Chapter 11: The Perfect Job – June 29, 2021
Tae convinced her to fill out an application with his appa’s company that evening. He came to visit her and pulled the online application up on her computer. He walked her through it and even pressed the submit button for her. Then he turned to her with a big grin on his face.
“Excellent! Now I can hire you!”
She stared at him. “W-what?”
“I need an intern for the rest of the summer. Just a simple office job. Sorting files, making copies, getting coffee and treats for me and those I’m meeting with. I haven’t advertised the position. I would like you to fill it.”
He wasn’t going to tell her that he’d been saving this job for her. His other intern had quit a month ago. He’d hired a temp to fill in until he could hire Yun. But she hadn’t rushed to fill out the job application. He knew why she’d been dragging her feet, so he fully expected her response.
“But, Tae, isn’t that favoritism?”
“Well, of course, it is! You are my favorite. And why can’t I have a little favoritism towards my best friend who has the courage to bring a baby into this world on her own and needs a job to provide for said baby?”
When she frowned at him, he continued, “Come on, Yun, it’s only for a few weeks. I’ll hire someone more permanent when you return to school. Please. Just help me out for the next two months. You can start tomorrow. Nine to six. Or eight to seven if you want to work really hard.” He was grinning down at her.
She sighed. Working for Tae sounded wonderful. Far better than serving coffee in a diner or trying to sell clothes to snooty women.
“You’ve got a deal, Tae. I’ll be there tomorrow. At nine.” She wasn’t sure she could get up early enough to be there at eight. She was still tired.
“Great. I’ll pick you up at eight-thirty.”
She blinked. Of course, he would. Tae was the best. He wasn’t going to let her waste an hour taking a bus. She felt like crying. And throwing herself at him. But she refrained.
“In that case, I can start work at eight if you need me to.”
“On certain days I might,” he responded with his sweet, boxy smile, “but not tomorrow. I cleared my schedule to train you during the morning.”
“You cleared your schedule? You were fairly confident I’d take the job,” she huffed.
“You’re a smart girl.” He reached out and tweaked her nose between two of his fingers. “I knew you’d know a good deal when you heard one.”
“What made you so confident that I hadn’t already found a job?”
He smiled at her. “I brought you home today. You were going to take a nap. Remember?”
She did. She also remembered Tae without a shirt on. Which vision had kept haunting her all afternoon. She hadn’t slept one wink. She’d lain in her bed and tossed and turned from one side to the other. Trying to eradicate that vision from her mind. To no avail.
It persisted even now as he sat in front of her. Her eyes slid longingly over the planes of his beautiful face. And she sighed. She hadn’t needed the reminder that Tae was gorgeous all over. Just dealing with his face was painful enough. Especially those speaking eyes of his.
Tae had intense eyes. Gorgeous eyes. Chocolate eyes. That persisted in haunting her dreams. And her waking moments. For she kept remembering the expression in them back when they used to kiss. Right before his head dipped each time, he’d get this crazily intense look in his eyes. It had made her stomach turn upside down every time. For some reason, she kept imagining it.
She must be a sadist. To keep torturing herself like this.
—
He picked her up at eight-thirty. She met him at his car. As she slid into his passenger’s seat, he handed her a bag.
“Welcome to your first day of working for me.” He grinned hugely at her.
“Are these…? Dare I hope?” she muttered as she opened the bag. Then the light of her countenance illuminated his entire car. She fist pumped. “Yes! Hotteok!” She turned towards him with glowing eyes. “Oh, Tae! I do love you!”
Their eyes collided, and for a breathless instant, they stared at one another. Her words had whisked all the air from the car and changed the dynamic between them momentarily. Or, perhaps, it simply revealed what simmered all the time below the surface. Things neither one of them was yet willing to disturb.
“You always take such amazing care of me,” she whispered in a tiny voice a moment later.
Her face appeared sad now. He felt his heart sink. Why did that happen? Every time. He made her happy one moment, only to make her sad the next.
“Why so glum?” he murmured in his deep, velvety voice.
She shivered as that voice rode along her auditory nerves. “I don’t deserve you,” she breathed as her eyes lifted slowly to meet his.
And she mourned the loss of him for the thousandth time. She could have had this – this sweet man, his thoughtful tendencies, his pampering, his looking after her – forever. For life. Had she just been more patient and made one different choice. Instead, she had allowed herself to be tempted by someone experienced in all the arts of which Tae was innocent.
A great sorrow swamped her. She and Tae could have discovered the delights of the marriage bed together. She could have been pregnant her first time with his baby. They could have delighted each other for the rest of their lives. They could have grown old together and become that adorable, elderly couple that still teases each other after fifty years. That dream could have been theirs.
But for one thing…Seonghan.
She lowered her head as a tear fell onto the bag she was holding.
“Where do you go?” Tae whispered suddenly.
She reached up with her right hand to attempt to surreptitiously wipe another tear away. “What?”
“Where did you go? You were so happy a moment ago. Then you disappeared. Your joy fled. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Tae.” She plastered a fake smile onto her face as an equally false note of gladness rang out from her voice. “You are just wonderful, that’s all. I was thinking how I don’t deserve you.”
“Don’t,” his deep voice seemed to boom in the car as his hand came down upon hers, swamping her with his heat. “Don’t put yourself down. I don’t like it when you do that.”
Then he turned his head to check his blind spot before he maneuvered the car into traffic. They rode the whole way to his office in silence. His hand covering hers the entire time. Even while she ate her hotteok. And fed him a few pieces with her fingers.
—
She absolutely loved this job. Taking care of Tae and his needs was right up her alley. The best part was that she got to see him all day long. She was near him constantly. Even when he was in a meeting or on his phone. He seemed to beckon her often. He kept her working at his elbow. He said it was just so he could make sure she was doing her work right.
But it felt like something more. Like he wanted her there. Near him. So he could smile at her. And the light of his eyes could dance upon her face.
Whatever his reasoning, there was no place else she’d rather be. She was sorry she had to return to school in a few weeks. At least she’d pass a blissful summer with Tae tending to his work needs while she provided for her baby.
