daffodil

03

Lee Han, who returned home wearing the clothes given by Jaehui, changes into his own clothes and neatly folds the clothes he received.

Seo Jaehui: "Kimga Donghyeon...."

Jaehui keeps fiddling with the ribbons of her clothes, thinking back to what happened earlier.
She covers her face with her hands and mutters.

Seo Jaehui: "....I really am, what am I even doing."
•
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(Lee Han's house)

Lee Han: "....I don't really eat candy..."

Lee Han felt strangely unfamiliar with himself.
For a man who had always been busy avoiding women, he had brought the first woman he ever met home, given her clothes, and even taken sweet candy that he barely ate and eaten it; on top of that, he was still thinking about her, which left him flustered.

Lee Han: "...Have I always liked sweet things?"

Who would have guessed a woman would appear and even change his tastes.
And on their very first meeting, too.

Lee Han: "...She said her name was Seo Jaehui....
**I should go see her tomorrow.**"

For a moment, Lee Han was startled by his own thought.
Go find the woman himself?
This was a huge variable that had never once existed in Lee Han's life.
He forced himself to calm down and muttered,

Lee Han: "....I'm only going to return my sister's clothes. Nothing more, nothing less."

But he knew it himself.
That this was nothing but a flimsy excuse.
That it was only a pretext to see her.
•
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(The next day)

Lee Han's eyes opened on their own.
Normally, since it was a day off, he would have slept soundly until 10, but before 7:30 he was fully awake.
Lee Han let out only a dry laugh.

Lee Han: ".....Ha...seriously.."

He took out and put on a neat Western suit that he didn't wear often.
On the way, he even bought a single flower.
A huge bouquet would probably have felt too much.

Lee Han: "....Am I being too obvious."

But the flower was already bought, and his feet were steadily carrying him to Seo Jaehui's house.
Halfway there, he took a tram and arrived in front of Seo Jaehui's house.
Then,

Servant of the Seo household: "Oh dear, miss!"

A small young woman who burst out through the door bumped straight into Lee Han's chest.
It was Seo Jaehui.

Seo Jaehui: "Eek..! S-sorry..oh...?? Donghyeon, young master...??"

Lee Han ran a hand through his hair.
A small round head was right before his eyes.
He could feel his ears turning red.

Lee Han: '...Am I really crazy.'

Lee Han tried his best to steady his voice and speak.

Lee Han: "I was also a bit worried whether you got home safely yesterday, and I came to return my sister's clothes."

Seo Jaehui smiles brightly and nods.

Seo Jaehui: "Ah! Please wait a moment."

Seo Jaehui rustles around in the room, then comes out holding something along with the clothes.

Seo Jaehui: "This is the clothes...and this is ga-be."

Seo Jaehui holds out a small glass bottle with the clothes.
It was full of finely ground coffee powder.

Seo Jaehui: "Yesterday, you bumped into me and spilled the coffee, so I wanted to give it to you. I received this as a gift, but I don't really drink coffee...so I thought it would be nice if you, Young Master Donghyeon, who enjoys it, had it."

Lee Han carefully takes the clothes and the glass bottle.

Lee Han: "Thank you. I'll enjoy it."

When Seo Jaehui showed him a clear smile, the corners of Lee Han's mouth also lifted softly.
Then Lee Han held out what was in his hand.
It was the flower he had bought earlier.

Lee Han: "I saw someone selling single stems on the street just now. It seemed like a flower that suits you well."

The flower Lee Han held out was a yellow daffodil.
It was the same color as the jeogori of the sister's headdress he had lent her.
Seo Jaehui smiles brightly and carefully takes the flower.

Seo Jaehui: "Wow...it's blooming so beautifully. Thank you. I'll make sure to put it in a vase properly."
•
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(Inside the tram)

Lee Han was riding the tram home.
After staring at the glass bottle for quite a while, Lee Han soon discovered that he was smiling.
Without realizing it, he had been smiling.
Lee Han was flustered.

Lee Han: '....Did I...smile..??'

Lee Han finally came to his own heart.

Lee Han: '...I...am in love with Seo Jaehui.'

Lee Han was startled by the conclusion he had reached himself.
In Lee Han's life, he had never once even cared for a woman, let alone felt love for one, yet here he was, falling in love with a woman he had only met twice.
Lee Han could feel it.
Not merely affection, not merely fondness, but love.

Lee Han: '...love...'

Lee Han rolled the word around in his mouth and carefully cradled the glass bottle with one hand.