Flower Fiancé Chapter 5

Ji Yeonwoo smiled brightly at Choi Moohyuk after finishing his explanation. The more he saw him, the more he thought this was a person with a cheerful disposition. As if he had lived his whole life in a greenhouse, there was no hesitation in how he dealt with people. Rather than feeling rude, the more they talked, the more his mood was buoyed.

From the moment he first entered Flower Fiancé until now, the atmosphere around Ji Yeonwoo had been bright and lovely. Amid the colorful flowers, only Choi Moohyuk seemed like an achromatic color.

“Do you also know the language of flowers for the African marigold?”

“Of course. The language of the African marigold is…”

Ji Yeonwoo trailed off, hesitating. The way he faltered and couldn’t readily speak was different from his usual manner, where every answer had flowed so smoothly.

“The language of the African marigold is ‘pitiful love,’ or ‘sorrow of parting.'”

Strength entered Choi Moohyuk’s dark brown eyes. It was a reaction of surprise and unexpectedness.

Ji Yeonwoo laughed awkwardly.

“The meaning is a bit… you know?”

“….”

“So it’s also a flower people don’t often give as a gift.”

After that, the atmosphere subsided languidly. Choi Moohyuk simply stared fixedly at the African marigold, sparing his words, and Ji Yeonwoo read Choi Moohyuk’s expression carefully.

“Please wait just a moment. I’ll finish it quickly with the roses…”

The hesitating Ji Yeonwoo turned around, holding the roses in his arms. Choi Moohyuk, who had been staring intently at the African marigold, lifted his head.

“…What, it really does exist?”

A flower that means farewell.

His lips twisted minutely as he muttered. An unconventional idea popped into Choi Moohyuk’s head.

“Yes. This will be better.”

“Pardon?”

Hearing that, Ji Yeonwoo turned back around in a hurry.

A strange light flickered in Choi Moohyuk’s eyes as they met his again.

“Not the roses. I’ll take this.”

The flower Choi Moohyuk’s hand was pointing to was the African marigold.

Seeing how things had turned out, he resolved to become a voluntary bastard at the first meeting. He had no desire to be seen as a good person by the other party anyway. He thought that, rather than delivering it meaninglessly, there was nothing better than if she understood and backed off on her own.

“This is an African marigold, though?”

With a flustered face, Ji Yeonwoo asked again, as if to confirm.

“And?”

“But the flower’s meaning is…”

“Didn’t you say it was ‘pitiful love, sorrow of parting’? Well, is there a problem?”

“No. It’s not that, but…”

Choi Moohyuk’s eyes, on the contrary, seemed to ask what the issue was.

“Won’t she look up the meaning, at least, when it’s delivered?”

∞ ∞ ∞

Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes, full of puzzlement, quivered sharply. Indeed, he hadn’t said anything else, so perhaps it was only natural to jump to the conclusion that it was the pink-tinged situation everyone wished for. In the midst of that, he had suddenly asked to have it wrapped in African marigolds, which held the flower language of ‘pitiful love, sorrow of parting,’ so there was ample room for misunderstanding.

“Do I seem like a strange person?”

“Ah, no.”

Ji Yeonwoo denied it vehemently, even waving his hands.

“Do I have to explain my circumstances just to buy flowers?”

“That’s not what I meant. If I offended you, I apologize. It’s just…”

“Just?”

He repeated Ji Yeonwoo’s word, waiting for an answer.

“I’m worried the person receiving them might get hurt.”

“The other party won’t be very interested anyway.”

“Just because someone isn’t interested doesn’t mean they won’t get hurt.”

A resolute voice flowed out, ill-fitting with his gentle face. The amused expression that had spread on Choi Moohyuk’s face rapidly hardened. Ji Yeonwoo’s reaction was strange. Wouldn’t it be enough just to sell the flowers? Was there a reason he was concerning himself as if it were his own business? Something quickly flickered through Choi Moohyuk’s mind.

“Could it be, is that a guess from experience?”

“Pardon?”

“It seems that way just from your reaction, Mr. Ji Yeonwoo. You’re reacting sensitively as if it’s your own business.”

Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes, which had been drawing pretty curves the whole time, distorted slightly, creasing.

It looked like the face of someone whose buried painful memories had been forcibly disturbed.

“I think there’s some misunderstanding here.”

Ji Yeonwoo’s pupils quivered sharply.

“It’s true I’m giving these flowers so the person gets hurt.”

Choi Moohyuk’s dark brown eyes swept over Ji Yeonwoo, meeting his wavering gaze.

“It’s not to make her heart flutter.”

“Ah…”

With a low sigh, Ji Yeonwoo’s expression swiftly hardened. It was quite different from the face that had shown smiles all along. Rather than displeasure, it was an expression closer to sadness.

‘Isn’t it enough to just sell the flowers? What’s the reason for caring as if it’s your own business?’

The question grew larger and larger in his mind.

With a stiff face, Ji Yeonwoo picked up the bunch of African marigolds Choi Moohyuk had chosen and carried them to the workbench. Contrary to the reduced words, the hands that carefully deliberated over the wrapping paper, chose it, and wrapped were deft.

The conversation cut off, and an awkward silence arrived. Choi Moohyuk watched the silent wrapping, but Ji Yeonwoo, without a single glance his way, was absorbed in his work.

Unable to endure the silence, it was Choi Moohyuk who spoke first.

“So, how did it feel, Mr. Ji Yeonwoo, receiving an African marigold?”

The busy white hands faltered.

“I’d like to hear some advice on how it felt.”

Ji Yeonwoo stared directly at Choi Moohyuk.

“Were you hurt?”

At the question posed gently once more, Ji Yeonwoo turned his gaze to the air. If he had been offended, it was a question he could have brushed off by saying it wasn’t so, making some vague excuse. But the slow blinking, letting out a long “hmm” of a breath, looked as if he were going back to that time, retracing what kind of feeling it had been.

“For me, I actually felt relieved.”

Ji Yeonwoo’s answer, delivered with difficulty after a long pause as if carefully selecting his words, was a bit unexpected.

“My heart was much more at ease. Because that’s how they let me go.”

What was even more puzzling was that Ji Yeonwoo’s words and his expression didn’t match. He said his heart was at ease, but the face saying it was tinged with sadness somewhere.

There could be several reasons.

Perhaps he hadn’t yet forgotten the person who handed him the African marigolds, or if not that, perhaps he had been so deeply hurt that it wasn’t easy to forget.

“We also have French marigolds at our shop. If you change your mind, please come by anytime. I’ll change them to French marigolds for you.”

Ji Yeonwoo held out the finished bouquet to Choi Moohyuk, pulling up the corners of his lips.

Looking at the bouquet of African marigolds, Choi Moohyuk recalled the bittersweet smile Ji Yeonwoo had worn.

‘Come to think of it, I didn’t get to ask—the language of the French marigold.’

Seeing as he offered to change them, it seemed different from the African marigold’s meaning. He guessed it probably held the opposite meaning. Just out of curiosity about that flower language, Choi Moohyuk was thinking of going back to Flower Fiancé as soon as he left this place.

Of course, he knew the reason was a bit forced. In this day and age, a single search could resolve everything, but Choi Moohyuk stubbornly did not open a search window.

The reason was simple.

The moment he learned the language of the French marigold, his justification for seeing Ji Yeonwoo again would vanish.

Choi Moohyuk’s eyes met those of the Omega, who sat across from him with legs crossed and arms folded.

The Omega was not docile, unlike the image in the photo. From the moment they first met until now, it was not Choi Moohyuk but Assemblyman Park’s Omega who had been leading the conversation.

He had heard it was a family thirsting for a dominant Alpha trait, and whether because of that reason, or because Choi Moohyuk lacked nothing in appearance and was to her liking, the Omega had been unable to hide her fluttering excitement the entire time.

“I’ve been curious all along, when are you going to give me those flowers?”

A red polished nail pointed at the bouquet beside Choi Moohyuk. She hadn’t shown it outwardly, but it seemed she had been mindful of it the whole time.

“Aren’t those flowers something you brought to give to me?”

From the moment he arrived at the restaurant until now, finishing dinner, he had noticed her continuously glancing at the bouquet. Well, if he had held the spot for two hours, he had fulfilled the minimum courtesy, so it was about time to wrap things up.

But, was she pleased knowing what this flower meant?

The Omega wore an expression full of the flutter one feels just before receiving a gift from a lover. He was curious to see how her face would change after learning the meaning. A mocking laugh escaped him as he twisted one corner of his lips, and Choi Moohyuk wordlessly handed over the bouquet of African marigolds.