If Silk Flowers Bloom by the Water’s Edge Chapter 81

Sharing spring with the flowers was a first in nineteen-year-old Yirok’s life. The saying that one has wasted their life despite growing old is surely not the exclusive domain of the elderly. Eating taffy coated with nuts as candy was a first, having spring clothes tailored and wearing them was a first, and losing sleep over a playful, text message asking how he was doing was also a first.

Yirok fought against the heat every night, as if sleeping covered by a thick duvet under the scorching midsummer sun. When he rested his head on the pillow, he sighed, and when he looked at the ceiling, he pulled away the blanket. Since sleep wouldn’t come even though it was past 3:00 AM, he opened the innocent window.

As he gazed at the Nanjubeol mansion where the lamps were lit, his eyes naturally drifted to the east. That is, toward the quarters where Chaehwa was staying. Since it was like this even when she wasn’t visible, how much worse must it be when she was?

Left with no choice, Yirok lit a candle to shake off the spring and picked a book. When he wrestled with the letters until 5:00 AM, exhausted sleep finally came. It meant waking up after sleeping for less than two hours, but his mind was perfectly clear the next day.

That is, until the moment Chaehwa sat next to him in class, which changed the story completely. As if his backlogged sleep had come to collect interest, his vision became blurry. His body, out of control, would bump into Chaehwa’s elbow at the slightest thing, and try to touch her shoulder at every turn. That was not something he could stop with his own will.

Liking someone—and a woman at that—was a first for him. He thought it would be harder than hating, but lo and behold. Liking Chaehwa was the easiest thing in the world.

“Hmph…”

Every ten seconds, he stole glances at Chaehwa’s profile as she pouted her lips because she didn’t want to study, transcribing poetry. Chaehwa, who never missed breakfast even a single time, always had plump cheeks. On the other hand, her fingers holding the pen were slender like the stem of a flower. Just looking at her felt like his heart was being tickled by the feather of a magpie.

Before realizing it, he had plenty of words to use as excuses. His stress was severe. He was heavy with guilt. He felt pity for the young lady who knew nothing of the world. But once he realized, he couldn’t turn off the water. The water was overflowing and spilling out of the bathtub, but he didn’t know how to turn it off. Not only that, Yirok just wanted to submerge himself up to the top of his head in that overflowing bathtub and fall asleep.

Because it had been a long time since he felt this happy.

Ever since he grew up, he had lived only hating someone. He hated winter, he wanted to kill Sarira, and he resented himself. But had his brain gone bad while losing sleep at night? The spring weather was nice, and didn’t he long for tomorrow? He found himself even fascinated by, and proud of, his own self for being able to like someone.

Yirok-ah ㅠ0ㅠ

Chaehwa, who had stopped transcribing poetry to clutch her head, wrote a small note and handed it to him. Originally, if it was a problem concerning Chaehwa, it was hard to ignore. Breaking away from the class he so loved, Yirok drew a small question mark on the note. Chaehwa stretched her hand out and quickly scribbled back a reply.

There’s math homework too, but I really can’t do that. What do I do, what do I do? Yirok, aren’t you good at math? ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Yirok barely managed to hide a chuckle that leaked out with his fist. Pretending to clear his throat, he bit his lip, and dodging the surveillance of Mr. Myeongil, who was passionately teaching the class, he wrote a slow reply.

How far do I need to help you?

Let’s meet in front of the wine cellar tonight at 9:00 PM. I have something to give you too, haha. 😊

Chaehwa, who was mouthing words like a goldfish, smiled brightly and locked eyes with him. Liking someone was a continuous exercise in restraint. If only he were in a position to confidently confess his feelings, he wanted to say this right away.

Don’t smile just anywhere.

‘Thank you.’

The utterly innocent Chaehwa spoke with her lips and then threw him a light wink. It was sad that he lacked the capacity to accept it. Liking Chaehwa was easy like this, but hating her was as difficult as a conundrum.

As his heart followed the spring more and more, Yirok grew reluctant to picture the future. Even if he hurt Chaehwa and gained freedom with his brother, would he be happy?

Realizing that he should gradually stop looking at Chaehwa, he turned his gaze to the blue sky. Watching the sunlight getting covered by the clouds, Yirok wiped his expression clean.

When this idle spring play ends, where is the place for me to go?

Sunlight poured over Chaehwa, who had her forehead pressed against her notebook, drawing flowers with a pencil. Without even realizing the fact that he was secretly looking at Chaehwa again, Yirok regained his slow smile.

🌹₊ ⊹

The moon, walking along while spilling yellow gold dust, illuminated Chaehwa’s swaying flower shoes. Her grandmother’s hobbies were cultivating flowers and brewing alcohol. There were as many as ten crocks where the sound of fermenting alcohol could be heard inside the cellar. There was also a crock that was the exact same age as Chaehwa. It was a known fact to everyone in the family that her grandmother was biding her time to pour from it once her precious granddaughter became an adult.

The fact that Chaehwa had been in a good mood lately was also public knowledge. She was humming around even though her phone had been confiscated, so there was no way not to know. Chaehwa, sitting while leaning against a crock, hugged her math notebook to her chest. Even though she came out to wait twenty minutes before 9:00 PM, she wasn’t tired at all.

It felt like Yirok was opening his heart to her a little bit. She felt as proud as if she had tamed a cat that used to hiss fiercely. The important thing was that he was like that only to her. Whether it was because of Chaehwa’s request she didn’t know, but Yirok showed up at the dining hall at mealtimes. How glad she was to see Yirok walk in reliably through the door and sit down. Satisfied, Chaehwa was also receiving and eating her food, but during the meal a little while ago, Ms. Jangsi changed her seat. Ms. Jangsi, who had been sitting at the end, dragged her cushion and came over to the seat next to Yirok.

“Isn’t it… hot today?”

Saying that, she even placed a homemade cinnamon ginger punch with floating ice cubes next to Yirok’s rice bowl. Even a dim-witted turtle would know what Ms. Jangsi’s behavior meant. The kitchen staff burst into laughter and joined in, each adding a word.

“My goodness. At this rate, a romance will blossom, a romance will blossom.”

“A first couple is coming out among the Haenang? Oh?”

However, the kitchen staff were the only ones amused; the actual Haenang’s faces turned the color of red bean porridge. Yirok picked up a side dish and put it in his mouth without saying a word. And he didn’t even lay a hand on the punch Ms. Jangsi gave him. Even when the kitchen staff teased him, calling him cold-hearted and merciless, the punch was abandoned by Yirok.

Her apologies toward Ms. Jangsi doubled. Because the fact that Yirok didn’t even glance at the punch became Chaehwa’s joy today.

“Hey.”

A voice calling her timidly drifted into the brewing warehouse on the moonlight. Yirok, cradling an unfitting pink cloth bundle in his arms, was looking at her. Chaehwa smiled broadly and slid her bottom slightly to the side.

“Sit here. Nobody’s coming, nobody can see.”

Looking at the watch on her wrist, it pointed exactly to 9:00. Looking around hesitantly, Yirok slowly entered the brewing warehouse. Chaehwa chuckled softly because Yirok, sitting carefully in front of a crock larger than a human, looked so lovely.

“Is this what the nail-eating rat stole? Who wrapped it so prettily?”

“There was leftover cloth…”

Yirok spoke blankly as he handed the bundle, which showed signs of being wrapped with great effort, over to Chaehwa. To say there was leftover cloth, it was silk cloth dyed just this year. He must have asked and obtained it from Ms. Yomyeong, but anyway, he is not honest. Although Chaehwa knew what was inside, she untied the cloth bundle. It felt like newly receiving the flower shoes and silk skirt she had kept in her wardrobe and worn only three or four times.

“Because the nail-eating rat eats fingernails clipped at night. Don’t clip them at night if you can help it. Got it?”

Yirok, whom she thought would scoff as if she were meddling unnecessarily, nodded meekly. While Chaehwa prattled on by herself, Yirok took the math notebook and was looking at it silently. Solving math problems with just his eyes was amazing yet cool.

Chaehwa fiddled with the cloth bundle, afraid to look at Yirok any longer. Each other’s breathing and the bubbling sound of the brewing warehouse were warming the moonlit night.

“The nail-eating rat knows the memories or habits of the person whose fingernails it ate really well. Wearing the clothes I like, why on earth did it go to you…”

It wasn’t Chaehwa’s conscious will that made her utter words out loud that she didn’t need to say. It felt like if she didn’t say it, it would just sit on her chest and make her sick. Yirok slowly put down the notebook and placed it on his lap. Turning his head completely to the opposite side, he answered in a low voice.

“How should I know. Even if I did… it’s a rat you sent, so the smart young lady would know.”

“There was a commotion like this in the past too. I hate it when my fingernails are long, so I clip them often.”

“Who did it go to back then?”

Without tossing the notebook away as if telling her not to talk nonsense, Yirok asked back gently. But the gaze coming back to look at Chaehwa was laced with discontent. It felt like fire would spark from his eyes if she mentioned a name. Chaehwa didn’t know the reason, but she liked that discontented look in his eyes.

“In the past, the nail-eating rat that ate my fingernails climbed over the wall saying it would go to Hongdae. Then it got caught by Grandmother and got a bump this big on its head. Grandmother really thought that rat was me.”

“…Hongdae?”

“You don’t know either? There are so many people, so many delicious things, and they say there’s tons of stuff to do at night.”

Below her silk skirt, Chaehwa’s toes wiggled as she talked about the things she liked. Liking Yirok who listened to her story, Chaehwa became honest on this moonlit night.

“Someday. When I become an adult and get my freedom… instead of a silk skirt like this, I’m going to wear jeans and walk among all those people.”

Below the neon signs of shop banners, she pictures a subway station where people come and go, a street food cart selling street food forbidden by her grandmother, and herself walking, hands in her pockets, unconcerned about time. Yirok, who looked directly at Chaehwa’s dreaming expression, somehow had his gaze soften as if dreaming along with her.

“If you want, Yirok, you can come with me.”

Yirok closed his mouth and opened the math notebook that had been pushed out of his interest. He was shy, so he wouldn’t answer right away. Somehow, Chaehwa felt like she had already heard the answer. The time spent solving math problems would be very short. Liking this night of talking about dreams, Chaehwa did something she hadn’t planned on.

“Yirok-ah. Should I help you with your training? Making a contract with a ghost.”