Seventeen "The Bad Boys Series"

Chapter 12 "She's Cute?"

A lot of things happened to Ghide after her father died. She was sold as Jeonghan slave, sent to Joshua Hong to seduce him, met Joshua's younger brother, Junhui, who is a complete bastard, encountered a thief, showed an embarrassing thing to Joshua's driver, Wonwoo, met a mysterious neighbor, entangled with the school's owner son, Minghao, visited a casino, had a fight with her ex-boyfriend, Mingyu, bear with the rumors around her in school, got herself involved with the school gangster, Dino, and found out that Mingyu's father betrayed her dad.

Ghide shook her head to wash out her thoughts. She felt so dizzy just by reminiscing those weird encounters she experienced. Now all she wished is to have a more peaceful life, which would be hard. She's aware of the bitter fact.

"Pssst~"

Ghide tilted her head in wonder and then saw Choi Seungcheol, the loan shark company owner. He was waiting outside the school gate. He gave her an excessively cheerful smile that is far from his usual expression as he leaned on a streetlamp post, and then he raised his hand mid-air, waving enthusiastically. "Hello~"

'What the hell is he doing here?!' Absorbed by that thought, she speeds up towards his direction and then pulled him somewhere far from school – the convenience store at the 4th block.

Just when she wished to have a peaceful day, a trouble finds its own way.

"This is refreshing," Seungcheol grunted while licking his kiwi-flavored ice cream. He is wearing a floral-patterned polo, black pants and silver necklace. After observing his attire, her eyes went back on his pretty face: his pale skin that glows, his thick brows, his droopy round eyes, his long lashes, his sharp jaws and his red lips.

'He's really...' Fortunately, before Ghide admitted that Seungcheol is indeed a handsome man, she stopped thinking about this inside her head.

Seungcheol then squinted his eyes onto her after he sensed the tight surveillance-like gaze from the young lady. He, therefore, pulled back his tongue then tossed a sharp question, "Why are you looking at me like that? Is this the first time you saw a guy licking his ice cream?"

She thought it was a nonsense question so she sighed first. Carefully detaching her lips, Ghide answered, "Seriously Mister. There are lot of rumors going around me so why did you suddenly appear in front of my school? You shouldn't add fuel to the fire. I already signed a contract with you, right?"

He raised his arms as if he wanted to receive a compliment. Although the reason why she should give one was still a mystery. This is, however, solved after few seconds. "I just wanted to treat you before I'll share the good news."

Good news from the person who sold her as the billionaire's slave to pay her father's debts? That was like waiting for the sun to rise from West.

Ghide narrowed her eyes very thinly. Then, she dropped a fierce retort, "Since when did you bring good news to me?"

Simon who was about to add few words has suddenly shut his mouth. He displayed a look of displeasure before he continued, "Hey. I know that Mr. Yoon is your boss right now. But still, I am older than you so you should at least try to be a little bit respectful when you talk to me? Will you?"

Acting reprobate to his unbelievable remark, she hissed, "Tsss," before she looked away and focused on eating her vanilla ice cream.

The huge AC makes the air very chilly inside the convenience store. Feeling the shivers at the end of his skin, Seungcheol looked at her and to the cream at her chin. 'How clumsy,' he laughed inside his head.

"Mr. Yoon paid fully of your father's debt," he congratulated, placing his elbow on the table and putting his chin at the back of his hand as he stared the cream on her chin.

That time after she has heard his report was soon followed by her unusually loud voice, "W-What?!"

"Yup. That means you don't have any debt left from m. Therefore, I can treat you as a possible customer. If you wanted to get a loan, just call me~"

The smile on her face ascended but quickly evaporated. Showing grimace, Ghide replied, "I won't ever ask you to lend me money." Looking straight towards the store's big glass window, she continued, "Also, even if my debts were cleared, I am still under the slave contract with Mr. Yoon. If I tried to escape, you guys will kill me. So that was not even good news."

"Just be thankful that I sold you to a good client. Or else you'll lose your kidney if it wasn't me."

"Are you saying that selling me to Mr. Yoon was a good thing?" she responded that way while glaring at him with sharply raised eyes.

He then shook his head and smiled charmingly as he raised his hand. "Well, I am indeed the bad boy you've met before. But I know how to show kindness at least once. Like this." Using his thumb, he wiped the cream on her chin and then pressed it at the seam of her lips. It rested there for about five seconds.

During that pause, their gazes met. His eyes are rounded, from them comes intensity and authority. His lips are painted in natural red; the top lip is way thicker than the lower lip that was wet by either his ice cream or his saliva. She thought it was embarrassing to stare at it for any longer so she lifted her eyes, whereas she found him looking at her lips too. Or was it just an assumption?

No. Not at all; because for Seungcheol whose world seemed to stop spinning, realized what he has felt while staring at her lips was the time before he opened a door. He could feel his heartbeat... every single pound on his chest. Not through his ears that were occupied by the romantic music playing inside the store. This pounding, this pressure, he surely couldn't hear it but he could feel it.

Blinking faster as if he felt dumbfounded by his absurdness, he pulled his thumb and teasingly slapped her face. "How ugly," he murmured before looking away.

"Hey what was that? I know I ain't pretty but how could you slap a woman?" she complained while holding her cheek.

"Stop overreacting," he murmured, still not looking back. "The slap wasn't that hard."

Disagreeing with his response, Ghide stood up. "I'll go now. Thank you for the ice cream. Regarding of Mr. Yoon's mission for me, I'll report it once I succeeded. So please, don't ever come to school next time." She fetched her bag while still shooting glare on him. "Bye."

It was unexpected that she suddenly just left without hearing more from him. Ghide wasn't looking for further explanation though.

As she walked out, Seungcheol followed her silhouette with his eyes. Finally, he could feel the sigh of relief, something like groping your pocket and finding out that your phone is missing then the moment you lifted your eyes, by that, you saw your missing phone above the table. Phew~

"What the hell," he sighed. Every time he breathes, his Adam's apple is shaking. "For a moment, I thought she's hella cute," he murmured in wonder.