. 𝕻𝕰𝕽𝕾𝕺𝕹𝕬𝕷 𝕵𝕰𝕾𝖀𝕾 .

“Begonia,” Sullivan repeated, eyes scanning the plant in the pot slowly. He shook his head, trying to maintain a clear train of thought. “Oh, my memory isn’t great. Sometimes I just reset entirely— my therapist sort of has to remind me of stuff all the time so… I even forgot I was in a band the other day. It’s silly. So, most things tend to not make sense to me cause I just don’t really know what’s going on most of the time.” He gave a light laugh, knowing how sad it all must sound to others. Sully had grown used to it, though. He was entirely aware of why his memory was so bad, and why he could never keep up, but it never really got to him. After all, that was the price to pay for never dying.

He looked to the other as they stepped in close, chewing on his lower lip as he processed what was said. “I think she’s a very precious little emo flower, then.” He said allowing a thumb to brush over the leaves. Sully had only read about plants from a very straight forward and scientific perspective. He had never considered scolding them like children, naming them, playing songs for them— no that was all so… strange to him. But people were also telling him that kids believed a large man showed up in their houses and left things rather than stealing valuables. Only stealing cookies. That also confused him.

“The plants must like you then, since they’re doing so well and you’re so considerate of them.”

“   Yeah, it’s a silly little name, for a silly emo little flower.  ” June murmured. While listening to the boy’s words, they moved to a new plant, the ever elusive perennial, the primrose flower. They stared at the center bright yellow of the petals seemingly knowing about Sully’s condition even as he spoke. The sadness from within welled up yet again, though they tried their best to hide it. If Sully could forget about being a part of a band, he certainly had already forgotten Minjun, and probably more than twice. A sad sympathetic sigh evolved from within, “  That sounds awfully terrible and confusing, and… scary to just reset like that. I’m sorry.  ” They wished they could help. They knew the apology meant next to nothing.

“  I sure hope they do   ” Eyes flickered back towards Sullivan. A hopeful and proud smile played at the lips shyly still. The feeling of swelling cheeks made them feel even more embarrassed. “   I just…  “ June felt silly as they spoke, “  I just love life. In all forms. It’s a happy little miracle, isn’t it? Breathing the same air as something so beautiful.   ”  The pair of brown eyes, of course, would dart back to another one of those shaded plants as to avoid a gaze that could give the hopeless silly airy feeling away.

“Are things okay?” He asked, ignoring the way the conversation seemed to steer back and forth. It was on subjects that he couldn’t really understand. Sullivan didn’t really have much a regard for life, or death. He was aware both were given to him freely and as a result he didn’t really have the capacity to care. The journals he kept, some painfully old, all spoke of a certain sadness that came with it. They all longed for the cycle to just stop. But it never did. In fact it seemed to get worse. He just died more frequently. More intensely.

Sully was so tired.

He could feel it in his bones sometimes, the aging. But it never caught up to him.

Sully listened carefully as the other explained, tugging his phone from his back pocket to make note.

‘Plants deserve kindness’

‘Plants can be friends’

“Most things don’t make sense to me, honestly, but if it makes sense to you then… well, that’s sensible enough for me.” Sully’s face broke out into another smile, one that made his whole face light up as he looked up from the phone, pushing it back into his pocket.

“What else do you figure plants like… like—“ he turned, looking around a bit before walking over to a potted flower that looked particularly interesting. The bright colours instantly drew his eyes. He picked it up quickly, holding it over his head. “What do you figure this one likes? Maybe Kpop? Or… or… post hardcore? Maybe scene nu-metal? Do plants have personalities?”

There was a peak at the phone, though, they couldn’t make out if it were a text message that was pulling Sullivan’s attention away from them or boredom. “   What do you mean by….. most things don’t make sense to you?   ” Negative thoughts would, of course, cause them to assume that they were already boring the other.  “   Oh her! She’s Rex.  ” Being directed towards the plant was the best thing that could have happened for Minjun. Or perhaps, the worst for the continued self-conscious and awkward mess they were.  Now was the part were they could continue to embarrass themself by speaking too enthusiastically about the friends they surrounded themselves with.  “   Or Begonia, when you’re scolding her when she dries herself out.   ” The dark purple evergreen leaves contrasted the frosted pink and silver iridescent edges to those peculiar leaves.

“   She actually requires a lot of attention, and she mostly hates the sunlight. I think those are typical standards of a post hardcore child. But…. jury’s still out for nu-metal. Or maybe she likes all three? I have yet to test this theory, obviously   ” They took a step forward to touch one of those leaves, “  In my experience, it’s always the unusual ones that are most misunderstood. But, yeah…”  Admiring the plant for a moment longer, they supplied a final answer,  “   I think they do all have personalities.  ”

He looked to the other as they stepped in close, chewing on his lower lip as he processed what was said. “I think she’s a very precious little emo flower, then.” He said allowing a thumb to brush over the leaves. Sully had only read about plants from a very straight forward and scientific perspective. He had never considered scolding them like children, naming them, playing songs for them— no that was all so... strange to him. But people were also telling him that kids believed a large man showed up in their houses and left things rather than stealing valuables. Only stealing cookies. That also confused him.

Sully flinched a touch at the sound of the instrument hitting the ground. It was shrill and sort of made his head ache a touch.

He reached up, resting a hand against his temple as if it would push away the light throbbing.

His appearance was a little shocking, he knew. The tattoos that spanned his neck, his face, his arms… they were a lot to take in. Sullivan wondered what kind of person he had been when he’d gotten them.

It was also really weird to have someone look at them right off the bat with such… sadness. At this point Sully was sort of used to explaining his situation and seeing the flickers of pity in someone’s eyes, but this was unsettling.

He bit his lower lip, retracting the urge to reach down and retrieve the instrument for the other as he noticed they were on their own journey to do the same.

“Hi,” he echoed, a gentle smile before averting his gaze to a leafy plant at his side, long fingers grazing the stem. “How do you know they like it? I don’t know all that much about plants— they don’t seem like they could hear anything.”

Even as it rested in the pit of his stomach, the smile at Sully’s lips sent June’s tiny and fragile heart into a swirling pathetic mess. It was a wonder if it’d ever fully recover from the tattoo stamps from the other. Somethings never changed. The obvious feelings for the other were a given.They tried their best to hide their face away, as they recovered the missing ukulele.  Sully’s greeting floored them even more. Why did it have to be this way?, June thought to themself as they began to explain their own hidden botanical hypothesis. “ I- Well, I don’t know if they do. ” June, with their instrument finally in their hand found a new wave of confidence as they began to strum an F chord that Sully would hopefully find familiar. Though, they should have known better. “  Doesn’t the sound of that make you feel tons better?  ”

A G chord would typically follow, but June decided that it was enough teasing of their own heart. “  I just like to think that if they’re my friends, that maybe I should treat them the way I should be treated.  ” They paused for a moment. “  That probably doesn’t make sense, does it?  ”

‘Plants deserve kindness’

‘Plants can be friends’

“Most things don’t make sense to me, honestly, but if it makes sense to you then... well, that’s sensible enough for me.” Sully’s face broke out into another smile, one that made his whole face light up as he looked up from the phone, pushing it back into his pocket.

 Sully had just been exploring, really, when he came upon the shop. He kind of liked looking at plants, they were pretty, and in the books he read, other people seemed to like them too. 

What he wasn’t expecting was there to be someone walking around just sort of… making sounds. Sully knew that at one point he had been a musician, apparently very recently at that as his band members were all texting him from their various vacation spots to ask him how he was doing – only to find that once again he’d forgotten everything. They claimed to be used to it and would let their management know, but Sully couldn’t even remember how to play the guitar that he was supposed to be so good at. Apparently, he’d reset a few times while on tour, of all places.  He blinked slowly, trying to process all of the information at once. This person hadn’t expected him, a particularly lean and tall person to be standing there, fiery red locks a touch messy from the wind, a tattoo of a cross spanning the side of his face, and an all-black turtle neck and jeans being a stark contrast from all of the greenery around. “OH, Uhm, well, I’m sorry to have, ah… snuck up on you like this– are you playing a song for the plants?” He asked, pointing to the instrument in the others hand. 

THE HEART SANK. Typically the organ heated wildly in it’s effervescent mush, but at the sight of the familiar face, it caused a chill throughout the body. Minjun froze in their tracks as the sounds of the ukulele that was once grasped fell to the floor as the other called it to attention. The automatic words from before hung in their lungs as Sullivan spoke.

A set of memories June wasn’t allowed to reflect on anymore flooded the brain and caused a downturn in the signature customer service smile. The eyes traced the face once in curiosity, though it was clearly evident that Minjun was but a stranger to the other. “   Yeah… t-they.  ” now, to attempt to no stumble on nervous words, “   L-like it when I s-si-serenade them.   ” A sad sound finally escaped only to replaced by a softer, warmer, “   Hi. ” It was an odd greeting, yet familiar in every way. Though they were quick to reach for that fallen instrument, eyes still hadn’t misplaced the other.

He reached up, resting a hand against his temple as if it would push away the light throbbing.

His appearance was a little shocking, he knew. The tattoos that spanned his neck, his face, his arms… they were a lot to take in. Sullivan wondered what kind of person he had been when he’d gotten them.

It was also really weird to have someone look at them right off the bat with such… sadness. At this point Sully was sort of used to explaining his situation and seeing the flickers of pity in someone’s eyes, but this was unsettling.

He bit his lower lip, retracting the urge to reach down and retrieve the instrument for the other as he noticed they were on their own journey to do the same.

The duties of the flower shop were simple. The hours were shorter than a typical work day. The air was crisp and clean, and unfortunately unless it was a 1. A holiday of a very important weekend, 2. A wedding located in the city or 3. A funeral of a well known civilian, there was only so much business to tend to. After cleaning the leaves of the umbrella plants, it was finally that time in the day to pull out the trusty ukulele to serenade the plants. 

With a couple of fingers plucking at a new song, June walked aimlessly around the shop. A soft set of melodies hummed at the lips… that was until the person in front of them scared the hair nearly off their skin. “  wh–AH!?  ” The sound was far from melodic. “  I’m sorry!  Please don’t tell Mr. Lewis I screamed at you!  ” A set of white knuckles clutched the instrument in slight fear of the other before June finally pulled it together.  A deep breath settled the air, “  How can I help you?  ”

What he wasn’t expecting was there to be someone walking around just sort of... making sounds. Sully knew that at one point he had been a musician, apparently very recently at that as his band members were all texting him from their various vacation spots to ask him how he was doing -- only to find that once again he’d forgotten everything. They claimed to be used to it and would let their management know, but Sully couldn’t even remember how to play the guitar that he was supposed to be so good at. Apparently, he’d reset a few times while on tour, of all places.  He blinked slowly, trying to process all of the information at once. This person hadn’t expected him, a particularly lean and tall person to be standing there, fiery red locks a touch messy from the wind, a tattoo of a cross spanning the side of his face, and an all-black turtle neck and jeans being a stark contrast from all of the greenery around. “OH, Uhm, well, I’m sorry to have, ah... snuck up on you like this-- are you playing a song for the plants?” He asked, pointing to the instrument in the others hand. 

once.

Twice. 

Three times, his eyes lidded with confusion as he held a socket wrench between his fingers, looking it over with general curiosity. He’d been spinning it around as he waited for someone to appear for some time now-- though, not in the same place. He’d wandered around, picking things up and inspecting them, making notes and googling. Sully, today, had a particular interest in learning how to put together a new bookshelf. Since he had little to no idea how any tools worked and didn’t really understand anything he was being presented with on youtube or the instruction manual, he figured someone who worked with tools and things would be able to point him in the right direction. 

“I wanna put together a bookshelf.” He said, plainly. 

Sully looked up from his phone where he had been eyeing a set of notes he had made, repeating names and relations under his breath for a few moments. He scratched at the unruly mess of red strands before glancing up as the voice met his ears. “Oh, me? Please tell me we weren’t supposed to have met up somewhere, I’m going to cry if I was supposed to do anything today because I swear I feel like i’m forgetting something.”

He blinked once. Twice. Before coming to and looking at the other. “OH,” he felt a laugh surging forward as he realized he had become far too engrossed in the decorations.

(191112) ATEEZOfficial: [#MINGI]What is Mingi doing~~?^^ I really miss ATINY~

#ATEEZ #에이티즈

“Nope,” The ‘P’ was popped as he reached for the phone that was pushed deep into too-tight jeans pockets. “The therapists are shocked, uncertain, and confused as to what the hell goes on up there in the old mason jar– so I’m pretty much always in the dark. Between you and me and the receptionist over yonder, I’m entirely aware of what’s causing it, I just forget to mention it.” A sharpened laugh. “See what I did there?” 

Trying his hardest to contain the chuckle, it was supplied in reaction to the joke of the other. The cleverness caused even further confusion for Eric. He was having trouble following the conversation, though it was meant to serve to merely kill time. “  Those are unfortunate circumstances. I genuinely hope you move past this time.  ” At the expense of sounding like an AA member he asked one more question to fill the small talk quota, “  How much are these visits costing you?  Where I’m from seeing a doctor isn’t supposed to cost you anything out of pocket. ”  He huffed, the laundry list of complaints were now growing, yet it helped to talk about them.

“Mmm, I’m not really sure. Apparently I make a good bit of music and have some solid cash laying around so insurance covers part of it and then the rest of it just comes out of my account. I should probably look and see… shouldn’t I?” A light laugh, though Sully felt a bit of frustration stirring in his chest. It was hard to carry on conversations when you knew nothing, and he knew that. He would often find himself trying so hard to remember things that his head would start to ache. It was upsetting to try and tell someone simple things and fall really flat in the process.