My head was pounding. The foreign words weren't sticking to my brain the way I wanted them to and I was just about to use my Chinese dictionary to start a nice bonfire in the middle of the yard when I heard the backdoor open. I let out a relieved sigh, hoping that whoever joined me on the porch would serve as some kind of distraction for me, even if it was just for a few minutes.

Instead I felt my features pull into an automatic frown at the look of the big, stupid grin on my neighbor slash self-proclaimed best friend's face. Chanyeol ruffled up my hair and plopped down on the lawn chair across from mine, inquiringly eyeing the items on the table while he munched on an apple he had without a doubt snatched from our kitchen on his way out. "What are you doing?" he wanted to know, curious as always.

"Studying," I snapped. I tried - and failed - to smooth down my hair.

Before I could stop him he had yanked the book out from under me. "Chinese?" He snorted. "What on earth would you ever use Chinese for?"

I grabbed the dictionary from his hands, scowling. "I'm interested in China, okay?" I spat and proceeded to practically bury my face in the book as if to emphasize my point.

"More like interested in a certain someone who just so happens to be from China." He waved his little finger at the person crouching in a spot of sunlight in the opposite end of the huge garden. Said person noticed that we were looking at him and his eyes creased charmingly around the corners when he sent us a polite smile. I felt the heat creep up my neck and cover my cheeks in the form of a blush. I quickly looked away. "Isn't your gardener pretty good at Korean, though?"

"He is."

"So what are you studying Chinese for?"

I slammed the dictionary down on the table with a harsh sigh. "Why are you here?" I countered defensively. I wasn't sure why he had decided to invite himself over, but I was already annoyed. Usually it took longer than that for me to get tired of him.

My friend raised his eyebrows and his hands simultaneously. "Sheesh, calm down. I just wanted to visit my best friend, but since you're being all pissy, I might as well leave." He set down his apple core on the table and made an unnecessarily big deal out of scraping the chair across the porch's wooden floorboards as he got up. With dramatically heavy steps he walked towards the door that lead to the house. "Oh, Luhan-sshi?" he suddenly called out and my head snapped up in time to see the young gardener raise his with a questioning expression. "Sehun has something he wants to tell you."

The panic that welled over me made my pulse throb in my ears. "Bastard," I hissed through my teeth, eyes shooting daggers at the traitor Park Chanyeol. I made a mental note to never ever speak to him ever again. The other just sent me a grin and a flying kiss before disappearing from my view. I cursed under my breath.

My heart fluttered as I watched Luhan make his way up the three steps that took him from the lawn to the porch where I was sitting. He was rubbing his palms against the thighs of his worn out, steel blue overalls to get rid of the dirt that covered his delicate hands. I was pretty sure it didn't help any since his work pants were just as dirty, if not more, but I didn't say anything about it. "Is everything alright, Sehun-ah?" The other's soft voice never failed to send chills running all the way down my spine. In the best way possible, of course.

"E-everything is f-fine," I assured him quickly. "I just... I just wanted to know if, uh... you could, uh... put some... flowers in my room?" Considering it was something I pulled out of my I thought I did a pretty good job at making up an excuse. It was much better than telling him about my pathetic crush that had lasted for two years and would most likely never be more than a crush.

Luhan cocked his head to the side as if he didn't understand my question. At first I feared that he wasn't as good at Korean as I had thought he was, although the few times I had had a conversation with him he seemed to be practically fluent. "What kind of flowers do you want?" he then asked in his slightly accented words and I felt relieved. He probably just needed to think over his response. "It could be jasmines, they have such a nice scent. Roses are a bit boring. Maybe marigolds or asters or-"

"That's for you to decide," I cut him off. "I just need to get some sort of color in there."

He pursed his lips and puffed out his cheeks as he thought and as cliché as it sounds my stomach did an uncomfortable flip. I swallowed thickly. Then he smiled. "I'll figure something out."

Every day for the next few weeks there were fresh flowers on my nightstand when I got home from school. It was always red carnations, the only splash of color in the otherwise bland interior of my room. I knew that Luhan replaced the flowers once in a while, but he always did it while I was away and I never saw him. There was always a distinct scent that lingered for a while afterwards, though, a scent of earth and cinnamon. Somehow there was something exhilarating about knowing that he had been in my room.

"It smells like dirt in here," Chanyeol commented. He had invited himself over again and this time he had thrown himself on my bed. Of course he didn't care that he was throwing himself on top of all my papers and notebooks and, since I was lying on my stomach on the bed, halfway on top of me. He pulled one of the ear buds out of my ear and stuck it into his own. His face scrunched up in displeasure at the unfamiliar language. "Ew, you're still doing that learning Chinese-thing? I thought you gave up."

"I'm not going to give up," I persisted.

He flopped onto his back with a sigh. "Why don't you just tell him that you want his and get it over with?"

"Because I'm pretty sure he doesn't know the Korean word for ''," I deadpanned. The other snorted. "But seriously, it's not that simple."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm a high school student and he's an adult and I'm not good at anything and he comes pretty close to perfect."

"How can you know that he's perfect if you're too much of a coward to actually talk to him?"

I had already opened my mouth to spit back a snide remark before I realized that I didn't have an answer for him. "You ask too many questions," I muttered instead and kicked him in the side so he rolled off the bed and landed on the floor with a loud thud.

For a second I was almost worried that he had gotten hurt, but my worry vanished the instant his head reappeared with that stupid, puffy hair and that stupid grin. "You know I'm right, though." He crawled onto the bed again. A huff slipped past my lips when he sat down heavily on my back and I flailed in my attempt to make him to get off me. "And you like him."

"Of course I like him," I exclaimed. "Do you think I'd spend several hours every day to learn a foreign language just to impress some guy if I didn't like him?"

My heart practically stopped functioning when the door opened and Luhan entered the room with his arms full of flowers. He paused momentarily, blinking in a dazed way that was nothing less than adorable. I stared at him. If he had heard what I just blurted out I would be screwed. That wasn't how he was supposed to find out. "Oh," the gardener finally spoke and his eyes flickered between me and Chanyeol, shining with insecurity. "I didn't know you had a visitor. I'll come back later if-"

"There's no need to," my friend interjected. "I was just about to leave."

Luhan bowed politely at the younger as he passed, receiving a slight smile in return. Of course my friend had the decency to remember to close the door behind him, only adding to the already constricting tension. Knowing that Luhan had been in my room was one thing. Actually being in it while he was there was another. It made me feel a little bit dizzy. "I'm not distracting you from doing your homework, am I?"

I realized that I had been staring and I quickly averted my eyes, shaking my head. "I'm not..." I cut myself off before I could finish the sentence. I would have told him that I wasn't doing my homework and that I was studying Chinese, but I realized that I didn't want him to know. "I'm not distracted," I muttered instead, even though it was a lie. He smiled.

The other sang softly to himself under his breath as he did his work. He got rid of the old, withering flowers and got some fresh water for the new ones. The sound of his feet pattering softly across the carpeted floor mixed with his humming and it was oddly calming. There was something really pleasant about his tone. I was convinced he could have become a singer if he wanted to.

Eventually I gave up on trying to figure out the meaning of a certain Chinese idiom that I had read more than twenty times now, but still failed to comprehend. I shifted my position so I was sitting cross-legged on the bed instead. My eyes were fastened on the gardener's slender, graceful hands as they worked to spread the blossoming flowers out in the vase to make the bouquet look as pretty as possible. "Your friend doesn't like me very much, does he?" he suddenly said.

"What makes you say that?" I asked. There was a small frown etched between his eyebrows and his lips were slightly pursed. Somehow it was cute to see him scowling like that. I was sure he looked about a million times cuter than I did when I made that same expression.

"He always leaves when I come. I don't think he likes me."

"Don't mind him, he's just an idiot." Luhan's features softened and he let out a light chuckle and I could feel my heart do a flip. Even though he looked cute when he was pouting I liked it when he was smiling as well. I liked it a lot.

"Do you know what kind of flower this is?" he asked out of nowhere. I lowered my gaze to look at the flower he was twirling between his fingers. It had a skinny stem and dark red petals. Had he been holding it the whole time? I hadn't noticed it. I almost panicked when he reached out to place it behind my ear, a smile still tugging at his lips. "Carnation," he answered his own question. His face scrunched up cutely as he pinched my cheek. I rubbed my sore face when he directed his attention at the bouquet again. "Do you know what red carnations are a symbol of?"

"What?" I asked dumbly. He didn't answer. All he did was smile and he bowed at me before he left the room without uttering another word. Needless to say I was more than a little confused.

"Hyung, what do red carnations mean?"

Chanyeol looked at me over his bowl, stuffing his face with yet another oversized bite of ice cream. "What?" he asked with his mouth full. I grimaced at the chunks of chocolate I could see swirling around on his tongue. It was very unflattering.

"You're disgusting, you know that?" He stuck his tongue out at me and defiantly scooped up an even bigger spoonful. I rolled my eyes at his antics. Sometimes I found it hard to believe that he was older than me. "Do you know what red carnations symbolize?" I repeated my question with just a hint of impatience.

He shrugged. "I'm not a flower expert. Why don't you go ask your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend."

"But you want him to be."

I opened my mouth to object, but closed it again. I would be lying if I said that I didn't want that. I settled for a bitter: "Shut up." Chanyeol merely grinned. "Anyway, I did ask him, but he didn't want to tell me." The other looked confused and I told him what had happened between me and Luhan after he left. "I've been thinking about it for days," I concluded with a sigh.

"Why don't you just look it up on the internet?"

It took a few moments for it to hit me. "God, I'm such an idiot!" I exclaimed.

"What else is new?" I glared and was tempted to flick him on the forehead, but I decided against it mainly because I felt like I had more important things to do than play fight with my best friend. I grabbed my laptop and he set aside his empty bowl and scooted closer so he could see what I was doing. After a few moments of shoving and kicking and swearing - despite the fact that I had wanted to avoid fighting with him - we settled for laying on our stomachs side by side with the computer in front of us.

None of us spoke and we were both staring intently at the screen as I typed away on the keyboard. It didn't take long before I came across a page that seemed reliable enough and I skimmed the text, which was laced with fancy words, until I found the part I was looking for; symbolism. As soon as I processed the meaning of the sentence I had just read, I felt the horror strike me. "Wh-what?" I exhaled, frantically reading it again just to make sure I didn't misinterpret it. "What?"

"Oh," my best friend chuckled. "Looks like he wants your as well."

"Shut up." I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen.

"'Dark red denote deep love and affection'," he read aloud in an amused tone despite me telling him not to. He nudged me in the ribs with his elbow. "'Love and affection', huh?"

My eyes flickered over the same part of text over and over. Then I let out a short, anxious laugh. "Oh, no. No, no, no, that can't be it." I shook my head in a state of near-panic. "That can't be it, no, it can't be. He doesn't like me, he just doesn't, he can't possibly like me, oh my God, he likes me, doesn't he?" Chanyeol grinned again and for the first time since, well, ever it didn't bother me when he ruffled up my hair because Luhan actually liked me.

I stood on the porch and my fists were clenched and my throat was clogged up and my heart was racing. My eyes were fastened on the young gardener who was kneeling by the large rose bed, tending to the thorny flowers. He was bathed in the late afternoon sunlight that poured into the yard from a clear sky and this was probably the most beautiful I had ever seen him. He was covered in dirt and his work clothes were worn, but he seemed so relaxed. The serene look on his face was more perfect than anything.

Slowly, infinitely slowly, I made my way down the three steps and started to walk across the lawn, covering the space between us with hesitant strides. The slower I walked the longer I would have to consider the words I was going to say in my head. I wanted to make this perfect. I couldn't mess this up, I couldn't.

Despite my leisurely pace it felt like I reached the opposite end of the garden way too fast. Luhan looked up and smiled at me before lowering his head again. I noticed that his eyelashes would brush against his slightly blushing cheeks whenever he blinked. "Sehun-ah." The way he spoke my name in what seemed to be an almost affectionate tone - or maybe that was just my delusional side overriding my common sense - made my heartbeat increase further. "How are you?"

"I'm... fine." I watched him work for a while, fidgeting with my hands and shifting uncomfortably on the spot as he did so. "You never wear garden gloves?" I figured things might be easier for me if I made some light conversation to lighten the mood.

"I want to feel what I'm working with." The dirt crumbled between his fingers. "I like to be able to touch things." He stood up and ran the back of his hand over his forehead to get rid of the sweat that beaded on his brow. He managed to smear grime across his face with the same motion. I instinctively reached out to wipe away the trail of dirt that marred his flawless skin. He was so soft and warm and I had half a mind to trace my fingertips down the side of his face and rest my palm against his cheek.

The moment I realized what I was actually doing I yanked my hand back with a quick, abrupt jerk, embarrassment coloring my cheeks bright red. "S-sorry about that," I mumbled sheepishly.

The other was merely smiling. He leaned down and took the garden hose that was lying by our feet and he washed his hands to get rid of the dirt. Before I could react he had grabbed my wrist and he sprayed the water on my fingers as well. I looked hesitantly at him. His eyes crinkled and he let go of my arm. My skin tingled where his hand had been. "Did you want something?" he asked, getting my mind right back to the almost frenzied state it had been in before I distracted myself with his touch.

"Yes." I in a deep breath, blowing it out slowly as I formed the sentence I wanted to utter in my head. "I know what red carnations mean now," I said tentatively in what I assumed was horribly broken Chinese. I was sure the pronunciation was off and that the grammar was wrong and I had had to look up the word 'carnations' and I was sure that was wrong too. Now I was beginning to think this was all a really, really bad idea.

Judging by the way Luhan raised his eyebrows it seemed like he was able to understand me, though. "Since when you do speak Mandarin, Oh Sehun?" Oddly enough he sounded amused.

"I've... been studying for you," I answered in his language despite that fact that he had spoken in mine.

He let out a short chuckle. "You do know I speak Korean, right?"

"I like you," I blurted out quickly before I had the chance to regret it. "I more than like you."

He stared at me for a few moments. Then he pinched my cheek. "You're cute," he muttered with a smile. I didn't know what to do or what to say or how to react. It didn't make it any easier for me when he shot a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching us before he grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me with him until we were standing behind the large magnolia tree, hidden from the rest of world.

The scent of the flowers was thick and sweet in the air. Pink petals covered the ground under our feet and the sky above our heads. Luhan slipped both of his palms down my forearms and laced his fingers with mine. His hands were so soft considering how much yard work he did. He gave my hands a squeeze. I tightened my grip hesitantly, squeezing back. My heart was racing. I wasn't used to this, but even though it was absolutely terrifying I still loved every last second of it.

"You're cute," I mumbled. That was one of the first sentences I had learned to say in Chinese because I had wanted to tell him that pretty much ever since the first time I saw him standing in our backyard with his adorable, steel blue overalls and eyes that were crinkly around the corners just like they were now and every time he smiled. I liked when he smiled. I also liked that he was a little bit shorter than I was so he had to stand on his tippy toes when he kissed me.

*****

A/N: I wanted to finish it and upload it earlier than this, but then daehyun was half- on my dashboard all of a sudden and my brain broke. anyway, I got my brain to work again so here's the story in all it's fluffy fluffiness (the fluffiness is making me feel a little disgusted with myself). better late than never, right? there's a part in it that I really hate. guess which part?
I totally forgot that sehun's birthday was coming up, but now I'm going to pretend that I meant to upload it today all along as a birthday present. happy birthday, sehun-ah~!

thank you all for reading~
yeoleobun annyeong! <3