SMW 52

Choi Seol didn’t say anything more. A moment ago, it felt like he had smiled slightly, but now his gaze was devoid of emotion, as if that had been my imagination. Only then did I remember that I had been avoiding Choi Seol for nearly a month. Should I pretend to be in pain and clutch my side again? As my eyes darted around, my gaze suddenly landed on the flowers.

“The flowers are pretty. Are they roses?”

It was obvious they were roses, but I asked anyway. Still, the question seemed to work, as Choi Seol’s persistent gaze finally left me. With his head tilted slightly, Choi Seol looked remarkably well-suited to the red roses. The phrase ‘a man holding flowers’ naturally sprang to mind. Who was he giving them to?

A girlfriend? Was he giving them to that schoolgirl who had been crying in front of the school gate? Just the thought made my chest ache.

“It’s my mother’s birthday today.”

Unexpected words flowed from Choi Seol’s lips, causing me to blink slowly and stare ahead. The moment I became aware of what I had been thinking, my face flushed hot.

“Oh, oh. I see. It’s your mother’s birthday.”

I felt embarrassed that I had spent even a moment misunderstanding and feeling disappointed, as if I were actually jealous that he might be giving them to a girlfriend. Yet, I wondered why I felt secretly elated.

“Han Yeo-reum?”

“A-aren’t the flowers too red?”

Crazy, what am I saying right now? Naturally, Choi Seol looked bewildered.

“Flowers?”

“I mean… if they’re for your mother, I think it would be much better if some white flowers were mixed in.”

I quickly looked around, plucked a few small white flowers blooming by the stream, and held them out to Choi Seol.

“Try putting these in too. My mom likes things with a bit of a point like this.”

“…”

Taken aback, Choi Seol accepted the flowers I offered. Even in my flustered state, the thought that white flowers also suited Choi Seol’s face didn’t escape me. Soon, the white flowers and the bouquet of roses held in Choi Seol’s hands were merged together. Fortunately, the two flowers looked good together.

“This definitely looks much prettier.”

He likes it, right? The tension in my shoulders, worried that he might hate it, relaxed slightly.

“I’m glad.”

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen you smile like that.”

Did I just smile? As I raised my hand to touch my lips, I could definitely feel they were turned up. Feeling a bit shy, I subtly lowered the corners of my mouth and muttered timidly.

“I’m usually someone who smiles a lot.”

“Not in front of me, though?”

“D-did I?”

I asked back, pretending not to know, but my heart stung. Thinking about it, it was truly strange. It felt somewhat bitter that I couldn’t smile in front of the person I liked because I was so anxious about my feelings being discovered.

“Anyway, did you leave school early today because of your mom’s birthday?”

“…”

Did I say something wrong again? I had asked to change the subject, but my heart sank at [stolen content]Choi Seol’s silence. [Read on Read BL Novels]His complexion seemed to darken. Just as I was becoming tense again…

“That wasn’t the reason, but thinking of it that way doesn’t feel too bad.”

His voice, which had been flowing out indifferently like a monologue, soon lightened.

“Actually, not just ‘not bad,’ today is a pretty good day.”

A smile hung on his lips, which were as deep as the red of the roses. Like a fool, my heart pounded again and my cheeks flushed. However, this time I didn’t avoid his gaze. It was a sight too precious to miss by looking away.

“By the way, is your body okay?”

I tilted my head at the vague question that broke the mood, and Choi Seol added:

“You said you were very sick during the summer.”

“Ah.”

This time, a low exclamation escaped me.

“Of course I’m okay. That was so long ago.”

“Well, obviously. But I haven’t had a chance to ask since then.”

That was because I had been avoiding him. Come to think of it, it was the same for Choi Seol.

“You could have just asked.”

As I unintentionally let out a disappointed tone, Choi Seol’s eyes widened. Realizing my mistake, I quickly waved my hand.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that…”

“Is that so? You’re right. I could have just asked; stolen contentvisit our site[visit our site]I was being cautious for no reason.”

Mulling over my words, Choi Seol looked me straight in the eye again. Seeing the corners of his lips turned up, he was indeed smiling, but unlike before, I now felt a sense of dread.

“But why did you come here?”

“Huh?”

“You ran here in a hurry. Isn’t there some urgent business?”

Only then did I remember the errand I had momentarily forgotten.

“I… I have something to give you.”

“To me?”

“Yeah. This.”

I handed an envelope to Choi Seol, who seemed somewhat flustered by the mention of a gift. Receiving it, he frowned and asked,

“What is this?”

“Earlier at school, someone came saying they would help your father. They said they were a lawyer.”

At that moment, Choi Seol’s face stiffened. Until then, I hadn’t taken that change seriously.

“That person told me to make sure to deliver this to you…”

“Why did you take this!”

I flinched at the harsh shout. Only then did I clearly see Choi Seol’s angry expression. Before I could even wonder why, an unpolished excuse stumbled out.

“Just… I was asked to. Since we’re [visit our site]in the same class, I [unauthorized copy]just did it because they stolen contentasked me to deliver it.”

“You just snatched this up for a reason like that? You’re quite the busybody.”

The sharp, cold words sliced through my heart.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t ever do something so trivial again.”

“…I understand.”

My head naturally bowed low.

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“…”

There was no answer now. I felt wronged, wondering what I had done so wrong, but more than that, the fear and sadness of Choi Seol being so angry were greater. My eyes stung and my vision blurred. Just as I opened my mouth to apologize once more, holding back tears…

“Sor—”

“Enough. Go.”

Choi Seol cut me off and walked past me. I turned a bewildered gaze to watch him walk away. I hoped, just in case, but Choi Seol didn’t look back once; he walked toward the road and soon disappeared from sight.

A surge of emotion hit me, and the tears I had been holding back flowed down my cheeks.

“What is this.”

Did I do something that wrong? Even though, as he said, I just delivered a single document? Even so, how am I supposed to feel when he gets this angry and leaves without an explanation?

Wiping my tears with my sleeve, I turned and walked in the opposite direction of where Choi Seol had gone. If I went this way, it [visit our site]would be a long walk to [Read on Read BL Novels]get back to the road, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want to go that way right now. Read on Read BL NovelsHowever, after a few steps, I had to stop. A red rose petal lay fallen at my feet.

My hand instinctively reached down to pick it up. The red petal, fallen from the lush bud, no longer looked beautiful. Instead, it looked as miserable as I did, abandoned here, and I felt a surge of emotion again.

A gentle breeze shook the rose petal held at my fingertips. I suddenly looked up at the sky. It was high and blue. Just a few minutes ago, this place had been paradise to me. It might have been a trivial reason to him, but it was for me. But now, all this beautiful scenery had turned into a literal hell. In the midst of it, I sobbed unsightly for a long time.

“So, you’re saying we should let that senior stay here for the night?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded timidly, gauging Choi Seol’s reaction. Sure enough, the stiff expression he’d had since I crossed the gate with the senior gained a subtle crease.

“Give me a break. Look outside. It’s a typhoon.”

Feeling the need to set up a defense before he could say more, I pointedly indicated the rattling kitchen window.

“Do you hear that sound? If we’re not [unauthorized copy]careful, it feels like the whole house might be ripped [Read on Read BL Novels]away. My heart was racing just walking from the porch to the kitchen to see you. If we drove now, we’d die.”

“Who said anything?”

“Huh?”

“You brought him back well.”

I doubted my ears for a moment at the surprisingly unexpected remark.

“Are you okay?”

“What about it?”

“I just… I thought you didn’t like the senior very much.”

It wasn’t that I was overthinking, but I believed Choi Seol was a [stolen content]bit jealous. However, Choi unauthorized copySeol replied nonchalantly, as if such a thing didn’t even exist.

“There’s nothing to hate or like. I’m not so idle that I’d pick a fight over someone I just met. And like you said, if I let him go alone in this situation and he ended up dying, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth.”

That was true. For a normal person, making such a judgment in this situation was normal. That was also the reason I had no choice but to bring the senior home.

But why was I feeling disappointed?

“I’ve already started the braised short ribs. I think they’ll be done in about ten minutes, so let’s set the table. He probably hasn’t eaten yet either.”

“O-oh… Right, come to think of it, the senior likes braised short ribs, so this is great.”

I spoke with a deliberate, bright smile. In truth, the senior preferred Western and Japanese food over Korean food. But I was more curious about Choi Seol’s reaction than the truth.

“That’s good. It’s not embarrassing to serve to a guest.”

“…”

“I tasted it a bit earlier, and it was delicious. The grandmother downstairs must be a good cook.”

Didn’t he like me? I couldn’t understand why the guy who had considered starting smoking just because he only saw Noona once or twice a week wasn’t jealous at all right now.

With his level of intuition, he must have noticed to some extent that the senior was clinging to me. Was he really just in a bad mood earlier because he mistook me for someone else? At this point, a strange sense of stubbornness arose in me.

“Yeah, it’s great. But for a guest’s meal, braised short ribs alone feel a bit empty.”

I rolled up my sleeves, opened the freezer, and generously took out the leftover pancakes from the holiday. We had ordered so much that there was still quite a bit left despite eating them consistently.

“You’re putting those out too?”

“I am. Pancakes are thin, so they’ll heat up quickly. The senior really likes these too, so it’s perfect. Since it’s a special occasion, I should bring out some makgeolli as well.”

It was uncertain whether it would suit the senior’s taste, as he usually preferred wine bars, but it didn’t matter. The important thing was that Choi Seol was watching. Surely, he couldn’t help stolen contentbut be jealous visit our sitewhen the person he likes is carefully preparing a dinner table for another man… right?

“Where are you going?”

As I placed the pancakes in the frying pan and turned around to make sure he saw, Choi Seol was opening the room door connected to the kitchen.

“I’m going to rest for a bit. Call me when it’s all ready.”

“You’re leaving me to set the table alone?”

“You’re the one on dinner duty today.”

That’s right. I had momentarily forgotten because Choi Seol had been naturally braising the ribs in the kitchen. As I watched his back as he leisurely entered the room, telling me to work hard, a sense of futility washed over me.