Chapter 115
Something was wrong.
Jae-gyu furrowed his brow in front of his black sedan.
“Ha… I’m going crazy.”
Everything had been perfect until he went to sleep last night.
Bom, after getting off work, had dragged him all the way to the lower part of town, claiming she'd found a udon place with 35 years of tradition. The moment Jae-gyu saw the sign, his lips twitched.
[This is Suyu-ri Udon House.]
[Oh, Jae-gyu, you've heard of it too.]
[You know it's a chain, right?]
[Huh?]
The sign was particularly old, and the words '35 years of tradition' were highlighted in red, making it easy to fall for.
Bom was mortified, apologizing profusely for not looking it up first, but Jae-gyu's true feelings were different.
‘She wanted to eat 35-year-old traditional udon with me, huh? Best feeling ever.’
They ate their fill of fish cake udon and bibim guksu, along with three rolls of gimbap. For Bom, who kept feeling embarrassed, he gave a thumbs-up, saying it was good because it was a common and familiar taste.
After eating, they took a stroll to clear their heads, and he walked Bom home early.
[I've been having nightmares lately. Could you lend me Bom-sik? I want to hug him while I sleep.]
[Huh? Nightmares, what kind of dreams?]
He successfully got Bom-sik by telling Bom a white lie.
[Oh, and Bom. Tomorrow, we're going somewhere important. The location is top secret. When we're done, drive Hin-suni to my place. Leave her there, and we'll take my car.]
[Okay.]
He'd even secured her definite permission. Jae-gyu returned home, feeling proud, hugged Bom-sik, and went to bed early.
He even had a good dream. Bom had left her bag behind, and as he was about to take it to her, tropical fruits suddenly rained down from the sky. Jae-gyu carefully placed one beautiful, luscious-looking rainbow-colored mango into the bag.
He didn't know how to interpret dreams, but since he felt good in the dream, it had to be a good omen. He thought that as he opened his eyes, but for some reason, nothing was going right.
It had been like that since the crack of dawn.
“Hello?”
-Good morning, this is The Signieur Hotel. May I speak with Mr. Seon Jae-gyu?
“That’s right.”
-You have a reservation for the Presidential Suite Ocean View for one night today, correct?
“Yes, that’s correct, but…”
He naturally assumed it was just a reservation confirmation call. But then, disaster struck.
Some lunatic had sent a threatening letter, claiming to have planted explosives in the hotel. It was a complete bolt from the blue. He quickly went online and found a string of articles.
It wasn't an environment where explosives could actually be easily planted, and experts also said the possibility of it being true was low. However, the hotel decided to completely shut down and deploy an investigation team for the safety of its guests.
“Damn it, this is a full-blown emergency.”
Jae-gyu strode into his room, placed the black box from the nightstand beside his bed onto his palm, and sighed.
“…Ugh, what do I do?”
Untying the sleek ribbon and opening the thick box revealed a beautiful diamond ring, sparkling brilliantly.
He'd bought it ages ago, but not knowing when to give it to Bom, he'd simply kept it tucked away.
He couldn't just blurt it out to Bom, who had only just barely agreed to date him.
‘Marry me, Bom!’
If he did, she might freak out and run away. Even if she was dating him, she probably hadn't considered marriage. In truth, Jae-gyu himself had never thought about marriage.
When he was young, he was physically exhausted and had no time to think about anything else. After he gained some breathing room, he was busy focusing on Han-gyeol and the company.
Then he met Bom, pursued her, and they started dating. Now the company was running smoothly, and Han-gyeol had settled down, so perhaps he could be a little more ambitious. If Bom was okay with it.
My Bom-Bom. If she wasn't around, he wondered about her, and he constantly wanted to see her.
The vague feeling of wanting to be with her simply because he liked her had solidified into a clear resolve during her last health check-up.
When Bom didn't wake up after her sedation anesthesia for the gastroscopy, he worried himself sick and realized. Simply seeing her often wasn't enough. With Bom unable to open her eyes, he, not being her legal guardian, felt utterly powerless.
That day, Jae-gyu returned home and began preparing his proposal. He thought it was time to give her that ring.
A proposal... It was a request to spend a lifetime together, so he thought he had to make it as splendid as possible. After showing Bom various movies to gauge her tastes, a plausible scenario was complete.
He'd dress up so handsomely that Bom would be completely smitten, and they'd go to a nearby city. Where to go? Yes, Busan.
It would be best to start with dinner at an ocean-view hotel with a great view. The plating had to be exquisite, and the place had to be proven.
What next? He'd escort Bom to the reserved room.
He'd decorate it beautifully with a roomful of Bom's favorite flowers, read the letter he'd prepared to a touched Bom, then dramatically open the ring box and ask.
‘Will you marry me?’
The plan was perfect, and Jae-gyu had diligently completed all preparations. But then...
“Ugh, damn it! If the hotel's busted... Fine, there's the Western and the Ananti too.”
He frantically looked for other hotels but ultimately failed to make a reservation. They were either fully booked or only had small, standard rooms left, which weren't suitable for a proposal.
So, should he go to Seoul instead of Busan? Just as his mind grew frantic, the phone rang.
“Whew, hello?”
-Hello, this is The Vine Flower. Are you Mr. Seon Jae-gyu?
“…Yes.”
-Ah, first, please accept our apologies. You're a frequent customer, and we're so sorry this happened on the day of your order.
The story continued: a fire had broken out in the flower shop building in the early morning. There wasn't major damage, but all the flowers were ruined. His plan to decorate the hotel room with flowers was already uncertain due to the difficulty of booking a hotel, but this completely dashed it. Ugh!
As his stomach churned with frustration, he saw snow falling outside the window.
“…”
The weather forecast had clearly predicted clear skies all week, but this was enough to drive him absolutely mad.
“It is pretty, though. Alright. If it's come to this, then…”
Jae-gyu revised his plan. He admitted and reflected that he wasn't usually a planner, but he'd acted obsessively for a while, thinking this was the most important event of his life.
With the snow falling so softly and beautifully, he thought proposing at a scenic observatory with a good snowy view might be nice.
Jae-gyu quickly began to get ready to leave. Since it was snowing, it was better to pick Bom up than to ask her to come to him.
“…I should dress up.”
After completing his ritual bath, he put on his newly tailored dark navy suit and draped a long coat over it. Before leaving, he glanced in the mirror, tidied his hair, and sprayed on the cologne Han-gyeol had given him.
Wearing his well-broken-in lambskin shoes, Jae-gyu opened the garage door and uttered his thoughts aloud.
“Something was wrong.”
He had clearly hand-washed it last night and carefully parked it in the garage, so what could have happened?
“How did bird poop get on it, tssk.”
Jae-gyu stared blankly as he inspected the dried bird poop on the front windshield up close. He vaguely remembered Han-gyeol mentioning that a bird had gotten in last night. Han-gyeol had said he'd chased it out quickly, but had it marked its territory in the meantime?
Jae-gyu quickly went back inside to find vinegar. Bird poop could scratch the paint if wiped with a wet wipe, so you had to spray vinegar on it and then wipe it off with a soft microfiber towel.
“Ah, come on!”
Jae-gyu despaired when he found less than a centimeter of vinegar left at the bottom. Oh, right! He'd used it all when making cucumber pickles!
“And what's with this snow now?”
The snow, which had been falling like a scene from a fairy tale, was now swirling violently in the strong wind.
“…”
Of all things, he'd lent his Jeep to Philip, and all that was left was an ugly-designed compact car he'd bought used for Han-gyeol.
[Whether you get to drive it next year or not depends on your performance. I deliberately bought this one because I didn't want you, a high schooler, getting conceited driving a fancy car.]
He regretted buying this car. Jae-gyu opened the back door, carefully took off his coat and jacket, and laid them flat on the seat. Couldn't have them getting wrinkled.
Could he really go like this? Before leaving, Jae-gyu sent a message to Bom. It was still class time, but it would end soon.
Honey, I'll just come pick you up at school. The snow's coming down pretty hard right now, it's dangerous to drive in this.
Alright. First, he'd go pick her up, and once the snow stopped, he could propose in the snow.
It was very different from the original plan, but it wasn't a bad plan yet.
By the time he drove out of the neighborhood, Jae-gyu shivered. Why did he feel so uneasy? In fact, he'd felt it since he started driving.
“…”
The feeling of not being alone. A chilling sensation down his spine.
Jae-gyu slowed down, glancing at the rearview mirror. Then he spotted a beige furball and slammed on the brakes.
“Damn it, Bom-sik! How did you get in?!”
This is insane, seriously. Jae-gyu jumped out and opened the back door. Bom-sik wagged his tail slowly, his tongue lolling out.
“Cut out the impulsive behavior! Ugh, what is this now?”
Jae-gyu's eyes widened as if they might pop out. His coat and suit jacket were covered in thick white fur. Feeling a sudden dizzy spell, Jae-gyu staggered.
He took Bom-sik out and tried to put him in the passenger seat and buckle him in, but Bom-sik resisted fiercely. In the end, after telling him to behave, Jae-gyu closed the car door and shook his coat and jacket one by one.
The fur wasn't just on the surface; it was embedded in the fabric, so even shaking it vigorously didn't help much.
“…”
While he was delayed by this, the weather rapidly worsened. Now it was a blizzard. The plummeting temperature made his body shiver. In the end, Jae-gyu decided to give up on his coat and jacket, tossed them carelessly into the back seat, and got into the car.
“Bom-sik. You're shivering. Is it because you know you're guilty, or because you're cold?”
Of course, it was because he was cold. In his distraction, Jae-gyu hadn't even turned on the heater. For Bom-sik's sake, Jae-gyu pressed the heater button. But no heat came out. He'd definitely checked everything when he bought the car, but of all times, now!
Jae-gyu watched Bom-sik's round paws twitching, then stretched out his arm and draped the coat from the back seat over him.
“…It suits you well. Looks good.”
Right, since when did he ever bother with a coat anyway? He'd give it to Bom-sik.
The fur-covered jacket wouldn't be noticeable under the snow, he hoped.