There are Many Flowers in Seoul

Chapter Seventy-Three

As she'd predicted, Rose returned to a lecture from Yuta for disappearing in the middle of the night. Rather than stay by her side and defend her actions, Tae-won remained mute on the subject and excused himself. For once, he wasn't the villain who'd lured her away from the others, but had brought her back to her friends and family, somewhat redeeming himself in Yuta's estimation.

Redeemed or not, it was clear that Yuta still didn't approve of the relationship between his fake-cousin and a womanising idol, and that was evident in the way he rushed Rose through her remaining shots so that she could be swiftly replaced by Mariko.

On any other day, Si-woo might have reasoned with Yuta or drawn out the experience to allow Rose some time to shine through in her pictures. Instead, he acted like a scolded child and gave her brief instructions, gathering only a few shots that he felt were sufficient before hurrying both her and Tae-won along to the next scene. It was startlingly efficient but heart-breakingly cold and clinical. Whenever their eyes met, Si-woo would turn away and shout at Jung-wook to pay attention to his work and act like the assistant he'd been hired to be rather than flirting with Hitomi.

Unintentionally, Rose's actions had harmed her friend yet again, and she didn't even know how she was supposed to apologise to her for Si-woo's behaviour.

It was while Jin-hee and Tae-won were posing in their elegant garb on a blossom strewn bench that Mariko approached. Rose sat alone on the edge of a low stone wall, her eyes downcast and unfocused while she absently peeled the label from a plastic water bottle that she'd been squeezing and crinkling in her fingers. The bottle was plucked from her grip and Mariko dropped down onto the wall beside her, crossing her long legs at the knee and watching the display and Jin-hee begged Tae-won to look at her lovingly and audibly complained at Si-woo and Yuta that she ought to become the love interest of the tale and Mariko should be sent away.

'At least you were never like her,' Mariko commented. 'You were stuck up, but you weren't rude.'

Rose turned her head and looked up at her long-time rival. She was too emotionally drained to reply with venom and spite, and the sun was beating down on them so relentlessly that all the energy had been sapped right out of her. Mariko was a startlingly beautiful young woman, and it was one of the many things Rose resented about her. While she'd always considered her to be rather plain and only capable of grabbing the attention of others when she was with one of her parents, Mariko was the sort of girl who drew the eyes of strangers and demanded the gaze of whatever room she walked into. It was no wonder she'd become such a success and was making waves in the modelling world both in and out of Japan.

Mariko glanced down, catching Rose's narrowed gaze. 'Are you still angry at me for the way I spoke to you?'

'Do you really think I'd hold a grudge against someone for something they did when we were children?' Rose asked.

'Yes.'

Rose wrinkled her nose. Damn. She hated that she was right. 'I'm not angry. I'm... irritated.'

'I'm not interested in Tae-won,' Mariko said flatly. 'This is work. I don't get involved with my co-workers.'

'Is that why you never made any real friends?' Rose asked bitterly. She had, after all, tried to get along with Mariko before she'd found out the girl loathed her and had only been nice to her because it benefitted her career. 'I guess to people like you, friendship is only worth your time if you get something out of it.'

Mariko clenched her fingers around the water bottle. Whatever venomous retort she was desperate to spit at Rose, she held it firmly behind her teeth. Instead, she took a moment to regain her composure, and said, 'I was a child. We all were. I was polite to you because my mother said I would be fired if I wasn't. The other girls were nice to you because they were using you. Did I ever ask you for gifts or money?'