#036
A long, pale hand reached out and tapped my hand lightly. The tickling sensation spread instantly from my hand being touched at a steady rhythm. Without realizing it, I pulled my hand away sharply and rubbed the part where Woo Dohwan’s fingertips had touched while opening the showcase door wide.
I took out plenty of the roses I’d bought excessively, sorted by type. If I left them like this, I definitely wouldn’t be able to use them all in time.
“Why did you buy so many roses?”
“…I don’t know.”
He picked up a Rain Dance rose and brought it close under his nose, taking a short breath.
“They’re all different roses.”
“I know.”
“You don’t seem to know.”
I separated the roses by type and started trimming the stems. I removed all the leaves and used a thorn remover to get rid of the small thorns. After repeating this dozens of times, at some point Woo Dohwan was removing leaves too. I was trimming the rose stems that he had cleaned of leaves. I realized quite late that we were working together too naturally.
“You don’t have to help.”
“You should have said that before I started.”
“……”
If I’d known you were going to help, I would have stopped you. Would I have just left you alone? I unconsciously let out a deep sigh. In my head, three things were floating around: Kim Yujin, bouquet, and baby. But why is Woo Dohwan bothering me so much?
“Please leave now.”
“Why?”
“It’s more comfortable working alone.”
At my firm words, Woo Dohwan obviously pretended to be hurt.
“Wow, you work me to the bone and once I’m no longer useful, you tell me to leave.”
“Wh-what, when did I ever—”
“I got pricked by a thorn here. It hurts so much.”
Woo Dohwan held his reddish fingertip in front of my eyes, made a sad face, and muttered that it hurt terribly. It seemed he really had been pricked by thorns, as there were several spots where blood had beaded on his reddish fingertip.
“Those thorns are so tough, how did you get pricked like this?”
“Give me workers’ compensation.”
“What workers’ comp is there for a one-person business!”
“I’m going to report you to the Ministry of Employment and Labor. If you don’t treat me properly.”
What does he know to say such things? It was funny how he threatened me with lazily opened eyes, so I unconsciously burst out laughing before quickly closing my mouth. I grabbed his bleeding finger and examined it closely, then rummaged through the drawer where I kept miscellaneous items and found a bandage.
I put the bandage with a cute shark drawn on it on his index finger that had been intensively pricked by thorns and carefully examined his other fingers.
“There’s no bleeding, so it’ll get better soon.”
“I’ll keep coming until it heals. For treatment.”
“The gas money to come here would cost more, wouldn’t it?”
“It hurts so much I’m dying. What if I can’t even eat?”
Woo Dohwan acted as if his finger was broken. Crazy, it’s just a little thorn prick, it’s not like he can’t use his hand. I stared at him blankly with a somewhat absurd expression and shook my head.
“Your hand hurts, so go sit over there and rest. There’s coffee in that bag too, so drink some if you’re thirsty.”
At my suggestion, Woo Dohwan moved as if he’d been waiting and plopped down on the mini sofa where I always sat. He took out a lukewarm canned coffee from the opened bag. He looked at me once, then at the canned coffee once, then opened the can and emptied all the contents at once.
Then he unfolded the blanket I always covered myself with and reached out to turn on the mini heater.
“What, why are you doing that so naturally?”
“Because I’ve been watching it every day.”
Woo Dohwan smugly shrugged his shoulders and curved his distinctly red lips into a smile. His languid eyes slowly closed and opened repeatedly until at some point they closed completely and didn’t open again. Only the appropriate noise I made while trimming flowers and Woo Dohwan’s breathing sounds divided the quiet space.
After trimming stems, my gaze naturally turned toward Woo Dohwan. I repeatedly looked at his graceful lips that were slightly parted and breathing shallowly, his closed eyes, and his sharply extended nose bridge, then went back to trimming stems. Then at some point again, my gaze was fixed on the sleeping Woo Dohwan.
“I’m crazy.”
I came to my senses and focused on trimming the flowers. I continued the simple work of removing all the leaves and picking off wilted petals, and after finishing the last stem, I stretched my hands up high.
“Ah… my shoulders hurt.”
I stretched my body as if doing stretching exercises, then slowly lowered my arms. Woo Dohwan had been sleeping without moving a single fingertip until I finished trimming. How can a person be like that? Maybe he’s dead. His upper body was covered by the blanket so I couldn’t see if he was breathing or not, so I unconsciously approached him.
I extended my index finger under his nose and felt relieved when I confirmed the warm breath. I bent my waist and stared intently at Woo Dohwan, then sat down next to him, wanting to see him from a little closer. It wasn’t easy to take my eyes off his neatly closed eyelids, the eyelashes that densely filled the space between them, and his smooth skin where blue veins faintly showed through.
“He really is handsome. Really.”
I thought this handsome man liked me. Because it seemed that way.
“Can I open my eyes now?”
Woo Dohwan’s lips, which had been breathing evenly just moments before, opened and let out a low, husky voice. I hastily pulled away my face that had been looking closely from close enough to feel his breath and reflexively stood up. Only then did Woo Dohwan gently open the eyes he had been closing.
“Am I that handsome?”
A voice full of laughter echoed through the space. I didn’t answer that question and went inside the table where the flowers were laid out and reached out. I held the stem of a flower that didn’t need more trimming and acted as if there was more work to do.
When Woo Dohwan straightened his lying body, the blanket that had been covering him up to his neck slipped down smoothly. He moved his hands without hiding his languid appearance. He neatly folded the spread blanket and put it back where it belonged, then reached out to turn off the electric heater.
“I like it here.”
Words spoken naturally like breath in a low voice pierced my ears.
“…You don’t seem to think about the owner here.”
At my grumbling response, Woo Dohwan slightly adjusted his posture, put his arm on the backrest, rested his chin on it, and burst out laughing. What? Why is he laughing like that, making my heart flutter? I opened my eyes sharply and bit my lips lightly.
“Make me flowers.”
“…I can’t make any more today. I’ve decided not to make more than five bouquets a day from now on.”
“Did you sell five bouquets today?”
“Yes.”
“You sold a lot.”
I lowered the string I had connected to dry flowers. I repeatedly held them so the stems wouldn’t overlap and hung them upside down. I had taken out quite a lot, but they were quickly finished when I hung them in bunches.
There really was nothing more to do, so thinking I should really close the shop now, I opened the window slightly and surveyed the table. I gathered things like plucked leaves and cut stems in one place and pulled out wet wipes with pat-pat sounds.
“Kim Yujin and I are really just friends. She’s marrying my hyung.”
“Ah, crazy….”
“Crazy?”
“No! No. I misspoke.”
My hand that was wiping the table hesitated. I quickly corrected the words that came out wrong and dumped the gathered things into the trash can.
“That….”
“Did you misunderstand?”
“……”
“You said we were nothing to each other, but it seemed like we weren’t really nothing to each other.”
He hit the nail on the head. Isn’t that natural? Wasn’t it a situation that could be misunderstood?
“Sorry, right? For misunderstanding on your own and getting angry. See? You’re not uninterested in me either.”
I shook my head left and right firmly as if to say no. At my behavior, Woo Dohwan scoffed as if telling me not to lie.
“I know a flower that means apology.”
He slowly stood up and approached the table, bending his upper body low. He reached out and lightly touched my hand with his fingertip wrapped in the bandage, then smiled while habitually scrunching his nose bridge.
“Forget the apology, want to have dinner?”
“……”
“There’s a Korean restaurant I go to often, and the food is pretty good.”
“…I’ll pay. Instead of an apology.”
I’m buying because I did misunderstand. It’s not because I have other feelings for Woo Dohwan.
Probably.
***
The place we arrived at in Woo Dohwan’s car was a Korean restaurant in a quiet suburb. The building that seemed to appropriately mix past and present was situated in a ã„· shape on spacious grounds. Creak— When we pushed open the wooden door, a man in modified hanbok bowed to an appropriate depth to greet us.
“Two people?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a reservation?”
“We don’t have a reservation.”
It felt different seeing him use formal speech after only seeing him speak informally. It seems he’s not completely ignorant of manners. After a simple conversation of questions and answers, we were guided to a small-sized room. The staff member who guided us arranged our removed shoes neatly when he left. The door covered with hanji made a rustling sound as it closed. Inside the room, the sound of an instrument that could have been gayageum or geomungo played, fitting the interior.
Sitting across from each other with the floor table between us, I had nothing particular to say, so I just busily looked around. All the side walls were glass, so the outside was clearly visible. It seemed like each room had a slightly different view.
The outside view from the room we entered was a pond. In the small, modest-sized pond, several carp were swimming around, and expensive-looking sculptures and a bamboo water wheel made of bamboo turned constantly. The pond, which probably had lotus flowers blooming on hot summer days, only had traces of lotus leaves that had all withered with winter approaching. Following the movement of the fish, only duckweed called frog’s lettuce floated around at the edges where gentle ripples spread.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
