Spring Blooms When I'm With You

"Yes!"

The man replied firmly. He gently held her hands and played with her slender fingers. She could see a Band-Aids stuck on the back of his right hand and another one wrapped around his index finger. He must have hurt himself while working. Either in the hardware store or the building site, he had really worked hard.

"I can"t bring you to our honeymoon so..." He sighed heavily, a tinge of regret was evident in his voice as he added, "I should at least bring you out for a date, right?"

"I"d love that!" She replied with a soft smile spread on her delicate face. "Where should we meet? I could get off work earlier today since my boss has a personal event tonight."

"En..." He tilted his head to one side, silently thinking of something. Their hands remained linking with each other. His eyes lit up when an idea struck him. "How about the cinema? I heard there would be a good movie tonight."

"Of course! So, I"d wait for you at the entrance, okay?" She readily agreed. It had been a long time since the last time they watched a movie together so she was so happy to hear his suggestion.

"Yes. I want to meet you at home first but I think I couldn"t knock off early."

"It"s okay. Let me antic.i.p.ate our date while waiting for you."

Their conversation ended as the clock ticked to 6 AM. Both of them were needed in their respective workplaces so they reluctantly bid their goodbye. Only the thought of their upcoming date tonight made them went to work with happiness written on their faces.

She hummed while sweeping the dust on the floor of the bakery. Today was such a long day. She was glad because she could doll herself up first before meeting him. She silently contemplating which dress she should wear for their date tonight.

But, he never came.

As much as she waited for him that night, he didn"t appear.

The last thing she remembered was someone telling her he saw him being abducted by a group of bulky men driving a black car before she frantically trying to get a hold of him. She saw herself tried flagging for a taxi before she nervously asked the driver to just drive on the road.

She remembered she saw a foreign black car when the taxi stopped at an intersection.

She remembered she instructed the driver to follow the black car.

She remembered she witnessed... the gruesome accident.

"Ah!"

Tsubaki sat up abruptly, her gaze was unclear as her eyes widening in fear. Drops of sweat formed on her forehead, her lips were trembling as she was reminded of what happened that night. The fear tightly clung to her heart, making it hard for her to breathe.

"Ha... ha...."

It took Tsubaki a while before she realized she was still in the break room of the bakery.

Tsubaki took a deep breath. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to calm the erratic beating of her heart. Both of her hands clasped tightly, forming fists. The blur images of her dreams earlier started to pop again inside her mind.

Ren"s smiling face when he asked her out for a date and the antic.i.p.ation that she felt while waiting for him followed by the anxiety when he hadn"t appeared, all of them felt too real for her to brush it off as nothing.

What was that?

One of my forgotten memories?

She heaved a sigh as she shook her head.

Forget it. It"s better if I didn"t think of it for now.

Tsubaki swung her leg from the long couch, slowly stepping on the floor. She forced herself to get up and went to the nearby sink to wash her face. There was a small mirror hung on the wall above the sink. She could see how pale she appeared right now.

At a time like this, she really missed him.

It wasn"t that she had the ability to stop thinking of such a bad dream but when she was reminded of the little life she had been nursing in her womb, Tsubaki knew it was important to avoid her emotions from fluctuating.

She had to keep her heart strong.

Tsubaki tidied up her dress before she went to check her phone that was lying on the coffee table opposite the long couch. There was an unread message displayed on the screen. The corners of her lips curled up once she saw the sender was him. She immediately opened it.

Love the Red Camellia: Sweetheart, I promise you that I"ve been working diligently right now. It"s just that I miss you. Are you and our baby okay? I"ll call you once my meeting is over ? I love you

The message was sent almost an hour ago. Knowing Ren, Tsubaki knew he must still be in the meeting. Her slender fingers type a string of sentences as a reply. She smiled sweetly as she tapped the Send b.u.t.ton.

Camellia of the Spring: We miss you too, Daddy ? don"t forget to take a rest when you"re tired. And Baby is so good to Mommy, he hasn"t caused any trouble (°◡°♡)

Tsubaki hooked up a sad smile. She was tempted to rush to his arms yet she didn"t want to bother him. After all, he was a busy man. As much as she knew he would forego everything for her, she refused to be selfish.

She would do her routine and wait for him patiently.

As Tsubaki was busying herself to chase away her nightmare, in the other part of the city, Ren too was immersing himself in his work.

He had just stepped out of the meeting room with Matsuzaki and Tak.u.ma in tow. All of the other personnel had left to attend to their remaining jobs. Hibiki was instructed to guard Yagi Tatsuya. Even though Toshiro"s personal laboratory had already filled with the bodyguards but Ren was still being careful. At this time, the older man was still being treated by Toshiro.

"Well, cousin," Tak.u.ma shot Ren a teasing glance. His eyes were fixated on Ren"s sharp chin. "I know I shouldn"t ask but didn"t you see how they looked at you during our meeting? You don"t have to be so straightforward showcasing your love, alright?"

Ren"s lips curved into a smirk before he replied with a straight face, "I don"t think it"s illegal to show my wife"s claim on me."

He suppressed his laugh when he was reminded the moment Tsubaki bit his chin in anger before she suddenly regretted her action once he pointed out his subordinates could see it well. He reckoned that she would bury herself in a blanket if he told her the suspicious glances threw by his employees who were in the meeting with him earlier.

Although it wasn"t too apparent, it was obvious that the red spot on his chin was a bite mark.

"How shameless!" Tak.u.ma felt gooseb.u.mps spread in his entire body. He shook his head, trying to chase the unpleasant feeling away. He quickly changed the subject.

"So, you really want me to go to the US?" Tak.u.ma asked Ren for the nth time. His eyes were focusing on a doc.u.ment in his hands. W Group letterhead was printed boldly in black and gold colors on the white paper. "For one month?"

"You"re the person-in-charge," Ren shot Tak.u.ma a disdain look. It was a really obvious question. "Don"t tell me you want to back out now?"

"No..."

With a dejected face, Tak.u.ma left to his office with a stack of doc.u.ments. He was just picturing himself flirting with the beauties at the beach during this weekend but now his ungrateful cousin wanted him to go to the US? Where was justice? It had been years since his last summer in j.a.pan so why couldn"t he enjoy it first?

Good bye, my beauties, my summer romance~

He wanted to show people that someone claimed him too!

Once Ren closed his office door, he fished out his phone from his pants pocket. He put the phone on silence before he went inside the meeting room. It was at this time he noticed a reply from his dearest wife.

His thin lips instinctively curled up into a smile. The corners of his eyes crinkled up, revealing a hint of tenderness on his sharp facial features.

Ren tried to call Tsubaki but it went unanswered. He shrugged, she might be busy right now. Glancing at the wall clock, he realized that it had been 2:30 PM. He wanted to finish his works as soon as possible so he could leave on time. Before he resumed working, he texted his wife a message.

Love the Red Camellia: I really wish you"re here right now, sweetheart.

Although the way Tak.u.ma conducted his job was different from his, Ren was still satisfied with the result. As a businessman, he prioritized the outcome more than the efforts behind it. Tak.u.ma knew what he had to do and he had slowly gained respect from the higher-ups of the company. It might take some time but Ren believed in his choice of having Tak.u.ma as his successor.

And... the thing about his forgotten dream?

He too had started to work on it.

Halfway through his work, Ren received a notification from his personal e-mail. The sender was Akashi. He had compiled a list of photos and doc.u.ments as an attachment. Ren quickly downloaded it and decrypted the folder.

As he read the content of the file, a smirk hung on his lips.

Ren reached out for his personal phone and dialed Akashi"s number. Before his friend could speak, he had already beat him to it.

"Well done. Let"s see how he would escape from this."

The eeriness of his voice sent a shiver down Akashi"s spine. He laughed awkwardly, trying to shoo the fear away. From the sound of it, his friend was already determined in doing what he had planned.

"Well, he couldn"t escape from you, that"s for sure."

Ren scoffed. The darkness in his eyes deepened, the temperature around him dropped further as he looked at the screen of his laptop.

"I"ll prepare a special gift for him. Wait for my instructions."

"Aye, aye, sir!"

Ren ended the call. He stood up from the swivel chair, heading to the gla.s.s wall behind. The view of the city was presented in his line of sight.

It was a cloudless day, making the air outside dry with the scorching heat of the sun fell on the grounds. The weather forecast reported that the temperature would increase further as summer reached its peak yet at this time, his heart was cold.