#svt.collab

FLOWERS WILL BLOOM

Jeonghan would like to say that his interest in flowers started when he was eight, on the day of his sister's birthday. His sister wanted to go to a flower garden for her birthday and much to Jeonghan's dismay (at first), she got to. Jeonghan had thrown many tantrums about it because he said he's a boy and being caught dead in a flower garden would surely make Seungcheol and Joshua tease him to no end about it. However, he lost that manipulation tantrum and sulked all the way until they reached the garden that his sister had been talking about for months.

He dragged his feet as he sulkily trailed after his parents who were hand in hand with his sister who was looking at the flowers with her eyes as big as saucers. She rattled off some statements about how pretty the flowers were which made Jeonghan scoff as he folded his arms and looked away from them.

His eyes wandered until they widened, seeing a familiar face a few feet away between a section of red and blue flower who looked just as unamused as he was.

"Mum!" Jeonghan's mother turned around, facing her son with a look of surprise etched onto her face as she saw the visible difference in his posture and face.

"Yes darling?"

"Can I go over to play with Seungcheol?" His mother's gaze flicked towards where the other unamused boy stood, slightly hunched over a little girl by his side and immediately understood the reason for Jeonghan's posture change.

With a sigh, she nodded. "But you can't throw a tantrum when I say it's time to go later, okay?" She warned him making the boy absentmindedly nod, already on his way to bother the older boy that he had his sights on.

"Cheol!" Seungcheol, the boy in question jolted before he whipped his head around to see his gremlin of a best friend, which made his eyes widen.

"Jeonghan?" Seungcheol blinked as he fully turned his body towards him. "What are you doing here?"

Jeonghan rolled his eyes and gestured to his sister who was walking further away with their parents in tow. "Su Bin wanted to come and see the flower festival for her birthday." He turned back to Seungcheol, "Why are you here?"

Seungcheol opened his mouth to answer when a soft voice captured both of their attentions. "Who are you? Are you trying to steal my brother?"

Jeonghan peered down to see a little girl with bangs and pigtails. She donned a flower dress and had a small frown on her lips as she clutched Seungcheol's right arm, tight into her own. Jeonghan's eyebrows furrowed at the expression on the girl's face before he glanced at his best friend. Seungcheol, however, just looked at the girl with a slight fondness as he shook his head.

"He isn't stealing me away." He assured the girl and used his free hand to pat her head. "This is Jeonghan, the one that I have told you many stories about. He's oppa's best friend."

It suddenly clicked in Jeonghan's brain who this girl was. You were Seungcheol's younger sister by two years. He had only heard stories of you where his best friend had referenced you as Violet. It was a nickname that Seungcheol had coined when you had gotten lost at the age of four and ended up being found in a bed of violets, sleeping away.

Your eyes locked with Jeonghan's as you tilted your head to the side, almost calculating the man in-front of you. Jeonghan felt a little apprehensive under your gaze as he felt your boba eyes pierce his soul and made him feel something… he didn't know what it was exactly but it made his heart race and his chest uneasy.

"Did he come to play with us?" You asked your brother, your gaze unwavered as you continue to star down Jeonghan. Seungcheol spared a glance towards his best friend before a smirk appeared on his face that made Jeonghan's eyebrows furrow, not liking the look in his eyes.

"I think he came because he wanted to learn more about flowers, Violet."

Jeonghan felt his heart drop as soon as the words came out of his best friend's mouth and felt his jaw drop open. "N-no! That's not—" He had tried to sputter out but then he noticed your reaction and his words got caught in his throat.

Your eyes had widened as you looked between your brother and his friend excitedly. "Really?" You had asked him, your tone laced with awe. "You want to know more about flowers?"

Jeonghan felt his mind blank at the sheer excitement in your voice as all the words that he was going to say immediately disappeared from his head. He felt his throat dry up as Seungcheol detached himself easily from your hold — now that you were distracted by a new 'willing' subject, a smug expression on his face. Jeonghan, however, did not notice his best friend's delight and was just laser-focused on you as you moved closer to him.

"Do you?" You had asked him again, when you were just a few meters away from the boy. Jeonghan didn't know what was wrong with him, if it was any other person, he would scoff in their face and sulk or manipulate his way out of the situation. However, he felt himself nod at your words, almost as if you had placed him under a spell.

If it was even possible, your eyes lit up even more as you reached out and took his arm into yours and tugged him to your side. Jeonghan stumbled as his eyes widened, you were really strong. You excitedly jumped up and down as you stared into the hesitant eyes of the boy you had just met a couple minutes ago.

"C'mon!" You said as you pulled Jeonghan towards the red flowers. "I'll make sure you have a favourite flower by the end of today!"

Jeonghan gulped as he peered behind him to see Seungcheol stood there, a delighted expression on his face as he gave a wave. Jeonghan glared at his best friend as the cogs finally clicked in his head. He had planned this from the very start. Seungcheol had basically used him as bait to get out of your flower talk.

Jeonghan felt you literally tug him out of his thoughts as you squatted down to get a closer look at the flowers, effectively making the older boy squat as well. Jeonghan rebalanced himself, his eye twitching in the process as he tried very hard to not toss a glare your way, annoyance filling his tiny body.

He opened his mouth and was ready to turn to you, to spout some bullshit excuse when he saw you gesture to the red flowers in-front of you.

"Look."

Jeonghan looked up, analyzing the flower with an unimpressed expression on his face before he noticed that he had gotten mud all over his new shoes that he had begged his mother to buy. He felt his blood boil with annoyance and turned to you, niceness be damned, he was going to chastise you.

However, when his eyes locked with your frame, all the words he wanted to say died on his tongue and his mind blanked for the second time that hour.

You stared at the roses with a gentleness and softness on your face as your eyes lit up, the more you analyzed the red flower in-front of you. You even went as far as to stroke the petal of the one closest to you as a small, cute smile appeared on your face.

"This is a rose." You softly said, as you absentmindedly rubbed a dew off of the petal of another flower. "Did you know my mummy said that there are more than one hundred and fifty species of roses?"

Jeonghan felt his head shake at your question, an action that he didn't have full control over. "My mummy also told me that all flowers have different meanings." You chirped.

There was silence for a little while until Jeonghan's curiosity got the better of him. "What does violets mean?"

You were quiet for a bit before you opened your mouth and replied with a simple, "My mummy said that they represent modesty and faithfulness." Your nose scrunched up, "I have no idea what that means though."

Jeonghan was silent as he spared a glance at the red roses in-front of the two of you. "Did your mummy also tell you what roses mean?"

Jeonghan looked back at you as you nod with your eyebrows scrunched, almost as if you were trying to recall what exactly she had said.

"She told me about the red ones…" You started. "She said that they mean love and are mostly given from two people who love each other." With that, you turned to the older boy, your head tilted to the side, a small frown on your face.

"I bet you find that disgusting though." You state softly, recalling your older brother's words. "Because you're a boy and oppa always says that boys don't like roses because love is weird and disgusting."

If Jeonghan had paid a little more attention, he would've scrunched up his nose and agreed with your brother's words that echoed in your head. However, as he stared at your little pout and your shiny boba eyes, he felt his mouth run before he had the chance to stop it.

"No." He admitted. "I think roses are cool."

You blinked at the older boy as he processed the words that had just left his mouth with a red flush on his cheeks.

"Really?" You asked, slightly in awe which made Jeonghan's cheeks flush even more at the intensity of the way you were looking at him.

"Y-yeah." He stuttered out as his gaze shifted from your eyes to the red roses, unable to hold your gaze for much longer. "I think the red is cool and…" His voice softened. "They're pretty I guess."

His heart thundered in his ear as all he was met with from you, was silence. His face grew hotter every second that you didn't answer. He was going to save some dignity and pull back when he heard you giggle.

He turned back to you, his eyes wide as he watched as your eye lines crinkle. He felt the same uneasiness in his chest as earlier and blinked at you, unsure of what to do until you finally stopped laughing and just fixed the boy with a big smile.

"You're funny." You admitted, the smile on your face getting impossibly bigger as Jeonghan blinked at you again. "We're friends now!"

Jeonghan eyes widened even more. "F-friends?"

You nodded, a determined expression on your face. "Anyone who likes roses is my friend. So," You leaned closer to the boy as your eyes shimmered in the sunlight. "We're friends now."

Jeonghan felt the tips of his ears become hot as he turned away from you, unable to bare the intensity of your boba eyes. It was almost as if they stared into his soul, He hoped you didn't know the effect that you had on him, because if you told your brother about it, Seungcheol or Joshua would never let him live it down.

Unbeknownst to him, you were a smart cookie. You knew the effect you had on people and Jeonghan wasn't any different. You smiled to yourself before you tugged the boy up to his feet as you drew his attention back to you.

"C'mon Hannie." You said, the nickname rolling off your tongue with an ease that made Jeonghan's heart ache. "I got more flowers to show you!"

Jeonghan didn't know why but he let himself get tugged for the second time that day towards a section of yellow flowers. He spared a glance down towards your co-joined hands then peered back at the red roses that the two of you were leaving behind. He took another look at you and the big smile you had on your face as you dragged him off and felt his body warm.

Maybe. He thought to himself. Flowers weren't so bad after all.

A small smile appeared on his face without him noticing.

Or at least, Roses aren't that bad.

THORNS PROSPER MORE THAN THE BLOOMS

Jeonghan would say that he's a charmer. He also knows that it's a fact that is definitely undisputed by everyone around him.

"Aigoo!" Jeonghan exclaims, jogging over to Mrs Tam, a regular at his flower shop. "Mrs Tam! What did I tell you about opening doors for yourself?"

Mrs Tam, an elderly woman in her seventies let out a chuckle as Jeonghan pushed opened the door for her, helping her with her trolley in the process. "That I should always wait for one of you boys to do it for me?"

Jeonghan clicks his tongue as he flashes her a dazzling smile whilst taking her hand to help her inside the shop. "Bingo!" Jeonghan shoots her a wink. "I knew you were a smart cookie when you first came to the shop."

Mrs Tam laughs heartily and pats his hand with her free one, her eye lines crinkling as she gives him a smile. "You're such a charmer, my dear boy." Her eyes twinkle. "It's a wonder that you don't have a girlfriend yet… Would you like me to set you up with someone? I'll have you know that my granddaughter and her husband have been going strong for three years because I introduced them to each other!"

Jeonghan shakes his head, the charming smile on his face never leaving. "Aigoo." He cooes out, patting the elderly lady's hand. "I can't ask you to do that for me, Mrs Tam. Besides," He looks around at the store before leaning in. "If I get a girlfriend, Shua will feel really alone and I can't let that happen."

"I heard that." Comes an unamused call from the counter, making the two turn to see Joshua leaning against the counter, who rolls his eyes as soon as the two look at him. "I think I have a better chance at finding a girl than you do, Hannie."

Jeonghan shares a glance with the older lady before smirking at Joshua. "Wow." He whistles out. "Sensitive, aren't we?" He is met with another eye roll as Joshua pushes himself off the counter.

"You're lucky Mrs Tam is here." He calls out to Jeonghan who lets out a laugh before shooting her a wink.

"Saved my life again, Mrs Tam." He gives the elderly lady's hands one last squeeze before letting her go and ushering her to the counter. "What can I do for you today?"

Mrs Tam's smile grows bigger as she pulls out a picture from her wallet before passing it to Jeonghan for him to see. He takes the picture from her and his eyes widen as his jaw drops open.

"Wah!" Jeonghan exclaims, reaching over the counter to squeeze the older lady's hand once more. "Congratulations Mrs Tam!"

Joshua peeks out from the storeroom, confusion written all over his face as to what the commotion is about. Jeonghan turns and shows Joshua the picture of the ultrasound with Mrs Tam's grandaugther's name written at the top left hand corner.

Joshua's eyes widen as a smile appears on his lips as he walks over to Mrs Tam to give her a hug. "Congratulations Mrs Tam!" He pulls away and gives her a smile. "You'll make an amazing grandmother."

The older woman's smile gets bigger as she looks between the two boys, her eyes shining.

"You two are too sweet." She says before turning back to Jeonghan. "That's why I am here today! I wanted to get them a bouquet of flowers to congratulate them and I knew that you two would be able to curate a bouquet that is perfect for the occasion."

Joshua fondly smiles at Mrs Tam. "I'm sure Jeonghan has something just right for you." He shoots a teasing glance towards the slightly older man. "Don't you, Hannie?"

Jeonghan meets his teasing smile with a smile of his own as he gives Mrs Tam a reassuring nod. "I got the perfect arrangement for you, Mrs Tam. Give me a few moments to arrange and wrap it for you."

With that, Jeonghan walks around his sunlit store, weaving through the different sections grabbing a few different flowers as his mind spirals with what arrangment style he could arrange this in. All the while, Joshua ushered Mrs Tam to sit at the tea table they had and offers her a soothing green tea while she waits.

Jeonghan, in full concentration makes his way back to the counter after collecting all the flowers he needs and gets to work.

After a couple of snips and snaps and sounds of wrappers being used, Jeonghan places his palms on his hips as he looks down at his creation with a satisfied smile on his face.

He adds a finishing touch of a spritz of a citrus scent on the packaging to elevate it a little more before grabbing it and making his way over to where Mrs Tam and Joshua are quietly chatting.

Jeonghan holds out the flowers in-front of Mrs Tam with a prideful smile on his face. "Here you go!" He chirps out as Mrs Tam lets out a gasp and takes the bouquet into her hands, looking at the full floral arrangement in awe.

"This is beautiful." She breathes out, making Jeonghan's smile grow bigger. She glances up and locks eyes with Jeonghan. "What do they mean?"

Jeonghan lets out a hum and begins to point out the different flowers.

"This bouquet signifies new beginnings. These," He points to the pink flowers. "Are pink carnations. Pink carnations are known to represent maternal care so her receiving her first ones from you will mean the world to her." He moves on towards the purple flowers.

"Tulips." He said with a certain smile on his face. "Signifies joy, happiness and the promise of new life." They shift to the white flowers. "Gerbera daisies are famous for being joyful and uplifting, perfect to celebrate a bub-to-be." His breath hitches slightly as his eyes fixate on the last flowers in the bouquet.

"White and pink roses." He all but whispers out, "is the symbol of peace, unconditional love and new beginnings." Jeonghan stares at the pink and white flowers for a beat longer before he clears his throat and flashes Mrs Tam a disarming smile, trying to ignore Joshua's knowing eyes on him. "Definitely a good way to bring forth new changes and fresh beginnings."

Mrs Tam's eyes twinkle as she glances at Jeonghan, her grip on the bouquet gentle as she takes in the beautiful arrangement once more. "My dear boy." She says, her tone watery. "This is outstanding work."

Jeonghan's smile changes into a more genuine one, softer around the edges as he nods. "I'm glad that I could make it happen, Mrs Tam."

The clock chimes on the wall, making the elderly lady glance at it before letting out a soft 'oh'. "I think that's my cue to leave, my dear boys." Jeonghan nods in understanding as Joshua stands up to help Mrs Tam with her belongings.

"Let my walk you out, Mrs Tam." Joshua says softly. As soon as they reach the door, the lady turns around to face the elder of the two.

"The roses are a really lovely touch to the bouquet, Jeonghan." She says, her eyes twinkling with a certain shine that causes Jeonghan's breath to hitch as he gives her an uneasy smile.

"Yeah." He says, his voice a little raspy, as if he had just found it. "I guess they are."

With that, Mrs Tam gives the boy one last smile before bidding Joshua a 'thank you' and 'goodbye'. The bell chimes as the door shuts, silence enveloping the shop once more as the afternoon sun shines through the multiple windows of the shop, painting the shop in a lovely golden hue.

"Roses, huh?" Joshua asks, the question not really a question with his knowing tone as Jeonghan stands up and pushes his chair back under the table, actively not meeting his best friend's eyes.

"Yeah." He answers, short and sweet, leaving no room for further comments. Joshua just lets out an easy hum, walking back to the tea table to place the two teacups back onto the tray so that he can bring it to the back.

Joshua spares a glance towards his best friend who starts sorting inventory and unpacking deliveries, a serious expression on his face. Joshua internally sighs before he tries to lighten the mood.

"Can't believe Chan and Seungkwan are both late today." He says easily, exaggeratedly scoffing as he gets Jeonghan's attention. "I swear, if they were both out drinking last night…"

Jeonghan lets out a soft chuckle which makes Joshua smile to himself, pleased that he managed to get the other man out of his head a little.

"Well," Jeonghan starts, turning to cast a glance at him. "wouldn't be the first time."

Joshua shakes his head, "They're learning too much from Soonyoung." He lifts the tray to bring it to the back. "All the bad habits, might I add."

Jeonghan smiles at that. "You know how much Channie looks up to him." He runs a finger down the list before scanning the shelf in-front of him, looking for the yellow carnations. "I hope they're here soon though, we have an order for Kay's Jewels in about an hour and a half and Izzy's Emporium right after that." He glances towards the delivery shelf to find it half-full. "And Seungkwan hasn't actually finished the arrangements for that."

Joshua lets out a hum. "How many orders for each is there again?" He makes his way over to Jeonghan. "Maybe I can do one or two so that he doesn't have that much work later."

Jeonghan clicks his tongue as he flips through the sheets of paper on his clipboard, trying to find the order. As he finds it and opens his mouth to share the details with his semi-co-owner, the bell chimes as the door flies open, making the two jolt.

They immediately turn towards the door to see the two younger men, their hairs slightly disheveled as they panted, looking as if they had just sprinted a marathon to get here.

"Sorry we're late!" Seungkwan apologises between breaths as Chan nods, looking as if he would pass out if he actually said something.

The two owners share a glance, their minds running on the same frequency as they immediately turn back to the two, the only goal in their mind being 'torture' and shenanigans. Joshua is the first to speak, putting their plan into action.

"Well, well, well…" Joshua drawls out, crossing his arms. "Did you two finally remember that you have jobs?"

Chan and Seungkwan share a look, opening their mouth to say something but Jeonghan cuts them off, shaking his head as he feigns disappointment with a small pout on his face. "How could you both?" He asks, the pout deepening. "We were swamped with orders this morning and both Kay and Izzy called to double their orders!" He shakes his head again, slower this time to give it the added 'disappointment' effect before locking eyes with the two again.

"I can't believe you two would do this."

The two younger men's eyes widen as they begin to stammer out apologies, saying that they would pull extra shifts as well as do overtime for free when Joshua and Jeonghan's facades break, making them launch into a fit of chuckles.

Upon seeing the break, Seungkwan groans, catching on faster than Chan who just stares at the two in shock.

"You two are terrible." Seungkwan says, shooting them a glare. Joshua smirks walking over to the man, putting an arm around him as he tugs him closer.

"Aww." He drawls out, feigning a pout as he ruffles Seungkwan's hair. "That's not a nice thing to say."

Seungkwan rolls his eyes. "Well, only nice people deserve nice things said to them."

Jeonghan exaggeratedly gasps, placing his hand on his chest as he feigns hurt. "Hey!" He exclaims. "I'm nice!"

Seungkwan shoots him a look. "Nice like the devil maybe." Seungkwan mutters, shoving Joshua off of him which makes the older man laugh before trekking to the back, to probably get started with the delivery orders.

The two gremlins fix their gaze onto Chan who awkwardly shuffles in place, making Jeonghan walk over to him and sling an arm around his shoulder, tugging the younger body into his chest.

"Aigoo." He coos, tucking his clipboard under his arm as he ruffles Chan's hair. "Why were the two of you so late today?"

Chan looks between Jeonghan and Joshua, letting out an awkward chuckle before he swallows, unsure of how to answer which makes the two gremlins share a look.

"Were you out drinking again last night?" Joshua asks, his smirk teasing as the tip of Chan's ears turn red, indicating that Joshua had been right on the ball.

Jeonghan feigns a disappointed sigh as he shakes his head, tutting in the process. "Were you two out with Kwon again?" Jeonghan asks, his eyebrows raising. "You both do know that he's a bad influence on you right?"

Chan's eyebrow furrow slightly as he shakes his head. "No, we weren't with him last night." He answers, glancing between the two interrogators. "We were drinking with Mingyu and Vernon last night."

Jeonghan's eyebrows scrunch up. "Mingyu and Vernon?"

Chan's nod only makes the two even more confused. Vernon, they understood. He had grown up with Chan and Seungkwan, being next door neighbors and all but Mingyu had been apart of Jeonghan and Joshua's circle in high school, sure they had drifted apart a little bit but Mingyu wasn't known to hang around the Do Re Mi trio.

"That's interesting." Is Jeonghan's reply as he lets go of Chan, still slightly confused. Chan rubs the back of his neck as he nods, his eyes twinkling which makes the older boy's eyebrow raise. "You have some gossip to share, don't you?"

Jeonghan had hired Chan and Seungkwan right off the bat after high school when Joshua and him were talking about starting this business. It was a brush off of an idea at first, a drunken night where Joshua brought up the idea during one of their weekly meetups with Seungcheol. Jeonghan rolled his eyes at the suggestion but played along with the idea and playfully said that if he were to do that, Joshua would be his second in command.

They had laughed it off while Seungcheol was in the bathroom but the more Jeonghan thought about it, the more it made sense as an overall idea. The town was small, the only flower shop they had was a bit of a drive away which meant that a lot of the older people had to either opt for delivery (which was done by their children or grandchildren) or they drove out there themselves. Jeonghan also had taken an interest in flowers and due to his photographic memory, he actually remembered a lot of the facts that he had read when he was trying to impress someone back then.

So, after a bad hangover the next morning, Jeonghan started to actually craft out a plan and asked Joshua to help him with it. Joshua agreed to help the moment he had asked him about it and was in-charge of logistics, deliveries, standard operating procedure and the most important of all — keeping Jeonghan in check.

Hence, what started as a small idea grew into something that Jeonghan holds close to his heart. 'Roses Are Red' was built and has been an integral part of the community for the past eight years and Jeonghan couldn't be prouder. This also meant that he knew his employees like the back of his hand, so when Chan's eyes light up like that, it usually means that Chan had some hot gossip to share.

"I do!" Chan says, an excited grin on his face as he starts to buzz a little. Jeonghan lets out a breath of a chuckle before waving his hand at him.

"Alright," Jeonghan starts with a sigh as he turns back to inventory, "Let us hear it."

"Okay! So-" With that, Chan launches into how Mingyu had actually appeared with Vernon last night because they were having dinner just an hour earlier and because Mingyu knew Seungkwan and Chan or had talked to them before, Vernon invited him to their hangout.

He recalled how he and Seungkwan had been confused at first because Vernon doesn't normally invite people to their weekly get-together. However when Mingyu had arrived and they had started drinking, their words getting a little looser, it turned out that Mingyu had actually offered Vernon a job.

"A job?" Joshua repeats, a little confused. "I thought Mingyu's business was strictly a family one?"

Chan nods at that, getting more excited as he unpacks more of the story. "That's what Seungkwan and I thought as well! But it turns out, Mingyu's friend is coming back to town and Mingyu is helping them sort out all of the business stuff because they haven't been here for ten years."

Jeonghan had been absentmindedly listening to the story Chan was unpacking for the last ten minutes, more focused on the inventory in-front of him but those last few words pulls him out of it. His hand immediately halts as he feels his body go rigid.

It couldn't be. Is the first thought that rushes through his head, amongst many others. It has to just be a coincidence. Surely Seungcheol would've told him and Joshua if you were coming back to town. Him especially.

He thinks back to the last few weeks and how Seungcheol had been looking at him and also acting a little weirdly. Seungcheol had been on the look-out for apartments which had caused Jeonghan and Joshua to share a few glances whenever he had mentioned it because Seungcheol was already living in a house that he owned. However, they didn't push, thinking that Seungcheol wanted to get into the business of real estate and if it was something important, Seungcheol would voluntarily tell them about it anyways.

"Ten years?" Joshua repeats Chan's words, the cogs in his brain turning as he spares a quick glance at Jeonghan. "He said someone was coming back?"

Chan nods eagerly at that, "Yeah!" He snaps his fingers. "When we asked him who it was, Mingyu was a little unsure if he wanted to tell us at first but he confirmed that it was a girl."

Jeonghan feels his blood run cold as his grip on his pen involuntarily tightens.

Joshua's eyebrows scrunch. "Why?"

"Apparently it's meant to be a secret." Chan says nonchalantly as he puts a hand on his chin to think. "I remember him saying that I shouldn't be telling someone about it but..." He grimaces. "My head's a little foggy on the details."

"Anyway, after we begged him a couple more times, he told us about her and here's the kicker!" He looks between the two, his hands raised in anticipation as Joshua holds his breath. "She's apparently Seung—"

Chan gets cut-off by Seungkwan barrelling into him like a tornado. The latter slams his hand over Chan's mouth as he shoots him a warning glare.

"What are you doing?" Seungkwan hisses at Chan, taking a shifty eyed glance towards the two older ones in the room. "We weren't supposed to tell them."

Chan blinks blurrily at Seungkwan when Jeonghan turns to face them, his clipboard and pen still clutched tightly in his hand that both his knuckles were starting to turn white.

"Seungkwan." Jeonghan calls with an eerily calm and serious voice making the whole room feel a thousand times colder. "When Mingyu said the girls name. Was it Violet?"

Seungkwan hesitates, taking a glance at his boss before shifting his eyes downwards. Joshua steps in.

"Han." Joshua says, his voice careful as he looks over his face. "I don't think you want to—"

Jeonghan shakes his head, cutting Joshua off. "No." He says quietly. "I need to know."

Seungkwan glances at Joshua who looks at Jeonghan with a calculating gaze, analyzing to see what the latter is thinking about when Joshua sighs and takes a step back.

Jeonghan locks eyes with Seungkwan, his face unreadable. "So," he starts, "was it Violet?"

Seungkwan gnaws on his bottom lip as he casts a glance towards Joshua. He thinks back to Mingyu's words about Seungcheol's sister. Seungkwan had heard stories of a girl and Jeonghan when they were first starting high school and how they were something out of a fairytale. They were the dreamy 'It' couple. However, somewhere along the lines, it didn't last and she left. No one knew why and in such a small town where gossip spreads like a wildfire, it was unheard of.

Seungkwan lets his eyes drift, seeing Jeonghan's white knuckles, the slight tick in his jaw as well as the unevenness of his breathing before he sighs.

"Yes," Seungkwan admits quietly. "It was."

A tense silence envelopes the room as Seungkwan sees Jeonghan grip the pen even tighter, his hands shaking. The older man quietly takes a step back and hangs the inventory sheet back next to the rack before he turns back to the other three, eerily calm.

"Make sure the orders are ready before the next hour so that they can be delivered on time." Chan and Seungkwan blink at the seriousness in his tone, making Jeonghan raise an eyebrow at their blank expressions. "Is that too much of an issue?"

Seungkwan recovers first, shaking his head with his hands up. "N-no!" He clears his throat. "Chan and I will get them and deliver them."

Jeonghan gives the two younger ones a firm nod before turning to Joshua, his serious and unreadable expression never wavering. "Deal with the inventory for me?"

The latter nods, giving Jeonghan an easy smile. "Of course."

Jeonghan nods before he grabs his jacket and walks out of the store without another word. The tense atmosphere breaks when Seungkwan lets out a breath that he didn't know he was holding as soon as Jeonghan's car pulls away.

"We are never drinking again." Seungkwan deadpans, glaring at Chan who raises his hands in surrender.

"It wasn't my fault!" Chan defends, his voice slightly pitchier than normal.

"It so was!" Seungkwan scoffs. "You and your big mouth! Why did you even need to bring it up?!"

"I didn't think it would be that big of an issue!"

Joshua tunes the two younger ones as they continue to bicker, keeping his gaze firm on where Jeonghan had just driven off with a small frown on his face.

He makes a mental note to call Seungcheol later to ask him for drinks and to give the oldest man a piece of his mind. He knows why Seungcheol didn't tell them, but with how Jeonghan had rushed out of the place, Joshua knew that he felt blindsided and would be missing in action till he collected all his thoughts.

Joshua internally sighs, already feeling a headache on its way as he mentally prepares himself for the next week when Chan breaks his train of thoughts.

"Hyung." Chan starts, making Joshua turn to him, tiredly. "Was whatever happened really that bad?"

Joshua gnaws on his bottom lip as he glances back out the window.

"Sometimes, the thorns prosper more than the blooms."

VIOLETS ARE BLUE

You never realized how tiring moving was until you're doing it for the second time in your thirty years of living. The first move you did when you were eighteen was one of the easiest things you did logistically speaking. You were young which meant that you didn't have a lot of stuff to move because most of them were your parents things and they were also filled with memories that would hurt more if you brought them with you.

Hence, when Seungcheol helped you that time, it was just a couple of boxes and one luggage. Now, it was at least triple that.

"I don't know how one person can have so many things." Seungcheol grunts as he pushes another box into the trailer that you had rented for the move. "Plus, you were living alone."

You roll your eyes at his whining as a small frown appears on your lips. "I wasn't living alone." You glance at your baby samoyed that you had gotten a year ago and point at her. "Mandu's with me."

Seungcheol raises an eyebrow as he gives you the big brother look of unamusement. "You're telling me that because of Mandu, you had to buy triple the amount of stuff that you used to have?" He asks, gesturing to the trailer that is almost filled to the brim with boxes and bubble wrapped pieces of furniture.

"Yes."

Seungcheol scoffs. "You're such a liar."

You open your mouth to argue when a sigh interrupts you.

"Can we please finish packing first before you two go at it again." Minghao deadpans, carrying a box that was labeled, 'Books #2'. "I cannot spend another night on Violet's hardwood floor."

You roll your eyes at his statement. "Firstly, its seven in the morning, Hao. I don't think we need another night to get two or three more boxes into the back of the trailer. And secondly," You frown before you ask. "What's wrong with my floor?"

"The fact that we're sleeping on it, is what's wrong with it." Minghao says, his eyebrows furrowing as the frown deepens. "I can't believe the three of us were able to fit on the floor."

"Years of college have taught us better." Seokmin states, wrapping an arm around Minghao's shoulders with a cheeky smile on his face. "Besides, Violet's floors were definitely better than whatever our dorm floors were back then."

"I did offer up Cheol's room as well." You state, sparing a glance towards your older brother. "Not my fault that he's a little selfish."

Seungcheol scoffs. "I'm not selfish." He defends, "I just don't think that all of them should be sleeping in my room."

"Oh and my room floor is fine then?"

"Yeah-"

Minghao lets out another tired sigh as the two of you start to squabble like chickens again. He walks around the two of you to get to the trailer and places the second last box into it. He turns to Seokmin to see him watching you and Seungcheol argue with a fond smile on his face before shaking his head.

"Does Mingyu have the last box?" Seokmin's eyes flit towards Minghao before he nods. "He was taping up the last bunch of things in the kitchen. He told me to come out and see if the disaster siblings needed any help but…" He takes a glance at the two of you, a more amused smile appearing on his face. "I think they're fine."

Minghao spares a glance towards the two of you and rolls his eyes. "Can't believe we're almost thirty and these two still go at it as if we're in high school." Seokmin lets out a chucle at Minghao's words as Mingyu comes out of the house with the last box in his hand, pressed into his side.

"Alright!" He exclaims out, getting everyone's attention as he flashes one of his signature pearly white smiles. "The whole house is packed and," He walks up to the trailer and places the box on-top of the one Minghao had just placed down, "loaded!" He finishes, his tone filled with pride.

Your best friend turns to you, a teasing smile on his face. "Aren't you glad Cheol brought us along to help you pack?"

You roll your eyes at his words, "Glad might not be the word that I would use." However, even as you say it, your face betrays you as a grateful smile appears on your lips as you look at the four men. "But this process was a lot faster because of you four. Thank you for coming to help me pack on such a last minute notice."

Seokmin waves you off before slinging his arms around both Mingyu and Minghao's shoulder, pulling them closer to him with a big smile on his face. "Of course!" He chirps, his eye lines crinkling. "We're so excited to have you back in town after so many years! We also can't wait to be the biggest supporters of your flower shop."

You smile at that as Seungcheol ruffles your hair. "Its about time for you to come back anyways." Your older brother says, a knowing look on his face.

His words and expression causes your resolve to falter as your nerves spike. You knew your move to this town was always going to be temporary. At first, you did it because you had to, every part of your hometown reminded you of him and after a while, it felt suffocating. You needed the fresh air and a fresh start.

Hence, you applied for a college in the city, opting for a fresh new start. It was fun for a while but, you knew your heart always longed to go back to your hometown.

You just haven't decided how you were going to face him.

"Yeah." You softly say, peering upwards at your older brother. "I guess it is time to go home."

Seungcheol notices your faraway gaze at the house and gives your shoulder a squeeze making you peer upwards at him. "Do you want to take one last look around?"

You gnaw on your bottom lip before shaking your head, "No, I'm ready to go."

Seungecheol mirrors your smile before giving you a kiss on the top of your head. "Alright." He says, patting your hair. "Let's go."

You whistle for Mandu who immediately perks up and gives you a pitchy bark in response before she pads her way over to you. You squat and pick her up in one smooth movement, cradling the little samoyed to your chest. You smile softly at her as she nuzzles into your hands making you coo at her.

Seungcheol opens the passenger door for you, letting you slip into the seat with Mandu in your arms before he rounds the car to slide into his seat. The car starts up with a hum before Seungcheol pulls out of your street in one swift movement.

You spare one last glance at the house through the window before your brother clears his throat, getting your attention.

You lock eyes with him through the rearview mirror, his eyes glinting with empathy before they shift into something cheekier and more older brother like. "So," he starts, enticing you with a smile making you raise an eyebrow. "Ready to see your shop?"

Its around the five hour mark of driving when you see the familiar sign that welcomes you back to your hometown making you smile as it whizzes past you.

Seungcheol squeezes your intertwined hands making you glance at him as he gives you a smile while his eyes are still focused on the road. "Welcome home."

You feel your heart soar with excitement and slight anxiety as you see the familiar spots of the front of your hometown. Feeling the wave of nostalgia hit you, you begin to point out spots with Seungcheol who reciprocates by pointing out a few of his favourite ones making the two of you momentarily break out into fits of giggles as you both recall the old memories together.

"Could we drop the stuff off at the house and then maybe go check out my shop?" Seungcheol quickly glances at you before flashing you a smile.

"Of course." He hums out. "I think the guys would want to come with you as well so how about you let them know."

You hum out in agreement before shooting Seokmin a quick text about the plan.

No more than an hour later, you slam Seungcheol's car door close as Mandu does a shake of herself, warming up her body as she takes in the new environment around her.

"Don't look!" Mingyu calls out to you from behind making you giggle as you avert your eyes downwards, not looking at your store, no matter how much you want to. Mingyu jogs over to your side before placing his hands over your eyes making you let out a small squeal as you try to pry his hands off of your face.

"Gyu!" You exclaim. "Your hands are cold, get them off my face!"

Mingyu chuckles before he relents and puts his hands on your shoulder after meticulously checking that you didn't have your eyes open. "You ready?" You hear him ask, his voice buzzing with excitement as you let out a giggle before nodding.

"Show me what you found for me, Gyu."

As it was a last minute plan to move back to your hometown, you had asked the guys for help in setting up your new shop with around half of the savings that you had saved up from your previous soul-sucking corporate job. Mingyu had taken on the task of finding the perfect place for you to set up the flower shop of your dreams while you continued to pack for the move of your life.

Mingyu guides you to the storefront as you cautiously walk in the direction that he's leading you in. You hear the guys trail behind the two of you before Mingyu firmly grasps your shoulders, signaling for you to stop. Your heart pounds in your chest as your best friend begins a countdown for you before whispering, "Open."

You look upwards and open your eyes before it locks onto the signage, making your heart swell with joy as your jaw drops open.

"Oh my god!" You exclaim, your hands flying to your mouth as you take a step forward, not quite believing your eyes. "It's so pretty!"

What sits at the top of the store is a vibrant blue and purple blend with the words, 'Violets Are Blue' written in a gold cursive with your logo that Minghao helped you design at front. You are speechless as you stare at it before you feels someone brush your arm.

You peer upwards to meet Minghao's eager eyes as he gives you a small smile. "Do you like it?"

You give him a look of disbelief as you gape at him. "Like it?!" You wrap your arms around him. "Hao, I love it!" You affirm making the taller man giggle as he wraps his around you, hugging you back tightly.

"I'm glad, Vi." He says, giving you a small kiss on the top of your head as you pull away with watery eyes.

You take a step backwards to admire the whole shop as a whole. Along with the beautiful signage, your store has a golden trim with a lovely light blue and purple gradient walls. They are accompanied by four beautiful stained glass windows that are definitely a Minghao DIY because of how personalized and homemade the designs look.

You feel tears well up in your eyes at the sight of the shop before you hear a set of keys jingling behind you. You turn to see your older brother and your best friends standing in a row, looking at you with a big proud smile as Seungcheol walks forward with the keys in between his fingers.

He steps forward with a proud grin on his face as he holds out the keys towards you.

"It isn't much." He says quietly. "The inside isn't finished because we want you to be able to decorate the shop in your own vision." He uses his free hand to grab yours and outstretch your palm so that he can place the keys into it before he wraps his hands around yours, encasing them.

"However," he continues, "we're here to help you move furniture and put everything in place, exactly the way that you want it."

You swear your eyes get wetter as you lift your hand to wipe away all the stray tears. "I love you guys." You softly admit, going back to admire the store. Your store.

It feels unreal saying it aloud.

The four gaze at you fondly as you continue to take it in as Minghao peers behind before leaning into Seungcheol. "Are we not going to tell her about the problem right behind us?" He whispers out, loud enough for only Seungcheol to hear as he keeps a cautious eye on you.

Seungheol purses his lips, taking a glance at the shop behind him. "I'll tell her later." He assures the younger man. "Right now, she needs to focus on—"

His words get cut off by the sound of the familiar bell chime from behind them, across the street making the four men's bodies tense up.

You, however, peer backwards to see where the source of the noise is coming from.

You blink as you spot what looks like another flower shop across the street whose colour scheme looks exactly the opposite of yours. You frown, turning to fully face the shop as you spot a person — the owner you presume — sweeping the front of the shop, gathering the fallen leaves from the nearby trees.

You turn to Mingyu and Seungcheol whose faces look paler than before. "How come you guys didn't tell me that there was another flower shop in town?"

Mingyu internally, starts to panic. They didn't plan for this. It is a Tuesday and according to the information that Mingyu had gathered from Chan and Seungkwan last week, they said that Jeonghan always leaves the shop to Joshua on Tuesday.

So why the hell is he, sweeping the floor right behind them?

Mingyu sees you get more suspicious by the second and panics more. He is unsure of what to stammer out as he glances at Seungcheol, hoping that the older man has some kind of plan.

You frown as you stare at the guys share knowing looks and glances at each other. "Are you guys okay?"

"Of course!" Mingyu says, his brain scrambling. "Just peachy!" They only had a couple of seconds to maybe turn you around before either you or Jeonghan spot each other. So, he enacts the plan and reaches out to you, to try to swerve you back to your shop.

"How about we—"

However, Mingyu didn't have a chance to enact any plan when the owner of the flower shop turns around, feeling eyes on him.

You freeze, immediately feeling your heart drop into the pits of your stomach as you stare at the older man across the street, your jaw dropping open.

Yoon Jeonghan blinks as he catches your eye, the exact same shell-shocked expression as yours, overcoming his features.

You feel time stop as you stare at the man that was your first love. All the memories and feelings rushing back, as if you were twenty again, gazing into his eyes while you both were on too of 'Lovers Hill', stargazing under the night sky.

You know he's thinking about it too, it may have been ten years since you last saw him but his eyes still hold the same calculating gaze that you have a love-hate relationship with. He looks good, definitely grown more into the boyish features that you fell in love with.

You feel your heart thunder in your chest as he turns to fully face you, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he tries to figure out what to do. You feel your feet move on their own, taking a step forward towards him as you watch him do the same. His gaze is intense as he swallows, opening his mouth to finally say something. However, before you have the chance to figure it out, a car whizzes past, breaking the spell between the two of you.

Jeonghan rapidly blinks as if he finally realizes what he was doing before he takes a step backwards and turns to briskly walk back into his store without a second thought.

You stand there for a few moments, staring at the place where Jeonghan had stood a couple of seconds ago, feeling your heart beat unsteadily in your chest. Seungcheol drags you out of your thoughts as he brushes his hand against yours, making you jolt slightly before you peer up at your older brother.

Seungcheol has a knowing look on his face as he gives you a small frown. "Are you alright?" He asks you softly making you purse your lips as you glance around, seeing the other three men also staring at you with the same apprehensive expression on their faces.

You swallow your nerves before forcing a smile that doesn't quite reach your ears on your face. "Y-yeah." You clear your throat. "C'mon, I want to see the inside of the shop."

Before anyone can say anything else, you turn around and walk to unlock the door, doing your best to ignore their eyes on you as well as the secret glances that you're sure that they're giving each other, all of them unsure of how to approach this situation.

You knew that the second you saw Jeonghan, that he would hate your guts or give you the cold shoulder. You spent the last week in your house, pacing around your bedroom and practicing what you will say to him the first time that you see him after all these years. However, the second that you did, all that practice went out the window.

You internally curse, feeling disappointed in yourself as you unlock the door.

You steel your nerves and put on a brave face before turning to your entourage, "Well." You try to jest, a teasing smile on your face. "The shop isn't going to decorate itself, is it?"

THE NICKNAME ROSE

You realized that you had a crush on your brother's best friend at the age of thirteen when his teasing started to make you a little more flustered than annoyed, when his boyish smile made your stomach do flip flops and when seeing him made your heart thunder in your chest as you willed for the floor to swallow you whole.

You blame it on your best friends, Izzy and Kay who were over at your house for a playdate when a few figures breeze past your room to go to your brothers room which was right next to yours. You ignore it, knowing that it was just your brother and his best friends when you feel a presence to your right and a soft knock accompanied with it.

The three of you peer upwards to see Jeonghan stood there, dressed in his normal school attire with his tie undone, hanging loosely around his neck as he leans against your doorframe.

"Rose." He greets, the nickname rolling off of his tongue making you scrunch your nose at the older boy.

"Don't call me that."

A smirk curls onto his lips. "And why not?"

You roll your eyes, frowning at him. "You know why."

Jeonghan hums, feigning a thinking motion. "Maybe, you should enlighten me again."

You scoff, crossing your arms in front of your chest as you glare at him. He shrugs, the cheeky smirk on his lips growing as he turns to your best friends.

"Kay, Izzy, nice to see you girls."

Your best friends cast a glance at each other before blinking at the boy as you raise an eyebrow.

"Hannie." You deadpan, slightly exasperated. "What are you doing here?"

He gives you a small frown. "Am I not allowed to say 'hi' to my best friend's sister?"

Your eyebrows furrow at that but you keep your guard up. You know Jeonghan well enough that he likes to lull people into a false sense of security before doing something unexpected. Your brother was normally the victim of Jeonghan and Joshua's pranks, the two of them being nicknamed as the evil twins by all the kids in the area for a reason.

"You are." You answer cautiously. "But Cheol said that the three of you have a rather intense amount of board games to play today."

"We do."

You grow even more confused. "So…" You glance out of your room. "Aren't you like late?"

Jeonghan hums in agreement before he gives you a boyish smirk and walks into your room. He crouches down to your level making you jolt backwards a little, realizing how close he is to you.

He scans for your face for a few moments as you hold your breath, feeling your nerves spike as your throat dries up. You open your mouth to ask the boy what he wants when he reaches his hand out from behind him and tucks something behind your ear.

You blink, feeling yourself freeze as Jeonghan gives you a soft smile.

"There." He breathes out making you blink at him, confusion written all over your face.

"What?" You dumbly blurt out. Jeonghan's smile curls a little more as his gaze never wavers from your face making your mind go blank.

You watch his eyes flit around your face for a little bit before he mutters. "Pretty."

The effect that one word causes is immediate as you feel your jaw drop open and your face flush. Your face makes Jeonghan's genuine smile turn into a cheeky smirk. He pats your head before he stands up to walk out of the room, as if he didn't just cause your brain to combust.

"See you later, Rose." He calls, giving you a small wave before he disappears down the hallway to your brothers room, his footsteps getting softer by the second.

Silence envelopes the room as you blink at the door, your brain fried from trying to process whatever just happened.

"Wow." Kay breaths out, breaking the silence. "He has a crush on you."

At their words, you immediately whip your head towards them and blink, your mouth agape. "N-no!" You manage to sputter out, "He so does not."

Izzy raises an eyebrow at your sputters, a small smirk on her face. "Are you sure? He literally just called you Rose and gave you a rose."

Your eyebrows furrow as you stare them down. "What? What are you—"

Your two best friends point towards the mirror making you turn mid-sentence, the sight of yourself making you halt your words. Your eyes widen as you spot the flower in your hair.

A rose to be more precise, just like Izzy said.

"What in the world." You mutter out to yourself, bewildered beyond means as Kay and Izzy exchange a cheeky knowing grin.

"Looks like you got yourself a boyfriend." Kay cooes out making your cheeks flush as red as the rose in your hair.

"W-What?!" You sputter out making your two best friend's smirks grow wider as they continue to tease you. In retaliation and a desperate attempt to get them to stop, you grab at the pillow on your bed before smacking them both with it hard, making them both squeal before it turns into a full-fledge pillow fight.

The three of you continue to yell, squeal and giggle as you all continue to attack each other with the fluffy pillows but Jeonghan's words never leave your mind.

Maybe… just maybe, you like the nickname Roses more than you thought you would.

GETTING STUCK IN THE BLOOM

You frown as your recollection of the memory ends as you stare dumbly at the homemade resin bookmark in your hands. You gently run a finger over the smooth edges of it as memories of how you made it come rushing back.

You recall researching the best ways to preserve flowers and begged your mother to bring you to the nearest arts and craft stores to get resin so that you could preserve the flower that the older boy had given you. You smile fondly to yourself as you let your eyes flit around the bookmark, the golden sparkles glinting as you let the light shine onto it.

How did you and Jeonghan even get to this point.

You internally sigh, knowing that you were the reason as to why it got to this point.

You glance downwards at your feet, where Mandu was snoozing and smile to yourself, thinking how cute your samoyed was. She's a ball of sunshine in your life. You jolt out of your thoughts when the front door to your store slams close making you immediately jump to your feet, feeling your nerves spike before it settles as you see Vernon appear in your vision.

Mandu perks up at the sound before noticing the younger boy as well. She wags her tail happily, stretching before making her way to his side. You breath out a sigh of relief as Vernon places down the box of little trinkets that you had gotten to brighten up the shop and give it more personality.

"I think this is the last box of stuff." Vernon says with a soft huff as he dusts his hands. Mandu paws at his legs, wanting to be picked up making Vernon smile softly at her. He crouches down to pick her up, cradling her in his arms.

You flash Vernon a fond smile as you give his arm a quick squeeze. "Thank you, Non." You sing-song, making the younger boy give you a gummy smile as he continues to scratch Mandu behind her ear making the dog keen at the younger boy. You check the stock with a soft hum before your eye catches the clock at the corner of the store. Your eyes widen, noticing that it was almost half past six.

"Oh my god!" You exclaim, frowning as you turn to the taller boy. "I'm so sorry, I didn't notice the time."

Vernon's eyebrows furrow as he shakes his head, crouching to put Mandu down. "It's no issue at all." He assures you as you shake your head, grabbing your wallet out of your pocket.

You dish out a few bills from it before giving it to the younger boy whose eyes widen in surprise. "Here." You say, holding it out to him with a smile. "Buy yourself dinner on me please! For the extra overtime that I made you do."

Vernon shakes his head as he holds up his hands, shaking them too. "It's really no probl—"

"Non," You say sternly, pressing the bills into his open palms. "I insist."

Vernon looks between your face and the bills that you pressed into his palms before he sighs and pockets the money. He was playing a losing game and he knows it with how stubborn you are, knowing that even Seungcheol — who is pretty stubborn — will always lose to you on that front.

"Fine." He huffs as you give him a smile of triumph. He peers behind you, taking a look at your desk that is filled to the brim with stuff. "Do you still have a lot of things to finish?"

You spare a glance at your desk before you shake your head, giving the younger boy a tired smile. "Not really." You assure. "Just a bunch of logistical stuff for the grand opening this weekend."

Vernon nods. "Are you excited?"

You ponder for a moment, taking a look around the store that had been decorated with so much love the last few days. You had gone out shopping with the guys the last two weeks, purchasing and assembling all the furniture and shelves that you needed as well as sorting out all the inventory stuff with Mingyu and Seokmin.

You were re-introduced to Vernon a day after you came back into town, having seen the boy around in high school once or twice. You had taken quite a fond liking to the boy who was nicknamed as your personal assistant as he started to help you with whatever task you needed.

Since the rest of the guys and your brother had actual full-time jobs, they were only available after a certain time — which was usually at night — where they helped you to put together furniture, set up shelves in the store as well as carry new inventory into the store.

It was just a lot of back and forth and since the grand opening was less than two days away, you had told them that you would be able to handle the rest of the logistic by yourself. They had checked in a couple of times, seeing if you needed their help but you always denied, saying that you also needed to find your own footing for this.

However, Vernon was stubborn and turned up anyways, insisting on helping you get the inventory that slipped your mind or some thrifty things that made the shop feel more you.

You smile fondly at the cozy space that all of you had managed to create in the last two weeks and nod at Vernon. "Yeah." You breathe out. "I am."

Vernon nods before giving you a soft smile. "Good." His phone chimes making him peer downwards to pull it out of his pocket. His eyebrows furrow as he checks it before letting out a soft breathe of a chuckle, shaking his head.

"Friends?"

He nods showing you the message that Seungkwan sent to him. You giggle seeing a selfie of him and Chan in one of tent bars just a few blocks away with a few messages after asking where Vernon was.

"You should go." Vernon frowns at that, giving you a knowing look.

"Are you sure?"

You quickly nod, ushering the younger boy out of the door. "Just because I'm working overtime and don't have a social life, doesn't mean that you shouldn't have one either."

Vernon frowns and is about to reply when Mandu barks, panting slightly making you glance downwards at your little companion. You gesture to her before giving Vernon a teasing smile. "See, even Mandu agrees."

"But—"

"Hansol." You say, the same stubborn tone as before shining through making Vernon lift his hands up in surrender.

"Alright," he breathes out. "Geez, you don't need to bring out the full government name."

A smile pulls at the corner of your lips as you see Vernon trying not to smile as well as you open the door to the store for him. He goes through but leans against the door, peering back at you with a serious expression on his face.

"Call me if you need anything okay?"

You nod, biting back a teasing smile as you push the man further out the door. "Go already! Seungkwan's going to sulk if you aren't there in the next twenty minutes."

Vernon breaths out a chuckle as he lets you push him out the door before he gives you and Mandu a wave, biding the two of you goodbye. You pick up Mandu to use her paw to give him a small wave as well making the younger boy laugh before he fully turns and walks down the street.

You watch him go with a fond smile before turning to your little fluff ball in your arms.

"Let's finish all this overtime, huh?" Mandu lets out a little pitchy bark as you place her down onto the floor before putting on some music to get to work.

You didn't notice how much time had passed until your playlist playing had started to loop, the first song you put on softly flowing through the speakers. You glance at the clock, noticing that it was just after one in the morning making you let out a sigh as you stretch.

Seeing Mandu back in her spot underneath your desk makes you realize that maybe it was time to wrap up for the day. You stand up, rolling your neck as you let out a satisfied sigh, feeling good about the amount of work you had gotten done for the day.

Mandu lifts her head up from her spot making you give her a fond smile as you crouch down to give her a scratch behind her ears which she happily accepts.

"We can go soon girl." You coo out. "I just need to put all the inventory down in the basement and then we can go alright?"

Mandu lets out a soft bark making your smile grow bigger before you stand up to open the door, airing the store out and begin to tidy up. You huff out a grunt as you place the last box in the storeroom, right below your shop.

You brush away a few strands of your hair that was falling in-front of your eyes as you look at the amount of stock and inventory that occupies your little basement. You smile, feeling your nerves in a bit of a flux as you think about how your grand opening is just in a few days.

You couldn't be more proud of yourself. You walk up the low-bearing staircase and place your hand onto the doorknob before going to twist it.

You freeze when you feel the doorknob get stuck in it's path making you panic internally as you try to jiggle it loose.

"C'mon. C'mon." You repeat to yourself, whispering as you use your strength to jiggle it more. You let out a frustrated grunt, realizing that the doorknob would not budge as you go to dig for your phone in your pocket, hoping that someone would still be awake at this ungodly hour.

However, your blood runs cold when you find nothing in your pockets. You dig deeper and check more than once in both of your pockets, patting yourself down to come up empty.

You let out a exasperated sigh, realizing that you had left your phone on your desk. Meaning that you are stuck here until someone realizes you went missing in action or till God knows when.

You sigh as you take a seat on one of the more stable boxes before leaning back as you stare at the ceiling, your thoughts running wild.

You had a little hope in your chest that someone will come and find you soon but you know that it might be at least an hour or two before that happens. Seungcheol was definitely asleep, needing to wake up early today because he had an important client meeting. Seokmin was doing some drunk karaoke with Soonyoung, Jihoon and Kay and the last time he checked in two hours ago, the four of them were already incredibly wasted which meant that they won't be coming to your rescue anytime soon. Minghao, Mingyu, Izzy and Vernon were with Seungkwan and Chan and having last checked in with them not even more than twenty minutes ago, they will definitely not be checking back for at least another hour.

You sigh, running a hand down your face.

What were you going to do?

SERENITY AND MANDU

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help?" Joshua asks Jeonghan, a skeptical look on the younger man's face as he eyed his best friend.

Jeonghan rolls his eyes as he all but pushes his chief operations officer out of the door. "Yes." He answers shortly, growing more impatient by the second at his best friend's worrying. "As I said the last two times that you asked me, it's just a few payslips that I need to file and accounts that I need to account for that I, can handle."

Joshua frowns as Jeonghan pushes his bag into his hands.

"And you're sure?" Joshua asks, his tone confused as he stares at the amount of papers on Jeonghan's desk. "There's no shame in asking for help, y'know."

Jeonghan internally sighs. Of course he knows there's no shame in asking for help. The amount of papers that have been piling up on his desk is enough to give him a migraine for a week. However, Joshua's been hovering over him like an overbearing mother goose the last two weeks, after he had made the mistake of going into the store looking as if he had seen a ghost.

When in actuality, he just saw you.

Jeonghan made the mistake of telling Joshua everything, airing out all the feelings that was brought on from seeing you again for the first time since prom night, ten years ago. He knew that Joshua is just trying to be a good friend. He knew and appreciated that more than anything but, he hasn't had a moment of peace since then.

Joshua was always around, he made sure that Jeonghan wasn't thinking about you by trying to distract him with new orders with the help of Izzy, Mingyu's girlfriend who definitely ordered more than enough bouquets to last her for the next year of her life. Kay and Soonyoung also had a part in it, the two constantly calling Jeonghan to ask about really weird flower facts when Jeonghan was just trying to work in peace.

Instead of helping him take his mind off of you, it just highlighted the problem even more and Jeonghan spent every other moment when he was supposed to be working, thinking of you instead.

So, enough was enough and he needed to put his foot down.

"I'm fine, Shua." Jeonghan deadpans, ushering his best friend towards the open door. "I just really need some peace and quiet today to finish all the paperwork that I am behind on."

Joshua looks like he wants to argue but thinks better of it as he stares at Jeonghan's tired expression, looking like he might combust at any second.

"Okay." He says, slinging his bag over his shoulders. He steps out onto the street, pauses and turns to face Jeonghan with a sympathetic expression on his face.

"Han." Joshua calls out, making Jeonghan raise an eyebrow as he hums out in response. "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

Jeonghan gnaws on his bottom lip at Joshua's tone before giving his best friend a reluctant nod, knowing that he's just looking out for him. The two bid each other 'goodbye' before Jeonghan closes the glass door, locking it and pulling down the blinds.

He lets out a long exhale, feeling the weeks fatigue catch up with him as he closes his eyes for a second, letting the weight of everything rush through his veins. He finally had some peace and quiet.

Jeonghan opens his eyes, walking to his desk to connect his phone to the speakers and scrolls till he finds the playlist he's looking for, putting it on as it softly flows out of the overhead sound system. He sits down at his chair, feeling slightly more at ease before he opens the first stack of papers that he needs to compile.

"Alright." He whispers to him. "Let's do this."

About three to four hours past before Jeonghan looks back up at the clock again, blinking in surprise to see that he's almost been doing the paperwork till almost two in the morning. He closes the file in-front of him and counts the amount of files that he still needs to work on.

Realizing there is only four left, he lets his shoulders drop as he sighs and spins his chair around while his eyes are closed. He should go home now, it's Joshua's day off tomorrow which meant that he needed to be around for both Seungkwan and Chan to be able to get into the store to prepare the multiple delivery orders for a wedding in the next town over.

Jeonghan feels himself freeze at the word wedding. He hadn't thought about that in a long time, always pushing the word and it's entailment to the back of his mind. He lets out a frustrated groan as he runs a hand over his face, feeling more fatigued and unfocused by the second.

"Alright." He mutters, standing up to pack up for the night. He tidies up all the loose papers on his desk, writing himself a little post-it note to remember where exactly he left off so that he can just continue when he comes in the morning.

He grabs his hoodie and his bag before switching off the store lights and locking the door.

Jeonghan inhales, filling his lungs with fresh air as he closes his eyes, feeling said air course through his veins, rejuvenating him more by the second. Jeonghan feels a small smile appear on his lips as the night ambience seems to soothe him. When he was younger, he never really enjoyed the serenity of nights but now that he was older, he learned how to appreciate the quietness and the ambience of it, realizing how much more at ease he felt during these hours.

He allows himself a few more seconds to soak in the quietness when his eyebrows furrow hearing a pitchy bark coming from across the road. He peers across to see a white little fluff ball padding about, looking for something… or someone?

His eyebrows scrunch more as he slowly approaches the little dog that's pacing the front of… your flower shop? Jeonghan gets more confused by the second as he approaches the little dog.

"Hey girl." Jeonghan mutters out, crouching down so that your dog could sniff his hands and get familiar with him. The samoyed does a circle around Jeonghan, sniffing him cautiously before nudging his hands with her head, licking it once.

Jeonghan lets out a soft chuckle as he picks her up, cradling her in his arms before stroking her stomach, her collar moving as he does. He peers at the name on it before rolling his eyes.

Of course you would name her Mandu. He shakes his head before noticing that you had left the door to your store open. He peers downwards at your dog, internally wrestling with himself.

He could just put Mandu back into the store and then close the door behind him so that he doesn't have to deal with you because apparently ten years and two weeks was still not enough for him to deal with the complex feelings that he has for you.

However, he couldn't deny the unexplainable pull that your shop had, almost as if it was tugging him to go into the store. With one last glance at Mandu who was in the midst of licking his free hand, he sighs, steels his nerves and walks into the store.

Upon entering, he notices how the interior is just very much you, the coziness and how everything was organized was just a reflection of you as a person. Everything had it's own little space, the shelves were organized but in organic places to make it more natural. The different trinkets that you had placed around reflected more of the homely and cozy feel that you were going for and all the inventory that was on the shelves were organized according to different categories.

Jeonghan smiles to himself. You really hadn't changed that much. He wanders around the store more, cradling Mandu more as he looks around for you, his face getting more confused by the second as he is unable to find you. He approaches your desk, frowning more when he sees your phone there. He looks around, placing Mandu down as he places his bag on your desk.

He calls out for you, your name slipping past his lips making him cringe slightly. "Violet?" He tries again, feeling a little awkward as the unfamiliar nickname passes through his lips. Your phone buzzes making him glance over at it, seeing a text from your groupchat with Mingyu, Minghao and Seokmin appear on the screen.

However, what Jeonghan sees behind that is what causes him to freeze. The background image being something that he recognizes instantly.

It was a picture of you and him on your first date together where you had gone for a flower garland making workshop together. He remembers scrambling to find something perfect for your first date and came across this poster for a flower garland workshop that was happening that very weekend. He was also so delighted to find out that the workshop took place in the flower garden, the very same place where the two of you first met.

He made sure that everything was perfect, checking the weather every other hour, preparing food, snacks and drinks for the two of you to enjoy as well as begging Joshua and Seungcheol to find the perfect place for the two of you to have a little spring picnic after the workshop.

Joshua had instantly agreed to it but Seungcheol was a little more reluctant, not sure if he wanted to help set up his sister and his best friend more than he already needed to but after Joshua talked to him, Seungcheol sighed and agreed to help.

The picnic setup was the least of his worries though because on the day itself, Jeonghan felt like he was losing it. His palms kept getting sweaty everytime you looked at him and that caused the flower garland that he was working on to slip out of his hands every other minute. He scrambled to pick it up everytime, praying that you didn't see it or notice but he knew better than that. He knew that you noticed everything.

A giggle passed through your lips as he dropped it for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes alone causing him to peer upwards at you, his blood running cold.

'Good job, Jeonghan.' He thought to himself. 'Now she thinks you're the biggest loser on the planet for not being able to hold a flower garland properly.'

However, you surprise him by placing the flower garland that you made onto his head, a shy smile on your face.

"Pretty." You breath out, causing Jeonghan's eyes to widen as his jaw drops open. The familiar turn of events effectively frying his brain which causes you to giggle more as you raise an eyebrow.

"You going to give me your flower garland or what?"

He blinked at you before placing the uneven flower garland on your head, gnawing his bottom lip as he did so. It was safe to say that his flower garland skills could use some work.

However, you didn't seem to mind, a rosy blush blooming on your cheeks as you gave Jeonghan a soft smile. "How do I look?"

Jeonghan thinks that question is moot. You looked ethereal, you always do but something about the spring sunlight today and maybe just being on this date with him. You looked more beautiful than he ever thought was possible.

"Beautiful." He remembers blurting out. "You look beautiful."

Your cheeks had flushed more at his admittance, your smile widening as your eye lines crinkled causing Jeonghan's heart to flutter.

"Thank you." You softly say, giving his hand a little squeeze.

Jeonghan felt his throat go dry, darting his tongue out to wet his lips as he opens his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by a crackle in the sky.

The two of you peered upwards to see the once beautiful sky turn gray as it starts to drizzle.

Jeonghan felt his heart drop as the drizzle slowly transitioned to a full on rain making the two of you scramble for your stuff. The two of you dashed underneath a tree close to the roses, standing there as the rain began to pick up more.

Jeonghan internally cursed as he pulled out his phone to see two messages from Joshua and Seungcheol telling him that they had packed up the stuff a couple minutes earlier because they noticed the clouds coming in.

He was too enthralled by you to even notice the change in the weather. He shoved his phone back into his pocket before he peered at you. Your baby blue dress had a few splatters of rain on it, turning it into a darker blue as your hair was slightly damp, sticking to the side of your face.

However, Jeonghan thought you never looked prettier.

"I'm sorry." He found himself blurting out. You glanced upwards at him, your eyebrows furrowed which caused him to continue. "I constantly checked the weather and it said it was going to be sunny the whole day but it turned into this and now your dress is ruined and—"

You cut his ramble off by stepping closer to the boy with a small frown on your face. "Are you seriously apologizing for the weather?"

Jeonghan blinked at you, his throat dry as a flush crept up his face from his neck. He realized how stupid it sounded now that you phrased it like that. Before he had the chance to make a fool out of himself further, you giggle.

Jeonghan felt his heart rate pick up as you stepped even closer to him, your flowery scent filling his nose as you peered upwards at him, your eyes locked onto his as you scan his face.

"Breathe, Hannie." You said softly, giving the boy a small smirk. "You look like you're going to pass out."

Jeonghan didn't even realize that he was holding his breath until you pointed out, causing him to slowly exhale and inhale as he tried to steel his nerves, the effect you have on him very obvious.

"Sorry." He muttered out which caused your smirk to curl more as you hummed out an 'it's okay'. Jeonghan felt like he was losing it, your scent overwhelming his senses as he had the biggest desire to kiss you, his eyes involuntarily flicking downwards.

He watched you dart your tongue out to wet your lips causing him to inwardly groan at the sight, the desire to kiss you growing more by the second.

"Don't." He hoarsely stated.

"Don't what?"

"You know what."

Your lips curled into another smirk as you tilt your head to the side, feigning innocence. "I'm not sure I do."

Jeonghan felt his hand twitch at his side as he watched your own eyes flick to his lips. "If you continue to act this way." He whispered out as he leaned in a little. "I might not be able to control myself."

He watched your eyes flick downwards to his lips once more as you dart your tongue out to wet yours before saying. "Then don't."

Jeonghan immediately felt his resolve snap as he pulled you flush into him, his lips on yours. You gasped into his mouth which Jeonghan used as an opportunity to deepen the kiss, slipping his tongue into your mouth to massage against your own. Jeonghan groaned as he pulled you impossibly closer to him, his hands firm on your waist.

You pulled away a couple seconds later, panting a little as you rest your forehead against his. He watched you gnaw on your bottom lip which caused him to inwardly groan again.

"You're doing it again." He muttered out causing the cheeky smirk to appear on your lips again as you breathed out a giggle.

"Am I?" You asked as nonchalantly as you could, your smirk giving you away making Jeonghan nod. You pulled back, meeting his eyes again as you tilted your head to the side.

"What are you going to do about it then?"

Jeonghan rolled his eyes before bringing you in for another searing kiss as the rain continued to pour down, drenching the two of you more by the second but the two of you didn't care.

Because what else was meant to matter when you both were in each others arms?

Jeonghan feels Mandu pawing at his leg, bringing him out of the memory as he sighs, still unsure as to where you are. He hears a shift of something beneath him making him tense slightly as he tries to listen for it again. He glances to the corner of the room before noticing that there was a staircase there.

He peers at Mandu. "Stay." He tells her sternly. She pants before tilting her head to the side, a habit that she had no doubt, picked up from you.

Jeonghan trudges down the stairs to find a door. He swallows his nerves before lifting his hand and knocking on it.

"Violet?" He calls out. "Are you in there?"

There's silence for a bit causing him to frown so he tries again.

"Vi?" He calls out, louder this time as he knocks a few more times. "Is that you in there?"

"Hannie?" The nickname causes him to involuntarily shudder, sounding so sweet as it falls from your lips. "Is that you?"

"Yeah. Are you alright?"

"No." He hears you say with an exasperated scoff. "The door won't budge so I've been trapped in here for god knows how long."

He frowns. "Alright, hang on!"

You wait patiently behind the door, palms getting sweatier by the second as you internally prepare to see your ex-boyfriend for the first time in two weeks. The doorknob jiggles a little before it turns and your heart races as you see Jeonghan appear as soon as the door opens. He's dressed in a comfortable black hoodie and sweatpants, looking like he just got off work with a beanie on top of his head.

He blinks a little, his eyes adjusting to the dark room before they lock onto you.

Silence wraps around the two of you as you just stare at each other, a weird tension filling the room. You swallow as you feel Jeonghan eye you up and down, feeling yourself getting warmer by the second.

Mandu's high pitch bark interrupts whatever weird moment the two of you have going on as she wanders past Jeonghan and hops down the steps to get to you. She doesn't get far though, missing one of the steps as they were bigger than her, causing her to fall.

Your heart drops as you scramble up from the box you were seated on. "Mandu!" You exclaim, reaching out for her. Jeonghan reacts faster, immediately jumping down a few steps to crouch down and scoop her up into his arms, causing the door to slam close.

Your blood runs cold. "No." You whisper as you push past Jeonghan to get to the door, trying to turn the doorknob again.

"Fuck." You swear, jiggling the doorknob more by the second, realizing that the door wasn't opening.

"We're stuck!" You exclaim, tossing your arms up in an exasperated gesture.

You watch Jeonghan freeze with Mandu in his arms as he eyes all over your face to see if you were joking or not. When he finds no humour in your features, he immediately hands Mandu over to you and tries to jiggle at the doorknob.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." He deadpans, muttering under his breath as he rips his beanie off to run a hand through his hair.

He turns to you, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why didn't you tell me the door was broken?"

Your eyebrows furrow as you hug Mandu closer to your chest. "I did."

"No, you told me the door was jammed! That isn't the same thing as can't be opened from the inside."

"What the fuck is your definition of jammed then?"

"When both sides don't work because there's something stuck in there!" Jeonghan exclaims, growing more frustrated by the second. "Not whatever the fuck this is." He gestures to the whole door, his arms waving animatedly.

"Well, I'm sorry!" You yell back at him, getting tired of him blaming this situation on you. "I didn't think you would go and save Mandu."

He glances at the fluff ball in your arms and gives you an 'are you being serious' look before he pushes past you, shaking his head.

"Yeah." He answers shortly. "Is that why you left? Because you think I don't like animals as much as you do?"

Your heart stops at his statement, unsure of how to answer him as he goes to sit on the floor, leaning against one of the inventory boxes.

"No." You softly breathe out, Mandu feeling ten times heavier in your hand as you adjust her awkwardly in your hold.

Jeonghan scoffs, bringing his knees up to his chest as he places his arms on them.

"I left my phone on your desk." He mutters, not looking at you. "You might as well get comfortable because I think we'll be here for a while."

You purse your lips before trudging down the steps. You sit a few feet away from him, leaning against one of the other boxes as you lay Mandu down in your lap, playing with her little paws as she pants happily, unaware of the tension in the room.

You continue to stroke her as you try not to look to your right at the man who you figured held a grudge against you. Mandu slowly dozes off in your lap, her breathing getting heavier by the second as her eyes close, keening more into you.

You smile softly at her, patting her once more before you fully lean against the boxes, gazing upwards. You blink at the ceiling for a couple of seconds before you risk taking a glance at the man who has plagued your thoughts for the last two weeks. His knees were still pulled to his chest his beanie still in between his fingers with his head bowed, covered by his knees.

You let your eyes scan him, his physique to be more specific. He had grown more muscular since the last time you saw him, his hoodie pressed against them, leaving little room for imagination. You let your eyes drift lower to admire the beanie in his fingers, realizing that it was one you had bought for him when the two of you were still together. Your heart clenches at the realization as you gnaw on your bottom lip.

You let your eyes drift upwards to get the shock of your life when Jeonghan suddenly lifts his head up, locking eyes with you. You jolt a little as he raises an eyebrow at you, a ghost of a smirk on his lips.

"Want to take a picture?" He asks, his tone dry as he tilts his head to the side. "I heard they last longer."

You feel your cheeks heat up as you turn away from the boy. "Shut up."

Jeonghan snickers at your reaction. "You were the one that was staring."

"And I regret it now."

"Do you?"

You feel your breath catch in your throat before you clear it and nod, knowing that his eyes are on you. "Yeah." You breath out, your voice low making Jeonghan scoff.

"You've always been a terrible liar, Rose."

The nickname causes your breath to hitch, your head immediately turning to the man to your right. "Don't call me that." You mutter out, almost on instinct.

Jeonghan blinks at you, his face unreadable as he stares at you. "And why's that?"

"You know why Jeonghan, don't play dumb now."

Jeonghan scoffs. "Can't believe you're still affected by the nickname because of Titanic."

"There was enough room on that door for the both of them!"

Jeonghan shakes his head, a breath of a chuckle escaping.

Rose is the nickname that Jeonghan coined for you after that day at the park. You had qualms about it because of Titanic. You watched it when you were younger and thought it was really selfish of the leading lady to not move a little more so that her boyfriend had more space on the door.

Hence, you didn't like the nickname.

Jeonghan, on the other hand, seemed to thrive more off of your hate for the nickname, making him use it more than your actual name or Violet which was the general nickname that everyone else called you. Even your parents used it.

But to Jeonghan, that nickname that didn't sit right so he used Rose every chance he got.

You grew to love the nickname when you and Jeonghan were dating because you learned that he called you Rose because you are his love and you've been since the two of you were kids and that he was enamored by you.

The effect of the nickname is so great that even after ten years of not seeing each other, that nickname still causes your stomach to flip.

"Are we really not going to talk about it?" Jeonghan asks softly making you tense up as you stare at the gray floor in-front of you.

"Talk about what?" You cringe the second the question leaves your mouth, knowing that it was a stupid thing to ask.

"Don't play dumb with me, Rose." He says making your heart race. "I think you forget that I know you like the back of my hand. Even if we haven't seen each other for the past ten years."

He was right. The two of you had grown up together and dated for almost five years before you left. He knew you, in and out. The two of you were each other's first for everything.

First kiss (from experimentation), first relationship, first real couple fight and you both even took each other's virginity.

Everyone thought the two of you were it for each other, despite your young ages. Everyone wanted what the two of you have and you two were glued to the hip that everyone always referred to you as a pair, never seeing one without the other.

But, that's probably the reason you left.

"I know." You whisper out.

"Since we're not going anywhere." Jeonghan says, moving his legs downwards to sit cross-legged in-front of you. "I think we have plenty of time to talk about prom. Don't you?"

You feel your pulse pick up as all the blood rushes from your face, gnawing at your bottom lip before you face him.

"Okay." You whisper out. "Let's talk about prom."

LET'S TALK ABOUT PROM

Prom.

If you were to ask anyone which day the seniors were most excited for, everyone's answer would be prom. It was such a monumental occasion that missing it would be the most devastating thing as a senior.

However, prom to you would always be something that had to end.

You and Jeonghan had been dating for around four years at this point. The two of you were constantly glued to the hip and everyone in the school knew that the two of you were together, including the teachers. Despite your age difference of two years, you still had a lot of common friends, your best friends integrated well into his group with consisted of your brother, Joshua as well as Jun, Soonyoung and Jihoon who were a year younger than them and a year older than you.

You loved Jeonghan. You realized that you loved him during one of the dates he took you on where you both went to a meadow just a little out of town that was filled with a bunch of different flowers and he just let you ramble on and on about their meanings with a lovesick grin on his face.

You loved him but you were also twenty, trying to figure out what you wanted and where you were meant to go in this big world. You always knew you were going to leave your small hometown, no matter how much you wanted to stay, your heart always strayed for something further. For something that couldn't be found in this small town that you called home.

So, you applied for colleges out of this small town, the only people knowing being your best friends and your family members. You didn't tell Jeonghan because it wasn't set in stone yet. It wasn't something that you wanted him to worry about or try to make sense of because to him, you were always going to stay.

So, when you got a letter, detailing how you were accepted into one of the courses that you applied for, five hours away, you were at a lost for words.

You remembered bringing the letter to Seungcheol's room and the two of you sat on his bed, staring at the letter as you cried in his arms. You didn't want to go. You didn't want to leave Jeonghan behind but you had to.

Which leads you to the night of prom, also known as your last night in town.

You had ordered a rosy red dress months ago, realizing that it's Jeonghan's favourite colour on you as it went so well with your skin colour and just made you look like the most ethereal person in the room.

The theme for prom this year was coincidentally spring so your dress was perfect. You applied the finishing touches to your makeup with shaky hands as Kay and Izzy shared a glance with each other.

"Babe." Kay said gently, taking the mascara brush from your hands, putting it back into it's case. "You're crying."

You let out a soft sob, unsure of what to do. Izzy dabs at your eyes, removing some of your makeup but you didn't care. Not when you were staring at your childhood room filled to the brim with memories of you and Jeonghan but you couldn't bare to bring any of it with you, opting to leave it here just like you were leaving him.

Your closet was empty for the most part, you only bringing a set of toiletries, clothes and some memorabilia that you couldn't bear to part with that were all packed in Seungcheol's car.

"You need to stop crying, babe." Kay breathed out as Izzy helps you to touch up your makeup. "If not, Jeonghan's going to know that something's wrong."

You sniffled, looking in the mirror to see that Izzy had managed to fix your makeup as if you hadn't cried at all. You felt sick in the stomach.

"He's going to know." You whispered out as you shook your head. "He knows me like the back of his hand guys… It's going to be so hard to hide it from him."

Your best friends shared a glance with each other. "Then why can't you tell him, babe?"

"Because it's going to break his heart on what's meant to be the happiest occasion of high school."

Your best friends were silent at that, unsure of what to say. Before they could though, a soft knock was heard at your door. The three of you turned to it, to see Seungcheol stood there, leaning against your doorframe.

"Hey." He greeted softly as he pushed off the door to walk over to you. He gave you a once over, a prideful smile on his face. "You look beautiful." He whispered out making a small smile appear on your face.

"Thank you, Cheol." Seungcheol gave you a soft shoulder bump.

"I didn't mean to interrupt the three of you but Hannie and Gyu are already here, so I figured that we should get going."

You felt your heart drop at the information but steeled your nerves as you stood up from your bed shakily. The three in the room all shared glances as they looked at you as you put on your best brave smile.

"Let's conquer prom."

The four of you made your way downstairs as two loud voices other than your parents met your ears. You reach the bottom to see Jeonghan and Mingyu stood there chatting with your parents, their hands in their pockets as they laughed at something your father said.

Mingyu was the first to notice you and your entourage, his eyes immediately locked on Izzy as he took her in. "Wow." He breathed out, making the girl in question blush.

"Shut up." She muttered out, but from the way she was trying to hide her smile, you could tell that she was enjoying the attention.

However, you weren't really paying attention to the soon-to-be couple at your side, instead more focused on the angel of a man that was stood in-front of you.

Jeonghan was clad in a black stunning fitted suit that left very little for imagination. His mouth was agape as he stared at you, his eyes shiny as he tried to figure out what to say.

"Gosh." Is the first word that left his mouth as he continues to gape at you. Your cheeks are definitely flushed at this point as you gave him a shy smile. "You look absolutely breathtaking, Rose."

"Really?" You asked, your voice small as you try not to allude that you were crying. Jeonghan doesn't seem to notice, completely enthralled by you as he took your hands into his, bringing your dominant hand up to his lips as he brushed a kiss onto it.

Your heart raced as he brought you closer to him. "Of course, baby." He lowly says. "I'm so lucky to have you."

You felt your heart crack slightly at his loving words but you fake a smile all the same as you gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "You look so handsome." You told him. "Can't believe you're all mine."

He gave you a devastating smile before his eyes lit up. "I almost forgot." He walks to the nearby table before he returned with a box, a shimmery rose inside. He gestured for your hand, which you gave him without a second thought. With the help of your father, he opened the box and carefully slid the rose corsage onto your non-dominant wrist.

"I made this." He softly admitted making your eyes widen as you glanced downwards as the perfectly shaped corsage.

"You did?"

Jeonghan gave you a nod, a nervous smile on his face. "I wanted your prom to be special. So I took a little workshop a few days ago to lear how to make the corsage for you." He held up your hand in his as he brushed his fingers over your knuckles. "Do you like it?"

Your heart raced at his question. "Like it?" You whispered out before you pulled him closer to you. "I love it, Hannie. Thank you." You tugged your hand out of his before you sprinted to the kitchen, grabbing the boutonniere that you had prepared the night before.

You made your way back over to Jeonghan before you showed him the boutonniere in your hands. He gawked at it before a genuine smile appeared on his face.

"No way." He breathed out making you giggle.

"Way." You replied, stepping closer to him as you pinned it onto his suit with as much care as you could. "Now," you breathed out, stepping backwards to admire your handiwork. "We match."

The two of you did match. You wanted to create a boutonniere that would go with your corsage and it didn't take rocket science to figure out that Jeonghan would probably give you a rose corsage considering that it was your nickname for him.

"I love it." Jeonghan stated before he gave you another dazzling smile and holds up his arm for you to curl into. "Shall we?"

You gave him a nod, your smile not quite reaching your eyes. "We shall."

Music is the first thing you hear as soon as you and your friends entered the prom hall. Mingyu and Izzy immediately moved towards the end of the banquet table where Minghao looked like he was about to have a heart-attack from how many eclairs Seokmin was stuffing into his mouth.

Kay and your brother made their way towards where Joshua was with his date, the four of them immediately picking up a conversation which left you with your dear boyfriend whose heart you were about to break.

Jeonghan scrunched his nose at the loud music and noises. "It's really loud in here, huh?"

You rolled your eyes as you continue to scan the room. "It's prom!" You shout over the music. "What did you expect?"

He gave you a shrug before he cocked his head to the middle of the room. "Dance?"

You giggled at his smirk before nodding. "You're on."

The two of you giggled as you dance with each other to the funky tunes that were playing. It only took two songs before the rest of your friends joined the two of you. Seokmin ended up starting a weird dance competition which Mingyu also took part in that caused almost all of you to end up on the floor in a fit of giggles.

You stare at your wonderful group of friends and smiled fondly to yourself, feeling a little teary eyed, knowing that tonight was the last night that you had with them until you went off to college. You had always imagined going to college with your best friends, unsure of what you would do without them but you were following your dreams and sometimes sacrifices had to be made in order to do it.

A shoulder nudged yours which brought you back to reality as you peered to your right, seeing your boyfriend stood there, looking as devastatingly handsome as always.

He leaned into you. "Tired?" He whispered, loud enough only for you to hear.

You shrugged. "A little, but not too bad."

Jeonghan nodded at that before he cocked his head to the exit of the gymnasium. "Want some fresh air really quickly?"

You glanced at the time and at Seungcheol who was watching you, knowing that you had less than an hour before you had to leave. However, if this was the last night that you had with the love of your life, you would willing say—

"Yes."

The fresh cold spring air rejuvenated your body as soon as you stepped out into the moonlit night. You and Jeonghan walked hand-in-hand to the back of the bleachers, both of your favourite spot to hangout at during lunch hours.

"Can't believe you're graduating next week, Rose." Jeonghan said as he bumped your shoulder, taking a seat on the metal benches. "Felt like yesterday when I was just graduating."

You forced out a soft laugh as you took a seat as well, hoping that it would just miss Jeonghan's ears so that he wouldn't suspect anything. "Yeah." You softly said. "I can't believe it either."

Silence enveloped the two of you as you both watched the stars glint in the sky. You were nervous, your eyes flickering to your phone every few seconds to see if Seungcheol was going to call you and break this bubble that you were in with the love of your life.

"Rose."

You whipped your head to your boyfriend, seeing that he was already looking at you, his eyes filled with nervousness and something else that you couldn't name. You raise an eyebrow at the man.

"Hannie." You cautiously breathed out. "Did you do something?" You deadpanned.

A soft chuckle passed Jeonghan's lips as he shook his head 'no'. "I just have something for you."

You looked at him a little more suspiciously as he dug through his pockets before he pulled out a box. A velvet red box to be exact.

You felt your heart rate speed up as Jeonghan scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Rose." Jeonghan said gently. "Before you freak the fuck out, take a deep breath with me and let me explain."

You hadn't realized that you held your breath this whole time as soon as Jeonghan had produced the box in-front of your eyes so you slowly breathed in and breathed out, regulating your breathing back to normal before you locked eyes with Jeonghan.

He popped the box open to show two rings in there, one that was slightly thicker than the other. "I know we're much too young to get married now, Rose." Jeonghan breathed out, his hands shaking as he held the rings for you to see. "However, after knowing you for so many years and dating you for some of it. I know another things that's for sure is that you're it for me." He said softly, his eyes on your face as he watched your eyes continue to flicker between the two rings.

"This is a promise ring. It's a promise that no matter what happens, no matter how many fights we get into and no matter how many times I push your buttons and piss you off, no matter how many days we go without seeing each other…" He lets out a shaky exhale. "That I will always love you and that I will never stop loving you until the day that I breathe my final breath."

A full fresh set of tears have brimmed your eyes at this point which caused you to involuntarily let out a watery sob that has Jeonghan wiping the tears from your eyes.

"Don't cry, baby." He cooed out.

"You can't say shit like that and expect me not to cry, Yoon Jeonghan."

He chuckled at your use of his full government name as you lifted up your hand. "Slip it onto my finger already, you asshole."

Another laugh bubbled out of his throat before he met your demands all the same, taking the rose studded ring and slipped it onto your middle finger, the traditional place where promise rings sat before he did the same with his own ring.

The two of you placed your hands side by side, comparing the two rings together before you pulled Jeonghan in for a kiss. He groaned into it, immediately gripping tightly onto your waist as you slowly moved your hands up from his chest to the back of his neck, messing with the back of his nape.

He let out another grunt, pulling you flush against him as he deepened the kiss by slipping his tongue into your mouth, tasting the strawberry mint that you had earlier. The two of you made out for what felt like an eternity before your phone rang, making the two of you jolt apart.

Still dazed and panting from the remnants of the kiss, you scrambled for your phone to see your older brother's caller ID on it.

Your heart dropped. This was it.

You turned to Jeonghan who blinked at you before he tilted his head to try and peer at who was calling you. You moved your phone away from his eyes before you cleared your throat. "It's just Cheol asking where we are."

He eyed you suspiciously but didn't press as he nodded before he stood up. "I guess I have stolen his little sister away for too long." He cheekily said, wrapping an arm around your waist. "Shall we go back inside?"

You gave him a brief nod, knowing that if you did anything else, you might crack under the pressure and just admit to him that you were leaving in the next ten minutes. He gave you a forehead kiss before he led you back into the building. The two of you were about to enter the gymnasium when you pulled away.

"I need to use the bathroom, baby." You said, careful with your tone so that it wouldn't waver as you gave him a smile. "You go on ahead, I'll see you inside."

Jeonghan eyed you for a few seconds before he nodded, letting go of your hand. "Don't take too long." He called out to you as you trailed down the hallway to the bathroom. "I got some mean moves to show Seokmin that might win me his weird dance competition."

You flashed him a small. "I can't wait!"

You watched as he turned and walked back into the loud booming room and your whole facade broke, a wretched sob escaping your throat as you remove your heels to walk back down the hallway.

You spared a glance into the gymnasium where you spot Jeonghan with the rest of your friends happily talking to each other and let your eyes drift further down his figure to the ring that sat on his right middle finger before ypu glanced at your own.

This was the right decision.

Is the last thing you thought to yourself before you slip out the doors of the school to your brothers parked car where you were about to leave your whole life behind.

"Are you alright?" Seungcheol asked as soon as you slipped into the passenger seat, dumping your shoes into the backseat.

You let out a shaky exhale as you shook your head 'no'. "But." You breathed out, recalling how good Jeonghan looked on your last day together. "I'll be alright."

Seungcheol said nothing as he put the car in drive and pulled out of your high school carpark, leaving behind what was meant to be the best day of your high school year and the love of your life.

You recall the whole story to Jeonghan who has scouted closer to you in the time that you had told it. He had been silent the whole time so when you finished the story, not a single word came out of the man.

You tuck Mandu closer to your chest as she keens slightly, fluffing around for a bit before settling again as Jeonghan lets out a bitter laugh.

"So," He states, eerily calm. "You're telling me this whole time, you could've told me and we could've just done long distance?"

You feel your blood run cold as he repeats the situation back to you as he stands up and begins to angrily pace the room.

"Jeonghan, I—"

"No." Jeonghan cuts you off. "You don't get to sit there and try to fucking defend yourself when you left like that, Rose." He chuckles lowly as he runs a hand through his hair, the beanie now abandoned on top one of the boxes. "Why couldn't you have just told me?!" He exclaimed. "Did you think I wouldn't understand? Did you think I wouldn't be happy for you?" He asks, agony deep in his tone.

You feel your throat go dry as you place Mandu down onto the ground to try to be on the same level as the man.

"N-No." You stammer out, lifting your hands in a surrender position as you try to appease the man in-front of you. "I was just scared and I didn't want to hurt you, Hannie."

Jeonghan scoffs at that. "You didn't want to hurt me?" He shakes his head. "Well, congratu-fucking-lations. You managed to do it anyways, Rose." You wince at his words as you feel tears brim your eyes.

"I thought it was the best thing to do." You softly admitted.

"I don't fucking understand, Rose." Jeonghan breathes out, locking eyes with you. "I told you I loved you, I told you that you were it for me. Which part of that statement did you not understand or get? That I would be happy for you no matter what you were doing or what you were going to do?" Jeonghan stops pacing to stand in-front of you. "That I would be able to die a happy man just because I have you by my side?"

You feel your heart stop as he admits that, staring intently into your eyes as you let out a shaky exhale. "I didn't want you to wait for someone who wasn't sure if they were going to come home or not, Hannie." You softly admit. "I was wrong. I'm sorry that I made the decision on behalf of the both of us when you were right and we should've talked it out."

"Yeah." Jeonghan replies. "We should have talked it out, baby. I would've told you that I was happy for you, that I would drive down every other weekend to see you. That I would bring you flowers every weekend to brighten up your bedroom so that you have reminder to smile even when everything looks bleak."

He shakes his head. "I would've done it all if you had just let me in."

You let out a soft sob as you imagine all of that, thinking how it would've been different if you just told him. If you didn't make the decision on your own and assuming on your own.

"I guess it would've been a lot different." You softly admit, sniffling a little. "If I had just told you."

Jeonghan sadly looks at you. "I guess we will never know now." He softly says, his words getting softer and softer by the second.

"Yeah, I guess not."

The two of you stand in a semi-tensed silence for a couple more seconds before Jeonghan steps closer and reaches out, his fingers brushing your chin upwards so that you are now looking at him. His eyes scans yours before he sighs, brushing his forehead against yours.

"It's been ten years." He softly whispers. "Yet you still make me feel the same way you did when I first met you in the park where I hated flowers."

You feel your heart rate pick up as you finally realize how close the two of you were now, his familiar floral and citrusy scent filling your nose as you stare into his irises. You didn't notice the two of you leaning in until the the door to the basement cracks open making the two of you jolt apart.

The two of you whip your heads to the door to see a few figures standing there, looking between the two of you, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"Erm." Chan starts, his eyes shifting between the two of you. "Did we interrupt something?"

Jeonghan takes that moment to regain his composure as he shakes his head. "No." He answers shortly, sparing you a glance before he grabs his beanie and makes his way towards the staircase. "You didn't interrupt anything at all."

His cold answer makes your heart drop as he trots up the stairs. "Excuse me." He mutters out as Seungkwan and Vernon share a glance before letting the older man leave. Your friends watch Jeonghan pick up his bag from your desk before he walks out of your store, the door slamming behind him without another word.

All attention turns back to you as Minghao cautiously walks down the stares, approaching you who looked like you had just seen a ghost.

"Vi." Minghao breathes out, getting your attention as he meets your eyes with his soft doe ones. "Are you alright?"

You break, reaching out for Minghao who catches you before you cry in his arms. The taller man soothes you, running a hand up and down your back as he whispers comforting words to try to get you to stop crying.

"I really messed up, Hao." You admit between sobs. "He loved me so much and I hurt him so badly by just leaving. Why didn't I just talk to him?"

Minghao's hand on your back pauses for a millisecond before he strokes your back again. "We've all made stupid decisions in our lives, Vi." He softly admits, moving his hand up to pat your head. "We've all been there because we're rash and we're young and we make decisions based on our emotional states sometimes. Yes, we may make mistakes but making mistakes is what makes us human. If we don't make a mistake here or there, how do we know we're making good decisions?"

His words make you think as you continue to sniffle into his shoulder. "Let's take a rainy day for example." Minghao softly starts. "How do you know sunny days are sometimes better than rainy ones without experiencing both?" He pulls back from you to meet your eyes. "Living is about experiencing, even if you experience the wrong thing or make mistakes, the important thing is to learn from them and to not repeat the same mistake twice."

Minghao eyes you for a couple of seconds. "If you thought leaving instead of telling Jeonghan was the best decision, it would've continued to be the best decision because it was already in your mind, Vi. It was meant to happen and I think you learned a lot from it because it happened."

Minghao in all his glorious wisdom is right.

"Since when did you get so wise." You breath out making the man chuckle as he rolls his eyes.

"Aren't you lucky to have such a wise person in your friend group that can actually relate to whatever you're saying?"

A scoff is heard from behind the two of you making you glance up to see Seungkwan's face scrunched up. When he realizes that both your eyes are on him, his face immediately flushes as Mingyu smacks him on the back of his head.

"Way to ruin the moment." Mingyu chastises, causing Seungkwan to flush even more. You let out a watery giggle at their bickering, a teary smile on your lips. Minghao reaches out to wipe some of the stray tears that didn't get picked up by his sweater.

"Feeling better?"

You purse your lips. "Not at the moment." You honestly admit but give him a small all the same. "But I'll be alright."

He gives you a sympathetic smile, placing a hand on the small of your back as he leads you to where the entourage of Mingyu, Izzy, Vernon, Seungkwan and Chan stood. He gives you a tiny kiss on your hairline before snapping his fingers at Mandu to get her attention to follow him.

"Let's get you girls home."

THE CHAOTIC TRIO

Jeonghan swears that he's never had trouble getting out of bed before. After last night though, he thinks that going to the store might make him combust instead of providing the serenity that used to.

Before he went home last night, he dropped Joshua a text asking if they could swap their off days just for the week. Joshua who was not sleeping sent a question mark before agreeing, saying that Jeonghan was lucky that he didn't have any prior plans.

Hence, that's why Jeonghan is at home and just staring at the ceiling, his mind blank with a body that is unwilling to move. He barely got any sleep, his mind plagued by your proximity last night and how the two of you had almost kissed.

He places his hands over his face and groans into them before hiding into his pillows. He wants the ground to swallow him hold. Ten years of not seeing you and the second time that he does, he almost kisses you.

'Stupid.' He thinks to himself. That's what he was.

He can't believe he hasn't gotten over you. He's tried dating. Joshua has even tried setting him up on one or two blind dates but after the second one was a bust, Jeonghan just swore off dating and hid his heart behind his dazzling charm to protect himself.

But the truth of it all is that he still loved you with his whole entire being and that is definitely not changing anytime soon.

He sighs into his pillow, willing himself to go back to sleep to maybe wake up in an alternate reality where you didn't leave.

"Are you trying to melt into the bed or something?"

Jeonghan's nearly launches himself off the bed when he hears the stern voice coming from his room door. Luckily, he manages to catch himself before he did and just stops a few centimeters from the edge of the bed.

"Jesus!" He exclaims, holding a hand to his chest as he wills his heart rate to slow down. "How the fuck did the two of you get in?"

Seungcheol and Joshua share a glance before the latter holds up a key in between his fingers. "Did you forget that you gave me a spare key in case of emergencies?"

Jeonghan scoffs. "What kind of fucking emergency is this?"

"The self pity kind." Seungcheol answers without a second thought as he walks into Jeonghan's room and flops down onto his bed with a soft groan, stretching a little.

Jeonghan frowns, smacking the older boy with the bolster that he has near him. "Get off my bed."

Seungcheol lets out a yelp when the bolster makes contact with him but doesn't move, instead eyeing Jeonghan with a knowing look. "I will if you talk to us about what's going on."

The heartbroken boy doesn't know if he wants to laugh or cry at his best friend's statement, considering Seungcheol is tied deeper into this than he thought.

"What's going on is that your sister came back into town and somehow opened a flower shop right opposite me. We got stuck in her basement last night and I finally learned the reason why she left on prom night and you somehow, knew everything about it but decided to leave me in the dark for all of it." Jeonghan rants, his voice getting louder by the minute as he continues. "What's the fucking cherry on top is that you knew about the promise ring and still told me to give it to her anyways!"

He glares at Seungcheol as his voice goes low. "Did you want me to get heartbroken that badly?"

Seungcheol is silent for a few moments as Joshua just observes, leaning against Jeonghan's desk.

"I wanted her to stay." Seungcheol admits quietly. "I thought that if you gave her the ring, she would forgo whatever she wanted to do and stay because she's so in love with you, Han."

Jeonghan doesn't reply, giving Seungcheol the cue to continue. "I should've known that she's too much like me to do that though. You should've seen her the night that she came into my room with the letter, Jeonghan. She was so heartbroken. She had just gotten into the college program of her dreams and she was heartbroken because she had to leave you." He lets out a sigh as he sits up. "Maybe it was wrong of me to not tell you, maybe it was wrong of her to leave like that but I think she knew that if she talked to you about it, she wouldn't have gone through with it. You would've told her to go and she wouldn't have because she's that in love with you."

He flashes his best friend an apologetic smile. "Again, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that she was leaving or that she was coming back and there's no excuse for my actions and I hope that you forgive me someday but," Seungcheol looks around Jeonghan's room before his eyes settle on the printed out collage of photos of you and Jeonghan together from an array of dates that you've been on.

"Are you going to let the supposed love of your life slip through your fingers again?"

Jeonghan wants to yell and defend himself or deny that he's still in love with you but Seungcheol fixes him with a hard gaze.

"Don't even try to lie to me, Hannie." He says. "You forget that I've been your best friend longer than you've known my sister. I was here first."

At that, Jeonghan's mouth snaps close because as infuriating as Seungcheol was, he was also infuriatingly right.

"I hate you." Jeonghan deadpans with as much venom in his tone that he can muster. Seungcheol rolls his eyes.

"Yeah yeah." He tugs at the sulky boy's hand. "C'mon, Shua brought some beer, we're going to drink and we're going to have a good time."

Jeonghan frowns, not budging from his spot. "First of all, its one in the afternoon. Secondly," he turns to his chief operations officer. "if you're here, who is managing the store?"

"Well, we only had two delivery orders today which Seungkwan and Chan finished pretty promptly in the morning even though they looked so hungover." He clicks his tongue. "So I made the executive decision to send them home, close up shop and come over to make sure that you're okay." He glances between Jeonghan and Seungcheol before a cheeky grin appears on his lips. "Besides, I didn't want to touch the amount of paperwork on your desk."

Jeonghan lets out a scoff at that, shaking his head. "You lazy ass."

Joshua feigns hurt. "Says the one whose only role is to do paperwork."

Jeonghan opens his mouth, ready to argue when Seungcheol sighs, having had enough of this and yanks Jeonghan off the bed in one swift movement, barely letting the man get his bearings before he uses his other hand to tug at Joshua's hoodie.

The two of them let out sounds of protest but Seungcheol just drags them to the living room where three six packs sit. He let's them go before opening the carton for himself as the other two stare at him.

"If you two are going to fight." Seungcheol says, lifting the beer in a 'cheers' motion. "I'm going to need a drink to get through it.

Jeonghan and Joshua share a look before they took a pillow each off the couch and turn to the smart alec in the room whose eyes widen before he takes off sprinting, the two hot on his tail.

As yells, swears and laughs were heard for the next few hours, Jeonghan couldn't help but keep Seungcheol's words at the back of his mind.

Will he really let you slip through his fingers for the second time?

IF THE UNIVERSE GRANTS IT

You swear you could feel your own nauseous clawing at your throat with how nervous you are. It's the day of your grand opening and a sizable amount of people had turned up making your nerves spike more than it did before.

"You're going to put a hole in your newly furnished store if you keep pacing like that." Seungcheol states as he watches you go back and forth with just five minutes before you officially open.

"I feel like if I stop, I'm going to throw up." You state, not stopping your pacing for even a second.

Mingyu who was on clean-up duty today pales as he looks between the two of you.

"That doesn't mean you wear out the floor before your customers even have the chance to come in." Seungcheol deadpans as Mingyu tosses a glare his way.

"Keep pacing if it helps for you, Vi." Mingyu says gently, tossing Seungcheol another dirty look. He did not want to clean up any messes that big for free, during something as big as the grand opening.

"You're going to do fine, Vi." Seokmin calls out from behind the counter, his role being cashier today that sends the customers off with a warm smile or a good laugh. "The shop also looks splendid! This is going to go so well!"

You give the tall man a slightly constipated smile as Vernon appears from the back with a clipboard in his hands, in-charge of making sure everything was stocked up. "Done with last minute stock check." He gives you a small smile. "We're all ready to open up when you are."

You take a glance over the store, your eyes briefly landing on Minghao for a second as you spot him messing with the angle of one last trinket, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. When he finally finds the right spot for it, he smiles to himself before turning to you to give you a thumbs up.

Your heart swells with warmth as you admire the store that you and your friends had spent the last two weeks building. Every detail and placement intimate as you take a deep breath.

This is it.

You steel your nerves and put on the bravest face you can muster as you unlock the glass door and open it to see a bunch of customers already waiting outside, peering through the open door to see what all the fuss is.

"Let's do this." You say making all your friends nod as you open the door, welcoming all the new customers in and the official start of your journey.

It's mid-afternoon when sales start to slow down and you feel exhaustion creeping into your bones as it begins to drizzle outside. You don't remember another time where you had to stand for such a long period of time. You stretch as the rest of your friends lean against the front desk, chatting happily.

You smile fondly at them as they recount all the funny stories of the morning as Minghao looks through which flowers were the best flowers of the morning. You peer through the windows too admire the rain and the serenity of it all.

You let your eyes drift before they land on the store across the street from yours which had their blinds down. You frown, tilting your head to the side. You vaguely remember Seungcheol telling you that Jeonghan and Joshua only officially close the store on Tuesdays because it's a good time for them to catch up on paperwork as well as restock inventory from the weekend rush.

However, it's a Sunday today, meaning that they should be open.

"Hey Cheol." You call, getting your brother's attention as he breaks away from the group, your curiosity getting the better of you.

"Yeah?"

"How come Jeonghan and Joshua aren't open today?"

Seungcheol follows your gaze to their shop before his eyebrows furrow. "I don't know, they didn't mention anything when I saw them."

You frown but try to push it out of your thoughts as Mingyu gets your attention.

"Yeah, Gyu?"

"You had a letter delivered with the bills." You tilt your head to the side as Mingyu passes you it to you.

You analyze the letter as you try to figure out who it is from, flipping it in your hands. It just had your name on it, written in cursive with a wax rose seal at the back. Your heart thunders in your chest as you carefully open the envelope to reveal the letter and its contents.

Rose,

I know you probably weren't expecting a letter from me but I think this is a better way to articulate whatever I want to say without getting too emotional or too invested in the way that you're looking at me.

Let me start this letter off by saying I love you.

I know we've said it a few times when we were together but I don't think you ever knew when it was because I never told you, I wanted to save it for when we get married but then you left ten years ago and now, I'm here saying 'Fuck it, what's the worst that could happen?' You leaving me a second time?

Sorry bad joke…

I knew that I loved you the second you showed me the roses in that godforsaken flower garden that I truly did not want to go to. I guess I have Su Bin to thank for dragging us there that day because if she didn't, we would never have met.

Maybe we would have at a later date considering Seungcheol and I were friends but I think I wouldn't have fallen in love with you that early if we hadn't met that day. If I wasn't bait for Seungcheol's plan to get away from flower talks with you, I wouldn't have learned about what Roses meant and I wouldn't have learned what it was like to fall in love with you.

I wouldn't have spent ten years of my life after that yearning for you, four after that getting the experience of loving you and another ten after that waiting for you to come home.

Which is actually why I opened the flower shop in the first place. I couldn't bear to be without you so I made something that might get you to come home, back to me and choose me again. Roses are Red would never have been built if I never met you.

Which is why I'm proposing that we give our relationship another shot.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still heartbroken by you and it'll definitely take a lot of time to rebuild that trust so that I don't think you're going to leave me again but… I realize that the universe doesn't make mistakes.

We, humans can make mistakes but the universe doesn't.

It wasn't a mistake that Su Bin managed to convince our mother to bring us to the flower park that day, it wasn't a mistake when Seungcheol roped me into becoming bait to meet you, it wasn't a mistake that it rained during our first date and… it wasn't a mistake that you left the same day that I gave you the promise ring.

Maybe this is a bad decision and maybe our relationship will be in tatters after this but from how I see it, I still love you. I spent a long time thinking about it the last few days and I realize that I'm not ready to give you up just yet.

Because I know that deep down, you still love me too.

If all this is said and true, I'm waiting for you at our spot, Rose.

Don't overthink it and if you are going to, overthink it with me. There's enough space on that door for the both of us.

~ Hannie <3

You stare at the letter for a couple more seconds, not believing your eyes as your mind races with a million thoughts per second. You jolt out of them when Minghao puts a hand on your shoulder, an easy sympathetic smile on his face.

"This is the part where you run, Vi."

You feel your heart rate speed up as you nod, immediately hopping out of your chair as you fling the door open and run out into the street not caring about the rain. You sprint down the street as the rain dampens your clothes, making your way to the flower garden that you knew by heart since you were six years old because if there's one thing you knew for sure:

If the universe gives you a second chance, you have to take it.

Jeonghan feels at ease as he stands under the tree where the two of you had your first kiss. He thought that he shouldn't be feeling like this, since there's a chance that you wouldn't have read the letter that he had passed to Seungcheol this morning when he was closing up the store.

There's also a chance that you did read the letter and he was wrong, you didn't love him anymore and the last couple of days was just a fluke.

But as he stares at the spring rain falling on the trees and his umbrella, he knows that you're going to come.

He hums to himself as he patiently looks around, before he hears hard but fast footsteps just a couple feet away from him. He smiles to himself, knowing who those footsteps belonged to because he's always kept a listen out for it.

He turns to face you, who looked almost the exact same as you did that day when he first kissed you. Your hair's damp, sticking to each other and parts of your face and you sported a rosy red dress with a white knit sweater that just brought out the rosiness of your skin and a pair of sneakers.

Even though your makeup was lesser than that day of prom or on your first date, Jeonghan swears that you've never looked more beautiful and 'his' in this moment.

"Are you crazy?" Is the first words to leave his mouth as you end up under his umbrella. "You're going to get sick."

"Don't care." You reply, looking at the man in-front of you with as much love as you can express. He doesn't seem to catch it though, ranting about how you're so stupid to run here without an umbrella as he sheds off his jacket, placing it onto your shoulders.

"— do you have any idea what a common cold does to people? This is the stupidest thing you've ever done, you could've driven here, you could've at least taken an umbrella when you left the store. Like are you saying that you don't have any at the store because that's — mmph!"

You cut him off by pressing your lips against his, your hands going to the back of his neck as if it was just muscle memory. Jeonghan stands there frozen for a few seconds before his eyes flutter close, the umbrella forgotten as he lets it go, his hands more invested with being around your waist than keeping the two of you dry.

He groans into the kiss and you take the opportunity to deepen it, sliding your tongue into his mouth which he gladly reciprocates with his own. His grip on your waist tightens as he pulls you flush against him, not caring about how your wet clothes were soaking his own. You hum, smiling into the kiss as the two of you continue to make out.

Only when the two of you remember that oxygen is a thing, is when you two pull away. Jeonghan's lips pressing three more chaste kisses onto yours as if trying to remind himself that this isn't a dream and you are actually standing in-front of him, saying that you want to give your relationship another shot.

He bumps his forehead with yours before he leans his forehead against yours, a small teasing smile on his face.

"If I knew you missed me that much, I would've convinced you to take that photo of me in the basement the other day."

You roll your eyes, a soft scoff escaping your lips. "You wish."

"I do, Rose." He admits, without a second beat, the genuine honesty surprising you a little. "I wished that you missed me everyday in hopes that you would come home to me."

Your heart drops at that as you stare into Jeonghan's eyes that are filled with love and vulnerability.

"Hannie." You softly breathe out. "I'm sorry for making the decision for both of us and leaving without giving you a chance. There's no excuse for my actions and I thought I was doing it because it was the best decision for the both of us. However," you shake your head. "I realized that it was stupid of me to do so because it hurt a lot more than if we had just talked it out."

"I was so badly homesick during my first year in college that I wanted to dropout and come home to this town, come home to my family and friends but more importantly, I wanted to come home to you. However, I was scared that you weren't going to want to talk to me, that you hated my guts for what I did and I couldn't bare the thought of that happening."

You take a deep breath before tugging at the chain necklace hidden under your dress, taking it out of it to reveal the promise ring that Jeonghan gave you ten years ago.

"I never took it off." You softly admit as Jeonghan stares at the necklace, his eyes wide. "It was the one thing that kept me sane during college and what got me through the worse of the worse when I was working in corporate. Because every time I looked at it, I found my life a little less bleak and a little more hopeful, because I was thinking about you."

Jeonghan looks slightly teary eyed as he gazes into your watery ones. "If you let me, I'll spend the rest of my life hoping that you would forgive me. I'll work hard for all our dates, I'll plan and pay for every single one if you let me and I will always go the extra mile for you, just so that you know that I love you and that this is something that I want because like you said." You give him a soft, cheeky smile. "Humans may make mistakes but the universe doesn't."

Jeonghan stares at you for a few seconds, his eyes flitting around your face as if he's trying to commit your features to memory before he reaches into his own shirt neckline to pull out a chain similar to yours. Your eyes widen as you see the same promise ring nested on the chain as Jeonghan gives you a soft smile.

"I've been in this since I first saw you at the park, baby." He whispers out, letting the chain now rest on his neck, the ring glinting in the spring rain. "Let's just take it slow and see how it goes."

You nod, a soft smile overtaking your features as you lean more into the man that you love.

"So," You ask, wrapping your arms tighter around Jeonghan's waist. "What's the first step in taking it slow?"

Jeonghan's eyes lit up with a familiar mischief as he feigns a ponder before leaning closer to you, eyeing your lips.

"I can think of quite a few."

©livmarauder2026 Thank you guys so much for reading my collab fic for svthub! Be sure to check out all the other amazing works in this collab <3 Another fic will be coming out in a bit... be sure to watch out for that! <3 Like my work? Join my Permanent Taglist! All my fics are 18+, which means blogs without age or age indicator will not be tagged! If you like this, please consider reblogging or liking! It really makes my day! <3 Thank you for showing yearner jeonghan so much love!

Determined to preserve their kind, the third generation of flower fairies came together and established a flower shop dedicated to nurturing fairy blossoms.

Thus, Sunny Bunny Flora was born.

More than a flower shop, it served as a sanctuary where new fairies could safely bloom and begin their lives, and to ensure the continuation of their species, the fairies also upheld an important tradition. Every fairy was required to study human life, and only after passing a test would they be entrusted with their own flower shop somewhere else in the world, continuing the cycle for future generations.

And today marked the beginning of spring.

Joshua, a fairy born during winter, had officially taken charge of the flowers destined to bloom this season while also caring for the summer blossoms still waiting beneath the soil. The greenhouse was quiet as he watered rows of young sprouts, then something caught his attention. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a flower bud trembling vigorously. It shook once, twice, then even harder, as though whatever was trapped inside was desperately trying to escape.

Joshua smiled knowingly. Setting down his watering can, he crouched beside the struggling bud and waited patiently.

"Someone's eager," he murmured.

The flower quivered one final time before bursting open, a tiny fairy shot out like an arrow, straight into Joshua's face.

"Ow-"

The newborn fairy bounced off his forehead and tumbled toward the ground, and Joshua quickly caught her before she could land, a laugh escaped him as he looked down at the partially unconscious fairy resting in his palm.

"You really shouldn't be in such a hurry to come out."

In front of him, the flower that had birthed her unfolded completely: a daffodil. Its golden-yellow petals glowed brightly beneath the morning sunlight, bringing warmth and color to everything around it. Healthy, beautiful, and perfect.

Joshua carefully placed the newborn fairy onto a soft cloth before gently patting the excess moisture from her delicate wings.

"Rest for now," he said.

Once he was certain she was comfortable, he returned to his work. After all, if a daffodil fairy had bloomed on the first day of spring, it wouldn't be long before the rest of the spring flowers followed.

A few minutes later, the tiny fairy stirred awake. Slowly, she sat up and blinked and looked around.

Well, that certainly was one way to say hello. To be fair, it wasn't the first time a newborn fairy had reacted like this. So, shall we introduce her properly?

Everyone, say hello to Y/N.

The moment Y/N opened her eyes, fear flashed across her face.

Of course she was frightened.

Before blooming, all she had ever known was darkness. Now, for the first time, she was seeing light—colors, shapes, lively. Everything around her felt overwhelmingly vivid, yet despite her fear, curiosity soon began to take over.

Her eyes darted everywhere. She wanted to touch everything, explore everything, ask questions about everything, and most of all, she wanted to fly. Unfortunately, the moment she tried lifting her wings, they drooped—still damp, still too weak.

As she was testing them, a door nearby opened. Joshua emerged carrying a sack of fertilizer over his shoulder.

"Oh," he said, noticing her awake. "You're up."

He carefully set the sack down.

Y/N stared, and stared… and stared.

Now, she couldn't actually speak yet.

Newborn fairies didn't develop their voices immediately, but if she could speak, she would probably be saying something like-

"Oh my gosh, hi! Who am I? Who are you? Wait, never mind, I know who I am. I'm a daffodil fairy! A spring fairy! Are you my father? My mother? No, you're probably not my mother. Are you a fairy too? Why are you so tall? Why is everything so big? What is that sack? What's outside? Can I fly? Can I-"

Actually, Y/N spent the next thirty minutes continuing that train of thought, so for everyone's sanity, we'll skip the rest.

Joshua watched her silently. As a fairy himself, he recognized the signs immediately. And the way she stared at him made it obvious that an entire conversation was taking place inside her head. Eventually, after enduring several minutes of uninterrupted mental rambling, Joshua scratched the back of his neck. The atmosphere had become surprisingly awkward.

"I feel like you're saying a lot right now," he admitted.

Y/N blinked.

Joshua walked past her and pulled open one of the greenhouse drawers. Inside sat a glass carafe filled with bright red liquid, beside it were several tiny cups designed specifically for newborn fairies.

Oh!

That's strawberry nectar. The traditional fruit drink used to help young fairies develop their voices, and now we get to watch Y/N drink it like a toddler having her first cup of milk.

Joshua poured a small serving and handed it to her.

After she finished every last drop, he smiled.

"You can try speaking now," he said. "But don't overdo it. Your vocal cords haven't fully formed yet, so take it slowly."

Y/N opened her mouth, and a soft, sweet voice emerged,beautiful and clear despite being brand new. Then, without hesitation, she asked,

"As I was saying earlier... can you give me a name?"

Joshua paused thoughtfully.

Hmm… Joshua, if you can hear me, I've already picked one, and it suits her perfectly.

Joshua nodded to himself as though he had somehow heard the suggestion, then he looked at the tiny fairy and smiled.

"I'll call you Y/N."

There we go.

And that, dear readers, is the story of how Y/N was born.

-

Y/N turned out to be a talkative fairy. A very, very talkative fairy. And unfortunately for Joshua, he was the only other living being around most of the time, which meant he had to endure every single one of her thoughts.

Every.

Single.

One.

As Joshua worked with soil, watered flowers, trimmed leaves, and organized supplies, Y/N floated around him like a tiny yellow shadow. Sometimes she talked about the weather, sometimes she talked about how beautiful Sunny Bunny Flora was, sometimes she talked about why bees were fuzzy, sometimes she talked about why flower pots were round, and sometimes she talked about absolutely nothing at all.

Joshua honestly couldn't keep track anymore. The only trick he had discovered was simple: Whenever Y/N paused, he hummed. Whenever she asked a question, he hummed. Whenever she asked something that had no answer, he hummed. Whenever she asked something that had an answer, he hummed.

It worked surprisingly well.

To Y/N, every hum sounded like active participation.

To Joshua, it allowed him to finish his work in relative peace.

"...and that's why I think butterflies and flowers are probably best friends," Y/N concluded.

"Mhm."

"Do you think so too?"

"Mhm."

"What if they secretly dislike each other?"

"Mhm."

Y/N narrowed her eyes, and Joshua froze. Slowly, she pointed at him.

"You weren't listening."

Joshua immediately looked away. A very guilty reaction, if you ask me. Before Y/N could launch into another speech, she suddenly sighed dramatically and flopped onto a nearby flower pot.

"So when will the other spring fairies be born?" she whined. "I'm bored."

Coincidentally, Joshua had just finished mixing soil.

Perfect timing.

He stood up, dusting dirt from his gloves.

"Huh?" he asked.

"The spring fairies."

"Oh." Joshua removed his gloves and glanced toward the rows of spring flowers waiting to bloom. "Probably in a few days."

"A few days?"

"Maybe."

Y/N gasped as if he had announced the end of the world. "A few days is forever!"

Joshua continued calmly. "Or next week."

"NEXT WEEK?!"

"Depends."

"On what?"

Joshua shrugged. "Whether they want to come out or not."

Y/N blinked.

The answer made perfect sense. It also made absolutely no sense.

"But I came out on the first day of spring."

"That's because you're a daffodil." Joshua washed his hands at the sink. "Daffodils are usually the first few flowers to bloom. Which means daffodil fairies are usually the first few fairies to be born."

Y/N considered this seriously, then another question appeared, because of course it did. "Who decided that?"

Joshua paused. "No idea."

"Someone must have."

"Nope."

"Then who appointed daffodils to be first?"

"No one."

"There has to be someone."

"There doesn't."

"There does.

"There doesn't."

"There does."

"There doesn't."

"There-"

The greenhouse door opened, then closed.

Joshua escaped. Just like that, leaving Y/N staring at the door in disbelief.

"...he ran away."

Yes. Yes, he did.

Y/N pouted so hard her cheeks nearly doubled in size. For several seconds, she remained suspended in the air, arms crossed, then she huffed.

"Fine."

If Joshua wasn't going to answer her questions, she would find answers herself. That was definitely a wonderful idea, absolutely nothing could go wrong.

Y/N fluttered down onto the ground and wandered through the greenhouse.

Rows of spring flowers greeted her on one side. Rows of summer flowers occupied the other. Many were still sleeping beneath the soil, waiting for their season to arrive.

The newborn fairy slowly walked between the pots, reading each tiny label aloud.

"Lavender."

She moved to the next.

"Sunflower."

Then another.

"Cosmos."

"Zinnia."

"Hibiscus."

The names felt magical on her tongue. Each pot held a future fairy she had yet to meet. Future friends, future conversations, victims of her endless talking.

Actually, let's not tell them that part yet.

Y/N continued wandering between the rows of flower pots until one particular bloom caught her attention. Unlike the other spring flowers, its petals had already opened. Curious, she fluttered closer and lowered herself onto the edge of the pot. Then she noticed something lying on the soil.

A fairy.

"Oh!"

Y/N nearly fell forward. She quickly steadied herself before peering over the rim of the pot. There, sprawled among the soft soil, was a tiny fairy, fast asleep. Its wings glistened with moisture, still sticking together from birth.

Y/N immediately looked up at the flower above them.

The blossom was fully open, revealing vibrant blue petals swaying gently in the greenhouse breeze. Then she looked down at the small wooden label stuck into the soil.

"Siberian Squill."

She carefully sounded out each word, and blinked.

Wait... that means-

"A spring fairy!"

Her eyes sparkled.

Another spring fairy had been born, and judging by the condition of their wings, very recently.

Y/N leaned closer.

The fairy was still completely unconscious.

Well, that made sense. Their wings were far wetter than hers had been when she woke up. In fact, they looked as though they had only just emerged from their flower.

Y/N glanced toward the greenhouse door, Joshua was nowhere to be seen, then she looked back at the Siberian Squill blossom. Slowly, the pieces came together.

"Oh."

The flower must have bloomed after Joshua left. The newborn fairy had probably slipped right out of the flower and landed onto the soil below, and since nobody was around to catch them...

Y/N looked at the sleeping fairy, then at the soil, then back at the fairy.

"...that looks uncomfortable."

The fairy remained asleep, apparently not bothered in the slightest.

Y/N rested her chin on her hands. For the first time since her birth, there was another fairy in the greenhouse.

Someone born after her, someone who was technically younger than her. Not by much, by two days. But still, that counted.

Which meant...

Y/N sat up straighter.

"I think this makes me a senior."

No, it did not, not even a little, but nobody was awake to argue with her.

The fairy shifted slightly in their sleep. Y/N gasped and immediately scooted closer.

"Hello."

No response.

"My name is Y/N."

Nothing at all.

"I'm a daffodil fairy."

"I was born before you."

Yet Y/N nodded proudly.

"See? I'm already teaching you important things."

The sleeping fairy remained completely unaware that the first person they had ever met was a self-appointed senior who had decided they were now friends.

Whether they agreed or not would be a problem for later… preferably after they woke up.

-

The weeks passed surprisingly quickly. Well… perhaps not for Joshua. For him, every day felt approximately three times longer than it should have, thanks to one very specific daffodil fairy.

Y/N.

Somewhere between welcoming newborn fairies, asking endless questions, and appointing herself as everyone's friend, Y/N had somehow managed to achieve something nobody had asked for. She became the leader of the spring fairies. Why? Because she was the first one born. That was it, that was her entire qualification. According to Y/N, being born first automatically made her the most experienced spring fairy. According to everyone else, including Joshua, that logic made absolutely no sense.

Unfortunately, Y/N was very persuasive, or perhaps the other newborn fairies simply lacked the energy to argue with her. Either way, within a month, the title had somehow stuck.

Joshua often found himself watching the situation unfold from the sidelines, and Y/N would gather the spring fairies together and make announcements—important announcements such as:

"We should all take afternoon naps."

Or:

"As your leader, I have decided that strawberry nectar is the best nectar."

Or:

"Any objections?"

There were never any objections, mostly because nobody cared enough to object, and Joshua simply watched the entire thing like a human watching a television drama.

At this point, interfering would only make things funnier.

As Y/N gradually grew accustomed to life outside her flower bud, Joshua began shifting his attention toward something more important: her education. After all, every fairy eventually had to take the Fairy Qualification Test, and that meant learning how humans lived.

Fortunately for Joshua, Y/N was an eager student, yet unfortunately for Joshua, Y/N was also Y/N.

"Why does two drops of nectar plus two drops of nectar equal four drops of nectar?" she complained.

Joshua sighed, here we go again.

"Nectar is delicious."

"That's true."

"So I think it should become ten drops instead."

"...that's not how mathematics works."

"Why not?"

"Because numbers don't care about your feelings."

Y/N looked deeply offended by that statement, and Joshua continued writing equations on the board.

He had expected this. In fact, he had prepared for this. Over the next two months, he patiently taught her everything a fairy needed to know before managing a flower shop.

Mathematics, human needs, basic healthcare, problem-solving, business management, taxes, human reproduction, social customs, and countless other topics.

Some lessons went smoothly, others ended with Joshua questioning every life decision that had led him to becoming an instructor.

"Humans pay taxes?"

"Yes."

"Voluntarily?"

"No."

"Oh."

That response explained far more than any textbook could. Still, despite the occasional headache she caused him, Y/N learned quickly. Incredibly quickly, actually. Her curiosity, while exhausting, made her eager to understand everything. She absorbed information like a flower absorbing sunlight, and by the end of the second month, she had matured considerably.

…Well, mostly.

Academically, she had improved tremendously. Emotionally? She was still the self-proclaimed leader of the spring fairies, just a slightly smarter one.

And today marked the completion of her education, now all that remained was the test. The Fairy Qualification Test would take place one week before the first day of summer, and the results would be announced the day before summer officially began.

Pass, and she would move one step closer to managing her own flower shop.

Fail...

Well, let's not think about that.

Y/N wandered through the greenhouse afterward, admiring the familiar scenery.

Most of the spring flowers had already bloomed, and nearly every spring fairy had been born. The greenhouse felt alive with laughter and conversation. Meanwhile, the summer flowers were beginning to awaken, many were entering the blooming stage.

As she walked, one particular flower caught her attention: Sunflower.

Y/N stopped, and stared.

The sunflower plant wasn't blooming yet.

Something about it made her pause, something she couldn't quite explain, and for several moments, she simply stood there, before a gentle nudge against her shoulder pulled her from her thoughts.

Seokmin, the Siberian Squill fairy that she had discovered sleeping in the soil all those weeks ago.

"Why are you staring at the sunflower?" he asked.

Y/N looked back at the plant, then shrugged.

"I don't know."

Which was unusual, Y/N almost always had an answer.

"Just got a feeling that..." Her voice trailed off, a strange sensation lingered in her chest. After a moment, she shook her head. "Never mind."

Seokmin raised an eyebrow, and Y/N turned away, began walking again.

Now, I don't want to spoil anything, but if a spring fairy keeps staring at a future summer flower for no reason whatsoever... Well, there might be a chance that a certain summer fairy and a certain spring fairy are destined to cross paths. Just a possibility, of course… a very suspicious possibility.

-

Time, as it often did, flew by.

The Fairy Qualification Test came, and went. And despite her dramatic complaints, her endless questions, and her tendency to accidentally turn every lesson into a debate, Y/N passed quite easily, because even though Y/N may have been chaotic, she had always been intelligent.

Curiosity was, after all, one of the best teachers.

The day after the results were announced, Joshua led her toward a room she had never entered before. For once in her life, Y/N followed without asking a single question. It is a remarkable achievement, a historic moment, really.

The room itself was surprisingly empty. At its center stood a large sleeping capsule made of silver metal and glass. The structure stretched almost from floor to ceiling, humming softly with magic.

Y/N stared at it, then pointed.

"I will sleep in that?" After listening to Joshua explain the capsule's purpose, she looked even more uncertain.

Joshua nodded. "Yep."

"In this giant sleeping capsule?"

Joshua chuckled. "It only looks giant because you're tiny."

That was fair, everything looked giant to fairies.

"The capsule will help your body transition."

"Transition?"

"Into a human."

Y/N blinked.

"Oh."

Joshua leaned against the nearby control panel.

"You'll grow to around my size."

"Oh."

Her voice became noticeably smaller. For the first time that day, the excitement faded from her face, and Joshua noticed immediately. Of course he did, he had spent months teaching her, he knew exactly when she was thinking too much.

Y/N looked down at her tiny hands, then at her delicate wings, then at the greenhouse visible through the room's glass window.

The realization finally settled in. Growing up meant moving forward, moving forward meant responsibility. Responsibility meant leaving—well, not completely, but enough. The spring fairies would continue blooming, new fairies would continue being born, life would continue moving. And for the first time since her own birth, she wouldn't be part of every moment.

She took a slow breath before looking up.

"Can I take the sunflower pot afterward?"

Joshua raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" The request caught him off guard. "Why?"

Y/N shrugged.

"Just got a feeling."

Joshua glanced toward her knowingly.

"You like the sunflower?"

Y/N immediately looked away, Joshua smirked.

Ah, that answered everything.

"Sure."

Y/N looked back at him.

"Really?"

"Really." He folded his arms. "Might as well make it your first plantation."

A smile immediately returned to her face. "Thanks."

Joshua nodded, then gestured toward the capsule.

"So." His voice softened. "Are you ready?"

Y/N opened her mouth, paused, and closed it again, then pointed toward the greenhouse.

"Remind me to say goodbye to everyone afterward."

Joshua smiled.

"You can visit whenever you want."

"I know." Her voice became quieter. "But I have a feeling I'll miss them."

Y/N looked at the capsule again, then immediately turned around.

"Actually."

Joshua narrowed his eyes. Here we go again...

"Let me take a group photo first."

Joshua sighed.

"I knew there was a reason you weren't getting in."

"I might miss my current fairy size."

"You just want to delay the process."

"Is it that obvious?"

Joshua nodded.

"Extremely."

Y/N laughed sheepishly, yet despite knowing exactly what she was doing, Joshua stepped aside. Because sometimes delaying something wasn't about fear, sometimes it was about appreciating what was about to end. So Y/N spent the next hour with the spring fairies; photos were taken, stories were shared, promises were made—Seokmin somehow ended up getting dragged into at least half the pictures. Nobody knows how.

Eventually, however, even the longest goodbye had to end. The capsule remained waiting, and this time, Y/N walked toward it without hesitation and turned around. The gathered fairies followed behind her had come to see her off as they hovered in the air, smiling.

Y/N smiled back a little sadly, nervously, but mostly gratefully, then she looked at Joshua and nodded.

"I'm ready."

Joshua returned the nod. Without another word, he closed the capsule door, a series of locks clicked into place. The machine hummed louder. Y/N pressed her hand against the glass. The fairies pressed their tiny hands against it from the other side. Then Joshua pressed a button, followed by a soft sleeping mist that filled the capsule. Y/N's eyelids immediately became heavy, her vision blurred. The last thing she saw was a crowd of familiar faces smiling at her, then darkness. Sleep claimed her almost instantly, the transformation began. Magic surged through the capsule, light filled the chamber.

Outside, the fairies watched in awe. Y/N's body slowly grew, her tiny fairy form stretched larger, wings shinking smaller, and within minutes, the size difference became obvious. Moments more, she had become fully human with wings gone.

The process was always fascinating to watch, no matter how many times Joshua had seen it.

Finally, the light faded. The machine fell silent, a loud hiss echoed throughout the room, steam burst from the seams of the capsule, the door unlocked automatically but slowly. The chamber opened. Inside lay Y/N peacefully asleep. Joshua glanced down at the excited fairies fluttering around him. Their wings buzzed so quickly that some of them were practically vibrating, and he chuckled.

"Relax." Nobody relaxed. "Y/N won't wake up for a few hours."

Finally, the fairies reluctantly nodded. One by one, they followed Joshua out of the room.

The door closed behind them, and for the first time since she was born from a daffodil on the first day of spring, Y/N was completely alone, waiting to wake up and begin the next chapter of her life.

Slowly, Y/N opened her eyes, and immediately, she sat upright. Or at least, she tried to, because unfortunately, she underestimated how much bigger she was now, and her head nearly collided with the capsule glass door.

"Ow."

Wow, what a wonderful start.

Y/N rubbed her forehead before staring down at her hands. They looked... big—well, not giant, but just normal human-sized. Curiously, she looks away from her hands and outside the glass door, then froze. The world looked different. The countertop across the room, once impossibly high above her, was now directly within reach. She steps out of the capsule and slowly walks towards it, stretching out her arm as her fingers touched the countertop effortlessly.

Then something else occurred to her. Y/N twisted around, nothing. She reached behind herself, absolutely nothing.

"My wings?" She spun around again. "My wings?!"

Panic immediately set in, Y/N hurried toward the standing mirror positioned beside the capsule. The reflection staring back at her made her gasp. Her appearance hadn't changed—her hair was the same, her eyes were the same, her face was the same; she was still Y/N. And yet... gone was the tiny fairy who could fit comfortably in Joshua's palm, the delicate wings resting behind her back.

Now she stood tall almost exactly Joshua's height.

The gasp she let out this time echoed throughout the room, apparently loud enough for someone outside to hear. The door opened and Joshua stepped inside. The first thing he saw was Y/N twisting her body left and right, attempting to inspect every angle of herself at once. The second thing he noticed was that she was trying to look over her own shoulder for wings that no longer existed.

"I see you're awake."

Y/N immediately pointed behind herself.

"My wings are gone!"

"Yes."

"My wings are gone!"

"...yes."

"My wings are gone!"

Joshua nodded patiently. "They are indeed gone."

Y/N looked horrified. "How am I supposed to reach things that are too high now?"

Joshua stared then pointed at himself.

"Do you see wings on me?"

"...No."

"And yet I somehow survive every day."

Y/N opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again.

"...but..."

Joshua's grin widened.

"Looks like someone is going to have some trouble living without wings."

The moment he walked past her, Y/N immediately puffed her cheeks. A very childish reaction for someone who had just become an adult. But then again, she had only existed for a few months. We'll give her some time.

Pouting, she followed Joshua out of the room. Their footsteps echoed through the greenhouse halls. Y/N was still getting used to having legs this long, and several times she nearly tripped over absolutely nothing. Eventually she caught up beside him.

"So where's my flower shop?"

Joshua reached into his bag and handed her a folded map.

"The red circle."

Y/N eagerly opened it. There, circled neatly in red ink, was her destination. Joshua then handed her a checklist.

"And before you ask-"

"I'm asking."

"I know." He sighed. "I taught you how to drive."

"You did."

"But to legally drive, you'll need a license."

Y/N nodded.

"A test..."

"A test."

"Another test…?"

"Another test."

Y/N groaned dramatically, Joshua ignored her.

"Don't worry. You'll pass." He paused. "Assuming you don't start arguing with the examiner about nectar mathematics."

"That happened one time."

"It happened seventeen times."

Y/N chose not to comment, all while Joshua reached into his bag once more and handed her a sealed envelope. Curious, she opened it.

Inside was a stack of cash, a credit card, and several documents.

Y/N's eyes widened.

"So much money."

"Not really."

"It feels like a lot."

Joshua pointed at her.

"Don't spend it all."

Y/N immediately replied, "Save money, budget properly, separate necessities from wants, and prepare emergency funds."

Joshua blinked, then smiled proudly.

"Looks like you were listening after all."

"I always listen."

Joshua raised an eyebrow. The look alone was enough to expose that lie, and Y/N quickly changed the topic. "So."

Joshua already knew where this was going.

"Yes?"

"Can I grab the sunflower pot now?"

Joshua rolled his eyes.

Of course… of course that was her priority.

"So all you care about is the sunflower pot?"

Y/N made an exaggerated offended face, then shook her head.

"No."

Joshua waited.

"I have to say goodbye to everyone too."

"And?"

"And what?"

Joshua crossed his arms.

"What about me?"

For the first time since waking up, Y/N fell silent and let out a genuine smile. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. Joshua froze for half a second before returning the hug.

"Thank you, Shua." Her voice was quieter than usual. "For everything."

After all, Joshua had been there from the moment she burst out of her daffodil. He had taught her, guided her, tolerated her (which might have been the hardest task of all)

"And goodbye."

Joshua chuckled. "It's not goodbye."

Y/N pulled away.

"Right." She smiled. "I'll visit."

The rest of the day passed quickly. Photos were taken, goodbyes were exchanged, promises to visit were made. Seokmin reminded her not to forget them after becoming a successful shop owner, Y/N immediately declared that forgetting her spring fairy friends was impossible. And eventually, it was time to leave. Joshua loaded her belongings into the car, and Y/N carefully settled into the passenger seat, resting on her lap was a sunflower pot.

The journey began.

As the car moved through the streets, Y/N pressed herself against the window like an excited child. Every building fascinated her, every person fascinated her, every passing vehicle fascinated her. Joshua wasn't sure if she blinked during the entire drive.

Finally, the car slowed to a stop, and Y/N looked up.

A flower shop stood before her.

Joshua stepped out first, Y/N followed, carefully carrying the sunflower pot.

For a moment, neither spoke, then Joshua smiled.

"You'll do fine."

Y/N smiled back.

"I know."

Joshua laughed, of course she would say that.

With one final wave, he returned to the car, and drove away, leaving Y/N standing alone on the sidewalk. Slowly, she unlocked it.

The bell above the entrance chimed softly as she stepped inside, dust floated through beams of sunlight, empty shelves lined the walls, the space was quiet. Y/N carefully placed the sunflower pot near the front window before planting both hands on her hips. Her eyes scanned every corner of the shop, and a grin slowly spread across her face.

"Looks like it's decorating time."

And just like that, the owner of a brand-new flower shop officially began her journey.

-

The first few weeks of running her flower shop during the summer were busy, because apparently, being a flower shop owner involved significantly more responsibilities than Y/N had imagined. There were flowers to care for, supplies to order, customers to greet, bills to pay, and occasionally, mysterious paperwork that seemed determined to multiply whenever she wasn't looking.

Joshua had warned her, she simply hadn't believed him.

At the moment, Y/N was watering a row of summer flowers while waiting for a delivery truck to arrive.

The shop was quiet and peaceful. Sunlight streamed through the windows, bathing the room in a warm golden glow. Everything felt normal, until it wasn't. From the corner of her eye, Y/N noticed movement. A flower bud trembled, and Y/N immediately froze.

No way.

The watering can nearly slipped from her hand as she hurried over. The bud continued shaking, then, with a soft pop, The flower bloomed. Bright yellow petals unfolded toward the sunlight, and a tiny fairy tumbled out straight onto the soil below.

"Oh!"

Y/N quickly set down the watering can and crouched beside the flower pot. The fairy remained motionless, exactly as she had been when she first emerged from her daffodil.

Y/N smiled, then looked at the flower.

Sunflower.

The realization struck instantly.

Her sunflower. The very same sunflower pot she had carried all the way from Sunny Bunny Flora, that she had watched for weeks before leaving, that had given her that strange feeling she could never explain. And now, its fairy had finally been born.

Carefully, Y/N scooped up the tiny fairy from the soil. The newborn was still damp from blooming, their wings sticking together from moisture. She carried them over to a miniature bed specifically prepared for future fairy births.

A very important purchase, according to Y/N.

An unnecessary purchase, according to her budget. The budget lost that argument.

Gently, she laid the fairy down, then she simply sat beside the bed.

Her first fairy. The first fairy born under her care, born in her very own flower shop.

The thought filled her with a warmth she couldn't quite describe.

After a while, Y/N tilted her head thoughtfully.

"A name..." She tapped her chin. "Hmm."

The fairy continued sleeping. Completely unaware that one of the biggest decisions of their life was currently being made without their input. Eventually, Y/N snapped her fingers. "I got it."

Satisfied with her choice, she stood up and returned to work. There were deliveries to receive, flowers to organize, and customers to serve. The fairy would wake up eventually, and surprisingly, eventually came rather quickly, because not long after the delivery arrived, Y/N found herself glancing toward the miniature bed, then she stopped.

The fairy was awake, sitting upright, looking around with wide eyes. Curious, confused, overwhelmed.

Ah…

The classic newborn fairy experience. Some things never changed.

Y/N immediately put down the box she was carrying. Slowly and carefully as she approached the bed. She remembered how frightening the world had seemed when she first opened her eyes, so she made sure her movements were gentle.

The tiny fairy looked up and Y/N smiled. "Hi."

The fairy blinked.

"My name is Y/N, and I'm the owner of this flower shop."

The fairy continued staring. But then again, newborn fairies weren't exactly known for their conversational skills.

Y/N chuckled softly.

"And I've decided to name you Lee Chan." She pointed toward him.

"Lee." Then smiled. "Chan."

The tiny fairy stared at her for several seconds, then tilted his head. Honestly, that was probably the most reasonable reaction possible.

And so began Y/N's life as a flower shop owner, with a sunflower fairy.

Funny, isn't it? Out of all the flowers she could have brought with her, she chose that particular sunflower. Out of all the summer fairies waiting to be born, he happened to be the first one under her care.

Coincidence? Perhaps, perhaps not.

Personally, I think fate enjoys gardening just as much as flower fairies do.

Now, could romance bloom between a daffodil fairy and a sunflower fairy? Maybe… maybe not. After all, Y/N had responsibilities. She would have to teach Chan, guide him, help him pass his own Fairy Qualification Test, help him grow. Only then would he eventually become human, just as she had. What happens after that? Well, that part of the story belongs to Y/N, not me.

Every fairy deserves the chance to write their own happily-ever-after.

Still... If you asked for my prediction? I would say there's a very good chance that one day, Y/N will realize she likes him. Then she'll spend months denying it, she'll accidentally make it obvious to everyone, she'll finally gather enough courage to confess. And somewhere after that, there will probably be a flower shop filled with laughter.

But that's a story for another day.

And this one? This one ends exactly where it should. With a daffodil fairy who grew up, found her place in the world, and began a brand-new chapter of her life.

The End.

They roll their eyes at you and drain the rest of their drink from the plastic cup in their hand. “Whatever. It’s just strange.”

You stand from the couch you are sitting on and simply smile at them. “That’s the beauty of my love life. I don’t have to make it make sense for you,” you tell them, before you start making your way towards Minghao.

It’s not hard to laugh off or ignore the comments that you heard. It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last, that you were told you and Minghao are mismatched. It didn’t bother you, or him, to hear them. It just gets old. Though, as you near him and Jun, none of it seems to matter. Only him.

He pauses in his conversation with Jun and smiles down at you as you reach his side, leaning down to press a soft kiss to your forehead. “You okay?” He asks softly, searching your face for any discomfort.

“Yeah, of course.” You smile back up at him and tug his shirt gently as an idea pops into your head. “Come with me,” you tell him as you take your hand in his.

He looks amused as he dismisses himself from Jun, letting you lead him through the party goers. “Where are you taking me?”

You don’t answer as you weave through the crowd and up the stairs, grinning when you finally find a bathroom that isn’t occupied. You tug him in and shut the door behind you, pushing him up against it. “Hi,” you greet as you look up at him, sliding your hands up his arms.

He quirks an eyebrow at you as a quiet chuckle escapes his lips. “Hi.” He reaches up to brush some hair from your forehead, before leaning down to catch your lips in a quick kiss. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” He asks, tipping his head to the side.

Your lips press to his chest, smiling as you feel his heartbeat beneath his shirt. “How much I love you.” You kiss the other side of his chest. “How happy you make me.” Another kiss to his neck. “How much I want you,” you finish in a whisper.

His heart jumps at the feel of your words against his skin, pulling in a slow breath as he lets his head rest back against the bathroom door. “Oh yeah?” His eyes close as your lips continue to move against his neck. “So, you decided to tell me in a bathroom?”

“Well, not so much as tell as show you,” you reply as you slip your hands under his shirt and to his stomach.

He licks his lips as he opens his eyes to look down at you, before his gaze flicks to the doorknob. “And what if people talk? About what we’re doing?” He asks, his voice quieter than he intends.

You shrug one shoulder as you push his shirt up and help him take it off, dropping it to the floor behind you. “Then let them talk.”

——————————————

Minghao exhales slowly, the smoke swirling from his mouth and drifting into the sky. He doesn’t say anything as you two lay on the hood of your beat up old station wagon, eyes fixed on the stars above. He flicks the ashes from his cigarette to the ground, his other hand resting on his stomach.

“People don’t think we work,” you say suddenly, turning your head to look at him. You study his side profile, seeing a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I hear it a lot. That they think we’re strange, they want to know what we do, how we are together.”

He takes one final drag of his cigarette, before climbing off the hood to stand. “And what do you tell them?” He asks as he grinds out the cigarette on the ground.

You push up onto your elbows and shrug one shoulder, suddenly feeling nervous. “That it isn’t any of their business. And I don’t have to tell them anything.”

A calm silence falls between you two as he nods, turning to lean against the car. He rests one hand on your leg, tipping his head back to look up at the sky. “People should mind their own business,” he finally says, rubbing your calf with his thumb.

You furrow your brow and sit up fully, your gaze dropping to his hand on your leg. “It doesn’t bother you? That they say those things? That they can’t just be happy for us?”

He runs a hand through his hair as he sighs, shifting so his hip is against the car so he can see you. “No. Because it doesn’t matter. What matters is how we feel about each other, right? They don’t need to know anything about us, except that we are happy together.”

You frown and let his words roll around in your head for a moment. You know he’s right, and it shouldn’t matter what they think. It didn’t used to bother you, but you are definitely sick of hearing the same things. Especially since it’s been almost a year, and you two have been doing just fine. Now there have been comments of disbelief that you two have even made it this far.

Minghao can see the thoughts churning in your head and smiles, moving again so he’s standing between your legs. “Just forget about all of them. About what they say.” He pauses as his hand comes up to rest on the back of your neck, leaning down so he is centimeters from your face. “Just focus on me. Right here. Right now,” he whispers, right before he presses his lips to yours.

It’s only a split second before you melt into the kiss,  pushing yourself into it with your palms flat on the hood of the car. You can feel his grip on your neck tighten as the kiss deepens, your lips parting to allow his tongue to hit yours. Your heart pounds hard against your ribs as you finally break away to gather some breath, while Minghao’s lips trail over your cheek and jaw.

Your eyes close as you tip your head to the side, giving him more access to your neck. “Hao… we should… move…” you murmur as you scoot yourself closer to him.

He hums as he pulls back and studies you for a moment, nodding slightly. “Okay.” He takes your hands and steps back, pulling you so you’re standing on the ground. Without another word, he starts to lead you back to the back of the car, causing you to glance around the empty parking lot to see if anyone is watching you.

It is the middle of the night, and neither of you had seen even a hint of headlights since you two had parked a little over an hour ago. You lick your lips as he opens the back hatch of the station wagon, before he strips his shirt off. “Oh,” is all you can mutter as you watch him climb into the back of the vehicle.

You grin as you climb in after him, holding back a giggle as you pull the hatch closed behind you. You wrap yourself around him and connect your lips to his, burying your hands into his hair as you roll on top of him.

He slips his hands under your shirt and quickly finds your bra, unhooking it with ease without breaking the kiss. He catches your bottom lip between his teeth and tugs gently, his fingers curling into the hem of your shirt. He quickly pulls it off, followed by your bra, and grins up at you. “That’s better,” he teases with a wink, his palms smoothing up your bare back.

You stifle a laugh and shake your head a little, wiggling a little on top of him. “Hm. You know what would be even better?”

“What’s that?”

You roll off him into the small space between him and the car wall, undoing the button on your pants. “If we were both— ugh, crap— naked,” you say as you struggle to shimmy out of your pants and underwear.

Minghao can’t help but laugh as he watches you, tucking one arm under his head while the other traces along your side. “Hm. You might be right.” He glances down at his own pants and quirks an eyebrow. “I think I might need help,” he jokes, looking back at you.

You roll your eyes, though you’re amused as you shift as best you can so you’re kneeling between his legs. You don’t say anything as your fingers work on the button and the zipper of his jeans, slowly tugging them off his hips. You work them down, along with his underwear, only shifting so you can pull them off and shove them against the back of the car.

Your eyes drift down to his half hard cock, which is resting against his stomach, and smooth your hands up his legs. You can hear his breath hitch as you wrap one hand around him, adjusting yourself so you can take him into your mouth.

He groans quietly as your mouth moves over him, your tongue swirling around the tip of his cock slowly. His eyes close as your hand moves in tandem with your mouth, working him so he’s fully hard. “Fuck,” he mutters as he brushes your hair back from your face.

You smile around him at the single word, speeding up your movements slightly. You can feel him harden even more, taste the precum leaking from him. You squeeze his balls gently as you pull your mouth off him, grinning up at him as you move up his body. “Have I ever told you how good you taste?” You ask quietly, before pressing your lips to his.

He smiles into your kiss and shakes his head. “I don’t think so. Usually, I tell you that,” he replies, his hands finding purchase on your hips as you straddle him.

“Then, I guess I have to tell you more often.” You reach between your bodies and lift your hips slightly, lining him up with you. You slowly sink down on him, your breath catching in your throat as he fills you. A small whine escapes you as you settle on him, leaning over to bury your face into his neck as you pause for a moment. It’s your turn to mutter a curse, his fingers tightening their grip on you.

He moves your hips just a little, and you whine again, though not in protest. He licks his lips as you sit up just enough, being careful not to hit your head on the roof of the car, and grind down on top of him. “You are so beautiful,” he mumbles into your chest.

You moan at his words, your pussy clenching around him as he speaks. All you can do is keep moving on top of him, the tip of his cock hitting your g-spot so deliciously. You can’t help but moan again as he helps you move on him, your palms flat against his chest for leverage.

It doesn’t take much for you to near an orgasm, the way his cock is hitting you, how your clit is grinding against him, or how hard his hands are gripping your hips. Your whines and moans grow louder as you teeter the edge, not wanting to hit it too soon, but also needing it so desperately.

All it takes for you to topple is his mouth on your breast, teeth lightly tugging your nipple as your orgasm washes over you. You can’t help the whines and moans that spill from your mouth as you ride it out, part of you not wanting it to end. Your breathing heavy by the time you come down and lean your forehead on his chest, stilling on top of him.

He lets you sit there, his hands moving lightly up and down your back. No words are said as he presses soft kisses to the top of your head, and you know you have to move again. You are grateful he doesn’t rush you, though you know he must be desperate for his own release.

You press several kisses to his chest, before sitting up to see him better. You smile at him and shift slightly, causing him to hiss at the movement. You climb off of him the best you can and lay next to him, reaching over to pull him on top of you. You wrap one leg around his waist as he lines him up again and slowly pushes back into you.

Minghao buries his face into your neck as he slowly pulls out, just to snap his hips back against you. He quickens his pace as your hands tangle into his hair at the back of his head, holding him close as he fucks you into the carpet of the car. 

It is rough against your back as your other leg around him, your ankles hooking to hold him close to you. He’s muttering your name under his breath as you tug his hair, and you can feel him near his own orgasm.

His body tenses as he grunts with each thrust, both of you tangled tight with each other. With a few last thrusts, he finally spills into you as he sighs your name one last time against your neck.

You both are trying to catch your breath as he softens inside you, finally pulling out of you. You can feel his cum, mixed with yours, leaking from you as you hold him close to your chest, combing your fingers through his hair. Silence lingers in the air as you two lay there for a moment, just enjoying each other.

After a couple more minutes, he finally groans and sits up as best as he can. He glances at the fogged up windows and smiles, reaching over to scrawl “strange love” on the glass.

You watch him with interest, before reaching over to slap your hand over the words with a laugh. They disappear as you wipe your hand over them, your gaze finding his as you do so. “Just you and me. Right here. Right now,” you say, repeating his words back to him.