Flower Fiancé Chapter 9

It was an ordinary daily life.

A peaceful daily life filled entirely with the always familiar flowers, regular customers who came by often, and the occasional new customer who dropped in while passing by.

There had been a few times when calls came in from unknown numbers. They could have been reservation calls, but he also thought they might be calls from Choi Moohyuk. Since he hadn’t saved his number and had thrown away his business card, there was no way to find out.

He didn’t keep separate phones for business and personal use, and since it was a small flower shop that also used a reservation system operated by a portal site, he didn’t bother to check by calling back separately.

The probability that the missed calls were from Choi Moohyuk’s number was extremely low—or so he thought.

The missed calls logged here and there were all from different numbers. If there had been at least one duplicate number, he would have tried calling back, but since there was no trace of any number calling more than once, he had no choice but to assume they were wrong numbers.

Ji Yeonwoo walked along, swiping through his phone screen with his thumb, wearing a jumper over a hooded jacket. As the weather was cold, he pulled the hood, which had been rolled up inside the jumper, deeply over his head, walked a bit further, and then entered a convenience store.

When he had gotten off work and come home, he’d realized his favorite snacks had run out. He wasn’t one to snack often, but when he got off work late in the evening, the timing was awkward, so instead of a meal, he’d simply make do with some crackers or bread. It was because eating a late meal was particularly hard on his digestion.

After putting a few breads and snacks into his basket, Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes caught sight of the refrigerator where beer was neatly lined up.

‘Come to think of it, I think the beer at home ran out too.’

After that brief thought, Ji Yeonwoo walked toward the beer refrigerator as if mesmerized. Typically, the alcohol section in a convenience store was located at the very back, but this store, unusually, had it on the wall next to the counter. It was also easily visible because it was positioned facing the entrance.

After putting two cans of his favorite beer into the basket, he noticed a sign that said ‘2+1’. Does that mean I just need to grab one more? He thought, opening the refrigerator door again and reaching his hand toward a beer, when he heard the sound of the convenience store door opening behind him.

“…!”

Ji Yeonwoo, who had turned around without thinking, opened his eyes wide.

“One Parliament Light.”

The man in a suit standing in front of the counter ordered in a flat, dry tone and took out his wallet from the inner pocket of his jacket. His overall build and movements were a familiar picture, as if he’d seen it somewhere many times.

“…Oh, Managing Director?”

He was definitely Choi Moohyuk.

As if tired, he had been languidly closing his eyes and loosening his neck left and right when he felt a gaze and turned his head toward Ji Yeonwoo without thinking.

The moment their eyes were about to meet, Ji Yeonwoo flinched and turned his back.

‘Why is he here at this hour…’

This was a convenience store near his house. Although it was located along the roadside, there were countless convenience stores around, so the fact that they’d run into each other here was puzzling. Moreover, he remembered that the address he’d seen on the business card was not in this area, either.

‘Does he live around here?’

But there were no nice houses around here where rich people would live… Tilting his head as he thought this, he heard footsteps approaching from behind. His shoulders flinched. He felt he knew who it was without having to turn around.

The approaching footsteps stopped right behind him. Thump, thump. His heart pounded for no reason, as if he had committed a grave wrong.

“…Mr. Ji Yeonwoo?”

The thought that he’d been caught was fleeting. At any rate, he was a customer, and he couldn’t just blatantly pretend not to know him. After pouting his lips inside the hood pulled down over his head, Ji Yeonwoo slowly turned around.

“Ah, hello.”

When he took off the hood and smiled awkwardly, his expression brightened.

“I knew it was you. Have you been well?”

“Yes. Well, I… Have you been well too, Managing Director? I see you’re here to buy cigarettes.”

Ji Yeonwoo, who had been exchanging formal pleasantries, nodded with his eyes toward the part-timer waiting at the register.

“Yes. My secretary always keeps them stocked, but he seems to have forgotten today.”

“Ah… you must have been busy.”

“Even if you’re busy, you should still do what needs to be done. Tch.”

Choi Moohyuk clicked his tongue, his eyes distorting. Then, as his gaze met Ji Yeonwoo’s, he hastily changed the subject.

“Did you come to buy beer, Mr. Yeonwoo?”

With both hands in his pants pockets, he looked down at the basket in Ji Yeonwoo’s hand.

“I came to buy snacks, and it caught my eye.”

“Do you drink well?”

“No. I can’t drink very well.”

He nodded with a meaningful face. Ji Yeonwoo stared at him, unable to decipher what it meant.

“Hm, let’s pay first and then talk outside.”

∞ ∞ ∞

After sweeping his dark brown eyes over Ji Yeonwoo, he slowly moved his body, clearing a path toward the counter.

After each had paid and come outside the convenience store, Choi Moohyuk and Ji Yeonwoo sat down with a table between them. Thinking they wouldn’t be able to sit long because the weather was still cold, Choi Moohyuk was the first to speak.

“You, yourself, must have been very busy, Mr. Ji Yeonwoo.”

“Pardon?”

Ji Yeonwoo, who had been lightly stomping his feet to chase away the cold, stopped all movement and raised his head. Choi Moohyuk was in a suit without even an overcoat, yet without showing the slightest hint of being cold, he sat in his chair, looking at Ji Yeonwoo.

“You weren’t answering your calls.”

His heart sank as if he were a sinner. So the numbers that had appeared as missed calls were his phone number after all? He couldn’t tell how much of what he said was true and how much was a lie. It could have been a probing remark, but there was no proper way to verify it. He was struck with regret that if he had known this would happen, he should have at least saved the number even if he didn’t answer.

“Ah, the calls, the calls.”

He knew he had to act as naturally as possible. But his body and speech, contrary to his thoughts, felt stiff and awkward.

“Well, I checked the missed calls late, so I couldn’t get back to you separately.”

“So you checked late. And I waited, not knowing that.”

“Oh, uh, did you have some urgent business?”

With both hands in his pants pockets, he stared at him silently. Before their eyes could even meet, Ji Yeonwoo rolled his eyes left and right to avoid it and naturally dropped them to the ground. It was because he felt that if they made eye contact like this, his lie might be discovered.

“Well, I didn’t have any particularly urgent business. Just… Huh? Wait. Where’s my phone?”

Ji Yeonwoo, who had been listening to him speak while fidgeting with both hands, opened his eyes round and wide and stared at him.

Rising from his seat, Choi Moohyuk patted down his own jacket and pants. An unmistakable look of fluster that had never been seen before was evident on his face.

“Could you have left it inside the convenience store?”

“If I had, they would have told me. That part-timer has been watching us sit here since earlier.”

Following his words, he turned his head toward the inside of the convenience store and saw the part-timer hurriedly avert his gaze in a different direction.

In that brief moment when he looked away, he had walked over to his parked car, opened the passenger door to look, then tilted his head and turned around.

“Tsssp, maybe I left it at the office. It’s not like me to do this.”

Choi Moohyuk’s face, which had been tilting his head, crumpled sharply. He wore a very troubled expression.

“Sorry, but could I borrow your phone for one call?”

Choi Moohyuk, who had approached him, asked for help as if he were in a difficult spot. Ji Yeonwoo also knew well enough that a mobile phone was important for someone running a business, so it was awkward to refuse outright. Thinking it was just one phone call, he unlocked his phone and handed it to him.

“Here.”

“Thank you.”

Only then did his expression relax, and after dialing a number, he brought it to his ear. With one hand on his waist, he turned his body toward the car. A phone notification sound rang out from somewhere.

Ji Yeonwoo turned toward the direction the sound came from. He pulled out his own phone from inside the coat neatly folded on the passenger seat.

“Ah, it was here.”

Holding two phones in his hands, Choi Moohyuk walked back, laughing as if embarrassed.

“I used it well.”

“It was on the passenger seat?”

“Yes. It was inside the coat, so I must not have seen it.”

He said this as he held out Ji Yeonwoo’s phone. Ah, inside the coat… Ji Yeonwoo thought, opening his phone.