CHAPTER 64

‘Are we still just s*x partners? When the tenancy agreement ends, will our relationship as s*x partners also come to an end?’

Minhee remembered the reason Taejun had when he offered to be Minhee’s ‘practice partner’.

‘I’m just a regular guy with s*xual needs, too, and I don’t want to be bothered with all the tedious emotions that come with serious relationships just to satisfy those desires.’

Minhee sighed deeply.

‘I wonder if Taejun still thinks love is a ‘tedious emotion’? Does he still think of something more serious, like a romantic relationship, as bothersome, apart from just being s*x partners?’

If she blurted it out to Taejun and it all turned out to be her mistake……. It was a breach of contract, and not only that but she might be thrown out like Chloe had been before when she’d clung to Taejun. Imagining such a scenario, Minhee felt her limbs go weak, tears pricking at her eyes.

One thing was certain: Minhee’s feelings for Taejun had deepened significantly since they first started this relationship. She wasn’t ready to part ways with Taejun just yet. 

Fortunately, she didn’t have long to brood over something that hadn’t happened yet. Judging by the noise outside, Rose had returned.

Seeing that both Minhee and Taejun had wet hair and were wearing different clothes, the weekend nanny looked at them curiously. They had been cautious about being seen by others until now. Minhee blushed for no reason and couldn’t meet the weekend nanny’s eyes.

That night. Taejun knocked on Minhee’s door around the time Rose was asleep. When Minhee peeked out and opened the door, Taejun gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, which he had raised to knock.

“May I come in?”

Taejun had started mixing informal and formal language subtly lately. When they were intimate, they mostly used informal language, and when they were alone in their daily lives, informal language began to dominate more and more.

Minhee found herself more thrilled when he used informal speech, feeling a deeper closeness.  It was a charm unique to relationships that could only be felt in Korean.

When Taejun spoke informally, Minhee responded in kind, playfully nestling into his arms as if she were trying to please him. Whenever Minhee gave him a playful, coy smile, Taejun would be unable to tear his eyes away, looking lost.

But when Taejun suddenly knocked on the door with a stern, respectful tone, she freaked out.

‘What could it be? It doesn’t seem like he’s here for s*x again.’

Minhee was barely able to walk after their intense lovemaking in the study this afternoon, and Taejun, looking a mixture of apology and concern, had dragged Rose, who wanted to play with Minhee, out of her room, telling her to take it easy for the afternoon. Plus, they both had to wake up early for work as it was Monday. So, she wondered what his purpose was.

‘Did he somehow sense the thoughts I was having about him? But he’s not a mind reader.’

‘…Could that also be one of Taejun’s ‘abilities’?’

In that brief moment, a million thoughts came to mind. Minhee stepped back from the door to let Taejun in.

“Come in.”

The room Minhee was staying in now was twice the size of her room in the East Village, but it suddenly felt cramped the moment Taejun walked in. The ceiling height seemed to lower with each step he took.

Taejun walked over to the chair by the small table and sat down, as he was accustomed to doing. Sometimes after s*x, before heading into the bathroom, he would sit in that chair with Minhee in his arms, stroking and kissing her wordlessly, enjoying the afterglow.

“Come sit here.”

Taejun gestured to the chair opposite him. As Minhee hesitantly took her seat, Taejun asked an unexpected question.

“Do you have any plans for spring break?”

“…Huh? Ah, no, not yet. I might go to Hilton Head Island, but nothing’s set in stone.”

Minhee was taken aback by the unexpected question. Come to think of it, spring break, a two-week holiday, was about to start. But she couldn’t recall any clauses related to spring break in the contract.

Neither she nor Taejun had thought that far at the time. The absence of clauses in the contract meant there was room for interpretation.

There was a brief silence. Taejun, seemingly nervous, ran his hand through his hair before clasping both hands on the table and locking eyes with her. When Minhee watched him uneasily, he asked.

“Could you accompany me to Korea during spring break?”

***

Spring in New York was Minhee’s favorite season. Unlike Hilton Head Island’s spring, which was more like midsummer, New York’s spring was much like the Korean spring she remembered from her childhood.

‘Spring in Korea…….’

Just the thought made her heart flutter. The spring she remembered in Korea was filled with yellow forsythia blooming in school flowerbeds. The appearance of the golden forsythia signaled the cool mornings and evenings, but on the way home from school, the clear sky was graced by the gentle spring sunlight.

A new school year. Memories of chattering mindlessly with newly made friends over tteokbokki bought at the snack shop in front of the school, their laughter ringing out. As the afternoon brought a palpable spring breeze, warming the air, her mother would return home, shedding the outerwear she had bundled Minhee in that morning.

Hastening her steps towards the pedestrian crossing towards Park Avenue, Minhee arrived at the waiting area just as the pedestrian light turned red, narrowly avoiding the middle of the road.

The Park Avenue median, with two traffic lanes blocked off, was known as the ‘Park Avenue Mall’. In winter, it hosted the glittering Christmas tree wrapped in white lights, and in spring, tulips of different colors were planted each year.

Minhee’s eyes were filled with the fresh yellow tulips covering the flowerbed. There was something romantic about the shyly closed buds of yellow tulips bursting into full bloom, signaling the arrival of spring in New York.

The gentle breeze fluttered Minhee’s thin spring coat, still chilly, but under the soft spring sunlight pouring down, the entire Upper East Side seemed bright and cheerful, as if it had turned into a tulip field. Minhee took out her phone and snapped a selfie with the tulips in the background, sending it to her dad.

[Dad, forsythia-coloured tulips on my way home from work.  Are the tulips pretty, or is your daughter prettier?]

As soon as the read mark popped up, her dad sent a message back. It was after lunch and before the evening opening when he had the most free time.

[Do you remember the forsythia flowers, sweetheart? It’s been so long since I’ve heard that name. But really, asking something so obvious – of course, it’s the tulip.]

[Hmph. I actually like Mom better. I always have. More than you.]

Her dad sent a teary-eyed emoji. Although she could just brush it off as a joke, when she thought about her dad being alone, the longing and guilt quickly softened her heart.

[Dad, I love you too. You know that, right?]

[I know. Dad loves you, too, Minhee.]

Before her mom passed away, her dad used to only sing ‘I love you, Minhee’ on birthdays and other occasions. But after her mom passed away, at random moments, he would suddenly say, ‘I love you, my daughter’.

At first, it was awkward and uncomfortable, but now, after ten years, it came out naturally as if it were ingrained. It was all part of the mission her mom set him on, as she learned from her 18th birthday letter.

[This is Park Avenue. Do I look like a real New Yorker? Haha.]

[Yeah. You’re a New Yorker now, Seol Minhee. You’re so cool. Is everything okay?]

‘Ha. I have a lot of problems. Too many…….’

The problem was that it wasn’t the kind of thing a 25-year-old daughter could confide in her father. As soon as the light changed, Minhee crossed the street. She continued to exchange texts with her dad until the next pedestrian crossing.

[Yeah. Everything’s fine. But, I might not be able to go home during this spring break.]

[What? Are you too busy? Should I come visit you?]

[It’s your peak season during spring break too, Dad. Actually, I’ve been tutoring a student privately lately, and they asked if I could work during spring break too. They’re paying me a lot, so I think I’ll be able to pay off my student loans soon.]

[Why do you keep trying to pay that off yourself? I told you I’ll take care of it.]

[I’m the one who went to school, Dad, not you.]

[You’re just like your Mom, so stubborn.]

[Wow! Everyone knows I get that stubbornness from you, Dad! Anyway, I have to cross the street now. I’ll call you later!]

[Aigo, it’s not safe to walk around and text! Watch out for the car, and come home and get some rest.]

[Okay. Bye, Dad! I’ll text you later! ❤️❤️❤️]

[❤️❤️❤️]

***

It was the Friday after work, practically the start of spring break. A group of teenage girls, their short school skirts fluttering, passed by Minhee, laughing and chatting loudly. Suddenly, she remembered the American teen drama that was constantly being rerun on cable channels.

Set in a private school on the Upper East Side, the drama’s premise revolves around exposing the gossip among the affluent students, ending each episode with the mysterious “XOXO” meaning hugs and kisses. Coincidentally, the original writer of the drama was an alumna of the prestigious all-girls school just a block away from Aster School.

When Minhee watched that drama, she never imagined she would end up working at a private school on the Upper East Side and living near Park Avenue. Sometimes reality was more dramatic than the drama itself.