Our Story

Chapter 25

Truthfully, Jinyoung had set aside the thought of who the bouquet had come from. But those purple orchids stayed on the bedside table in his room, along with the card.

Next day morning, after the breakfast, he was ready to set off for the day. Today's trip would involve a lot of shopping and maybe, it was how this whole morning would be spent.

When he was at the hotel entrance, he was stopped again by the same female staff from last night. And he did not know what to feel when he saw a white bouquet in her hand.

"Mr. Park, here's another bouquet for you."

Jinyoung took the bouquet and looked at it, suspiciously. There were two cards this time, one, he assumed, from the florist, where 'Calla Lily' was written; and another from that mysterious person. 'Enjoy your day' was all that was written on the card.

"Are you sure this is for me?"

"It's for you. The delivery man said your name clearly," she assured him.

"Delivery man?" Jinyoung muttered, thinking the person behind all of this, probably, did not want him to find them out. Of course, they had not even given their name.

"Thank you," Jinyoung told the staff and headed for his room upstairs again, to leave the flowers there.

Jinyoung went in and out of the stores in Via Cola di Rienzo, one of the most famous shopping areas in Rome. He had not thought of what to buy. There were a lot of leather clothing and accessory stores, both luxury ones and family-run ones. Yet he barely had any idea of what to buy.

It must have been about an hour of him just wandering around before he finally found a leather jacket for his father and a long, warm coat for his mother. Two light brown belts were chosen for Jackson and Wendy, and a pair of leather shoes for himself.

Afterwards, he was relaxed and strolled around the area. At a liquor store, he was convinced to buy a number of Frascati wine bottles, which would be difficult to bring to Korea but he bought anyway.

After finishing lunch at a restaurant nearby, he had to return to the hotel to leave the things there, so that he could set out again with the backpack alone.

Trastevere had the aura of a small town all separated from Rome. When he looked back on this trip in the future, Jinyoung felt, he would remember this feeling of walking down the narrow, cobbled streets with small, painted buildings on each side of them.

There were more restaurants and cafes there than any other places he had been to, here in Rome. He did not stop walking until Santa Maria came into view. There, he visited the church and the walls were all filled with mosaics, both religious and artistic.

Outside the church, there was a fountain, at the bottom of which were a number of stairs. Jinyoung spent several minutes, sitting on one of the stairs and snapping pictures of the Bell Tower in front of him.

The next two stops were Villa Farnesina and Palazzo Corsini, which Jinyoung was certain, must be paradises for those who loved works of art, like frescoes and paintings. They were pleasing to look at.

Afterwards, he headed for Orto Botanico, glancing at his map on the way. It was awesome that all these places existed here in Trastevere alone.

There were only a few tourists in Orto Botanico and it was so serene to be in. Palm trees, gardens, and green houses where exotic plants could be seen. Walking into a bamboo groove also felt nice; being surrounded by lots of bamboo trees, he had never had such kind of experience before.

A little bit beyond the bamboo groove, there could be found Japanese Garden. The steady sound of a small waterfall soothed Jinyoung and so did the fragrance of flowers.

He stayed there longer and imagined himself as someone all alone in a deep forest. Closing his eyes, he tried to feel the atmosphere. And that was when he heard some footsteps behind him.

"Excuse me."

Jinyoung turned to the voice and found a middle-aged man who looked like a backpacker. The first thing Jinyoung felt was panic; maybe, he had done something forbidden here.

"Excuse me," the man repeated. "I'm just doing someone a favour. I hope I didn't disturb you." He came closer to Jinyoung and showed him a red rose with a card tied to its stem. "I was asked to give this to you."

Jinyoung felt his hand was shaking slightly as he took the rose. He could guess who had planned this. That person again.

He muttered a 'thanks' and the man left. Jinyoung flipped over the card and read the text written: 'I like your smiles. I'm happy to see that you're enjoying yourself.'. Did that mean that person had been following him?

He brought the rose to his nose and inhaled the fragrance, before keeping it in his backpack. He left the garden and on the way out, he kept himself alert. But he found no one suspicious; everyone was just going their own way.

Just as his original plan, he continued to Janiculum Hill. On the way up the hill, there was only him and he kept glancing back at the way he had come, in case someone was following him. But he was all alone and could hear only his own footsteps.

After about twenty minutes, he was at the top of the hill, which overlooked the city. There was a marble balustrade, against which he leaned and marvelled at the sight of the city. Then, he was taking out the rose, which was a mystery to him and reading the text again.

If that person meant to mess him up, they were succeeding. Jinyoung put the rose back into the backpack and tried to forget it.

It was nearly 5pm when he left the hill and headed back for the streets. As the evening approached, a lot of bars in the streets of Trastevere were also open. He found the bars here also provided dinner, and chose one of the cosy bars.

The bartender was easy to converse with and he explained to Jinyoung, in his accented English, about the nature of the bars around here and the drinks most locals liked. Jinyoung had a heavy meal with cocktails there, and it was already dark outside, when he left the bar.

He was both worn out and a little dizzy when he was back at the hotel. But he was sure his mind was not tricking him when he heard someone call his name. It was a male staff member and Jinyoung's eyes went straight to the colourful bouquet in his hand.

"Mr. Park. Here's the delivery for you."

Jinyoung gave him a nod and took the bouquet without any words. When he looked at the bouquet closely, he found it was not colourful but only an arrangement of white, red and yellow flowers. The card from the florist had 'Freesia' written on it.

There was another card as usual and it read: 'I hope these flowers give you another smile. I'm counting the days until I could be with you. Good night. Jinyoung.'.

Jinyoung inhaled a deep breath and the sweet fragrance rushed into his nostrils. So there was another bouquet that would take its own place on his bedside table.