Owned by My Bodyguard

📖 Chapter 3: One Bed, Two Rules

“To my place. Where no one will dare touch you.”

The way Joon-ho said it made something shiver inside Jae-min.

Not fear.

Something else.

Something warm.

Something dangerous.

Twenty Minutes Later

Jae-min stared out the tinted car window as they sped through a quieter part of the city — no flashing cameras, no gold chandeliers, no rooftop pools.

They stopped at a narrow building with dark walls and no guards.

“This is it?” Jae-min asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Safe. Anonymous. Untraceable,” Joon-ho replied as he stepped out.

Jae-min followed him reluctantly, clutching his designer overnight bag like it might protect him from whatever this place was.

Inside, the apartment was... clean. Too clean. Cold walls, heavy doors, steel locks on every window. Like a bunker dressed up as a home.

“Do you live here or interrogate people here?”

Joon-ho ignored the comment and dropped his duffel bag beside the couch.

“Rules,” he said, voice sharp. “One: You stay in this apartment at all times unless I say otherwise. Two: You follow every word I say without question. No tantrums, no games.”

Jae-min folded his arms. “And what if I break a rule?”

Joon-ho looked him dead in the eyes. “Then I won’t protect you. Simple.”

Jae-min swallowed.

It wasn’t the words that made his skin prickle.

It was how calm he said it — like he actually would let someone take him if he misbehaved.

“Fine,” Jae-min snapped. “Where’s my room?”

Joon-ho walked to a door and opened it.

Inside was a small bed, a desk, and a window with metal bars.

“This is a prison,” Jae-min whispered.

“No. This is survival,” Joon-ho replied. “Be glad the sheets are clean.”

Midnight

Jae-min tossed and turned, the mattress creaking under him. It was too quiet. No city sounds. No maid humming. No silk.

Just... breathing.

Joon-ho was still awake — sitting in the living room, shirtless again, polishing a gun like it was a ritual.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked without looking.

“You’re polishing weapons next to my room. Of course I can’t sleep,” Jae-min snapped as he came out, barefoot.

Joon-ho stood slowly. “Then try the couch.”

Jae-min looked at it. Leather. Small. Cold.

“There’s only one couch. And one bed. You want me to sleep with you?”

A flicker of something passed through Joon-ho’s eyes.

Not surprise.

Not discomfort.

“You wouldn’t last five minutes beside me,” he said, walking past him toward the bedroom.

“Wanna bet?” Jae-min challenged.

They both stared at the bed.

Joon-ho looked at him like he was trouble wrapped in silk.

“Get in. But you sleep on the edge. No touching. No talking.”

Jae-min crawled in first, pulling the blanket up.

Joon-ho laid beside him a moment later, his warmth too close, his scent too strong, his presence too much.

“You’re on my side,” Jae-min whispered.

“You’re everywhere,” Joon-ho whispered back.

They didn’t speak after that.

But neither of them slept.

And when Jae-min’s hand accidentally brushed against Joon-ho’s under the covers—

Neither of them pulled away.

[End of Chapter 3]

📌 Next Chapter Tease (Chapter 4):

A nightmare wakes Jae-min — and he finds comfort in the most unexpected place

Joon-ho’s first protective instinct reveals something softer underneath

A moment of vulnerability turns into heat they can’t ignore