"Mom? Why did Rosie end up marrying another man?" I looked at Hyunjoo's reflection on the mirror while tying her hair in ponytails. And here she goes again, my six-year-old daughter asking me about the novel Where Rainbows End.
"Hyunjoo, I told you not to read novels like that at your age, I bought a lot of storybooks from the bookstore-"
"Because I won't understand it unless I grow up? I already knew it mom, but aunt Jisoo already narrated the story to me. I just want to know why Rosie ended up with another man if she loved Alex and Alex also loved her." I pinched her cheeks as she stopped babbling. She pouted and hawked-eye looked at me. I chuckled and bent in front of her.
"Let's go? My daughter doesn't want to be late on her first day, right?" I smiled at her and grabbed her bag as I held her hand.
We went down to the basement of our apartment. We got in my car and I put her seatbelts on from the backseat. After making sure that her seatbelts are already worn, I went to the driver's seat and put my seatbelts on before starting the engine.
As I drove off, my favorite playlist is playing in the car.
"Mom, that's GOT7 again?" She asked.
"Yes, sweet pea it is GOT7 again, do you want me to change the music?" I answered while looking at her reflection on the rearview mirror. The sides of my lips rose as I saw her shook her head while moving her body as the song goes on.
It's GOT7's most recent song, Not by the Moon. They just had their comeback yesterday and I can say that his hairstyle in this era was different but he looked undeniably gorgeous as always. I've been streaming on their song since yesterday night and it is a good thing that Hyunjoo never complained about it being played in our home over and over again.
I smiled as I heard Mark's rap part. His deep low voice never changed. He still had it and I'm glad that despite the distance and spaces between us, I can still hear his voice, the one that used to soothe me years ago after a bad recite, stressing study sessions, after my academic breakdowns. His voice was my only relief way back then.
He used to always be there but we both know that in this lifetime we really are not meant to be. It was love but it had to remain as a lesson.
After dropping Hyunjoo in her class, I drove to my flower shop in Hongdae. My shop has been running for a year already and the sales were doing great for the past months. This is my main branch here in Seoul and I managed to have another branch in Sungnae-dong.
My florists greeted me with a smile and I smiled back at them as I went inside the shop. I placed my bag on my table at my office and sat down the swivel chair. I stretched my hand and went over the paper proposals.
I was busy signing some papers when my newly hired florist, Yumi suddenly went inside the office. I looked up and I saw her eyes quivering with worries, I stood up and went to her as she started to sob.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked as I checked her face. She took a deep breath before meeting my eyes.
"I-is it okay if I would take leave for now? M-my youngest brother got into a bike accident." She said in between her sobs.
I gave her an apologetic smile and nodded.
"Do you need pocket money?" I asked and reached for my bag.
"Thank you but it's too much already for letting me take leave. I'm sorry, but I promise to be here in the afternoon shift." She hurriedly said. I took some bills from my wallet and held her hand as I gave her the money.
"Buy your brother a very nice meal for tonight you can just get back to work tomorrow." I sincerely said. She bowed at me before leaving the office.
I sighed as I fixed the papers on my table. I tied my hair into a high ponytail and wore my apron. I went out of my office and checked the conditions of the flowers. I heard the jangle of the hanging bells that means someone went inside the shop.
"Welcome to-" I stopped when I saw him standing right in front of me in his usual comfortable outfit, hoodie, and sweatpants. He's wearing a face mask that shows only his eyes but I know that it's him. I will never forget those dark brown eyes and his entire silhouette that used to make me so whipped.
I was startled at first but I cleared my throat and exhaled as I broadly stood in front of him.
"Welcome... yeah... welcome to MT flower shop." My voice was unusually low because of awkwardness but I know it is enough for him to hear it.
It's been six years? Six years and I still remember how the intense gaze of his expressive set of dark brown eyes would always intimidate me whenever it lands on me. Six years and it didn't change at all. But six years was enough for me to say that a lot of changes happened to us, to our separate lives.
From my faint distant memories, everything went back as if it all happened yesterday. It was enough to make me realize that after all, I don't have to regret my choices six years ago because seeing him right now, I know that it saved us.
I have always read Romantic novels where the main leads will always end up having their happy endings despite the circumstances along the way. Reading them gave me a silver of positivity that despite my hard life I will have my happy ending, I will find a man, I will love and will be loved.
It turns out that my journey isn't about love, it is about finding the real meaning of genuine happiness. Where I feel fulfilled and contented.
In the story Where the Rainbows End, Rosie still found her way back to Alex after 45 years, it may be after 12 years in the film adaptation, but in my life, in my lifetime, after so many years, I am not Rosie and I will never be.
YOU ARE READING
Midnight Walk (Mark Tuan Short Story)
Fanfic"Soulmates don't leave each other." Six years ago, Cha Eun was a college girl and Mark was a trainee. Six years later, the brightest part of her youth became one of the stars. Cha Eun and Mark were inexplicably bonded and drawn by forces beyond th...
