[Forget-Me-Not]
Title: Forget-Me-Not
Band: Beast
Pairing: Junseung, Junseob, Dooseob, bff!KiSeob
Genre: Romance, Life
Word Count: 3405
Rating: PG
A/N: Florist!AU. Girl!Hyunseung.
Summary: You know who you are, this is for you.
Flowers.
Since when did Junhyung succumb to society’s constitution of romance? Candlelit dinners on untarnished white tablecloths, a bottle of champagne, a selection of fine dark chocolate, that list of requirements never end. It was almost written in stone that the male party should attend to those
No, he wasn’t that hopeless yet. He would kill himself before that happened.
“Are you looking for anything in particular for someone in mind?”
Something tickled his nose, a pungent aroma that attacked his sense of smell, something foreign and all Junhyung wanted was to get away from the stench as quickly as possible.
“Flowers, for my girlfriend.”
“A specific occasion of some sort, an important date, or perhaps a hidden message you want to convey?”
All Junhyung could do was close his eyes and twitch his nose. He was never one to go around sniffing flowers when he was a toddler. He wasn’t fascinated by their colours, the yellows and reds and pink and blues, and the brown mushy dirt. Junhyung wasn’t your normal, hyperactive toddler. He hated dirt, mud, grass, puddles. He hated anything that got him dirty, and no, he wasn’t obsessed with cleanliness, mind you.
He sneezed, quite loudly for that matter, and was thankful when he was the only person inside that flower shop, excluding the boy who was in charge of attending the shop. They’d never meet again, so Junhyung wasn’t particularly bothered by the lack of mannerisms he had just displayed.
“No, just something to make her day better, I guess…” Junhyung noted the small boy, clad in a black apron with his name tag pinned on the right side. It was the middle of February; shouldn’t kids be in school on a Tuesday morning? Large bubbly letters lined in black, Yoseob.
“Well, we did receive a fresh batch of cherry blossoms from Hokkaido just this morning, and these Lotus flowers make fantastic decorations for an office. The bouquets of ‘Forget-Me-Not’ are a popular choice as well. Does she work at an office as well?” The boy smiled brightly at him while he cradled a flower before holding it out to Junhyung. “Does she have a favourite colour? Purple or maybe a soft pink?”
“I’m not too sure.” Junhyung didn’t know what her favourite colour was, details didn’t even matter in the larger scope. She didn’t pester about things like that, another reason why they had gotten along so well. They were both busy people, important people, details like colours could be merely brushed off and no one would get hurt. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”
The boy cocked his head to the side momentarily; Junhyung wasn’t sure whether it was because he didn’t know his girlfriend’s favourite colour or the question he had just dished out. Carefully, he laid the flower back into the glass bowl and dried his hands on the front of his apron. He walked over to another part of the shop, carefully weaving around circles of potted plants and pre-packaged bouquets, and stopped at one of the domains that housed the cherry blossoms. “I finished school a year ago. I’d suggest the cherry blossoms, elegant and exquisite, a perfect combination for anyone.”
“Yeah, sure.” Junhyung took a quick glance at his watch. Thank god he was the manager. “I’m running a bit late, so, yeah that’s fine.”
“I think four branches should be enough.” The boy smiled as he reached for the stems, tiptoeing while he carefully wedged them in between his fingers. “I’m going to assume that’s everything, Sir.”
“Yeah, how much is it?”
“Your total cost comes to $94.” The boy responded while he wiped off the counter tops, clearing it from the freshly made trims.
Junhyung almost threw up his morning coffee when he stared at the four branches lying on the counter top. How much for four sticks, with, he counted the number of flowers on the branches, eighteen flowers.
“They’re from Japan, fresh this morning.” The boy looked down sadly at the blossoms, whisks of white and pink whirling together.
“Oh no, that’s fine.” Junhyung handed over a hundred dollar note. The boy would probably get scolded if he didn’t make the sale. Whatever, he prolly made that much in fifteen minutes anyways, Junhyung hated math. “Thanks, Yoseob.” He reached for the flowers and stormed out of the shop.
Junhyung was definitely remembering this place.
~ // ~
Allergies.
It had to be allergies, it was that time of the year when spring starts draping its presence, the tangy smell of grass and morning dew glistening on each individual blade of grass.
He sneezed again and again when he was inside the same flower shop for the third time in two weeks. Hyunseung appreciated it, and Junhyung figured that it was actually pretty adorable for her to smile like that in her office. It was light and heartwarming, not like the stressed frown she always wore. Side effects of life, besides, he needed only ten more minutes, since that flower shop was on his way to work anyways.
“Sir, looking for something?” The same young voice greeted him. Yoseob stood behind him, and only then did Junhyung realize that Yoseob was almost his height. It seemed like Yoseob had recognized Junhyung when he turned around, the beauty of perception. “Oh, did she like the cherry blossoms?”
“She did, surprisingly, and she usually hates things like that. I thought she would have treated it like it’s a waste of space.”
“They always say that, but I’m willing to bet that she really appreciated it.”
“Yeah.” Junhyung smiled, reminiscing the quick three minutes when he dropped off the flowers to Hyunseung. “Yeah, she really did.”
Junhyung ended up buying a bouquet of blue and white violets. Much less pricey than four tree branches, and they definitely lasted longer too. Hyunseung was equally happy.
Junhyung also sneezed a lot more whenever he lounged on Hyunseung’s office before he had to scramble back to his floor of the office building because some idiot mixed up the sample designs for one of their important customers.
~ // ~
Pollen.
He learned that he was mildly allergic to pollen from Yoseob after they did a small test involving sunflowers, roses and some other flowers that had no pollen. Junhyung didn’t remember the names.
“And why widn’t my parwents ever tell me dat I have allergies?” Junhyung wheezed softly before he sneezed again, earning a chuckle from Yoseob, who just finished selling a handful of tulips and three bouquets of roses to another customer. Maybe randomly sticking his head into flowers and inhaling a large whiff of pollen wasn’t the brightest idea Junhyung had.
“Well, we all learn things the hard way, make a mistake and learn from it. Simple trial and error.” Yoseob replied while he was knifed the packing tap holding up a make-shift barricade that protected the potted pansies.
“But now I twalk wike dis, and I have a pwesentation to do.”
“Non drowsy.” Yoseob pointed to a box of allergy medicines by the cash register. Junhyung left that morning with a bouquet of lilacs and two glass containers housing pink orchids.
“See, the stems make a heart if you put them together like this.” Junhyung stated proudly when he arranged the two orchid plants next to one another on the cabinet, like Yoseob had pointed out to him. Two of the stems arched up, and it did sort of resemble a heart, plastered against the windows overlooking downtown Seoul.
“Junhyung-ah…”
Who knew allergy medicine worked that well.
~ // ~
Junhyung found himself stopping more and more frequently by Yoseob’s flower shop.
Turns out that it had been in his family for five generations already, and Yoseob’s the one tending the shop for his era. He’d already finish studying business, but he chose to take care of the flower shop instead of going onto his masters.
“Oh, fresh roses today.” Junhyung chirped when he lounged into the spacious store one morning. He’d gotten use to the pollen, his sneezing definitely stopped after a while. Conditioning and the body gets used to it, if he remembered correctly, second year biology courses were never his favourite, anyways. Thank god they were only an elective.
~ // ~
“Jun-ah, why are you buying me flowers so frequently now?” Hyunseung mused while she scavenged her desk full of papers.
“I like seeing you smile. It’s pretty.”
“You’re so, I don’t even know.”
“You love me.”
“Out, I have a meeting in twenty minutes.”
“I love you too."
~ // ~
Junhyung furrowed his eye brows when he saw Yoseob standing there, calling out wildly while someone was lifting two boxes. The figure waddled, almost tripping over the black plastic stands that housed wedding wreaths. There were six of them in total, Junhyung remembered them all because he tripped over each of them at least once.
“It’ll just be a minute, sorry about that.” Yoseob called out while he walked backwards, guiding the figure slowly as they stepped back into the shop from the backdoor.
Yoseob never let him help, even when he was carrying boxes almost his height. Didn’t want to get his suit dirty, or scratch his briefcase, or ruin his shoes, there was always an excuse. Junhyung didn’t mind, but Yoseob wouldn’t let him. Yoseob kept insisting that Junhyung was still a customer, and it would be impolite and wrong for him to do that.
Then why was this person helping Yoseob move around stuff. Yoseob runs the shop by himself, the last time Junhyung checked, which was yesterday, mind you.
“Kiwi, you’re the best, oh my god what would I do without you.” Yoseob smile was even wider than normal when the guy, Kikwang, was it, placed the boxes on an empty area inside the shop.
“Yoyo, if you keep on doing that.”
“Yeah, yeah I know. But seriously, thanks so much.”
Something pooled at the bottom of Junhyung’s stomach, and suddenly the flowers around him didn’t seem so pleasant anymore. The air was dry and suffocating, and Junhyung couldn’t even breathe properly. It wasn’t his allergies, hay fever season was over a month ago.
“Junhyung!!” Yoseob greeted him with a wave, and Junhyung snapped out of his monologue about wanting to bury those daffodils, and step on them until their petals are shredded and he could paint a dead duck with the yellow pigment with his shoe. “Why are you here on a Sunday?”
“Hey…” He gritted his teeth while the two boys walked over to join him.
They were in simple wear, and that guy even had on an identical apron that Yoseob was wearing. Junhyung was in a black suit, light purple, lilac, as Yoseob would have corrected, and black leather shoes. He was definitely the odd one out. The flowers around him suddenly appeared that much closer, as if they were slowly tangling out, their stems out to strangle and razor sharp leaves ready to cut through anything.
“Kikwang, this is Junhyung, one of my frequent customers.” Yoseob stepped in to ease the alarming awkwardness.
“Nice to meet you, Junhyung-sshi.”
Junhyung kept quiet, each passing second feeling like an eternity. Why did that Kikwang guy talk so much, and why did he always cling onto Yoseob like that.
“Yah, didn’t you say you had a meeting?” Yoseob looked up at the clock inside the shop, and before Junhyung could even smile and relax, Kikwang was gone and Yoseob was holding his black apron.
Junhyung was leaning against the counter, studying the rows of sunflowers and carnations, and almost slipped when Yoseob was next to him, also leaning against the counter, staring at the rows of carnations and oversized sunflowers.
“Jeez, do you always make it so obvious when you’re uncomfortable?” Yoseob poked him lightly on the side, and Junhyung winced. He was sure he only kept it to himself, he answered everything, had a normal conversation, he tried to be awfully pleasant.
“Yeah, you were so different, Junhyung-ah.” Yoseob patted his shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Is it because of stress from work?”
“Yeah, I have to come up with three different strategies by the end of this week.” Junhyung lied. He already had most of it under construction.
“Take it easy, look at Kikwang and I, you’re suppose to enjoy life, one flower at a time.”
Junhyung gave Yoseob an ‘are-you-serious’ look, and Yoseob punched him on the arm.
“Ever since we were best friends in elementary school, we did things our way. We were the missing pair, always late when we had to line up to go back inside because we needed to step on every rock first, got lost because we didn’t follow the designated paths on field trips, that type of thing.” Yoseob rested his head against Junhyung’s arm in a friendly notion.
Junhyung ignored the acceleration of his heartbeats, claiming to himself that it was just the heat and nothing more.
~ // ~
They met up in the afternoon to catch a movie after Junhyung finally convinced Yoseob to take a day off from the shop.
“Weren’t you the one that told me to take life, ‘one flower at a time’, you workaholic.” Junhyung chuckled as they moved along the queue.
“Look who’s talking.” Yoseob retailiated as they bought their tickets to see the new thriller movie that just came out.
“Drinks are so overpriced, let’s just share one instead.”
“It’s my treat, just get something.” Junhyung grumbled when Yoseob insisted on getting two straws.
In the end, they were unaware that they ended up sharing the same straw and the drink was left half unfinished.
~ // ~
“I think it’s time you got her flowers with a real meaning.”
Junhyung looked at Yoseob inquisitively.
“You know, red roses or a bouquet of Forget-Me-Not. I can tell you really like her.” Yoseob mused while he was trimming excessive leaves on a new shipment of Goldenrods.
Junhyung sat quietly, lost in thought, on the chair Yoseob had gotten for him. He felt bad that Junhyung was standing around so long.
“Junhyung?”
“Wh-what?”
“Did you hear what I just said?” Yoseob mock-glared at Junhyung while he snipped off another leaf, twirling his scissors in success. “There we go, all better now.”
“Yeah, sure…”
“You have to tell me when you need flowers if you’re proposing to her, I’ll make it extra perfect, and it has to be perfect, okay?”
Junhyung could only nod while he watched Yoseob dance to the other side of the store, humming a soft tune while he continued snipping off leaves, collecting them in his small hands.
Junhyung pretended he didn’t imagine what it would feel like to hold Yoseob’s hand instead.
~//~
“We barely even talk to each other anymore. Hyunseung-ah, we can barely even have a proper meal together, is this what it’s come down to. Shrugs and nods, not even a hello?”
“Are you forgetting the fact that we’re both competing for the same client right now? Need I remind you who this client is?”
“We promised that we wouldn’t let work affect our relationship."
“It’s not, you’re the one affecting our relationship, Junhyung-ah.”
“What are you talking about, don’t change the topic and pin this shit on me.”
“You’ve changed. Even outside of work, you’ve changed.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You’re a lot more creative and daring, you would never ever take unconventional risks, and lately I’ve heard that you’re pulling off miracles left and right, like you have new inspiration or something.”
“I’m not the manager of HR and Marketing for no reason. The company buys my ideas, it’s my job. We have to get this client, whether you’re my competition or not, that doesn’t matter.”
“It’s mutual, Junhyung-ah, but you’ve changed, and I’m not sure if I like it anymore…”
“I’m going out, won’t be back for a while. Don’t wait for me.”
~//~
Junhyung bit the inside of his lip when Yoseob shied away when he tried to put his arm around Yoseob’s shoulder while they were staring off at the ceiling together inside Yoseob’s apartment.
The DVD kept running, already long forgotten when they curled up in front of the couch, blankets strewed loosely around them, their heads resting on top of one another.
~ // ~
When winter was almost around the corner, he stopped giving flowers to Hyunseung’s office. Their apartment gradually accumulated vases and pots of flowers.
“Since when did you like flowers?” Hyunseung spat bitterly when she came out of the shower.
“Flowers help desensitize feelings of stress and give a breath of fresh air, something I very much need in my life.”
“Whatever.”
Junhyung ignored Hyunseung while she continued drying her hair outside in the living room. They both knew that their relationship wasn’t deteriorating because Junhyung won the client, there were other inexplicable factors.
Leaning forward on his desk, Junhyung looked up at the glass container, the temporary home for the three lotus flowers, drifting aimlessly as Junhyung nonchalantly lapped the water with his fingers.
~ // ~
Junhyung doesn’t remember seeing Yoseob blush at all. It’s been almost a year since he first bought those cherry blossoms.
Yoseob was cheerful, bubbly, carefree, he always said what’s on his mind, never concealing his feelings. Yoseob wasn’t the type of person to blush and be shy around other people. He melded perfectly with everyone, like Calla lilies and roses for wedding bouquets.
But Yoseob was blushing while some guy was talking to him, his overwhelming size nearly toppling compared to Yoseob’s smaller frame.
“Doojoon-ah, someone…” Yoseob looked uncomfortable, and that’s when Junhyung coughed and made his presence known. The figure backed away and Yoseob relaxed while he waved Junhyung to come over.
“I’ll call you later, Doojoon-ah…” Yoseob smiled warmly at the other figure, who deflated and left the shop for the two of them. Scurrying quickly, Yoseob closed the door and put up a ‘Back in Fifteen’ sign.
“Who was that guy?” Junhyung questioned when Yoseob came back, his head drooped low and he looked bothered. He looked large enough to be one of those debt collectors.
“N-nothing.”
“Yoseob?”
“Really, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“Is it money problems, I told you, if you needed anything-”
“Junhyung-ah, I’m fine, please. I just, I just need some time to think.”
Junhyung never felt so shot down in his life before, and the remainder of the hour they spent in silence, nothing except Junhyung threading his fingers through Yoseob’s soft hair and Yoseob’s erratic breathing against the marble counter top.
He pocketed one of the yellow greeting cards when Yoseob finally got up from his moping. Junhyung figured it’d be better if he didn’t probe the issue.
~//~
Junhyung carefully closed the door when he saw Yoseob inside the shop, waving his arms in agitation. He didn’t want the bell to ring and cause inconvenience.
“Doojoon, stop, just stop okay. Give me some time. Doojoon please, what are you talking about, of course I still like you…”
Junhyung slinked out of the building just as quietly as he went in.
He didn’t care when his rival started laughing at him for the dried flecks of vomit on his shoes, claiming that it was unprofessional and it would tarnish their company’s reputation. Junhyung couldn’t give a shit.
~//~
Cradling twelve individual flowers, each one carefully and personally arranged in the bouquet, Junhyung wedged the yellow greeting card carefully between two flowers. It looked professional enough.
He slowly walked towards the same flower shop he did on that day, exactly one year, two months and eight days ago.
It was a Saturday, so Junhyung wasn’t surprised to find Kikwang inside the shop, and a part of him was so fucking relieved that Yoseob wasn’t physically present at the moment.
“Junhyung, what’s up, I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Yeah, work has been a pain and I’ve been working overtime. Can you give this to Yoseob for me?”
Kikwang could barely utter out his name before Junhyung was out the door. He didn’t have the courage to wait for an answer.
~//~
“Yoseob-ah, you have flowers.”
“But the shipment already came this morning, what are you talking about?”
“You’ll see once you come out.”
“Yah Kiwi, what are they, I’m going to check the restock schedule list while I’m back here.”
“Forget-Me-Not."
"They're not scheduled until the week after, are you sure you're looking at the right flowers?"
"Yes, Yoseob, I'm sure, just get your ass here. I think you need to see it for yourself."
Yoseob huffed, hands jammed into the pockets of his apron when he saw the bouquet lying on the counter top. It had one of his shop's greeting cards, but he didn't sell any bouquets of Forget-Me-Not in a while, and he definately wouldn't have wrapped it like that.
Inching towards Kikwang, who was smiling the whole time, Yoseob reached for the card and carefully opened the flap.
You told me Forget-Me-Not symbolizes true love...
I finally found the person that I should give them to...
Will you give me a chance?
Junhyung.
Band: Beast
Pairing: Junseung, Junseob, Dooseob, bff!KiSeob
Genre: Romance, Life
Word Count: 3405
Rating: PG
A/N: Florist!AU. Girl!Hyunseung.
Summary: You know who you are, this is for you.
Flowers.
Since when did Junhyung succumb to society’s constitution of romance? Candlelit dinners on untarnished white tablecloths, a bottle of champagne, a selection of fine dark chocolate, that list of requirements never end. It was almost written in stone that the male party should attend to those
No, he wasn’t that hopeless yet. He would kill himself before that happened.
“Are you looking for anything in particular for someone in mind?”
Something tickled his nose, a pungent aroma that attacked his sense of smell, something foreign and all Junhyung wanted was to get away from the stench as quickly as possible.
“Flowers, for my girlfriend.”
“A specific occasion of some sort, an important date, or perhaps a hidden message you want to convey?”
All Junhyung could do was close his eyes and twitch his nose. He was never one to go around sniffing flowers when he was a toddler. He wasn’t fascinated by their colours, the yellows and reds and pink and blues, and the brown mushy dirt. Junhyung wasn’t your normal, hyperactive toddler. He hated dirt, mud, grass, puddles. He hated anything that got him dirty, and no, he wasn’t obsessed with cleanliness, mind you.
He sneezed, quite loudly for that matter, and was thankful when he was the only person inside that flower shop, excluding the boy who was in charge of attending the shop. They’d never meet again, so Junhyung wasn’t particularly bothered by the lack of mannerisms he had just displayed.
“No, just something to make her day better, I guess…” Junhyung noted the small boy, clad in a black apron with his name tag pinned on the right side. It was the middle of February; shouldn’t kids be in school on a Tuesday morning? Large bubbly letters lined in black, Yoseob.
“Well, we did receive a fresh batch of cherry blossoms from Hokkaido just this morning, and these Lotus flowers make fantastic decorations for an office. The bouquets of ‘Forget-Me-Not’ are a popular choice as well. Does she work at an office as well?” The boy smiled brightly at him while he cradled a flower before holding it out to Junhyung. “Does she have a favourite colour? Purple or maybe a soft pink?”
“I’m not too sure.” Junhyung didn’t know what her favourite colour was, details didn’t even matter in the larger scope. She didn’t pester about things like that, another reason why they had gotten along so well. They were both busy people, important people, details like colours could be merely brushed off and no one would get hurt. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”
The boy cocked his head to the side momentarily; Junhyung wasn’t sure whether it was because he didn’t know his girlfriend’s favourite colour or the question he had just dished out. Carefully, he laid the flower back into the glass bowl and dried his hands on the front of his apron. He walked over to another part of the shop, carefully weaving around circles of potted plants and pre-packaged bouquets, and stopped at one of the domains that housed the cherry blossoms. “I finished school a year ago. I’d suggest the cherry blossoms, elegant and exquisite, a perfect combination for anyone.”
“Yeah, sure.” Junhyung took a quick glance at his watch. Thank god he was the manager. “I’m running a bit late, so, yeah that’s fine.”
“I think four branches should be enough.” The boy smiled as he reached for the stems, tiptoeing while he carefully wedged them in between his fingers. “I’m going to assume that’s everything, Sir.”
“Yeah, how much is it?”
“Your total cost comes to $94.” The boy responded while he wiped off the counter tops, clearing it from the freshly made trims.
Junhyung almost threw up his morning coffee when he stared at the four branches lying on the counter top. How much for four sticks, with, he counted the number of flowers on the branches, eighteen flowers.
“They’re from Japan, fresh this morning.” The boy looked down sadly at the blossoms, whisks of white and pink whirling together.
“Oh no, that’s fine.” Junhyung handed over a hundred dollar note. The boy would probably get scolded if he didn’t make the sale. Whatever, he prolly made that much in fifteen minutes anyways, Junhyung hated math. “Thanks, Yoseob.” He reached for the flowers and stormed out of the shop.
Junhyung was definitely remembering this place.
~ // ~
Allergies.
It had to be allergies, it was that time of the year when spring starts draping its presence, the tangy smell of grass and morning dew glistening on each individual blade of grass.
He sneezed again and again when he was inside the same flower shop for the third time in two weeks. Hyunseung appreciated it, and Junhyung figured that it was actually pretty adorable for her to smile like that in her office. It was light and heartwarming, not like the stressed frown she always wore. Side effects of life, besides, he needed only ten more minutes, since that flower shop was on his way to work anyways.
“Sir, looking for something?” The same young voice greeted him. Yoseob stood behind him, and only then did Junhyung realize that Yoseob was almost his height. It seemed like Yoseob had recognized Junhyung when he turned around, the beauty of perception. “Oh, did she like the cherry blossoms?”
“She did, surprisingly, and she usually hates things like that. I thought she would have treated it like it’s a waste of space.”
“They always say that, but I’m willing to bet that she really appreciated it.”
“Yeah.” Junhyung smiled, reminiscing the quick three minutes when he dropped off the flowers to Hyunseung. “Yeah, she really did.”
Junhyung ended up buying a bouquet of blue and white violets. Much less pricey than four tree branches, and they definitely lasted longer too. Hyunseung was equally happy.
Junhyung also sneezed a lot more whenever he lounged on Hyunseung’s office before he had to scramble back to his floor of the office building because some idiot mixed up the sample designs for one of their important customers.
~ // ~
Pollen.
He learned that he was mildly allergic to pollen from Yoseob after they did a small test involving sunflowers, roses and some other flowers that had no pollen. Junhyung didn’t remember the names.
“And why widn’t my parwents ever tell me dat I have allergies?” Junhyung wheezed softly before he sneezed again, earning a chuckle from Yoseob, who just finished selling a handful of tulips and three bouquets of roses to another customer. Maybe randomly sticking his head into flowers and inhaling a large whiff of pollen wasn’t the brightest idea Junhyung had.
“Well, we all learn things the hard way, make a mistake and learn from it. Simple trial and error.” Yoseob replied while he was knifed the packing tap holding up a make-shift barricade that protected the potted pansies.
“But now I twalk wike dis, and I have a pwesentation to do.”
“Non drowsy.” Yoseob pointed to a box of allergy medicines by the cash register. Junhyung left that morning with a bouquet of lilacs and two glass containers housing pink orchids.
“See, the stems make a heart if you put them together like this.” Junhyung stated proudly when he arranged the two orchid plants next to one another on the cabinet, like Yoseob had pointed out to him. Two of the stems arched up, and it did sort of resemble a heart, plastered against the windows overlooking downtown Seoul.
“Junhyung-ah…”
Who knew allergy medicine worked that well.
~ // ~
Junhyung found himself stopping more and more frequently by Yoseob’s flower shop.
Turns out that it had been in his family for five generations already, and Yoseob’s the one tending the shop for his era. He’d already finish studying business, but he chose to take care of the flower shop instead of going onto his masters.
“Oh, fresh roses today.” Junhyung chirped when he lounged into the spacious store one morning. He’d gotten use to the pollen, his sneezing definitely stopped after a while. Conditioning and the body gets used to it, if he remembered correctly, second year biology courses were never his favourite, anyways. Thank god they were only an elective.
~ // ~
“Jun-ah, why are you buying me flowers so frequently now?” Hyunseung mused while she scavenged her desk full of papers.
“I like seeing you smile. It’s pretty.”
“You’re so, I don’t even know.”
“You love me.”
“Out, I have a meeting in twenty minutes.”
“I love you too."
~ // ~
Junhyung furrowed his eye brows when he saw Yoseob standing there, calling out wildly while someone was lifting two boxes. The figure waddled, almost tripping over the black plastic stands that housed wedding wreaths. There were six of them in total, Junhyung remembered them all because he tripped over each of them at least once.
“It’ll just be a minute, sorry about that.” Yoseob called out while he walked backwards, guiding the figure slowly as they stepped back into the shop from the backdoor.
Yoseob never let him help, even when he was carrying boxes almost his height. Didn’t want to get his suit dirty, or scratch his briefcase, or ruin his shoes, there was always an excuse. Junhyung didn’t mind, but Yoseob wouldn’t let him. Yoseob kept insisting that Junhyung was still a customer, and it would be impolite and wrong for him to do that.
Then why was this person helping Yoseob move around stuff. Yoseob runs the shop by himself, the last time Junhyung checked, which was yesterday, mind you.
“Kiwi, you’re the best, oh my god what would I do without you.” Yoseob smile was even wider than normal when the guy, Kikwang, was it, placed the boxes on an empty area inside the shop.
“Yoyo, if you keep on doing that.”
“Yeah, yeah I know. But seriously, thanks so much.”
Something pooled at the bottom of Junhyung’s stomach, and suddenly the flowers around him didn’t seem so pleasant anymore. The air was dry and suffocating, and Junhyung couldn’t even breathe properly. It wasn’t his allergies, hay fever season was over a month ago.
“Junhyung!!” Yoseob greeted him with a wave, and Junhyung snapped out of his monologue about wanting to bury those daffodils, and step on them until their petals are shredded and he could paint a dead duck with the yellow pigment with his shoe. “Why are you here on a Sunday?”
“Hey…” He gritted his teeth while the two boys walked over to join him.
They were in simple wear, and that guy even had on an identical apron that Yoseob was wearing. Junhyung was in a black suit, light purple, lilac, as Yoseob would have corrected, and black leather shoes. He was definitely the odd one out. The flowers around him suddenly appeared that much closer, as if they were slowly tangling out, their stems out to strangle and razor sharp leaves ready to cut through anything.
“Kikwang, this is Junhyung, one of my frequent customers.” Yoseob stepped in to ease the alarming awkwardness.
“Nice to meet you, Junhyung-sshi.”
Junhyung kept quiet, each passing second feeling like an eternity. Why did that Kikwang guy talk so much, and why did he always cling onto Yoseob like that.
“Yah, didn’t you say you had a meeting?” Yoseob looked up at the clock inside the shop, and before Junhyung could even smile and relax, Kikwang was gone and Yoseob was holding his black apron.
Junhyung was leaning against the counter, studying the rows of sunflowers and carnations, and almost slipped when Yoseob was next to him, also leaning against the counter, staring at the rows of carnations and oversized sunflowers.
“Jeez, do you always make it so obvious when you’re uncomfortable?” Yoseob poked him lightly on the side, and Junhyung winced. He was sure he only kept it to himself, he answered everything, had a normal conversation, he tried to be awfully pleasant.
“Yeah, you were so different, Junhyung-ah.” Yoseob patted his shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Is it because of stress from work?”
“Yeah, I have to come up with three different strategies by the end of this week.” Junhyung lied. He already had most of it under construction.
“Take it easy, look at Kikwang and I, you’re suppose to enjoy life, one flower at a time.”
Junhyung gave Yoseob an ‘are-you-serious’ look, and Yoseob punched him on the arm.
“Ever since we were best friends in elementary school, we did things our way. We were the missing pair, always late when we had to line up to go back inside because we needed to step on every rock first, got lost because we didn’t follow the designated paths on field trips, that type of thing.” Yoseob rested his head against Junhyung’s arm in a friendly notion.
Junhyung ignored the acceleration of his heartbeats, claiming to himself that it was just the heat and nothing more.
~ // ~
They met up in the afternoon to catch a movie after Junhyung finally convinced Yoseob to take a day off from the shop.
“Weren’t you the one that told me to take life, ‘one flower at a time’, you workaholic.” Junhyung chuckled as they moved along the queue.
“Look who’s talking.” Yoseob retailiated as they bought their tickets to see the new thriller movie that just came out.
“Drinks are so overpriced, let’s just share one instead.”
“It’s my treat, just get something.” Junhyung grumbled when Yoseob insisted on getting two straws.
In the end, they were unaware that they ended up sharing the same straw and the drink was left half unfinished.
~ // ~
“I think it’s time you got her flowers with a real meaning.”
Junhyung looked at Yoseob inquisitively.
“You know, red roses or a bouquet of Forget-Me-Not. I can tell you really like her.” Yoseob mused while he was trimming excessive leaves on a new shipment of Goldenrods.
Junhyung sat quietly, lost in thought, on the chair Yoseob had gotten for him. He felt bad that Junhyung was standing around so long.
“Junhyung?”
“Wh-what?”
“Did you hear what I just said?” Yoseob mock-glared at Junhyung while he snipped off another leaf, twirling his scissors in success. “There we go, all better now.”
“Yeah, sure…”
“You have to tell me when you need flowers if you’re proposing to her, I’ll make it extra perfect, and it has to be perfect, okay?”
Junhyung could only nod while he watched Yoseob dance to the other side of the store, humming a soft tune while he continued snipping off leaves, collecting them in his small hands.
Junhyung pretended he didn’t imagine what it would feel like to hold Yoseob’s hand instead.
~//~
“We barely even talk to each other anymore. Hyunseung-ah, we can barely even have a proper meal together, is this what it’s come down to. Shrugs and nods, not even a hello?”
“Are you forgetting the fact that we’re both competing for the same client right now? Need I remind you who this client is?”
“We promised that we wouldn’t let work affect our relationship."
“It’s not, you’re the one affecting our relationship, Junhyung-ah.”
“What are you talking about, don’t change the topic and pin this shit on me.”
“You’ve changed. Even outside of work, you’ve changed.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You’re a lot more creative and daring, you would never ever take unconventional risks, and lately I’ve heard that you’re pulling off miracles left and right, like you have new inspiration or something.”
“I’m not the manager of HR and Marketing for no reason. The company buys my ideas, it’s my job. We have to get this client, whether you’re my competition or not, that doesn’t matter.”
“It’s mutual, Junhyung-ah, but you’ve changed, and I’m not sure if I like it anymore…”
“I’m going out, won’t be back for a while. Don’t wait for me.”
~//~
Junhyung bit the inside of his lip when Yoseob shied away when he tried to put his arm around Yoseob’s shoulder while they were staring off at the ceiling together inside Yoseob’s apartment.
The DVD kept running, already long forgotten when they curled up in front of the couch, blankets strewed loosely around them, their heads resting on top of one another.
~ // ~
When winter was almost around the corner, he stopped giving flowers to Hyunseung’s office. Their apartment gradually accumulated vases and pots of flowers.
“Since when did you like flowers?” Hyunseung spat bitterly when she came out of the shower.
“Flowers help desensitize feelings of stress and give a breath of fresh air, something I very much need in my life.”
“Whatever.”
Junhyung ignored Hyunseung while she continued drying her hair outside in the living room. They both knew that their relationship wasn’t deteriorating because Junhyung won the client, there were other inexplicable factors.
Leaning forward on his desk, Junhyung looked up at the glass container, the temporary home for the three lotus flowers, drifting aimlessly as Junhyung nonchalantly lapped the water with his fingers.
~ // ~
Junhyung doesn’t remember seeing Yoseob blush at all. It’s been almost a year since he first bought those cherry blossoms.
Yoseob was cheerful, bubbly, carefree, he always said what’s on his mind, never concealing his feelings. Yoseob wasn’t the type of person to blush and be shy around other people. He melded perfectly with everyone, like Calla lilies and roses for wedding bouquets.
But Yoseob was blushing while some guy was talking to him, his overwhelming size nearly toppling compared to Yoseob’s smaller frame.
“Doojoon-ah, someone…” Yoseob looked uncomfortable, and that’s when Junhyung coughed and made his presence known. The figure backed away and Yoseob relaxed while he waved Junhyung to come over.
“I’ll call you later, Doojoon-ah…” Yoseob smiled warmly at the other figure, who deflated and left the shop for the two of them. Scurrying quickly, Yoseob closed the door and put up a ‘Back in Fifteen’ sign.
“Who was that guy?” Junhyung questioned when Yoseob came back, his head drooped low and he looked bothered. He looked large enough to be one of those debt collectors.
“N-nothing.”
“Yoseob?”
“Really, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“Is it money problems, I told you, if you needed anything-”
“Junhyung-ah, I’m fine, please. I just, I just need some time to think.”
Junhyung never felt so shot down in his life before, and the remainder of the hour they spent in silence, nothing except Junhyung threading his fingers through Yoseob’s soft hair and Yoseob’s erratic breathing against the marble counter top.
He pocketed one of the yellow greeting cards when Yoseob finally got up from his moping. Junhyung figured it’d be better if he didn’t probe the issue.
~//~
Junhyung carefully closed the door when he saw Yoseob inside the shop, waving his arms in agitation. He didn’t want the bell to ring and cause inconvenience.
“Doojoon, stop, just stop okay. Give me some time. Doojoon please, what are you talking about, of course I still like you…”
Junhyung slinked out of the building just as quietly as he went in.
He didn’t care when his rival started laughing at him for the dried flecks of vomit on his shoes, claiming that it was unprofessional and it would tarnish their company’s reputation. Junhyung couldn’t give a shit.
~//~
Cradling twelve individual flowers, each one carefully and personally arranged in the bouquet, Junhyung wedged the yellow greeting card carefully between two flowers. It looked professional enough.
He slowly walked towards the same flower shop he did on that day, exactly one year, two months and eight days ago.
It was a Saturday, so Junhyung wasn’t surprised to find Kikwang inside the shop, and a part of him was so fucking relieved that Yoseob wasn’t physically present at the moment.
“Junhyung, what’s up, I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Yeah, work has been a pain and I’ve been working overtime. Can you give this to Yoseob for me?”
Kikwang could barely utter out his name before Junhyung was out the door. He didn’t have the courage to wait for an answer.
~//~
“Yoseob-ah, you have flowers.”
“But the shipment already came this morning, what are you talking about?”
“You’ll see once you come out.”
“Yah Kiwi, what are they, I’m going to check the restock schedule list while I’m back here.”
“Forget-Me-Not."
"They're not scheduled until the week after, are you sure you're looking at the right flowers?"
"Yes, Yoseob, I'm sure, just get your ass here. I think you need to see it for yourself."
Yoseob huffed, hands jammed into the pockets of his apron when he saw the bouquet lying on the counter top. It had one of his shop's greeting cards, but he didn't sell any bouquets of Forget-Me-Not in a while, and he definately wouldn't have wrapped it like that.
Inching towards Kikwang, who was smiling the whole time, Yoseob reached for the card and carefully opened the flap.
You told me Forget-Me-Not symbolizes true love...
I finally found the person that I should give them to...
Will you give me a chance?
Junhyung.