CHAPTER 82

Taejun seemed to have decided not to pay attention to Minhee’s feelings for him. Because those feelings were hers, not his.

Though he didn’t say it, Taejun had drawn a line, that he wasn’t going to let Minhee ask for the same feelings from him or use them as an excuse to hold him captive. For Minhee, who was not yet ready to leave Taejun and Rose, this may have been fortunate.

‘Why did I delude myself into thinking Taejun loved me? I shouldn’t have confessed. My feelings……. I should have kept them to myself like I always do.’

The rejected love sank deep, shredded into pieces. Retrieving each fragment and reflecting on her actions, Minhee felt so ashamed and miserable that she could barely lift her head. She shook her head, as if trying to shake off her thoughts.

‘It’s not like I’ve been pining alone for the first time. It’ll be hard for a while, but there’s nothing to be done about that. Someday, I’ll meet someone who will love me back. For now, I’ll think of this as practice for then.’

Minhee’s shoulders sagged as she walked back to the penthouse after an exceptionally tiring day. By the end of April, the yellow tulips in the Park Avenue Mall had lost all their petals, leaving only their stems. The sight of the once-vibrant flowers now reduced to just stalks saddened her.

‘Will these feelings disappear so easily too?’

The workers plucked the tulip stalks and tossed them into a woven sack to plant another flower. The tattered, dug-up mess reminded her of her own heart.  Yet, a stubborn hope refused to let her give up.

‘Let’s hold on a little longer.  He didn’t tell me not to love him. I’ll pour my heart into loving him so that I won’t have any regrets till the summer vacation, and then leave. I’ll figure out the rest later.’

***

“Wait for me in the study.”

Before going to put Rose to bed, Taejun whispered in Minhee’s ear as he brushed past her. Minhee’s heart dropped. Her palms grew clammy.

‘So the time has come.’

She had thought he would just let it go, as he had been silent for days after her second confession. But apparently, that wasn’t the case. She felt as if her blood was draining from her body, yet her limbs were heavy as lead.

Collapsing onto the recliner sofa that had become her designated spot in Taejun’s study, Minhee hugged her knees and rested her forehead on them.

‘No matter what, don’t cry in front of Taejun. I have no right to cry since it’s my own fault if the contract is terminated. Let’s not leave in an unsightly manner.’

‘Ah, I’m not ready yet. Will I never see Taejun again?’

‘But he cares so deeply for Rose, so he’ll surely attend school events occasionally. Maybe I’ll be able to see him from afar then?’

The way his lips parted in a graceful curve when he smiled at her, the way he rubbed his nose lightly against her cheek before kissing her, the way he breathed in, the intense gaze he would fix on her as he entered her. The thought of never seeing those things again felt like her heart was being ripped out of her chest.

‘Hold it together. Don’t cry yet!’

After what seemed like fifteen minutes, Taejun pushed open the door to the study and entered. Minhee jerked her head up in startled surprise. Taejun walked lumberingly to his desk and rummaged through the drawers. Minhee watched his movements, chin propped on her knees. He came back with a folder in his hand, pulled out a piece of paper, and held it out to her.

“What’s this?”

“A contract.”

Upon closer inspection, the cover page did indeed say “Employment Contract,” and a check was clipped to it. Minhee looked up at Taejun in puzzlement. 

‘Do I have to sign an employment contract when I am fired? Was the cheque severance pay?’

“……What’s this for?”

“This is a new contract. It’s extending your live-in tutor contract to end next June instead of this June. All the terms are pretty much the same as now, and I’ve put a blank cheque in front of the contract, so you can write whatever you want for your salary.”

“…”

Minhee looked down at the cheque.

‘Wasn’t I supposed to be fired for breaching the contract?’

The cheque was in Taejun’s name, and the amount field was blank. Holding the first blank cheque she’d ever seen, Minhee thought of Devon. A blank cheque for her salary, she thought, would make Devon scream on the spot if she handed over the live-in tutor position.

Minhee let out an involuntary snort at the surprising turn of events, and Taejun, sensing her reaction, added:

“You’ll also be guaranteed a 3-week vacation during the summer, and we can adjust the schedule to be more flexible on holidays and weekends. So, read through it carefully and let me know your decision.”

Taejun’s proposal to extend the live-in tutor contract made Minhee feel that he recognized her abilities as a teacher.

‘If the contract is extended, what will happen to our relationship?’

Yearning for his love, she wonders if she could endure the relationship being limited to just s*x partners for another year. 

‘I had decided to leave when summer came, but…’

However, she recalled the panic-stricken emotions she had felt when she thought Taejun might fire her just moments ago. It had been truly dreadful.

“…I’ll think about it.”

Seeming dissatisfied with Minhee’s response, Taejun stared at her, his eyes narrowing, then pulled another document from the folder and handed it to her. It was a two-page contract.

Minhee’s face drained of color, and her heart plummeted with a thud. She knew what it was. It was the contract they had drawn up when Taejun offered to be her practice partner.

As he held it out to her again, the line that had been a thin, blurry dotted line between them became a thick, bold, straight line.

Minhee took the contract with trembling hands. It made it starkly clear that her relationship with Taejun would remain as s*xual partners and nothing more.

She clenched her teeth against the threat of tears. The glimmer of hope she had been harboring, hoping for a different outcome, now sank endlessly like a ship with a gaping hole.

“I’ve also updated the dates on our contract to match. I’ve made a few minor changes to the details, but nothing major. Just sign it.”

‘Something was off. “Just sign it?” But why wasn’t he looking me in the eye?’

This man usually stared at her as if trying to bore holes through her.

“What kind of changes did you make?”

Taejun furrowed his brow slightly. Hesitating, he reluctantly opened his mouth.

“…Clause 7. And I added Clause 11, no big deal.”

Minhee lifted the cover of the partnership agreement and quickly flicked through it.

Clause 7 was regarding the termination and cancellation of the contract. The clause that allowed either party to terminate the contract at any time if they started a relationship or saw someone else regularly had been removed.

Instead, it had been broken down into three sub-clauses. One stated that neither party could engage in s*xual relations with others during the contract period, and they would be sexually exclusive. Another stated that the contract could not be unilaterally terminated before the specified end date. And a third stating that the decision to renew the contract would be made one month prior to the annual expiration.

Clause 11, the newly added “Safety and Health” clause, was even stranger. It was a somewhat contrived clause obligating the partners to be responsible for each other’s safety and health during the contract period. The sub-clauses were even more absurd.

Having to travel in a car driven by a bodyguard capable of providing security when going outside of Aster School, being able to use tracking devices to monitor each other’s locations, and Minhee learning basic self-defense skills against unknown dangers…

‘What on earth is all this? This isn’t a s*x partner contract, it’s a slave contract! And what’s with the self-defense training all of a sudden?!’

Minhee looked up at Taejun with a questioning gaze. She couldn’t fathom what he was thinking.

“I wish I had that ability too.”

Minhee blurted out, and Taejun raised one eyebrow.

“…?”

“Mind-reading!”

For a moment, Taejun flinched and lowered his eyes, then slowly lifted his eyelids. It was vaguely amusing that the man who seemed to have nothing to fear in the world was unusually wary of her today.

Even as he had silenced her declarations of love with kisses, he still remained a charming and sexy man, which irritated her.

“As for this contract as well… I’ll think about it. But I can’t agree with Clause 11. Please remove it.”

“…Removing it all is not an option. I’ll provide a car and driver for you to use. That’s non-negotiable.”

“Taejun-ssi, you know I’m just a preschool assistant teacher, right? I’m not a celebrity, so why do I need to be chauffeured around by a bodyguard? It’s just school, home, school, home for me. Where else would I even go?”

“What about graduate school? And you visit your friends’ place on weekends.”

“Graduate school is just a quick trip across Central Park. And that’s not a friend’s place, it’s my own home too. I used to commute from there to school before coming here. How is that related to my ‘safety and health’?”

Minhee’s usually soft-spoken voice had risen slightly, while Taejun’s had deepened, coming out in short bursts.

“It matters. That time when it was snowing, late at night, with no contact from you- you almost got frostbite!”

“But that was just one time!”