#047
Not knowing what I was thinking, Woo Dohwan’s lips, which had been firmly pressed together when our eyes briefly met, relaxed and curved into an arc. Ah, my heart hurts. Woo Dohwan is bad for the heart. Thump thump, I placed my hand on my rapidly beating heart area and pressed down, then suddenly bit the inside of my mouth at a question that arose.
Watching him stack the flowers wrapped in newspaper in the trunk without overlapping them, I wondered why he was helping me with my work to this extent. Moreover, borrowing Lim Nanhee’s words, didn’t she say “If you’re not going to come to work at the gallery, bring your card!”? Today was a weekday, and if he didn’t want his card taken away, he’d have to go to work.
“Let’s go.”
“What?”
“Let’s go.”
The tailgate closed with a smooth electronic sound. I, who had been leaning against the rear door looking at Woo Dohwan, grasped the situation a beat late and straightened my leaning body.
“Ah, ah. Let’s go. You worked hard.”
Like a habit ingrained in his body, Woo Dohwan politely opened the passenger door for me, and only after confirming I got in did he walk around the hood. When he got in the driver’s seat and reached out to raise the heater temperature, his fingertips were red. Then as if realizing something, he chose to lower the already set temperature a bit more.
The trunk seemed well sealed so it didn’t seem necessary to go this far, but even if I said it was okay, he didn’t seem like he’d listen, so I swallowed the words that had risen to my chin. Feeling sorry for the interior temperature that retained some coolness rather than warmth, I pulled the outer clothing draped over my shoulder to offer to Woo Dohwan, but at his prim refusal with a shake of his head, I didn’t insist further and just covered my knees with it.
“It’s my first time going to the flower market, but it was really pretty.”
“Pretty, right?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know there would be so many flowers.”
“It’s good to go when you have a lot to think about. You get so distracted looking at pretty things that you forget what you were worrying about.”
The car caught by the traffic light smoothly stopped at the stop line.
“What should we do about the cold?”
“I’m fine.”
The fingertips gripping the steering wheel were still red, but he said he was fine. I fiddled with the clothing covering my knees, then lifted my baseball cap with my fingertips in embarrassment and met eyes with Woo Dohwan.
“Should I… give you the clothes?”
“How about holding my hand instead of giving me clothes?”
“……”
Woo Dohwan, who had his wrist resting on the steering wheel, moved his fingers with a rustle. His long, straight fingers were red and swollen, swaying pitifully. As if asking me to please hold them. Heat rushed to my face instantly. Woo Dohwan flirts as naturally as breathing.
“I have poor circulation in my hands and feet.”
“Honey, I know because I’ve held your hand before. It’s no fun if you keep lying.”
His reddish lips that casually spoke curved into an arc. My gaze turned forward at the well-timed signal change, and Woo Dohwan’s gaze also slowly turned ahead. The car started smoothly and silence settled for a short time. Meanwhile, the still reddish hand came down over the gear shift and caught my gaze, swaying as if earnestly asking to be held.
I didn’t want to, but sighs kept escaping me. I checked my hand once, Woo Dohwan’s hand once, then rubbed my sweaty palm on my thigh. After hesitating, I finally reached out my hand. I don’t know anymore.
I placed my hand on top of Woo Dohwan’s hand, which had flipped over to show its palm in response to my movement, and inserted my fingers to match the gaps that opened up. His hand was indeed cold, as if it really had been cold.
“Warm.”
“……”
“Do you know why Pinocchio’s nose grew long?”
“…I know, so be quiet.”
I propped my arm on the window frame and rested my chin on it. Following my exhaled breath, white frost formed on the window and disappeared. The fingers held with appropriate strength were thicker than I thought, and the palm was soft. I don’t know why I have to elaborate on the texture of Woo Dohwan’s hand in my mind, but the clasped hand was… well.
To be honest, it felt good.
***
The hand that had been held until we arrived in front of the flower shop was never released. Woo Dohwan parked the car on the roadside in front of the store, turned on the hazard lights, and leaned back deeply into his seat.
“Ah, I don’t want to let go of your hand.”
“I guess you’re not thinking about me.”
“Wow, cold. You were holding my hand really tight and wouldn’t let go.”
“What do you mean really tight. I just held it.”
When I spread my fingers that had been clasped, Woo Dohwan reluctantly and very slowly separated his overlapping hand as if it were regrettable. I rubbed my sweaty palm on my pants hem and opened the passenger door. Thinking I should be the one to unload the flowers.
“I’ll handle the flowers,”
By the time I said that much, Woo Dohwan, who had exited the driver’s seat faster than me, had already arrived at the rear of the car. What, is he some modern-day farmhand? No matter how voluntary his actions were, I felt I should at least give him daily wages to feel at ease. I confirmed the tailgate was rising and got out of the passenger seat to approach Woo Dohwan’s side.
“I’ll do it. I was trying to say I’d move them-“
“Open the door.”
Woo Dohwan, holding two bundles of flowers in his arms, gestured toward the store with his chin. I took out one bundle from among the neatly arranged flowers, held it in my arms, and turned around. It wasn’t that urgent, but it was the moment I was hurriedly moving my feet. My toes, which failed to notice the protruding sidewalk blocks that were out of place, caught on the ledge and my body instantly swayed toward the ground. I felt my body slightly float in the air. I quickly judged that this wouldn’t end with just a twist.
“Uh- uh…!”
I’m going to fall. Since I was holding flowers in my arms, I reflexively reached out one hand. It was the moment I closed my eyes tightly in anticipation of the pain to follow and thought about how to fall so my knees would be less scraped, the flowers less crushed, my wrist uninjured.
“You should, be careful.”
Whoosh- I was urgently embraced by a solid body. Woo Dohwan, breathing roughly and wrapping around my waist, caught my body just before it touched the ground like snatching it up. My heart pounded as if it would jump out of my mouth. As I leaned against his chest, the rustling sound of paper crinkling brought me to my senses and I separated my body. Flowers, flowers!
“Thank, thank you. The ledge, no, I caught on the ledge. I didn’t know it was sticking out.”
“Are you okay?”
“The flowers…”
My gaze went straight down toward the flowers held in Woo Dohwan’s arms. Are they okay, they seem crushed, can I use them? As I examined the flowers wrapped in newspaper with eyes full of complex emotions, Woo Dohwan, who had pulled the bundle of flowers slightly back, reached out and lifted my chin.
“I asked if you’re okay.”
“What? Ah, yes. Of course, of course. I didn’t fall. Because you caught me.”
“You were startled.”
“I was startled but… I didn’t get hurt.”
Woo Dohwan looked into my eyes a bit more, then released my chin he had lifted and brought forward the flowers he had pulled back to let me check their condition. The flowers were perfectly fine, making my worry seem pointless. I naturally thought the stems would be damaged or petals would fall, but as if mocking such thoughts, not a single petal had fallen and the flowers remained as fresh as their original state.
“Thank goodness. I thought all the flowers got crushed when Woo Dohwan-ssi pulled me in so tightly.”
When I smiled while breathing out a long sigh of relief, Woo Dohwan made a slightly displeased face and furrowed his brow. He looked at my ankle with an intense gaze, then took away even the flowers I was holding as if snatching them and held them in his arms.
“What were you thinking that you couldn’t even see under your feet. I said I’d move the flowers for you, honey.”
Though it seemed like scolding, his tone wasn’t like that at all. I hadn’t been thinking about anything, but it was embarrassing to say I hadn’t been thinking about anything, so I muttered “you’re right” in a shrinking voice. I turned around and moved my steps quickly with small steps. I stepped onto the terrace and raised my hand while reviewing the now-familiar sequence. Tap the card, disable security settings, open the locked door, and pull the entrance door to create enough gap for Woo Dohwan to enter.
Woo Dohwan, who approached with large strides, passed by me and headed inside. As I hurriedly followed behind him and turned on the interior lights, Woo Dohwan familiarly placed the flowers on the table. Fortunately, since I didn’t buy enough today to require multiple trips between the car and store, Woo Dohwan perfectly finished moving flowers and parking in just two trips, and let out a breath.
I didn’t have much to offer, so I took out a bottle of water from the mini fridge and handed it to him.
“You worked hard. Thank you.”
At my greeting, Woo Dohwan nodded halfheartedly, then opened the water bottle cap, brought it to his lips and tilted it. Perhaps because he was thirsty, he emptied about half of it instantly, placed the bottle on the table, and sat down right there, reaching his hand toward my ankle.
“Uh, huh?”
“Didn’t you sprain it?”
A cool hand wrapped around my ankle and pulled it forward, lifting up my training pants.
“Ah, wait, what are you-“
In an instant, the sports socks that had come up to half my calf were revealed, and my ankle was enveloped by large hands. There was nothing rough about his touch as he removed my shoes. If I had known this would happen, I would have chosen my socks more carefully this morning. Of all things, what I put on randomly happened to be sports socks. Ha… life.
Seeing the vertical elastic marks from my calf to ankle, Woo Dohwan let out a very small laugh. Then he quickly hardened his expression, but I clearly saw and heard his well-shaped lips curve mischievously and the finely breaking laugh. With a face that said “he still wears things like this,” he placed the sock over my foot and lightly lifted my foot while wrapping it.
My leg settled lightly on top of Woo Dohwan’s knee. Even though it wasn’t sprained, he seemed to firmly believe it was sprained, and his expression was serious.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
