Genre: angst, romance drama Requester: Coolhalla Author's Note: Sorry it took so long! Hope you enjoy it!!

 

I lay in bed, looking at the cool white ceiling. My eyes blinked in surprise at the amount of light shining on my face. I lifted a finger, groaning at the sharp pain I felt in my arm. My whole arm was bandaged like I was an Egyptian mummy. Another bandage was wrapped around my ribs like arms holding me. I could almost feel his embrace, his warmth radiating from his body. But that was just the room’s heating, and the tight bandage around my body. I could feel myself being pulled away from my body, as if I was about to slip into unconsciousness. His face appeared in front of me as my head got lighter, my vision becoming blurred. “Hala…” he whispered sweetly, his arms outstretched to me, reaching for me. I smiled back at him. He knelt beside me as my surroundings began to spin. He took my hand gently in his and everything cleared. “Hala,” he spoke calmly, my hair lovingly, twirling my hair around his finger.   I skipped happily to the door of the grocery shop, pushing the light door open. The bell rang as I took a step onto the welcome mat. I held the strap of my rucksack, shuffling my dolly shoes on the carpet. I tucked the stray strands of hair that had escaped from the French braid behind my ear and looked around for my childhood friend, Wonshik. I spotted him with another young boy stocking the shelves. They seemed to be quite close, as they laughed and joked with each other. “Oppa!” I called out excitedly, rushing over to Wonshik and hugging him tightly. We pulled apart from each other. Wonshik smiled, flattered. His colleague smiled awkwardly next to him. Like me, the young boy wore glasses, though his were just a fashion accessory. I waved at him shyly and he did the same. “Oh, I forgot, you haven’t met my Hala yet, have you?” Wonshik laughed. His colleague blushed. “Is she y-your girlfriend?” Wonshik laughed even louder, shaking his head so hard his beanie fell. “No, no, she’s my childhood friend. We’ve known each other for 12 years.” He bumped my shoulder. “Oh, I see.” Wonshik’s friend pushed his glasses up his nose, looking down at the floor. “Hala, this is Jaehwan. Most people call him Ken, though I’m not entirely sure why, maybe it’s because he looks a bit like a ken doll.” Wonshik teased. Ken pouted like a small child. “W-well I think he looks better than a ken doll.” I giggled, my cheeks heating up. Ken flushed too. “I mean… he doesn’t look plastic, right?” I added, trying to play it off cool. Wonshik was amused.   Ken swept me into his arms, letting my legs dangle. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck to steady myself. “Hala,” he whispered into my ear. My cheeks heated up from the way he said my name. He put my hand and took my hand in his, twirling me around and catching me in his arms. Ken rested his chin on my shoulder, embracing me. The sweet scent of his shampoo filled my nose. Ken’s soft lips grazed my jaw, his blonde fringe tickling the skin of my cheek. I felt a small tickling behind my ear and raised my hand to my ear, feeling the smooth petals of the rose. “Hala,” he repeated, his breath fanning on my cheek. I closed my eyes, taking in the feel of him being so close to me, holding me, embracing me. I could faintly smell the rose’s comforting fragrance.   Me, Ken and Wonshik were outside in the field picking tulips, bluebells and various other flowers for Wonshik’s girlfriend’s birthday. When Wonshik had asked us to get flowers for her, he had originally meant a bouquet from a shop around the corner, but as Ken offered to take us to a flower field his aunt owned, we couldn’t say no. That’s how we ended up in Ken’s aunt’s field, each holding a small bouquet of fresh flowers in one hand and a glass of lemonade in the other, sitting out in the blazing sun. “What’s the prettiest flower in the world?” Ken asked out of nowhere. I looked at Wonshik. I turned to Ken and shrugged. “Does it matter? Flowers shouldn’t be judged on looks just like people shouldn’t.”  took a sip of my lemonade, admiring the sweet taste that sat on my tongue. Ken’s lips curled upwards into a smile. “Maybe you’re right. It’s all about the act of giving flowers that matters, not how beautiful or colourful the flowers are.” I smiled to myself, looking at the field. “How would you give your girlfriend flowers, Jaehwan hyung?” Wonshik asked curiously.   Ken blushed. “I-I don’t know, I’ve never had a serious girlfriend before.” My eyes widened. “But why?! You’re a great guy!” I gasped, not believing him for one second. Ken sighed sadly. “That’s why, isn’t it? Most girls I meet want a bad boy.” He scoffed, shaking his head. Ken took hold of my small bouquet and knelt on the floor in front of me. “I’d give flowers to my girlfriend like this.” He spoke, answering Wonshik’s question. His eyes bore into mine. My cheeks flushed bright red as Wonshik patted Ken’s shoulder, clearly amused. Ken’s eyes widened and he moved his gaze away from mine. “Umm... Ken you can get up now.” Ken cleared his throat. “U-uh yeah… I can’t. ” he looked shyly down at his knee. “I hurt my knee.” He admitted like a small child. I laughed and helped him up; ignoring the tingling sensation I felt when our hands touched. Palm to palm. Skin to skin.   I shuffled around the house trying not to make any noise which would wake the boys up. I sighed quietly to myself before deciding to make a cup of tea. I boiled the water in the kettle and searched around for a mug. Banging cupboards and my arm, which was in plaster, I cursed at myself for being so noisy. I leaned up on my tiptoes to look for the tea bags when I lost my balance, falling on my broken arm. If it wasn't for Ken. "Hala," he whispered sleepily, making me sit down and watch him as he prepared two mugs of tea for us. He looked at me and I knew what he was thinking. Silly girl, what were you thinking? Ken placed his hand gently over the cast on my arm. His eyes softened once he saw my smile fall. Ken turned to the two cups of tea, laughing to himself. I raised an eyebrow, trying to see what he was laughing at. He placed my cup in front of me, waiting for something. I looked down at the tea and saw he’d drawn a smiley face with sprinkles and below, he wrote ‘스마일!’, also with sprinkles. Immediately a smile appeared on my face. I stopped when I heard Wonshik falling off of his bed. Both of us burst into crazy laughter.   I sat on the grass eating ice cream and watching Wonshik and his friends playing basketball. I cheered on his team which consisted of him, the leader in his group of friends and Mr. Dimples. On the other team was Ken, the one with the poker face and the maknae. I noted to myself that Mr. Dimples was the skilled player. Every time Wonshik’s team (though mainly Mr. Dimples) scored, I cheered loudly,