CHAPTER 51

Minhee stretched her lips out like a cat sneaking a bite of fish and let out a meow. Miho furrowed her brow and gave her a stern look.

“Already giving away too much information from your expression. Envious woman.”

Minhee turned off the massage machine and stretched.

“Miho, why didn’t you teach me earlier that s*x feels this good?”

“What?”

“Baek Taejun is truly the best. Really, really good. Even though it’s my first time experiencing something like this, I can tell for sure.”

“I can get an estimate based on what you say but… is the size also big?”

Minhee nodded vigorously while nibbling on her lips.

“And what about technique? Did he send you to some fancy places like Hong Kong or Hawaii?”

“Hehe.”

Blushing, Minhee nodded her head while covering her face with her hands. She buried her face in her knees, embraced by her arms, then covered her flushed cheeks with her hands and fanned her face. Watching Minhee’s antics, Miho chuckled and uncrossed her arms.

“This feels like a familiar pattern, Minmin.”

“What, why! What are you trying to say?”

“Are you starting a crush again? You did something similar to this once when you thought the principal was cool.”

Minhee paused and pouted.

“That was, like, idolizing, admiring him.”

“What about Rose’s uncle then?”

“Taejun… He’s just…I’m grateful to him. He made me feel like I was an attractive and sexy woman. With just one look that seemed like he desired me, it felt like he smashed all the complexes I’ve been holding onto with a hammer and threw them into the trash.”

Miho turned to face Minhee, concern in her eyes, a rare look of seriousness.

“Seems like you’ve already fallen head over heels.”

“It’s not like that. If I fall in love with Mr. Taejun, I’m in trouble. It’s a breach of contract. From the beginning, it was clearly stated in the contract that emotional involvement in romantic relationships is not allowed.”

Miho sighed heavily and tugged on Minhee’s cheek.

“You fool, if human emotions could be solved with a sentence written on paper, why would there be so many songs in this world lamenting the tragedies of love?”

Miho, as always, saw through to the essence of the matter and accurately pointed out the exact point where Minhee was anxious. Honestly, Minhee was infatuated with Taejun. Not only with the s*x they had but with Baek Taejun himself, endlessly.

“…What should I do? If I’m caught, it’s over, because he’s the kind of guy who’ll cut you off if you mess with him. I saw a weekend nanny get fired for doing that.”

“What can you do? Your crush’s effective period isn’t long. Just suffer for a few months as usual, and it’ll fade away by the end of the project.”

“I’m sure …… I can do that, right?”

“Let’s hope so.”

* * *

“We leave at two in the afternoon. Coffee?”

At one o’clock on Saturday, Taejun asked Minhee as he brewed espresso from the coffee machine in the kitchen. It was the only machine Taejun could handle in the spacious kitchen.

“Yep. I’d like a caffe latte.”

“Okay.”

“Two spoons of sugar, no, one spoon……. No-“

Taejun chuckled.

“Two spoons of sugar.”

After spending several nights ‘practicing’ various positions until dawn, the relationship between the two subtly changed. Of course, the awareness of being an employer and an employee didn’t completely disappear.

When they were with other people, both of them kept a strict distance; they weren’t dating, and their routines hadn’t changed, but the lines had blurred in small ways that were hard to notice unless you were paying attention.

“Taejun, what about Rose?”

“Rose? It shouldn’t take more than an hour or two, so she can stay with the weekend nanny while we’re out.”

Rose had already finished lunch and was playing in the playroom with the weekend nanny. Taejun and Minhee were planning to go to Rose’s former house to pick up some things she needed.

The house, owned by Taejun’s brother and sister-in-law, had been inherited by Rose, and after going through a rigorous legal process, Taejun, as Rose’s guardian, had only received the keys a few days ago.

“Oh, I didn’t mean that. I was thinking of bringing Rose with us. But I’m worried. Now that things have finally settled down, I’m afraid her condition might worsen if we take her to the house where she used to live.”

“…….”

There was a somewhat noisy silence as the coffee machine whirred. Taejun silently placed a café latte in front of Minhee and then crossed his arms with a pensive expression. Minhee looked up at him and cautiously expressed her opinion.

“I believe that big tragedies should have proper endings. Only then can we move on to the next stage. I think there should be an ending that Rose can understand. What do you think, Taejun?”

Taejun pondered Minhee’s words for a moment, forgetting what he was going to say. A proper ending. It felt like a slap in the face.

‘Have I ever experienced a proper ending? Losing all my family, losing comrades in war… Have I ever experienced a proper ending even once?’

The area around his eyes tingled, and the monster that had been lurking somewhere leaped out and pressed hard against the back of his head. He felt like he was going to suffocate. He quickly shoved the questions in his head somewhere else. One thing was certain.

“Rose shouldn’t live like me.”

Taejun spoke up, his voice low.

“Let’s take Rose with us. I’ll give her a proper ending. Let’s do it.”

“Okay. Then I’ll prepare some things that might be helpful.”

Taejun couldn’t fathom what this “proper ending” really meant. He shuddered to think that if it hadn’t been for Minhee, Rose might have turned out just like him.

Watching Minhee, who was drinking coffee and smiling satisfactorily, Taejun’s mouth felt dry. Lately, Taejun had been feeling a little nervous whenever he saw Minhee, and he couldn’t figure out why. He gulped down his bitter espresso, wondering if it was time for a medical checkup.

* * *

[Oh! It’s our house, our house! Miss Minnie, Santon! This is Rose’s house!!]

Rose squealed with excitement as she entered the lobby of her old apartment after two months, and jumped up and down excitedly, grabbing Minhee and Taejun’s hands. The doorman recognized Rose, and warmth filled his face as his eyes turned red with tears.

[Rose, sweetheart, it’s been a while. Do you remember me? How have you been? I missed you.]

[Terry! I missed you too].

Rose ran to him, and the older doorman picked her up and patted her on the back.

[Is there a package for 7B?]

It was something Rose’s parents had often said to the doorman as they entered the lobby, and Rose did a pretty good imitation. Terry burst into laughter and rubbed his eyes. Sniffling, he turned back to his desk and looked at the computer screen.

[Let’s see, let’s check it out].

Terry, who naturally thought there would be nothing, looked surprised as he smiled warmly at Rose.

[There’s one! Wait a minute!]

As Terry went into the mailroom, Minhee and Taejun exchanged surprised glances. Taejun shrugged as if he didn’t know either. It seemed that the item ordered long ago had arrived after his brother’s accident.

When Terry came out of the mailroom and handed Rose a small box, Rose eagerly took it. After thanking Terry, she rushed to the elevator button, urging them to hurry.

[Santon, Miss Minnie, come quickly!]

Taking the package of keys from Terry, Minhee watched as Taejun headed for the elevator with a stern expression, and she followed him.

One by one, the lights came on in the house, which was left dark and cold after losing its owner. Taejun flipped on the heater when he saw Minhee trembling. The apartment had only been uninhabited for a couple of months, but it was oddly stuffy, and gray dust had accumulated on the console table.

As Rose ran excitedly to open her room’s door, she shouted with joy.

[My toys!]

The child entered the unlit room and sat down in front of her toy box, pulling out toys with glee as if she were meeting an old friend.

After finding the switch and turning on the light in Rose’s room, Minhee whispered in a low voice to Taejun.

[Do you think we can move Rose’s things from this room to your home? We could bring only essential items today, like spring clothes, a few books, and mood lights to keep on at night, and move the rest slowly.]

[Tomorrow. We’ll move this room as it is by tomorrow].

Taejun immediately sent instructions to Luca via email. Comparing Rose’s quaintly decorated room with the stark guest room she used in his house, he felt a pang of regret. Only now did he seem to understand why Rose, who had been sleeping alone in the guest room before Minhee came, woke up every day at dawn in a panic.

“How about you, Taejun?”

Taejun’s head snapped up from his reverie at the sudden cautious voice.

“……?”

Taejun turned to Minhee, a question on his face. She visibly flinched, then looked up at him with a determined expression.

“You lost your family suddenly, just like Rose. It’s not just the children who are sad and confused, right?”

Minhee said, looking around the empty living room with a calm face.

“Having photos or items filled with memories… It could be helpful. Once the shock of the loss wears off and you’ve come to terms with the reality of death, that’s when you feel the void, and it’ll be so empty and sad if you don’t have anything left to remember the person you love.”

Taejun was sincerely shocked by Minhee’s words.

‘Remember and cherish the person you love? Clinging to the memory of someone who died and being left alone to depend on that memory… How could anyone suggest such a thing? Don’t they know how much damage it can cause?’