Flower Fiancé Chapter 51

“Last time. When you stayed over at my place, you briefly wore my clothes, remember? That felt really new to me back then. It was like seeing a different person, if that makes sense?”

“Are you talking about the first time I went to Mr. Ji Yeonwoo’s house?”

“Yes. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this, but that day when you came out after washing up, you had your hair down, too. That look was really cool, as well.”

Ji Yeonwoo, who had been chattering away nonstop with a beaming face, suddenly cut himself off. He’d been talking so animatedly that he hadn’t noticed, but looking back on it now, all that rambling felt almost like a confession.

“Oh, no, I mean, what I meant was, I got to see a new side of the Managing Director….”

Flustered, Ji Yeonwoo stammered out an excuse and then trailed off. It was because he had caught sight of Choi Moohyuk’s face, now touched by a faint smile. Ji Yeonwoo’s expression shifted into something unreadable, feeling awkward for no good reason.

“Let’s get going soon. If we’re going to eat and then show Mr. Yeonwoo the look he likes, we’ll be pressed for time.”

Choi Moohyuk spoke casually, pushing up his sleeve to check the time. Feeling somehow that he was being teased, Ji Yeonwoo shot him a glare, though without any real annoyance.

“You’re teasing me right now, aren’t you?”

Choi Moohyuk let out a small laugh, “Ha ha,” and caressed Ji Yeonwoo’s cheek.

Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes, receiving the touch quietly, were full of excitement. The Choi Moohyuk he knew almost never laughed out loud. The fact that he was laughing like this meant that right now, he was just as happy as Ji Yeonwoo was feeling.

“I didn’t plan it this way, but it looks like we’ll arrive right around mealtime.”

Hearing his voice, Ji Yeonwoo belatedly recalled him saying they’d go home and have dinner.

“Right. You said we’re eating dinner at the Managing Director’s house, didn’t you? Then we need to get groceries before we go in, don’t we? Isn’t there a supermarket nearby….”

The park was close to Flower Fiancé, but since it was in the opposite direction from home, he had never come out this far. And because he didn’t know what was in the area, he turned on the phone in his hand to search.

“Don’t worry about that.”

Choi Moohyuk said, the corners of his lips lifting.

“How are we going to eat dinner without getting groceries?”

Ji Yeonwoo asked back, a puzzled look on his face. The walk in the park hadn’t been part of the plan, so he’d assumed the dinner was an unplanned date as well—could it be that everything had been planned all along?

“There’s a lady who comes to cook and clean at the house. I asked her to take care of it.”

“Ahh…. I see.”

At the unexpected answer, Ji Yeonwoo let out a small sigh. He had never been to his house before and thus didn’t know how big it was, but whether large or small, he had never imagined Choi Moohyuk doing the cleaning and even the laundry himself.

Suddenly, he thought of the old days. Back when he lived with Lee Hyunjoon, there had also been a lady who took care of the housework. The lady was younger than a typical housekeeper, and maybe because of that, they could talk easily with each other.

Occasionally, when he was sick or queasy, she’d look after him and sometimes just be someone to chat with. He found himself suddenly wondering how she was doing these days.

Choi Moohyuk, who had gotten up first, took Ji Yeonwoo’s hand and pulled him to his feet. Guided by that touch, Ji Yeonwoo walked back the way they had come and lifted his head. The sky, darker than before, looked as though it would pour rain at any moment.

“We should hurry. It looks like it’s going to rain.”

Their slow, leisurely pace picked up slightly. Familiar scenery passed by on either side. When they had retraced about half the path back, Choi Moohyuk spoke first.

“Mr. Ji Yeonwoo, you dislike the rain. Isn’t that right?”

Surprise flared in Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes as he was quietly led along by Choi Moohyuk’s hand.

“How did you know?”

“While reading your diary, I noticed there were a lot of unhappy stories on rainy days in particular.”

“….”

“And I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but Mr. Ji Yeonwoo, whenever you talk about the rain, your expression turns quite grim.”

“Did I… do that?”

Feeling oddly embarrassed, Ji Yeonwoo crinkled his lips into a smile. This was the first he’d learned of it. It was only natural he didn’t know, since he couldn’t see his own face while speaking unless he was looking in a mirror.

More than anything, Ji Yeonwoo felt his heart pound as if he’d fallen for Choi Moohyuk all over again.

The ability to deduce the truth from just those few facts was something he never ceased to find wondrous. That statement could mean he was simply perceptive, but interpreted another way, it could also be rephrased as him paying that much attention.

It meant he never let even the smallest detail about that person slip by unheard, allowing him to connect many things. The depth of his interest also signified how much he liked him.

Affirming a fact he already knew felt a bit awkward, but he couldn’t hide his good mood. As he walked with just an enigmatic smile on his lips, Choi Moohyuk tightened his grip on his hand a little, holding it more firmly.

“We have a lot in common.”

“For example?”

“Just as Mr. Ji Yeonwoo dislikes rain, I dislike snow. The snow that falls from the sky, just like rain.”

At Choi Moohyuk’s next words, Ji Yeonwoo was even more surprised.

“Really?”

His eyes, already wide as they could go, swiveled urgently toward Choi Moohyuk. A romance between someone who hated rain and someone who hated snow, of all things. He wasn’t normally one to believe in fate, but the moment he heard that, he almost thought, ‘Are we destined?’

“You didn’t just make that up right now, did you? Honestly?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Perhaps because he was so surprised, the question popped out before he could stop it. After speaking, he hastily shut his mouth, worried it might have been too rude. Seeing this, Choi Moohyuk’s lips curved into a soft smile, and he slowed his pace a little.

“Why does Mr. Ji Yeonwoo dislike the rain?”

“Well, because I have a lot of bad memories on rainy days in particular. Actually, even now I often have nightmares when it rains. What about you, Managing Director?”

“Similar. I also have bad memories on snowy days.”

At Choi Moohyuk’s quiet words, a murmur of wonder escaped him involuntarily. How could they be alike in something like this, too? Looking at just the content, it was nothing to be happy about, but strangely, he couldn’t hide the corners of his lips, which kept curling upward.

“The difference is, mine is just a single incident. But it’s not easily forgotten.”

The tips of his lips, which had lifted as if to touch the sky, instantly stiffened.

Ji Yeonwoo’s steps, as he walked shoulder to shoulder with him, gradually slowed. His gaze fixed on the back of Choi Moohyuk, who was now about two steps ahead.

‘Is it just my imagination? I think I just saw an expression on Choi Moohyuk’s face I’ve never seen before when he said that.’

It had been an expression full of bitterness. He’d looked like a completely different person from the Choi Moohyuk he usually knew. It was the first time he’d felt a sense of strangeness looking at him.

“We’re here. Thanks for your effort with the walk.”

Only after hearing Choi Moohyuk’s voice did he realize that his car was parked just ahead.

Choi Moohyuk naturally headed to the passenger side first, opening the door and escorting him.

“You must be tired, so try to get some shut-eye on the way.”

As Ji Yeonwoo got into the passenger seat, Choi Moohyuk lowered himself to meet his eyes and spoke. Thinking it would be hard to manage his expression, Ji Yeonwoo forced a smile and turned his gaze straight ahead.

After closing the passenger door, Choi Moohyuk was walking around the front of the hood toward the driver’s seat.

His words—that it was just a single incident but not easily forgotten—kept circling in his head. The thought occurred to him that perhaps, Choi Moohyuk too might be hiding a story far from ordinary.

He couldn’t know who or what that story was connected to, but he couldn’t muster the courage to simply ask.

He cut off the thoughts that threatened to spiral endlessly. He turned his head toward the driver’s side at the sound of the door opening.

Choi Moohyuk lowered himself and settled into the driver’s seat. Gazing slowly straight ahead, Ji Yeonwoo let out a low sigh without realizing it.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Come in.”

It was the moment he took a step into Choi Moohyuk’s house, following behind him as he led the way. Ji Yeonwoo looked around the house, illuminated by lights that grew steadily brighter, and let out an exclamation of wonder involuntarily.

“This is the Managing Director’s house?”

His house was so large and spacious that it couldn’t even be compared to the one Ji Yeonwoo lived in.

“It’s like a model home. No, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a house this nice in a model home, even.”