MY BODYGUARD /JENLISA

3) Singapore

As much as she didn't enjoy the eyes of curious shoppers on her, Jennie gritted her teeth and persevered. The shopping baskets were filled with sanitary pads by now and she had just two more packets of tampons to go. Super compact. Got them. Sixteen packets of various sizes.

Checking them out was another embarrassing experience as surrounding shoppers stared openly at the overflowing baskets of liners, pads and tampons. How did she end up with a client like this? As demanding as her previous clients were, none of them were quite as immature. But Mr. Manoban paid handsomely, almost twice as much as the other client, and the money would come in handy.

After the payment process was completed, Jennie returned to the car and handed Lisa four shopping bags. "Green tea scented and Barely There liners. Ultra-thin 24cm, 28 and 32cm. Overnight 35cm and 41cm. Super compact tampons. Two packets of each type. That's a total of sixteen packets. You are sufficiently covered for the next two years or so."

Closing the door on the stunned face of Lisa, Jennie found her lips curling as she got into the driver's seat. It might have been a little embarrassing but it was amusing too. This job was shaping up to be an interesting experience.

The rich girl kept her eyes on her phone the entire journey home and she got out of the car by herself without waiting for Jennie to open the door for her. However, before she could enter the house, Jennie stopped her.

"Lisa, your shopping bags will be brought to your room after the car is parked."

Lisa nodded without replying and continued straight into the house. Jennie stood till the door closed behind Lisa, then she went ahead and parked the car. All things considered, this was a relatively uneventful day at work.

•••

Part of her job as a bodyguard was to scout the area surrounding her client's home and studio. It was what she expected of herself. Over the next three days, Jennie came to know every little path and corner around Lisa's house and the roads that led to it. She also came to know the café at the junction that Lisa liked to visit for a cup of Americano. A Piacere. The café belonged to Lisa's friend who came from a family that owned a chain of cafés in Seoul and around the country. That friend was Jisoo. Kim Jisoo. One of the friends Lisa was going on the trip with.

To prepare for the trip to Singapore, Jennie studied the information she had on Lisa's friends. There was Kim Jisoo, 26, a barista and owner of A Piacere. It was an independent venture, started up and managed by the woman herself. Then there was Roséanne Park, 25, an investment banker and a very close friend of Jisoo's. The third friend was Choi Tzuyu, 23, a rising star in the world of musicals. All three hailed from families that afforded them the luxury to be free of financial worries. Quite like Lisa.

The flight to Singapore was first class on Singapore Airlines. Jennie was seated in first class as well, two rows behind Lisa. While this was not her virgin flight in first class, Jennie had never had the luxury of truly enjoying and relaxing during the flight. Throughout the eight-hour flight, Jennie did not close her eyes to sleep. Her eyes were constantly roving around, watching the stewards and stewardesses walking up and down the aisle delivering hot towels and serving their meals. But this was her job and she had no complaints.

•••

Jennie walked behind Lisa and the three friends with her luggage on wheels. As a group of four, she had to admit that they were attractive. Indeed, eyes turned to them wherever they went, and the path they walked could have been the red carpet at a star-studded event.

Jisoo, Rosé and Tzuyu  were tall and slim and formed an eye-catching wall that moved like models on a catwalk.She followed them to the pick-up point where a car was waiting. Job done. Now it was her turn to get her car.