I was still fast asleep when all of a sudden, I was jolted awake as my body was shaken about. "Seo-yun! Seo-yun, wake up!" My mom cried, her voice shaky and panicky. I quickly sat up and rubbed my eyes in a hurry. "Mom, what is it?" I asked. 

She scrolled through her phone for a moment and then held it up to my face. "This! What is this?" I squinted to fix my blurry morning vision and focus on what was on the phone. When my vision cleared up, my eyes went wide and my heart stopped.

It was an article called, "SCANDAL: Heir to Zeus Hotel Caught with Secret Lover!" 

Below the headline was a picture of Young-do and I kissing on the rooftop. You could tell that the photograph had been taken from very far away, almost like the photographer was hiding behind something. And yet you could still see it was Young-do and I. No mistaking that.

I grabbed my mom's phone away from her hand and scrolled through the article, scanning every single word on the page. It said Young-do had lowered his standards tremendously and that the fate of Zeus Hotel was looking bleak. That he may not be considered the heir anymore. 

I may have taken away Young-do's future. 

I scrolled down to see the comments on the article. One person was defending us, saying that Young-do's dating life was none of their business. Most people were commenting on how they would never go to Zeus Hotel again, how unprofessional Young-do was, and how it seemed impossible for him to have fallen for such an ugly, common girl. 

Ugly, common girl. 

Those words, even though they were written by a random person on the internet, really stung. Maybe because I believed it was true. 

"Seo-yun, what is going on here? Is this really you and Young-do?" I shook myself out of the hate-filled commenting world and looked back at my mom. The phone slowly fell out of my numb hands and onto the bed. I slowly nodded. 

My mother's expression was a mixture of confusion, hurt, and anger. "I didn't know that you two were this close. Are you dating? Why didn't I know about any of this?" She asked, her tone worried. "Mom, it just happened. I haven't been keeping a secret from you. I was going to tell you when you came home, but I must've fallen asleep. I'm sorry..." I felt terrible. 

My mom put a hand on my shoulder. "I believe you, Seo-yun." She growled and curled her fists. "I can't believe these low-lifes have nothing better to do than spy on you young kids and write nasty comments about you two. What business is it of theirs?" She looked back at me. "I had no idea Young-do was the heir of this hotel!" She switched subjects, kind of in the same haze I was. 

All I did was nod. Then sudden, a realization entered my head. 

Who had seen this? Had the kids at school seen it? Had Young-do's father seen it? 

Had Young-do seen it? 

"Mom, I need to go talk to Young-do about this. I need to make sure that he's okay." My mom nodded. "Okay, well you better hurry. You also have school this morning." I nodded, jumping up and running to the bathroom to get ready. 

After washing up and brushing my teeth, I threw on my school uniform and rushed downstairs. As soon as I got off at the elevator, it was like I was a beacon of light. Everyone's gaze turned to focus on me. A man in the corner who had been reading his newspaper was shaking his head, two women in their 20's were gossiping to each other and pointing at me, and an older woman was simply glaring at me and making a "tch, tch, tch" noise. Even the hotel staff was more focused on gossiping about me than doing their jobs. 

I had never felt this much negative attention towards me ever. I hated it. I tried to cover my face with the side of my hand and run through the hotel lobby towards he staff. I suddenly heard multiple people speaking on the TV's in the lobby saying my name. 

I froze in my tracks and turned around. Every single television in the lobby was showcasing the picture of Young-do and I kissing, and a different news station and reporter was covering the information. The news headlines were, "Young-do and common girl are scandalous lovers," "Zeus Hotel heir caught in a scandal," and, "How could she win his heart?"

I felt tears rushing to my eyes and my pulse was quickening. I couldn't believe it had spread this fast. I needed to go find Young-do. 

I ran out of the lobby and started a full-on sprint towards the school. I knew he would be there. As I was running, my phone started ringing. I fumbled around in my pocket and pulled it out. The caller ID was Young-do. 

I stopped running and put my back against the nearby wall. I swallowed nervously and picked up the phone. "Young-do!" was all I could manage to say. It came out more like a strained scream. I sounded pathetic. 

"Seo-yun!" Young-do's strong voice boomed over the line. Just hearing his voice brought tears to my eyes. "Where are you?" He asked. "I was on my way to school. I was going to try to find you. I'm so sorry, Young-do." A big tear spilled over and ran down my cheek. 

"Don't talk like that. This is not your fault." I heard him sigh. "Meet me at the school. We'll talk then. I'll be hanging up now." He hung up the phone and the little dial tone played. I sniffled and wiped at my eyes before continuing to run to the school. 

I was at the entrance when I felt a hand wrap around my wrist. I gasped and met eyes with Young-do. He looked panicked and angry. He darted his eyes all around. "Quick, this way, follow me." He led us to the school garden and positioned us between a wall and a tall hedge bush, where nobody could see us. 

He put his hands on my shoulders and squeezed a bit. "Are you okay?" My throat choked up with tears and a stream of tears spilled down my face. I sniffled a bit and shook. "Young-do, I'm sorry...I'm so sorry, Young-do." Young-do's eyebrows lowered and his expression was incredibly pitiful. He bent his knees a bit so that we could be at eye-level. He gently wiped the tears from my eyes, but I just kept crying. He stood up and pulled me in closer to him and gave me a tight hug. 

"This is not your fault. I don't want to hear you apologize again. It just makes me even more angry." He gritted his teeth. I nodded and sniffled a bit, trying to stop crying. He held the back of my head with one of his hands and the other was wrapped around my waist. He leaned over and put his chin on the top of my head, his eyes closed. 

"I guess you've seen the news segments." He sighed. I nodded. "And the articles." I nodded again. He pushed me away from him so that he could see my face. Still tear-stained, red, and splotchy, but he didn't seem to mind. He put a hand on my cheek. 

"I know this may seem like the end for us, Seo-yun, but it's not. Everything is going to be okay. I'll call people and get the stories off the air and the internet. Soon, this will all be in the past." I sighed and put my hand over his. "But, you heard what the headlines said. This is a scandal for you, the heir of Zeus Hotel, to be caught with..." I sniffled. "...An ugly, common girl." 

His eyebrows furrowed. "Don't say that. I don't even want to hear it again!" He bellowed. "I don't care what happens as far as me running the Hotel. I never did care, and now that I've met you, you are all I care about." I couldn't help but smile at his sweetness. "Young-do...I just feel terrible." 

"Well, don't. The story will be off the air and internet soon. As for my father..." He sighed. "I'll take care of him. He doesn't run my life, after all." He smiled. "I am the great Young-do, after all." I giggled a little bit as he arched his eyebrows, his smile still staying. 

He took my hands in his and squeezed them tight. "Promise me that we will never give up on each other. I'm not about to have a sappy ending like in the K-Dramas where the two main leads meet seven years later, exchange greetings, and that's it." I laughed. I stared into his eyes. "I promise. I'll never give up on you, Young-do." 

His face was so at peace and full of happiness when I said that. "I'll never give up on you, Seo-yun." He smirked. "Isn't that part of the bodyguard job description?"

I playfully hit his shoulder lightly and gave him a hug. "For real, I'll never give up on you. And you'll never give up on me?" I asked for confirmation. He hugged me back. "Never." He breathed, so close to my ear. 

We let go and smiled at each other, feeling stronger than ever. Sure, it was a disaster on the internet and the news stations, Young-do's dad will probably be furious, and the kids at school may ostracize us, but we have each other. And that's all we need. 

Young-do and I held hands on our way back to the school. We walked through the hallways, and every single kid started to point at us and gossip to each other. I already knew this was going to happen. Even though it wasn't easy to be judged so severely by people I didn't even know, it felt better knowing that I had Young-do by my side. Not only as my bodyguard, but also as my boyfriend. 

Suddenly, Young-do stopped walking. I looked forward and saw Rachel with her arms crossed and an evil smirk on her face. Something was up. She walked towards us, her usual tall heels clacking behind her, and gave dirty looks to both Young-do and I. She shoved us with her shoulders, breaking us apart, and as she walked in the middle of us, she looked at me, smirked, and whispered, "See? I told you that you'd be sorry." 

My body froze and my heart dropped. Rachel had something to do with the news being released, now I knew it. 

She walked away, her heels clacking after her. Young-do looked at me. "What did she say to you?" He asked, concerned. I looked back at him with fear in my eyes. 

"Something I think you should know."