I take the time I want since I have better things to do than clean this house for her, and I open Mister Jeon's text that he sent me four hours ago.

< Good morning, how are you doing? I don't know if you're awake right now but since Joonha told me to tell you once I'd be off today, I wanted to let you know that I'll leave my workplace at 4pm today, so tell me if it's okay if I come pick you up at that hour ]

[ Hey! I'm sorry for being so late, but I'm doing good and you? It's perfect for me, you can come at that hour >

Now, I leave this chat and read the messages Joonha sent without caring about the fact that I was not answering. The first one was sent at eight am. How can he be awake so early on a Saturday?

< hey, girlie:) how you doing? ]

< my dad doesn't know when he's gonna be home so I told him to text him once he knows, dont be nervous if you see his name in your notifs ]

< no way you're still sleeping...it's 11 girl! ]

[ dude, it's Saturday! Who the hell wakes up at 8am on a Saturday you sick person? And I saw your dad's text I'll come and piss you off in only two hours, can't wait >

< Damn, you just woke up, didn't you? ]

[ yes I did, what's the problem? I'm enjoying life >

< enjoying life by sleeping? Never heard that before ]

[ if I don't sleep, I'll end up like you >

< pretty and cute? Is that what you mean by "like you"?:> ]

[ sure, anyway, I have to leave my bed so tell me rn if you have something important to say >

< I wanted to ask you if you wanna skate today? ]

[ for personal reasons, no, and I can't do it tomorrow either >

< for personal reasons? Your period? ]

[ yes...just didn't want to say it >

< I'm not a kid, you can tell me you're on your period and don't wanna skate. I see why you overslept, you have a good excuse so I take back what I said ]

[ thank you >

< :> you can leave me now, I don't have anything to ask you anymore ]

[ alright, I'm gonna have to clean the house so if I'm not answering, you know why >

< okay, enjoy this amazing task:) ]

[ yeah...:) >

Before having my morning routine, I hurry to open Mister Jeon's text.

< No need to say sorry, I'm doing good as well. Amazing then, I'll be here in two hours. Is there something special you'd like to eat for dinner? ]

[ Not really, you can cook whatever you want. What you cooked the other day was delicious, so I'll be happy with whatever you pick >

< That's sweet of you, I'm glad you think so. I'll see with Joonha if he wants something special then ]

[ Okay! Hope work isn't too exhausting, and you can just text me once you're here. No need to leave your car, I'll come >

< alright, I'll do this. It's fine, I'm leaving work earlier so I'm not complaining ]

[ Good then, I'm glad to hear it. See you later >

< See you later ]

I drop my phone next to me and sit up to not go too fast, and I stretch my legs out to slide my feet in my slippers, but I check my screen again, hoping for Mister Jeon to have sent me a text. He has not, so I leave the bed and head to my bathroom.

•••

4:35 pm.

< hey, I'm here ]

[ okay, I'm coming >

I leave my desk chair and grab my bag to quickly get out of my room, walk down the stairs, but notice my stepmother with the guy, who she invited, sitting on a deck chair near the pool. As expected, she is wearing nothing but a bikini that exposes as much skin as possible as if the only way for her to attract a man was by being naked or being provocative.

Anyway, all the glass doors are closed, so I act like I did not see them and continue my way towards the front door to put my shoes on, get hold of my jacket, and step out.

I am pretty nervous about being with Mister Jeon in a car, alone, but at the same time, I am excited.

I get closer to the luxury car but see the door get opened, and Mister Jeon appears behind it, so I hasten the speed to join him. "Hey, I'm sorry for being kind of late."

"No, don't worry. It's already kind enough to come pick me up after work," I reassure him, making sure he does not feel bad about it. "I wanted to, so no problem," he holds the steering wheel with one hand to leave the other on the gear stick. "Are you ready?"

I grab my seatbelt to put it on, and I nod. "I am."

"Alright, let's go," he starts the car, so now that his eyes are on the road, I drop mine on his forearms that are exposed by his sleeves that are rolled up, but once I perceive some veins throb even more obviously on his tattooed hands and arms, I glance away and unconsciously squeeze my hands between my legs.

"So, how was your day?" he asks me what I hoped for him to not do, but since I do not like to lie, I say the truth. "Short, didn't do much other than clean, so not very exciting, but what about you?" I look up at him, his focused but relaxed expression making his features even sharper. "It was good. My students were studious and calm, so that was a great day."

"Were you teaching at school today? Isn't it supposed to be closed?" I fix my eyes on his hand near my left thigh but see him bring it up to his shirt to open a few buttons, noticing that the heat of today is taking a toll on him. "No, I was teaching at my students' houses. I went to three houses today."

"Oh, I see," I nod, slowly while seeing him struggle with his buttons. "That means you are a school teacher, and a private teacher, right?"

"Yes," he smiles but confirms, and he finally manages to open his shirt and the window on his side. "Gosh, today is so hot."

"Yes, I hate hot weather," I relate to him but feel my body react to the scent of his cologne that is now running through my nose because of the wind. "I hate it so much too. I sweat a lot, so it's pretty annoying."

"Ah, yeah. That's even worse then," I chuckle, quietly, and I look at the cars in front of us, but he suddenly hits the brake, making us both lurch forth because of a car that came out of nowhere on the right and almost ran into us. "What the f—" he holds the word back in his mouth but honks at them.

"This type of person pisses me off..." he mumbles, mad at this person for not being careful and nearly killing us. "Is that why you're so scared when Joonha is driving?"

"That is the exact reason why," he goes back on the road to continue his way, but takes a peek at me. "Are you okay? The seatbelt didn't hurt you?" he checks up on me. "No, I'm fine. Don't worry," I do not whine about the burn it gave on my neck, but he turns his head towards me again and glances down at it.

I am wearing a sundress with spaghetti straps, so I cannot hide any part of my neck that is exposed.

"Are you sure? Your skin is red here," he touches the spot but on his own body, making me lift my hand up to it and rub the sensitive area. "Oh, it's okay."

"There's some cream at my house, I'll check what you can use," he does not ignore it when it does not matter at all, so I stay quiet.

We both do not speak anymore, but a ringtone echoes through the car, making me understand his phone is connected to it.

He picks up the call without fearing that I will hear everything, and as soon as I hear the voice of the person, I smile internally. "Hey, where are you right now?" Joonha asks, sounding impatient. "We're close to your favorite bakery, so we'll be home in short minutes. Why?"

"Can the annoying girl hear me?" the sweet nickname does not even surprise me, but Mister Jeon sighs. "Joonha. Yes, she can. I told you you'd be on speaker if you called me."

"And she didn't say hello to me?"  he pretends to be offended, and the man right by my side glances at me as if he was waiting for me to say something, but I smile and shake my head. "She doesn't want to talk to the annoying boy," he teases him back for me.

"Alright then, she'll stay at the doorstep and sleep there," he dares to say, and Mister Jeon does not even hold his laughter back. "No, she won't. Don't be mean like that. It's my house anyway, so I'm the one ruling."

"Y/n," he pronounces my name to make me talk, so this time, I do not ignore him. "What?"

"Are you nervous because you're alone with him?" he does not forget his favorite hobby, embarrassing me. "I'm not," I lie but take a look at the concerned man, and once I catch sight of his smile, I feel even more shy. "Oh, I think you're not telling the truth. Am I wrong?"

"You are," I stay in denial but feel the heat rise inside of me. "It's cute how calm you are when my dad can hear you."

I grin against my will but avoid saying anything.

"She's shy now, isn't she, dad?" he does not leave me alone, going far enough to make me go mute. "Stop annoying her. Do it when you're both alone," he nearly supports him, not telling him to stop for good. "Okay, I'll wait then. Look at your phone, y/n, I'm hanging up."

"Okay," Mister Jeon ends it as well, so I get my phone in my hand like Joonha asked me to do. "Tell me if you ever feel uncomfortable because he goes too far, okay?" he makes sure that I am okay with it. "No, we both mess around with each other, so I don't mind it."

"That's the most important," he expresses some relief, but a text from Joonha gasps all my attention.

< did you take the drawings? ]

[ I did >

< great, I'm gonna have another massage, right?:> ]

[ no you'll do it yourself >

< no, it's annoying ]

[ -_- >

< :> ]

30 minutes later...

I step inside the house after Mister Jeon opened the door for me but hear Choco bark, and once I look for him, I fall upon Joonha who is holding him.

"Attack her, my boy," he lets go of him as the door behind me got closed by Mister Jeon, but once I see Choco run towards me, I step to the right to inch closer to the table but bump into the man, who I did not know was right next to me, and his hand cups my waist as I stepped on his foot and almost lost my balance like a stupid girl. "I'm so—"

"It's fine," he laughs, not even being mad but finding it funny. Some butterflies crowd my stomach once I feel his hand stroke my waist, but Joonha comes closer and hands a damaged material to his father. "Choco destroyed it."

"Dammit," he sighs, heavily, holding what seems to have been attacked by the puppy. "I'll buy a new one again," he walks away after taking his shoes off, so Joonha sets his blue eyes on me. "I wanna see the tattoos on my skin."

"Please?" I ask for a bit of respect, and he gives it to me. "Please, y/n."

"Good," I let my satisfaction out and put my bag down on the table on the right, but he touches my neck with his long fingers and runs the red spot. "What did you do?"

"The seatbelt," I tell him, but he squints his big eyes and shows some doubt. "Uh. Do you have a boyfriend? Aren't you single?"

"I don't have a boyfriend, dumbass. Do you think a hickey looks like that?" I erase this thought he must have, but he purses his lips, getting my eyes on the ring on the bottom one. "I don't know, maybe you tried to hide it."

"It's not a hickey. Ask your dad, he'll tell you the same as I did," I look down at Choco who is sticking to him like glue, and Joonha turns around. "Dad," he does not even trust me. "Yeah?"

"What did she do with the seatbelt?" he makes it sound horribly wrong, getting me to hit his arm, but Mister Jeon passes by the kitchen bar to gaze at us. "What do you mean?"

"Her skin is red," he points his finger at it, and his father and I make eye contact. "Oh, it's my fault. I applied the brakes a little too harshly because a dumb guy almost ran into us, and she got hurt. Now that you remind me of it, I'm going to check the ointment creams we have here," he recalls and leaves us to go in the bathroom, and once he closes the door, Joonha looks at me.

Without saying anything, he smiles and walks away, stepping towards the stairs. "Come with me," he climbs them up. "What about your dad? He'll come back and see no one's here anymore."

"True, I'll wait for you in my bedroom then," he keeps going, his footsteps against the marble resonating through the house. "I don't know where your bedroom is."

"My name's on the door," he answers, so I wait on my spot, all alone. Mister Jeon is taking time to look for something just for me, so I am not going to leave like I do not care. That would be mean.

Not knowing when he will be back, I sit down on one of the chairs and use my phone to not stay without doing anything, and I text Joonha who is above me.

[ do I have to knock on the door when I come? >

< of course yes. Didn't mommy teach you to not burst into a boy's room? ]

[ as you must have noticed last night, mommy wasn't taught to do it either:) >

< you have a point lmao but still don't ever get into a boy's room if you don't want to live one of the most awkward moments of your life like last night ]

[ I experienced way worse than what happened last night, so I'm fine >

< ah yeah? And what happened?:> I wanna know ]

[ I won't tell  >

< oh, I see:) ]

The sound of Mister Jeon coming back makes me turn around, but he comes back with something in his hand, his shirt still exposing a big part of his tan chest covered in tattoos. "I got something," he puts it more within sight and inches closer. "Here you are," he hands it to me, so I grab it and check what it is.

"Where is Joonha?" he pulls on the chair next to me and sits by my side as I am opening the tube. "He went into his room."

"Already? He was so impatient to see you," he exposes his son when I did not even know about this. "Really?" I peek up at him but put some of the cream on my finger. "Yes," he smiles at me, but I heave my clean hand up to my neck to feel where the burn is the most, not having any mirror to apply it on the good spot.

"Do you want me to help?" he notices I am having a hard time, so I nod to him. "Wait," he gazes down at my finger and passes the tip of his over it to take the cream on his skin, and he leans forth to spread everything over the stinging spot.

My neck is very sensitive, so feeling him rub two fingers over it makes me feel extremely weak.

"I guess he must have told you, but I talked with him last night," he brings it up, keeping the silence away from us but not broaching the best topic to do it. "And uhm, he told me about the mistake I made when I mentioned the dinner in front of your mother. I didn't know about it, so I wanted to apologize to you."

"What did he say?" I fear that he broke our promise, but Mister Jeon gazes up into my eyes from the closest that he ever did before. "Don't worry, he told me he couldn't tell me why exactly because you wanted him to keep it to himself, so he just told me not to mention anything about food in front of her" he slows down as I can feel the cream being absorbed by my skin. "That worried me a lot to hear that, so that's why I wanted to talk about it with you."

"There's no need to worry about it, Mister Jeon," I fake a smile and hope for him to believe me, but he stares into my eyes and pulls his hand away to rest his forearm on the table before me. "Are you sure? I don't want to force you to say anything, but I just want to make sure you're okay. Joonha and I will be there if you're not."

"I'm okay, really," I regret telling him lies, seeing through his eyes how sincerely caring he is. "Alright, I believe you," he nods, not glancing away to penetrate my soul with a look only. "You do not have to be on a strict diet though, you're beautiful the way you are, okay?" he closes the tube and compliments me, tenderly telling me some soft words. "Thank you."

"You—"

"When are you coming?!" Joonha suddenly shouts from upstairs, making us both laugh. "Jeez. She's coming, stop yelling!" he answers him so that I do not have to break my voice. "Okay!" he does what his father told him not to, getting me to chuckle but look away.

"Well, you can join him, otherwise he's going to shout every five minutes," he stands up, so I do so and put the chair back properly as he did. I take hold of my bag and move upstairs, despite the desire to stay with Mister Jeon. I walk up the stairs but have a hallway in front of me and on my right, so I check the black doors on the right but notice Joonha's one, so I get up there and knock on the door.