Flower Fiancé Chapter 6

The smile never left the Omega’s face as she received the bouquet she had been eagerly awaiting.

“The scent is lovely. The flowers are pretty too; I like them.”

Holding the bouquet of African marigolds to her chest, the Omega brought her nose close to the fully bloomed petals and savored the fragrance, as if she had been waiting. Suddenly, the Omega’s face began to overlap with that of Ji Yeonwoo from Flower Fiancé.

‘He wore an expression as if a painful memory had been disturbed, that person.’

Choi Moohyuk tapped the table with one finger, lost in thought.

‘When Mr. Ji Yeonwoo first received African marigolds, was his reaction the same as this Omega’s?’

None of it was easy for Choi Moohyuk to empathize with. He couldn’t understand why people ascribed meaning to such trivial things, laughing and crying over them, when in time they’d just wither and be thrown away in the trash anyway.

“Do you know what that flower is called?”

The Omega, who still hadn’t let go of the bouquet, opened her eyes anew.

“It’s called a marigold, I’m told.”

“A marigold?”

The Omega faltered and asked back. Choi Moohyuk leaned back comfortably against the backrest of the chair, crossing one leg over the opposite thigh. It was slow and relaxed, but the atmosphere had changed somehow. Sensing something strange, tension crept across the Omega’s prettily made-up face.

“They say there are several types of marigolds.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“The one I gave you is, among them, the African marigold.”

The Omega looked back and forth between the African marigold in her hands and Choi Moohyuk. Meeting her eyes, Choi Moohyuk smirked. As she looked at the African marigold once more, the Omega’s eyes slowly distorted.

“It seems its flower meaning doesn’t carry a very nice significance.”

Though she had guessed as much from intuition, she didn’t seem to know the exact flower language of the African marigold. Indeed, it’s not common for people to have a list of flower meanings memorized. It wouldn’t be easy unless one were a florist with a deep interest in flowers.

Only then did the Omega set down the bouquet of African marigolds and pick up her phone, which had been lying face down on the table. With small tapping sounds, her thumbs worked the screen. After fiddling with the phone for a moment, the Omega’s pupils quivered sharply.

“…What the hell.”

A hollow laugh spread at the end of her low voice, spoken as if in disbelief.

“‘Pitiful love, sorrow of parting’? Are you serious?”

“Flowers, they say, are given with sincerity.”

The face of the deceived Omega rapidly flushed red. It was a face with anger surging up alongside shame.

Conversely, a smile spread as Choi Moohyuk’s lips twisted. Facing a smile that could well be called a sneer, the Omega’s eyes began to turn fierce.

“If you take this attitude, I won’t be able to tell a nice story when I go back.”

“That’s exactly what I want. You can convey the facts, exactly as you felt them now. I’m not one for lying, myself.”

“Do you know what I might say or how I might say it, to be speaking like that?”

“Do I have to tell you that as well?”

Choi Moohyuk said, lifting a coffee cup engraved with geometric patterns while sitting cross-legged. The Omega, faltering, opened her mouth again as if dumbfounded.

“Do you think this is the end of it? Do you think we won’t run into each other again?”

“What would change if we did?”

“I don’t understand why you’d willingly invite trouble. Wouldn’t it be better to just follow what the elders of both families tell you to? This will only lead to discomfort for both of us, won’t it?”

This meaningless squabble was gradually starting to feel tedious and boring. He thought that having faced her for two hours out of courtesy was doing his due diligence, and he didn’t understand why there was so much talk, or why she kept harping on every word.

“Is it uncomfortable for you?”

At the bluntly posed question, the Omega started to speak and then hesitated. Her face, which had been snapping at him, was tinged with fluster.

“N-no? Why would it be for me? I’m fine?”

The Omega’s voice rose an octave. Then, as if she realized it herself, she urgently glanced left and right before biting her lip.

“Same goes for me. We haven’t rolled around in bed together, so is there any reason to be uncomfortable?”

At last, the Omega’s face contorted.

“I heard this meeting was quite important, but I guess not?”

“It wouldn’t have been an important appointment I only heard about on the very day.”

The Omega, seemingly at a loss for words, frowned and stared at Choi Moohyuk with her lips slightly parted. The look was very much a face that seemed to say, what kind of lunatic is this?

“I have an important matter, so I’ll take my leave first.”

He figured the situation was roughly settled by now. Once today’s events became known, Assemblyman Park’s side would be in an uproar, but Chairman Choi, with his temperament, wouldn’t stay quiet either. Fists would fly, or he’d grab whatever was at hand and throw it in a rage. Even having become a chaebol, it was because he’d never shaken off the gangster habits of his youth.

Unfortunate for Chairman Choi, but Choi Moohyuk wasn’t afraid of being hit. Settling things physically was, in fact, on the more comfortable side for him compared to racking his brain. He would rather not be bothered at all, no matter what he did or where, but that was practically an impossibility. It was because of that damn dominant Alpha trait.

“I’ll pay the bill before I go, so take your time leaving. I enjoyed today.”

Rising from his seat, Choi Moohyuk picked up the black cashmere coat draped beside him, holding it over his forearm, and turned around. The Omega, who seemed about to try and stop him, hurriedly tried to say something, but only let out a deflated “Huh” of breath.

“Is he not a total lunatic? Does he think being a dominant Alpha is everything?”

The irritated voice of the Omega reached Choi Moohyuk’s back as he walked toward the exit.

“What? I enjoyed today? No, why give lip service? I thought you said you don’t lie?”

For talking to herself, the voice was quite loud, clearly meant to be heard. The atmosphere of the restaurant, where an elegant classical melody had been playing, froze in an instant. He could feel gazes pouring onto his back, but Choi Moohyuk, unconcerned, opened the door and left.

A time past 8 PM, heading toward 9.

Choi Moohyuk’s car, having endured the trouble of making a U-turn and coming back around, stopped hastily in front of Flower Fiancé. Parking by the roadside with hazard lights on, Choi Moohyuk observed the inside of Flower Fiancé through the passenger side window. Perhaps because it was after business hours, the lights were dimmed, and inside the darkly lit shop, a moving figure could be seen. Choi Moohyuk, not taking his eyes off even the smallest movement, got out of the car.

“Welco… Huh?”

Crouched in a corner and working, Ji Yeonwoo recognized Choi Moohyuk instantly and, forgetting to greet him, wore a surprised face.

Whether it was because of the warm interior or for some other reason, sweat had beaded on the side of Ji Yeonwoo’s face. When the sweat finally trickled down his temple, he raised his arm and rubbed his cheek. A faint smudge of dirt appeared where he had brushed his cheek. It seemed there had been soil on his sleeve.

For an instant, a crazy thought flashed through his mind—that he even wanted to lick the dirt off that cheek. The fact that his dominant Alpha instincts squirmed more the more he faced him meant that the likelihood of Ji Yeonwoo being an Omega was high.

The fact that there had been no reaction when he’d first released his pheromones to check was still puzzling. But while there was no way to verify right here and now whether he was an Omega or a Beta, that was something he could look into gradually.

The farewell he had exchanged with the Omega he met today—”I enjoyed today”—had not been lip service. Honestly speaking, Choi Moohyuk was, literally, in a very enjoyable state right now. It wasn’t because the Omega from the arranged date was to his liking, but because, thanks to it, he had met a person who quite matched his taste.

“You came to change the flowers, right?”

“No. The flowers have already been returned to their owner.”

Choi Moohyuk continued speaking, his gaze fixed on Ji Yeonwoo’s cheek.

“They might be thrown in the trash by now.”

“Then why did you come back?”

Hearing an answer that missed the mark of his expectation, Ji Yeonwoo hastily asked back. Facing the face full of puzzlement, he stepped forward.

“At first, I wanted to hear the language of the French marigold, but I decided to hear it next time.”

“….”

“Because I think I’ll be stopping by often from now on.”

Choi Moohyuk reached into the inner pocket of his coat and handed over a business card.

“I’m Choi Moohyuk.”

Ji Yeonwoo, glancing back and forth between Choi Moohyuk and the business card, started to take it, but noticing the dirt on his hand, rubbed it against his apron with a swish.

“I’m Ji Yeonwoo. Though you probably already know that…”