Queen’s Favor (Mysme Jumin/MC AU 12/?)
Summary: Being a maid would be much easier if the cat would just let her do her job.
AU - Instead of joining the RFA via random text, MC is hired on as one of the maids assigned to Jumin Han’s penthouse. Nothing else about the setting has changed, the messenger and the RFA still exist, only the MC’s position has been altered.
The entire situation changed if her employer was present, however, because the face of Mr. Han awoke Elizabeth's inner demonic nature.
There's just no other answer.
See, normally she doesn't need to worry about little things like where her vacuum cords are, because Elizabeth tends to spook and flee from the room as soon as it turns on and doesn't return until it's off. She can generally do all of her work with loud machines without any concern about where the cat is, and fortunately her employer has been very understanding so long as she doesn't intentionally or excessively spook the cat, and she doesn't chase it around or corner it with the machine. Which she would never do. Because she likes getting paid.
The entire situation changed if her employer was present, however, because the face of Mr. Han awoke Elizabeth's inner demonic nature.
She fell many times.
Every time she thought she could drop her guard, Elizabeth dropped her instead.
It was a small miracle that she didn't sprain or break anything - and in the latter case it was doubly so that she didn't break anything in the penthouse either.
Her employer mostly kept to himself as usual, but as stoic as he was, he startled and looked up from Elizabeth - the villainous queen - every time she crashed to the ground. Though he looked initially alarmed, by the ...oh, fourth time that she slammed into a wall or tripped over her own feet dodging a furry white bullet, she was pretty sure his expression morphed to exasperated.
She collapsed - not violently this time - on the ground in the spare bedroom when it was finally time for her break. Normally she'd spend her break on the soft rug in the living room, but she didn't even want to see Mr. Han at that moment - she might die of embarrassment if he made a comment about her day. Like a finishing move that destroyed her ruined mess of dignity and apparent competence.
And even if she'd successfully never tripped directly over Elizabeth the whole time and the cat seemed not to be shedding excessively, she couldn't help but worry about being fired or reprimanded over those inane original rules she'd been taught long ago now.
That beautiful man is going to absolutely gloat about my cat betrayal...
Maybe it was best not to tell that actor about it at all. It felt a little like slandering Elizabeth to do so. And as today had demonstrated, the cat was actually a secret demon, so she'd probably exact revenge for it.
Soft padded footsteps met her ears moments before the queen of shed hair hopped onto her chest and stared down at her. Blinking, waiting for a response.
She thought about pushing the cat off, but ultimately didn't. That just seemed spiteful.
A sigh of defeat escaped her lips instead. "You win."
Elizabeth meowed smugly and sprawled over her as if she owned the woman, tail twitching with utter unconcern.
She scowled. "I bet you've planned this from the beginning, haven't you? Why you little demon."
Another meow, and she had no choice but to scratch her behind the ears, despite the claws of impending unemployment. Still, it didn't feel like a judgment, just a battle, somehow. Elizabeth purred in her throat, closing her eyes and settling in. Apparently she was about to have the best nap of her life after all that running around.
She huffed and let her head lull back, peering up at the ceiling.
She's gonna get fired because the cat fell asleep on her chest during her break. She can feel it.
Right on cue, she found herself staring at the upside down visage of Jumin Han, who must have come looking for Elizabeth. He stood in the doorway, looking down at her. Well. Probably at the cat. But also her.
Probably in the metaphorical sense as well as the literal.
Honestly?
She didn't even have anything to say.
Not an apology, not a laugh or even a crack about it.
She was just completely humiliated and...defeated.
The only thing she could think to do was look up at him and mutely whisper, "One minute left on my break."
She wondered if she looked as pitiful as that sounded.
His gaze lingered, expression utterly inscrutable. Honestly, though she'd never say it to his face, he was a master of holding unnervingly stoic and unreadable expressions. It was a true skill, to not express any emotions and still be expressive. He turned and went back into the hallway.
...Honestly if he was going to come in and gawk at her like that, he could have at least freed her from her cat prison.
Maybe she should just be happy he had the supreme self control necessary not to shatter the remnants of her dignity with a well placed quip. Or just a raised eyebrow.
She judged herself enough. Trying to explain to her employer that 'no, I don't normally fall every five minutes, I'm not disaster prone, it's just my proximity to you, I swear it's an ancient Mayan curse placed on you' while he looked at her like that...
She'd call that handsome man up and curse him out for stopping the truck from taking her out, if it came to that. She'd do it.
Extracting herself from beneath the cat felt very much like she was in a spy movie or an...art theft movie...why were art thieves so similar to spies? Why did art museums have comparable security to nuclear silos and government bases?
If her employer could hear her thought process, he'd probably assume she had another concussion. She wouldn't blame him for it.
Regardless. It was a delicate, careful operation to extract herself from underneath Elizabeth without spooking the cat, but she wouldn't lose to the Demon of Seoul so easily as to wait for her termination while trapped beneath a sleeping, purring cat the singular day she had to do her job with her boss' supervision.
Unfortunately, as much as she'd like to, she couldn't just hide in the bedroom all day. She had the rest of the penthouse to clean.
Maybe, just maybe, if Elizabeth deigned to sleep the rest of the morning, she could at least pretend to look competent in front of her boss for half of her shift.
And if she couldn't even with Elizabeth asleep, then maybe Jumin really was the source of the curse.
The man himself sat on the couch with his laptop open when she finally exited her cave of slightly-less shame. She did her best to pretend he didn't exist, with the reasoning that if she didn't look at him she couldn't see disappointment - or worse, amusement - in his eyes when he looked at her. And from a practical sense, she was a little behind on her schedule on account of all the falling and wincing of the day, so she needed to focus now that her break was done.
Still, she couldn't help but glance at him as she made her way over to her duster, which leaned against the counter closest to the entrance. He didn't even glance up from his computer, so she refocused on her task and picked it up.
Which immediately resulted in her stubbing her foot on a table nearby and dropping her duster on the ground.
Okay. That one was on her. This clearly wasn't as bad as she thought.
However, her boss did actually look up from his computer at her this time, and his brow knit almost imperceptibly.
Perhaps she was overselling her own competence. Honestly. That's where she's ended up. This is where the day has driven her. Questioning whether her months of successful cleaning had been some kind of long hallucination and she'd done nothing but trip over everything since starting the job.
She knew nerves could impact performance, but this was ridiculous.
Taking a deep breath, she leaned down and grabbed her fallen duster. Deep breaths. Even if her employer were cursed, or the cat secretly a demon, or her nerves determined to make her look a fool, none of that was an excuse to lose her best job in years. She was capable of focusing, and with the cat sleeping, things could go smoothly. She'd clean faster than usual, and finish her tasks with plenty of time to spare, perhaps even leave a little early.
Yes.
And she'd do that cleaning...not in the living room. Mhm. Conveniently in a room where her boss wasn't, until she could control her nervous energy and stop imagining his smooth voice saying some innocent yet cutting quip or another.
She opened the door to her employer's bedroom - making sure to listen carefully for any sounds that Elizabeth might have woken up and followed her - and pushed through, heading straight for the bed to attack its collection of cat hair and fluff. From inside a drawer beneath the surface, she pulled out the small vacuum cleaner she kept in there for emergencies. Emergency cat hair.
Bless that man for being so fastidious, with his preference for bare floors. It made maintaining the bedroom much easier.
She plugged in the vacuum, switched it on, and began attacking the bed with a vengeance. This was only slightly influenced by her need to destress, compared to her need to catch up. Yes. It had absolutely nothing to do with her competitive spirit or determination to prove her fears and frustrations incorrect.
...Except that it did.
She finished vacuuming the bed just as she heard the door open, and immediately spun to face the inevitable horror show.
Oh no-
Elizabeth trotted right past her, not even a glance up, to go settle onto the unmade bed and curl up on top of it.
She sighed in frustration, as she watched all of her efforts at eliminating shed cat hair immediately unravel. "Elizabeth...!"
The only response she got was a taunting stretch from the fluffy white ball.
"Did you really need a nap on the bed that badly? You couldn't wait until I went home?"
Meow.
She wasn't sure how exactly a cat could sound so smug, but Elizabeth did.
"You absolute menace." She made sure to hiss that one quietly. Just in case the cat-dad was within earshot. He had a penchant for moving silently and appearing wherever Elizabeth was, so biting remarks were a real danger.
With a sigh, she once again turned off her vacuum and swapped it for her duster.
She and the cat are friends. She likes Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a spoiled brat, but usually not demonic. She must remind herself of this.
She'd have to abandon the unmade bed for now, rather than disturb The White Queen over there, and focus on cleaning the master bathroom instead. Of all the areas of the penthouse, it was the second cleanest, and the one with the least cat hair. For whatever reason she didn't care to speculate at, it seemed Elizabeth rarely entered this room except to give maids grief. Perhaps she considered the tile floor unpleasant. Just in case, she wouldn't mention this thought to her employer. She had a feeling she'd show up to a carpeted bathroom some day if she did. Bless his cat-loving heart.
She sprayed down the shower and collected a tiny assortment of random toiletries that had strayed away from their original spot, and then turned to the faucet to rinse and dry her hands. She still had a couple of rooms to clean and the bed to double back and conquer as soon as Elizabeth abandoned it. Once she finished that, she'd put up her equipment and head out for the night.
As she dried her hands, she glanced up and saw her own reflection in the mirror. Frowning, she brushed her bangs back with her wet fingers, and scrutinized herself. She wouldn't admit it, but she couldn't really help herself.
Her nose scrunched up just slightly. Did she really have the nerves of an amateur? It wasn't as if this was her first day on the job, or that she'd never worked with Jumin present before. Sure, she'd never done the whole day with her employer overseeing her, but he'd arrived near the end of her day multiple times in the past. She hadn't transformed into a walking disaster on those days.
Admittedly, every day in the past he'd arrived after vacuum-time. So that was different. But if that was the case...she just...needed to find her zen. Keep calm. Do her job. Be a professional.
Just like she always was.
She closed her eyes and nodded to herself. She'd gotten herself all worked up over nothing. No longer would she berate herself for a simple stumble. The evidence suggested it really was a coincidence. At least, that's what she would tell herself until the evidence suggested otherwise.
...And, well, it wasn't exactly a hard sell. Today was an aberration and she wouldn't let it continue any longer. With the sink thoroughly sanitized and her expression as determined as she could get it, she turned off the light and exited the bathroom.
She passed the cat in the bedroom, and emerged into the hallway, immediately meeting the sight of a wandering Jumin Han.
Whoa.
He was like a roaming beast who could appear at any moment she turned around.
"Ah-" She stopped, unsure of how to respond to his sudden appearance, or what exactly she should say.
After a brief moment, she gave him a nod. "Good afternoon, Mr. Han."
"You look to be in a better mood."
"Ah, I-yes." She blinked. It wasn't the most positive comment, but it wasn't a jab at her performance either. She just...thought she'd find him making a veiled insult or maybe-
He smiled, a rare, genuine, soft expression that took over his entire face and seemed to light up the room. Not that she stared. It was just a close encounter with his sudden, swift, and completely confusing shift from reserved to expressive and-
So that was how he looked when he expressed himself.
Her mouth moved, opening and closing, as her thoughts flashed between several different remarks that all amounted to nothing. He didn't elaborate, though, and just gave her that gentle expression for a second more, and then turned to head back into the living room.
Leaving her speechless and still slightly traumatized by his expressiveness.
Well. Okay. Now she's just being dramatic again. 'Traumatized' isn't the right word. 'Surprised' might be a more accurate one. It wasn't bad, or anything. Just. Distracting. She'd never experienced his expressiveness so openly or so close before. Now she had an expression to match to that laugh of his she'd heard in the past.
The cat didn't distract her for the rest of the day, despite frequent encounters. She even braved the main living area again, and cleaned around her boss' presence on the couch - that smile still fresh in her mind - but it was smooth sailing the rest of the day.
In the end, she even completed her tasks earlier than usual, a sense of accomplishment thrumming through her. She'd risen to the challenge of something new and had come out on top. And as usual, when he was present at the end of her work day, her employer politely handed her a drink.
"You have improved tremendously over the course of this afternoon." The faint thread of approval in his tone encouraged her to brush off any remaining embarrassment from the start of the day and just appreciate the compliment.
"Thank you." She cleared her throat. "I-I've never slipped or fallen while cleaning when you weren't home."
Okay. So that blurted out even despite her plans to not to let it.
His brow arched. "Is that so."
Oh wow. look how fascinating her drink is. Is this lemonade? Wow...
"I imagine then today was a fluke. Or," his lips quirked. "It seems I failed to keep out of the way for even one day."
She sputtered. She couldn't exactly argue with him. It had been his presence that had turned the beginning of the day into a walking disaster.
Somehow, he seemed to pick up on that, and his gaze was surprisingly sympathetic. "Either way, it appears I may be the direct cause of your setback. Therefore," he paused for effect. "The next time I have a full day off and am in the house, I will request for you to have a day off as well. I wouldn't want you to find yourself thrown off-track by my presence once again."
"I-" She coughed, quickly shaking her head, "That isn't-"
He nodded firmly. "It is no trouble at all. You have served me admirably and deserve a day to relax. It would be cruel of me to knowingly disrupt your routine."
"Er...I can't just not come in on your day off..."
The way his brow twitched just slightly, she got the distinct impression he was humoring her. "You're extremely determined to work even when offered days off. While admirable, it is also unnecessary. If it's a matter of payment, I can assure you will be paid your normal rate even on the days I am home and you are off."
"I'd feel horrible!"
He tilted his head, patiently. He was an inscrutable man, most of the time, but she liked to think that shine in his eyes was a kind of approval.
She coughed lightly, before he could press the matter. "I...it is possible that I may have been off my groove today," yes, very professional wording, that, "but if I was, it was only because of unfamiliarity. I-I'm used to cleaning alone, but I'm capable of doing it this way too! So there's no need to change anything. I'll do better next time."
Whenever next time is.
His stare lingered, but slowly softened to that same gentle, faint smile from earlier. "Alright. Since you insist, I won't change anything for now. Perhaps next time I will make it a point to sit out of view until you finish your tasks for the day."
He was offering a compromise. It was still quite embarrassing, but she found it hard to protest when he had that expression again. "Yes. That sounds like a good idea."
Finally, he nodded, and the moment was over. With one last bit of polite goodbye, she stepped out of the penthouse and left, satisfied that she had conquered her demons.
Next time she'd definitely not make herself a dual clown-maid. After today, there's no way the penthouse had any other tricks up its sleeves to shock and frazzle her.
And now she knew what he looked like when he smiled.
It wasn't like she'd think about it all night, or anything.
Really.
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