There are Many Flowers in Seoul

Chapter Twenty-Seven

It made a change to spend an evening without listening to Yuta lecturing her. The man was so relieved that Rose had come back unharmed but for a small cut on her lip – nothing at all considering what might have happened to her – that he'd let her go to take a bath when she'd asked and to rest in her room. This time, as far as he was concerned, it hadn't been anyone's fault but the men who'd approached her with ill intentions, and Yuta was satisfied that Tae-won had frightened them enough that they wouldn't see them again. It was strange for him to think that he'd be grateful to Tae-won for anything, but there was no denying the fact that Rose would have been in a great deal of trouble had he not found her when he had, and Yuta was resolved to treat the man with a smidgen of respect when he saw him again at work.

Rose, of course, knew the truth.

She knew that Tae-won had deceived her on the rooftop and placed her in danger.

She knew that he'd only cared about proving himself to his peers.

She knew that he'd only followed her out of duty.

She knew that he'd hugged her.

Hitomi chattered about Jung-wook, the man she'd spent the entire night with in the bar until Yuta had ordered the car back there and told her that it was time to go home. She hadn't borne witness to Tae-won's valiant rescue of Rose in the street, otherwise that would have been the only thing on her mind, and Rose was grateful to avoid the conversation for a few hours when she was still so confused by it all. The man, she'd said, was trying to support his family and still lived with his parents but wanted to make sure that his younger siblings could get into university without too many debts, and thus the man became something of a hero in Hitomi's estimation. Anyone who'd sacrifice their own promising future in education for the sake of his brothers and sisters couldn't possibly be bad, and Rose couldn't help but think Hitomi was going to fall hard and fast for this young man.

Her eyes fixed on a point on the wall, Rose sat in silence while Hitomi chattered over the whirring hairdryer, brushing and drying Rose's hair for her so that it wouldn't end up kinked after a night of restless sleep.

'We're going to try to sneak in a few dates,' Hitomi said as she shut off the machine. The girl leaned over the edge of the bed and groped for the straightening irons in the nearby suitcase. 'After he's finished with work and things, so you can be alone with Yuta, if you want.'

'Wait,' Rose said, ready to rejoin the conversation, 'I thought we were going to do some tourist things together. Didn't you want to try out some restaurants and go shopping?'

'I do,' Hitomi agreed, 'but I want to see him, too. We can do both! And, I don't mind going to places twice. You can think of me as scouting out the best locations, so we can go to them later.'

Rose wanted to argue that it wouldn't be the same and that she was hoping Hitomi could distract her confused heart from her feelings about the three men she found now in her life, but when she looked into her friend's imploring eyes, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Hitomi was always by her side when she was angry about her parents throwing their wealth around, her boyfriends being terrible people, or when she simply hated being herself. It always seemed to be about her; her lovers, her family, her life, and never about Hitomi. For once, she was going to swallow down her objections and give her friend a chance to live for herself and experience her own whirlwind romance. And, if it all ended in disaster, she would be ready and available to pick up the pieces and to be the supportive sister-like friend Hitomi had always been for her.

'Will you tell me every filthy detail?' Rose asked.

'Duh. Obviously. Who else am I meant to tell?'