It wasn’t his palm, but could other parts of Seo Jeong-won be this soft too?
The thought suddenly crossed his mind.
“Get home safe.”
“Yes.”
Seo Jeong-won gave a small nod and slowly stepped back.
The hand that had been gently touching various parts of his face finally withdrew.
Kwon Tae-hee stared intently at the dampness left on his palm, then shifted only his gaze to meet Seo Jeong-won’s eyes.
He smiled softly — polite, elegant.
“You should take that with you.”
Kwon Tae-hee pointed with his chin at the bundle of bills and the card.
Seo Jeong-won turned back to the spot where he had first been standing.
His small hand hesitated, then reached for the money and card on the table and put them into his bag.
One might have shoved them in carelessly in anger, but his gentle nature didn’t even allow such a thought.
“I’ll be heading in now.”
His face flushed red, his words came out broken due to his sniffling.
Even that was so cute—it was almost troubling.
As Kwon Tae-hee nodded, Seo Jeong-won crossed the office.
His eyes were drawn to his worn-down sneakers.
Kwon Tae-hee thought to himself that the first thing he needed to do for this pitiful, shabby boy was buy him some new shoes.
***
Back at the flower shop, Seo Jeong-won pulled out his phone and placed it on the rusty table.
Silence.
It was already past the time when he should’ve received several abusive messages about not sending money.
But nothing.
That was odd.
Why was it so quiet?
He leaned back weakly in the chair when suddenly—bzzz—his phone vibrated.
The message wasn’t from the loan shark’s personal number but from the official line of “Hope Capital.”
It was a confirmation that his loan had been fully repaid.
He rubbed his eyes and reread it several times.
Then a new message arrived—his bank loan had also been repaid.
“Oh…”
Seo Jeong-won stared blankly into space for a moment, then found a number and pressed call.
The dial tone didn’t last long.
—Hello.
“Hi… It’s Jeong-won.”
—I know.
“I got… I got a message…”
Laughter came from the other end.
Even to his own ears, his stammering voice sounded foolish, so it surely must have to the other person too.
—I know that too.
“Thank you.”
—You haven’t gotten a call from the caregiver yet?
“Not yet…”
—I’ll send you the number.
If you’re curious, call them first.
Seo Jeong-won held his breath briefly, then nodded.
Things that had once felt impossibly difficult were being solved so easily with Kwon Tae-hee’s help.
His suffocating debt, his brother who crushed him with guilt every day—“Thank you.”
—If you’re really that grateful, read the contract copy I gave you carefully.
I’ll come pick you up the day after tomorrow.
“The day after tomorrow?”
—Friday.
This time, his tone was slightly annoyed.
Seo Jeong-won quickly apologized.
“Is there anything I need to bring? Or prepare…?”
—Just prepare yourself mentally.
At that, Seo Jeong-won smiled a little.
The softened tone felt nice.
The one who had always been cold and intimidating now sounded almost kind, like the first time they met.
—I should hang up now.
“Oh, right. Okay. Take care.”
Seo Jeong-won bowed toward the invisible voice on the other end of the phone.
Only after he pulled the phone from his ear did he realize the call had already ended.
He took out the contract and bundle of bills from his bag.
And the black card.
Elegant patterns adorned the rounded edges, and a number was engraved at the top.
What could that mean?
He rubbed the glossy surface, studying it for a while before opening a zipper inside his bag.
He didn’t expect to use it much, so he planned to keep it safely at home.
He took out only two 50,000 won bills, folded the rest neatly, and stored them with the card.
Then he pulled out the contract again, the one he’d been told to read thoroughly.
Without even changing his posture, he read it carefully from beginning to end.
Honestly, he wasn’t sure how reading it again would help now.
It wasn’t like he could change anything.
He was a little worried.
He’d never done anything like this before.
If he messed up and Kwon Tae-hee ended up disliking him…
Would that be a good thing?
If the contract were broken because he wasn’t liked, he’d receive the penalty fee, after all.
As Seo Jeong-won let his silly thoughts run on, he closed his eyes.
His relaxed body quickly slipped into a deep sleep.
***
Time passed quickly.
Just tending to the overgrown, nearly ruined flower shop took up two full days.
He stuck nutrient sticks into the parched fruit trees, saplings, and flowers and decided to wait a week.
Anything that showed no sign of recovery, he planned to throw away.
Sweat beaded on his white forehead as he busily cleaned up the shop.
Was it just too hot?
Even with regular watering, the plants seemed like they might die from the heat, so he moved the outdoor pots indoors.
Repeating this several times drenched his in sweat.
Seo Jeong-won wiped his forehead with his gloved hand, locked up the flower shop, and headed to the restroom.
It was old and worn-out, but good enough for a quick wash.
He took off all his clothes and washed up quickly with cold water.
It was groundwater, so cold it pierced his bones.
His teeth chattered on their own.
Shivering, he shampooed his hair and washed his face again using soap from a plastic container.
After drying off with a towel, he changed into clean clothes he’d brought from home.
His hair was stiff, and before his dry clothes could soak up more moisture, he opened the door.
A wave of hot, humid air rushed in.
“Still hot…”
If he moved anymore, he’d probably start sweating again.
He sat in front of the rattling fan to dry off when—
Knock knock knock—a loud banging at the door made him spring to his feet.
No one was supposed to come.
“Just a moment!”
As he rushed out, his foot caught on a flower pot stand.
Crash!
A loud noise followed as his knee hit the ground.
The flower pot tray flew, and dried leaves from a dead tree scattered like confetti.
Despite washing up, dirt clung to his shin.
“Ah…”
Blood welled up quickly from his scraped knee.
He let out a deep sigh but was interrupted by another loud knock.
Limping, he went to the door and unlocked it.
“We are not open today…”
“I knew that. But more than that, I heard a loud noise coming from inside.”
Seo Jeong-won, who had checked who was knocking, widened his eyes in surprise.
Why did he come in person?
Kwon Tae-hee had said he’d come pick him up, but Seo had interpreted that as meaning he would send a car.
He hadn’t expected Kwon to actually come himself, so he was taken aback.
As Kwon Tae-hee peeked inside, his gaze dropped and noticed the mess.
“I thought maybe you were hiding someone, but looks like you just fell.”
“Ah, that…”
From the look of his still-damp hair, he must have just taken a shower, but his knees were a mess.
With a cold glance, Kwon Tae-hee looked him up and down, then turned his head and gave instructions to someone standing behind him to buy bandages, antiseptic, and ointment.
“I-it’s fine…”
“We’ll probably have to wait a bit, so let’s go inside.”
Though he hadn’t done anything wrong, Seo Jeong-won felt like he was being scolded.
He cautiously followed Kwon Tae-hee, who was already walking ahead.
Kwon pulled out a metal chair that looked too worn and dirty to properly sit on.
Seo regretted not putting a cushion on it, but before he could do anything, a large hand grabbed his wrist and gently pulled.
“Sit down.”
“Really, I—”
“I think it was when I was eight. I saw my younger cousin’s knee look just like this after he fell.”
That was such a long time ago.
Seo Jeong-won swallowed the question that rose to his throat, along with his embarrassment.
Kwon Tae-hee crouched down and carefully examined the bloodied area on his knee.
With a sigh, he took a handkerchief from inside his jacket and pressed it gently against the wound.
“Ah…!”
“Does it hurt?”
“Ah, n-no.”
Even though it clearly sounded like a pained moan, Seo Jeong-won shook his head quickly.
Kwon didn’t ask further and firmly pressed on the reddened area.
How long did they wait in that awkward and uncomfortable silence?
Then the sound of the door opening broke through.
Seo Jeong-won widened his eyes in surprise, then quickly looked down.
A man approached quickly and set down the items he’d bought on the metal table.
Seo looked at the pharmacy bag for a moment with a gloomy expression, then bowed his head to the man, offering his thanks.
“No need to thank me. I’ll wait outside then.”
The man gave a short bow to Kwon Tae-hee and left the flower shop.
As soon as the door shut with a thud, Kwon raised his head.
“Jeong-won.”
He softly called his name.
Seo’s gaze, which had been drifting upward, came back down and met Kwon’s calm, handsome face.
His deep eyes checked the injury, and fingers softer than flower petals gently touched the surrounding area.
Kwon carefully cleaned the messy wound, then took out antiseptic and sprayed it onto the exposed red skin.
His warm breath as he blew on it felt comforting and ticklish.
“I’m the one who told him to buy all of this. He only bought it because I asked him to. So, who do you think you should be thanking?”