Freesia 

Friendship

“Hyemi, what about Mr. Pickles?!” 

Hyemi groans in frustration, rolling her eyes before storming out of her room. She sees her parents sitting by the living room couch, a large photo book consisting of her baby pictures resting on top of her dad’s lap. The fluffy green care bear was hugged protectively in her mother’s arms, who looked teary-eyed. 

Judging from the bright green fur and the barely visible stains (from years ago) on its snout, Hyemi assumes her mom must have taken her childhood bear for a wash.

Hyemi sighs as soon as they look at her, looking crestfallen. 

“I’m not leaving the country, mom, dad,” she rolls her eyes, and they frown even more. “I’ll be ten minutes away from the store, and twenty minutes away from here. You can come visit me anytime you’d like.” 

“But it’s not the same!” Her 57 year old father cried, followed by her mother’s aggressive nods. 

She feels a smile creeping up her face, finding it endearing how attached her parents were to her. After all, ever since both Jongdae and Jongin moved out, she was the only person in the house who accompanied them everywhere. 

She instantly became the golden child after her brothers’ departure, and as much as Hyemi wants to keep that title, she knew it was time to be on her own.

“Our children keep leaving us! What should we do?” Her mother whines, and a small chuckle escapes Hyemi. 

“Maybe we should go to their landlords and get them in trou – ”

“Do not attempt to get us kicked out, dad!” Knowing her father, he would actually do it. He was a ball of mischief and trouble at the same time, where else would her brothers get those traits from if not from the very man who invented those words?

The couple pouts, and Hyemi raises an eyebrow.

“I just want to be close to the flower shop, you know that,” Hyemi sighs, taking a few steps closer before sitting down on the sole couch next to them. “Besides, you survived when Jongdae-oppa and Jongin-oppa moved out, so you’ll be fine this time as well.” 

“It’s different, you’re our princess!” 

Hyemi flushes. “Well, this princess needs to find her own purpose in her life, I need to be more independent.” 

“Sweetheart, you are so much more independent than your brothers.” 

“Hey, I heard that!” Jongin yells from his own room, and Hyemi scoffs. “Well, it’s the truth!”

Jongin was supposed to help Hyemi pack since she was moving out of their parents’ home sometime next week. She just had too much stuff so she decided to ask for help. She would have asked Jongdae, but she knew how busy he was and taking his only day off this week would have been cruel. 

So she called Jongin instead, and she immediately regrets it. 

“You go pack, and I’ll help you carry the stuff! Deal? I just need to play League real quick,” was his arrangement, instantly running into his room like a teenager before Hyemi could retort back.

Now here she was, struggling to pack up a lot of her stuff alone, since her brother thought it was much more important to play League of Legends than help his own sister. Jerk! 

“Hyemi-ah,” Her father calls, catching her attention. “Be honest with me.”

He squints his eyes suspiciously, “Are you moving out for a man?” 

Her mother gasps in excitement, “Is that why you’re moving out so soon?! You have a boyfriend? Tell me this instant!”

“What? No!” Hyemi spits out defensively, an incredulous look painting her face. “There’s no – ” 

Like the speed of lightning, Jongin runs out his door and storms into the living room, looking livid. “What boyfriend? You don’t have a boyfriend!” 

“I don – ” 

“Because hyung and I will kill him, you know that right?” He interjects, the protectiveness he bears lacing through his tone and painting his demeanour. Only people out of the Kim household would have flinched under his tone and gaze, but other than that, this was normal. 

“Kim Jongin!” Her mother scolds, and it pacifies him immediately. “What’s wrong with your sister having a boyfriend? It’s about time!”

“No, it’s not! She’s staying single forever, right dad?”

Their father looks at Hyemi for a long moment, before shaking his head. “Your mother’s right, it’s time.”

“What?!” Jongin shrieks, startling everyone. “No, no, no, Jongdae-hyung and I won’t allow it.” 

“You better allow it, young man,” Her father warns, and Jongin shrinks a little. “Hyemi is  turning twenty five this year and she hasn’t even had an official relationship!”

“All thanks to me, of course!” 

“You mean, no thanks to you, Jongin.” 

“Thanks to me!”

“No thanks!”

“Thanks to – ”

Groaning loudly, she finally stands up from her seat, having enough of her family inadvertently teasing her about her (almost non-existent) love life. Everyone turns to her in silence, watching her next move but all she does is simply glare at them. 

Unable to find the right thing to say, she makes a sharp turn and goes back into her room, slamming the door shut. 

Unbelievable! She grumbles, plopping down onto her desk chair. She thought long hard about what her father said, unable to recall the last time she had an actual relationship. All she had were occasional flings, with her going on a few dates every once in a while but it never really worked out. 

Partly, her brothers were at fault for ruining these situationships by scaring them away, but at the same time, she was also to blame. 

Hyemi wasn’t naive or dumb, she knew how to fight back, especially to her two overbearing older brothers. So when they chase these men away from her, she never once tried to fight back. She should have, but she never bothered to. She assumes it’s because she wasn’t really interested in them enough to pick a fight with her own family, or maybe she was just not ready for relationships at all at the time.  

A shiny gold butterfly hair clip sitting on top of her desk catches her eye, the golden flakes by its wings shining brightly. Instantly, her thoughts wander off to a certain male with messy brown hair, mischievous eyes and wearing the most playful grin ever. 

She remembers the last time she saw him three weeks ago at Seri’s birthday party, and she realizes it’s been a while since then. Something in her aches to see him again but she shakes the thought away completely. It would be inappropriate to feel that way since he was both her brothers’ best friend. 

Yet she can’t get him out of her mind. The gentle, protective hold he had on her waist still lingering in her thoughts like a recurring nightmare, it even haunts her in the middle of the day sometimes. 

A soft knock fills the quiet room, and she’s snapped out of her own reverie, glad for the distraction. 

She looks to her door and sees Jongin poking his head in, a sheepish smile on his face. She looks at him begrudgingly. 

“Oh, come on, Hyemi,” He whines, and it tugs on her heart a little bit. Jongin may be older than her, but he acts more like a younger sibling than Hyemi ever did. “I’m sorry! Forgive me?” 

Hyemi doesn’t respond but rolls her eyes in defeat, so he takes her silence as an entrance ticket. He steps into the room and closes  the door behind him. “Do you wanna watch a movie today?”

“You can’t be serious,” She looks at him incredulously, “I still have some packing to do, Jongin-oppa! You’re not even helping me when you said you would.”

Jongin looks a bit guilty, but he’s also stubborn. “Okay, I’ll make it up to you by… taking you to the movies and dinner! I’ll buy you dinner.”

“No, Kim Jongin.” 

“Come on, please? The new Godzilla movie is out and I’m only free today!” 

“Go watch it yourself then! Or bring Chanyeol and Sehun with you.” 

“I am bringing them, I’m just bringing you too.”

She shakes her head defiantly and Jongin glares at her. “If you don’t go with me, I’ll unpack everything you packed.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Don’t challenge me, Kim Hyemi. You really think I wouldn’t do it?” 

Knowing the nature of Kim Jongin, the man she has lived with her whole life, he would actually do it just to get what he wants. She glances towards the halfway filled boxes in her room, and then back at Jongin who had a smirk on his face. 

“I hate you so much.” 

Baekhyun was stuck in his work studio, meticulously editing his clients’ wedding photos when he got a call from Chanyeol about watching the latest Godzilla movie. As much as he wants to join, he knows he can’t. Not until he was at least 50% done with his editing. 

His latest clients were really fussy, shuddering to himself when he recalls how insulting it felt to have worked for the married couple last weekend. They treated him like dirt the whole time. Constantly complaining whenever the photos he took weren’t to their liking even though Baekhyun had followed their every instruction whilst having his own suggestions get completely ignored and disregarded. 
 

Yet Baekhyun was still a man of his word, he had to indulge the customers with whatever they wanted, no matter how insulting it felt to him.

Besides, he can’t afford to lose any customers right now, not when his business is still new. He needed the customers, and no matter what, he needed to make this work. Even if it meant he had to deal with fussy clients and work a lot of overtime. 

He receives a notification from the big group chat. He swipes it open, and sees the image of a sleeping Sehun drooling with his mouth open in the passenger seat of Chanyeol’s car. Baekhyun laughs at the sight. 

He leans back on his desk chair, about to type in a reply until he sees Jongin’s message.

It was a photo of Hyemi from behind, donning a beautiful green sundress, the familiar butterfly hair clip clasping onto her wavy black hair that’s shining beneath the sun. She had her head turned over her shoulder, and Baekhyun assumed she was staring back at Jongin. She had a disgruntled look on her face, making his lips etch into a smile. He reads the following message next:

Aha! I managed to drag her out of the cave, the princess is joining us for Godzilla! :P

All hail Kim Jongin for doing the impossible!  Chanyeol replies. 

A mass of messages come by after, everyone sending congratulatory emojis in tow. It still amazed him how much everyone in his friend group adored the woman. It was only three weeks ago when they first met her, yet they gravitated towards her like a moth to a flame, often asking if she would join in their hangouts. 

He didn’t blame them though, because he feels the magnetic pull too. Maybe even more than anyone else did. He’s just glad that everyone is much more vocal about their adoration towards her, because it saves him from Jongdae’s wrath at least. 

Baekhyun stares at her photo once again, captivated by how amazing she looked. For a second, he wishes he was the one who took the photo, confident that if it was him behind the lens, he would have been able to capture her beauty perfectly. 

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter