There are Many Flowers in Seoul

Chapter Eighty-Five

The suitcases waited by the door patiently for their owners on the morning of their departure.

Rose was perched on the edge of the sofa, her eyes on the television screen while more interviews with fans played out on the entertainment news segments. As she hadn't magically learned Korean overnight, she still didn't understand most of what was being said, but the tone of the girls was easy enough to discern.

Envy.

Hatred.

Vengefulness.

In another life – a life when she may never have met Tae-won in person and come to know him the way she did – she too might have admired him as they did and been quick to denounce anyone who dared to cause him harm. In fact, she could well understand the ire of the girls, and shared their loathing for herself for putting him through the heartache of losing a loved one, especially in the knowledge that he didn't handle rejection or abandonment well. Rose rightly feared the fanatical young women, but she couldn't resent them for leaping to his defence, no matter how much she wanted to.

Hitomi was gathering the last few Korean snacks from the cupboards and wedging them into her case, stuffing dried noodle packets up the legs of her folded jeans and bags of crackers beneath her socks. 'Why are you still watching that?' she asked over her shoulder. 'It's not helping.'

'I know,' Rose sighed. She pointed the remote at the screen and switched the vicious diatribe off. 'I'm just trying to take my mind off the flight.'

'Are you still afraid of flying?'

'A little, but it's nothing compared to Tae-won's fans.'

Yuta strolled into the room, fastening his jacket as he made his way to the briefcase that he'd left out on the dining table. 'Are you two about ready?'

'Hitomi's still trying to find all her snack stashes.'

'I know where they are! I just don't have space for them, that's all. If you'd throw out those soft toys of yours then we'd have more space.'

'Would you throw away the bunny that I won for you?' Rose asked. 'Or the cat that I gave you?'

'No, but mine weren't Tae-won's,' Hitomi retorted.

The girl stuck her tongue out for good measure before she pulled open a drawer and gathered up some cookies Rose hadn't even seen her buy. Hitomi must have bought them while off with Jung-wook. This was a suspicion further confirmed when Hitomi hesitated a moment, and then hurled them angrily into the trash.

Rose groaned and dropped back onto the sofa. She was starting to get annoyed by all the Tae-won bashing. Yes, he had outed her and utterly destroyed her reputation to such an extent that she may never be allowed back into the country, but she'd had her part to play in it, too. If she'd been thinking more about his immediate reaction rather than the long-term benefit the break-up would offer them both, she'd have waited until they were alone and discussed her concerns with him in an adult way rather than attempting to inflict the most amount of hurt possible to ensure a clean separation.

'You know, I don't completely hate him.'

'You should,' Yuta said. 'He's been trying to block us from using his photographs in the campaign. Do you have any idea how much money we'll lose if he wriggles out of his contracts?'

'No, Yuta,' Rose retorted in a bored tone. 'I'm guessing it's a lot?'

'You should take more of an interest,' he chastised. 'One day, it'll be your company.'

'Does that mean I can fire you?'

'Only if you want me to take all the staff along with me,' he threatened.