“You really are a brat.”

“I-i’m sorry?” Hye Ri’s voice rose from the sudden insult.

“You know what I mean.”

It took the both of them well over 20 minutes until Mrs. Park finally withdrew, and left. Tao didn’t understand her inexplicable frenzy, or her obstinacy in remaining by the younger girl’s side. He concluded that rich kids pulled some strange security measures nowadays, which seemed almost laughable if not ridiculous.

But now that he thought about it, this was about the third time they’ve bumped into each other. It could have been a strange coincidence that could almost be a bit scary, yet there was also that other possibility.

“Are you following me?”

Hye Ri felt a bit baffled but simply shook her head. “No. I was just crossing the street with Mrs. Park when we stumbled upon this dojo.”

“Sure. I’ll buy that.” Tao answered sarcastically. He looked over her shoulder, then around her, trying to feign confusion. “Your boyfriend’s not here today?”

Hye Ri sighed. “Kai is not my boyfriend.”

Tao let out a short laugh that was rather forced. "Kai? Is that supposed to be some sort of cute nickname?"

“It’s just easier to call him that. I’ve been calling him Kai since we were four.”

“That’s more believable. You don’t do cute do you?” He smirked.

“No. I don’t”

His gaze narrowed down at her, a bit irritated by her phlegmatic responses. He was definitely not used to gaining such reactions, which made images of his sensei pop into his head. Her gaze also bothered him, which stayed solely fixed at the class before them. She hadn’t moved nor twitched even once through their conversation.

“Hey, it’s rude not to face someone while talking.”

Hye Ri hesitated, and slightly curled her fists; which she hoped he didn’t see. “It’s rude to judge someone by their background.”

“But why would you care? You’re just some rich heiress of some old geezer”

He nodded approvingly when remembering the other day. “Feisty aren’t you?”

“Just stating the facts.”

“I wasn’t wrong though was I?”

Hye Ri paused at that, not wanting to answer. Tao finally seemed satisfied, as if winning a little game against her and stood. “Well this is getting boring. Tell Mrs Park I was called to supervise a class or something.”

“No wait!”

A light sound crackled next to her feet, and she realized she must’ve toppled her tea cup over. Tao clicked his tongue and crouched down to tend to the broken china. “Do I have to be picking this up myself?”

Hye Ri tried not to stutter and lowered her head. “No but I can’t pick it up..”

He shook his head and snapped irritably. “Of course. Your fingernails might break? How could I not think of that?”

Hye Ri twitched in annoyance and bit down on her lip. “Fine.”

She hesitantly knelt down, but farther than she was supposed to. Her palms felt softly for the floor, as she moved ever so cautiously. “Face down, hands stretched out”, she repeated to herself.

“What are you doing?” Tao rose a brow. “You’re too far out.”

She turned a light shade of red, but calmly replied. “I’m just making sure nothing’s here.”

She tried to hide the quivering of her palms, but felt the fear pelt up her veins. “Where am I? How many steps did I take again? Am I really that far out?”

Questions and questions flooded her head, but she tried not to let it get to her. “Stop it Hye Ri. It’s okay, everything’s fine”

“Hey”

She flinched when his voice echoed loudly through her ears, and almost stumbled backwards. She hadn’t felt his presence at all. He was so close to her his breath even grazed her cheeks. How long had he been there?

“I was kidding, nothing fell over.”

She shot her head up, anger finally eminent in her voice. “Do you think i’m an idiot? The teacup beside me-”

“You’re right, you are an idiot”, he answered plainly. “Now get up before Mrs. Park gets here. I heard them exit the room.”

“But what about the broken-”

“I cleaned it up already.” Tao impatiently hoisted her up by her arm, which made her stumble to her feet. “The plate only broke into a few pieces, so there wasn’t much to do.”

“Plate..?” she asked in confusion.

“What else would it be? One of the little brats swung his staff wrongly remember?” Tao tilted her head towards him, as if examining it. “Did you get hit on the head or something?”

“N-no!” she snapped and slapped his hands away.

He smirked at how flustered she became but pressed on. “Well? Won’t Mrs. Park freak out if she doesn’t see you where she left you?”

Upon the sudden realization, Hye Ri stood in silence. Tao clicked his tongue before grabbing her arm once more. “You’re quite the high maintenance aren’t you?”

He led her to her seat despite his endless rambling, and set her down until Mrs. Park came running to them a second after. The elder lady let out a heavy sigh of relief, bombarding her with countless of questions to make sure she was okay before they left.

Master Jung stopped Tao as he was about to pass him, and looked around the room. “I heard something fall a while ago. What was it?”

Tao held out the tray for him to see, and the elder nodded.

“I see. Did the young maiden get hurt?”

Tao scoffed and just walked past him. The elder twitched in annoyance and hit the younger flat on the head. “100 push ups around the dojo!”

Tao grumbled before making his leave to the kitchen. “Damn old geezer.”

“Want to make that 150!?”

“No.” Tao rushed towards the kitchen and dusted the broken china into the trashcan before leaving.

He left the broken pieces of the teacup there and walked out at yet another yell of his name.

“Thank you Kai. I’m sorry you had to leave Hye Ri this morning for an old man like myself.”

“Not at all”, Kai supported Hye Ri’s grandfather by the arm, as they strolled along a rocky cobblestone pathway. “Mrs. Park was with her. I’m sure she was okay.”

At least, that’s what he wanted to think. But he couldn’t help but worry about her all morning. It was the first time she had gone out without him. And if she had ever been left alone for even a second…

“Kai, isn’t it wonderful here?”

He came back from his little daze when the elder nudged him. He nodded reluctantly, and looked around. “It’s quite a marvel.”

They strolled along one of the finest botanical gardens in Seoul. It was nicely carpeted with rich, fine grass that grew naturally under their feet. An array of flowers blossomed from every known corner, and basked ever so gracefully under the gleaming sunlight. “I wish Hye Ri could see this” was all Kai could ever think of.

“‘Rosemary for remembrance’. That’s what Shakespeare had said.”

Kai paused when he noticed the elder looking gravely at a hedge of Tuscan blue rosemaries. Those were the only kind of flowers Hye Ri liked. She kept a bottle of them in their garden.

“Hye Ri always asks for a new bunch of rosemaries every time they wither. Which is strange really. I don’t think they suit her. Rather plain for my liking. I’d rather she liked chrysanthemums or maybe some orchids.”

Kai couldn’t agree more. Hye Ri was never a really big fan of flowers to begin with. But she always kept a fresh bottle of rosemaries with her. And he never understood why.

“They remind her of her father” the elder answered as if he had read through Kai’s thoughts. “Since he also tended to a garden of rosemaries before, he had even given it to her mother while proposing. ‘Rosemary for remembrance’”

The younger’s eyes widened, but he quickly turned away. Hye Ri had never told him that. She had the tendency not to marvel through her past, which was understandable. But he thought he had known everything about her. They’ve been together since the age of four after all.

But were there other things she left unsaid?

“Take care of Hye Ri”

The elder turned to him, and laid his hand on his shoulder. “She’s more precious to both me and my wife over anything else.”

Kai nodded, casting the same serious gaze over the elder. “She is to me too. More than anything else.”

A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry it's been quite a while since I last updated. Atleast i've felt like it. I hope you think this chapter is worthwhile. Thank you so much for reading and have a great day!
I start school tomorrow btw. And if anyone else does (who hasn't started yet), I wish you a good first day of school!