There are Many Flowers in Seoul

Chapter Six

The drive was painfully quiet. The women sat in awkward silence, a mother and daughter with a wealth of experience of the hardships associated with wealth, neither willing to open up to the other and admit their vulnerabilities for fear of pity or judgement. In the back seat a large, square bag wobbled precariously back and forth around each corner and over every bump. Rose had noticed it when she'd climbed into the car, but supposed it was something to do with her mother's work and hadn't wanted to ask and risk a lengthy conversation about fashion shows and designs.

Rose had lost her interest in that world a long time ago.

The girl pressed her forehead to the glass and closed her eyes, too exhausted to watch the city fly past them as they continued their mysterious journey. It was only when the vehicle stopped, and the thrumming engine cut abruptly, that she squinted through the glass and blinked away the sleepy fog which had settled on her brain.

'It's not the fourteenth,' Rose said. 'What're we doing here?'

'Just saying hello,' Lily smiled. 'Coming?'

Rose climbed out of the car and stretched her arms up above her head. The trees dotted around the cemetery were in bloom. Petals pulled from their branches by the spring breeze had settled on stone and marble memorials like snow. It would have been beautiful were it not such a sad, forlorn sort of a place. While Rose couldn't help but admire the diligence of the descendants of these departed souls in keeping the tributes to them neat and clean, she also had trouble understanding how it was they could find comfort in speaking to the cold, engraved slabs when they knew the dead couldn't hear them.

Rose had only lost one person in her nineteen years and seeing their resting place had only brought her pain rather than peace.

Lily collected the bag from the back seat, locked the car with the fob, and led the way along the snaking path through the site to the columbarium where Grace Sugiyama – Lily's great-aunt, famous author, and shoe enthusiast – was laid to rest.

The columbarium was as peaceful as ever; the soft morning light trickled through the high windows, casting golden rays around the top of the room. It didn't quite reach the floor where their shoes clicked upon the marble, nor the glass-fronted compartments which contained the urns and mementos of those who'd moved on from their world.

Grace's urn was flanked by a pair of shoes with angel wings inside their own glass case, a framed photograph of the smiling woman, a copy of Sins of the Fathers – the book which had become a smash-hit Japanese drama Takashi had starred in when he met Lily – and a wilting calla lily rested beside it on the wall. The urn had been engraved with the mantra Grace had lived her entire life by;

Heritage and beauty.

'Hello, Grace,' Lily said in clear English, her British accent no less pronounced for the years she'd spent away from her home country. She moved to press her fingers to the glass on the compartment beside Grace's resting place, and added, 'Hello, Sam.'

Sam had been like a grandfather to Rose in her childhood. He often visited them in Japan, but Rose never had the chance to go to England. Eventually – when he was too old to take care of Grace's large house – he and Lily had decided to make it into a museum to Grace's life, with strict instructions that the tree under which her parents' ashes were buried must never be torn down. Sam had stayed with them for a time but had moved into a hospital following a stroke. Lily had been prepared to take time away from work to care for him as long as he needed when he was released.

Sam never came home to them.

It felt right that he should take his place by Grace's side and be a part of their family in death as he was in life. Lily wanted him to be close to Rose as she grew up, even if it could only be in spirit.

One day, perhaps, she would bring her parents' ashes to Japan and they'd all rest together, but for the time being she thought it best they were in the country they'd loved so much; England.

Rose couldn't look at the memorial for more than a few minutes before she bowed her head to stare at her shoes instead. Sam had passed years ago, but it was as raw as the day it happened. She remembered how she'd had a sinking feeling in her stomach that day at school even though they'd all been planning his homecoming, and that her mother had come to meet her at the gates and offered to walk her back which was something she never did. In that moment, she knew he'd gone, and that she hadn't been there to hold his hand or say goodbye.

That was a regret which would haunt her forever.

'You told your father you wanted a life,' Lily said. 'Your own life.'

'Yeah,' Rose muttered.

'A path.'

She nodded.

'Grace told me that we all have one,' Lily said to her daughter. 'That we need to be brave to walk along it in life.'

'I remember. You told me.'

Lily lifted a box from the bag and held it out to her daughter. 'She also told me that if you're going to walk down that path, you need armour.'

Rose took the box into her hands and lifted the lid. Inside, nestled in white tissue paper, rested a pair of delicate high-heeled shoes. Their straps resembled entwined branches upon which sat cherry-blossom shaped gemstones. They were a unique set and Rose had never seen anything like them, not even in her mother's stores.

'It was the first pair I designed for my first show in Japan,' Lily explained. 'They gave me the courage to take control of my life, and to run to your father when I was about to lose him forever. I hope wherever you walk next, they'll give you some of that same strength.'

'They're beautiful.' Rose was in awe of them. Lack of interest in fashion or not, there was no denying that the shoes were a precious gift. They meant so much to her mother, and here she was handing them over to her, wishing her well on her journey.

Her journey to where?

Rose hadn't decided where she was going to go next, and her father hadn't said he approved of her living abroad or attending some far-off university to study whatever caught her interest.

'Yuta is heading to Seoul tomorrow,' Lily answered her daughter's dumbfounded expression. 'I called him last night and asked if he'd agree to some company.'

'Seoul? Korea?' Rose lit up. 'Really?'

'Yes, yes, and yes,' Lily laughed. 'You can be his unpaid intern. Part time. And a part time tourist. Just as long as you stay out of trouble.'

'But... but he's going for work, isn't he? Won't people know who I am there?'

'Yuta's working with marketing. That's Mike's area of expertise. Too boring for me,' Lily joked. 'I've not been there. Haven't met the new staff, either. There'll be some photoshoots with models and celebrities, some dinners, and I'll make sure you have enough money to cover some sightseeing. How does that sound?'

Rose, still apprehensive, asked, 'Isn't it sort of like lying if I don't tell them I'm your daughter? Like... lying by omission?'

'It is,' Lily agreed. 'But it's only for ninety days. Just tell them your name is Rose Abe and if they're too lazy to google you then that's their problem.'

'I don't know...'

'Rose, sweetheart, I'm giving you a ninety-day break from the spotlight. A city full of strangers, good food, and heritage. Trust me, you should go. It's better than waking up on a plane hungover and in your pyjamas.'

Rose snorted softly with laughter.

'I think Grace and Sam would approve,' Lily added fondly. 'It's a new adventure. What do you say?'

What did she say?

Ninety days in an exciting new city without her parents watching her every move?

Ninety days in another country without people pretending to be her friends?

Ninety days sharing an apartment or hotel with Yuta all alone?

What did she say?

'Yes.'