CHAPTER 6

The look in his eyes was a mixture of unfamiliarity and curiosity as if he had seen a strange creature for the first time in his life.

Minhee’s smile was quite striking, and it made a lingering impression in Taejun’s mind.

With narrow eyes, round cheeks, and a neat row of teeth revealed between pretty curved lips, a clear and bright laughter spread around her without a trace of hesitation.

Minhee blinked as she met his gaze, her face still smiling. Her transparently white cheeks slowly turned pink.

Taejun’s Adam’s apple moved noticeably, and a deep thirst briefly flashed in his gaze. He reluctantly swallowed saliva and turned his attention back to Rose.

[Rose, come here, I’ll show you how to fold the plane].

[Yes, Santon!] 

Taejun headed for the living room couch, and Rose, like a pink cloud, swirled around him, singing the airplane song. Minhee pulled colored paper out of her file and held out three sheets to Rose, then handed one to Taejun.

‘I think we’ve done a pretty good job with our first bullet today.’

Minhee glanced at Rose and Taejun, who sat side by side.

Taejun’s long, callused fingers folded the paper with surprising delicacy, angling the paper properly. The airplane he folded had perfect corners, razor-sharp wings, and a pointed nose as if he were trying to apply fluid dynamics to the paper.

As Rose folded the paper in a clumsy imitation of Taejun’s, he patiently explained the steps with a good, moderate, and affectionate tone, repeatedly going through the process until Rose understood.

Minhee watched in fascination as Taejun folded the paper, patiently repeating himself over and over again until Rose understood. Although his expression was reserved, his tone was strangely warm, even when dealing with a child.

‘It’s a little different from the image I had in mind when I first met him. I was worried that he wouldn’t be interested in playing with children……. It’s so cool that a blunt person can be so sweet!’

Minhee, who falls in love with things at the speed of light, vaguely realizes that she is once again entering the process of a one-sided crush. One small kindness, a warm word. Sometimes it was due to beautiful hands, other times a charming voice.

For whatever reason, Minhee’s crushes would fester and fizzle out, often ending up unrequited, much like a crush on an on-screen celebrity.

Minhee was dimly aware that she was starting the process all over again. Taejun looked breathtakingly sexy as he folded paper airplanes for his niece.

The sight of Taejun folding a paper airplane, seemingly mundane, looked breathtakingly sexy to Minhee. It was the first time she felt a man looked sexy.

She’d always thought her type of guy was a sweet, mischievous boy with a warm sparkle in his eye, like her first love, Noah Brown.

Yet, Taejun’s composed attitude, dry tone, and relaxed and languid atmosphere, all seamlessly presented an overwhelming mature man. Despite that, he knew how to express a fun and romantic idea like taking a photo with eyes.

Taejun was… He was completely different from the men she had liked before. 

‘And that face. What the heck!’

Minhee placed her hands on her fluttering chest, suppressing the swirling emotions. As a live-in tutor, her duty and goal were to create more opportunities for Taejun to spend time with Rose, to help them get to know each other better, and to become accustomed to each other’s company.

No matter how one-sided and harmless her crush had been until now, Taejun was her employer.

Oh, not that she hadn’t had crushes on employers before – she’d had a brief one on her principal for a couple of months.

But when it came to this man, a hidden survival instinct somewhere in the mostly flowery part of her brain was sending up a faint warning sign. It’s dangerous. Once you fall, it’s hard to extract yourself. She’d have to tear herself apart to get out.

‘Seol Minhee, snap out of it! Don’t you know what happens when you get entangled with a man every woman desires?’

The unhealed wound tightened in her chest. Minhee reluctantly tore her gaze away from Taejun and looked around.

The view of Central Park was stunning, but the monochromatic, angular interior felt a little stark and rigid.

‘Wait, where did Chloe go?’

The weekend nanny was not in sight. 

‘Had she already left?’

Minhee looked around and saw Taejun across from her, sitting on the rug, bending his upper body toward Rose, teaching her how to fold a paper airplane.

Taejun’s shoulders, leaning on his elbows on spread knees, were wrapped in a thin knit, revealing the contours of his muscles, and through the plunging neckline, a scar ran from the top of his collarbone across his thick chest.

‘Even though Wall Street is a battlefield for money, it’s supposed to be a battle of the mind, not physically, so where did he get such a muscular body and frightening scars?’

He looked up as if he felt Minhee’s gaze on him. Minhee, visibly embarrassed that she’d been caught sneaking a peek, lifted her gaze from his chest to his perfectly symmetrical lips on a firm jawline.

For a moment, she recalled the somewhat explicit evaluation Miho had made about his lips.

‘I didn’t understand it then, but now I feel like I know what she meant.’

Heat rose to her face momentarily, and Minhee lowered her head.

‘I had thought of him as a big and scary person, why did my perception of him change like this?’

On the other hand, Taejun couldn’t help but wonder what Minhee was thinking as she lowered her head. His face turned red again, and he felt the urge to peer into her mind to understand why she blushed like that. Every time she blushed like that, it made him feel hot between the legs. 

He didn’t understand what this young woman had done to make his body react this way. He gingerly brought his spread knees together.

‘Could there be an issue with the brain functions related to arousal?’

Taejun thought about the principles of s*xual excitement and er*ction he had read in a medical book a long time ago. He grinned slightly as he recalled the solemn expression he had on his face back then.

‘Even without direct stimulation to the g*nitals from the outside, it keeps getting an er*ction. It means that the autonomic nervous system in your limbic system’s erectile center is constantly sending excitatory signals to your p*nis, even if it’s just the slightest visual stimulus, like a blushing woman……. … Damn it. Has it accumulated more than I thought?’  

Taejun glanced down below and tensed his thigh muscles.

As Minhee hastily lifted the file, a half-inserted printout tumbled onto the floor when she did. Letting out a short gasp, she bent down to pick up the fallen paper, causing the neckline of her modest blouse to lift slightly, revealing a glimpse of her clavicle.

Taejun sharply inhaled and crossed his legs. He couldn’t believe how insane he was, acting like a teenage boy harboring inappropriate thoughts toward the innocent home tutor.

[Um… Mister Baek? Do you have something to say about the lesson plan…?]

Minhee inquired, holding up the printout in front of her, her face filled with curiosity.

Taejun took the printout from her hands, turned it around, and handed it back to her. As she looked down, she could see the printed part of the lesson plan.

 [Hehe, I must have been holding it backward!]

Before Minhee had a chance to panic, Taejun blurted out. 

[Um… Well, how about we start with number 2, routines and rules, number 3, getting ready for school, and number 6, regular pediatric check-ups? I can somehow manage those, but the rest… I need help. I hope you can teach me through examples or practice].

Minhee hurriedly scanned through the printout. 

‘What did I write about the rest?’

[Oh, okay. I’ll help you with that. What’s the most challenging part for you?]

 Taejun sighed briefly, lowering his gaze. His voice became softer.

 […Number 8.]

 Minhee quickly checked the plan she was holding.

**8. Continuously express care and affection, as much as needed, to avoid resorting to unusual behavior to attract guardians’ attention. Having lost her parents, what Rose needs most right now is a stable, constant source of affection.**

‘This is the most challenging?’

[It’s probably the easiest when you get down to it because showing affection is just a matter of expressing your feelings honestly, you don’t have to learn anything special, so, um… That is…]

Minhee’s voice trailed off as Taejun’s brow furrowed slightly, and the scar across his brow twitched.

‘I’m scared. Did I say something wrong?’

Minhee hastily added,

[Let me tell you a few easy ways. You can start with very small things and work your way up].

Taejun relaxed his brow and nodded his head silently. Meanwhile, Rose had folded all three paper airplanes and was squealing and stomping her feet in excitement.

[All done! Now let’s have an airplane race!]

[Rose, can you write names on each airplane? That way, we can tell whose airplane is whose.]

While Rose ran to her room to get colored pencils, Minhee checked her wristwatch. It was already 5:30 pm.

[Mr. Baek, what time can we have Rose’s dinner?]

[According to the schedule, I’ve instructed the chef to have dinner ready by six. The issue is that Rose doesn’t eat the food the chef makes. Could you let the chef know what kind of food the kids would eat?]

Aster School also had a chef who was responsible for the children’s snacks and lunches. If the chef was ambitious and prepared a sophisticated lunch menu, like Moroccan chicken or lamb chops, the teachers loved it but the students hated it. Considering the chef cooked based on adult male preferences, it wasn’t hard to guess why Rose wasn’t eating well. 

Rose returned with colored pencils and sat down at the table.

[Rose, do you want to play a game while we decorate the airplane?]

[Yes!]

[We’ll take turns saying our favorite foods. Then the chef will prepare a menu with our favorite foods. Alright, starting with me! Broccoli! Tomatoes! Spinach! Egg! Chicken!]

Rose raised her hand, eager to participate. When Minhee nodded, Rose bounced in her seat.

[Rose likes broccoli too. And… pizza! Pasta! Hamburger! Pancake! Scrambled eggs! Pork Cutlets! Chicken fingers! French fries! Apple! Strawberries! Blueberries!]

[I see. Now it’s Mr. Baek’s turn.]

[It’s Mr. Baek’s turn now, Santon!]