After school, following Kkotmoa was purely impulsive.
Unlike Kang Junwoo, who had a driver’s car for both going to and leaving school, I only used a driver’s car for going to school. This was all because of Mom. The clash of opinions between Father, who wanted to provide a driver thinking of the family image, and Mom, who said it would spoil the kid, found an appropriate compromise. As Father wanted, I’d take the driver’s car in the relatively hectic mornings, and as Mom wanted, I’d use public transportation after classes ended. Sometimes I’d catch a ride in Kang Junwoo’s car, and on other days Kang Junwoo would tell his driver not to come and then hang out with me.
I was merely a minor who followed my parents’ opinions even for going to and from school. If I’d expressed my own opinion, it would have been reflected anytime, but I tended to avoid bothersome things from the start. I couldn’t believe that someone like me was bothering to tail Kkotmoa.
Instead of taking a bus or subway, he walked. So it was easy to follow him. I could have just walked together with him saying I was going that way anyway, but I didn’t understand why I was hiding myself. His back view with his hair fluttering as he walked looked solid rather than gentle, as he’d said. He also looked lively. Maybe it was because his steps were somewhat fast. Both his elbows stuck out backward, whether he was holding his backpack straps, and my gaze kept going there.
About 15 minutes after following at an appropriate distance, he disappeared. I’d definitely been watching only Kkotmoa, but he disappeared as if he’d teleported. Not knowing what had happened, I wandered around searching. Then I discovered a very small flower shop the size of a palm. It was a shabby building that you wouldn’t know was a flower shop if not for the colorful flowers out front. It was also a building I’d seen a few times while passing by in the driver’s car, arriving at school a bit earlier than other kids. I’d thought what could be done in a building so worn down it wouldn’t be strange if it collapsed right away. But one corner of the first floor of that tucked-away building was Kkotmoa’s family’s flower shop.
I sneaked a peek inside. The flower shop itself was so small, but the entrance was large so the inside was clearly visible. Kkotmoa, who’d put down his bag, was tying an apron around his waist. I’d thought he was on the thin side, but as the apron strings pulled taut and tied around his waist, a slenderer waist than I’d thought stood out.
Ah…
What surprised me was seeing the person explaining something to Kkotmoa. It wasn’t Kkotmoa’s mom but his dad who ran the flower shop. I don’t know why I naturally thought his mom would run the flower shop. This is all the harm of force-fed brainwashing education and narrow-minded thinking. I’d heard words like that. They say when you mention the profession of doctor, most people think of a man. Likewise, the profession of florist naturally made you think of a woman. But if you think about it that way, ironically, why does a chef who cooks bring a man to mind first? I was thinking useless thoughts while sneaking a peek inside the flower shop. Unluckily, my eyes met exactly with Kkotmoa’s.
I absolutely had no intention of letting Kkotmoa know that I’d come here. This all happened because I spaced out having useless thoughts.
“Oh? Hyeondo-ya, did you come to buy flowers?”
Kkotmoa, who came scurrying to the door with a bright smile, swayed like a cosmos flower. It was still April and the season was spring, but a cosmos had bloomed in the middle of the city.
“…Yeah.”
From my mouth, bewitched by the fluttering, swaying cosmos, a false answer came out too easily. It was because the cosmos swayed too easily even in the city wind full of fine dust, tickling me.
“Then come with me. Come in. My dad arranges flowers really prettily.”
Kkotmoa grabbed my wrist and led me. Even though he only grabbed over my uniform, I felt somehow embarrassed. I don’t know what I’m doing here. I really don’t know why I followed this kid and got surrounded by flowers I have no intention of buying. I just felt strange.
“Dad, this is my seatmate. His name is Do Hyeondo.”
Kkotmoa introduced me to the man who was wrapping a bouquet, whether there’d been an order. Looking at his dad, I understood. Why he had that delicate flower-like feeling. The man Kkotmoa called Dad didn’t resemble Kkotmoa at all in terms of face, but their images were quite similar. An ordinary face with nothing particularly outstanding, but pale so he had a pretty and gentle image. He also suited flowers well.
“Moa’s friend?”
“Hello. I’m Do Hyeondo.”
I greeted him politely as I’d learned at home. Even so, since I was wearing a uniform, it was just the ordinary appearance of a high school student greeting a friend’s parent.
“But what flowers are you trying to buy? Is it for a gift?”
I hesitated for a moment, not having prepared an answer. However, the crisis management ability I’d learned in successor lessons was quickly demonstrated.
“Huh? Ah, yeah. It’s my mom’s birthday.”
I worried it might look awkward because I stammered a bit. My mom’s birthday, which was still a long way off, became April regardless of Mom’s wishes. I wondered if I should have made a different excuse, but I couldn’t think of any particular excuse.
“Hyeondo-ya, do you know what flowers your mom likes?”
When the homeroom teacher used the ‘-ni’ speech pattern, it was only troublesome, but it wasn’t strange for Kkotmoa’s dad to use the same speech pattern. I just inexplicably thought it was a speech pattern that really suited his dad.
“No. I don’t know much about flowers. Please do it as you see fit.”
“How much should I match it to? Since you’re Moa’s friend, I’ll give you a discount.”
At the words about giving a discount, Kkotmoa proudly shrugged his shoulders. His expression was triumphant as if I was benefiting thanks to him. To me, the one and only heir of D Group who’d never once felt a lack of money. Suddenly I wondered if this kid didn’t know my background.
“Um, about fifty thousand won.”
“Then how about a flower basket instead of a bouquet? For about fifty thousand won, I can make a flower basket that looks like a hundred thousand won.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Dad will make it not like a hundred-thousand-won flower basket, but a real hundred-thousand-won one.”
The guy who butted in from the side pouted his lips and grumbled. No, I thought he was grumbling. However, Kkotmoa had a smile plastered on his face. That smile clearly showed he was proud of his dad. It was a bit of a fresh shock to me, who’d never been proud that my dad was the chairman of D Group. Because I couldn’t understand from my common sense why a florist dad who ran a flower shop would be something to be proud of.
“Sit here. It’ll take some time—should I give you something to drink?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
While his dad set aside the flowers he’d been wrapping and prepared to arrange flowers in a flower basket, the guy asked me. I hadn’t wanted to drink anything, but once I heard the words, I had the illusion that my throat was parched. While he sat on a worn-out metal chair he’d offered, the question came again.
“We have green tea and instant coffee—what do you want to drink?”
“…Just water.”
I didn’t like green tea because it was bitter, and I didn’t like instant coffee because it was too sweet. Whether Kkotmoa always treated customers who came to buy flowers like this, his skill in attending to me seemed quite practiced.
Kkotmoa, who’d disappeared into the corner room, soon came out holding a glass of water. My throat must have really been parched. I gulped down all the water without even breathing.
“Were you thirsty?”
“Yeah.”
“You should say so.”
The guy who smiled warmly with his eyes soon went to his dad and fiddled with flowers together. Kkotmoa, who asked about this and that and did as told, was completely different from during class time. His eyes were full of life and brimming with eagerness to learn diligently.
I openly watched Kkotmoa. And I learned why his hands got scratches. Kkotmoa, who suited flowers well, seemed to have little manual dexterity. It wasn’t being compared because there was a skilled expert next to him. Kkotmoa really didn’t know how to handle flowers. It was quite ironic. There probably wasn’t anyone flowers suited as well as him, yet the sight of him actually touching flowers didn’t look friendly with flowers at all.
Yet among the pretty flowers that filled this narrow space, no matter which flower you brought over, Kkotmoa was the prettiest. He sparkled and was lovely.
How long had I been watching in a daze? I suddenly felt a gaze. When I turned my head, a small child was hiding against the wall in the corner where Kkotmoa had gone to get water, staring at me. It was a rather handsomely good-looking child in a manly way, who didn’t resemble Kkotmoa or Kkotmoa’s dad at all.
“Who… are you?”
“Huh? Who? Ah, Jaea, you’re awake?”
Kkotmoa, who’d been asking back, discovered the young child and smiled dazzlingly. He really smiled well, to the point where you wondered if it was okay for him to be so generous with his smiles. The child withdrew the gaze that had been staring at me and quickly ran to Kkotmoa. He hastily put down the flowers he’d been touching and swooped up the child.
“This is my younger brother.”
“Younger brother? You had such a young younger brother too?”
“Yeah. Jaea, you have to greet him. He’s hyung’s friend.”
“Hyung’s fwiend?”
The child’s pronunciation was still inaccurate. Whether he always held him like this, Kkotmoa’s appearance holding the child was quite natural. It was a late-born younger sibling with quite an age gap. It was a bit unexpected that Kkotmoa, who gave the feeling of an only son who’d probably live receiving plenty of love and affection at home, had such a young younger brother. But I couldn’t understand where the kid’s mom went to leave such a young child here. The floor was messily covered with things like discarded flower stems or thorny rose stems from work, to the point where just looking at it, if the child fell once, his tender skin would get hurt.
