#031
I waited patiently for Ban Hajoon’s continuation. That day we…? That day we got drunk very quickly because we mixed our alcohol. I’m the type to sober up quickly so my memory was relatively intact, but Ban Hajoon apparently wasn’t.
“No, making me misunderstand like that…”
“What misunderstanding?”
“…Saying your back hurt. That it was a mutual mistake…”
“What?”
A large hand roughly swept over his handsome face. When I frowned and made groaning sounds at the hand stroking down with excessively strong force over the dry skin, thinking it hurt even though it wasn’t me, Ban Hajoon with bloodshot eyes bit his lips tightly. Ah, this crybaby is about to cry again…
“I…”
“Yes?”
“I thought we… did that.”
“We did what?”
“That… thing.”
That thing? What thing? At his overly shy words, I briefly thought about what “that thing” might refer to. That thing, that thing. Um… that thing.
“That thing…?”
The stammered words – could it possibly be that? That… that thing? That thing!?
At my horrified gaze and automatically furrowed brow, his sparkling pupils shook aimlessly. No, crazy, isn’t this crazy? Crazy, what the… Without realizing it, I stepped back half a step while holding flower stems.
“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, but when Ranho-ssi acts like that, it really hurts my feelings.”
Ban Hajoon placed his right hand near his heart and pitifully contorted his expression. Ah, really. I moved my hands quickly, returning the half-step I had taken back due to some inexplicable guilt.
I appropriately mixed astilbe between the flowers and quickly wrapped and secured the stems. Then I wrapped them with white cloud paper and tied light purple ribbon strings to finish. Repeating these movements, I packaged the remaining two bouquets and pushed them in front of him.
“…Let’s just go.”
Ban Hajoon, completely deflated, rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a card. When I carefully grabbed the glossy card with just my index finger so my hand wouldn’t touch it, his hurt eyes turned toward my finger. The sigh he let out through his parted lips as if the ground would cave in was a bonus.
I turned on the card machine and shook off my hands, cleaning up the scattered leaves, cut stems, and withered petals on the table. Ban Hajoon pitifully held the five bouquets that were made in an instant and let his shoulders droop completely. Why is he acting like a dog in the rain? So bothersome.
“…Whew…”
“Geu… the ground’s going to cave in.”
I tried to say something to lighten the mood, but seeing Ban Hajoon’s too depressed face, I gave up on that too and swiped the card.
“One bouquet is-“
“Even if it’s one million won each, I don’t care, just swipe it. I’ll buy all the flowers here.”
“No… You don’t need to buy them all… I’ll just charge for five bouquets.”
Even if I sold all those flowers, I’d have to come out for several days to tend to them anyway. It’s not that I won’t sell them – I’ll probably sell about half to Ban Hajoon – but in any case, it’s better to adjust the opening and closing hours. Thinking this, I pressed the numbers firmly. After pressing five hundred thousand won and pushing the signature pad toward him, he moved his finger with dim eyes and drew a single line with a screech. The receipt printed out with a whirring sound, but he seemed to have no intention of taking it and just turned around.
Since I had already turned off the sign, I turned off only the remaining indoor lights and followed Ban Hajoon a bit late. He stood on the small terrace staring into space, and only left after confirming I had finished setting up the security system. His walking figure from behind looked pitiful and I was somewhat concerned, but not enough to follow and grab him, so I headed home. I needed to get some sleep first. This body of mine seemed to be getting weaker by the day, whether its default setting was naturally weak.
***
The expression “heavy as a thousand pounds” must be used for moments like this. My eyelids were so heavy as if weights were attached that I couldn’t open my eyes. After turning off 10 alarms that rang at 2-3 minute intervals, over 20 minutes had passed. If I delayed any longer here, I’d ruin the celebration of the engaged couple, so I steeled myself to get up at this point.
As soon as I straightened my upper body, my body collapsed forward again.
“Ah… shit. Low blood pressure…”
My vision went completely black for a moment. I collapsed onto the bed with a thud and caught my breath. I blinked my half-opened eyelids to scan the surroundings with gradually brightening vision, and this time slowly straightened my upper body.
Though everything was still spinning, my vision didn’t disappear like before. I lowered my legs below the bed, exhaled a long breath, and walked toward the bathroom. I was unusually tired today.
I quickly washed my body with lukewarm water and left the bathroom without drying my hair. After washing, I came to my senses somewhat. I pulled out a dining chair and sat blankly staring into space, then checked the time. 7 o’clock. Time to go down.
I roughly shook my still-damp hair and left the front door, thinking it was fortunate that the flower shop was in the same building.
Going down to the first floor of the officetel and coming outside, I walked familiarly toward the flower shop. I stepped onto the terrace of my workplace that I could now find with my eyes closed, disabled the security system, and immediately turned on the sign lights upon entering. I walked unhesitatingly through the dim interior, turned on the lights, and first took out irises to make bouquets for the engaged couple with an early ceremony time.
These were flowers I had recommended to a bride who unusually wanted a blue bouquet. Since iris petals are mostly closer to purple than blue, I paid particular attention to the color when ordering the flowers. I remembered how she repeatedly emphasized, ‘Boss! It’s blue, not purple, blue.’
I checked the iris petals taken out of the showcase along with the vase. Blue. The well-watered flowers were exceptionally fresh. Fortunately, they were in good condition. I also took out light sky-blue delphiniums to accompany them and first checked for any damaged petals.
“Mm… good. Good condition.”
Handling the flowers without a single damaged leaf, I started by making the mixed corsages and boutonnieres first. I filled the prepared flower box with white ranunculus and inserted the corsages and boutonnieres so they wouldn’t overlap.
I put them in the showcase to prevent the flowers from wilting and started making the bouquet. Since the color was so vivid, I didn’t add green leaves separately and generously inserted irises. While adding flowers, I continuously checked the thickness of the stems. Since it had to be held in the bride’s one hand, I carefully filled the spaces with light blue delphiniums while being careful not to let the body become too thick. After shaping it, I firmly secured the long stems. I took out white lace ribbon to wrap the secured part and finished with pearl decorations.
Before fixing it in the flower box, I took photos from various angles and sent them to the bride, then took out pink spray roses. I cut the long stems, filled the empty box with flower heads, and placed the bouquet in the center to secure it. I also took photos of the completed look and sent them to the bride before carefully placing it in the showcase. I made mini bouquets with moth orchids, yellow pompon chrysanthemums, and white carnations, and as a service, made a flower crown with thin ribbon strings tied to both stem ends. Since she would be wearing a wedding veil, it would look pretty if placed on top for photo shoots.
After moving my hands busily like this, the sun had completely risen. What time was it? After checking the wall clock, I briefly leaned against the table and caught my breath. The flowers were in strangely good condition. My condition wasn’t good. I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand and blinked several times. I gathered myself again and opened the showcase.
Just as I was about to take out flowers to make the second bouquet, the entrance opened and wind chimes rang. I reflexively turned my head to check the entrance.
“Hello!”
“Ah, ah…! Yes. Hello!”
It was the bride’s friend who had insisted on presenting the bouquet herself and offered her card. Wearing a black two-piece suit, she walked energetically into the shop with an excited face.
“My friend received the photos and said she almost fainted because they were so pretty. Throughout our phone call, I heard her say thank you and to tell the boss she’s grateful about a hundred times.”
I handed the flower box to her with a smiling face as she giggled.
“Here you go. There were some flowers left over, so I made a flower crown and included it too. Please tell her congratulations on her marriage.”
“A flower crown? Wow! This is my first time seeing one made with real flowers. It’s really pretty!”
The friend’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the flower crown placed on top of the flower box.
“I think my friend will really love this.”
“Then that’s fortunate.”
“I was a bit unsure even while coming after seeing the SNS, but I think we made the right choice ordering the bouquet here. Thank you for making it so beautifully!”
“Ah, ah… what did I do…”
I scratched the back of my neck with an embarrassed face and looked down. What kind of reviews were posted on SNS? My cheeks felt hot for no reason. Then I came to my senses at the clicking sound of heels moving away and moved my feet. I opened the entrance door and went out to see off the brightly smiling woman, waving my hand gently.
She held her phone to her ear and cheerfully told what seemed to be the bride that they had made a flower crown as a service. She didn’t forget to bow her head toward me leaning against the door and walked away with a happy face.
“Ah. That’s nice to see. I must make Gyoyeon’s bouquet myself, ah… Yeo Dongju.”
While resolving that I must make Gyoyeon’s bouquet myself, I remembered the forgotten Yeo Dongju and my face crumpled. What should I do about Yeo Dongju? How should I tell her about this? This must have been how Gyoyeon felt whenever Seo Ranho met strange guys and couldn’t come to his senses.
Really… it was complicated.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
