IMPORTANT NOTE: I do not own anything
CHAPTER 4: The princess' knights
"Oh fuck, Steve! We're late!" said Hwoarang as he glanced at his wristwatch…
Steve Fox shot his friend a murderous glare and tightened his fists… "And whose fault is it?"
When the two friends arrived in one of Monaco's airports, Hwoarang wished to visit the gift shop. Steve rolled his eyes at him and asked him the reason, since he knew that his friend wasn't a fan of souvenirs and especially when he needed to buy one for a person. What a stingy guy? Steve was always thinking of Hwoarang. And the most ridiculous thing was that he wasn't even saving his money for a difficult day such as the one, who made him follow him to Monaco. Where was he spending his money?
A pause…
Hwoarang's most important things to buy:
Number 1: Cigarettes
Number 2: Condoms
Number 3: Booze
Number 4: Hair dye (That's a secret)
Let's continue…
Finally, Hwoarang told him that Baek was the one, who asked him to buy a present for his girlfriend. Actually, when Steve heard that, felt bad for his friend. Who would dare to go against Baek? Then, he told him what he had to buy. This time he thought of him as pitiful…Poor Hwoarang…
In the end, being completely out of place and having no idea, he decided to swallow his pride as a man and asked from a female worker to help him find the perfume Baek wanted to give Hana. What the fuck?! He was buying presents for another man's girlfriend, when he hadn't even bought once for his own. Steve commented on that, when Hwoarang started whining, that he never had a girlfriend to begin with.
After finishing with this they made their way quickly out of the airport and looked for a taxi. Thankfully, they found one soon and asked from the driver to take them to their destination…
"Yeah, yeah…If I disobey Baek, I'm dead meat, you know."
"And why should I be following you?"
Hwoarang smirked at him… "Because you don't want to be a dead meat yourself! By my hands!"
After that, Steve turned his head away from his friend and looked outside the window. He noticed how pretty the flowers decorating the fields were and how neat the roads were. Surely… Monaco was a place for nobles. At least that was what Steve Fox believed from what he noticed at the airport and the way most of the people were dressed.
Some minutes later, they arrived at the stadium, where the audition was taking place…
The two walked outside and took their bags from the trunk. The taxi driver took off and Hwoarang after getting a medium-sized rock from the ground, he threw it angrily at the car's destination. Both of them heard the noise the rock caused to the car and Hwoarang smiled widely… "Strike!" he said…
"Why did you do that?"
"Tsk…Before I mention that he almost took all of our money, that motherfucker was eyeing us like we were pests. Stuck up, people…I hate even the sight of them."
Steve scratched the back of his head and gave him a small smile… "You're right but you do know that you, maybe, start working for people like these, right?"
Hwoarang nodded and all he was thinking was… «Must not disappoint Master»
"Ok, then…We're going."
The two started walking inside the entrance of the building but they suddenly noticed as a lot of people were walking outside the stadium. That was it…They were late. That was a waste of time and money, thought Steve… At least I bought what Master wanted, thought Hwoarang…
They stepped aside when these people came close to them and Steve realized that they were talking about something. He decided to ask… "Umm…excuse me?" he said and grabbed gently a man's shoulder. The man looked at him with a frown on his face and said… "What do you want, prick?"
The blond man decided to let it pass for the time and even though he couldn't see him, he knew that Hwoarang was smiling mockingly at him…
"Do you know who did they choose in the end?"
The other man sighed and said… "None of us, the little bitch inside there made it clear that she only wants veterans. You're wasting your time by being here."
Steve nodded… "I see…Thanks."
The man didn't say anything else and followed the others. Steve smiled to himself and turned to face his friend, who was wearing the same kind of smile…
"Who would have guessed? We were actually lucky."
Hwoarang nodded… "If you want for us to continue being, you better make your way inside."
…
Lili Rochefort couldn't believe what just happened. With only a sentence from her mouth, all the contestants started leaving the stadium. She turned to see her butler and how concern he was for her. The young girl took out of her bag her white napkin and placed it gently at the corner of each one of her eyes to prevent her tears from falling. All that hard work she did…actually, she didn't do anything…was for nothing…
"Miss, why don't we go? Sitting here and crying will only ruin the beautiful face you inherited from your mother." Said Sebastian and lowered his body to be close to his mistress. Lili sighed and looked around her and at the empty place. She placed the napkin inside her bag and stood up…
"You have a point! The last thing I want is to ruin my figure. I will think of something else."
Sebastian smiled and gave her a nod. He helped her put on her jacket but as they were ready to walk outside, they heard a voice…
"Excuse me, Miss!" said Steve and noticed Lili looking at him with a serious expression…
"What is it?" she said and approached him with Sebastian following her…
"This is the place of the audition, isn't it?"
Lili looked away from him and heard Sebastian saying… "Our apologies but the audition is over and…
The young girl wasn't listening to her butler talking in her place. Her attention took a red haired man, who was standing a meter behind the blond one. She had seen him before but where? She placed her hand under her chin and tried to think…
She didn't realize as the two men were walking outside and her eyes widened… "That was it!" she said in the inside…
She looked around her and saw only Sebastian being next to her… "Where are they?!"
"They just left, Miss!"
"YOU LET THEM LEAVE WITHOUT ME KNOWING ABOUT IT?!"
"M-Miss Lili?"
Lili crossed her arms and sighed irritated… "Go and stop them right now! Move it already!"
The butler nodded not wanting to displease her and made his way outside. Lili was following with slow graceful steps. She opened the door and watched Sebastian talking with them. She had in her hands the file with the contestants' names and their info. Her eyes fell on the two, who didn't appear before. She smiled…
"That red haired man was the one, who defeated that brute Asuka Kazama. And the other is that boxer of the tournament. I will be an idiot not to grab the chance of having them next to me." She said to herself and started walking again to their place...
She cleared her throat and bowed in front of them… "I apologize for my butler's behavior. He isn't supposed to talk on my behalf. Please forgive me, as well."
Steve nodded and smiled… "It's ok…Actually, both of us think that since the audition is over, it would be unfair for us to compete."
"Who would compete? We were definitely in." thought Hwoarang…
Lili shook negatively her head… "Please don't remind me of this. The audition didn't even start. I had said clearly on my advertisements that I want professionals and all I saw today were mere brawlers. When I read your names in the list, my hopes were up but I was quite disappointed when you didn't appear."
"How did you know, who we were?"
Lili smiled and motioned for Sebastian to prepare the limo. The older man nodded and walked away…
"Before I tell you, do you still want to work for me?"
Steve looked at Hwoarang, who nodded and then turned to face Lili… "We do!"
"Marvelous!" she said and noticed that Sebastian brought the limousine… "What would you say for a ride around the city?"
The two men looked at each other as they witnessed the size of the car. They both agreed and followed her…
…
Sebastian helped Lili in and then, waited for the two men to walk inside as well. When they did he closed the door and walked to the driver's seat. Steve and Hwoarang were looking dumfounded around them and Lili was smiling at their faces. For an unknown reason, she found them cute. She cleared her throat and they looked at her…
"Would you like to have something to drink?"
Hwoarang sighed… "I'm not into juices, little Miss."
Lili tried to keep her cool since she needed him for a lot of reasons and said as she took out a red bottle of wine… "I'm eighteen, actually. Very young, indeed, but still an adult, right?"
Hwoarang thought about it for a second and realized that she was right… "You have a point but even though I'm not into wine either, I'll have some."
Lili nodded with a smile. She filled for him a glass of wine and gave it to him. After that, she turned to the kind Steve, as she called him in her mind… "What about you, my kind knight?"
Hwoarang's eyes widened when he heard that lame nickname and Steve was taken aback as well. He knew that women and girls found him cute and handsome but he didn't expect to be ever called a knight? Steve smiled…He liked it…
"It'd be rude to decline a beautiful girl's proposal."
Lili blushed at his comment and the man smiled at himself. Hwoarang was looking outside the window, choosing not to start laughing at Steve…
She gave Steve a glass of wine and she served some for herself… "Gentlemen, I'll introduce myself properly to you. I'm Emilie De Rochefort. I participate in the tournaments as you two do. And I know of you two because I always check out my opponents and their history."
"So, we have another creep in the tournament?" Thought Hwoarang as he swallowed some wine…
"You mean the Iron Fist?" asked Steve surprised since he didn't remember any girl with a name like that…
"Yes…I'm participating there using my nickname."
"Nickname?"
Lili nodded and smiled… "That's right! Call me Lili, gentlemen."
Hwoarang looked at her and gave her a nod… "I'm going for the "Lili" thing. The other is quite long."
The other two looked strangely at him and Steve said gaining her attention… "Roger that! But do you intent in hiring us?"
Lili crossed her legs and looked at him straight in his eyes… "I, already, did when you said that you were still interested in the job."
The two men looked at each other and smiled. Steve took gently her free hand and kissed it…
"And there goes, Steve the gigolo. She hired you already, no need to continue." Said Hwoarang in the inside as he rolled his eyes. However, he decided that he needed to thank her as well. He looked at her and said…
"Thanks, Miss…You won't regret it. That's not a promise, is a fact!"
Lili nodded at him with her cheeks being still red because of the blond man's bold way to express his gratitude. When Steve heard Hwoarang, he nodded as well. He had to give his best…
The young pretty girl was excited as well, since she sensed the feeling they had of wanting to do an acceptable job because they didn't want to disappoint her. She touched the hand where Steve kissed her and noticed that it was still warm. Even though, they were supposed to protect her father, for a reason she felt safe too…
"Let's work hard, then!" said Lili and raised her glass…
The other two did the same… "We'll do our best!"
…
Some time later, they arrived at her house. The two men were left with their mouths opened. Sebastian felt bad for them, since he knew the feeling. He tried to take their attention and Steve noticed him. He apologized for their behavior, since Hwoarang was still trying to figure out if the place was actually a house or a palace…
"Why don't you come inside, gentlemen? Miss Lili said that she will inform her father of your arrival."
"Uh…ok…Thank you."
The two followed Sebastian further inside and he asked them to have a seat inside the living room.
"Would you like to have something to drink? Anything you want."
Steve shook negatively his head… "No, the wine was already too much! Thank…"
Suddenly, he felt Hwoarang's punch on his shoulder and then he noticed his angry glare towards him…
"Talk on your behalf, you idiot!" he said and then turned to Sebastian… "Actually, I'm a little hungry, old man."
Sebastian smiled kindly and said… "Don't worry. You will dine with Miss Lili and her father."
Hwoarang smiled and nodded…
…
Sebastian left the living and the two men were alone…
"What do you think you're doing?"
Hwoarang rested his back on the couch and placed his hands behind his head. He glanced at Steve and decided to joke with him…
"Well…I can do what I want…I'm not a kind knight to act accordingly."
Steve sighed and smiled… "Even though, it made me happy, the "knight" thing was a little too much."
Hwoarang raised an eyebrow… "What? I was talking about the "kind" thing. How come you're kind and not me?"
"If you're kind then what am I? An angel?"
"Such sense of humor, you have there, Stevie." He said and rolled his eyes…
Steve was ready to answer back until they heard Lili talking with a man, who they assumed he was her father…
They looked at each other and stood up…
Lili Rochefort arrived in the living room, clinging next to her father and hugging his arm, she said…
"Father, these two men are the ones, who will protect you with everything they have."
The older man looked at them upside down and lowered his gaze to meet his daughter's smiling eyes…
"Honey? You know my opinion when it comes to…"
Lili pouted and said… "I know, father but I want you to be safe. You requested for me to avoid fighting and I understand it. But people are merciless out there. If something happens to you once again, I won't bear it. These two men are very experienced fighters…I mean b-bodyguards. They will protect both of us. I trust them."
The man sighed and looked at them once again…
"So?" said Lili and took her father's attention…
Not wanting to hurt his daughter's feelings, he nodded and said…
"I hope you will do your job well. We're counting on you."
Steve and Hwoarang nodded and Lili said…
"Father…You will always be safe now."
The man heard his daughter talking to him and he gave her an appreciating smile…
Thanks for reading!