Even If It’s Not Love - Chapter 77-1

Woo-hyun, who was lost in thought, raised his head. The sun had waned at some point, and the sunlight turned and dug deeper. Looking at the world covered in soft colors, Woo-hyun went out of the room, covering the documents he had been looking at. As he was taking out a jacket from the dressing room after locking the door out of habit,

Bzzt. Bzzt.

Feeling his phone vibrating, he checked the screen while putting on his shoes.

Yoo-hwa

He stopped what he was doing when he saw the familiar name.

“What’s wrong?”

It was the first time Yoo-hwa had called him first, so he asked hurriedly.

– Where are you now?

Fortunately, the returning voice was calm.

“At home.”

– Thank God. What should I do to go to your house? A young man who was like a security guard or a janitor asked me to tell him the number of the house I wanted to visit, but I don’t know where it is.

It was a place with thorough security and management as per the high administrative fees, so visitors did not pass easily. In particular, the elevator needed a dedicated key to go up to the penthouse where Woo-hyun lived.

“Are you in front of the maintenance office?”

– Yeah.

“Wait there.”

At the time of moving in, Woo-hyun had no one who would visit him, so he politely asked them to send back any visitors and turned off the intercom connected to the security office. After reconnecting it, he picked up the intercom and contacted the maintenance office. He immediately heard a voice from the other side.

– Yes.

“I heard there was a visitor who came to see me. Please give her the location of Building 1.”

– Understood.

As Woo-hyun went out to the entrance of the building, Yoo-hwa had just been guided and was entering the entrance of the apartment. Woo-hyun glanced at Yoo-hwa from head to toe, as he did out of habit. When he confirmed that fortunately, she wasn’t injured, his stiff shoulders loosened.

“You should call me if you’re going to come here. Did something happen?”

“No, no. I just felt like coming. You said you would be working from home all day when you left earlier. Ah! If you’re working, I shouldn’t come here like this.”

Yoo-hwa looked embarrassed, as if she had realized it belatedly.

“No. It’s okay.”

“…”

“Because it’s you.”

Woo-hyun’s answer was faster than usual, so Yoo-hwa looked at him with a slightly surprised expression.

“Then that’s a relief.”

Yoo-hwa then gave him a refreshing smile, and naturally, her eyes folded softly. Perhaps because he had been thinking about Yoo-hwa, crying at home with a lonely face, just a moment ago, he felt like his heart melted somewhere when he saw the smile that was brighter than the spring scenery.

“Let’s go inside.”

Yoo-hwa nodded slightly at Woo-hyun’s words. Woo-hyun’s house, which they went through complicated procedures to get inside, was as before. It had a white ceiling, and a dark marble floor, and only the necessary items were laid out, making it look like a model house. Despite the abundance of things that caught her attention, Yoo-hwa’s gaze was directed to one place.

“… She didn’t throw them away?”

She asked, staring motionless at a bundle of fake flowers by the window. They were the same fake flowers she had asked the housekeeper to put away when she was staying at Woo-hyun’s house.

“You said you liked them.”

“Did the lady say that?”

“Yeah. She said it looked like you definitely liked them even though you asked her to put them away, and that she couldn’t throw them away, just in case.”

A faint smile spread across Yoo-hwa’s face at his words. As the lady said, it was nice to look at the flowers. However, every time she looked at them, she remembered Woo-hyun, so she asked her to put them away.

Yoo-hwa, who walked to the window, reached out and touched the flowers, slowly sweeping down the leaves with her fingertips. The piece of fabric she touched with her fingertips was cold and rough. It wasn’t bitten anywhere, and there weren’t any withering parts either. Everything was fake, but that was also why it was unchangeable, so a satisfied smile spread across Yoo-hwa’s face.

“It’s surprising. I didn’t expect you to decorate the house like this. Did you like it?”

Yoo-hwa’s voice became more comfortable.

“Rather than me liking it, I thought you would like it when you come back to this house one day, so I prepared it.”

Yoo-hwa turned around and looked at Woo-hyun, who had sat on the sofa at some point. There were two cups of coffee on the table; perhaps he had brought them while she was looking at the flowers.

“What if I didn’t come?”

“I would keep waiting.”

“…”

“At least until they withered.”

The smile faded from Yoo-hwa’s face, who had been smiling brightly, when she heard Woo-hyun’s words. She was sure it was a joke, but it didn’t sound like a joke. Fake flowers don’t wither, so he meant that he would wait indefinitely. The tip of her nose crumpled, and she started crying for no reason.

She turned her gaze again and looked at the flowers.

Seeing these flowers, she was sure.

It’s a good thing that she came to Woo-hyun after thinking about it.

And the words she was going to start with.