CHAPTER 78

[Huh? Sometimes I do it alone, and… sometimes with him too…]

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Minhee stumbled over her words. Luca squinted his eyes and chuckled.

[Nothing special happened with the boss?]

[Huh…? What special? Nothing special happened at all.]

[…….]

[Seriously, nothing happened! By the way, where did you go to the Bahamas? Nassau? Paradise Island?]

Minhee quickly changed the subject and prayed she wasn’t blushing, but she could already feel the heat rising from her neck. She tried to maintain eye contact to avoid suspicion, but her eyebrows kept twitching. Luca shook his head with excitement.

[Wow… I kind of expected it.]

[What, what?]

With exaggerated politeness, Luca gripped the luxurious envelope and held it out to Minhee with a couple of flicks of his wrist. 

[Madam, please accept this first.]

[Luca! What are you talking about!]

[Oh, just take it, Minhee. I asked you to meet me to deliver this, and of course to see your face.]

Minhee suspiciously took the envelope and examined it front and back, then sharply inhaled.

[This……!!] 

[Yes. Remember? It’s the charity gala invitation. Your favorite! Hosted by his fiancee, where there’s a 100% chance King J will attend! The paaaaarty invitation!!]

Luka exclaimed dramatically, sounding like a circus emcee. Minhee hugged the invitation to her chest in excitement.

[Luka, I won’t forget this favor, I really…… you’re the best!]

[Madam, please remember those words, you can’t forget about poor Luca later.]

Luca giggled and teased Minhee. Seeing Minhee’s perplexed face, Luca burst into laughter. 

[Luca, stop it! Why do you keep doing this?]

[Sweetie, you really can’t lie, can you? No, let me rephrase that. You try to, but your face is a traitor.]

[It’s not like that―]

[Nope! It’s okay! It’s your privacy, so I won’t ask anymore. But you know, while regular secretaries might not know, personal secretaries like me need to know about the boss’s private life to some extent to do our jobs. So, I took the liberty to ask. Also because I had a hunch.]

[…….]

Minhee couldn’t say anything and bowed her head, fiddling with the edge of the invitation envelope. 

[When Boss said, ‘Miss Minnie is an exception’, I started getting suspicious from that point. Doesn’t he give you an American Express Black Card like a coffee shop gift card? He kept doing things he had never done before. You know I’m in charge of booking tickets and reservations for his personal schedule, right?]

Minhee made an ambiguous gesture, neither shaking nor nodding her head. Now that she thought about it, it was natural for Luca, as a personal secretary. 

[When you went to Korea, at first, he wanted to go by private jet. The boss has never used a private jet for personal reasons before. Even when traveling for business, he mostly flies business class. But then he told me to book first-class seats for all three of you. Of course, it might have been because of Rose, but it’s not common for employers to book first-class seats even for regular employees, right?”

Minhee thought the first class was fascinating and impressive, without thinking about the meaning of the employer-employee relationship. It was somewhat shocking to realize that she had become accustomed to him treating her specially, considering she had already spent quite some time with Taejun.

[And that’s not all. The hotel suite, a two-bedroom suite at that. I asked if I should book another connecting room, but the boss said it wasn’t necessary. I don’t think the boss would have slept in the same room as Rose, and I don’t think he would have let you sleep on the couch.]

Minhee thought she’d done a good job of hiding it from people who came in and out of the house, but it was embarrassing to think that Luca already knew that she and Taejun were s*xual partners.

If Luca, whom she didn’t see often enough, had noticed, maybe the Chef and the weekend nanny knew but were pretending not to. The thought made a cold sweat break out on the nape of her neck.

[Sweetie! Lift your head up. Why are you sitting there like a guilty person? It’s so fascinating. I’ve been the boss’s personal secretary for exactly four years, and this is the first time something like this has happened. When did you two become lovers?] 

[……!]

Minhee raised her head abruptly. Luca raised both palms up.

[Ah. You don’t have to tell me! I’ve been getting the gist of it for a while now. Somehow, the boss’s gaze at you became so intense, no, rather, he looks at you like a desperate kid who wants to touch you, afraid you’ll shatter or fly away if he does. I was stunned that a man who wanted nothing, who wanted to do nothing, who was bored at the sight of anything, could make that face.]

[……Really?]

[You didn’t notice?]

Minhee had some sense that Taejun’s gaze toward her had changed to some extent. However, she didn’t expect others to notice it too. Before Minhee could answer, Luca continued.

[And recently, he’s even been caught smiling slyly to himself when alone in the office. The employees who saw it called me, saying it was scary, asking if something had happened.]

[Why, why is he smiling?]

[The reason is something only he knows. I’ve only seen the boss smile like that once in the four years I’ve been here. If you’re curious, ask him when he gets off work today. Why he’s laughing like a psycho killer at the office? I mean, just thinking about it, does he laugh like that?]

Luca pointed at the invitation envelope in Minhee’s hand.

[Even this gala is an exception. The boss always hated going to these social events. The fiancée of King J is hosting it, but so what? At first, he just planned to make a donation, but then suddenly he ordered a table, and now he’s going to attend in person!]

[Really?]

[…Don’t you two talk about this kind of thing when you’re together?]

Luca asked, puzzled.

[…We’re not in a relationship.]

[What, you’re still in the ‘dating’ phase?]

[……Not really-]

[Sweetie, even if that’s the case, from my perspective, it’s only a matter of time before you two officially become a couple. I have a good intuition about these things. Boss is already smitten with you. When a guy like him gets into something, it’s usually deep and lasting. He’s had his eyes on you for a while now. He’s even willing to wipe your feet. Try testing him. He’ll do it without a word.]

Luca nodded and crossed his arms in a confident manner. Coincidentally, Minhee had heard a similar story when she was touring Busan with Sung-eun.

‘Taejun can’t take his eyes off you. Even strangers can tell, that Taejun really likes you a lot. What do you think of Taejun, Teacher?  I know I’m being nosy, but you two look so good together.’

Minhee listened to Luca’s endless chatter, lost in her thoughts while holding the invitation envelope tightly in her hand.

* * *

On the third Friday of April, it snowed unexpectedly. The spring weather in New York was quite unpredictable, so it wasn’t uncommon for it to snow heavily even in April.

Minhee liked snowy days. On days like this, at Aster School, they allowed the kindergarten and elementary kids to play on the school rooftop during free time. Private schools built on expensive land on the Upper East Side often lacked outdoor playgrounds and instead converted rooftops into play areas for elementary students.

Minhee was supervising kindergarten kids hopping around like puppies with other teachers. When she came out in the morning, not expecting this much snow, she wore open-toed shoes and shivered in the cold. Looking at her red, frozen toes, she made a decision.

‘Today. I’m going to confess to Taejun once again, but this time sober!’

After work, the sidewalks of the Upper West Side were slippery and slushy with melting snow. Minhee, who had just finished her graduate research presentation, wobbled on the crowded crosstown bus, trying not to fall.

The bus was running late due to the snow, and she hobbled along the slippery, clogged roads. So, it took longer than usual to cross Central Park and reach the Upper East Side. Since there were no bus stops on Park Avenue, Minhee got off at Madison Avenue, the closest one.

It was a long walk to Taejun’s penthouse, a long block of avenue, and more than ten blocks down the street, but it was all part of her plan.

By the time she stood in front of the penthouse door, it was already approaching 9 o’clock, the first time she’d been this late since becoming a live-in tutor, even on days when she had graduate classes. Rose would be asleep by eight, and by now, Taejun would likely be finishing up work in his study. Minhee reached into her bag and took out a keyring with a bunch of keys attached to it.

‘Keypad door locks were everywhere in Korea. When will this country stop making us carry key bundles everywhere?’

Minhee had been suffering from the after-effects of her recent trip to Korea, the so-called “Korean disease.” She took a long, deep breath and yanked on the heavy door.

“Oh my!”

As soon as Minhee opened the door and stepped inside, a familiar shadow engulfed her. Like a thief in the night, a large man scooped her up in an instant, groping here and there to make sure her limbs were still attached. Taejun’s body was hot against hers. With a contented sigh, Minhee wrapped her legs around his waist and threw her arms around his neck.