In the Language of Flowers

While many children would have it against their parents when told that they were to inherit family business instead of pursuing their dreams, Jo Haseul wasn’t one of them. Simply because that was precisely her dream. Ever since Haseul was a little girl, she always dreamt of taking over the small flower shop her parents owned.

She grew up surrounded by flowers, often helping her parents in the shop. Her mother taught her how to arrange them and what each flower meant, while her father showed her how to take care of them.

It came as no surprise then that Haseul has chosen to study floriculture. And right after getting her Bachelor Degree, she took over the flower shop.

The shop itself was pretty humble in size, tucked in the corner of a street, but offered a great variety of flowers in many different colors. Haseul always enjoyed its quaint atmosphere, and the sweet scent that lingered in the air, familiar and soothing. In all honesty, she couldn’t imagine a better job than this one.

Some distance from the flower shop, there’s a bus stop. During week days, especially in the morning hours, it’s filled with students who attend the local university. So every morning, Haseul meanders between the half-awake crowd while muttering her excuses as she makes her way to the shop.

She doesn’t it mind it, though. And no, it has nothing to do with the pretty blond girl who is obviously addicted to coffee (Haseul always sees her cradling a venti cup in her palms like her life depends on it), and who has the most adorable drowsy smile when she steps aside to let Haseul pass by.

“It has everything to do with that blond girl,” Hyunjin, her friend who helps her at the shop, deadpans, after confronting Haseul about her questionable route choices.

Haseul groans in defeat, her cheeks adapting the color of the roses she currently waters. And that’s all the confirmation Hyunjin needs. She chuckles, shaking her head, and continues to sweep the petal littered floor.

The florist sends her a glare over her shoulder then swallows a curse when the roses she waters begin to overflow. Ignoring Hyunjin‘s laughter, she leaves to the back of the shop to grab a mop.

So okay, maybe taking the longer route does have something to do with the blonde.

After all, taking an alternate path would save Haseul at least fifteen minutes. But that would also mean she would miss that first ray of sunshine the girl brings with her smile into her morning, every day, no matter the weather.

So Haseul continues to take the longer route through the bus stop, and Hyunjin continues to call her an idiot for not asking the girl out.

~*~*~

“I’m sure she’s not even into girls,” Haseul argues, eyes focused on the bouquet of tulips she’s currently arranging. But when silence prolongs, she lifts her gaze and looks at her friend from above her specs.

Hyunjin stands in the middle of the shop, arms crossed at her chest, as she gives Haseul the ‘are-you-ing-kidding-me?’ look.

“What?” Haseul asks genuinely perplexed.

Shaking her head, Hyunjin heaves a sigh then stalks over to one of the vases, picks a flower and hands it to the florist.

“Here’s one for you.”

Haseul looks at the geranium then back at her friend. “Ha ha,” she deadpans. “Very funny, Hyunjin.”

She’s fully aware of what her friend is trying to say as geranium means stupidity and folly.

“Haseul, seriously. The girl owns a rainbow shirt saying ‘Love Will Win’ and has a bigger selection of flannel shirts than any lumberjack out there. Plus, she carries a guitar case which probably means she plays in some punk rock lesbian band. She’s not only gay. She’s a flaming homoual.”

Frowning at her friend, Haseul fixes her glasses higher up the bridge of her nose, then directs her attention back to the flowers and replies in a calm voice, “Don’t you have some flowers to deliver?”

“Ugh!” Hyunjin throws her hands up in frustration, before grabbing a bouquet from the counter.

“Be careful with them!” Haseul shouts after her when the girl storms out of the shop.

Once she’s alone, Haseul tries not to dwell too much on her friend’s words. After all, even if the girl is gay, she most surely has someone already. With the way she looks, it would be nearly impossible for her not to have a girlfriend.

Besides, wouldn’t it just be weird to ask her out? So out of blue? She’s just a stranger from a bus stop…

A familiar jingle announcing a new customer brings Haseul back from her thoughts. She puts on her best smile, and the next thing she knows… she forgets how to breathe.

It’s cliché and oh-so-dramatic, and if Hyunjin saw this, she would roll her eyes with an exasperated sigh, making a comment along the lines of ‘you should stop re-watching Imagine Me & You; you’re projecting,’ but Haseul just cannot help it. Things just happen; she holds her breath while her heart hammers in her chest.

“Uhm, hey,” the blond girl from the bus stop says sheepishly as she adjusts the strap of her guitar case and steps closer to the counter.

She wears black ripped shorts, a crop top of the same color and a red checkered flannel shirt. Around her wrist there’s a rainbow colored bracelet. And Haseul feels so damn stupid. But she will never ever admit this to Hyunjin.

“I need to buy some flowers,” the girl sounds as though she’s not entirely sure of herself, or the purpose of her visit, and Haseul finds it absolutely endearing.

“Of c-course,” she replies, glad that she stumbled only over one letter, instead of spouting some incomprehensible gibberish, which was the possibility in her current lightheaded state. “What’s the occasion?”

“My best friend’s birthday,” the blonde states with much more confidence.

Her voice is pleasantly husky, and Haseul would bet that in that punk rock lesbian band (yes, she now actually believes in Hyunjin’s theory) she’s not only the guitarist but a vocalist as well.

“Okay, let me see then,” she replies and steps from behind the comfort of the counter to search for the proper flowers.

“Alstroemeria,” she says and picks a few stalks, inhaling the flowers’ sweet scent. “It means devotion, wealth, prosperity and fortune. Then maybe some pink roses for perfect happiness and…”

She swivels around with the flowers in her hands. The sudden action startles the blonde; she makes a step back and her eyes grow bigger. They are a lovely shade of amber, and Haseul stares into them for a moment longer than it’s necessary before she remembers the words she wanted to say.

“Tell me something about your friend.”

The blonde blinks, taken aback but then her surprise melts away, being replaced by a small, adoring smile.

“Jiwoo, she’s…” the blonde bites her lower lip, thinking, and Haseul has to look away as she feels her heart skip a few beats. “She’s a very bright girl, one that lights up the room with her smile when she enters. And she’s very loud, too. At times. But it’s simply impossible not to like her.”

“Ranunculus,” Haseul says when the girl finishes her description.

The girl an eyebrow, amused. “That sounds like some Harry Potter spell.”

Haseul lets out a chuckle, noting the fact that the girl may be a Pottermaniac just like she is (honestly? can she be any more perfect?), then walks across the shop to another vase.

“This is ranunculus. It means radiant and charming.” She presents the flower to the girl whose smile only grows bigger.

“Well, that’s Jiwoo for you,” the girl says. “I’ll take those.”

“Perfect,” Haseul almost squeals in delight as she replies.

It’s silly but she feels like she’s eighteen again and goes through her first crush. Luckily, she manages to compose herself, reminding herself that she is in fact an adult and a working one at that.

“Is it okay if you wait a moment when I arrange those?”

“Yeah, sure. Take your time.”

Haseul goes to the counter where she arranges the bouquet while the blonde wanders around the shop.

“Does like every flower have its meaning?” she asks, hands shoved to the pockets of her shorts and Haseul tries not to think just how short they are.

She clears before she answers, “They do, yes.”

“Okay, so what does this one mean?” The girl points to one of the pots then looks expectantly at the florist.

Haseul cranes her neck to have a better view and cannot help her shy smile when she sees what kind of flower the girl has picked. “Sweet William? It means grant me one smile.”

“Really?” the blonde comments in wonder. “Huh, interesting,” she mumbles as she takes a careful look at the flowers as if their meaning was written somewhere on their tiny, colorful petals.

Secretly, Haseul wishes the girl would ask her more questions but sadly, she remains quite. The florist guesses the blonde doesn’t want to interrupt her.

It’s a shame really, because Haseul would love to talk some more with her. Maybe ask her about the badge on her guitar case that says Kim Lip. What does it mean? And does she really play in a band? Can she sing something? What’s her name?

But that would be highly unprofessional. Flooding the girl with so many questions all of a sudden. She shakes off the thoughts, focusing on her work.

“Done,” she finally announces once she is finished with the bouquet.

“This looks really nice,” the girl says as she takes the bouquet. “Thanks. How much I pay?”

Haseul says a much lower price than she should, glad that Hyunjin isn’t around to witness this to then endlessly about it.

Observing as the girl leaves the shop, the florist feels her heart clench painfully. She knows she’ll see the blonde tomorrow morning, as she sips on her coffee with her eyes half open, but she may never talk to her again.

So when her eyes fall on the rows of yellow acacias, lined next to the entrance in wicker baskets, she doesn’t think twice before she shouts, “Wait!”

The blonde stops, one foot outside the shop as she looks back at the florist. “Uhm, something wrong?”

Haseul shakes her head before she speed-walks to the baskets and snatches one of the acacia flowers.

“Take this one as well,” she says, handing the flower to the girl. “I forgot we have a promotion,” she quickly adds as heat spreads across her cheeks. Yet, despite all the embarrassment she feels, she flawlessly comes up with a new promotional strategy. “To every bouquet you buy, you get one flower extra, free of charge. And this one is for you.”

She tries hard not to squirm under the girl’s doubtful gaze and almost sighs in relief when the girl’s expression softens into a grateful smile and she accepts the flower.

“Okay, thank you, and see you later.” The blonde waves the flower at her and leaves.

“Bye,” Haseul replies with a small wave of her own.

When the girl is out of her sight, the florist twirls around with a delighted squeal, before she realizes she must look silly. She composes herself, smoothing out her apron, and comes back behind the counter where she continues to arrange another bouquet while humming Happy Together under her breath.

And she can’t help but to notice that the flowers smell sweeter than ever before.

~*~*~

Haseul doesn’t mention to Hyunjin the blonde’s visit. She knows the girl would berate her again for not asking her out, so she spares herself the torture.

She's also quite lucky that Hyunjin is going through her own infatuation. Otherwise, the girl would surely pick up on her strange behavior of daydreaming and smiling for no reason and would start another interrogation.

And if she did, she would probably find out that Haseul cannot stop thinking about the blond girl, wondering if she’s ever going to visit the shop again. Because that see you later sounded oddly like a promise.

Or maybe that’s just Haseul and her romcom infused imagination giving her strange ideas. She’s not sure. Still, it seems like the girl’s smile in the morning is a little bit brighter and more awake than usual when she makes that small step back, greeting Haseul with an almost silent ‘hey’.

~*~*~

“Hey Haseul, can I leave earlier today?” Hyunjin asks as she parks her bike, after returning from a delivery.

The florist is outside the shop, tending to the potted flowers. It’s a hot, sunny day, one that feels like summer is already here, although it’s just the beginning of June.

“I asked Heejin out. We’re going to the movies,” her friend states, sounding all cocky about it, then takes a swing from her water bottle.

“Congratulations.” Haseul smiles at her, wiping sweat off her forehead with the back of her gloved hand. “And sure, you can go.”

“Thanks,” Hyunjin says then goes inside the flower shop just to emerge from it seconds later, holding a bouquet of roses and a single white Canterbury Bell.

She gives it to Haseul, winking at her. “Here’s one for you.”

Haseul takes it, shaking her head. “You need to be careful, Hyun. I know it means gratitude but if Heejin ever catches you on giving me flowers, she may take it the wrong way.”

“Fair point, I guess,” Hyunjin admits with a chuckle. “But if I don’t give you flowers, then who will? Surely not the blond girl because you’re afraid to ask her out.”

“Oh, shut up,” Haseul mumbles and swats her friend’s arm with her palm. “Go before you’re late for your first date.”

“See you tomorrow then. Oh, and you may want to clean your forehead. You have soil smeared all over it,” Hyunjin says then takes her bike and leaves.

When her friend is out of sight, Haseul looks into the shop’s window to make sure that she wasn’t lying to her. But sure enough there’s a dark patch of soil across her forehead. She takes a napkin out of the front pocket of her overalls and begins to rub it off, when all of a sudden she hears a familiar voice behind her.

“Hey.”

The florist jumps startled and almost trips over a pot of violets, but someone’s hand grabs her arm just in time, and she finds herself pressed against checkered flannel shirt that smells of lilacs.

God, she loves lilacs…

“Gotcha!”

Haseul looks up and finds herself staring into dark amber eyes, crinkled at the edges softly.

“You okay?” The blonde asks as the smile in her eyes is replaced with worry.

Not trusting her voice, Haseul nods and steps back.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She shakes her head, perhaps a bit too vehemently. “I’m fine,” she says, her voice unnaturally high pitched and cheeks pulsing with heat (and she’s certain that’s not from the sun).

“Well okay,” the blonde says, still a bit unsure, though. “Anyway, I need your help again.”

Haseul beams. “Of course, how can I help you?”

The girl gnaws on her lower lip, looking apprehensive all of a sudden. Haseul concludes it must be a force of habit. A very… hypnotizing one. She flickers her gaze back to the girl’s eyes when the blonde finally decides to speak up.

“Remember when I told you about Jiwoo?”

“Did she like the flowers?” Haseul asks excitedly, and her heart swells with pride when the girl says Jiwoo loved them.

“You see, I need another bouquet for her. But this time one that says--” the blonde pauses, her cheeks tinted with pink hue when a moment later she blurts out, “…I love you”.

And just like that Haseul’s smile falters, crumples at the edges, and she almost hears the sound of her heart shattering into million pieces.

Turns out, it isn’t just her imagination and something does shatter - a pot with flowers. Unwittingly, she made a step back and knocked it over.

“I’m sorry. Can you wait inside? I’ll clean this and be back with you.”

The blonde’s expressions again speaks of concern, but she agrees nonetheless. “Uhm, yeah. Sure.”

Once she leaves, Haseul turns around to clean the mess and almost bursts into tears when she sees that she has broken a pot of marigolds. Greif. Despair. Jealousy. How ing perfect.

Taking a shaky breath, she gathers the broken pieces of the pot and throws them away. Then she collects the marigolds and finds a new pot for them.

Somehow performing these simple, familiar tasks calms her down, and she thinks she’s ready to face the girl. She has even already came up with an idea for a perfect bouquet.

So when she enters the shop, she doesn’t spare the girl a glance and instead heads straight for the rows of tulips.

“There are many flowers that say I love you, but if you ask me, I would go with a bouquet of tulips,” she says as she begins to pick the flowers.

“Why?”

Haseul swallows before she answers, “Because yellow mean there’s sunshine in your smile. Variegated mean beautiful eyes. White, I’m worthy of you,” she pauses as her voice begins to waver. Then she inhales sharply and adds, “and red are the declaration of love.”

“That’s exactly what I would like to say,” the girl mutters behind her, and Haseul can tell that she is somewhat impressed, but it doesn’t bring her that kind of joy and pride that it would usually do.

Instead, she feels angry. With herself. Because she shouldn’t be so affected by this. By the blonde girl and her stupid bouquet. Hell! She doesn’t even know her name!

Isn’t that just beyond pathetic? That she wants the girl to buy flowers only for her. That she wants to hear her how she sings and plays her guitar. That she wants to spend her evenings with her, on the porch, telling her what each flower means. That purple lilacs are the first emotion of love and jonquils say love me.

“Wait here while I arrange these,” Haseul says quietly, not even risking a glance over her shoulder at the girl, and leaves to the back of the shop.

Once she is done, and all the tears are fought back, she returns to the shop and places the bouquet on the counter, then she observes how the blonde wanders around the shop, staring at some of the flowers with childlike curiosity, from time to time reaching out a hesitant palm to gingerly touch them, as if afraid to hurt them.

It brings a small smile to Haseul’s lips. One that causes faint throbbing pain within her chest.

“Your bouquet is ready,” she says, catching the girl’s attention.

“Can I ask you something?” the girl inquires as she slowly approaches the counter, again biting on her lower lip.

Haseul expects another question about flowers. “Shoot,” she says, feigning nonchalance.

“What’s your name?”

“Oh.” The florist blinks, caught off guard.

“I’m Haseul.”

“I’m Jungeun.”

Both girls look at each other, then chuckle at the somewhat awkward exchange.

“So how much I pay?”

Haseul again gives a lower price but to her surprise, Jungeun gives her more money.

“Consider this a tip,” the blonde says with a grin. “And if you ask me, I think you should increase your prices. That’s way too cheap for such a bouquet.”

“Y-yeah, I’ll think about it,” Haseul mutters, avoiding the girl’s gaze.

“Anyway, thank you, Haseul.”

Jungeun takes the flowers, and Haseul watches her retreating form, wanting to scream at her to stay. But that would be just sheer madness.

The bell jingles as Jungeun opens the door and stops briefly to wave at her. Haseul waves back and her eyes fall on the yellow hyacinths lined in the vases by the door, parallel to the acacias.

“Wait!” she shouts all of a sudden when Jungeun is already out of the door. Luckily, she hears her and opens the door, sticking her head inside.

“Yeah?”

“The extra flower,” Haseul says and even chuckles because the feeling of a déjà vu is just too overwhelming. “I forgot, again.”

She goes for the yellow hyacinths, takes one of them but then changes her mind as she sees white camellias beside them and picks one of them instead.

“Here’s one for you,” she says, handing the flower to Jungeun.

The girl nods with a smile. “Thanks.”

After she leaves, Haseul closes the shop, leans against its door and finally lets herself cry.

For the first time in her life, among sweet flowers where spring is always in full bloom, Haseul feels only withered autumn in her heart.

~*~*~

The next day Haseul takes the shorter route to the shop

~*~*~

Hyunjin’s date is a huge success, and she just cannot shut up about it. She talks about it the whole day she’s at work.

How they held hands, how they made out throughout the whole movie, and how Heejin is basically a walking goddess. And did she mention that Heejin bought her bread? Because she did, and it was hands down the best bread in Hyunjin’s life, and granted she ate a lot of bread in her life, so she knows what she’s saying.

But for once, Haseul is glad that Hyunjin keeps talking and talking and talking. It lets her forget about the disastrous day with Jungeun. Also, the day itself passes by quicker and before she realizes it’s time to close the shop and go back home to eat another bucket of ice-cream and wallow in self-pity.

“Uhm, excuse me? I know you’ve just closed the shop, but is there a chance that I could buy some flowers?”

Haseul turns around with a sigh after she finished closing all the padlocks. Behind her stands a girl with cute, round face and large, bright eyes. She seems vaguely familiar, although Haseul is pretty sure she has never seen her before.

“What kind of flowers do you need?”

The girl’s expression crumples in sorrow, and Haseul thinks she will cry any second.

“Something that says I can’t be with you but in a nice way?”

Haseul frowns confused but asks no more questions and opens the shop, because frankly speaking, she has never seen anyone in a more desperate need to buy flowers than this girl before her.

“Striped carnations. They mean exactly I’m sorry I can’t be with you,” Haseul says picking the flowers from the vases, the girl following her each step. “Purple hyacinths. Please forgive me.” She stops and looks back at the girl with a soft expression. “Anything else you would like to add?”

“Is there a flower that says you’re a wonderful friend?” the girl asks, her question leaving Haseul completely stunned.

“Yes, chrysanthemum,” she replies once she overcomes her shock.

“Then I would like them, please.”

Haseul nods, ignoring the strange sensation that has her guts twisted in knots. “Just give me a moment.”

As she prepares the bouquet, she observes from the corner of her eye how the girl stands beside the rows of tulips, stifling her tears. Seeing this, Haseul can no longer hold back the question that she wanted to ask the girl from the beginning.

“May I ask your name?”

The girl lifts her gaze, her round, large eyes staring back at Haseul as she tilts her head slightly to the side.

“Jiwoo,” she says.

The flowers almost fall out of Haseul’s hands when she hears it, but she manages to shake off the paralyzing feeling which intensity she cannot really explain. It could be a coincidence, after all.

It could.

If not for the tulips.

“Your bouquet is ready, Jiwoo.” Haseul gives the girl her flowers, but before she leaves she hands her one more flower – a single scarlet geranium. “Can you give this to your friend, please?”

Jiwoo looks at the flower confused, but then something akin to understanding flashes in her bright eyes and she takes it.

“I will. Thank you.”

~*~*~

The next day Haseul takes the longer route. But Jungeun doesn’t wait at the bus stop like she usually does.

Nor does she the day after.

When a week passes by, and Haseul still doesn’t stumble upon the blonde, she begins to worry, thinking that maybe something has happened to the girl. Hyunjin calls her paranoid.

But Hyunjin doesn’t know what she does.

~*~*~

“It’s seems like it’s going to rain,” Hyunjin mutters, peering through the shop’s glass door.

Haseul just hums in response as she holds a thornless stalk of rose in between her lips while arranging a wedding bouquet.

“And there it goes.”

Lifting her gaze, Haseul watches how heavy raindrops begin to splatter across the shop’s windows. Soon a curtain of rain blankets the city.

“Guess I’m taking a taxi. Can I leave my bike at the back of the shop?”

“Shure,” Haseul mumbles around the stalk.

“That’s really unhygienic, you know?” Hyunjin gives a disgusted look from across the shop.

Haseul frowns and takes the stalk out of . “Did you just call my flowers unhygienic?”

Hyunjin arches a challenging brow while Haseul ostentatiously puts the stalk back into , eyes never leaving her friend.

“Whatever.” Hyunjin rolls her eyes then leaves to take her bike inside.

“See you tomorrow,” she says once her taxi arrives and she rushes to it, trying to avoid getting wet.

Haseul mumbles her goodbye.

Not long after Hyunjin leaves, the bell above the entrance door jingles again. A person in a red hoodie enters the shop, completely drenched from head to toe, and when they take off their hood, Haseul spits the stalk out of .

Jungeun’s blond hair cling to her scalp, framing her sickly pale face and purple lips. She shivers all over her body when she says in a broken voice, “Haseul, I m-messed up. R-rreal b-bad.”

Overcoming her initial shock after realizing that the girl isn’t just a phantom of her imagination, Haseul finally springs into action. She rushes to close the shop from the inside then approaches the girl.

“Come on, I have some spare clothes at the back. You need to change these, or else you’ll end up with pneumonia.”

She ushers Jungeun further into the shop and gives her Hyunjin’s work clothes and a towel. Then leaves to give her some privacy. When the girl says she’s ready, Haseul rushes back to her. She pulls out a heater that she uses in the winter and sits the girl on a stool beside it. After that she turns on an electric kettle, and makes some hot tea for both of them.

“I’m sorry. I don’t have any coffee.” The florist gives an apologetic smile when she hands the girl her tea.

Jungeun chuckles softly. “It’s okay,” she says as she wraps her palms around the cup of steaming tea. With each small sip, her lips begin to regain their natural color.

Haseul pulls a stool for herself to sit across the girl. “Don’t do this again,” she mumbles, staring at the dark liquid in her cup.

“Hm?” Jungeun gives her a look like she didn’t quite catch her words .

“Walking in such weather is pure madness,” the florist scolds, scowling at the girl, but her tone is soft, full of genuine concern.

Jungeun smiles and nods her agreement.

“What were you thinking, anyway?”

Swirling the tea in her cup, the blonde just shrugs wordlessly. An awkward silence falls between them, filled only by the incessant pitter patter of the rain outside. Jungeun’s fingers tap against the cup to its rhythm.

Haseul sits still, stealing secret glances at the girl as she sips her tea. She has dozens of questions running through her head but decides not to ask them and waits for Jungeun to pick up the conversation when she’s ready.

“I’m not good at this, you know?” the girl says, frowning at her cup as if there was something wrong with it.

“At what?” Haseul prods carefully.

“Expressing feelings,” Jungeun answers and takes a quick sip of her tea. “Jiwoo, she… she was surprised, to say the least.” A humorless chuckle follows her words. “Things are so awkward between us. It feels like I ruined our friendship.” She bites down on her lip as it begins to tremble and her eyes turn glassy.

Haseul’s palm leaves her cup. She wants to skim her thumb across the abused lips. To stop the girl from hurting herself. To ease her pain. But midway she decides that would be too much and settles to lightly touch her palm. It works. Jungeun lifts her gaze, startled by the sudden gesture, and stops gnawing at her lips.

“Maybe she just needs some time,” the florist says, but Jungeun doesn’t seem to be convinced as her gaze drops to the floor.

“She gave me flowers,” she mutters. “Told me what they meant. Have she bought them here?”

Haseul nods, retreating her palm. She feels ashamed like she just betrayed the girl’s trust, although she knows it’s nothing like that. Still, a quiet, shameful ‘I’m sorry’ leaves .

“Don’t be. You picked well. I messed up because I didn’t want to accept them.”

She runs fingers through her hair as a frustrated sigh leaves her lips. “I need to apologize. Fix it somehow. I cannot lose her friendship. Will you help me?”

The look on Jungeun’s face is reminiscent of the one Jiwoo gave Haseul. Desperate and broken. And some tiny part of Haseul is angry at Jiwoo, for breaking the girl’s heart. But at the same time, she knows that tiny part is an irrational one.

“I think I have perfect flowers for you,” the florist replies, hoping her smile will bring some comfort to the girl.

And perhaps it does because Jungeun’s lips curl upwards ever so slightly when she says, “I knew you would have.”

They go back to the shop and Haseul begins to pick the flowers while explaining their meanings.

“Freesia. Trust. Innocence. Friendship.”

“And these?” Jungeun asks, pointing the yellow flowers Haseul picked.

“Daffodils, respect and… unrequited love.”

“Perfect,” the blonde mutters as she skims her finger across the yellow petals.

Haseul insists the bouquet is on the house, but Jungeun leaves money on the counter nevertheless.

She’s about to leave when she stops by the door and turns around. “No extra flower for me?” she asks with a knowing smile.

Haseul looks around herself, searching for a flower when her eyes fall upon a vase filled with gardenias. She takes one and gives it to Jungeun.

“Thank you,” the blonde says and leaves.

Haseul tries not to think how it all feels as if she has just experienced her final farewell with Jungeun. Like she’s just a background character in a movie about Jungeun and Jiwoo and that just now was her last scene.

Perhaps Hyunjin is right. Perhaps she should cut down on those romantic movies.

~*~*~

It’s a slow Thursday afternoon at the flower shop. After tending to the flowers and finishing some wedding bouquets, Haseul allows herself for a bit of rest, reading a book behind the counter.

But quickly she catches herself on reading the same sentence over and over again. She lifts her gaze from the book and stares at the door.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Hyunjin asks as she walks in from the back of the shop, carrying a crate full of potted flowers.

“No, why?” Haseul frowns, pretending to read her book again.

“Because you’ve been staring at these door for good fifteen minutes.”

Haseul is ready to refute the accusation when she realizes that there are already two crates on the floor, and she has no idea when Hyunjin brought the first one. She settles for silence then. But that doesn’t last long either.

“Do you think she moved out?” she finally asks the question that plagues her mind.

It’s been already three weeks since Haseul last saw Jungeun. The girl no longer waits at the bus stop in the morning. And Haseul misses her more than she would like to admit.

Hyunjin just shrugs as she approaches the counter. “Who knows? But speaking of which, I have a friend who would like to meet you.”

The florist rolls her eyes. After Haseul mentioned that she no longer saw the blonde at the bus stop, Hyunjin decided that she should get over her and began setting her up on blind dates, which more times than not, turned out to be disastrous.

“Hyunjin, no.” She gives her friend a pointed look but of course, it does little to intimidate the girl.

“Come on, this time I swear you will like her. I mean, she has pink hair.” Hyunjin looks at the florist like she expects her to share her enthusiasm.

But Haseul clearly doesn’t as she pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs. She really wishes her friend would understand that no amount of blind dates, pink haired or not, will stop her from thinking about Jungeun.

Maybe she should start googling local punk bands? Why hasn’t she thought of it earlier?

Just as the brilliant idea pops into Haseul’s head, there’s the ring announcing a new customer. Staring past Hyunjin’s shoulder at the door, the florist cannot quite believe her own eyes.

“Hey,” Jungeun mutters, hands shoved to the pockets of her ripped jeans.

She does that nervous bite of her lip, and it takes everything in Haseul not to just run to her and wrap her arms around her to make sure that she’s indeed real.

Hyunjin whispers something about not screwing this up, before announcing that she needs to make a very important delivery. She’s out of the door seconds later, with nothing to deliver in her hands, while Haseul realizes she hasn’t spoken a word yet.

“Oh, h-ey,” she says, cringing at how lame she sounds. “I haven’t seen you around lately.”

“Yeah…uh-m… I was very busy. With the band and stuff,” Jungeun says after approaching the counter.

And Haseul can sense that something is wrong with the way the blonde avoids her gaze.

“I see. And what about you and…” Haseul trails off, not sure if it’s okay to ask about Jiwoo.

“We’re fine,” Jungeun says, nodding. “We made up.”

“That’s great to hear,” the florist smiles in relief. “So what brings you here? In need of another bouquet?”

“No,” the blonde says and her sudden denial makes Haseul flinch. Silent apology paints on Jungeun’s face moments later but soon is replaced by a look of determination. “I mean, I came because I wanted to ask you about something.”

“Okay, what is it then?”

Haseul isn’t sure what to expect, and her confusion grows as Jungeun just keeps staring at her, not saying anything as if she has forgotten how to speak and tries hard to remember.

“Is it true what you said?” the girl finally blurts out, and Haseul notices how her cheeks cover with pink dust.

It’s puzzling, to say the least. Both the question and Jungeun’s flustered behavior.

“I don’t under--” the florist begins but is promptly cut off by Jungeun’s next words.

“With flowers. Is it true what you said with the flowers you gave me?” she asks and when Haseul is too stunned to answer she continues. “I was stupid I never asked myself. Jiwoo told me when she saw them at my place. She began googling flower meanings after I gave her those tulips.”

It’s Haseul’s turn to avoid the blonde’s gaze as she’s unsure what to say. Not because she doesn’t want to admit the truth but because she needs to make sure that what Jungeun already knows is the truth.

“And what did she tell you?” she asks, looking up at the blonde.

Jungeun takes a breath before she lists the flowers and their meanings, her hopeful eyes never leaving Haseul’s.

“Yellow acacia. Secret love. White camellia. You’re adorable. Scarlet geranium. Consolation. Gardenia. You’re lovely. So? Was she right…?”

Haseul chuckles lightly before she faces Jungeun. “Yes. She got it right. All of them,” she admits, fearing her heart is about to burst with how fast it beats.

At the same time, at back of her mind, there’s this fear that now only rejection will follow. That Jungeun just came to say that she’s flattered, but she’s still not over Jiwoo. Or maybe that she simply cannot imagine them working out. A florist and a member of a punk rock band - what a bizarre combination.

“Can I give you a flower as well?” Jungeun’s sudden question interrupts Haseul’s bleak thoughts.

Confused, the florist gives a small nod.

Reaching to the pocket of her flannel shirt, Jungeun carefully takes out a small white flower.

“Nutmeg geranium?” Haseul immediately recognizes. “But that means--”

“I expect a meeting,” the blonde says, smiling as she places the flower on the counter before Haseul, then quickly adds, “On Sunday, I play a small gig with my band at a nearby pub. You can come if you want. But if you’re not much into punk, we finish at nine. We could go an grab a coffee somewhere. Or tea.”

Haseul’s eyes flicker from the blonde to the flower then back to the blonde once the meaning of her words fully sinks in.

“Seems like we both aren’t best at expressing feelings, huh?” Haseul jokes with a chuckle.

Briefly she wonders whether choosing longer routes is her thing now, since verbal communication is surely faster than the flower one.

Jungeun shrugs. “We can change that,” she says and for once, the way she bites her lip doesn’t seem to indicate nervousness.

It’s rather playful, tempting even, and Haseul would love to see it more often.

Everyday, perhaps.

“So, where is this pub exactly?”

~*~*~

“You’ll go bankrupt if you keep doing this,” Jungeun says when she enters the dressing room and leans her guitar against a table that’s filled with bouquets of roses.

Following behind her, Haseul wraps her arms around Jungeun’s waist and leans her chin on her shoulder. “I wouldn’t worry about that. After all, my girlfriend is soon to become a worldwide rock star.”

Jungeun rolls her eyes but smiles nonetheless.

“Besides, it’s Hyunjin who delivered them not me,” Haseul intones nonchalantly.

Jungeun raises an eyebrow at her. “So is it Hyunjin who says that she--”

“Nope. That’s for me to say,” the florist cuts her off.

“Well then say it.” Jungeun challenges.

Haseul grins. “I love you,” she says and captures her girlfriend’s lips in a tender kiss.

A/N: Some people were asking about Lipseul and here it is. It's the longest so far. I hope it's not boring. Let me know what you think. Flower meanings taken from here http://www.allflorists.co.uk/advice_flowerMeanings.asp Thank you for the subs and comments!