CHAPTER 13

[Uh-huh. All I know about Mr. Back is that he’s Rose’s uncle, and he’s genuinely trying to do what’s best for her, and I only know the rest because you told me].

Luca cocked his head in surprise.

[Doing what’s best for Rose? I thought he was planning to send her to a boarding school.]

[Boarding school?? No way. How can he send a six-year-old to a boarding school? Mr. Baek is putting in so much sincere effort for Rose, it’s touching.]

[Wow. That’s the first time I’ve heard that.]

[At first, I was worried too, since Mr. Baek is single and has no experience raising a child. Um……. He’s still awkward and blunt about everything, but when I see how he treats Rose, he seems like a warm person.]

Luca narrowed his eyes and looked at Minhee.

[……Hmm, never heard that one before. Wait, huh? Minnie, do you also—]

Rose burst into the dining room, cutting Luca off. Rose waved a piece of paper in her hand towards Minhee.

[Miss Minnie, here’s the menu!]

Minhee patted Rose’s head as she looked up at her expectantly with a twinkle in her eye. It was obvious that she seemed to have grown up receiving a lot of love and nurture, and she had a talent for drawing. It was hard to believe that a six-year-old could depict today’s menu with such detail on a drawing, and she even included a scene of four people sitting at the table and having dinner.

[Rose, this is the prettiest menu I’ve ever seen, you’re so good at drawing. The person in the big black clothes is your uncle…, and here’s Luca, right?]

Minhee pointed with her finger to a person with short hair whose upper body was colored pink. Interestingly, except for Taejun, she drew large ribbons only on the heads of the three people.

[Yes. If Luca eats yucky fish, he can have chocolate chip cookies.]

Luca burst out laughing, snatching the menu out of Minhee’s hand.

[Rose, why am I the one with the blue ribbon? Give me a pink ribbon like Minhee. And… next time, draw a ribbon on your uncle’s head too. We don’t want Uncle to get upset that he’s the only one without a ribbon, right?].

[Yes, Luca.]

Luca winked at Minhee with a mischievous look on his face, and Minhee barely swallowed the laughter that was about to burst out. Taejun, with the ribbon, was quite a sight.

[Oh, Santon is here! Santon!]

As the heavy sound of the door opening and closing from the entrance reached them, Rose quickly ran out, gesturing urgently towards Minhee and Luca.

She could see Taejun standing in the entrance hall, his head tilted slightly, breathing heavily, and the sweet aroma of chocolate chip cookies wafting through the apartment.

The large silhouette of a man stood as if he were not someone who had entered his own home, but rather someone who had never been here before. Taejun stood alone and lost in thought, his brow furrowed as if he were trying to remember something that had eluded him, and he looked as lonely as the winter wind that had settled on the hem of his coat.

Following Rose, Minhee felt her heart skip a beat as she observed Taejun seemingly lost. Her heart alternated between trembling with pain and pounding with excitement.

[Santon! I baked chocolate chip cookies!]

Rose’s excited voice echoed, breaking through their thoughts, as she ran to Taejun.

[Ah.]

Rose threw her whole body at Taejun, who let out a small sigh as if he finally understood. His face was filled with panic as he instinctively caught her.

[Miss Minnie! Luca! Hurry up! It’s hug time!]

It was a routine that they had practiced every time Taejun came home.

On the first day that they did the hug, unexpectedly embracing Taejun and feeling something she shouldn’t have from his body, Minhee’s head was spinning.

Contrary to Minhee’s hope that Taejun would join them for dinner that evening immediately, he showed up in the dining room only after fifteen minutes, his damp hair dripping with water. His face was as cold and expressionless as ever.

‘Yeah, that’s right. I must have misunderstood.’

What could have been an awkward dinner went more smoothly than expected, with the nonstop chatter of a six-year-old and Minhee’s banter, and Taejun’s short answers.

After that, Minhee felt comfortable hugging Taejun, and she began to look forward to the thirty seconds of skinship with the tall and solid man and the small, cuddly child.

Luca tugged on Minhee’s arm as she was lost in thought. With eyes darting around, Luca asked Minhee quietly, almost ventriloquistically.

[Hug time? With who? With our boss? Is this real?]

[Yeah, there is such a thing].

Rose, who hugged Taejun, gestured to them.

[Hurry, hurry!]

At Rose’s urging, Minhee poked Luca once in the side as a warning, then wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. Taejun’s eyes narrowed slightly when he saw Minhee’s white arm looped around Luca’s. As Luca was dragged by Minhee, he stamped his feet and mumbled something only she could hear.

[I’m scared of the boss!]

[It’s okay, Mr. Baek is only scary because he looks scary. Don’t ask. This is all for Rose. Cooperate, Luca!”

Minhee whispered to Luca, looking at Taejun.

[……Okay! If not now, when will I ever get the chance to hug the boss? It’s a small reward for my splendid and humble one-sided crush. Come on, Miss Minnie! Group hug!]

[Let’s go, Luca!]

Following behind Luca, who walked aggressively like a model on the runway, Minhee found herself inexplicably biting her lips to suppress laughing out loud.

Perhaps because he was a former military man, Taejun not only stuck to the study plans and rules but also stuck to his words once spoken. Regardless of how ridiculous the group hug around Rose felt to him, he endured it with a grim determination until he counted to thirty.

Glancing up to see if it was any different, Taejun’’s expression turned from awkward to stoic, as expected.

Luca walked over to Taejun, who was holding Rose, and with a shy expression, he slightly spread Taejun’s arms and nestled his head between his chest and arms.

‘Oh my God, Luca, you’re so bold……!’

One of Taejun’s thick eyebrows raised slightly. Luca wrapped his arms around Taejun’s waist, and leaned his head into his chest, beckoning to Minhee.

[Miss Minnie, come here! Hug time!]

Imitating Luca’s tone, Rose gestured as well. Minhee found it so funny that she covered her mouth, pretending to cough to keep herself from bursting into laughter. Standing between Luca and Rose, Minhee lightly placed her hand on their backs.

Taejun, with a slight furrow in his brow, glanced down at Luca’s head, clinging to one side of his chest, and then looked at Rose, who had her arms around his neck and was rubbing her face.

When he raised his gaze again, he saw Minhee, whose shoulders were shaking as she tried to suppress her laughter, her pupils fluttering for a moment as a small crack appeared in her expression. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

Rose, excited by the group hug, wriggled her hips in Taejun’s arms and started counting. When she quickly counted to fifteen, Rose began to squirm and tried to escape, but Taejun warned her by adjusting his embrace.

[Rose, stay still].

In a pleasant baritone voice, he counted at a faster pace than usual. As soon as he reached thirty, Taejun stepped back. Reluctantly, Luca removed his arm from around his waist and staggered toward Minhee.

As Taejun gently placed Rose back on the ground, Luca, with one hand on his heart, fanned himself with the other hand and whispered a ‘thank you’ to Minhee. Minhee patted his back and nodded.

As soon as Taejun straightened his waist, the three of them simultaneously addressed him.

[Santon, I drew the menu today!]

[Boss, about the weekend interview and business trip preparations—]

[Mr. Baek, about dinner-]

Taejun was stunned for a moment. The space that used to be nothing more than a place to finish work and sleep had changed.

The smell of sweet cookies filled the air and was filled with the sounds of people talking. A distant memory flashed in Taejun’s mind like a scene from a movie.

His father would walk through the front door around dinnertime with a grocery bag of ice cream in his hand, and the whole family would run to the front door to greet him with shouts of ‘Daddy!’.

His father, tousling his hair hanging on his shoulders, his brother tugging at their father’s hand to show him the test paper he got a hundred points on, and his mother taking the bag of ice cream from her husband’s hand, scolding him for buying another sweet treat, but smiling with her eyes.

His father then strokes his mother’s face and kisses her. His mom would blush in front of them, their kids. When his older brother pretended to throw up, Taejun thought it was funny, so he imitated him without knowing why.

As he recalled these memories, something that had been sealed somewhere in Taejun’s body wriggled and tried to break free. It felt like a monster trying to burst out, stirring the guts inside his ribs. For a moment, everything was a blur.

‘Damn it!’

Someone tugged at his fingers. Rose. Taejun looked down through unfocused eyes at the small child pulling him toward her.

[Santon, come on, I made a menu!]

[Rose, let Uncle take off his coat and wash his hands. Mr. Baek, would it be okay if Luca joins us for dinner while he reports to you?]

A soft voice, like a gentle breeze brushing against his ears, pulled Taejun to the surface from the abyss he was about to sink into.

Mechanically unbuttoning his coat, he turned his head in the direction of the voice. A face gazed up at him, large eyes full of light.

‘Miss Minnie. Rose’s teacher.’

The deep gray eyes settled in the center of his gaze like a focal point.