At the End of That Memory

Chapter 30

Did he really mean that he was coming now? The question was resolved in exactly 30 minutes. As I hung up the phone and was pacing around the house, I heard that a car had been pulled into the garage. It was a time when the staff only put my share of food on the table.

I went straight out to the front door and waited for Kwon Yido to come in right away. I was planning on asking him what happened when he opened the middle door and came in. It was not that I was lamenting immaturely, I just wanted to make an excuse by saying I said it without meaning.

“…”

But the moment I opened the door and saw him come in, I couldn’t say anything. Not because he rarely looked disheveled, but because he held something completely unexpected in his hand.

“…What is this?”

It was a gorgeous, large bouquet made of bright red roses and gypsophila. It was all fresh flowers, and the moment I got closer, I was immediately struck by the thick scent of flowers. While I was blinking blankly, Kwon Yido held out the bouquet he was holding.

“Why are you out here?”

“…”

I didn’t even think about receiving flowers. He looked unusually disheveled, his tie loosened and his brow furrowed. The atmosphere, which seemed different from usual, was subtle enough to make the area around my chest tingle.

“Is this for me?”

So I asked in a confused voice, and his expression softened. With a faint smile on his face, he made a gentle sound as if a breeze brushed against me. His slightly curled lips drew a soft curve.

“I can’t give it to myself, can I?”

It had a playful tone. The voice that came out next was extremely soft.

“The only person in my house who likes flowers is you, Jung Sejin.”

“…”

As if mesmerized, I accepted the flower he offered. For a split second, the fingertips that brushed against him, tingled as if they had received an electric shock. This was the second bouquet I received from Kwon Yido. Although I didn’t receive the first one in person, it was true that both of them felt fresh and new.

“Well…”

I pursed my lips, but no words could form to express my gratitude. I remember I said thank you in various ways on the engagement day. Right now, I couldn’t find words to express this overwhelming feeling.

“…It’s really pretty.”

The words I barely managed to say were so small that I couldn’t reach him. Kwon Yido looked at me blankly, then agreed in a light voice as if in passing.

“I know, right.”

Why did that single word make me so embarrassed that the back of my neck burned? Was it because Kwon Yido’s gaze was focused on my face, not the flower? He passed me by without a glance, but I had to stand there for a while.

We sat down to a meal together for the first time in a long time. It was after Kwon Yido changed his clothes and came down, and after I asked the staff to put a bouquet in a vase. I had been holding the rose for so long, that even when I sat down at the table, my whole body felt like it smelled like a flower.

The chef prepared a new meal without any signs of hesitation even when Kwon Yido suddenly arrived home without notice. It was a salad of shrimp with citrus sauce and seasoned summer vegetables with slightly early persimmon. I really liked the texture of the duck meat that came as a main dish, probably because the flesh was soft.