Flower Fiancé Chapter 23

From the way Ji Yeonwoo looked at him, reverence could be felt. Did he know there was cream on the corner of his mouth and was acting like this? Choi Moohyuk, who had bowed his head and laughed with a “heh,” reached his hand toward Ji Yeonwoo’s face. As Ji Yeonwoo reflexively tried to pull back with an “uh-uh,” Choi Moohyuk rubbed the corner of Ji Yeonwoo’s mouth with his thumb, and fixing his gaze on Ji Yeonwoo, he licked the cream sauce off his own thumb with his tongue.

“It’s not that delicious to warrant that.”

“Wh-what, why would you….”

Seeing that, Ji Yeonwoo even stumbled over his words. On the contrary, Choi Moohyuk, who had tasted it, had an unconcerned face.

“The other side too….”

“…!”

At those words, Ji Yeonwoo flinched in surprise and wiped the corner of his mouth with a tissue. Watching Ji Yeonwoo do that, Choi Moohyuk bowed his head and chuckled.

“Managing Director.”

Only after seeing that nothing came off on the tissue did Ji Yeonwoo realize it had been a prank by Choi Moohyuk and glared at him.

“All right. I won’t tease you anymore, so eat up quickly.”

Choi Moohyuk laughed until his shoulders shook and waved his hand. Ji Yeonwoo, who had been glaring at him with even his lips jutting out in a pout, slowly relaxed his expression. The hand twirling the pasta noodles with the fork paused.

“But why aren’t you eating, Managing Director?”

“Normally, I don’t eat much at night.”

“Still… I don’t like eating alone.”

“I’ll stay by your side. You eat a lot, Mr. Ji Yeonwoo.”

Nodding his head, Ji Yeonwoo popped the fork with the twirled pasta noodles into his mouth. Choi Moohyuk, who had gotten a cup of lukewarm water from the water purifier, placed the cup next to Ji Yeonwoo. Then he sat beside him, propped his elbow on the dining table, and turned his body completely toward Ji Yeonwoo.

Was it his imagination?

More than the cream of the pasta, which had turned slightly orange from putting in two slices of cheddar cheese, Ji Yeonwoo’s chewing cheeks looked whiter and softer.

Choi Moohyuk lightly pinched the plump, white cheek with his thumb and index finger. Hm? The chewing cheek stopped. Two blinking eyes turned toward Choi Moohyuk as if asking why.

Seeing those full, puffy cheeks chewing, he looked exactly like a hamster.

Unable to bring himself to say that to Ji Yeonwoo, Choi Moohyuk shook his head as if it were nothing.

It was slightly past 10 p.m. when Ji Yeonwoo finished the pasta. They cleared the table simply and brought out pu-erh tea on the sofa table. Into the small teacup belonging to the tea set placed in front of Choi Moohyuk, he poured the pu-erh tea that gleamed a lustrous brown. The way he handled the tea set was skillful, as if he brewed tea often at home.

“That was the most satisfying dinner I’ve had recently.”

“I’m glad it suited your taste. I’ll make it for you often.”

Ji Yeonwoo and Choi Moohyuk sat side by side on the rug-covered floor, leaning their backs against the sofa. Perhaps because it was brewed from raw leaves, the tea water was clear even on the first steep. The taste was also clean and savory. Good with flowers, and even good at tea ceremonies—wasn’t this almost a first-class bride material? Sipping the pu-erh tea, Choi Moohyuk glanced at Ji Yeonwoo.

“Um… I’m sorry about earlier.”

As soon as their eyes met, Ji Yeonwoo immediately apologized. All of a sudden? As Choi Moohyuk looked at him with puzzled eyes, Ji Yeonwoo continued.

“About blocking the bedroom.”

Ah, what did I think it was.

“It’s fine. I can just see it next time I come.”

Choi Moohyuk said it as if it were no big deal. Glancing sideways at him, Ji Yeonwoo continued with a smiling face.

“But I really did it because it was messy. I haven’t been able to clean lately…. It wasn’t for any other reason.”

“….”

“In case you might misunderstand.”

Choi Moohyuk, who had emptied his pu-erh tea, stopped his hand. Slowly turning his head, his gaze settled on Ji Yeonwoo’s face.

That expression again. A shadowed look behind the smiling face. The Ji Yeonwoo who talked about the meaning of strawflowers, and the Ji Yeonwoo who had resolved never to date someone who hurts others, probably wore that same expression.

Whenever he saw that face full of forlornness, his heart felt strange for no reason. Something suffocating and stinging. Choi Moohyuk still couldn’t explain that feeling in words.

Choi Moohyuk set down his teacup and turned his body toward Ji Yeonwoo. He rested his arm on the sofa, propped his head on it, and looked at Ji Yeonwoo askance. Ji Yeonwoo, who slowly turned his body too, faced him in the exact same posture like a decalcomania.

“Do you not want me to misunderstand?”

“Of course.”

“It seems Mr. Ji Yeonwoo only wants to show me the good sides.”

“Where in the world is there a person who wants to show their shortcomings to their lover?”

“It could be seen as a natural daily life, you know.”

“How can not cleaning and leaving things in a mess be a natural daily life?”

Ji Yeonwoo asked back as if he couldn’t understand. As he’d felt when he used the kitchen, there wasn’t even the common water stain on the sink or island. Seeing how there wasn’t a single speck of dust in the house despite working so much that he didn’t even have weekends off, he was someone who had made a habit of tidying and cleaning quite diligently. At this point, even if the bedroom was messy, the probability that it was clean by an average person’s standards was 90%, but he decided to just trust Ji Yeonwoo’s words.

“When I look closely, Mr. Ji Yeonwoo seems like the type who goes looking for things to worry about.”

“Me?”

Pointing at himself with his index finger, Ji Yeonwoo asked back as if surprised. Choi Moohyuk nodded his head, and Ji Yeonwoo rolled his eyes to look at the ceiling, lost in thought. He had an air of gauging, ‘Am I really like that?’

“Hmm, maybe so. I think it might be right.”

Choi Moohyuk, who had been looking over Ji Yeonwoo’s shoulder from across from him, met his eyes again.

“I am the type who goes looking for things to worry about. But then, I also forget well.”

Ji Yeonwoo glanced at Choi Moohyuk, met his eyes, and smiled. Then, facing forward again, he took a sip of pu-erh tea, holding the white porcelain teacup—as white as his own face—between his lips.

“It might remain in my memory, but I try not to dwell on it for long. So… that’s probably how I’ve been able to go on living like this.”

His answer was gentle, typical of Ji Yeonwoo. Hearing the mild answer, Choi Moohyuk chuckled and picked up his moderately cooled teacup. As he took a sip of the warm pu-erh tea and set it down, the day he had first seen Ji Yeonwoo suddenly came to mind.

‘The meaning of strawflowers is, pitiful love or the sorrow of parting.’

The calm voice that had explained the meaning of strawflowers was so vivid, as if he were hearing it right beside him. Slowly moving his pupils to scan Ji Yeonwoo, Choi Moohyuk opened his mouth.

“Mr. Ji Yeonwoo.”

“Yes?”

Setting down his teacup, Ji Yeonwoo turned his head.

“Are you still in contact with the person who gave you the strawflowers?”

Perhaps flustered by the sudden question, Ji Yeonwoo couldn’t readily give an answer. It might have been a question that could upset Ji Yeonwoo, but Choi Moohyuk didn’t regret asking it. There was a right timing for everything, and he thought now was the opportunity to ask about that matter. It felt as if, if not now, he might never be able to ask again, nor hear the answer.

“There’s no way.”

Though he paused for a moment, Ji Yeonwoo answered while looking into Choi Moohyuk’s eyes.

“I don’t even know where he is or what he’s doing. I’ve even blocked his contact, so.”

“….”

“I don’t care. I don’t even want to. It’s all in the past, isn’t it?”

Choi Moohyuk nodded as if to say, is that so. He trusted what Ji Yeonwoo had said. Saying it while maintaining eye contact was an expression that he was only stating the facts.

“Right. Don’t concern yourself with a person like that. If it ever comes to it, leave it to me.”

He touched the slightly fallen bangs on Ji Yeonwoo’s forehead with his finger. Docilely receiving Choi Moohyuk’s gaze, Ji Yeonwoo tilted his head a little more and spoke.

“Leave it to you? Are you going to scold him on my behalf, Managing Director?”

“It’s not like I can’t.”

When he shrugged and said that, Ji Yeonwoo covered his mouth with his hand and laughed quietly. His eyes curved prettily, drawing a gentle arc.

“How would you scold him?”

“Wouldn’t it probably follow Mr. Ji Yeonwoo’s wishes?”

“Still.”

“If I do it arbitrarily, there would be many ways.”

Pausing for a moment, a sharp edge lined Choi Moohyuk’s eyes.

“I could gouge out those eyes that looked at Mr. Ji Yeonwoo, or break the wrist that gave the strawflowers, or if not that, cripple him so he can never walk again.”