18 I'm not your employee

Beric, in the company of Allen and Stein, took Yeon Jin to the training grounds. They stopped and watched, from a distance, as the soldiers trained in both strength and sword skill.

"Why am I here?" Yeon Jin asked.

"The holy empire believes 'you' are here to spy on me." Beric began. "So they'll expect to see you sticking close to me in order to report back."

Yeon Jin leaned on the pillars.

"And that's why you want me here. You want me to be one of your soldiers or knights, whatever?"

"I want to see your prowess." Beric said. "How well can you handle a sword?"

"Never held one." Yeon Jin said but then Beric raised an eyebrow at him. He quickly remembered that he picked up Beric's sword and pointed it at him. "Except for that one time."

Beric shook his head.

"Since you had no problem lifting it, you just might be able to wield one."

"And for what reason am I doing this? You're the one who's in danger of getting assassinated, not me." Yeon Jin stated and glanced briefly at Stein and Allen. "You should think about increasing the number of guards that follow you around and leave me out of it. I can just watch you from the side."

"That's not going to work out. You need a reason to be around me at all times and that's what I'm doing." Beric said and leaned over, their faces meeting very close. "You, who can't die, will be the perfect body guard to stick by my side 24/7."

"You're kidding. Tell me this is a joke." Yeon Jin said with a serious frown. "You want me to do what?"

Beric glanced at Allen and Stein, signaling them to leave them be and though Stein really wanted to hear their conversation, he left with Allen.

"Why are you so interested in hearing their conversation?" Allen asked.

"Why wouldn't I be? Have you ever seen anyone stand up to his highness and not die in that same second?" Stein asked with an amused expression on his face. "This spy, he's certainly his highness lover, that's why he's able to get away with it."

"How sure are you?" Allen asked and stopped. Stein stopped with him and turned to look at him. "You saw it, didn't you? He didn't react when he got poisoned."

"Allen, did you see it?" Stein asked, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Did you see that the spy did not die after ingesting poison? It's as if he cannot die from being poisoned and his highness knew that."

Allen was silent and looked aside.

"Alright. Let's assume they're not so into each other now, I bet they'll grow closer with time." Stein concluded and took back his hand.

Allen looked at his shoulder and looked at Stein leaving. Time. If that was all it needed to develop an intimate relationship, he probably would've been in one with him already but it wasn't that easy.

He brushed his shoulder and followed after him.

Yeon Jin looked Beric in the eye but Beric couldn't look him in the eye. He couldn't see his eyes, that's why.

"You want me," he pointed at himself. "...to be your guard?" He asked.

"You're strong."

"I'm not your employee." Yeon Jin stated in a matter of fact kind of way. "Look, you can't boss me around because I'm under your roof."

Beric was silent. This guy was too stubborn. Why couldn't he just agree to his terms without arguing?

"There's no other way for me to keep you by my side." He said. "Would you rather be a mere servant, running errands here and there? But even then, you wouldn't be able to follow me everywhere and you would get suspected."

"It would be more strange if you took someone like me as your guard. I mean, have you seen my stature?" He showed his wrist. "You can protect yourself just fine. Besides, I'd be in bigger trouble if anyone, aside from the holy empire, notices that I'm protecting you. I'd be in their black list and the first person they'll target to get rid of."

"But you can't die." Beric simply stated.

"I can get hurt." Yeon Jin spat out slowly.

"You heal up pretty well." Beric said and reached for his face. He grazed his cheek which had healed flawlessly and added, "Your body contains holy powers."

Yeon Jin was silent. That was true but... He just didn't like the idea of following orders from Beric.

"Don't be stubborn." Beric said and Yeon Jin's eyes widened. He looked at him and pursed his lips. Even the way he talked just now was like Daniel and he subconsciously reached out to touch his face.

Beric did not evade his hand and stayed still to watch what he was going to do. And to his surprise, Yeon Jin grazed his face lightly with a look that resembled that of longing. If he could look into those blurred eyes of his, he was sure he would see some sort of affection.

But he wasn't the guy he was thinking about and this sort of thing just creeped him out. He was just about to push his hand away when Yeon Jin reached for his ear and dragged it.

"Don't ever say that to my face." He said, his affectionate face suddenly turning into an annoyed one. "Don't talk like we're close either 'cause we aren't."

He let go and threw his face aside.