CHAPTER 10
Min-Jun received his first paycheck and was pleasantly surprised.
He got paid more than he thought he would, but he assumed it was because he had worked an extra day.
He thought about quitting, he really did, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that, and the following day, he found himself in the mansion again.
He felt relieved but also disappointed when he didn’t see Aidan anywhere around the house.
Aidan wasn’t home. Again. A couple of days later Elena commented that Aidan had taken a vacation, but Min-Jun was already highly frustrated with the whole situation.
In a way, he was glad that he didn’t have to face the man after what happened between them, but on the other hand, he couldn’t bear to go days without seeing him.
Three long weeks had passed, and Min-Jun realized that as much as he hated to admit it, he missed the man.
***
Aidan sat in a hotel room with his laptop on his lap as he worked on a new case. He tried not to think about Min-Jun but always found his thoughts drifting towards the mental picture of his male maid.
He always knew how to assess the situation correctly, but this seemed to be a special case. And worst of all was that he couldn’t put the whole situation behind himself and forget about it completely.
It was bugging him day and night.
Another thing that bothered him, and the reason why he was in the hotel room: there was a high chance Min-Jun would quit, and Aidan didn’t want to witness it. He decided to wait a few days, ready for a call from Elena, and the news that they needed to find a new maid.
So, he waited. It wasn’t his style of handling a situation like that, but there didn’t seem to be any other way. But as the days passed and he didn’t get the news about Min-Jun quitting, his confidence returned.
Aidan looked at the case files when he heard knocking. He already knew who it was, and he jumped to answer the door.
“Hi,” Becky walked past him and Aidan closed the door. She paused in the middle of the room and asked, “What did you do now?”
Aidan pulled her into a hug and began kissing her neck. “I just wanted to change the location a bit.” He gave her a grin and took off her jacket.
Becky raised an eyebrow. “Because of the case?”
“No.” Aidan shook his head, thinking about what to tell her.
“Why then?”
“It’s not that important.” Aidan looked anywhere but at her and added, “Sit down.”
Becky looked around and began undressing.
Aidan looked her up and down and smirked.
***
Becky lit a cigarette still sitting on the bed in all her glory. As she blew smoke into the air, Aidan stretched his hand and said, “Give me one too.” He was also sitting naked beside her. He lit the cigarette, took a drag, and started coughing.
“You’ve been smoking too much lately,” Becky noticed and blew out the smoke.
When his cough calmed down a little, Aidan replied, “Don’t worry about me.”
“Something’s bothering you,” she stated and bore her eyes into his.
Aidan’s jaw tensed, and he looked away, directing his gaze out of the window. He drew in another smoke and blew it out with a sigh.
“Is it that bad?”
Silence.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
Becky frowned. “It is bad.”
“Not really.” Aidan shook his head, gave her his widest grin, and put the cigarette between his lips.
Becky stared at him for a moment, then looked away and began collecting her clothes. “I have to go now. See you tomorrow?”
***
Once at the lunch table, Min-Jun was quiet, lost in his thoughts. Elena, the cook, and the gardener were vigorously debating something, but Min-Jun wasn’t interested in listening to their small talk.
As he focused on cutting his chicken breast, he heard Elena happily exclaim, “Aidan, you arrived!”
“Bon appetite everyone.” Min-Jun heard the familiar voice and froze without looking up. His fingers began trembling, and he felt his heart drumming behind his ribs.
The head of the table had been free in Aidan’s absence, but now Min-Jun noticed the movement there from the corner of his eye. He dared to look up, and their eyes met.
Min-Jun almost lost his breath, and his palms began to sweat. They stared at each other for a long moment, as Aidan spoke to the others present, but his conversation was in the background. Min-Jun completely ignored the voices around him.
_
Min-Jun looked back at him with his innocent, dove-like eyes.
Aidan wished he could just grab his jaw, and smack their lips together in a delicious kiss, and make Min-Jun shiver from his touch.
His insides screamed at the impossibility of that act, but he managed to keep his face neutral as usual and hide his inner turbulence.
When Min-Jun finally broke their eye contact, he focused back on his plate.
He scooped up the food with a fork which he gently brought to his lips while Aidan watched his every move and absorbed it into his memory.
“Min-Jun, please set a place for Aidan.” Elena pulled Aidan out of his trance.
“Of course.” Min-Jun rose to his feet and disappeared from his sight. Aidan took a deep breath and tried his best to focus on the questions directed at him.
***
Shaken, Min-Jun decided to take a break in the garden after lunch. He needed fresh air. Aidan was back in the house, so Min-Jun needed to calm his racing heart.
He walked slowly between the bushes and trees inhaling the crisp air, and when he was at a decent distance from the mansion, he heard footsteps. He stopped and turned curiously, and his breath caught in his throat when he saw who was walking behind him.
Aidan had a smile on his face when he caught up with him.
“Hi,” Aidan said as he stopped beside him and stuffed his hands in his pocket, mist leaving his parted lips. The cold was biting outside, but Min-Jun wasn’t sure if he shivered from the lack of heat or from Aidan’s presence. But he soon felt the warmth creeping up his face.
“Hi.”
_
There was silence between them as they started walking together. Aidan began: “So how is it going?” He felt stupid as soon as he uttered the words, but he couldn’t think of anything better to start a conversation. He hoped it would be enough.
“How’s what going?”
“I don’t know... Everything?”
“Are you trying a new method?” Min-Jun ignored his question.
“A new method? For what?” Aidan stopped in his tracks.
Min-Jun turned to face him. “I thought you’d give up, but you’re changing your approach to make it easier for you to jump me.”
“What?” It wasn’t a lie, but Aidan didn’t like that Min-Jun had to point it out like this. “What’s your problem?” he asked, laughing.
“My problem?”
“Yes! Why do you have to be like this?” Aidan crossed his arms.
“Like what?”
Aidan now rolled his eyes and sighed, then raised his hands in defeat. “You know what? Fine.”
All I wanted from you was sex. So why should I bother?
Aidan nodded and added, “I don’t even want to imagine what it would be like to live with you. Poor bastard that will marry you.” He turned and left Min-Jun dumbfounded.
Aidan wasn’t sure why he said that, only that he wanted to return the venom with the same intensity.
I’m done with this.
***
It was Saturday again and Min-Jun’s turn to clean Aidan’s workroom.
For the whole two weeks he didn’t get the assignment to clean any of his boss’s rooms, and he wasn’t surprised.
He hadn’t seen his boss all that time and hated to admit that he missed Aidan’s presence.
He felt awful after their last conversation; he’d realized he was overly harsh.
They could communicate the situation between them in a more civilized manner.
Min-Jun knocked and opened the door. The two of them didn’t say a word to each other when he entered the office; Min-Jun just started working on his task.
He felt the man’s gaze on him but acted like he didn’t notice.
He wiped down the cabinets and moved on to the shelves with books, working slowly towards the table.
When he moved the ladder for the third time, fixed his dress, he climbed up to wipe the shelves at the top, then slowly progressed lower and lower.
_
Aidan tried to focus on his work and ignore Min-Jun completely, or rather, he tried his best to look that way. From time to time, he would secretly glance at the younger man while Min-Jun’s back was turned to him.
When Aidan was focusing on his screen again, he heard a loud thud that startled him. His head spun to his right only to see Min-Jun on the floor holding his ankle and groaning in pain.
“Are you okay?” he asked, and within a second he was next to Min-Jun.
“I... Yeah... I guess so,” Min-Jun grimaced and looked down at his foot.
“Let me see.” Aidan placed his hands on Min-Jun’s ankle and asked, rubbing the area, “Does this hurt?” He tried various spots.
“A little.”
“And this?”
“No…”
“Can you move your foot?”
“I’ll try.”
Min-Jun moved it from side to side and groaned.
“Does it hurt a lot?” Aidan asked and looked at his face.
Min-Jun only nodded but didn’t meet his gaze.
“Wait a sec. I’ll grab some ice.” Aidan turned and reached the little freezer he had beside the mini bar behind his table. He pulled out a few ice cubes from the mold and grabbed some tissues. He wrapped the cubes and crouched back beside the young man.
“Here. This should help a little.” Aidan gave him a reassuring smile when Min-Jun glanced up at him. Aidan’s brain was working at full speed thinking about what else he could do to ease the younger man’s pain.
“Okay,” Min-Jun’s face turned red like a tomato. Aidan smirked and placed his other hand on Min-Jun’s ankle.
“Can I take this off so I can see if you’re bruised?” Aidan motioned at Min-Jun’s thigh-highs.
“I… I guess so.” Min-Jun avoided looking at him when Aidan removed his thigh-high, revealing a smooth leg.