Joongki woke up with a start. It didn't feel refreshing at all. He stayed up really late last night, accompanying his subordinates working overtime to do the editing and finishing of the due commercial.

The clock on the nightstand showed it was forty five minutes past ten. He thought maybe he should stay in bed a little bit more. He felt dead tired and he had no plan for the day other than watching baseball on the television later.

It hadn't been long since he drifted back to sleep when his phone ringtone woke him up. Lazily, he rose up to sit and reached over the gadget that he had put on the empty side of the bed. Kim Minseok was written on the screen.

"Oh, Minseok-ah," he cleared his throat, "why are you calling so early in the morning?"

He glanced at the clock. Yes, fifteen minutes past eleven was early morning on weekend.

"Gwanjang-nim, I'm really sorry. It seems like I have to trouble you."

The boy sounded really apologetic when he talked. Long story short, he was supposed to help his friend to take pictures for a flower shop website on Sunday. However, the schedule suddenly changed to Saturday. The thing was, his brother took the camera that he supposed to use that day without him knowing and went to a retreat.

"I have another camera but I left it on my parents' place. Gwanjang-nim, I'm really sorry, I think I need to take the camera that you borrowed."

"There's no need to be sorry, it's about the time I should return it to you. Let me move all the files to my computer first. What time do you need it?"

"It's scheduled on 1pm. The shop is close to your place. I think I'll drop by your place around twelve thirty. How does it sound, Gwanjang-nim?"

It made him pondering. Actually, since he got back into his old hobby, he had been wanting to go on pictures hunting with Minseok. He wanted to learn from the boy and discussed about the current trend on photography. This might be a good opportunity for him, because even if he often monitored Minseok when they were working, there was not much space to converse.

"Minseok-ah, may I come and see? Or would it be a bother if I come?"

"Do you want to come, Gwanjang-nim? We're just taking pictures though, there's nothing special," the boy spoke hesitantly. "It's not that you can't come, they are all friendly, the people there. They'll welcome you just fine if you do come," he added in case if this senior of him misunderstood his words.

"Yes, I'm just being curious, I guess, and bored. I have nothing to do anyway. So, I think I might as well going there since it's close. If you allow it, you don't have to drop by my place. I'll bring the camera over, just text me the address."

"Alright, Gwanjang-nim, I'll send you the address. Then, see you there?"

"Yes, I'll see you there."

They ended the call. Out of nowhere, the thought of Chaewon came in his mind after Minseok's mention of flower shop. How was she doing? Had she gotten better? When he drove her home, he noticed it was quite a long walk from her place to the bus stop or the subway station. It would be really uncomfortable going through the distance with a sprained ankle.

Joongki left the bed and went to take the camera from his desk. He emptied the memory card, moving all the pictures he had captured to his personal computer. It would take a few minutes to finish it all, so while waiting he took a quick shower. When he got out of the bathroom, the transferring was done and he packed the camera back into its bag.

There was still much time left before the designated time. He leisurely made himself brunch, eating while skipping through the channels until he settled on a talk show. He still had the time to do the dishes before he dressed up and ready to go outside. He took his wallet, the camera bag and checked his phone for the address that Minseok had sent.

It was written there, on his phone screen, Atelier Flower Shop.

.

He heard a tinkling sound when he opened the door of the shop. Maybe because he was a bit in a rush when he visited before, he failed to notice that there was a bell hanging above the door. So, whenever someone went in and out the shop, it would always chime to notice the people inside.

The red head boy he had seen before when he escorted Chaewon on Wednesday welcomed him with his bass voice. He recognized him and asked if he wanted to meet his boss.

"Ah, actually I'm looking for Kim Minseok," he answered.

Another boy appeared from the door that seemed to connect to the back part of the store. It was the tall boy that received him when he was buying the flower bouquet. The red head boy told him that he was looking for Minseok Hyung, as what he said.

"Oh, you're must be Soong Joongki-ssi? He is waiting inside the office. Let me lead you there," the tall boy said.

Joongki followed the boy with many thoughts circulating in his mind. Here he was again, getting the chance to meet this Moon Chaewon lady without him planning it. He just thought about her after Minseok called, not knowing anything that the flower shop he mentioned was actually her flower shop. The loud conversation his subordinates had shared a few days ago replayed in his head , about Minseok with a girl from the flower shop.

Was it probably the girl they were talking about was the girl he knew?

Five pair of eyes stared at him when he entered the room. It was not that spacious, but enough for five of them to move freely. The desks had been moved aside to the corner so the center of the room was left empty.

"Gwanjang-nim!" Minseok greeted him cheerfully.

He nodded to the boy, but soon his eyes were averted to the pair of brown beads that looked surprised.

Before he could utter anything, the girl with a bang blurted, "Oh! It's the mister from a few days ago!"

Minseok turned to her really fast.

"Do you guys know each other?" he asked.

"He helped Chaewon Eonni when she sprained her ankle last Wednesday."

He could care less about their conversation because there Chaewon's surprised look had changed into a welcoming smile. There was something really captivating in the way she smiled, his mind had said.

Minseok introduced him to everyone in the room as the boss from his workplace. He tried to remember each of their names; the tall guy was Sungjae, the red head boy was Taehyung, the girl with a bang was Jiyeon and the other two he hadn't met before were Myungsoo and Seungwan. Sungjae and Taehyung left the room after that as they were assigned to tend to the customers for that day.

He handed Minseok the camera and the boy along with Myungsoo started to set the prop.

"When Minseok told me that his boss named Song Joongki wants to join us today, I wondered if there are a lot of people with that name, but turned out, it's you," she said.

They finally had the chance to stand close to each other and talked as everyone else were busy with preparation.

"I'm sorry if you're disappointed, but there's not much people with this name, so you have to stick with me."

As he said that, he knew he sounded like a flirt but he didn't care. This lady in front of him was a bit clueless. She thought he was joking and she would smile at it again just as he expected. And it was what he wanted to see, that smile.

The shoot started not long after that. Chaewon together with Seungwan and Jiyeon were assigned to make the bouquets and flower arrangements. They did it one by one thoroughly according to the basic options the shop offered. When they were done with one bouquet, Minseok and Myungsoo would set it with the match props and took pictures of it.

He was glad that he impulsively decided to come. Myungsoo had interest in photography too, and the three of them talked about it a lot. It had been long since he could converse with people about something that was not work or sport.

In between the activity, he found his self stealing glances at Chaewon, who focused her self on the flowers. He then turned to Minseok, but there was nothing out of ordinary between them. If a few times he caught the boy looking at a direction like a lost puppy, it was not to Chaewon's direction. Instead, it was to another girl.

His suspicion turned out to be true when he overheard Myungsoo telling the boy quietly.

"Ya, stop staring. At this rate Seungwan will find out and that girl's mouth just can't be controlled. Jiyeon would know about your feeling and all your neatly arranged plan would go flying."

Suddenly, he felt his shoulders loosened up. He didn't know it had been tensed for a reason he was yet to realize.

Around seven in the evening, they wrapped everything up and decided to close the shop early. The bouquets and flower arrangements were sent to some of their business partner and loyal customers so the flowers just wouldn't go wilting in waste. Each of them also took one back home.

"Mister, here," Seungwan shoved a bouquet into his hands, talking in a low tone, "Chaewon Unnie made this one. I know, I know, there's no need to thank me."

The girl winked and walked away, leaving him flabbergasted.

What does she mean?

Since everyone had worked hard for that day, Chaewon said she would treat them some food. Joongki thought maybe it was time for him to go home but they wanted him to stay. They had gotten quite close, at least they were comfortable with each other. The boys were even calling him 'Hyung' already.

The place they went for dinner was not far from the shop. It was an ordinary Korean restaurant serving barbecue and drinks. They ate, drink soju and chattered. The overall mood was great and it didn't feel like it was his first time joining them because everyone treated him really well.

He didn't exactly remember what they were talking about before that suddenly the topic changed to him and Chaewon.

"So, Gwanjang-nim helped Chaewon Noona who sprained her ankle on her way to the shop last Wednesday?"

It was Minseok's third bottle of soju already, and he was tipsy.

"Wait, wasn't it the day you came in late to the office?" The boy turned to him. "Right! It makes sense then. He was always punctual, but he came in late for the first time that day. Everyone in the office were worried, we thought something happened to him. On top of it, he didn't pick up his phone while he had an important meeting scheduled that morning."

It was too late for him to stop Myungsoo. The information flowed out of his mouth like a stream of water. He dismissed it, telling them it was not a big deal, that the meeting started right on schedule, and he could be late for once in a while. However, it failed to erase the apologetic look plastered in Chaewon's face.

"I'm really sorry, you almost lost an important deal because of me."

They were walking side by side when she softly said it. The kids were going to the second round of drinking. Chaewon had to leave early, telling them she didn't want to ride the bus while being drunk that night. Myungsoo offered to her to the bus stop, but Joongki, who had to leave too because he had an appointment the day after, said he would do that since it was on the same direction to his place.

"Minseok overstated it. I arrived around ten minutes before the meeting started. So, there's nothing to be sorry about."

"Still, you were late because of me," she mumbled.

Chaewon quietly pulled her sweater tighter. The night was strangely colder than it usually was that even her close knitted clothes couldn't prevent her from shivering.

"If you're sorry, then you can take me to lunch or dinner."

They had reached the bus stop and she turned to Joongki with a wondering look on her face. The cold wind blew over them.

The next thing she found was Joongki taking off the baseball jacket that he wore and draping it around her shoulders.

"Joongki-ssi, I'm alright."

She tried to give the jacket back to him, but he stopped her, draping it more securely around her.

"But, you, it's cold," she protested again.

"Sst! My place is just around the corner. Why can't you let me do something for you without protesting?"

"But..."

The bus with the code number that would take her to Hapjeong appeared from a far.

"Your bus is coming," he said, taking something out from his wallet.

He put a piece of card inside her hand.

"Remember, you owe me lunch or dinner. And...text me when you get home, or I don't think I can sleep peacefully tonight."

If she was frightened by this sudden approach by him, he would just think about it later when he was completely sober and he could blame it on the alcohol. He was being impulsive, following everything that his head told him to do.

"Be careful on your way, and don't forget, text me. I'm being serious," he repeated once again before pushing the astounded Chaewon inside the bus.

When the bus departed, Joongki immediately ran back to his place, tortured by the his thin clothes that couldn't shield him from the cold weather.

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Author's note :

Hello again. How is this update? For everyone who expected a love triangle between Joongki-Chaewon-Minseok, I'm sorry to disappoint you. If Joongki should have a rival in this story, it certainly won't be Minseok. You'll see who it is on the next update.

Thank you for everyone who read this story, and even more to the lovely people who left comments and conversed with me. Thank you so much ^^