Chapter 14

The Princess’s First Outing

Do Jinhyuk sat in the passenger seat and glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror.

A small figure fidgeting in the back seat with her seat belt fastened.

Needless to say, her identity was—.

Shin Yua. Fourteen years old. Granddaughter of Shinil Group’s chairman. Ultra-ultra-ultra VIP.

The person he would be protecting from now on.

Do Jinhyuk, a graduate of a physical education university who had extensive experience in all sorts of martial arts.

He had originally wanted to make a living through sports, but the competition was so fierce that he had given up on that path long ago.

He had applied for a position as a Shinil Group bodyguard half a year earlier.

After passing through all the difficult procedures, of all things, he had been assigned as the dedicated bodyguard for the only granddaughter of a chaebol family.

Honestly, when he first received the notice, he had felt somewhat disappointed. He had quietly taken pride in his qualifications—.

He had expected to guard some important figure, such as the chairman or an executive, but instead he was told to protect some child.

On top of that, the information he had received beforehand was extremely sparse.

She was a child who had almost never appeared in the media, and she was so young that there was barely any objective information about her at all.

All he knew was a single line from an old newspaper article.

The youngest son of Shinil Group’s chairman and his wife killed in an airplane accident during an overseas business trip.

The young child who lost her parents in that accident was Shin Yua.

So Do Jinhyuk had vaguely imagined.

That a child who had lost her parents early and been left alone would surely have a gloomy and withdrawn personality.

That she would be quiet, and perhaps prickly or depressed.

But when he first greeted her yesterday—.

That expectation had missed the mark spectacularly.

The child who returned from the birthday banquet saw the strangers filling her house—.

“Whaaaat.”

—and recoiled like a cartoon character, then quickly recovered and energetically accepted their greetings. There was not a trace of gloom on her face.

It was unexpected. In a good way.

Do Jinhyuk felt a little relieved. At least she did not seem like a difficult child.

And today was the first day he would be taking that child outside.

A visit to an art museum. Apparently, the Chairman had personally arranged the schedule. The idea was that since his granddaughter stayed shut inside the house too much, she should get some fresh air and cultivate herself.

His first close-protection assignment. And for the granddaughter the Chairman treasured dearly, at that.

There was no way he would not be nervous. Do Jinhyuk noticed his shoulders unconsciously tensing.

“Officer Do, what’s with that expression? You look like you’re going to eat someone alive.”

Driver Park, who was behind the wheel, spoke with a slight laugh.

Driver Park was a family man in his mid-forties with a friendly-looking face. Originally, he had only been called whenever the young lady needed to go out, but this time he had apparently been reassigned as her dedicated driver.

Do Jinhyuk had first met him a few weeks earlier when he was assigned to Shin Yua. They had spent the time since then waiting around and talking about this and that, and had become fairly close.

“I’m nervous. It’s my first assignment.”

“Haha. What’s with calling it an assignment like it’s something grand? You’re just watching over one kid. She’s a gentle, good young lady.”

“Driver ahjussi.”

A voice came from the back seat.

The child, who had been staring at her phone until a moment ago, had put it into her pocket at some point and was leaning forward.

‘Gasp, did she hear us?’

Do Jinhyuk tensed slightly at the thought that the child might have overheard the quiet conversation between him and Driver Park, but Driver Park showed no sign of agitation at all.

“Yes, Miss. Are you carsick?”

“I’ve been looking at my phone nonstop, so I’m dizzy. How long until the art museum?”

“About an hour.”

“An hour?”

The child opened her mouth wide.

“It takes that long?”

Do Jinhyuk thought to himself. Fair enough, an hour is long for a child.

Fourteen meant she was a middle school student, so calling her a child was a little questionable, but this girl gave off a younger impression than others her age.

When he thought that, Do Jinhyuk had no idea that the next hour would become hell for him.

“By the way, Bodyguard ahjussi, what’s your name?”

“...Do Jinhyuk.”

“Do Jinhyuk. Oh. That sounds kind of strong. Did you exercise a lot?”

“I majored in physical education in college and practiced some martial arts.”

“Ooh. As expected. Then are you good at fighting?”

“...I’m decent.”

The child’s questions kept coming.

“How old are you?”

“I’m thirty-two this year.”

“Oh. Then are you married?”

“I’m not.”

“What about a girlfriend?”

“...I don’t have one.”

For a moment, he had the illusion that the atmosphere in the back seat had changed strangely.

“You don’t?”

Do Jinhyuk instinctively sensed danger.

“You’re thirty-two and don’t have a girlfriend? Why?”

“...I’m just busy with work.”

“Come on. Isn’t that all just an excuse? Even busy people date if they want to.”

“...”

“Do you have some kind of problem? Like a weird personality?”

“I... don’t.”

“Then why don’t you have one? You’re tall and well-built. Ah, are your standards too high?”

“...It’s not like that.”

Cold sweat broke out on Do Jinhyuk.

What kind of situation was this all of a sudden? She was clearly supposed to be the person he had to protect, yet somehow he felt like he was being interrogated.

“Hahaha. Officer Do, you’re in trouble.”

Driver Park, who had been quietly listening, joined in. His voice sounded oddly delighted.

“Miss, this guy really doesn’t have a girlfriend. I’ve been with him for a few weeks, so I know. Apparently, even on his days off, all he does is exercise.”

“Whoa. Really? You only exercise on your days off?”

“Yes. His hobby is exercise, and his specialty is exercise too.”

“Ahjussi, isn’t your life way too boring then?”

“...”

“If all you do is exercise, is a girlfriend going to appear? Are you dating the gym mirror?”

“Pwahahaha.”

While Driver Park burst out laughing and slapped the steering wheel, Do Jinhyuk could only stare out the window.

“Ahjussi. Let me give you one serious piece of advice.”

The child spoke in a distinctly mature tone.

“If all you do is work and exercise like that, one day you’ll suddenly come to your senses and realize there’s nobody beside you. You know? That’s how people end up growing old alone.”

Do Jinhyuk was dumbfounded.

...Was that really something a fourteen-year-old should be saying?

Her tone was like a senior in life who had been through everything giving a junior an encouraging pat on the back.

“So date a little, and meet people too. Okay? Hm?”

“...Yes. Understood.”

Do Jinhyuk realized that the difficulty level of the assignment he had been given was much higher than he had expected.

— — —

Honestly, when they said it would take an hour to get to the art museum, I thought I would be a little bored.

But not at all. I lost track of time while messing with that bodyguard guy.

Thirty-two, no girlfriend, only exercises on his days off, and both his hobby and specialty are exercise. A life like that? It would be rude not to make fun of him.

Actually, all of this was stuff I had suffered through in my previous life.

Every holiday and family gathering, my uncles and aunts would take turns asking. When are you getting married, do you have a girlfriend, why don’t you have one yet, aren’t your standards too high?

Every time, I smiled and brushed it off while crying tears of blood inside. Why were they all so interested in someone else’s life?

But now that I am the one doing it.

This is surprisingly fun?

You know, there is that phrase made famous by a certain well-known show.

As long as it’s not meeeeeeee!

“...Miss. We’ve arrived.”

When Driver ahjussi stopped the car, Jinhyuk opened the door for me with a strangely dazed expression.

“Hmm. Ahjussi, what are you doing now?”

“I’ll be following you. I have to protect you.”

“Come on, what’s dangerous in an art museum? Why don’t you just go meet a woman instead?”

“Th-That won’t do. My assignment is...”

“Wahaha, ‘assignment,’ he says, ‘assignment.’ That’s hilarious. Hehehe.”

Do Jinhyuk went silent for a while with his face stiff.

“Ahjussi, don’t tell me you’re sulking? Surely an adult over thirty isn’t sulking, right?”

“I’m not sulking.”

Geez. How are you supposed to be a bodyguard with such a weak mentality? A bodyguard should possess an unwavering spirit like a great mountain. Go watch Brother Lee Yoongeol or Brother Sangryong and learn something.

Ah, speaking of bodyguards, a song comes to mind.

“I— will always looove—.”

I hummed Britney Houston’s masterpiece under my breath as I got out of the car.

An imposing art museum building stood before me.

Shinil Art Museum.

Naturally, it was operated by Shinil Group. To begin with, there were hardly any large facilities in this country that did not have at least some Shinil Group money in them.

Calling it the Republic of Shinil would not be entirely wrong.

Maybe because it was a weekday, the inside of the museum was quiet and cool. On a day like this, aside from kids here on field trips, who would even come to an art museum except an ultra-special VVVVIP like me?

The bodyguard guy had already composed his expression and was following at a constant distance about twenty paces behind me. It seemed a little too far, but weekday art museums are insanely empty. There was hardly anything dangerous here to begin with.

“Hmm...”

I slowly looked around the exhibition hall.

Large paintings hung on the walls. Some were abstract art or something, with paint seemingly splattered all over, and others had distorted human faces.

Honestly, I had no idea what was supposed to be good about them.

“Isn’t that just spilled paint?”

But that must be insanely expensive too. Since it is hanging here. Maybe several hundred million won for one?

Well, I do not really know, but if they say it is expensive, I look at it assuming it is expensive. Isn’t that basically what culture is?

As I walked along, half looking at paintings and half lost in unrelated thoughts.

One side of the exhibition hall was strangely noisy.

When I looked to see what was going on.

“Everyone, do you know what this painting is? As for the technique used here—.”

A woman was standing in front of a painting, talking away into the phone in her hand. Behind her was even a camera on a tripod.

“What, is she filming a video?”

Her hair was a full rainbow of pink, blue, and purple, and her clothes were flashy too, so in the quiet art museum she looked like she was floating around all by herself.

“What is she doing?”

Looking more closely, she seemed to be pointing at the painting with her hand and explaining it.

But are you even allowed to film like that in an art museum? I’m pretty sure they do not even let you freely take photos here.

I turned my head toward the bodyguard guy and gave him a look.

Go on, execute her quickly! As a martial artist, chop the back of her neck with your hand and knock her out!

But this clueless bastard merely stared blankly back at me, showing absolutely no sign of moving.

“Tch. Can’t be helped. I’ll deal with the villain myself!”

I strode toward Rainbow Hair.

“Unnie, what are you doing? Aren’t you not supposed to film in an art museum? This is illegal.”

“Oh my.”

Only then did the rainbow-haired woman take her eyes off her phone and turn toward me. She looked startled for a moment before quickly changing her expression.

S-She smiled?

You commit such a heinous crime and still intend to act this shamelessly? I hereby sentence you to death for some-some crime. Bang bang bang.

“Oh my, hello, little one?”

...Little one?

“I-I’m not a little kid.”