#074
We fell apart again, made eye contact again, and fell apart again in the ripening atmosphere. Kisses became so frequent they were countless, and the act itself became familiar. Even while drinking wine, the lips that came bumping into mine now seemed natural.
“You said you’re going to the flower market tomorrow.”
“Yes. I’m also going to buy that flower we talked about earlier. Sandersonia. Don’t you… want to see it in person?”
At my question, Woo Dohwan slightly tilted his head and met my eyes.
“I do want to see it, but you said you’d be uncomfortable if I came along.”
“No, well… It’s not that I’d be uncomfortable… I just worry about it. The weather’s cold, and I thought you might find it troublesome to come along for nothing.”
“Let’s go together. I’ll drive and help carry the flowers. If you don’t like that, you can borrow any of my cars.”
He knows how expensive the cars he owns are when he says that. So he’s saying it knowing full well that I won’t borrow one. Woo Dohwan’s eyes sparkled with mischief. His cutely wrinkled nose bridge and light laughter made me unconsciously lean forward and kiss him with a soft smooch. As I stared intently while moistening the lips that had lightly touched and separated, Woo Dohwan blushed slightly on his cheeks and said as if embarrassed.
“Why are you staring at me like that? Making my heart race. Am I that pretty?”
“Yes. Why do you ask when you already know?”
Cupping my cheeks and asking in a light tone, I nodded several times in agreement. Pretty. He’s so pretty and he likes me.
“I’ve seen so many pretty things that my standards are really unnecessarily high. My aesthetic standards are really high. Whether it’s plants or animals, they’re high across the board.”
“I know.”
“But… among all of them, Woo Dohwan-ssi is the prettiest. I hate saying things like this, but I’ve never seen anything as pretty as you. This makes it seem like I really only care about faces. Though I do like faces too.”
“Is this a confession?”
At his question with sparkling eyes, I shook my head back and forth. At my sheepish addition that it wasn’t, Woo Dohwan took the wine glass that had been in my hand, placed it on the table, and clasped both my empty hands. From quite close distance, he stared intently at my face, then habitually raised just one eyebrow slightly and spoke softly.
“Sometimes, I think I’m lucky that I have a face you like.”
“……”
“Actually, quite often.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It seemed like we were talking about inner thoughts. Of course, I like you because your heart is pretty.”
I tried to hold back the “ugh-” sound at his casual words, but I couldn’t. Seeing my scrunched face, Woo Dohwan burst into laughter. He seemed to think it was ridiculous even to himself.
“My heart started racing when I saw a man making bouquets, so I thought something was wrong with me.”
“I also had my heart race seeing a man who came to buy flowers, so I thought I should quit the business.”
“You were more serious than me. I was thinking I should go see him again.”
At the sound of his chuckling, I burst into laughter too. The perfect amount of intoxication had set in.
***
Woo Dohwan really did just hold hands and sleep. I actually had some expectations for something else, but is that weird? I mean, it’s normal. Usually even when you say you’re just going to hold hands and sleep, you do a little something else too. Even if you don’t go all the way, something similar, you know.
I stared endlessly down at Woo Dohwan’s face as he slept like an angel beside me. His face, long neck, slightly exposed collarbone. Lower and lower… I slightly lifted the blanket to peek, then gently covered him again. Oh. He’s healthy. After finishing my sequential scan, I looked at his angelic face again.
Last night I wondered if he might be impotent, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I thought maybe he wasn’t aroused, but for that to be true, I clearly heard him clenching his fists, rubbing his forehead against the nape of my neck, and muttering the national anthem.
When Woo Dohwan frowned as if dreaming, I reached out and gently rubbed between the wrinkles, and his brow smoothed out cleanly as if it had never been furrowed.
“Woo Dohwan-ssi.”
“……”
“I have to go buy flowers. You want to sleep more, right? Then I’ll just go alone. Come to the flower shop later. I’ll show you.”
I grabbed his shoulder and shook him slightly to wake his consciousness and quickly delivered what I needed to say. Still half-asleep, he reached out and pulled me into a tight embrace.
“Take my car.”
The dry, cracked voice from above my head sounded particularly sexy. The fact that I keep having sexy thoughts shows that I’m probably the one who’s getting impatient.
“Where are the car keys?”
“Let’s go together. I’m awake.”
“Sleep more. You’ll be tired.”
I patted his back meaning for him to sleep more, but instead our clear gazes collided as if he had woken up.
“Alright. Let’s go together.”
Taking the car that Woo Dohwan drove, we went to the flower market and bought a bundle or two each of several types of roses and tulips. Additionally, I bought several potted plants to try selling poinsettias and Excellent Point starting this week. Both are types that sell out around Christmas, and Excellent Point is often used as mini-sized Christmas trees, so I thought it would be good to display them and decorate with Christmas ornaments.
Woo Dohwan, having done this several times before, loaded the flowers very skillfully. He carefully stacked them bundle by bundle so the flower heads wouldn’t get damaged, and lined up the potted plants on one side.
“Nothing else to buy?”
“No. This is enough. This week is the last for bouquets too.”
“Get in. It’s cold.”
Only after confirming the last bundle was loaded in the trunk did I get in the passenger seat. As always, instead of Woo Dohwan who didn’t touch the heater, I turned up the temperature slightly. The car I was riding in had a well-sealed trunk, so there was no need to lower the temperature.
The tailgate closed and Woo Dohwan immediately got in the driver’s seat. He habitually checked if I had fastened my seatbelt properly and started driving. Maybe I woke up too early because of the flowers, but drowsiness came over me with the moderate vibration and noise.
“Isn’t the car too warm?”
“This much is fine. It was cold.”
“No, I’m okay.”
“The flowers are okay too. The trunk is sealed that thoroughly.”
Even though I said it was fine several times, Woo Dohwan reached out to adjust the heater temperature and naturally grabbed my hand. Instead of raising the temperature, he intertwined our fingers as if this was a substitute and wiggled our clasped hands.
Perhaps because it was an awkward time, we arrived in front of the shop faster than usual with no traffic. Woo Dohwan loaded two potted plants in my arms and sent me in first, then carefully moved the flowers. I put the potted plants on the shelf first and laid out the Christmas decorations I bought together on the table. After organizing the flowers, I need to decorate the tree. I’ll give one to Woo Dohwan too.
I hummed unconsciously. I unwrapped the flowers wrapped in newspaper bundle by bundle and arranged them in vases, placing them neatly in the showcase. Since it’s winter, many tulips were available, so the flowers I brought in this time were particularly heavy on tulips. Besides various colored tulips, there were ones with cute names like Mango, Grapefruit, and Sherbet tulips, Blue Lagoon tulips that become prettier when the petals open, and even Ice Queen. Just looking at them was satisfying.
I also filled in light purple and light pink sweet peas and commonly used roses by type. Kayla, Mansfield. And even Sweetness with its unique flower shape. Seeing everything laid out, I naturally thought the bouquets I’d make this week would be really pretty.
Meanwhile, Woo Dohwan finished parking and came back.
“What are you looking at so proudly?”
“The flowers. All the flowers I brought in today are so pretty.”
“What’s so pretty about them?”
“Just… everything. Oh, wait a moment.”
I took out a handful of Sweetness roses and eucalyptus. I trimmed the stems and leaves and wrapped them in white tissue paper and Claude paper. Finishing with a red ribbon tie, a cute-sized mini bouquet was quickly completed.
“This.”
“Oh.”
“Pretty, right?”
“Yeah. It’s pretty.”
“Oh, right! I’ll show you that. Sandersonia. It’ll be even prettier when you see it in person.”
I opened the showcase and took out a stem of Sandersonia from the flowers I brought in to show Kim Yujin-ssi, handing it to Woo Dohwan.
“This is it, isn’t it really cute?”
“It is. The color too.”
“The bell shape is really so cute. How did it end up looking like this?”
“You like it that much?”
As I was tapping the tips of the flower buds, a sudden question was thrown at me, but since it didn’t require any thought, I answered immediately without considering.
“Yes. I like it.”
“This is trouble.”
“What?”
“Every time you’re like this, I like you more and it’s trouble. But you like me more than flowers, right?”
“Of course. Woo Dohwan-ssi can even drive, but these are just pretty. Woo Dohwan-ssi is pretty and can do many things too.”
At my answer, his handsome face that had been nodding with some doubt crumpled playfully.
“Wait, the reason you like me more is kind of underwhelming.”
“How could it be underwhelming? That’s why I’m seeing Woo Dohwan-ssi. Because you drive well.”
Woo Dohwan’s brow furrowed as if shocked. There was a slight hint of playfulness in his voice as he spat out “Liar.”
“I know you’re seeing me because I’m pretty, so what.”
“Well, that is the biggest reason.”
I couldn’t deny it.
“What are you going to do today?”
“Well. This and that?”
“Right, then hurry and go do this and that.”
I smiled while gently caressing the petals of the bouquet cradled in Woo Dohwan’s arms.
“Make me a bouquet.”
“Who are you giving it to?”
“The real power at our house.”
Lim Nanhee? Instead of muttering her name that came to mind and asking back, I stood in front of the showcase and carefully selected flowers. She said the Ice Queen was pretty… Would tulips be better? I did bring in Ice Queen, but it feels awkward to send the same flower again.
“Should I do roses? Or… tulips? But she’s received tulips once, so roses would be better after all? The roses I brought in today seem good.”
“This won’t work.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
