There are Many Flowers in Seoul

Chapter Thirty-Three

Rose moved the knife slowly through the carrots which rested on the chopping boards, slicing them unevenly, some much too thick and the rest so paper thin they were transparent. Her distracted gaze rested on a spot on the opposite wall, and Yuta was too preoccupied with frying off the meat and onions to notice just how close she was to slicing a finger until he heard her yelp and swear.

'What are you doing?' he asked, snatching the knife from her hand and rushing her to the sink to rinse her finger under cold water. 'Hitomi, put your phone down and find a band-aid.'

Hitomi had been glued to her phone every night since she'd met Jung-wook. It wasn't as though she'd never had a crush on a guy before – Hitomi was famous for it – but it was becoming very serious very fast, and Rose didn't know how her best friend would handle it when they had to go home. It wasn't as though Japan and South Korea were on opposite sides of the world. The pair could visit one another whenever they wanted. Rose only hoped that they could remain loyal to one another if they were separated for extended periods of time.

Looking up from the screen and noticing the blood which had dripped on the crisp, clean counter, Hitomi hurried through to the bathroom and raided the cabinets for a first aid kit. Luckily, the injury wasn't deep enough to require a hospital visit or anything so dramatic. It was close enough to the crook of her finger that it was painful when Rose flexed it, and she had to wonder if it would heal in time for the next set of shoots, but Yuta appeared more concerned about her wellbeing than work.

'Sorry,' Rose said automatically as he patted her hand dry and held the towel over the cut to stem the bleeding. 'I was a little distracted.'

'The state of the carrots told me that.'

Rose glanced back over her shoulder at her pathetic contribution. She'd never needed to cook at home and only had the experience which came from observing others from afar or watching videos online and arrogantly presuming that the task couldn't be that difficult. Something as simple as curry shouldn't have earned Rose an injury – especially not when Yuta was taking on the bulk of the work – but it seemed she was useless at everything she tried her hand at recently. At school, it had been so easy for her to excel when she applied herself to her learning because everything was theoretical – books didn't require social interaction or anything so strenuous – but in the real world Rose found she was severely lacking at the skills she needed to make a life for herself. She couldn't cook, wasn't adept at cleaning, and could barely hold down a job. It was all well and good for her to shout at her parents about wanting to make her own way in the world, but if she couldn't figure out how to fend for herself, she wasn't going to make it far.

A heavy sigh escaped Rose's parted lips. It almost escaped her notice that Yuta was holding her hands in his, patting her finger dry before he applied the bandage offered by Hitomi. The girl watched her friend with a worried expression, as did Yuta. They'd known each other long enough to see when something was wrong, and there was no doubt that Rose had more on her mind than she was willing to tell. Taking a risk and breaking his own rules about maintaining boundaries with the girls, Yuta placed his hand on Rose's cheek and asked, 'Is there anything you need to tell me? Have I been pushing you too hard with the modelling?'

Rose wanted to tell him that he had, and that she wanted to stop and take a break, but it hardly seemed worth it now she was about to have a breather while the studios worked on their marketing plans and sent out the shots to magazines for the new advertisements. With a forced smile on her face, she blinked herself back to the here-and-now. 'No,' she said. 'I'm just kind of tired. Uh – also – I've got that date with Si-woo tomorrow.' Yuta balked. He'd been in meetings during the shoot and hadn't been present to hear him ask her out. It hadn't occurred to Rose that no one would pass on the message to him, which was why she was surprised to see the shock on his face. Realising that she ought to play it down, she added, 'He's going to look at some locations and said it would help him get an idea for lighting if I was there. It's no big deal.'

She definitely wasn't going to mention that Tae-won had asked her out, too.

'You'll have your phone on?' Yuta asked. 'And you'll take a jacket?'

'Yes, Dad,' Rose said. 'You know it's almost summer, right? It's fine.'

'It's still spring, and you'll take a jacket.'

Rose glanced at the stove. 'The dinner's gonna burn.'

'Shit,' Yuta swore, rushing to save the curry and tipping in the misshapen carrots. 'Find some dishes and don't touch anything sharper than a spoon, okay?'

When Hitomi pitched in, the girls made short work of setting the table and were sent away from the kitchen to sit on the sofa at a safe distance to spare either any injuries. In a hushed voice, Hitomi asked, 'Have you picked out an outfit for your date yet?'

'No,' Rose replied. 'There's something I have to tell you...'

'What?'

After looking back over her shoulder to ensure Yuta couldn't hear, she said, 'Tae-won asked me out.'

'He took you on a date before, right?'

'Do you seriously think that could be called a date?'

'Good point,' Hitomi agreed. 'Unless you find abductions romantic. Which I don't, by the way.'

'Always good to know,' Rose said, a smirk pulling at her lips. 'Have you told Jung-wook that?'

A blush touched her cheeks. 'I think anyone sane knows without being told.'

'Except Tae-won.'

'I did just say sane.'

'I shouldn't go, should I?' Rose asked, as though seeking her approval to stand him up. No matter who the guy was, it was still impolite to leave him waiting alone in a park instead of telling him properly that she wouldn't be there. If she'd had his number, then she'd have sent him a message or something. That said, there was a chance he wouldn't believe her. After all, she'd told him a number of times that she didn't want anything to do with him, and he was still convinced that he could win her over.

Hitomi reached out and placed her hand atop Rose's in solidarity. In a solemn, mature, wise voice, she said, 'You need to give that boy a kick square in the balls. It's the only way.'

Rose snorted softly with laughter. It was a relief to know that she wasn't the only one who thought Tae-won was no good. Hot, yes. And when he wasn't being arrogant and manipulative, he was capable of being a decent, kind, caring human being. It was too bad that he couldn't be that person all the time, otherwise she might have been interested in him.

Thank goodness Si-woo was the complete package; handsome, talented, sweet, smart, and not a filthy cupcake thief who would burn forever in the fires of snack hell for his crimes against sugar.

'Hey, dinner,' Yuta announced as he carried the pot to the table. 'What are two talking about?'

'Nothing,' they said together, sharing mischievous smiles.

'Well... that's not suspicious...'