CHAPTER 21

When Minhee was worried about whether he was angry because she disturbed him while he was busy, Taejun’s low voice and tone that resonated well were cautious. It may seem like a crazy idea, but it somehow sounds affectionate, and Minhee’s breathing becomes shaky.

[Um… Is there a place in this apartment where you can exercise? I mean, like a gym or a yoga studio?]

Taejun’s eyes swept over Minhee’s outfit of leggings and a hooded running jacket.

[What kind of exercise do you want to do?]

[Huh? Oh… nothing grand, just jogging on the treadmill and doing some stretching. If there’s no gym, I can go for a jog in Central Park.]

[Alone at this hour?]

After glancing briefly at the darkening living room window, he slightly furrowed his brows and looked down at Minhee.

‘You scare me when you look at me like that! Was there a clause in the contract that said I couldn’t go out at night?’

[Oh, many people are jogging in Central Park even at night… Not that I’m saying I’ll definitely go there, but just along Park Avenue, maybe twenty blocks, just to Aster School should be okay…]

Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, Minhee’s voice trailed off as if she was making excuses.

[Come with me.]

[Huh?]

[You said you want to exercise.]

[Uh? Yeah…]

[There’s a gym in this apartment complex.]

[Oh! That’s great, what floor is it on? If you tell me, I can go there by myself.]

[17th floor.]

[Oh, yes. 17th floor. Thank you. Well then.]

Minhee hastily said goodbye, turned around, and walked briskly down the corridor but stopped abruptly.

’17th floor? Was there a 17th floor in this building? Above the 16th floor, there’s only a penthouse…’

No way? When Minhee turned around, Taejun stood still with his arms crossed, with one of his arms and fist raised to his mouth. However, he was a bit late to hide the upward-curling corners of his mouth.

‘What? He’s a guy who knows how to play this kind of joke?’

A little upset but amused, Minhee chuckled. While laughing dejectedly, she glanced at Taejun. Even in the midst of this, his smiling face was so handsome that it made her even more upset.

[What is it?]

[Follow me. I was also on my way to exercise.]

He gestured toward the other end of the hallway.

‘So when he said there’s a gym in the apartment, he meant there’s a gym inside the house!’

Taejun opened the door next to the master bedroom. As he flipped the switch, a home gym filled with exercise equipment came into view. He picked up the remote control on the shelf next to the door and pressed a few buttons. A low mechanical sound hummed as the air conditioner started. The giant TV monitor on the opposite wall, across from the full-length mirror, lit up, displaying an economic news channel.

[Wow……!]

[Feel free to use it anytime you want to exercise.]

Taejun put on fingerless gloves and casually stretched his neck from side to side.

[Wouldn’t I be a disturbance if I exercised next to you?]

[Not at all.]

[Do you always exercise at this time?]

[…This is the first time since Rose came.]

Until now, Minhee hadn’t paid much attention to Taejun’s situation, as she had been focused on Rose. However, the thought crossed her mind that his daily life must have been disrupted when he took on the responsibility of suddenly raising his young niece after losing his only brother.

‘Mr. Baek must have had his own daily routine too…’

Despite everything, in Minhee’s eyes, Taejun was quietly and uncomplainingly doing everything he could to adapt to life with Rose.

‘This man, too, is in a situation where he suddenly has to take responsibility for his young nephew’s life, having lost his only brother…’

Minhee thought back to the time when she and her dad were alone, clumsily but desperately trying to adjust to life without her mom.

Until her mom was hospitalized, her presence had always been felt throughout the house. Even though her mom wasn’t physically present, it always felt like she was there.

If there was something Minhee or her father couldn’t find, her dad would immediately call her mom.

— Ugh, what would you do without me? You’re so scatterbrained!

Although her mom’s voice from the phone speaker was firm, the end sounded a bit shaky.

‘Without you, neither I nor Minhee can live. The house is already a mess, so come home soon.’

Even though her Dad chuckled, his shoulders were slouched.

Even after her mom passed away, every time her dad couldn’t find something at home, he would pick up his phone out of habit. Then, when he realized there was nowhere to call and ask, her dad discreetly put down his phone and glanced at Minhee, looking somewhat helpless.

‘Our Minhee, by any chance, do you know where the thimble Mom used to use is?’

‘Thimble? What thimble?’

‘A thimble… with thread and needle.”

‘Oh, that’s in the pantry, next to the cleaning supplies. It’s inside the red shoebox.’

At fourteen, about three years after her mom passed away, just when Minhee thought she had become accustomed to the routine of living with just her dad, she started her period later than American girls her age. And she panicked.

Her mom, being the prepared person that she is, had told her over and over again before she died what could happen to her body if Minhee’s period started. What it meant, and how to cope with it.

But Minhee, at the awkward age of eleven when her development was slower, felt embarrassed and ashamed just hearing her mom talk about it, so she only half-heartedly listened.

When Minhee turned fourteen, her friends were already experiencing it, and she had heard them talk about it. She thought she was prepared, having bought pads and tampons and stashed them in the bathroom drawer. Her mom had suggested getting pads, and since her friends seemed to use tampons, she got those too.

However, when she experienced menstrual cramps for the first time and called a friend to lament and seek advice, tears welled up because she couldn’t bring herself to use tampons no matter what.

Minhee remembers her father noticing her condition and getting restless. He wanted to do something to help her through the pain of her period, but he didn’t know what to do.

Every time Minhee saw her dad like that, she felt so embarrassed that she avoided him for a while.

It wasn’t until Minhee went to college that her dad, who was busy running the restaurant until dawn, picked up his hobby again.

Minhee’s nose tingled. Her dad had sacrificed a lot for her and raised her with tears and hard work.

The back of Taejun’s head mirrored the back of her father’s.

‘Mr. Baek and Rose will probably go through similar things that my dad and I went through.’

Although he was much older, stronger, and more experienced than her, Minhee felt an impulse to hug him, pat his shoulder, and comfort him.

She wanted to tell him that he was doing well and that when Rose grew up, she would be so grateful to her uncle that words couldn’t express it.

[Rose is fortunate to have an uncle like you, Mr. Baek.]

Minhee’s voice faltered a bit as she couldn’t hold it in.

Taejun froze in the same place as he took the jump rope from the shelf. Taejun and Minhee’s eyes met in the mirror. He had a blank expression, his perfectly shaped lips slightly parted. Minhee walked hesitantly over to him and gently reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

[You’re doing really well. You’re the best.]

Taejun stared at her in the mirror in disbelief.

‘Is she serious…?’

Awkwardly removing her hand from his shoulder, Minhee curled her fingertips into a fist and hid them behind her back. The bridge of her nose, her cheeks, and earlobes were flushed with embarrassment. She turned around and walked briskly to the treadmill on the opposite side. After examining the control panel for a moment, she pressed a few buttons and started walking briskly.

For a while, Taejun watched Minhee’s back in the mirror and then turned away. When he saw his own surprised expression in the mirror, he was taken aback. A pale, unfamiliar face was looking back at him, and even his earlobes were slightly reddened. Flustered, Taejun turned away from the mirror, picked up the jump rope, and started warming up.

‘I just did what she told me to do. What did I do well?’

The shoulder Minhee had touched felt ticklish, and his stomach felt like it was churning. He increased the speed of doing jump ropes, catching his breath with a breathlessness he rarely felt.

Taejun recalled an email still lingering in his inbox from Lara Rosenburg. She had sent him a file containing a list of junior boarding schools suitable for Rose, insisting that raising a child was unreasonable for him.

For a brief moment, he wondered if it would be better to send Rose to a boarding school until Miss Minnie arrived.

He thought of sending Little Rose, who was still afraid of the dark, waking up at dawn and crying, and his brother’s daughter, to a boarding school far away.

It doesn’t make sense for a broken man like him to raise a child, even a woman like Lara Rosenburg knows that. But…….

‘I’m doing a good job?’

Like a firefly the size of a small fingernail that had mistakenly entered a dark space, something soft, light, and warm tickled Taejun’s consciousness

It’s a feeling that feels like he can do it, like something he’s allowed to do…

Taejun dug into his empty, rusted emotional system. This feeling wasn’t bad at all. It was as if he wanted to catch that small firefly in his hands. Then, a single word came to mind.

‘Hope.’

A word so long forgotten it was almost foreign, even the unfamiliarity of a single word made his heart skip a beat, and his breath hitched again. As Taejun’s step got tangled, the jump rope struck his bare legs like a whip. Swallowing a groan, he stared at the reflection of Minhee in the mirror.