Birthday Present#3
As no one expected, rain poured down out of blue just five minutes before Jinwoon’s practice was dismissed. It should be spring since it was still early May, so a rainy afternoon was strange. However, due to the big issue almost all countries were talking about—global warming—summer seemed to come faster.
Jinwoon ran a little along the stone path. His right hand tried to make a shield for his face. When he reached the green house, he wiped water dripping through his face from his hair and squeezed the edge of his shirt, which was no use. He pushed the door slowly and stepped in.
“Seulin?” his eyes wandered around, searching for the girl.
“Oh, you come!” Seulin’s head appeared between the pots of Carnations. She put off her gloves and approached Jinwoon. “Wow, you’re wet.” She pointed. “You ran through the rain?”
“Kind of.” Jinwoon grinned. He looked around, searching for a place to put his bag down but found nothing so he just carelessly put it down next to some pots. He rolled his sleeves. “What do I do now?”
“I have taken weeds out of the pots. We only have to water them, then sort out which are the best and going to be used for the event.” She walked to a corner and left his bag there, next to hers. “But before that, you need to dry yourself.” She handed him a towel.
“You did all these by yourself?” Jinwoon followed Seulin to where she was before he came. His hands were busy drying his hair.
“What? Taking care of the flowers? No, I suppose to work with that irritating friend of yours, but since he loves escaping his job so much, I’m so going to make President kick him out of Student Council.” She turned the tap and started watering the nearest pots. “Sometimes the others from Student Council would help me when Jooyeong escaped, but they all apparently are busy today.”
Both of them dealt with the pots for a long hour full of sweats. After an hour, the pots had been arranged and the Carnations section looked pleasantly neat. Seulin stared at their work in satisfaction.
“You really love flowers so much, don’t you?” Jinwoon said as he stretched his body. Seulin turned to look at his face. “Since we were young, you liked to help out at your mother’s florist.”
She chuckled. “It is my mother’s florist, how can I not help her?”
“But you are the only girl I ever know who has that much of interest in flowers.” Jinwoon turned around and looked outside. “Ah, the rain is getting harder. I don’t think we can even get out of here without getting drenched.” He sighed.
“Let’s wait for the rain to stop. You absolutely can’t run through the rain again or you will really catch a cold tomorrow.”
Jinwoon sighed again. “But there’s nothing we can do here.”
“Who says?” Seulin’s eyes sparkled. “We can celebrate your birthday here.”
He chuckled in instant. “You want to celebrate it again? Aren’t you bored?”
She signed him a ‘no, no’ finger. “I’m gonna celebrate it in a way the other had never done before.” She said confidently.
He got excited. “That sounds very promising.”
She took his arm and made him sat on the floor and leaned on the glass wall.
“Hey, the floor is—“
“It’s not like your clothes are clean, Jinwoon. Besides there is no chair here, so bare with it, okay?”
Seulin went to another corner. Jinwoon couldn’t see what she was doing because it’s already dark. She took quite a long time preparing things. He didn’t want to disturb her by asking things because he knew she hates being questioned while working with something she likes.
The atmosphere was very peaceful. The sound of rain dropping somehow calmed Jinwoon. Right in front of him was the white Carnations pots. He closed his eyes, enjoying the atmosphere. Unconsciously, his mind drifted to his childhood.
His mother often took him to the florist belonged to Seulin’s mother. She liked flowers so much—more than Seulin. She regularly bought flowers for decorations. She bought various flowers, but she bought pink Carnation the most often. He guessed it’s her favorite flower.
During their visits, he always saw Seulin taking care of the flowers. Either cutting or arranging them in a bouquet. Or sometimes watering those they planted at their backyard. ‘She was too diligent doing those works.’
“Happy birthday to you,” Jinwoon heard Seulin’s voice and a guitar being played. He opened his eyes.
