As soon as Choi Minho arrived back at the mansion, the first thing he did is find his young master. He was not in his room and in his office, though, but Minho knew there’s another place Jinki would want to be in apart from his room and his office. It could be that he was spending his time there again.

He was right. Jinki was in one of his most comforting places: the spacious garden that was located at the back of the mansion. It didn’t look like any other garden which were put there to scream beauty and attractiveness. It was even hidden at the more silent part of the mansion. It was a place for serenity. A place of solace. When he saw Jinki, he was standing at the small corner where dandelions were planted, looking down on them like he was just watching their every sway along the wind.  

“I’m back.” Minho finally spoke upon observing him for some time. Jinki glanced at him shortly, and then back to the dandelions. The chief walked over, enclosing enough distance between the two of them for a friendlier conversation. “Hey, Jinki.” He called out.

“Hm?” He said, only half of his attention drawn to him.

“You could’ve asked her to stay a bit longer. Who knows, she might be the one to get you back to normal.” Minho reached down and picked one flower. Jinki watched as he did. The younger looked closely at the little beauty he was holding before looking back at Jinki. “She might be someone really special.”

“You don’t pick a flower just because you’re curious and you find it interesting. When you pick it up, you take away its chance to continue living.” Jinki uttered, taking the flower from Minho’s hand. “As soon as you picked this up, you killed it. You stole its chance to bloom even more beautifully. Now what?” He lifted the flower a bit before blowing on it. The dandelion, as it flew along the wind, scattered into pieces. “Eventually, you’d have to let it go because its beauty would diminish soon. The worst part is… it’s because of your fault, your recklessness to just pick it up selfishly.”

“Are you talking about her?” Minho clarified. Jinki sighed.

“You really think she’ll stay here? Think about it again. She doesn’t know any of us, to make it worse, she found out about me few hours after she got here. If I were a normal person and if I were her, I would have escaped right away.”

“…It’s just that…” Jinki hesitated a bit before continuing, but he got Minho’s attention anyway so there’s no way he could still back out. “I wish I didn’t hear her reacting that way. I was expecting she’ll be more understanding.” He sighed once again and shrugged his shoulders. “But like what I said, it was pretty normal to think how she did. I can’t blame her.”

Minho only nodded and didn’t say a thing. He only looked at Jinki, which made the older a bit awkward. “What?”

“Nothing. You just look very disappointed.” The chief observed and shrugged upon sighing a little loudly. “It’s the first time.”

“Get on your work.” Jinki flatly told him, wore his straight face back and started walking away.

Minho stood there following Jinki with his gaze. He smiled as he shook his head, “You’ve fallen.” He whispered.

--- --- ---

As she entered her room, she dropped her stuff on the floor and sat lazily on the bed. It was a really long travel back to Seoul from the countryside where she stayed for about three weeks. She had to come back because she needed to fix her blog; upload the photos she took from the province, post her adventures, and do some recommendations about the place.

Kim Dalbi has been running her very popular travel blog site since three years ago. It started from a random tour across Seoul, until she went to different cities, and now to provinces. Her blog sites were more popular to international readers, for a lot of them even send her messages asking for personal recommendations and advices when touring the country.

She lied down on her own bed and sighed in relief. Dalbi missed the soft fabric which had been keeping her relaxed and comfortable. There was no other place but home. While she was in that province, there was no other bed to sleep in but that small wooden bed with such thin mattress. She never complained, though. She understood that living in less-fortunate villages like that was nothing compared to her city life. Still, she treasured these moments. These moments when she could just communicate with the old villagers who were very warm and hospitable. The fresh air, greeneries, and noise-free village was very refreshing. Sleeping on the hard bed was not an issue.

It suddenly reminded her of that specific night in the middle of her trip where she was able to sleep in comfort. It was in a place which was called Shiwondu as she learned later on from the villagers she was able to talk that morning after. A place