A flower blossoms for joy.

In the end he decided to stay put, knowing there was no reason to wander around. If he did, he felt like he would be walking out with a lot more than he intended to. Jay instead hummed, looking around at what he could see from where he stood in front of the counter. When the shop keeper returned he quirked a brow and couldn’t help but look surprised at the choices. Not that he was expecting anything in particular: he was far from an expert on flowers or all the different types of flora the place offered. “.. These look like the ones from Alice in Wonderland,” he mused to himself, making a mental note that he was watching too many children’s movies lately with one of his friends if that was the first thing that came out of his mouth. A few moments of thinking later, and he nodded, confirming whatever thoughts were going through his mind in that short span of time. “I’ll take both. These for the, yeah.” He moved the first bouquet to the side to indicate it was the one he spoke of. “The others I’ll take to someone.” Jay quieted again as if going to contemplate even more, but instead this time he looked at the stranger and ended up chuckling a little. “I hope it’s not offensive, but.” He gestured to the male’s hair. “Is that like the shop uniform?” 

   [ ☾ ] He massaged his temple between his thumb and forefinger, trying to jog his memory. For as long as he could remember, his mother planted all sorts of flowers on the balcony. She changed them depending on the season so he couldn’t tell what her favourite was. “Violets?” He seemed to recall she had a small handkerchief in her bag at all times with such an embroidery. “And sunflowers.” Every once in a while, the yellow petals had always find their way into the dining table, providing a radiating shine to brighten the place he calls home. His mother had taken great care of them, sprinkling them with water every so often and making sure they had enough sunlight. Finally, he nodded in confirmation. “Lots of violets and sunflowers, please.”

“Good thing you share the same sentiment on skipping a card,” he says with a wry smile. He was trying, but he still felt like he should try harder. He followed the florist as the young male walked deeper into the store and to another section, before he came face to face with an entire shelf full of variations of purple tinted flowers. They were beautiful.

“I think this is fine,” he answers uncertainly, taking the bouquet and looking down at. He pressed his lips together, giving it a once over before looking up again at the florist. “If you got into a fight, and someone else had to apologize, would you appreciate this? Or if you were the one apologizing, would you go for it? I’m doubting myself.” 

“Well, I live by a motto. It’s pretty simple. I’ll try anything once. When something catches my eye, I go for it!” she explained with a grin. Anything new and interesting that came her way was often consumed by her in seconds, and a new shop like his was perfect for that. A self confessed shop-aholic, she often looked around for the new cool place. His compliment made her smile even wider. Though she had heard that said all her life, it still caused a blush to creep on her cheeks. “Thank you,” she gave hime a gentle look, hoping her presence wasn’t worrying of freaking him out. Behind all the lights and mirrors, she was just someone looking for some flowers. Once she was content with the pictures she took, she came a little closer to him. “Wait, what did you say?” she raised an eyebrow in disbelief, chuckling. He was quite handsome, in reality. Noticing his prince like features, a frown made its way on her face. “Don’t say that about yourself!” being the happy virus she was, she hated it when people said things that were self decrepitating. “You’re very handsome, don’t say stuff like that,” she looked at him with a large smile, hoping her compliment would help with his confidence. “Come here,” she grinned and posed with him, taking a couple selcas together. “Which one should I post,” she scrolled through her phone, showing him the different ones. “You look great in all of them!” 

“You’re sure? I mean, thank you…” Being allowed to walk in he had hesitantly moved into the shop and went to look at the flowers, it was some botanical garden to him; the fact he could look at all the flowers even if it wasn’t in such a normal manner like seeing them outside it still made him happy. “It’s alright to ask that. As for why I’m out so late it’s because I was invited out to support a friend and- I’d call him a co-worker but I don’t think he’d be happy hearing me say that.” saying that he stopped to look at some red roses, tempted to pick one up. “I haven’t been able to see flowers for a long time since I have night shift now. It’s a little dumb for me to miss something so simple but, I guess I can’t help that.”

Listening to the other’s explanation and casual advice, Gikwang took a cautious step forward to examine the flowers within his reach from a shorter distance but it didn’t help him in any way to determine what exactly he had been seeking. Upon hearing the question, he tried to quell the roiling nervousness in his stomach, and his gaze landed upon an undefined spot in the distance that allowed him to organize his thoughts. “Um, a date? I mean, this is not entirely true, it’s a term that is close enough to what I would… call that… thing I’m going to pull off. And giving her a red rose would be too… blunt? And also, unoriginal. I think women fancy more creativity these days, this is why I’m in dire need of your help.”

Starting to feel embarrassed when the door opened Jaejoong looked to the left and bit his lower lip in thought for a moment only to speak up. “I was asking if you are closed for the night.” Jaejoong says,  taking glances in the mans direction with a sheepish smile. He didn’t have work tonight but he was going to meet a friend of his at the club nearby but being the type of guy Jae was he got easily distracted in fact it was almost if the flowers just caught his eyes while watching the inside of buildings to check for people or anything interesting. “I mean… if you are that’s fine, I’ll be on my way.. I was just glancing here and there.” mumbling he finally meets eyes with the younger man, putting on a smile at first.

“Ah, coming.” The male responded, folding his umbrella carefully after shaking off the drips of water clinging onto it and he only smiled as the other man invited him inside the small shop. He noticed that the interior was well decorated with even more vibrant colored flowers, somehow giving it a refreshing feel as Kiro took a better look. He couldn’t believe himself for only stepping in now when he passes by this particular shop almost every single day.

“Indeed it is,” he retorted, his smile unceasing, assuming the male is either the owner himself or just a worker grabbing this chance to make profit out of the situation. He understood, he’d be the same as the other. “It didn’t rain for quite some time, maybe a week or so. I think it’s about time for the plants to feed,” he mumbled, looking back at a bunch of prettily arranged flowers. “What are these called? They’re gorgeous,” he pointed at a vase of tiny white bloom, attracted to the small petals that aesthetically pleased him, thinking of how perfect those would be to be decorated in his own shop.

If it had been a normal, sunny day, he would've tried to make a sale, but he didn’t want to take advantage of the situation. It wouldn’t be fair to the other if he did. He didn’t want to trade shelter for a few couple thousand won. It would still be awkward between the two, but it would be better than any awkward silence that followed a ‘no’ to buying flowers. “I like it. I mean- It’s good for the flowers, but I would love to go sit in it.” He offered the man a smile now, sort of encouraging him to talk more. “I love when it rains. I have to clean my glasses every second, but it’s so calming to look at the sky and just watch,” he said, moving to stand behind the counter again. “I like the smell too before, during, and after.” Was it weird to admit that? A lot of people would say that kind of thing to a friend, but was it acceptable to say it to stranger? Probably not, but he couldn’t take it back. What was said, couldn’t be unsaid, right? 

It felt bittersweet to keep his eyes on the flowers he kept his eyes on the Morning glorys in particular. Maybe he could steal them? Wait why would he do that? He could protest to the idea but it only came to the realization that he’d miss his old life more if he was to continue looking. Looking surprised at the entry of a stranger on the other side of the glass Jaejoong had smiled in embarrassment and looked like he was going to run off but instead worked up the courage to try and talk. “You’re closed now correct?” He asks on the other side of the glass, not sure if the stranger could hear him. 

A frown accompanied a thoughtful sigh as she listened to his words. She didn’t fully know his situation, but from the look in his eye it was probably quite bad. His words made her think of that one dark time in her life, too. Though she couldn’t completely sympathise as she was in the dark about what had happened to him- not that he seemed like the type to share his entire life story with a stranger- she gave him a smile and mirrored his actions by brushing it off with a polite compliment. “Well, you’ve done a wonderful job. This place is beautiful,” she told him with a genuine smile- the look in her eye saying two words ‘I understand.’ His shock made her laugh, teasing him a little bit. “Don’t I look pretty enough to be in a girl group?” she giggled. When she got his attention, she took out her phone and started to take pictures of the piece her made her and other pretty things around the shop. “Please, it’s no bother,” she said, taking more pictures before coming towards him. “Come close, take a selca with me- I mean, only if you don’t mind.” 

“I’m… not good at colour coordination.” Andy coughed before looking down at his outfit for the day. Grey, white and black. What a colourful mood– “I know it’s probably just another dumb question you hear literally every day but can you help me? I really don’t want it to look sloppy or anything–”

Knowing his request was unconventional in the first place, Jay wasn’t holding his breath for the shop keeper’s reply; even with the immense variety the place offered, it would mean nothing if the person in front of him had no idea what to recommend, and if he himself felt like the flowers recommended would do the occasion no justice. It was the reason he went to where he assumed there would be experts, after all. Luckily however, the other male didn’t seem to immediately grimace, and instead seemed ready to help. Jay didn’t argue when he said he needed a moment, only smiling at the other’s words and nodding before getting his phone from his pocket to check a few messages: included in that was a text to the person who had recommended him to this shop in particular. Utterly unsure of first, he was feeling it was the right choice the more he lingered around. 

Hearing a bit of shuffling behind the counter, Jay lifted his head to see a book disappearing behind the counter and raised an eyebrow at his options. Again, thank goodness for the professionals. He was unaware what either flower looked like– hell, he even briefly wondered what the male meant by ‘sweat pea’. The vegetable came from flowers, apparently. ‘Or something like that,’ he thought to himself, not wanting to voice his question in case he was dead wrong. “Price doesn’t matter. But yeah, a think I’d like to look. See what’ll fit better.” Without a sound logic to fall back on in this instance, Jay decided to go with instinct and pick whatever flora just.. seemed right. It was all he could do in the situation. “Am I allowed to go back or, you gonna bring them out, or.. Don’t want to just assume I can go runnin’ around everywhere in the shop,” he added with a soft chuckle.

"I mean, if you feel that inspired to take a run around the shop, go ahead. Be my guest, in fact. There's a lot to look at, but I'm not sure if it's your thing. I’m not sure if it’s anyone’s thing, to be honest. But give me a second, yeah? You can choose to stay here, or take a look around. It’s up to you." Lu Han reached behind the counter, picked up his sketchbook again, and made his way toward the back room. He probably didn’t need it. Cyclamen were rare and had a unique look to them, it would be impossible to mix them up with what he had in the back. And sweet pea varied in color down the stem. It stuck out no matter what section he put it in, though that just made it easy to identify. And it kind of gave the flower a unique look to it, something he considered to be beautiful. Now inside the aforementioned room, the florist moved the book onto the table he had back there and flipped open to the page where he kept a picture of each flower he had ordered and the order number. He scanned the room for a second, taking in what he could, then reached out toward one. Sure that it was what he had came there for, Lu Han made his way out.