21 Call a Truce Pt.2

How stupid.

Gyuri fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously at the man in front of her as she slowly lifted her skirt to reveal her ankle. "Oh, my leg hurts! It hurts!"

The man's eyes bulged and he turned his face away, furiously blushing. "P-please, dear maid! You-you should cover yourself up!" He averted his gaze but Gyuri noticed that he was still sneaking peeks at her exposed ankle.

Seriously? Is this guy actually falling for it? Gyuri continued to pretend her leg was hurting, slowly hitching her skirt up a notch as each second passed.

And here I was, worried that the kid was asking for something sketchy.

She sighed internally as she cast her memory back to what she and Taehyung had talked about earlier...

"You want me to what?" Gyuri had exclaimed. She crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "Ew, no. No!" She eyed him like he was chewing gum stuck to her shoe. "You're way too young to be asking for things like that!"

Taehyung was taken aback by her response. "Huh? What?" His face scrunched up in confusion and then his eyes rounded as he registered what she was hinting at. "No! I think you misunderstand. I do not want you to strip for me" he rushed to explain. "I need you to strip for my bodyguard."

Gyuri continued to give him a repulsed look. "How is that any better?" She shook her head as she imagined herself doing a strip show for a guy she barely knew with Taehyung watching in the background. She shuddered. "I'm not that kind of girl. Go and find someone else to do your kinky fetishes."

"Like I said, you misunderstand" Taehyung insisted. "I need you to strip so that you can distract my bodyguard while I sneak out of the house." He gestured to a man wearing green robes nearby. "Ever since that day we were saved by my cousin, I have been unable to leave the household without him tailing me everywhere."

Gyuri glanced at the man in green who was stationed not too far away from them. It astounded her that she didn't notice his presence until Taehyung pointed him out.

"Still," she mentioned, "why do I have to strip to distract him? Can't you just bring him with you?"

Taehyung scowled. "He attracts too much attention and I do not need a chaperone. I only suggested you strip because I know he is weak to such things."

"But regardless of that, what you're asking of me is too much. And anyway, you were given a bodyguard so that he can protect you."

Taehyung huffed, "I do not need to be reminded of that by you. All I want to know is whether you will help me or not."

Gyuri contemplated this. Is it worth degrading herself for the sake of future comfort?

"Okay," she agreed at last. "But if I help you, do you promise that you won't do pranks on me anymore?"

Taehyung nodded as he solemnly replied, "I promise."

"And if we bump into each other, you won't acknowledge my presence?"

Taehyung raised his brow. "Is that what you want? For me to ignore you?"

"If it means living here peacefully, then yeah. You ignore me and I'll ignore you. Just pretend that the other doesn't exist."

He smiled wryly. "As you wish."

"Okay then," Gyuri replied determinedly. "What do you need me to do?"

Gyuri forcibly smiled as she giggled in a flirtatious manner at the guard with rose-tinted cheeks. When she discovered that 'stripping' meant revealing either her wrists or ankles, she almost collapsed from pure disbelief.

How stupid, she thought to herself again. Who would've known that showing off your ankles was considered scandalous?

She stole a glance at the wall behind the guard and saw that Taehyung had successfully climbed over. He looked directly at Gyuri and nodded to her thankfully before disappearing into the outdoors.

Okay, mission accomplished.

Gyuri dropped her skirt. "Oh, I apologise!" she exclaimed with mock mortification. "I didn't mean to flash you."

The guard wouldn't look at her in the face. "It is quite alright, dear maid." When he finally plucked up the courage to eye her steadily, Gyuri noticed the pink glow in his cheeks. "Do you require a physician? I can fetch Physician Koh-"

"Nah, I'll be fine" Gyuri hastily interrupted.

"Oh, but you were in so much pain earlier," the guard remarked. "If you change your mind, Physician Koh lives just nearby. I would accompany you but I have to look after the Young Master-" the guard turned to search for Taehyung and was stunned to see that he wasn't where he last saw him. "Young Master?" He surveyed the vicinity and found that he was nowhere to be seen. He turned to address Gyuri, "Have you seen-?" but he was stunned again to find that Gyuri too, had disappeared.