There are Many Flowers in Seoul

Chapter Seventy-One

There was no denying that Si-woo was handsome, gentle and caring.

No one could say that he hadn't taken care of Rose since she'd arrived, or that there was no sincerity in his feelings or the manner of his confession. It was easy to see how someone might regret losing the person they desired before they'd even had a chance to tell them how they really felt, particularly when that person was in the arms of another man.

A man like Tae-won.

Tae-won had hardly made his womanising ways a secret, nor the fact that he wasn't the most affable man in the world. On the plane he'd been rude, then he'd stormed into the office with the model and broken up with her on the spot, forcing her to walk out of the shoot and leaving an entire company in the lurch, and had painted himself as a villain who thought more of his image as a rebellious bad boy than he did the people he hurt as he blew through life like a tornado, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

Yet, despite all this, Rose had fallen in love with him.

Not the man who'd chased her around a building, trapped her on a rooftop, or stolen her precious cupcake right out of her hands without so much as an apology for depriving her of sugar. No, she'd fallen in love with the man who'd built her a shelter beneath a kitchen table to protect her from a frightening storm, who'd revealed his innermost secrets and feelings of loss, who'd chased after her in the rain, and who'd reached out to her and begged her to stay when he was sick.

Si-woo was kind, but Tae-won was real.

At least, that's how Rose saw him.

The kiss lingered barely a second before Rose wriggled away, twisting in Si-woo's grip until he couldn't help but release her. Silence fell between the pair and, for one awkward and agonising moment, all that existed in the world was them and the waves, roiling and rocking, driving themselves further up over the sand before receding back towards the horizon, as dark as the night sky above.

Rose's hand moved before she knew herself how she intended to react to the insult of Si-woo's lips which had forced themselves against her own, disregarding her feelings and her need for boundaries. He'd overstepped a mark and thrown away and friendship they might have otherwise had on his gamble that maybe, just maybe, she felt the same way as he did and was merely concealing her feelings to spare another man the pain of a broken heart.

Slap!

Her palm connected with his cheek and Si-woo's head snapped to the side, his soft brown hair sweeping over his eyes and concealing the stinging hurt Rose knew they'd convey. Her hand throbbed painfully and Si-woo's stung in kind. As the man slowly turned his head to look down into her tearful, furious eyes, he was met with a second strike more powerful than the first, and found himself staring back down at the sand instead of her beautiful face.

'You had no right!' Rose shouted at him, her voice shattering the peace and piercing the night. Even the waves seemed to cower away from her fury, quelled by the resonance of her words they sank back and only dared to timidly lap at the shore. 'I've never even suggested that I –'

'You've done more than suggest!' Si-woo argued. Rose raised her hand again and he grasped her wrist. 'No,' he said firmly, his voice far more adult and commanding than she'd ever heard it. 'You don't get a third.'

'Let go of me!'

Si-woo held fast and tugged Rose closer. Not so close that he could kiss her – he'd learnt his lesson – but close enough that she couldn't help but meet his gaze and feel the weight of what he had to say. 'Ever since we met, I've been kind to you. At first, I thought that you were more like a little sister to me. But since then you've flirted with me openly. We went on a date together. You even called me oppa like a girl with her first crush. You think I have no right? Yah! You have no right to lead me on if all you're doing is trying to make Tae-won jealous!'