The Piano Lesson

His maneuvers pressed in without giving her a moment to lower her guard, and she felt half-choked by them.

"Thanks to you... I ate well. I'll turn in now."

"Go ahead."

Leaving the kitchen, Jae-kyung turned her head to glance at Yu-gam, sitting alone at the enormous marble table. The man who showed the outside world nothing but taut, coiled tension seemed so at ease here that he could have been a different person entirely.

As long as he doesn't ask me to live with him, I can bear this.

Aside from the demand that they share meals at the same table, there had been nothing out of the ordinary — which made her own white-knuckled nervousness embarrassing in retrospect.

Back in her room, Jae-kyung looked down at the tumbler in her hand.

If you hide away in your room out of self-consciousness, you'll never come out. Take it with you and drink it.

The faint fragrance of the tea Yu-gam had prepared for her filled the room where she stayed. She had just swallowed her first sip when the piano sounded again.

It was the tune she knew by heart — the one the Piano Man used to play. Wondering if he'd simply left the stereo on, she opened her door and stepped out. The sound was coming from the room beside the living room.

Drawn by the warm melody, so thick with longing, she stood outside the door and listened to the familiar piece. The piano fell silent, and she was just turning back toward her room when the door swung open.

"Is spying a hobby of yours?"

"Ah! No, of course not. I've heard the piece before, that's all."

"Can you play?"

"I've never touched a piano."

"Come in."

"That's all right. I was just heading back to my—"

Yu-gam sat down at the piano again. His every gesture was graceful, like a danseur center stage; his long, pale fingers looked as though they had been made for the keys. The easy, romantic melody suited nothing about his cold expression.

Back in her first year of high school, there had even been a time when she'd wondered how she might strike up a conversation if she ever came face to face with that boy playing in the music room. Of course, the chance had never come.

Yu-gam's profile, lost in the performance, was handsome beyond what she could deny. Before she realized it, the music had stopped.

"...Every time I hear it, I feel healed."

"Healing is exactly the word. Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, third movement — my favorite piece. Come here."

Perhaps it was the familiar melody, but Jae-kyung let her guard slip and drifted toward the grand piano. Or perhaps it was curiosity about the instrument she had always wanted to learn.

"Sit."

Lured by the gleaming keys, she perched on the bench.

"Put your fingers up."

"I told you, I can't play."

After a moment's hesitation, Jae-kyung brushed the black and white keys. The smoothness beneath her fingertips was quietly bewitching.

"I'll teach you."

Yu-gam laid his fingers over hers and played. If one day her own hands could draw a sound this beautiful from the keys, how wonderful would that be.

"Practice in this room whenever you like."

Only then did Jae-kyung come back to herself and spring up from the bench. The layered hands — his folded over hers — turned mortifying a beat too late.

"G-good night."

His gaze pricked at her back, but she scurried into her room all the same.

I've lost my mind.

The memory of Yu-gam's cool hand cupped over the back of hers, of his breath washing over her nape, sent her heart hammering against her ribs. I'll teach you. The piano had shaken her, if only for a moment.

She lay down on the plush bed, but the sleek feel of the keys lingered, and it seemed his fingers still cradled her hand; her chest swayed hot and restless. The plaintive melody teased at her ears, circling round and round, and even with her eyes shut tight, sleep would not come. In the end, she tossed and turned through another sleepless night.

"Secretary Seo. Come here a moment."

The call came from the direction of Yu-gam's room, finding Jae-kyung just finished with her preparations for work.

"Yes?"

"Come in."

She eased the door open — and there was Yu-gam, bare from the waist up.

"You called? What... is it you need?"

The sight of his body, muscle honed by years of training, registered all at once. She was flustered, but she refused to look startled. It was a frame entirely different from the one he'd had back when they'd shared a bed.

"Bring me a shirt from the dressing room."

"I don't believe that falls under a secretary's duties."

"It does now. Check the contract later — clothes first. I'm running late."

Jae-kyung bit her lip hard and went into the dressing room. His clothes are already laid out and waiting. Why does it have to be me?

"Starting tomorrow, dress yourself, Chairman."

"Tomorrow, too. This is Secretary Seo's job."

"You're perfectly capable of dressing yourself. I wasn't aware wardrobe duty was part of my job description. The exposure, the contact — it makes me uncomfortable."

"Ah — is it because you've touched me but never seen me? This much exposure in front of my wife is nothing. This much contact between a secretary and her boss is nothing either. It's not as if I asked you to hold me."

She could feel herself being reeled in, inch by inch, by his games.

"From tomorrow, you'll see to my clothes morning and night. If you have objections, we can redraft the contract."

Is the contract the only card he has? Last night's goodwill — his claim that he had no demands to make of her — was hereby revoked.

Face set in stone, Jae-kyung gathered up his suit. And because his expression in the mirror was that of a man about to whistle — utterly indifferent to her mood — the sense that she'd somehow lost a round made her blood boil.

"It's a sunny day and I'm in a good mood. Let's have a coffee in the living room before we head in."

"Drink it alone. I'll pass. And weren't you the one running late?"

Adjusting his cufflinks, Yu-gam curled the corner of his mouth as though her sour face were something adorable.

"If my wife hates it, then I shouldn't do it. That's the know-how of a well-loved husband — or so I'm told."

"I'll wait outside."

He had pressed close enough to suffocate, looking down at her, and when he finished straightening even his tie, Jae-kyung swept past him — cold and brisk, as though her work here were done — and stepped out of the room ahead of him.

"Keep giving me the cold shoulder and I'll cut your performance bonus. For poor attitude."

Jae-kyung halted in the hallway and turned to pin him with a stare.

"If my bonus rises and falls with your mood, I'll do the work half-heartedly and devote myself to managing my expressions instead."

Splitting her lips into a wide, manufactured smile, she bowed a crisp ninety degrees and swept out the front door.

Seo Jae-kyung doesn't yield an inch.

Her prickly tone, her barbed words — everything about her glittered before his eyes. I can't let a pretty face get to me. If he let his guard down, some ominous instinct warned, he would be caught in Jae-kyung's clutches and fleeced of everything — his money, his heart, his pride.

A week had passed since she began working as Yu-gam's direct secretary.

With the students' exams over, this was the season when the school festival kicked off. Ever since Chairman Kwon had founded the international school, the event had grown grander every year, drawing not only the current student body but performances from scores of alumni as well.

When Jae-kyung, changed into her gym clothes, stepped outside, the entire campus — auditorium included — thronged with a thousand students and more than a hundred faculty and staff.

"Secretary Seo!"

Manager Kwon beamed and waved at the sight of her. Behind him stood Yu-gam, watching her with a crooked gaze.

"What on earth are you wearing?"

Jae-kyung ducked her head and gave her outfit a second look.

"It's a gym uniform."

"Cover up a little, won't you? You're not one of the kids — it's far too short."

It was only April, but he seemed to be taking her to task for the short sleeves and shorts that her heat-prone body demanded.

"I'll dress as I see fit."

"Because it's an eyesore."

"...An eyesore to whom?"

When Yu-gam's disgruntled stare refused to budge, Jae-kyung drew a sharp breath, half-expecting another criticism.

"Other people seeing you."

An overreaction, surely. She scanned the area — but the only souls looking her way were Yu-gam and Manager Kwon.

"I'll proceed to the gym as instructed and carry out the on-site inspection."

She was hurrying toward the gym to escape his pointless nitpicking when—

"Jae-kyung!"

At the familiar voice, she stopped mid-stride and looked up at the staircase connecting to the auditorium. Min-ho was making his way toward her.

It was the first time since they'd parted at the proposal site. She'd been agonizing all this while over what apology to offer in reply to his text asking for time to think.

"Min-ho. Have you been well?"

"Yeah. Your face looks awfully prickly. Upset over me?"

She couldn't exactly tell him the truth — that it was her ex-husband Yu-gam, not Min-ho, who had robbed her of sleep.

"...Something like that. What brings you to the school?"

"I'm the hospital's chief medical staff, remember? I attended the foundation's event last year, too. You weren't here back then."

"Ah. That's right."

"If you can spare a minute, could we talk?"

"Not right now. Let's talk outside, after I finish work."

"One minute is all I need. I've felt uneasy too, not reaching out to you. Now that I've seen your face, I want to clear up the misunderstanding."

Jae-kyung swept her surroundings, checking whether Yu-gam might be watching from somewhere. Thankfully, he seemed to have moved on to the VIP seating. With Manager Kwon in tow, he surely wouldn't come looking for her.

"All right, then. Just for a moment. This way."

Min-ho followed her around to the back of the festival booths on the field, well away from the gym.

"I've given it a lot of thought. Let's get married as we originally planned. I'll forgive you."

Marriage, the very first thing out of his mouth — flustered by it, Jae-kyung glanced around, wary of listening ears.

"I'm grateful that you understand. The fault is mine for not telling you beforehand. But I truly must decline the marriage."

When she shook her head and would not yield, Min-ho's face stiffened.

"You can't marry me? If you'd met a me ten years older, you'd have thought about marriage too. It's only right that I take responsibility. Is your ex-husband threatening you?"

"Keep your voice down. It's not because of my ex-husband — I simply have no intention of marrying."

"Jae-kyung. He's a hard man to go up against, but... whew. I'll protect you, whatever it takes."

Wearing a wounded look, Min-ho clasped both her hands in a desperate grip, as though he had just resolved upon something monumental.

Before this misunderstanding deepens any further, my only option is to end things with Min-ho for good.

"Min-ho, we—"

"Secretary Seo!"

From far off came Manager Kwon's voice, breathless and harried, as he came running in search of her.