CHAPTER 90

Taejun closed and opened his eyes for a moment. It was as if the opaque curtain that had always surrounded Minhee in a blur had been lifted. The gentle, delicate, and pure charm that had shyly hid and avoided getting close enough to be felt was now wrapping around her entire being, as if putting it on full display.

Walking upright, calmly and gracefully, she seemed like a different person from when they first met. It was not just a change in her attire.

It was as if the small flower bud hidden in the shade, tightly closed, had bloomed magnificently right in front of Taejun’s eyes without him noticing.

Taejun’s breath caught as he looked at Minhee. The men passing by her slowed their steps and stole glances at her. It was as if a red flag had been waved right in front of his face, driving him crazy.

‘I should take her away from here.’

Intending to carry Minhee out of this damned party, even if he had to hoist her up, Taejun chased after her, but Lara Rosenburg clung to him annoyingly, babbling nonstop. When he almost caught up to Minhee near Table 2, for some reason, Luca blocked him and prevented him from approaching her.

As soon as Taejun was ushered to the VIP table, he was grabbed by the brothers, Junhee and Jaehee. His heart was pounding so hard that he couldn’t even hear what they were rambling about. He was more nervous than when he was about to jump out of a plane before a dangerous mission.

There was still an empty seat next to Minhee, and Taejun stood up, only to sit back down as Tyler Grant had already taken that spot.

That rat-like bastard sat next to Minhee and started talking to her. Taejun saw Tyler’s shameless gaze sweeping up from Minhee’s cleavage, and he abruptly stood up.

‘If there’s no seat, I’ll just make one.’

As he approached the table, he saw Grant holding Minhee’s hand.

‘Son of a b*tch. You’re fired.’

When Taejun glared at Grant, he let go of Minhee’s hand and hastily got up. After giving Grant a brief glare, he shooed Luca away to the VIP table and finally took the seat next to Minhee.

But this time, Lara Rosenburg, whom he had somehow forgotten was sitting next to him, clung to him. Taejun’s patience was stretched thin, like a delicate thread about to snap.

It also strangely bothered him to see Minhee stand up from her chair to take a video of Jaehee’s opening speech.

‘She said she was a fan of Jaehee. But what kind of feeling is it to like an artist? Does she like Jaehee as a man as well?’

As far as Taejun was concerned, Jaehee was a decent guy.

‘But Jaehee loves another woman. Even knowing that, is she still fond of him like this?’

Taejun was vaguely aware of the childishness of these feelings, and he felt self-conscious. In all his life, he’d been through a lot, but never before had his impulsive emotions overwhelmed his reason and intellect like they did today.

The burning, painful anger that felt like a knife stabbing his heart, and the fierce possessiveness surging towards this woman, were beyond his control.

As Jaehee’s speech ended, Minhee put her phone down on the table and clapped, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Jaehee. Seeing her smile at another man made Taejun feel as if someone was pressing a stone against his heart. He wanted to possess every cell of her being and imprint his mark all over her.

‘This is not normal.’

Even as he thought that, his mouth blurted out a childish, irrelevant statement.

“Jaehee has a fiancée. He’s going to get married soon.”

*

Minhee doubted her own ears. After King J’s speech ended, she was in the middle of straightening her dress to sit back down, when Taejun suddenly stood up and, in Korean, bluntly told her that Jaehee had a fiancée and was going to get married soon.

As Minhee sat down in the chair that Taejun had pushed for her, a hush fell over the table. The shocked expressions of the people around were first directed at Taejun, then shifted to Minhee, whose cheeks had flushed red, and finally transformed into a curious fascination.

Minhee wanted to snap at him and say, “Boss, you need to pay attention to your employees’ eyes,” but she held it back.

‘Sitting between two women, alternating his kindness between the left and right. I wonder what the employees think of that.’

‘And! Since it’s a party hosted by Jaehee’s fiancée, of course he’s giving the opening speech, and the next step is obviously marriage. What’s the big news here?’

Even though no one else would understand the Korean, Minhee muttered softly, just loud enough for Taejun to hear.

“I know. I might have found out even before you, Taejun.”

“…”

As the appetizers arrived and lively conversations filled the table, Lara thoroughly ignored Minhee and monopolized the conversation with Taejun, even bringing in her own father. It seemed as if only the three of them – Taejun, Lara, and her father – existed on the table, completely disregarding everyone else.

Minhee pricked up her ears, curious to hear what they were talking about, but there was no room for her to interject as they talked about their recent successful IPO deal.

Feeling left out and longing for Luca, Minhee shuffled through her appetisers in silence. Then, the man sitting next to her, Tyler, could no longer contain his curiosity and cautiously spoke to Minhee.

[Excuse me, I think we didn’t finish the introduction earlier… What’s your name? And if it’s not too much to ask, which department do you work in?]

‘Oh, right, the conversation had been abruptly cut off when Taejun came.’

[Oh, I’m not actually with TJH Capital. I’m personally employed by Mr. Baek. My name is Minhee Seol.]

The unexpected answer seemed to surprise Tyler, and his eyes widened. He leaned in slightly and asked in a soft voice.

[If it’s not too intrusive, may I ask what kind of work you do?]

The man, who looked two or three years older than Minhee, was curious.

[Not at all. I’m a teacher, an assistant teacher for now.]

Tyler’s gaze briefly glanced at Taejun’s face, then returned to Minhee. His perplexed expression showed that his curiosity was not yet satisfied.

Anyone who didn’t know Taejun’s personal life would have a hard time guessing why a hedge fund boss would personally hire a teacher.

Just as Tyler was about to ask Minhee more questions, he froze. His gaze was fixed on something behind Minhee.

Minhee turned to see Taejun stretching his arm over the back of her chair, looking at Tyler with a cold expression. Tyler, sensing the atmosphere, quickly scooped up a spoonful of tuna tartare and put it in his mouth.

‘What’s wrong with this guy?’

Minhee knew Taejun didn’t care about other people’s gazes, but these were his company employees, not just strangers on the street.

Behaving this way would naturally make the employees curious about their relationship, and it was not a relationship they could openly reveal. At least, that’s what Minhee thought.

Minhee opened her mouth to ask Taejun, who still had his arm draped over the back of her chair, to move away but was startled when his face suddenly leaned in close. Taejun whispered in her ear, his voice low and husky.

“Shall we go home now?”

“Why……? The party has just started, and if it’s Rose, I already called the weekend nanny and said she fell asleep without any trouble an hour ago.”

Minhee lightly pushed his shoulder, but he didn’t budge.

“…You’ve already seen Jaehee, haven’t you?”

“I’ll still get his autograph later.”

“I’ll get it for you.”

“I want to take a photo too.”

“……I’ll invite him to my house.”

Taejun’s expression looked desperate as he tried to convince her.  In truth, Minhee also wanted to go home, but her jealousy had made her spiteful. For a man who put up walls around his women, he couldn’t even put up a non-slip chin around Lara Rosenburg. 

“I’m still hungry, and I haven’t even had lunch.” 

“…….”

Taejun slowly raised his upper body. Just then, the waiter cleared away the appetizers and began serving the main dishes. Minhee had chosen tenderloin steak, so the waiter came over and replaced her knife with a long, sharp steak knife. As soon as Taejun saw it, he frowned.

Taking the same steak, Taejun picked up his knife and fork and sliced it into pieces with fierce intensity. As with everything Taejun does, even the size of the pieces seems to be almost constant. Minhee inwardly marveled at the neatness of it all, holding the fork and knife in both hands.

Suddenly, the plate disappeared in front of her. She blinked a few times in surprise, and Taejun’s plate of steak was in front of her. Then he wrapped his palm around the sharp edge of the steak knife in Minhee’s hand and gently pulled the knife out of her hand. 

“The blade is too sharp.” 

“…….”

Minhee looked at Taejun with a disbelieving gaze, but Taejun wore a satisfied expression as he cut a piece of steak and placed it in his mouth.

Not just Minhee, but everyone at the table had their mouths agape, staring at him. Minhee lowered her head to hide her blush and took the piece of steak Taejun had cut for her into her mouth.

‘Sigh. I don’t even know anymore. Let whatever happens, happen.’

[TJ, introduce the lady sitting next to you. I don’t think I’ve seen her face before.]

Lara’s sticky voice rang out. Draping her arm over Taejun’s shoulder, Lara finally showed interest in Minhee. Her indifferent, cold eyes looked down on Minhee as if she were insignificant. Taejun slowly chewed his steak and washed it down with a sip of wine.

[This is Minhee. She’s Rose’s teacher.]

[Ah, I see. So that’s how it happened. Was she the one you hired instead of sending Rose to a boarding school?]