckling as we leave.

+++

"If I'm being blunt, that one was crap." Jimin says as we leave a building holding two empty rooms.

"It's also far from the university." I sigh, gagging a bit when I remember the unidentifiable smell in the bathroom.

Jimin lists other faults in it. "There were marks in the corners, the ceilings were too low, the window had a view of another building..."

"Oh! And the kitchen was small, which you'd hate-"

"This is hard." I say defeated as we walk to my car. Jimin nods as he heads to the passenger's seat.

"Want to take a lunch break?"

He looks unsure, but when I give him a look he hesitantly agrees.

Jimin ate an apple this morning, but it's still not enough. He needs food in his system to function, but he refuses to fuel his body, claiming all the time that he's not hungry.

"But I'm paying." He says.

"No, stupid." I shake my head, not wanting to get into the typical paying argument. "Look, let's just pay for our own food."

He nods and is silent before saying, "one day can I cook for you?"

I look at him, surprised. Not sure if I heard correctly, I hum a "hm?"

He clears his throat. "You seem to...like food a lot, and I have a knack for cooking, so as a way of thanking you for making sure I'm eating, I want to make you a meal."

"Ah. Okay then." Can't deny free food.

He smiles to himself as if reading my thoughts.

+++

"Jimin, I'm bored." I slap the top of his head and he groans, the sound muffled because his head is down on the table.

He suddenly perks up, makes a face, then flops back down.

"Talk to me! Play with me! Entertain me! This food is taking too long!"

No response.

Fine. We'll play it your way.

"Wait a minute, does that guy have a knife?!"

Jimin gets up immediately and his hands form fists. "Where?" His voice is hoarse--and angry.

Shit, maybe I shouldn't have lied.

I put my hand over his in an attempt to calm him down, but it only confuses him.

"Jimin, I'm sorry. There is no man with a knife. I just said that to get your attention."

His initial reaction is closing his eyes, falling back into his seat, and sighing in relief.

Then his eyes pop back open.

And he's mad.

"Kyung Mi, you scared me! Don't go that again, okay?"

I nod. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have."

He smiles. "As long as you know."

Awkwardness fills the air as we just sit there, looking anywhere but the other person.

"Uh...wanna play a game?" He offers.

+++

We head back in the car with our bellies full and smiles on our faces.

"Well, now that I'm in a better mood let's go look for apartments!" I cheer.

Jimin opens his mouth but then closes it, shaking his head.

"Did you...were you gonna say something?"

"Oh, uh, it's nothing except that you're...different. Different than I expected."

Is that a compliment or an insult? "What do you mean?"

"Well...a lot of the girls I protect as a bodyguard are spoiled and annoying. Nine out of ten times they don't even need me, they just thought I was hot and..."

"Wanted to take advantage of the fact that you're working for them." I finish for him, realization hitting me.

He nods. "That's partly why you're different. You, Kyung Mi, don't want to take advantage of me. In contrast to other girls you're in danger but you don't even want me to be here because you can take care of yourself."

"You seem to know a lot about me." I mutter.

He chuckles. "Your father is very informative."

+++

I walk into the apartment and my breath hitches in my throat.

It's a spacious room with smooth birch wood flooring, huge window walls facing the city, a kitchen on the right, and some rooms on the left. I walk towards them and see a big, clean bathroom, two bedrooms, a closet, and a small storage room.

We walk to the big kitchen and I think about all the food that could fit here.

This place is perfect. This is the apartment I want.