There are Many Flowers in Seoul

Chapter Seventy-Seven

The sun had begun to set over Jeju and the dying light burned the sky with stunning hues of gold and orange, retreating behind the horizon to give way to night and the silver moon. Together, Rose and Ikuto walked from the office and out into the vast rolling gardens behind the luxurious hotel he'd purchased. He cut an intimidating and upstanding figure – every inch of him the businessman from his handsome but stoic face to his designer suit and neat haircut – whereas Rose was the smaller and meeker of the pair, very much aware that she was still the child and in a great deal of trouble, and that he was to be her disciplinarian.

For a while, they said nothing to one another. Instead they basked in the changing of the sky and picked their way down over grey stone steps and across decorative wooden bridges stretching over ponds. Fish darted beneath the water, their scales glinting like shimmering jewels, seeking out the shelter of the shadowy depths where they'd be safe from these monsters looming high above their home. It was a beautiful island, and Rose was sorry that she had to leave it before she'd had a chance to explore. It seemed she was sorry for a lot of things, and would leave the country full of doubts and regrets for all the things she did and didn't do since she'd arrived.

'You are very like your mother,' Ikuto said at last as they came to a stone bench beside a fountain. He sat down and patted the seat beside him. Obediently, Rose joined him and watched the water as it cascaded into the copper basin below, dancing and splashing in a ceaseless cycle. 'When I first met her, she had many troubles in our country. You seem to be continuing her tradition.'

Rose leaned forwards, her elbows on her thighs. 'I wasn't trying to have any troubles.'

'Neither was she. Yet, you both found them. I wonder if this might be genetic, or if your family is cursed on her side.'

'I just wanted to be normal,' Rose said. 'Invisible. Just like everyone else.'

'But you are not everyone else. You are a Porter, and you are an Abe, and there are not enough lies to hide it, and not enough distance to escape it.'

'That's easy for you to say,' she retorted bitterly. 'Grandpa had you trained up to take over the business from birth. Hotel was probably your first word.'

'It was my second,' he joked dryly. 'My first was acquisition.'

'Can't you all just disinherit me? Give the companies to someone else?'

'No.'

'But I don't want the money.'

'You are not the heir to these companies because we want you to have money. You are the heir because you are family, and because you will understand the responsibility of taking them on far more than an outsider.'

'Because of history? Tradition?' Rose asked. 'Being a model was fun and everything, but I'm not a designer like the women in my family. I can't act and take over Dad's career. And I don't know the first thing about buying up hotels, either.'

'You would if you took the trouble to learn,' he said. 'Business is not a talent you have from birth. It is something that you must study carefully, like I did.'

'I'm not you, Ikuto. I'm not any of you. I don't want to walk the same path you all have before me. I want my own.'

'No one is telling you that you can't have your own path,' he replied. 'Only that it will inevitably lead you back to where you need to be.'

Rose furrowed her brow. 'So, I can do whatever I want now, just as long as I pick up as CEO later on? That's crap, and you know it.'

Ikuto laughed softly. It wasn't something he did often, but it was impossible for him not to see the impetuousness of Takashi in Rose, or the stubborn will of Lily. She really was the sum of her parent's parts, and he was confident that she would outshine them both one day.