Chapter: 12
Compensation for Jealousy
“Did you come to congratulate me, oppa?”
Taeyeon spoke calmly, even though she could see the lingering regret on his face. The two of them were sitting by the window of a coffee shop on the first floor along the main road, talking.
In the end, Taeyeon smiled brightly and treated Shin Noeul only as an older brother she knew, leaving him no chance to express even a shred of his lingering feelings. Even if she noticed his other emotions, nothing would change.
“Oppa. Make sure you come to the wedding tomorrow. You got the invitation I sent, right?”
“Yeah. Tell Chohui and auntie to come too.”
“Okay. Our whole family plans to go. Do you keep in touch with Chohui often?”
“No. I betrayed Chohui, remember? I didn’t say anything until she gave birth. So she’s upset with me. Honestly, my environment changed so suddenly that I didn’t even know what to say.”
“That makes sense.”
“So bring Chohui and come for sure. She should be there for your wedding. She’s your best friend, after all.”
Chohui was her closest friend. When Taeyeon had lived in the rooftop room at Chohui’s house with her mother, the only reason she had been able to feel safe was because of Chohui and Noeul.
Even while being aware of Noeul’s lingering feelings, Taeyeon tried her best never to cross the line. An awkward time passed. There wasn’t much more to say. In fact, trying to find things to say within clearly drawn boundaries was even harder.
Feeling tired, Taeyeon smiled and spoke.
“Oppa, it’s time to feed the baby. I should go.”
“Oh, right. Then we should get up. Let’s go, Taeyeon.”
When they stood up and stepped outside, the neon signs looked even more brilliant against the deep darkness. The streets were still crowded. Noeul smiled and held out his hand.
“Take care, Taeyeon.”
Taeyeon looked at his outstretched hand for a moment, then casually took it and shook it. His hand was neither cold nor warm—light and unobtrusive. Maybe just like the time they had shared in the past.
“I’m going now, oppa.”
“Want me to walk you home?”
“It’s just across the street. Why would you? We’re not even a couple.”
Right. They weren’t a couple. And that made it hurt even more. Noeul stood there, watching as Taeyeon walked away. She crossed the street, blending into the crowd, then disappeared into the alley. He wished that she would disappear from his heart as well.
When Taeyeon reached her house, Hyunseo’s car was parked outside. As she approached the gate, Hyunseo stepped out of the car. Seeing him get out of a car with the engine already turned off, Taeyeon felt something was strange.
Why would a man who valued every second step out of a parked car with the engine off?
“Director. Where did the driver go? Why are you getting out there?”
“Sometimes I need time to think alone. In that sense, a car is a good space. More importantly, where have you been, Assistant Manager Min?”
His tone sounded oddly sharp. With five years of office experience, Taeyeon handled this level of tension easily.
“Ah. I met someone I know.”
“A man?”
The nuance was strange. What should have been a light, casual question sounded heavy and accusatory. Hyunseo narrowed his eyes and continued.
“Is it appropriate for a bride-to-be to be meeting men like that?”
The way he said it made Taeyeon wonder if he was in a bad mood. If so, she should tolerate it.
She nodded confidently.
“Yes. It’s fine.”
“What?”
“We’re not getting married because we’re in love, and this is my job anyway. Is it wrong for me to meet men privately?”
Hyunseo was speechless.
“It could look bad to others.”
“He’s my close friend Chohui’s older brother. And he works at the same company.”
“Hmm.”
Hyunseo stared at her with his lips pressed tightly together. Taeyeon remained composed.
“It’s a perfectly normal relationship. There’s nothing to misunderstand. We weren’t even somewhere shady. It was a café on a main street—”
She stopped mid-sentence and looked at him.
“Did you see me while driving?”
Without answering, Hyunseo walked through the gate. Watching him, Taeyeon became certain that he had seen her.
‘What is it? Could it be that he feels uncomfortable because I met another man? I wish that were true.’
Even if it didn’t show, she hoped that the emotion called jealousy existed inside Choi Hyunseo, even just a little. She knew it was unreasonable, yet she was surprised that her expectations toward him refused to fade.
Feeling his piercing gaze, she entered the house, where Icheon-daek was pacing back and forth, holding Yoonwoo. The baby was crying.
“Why are you crying, Yoonwoo? Are you looking for your mom? It’s evening, and mom’s been gone, so you must be missing her. Young madam, Yoonwoo seems to be looking for you. You never go out, so of course he’d notice.”
At Icheon-daek’s words, Taeyeon quickly washed her hands and reached out.
“Come here, Yoonwoo.”
Hyunseo’s gaze fell on Taeyeon’s outstretched palm.
When Taeyeon held out her arms, Icheon-daek placed Yoonwoo into her embrace.
“Why were you crying, hmm? Were you crying because of mom?”
Yoonwoo immediately stopped crying, opening his mouth in a wide smile when he saw her. Icheon-daek clicked her tongue.
“Oh my. Even though I held him all this time, he only wants his mom.”
Is he becoming attached? Hyunseo frowned slightly as he watched Yoonwoo smile brightly in Taeyeon’s arms. The child was completely attached to her.
Because she’s his mother? Even though she doesn’t even produce milk?
Yet, even he felt at ease seeing Yoonwoo in Taeyeon’s arms.
So Assistant Manager Min Taeyeon is faithfully doing her job. And achieving good results too.
With that thought, he turned and went upstairs, but Taeyeon’s smiling face from earlier, as she sat across from another man in the café, flashed through his mind.
He knew who that man was: Assistant Manager Shin from Sales Team 1.
He was someone who came up during the background check on Taeyeon. A man who lived in the same house. From the very first investigation, he had been an irritant. Same house, same workplace. He assumed they must have crossed paths countless times. He also knew it wasn’t strange for them to meet once before her wedding.
And yet, it all irritated him.
“I should cut her salary.”
The next night, after putting the lovely Yoonwoo to sleep, Taeyeon went upstairs. With the wedding the next day, everything felt hectic. As she entered the bedroom, dimly lit by only a mood lamp, she saw someone sitting on the sofa.
That familiar large build belonged to a man who normally never entered this bedroom—someone who always gave hope but never approached, only to disappear again.
“What brings you here, Director?”
It was rare for him to enter the bedroom.
‘On the night before the wedding, why is he here?’
“I was thinking,” he said. “Whenever I hurt or offended Assistant Manager Min, I always compensated you with money.”
“Yes, you did.”
“And when I felt it wasn’t enough, I even sent extra.”
“Yes. Though I never asked for it.”
Was he going to say he gave too much and wanted it back? It didn’t seem likely, but the way this conversation was going didn’t feel good.
When Taeyeon looked at him, waiting for what came next, Hyunseo nodded.
“That’s right. Even if you didn’t ask, I believed proper compensation was necessary. But what about the opposite case? How should compensation work then?”
“Pardon?”
“The contract. It’s one-sided.”
He was right. Contracts usually contain mutual obligations. But there had been no clause about what Min Taeyeon owed Choi Hyunseo if he got hurt.
Contracts were important. That was why Taeyeon had read it carefully many times.
“As far as I remember, there was no clause saying I had to compensate you.”
“That’s why. Let’s add one. So you’ll compensate me too.”
“Me? Compensate you?”
It was absurd. Was he planning to take back the money he’d given? But from the start, theirs had been a contract involving things that couldn’t be easily priced. Taeyeon didn’t think she had been overpaid for the constant tension and exhaustion she endured.
Sometimes, she even wanted to say she’d pay him just so he’d experience bowing and submitting to her once.
This Hyunseo, speaking of compensation, felt far removed from his usual sharp and composed self. Taeyeon looked at him suspiciously.
“What kind of compensation—”
Her words were cut off.
Hyunseo suddenly lunged forward and pressed his lips to hers. In the instant their lips met, before she could resist, her lips were forced open and his heavy tongue pushed inside. The suffocating sensation wasn’t from lack of air, but from sheer shock.
