Episode 34. Evening Primrose (5)
Upon hearing that Kang Dae-oh was looking for him, Lee Seo-jun tilted his head several times and headed towards the hotel lobby where Kang Dae-oh was.
The lobby had a separate lounge area where guests could temporarily relax and spend time.
Since the street view came directly through the large glass windows, people were often seen intentionally spending time in the lobby lounge even if they had nothing special to do.
Kang Dae-oh was one of them.
Today’s schedule ended earlier than expected, so it wouldn’t have mattered if he just went to his hotel room to rest.
Perhaps feeling it would be a shame to spend time cooped up in his room, Kang Dae-oh waited for Lee Seo-jun in the lobby.
Just then, Lee Seo-jun found Kang Dae-oh.
“Representative. I heard you were looking for me.”
“Before I flew to Ethiopia. You said your friend opened a flower shop recently, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. They said on the first day, thanks to the ‘grand opening’ effect, some customers came. But now, they’re saying it’s just flies buzzing around.”
“Really? Then, if I place a custom order for a bouquet or something, they can start working on it right away?”
It was truly unfortunate for Lee Seo-jun’s friend, but for Kang Dae-oh, it was an unparalleled opportunity.
As soon as Lee Seo-jun heard Kang Dae-oh’s words, he instinctively sensed something.
“Are you planning to buy flowers?”
“Oh, right.”
“Are they perhaps for your wife?”
“Well, if you think about it, it’s for my wife. I’m placing the bouquet order, and my wife agreed to pick it up and take it.”
However, even Min Seung-yeon’s role was merely to deliver.
The real purpose was separate.
It was for Kang Yebin.
“Yebin said her drama’s last filming is this week. While thinking about what would be a good gift for that, I recently learned that Yebin is interested in flowers.”
“Really? That’s surprising. I wouldn’t have thought Yebin had such taste.”
Lee Seo-jun showed the exact same reaction as Kang Dae-oh did when he spoke to Min Seung-yeon on the phone.
It seemed unavoidable for anyone who knew Kang Yebin to some extent to react this way.
Anyway, after hearing all the details from Kang Dae-oh, Lee Seo-jun asked him about the most important thing before contacting his friend.
“So, what kind of flowers should I tell them to use?”
“Just use your discretion… No, wait a minute.”
He wanted to decorate the bouquet with flowers Kang Yebin liked, if possible.
There were so many types of flowers, almost too many to count.
“I got something from my wife.”
“What is it?”
“There’s a flower bed that made Yebin stop in her tracks. There might be a hint hidden in there.”
Kang Dae-oh spoke boldly and showed Lee Seo-jun a photo displayed on his screen.
However, contrary to his confident demeanor, Lee Seo-jun’s reaction was subtle.
“Representative. Aren’t there too many types of flowers in that flower bed?”
It wasn’t like only one specific species was planted.
All sorts of varieties were there, by type.
At a glance, there seemed to be more than 10 species.
It appeared that seeds of other species had settled in this flower bed from other areas, perhaps carried by wind or animals.
Lee Seo-jun was aghast looking at the flower bed.
“Finding the flower Yebin likes among these… it doesn’t seem easy. But just in case, I’ll send the photo to my friend and ask. What species a teenage girl might like.”
“No, you don’t need to do that.”
Kang Dae-oh chose just one from the more than 10 flower species.
“You just need to prepare this one as the main flower.”
“Huh? Is there definite proof that it’s this flower?”
“There’s no proof. But if you consider the flower language, I somehow feel it’s this one.”
Before asking Lee Seo-jun for this favor, Kang Dae-oh had researched flower meanings.
Thanks to this, Kang Dae-oh was able to understand.
What Kang Yebin wanted.
On the last day of drama filming.
Kang Yebin quietly read her script alone, preparing for the final shoot.
The last scene she was assigned was very special to Kang Yebin.
It reminded her of herself before she regressed.
After Kang Yebin debuted as an actress, when work was just pouring in for her.
She had once acted in a scene where, just as written in the script, she sat quietly, monologuing to herself and watching people pass by.
At that time, it was actually the most difficult period in Kang Yebin’s acting career.
Her confidence in acting had dropped significantly.
And she was full of doubts about whether she could grow further as an actress.
Whenever this happened, Kang Yebin thought of her father, Kang Dae-oh.
When she was little, before her mom and dad went their separate ways, Kang Yebin vaguely recalled a few remaining memories with her dad.
At that time, Kang Dae-oh had stroked Kang Yebin’s small head and said this:
Even if you doubt yourself, never stop.
He had told Kang Yebin that the moment you stop walking, that doubt turns into certainty, and so he wished for her to live a life looking only forward.
She was so young back then that it was hard to understand what her dad was saying.
But after growing up and facing mentally challenging situations, Kang Yebin could finally understand.
The meaning of her dad’s words.
From that moment on, Kang Yebin waited for the day she would live with her dad again.
It was also after that day that she began to study the coffee her dad liked.
Then one day.
When the last day of drama filming arrived, just like today.
A gift sent by Kang Dae-oh through someone gave Kang Yebin immense strength.
Perhaps Kang Yebin wanted to receive that gift again.
But.
“To say it out loud… it was too embarrassing.”
If she had a personality like Kang Yera or Kang Yeyoung, she might have expressed it directly.
But unfortunately, Kang Yebin did not have the tendency to honestly reveal her feelings.
Instead, she was the type to bottle up painful things inside.
So sometimes, she resented herself for this.
No, perhaps.
She might have wished for her dad to figure out her true feelings first.
Even though she knew it was a very difficult thing to do.
But what could she do?
“I guess I just have to think of this as my fate.”
A staff member nearby tilted their head.
“Are you practicing your lines?”
“No. I was just thinking about old times.”
Kang Yebin uttered a meaningful remark to the staff and headed towards the camera.
There weren’t many long lines. Everything depended mostly on her facial expressions, so Kang Yebin decided to focus on capturing the emotional flow.
Even though she saw her mom, unnie, and dongsaeng standing behind the camera, Kang Yebin didn’t bat an eyelid.
Kang Yebin successfully completed all her assigned parts, demonstrating her unyielding facial expression acting skills until the very end.
The PD shouted through a megaphone.
“Good job, everyone! Yebin, you worked especially hard!”
“You all worked hard!”
Kang Yebin stood up and repeatedly expressed her gratitude for their hard work over a long period to the entire production team and cast, including the PD who praised her.
At the right moment, Min Seung-yeon, Kang Yera, and Kang Yeyoung came to Kang Yebin with congratulatory gifts they had prepared in advance.
“You worked hard, my daughter.”
Min Seung-yeon hugged Kang Yebin.
Her mom’s warm embrace was always cozy and comforting whenever she was held.
“Thank you, Mom. And…”
Kang Yebin looked at her unnie and dongsaeng, whose eyes were sparkling as they held gifts for her, and let out a small sigh.
“Thank you, unnie and Yeyoung.”
“What? Why are you sighing at us?”
“Unnie Yera is right. Treat us as kindly as you treated Mom.”
Kang Yebin wanted to, but seeing their exaggerated expressions, she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Kang Yera clicked her tongue briefly and held something out to Kang Yebin.
“Just take your gift.”
“What kind of gift is it?”
“Something you’ll like.”
“You didn’t buy anything weird, did you?”
“Don’t worry. Yeyoung and I thought hard about what would suit you perfectly and chose it.”
“…Suspicious.”
Since her unnie and dongsaeng chose it, she didn’t feel very confident.
Still, they said they worked hard to prepare it for Kang Yebin.
So, she decided to unwrap the gift first.
At that moment, Kang Yebin tilted her head slightly.
Kang Yeyoung saw her second unnie’s subtle reaction and asked,
“Why? Don’t you need it?”
“No, I do need it, but…”
Kang Yebin had been debating whether to buy something recently.
It was a tablet PC.
But her unnie and dongsaeng had coincidentally bought her exactly what she wanted, and even the latest model, making her dumbfounded.
“Such a normal gift came out. So I was surprised.”
Kang Yera puffed out her cheeks and complained.
“Yeyoung and I debated so hard to decide on it. You’re surprised it’s normal?”
“I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”
Kang Yebin apologized meekly before her unnie could get upset further.
Her mom’s gift was Kang Yebin’s favorite strawberry mini cake.
When her mom said that a celebration couldn’t be complete without a cake, Kang Yebin nodded, expressing deep agreement.
And one more thing.
“This is a gift from Appa. Ta-da!”
Min Seung-yeon made her own sound effect as she pulled out the gift Kang Dae-oh had sent from far away Vietnam for Kang Yebin.
A large bouquet of flowers was in her hand.
Upon seeing the contents of the bouquet, Kang Yebin froze on the spot.
Evening primrose.
It might seem like a simple yellow flower.
But for Kang Yebin, it was a flower that held a deep story.
Because the flower her dad had sent her when she was wandering as an actress before she regressed was precisely the evening primrose.
“As expected… Appa is Appa.”
Kang Yebin’s eyes welled up without her realizing it, seeing Kang Dae-oh send the same type of flowers as before.
There was a reason Kang Dae-oh sent evening primrose to Kang Yebin among so many flowers, both in the past and now.
It was because of the flower language of the evening primrose.
Longing, and waiting.
It was a flower that represented and symbolized Kang Yebin’s feelings for her dad at that time.
And.
It was also a flower that represented Kang Dae-oh’s feelings for Kang Yebin.
Father and daughter. Looking at the evening primrose, which beautifully represented their mutual feelings and thoughts, Kang Yebin gently closed her eyes.
She took a short breath and smelled the flowers.
Min Seung-yeon indirectly asked her about her thoughts on the gift sent by her dad.
“How does it smell?”
Kang Yebin opened her eyes again and replied with a brighter expression than any she had shown recently.
“It smells of happiness.”
It was a gift she would never forget.
