For surong-exopink

AGAPANTHUS

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and Chorong was minding the shop. Not a customer had come in the last two hours and she was growing tired and becoming increasingly bored. She sat at the counter, absentmindedly playing with her phone, sighing every couple of minutes and counting down the seconds until she could close up for the day and return home. She thought she had heard wrong when the doorbell of the shop rung out.

She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw her long time crush, Kim Joonmyun, walk through the door. She stood up, the stool she was sitting on, grating across the floor, making a sharp noise that prompted the boy to look up.

“Ah! Chorong-ssi…you work here?”

“Ne. Why are you here today?”

“To buy flowers. What else?”

He gave her a pat on the back and flashed her that perfect smile that cause her to lose her senses for a few moments.

“Do you know which flower you want?”

Joonmyun scratched the back of his head momentarily and cocked his head towards her, forehead crinkling out of contemplation. He answered uneasily.

“Errmmm…roses?”

Chorong let out a chuckle that earned a pout from Joonmyun.

“Wae? Bad idea?”

“Ani…it’s just that…it’s cheesy and overdone.”

“So do you have any suggestions?”

“Oh…if you want roses, we have lots of them, I was just thinking out loud…”

“It’s alright. A lot of guys have given her roses…I should stand out…”

“I’ll help you!”

“Then…what flowers do you recommend?”

“First…you should tell me what they are for…”

“To confess that I like her…”

Chorong stared up blankly at him, expecting him to continue. He just stared back at her in confusion, wondering what was taking her so long to answer.

“Chorong-ssi…”

“Wae?”

“You’re just standing there…”

“I was waiting for you to keep explaining. You see, I didn’t recommend roses because there wasn’t any good reason to recommend them. You know that there are lots of different flowers, right? Well, each one has a special meaning, and I think some are better at explaining certain emotions, better than the other. That’s why, I was waiting for you to explain.”

“I see…”

“So how do you feel?”

“I like her…”

“Why?”

“The first time I saw her, I couldn’t stop thinking about her…”

“Does she know that you like her?”

“No. I haven’t even really had a proper conversation with her.”

“So…it’s a secret?”

“Yes.”

“But it’s not one-sided, do you think?”

“Well, I don’t know…”

“Don’t worry. I think I have the flower for you…”

Chorong beckoned him to follow her and she started to walk to the other side of the room. His feet stood cemented to the ground though. He thought she was pretty, and his heart was wavering. All that he said about the girl he was buying flowers for, it was true, and now, there was something strange going on in his chest. He put a hand to it and mentally willed it to calm down before heading off to follow Chorong. He smiled. She was kind, and smart, and said what she thought. She was beautiful too. The way her eyes lit up when she talked about the flowers, he felt that the atmosphere came alive. He usually didn’t care about these things, but something drew him to listen and hang on to her every word.

She bent down to pick up a blue flower and handed it to him. He took it, and the tips of his fingers made contact with hers.  Thump! He looked up at her but she had already turned around to pick out some more flowers. She broke him out of his thoughts.

“Do you like it? I know it’s unconventional and it’s made up of small flowers and you can’t really do the romantic thing and just give a single flower, but I think it explains your situation very well.”

He just nodded and told her that he would buy it. She took the flower out of his hand and put it with the others she picked out to create the bouquet. Thump!

As he was paying for the bouquet, he asked her a question.

“What do these mean?”

“Oh yeah! It means secret love…”

He curtly nodded his head and retrieved the flowers.

“Good luck with your confession! I’ll see you around at school tomorrow.”

“Ne…”

He walked out the door and Chorong sunk down on the stool and let out an audible sigh. She touched her fingers on her left hand and still felt her nerve ends tingling, but then she remembered that he was buying flowers for someone else and was saddened. She glanced at the clock and it signalled that it was time for her to go home. She locked up the back door and made sure that everything was in place before grabbing her bag. As she was about to lock the front door, a little blue flower had caught her eye. It seems that the little flower had fallen from the bouquet. She picked it up and touched its small petals. This is how I feel about you too…

The next day at school, she walked into the front gates just in time to see Joonmyun confessing. He handed the girl the flowers, but she slowly pushed his outstretched hand back towards him. They exchanged a few more words before the girl turned around and walked off, leaving Joonmyun to stand there dejectedly, looking at the flowers. Chorong was having mixed emotions. She was sad that he was unhappy, but relieved that the girl did not accept his feelings. It’s not like he likes you…

She was about to walk up to him to casually ask him about his confession and if he had done it, but she saw him throw the bouquet into the nearest trash can and then storm off into the school building. She ran towards the bin, and looked around, before picking up the bouquet and dusting it off. She saw that he had put a little note in it.

Roses are red

This Agapanthus is blue

Please accept this

My secret love for you

She smiled and picked out one full stem of flowers and the note, then dumped the rest back in. She went to the lockers, found Joonmyun’s and stuck the flower and the note on it, before going into class.

Moments later, Joonmyun walked to his locker to find the flower and the note, smiling to himself. He knew exactly where they came from because he watched her put it on his locker. He may seem slightly arrogant and thick-skinned for doing this, but he was going to confess to her today. He couldn’t stop thinking about her last night and since the first time he saw her. He was actually glad and grateful that his plan had worked. He knew that the girl he was going to “confess” to would say no and staged the whole thing. He planned to go to the florist and tell Chorong about his “plan” and also wanted to find out if she felt something for him too. It worked!

He took the flower and note off and ran to class. He knew that she would be the first one in there. Surely enough, she was seated by the window, not even noticing that he had walked in. He put the flower and the note on her desk and walked to his seat behind her. She looked down and saw it, and Joonmyun was anxiously waiting for her reaction. Then, she turned around and smiled at him, as he beamed back at her and put the flower behind her ear, as a flood of students walked into the class.

The new note read:

Roses are red

This Agapanthus is blue

You said I was being too cheesy

But know that it is all for you

Accept my heart

It was always yours

Please say yes

Or my heart will be sore