A questioning look, two blinks, three seconds of complete, undisturbed silence, followed by a soft press of four notes by his left hand. 

“…Do you want me to teach you?” He asked, and for once, a rarely seen curiosity - even by his peers - seeped into his tone. “Instead of that… come here. We might be able to do something to while the time away.”

And with that said, he shifted aside to make space for her by his left side.

At this image, her friends would probably have squealed and giggled like little girls, but to her there was nothing giggle-worthy about the situation. They had to spend a lot of time together and the better they would get along during this time – the better.

Now seated, Soyeon looked at the piano. It was beautiful – just as beautiful as it sounded. It almost seemed ironic to her that such a pretty instrument could sound so terrible when played wrong.

Her right hand hovered over the keys for a moment, before she slowly let her index finger lower onto one of the keys to form a sound.

May she be safe—

Just then, his finger landed on a wrong key that would otherwise went unnoticed due to the complicated nature of the song itself, had one never heard it. Even so, his finger had stayed on that high G note, eyes only opening after it; it’s only then that he noticed the presence of the female inside the room. A blunder on his part, this was, but there would be less than a 1 percent chance of anyone entering his unit without him knowing about it. The only possibility, if one wished to break in and kidnap whoever he was in charge of protecting, was to plant a bomb and destroy the whole building.

Not a plausible idea, of course. Unless some of those so-called mutants actually managed to use their ‘special ability’ to break in.

He looked up at her, and gave a fleeting smile.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and just a little later, the male asked her a question. The girl shook her head and a glimpse of sadness showed in her eyes. She’d wanted to learn how to play long ago, but as much as she loved the piano – or maybe because of that specific reason – she’d rather listen others play than to learn it herself. Even if it seemed very calming.

She would’ve liked for him to play more, but it seemed as though he might not continue. “Too bad.” The girl thought – he played well.

Some time later, exhaling a sigh - not that he’s tired or anything, though, it’s just that the whole thing was exhausting mentally since it would be the first time he’d brought a girl inside - Taekwoon found himself rising from the couch and heading towards the piano. It was quite rare that he’d have to resort to it just to unwind and nothing else, but as much as he would want to, he couldn’t sleep. Call it a sense of duty, perhaps, but that’s just how he was.

It didn’t even take two minutes for a calm (a bit sentimental, though) melody to fill the soundproofed unit, fast fingers deftly dancing on the black and white keys to fill in the background music, which was playing from the speakers—Vanros Kloud, although leaning onto New Age, was one of his favorite composers. The song was Wings of Piano; for him, it trains focus and calmness at the same time, and mostly accuracy.

After all, he often play blind, just like how he did it then.

Eyes closed, serene expression, a certain confidence.

When she woke up after only a few hours, her hair was a little messy and her face felt puffy - nothing out of the usual. Properly waking up took a few moments, but then she straightened her clothes. It wasn’t like in many books she’d read - she was fully aware of where she was and not confused about it whatsoever.

After combing through her hair with her fingers, she decided she should take a shower. But where was it?

Soyeon yawned heartily and walked through the door that led into the living room. But before she could try to get the male’s attention, she was lulled in by the sound of a piano. Quietly - so he wouldn’t stop playing - she walked towards the couch and let herself down softly.

Looking at her schedule, however, the male skimmed through it quickly before taking out his phone to take a picture of it. Precautions never hurts, and he liked to be organized even through the mess. Of course, he was notified beforehand that the younger female still attended classes - and upon a swift background check just hours before they met, he’d confirmed where the female was studying, and in which major.

Interesting one, the medical field. Had he not like IT a tad bit too much, he might have tried that.

“Okay,” he said after sliding the phone smoothly back into his pocket, nodding to show that he’s done with the schedules. “We can do this. I might have to act your boyfriend for the time being so it wouldn’t be suspicious if someone suddenly escorts you in and out of classes.”

“Practice!”

Right, there was still her martial arts training! The female was about to gain his attention to let him know that she would like to continue her regular training, when he spoke before she had the chance to.

In understanding, the girl nodded. It didn't really bother her personally – after all it was for her own safety – but she had a feeling that her friends would tease her about it and that made her sigh. The mere imagination of it felt exhausting.

Upon seeing his smile, Soyeon calmed down a little – and noticed, that she hadn't completely been before. After all this was someone else's home and the thought to impose, didn't leave her completely cold either, even if she usually seemed – and was – somewhat of a neutral faced person..

“Your would-be room, right?” The male agent let himself ask, though at that point he was 95% sure that it was exactly what she meant. “Unfortunately, we’ll have to share mine, but don’t worry. I’ll be sleeping on the couch, or I’ll just use the bed whenever you aren’t sleeping. Come.”

After all, he would be playing the bodyguard anyway - which means he would have to adjust his bodily hour to suit hers… which further means staying awake when she’s asleep.

Nothing he can’t do, of course.

Yet, she followed him into his bedroom. Even though the colours were still primarily cold, it had something way more comfortable to it. Putting it simply: it was a pretty room.

But Soyeon couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt. Of course it was his job that he probably chose himself and possibly liked, but she felt bad that he would have to adjust to her lifestyle. Furthermore, she couldn't talk, which made the situation more difficult as well – more for him than for her, as she was used to it. In that moment she decided that she could  sneakily fall asleep on the couch by “accident”.

As she was still looking at the pretty room, the girl turned around when she heard his voice. Showing that she understood, Soyeon nodded. As she remembered something, the girl made an “Ah!”-like expression and searched through her handbag. She took out a rather thick organiser – that looked cuter than one might expect of her – and quickly browsed through it until the female found the page she'd searched for.

She didn't have a full daily schedule, but she did have one for her classes at myre and that is what she showed him; holding the planner out to him, with both hands.

North Seoul was so much different from her home: South Seoul. Her past there was complicated and painful and her past in North Seoul was rather negative as well. Even her present wasn’t too rosy and yet the girl couldn’t complain.

Both in a materialistic and a non-materialistic way, she had more than most ever would. Their place was fancy, there were those she was dear to and that were dear to her and she could get all the education she wanted.

Of course this also had negative sides: like now where her life was in possible danger. But she still didn’t want to complain.

Only when they arrived, the girl was ripped out of her thoughts.

With a nod of her head, she thanked him and stepped in. She couldn’t say it was like she expected - since she didn’t really gave it any though and thus didn’t have an expectation - but the place suited him. It wasn’t sterile but had something “chic“ to it.

Soyeon shook her head upon hearing his words. A bit of a mess always made a house, flat or such seem warmer.

but he is surprised to find someone coming up to him in such a friendly manner, having let mochi loose for a while without his leash (”because trust!! trust is important! and mochi has never run away from me because he loves me!” he’d exclaim to concerned pedestrians–).

but he’s not bothered by it not at all, instead his lips spread into a pleased grin, lightly jogging over to the girl and mochi in hopes of making new friends.

Yet the boy didn't seem upset at all, causing her expression to ease into a relaxed one. First her shy smile turned into an honest one, but as she further heard his words, her brows furrowed. Those people probably made fun of the pomeranian because of its missing leg – but that was a very stupid reason to the girl.

Quickly Soyeon stood up and bowed both politely and friendly. Since she generally doesn't expect others to understand sign language, this is where the difficult part started – and where many started judging her. Looking at the boy to make sure he was looking at her, she pointed at her lips and then formed an “ x ” with both her hands. After that the girl proceeded to point at her ear and then signalled an “ok”.

Then again, he couldn’t complain. J has been very kind to him even as a superior, and sometimes he even saw her as a mother in the workplace… and plus, even though he was supposedly on a vacation leave, field agents never really does have one anyway. So there he was, sitting as still as a statue on the driver’s seat, hands on the wheel—not even a glance towards the other car, which he knew would head to the nearest safe house possible, effectively leaving him with her only child to take care of.

A special request, she says, and he couldn’t say no.

The car door opened and closed, and he spared a glance towards the younger girl—meeting her eyes for a fragment of a second, and nodded in response.

She’s special, he’d known—Jung Soyeon doesn’t speak, and fortunately for him, he’d rather have a silent companion than a super noisy one. Silence was his best companion.

“I’m Jung Taekwoon, and you’ll be under my protection starting today for as long as your mother sees fit. You can also refer to me as Leo if that’s easier for you to remember,” he said, giving her a small smile before turning back to face the wheel and started the car engine. “I am under direct orders to protect you 24/7 from the dangers that might be present during the next few days, so I shall first apologize beforehand if things gets inconvenient for you due to my presence.”

Earnestly, she didn’t look forward to being stuck with another person for the whole day and whole night. But the girl knew it was neccessary and that there was nothing she could do about it. It was probably as much of an inconvenience for him as it would be for her.

Surprised Soyeon’s head tilted up upon hearing his choice of song. Classical music was her favourite and she hadn’t expected to hear it. A small smile formed on her lips and she looked out of the car’s window.

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