𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐒 | 𝐊- 𝐏𝐎𝐏

𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗁𝗎𝗇𝖽𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗐𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗒 𝗇𝗂𝗇𝖾

Chapter 10: The Wrong Idea

"Who are you?" she asks, her eyes are narrow as she studies him, slightly alarmed, and not even noticing the flowers in his arms. He doesn't know how to respond. He's dumbstruck at the sight of her standing three feet away from him for the first time. She's even more beautiful in person and his heart has leapt out of his body leaving him weak and unable to move. His mind is blank, and he searches for words, any words that will make this better. "You shouldn't be here when the children are in the classroom," she says trying to step between his body and the door. It brings her closer to him and makes it even harder for him to form words even though his mind is now flooding with thoughts, screaming at him to speak up to say something.

"I'm sorry," he says in English. He's forgotten Korean. She looks at him surprised. Her face softens just enough to let his brain process information again. He holds the flowers out to her awkwardly.

"I was looking for the kitchen to put these in some water. I -I wasn't sure if the teacher was in this classroom." He doesn't know what his mouth is saying but at least he's speaking Korean again.
She doesn't reach toward the flowers, she stands with her arms at her side, still studying him.

"Who are you?" Her eyes run over his frame, taking in his suit and his expression. He smiles softly in a feeble attempt to look friendly.

"I have a meeting with Mrs. Lee about the building repairs," he explains still holding the flowers out to her. Her eyes warm to him just enough to make his knees feel weak.

"And you brought her flowers? You're a very keen contractor." She lets a soft chuckle escape her lips. Her laugh sends a warm bolt of electricity through his body and brings him back to life. His smile grows as she takes the bouquet from him.

"No, I've come to see if I can help support the school, financially, with the repairs. The flowers are for the children, and, you." He finally regains his senses. She smiles back at him slightly, still studying him.

"Oh, that's very nice. The children love to do flower arranging." She looks down at the half crushed blooms in her hands. "It looks like I might need to help a few of them." She turns away from him and begins to walk back down the hallway. He instinctively follows her although he has not been invited to. She seems to sense that he will follow. "I'll get a vase for them, the kitchen is this way," she calls behind her as she steps through the doorway into the small room. He follows, unable to take his eyes off of her form. Watching her bend down to get the vase from under the sink, he blushes a little.

It's definitely her. She's the one. The same feeling, filling his lungs, as though he hasn't taken a real breath before this moment. It takes every bit of his strength not to reach out and touch her long blonde hair, the ends licking the back of her silky button down blouse as she stands at the sink filling it with water. He tries to quickly think of something more to say as they stand in silence. She busies herself as she places the flowers neatly into the vase and turns and holds it out to him for his inspection. He smiles weakly, nodding. She sets down the vase on the counter. Should he introduce himself? It's clear she doesn't know who he is, not yet.

"Here, this one can be yours." She holds the broken head of a daisy out to him. "For your lapel," she says. He eagerly reaches out to take the flower, looking down at her hand, noticing she wears no ring. His heart skips another beat and he wonders if she can hear it ponding loudly in his chest. He fumbles to put the flower in his buttonhole and he sees her start to walk toward the door.

"Was that your classroom?" he asks, stopping her, surprised his brain managed to come up with the question.

"Yes, an assistant was in the room. I just stepped away to put away some donated supplies. We had quite a delivery today and there is so much to sort through." His eyes grow wide realizing the art kits must have been delivered already.

"Oh, can I help you?" he offers. She studies him unsure whether to take his offer but she knows there is so much to do and no one else to do it. She smiles.

"Yes, thank you, if you have time perhaps you can help me get them into our closet." She steps past him to walk into the hallway and he catches the scent of her light perfume as she passes, drinking it in like a drug. He follows after her quickly into a back room, in definite need of repairs, with a leak from the roof evident in the corner. She steps up onto a chair she had placed in the open doorway of a small closet. Several large cardboard boxes line the floor around the chair. He stands beneath her waiting for her instructions, ready to comply.

"Can you hand me kits from the boxes and I will try to manage to fit them. There are so many I'm not sure we can fit them all. There must be three for every child at the school." He flushes with embarrassment realizing he ordered fifty in the end, thinking it was better to have too many than too few, but now realizing in a little school like this, they have not much storage for an over abundance of supplies. He makes a mental note to find a way to give them more storage. She looks up to the top shelf of the closet and reaches her hand out behind her. He stares at it, wishing he could take her small hand in his. He takes a kit from the box and hands it up to her. The process is repeated several more times as he watches her closely and she stares straight ahead into the closet.

"Have you worked at the school long?" He manages small talk.

"Almost a year now. Since I moved to Seoul." She continues to place the kits on the top shelf. He's happy for the opening she has inadvertently given him.

"Oh, where are you from?" he asks casually.

"Seattle, originally." She doesn't pay much attention as she responds.

"It's a lovely city. What made you move to Seoul?" He hands her the last kit from his box and turns to open the next box.

"Love," she says without explanation. The word freezes him in place. He stares hard at the box at his feet, his eyes open wide, his ears ringing with the word, his mouth is suddenly dry.

Love.