Beautifully Cruel

Chapter 10

JENNIE

Before I even open my eyes, I know he's gone.

I lie there in bed, my cheek pressed to the pillow, listening to the city's morning sounds. My body hurts a little less than it did yesterday. I can tell without touching that the swelling around my eye has gone down. But though my body feels better, my heart feels exponentially worse.

I've never encountered it before, but longing is surprisingly painful.

Lisa- my roommate's voice floats in from the other room.

"Jen? Come out here." She laughs. "You're gonna want to see this."

When I enter the living room, Lisa is standing at the open front door with her arms crossed over her chest. She's grinning.

Crowded around the door in the hallway outside are three delivery guys holding gigantic bouquets of flowers.

"What's this?" Bewildered, I watch them place bouquets around the room.

"Delivery for Jennie Kim." A tall guy wearing a baseball cap with a flower logo on it sets a bouquet of tulips on the coffee table, then straightens and turns to me. "That you?"

"Yes."

He holds out a clipboard. "Sign on number five, please."

I take the clipboard, looking around the room in disbelief. "These are all for me?"

He jerks his thumb toward the door. "We've got another load in the van."

I scribble my signature on line five, give the clipboard back to the delivery guy, and stare in wonder at a bouquet of long-stemmed roses. The petals are a red so dark and velvety they're nearly black. "I've never seen roses that color before."

He grins. "They're awesome, right? It's a hybrid variety called Black Magic."

He points to the bouquet of tulips he set on the coffee table, a gorgeous deep purple, again so dark they're almost black. "Those tulips are called Queen of the Night." He points to an arrangement of black calla lilies. "And those callas are called Black Star."

I say faintly, "I'm sensing a theme."

"The irises are my favorite, though." He gestures to a bouquet on the dining table. The flowers have long, elegant stems, topped by extravagantly ruffled petals the color of midnight.

"What are those called?"

"Before the Storm."

I try not to take that as a bad omen.

Lisa winks, "I told you the Irish hottie was a keeper."

"Stop looking so smug. We don't know for sure they're from him."

She crosses to the bouquet of Black Magic roses and removes a small gold envelope. Flicking the envelope open with her thumbnail, she withdraws a white card and reads it aloud.

"I need to see you. T."

I take the card from her and look at it. The handwriting is small, slanting, and precise. I wonder if Taehyung wrote it himself or if one of the salesgirls from the shop did the honors, but then I catch the faintest whiff of scent.

I look at the card in my hand again. Then I return to my bedroom and pick up my phone from where I left it on my bed and dial.

It rings once before it's answered with a brusque, "Aye."

"Taehyung? It's Jennie."

Instantly, his tone softens. "Jennie. I wasn't expecting you to call so soon."