Chapter 96: A Heartwarming Scandal
Despite suffering a near death experience, Mimi did not take any time off from work. Instead, she showed up every day to do her job. Why did she do so, despite having such a traumatic experience? Well, she didn’t know it herself, but it was to see Alex. Because aside from work, she had no opportunity to see him or talk to him. Hell, she didn’t even have his number.
But there was only one problem. Whenever he was in sight of her, she felt weird… She would lose her concentration, her heart would feel fuzzy, her body would suddenly become warm, and yet there was also an overwhelming sense of security that enveloped her senses. However, the moment Alex was no longer in her sight, she would return to normal. Or perhaps, even feel depressed, along with a deep sense of longing in her pure heart.
It was becoming such a problem that after several days of failed practices, where her choreographer actually yelled at the girl after noticing her repeated and “random” slip-ups. At first, the woman thought that perhaps Mimi was traumatized over what happened at her last concert. And had given her time to adjust, but the girl’s condition seemed to keep getting worse. And thus the choreographer had no choice but to speak with the girl’s manager.
“I don’t know if she is suffering from some kind of trauma from what happened at the concert, or what. But the girl’s dance moves are totally out of sync with the rest of the group. Not only that, but I hear from her vocal coach that she’s failing to hit the right notes at times. And it appears random. Perhaps you should have a chat with Mimi and find out what’s going on.”
Ji-An was shocked to hear that the star which had always shined the brightest was suddenly starting to dull. If things like this continued, it would put the girl’s career in jeopardy. And thus she had resigned herself to speak with her client at lunch.
And sure enough, the lunch break arrived. Mimi had actually planned to meet up with Alex, and give him a home cooked meal she had prepared for him, but Ji-An had caught up with her first. And cornered the girl in an attempt to find out what was wrong with her.
“Mimi… I know what you went through last week was traumatizing… But, you know I am here for you. So please tell me what’s going on? And don’t tell me you are fine! You are messing up your dance moves and your vocals, so something is clearly bothering you!”
Mimi was shocked at first. She had almost completely forgotten about her near death experience. After all, her thoughts were completely full of all the great memories she had of Alex, and even some sinful and intrusive fantasies. Like wanting to hold hands with the man while walking through a park.
“Jiji! I think I’m dying!”
This sudden remark caught Ji-An off guard and freaked her out, to the point where she grabbed hold of Mimi’s shoulders and asked what was wrong with her.
“What? Why? What’s going on?”
Mimi immediately confessed to her “symptoms” not knowing what they meant, or what she was feeling.
“Well… Ever since Alex saved Twinkles, I have been feeling a bit lightheaded whenever I think about him… And my heart is all fuzzy, my body feels warm, and after the concert, I just get an almost serene feeling, I don’t really know how to explain it! Jiji, am I dying?”
Despite the fact that Mimi was an eighteen-year-old woman, she had been so sheltered her entire life by her overprotective parents and managers that she did not even know what love was. Naturally, Ji-An was aware of this, and as her manager, she was actually paid to keep Mimi sheltered to such an extent.
But when the pure and innocent girl expressed that she was in love with Alex, and thought that she was actually dying, Ji-An had no choice but to tell the young woman the truth. With a heavy sigh and a shake of her head, the woman could not help but express her thoughts aloud.
“I don’t believe this…. Mimi, you’re not dying, you’re in love… My God, what will your parents say when they find out that the man I hired to protect their daughter has ended up seducing her? I am in so much trouble!”
Mimi’s parents were by no means normal individuals, and they doted on their daughter more than anything. Naturally, Ji-An was not aware of Alex’s background as a playboy. But she had explicitly warned the man not to do anything funny with Mimi, and yet the girl had fallen head over heels in love with him.
The young idol in question flushed red in embarrassment when she heard Ji-An’s words. She was in love with Alex? This was what love felt like? If that was the case, then maybe… just maybe they could hold hands like she dreamed about? The idea nearly caused the girl’s brain to fry from over excitement. Which Ji-An noticed. And immediately decided to do something about it.
“Don’t worry Mimi, I’ll take care of this. You wait right here, while I go and find that bas- I mean Alex — and have a proper talk with him.”
Mimi nodded her head obediently towards her manager. And watched as the woman stormed off to go give Alex the telling off to of a lifetime. However, a deeply anxious feeling appeared in Mimi’s heart as she thought about the expression on Ji-An’s face.
It almost appeared as if she was angry at Alex. And at that moment, the young and innocent idol decided to follow her manager and eavesdrop on her conversation with Alex. Despite knowing it was something she shouldn’t do.
—
Ji-An found Alex sitting alone in the cafeteria while eating his lunch as he stared at his phone. And when she grabbed hold of his shoulder, he quickly turned around and nearly punched the woman on instinct. But when he saw it was none other than Ji-An, he sighed heavily, and relaxed his stance, before scolding the woman for sneaking up on him.
“What are you trying to get punched in the face? You should never sneak up on a man like that!”
Ji-An, however, did not care in the slightest over the fact that she almost got hit, and instead spoke in a voice so loud that she attracted several bystanders.
“What are you even still doing here? You were hired to protect Mimi from her crazed fans, and now that the stalker is behind bars, your services are no longer required! Would you like to quit yourself? Or should I file a complaint with HR and have them fire you?”
Alex was stunned by this sudden attack. Fire him? Over what? What could he have possibly done that this stupid klutz knew about, that could possibly get him fired? He knew for a fact that those bitches would never rat him out, for fear that he would retaliate and destroy their careers. And thus, Alex also knew that this sudden outburst was about something else entirely. He just didn’t know what.
Sure, he should have quit, and normally would have after fulfilling the job he was hired to do. If not for two reasons. One, Mimi and Ji-An were both heroines who he needed to conquer to complete the prologue and move on with the actual main story of this Manga which he was in.
But more importantly than that, Alex had become overly fond of Mimi in a way that was hard to describe. For the first time in his life, he did not find a woman who he wanted to fool around with. Instead, he wanted to protect her, and her innocent mind from this cruel world, and all the evil that it contained.
Hell, at this point, he would be willing to be Mimi’s bodyguard for free! That’s how strong his desire to protect the girl was. And thus, he had to force himself to remain calm and maintain a stoic expression as he responded to Ji-An’s crass remarks.
“I will never leave Mimi’s side, nor will I ever stop protecting her, not unless she herself wants me to. So you are going to have to fire me if you want me gone. Though I can’t fathom why that would be the case after everything I have done for her.”
This was not the response that Ji-An was expecting, and it made her utterly furious, especially because she knew Mimi would never ask Alex to quit now that she had fallen head over heels in love with him. Thus, she became quite flustered as she threatened to get him fired on the spot.
“Fine! You just wait! I’ll go to HR and you will be escorted out of the building before your shift is even over! You just watch!”
However, an unexpected intruder shouted at the top of her lungs in an almost desperate voice.
“Stop it! If you get Alex fired from his job, then I’ll quit!”
Alex and Ji-An both looked over to see an absolutely livid Mimi standing in the middle of the cafeteria, staring at her manager with a pouting expression. It was not even in Mimi’s nature to be hateful or angry. She could only innocently pout, and threaten to quit on Alex’s behalf. Which turned out to be a checkmate, because everyone in the cafeteria gasped at the girl’s words.
Ji-An quickly approached Mimi and tried to placate her, but the girl was as furious as an innocent and pure soul could be.
“Mimi, you can’t mean that! He’s the reason why your performance has been so poor lately! I was only trying to help! Please, think about your career as an idol!”
However, Mimi was having none of it, as she quickly rushed past Ji-An, and hugged Alex while continuing to pout like a small child.
“Alex is not leaving! I won’t feel safe without him… If he goes, then I go! Jiji, why must you be so mean?”
Alex was stunned that the girl who had previously told him that the only thing which made her happy was being an idol would suddenly become so adamant to quit on his behalf. However, he had actually missed a message from the system earlier in the day while he was focusing on his group chat with his harem.
It was only now, while gazing at the young woman and her affection level, that Alex realized she had maxed out her affection towards him.
[Mimi’s Affection: 100/100]
This stunned Alex, as he had honestly completely forgotten it was his duty to sleep with this pure and innocent girl. And honestly, for the first time in his life had no desire to do so. He could only smile and shake his head before looking down and petting the girl’s silky pink hair. There was a kind expression on his face as he asked her a serious question.
“Mimi, are you really having trouble because of me? I don’t want to ruin your career, so if that is the case, maybe it would be best if I took a step away…”
However, Mimi did not leg go of Alex, and instead hugged him even harder as she stuffed her head into his chest, before looking up at his sky-blue eyes, and confessing her feelings for him in the most adorable way possible. Her face was completely flushed, and the girl could not even look him in the eyes when she silently and meekly muttered her thoughts aloud.
“That’s… That’s only because I l…love you….”
Alex had heard these words spoken by more women than he can count. Both in his past life, and in his current one. Yet, he had never been moved so much by them before. The closest he ever came to feeling such warmth after hearing a confession was when Min-Ah first told him that she loved him.
Alex honestly felt like a such a scumbag in this moment, because he did not know how to explain to Mimi that he had multiple women by his side. And thus he sighed heavily and placed his forehead into the palm of his hand before expressing his lament aloud.
“I really am the worst…. Mimi, words can not express how happy I am to hear that feel that way towards me… But there are things you should know about me… Things that if you knew the truth, you may not feel the same way….
Mimi… I’m not the good guy you think I am… I’ve done things, horrible things, criminal things… I’ve hurt people, and if I’m being honest with myself, I enjoyed doing it. I have broken more hearts than I can count. And currently I am dating twelve different women… I’m not a good man, in fact I am actually a villain…”
Ji-An smirked, thinking that such a horrific confession would immediately turn Mimi’s opinion of Alex upside down. But shockingly, to everyone who witnessed it. Mimi did not let go of Alex, nor did she look at him in disgust. Instead, she refused to let him leave her side.
“So what? What does that have to do with me? I don’t care about any of that! You were nice to me when nobody else was. You saved my life twice and made those girls stop bullying me! And… I feel safe around you… I don’t care about those other girls… I just want to remain by your side! Alex… I love you….”
The second time Mimi confessed her feelings to Alex, they were a lot more clear and pronounced, and yet they were still quiet enough that nobody heard them besides Alex, Mimi, and Ji-An. Alex, however, simply scoffed and shook his head.
The world really was not fair. This planet was filled with honest, good, and hard-working men who would sacrifice anything and everything just to marry a girl who was not even one tenth as great as Mimi. These men would remain monogamous, and even simp for such a girl just so they could have a chance with her, and provide her with a good life.
Yet Alex had 12 other lovers and was an outright criminal at the worst of times. He had a violent personality and was the biggest asshole he knew. The man had shamelessly admitted to all of these things, and yet this foolish and naïve girl still clung to him, saying she didn’t care about any of that. She only wanted to be with him.
It was almost poetic when Alex thought about it. And since this innocent and pure girl continued to cling to his blackened soul, he simply could not reject her, no matter how much what little remained of his conscience told him that it would be the best thing for her. Thus, he wore an almost bitter smile as he petted the young woman’s bubblegum pink hair a second time before expressing his opinions on the matter.
“If that’s what you truly want, then I’m not going anywhere. Just make sure you don’t regret this choice later on…”
After hearing Alex promise not to leave her, Mimi smiled before reaching out her hand, with an embarrassed expression on her face, before asking Alex to do what to her was the most naughty thing her mind could conjure.
“Then…. Now that we’re a couple…. Can we hold hands?”
Alex struggled to prevent himself from laughing at such an innocent request. He was genuinely amused by how innocent this girl was, that she thought that something as simple as holding hands was somehow lewd. Because of this, he could only grab hold of the young Idol’s hand and smile as he voiced his thoughts aloud.
“You are just too freaking cute….”
This comment made Mimi smile, despite the fact that her hand was trembling. In fact she kept looking over at their connected hands with an almost anxious expression on her adorable face. Something which Alex thought was peculiar. But initially thought nothing of.
But it was not until Alex and Mimi passed by Ji-An that the foolish young idol made a particularly suggestive comment, without even realizing it, and while wearing a completely innocent and embarassed expression on her adorable face.
“I’m not ready to be a mommy….”
This remark caused Ji-An to faint on the spot, which luckily for her a nearby female coworker caught her mid fall. At the same time Alex froze in place, before looking at the girl as if she had just said something completely out of this world. He quickly questioned why she would say such a thing with an almost panicked tone in his voice.
“What are you talking about?”
The girl looked at Alex as if he were being silly before telling him why she had made her previous comment. Causing Alex to believe that she genuinely needed to be protected from every man in this world, especially himself.
“Daddy always told me that if I hold hands with a man I will become a mommy!”
Alex had the immediate instinct to slap the shit out of the girl’s father for nearly causing him to have a heart attack. As he informed the girl that holding hands would not make her pregnant.
“Mimi… holding hands with a man will not make you a mommy…. Please don’t say such strange things in public from now on, you nearly gave me a heart attack…”
The girl blushed, and nearly fainted like her manager from sheer embarassment, when she realized that her father had lied to her about how babies were made, and that she had said something so incredibly foolish. She was just about to ask Alex how babies were made if they weren’t done so by holding hands, when the man pressed his finger to her lips and shushed her.
“Mimi… That is a conversation that we should have in private…”
It was only after Alex said such a thing that Mimi realized her entire confession, and her accidental suggestive comments were witnessed by the entirety of the cafeteria. Where she immediately became so red that Alex thought that she may have become an entirely different species. The girl did not say a thing, and simply clung to Alex, hoping he would bring her away from the place of her shame, which he was quick to do so.
Despite the fact that Mimi had publicly confessed her feelings for her bodyguard in the cafeteria of the label’s headquarters, nobody dared speak a word of it. Because it technically violated the girl’s contract to date someone. Yet, she was currently the label’s biggest star. Thus, the corporate lawyers immediately shoved a gag order down the throats of everyone who was present to witness such a heartwarming scandal.