There are Many Flowers in Seoul

Chapter Twenty-Four

Dates were things you undertook with people you had some manner of romantic interest in. They were a way for you to get to know your partner of choice before you decided if the relationship had a future that you wanted to pursue. They were not, to Rose's mind, nights spent being dragged into a car with tinted windows, whereupon you were ordered to fasten your seatbelt before the car roared into life and took off at frightening speed.

The roads weren't as busy in the dead of night as they had been during the rush hour traffic. It still wasn't advisable to fly around the other cars – trying to overtake them in a bid to be first to a destination Tae-won hadn't thought to share – when one wrong move might see them both killed in a gory display of twisted metal and smouldering flame.

Her hands on the dashboard and her feet planted firmly in the footwell, Rose's eyes flitted between the windscreen and the passenger side window, watching the glaring neon signs of Seoul fly past in a blur. Although she hadn't had as much to drink as Si-woo, she'd had enough to know that she couldn't stand much more of this manner of travel and prayed to any God listening that they would soon come to a halt.

In a bid to take her mind off the terrifying journey, Rose thought of Yuta, Hitomi and Si-woo. The photographer was being taken care of by his colleagues, and she hoped that he wouldn't miss her. Her friends were a different matter; when they realised she was gone, they would panic. Tae-won had told Jin-hee to inform his manager of his departure, but Rose didn't expect the model would be so kind as to pass on the message to Yuta for her sake. Desperate to prevent them from calling the police or trying or trying to chase them down, she grabbed her phone from her bag and tapped out a hastily constructed message to Yuta. Hitomi was in the middle of her own date, and Rose wasn't selfish enough to interrupt it. With a promise to meet them back at the bar or to go to the apartment if Yuta would send her the address, she was reassured that she'd done the responsible thing, which was what he was always nagging her about.

Rose was flung against the side of the car when Tae-won turned suddenly, then forwards into the seatbelt when he came to a stop.

'We're here,' he said, killing the engine. He reached over to the glove compartment and retrieved a baseball cap, a scarf, and a pair of thick rimmed spectacles with no glass in the frames. After he'd arranged his crazy disguise, he told her, 'Get out.'

'Does that look really work?' Rose asked. 'Won't people think you're definitely a celebrity if you have to hide yourself in such a stupid way?'

'No one's figured it out yet,' he said. 'But if we sit in this expensive car too long then they will. Out, now.'

Rose had a strange gut feeling that he was going to drive off and leave her there alone in a strange part of the city, but she still got out of the car as she was instructed and slammed the door behind her. Tae-won took a little longer to join her – adjusting his disguise in the mirror and tilting the cap lower so it would shadow his face – but he did eventually climb out of the vehicle and locked it with a touch of the digital key fob.

'Where are we?' Rose asked, spotting a few signs without translations.

It was still busy to say it was late at night. Couples and groups of friends meandered up and down the street, laughing and talking animatedly as they enjoyed snacks and drinks. No one paid the pair of them much mind; believing them to be just another couple out on an evening stroll through the city – which, Rose supposed, they were – even though she still had no idea of it being a real date when she'd basically been kidnapped.

'Myeongdong,' Tae-won said. 'You said you were a tourist, right?'

'How do you know that?'

'I talk to people.'

'Shout at people, you mean,' Rose muttered to herself.

'Yah!' he snapped at her. 'This is an apology!'

'You think abducting me is an apology?'

Tae-won's eyes narrowed angrily behind his glassless spectacles. 'You said we have to work together, Japan. You said that you expect more. I can give more, and here it is. A date for a tourist.'

'So, it's not really an apology,' Rose surmised. 'This is you trying a new tactic to make me fall in love with you, so you can win the game.'

'Do you want to see a night market, or not?'

Night markets were nothing new to Rose; they had them in Japan. Still, they were something Rose had always enjoyed. In the dim lights of the night markets, it was possible for a person to disappear. No one cared who she was or why she was there when they were all too busy being wooed by stall holders shouting their wares. They were also a great way to enjoy local street food – the kind of food you wouldn't always find in a restaurant – made simply and with traditional ingredients. Thus far, Rose's education in Korean food had extended to a few side dishes in a bar and some ramyun, so the prospect of sampling the best warm treats the market had to offer certainly appealed. Rose only wished Hitomi was with her instead of Tae-won. They'd wanted to be tourists together, and it seemed selfish to enjoy herself without her friend. True, Hitomi had her own distractions at that particular moment, but it didn't stop Rose from imagining the girl rushing between stalls, trying to beckon Rose over while her mouth was full of food, so they could try everything.

Tae-won took Rose's silence as confirmation and took hold of her hand. Rose tried to shake him off, but he said firmly, 'You'll get lost if you don't stay close.'

'You don't have to hold onto me like I'm a kid!'

'I'm holding onto you like you're a girl who might be picked up by weird guys.'

'I've already been picked up by a weird guy,' she retorted.

'Aish... Just hold onto me, Japan. If I lose you, your cousin will sue me.'

Rose didn't want to hold onto Tae-won. She wanted to hold onto Yuta or Si-woo – a sober Si-woo – but with neither man present, he was the best she could do. It wasn't necessarily that she found Tae-won physically repulsive. His personality was repugnant, to be sure, but he wasn't bad to look at, and that was precisely why she wasn't happy about holding his hand. Since they'd met again at the studio, she'd felt a crackle of electricity each time they touched. Either Tae-won carried around a curious static charge which he unleashed upon unsuspecting women, or her foolish teenage heart couldn't help but flutter when an attractive older man paid attention to her.

Yes, he was attractive, and Rose could only hope that soon her heart would learn that a pretty face didn't make up for a toxic personality and would stop getting overexcited in his presence. As she'd said before; she hadn't come to Seoul looking for a relationship, and Rose didn't want to get caught up in some love affair with a womanising celebrity.

Besides, for as long as Tae-won believed that love was a game, she was determined to make it one he couldn't win.