I'll forget the dry white roses,
A cold wind blew on the tip of my nose. The ink leaking out through the gap followed the tip of the fountain pen moving straight back and forth on a postcard. | It's an unusually cold autumn. This year, it's raining a lot, which is unusual. I thought the summer monsoon season would just pass by, but somehow dark clouds seem to have rolled in for autumn. The rain and the wind are both hard to come by, and the leaves are falling in droves, but the maple leaves in the front yard are still colored, clinging to their branches and showing no signs of falling.
After writing for a while, even if I drew hard, the ink wouldn't come out, so I'd replace it with a new one. The sound of it clicking seemed familiar. Then, a cold wind blew and I rolled up the window, and somewhere at the end, a latch touched it and it closed with a clean, dull sound. Then, as if it had been waiting, a shower began to fall. In the autumn rain that came and went unwelcome, I looked around at the junk lying by the front yard wall and the weeds growing wildly between the things that would have to be cleaned up someday, and I sighed softly and turned away. I wondered when this rain would stop. I spread out the postcard, still wet, with the dried white rose I had planted between the pages of a book.
“I guess I’ll have to send it when the rain stops completely.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Yes, no matter how much I whined, I didn’t even realize you left first.”
Even Lee Yeon couldn't help but wonder why he felt no regret in sharing his feelings with you, the one who had turned away first. Suddenly, he turned to the window and the rain had stopped. He left and gently picked up the postcard and dried roses he had left on the table near the windowsill. The envelope was white with a small diamond design engraved in black on the lower right corner. He carefully placed the postcard in, melted some wax, and placed a few dried white rose petals on it, pressing them together with a seal.
“Want to eat lunch?”
“Okay. What’s the long-awaited menu?”
“Phew, what’s that? Egg rolls… um, and also, pickled vegetables!”
“It’s so trivial. Aren’t you just eating eggs these days?”
When Lee Yeon complained about how often omelets were served at his table, Jung Kook tugged at the corners of his mouth and quietly smiled. He then shrugged, saying he was currently practicing to become an omelet master. Lee Yeon, in return, turned his head and smiled teasingly, saying, "Oh my. You've already reached a certain level."
“Min-i-yeon! So, are you going to eat lunch?”
“I put so much effort into it, so I can’t not eat it.”
She tried to put half of the rolled egg on top of the spoon full of mixed grain rice in one bite, but it was too big, so she took some out. Jeongguk, who was next to her, put some more vegetables on top with his chopsticks. She looked up at him with a puzzled look, and Jeongguk was looking at Lee Yeon with a smile in his eyes. She lowered her slightly reddened head and silently swallowed the rice that wouldn't go down.
That afternoon, I dropped a letter into the red mailbox next to the post office. POST. The white paint had peeled away, leaving only the letters P and S, and a vaguely written message.
Anyway, I hope the letter gets delivered.
P and S. Did I write down my destination? Maybe it was intentional. I'm struggling to forget you. The white roses you brought me that day are already completely withered. I'll forget about those dried white roses. Goodbye.