Chapter Five

Darien stepped out of the restroom wearing the outfit that Aecha provided. It was a little tight but Darien didn't mind. It was a lot better than the outfit that she had been wearing. She pointed the girl in the direction of Hwa-Sung before making her way to her target Ji-Hwan. He was standing near the bar speaking with the female bartender. Darien cleared her throat and smiled brightly when Ji-Hwan turned around.

"Darien? I didn't know that you were here." Ji-Hwan said in surprise. He smiled happily before looking at the outfit that Darien was wearing. He obviously liked it because his smile grew larger. "You look...amazing."

"Thanks." She said before looking at Hwa-Sung who was trying to fight off Aecha. She felt bad for selling him out but she needed the outfit and the distraction. "What are you doing here? As in Gong-Ju," She clarified.

"I'm visiting my parents. They wanted to throw a party since my brother's coming to town."

"You don't sound too happy about that."

"I am. It's just…whenever he's around a lot of problems arise. The last time I saw him, my father kicked him out of the house and told him not to come back. It took almost a year for my mom to convince the two to see each other again. I can't imagine what will happen this time around."

"Oh."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No. I was the only child but I did have a friend that was like a brother to me growing up." Darien offered. She always wanted to have a younger sibling but thought better of it as she grew older. Darien's father had spoiled her growing up and sharing was not big on Darien's agenda.

"You're lucky." Ji-Hwan threw back another shot. Darien wondered what he was drinking because it obviously wasn't too strong. He had a total of four of them, while he was in her presence.

'His brother visiting must really be getting to him.' She thought. She watched as he lifted a drink to his mouth again but stopped just as the rim of the glass touched his lips. He sat shot glass back on the bar and looked at Darien curiously. She became self conscious at the intense stare. She wasn't sure what he was trying to find.

"Do you want to get out of here? It's a little noisy and I can do without the distraction."

"Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"There's a theatre not too far from here. I'm sure a movie will start soon." Ji-Hwan said while looking down at his black and silver wrist watch. Darien hesitated. A movie could last for a few hours and she

had to beat Hwa-Sung back to the hotel if she didn't want her cover blown. She watched Hwa-Sung again and saw that he was adequately distracted with Aecha and some other girl all over him. She felt a pang of jealousy strike her heart but didn't pay any attention to it. The only thing that was on her mind was Ji-Hwan.

"That would be great."

'Where the hell is she?" Hwa-Sung thought aloud as he paced the hotel hallway that housed both his and Darien's rooms. He had arrived home a few hours ago after fighting off a hormonal girl and she had yet to arrive back from the club. Hwa-Sung was beating himself up mentally. He kept thinking that he should have taken her back himself, instead of letting her wonder the streets alone. Anything could have happened to her, especially since a lot of Anti-American sentiment was running ramped in Korea. It was like he fed her to the wolves.

"It's all right." He told himself. "She's a big girl. She can handle herself." In the back of his mind he thought about how he still referred to Darien as a woman. Technically he still hadn't confirmed it yet. He was sure that she was a girl but he didn't have any proof and he was positive that without it Darien would still deny the obvious. She was trying so hard to be a man that it was becoming ridiculous. How many men wear clothes that are two sizes too big no matter the occasion? He vaguely wondered what type of body she was hiding underneath those clothes. He heard a light laugh from down the hall that sounded like it could be Darien's when she accidently spoke in her normal tone.

He quickly rushed into his room, not wanting her to know that he had been waiting up for her. He looked through his peephole, trying hard to see if it was her and who was the person that made her laugh. Hwa-Sung couldn't see much of anything except a lot of white, some curly hair and brown skin.

'Bingo.' He decided that he listening to the goodbye conversation would be the best way to see if the person that she was with was any real completion. He was disappointed not to hear much, just the standard end of the date conversation. The 'I had a great time.'; 'we should do this again soon.' And the infamous, 'I'll call you later.' Hwa-Sung was happy that he didn't hear any hugging or kissing which meant on of two things. Either the guy was new or Darien wasn't interested. Either way, Hwa-Sung still had a shot of dating her.

After he was sure that Darien's mystery date was gone he opened the door quickly and boldly, catching Darien's attention. She turned around to face him swiftly the key card in her hand fell carelessly to the floor. She stared at him in shock and Hwa-Sung watched her with a smug expression on his face. He let his eyes roam over her body, only to see dangerous curves no matter where he looked. He was amazed at how beautiful she was from the top of her curly black hair to the freshly manicured toes.

"You are definitely a woman. You shouldn't try to hide it under those clothes anymore. You make it hard to tell your gender." He couldn't help the Cheshire grin that came across his face at Darien's pointed glare as she tried in vain to cover her body. "Let me guess, does that dress belong to that Aecha girl? The

outfit she was wearing looked a lot like yours. I knew that two people couldn't be that fashion dense to wear it."

"Shut up Hwa-Sung and keep your eyes to yourself."

"I'm not sure that I'll be able to keep my hands to myself. Didn't Kim tell you that I'm a man that can't be trusted around a beautiful woman? I just can't help myself when ever I'm in their presence." He figured the reason behind Mr. Kim and Darien's deception a long time ago. Mr. Kim was convinced that Hwa-Sung wasn't fit to be around a woman because of his womanizing ways but that wasn't the case. It wasn't that Hwa-Sung didn't respect women especially, he just didn't respect anyone. Everyone had a hidden agenda when it came to him. He learned a long time ago that he was the only person looking out for his best interest.

Darien rolled her eyes at Hwa-Sung's comment and He laughed. She picked the keycard off the floor before opening the door and going inside. She left the door open for Hwa-Sung, an open invitation. He stepped inside quickly and closed the door behind him. He walked in a little further and waited silently as she took of her shoes and pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

"Don't tell Mr. Kim about any of this. He won't be happy with me if he finds out that you know that I'm a woman. He made it clear that he would fire me as soon as the news made it to his ears."

"Don't worry. He won't hear about it from me." He walked up to Darien and stared down into her eyes. The look was so intense; she had to move away until her knees came in contact with the edge bed.

"Why are you being so amicable? I know that you want to get rid of me."

"I did." He said honestly. "But that was before I discovered that you were a woman."

"Are you going to use this to get what you want from me?"

"What I want from you? It wouldn't be an honorable act for me to use this to get what I want for you." He released a small chuckle and looked at the bed behind Darien.

"And what is it that you want from me?" She knew that it was a loaded question but for some reason she had to ask. A part of her hoped that what he wanted wasn't innocent. He looked up at her sharply, lust filled his eyes.

"Are you sure that you want to know?"

"No." Darien shook her head fiercely. "No, I don't want to know."

"Look, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't attracted to you but want I want from you is for you to honor the deal that you made with me. You stay out of my life and I'll stay out of yours."

"That's not possible. My job is to make sure that you don't get into trouble and I know for a fact that you'll do just that without supervision."

"It may not be your job much longer if you continue to get into my way." Hwa-Sung threatened. "What was your job before this? I know that you couldn't have been a professional babysitter."

"Image consultant." Darien supplied.

"Ahh. So now I see why he chose you. You know what the perfect image would be for me and with that tough exterior of yours you would be able to mold me into that perfect image. I'm sure that you have other clients that need your attention."

"I do, but they are not as nearly as obnoxious as you. I'm not leaving, so you can stop trying to make me and I'm going to do the job that I was hired to do whether you like it or not. As a matter of fact, let me give you some advice." Darien moved away from the bed and entered Hwa-Sung's personal space. "Grow up, be a man and maybe you wouldn't need people like me telling you what to do. I can't understand why you are being such a hard ass just to annoy Mr. Kim."

"I told you that what's going on between Kim and me is none of your business."

"And I'm telling you that it is. Anything that bother's him bothers me." She said in an even tone. Hwa-Sung stared at her hard. His expression was threatening and Darien would have been frightened if she hadn't been secure with herself and her taekwondo abilities but then again she didn't know how well Hwa-Sung was versed in martial arts. She heard from Mr. Kim that he was good but she didn't know how good he was. He looked like he wanted to say something rude to her but changed his mind.

'Good for him.' Darien thought.

"Just make sure that you are ready tomorrow and dress in normal clothes. I don't want my family to get as confused as I was." Hwa-Sung said.

"And what do you perceive as normal? I have never been a very feminine woman and I won't change just because you request it."

"You sure dolled yourself up for that guy that dropped you off tonight." He said angrily.

"Are you jealous?"

"No."

"I don't see what the problem is and what I do for him is none of you business."

"Just dress like a girl." Hwa-Sung said before he stormed out the room. Darien couldn't help but laugh at Hwa-Sung's obvious jealousy. It was too bad for him that she already met Ji-Hwan, otherwise things could have been different.

Hwa-Sung slammed his hotel room door shut before flopping down on his bed. Darien was really getting on his nerves. He managed to acquire some information that should have given him the upper hand but

instead he was right back where he started, a standstill between him and her. He could just tell Kim that he knew the truth but then she would be gone and there would another bodyguard getting bothering him tomorrow. Normally he didn't mind a fight but things were becoming desperate and Darien was standing in his way. He knew now that she wasn't the type to give in easily but that didn't make him feel any better. In fact it pissed him off. He would have to find some way of getting her out the picture. No matter how much he was attracted to her, business came before pleasure.