Chapter 159 - The garden [1]

The place Oh Sookyung wanted to take her to was quite far, and therefore, both of them departed early in the morning. 

Although it was difficult for Jiwoo to wake up this early in the morning, she tried her best to not be late. There was no way she was going to let Oh Sookyung the benefit of looking down upon her.

Moon Jiwoo drove both of them to the place, following the map. As Oh Sookyung was seated on the backseat, she was able to watch the male through the mirror before her.

Fortunately enough, she seemed it important to take driving lessons and get a license after coming to the surface or else it would have gotten problematic for her today.

An awkward silence surrounded both of them. Although Sookyung might have not seen it in the same way, this is what the air between two of them felt to Jiwoo.

The atmosphere in the car felt almost suffocating to her, and being at such a small space with Oh Sookyung was one of those things she wasn't comfortable with. But there was nothing that was able to be done regarding the current situation.

She had to bear through it.

It was tough for her to control herself and not to sneak glances at the man through the rearview. Knowing how sharp Sookyung's senses were, she knew better than to give in to the temptation and stare at him.

Moon Jiwoo coughed to ease the atmosphere a little, and she then mumbled, "We are almost close to that place."

Shifting her line of sight a little, she glanced at the rearview in order to see the expression on Oh Sookyung's face. There was nothing shown on that face of his, and it remained impassive.

In that instant, his eyes met with hers through the rearview, and she had a feeling that he knew that she was staring at him.

At the thought of getting caught, her heart started to beat rapidly while nervousness started to bloom within her, and hurriedly, she turned to look the other way.

As much as she wanted to admire his features, she was somewhat scared. Although she was on board with the idea of being treated like a stranger, it did manage to make her feel afraid and insecure.

Maybe this was because of how Sookyung currently did not seem like the one in her memories at all.

°°°

Once both of them reached the place, Oh Sookyung got down from the car and followed by Moon Jiwoo after she parked the car.

Looking around the place, Jiwoo was able to see how this was a garden, and seeing how huge it was, she wondered who the place belonged to.

She couldn't help but gape at it. But realizing how mannerless she appeared in that moment, she fixed her expression and placed on a small smile on her face before anyone was able to notice it.

This was her wonder about how Oh Sookyung was aware of this place.

Following after the man before her, she stared at both of her sides and marvelled at the flowers. The scent of the flowers welcomed her, making her mood better.

She felt slightly downcast due to this trip, but now that she was here, her mood was starting to get better until memories began to hit her.

She recalled about how she used to wander at the garden in Sookyung's palace, and thought of Oh Jihoon popped up in her mind because of that. She was bȧrėly able to meet the man before leaving, and she wondered how that brother of hers was doing.

Although both of them managed to get close, because of her, they had to get separated sadly.

Oh Sookyung's steps came to a halt, and seeing him do that, she stopped walking as well, standing a step behind the tall man. 

Her eyes then fell on the middle-aged man approaching both of them, and this left her wondering on whether or not he was the owner to this wonderful place.

"Oh Sookyung dear, you are finally here! I was waiting for you!" the man cheerfully voiced out, "And who is this lovely lady behind you?"

Oh Sookyung nodded his head and introduced, "This is my employee, Shin Daerin. She is the one who will be helping you around the garden today, and please don't hold back."

Creases appeared between both of her eyebrows. She hadn't heard anything about helping with the garden. He merely mentioned to her on how he will be educating her further on the flowers and all that.

She couldn't see how helping around the garden would be helping her much.

Although the garden was filled with various sorts of flowers, she knew about most of them and also knew how to take care of them properly. Therefore, she wasn't able to see the purpose of her learning from this place.

"Excuse me?" she questioned, raising one of her eyebrows.

Facing her, he curtly answered, "Didn't you want to learn more about the flowers? Start from here."

She nodded her head.

Since he brought her to the garden and wanted her to help, there must be a purpose behind it. Probably there was a thing or two she would be able to learn from this place. 

After all, he would not be bringing her here without a reason and waste both his and her time. He wasn't that immature in her eyes.

Luckily, she was dressed comfortably for the day or else this would have become a problem for her. She was proud of herself for doing that.

"Hello! I am Min Jaehwan," he voiced out, "The owner of this place. I am glad to have a help at here."

Shaking her head, Jiwoo said, "I am also thankful that you are giving me an opportunity to learn, Jaehwan-ssi."

"Do you want anything to eat?" he questioned.

Before Jiwoo was able to answer to that, Sookyung stated, "She will be fine without that."

Because of how she had to rush today, she forgot to have breakfast today and was quite starving. But seeing how Sookyung had already answered the man, it would seem too impolite of her to say in that moment.

She just smiled at the man.

It appeared that she had to deal with an empty stomach for now. 

°°°

It had been three hours since she had been working at the garden, and one thing she learned over this period of time was that working over at the garden wasn't as easy as it usually appeared to the others.

As she continued to plant the small flowers, she wiped away the sweat which formed on her forehead while a sigh escaped from her mouth. 

This was starting to get exhausting for her, and with her empty stomach, she already had a deficiency in energy.

Jaehwan took a break earlier, and both him and Sookyung was resting under the shade. Staring at both of them made her envious, but there was nothing she was able to do about it.

Although Jaehwan was the owner of the place, it was Oh Sookyung who ȧssigned her to work around her, and it seemed that he wanted to keep her as occupied as possible.

Even though Jaehwan asked for him to give her her a break, Sookyung did not agree to it and insisted that she was fine.

Despite of how much angry Moon Jiwoo was and wanted to give the male a piece of her mind, she wasn't able to do anything like that. He was her boss, and she wanted to try to maintain an amiable relationship with her.

She wasn't the same girl as before who acted impulsively, and she was willing to show that to him. If she got angry with him, Jiwoo did not know what she might say to him.

The control she had over her temper was better now, but once she had lost it, she herself wasn't sure what she ended up blurting.

That's why, although it was difficult, she continued work by putting in all of her effort.

'Moon Jiwoo, fighting! You will be able to do this!'