Serin ran towards her room and shut the door behind her as fast as she could.

She sat behind the closed door, feeling the strength from her legs leave. It was hard to describe how she felt. 

Anger? Humiliation? Curiosity? 

She had to admit she still didn’t understand everything..but she understood one thing: she has to quit this job. This gave her a fresh sense of determination, giving her enough strength to get back up on her feet.

Opening her laptop, she opened a blank word file and typed.

Mr. Lee Taemin,

Please accept this as my formal letter of resignation effective immediately.

She added her name and electronic signature at the bottom of the page, converted it to PDF and sent it as an attachment to an email addressed to Taemin. 

Whew. 

She felt relieved as soon as her laptop made that whooshing sound, confirming that the email was sent. Restless, she started packing her things, making sure that she can leave France as soon as possible. She checked her ticket once again, and her flight details didn’t magically change - her flight is a day after next. 

Well atleast she will be flying to Seoul in less than 48 hours. 

She shook her head, determined to not let her thoughts wander, not letting those images form inside her head - the whip, blindfolded Sol…and the smirk…Taemin’s condescending and arrogant smirk when he asked her if she was a…a…..

UGH. 

Stop it Serin. You’ve made your decision. You’ll be out of his world in no time. Stop thinking about it!

Packing and overthinking soon spent her and she felt her eyes droop as soon as she crawled into her bed and under the covers. 

However, her eyelids flew open when she heard a notification from the laptop on the nightstand. 

“Oh, I forgot to shut it down.”

Using her elbows for support, Serin propped herself up and reached for her laptop to turn it off. Her curiosity got the best of her, clicking on the app to check on the email she just received.

She massaged her temple when she saw that Taemin replied to her email. 

Acknowledged. But you do know what clause 6 of your employment contract says, right?

She instantly combed through her files to look for the scanned document. Reading it three more times just to make sure, Serin winced. 

. She completely forgot. 

Her contract says she can’t leave within her 1st year of employment, otherwise she’d have to pay for the monetary damages stated in her contract, equivalent to three months of salary..which she doesn’t have. 

Sleep completely forgotten, Serin lay on her bed until the wee hours of the morning, overthinking. 

**

The next day, she resolved to ask for help. There’s only one person who knows about this contract because the other two are in the military. 

Minho. 

Serin initially debated about it, but she’d have to swallow her pride and ask. Minho is very close to Taemin and she saw how her boss, regardless of how evil he might be, listens to his hyungs. Most of the time, at least.

She waited until it’s a decent time for her to call, considering the huge time difference between France and Korea. 

Luckily, Minho was online on kkt, and agreed to talk to her. 

“Seonsaengnim!” 

In spite of the nature of her call, Serin couldn’t help but smile. Minho has such a sunny disposition, even when talking on the phone.

“Hi Minho..I just wanted to ask for your advice about..err…about Taemin.”

She heard Minho grunt, sensing that he understood that something must have happened. Serin slowly walked Minho through, carefully telling him about her worries about the things that Taemin has been asking her to do and how France is the last straw. She managed to tell him enough without giving so much information, especially the embarrassing parts. Surprisingly, Minho immediately understood, and Serin had the feeling that this is not the first time someone talked to Minho about this. 

“Are you okay, though? You must be shaken up.” 

Serin appreciated how that was the first question Minho asked after her long story. 

“I’m alright..I just need to quit. I can’t handle this job. I thought I could, but I underestimated it. Now I’m bound by the contract I signed and I honestly don’t have the money to pay for the penalty.”

Minho sighed on the other line. 

“I’m sorry for what Taemin did….it’s…he’s better at it now, honestly compared to a few years back. It was worse when Jjong passed…” 

Serin heard how pained every word sounded. The name “Jjong” registered with her…she remembered that he’s one of the members who unfortunately passed away a few years back. 

“No, you don’t have to apologize. It’s not your fault.”

“I know…but it’s partly our fault as his brothers. Taemin was literally a kid who grew up with us and we failed to help him when he needed us. And now…well…he’s a little set in his ways.”

Serin nodded, not completely comprehending. Does this mean Taemin has a bad habit of sleeping with underage girls? 

A chill ran down Serin’s back, solidifying her resolve to quit her job regardless of the consequences. 

“I guess I should really quit, then.” 

There was an awkward pause.

“Uh…I wish you’d give Taemin a chance. You’ve lasted longer than all of his previous teachers and assistants, Serin.”

“But..” She couldn’t continue protesting because why would Minho think whatever Taemin was doing was easy to let slide? That caught her off guard. 

“Well…err…what he does may be strange to most people, but he’s not a bad person.” Minho added, sounding deflated. 

“Uhm, sorry Minho, I know you two are like brothers..but I draw the line at consenting to sleeping with underage girls.”

Serin couldn’t hide the annoyance in her voice. Minho is the perfect gentleman and she’s fortunate to have him as a friend, so hearing him say those words was disappointing. 

“Underage?” Minho asked, surprised. 

“Yes. Sol goes to one of the local highschools in France. And I know the age of consent in France is 15….but that’s still too young! He’s taking advantage of his influence over her!!” 

Serin huffed, feeling her anger rising with every word. 

“Calm down, seonsaengnim.”

She took a few breaths to steady her nerves. 

“I’m calm.”

“Okay, can I speak now?”

“Yes.”

She heard Minho chuckle softly on the other line. 

“Why are you laughing? Do you think this is funny?”

“Aigoo…don’t bite my head off. It’s just so adorable how you care so much. But Serin, you had no idea that it’s all roleplaying, right? Taemin has a community he’s part of and they're careful about the age of the members they allow to join. That’s one of the things he reassured us with.”

“Huh?”

“Err…it’s…have you heard of communities?”

Serin has no idea what he’s talking about.

“I…it’s too weird if I explain it to you myself, but you can google it yourself.” 

She can hear the awkward tone on the other line. Clicking on her screen, she typed on the search engine and pressed enter. Her eyes almost bugged out when the search results came out, but it did explain a lot. 

“Are you still there?”

Serin almost forgot that Minho was on the other line, absorbed with all the information and…photos. Damn.

“U-uh..yes.”

“So, did you check?”

“Yes..uh..so it’s all like a game?”

She could hear the smile on Minho’s voice when he said, “You can say it like that. Although Taemin didn’t go into how extreme these things go..or his preference. We just made him promise that he’d be careful and that he won’t hurt himself or others.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. I know it’s shocking, regardless, but..it would be sad if you wouldn’t be working with him anymore.”

“I won’t miss Taemin, but I will miss everyone, even Manager Euisoo.”

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