CHAPTER 52

For the first time since Minhee came to work as a tutor, his unconditional trust in her was about to crack. At that moment, the sound of Rose’s footsteps suddenly jumping out and running somewhere caught his attention.

“Rose?”

The child twisted the doorknob of the room across the living room and dashed inside.

[Mom? Dad……?]

Taejun’s startled eyes met Minhee’s panicked ones. In the dimly lit room, the child stood there, fumbling around.

She was playing with a toy and suddenly remembered her mom and dad. Rose, who had been wandering around like a hide-and-seek player, looking around as if searching for something, called out to Minhee in a small voice.

[……Miss Minnie?]

[Yeah?]

Minhee swallowed hard at the lump that rose in her throat. She saw her own childhood self overlapped on Rose’s confused face.

[All my toys are here, but why aren’t Mom and Dad here? Mei-ling told me that Mommy and Daddy died and became stars in the sky, so they can’t come to our house because it’s too far away, why did they go so far away?]

[…….]

Minhee’s heart sank, her words stuck. Facing reality was daunting, painful, and something she wanted to avoid, but it was a necessary moment for Rose.

[Chloe said that when someone dies, you never see them again. Chloe’s dog Taco died, and she said she buried him in the mansion’s garden. Taco is underground, so she can’t see him anymore. Miss Minnie, so… I can’t see Mom and Dad anymore? They won’t come home?]

Asking repeatedly to confirm the truth, there was a faint hope lingering in her clear and pure gaze. It felt like Minhee’s heart was being hammered knowing she had to remove that shield herself.

But it was a time for truth. Someone had to do it, and Minhee knew she was hired to do just that.

[……Yes. Mom and Dad can’t come to see you anymore, Rose. It’s not that they don’t come to see you, but they can’t. But they’ll always be in your heart―]

[Hng… Uwaaah!]

Hearing Minhee’s response, Rose, who had been pursing her lips, eventually burst into tears like a baby. Like a dam collapsing due to a small hole, Rose’s face turned red as tears streamed down.

Minhee was about to take a step toward Rose when Rose ran toward Taejun, crying loudly.

[Santon! Huhuhu, I miss mommy and daddy! Bring them here, Santon!]

Rose stopped right in front of Taejun and looked at him, crying even louder. Taejun’s bloodshot face visibly flinched and he looked down at Rose.

Looking up at Taejun, who was frozen like a stone, Rose raised her voice and cried out in anguish. Then, as if a sudden thought occurred to her, the child’s face covered in tears and snot looked at Minhee.

“Sniff….”

Suppressing the sob that had been held back since earlier, Minhee swallowed it forcibly, extending her arms towards Rose. With her lips curled, Rose sobbed and ran into Minhee’s embrace.

Kneeling down and cradling Rose’s small body in her arms, Minhee tried to hold back tears as she took a deep breath.

“Huuuung…….”

After quietly exhaling trembling breaths, tears finally poured out of Minhee’s eyes with a sobbing sound.

[Hmph, I miss my mommy……daddy! Ugh!]

[Poor Rose, I miss my mom too, huhu…….]

Taejun briefly glanced down at the sobbing child and the woman shedding tears like a child, her face reddened with sorrow, sitting on the cold marble floor as if lost in the world.

Desperately searching for a way to salvage the situation, Taejun’s mind raced, but the more he thought, the emptier his mind became. Only one thought echoed in his mind.

‘I don’t want to see these two cry!’

Taejun loved the look of tears on Minhee’s flushed face. But that was when she was pinned beneath him, writhing in pleasure, not like this.

Unconsciously, his legs moved. Taejun knelt down in front of the two, extending his arms. The series of actions felt surprisingly natural, perhaps because of the hugs he had practiced every time he came home from work. Surprised, Minhee and Rose stopped crying for a moment and then threw themselves into his arms.

With incomprehensible words murmured and sobbing cries, Taejun held both women tightly in his arms and lifted himself up. Surprised, Minhee hugged Taejun’s neck, letting out a short scream.

Carrying both of them carefully, Taejun walked to the sofa and sat down, naturally ending up with Rose and Minhee on each of his thighs. As Taejun pulled them both into his arms, without a word, they buried their faces in his chest once again, tears streaming down.

His shirt felt hot, soaked with their tears. Taejun watched them express their sadness through tears, trying to recall the last time he cried, digging into his distant memories.

Thirteen years old. He spent half a day in a house where his father’s body lay abandoned. The last time he hugged someone and cried was when his brother arrived home.

‘My brother. Now even he doesn’t exist in this world.’

The only person he had seen since birth, his brother, who loved Rose more than himself, left him and died. Everyone Taejun loved had died.

‘If our family hadn’t come to the US because of me, would they still be living happily somewhere in Korea? Ultimately, my brother died because of me. If he hadn’t come here, he might not have died like this. Maybe I shouldn’t have been born―’

The alternating high and low sobbing sounds suddenly intensified from both sides. It broke the dark circle of his thoughts.

He breathed deeply, feeling Minhee and Rose bury their faces in his chest and sobbing all over him. The situation felt unreal to him.

To find solace in feeling the catharsis of these two sobbing women might seem insane. But he couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried out loud, so this outburst of raw emotion was strangely comforting.

He gently patted their backs. As time passed, the exhausted pair leaned completely on Taejun, and the sound of tears gradually subsided.

Minhee sniffled like a child, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Her face was flushed red, her eyes puffy and her nose red. Taejun’s shirt, where her face had been, was soaked with tears, sticking tightly to his chest. As Rose lifted her face from his shoulder, snot trailed from her nose onto his shirt.

Minhee got up from his thigh and wandered to the dining room, returning with a few napkins and blowing her nose. Then, she wiped away the tears and snot from Rose’s face, absent-mindedly dabbing at Taejun’s soaked shirt with a clean napkin.

The wet shirt clung to his skin, clearly outlining his chest. Minhee sucked in a small breath and pulled her hand away in a panic. Taejun grabbed her wrist, taking the napkin from her hand and roughly wiping away the moisture from his shirt.

“Sorry.”

“For what?”

As Taejun gazed at Minhee intently, she blinked. The wet eyelashes, adorned with teardrops, fanned out like a feather, obscuring her gaze.

[Miss Minnie, uh, did your mom also become a star in the sky?]

At Rose’s hesitant question mixed with a gasp, both Minhee and Taejun, who were facing her, looked at Rose.

[Yes. My mother died a long time ago, too, when I was eleven.]

[I see. Miss Minnie, you must miss your mom a lot too.]

Rose’s words, seemingly comforting, brought tears back to Minhee’s swollen eyes. Minhee swallowed hard, her throat constricted. She gently wiped away the tear stains on Rose’s round cheeks with her hand.

[Yeah. I miss my mom too. My mom’s face, her scent, the way she used to hug me… I think about it every day, so I don’t forget. I remember how much she loved me. So even though I miss her, I can endure it a little.]

[Mom told Rose every day that she loved Rose the most. Dad too.]

Minhee nodded toward Rose, the corners of her mouth tugging upward. Rose, who was still sitting on Taejun’s lap, suddenly raised her head and looked at him.

[Does Santon miss Grandma and Grandpa too? Poor Santon. Rose will love you a lot.]

[……!]

Taejun inhaled sharply and stiffened. Without waiting for an answer like a child, Rose babbled towards Minhee.

[Rose does not have a paternal grandmother or grandfather. They went to heaven a long, long time ago. My maternal grandmother and grandfather are in Korea. They come to play for a long time during spring break.”

The story that both of Taejun’s parents had passed away a long time ago was shocking.

For most first-generation immigrant families, leaving their homeland where they were born and raised, enduring hardships and sacrifices like wings of honor to settle in a distant land, was common. Each family had one or two stories that were almost unbearable to listen to without shedding tears.

But thinking that Taejun and Rose had experienced the same tragedy felt truly overwhelming. She hoped it would be the last tragedy in this family. Minhee hoped with all her heart.

[Miss Minnie, in Korea, there’s something called a kids’ cafe, and it’s so much fun!]

As the sadness that a six-year-old could bear passed, Rose was already moving forward. Just like Minhee had done, Rose might sometimes cry in sadness and sometimes fall into self-pity.

But as long as she remembers that she was loved, she will grow up strong and bright with a responsible guardian like Taejun. Even after Minhee’s contract as a home tutor ended, she was willing to help Rose if she needed it.

[Rose, would you like me to read you a book? It’s called ‘Memory Box’, it’s a story about a young girl who lost someone she loves, just like Rose.]

[Yes!]