Panama Esmeralda Geisha Private Collection Natural
The chaos of the previous night only barely settled as dawn broke.
Sihyun returned home, and whether he managed to close his eyes even for a moment or not, time simply slipped past him. Then, dragging his heavy body once more, he set out for the early-morning newspaper run.
Thud!
He flung the last bundle of papers into the mailbox with a touch of irritation.
“Haa...”
Stepping outside the building, he let out a long sigh and looked up. The sky was just beginning to brighten. The weather was fine and crystal clear; anyone else might have found the sight almost moving.
“Tsk.”
To Sihyun, it was only annoying. After the mess that had dragged on until the late hours, he hadn’t even managed a proper catnap. His eyelids felt like they weighed a ton.
Ugh, so tired...
Maybe it was from moving so violently for the first time in a while.
Something still feels tingly...
Or maybe it was the aftereffects of getting hit by that stun gun from the crazy woman who kept calling him her puppy—no, from Yoona.
This is the worst...
His condition today was abysmal. And yet, even with his body in complete shambles, he still had to drag himself to that damned café part-time job. A useless sense of responsibility had softened him; he hadn’t been able to refuse the manager’s plea. He desperately wanted to slap his past self—the one who had agreed to keep working, even temporarily—across the face.
“Haa...”
Letting out another heavy sigh, Sihyun trudged onward with leaden steps until he finally reached the café.
Seriously impressive...
Seeing the place looking perfectly normal, as if nothing had happened, he briefly entertained the hollow thought that last night’s uproar might have been a dream. That notion died the moment the manager spotted him.
“Sihyun! You’re here!!”
The man greeted him with exaggerated enthusiasm. Sihyun had no choice but to accept reality.
“That’s my Sihyun! I knew I could count on you!”
The manager was clearly trying to lift his spirits, but Sihyun could only frown.
“...”
He stared at the man with hollow, soul-drained eyes and said nothing.
“Uh, Sihyun?”
Oblivious, the manager pressed on excitedly.
“Yesterday, with everything that happened so late and all...”
“...So?”
“Well...”
The sudden hesitation sent a vague dread crawling up Sihyun’s spine.
“Even the evening-shift kids saw the whole thing and ran for the hills...”
“...”
Sihyun squeezed his eyes shut. He already knew exactly what request was coming next.
“So, uh... well... um...”
The manager might have been clueless, but he still had a shred of conscience; the words stuck in his throat.
“Haa... Fine. I’ll work through the evening shift too.”
Sihyun cut him off with a resigned sigh, not waiting for the rest.
The manager’s face lit up instantly.
“Thank you, Sihyun!”
He seized Sihyun’s hands and cried out in pure gratitude.
“I’ll even bump up your hourly wage! Let’s work together for a long, long time!”
The sly little addition made Sihyun’s expression sour further.
“No need. Just hire other people as fast as you can.”
Faced with that firm refusal, the manager scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“R-right! I’ll find someone as soon as possible!”
After that brief exchange, Sihyun began the opening preparations alone. The café wasn’t in a busy commercial district, so the shop itself wasn’t particularly large—but it was still a bit much for one person to handle after every other part-timer had quit. Irritation prickled at him, yet he quickly steeled himself.
Yesterday was a complete mess, but this much is... whatever.
Having endured every kind of hardship and humiliation since he was little, Sihyun could take last night’s incident in stride. He worked through the opening checklist methodically: another round of cleaning and organizing just in case the professionals hadn’t been thorough enough the night before, preheating the espresso machine, setting out beans and milk, filling the ice bins. As he quietly went about the tasks, a strange calm settled over him. He was diligent by nature; once he started a job, he had to see it done properly. The work was grueling, yet the steady rhythm slowly restored a fragile sense of peace and stability.
That peace, however, proved short-lived.
Ding-a-ling~
He hadn’t even finished the opening prep when an ominously familiar chime of the door reached his ears. His face twisted on its own.
I clearly put up the “Preparing for Business” sign...
Turning toward the entrance with open irritation, he began,
“Sorry, but we’re still preparing to open—”
He never finished the sentence.
Because the person who had walked in was none other than
“Hey.”
that crazy woman.
No—Han Yuri.
Last night—or more precisely, in the early hours of this morning—it had been far too late and she had been far too exhausted, so she had withdrawn without a fight. She also needed time to plan exactly how she was going to make him hers.
Yuri had known Sihyun for only two days, yet she was already certain. That pretty face that had stolen her breath the moment she first saw him. The monstrous physical ability that completely contradicted those looks. And on top of everything else, that sense of justice that made him grumble the whole time yet still refuse to abandon someone in trouble. Her pride made the admission difficult, but she could no longer deny it: she felt an intense attraction to him.
And so the single thought that now dominated her mind was simple.
I want him.
She wanted the man named Kim Sihyun so badly it hurt. As the youngest daughter of the Cheonryong Group’s Han family, there had never been a single thing she desired that she failed to obtain. Sihyun would be no exception.
It wasn’t going to be easy, though.
Min Seonye, Kang Yoona...
Annoying rivals already stood in her way, and worse—
This brat... he really knows how to play hard to get.
—Sihyun wasn’t simply resisting; he had thrown up a complete iron wall from the very beginning. Even though the previous night’s chaos had left her utterly drained, thoughts of him kept sleep at bay. In the end she barely slept at all. The moment day broke she forced herself awake with a cold shower, then headed straight for the café where he worked.
Glossy black hair. Vivid blue eyes. An immaculate black suit without a single wrinkle. On the surface she looked the same as always—yet the faint dark circles under her eyes and the lingering exhaustion were impossible to hide completely.
Even so, she strode in without hesitation.
“Why do you keep doing this...”
Sihyun could only look at her like he wanted to scream.
Haa... I knew from the first second she was going to be a pain.
As he sighed inwardly, Yuri spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“I told you. I want you as my bodyguard.”
“Bodyguard? Have you already forgotten what this café looked like thanks to you?”
Sihyun jabbed a finger around the interior, face dead serious. Yuri cut him off even more seriously.
“Yuri.”
“Yes?”
He had no idea what she was getting at.
What the hell is she pissed about this time... Yuri? Glass? What glass?
He glanced blankly at the nearby window pane.
Is something stuck on it?
Her irritated voice snapped him back.
“Hey.”
When he turned, she looked him straight in the eye and enunciated every syllable.
“My name. Han Yu-ri.”
“Haa...”
Only then did the name click. Sihyun exhaled a deep, thoroughly fed-up sigh.
“Fine, Ms. Han Yuri, because of you this café—”
She interrupted again.
“Ms. Han Yuri?”
Her brows knitted in open displeasure.
“What now?”
He was genuinely exhausted.
“You call Min Seonye ‘Noona,’ but I’m just ‘Ms. Han Yuri’?”
She glared at him as if the injustice were unforgivable. That finally did it.
“Aaaargh—!!”
Sihyun exploded.
“Either order something or get the hell out if you’re just here to mess around! Customer!”
He cut her off with a snarl. Yuri found the sight of him—like a cat with its claws out—so ridiculously cute that the corner of her mouth almost lifted, but she forced her expression back under control.
“Hey, I clearly told you to call me Yuri—”
She scowled and tried to correct the honorific once more, but he shouted even louder.
“Enough! Get lost before I throw you out for disrupting business!”
Anyone could see he was truly pissed. Yuri flinched under the force of it and had no choice but to back down.
“F-fine! I’ll order!”
She looked up at the menu board above the counter, then trailed off like a child who couldn’t find what she wanted.
“Um... well...”
“What is it now!”
Sihyun snapped, a vein standing out on his temple.
“Do you... not have the Panama Esmeralda Geisha Private Collection Natural?”
“Excuse me? Pana—what?”
He looked utterly baffled by a bean name he had never heard in his life, then detonated again.
“If you’re going to keep screwing around, get out right now!!!”
The murderous aura made it look like he might vault the counter and grab her by the scruff of the neck at any second. Yuri hurriedly blurted out whatever was on the menu.
“Okay, okay! Just give me an americano!”
“Haa... Fine. Americano. Iced or hot?”
“Iced? Hot?”
She blinked, failing to process even that simple question.
“...”
Sihyun stared at her, speechless.
“I-iced!”
Realizing a beat too late, she answered in a rush.
“Yes.”
He turned to make the coffee and muttered just loud enough for her to hear.
“Acts all high and mighty and then orders a plain americano. Cheapskate.”
Yuri bristled.
“Hey, what did you just say?”
She glared daggers at him, but his equally irritable stare made her wilt again.
“N-never mind.”
Sihyun shot back curtly,
“I’ll have it ready soon. Sit wherever and wait.”
He deliberately put extra force into the last word.
“Cus-to-mer.”
“Urgh...”
Unable to say another word, Yuri trudged over to the nearest table and sat down. Sihyun glanced at her once and thought to himself,
God, I want to quit already.