He let out a small breath, looking at the bags of groceries he held, filled with vegetables, fruits, meats, and more food. He needed to get home to cook, as he'd learned only recently to cook well and wanted to hone his skills so his mother wouldn't have to use her energy to cook for him and his brother anymore. The young man, Kim Jongdae, did not say how disappointed he was in himself for practically forcing his mother to cook for them only because neither he nor his younger brother knew how to cook. Jongdae looked back up, trying to block these negative thoughts by breathing in the fresh spring air. It was late June, almost the beginning of summer, but Jongdae didn't necessarily look forward to sweating constantly and having to use at least ten fans to keep him and his family cool. It was already hot enough, he already had to wear tank tops and shorts in order to keep cool. It wouldn't be long before he started sweating.

Jongdae walked along the streets of the crowded outside market, looking to see if there were anything he might need or could use to cook something nice with. His eyes wandered and wandered, observing every aspect of the market. His eyes eventually fell upon a small shop on one of the sides of the street, where some other grocery stores were as well. The shop had floral decorations covering almost every inch of its outside, and it looked very angelic and welcoming. Jongdae slowly and carefully made his way to the open door of the store, making his way carefully inside.

The interior was astounding. The inside was like a tiny greenhouse (though it wasn't as tiny as it had looked outside), with the ceiling painted with a very realistic image of the top of a greenhouse. Jongdae could hear peaceful and calm rushing water, almost as if there were a stream inside. There was a CD player playing the sounds of the rainforest. Crickets, birds, dew dripping from the leaves of trees into small pools formed at the bottom. Flowers were displayed on beautiful circular tables, with one low level, and one higher level. the bottom of the tables were little streams of water covered by glass so customers wouldn't get their shoes wet. Around the walls were wreaths and all kinds of flowers, along with vines also covered with little flowers here and there. The air was very humid and fresh, and the lighting was perfect as well. It was like paradise.

"Welcome to The Secret Garden." a male voice called as soon as a bell was rung when Jongdae stepped inside. He bowed to the employee who was "helping" a young woman who was obviously flirting with him. Jongdae didn't bother to take a good look at the woman or the employee as he approached the flowers with a bright smile and leaned forward to smell them, making sure to touch delicately as to not ruin the flowers. The smell of the flowers plus the feeling of the air and the sound of the rainforest was so peaceful. But only if he managed to block out the voices of the two other people in the shop.

"Oppa, come out to dinner with me this evening. It's been so long since we last saw each other." the woman said in a high-pitched, "cutesy" voice. Jongdae looked over to see the woman pouting at the male, who Jongdae observed, slightly disturbed by his appearance.

"I don't feel like going out this evening. Maybe another time, alright?" the man said in a gentle voice, completely contradicting his appearance. The male was taller than the woman, Jongdae guessed a good 15 centimeters or so. The male had jet black hair, the same shade as Jongdae's, but a completely different style. While Jongdae's hair covered his forehead and was slightly disheveled, this male's hair was styled completely upwards. He had ear piercings on his earlobe that connected to a back helix earring. He had two black lip rings on the left side of his lip, and a black eyebrow piercing on his right eyebrow. He had an unbelievable amount of rings and bracelets, and an unbelievable amount of tattoos. (At least it was unbelievable to Jongdae.) Jongdae could see one covering the entirety of his right arm, all of his left bicep, all around his left wrist, and Jongdae could barely see the beginning of a tattoo on the back of his neck. Moreover, the male was wearing dark eyeliner, which, quite frankly, complimented his eyes well. The male was wearing a plain white t-shirt that had its sleeves rolled up completely, and black shorts. Over these clothes was a dark green florist apron.

Jongdae could acknowledge that this man was muscular, interesting, and maybe even a tiny bit attractive, but the way that the woman fawned over him was not the initial reaction Jongdae would have upon meeting this man. He wasn't into tattooed, bracelet-and-ring-obsessed men who were covered in piercings. Hell, he wasn't into men at all. He was completely heteroual. The male's gaze switched over to Jongdae, who immediately looked away, acting as if he wasn't just staring at him. He continued looking around at the flowers.

"You can leave now, Heeyoung. I'm not having dinner with you tonight, and I have a customer to take care of." the male says to the female, presumably Heeyoung, who huffed and stomped out of the shop. The male let out a breath of relief before he ran a hair through his hair and placed his hands in the front pocket of his apron with his thumbs hanging out. He strode casually over to Jongdae, watching him for a second before speaking.

"I'm guessing you're not one of my admirers, sir, so what kind of flowers would you like today?" he says, and Jongdae can immediately sense both the cocky tone in his voice. He tried not to appear rude.

"Um...there are these flowers that my mother really likes. I think they're called cl...clem...Lemon bells?" Jongdae says. He couldn't remember the name of the favorite flowers of his mother.

"Clematis Chiisanensis?" the male asks, smirking slightly.

"Yes, yes. That's it. Thank you, Mr..." Jongdae's eyes went to the name tag on the male's apron. Kim Minseok. "...Kim."

"Call me Minseok." the male replies with a smile, leading Jongdae over to a different table where the flowers were. As he began taking some of the flowers to make a nice bouquet, Jongdae looked around the shop, taking in the peace once more. "What's your name?"

"Kim Jongdae." he replied.

"Oh, that's funny. We have the same last name." Minseok says.

"Mhm." Jongdae replies, eyes moving around until they land on the back of Minseok's neck, where he could see the neck tattoo better. All of the tattoos were floral-based. It looked as though the florist had an obsession with flowers. Jongdae didn't find it weird, seeing that flowers were so beautiful and could be made even more beautiful if they were arranged correctly. Jongdae found himself mesmerized by Minseok's tattoos, not even realizing that he'd been caught.

"Are you staring at my tattoos or at my muscles?" he heard Minseok chuckle, and Jongdae felt his face turn red.

"Th-The tattoos." he answered quickly, feeling embarrassed. Minseok nodded, smiling brightly. In one arm, he held the bouquet of flowers, and he lifted his other arm up to Jongdae.

"You can just ask to look. I don't mind." he says. Jongdae hesitates but takes shy hold of Minseok's arm. He finds tattoos on his ring fingers as well as his right palm. Jongdae was more amazed than he was impressed, even though he knew that all of these tattoos must have taken a lot of pain. He gently touches the tattoos with two of his fingers, trailing from his forearm to his tricep. Jongdae's mouth hangs slightly open in amazement. The hand holding Minseok's arm unconsciously slides down to his wrist, and it takes Jongdae a moment before he realized how intimately he was touching this stranger. He let go of his arm, putting his own arms behind his back. He avoided eye contact with Minseok, who just led him to the counter to pay for the flowers.

After Jongdae had paid, he expected to be given the flowers, but the male behind the counter wouldn't give them to him.

"Can I have your number as payment, too?" Minseok asked, smirking. Jongdae stared wide-eyed at him for a moment. Was this guy...flirting with him?

"Umm..." Jongdae didn't know how to answer. He was terrible at flirting. And he wasn't even interested. This was making him uncomfortable. "Are you...gay?"

"Biual, actually. And I just happen to find you cute." Minseok responded.

"I-I'm not gay." Jongdae says.

"You don't have to be. I just think I deserve payment, no? And you don't find me in the least bit attractive?"

Jongdae stared at the ground for a moment. If he just does what this guy says, he won't have to be uncomfortable anymore. With slightly shaky hands, Jongdae quickly writes down his number on the piece of paper that Minseok provided, and he was given the flowers. As he hurried out with his bags and flowers, he heard Minseok call after him.

"Please come back tomorrow!"

Jongdae silently took off his shoes as he entered his house, holding the flowers close to his chest, and keeping the handles of the bags on his arms as well. He took a deep breath as he entered the house, spotting his mother lying comfortably on the couch, watching TV. Her eyes and her expression were blank, emotionless.

"Mom, I'm back." Jongdae said in a low voice, catching his mother's attention. When she saw him, her eyes lit up and her lips curved into a lovely smile, and Jongdae couldn't help but grin. He walked over to her, handing her the flowers. "I got you these."

"Oh my, they're beautiful, Jongdae. Thank you so much." his mother said in her gentle and caring voice, gently caressing Jongdae's cheek before taking the flowers. Jongdae smiled, going into the kitchen and putting the grocery bags down on the countertop. He began taking out the food and putting it in the fridge. He heard his mother shuffle a bit. "J...Jongdae...you're 23. You shouldn't be taking care of me, you should be out with friends, or with a girlfriend...You even gave up college for me. You shouldn't be doing that for your old mother." Jongdae tried to keep his smile.

"I just have to make sure Jongsoo gets a good education." he replies.

"Yes, but he's only 15 years old. He's got a long life ahead of him, and you're skipping out on the most important time of your life. Sweetheart, I want to be able to pay for your college tuition, so if there's a university you want to go to, I'll be glad to pay." his mother says, almost desperately.

"I don't want to go to college, mom. I want to take care of you and Jongsoo." Jongdae responds simply. He can hear his mother sigh.

"I at least want you to get married happily. Please don't let me hold you back from loving someone." she says, voice low and sad.

"Don't worry. I'll get married when you get better." he replies. He hears his mother murmur something. "Did you say something, mom?"

"No, I didn't."

​

A month has passed.

Jongdae did end up going back to the shop the day after. He's learned a lot since he last saw Minseok. It turns out that the male was running the flower shop in honor of his grandparents, who were in love with flowers during World War II. His grandfather and his grandmother had fallen in love and bonded over flowers, but were separated since his grandfather had to go to war. His grandfather had died during the war, and his grandmother, since then, had grown a giant garden and run a small flower shop. She had twins before his grandfather died, but the children unfortunately never got to meet their father. Jongdae found it very sad, but it was a nice story when Minseok told him about it.

He further found out that Minseok had many admirers, mostly female with some male. Minseok had offered Jongdae a job, which he gladly took, since he needed the money. Now they were around each other almost all day, for six days of the week. Jongdae got to meet Minseok's grandmother, who told him more stories about the war and her husband, and he got to see the garden that had been grown in honor of Minseok's grandfather. He learned many things about flowers, like what they meant, where they grew, how they grew, and so on.

He also found out that Minseok was very affectionate and possessive. Even though they weren't dating, Minseok liked to hug, hold hands with, hold, and touch Jongdae a lot. He had gotten used to it over a span of a month, and didn't think much of it anymore. He only thought about it when he saw that Minseok hated being touched by the females and males that enjoyed being around him, and he only gently touched the arms of customers who came by, even regulars. And whenever Jongdae was being hit on by anyone, female or male, Minseok would either get jealous, angry, or even more touchy. Jongdae recalled a time when he was helping a male customer get flowers for his grandmother, and the customer was very clearly flirting with him, Minseok had come by and wrapped his arm around Jongdae's waist tightly, and had a glaring contest with the customer.

To say the least, Jongdae had come to like Minseok. But not in a romantic way, of course. At least he hoped not.

"Jongdae~" Minseok cooed when the two were on their lunch break. Jongdae was calmly eating his sandwich on the bench just outside the store, and Minseok was lying down beside him, head on his lap.

"Mm." Jongdae hummed as he continued to eat.

"Feed me~" Minseok opened his mouth, eagerly waiting for Jongdae to feed him. Jongdae chewed on his sandwich, staring at Minseok blankly for a moment.

"Are you a bird? Feed yourself." he said once he'd swallowed his food, causing Minseok to pout.

"You're so mean to me." he replied childishly, crossing his arms.

"Whatever." Jongdae muttered, looking up at the people passing by. He didn't notice the loving look in Minseok's eyes as the older male stared up at him.

It had become a ritual of them to spend so much time together, and they had gotten so used to it so quickly. The two were almost inseparable. Jongdae's mother had come to love Minseok, since the male took such care of Jongdae, and was so sweet and polite to her. Minseok would often tease Jongdae that if they were to get married, his mother would immediately agree. Jongdae would always reply that they weren't going to get married anyway so it didn't matter.

It was near the end of July that Minseok and Jongdae had their first fight; a fight that would change the course of their relationship forever.

It was around 8 PM. The shop would close soon, and Jongdae was making sure that the shop was humid enough for the flowers. He heard the bell indicating a customer had entered ring.

"Welcome to The Secret Garden." Jongdae greeted the customer, turning to greet them. He bowed to the customer, smiling brightly. It was a woman who looked like she was in her early 20's. She was wearing very fancy clothing. A red dress with a light brown coat, black high heels, and a fancy black hand purse. She had full make-up on, her hair looked professionally done, and she was wearing expensive earrings. She smiled at Jongdae, a very gentle smile.

"Hi...Is Kim Minseok here?" she asked a bit quietly.

"Yes, he is. Let me get him for you." Jongdae replied, assuming she was just another admirer who Minseok would reject gently. He walked to the storage, which was a greenhouse in the backyard of the shop. Minseok was back there, getting some last minute delivery orders done.

"We've got a very rich-looking woman in the front looking for you." Jongdae tells him. Minseok looks up at him, slightly confused.

"Rich-looking?" he asks. Jongdae nods, signalling with his head for Minseok to follow him, which he did. The two make their way back inside, finding the woman observing the flowers. When Minseok saw her, he muttered, "," under his breath, slightly surprising Jongdae, who wasn't used to hearing him curse.

"Seyoon, what are you doing here?" Minseok asks the woman, approaching her and immediately taking her hands in his. Jongdae's mouth hung slightly open in shock. This was the most affection he'd shown anyone who wasn't Jongdae.

"Oppa, I came by because I made it into university. Remember you said you would treat me to dinner if I made it?" the woman, Seyoon, said sweetly to him.

"Y-Yeah, I do. It's great that you made it in, it really is. And...I promise I'll treat you dinner. In a bit. I need to finish up work." Minseok replies, voice sounding nervous. Seyoon smiled brightly at him.

"I'll be waiting outside then, oppa~" she said, leaning forward and kissing him on the lips. Jongdae's eyes widened as he watched Minseok return the kiss before Seyoon walked out. Minseok turned towards Jongdae, head down as he tried to go past the shorter male to go back outside. Jongdae blocked the exit.

"Who was that?" he asks, trying not to sound even the slightest bit disgusted. Minseok lifted his head, but refused to look at Jongdae.

"Why do you need to know?" he asks, voice a bit low.

"Answer the damn question." Jongdae's anger began rising. Minseok sighed.

"...My girlfriend." he murmured. Jongdae could feel his face turn red.

"So you've had a girlfriend this whole time?"

"Yeah. So? It's not like we were dating."

"It never once ing crossed your mind that maybe I have feelings for you?"

"You said you were straight."

"Yeah, well, maybe I was lying."

Minseok's hands clenched. Jongdae waited for him to say something, but he wouldn't.

"So you were just going to lead me on? Pretend that you weren't dating someone? You were just going to give me special ing attention and then when I built up the courage to finally tell you that I was in love with you, you would just blow me off?" Jongdae growled.

"No, I was going to tell you, it just never came up in the conversation." Minseok murmured.

"I've asked you multiple times if you were going to ask out any of the guys or girls who came by regularly for you, you could have said it then! I even ing asked you if you were already dating someone and you said you weren't!"

"We haven't been dating that long."

"Don't bull me, Kim ing Minseok. I don't want you ing lying to-"

"Okay, fine! We've been dating for over four years now! My parents and her parents really wanted us to be together so they practically forced me to ask her out! I don't ing have feelings for her! I have feelings for you! I'm in love with you, Jongdae, but I can't be with you because my parents don't know I'm biual and they would ing kill me if I broke up with Seyoon. Are you ing happy with that?!" Minseok shouted, obviously becoming angry as well. Jongdae couldn't say anything. He was...angry. Angry that this man, this ing man dared to tell him he loved him.

" you." Jongdae growled, throwing off his work apron and storming out of the shop.

​

The next day, Jongdae didn't go into work. He dropped Jongsoo off at school like he would any other Thursday, but he didn't go to work. He didn't go to the peaceful flower shop. He didn't go to the place where the person who claimed to love him was. He went immediately back home, to take care of his mother all day.

Jongdae was silently making lunch, and he knew his mother could tell he was upset. She didn't say anything about it, though.

"Do you and Minseok have work off today? How about we invite him over to eat with us?" she asks.

"No." Jongdae says, trying not to sound forceful. His mother nodded, leaning back on the couch. There was silence for a moment.

"Jongdae, are you alright?"

"Yes, mom. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Did you fight with Minseok?"

Jongdae let out a frustrated huff as he finished cooking the food.

"Stop trying to meddle in my life!" he almost shouted. He left her to distribute the food herself as he went into his room to think.

He didn't speak to his mother for the rest of the day. He barely saw her at all. He'd locked himself in solitude, wanting to be alone. Luckily he didn't have to pick up Jongsoo from school since he'd gone out with some friends after school.

Eventually, though, Jongdae regretted shouting at her. He wanted to apologize. It was quiet in the house. He got up from his bed, quietly making his way out of the door. He walked through the hall toward the living room, where he knew his mother was.

"Mom?" he called out, but there was no reply. She must be angry at him. "Mom...Please listen to me, I'm really sorry..." He walked into the living room, seeing his mother lying down on the couch, eyes closed. Jongdae sighed. She probably went to sleep without knowing it again. He took a blanket from one of the baskets lying around and went over to put it over her. But he froze. She usually moved when she slept. She wasn't moving. At all. Terrified, he leaned in on his mother's mouth, which was hanging slightly open, listening for a sign of life.

She wasn't breathing. Suddenly, Jongdae's head began spinning. He dropped the blanket, stumbling backwards. Everything was beginning to go blurry as he tried desperately to remember where the phone was. He turned around, beginning to throw things around and slam into things in search of the phone. When he finally found it, he realized his entire body was shaking, and he was just barely able to press '119' on the phone.

"This is 119. What is your emergency?"

"M-My m-mother. Sh-Sh-She isn't b-breathing. P-Please s-send h-help." Jongdae could barely speak. He was so scared. He wanted to cry so badly, but he was unable to.

"What's the address? We'll send help your way."

Jongdae managed to say the address, and he stayed on the phone with the operator until the promised help arrived. Everything felt horrible. He could feel his heart beginning to speed up, as well as his breath. He stumbled after the stretcher that was holding his mother, and someone had to help him stand. As he rode in the ambulance, he could barely breath. He was terrified.

As soon as they got to the hospital, his mother was immediately brought into the ER, and Jongdae was forced to wait outside. He began pacing back and forth, thinking and thinking about the situation. He collapsed against the wall, pulling out his phone, which he'd managed to grab before leaving. He didn't want to call Jongsoo, he didn't want to worry his younger brother. Jongdae, head still spinning, looked through his contacts until he found the second most trust-worthy person he knew. He pressed the phone against his ear after pressing the call button, knowing he was going to cry any minute. Two rings passed, and Jongdae thought the person had picked up, but his call had been rejected.

"Please leave a message after the beep."

"Oh my god...Minseok...please come...I really need you right now, I really do...I don't care about anything else, I just want you here with me...please...My mom...she's...in the ER, and I'm at the hospital right now...please come..." Jongdae's voice sounded like he was on the verge of crying, which he was. He tried to hold his breath, his eyes beginning to tear up. Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen, and Jongdae felt like the world was ending. He hugged his knees, fingernails digging into his arms.

"Jongdae!"

Jongdae's head snapped towards the voice, and he saw Minseok panting heavily as he ran towards him. Jongdae stared for a moment before he felt a tear slide down his cheek. As soon as Minseok pulled him up and into his arms, Jongdae broke down. He began sobbing. His arms wrapped around Minseok, hands holding on tightly to the back of his shirt. He cried into Minseok's shoulder, feeling the male rubbing his back lovingly, murmuring "I'm here, I'm here," continuously in his ear. Jongdae's tears would not stop. They remained in that position for what seemed like hours before a nurse came out of the ER, and Jongdae hurried over to him.

"What happened to my mother?! Is she okay?! Please tell me she's okay!" he shouted, wanting to shake the nurse, who looked over at Minseok, a bit hesitant.

"Is this man your brother?" the nurse asks Jongdae, pointing at Minseok. Jongdae turns his head to Minseok quickly before looking back at the nurse.

"H-He's a close friend." he says, wiping away his tears. The nurse nods.

"I'd like to talk to him privately first, then." he says, beckoning for Minseok to follow him, which the male did. Jongdae was once again, left alone in the corridor outside. He sat down impatiently against the wall, hugging his knees and biting his fingers. It felt like years before Minseok finally came back out. The male looked sorrowful, and he slowly made his way over to Jongdae, sitting down beside him. Minseok took a deep breath before intertwining his fingers with Jongdae's.

"Jongdae, I promise I'll take care of you." he mutters. Jongdae feels more tears threatening to fall.

"Wh-What do you mean?" he asked, trying not to freak out. Minseok hesitated before looking up at him.

"Your mother...she's dead."

Jongdae's heart broke into a million pieces.

​

Jongdae his younger brother's cheek as he watched him sleep, tear stains covering both of their faces. Jongdae had called Jongsoo from the hospital to tell him what had happened. His younger brother had immediately come home, and had sobbed uncontrollably until he fell asleep. Minseok had come home with the two of them, and had allowed the two brothers time alone as he waited in the living room. As soon as Jongdae made sure that Jongsoo could sleep well, he quietly walked out of the room, turning off the lights and closing the door. He walked quietly to the living room, where Minseok was lying down on the couch.

Jongdae walked over to the male, lying down with him on the couch. He wrapped his arms around Minseok's torso, resting his head on the older male's chest. Minseok wrapped one arm around him, and intertwined the fingers his other hand with one of Jongdae's hands. He gently placed a kiss on his head, rubbing his waist. They remained silent for what seemed like hours.

"The last thing I said to her was, 'Stop trying to meddle in my life.'" Jongdae murmured. "I didn't tell her I loved her, I didn't even get to tell her goodbye. I basically told her to off." Minseok didn't reply. He knew it would be best not to.

"I'm such a terrible son. I denied her happiness in her final moments, and I didn't even bother to stay with her. I could have saved her, Minseok. If I had stayed with her all day today, I could have saved her life. Jongsoo could have happily spent the day with his friends, and he wouldn't have just cried himself to sleep. I could have...I could have prevented all of this. It's all my fault, Minseok. It's all my ing fault." he said, his voice cracking slightly. He let out a sniffle. "She...She cared so much about me...She wanted me to go to college...Get married...She just wanted me to be happy...And now I can't show that I'll be fine because she's gone. I have so many regrets, Min..." Minseok still remained silent.

"When I was a kid, she used to make me this meal. I loved meat and noodles, and she knew it. So she would make me ramen, and then she would add galbi on the side with vegetables and kimchi. That was the only way to get me to eat veggies. And before Jongsoo was born, dad, mom, and I would always go to the park and play frisbee, soccer, and baseball. Dad would teach me how to play, and they encouraged me continuously. They said, 'Jongdae, just watch, one day you'll be a professional athlete.' They were sort of right. I did a lot of track in high school, but I stopped when mom fell sick. And dad...he died after Jongsoo was born. On his way to the hospital, he was in a car accident. I was only eight, and Jongsoo wasn't even born yet when it happened. I felt so bad...Jongsoo never got to meet his dad. I didn't want to make it harder on either of them, so I took it upon myself to take care of them." Jongdae paused, letting out a chuckle. "When I was nine, mom was really tired after work, so I thought it'd be a swell idea to make her breakfast so she wouldn't have to do it herself. I burned the rice, somehow, put too much spice in the kimchi, and the seaweed soup I made turned out not to be seaweed, but green pepper. I have no idea how I mixed up seaweed and green pepper. But...she pretended that it was delicious. She told me I did a great job and that she'd teach me how to make even better food. I couldn't ask for a better mother." Jongdae sniffled again, letting out a shaky breath. He didn't expect Minseok to say anything.

"You won't have to worry anymore, Jongdae." he heard the male say. Jongdae looked up at Minseok, who was smiling at him and staring at him with loving eyes. "I'll cook you anything you want, and I'll take care of you and your brother. You can move in with me if you want, and I can help you pay rent. We can even hold a funeral for your mother, if you want. We can afford it. If you need to talk to anyone, I'm here to listen. If you want anything, I'll gladly give it to you, no questions asked. You've been through enough, and you've had to hold people up yourself your entire life. It's about time you lean on someone else for a change." Jongdae couldn't help but fall in love even more with Minseok at that moment. He felt a smile tug at his lip. In a heartbeat, Jongdae leaned upwards and pressed a soft yet passionate kiss on Minseok's lips.

"Mom, dad, I'm in love with a man." Jongdae murmured. He sat down on the stone bench in front of his parents' grave. Five years had gone by since his mother had died, and 20 years had passed since his father died. Despite these years, he still had not gotten over his parents' deaths. He never could. He looked up at the bright blue sky, watching the clouds pass by overhead as he continued to speak to them.

"But before I get to that, I have to let you know that Jongsoo is 20 years old, officially, since last week, and he's supposed to start his second year of university soon. He's a genius, mom and dad. He's going to grow up to be great. I know he is." Jongdae smiled, tugging at the sleeves of the light cardigan he was wearing. "Now...for me...I've gotten better too. I work for a really good company now. They're very successful, and they've kept me very busy, so that's why I haven't visited in a while. I'm sorry. But I think you'll be happy to know that I'm very happy with my life. I'm...I'm in love with a man. This man gave up a lot for me. He disappointed his parents, risked them disowning him, and he even took a beating because he wanted to be with me...It was horrible to hear about, but he told me it was all worth it. I've never loved any stranger quite like I've loved him. He's sweet, he's hard-working, he's honest, he's strong, he's handsome, and he's...different. He's got a lot of tattoos and piercings, and people always stare at him like he's some kind of alien, but he doesn't mind it. He says as long as I like them, no one else's opinions matter. He's...He's really important to me, and he proposed to me today. He brought me back to the flower shop where we met and he proposed to me there. I told him I would marry him. And so...mom, dad. I hope we can go with your blessing." Jongdae stood up, bowing to the two grave stones in front of him before smiling and approaching them. He planted one kiss on each of the two stones.

"I love you, mom, dad."

He walked away smiling, playing with the simple engagement ring on his left ring finger.