Flower Fiancé Chapter 4

Looking around, Choi Moohyuk turned his head at the unfamiliar flower name. The two female customers standing in front of the owner continued talking.

“My friend absolutely loves this flower, but surprisingly, not many shops carry it.”

“That’s right. Because ranunculus isn’t an easy flower to care for, shops generally don’t stock a lot of it. Actually, ranunculus is a flower I like as well. So in my case, I tend to keep it in stock so it doesn’t run out.”

“Ah, I see. Then by any chance, do you also stock hemerocallis? What about alstroemeria?”

“I do stock both flowers, but since they aren’t in bloom right now, we don’t have them at the moment. Would you like me to look into it for you?”

“Yes. And could you also check on belladonna lilies? They look so lovely when arranged in a vase.”

“Yes. If you write your name and contact information here, I’ll look into it and get in touch with you.”

The female customers, as if they found something so delightful, chirped away excitedly as they wrote their memo. Choi Moohyuk, who had been standing at a distance watching this scene, felt his impression of the situation gradually sour.

“Heme… madonna, what?”

He was on the verge of feeling utterly dizzy from the flower names he was hearing for the first time in his life. Just as regret for having come in was beginning to wash over him, the two customers who had finished their conversation brushed past Choi Moohyuk and exited.

“Sorry about that. Did you wait long?”

Only then did the man wearing a brown apron over a navy dress shirt and slacks approach. There was no specific name tag, but he could instinctively tell that this was ‘Flower Fiancé Ji Yeonwoo’.

“Are you looking for a particular flower?”

Choi Moohyuk’s intense gaze swept over Ji Yeonwoo, who stood opposite him. Standing face to face, his forehead might come up to around his chin. He didn’t seem to be 180cm, but rather somewhere in the mid to late 170s. Perhaps because his hair was a light brown, his face felt clear and white, without a single blemish. His eyebrows were of a suitable thickness and straight, he had double eyelids but they weren’t pronounced, and the color of his lips was a pale red.

The first thought that came to mind upon seeing Ji Yeonwoo was the mistaken impression, ‘Is he an Omega?’ Generally, Alphas could easily pick out an Omega even among crowds of hundreds. The more superior the dominant Alpha’s trait, the sharper their eye for recognizing Omegas, and it was almost instinctive.

But while this person called Ji Yeonwoo gave off the feeling of an Omega, no pheromones could be detected. He thought perhaps they were diluted by the scent of flowers filling Flower Fiancé, but that couldn’t be it. Typically, Omega pheromones, unlike mere floral scents that were nothing but fragrance, possessed something that drew out an Alpha’s instincts, and that something that should have been there was absent in Ji Yeonwoo.

“Um… sir?”

When he simply stared fixedly, Ji Yeonwoo cautiously asked again. Even through this, Choi Moohyuk’s face maintained its characteristic poker face. Because of his eyes without double eyelids, to someone who didn’t know him, it was the kind of face that could be perceived as sharp or as if he were angry.

As if wondering if something had gotten on his face, Ji Yeonwoo averted his eyes and rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand.

“Generally, what kind of flowers do Omegas like?”

Ji Yeonwoo blinked several times while looking at Choi Moohyuk. The first question he’d heard after quite a while since he entered the shop might have seemed puzzling, but he showed no reaction beyond that.

He was well aware that the question might sound strange. However, this was, in his own way, a roundabout question about Ji Yeonwoo’s trait. Since ordinary Betas generally disliked being treated like Omegas, he thought that if he were an Omega, he would react in some way upon hearing this question.

He didn’t know why he was so curious about Ji Yeonwoo’s trait, but Choi Moohyuk very much wanted to know it. Perhaps it was because the image—as if, when touched, there wouldn’t be any muscle but only soft, plump flesh, like a white glutinous rice cake—coincided quite a bit with his taste.

After staring at Choi Moohyuk for a while like that, Ji Yeonwoo suddenly laughed softly, like air escaping.

Huh, he laughs?

Choi Moohyuk’s eyes, which had been observing Ji Yeonwoo, narrowed thinly.

“Since running a flower shop, the question you just asked is the first I’ve ever received.”

Ji Yeonwoo’s long eyes curved gracefully, drawing a gentle arc.

“Everyone has their own preferred flowers, but we don’t categorize them by trait.”

Choi Moohyuk looked even more at a loss as to what that meant. If he didn’t know this and didn’t know that, how was he supposed to pick flowers?

“Unlike Alphas, Omegas don’t particularly like standing out socially. Couldn’t it be for a similar reason?”

“Then what if you don’t know the other person’s tastes?”

“Hmm, if you know what color the person receiving the flowers likes, or what kind of scent they prefer, it could make choosing easier.”

“I don’t know things like that.”

Ji Yeonwoo, who had been speaking in a consistently calm voice, was finally at a loss for words. The more they talked, the more it felt like time was being wasted. He had simply intended to make do with a suitable flower to put on appearances, but he had no idea it would be this complicated.

“Just make a bouquet with something appropriate. It’s not like we’ll be seeing each other again anyway.”

It was a relationship where neither knew anything about the other, and the flowers were for that Omega who was nothing more than one of those people who would just pass through his life. He didn’t particularly want to know that person’s flower preferences either.

If possible, a flower that signified farewell would be even better, but he thought there was no way a flower like that existed.

“Hmm, how about roses, perhaps?”

He turned his gaze to follow where Ji Yeonwoo was pointing. There, an armful of the commonly seen red roses was arranged.

“Red roses are the most popular and safe flower. So they’re given as gifts a lot, too.”

“Then let’s go with these.”

Choi Moohyuk answered without a moment’s hesitation. As if he were someone who had come to run an errand for another person.

“Shall I make it up in an appropriate size for you?”

Perhaps because Ji Yeonwoo also sensed the great indifference, he asked cautiously.

“Yes. Do that.”

“Please wait just a moment.”

Ji Yeonwoo smiled brightly at Choi Moohyuk and then began preparing to make the bouquet. Choi Moohyuk’s gaze followed the busy movements of Ji Yeonwoo’s back.

His eyes went to the white, smooth nape of his neck exposed above the navy dress shirt. Perhaps because his skin was so exceptionally good, it seemed as though if he buried his nose there, it would smell of baby powder. And that wasn’t all. Looking down, his eyelashes were long and full.

‘…He does seem to be an Omega.’

Choi Moohyuk tilted his head slightly and rubbed his lower lip thickly with his index finger. Watching Ji Yeonwoo as he selected the roses, Choi Moohyuk slowly released his pheromones. It wasn’t a very ethical method, but right now, there was no other way to verify it.

Ji Yeonwoo remained unresponsive. Without the slightest flinch, as if he felt no pheromones at all, he was quietly working with a bright expression.

A puzzled look on his face, Choi Moohyuk raised one eyebrow. Even for a recessive Omega, it was impossible to react this insensitively to a dominant Alpha’s pheromones.

‘This level of non-reaction means he’s not an Omega.’

Choi Moohyuk tilted his neck left and right to loosen it. From his face to the way he spoke, he was his type, but he had never been with a Beta before. Despite that, it even felt strange to be paying this much attention and reacting. If, unbeknownst to himself, his taste had shifted to being attracted to Betas, and moreover, if his lower half was reacting to a male Beta, it was a situation worthy of just sticking his nose in a bowl of water and ending it all.

At the end of his absentmindedly wandering gaze, an unfamiliar flower appeared. Its petals, layered with yellow wave patterns, looked like a chrysanthemum, but also didn’t seem like one.

“What is this flower?”

Choi Moohyuk pointed at the yellow flower near his feet. Ji Yeonwoo, who had been picking out roses, turned around.

“That’s a calendula. Usually, it’s called a marigold.”

Setting down the flowers he had been holding in his arms onto the desk, Ji Yeonwoo came closer.

“Marigolds are also divided into several types. Generally, based on the size and spread of the petals, they’re divided into African marigolds and French marigolds, and what you’re looking at now is an African marigold.”

Choi Moohyuk stared fixedly at Ji Yeonwoo as he explained about the African marigold.

“It’s also called the Aztec marigold. It grows abundantly in Mexico, is considered sacred, and is a flower used in religious ceremonies.”