“Why? If you have something to say, just say it already.”

At that moment, he suddenly thrust a paper bag in front of me. Curious, I leaned closer and saw it contained chocolates from the most famous patisserie in the capital.

“……”

What was this about? Why was he handing this to me?

As I stared at the paper bag in disbelief, he replied in a cold voice, “I just stopped by on my way to buy this.”

Yeah, right. I responded frostily, “Wow, that must be a mistake. Why would the road lead you here?”

His brows furrowed deeply at my words. “Can’t you say a single word without being sarcastic?”

“Given our last conversation, is that too much to ask?”

“I admit I was overly emotional last time. So let’s have a calm discussion this time.”

What was the point of being calm? He would probably just tell me to move the shop again. I shook my head.

“Sorry, but if it’s about the shop, I have nothing more to say.”

“You…”

Yujin looked at me with his piercing blue eyes. I tried to maintain my composure as I said, “Just please leave.”

At my words, a vein throbbed in Yujin’s cheek. Clenching his fist in anger, he asked in a harsh growl, “…How long do you think I’ll tolerate your rudeness?”

Honestly, it was a bit intimidating. Still, I stood my ground, sensing that if I backed down now, Yujin would continue to bother me.

“I’m not ignoring you; I’m setting boundaries. This is my flower shop, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“So you’re telling me to leave right away, and that’s not ignoring me?”

Rendered speechless, I looked down with a pout. “So what if I’m being rude? You’re not exactly my customer, are you?”

At my response, Yujin’s face twisted with anger. It was surprising how someone so familiar to Yuri could look so fierce.

“So you’re saying you’re being curt because I’m not a customer? That’s a strange logic. Would you treat me kindly if I were a customer?”

It was an odd point, but since I had brought up the customer topic, I couldn’t backtrack. I brazenly replied, “You don’t care about plants anyway.”

Then Yujin gestured from one end of my shop’s shelf to the other. “I’ll take everything here.”

Seeing him try to solve the issue with money again made me sigh.

‘I thought he might have reflected a little.’

I removed my work gloves and set them down, asking, “What do you plan to achieve by talking to me? I’m not moving from here. This building is mine.”

At my words, Yujin’s eyebrows twitched. He leaned against the counter, arms crossed, and asked, “What are you talking about? Weren’t you the one who said I should become a customer?”

Well, yes, but I shook my head. “Why would you want to become my customer? It’s not like you want to buy plants because you love them, right? I don’t sell to those who don’t have a genuine affection for them.”

“Affection?”

Yujin’s eyes widened slightly at my response. He frowned lightly and asked, “In the end, they’re just plants. Even if you give them affection, can they really understand it? It’s all just for self-satisfaction.”

“Plants can feel human emotions too. Research shows that they grow better when they hear kind words.”

“That’s nonsense. We can’t even accurately interpret human emotions that can be communicated, so how can we understand plants that don’t make a sound?”

“……”

Did he always have to respond so annoyingly?

“If you don’t want to believe it, then don’t. Either way, I’m not selling to you.”

I cut him off coldly. Yujin’s gaze then landed on a small pot placed on the counter—a plant I had potted a few days earlier.

His fingers, thicker and tougher-looking than Yuri’s, gently touched the leaves. Despite his careful touch, his tone was blunt. “What’s this round thing?”

His voice dripped with a sense of politeness that felt insincere.

“That’s a Pilea Peperomioides. It’s popular because of its round leaves.”

“It looks just like coins.”

‘Yes, that’s right.’

There was even a belief that it brought wealth into the home because of its appearance.

Not wanting to engage further, I kept my thoughts to myself and remained silent.

Yujin tapped the leaves of the Pilea Peperomioides carelessly. Then he nodded toward it and said, “Give me this.”

“I thought I made myself clear earlier…”

As I narrowed my eyes, Yujin, already holding the pot as if it belonged to him, replied irritably, “Yeah, yeah. Miss Know-It-All. I’ll raise it with lots of affection, just like you said. Since it looks like coins, it shouldn’t be hard to give it love.”

“……”

I glared at Yujin for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.

‘Well, if he says so, who am I to argue?’

While tying a string around the pot to make it easier to carry, I said, “Just water it about once a week. Make sure it gets plenty of sunlight to stay healthy.”

“That sounds easy enough.”

“If that’s too hard, remember that plants wilt with even the slightest neglect.”

Yujin listened to my words with a dismissive expression.

‘He probably won’t take care of it anyway.’

I sighed quietly but still needed to explain.

‘Please don’t die and live well. Actually, it might live longer if he doesn’t take care of it.’

While I was tying it up, Yujin, who was looking around the shop, asked, “Why run a shop like this? Do a lot of people even come?”

Just then, I finished tying the string and handed him the handle. “Do you have a problem with me running a shop? Or is it that you have an issue with me running a shop that doesn’t do well?”

“Both.”

That answer was just like him—annoying. I replied in a calm voice, “It’s not a shop that doesn’t do well, okay? As for why flowers, let’s just say I didn’t have any other calling.”

“Why do you have to work at all?”

“And how would I live without working?”

Yujin frowned, seemingly unable to understand me. “…Do you really know Yuri?”

Why was he bringing up Yuri?

‘Does he mean that Yuri wouldn’t be working like this in the past?’

Yuri had been a bit like that. He would throw trash downstairs and lie on the stairs whenever his room got messy.

But that was all in the past, right?

Thinking about Yuri irritated me, so I defended him. “Maybe he wasn’t like that before, but now he’s working diligently. Considering the deep emotional scars he carries, it’s commendable how well he’s coping.”

“Emotional scars?”

“How could you not know that as a family member?”

It frustrated me to see him looking so clueless, especially since Yuri must have been devastated after suddenly losing his powers.

‘I guess I need to tell him more about Yuri.’

It seemed they weren’t on good terms, but Yuri had mentioned that they didn’t fight.

It angered me that the younger brother thought so highly of his older sibling, yet the brother seemed completely unaware of Yuri’s struggles. I crossed my arms and said, “Fine. You win. So what do you want to talk about? Yuri’s current situation?”

I could tell him everything from start to finish. It’s not like we had met under suspicious circumstances.

When I offered to talk, Yujin appeared a bit taken aback. His previously arrogant gaze briefly shifted away from my face, and he spoke in a slightly softer tone. “I just wanted to know if you really have a contract with Yuri. If you truly intend not to move from here, why are you so attached to this place?”

“Yes, I’m running the flower shop with Yuri. This is all I have, so I’m not moving.”

“I could buy you a better place. Wouldn’t that solve everything?”

There he went again. I frowned. “Do you think money can solve everything? Is that all it takes?”

“……”

His expression said it all.

Yes, he believed money could fix everything.

‘But there are things in this world that money can’t mend.’

If money could bring happiness, I wouldn’t have messed up my second life so badly. I had plenty of it.

The lesson from my second life was that no matter how much money you had, it was useless if the people you shared it with were worthless.

‘Coincidentally, this guy seemed to fit that category.’

The type I absolutely disliked.

I told him firmly, “This building is special to me. It’s a chance given to me by someone precious. So no matter how much you offer, I won’t give it up. You can think of it as an obsession if you like.”

Yujin’s straight eyebrows furrowed at my words. “Is that precious person Yuri?”

“No, it’s someone else.”

I answered without thinking and then flinched slightly, realizing I was starting to push the master to the back of my mind.

When I lifted my head, Yujin was staring at me intently, as if he was trying to discern the truth. His gaze, which seemed to doubt every word I said, left me feeling empty.

“I don’t know why I’m having this conversation with you.”

Suddenly feeling exhausted, I added with a sigh, “Please don’t come back.”