#011
I took out plenty of celosia and inserted them, then tucked white-petaled pompom chrysanthemums and lisianthus, along with pale yellow carnations, in between. Finally, I inserted a few gentian stems among the celosia.
“Wow.”
Ban Hajoon’s mouth fell open.
“The blue looks better than expected, doesn’t it?”
“Exactly. What is this?”
“Gentian.”
I folded the wet tissue I had prepared earlier in half and crumpled it. I made several of these, threaded them onto hemp string, and wrapped the stems together. While checking that the wet tissue didn’t cover the flowers too much, I spread out the crumpled parts and placed it on kraft paper, wrapping it once more to finish the packaging. Since they’d be unwrapping it anyway, I didn’t use ribbon and just tied it with hemp string.
“When you arrange them in vases, you can divide them like this: celosia with chrysanthemums, celosia with gentian and carnations, celosia with lisianthus. That should work well.”
“This one and this one, this one and… this one, this one, and this one with lisianthus. Like that?”
Ban Hajoon, who seemed to have trouble remembering the names and referred to the included flowers as “this one,” only said “lisianthus” correctly.
“Try arranging them in vases, and if it looks strange, Hajoon-ssi can change it however you want.”
“I think it’ll be pretty.”
Since it was made by someone pretty.
I got goosebumps but pretended not to notice, made five whole celosia bouquets, placed them in Ban Hajoon’s arms, and was about to close the shop. I was tired, and tomorrow I’d have to come in earlier than opening time to make the bouquet.
But my plan fell apart spectacularly. Perhaps worried about the bouquet, the engaged couple had been discussing the desired size, shape, and condition over the phone, and when they heard I’d brought the flowers in today, they came to check the condition in person. At least it was after I’d sent Ban Hajoon away.
Tomorrow was such an important day for these two, and I knew the bouquet was one of the most important accessories for the bride, so this wasn’t bothersome at all. In fact, I thought it was natural. I would have done the same if I were the one placing the order.
The couple wanted to receive the flowers early on their wedding day. However, lily of the valley is sensitive to temperature, so if they received it too early, the already drooping flower buds might face even more downward than their initial state. The flowers could also fall off.
After I explained thoroughly about lily of the valley, the engaged couple finally understood and said they’d come to pick it up an hour before the ceremony.
I told them several times that since these were flowers for precious people to have a good day, I would treat them preciously too, and saw them off to the door. We bowed to each other as if competing to see who could bow more.
“Congratulations. I’ll prepare the bouquet well and send you off with it.”
I watched their retreating figures holding hands and bathed in the red sunset before turning off the shop sign. Only after giving myself the rational excuse that it was okay to close a little early since I had to come in early tomorrow could I drag my tired body upstairs.
***
I sprawled out, barely managed to wash myself, and sprawled out on the sofa again. I felt like having a beer would be nice, but I refrained because I thought I’d sleep too deeply. I was just blinking my eyes blankly, wondering if it might be good to sleep early, when I reached for my buzzing phone.
– Ranho!!!!
“Ah, Gyoyeon.”
– Is your cold bad? Were you really sick?
“No, it’s almost gone. I was going to call you because I was worried you’d be concerned, but the flower shop was too busy.”
Gyoyeon said she was dying of anxiety while we couldn’t contact each other and demanded I tell her my apartment password right away. But since I didn’t know my own apartment password either, I compromised with Gyoyeon by saying I’d register her fingerprint when she came over later.
– Oh right. Hajoon was really worried about you. When did you two become so close? He went to buy flowers today too, and said Ranho-ssi seemed so listless, he looked like he was about to cry. He cries a lot, you know.
“That person? No, hey. He… cry, what… That’s really ridiculous. He asked me if it was too hard and to make him a bouquet. More than that, don’t you have anything going on with Ban Hajoon?”
– What do you mean nothing going on?
“Like, are you having something with him or… that kind of thing?”
– He’s the same as you to me, what disgusting talk is that? Are you crazy?
Disgusting… What’s that about. By now, my heart should be beating disgustingly. If he’s treating me the same as her, that won’t do. This isn’t right. Why… Ban Hajoon with me… He’s definitely supposed to be… Gyoyeon’s ex-male friend, current boyfriend character.
– Hey, and I’m having something with someone. It’s our team manager, and I’ve never seen such a sexy man in my life. I’m seriously going crazy, you know? Is it okay for a working man to be that sexy? When he rolls up his sleeves, the veins… Anyway, it’s no joke.
Gyoyeon seemed genuinely excited as she talked about “our team manager” without even breathing. Wait, no… what’s going on here? Why is Gyoyeon, who should be getting together with Ban Hajoon, acting like this with her company team manager?
“Gyoyeon, you and Ban Hajoon… No, so does your team manager like you too?”
– Why do you keep talking about Hajoon? And have you ever seen me have a one-sided crush? Our team manager likes me too.
“Ah… no, I just think you and Hajoon-ssi suit each other well. To call you just friends is… no, then… how do I… con, congratulations?”
The story has gone strange. Did the male lead change?
– Thanks, dude. I’ll show you later. Our team manager is really cool.
Did the female lead change? Then will Ban Hajoon meet someone else as his girlfriend? That’s not right. Why did it get twisted like this? I was trying to avoid only Kang Min without twisting the original as much as possible, but why aren’t the original’s female and male leads getting together? Could it be… because Ban Hajoon’s biggest interest is me?
Even in the midst of this chaos, I listened to everything from one to ten about what was so sexy about the team manager, cheered her on, and had my non-existent energy further drained before I could finally start the conversation I wanted to have.
I honestly confessed that Ban Hajoon, who should originally be Gyoyeon’s romantic interest, seemed to be too obsessed with me lately, and I couldn’t shake that feeling. I don’t know anymore.
“Ban Hajoon is way too interested in me. Why on earth would he be like that?”
– He probably likes you. I felt my heart skip when I saw you handling flowers too.
“Don’t say disgusting things.”
– What’s disgusting about it? I’m just saying that’s how it is. It’d be a big problem if my heart actually skipped for you. You’re kind of handsome and pretty, but you’re not sexy. I like sexy men.
“…What big problem again? And how sexy am I? If you have to get married anyway, just marry me. I’ll treat you well. You know I have money, right? I’ll absolutely never make you suffer.”
I made a silly comment to Gyoyeon, and she replied that if things with our team manager fell through, she’d seriously consider marrying Ranho then. We continued making jokes that only the two of us found funny, and when the laughter died down, serious voices continued again.
“Anyway, Ban Hajoon is weird. That day too, he was drunk and kept telling me I was handsome like a hundred times.”
– Not a hundred times, just a few times. And I think Hajoon likes guys who look like you. Maybe? But all the girlfriends he’s dated were incredibly pretty…
I bolted upright from where I was lying and held my phone properly. I also tore off the face mask I had on my face, crumpled it up, and focused on the call. So he has dated women?
– He kind of likes girls who are like proud cats but secretly clumsy. Plus he likes people who are good at their work. Um… now that I say it, that’s exactly you two.
“…Don’t say disgusting things. I should get ugly soon. Should I really get a mustache implanted?”
I was being very serious, but Gyoyeon on the other end of the phone seemed to find it very funny. I could hear the sound of her spitting something out and very loud laughter.
– Ranho, if you get a mustache implanted, you’ll look like a eunuch and customers will stop coming. The flower shop doing well is partly because of your face too, you know?
“It’s doing well because the flower quality is good. Because I choose flowers well. And there are so many pretty things in flower shops.”
– Funny. Your face is 80% of it.
Her mocking voice was followed by giggling laughter.
– Anyway, Hajoon is nice. Get along well with him. He knows a lot of people, so he’ll probably have many people to introduce the flower shop to. I heard flower business is all about connections? If you become close, it’ll be helpful. And you know his family is well-off, right?
“I’m well-off too. I’m a building owner. And I’m not even thinking of doing the flower shop that seriously. If it does too well, I’ll close the shop and rent it out.”
– Are you crazy? Why would you quit when business is good? I thought this bastard finally came to his senses. You know how relieved and reassured I am seeing you run your own business instead of living like a pushover to those worthless bastards all the time? Huh? Just keep the flower shop. Crazy, just try closing it. Really.
Gyoyeon knew very well what kind of life Seo Ranho had lived. How much he’d been ripped off by whatever trash he met this time, how he lived getting used and then dumped with no gap before the next relationship where the man he met was such a bastard comparable to his previous lover that he lived giving away everything again. She knew Seo Ranho’s dating history as well as her own, so I understood why she was getting angry. On one hand, Seo Ranho’s life felt pitiful, and I felt more grateful to Gyoyeon the more I saw of her.
– Anyway, just try closing the flower shop, I’m never seeing you again.
“What do you mean never seeing me again? If you break up with your team manager and I also close the flower shop, then let’s just get married.”
– You know I really get confused when you’re that serious, right?
“I’m being serious.”
– Whatever, anyway, I’m coming Friday. Pack me a bouquet as a gift. Let me receive a Seo Ranho bouquet too. Ban Hajoon has been going crazy lately.
Going completely crazy. But it was more terrible because I wasn’t unaware of that fact.
“He’s really weird, I tell you. Something about putting flowers on every cafe table… Anyway, see you Friday.”
– Okay.
After ending the call with Gyoyeon, I flopped down again. The flower shop was doing better than I thought. Twice a week, sales exceeded hundreds of thousands, and the other three days I consistently sold tens of thousands. Moreover, it was an only-flower shop that didn’t do potted plants or trees, yet business was that good. At this point, it seemed like either the location was really good, or I was good at making flowers.
If I had nothing, I’d be thrilled about becoming rich soon and work even harder with excitement, but I was already someone who had a lot.
“Should I hire a part-timer?”
After seriously considering it, I decided to think about it more and closed my eyes.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
