Shin Hye's POV

I'm so ashamed of my own feelings. I feel them for him, but I know he does not feel the same way. I am ashamed because he does not feel the way that I do....

End of POV

*****

A few days later...

Yong Hwa went to the greenhouse, not to purchase flowers, but to visit Shin Hye. Another worker of the botanist was at the counter, so she entertained Yong Hwa as she would do with any other customer.

"Annyeonghashimnikka?" the worker greeted. "What flower is Sonnim looking for?"

A naughty smile lit up Yong Hwa's face.

"I am looking for a certain flower," he said. "Maybe you have it."

The worker got out of the counter to start assisting. "Ne, please do tell."

Yong Hwa replied, "I'm just joking. Uhm, is Park Shin Hye-ssi around?"

The worker's face got from accomodating to startled mode when he said he was joking, and more so when he was asking for Shin Hye.

"Oh, Shin Hye-ssi is in her laboratory," the worker said. "I'll call her."

"Yes, please," Yong Hwa said.

The worker walked away to another room, leaving Yong Hwa to scrutinize the flowers that were on display. He was in deep thought as he touched the daisies that he did not notice that Shin Hye had approached him from behind.

"Annyeong?" was her soft greeting.

Yong Hwa turned around to see her sweet smile. There was no longer a single trace of pain etched onto her face unlike the one he saw the previous day.

"Annyeong?" he greeted back.

"Baek Hee said that you are looking for me," she came back with. "Is there anything I can help?"

"Uhm, actually, Dong Wook-hyung wanted your help in maintaining some flowers at home," Yong Hwa shared. "So maybe, you can come with me?"

Shin Hye's heart skipped a beat, but she hushed herself. Not now, not now. Now is not the time to get giddy and assume lots of things. Now is not the time to act silly and lose one's cool.

"Geurae, geurae," she told him. "I'd finish writing my results, and I will get back to you."

Shin Hye got back to her laboratory to continue with her business. Yong Hwa waited for about fifteen minutes, killing time by talking with the worker.

"Waaa, Shin Hye-ssi is lucky to have you," crooned Baek Hee.

Yong Hwa only smiled his toothy grin, and Baek Hee squealed like a high schooler. But in fact, she is already twenty three. Despite her crooning and fangirling, Yong Hwa did not find her annoying at all. Baek Hee was just like the other girls who adored him, unlike the other girl who was obsessed with him.

Finally, Shin Hye came out of her room, bringing along her dainty shoulder bag.

"Gaja," Yong Hwa told her.

Baek Hee waved the couple goodbye before getting back to her work.

****

"That's odd," Yong Hwa voiced out his astonishment as he turned off the ignition of his car.

Shin Hye looked at him, then at the house. Yong Hwa's house was barren and silent, like no one else had been there since time immemorial. The two of them got out of the car, and Shin Hye followed Yong Hwa to the door.

"Please come in," he told her.

He opened the door for her and let her in first. The house was homey, cozy, clean, and cheerful, like the house she had always lived in. He brought her to the garden where Dong Wook kept his garden of carnation. Shin Hye stayed there and studied the plants for a bit, while Yong Hwa dashed to the kitchen to make some refreshments.

"I can make my botany garden this lovely," Shin Hye thought.

Dong Wook is a straight guy, but he decorated his carnation garden with the ambiance you could feel at Etude House. Of course, his garden had two purposes: it was a garden, but the garden was also a decorative piece in the patio. And the family who brought guests along would always bring them to the garden.

Finally, Yong Hwa came in with a silver tray filled with good things to eat and some tea.

"Shin Hye-ya," he called out as he placed the tray on the patio table. "Have some tea."

"Gomawo," Shin Hye said demurely as she looked into his smile.

She sat on the chair across his, and Yong Hwa, being the host, poured tea into her tea cup. She took the cup and smelled its contents.

"Lemon tea," she murmured happily before sipping.

Yong Hwa grabbed some cookies and bit on it. After munching, he spoke up.

"I am doing this in recompense for what had occurred days prior...at the resto," he said.

"Gwaenchanha," she told him. "I know Ara was just being a spoiled girl that she is."

She told him that, but she wanted to say more... that she wanted to spend time with him.

"Shin Hye, I am glad you understand," he sighed happily. "I do not know what to do if you're angry at me."

Shin Hye stopped sipping, and looked at him in astonishment. "Angry?"

"Ne.... I thought, you might..."

"Anio... Why would I be? I mean, I would be angry at Ara for kissing you if she was doing it...."

She did not know how to continue. As she looked at the expectant Yong Hwa, she suddenly remembered Jong Hyun telling her to hide her emotions and tears well if she was not willing to expose her heart.

"Doing what?"

"Doing... out of being a spoiled brat," Shin Hye rejoined hastily to save herself. "You know... uhm, you said she grew up in the States, geuchi? Maybe she had assimilated the girls' wild habits of shocking a guy with a kiss."

"Do they?" Yong Hwa asked, embarrassed for his hoobae. "Aigoo."

The two of them talked about anything, from business, to current events, politics, and even fashion. Yong Hwa realized he had some fashion magazines upstairs, so he told her to wait. After some minutes, he came down, bearing with him some mags and his planner.

"I totally forgot that Jin Young-hyung will receive some orders for the noodle shop tomorrow," Yong Hwa complained as he checked his planner.

He remembered that he had a guest, so he smiled and told her that his hyungs took ownership of the noodle shop together. It was a rather small and cozy resto, but a lot of people come in to eat. And mostly Japanese tourists.

"Oh, by the way, Jin Young-hyung said you are experimenting on colored flowers?" Yong Hwa asked.

"Ne... I can make them into any color that I want, or even mix some," Shin Hye said. "Do you want to order some?"

"Ah, yes, please..." he said. "And since we were talking about fashion, I think it will be nice to ask your opinion about it with regards to adding flowers. I am sure Jin Young-hyung will like it."

Yong Hwa opened one mag, and asked Shin Hye about the certain dress of which the accessory was made up of purple gladioli.

"Maybe you can come up with making gladioli purple without resorting to dyeing," he requested.

"Ne, and if you want it in the shop, I guess I have to coordinate with Dong Wook-ssi," she said.

"We will be having a very important guest two months from now, and he wanted the shop look good," Yong Hwa explained, feeling foolish in having to explain.

"Ne?" Shin Hye asked. "Ah. Johayo...."

Yong Hwa's phone rang, so he stood up and went in the living room to answer the call. It was his Dong Wook-hyung over the phone.

"Shin Hye is here and..."

"Mwo?" an excited Dong Wook asked over the other line. "Where is she now? In your room?"

Yong Hwa's cheeks flushed. He was not a ert who would bring a woman inside his room.

"Ani, Hyung!" Yong Hwa retorted. "She is at the patio, looking at your carnation. You requested me to get her here, remember?"

"Ah? Omo!!!! I forgot, sheesh," Dong Wook replied in frustration. "Mianhae, I cannot come home this very instant. Just tell her about Jin Young-ah's plan for Kim Bum's photo shoot. And please tell her, regarding my request to help me with my carnation, I'll call on her later."

"Ah, ne... We are discussing it now," Yong Hwa said.

After hanging up, he got back to the patio and saw Shin Hye flipping through the pages of the magazine.

"Mianhae, that was Dong Wook-hyung," he told her.

"Would you like some white crysanthemums tinted with lilac at the center?" Shin Hye asked him.

"Yes... Yes please," he replied. "Our guest wanted to have purple, you know. But purple and white look great."

As Yong Hwa sat on the chair in front of her, he noticed something strange. The smile from Shin Hye's lips was gone, and the twinkle from her eyes dispersed. She looked so solemn as she discussed the flower matters with him.

"What... what happened?" he asked himself as he listened to her.

 

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