[Fic] Rose Leaves
Saint Valentine’s Day. The day we celebrate for some priest who, thousands of years ago, secretly married couples when it was illegal for soldiers to do so. A day full of love, romance and soft squishy feelings. When couples freely show their love for one another and get an “awww” instead of “oh, get a room”.
But right now, the pink hearts and flowers decorating stores and the confetti dotting the streets of Seoul only vexed my companion further.
“My boyfriend barely remembered my birthday,” Junsu was ranting to me, “How can I expect him to remember Valentine’s?”
Valentine’s had been yesterday, and Junsu, who had been looking forward to it since he met Yoochun on Black Day last year, was seriously disappointed when he barely saw his boyfriend the entire day. At this point, it looked like Yoochun was headed for a lonely April 14th of haunting Jjajangmyeon stands.
“Maybe he’s waiting for White Day,” I suggested, not wanting the Yoosu to break up and waste all the energy Changmin and I’d put into getting them together.
Junsu huffed, “No way. He’s such a hopeless romantic, he’d celebrate every day we were together if he could.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Then he’ll be celebrating forever.”
He almost blushed, “You’re so mushy, Yunho-hyung-”
Further down the street, there was a commotion. Girls were squealing left and right, but instead of mobbing the guy who was causing their fangirling like they usually did, they parted like the Red Sea towards us.
Junsu’s brow furrowed, recognizing the man. “Is that…?”
It was Yoochun, a giant bundle of flowers and gauzy wrapping in his arms, one day late but with his head held high, striding towards us with a bounce in his step. He stopped in front of Junsu, and I took a discreet step to the side, joining the crowd that had gathered to watch the two.
“Yoochun, if you’re trying to apologize,” Junsu started, eyes narrowed, but was interrupted when Yoochun practically shoved a flower in his face.
“Name this, please,” he said.
“…a rose?” Junsu said warily.
“More specifically?”
I looked at it carefully, noticing a particularity in that almost every flower in the bundle was different in one way or another. I suppressed a grin, not wanting to ruin Yoochun’s romantic little episode.
“A…thornless rose,” Junsu said carefully, too shocked to blush.
“For when we met,” Yoochun grinned, wrapping Junsu’s hands around the flower, “For love at first sight.”
He held up a leaf next.
“A leaf?”
“A rose leaf.” He tucked it into the pink paper around Junsu’s rose, “for when we parted; “you may hope”.”
And on it went; a red carnation, “My heart aches for you”; an ambrosia, “love returned”, he told the story of their relationship in flowers. The people around me giggled and whispered; a few of the women cried. I found myself watching the expression on Junsu’s face, so full of joy I thought his smile could grow no further. But still, with each flower, it nevertheless did.
“And finally,” Yoochun said, when Junsu’s arms were full of beautiful, individually wrapped flowers. He held out a tiny bundle of small blue flowers, surrounded by white ones of another kind. This time, he said nothing, but Junsu dropped everything in his arms, spilling dozens of flowers to the sidewalk, reaching out with both hands to take the small bouquet.
“Forget-me-nots, surrounded by baby’s breaths,” someone next to me whispered, and I half turned in surprise to a beautiful dark-haired boy. Meeting his eyes, I almost forgot about the lovebirds behind me; a quiet, happy sigh brought me back.
“True love,” Junsu whispered with a touch of awe in his voice, “Everlasting.”
“Everyday you are with someone is the day to show your love for them,” Yoochun said simply, “Valentine’s day is just an excuse.”
I started to shift away with most of the crowd as the two sank into shameless displays of cheesy PDA. Spotting the dark-haired boy again, I took a page from Yoochun’s book, scooping up a flower.
“I’m Yunho,” I introduced myself, rubbing the stem of the flower between my fingers, “You seem to know a lot about flowers.”
“Kind of,” he said, looking confused, “One of my sisters own a flower shop. I’m Jaejoong, pleased to meet you. Are you their friend?” he nodded towards the couple behind us, who had now started whispering sweet nothings into each others’ ears.
“Yeah,” I nodded, and brought the flower forward, “Hey, that means you know what this means, right?”
I gave him a thornless rose.
~~<3
Happy Vday!