CHAPTER 46

Taejun, who had been quietly biting his lips and staring at the ceiling, finally let out a quiet chuckle, stretching his lips into a smile.

With Rose in one arm, he led the way, with Minhee walking alongside. Soon, they reached the entrance of the restaurant. The entrance was crowded with people waiting for tables.

Minhee had frequented the Metropolitan Museum before but didn’t know there was such an elegant restaurant on the 4th floor.

Tourists who hadn’t booked in advance talked to the front desk staff, then turned and walked past them with disappointed looks on their faces. She overheard mentions of waiting lists and having to wait for an hour and a half.

[Rose, since we’re all here, let’s just walk from here.]

Minhee said, and Taejun gently set Rose down on the ground and checked his phone.

‘I wonder if Luca succeeded in making the reservation.’

Minhee was curious, but Taejun’s expression remained unchanged, giving no hint of the outcome. He strode purposefully towards the reception, exchanged a few words with the restaurant staff, and then returned to where Rose and Minhee stood.

“Let’s go in.”

Taejun, who stood a head taller than everyone else, made his way through the bustling crowd, holding Rose’s hand. Minhee followed closely behind him. At the entrance of the restaurant, a dignified maître d’ (the person in a restaurant who oversees the waitpersons and busboys, and who typically handles reservations) greeted them politely and gestured towards a table by the window.

[Welcome, Mr. Baek. We’ve prepared a table by the window for you. Allow me to escort you.]

He led them to the only empty table by the window. The large latticed glass panes sloped from floor to ceiling, like a roof, with a sweeping view of Central Park in front of them.

In front of them stood an Egyptian obelisk sculpture, surrounded by trees just starting to sprout new leaves. Beyond the tree canopy of Central Park, the skyline of the Upper West Side rose dynamically like undulating waves.

“Wow, what a view!”

Minhee couldn’t help but exclaim.

She glanced up at Taejun, who stood beside her, as if seeking agreement, and he nodded, the corners of his mouth lifting invisibly.

The more time she spent with him, the more she got used to reading his emotions, which leaked through his expressionless mask.

‘The expression on his face… it means he is feeling quite proud right now. It’s so adorable!’

She remembered how she used to cower in fear whenever she came face to face with Taejun, but now she found the big man cute and adorable. She couldn’t help but wonder how Taejun, who was usually serious and gruff, would react if he heard her thoughts.

Minhee bit her lower lip tightly, trying not to smile. However, she had no talent for holding back laughter. Eventually, her expression softened, and she let out a light chuckle.

Hearing Minhee’s laughter, Taejun looked down at her. His eyes melted into hers, and the lines of his lips softened. His hand came up and stroked Minhee’s cheek.

At the gentle touch, Minhee’s cheek tingled, and her heart fluttered involuntarily. Surprised, she held her breath and blinked rapidly, causing Taejun’s fingers to pause momentarily on her cheek. A faint pink blush spread across her cheeks, and his gaze, halfway lowered, became unusually intense.

[Well then, enjoy your time.]

The maître d’ said politely as he pulled out the chairs for the three of them and placed the menu on the table. Taejun and Minhee simultaneously turned to look at him. Only then did Taejun’s fingers leave Minhee’s cheek. She sat down on the chair, her face flushed, and covered her face with the menu.

‘Is this okay? It’s not even practice time…….’

Her heart, which had been tightly held and had been pounding forcefully against her chest since this morning, seemed to beat wildly on its own. No matter how many times she read it, she couldn’t focus on the menu.

[It’s a kids’ lunch menu and colored pencils.]

Said a kind female voice. When Minhee lowered the menu covering her face, the waitress was standing in front of their table. Rose, sitting next to Minhee, eagerly accepted the children’s menu and a set of colored pencils, and her eyes lit up with excitement.

[Rose, what do you say to that?]

[Thank you!!]

Rose smiled broadly and thanked the waitress. Then the waitress, who looked to be in her late twenties, leaned over with her hand resting on her ample bosom and said with a smile, “So cute.” 

When Taejun didn’t react, the waitress quickly began reciting the special menu items.

[Today’s specials include watercress salad with grilled abalones and lobster cream bisque…]

After the long recitation of the special menu, the waitress left. Minhee glanced through the menu in her hand and murmured to herself, 

“What was the third item on the special menu again?”

She had thought the third menu item sounded delicious, but with the next menu item being recited one after another, her memory became jumbled.

“Eggs Benedict Royal with Norwegian smoked salmon.”

Minhee lifted her head at the sudden sound of Taejun’s voice. As their eyes met, Taejun’s indifferent gaze drifted down to the menu in his hand.

‘He can remember everything just by hearing it once?’

Come to think of it, Luca had mentioned something similar before. Minhee narrowed her eyes and observed Taejun, who was looking at the menu. Then, she swiftly grabbed the menu from his hand.

Taejun raised an eyebrow with a puzzled expression. Without hesitation, Minhee threw a question at him.

“What’s the name of the fourth dish at the very end of the menu?”

“…Cappuccino Crème Brûlée.”

Taejun leaned back in his chair, arms crossed lazily.

“Wow! What about the fifth item in the first course?”

“Atlantic Blue Crab Salad.”

“What was the name of the 13th president of the United States?”

The corners of Taejun’s mouth twitched and he lowered his gaze.

‘Ha! Right. You can’t possibly know that. Even if you stopped hundreds of passing Americans and asked, they wouldn’t know.’

Taejun glanced back at Minhee, and a mischievous glint briefly crossed his eyes.

“Millard Fillmore, in office from July 1850 to March 1853. Born in New York.”

Wide-eyed, Minhee quickly searched it up and looked at Taejun with disbelief.

“…What about the digits after the decimal point in pi?”

“3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510 ― Shall I continue?”

“Stop, stop! How on earth do you remember all this?”

Minhee’s expression faltered like someone who had just witnessed a magic trick where a person vanished into thin air. Taejun’s lips curved into a cool smile as he looked at her.

It was a game Taejun used to play often when he was younger. If someone threw a piece of information at him, he would remember it. People used to look at him with a mixture of disbelief and awe, throwing questions at him, amazed by his ability.

In fact, photographic memory is the most intuitive and simple of Taejun’s abilities, and as a child, he found it quite amusing to show it off.

After coming to the United States and going through a series of events, he realized that his ability was more of a curse than a blessing, and he couldn’t recall experiencing this kind of amusement again.

[What are you Santon and Miss Minnie doing?]

Rose, who had raised her head from coloring, glanced back and forth between the two.

Minhee was openly admiring Taejun. While his memorization ability was impressive, his smiling face was even more remarkable and endearing. She was lucky she didn’t lose her mind and started drooling with her mouth open.

‘It’s not worth blinking! Even if my favorite sings and dances right in front of me, I can’t afford to miss that man’s smile!’

Glancing at Taejun, who was still wearing a thin smile, Minhee replied to Rose.

[I’m quizzing your uncle, Rose, he has a real superpower, he can remember a lot of things by taking pictures with his eyes].

[Mmm. I know, Santon took a lot of pictures of me with his eyes. Santon, I want to quiz too!]

[Uh……? Sure].

Unlike Taejun’s relaxed attitude when Minhee asked questions, Taejun corrected his posture with a somewhat serious expression. It seemed he anticipated that Rose’s questions would be more challenging.

[Santon, do you know what’s at the end of the rainbow?]

Taejun visibly hesitated before speaking.

[……The rainbow is actually a circle, so it can’t have an end, it just looks semi-circular because it’s often obscured by the horizon-]

Rose tilted her head, her forehead wrinkling, and her mouth gaping. Across from him, Minhee shook her head desperately.

‘Wasn’t this the answer?’

[Uh…… So at the end of the rainbow, a pot of gold?]

[That’s right! Santon is so smart! Then, what comes out when a unicorn farts?]

Taejun glanced at Minhee before smirking. Minhee could tell he was recalling the embarrassing moment from their first encounter when she wore that outfit.

[Rainbow].

[Correct, now it’s Santon’s turn to ask Miss Minnie].

Taejun tapped his index finger on the menu in Minhee’s hand.

‘Is he going to ask me about the food names?’

Minhee nervously fumbles for the names, and Taejun pauses for a moment before speaking.

[……Have you decided what to order?]

Gosh, she was nervous for nothing.

[Eggs Benedict Royal with Norwegian smoked salmon. What about you, Taejun?]

[Same thing.]

Rose interrupts.

[Rose will have the Royal Princess Yum Yum Omelette, smoked apple juice, and French fries!]

Even she found herself amusing after saying that, Rose chuckled and buried her face in the chair. Seeing Rose like that, both Taejun and Minhee burst into laughter simultaneously. It was a perfect Saturday afternoon.

* * *

‘Phew. There’s no escaping this.’

Taejun, consumed with the thought of being with Minhee all day long, was restless without a moment’s peace. After having s*x once, his symptoms worsened instead. As evening approached, even the remaining bit of patience he had was exhausted, leading to an explosive outburst.