Kim Jiah wiped away the last few remaining tears that fell from her eyes. She sniffled a few times as she tried to calm herself down from crying. In all honesty, she felt slightly stupid for the reason that had her in the bathroom crying for the past half hour, but she just could not keep the tears from falling or her heart from feeling as though it wanted to break.

It was Valentine’s Day, aka the lonely and alone awareness day. While most people were getting confessions, gifts, candies, flowers, heck, even valentines from friends, Jiah got nothing.

It was not like she was some unknown loser, heck she was not even in school anymore and there was no rule saying that everybody had to get a valentine. But it still hurt knowing that yet another year had gone by and she was still alone, forgotten. It was not even about the actual valentine, it was the fact that Jiah was forced to realize just how alone she was, how lonely she lived her life with almost no one close to her, no true friends, no love interest, no family. Nothing.

Before she could start crying again, Jiah forced herself to stand from the toilet, grabbing her bag and left the stall. She walked over to the sink and looked in the mirror. Her eyes were red and puffy, making it obvious that she had been crying for a while. She pulled her makeup out of her bag and tried to make herself a little less scary.

Walking out of the bathroom, Jiah kept her head down, not wanting to look anybody in the eyes. She was afraid that they would be able to tell that she had just spent the last half hour crying and start asking questions. She headed to her studio, grabbing her stuff before heading out. She told her assistant to let the CEO that she was not feeling well and was leaving early. Though, she was not sure if her assistant even heard her, she was too caught up in the flowers that her boyfriend had sent her.

Jiah moved fast, keeping her head down, trying to quickly leave to company building, just wanting the day to be over with. At this point, all she wanted to do was to go home, curl up with a pint of Ben&Jerry’s Chunky Monkey and watch Supernatural; watching people get torn to shreds and the heads cut off…Yes that sounds like the perfect day to spend Valentine’s Day.

Being so lost in her thoughts, in her mission to just get out of the building, she was unaware of the oncoming collision. The clash of bodies sent Jiah stumbling backwards, almost falling to the ground had the other person not caught her.

“Whoa, Jiah, careful now.”

Her eyes widened at the sound of the males voice, her heart stopping and she wished at that very moment that she could just disappear.  She hoped that she was hearing wrong and that it was not the person she thought it was, just someone who sound a lot like him. She forced herself to look at the person she crashed into and saw the one person she did not want to at the moment. Lee Hongbin, the visual/artwork of VIXX, smooth vocals that tend to get looked over just for his looks, was still holding on to her, looking at her with worry in his eyes.

Jiah quickly looked back down at the ground, unable to look him in the eyes, and pulled away from his touch. Her skin tingled with the remnants of his touch remaining, causing her skin to feel as though it was burning. She could feel her heart skip a beat just by standing in front of him, feeling his eyes piercing her, and she knew that short moment their eyes locked together, he saw just how red her eyes were and he would question her about it, something that she did not want to do at that moment.

 “E-excuse me…”

She tried to push past him, keeping her head turned away from him so he could not see her face. Before she could walk away, Hongbin grabbed her arm to make her come to a stop, tightening his grip when she tried to wiggle out of his grasp, “Jiah, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Clearing , she tried to speak in a strong voice, “I-I’m fine. I just need to go home. P-Please le-let go.”

She mentally cursed herself because she knew her voice sounded broken and hoarse from her time spent crying. She pulled against his hold, almost desperate to get away from him, too embarrassed to face him in her current state.

“Jiah…?”

The second his grip loosened just slightly, Jiah took that chance the jerk her arm away and ran away without a second thought; not allowing him even a moment to speak. Rushing out of the company building, Jiah did not stop to catch her breath until she was out of the building and far enough away she knew it was safe to slow down. Only then did she stop running and walk the rest of the way to the bus station and headed on home, ready to lock herself away from having to see the love sick couples everywhere and the entire Valentine decorations, all constantly reminding her of just how miserable this day was.

Hongbin stood staring at the spot Jiah once stood. He let out as sigh and ran his hand down his face, punching the wall in frustration. He knew there was something was wrong, it was obvious from her red, puffy eyes and the way her voice sounded hoarse from crying. He hated that something was wrong with her, but he could do nothing to help. He leaned against the wall and let out another sigh.

Every time he tried to get closer to her, start an actual conversation, he would freeze up and get all awkward around her, and it seemed like any intelligent thought left his mind. Now that he had finally gained to nerve to talk to her, on Valentine’s Day of all days, she runs away from him, clearly upset over something, and he was not able to do anything to help her.

“Hyuk is right, I am hopeless.”

Pushing himself off the wall, Hongbin made his way back to the practice room, dejected that yet again he was not able to have an actual conversation with Jiah. This was getting ridiculous, he had to get her attention, make her notice him, and not just as VIXX’s artwork, but as a man. He liked her, wanted to get to know her, he wanted to take care of her and make sure he never saw that hurt look in her eyes again. As much as he didn’t want to, Hongbin was going to have to talk to the member to get their advice and see what they think he should do.

The next day Jiah came into work feeling a little better than she did last night. Watching a marathon of Supernatural, watching all the demons and monsters getting slashed in half made her feel better. Then again so did the cheeseburger and French fries and pint of Chunky Monkey. She was just happy that the day was over and she had a whole year before she had to deal with it again.

“Hello Miss Jiah, how are you this morning? You did not seem to be feeling well yesterday when you left.”

She forced a smile as she looked at her assistant, “I’m fine, I was just a little under the weather yesterday is all.”

“Oh, I hope it did not ruin your Valentines plans with your boyfriend. My boyfriend took me out to this romantic restaurant, and then we went out walking around the city at all the decorations put up all around the city and…”

Jiah cringed as her assistant continued to talk about last night, and she was even starting to feel sick to her stomach, “Ah, actually, I did not have any plans last night, and I don’t have a boyfriend. Now if you do not mind, I think that we should focus on today, on work, and not on last night. Okay.”

She knew she came off a little mean but she did not really care at the moment. She felt like her assistant was rubbing it in her face that she had a boy friend and Jiah did not.

She let out a sigh and walked over to her desk to start work, but stopped when she saw the bouquet of 13yellow roses and yellow roses with red tips on her desk. She looked over at her assistant confused, “Where did these come from? Who are they from?”

 Her assistant shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know. They were there when I got in here. I figured they were from your boyfriend or something. Then again, I thought that it was weird that the roses were yellow if they were from your boyfriend, and that there were 13 of them.”

“13 roses like this mean a secret admirer; yellow roses are a symbol of a new beginning, jealousy and a way of saying “I care.” Yellow roses with red tips show friendship and falling in love. I wonder who sent them?”

“Is there a card?”

Jiah shrugged and picked up the roses, taking in the sweet scent of the roses and found a note in the center. She sat at her desk, lost in her own world and ignoring her assistant.

‘Sweet Jiah, I have tried and tried to approach you, I just once want to have a real conversation with you. But it never seems to work out. It might not be Valentine’s Day, but that does not mean I cannot still show you I care for you. I still cannot come up to you and tell you how I feel, this is the next best thing I can do….for now…’

Jiah smiled as she read the letter, smelling the flowers once more. She felt her heart flutter slightly, just thinking about the fact that she had a secret admirer. Though there was a small voice in the back of her mind telling her that it was a prank, she chose to ignore it, because she did not want to think that this could all just be some kind a sick joke. Besides, if it was a joke, it was a well thought out one, because not everyone knows the different meanings behind roses.

For the rest of the day, a smile never left her face; she just felt lighter, happier, and was defiantly leaving in a much better mood than she was the day before. What she did not know though, was that there was someone watching her who was also smiling, just from seeing her in a happy mood.

For the next week Jiah would come to work and would find a bundle of 13 roses on her desk, each day different color giving her a new message.

The second day was lavender roses with the message of love at first sight.

Third day there were red and yellow roses with the message that just being near her or seeing her happy brings happy feelings for her admirer.

Fourth day she found white roses with the meaning of “I am worthy of you.”

Day five was pink roses, asking her to believe in him, do not doubt the feeling he has for her.

On the sixth day she found orange and pale peach roses on her desk, letting her know that he desired her, but not in just a ual way, but also in a modest way, of just desiring to be with her and hold her in his arms, being able to show her how he cares.

Jiah came to look forward to these roses every day; she loved reading the sweet little notes that were left with the roses. In just six short days, she found herself falling for the person behind the notes. She might not know who he was, but she knew that he was sweet, caring, kindhearted, and very romantic. Each day, with every note, every bouquet of roses, made her want to know who he was more and more.

Today, Jiah was determined to find out who was leaving her the roses. She left home early, trying to get there early enough to catch whoever it was in the act. But it seemed like the world did not want her to know who her secret admirer was just yet.

Her alarm clock did not go off so that had her waking up later than normal, she nearly fell going down the stairs of her apartment complex, then the buses were running late so she did not have time to stop and get something from the small bakery for a quick breakfast. By the time Jiah arrived at the company, she was frustrated and hungry, and needless to say, she was not there early enough to catch her secret admirer in the act.

She let out a sigh to calm her nerves, trying to not let her frustration get the better of her. She thought about just looking forward to the roses and thinking about what the message was going to be this day, what the note would say.

Jiah walked into her office, smiling, until she saw the look on her assistant’s face, “What’s wrong?”

The assistant said nothing just looked over at Jiah’s desk. She followed her assistant line of sight and quickly understood what that look was for.

Her smile quickly fell from her face, as disappointment filled her. Her desk was empty, or at least empty as in, no roses. There was nothing there except for the work she had left there yesterday. She felt her heart drop, but did not really understand why; they were just flowers, right?

Jiah sat down and let out a sigh. It was weird; she was hurt by not finding a note, by not finding any roses on her desk. In just six short days, this person was able to find their way into her heart and make her start to fall for him, without even knowing his name. She was questioning if she should really be disappointed; questioning if maybe there is an actual reason that he did not leave her flowers today? Maybe he was hurt or…

“Miss Jiah? Are you alright?”

“Huh? Oh, um, yeah I guess. It was just roses and small notes, not that big of a deal, right? I mean, I do not even know who the person was.”

“Maybe they have decided to reveal themselves to you today and want to give you the flowers in person?”

 Jiah was suddenly hit with a sickening feeling in her stomach. What if her assistant was right? What if this person was going to reveal himself, was she ready to actually meet him after just six short day? She was just getting used to the fact that she had a secret admirer and he was sending her flowers. This was just escalating a little too quickly for her.

“No, there is no way. It has only been six days, what kind of secret admirer reveals themselves after just six days? No, there has to be another reason for it.

Her assistant was not able to respond because right at that moment, the door opened and in walked Lee Hongbin. “Jiah?”

She looked at him, feeling her heart race, and a blush creep up on her cheeks. She had not had any actual contact with Hongbin since that day and with the secret admirer, she had almost forgotten about the feeling Hongbin gives her just by looking at him.

“Y-Yes Hongbin?”

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Is there a problem?”

“I-I just need to t-talk to you, please?”

Jiah nodded and stood up to follow Hongbin. Her assistant rolled her eyes, “God, those two are so obvious to everyone but each other. What idiots.”

Jiah followed Hongbin, watching him closely and could tell something was bothering him. He kept biting his bottom lip, fiddling with his clothes, and he seemed to be having an internal argument with himself.

“H-Hongbin? Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m f-fine.”

“What was it you needed to talk to me about? Was there something wrong with the concept design?”

“N-No, just follow me, please?”

She just nodded her head and followed him to what she could only figure to be the rooftop. The remainder of the elevator was silent. Hongbin did not know what to say and Jiah did not want to interrupt his internal debate.

Once they got to the rooftop, Jiah was shocked to see different colored roses decorating the roof. She stood by the door, looking around admiring the roses, amazed at how beautiful they were. She did not notice Hongbin walking to the table set up at the center of the rooftop, picking something up.

“Jiah?”

Her attention went back to Hongbin and gasped as she saw him standing there hold in a single, thorn-less, red rose. It was that moment that Jiah finally realized that it was Hongbin that had been sending her the roses and giving her the notes. Her heart raced, out of all the possibilities of someone being her secret admirer, not once did she consider it to be Lee Hongbin.

“Hongbin? You…the roses?”

He looked down, a shy smile on his face, “Yeah, I’m the one that has been sending you all the roses. Did you like them?”

She smiled at how she he was, her heart fluttering inside her chest, slowly walking towards him, “Yes, I loved them. But why do all of this now? Why even me at all?”

Hongbin let out a shaky breath, “I have been trying and trying to talk to you, to get your attention. But anytime I tried I would either lose my nerve or you would run away from me. I was almost at the point I was going to give up. Then, on Valentine’s Day, seeing that look in your eye, seeing the redness of your eyes and knowing that you had been crying, it hurt me. I just wanted to take you in my arms and hold you, protect you from anything and everything, just so I would never see that look in your eyes again. I wanted you to see me as Lee Hongbin, not VIXX’s artwork, but I could never find the nerve to actually start a full conversation with you, I would get scared.”

Jiah found his words to be sweet, and felt her heart swell from his confession. But she also could not help but to laugh a little at the last thing he said, “You got scared to talk to me? I’m thinking it should be the other way around mister. You could have any girl you want, why confess to me?”

He gave her his wonderful smile, showing off his amazing dimples, “I can bungee jump off a tall building, debut as an idol, perform in front of thousands of fans. But you terrify me. I’m not coming to you as an idol or as “the artwork” but as a man who wants to get to know you better. I want to talk to you and laugh with you, make you happy so that you never cry. I want to be the one to wipe away your tears if there comes a time when you just need to cry. I want to love you Kim Jiah, and I want you to love me too, but I’m scared that you will reject me.”

Jiah looked at the rose that Hongbin was still holding and took it from him, “You scare me too, you know. I see you and my heart races, I forget how to breathe, and it is not just because you are handsome. There is an aura around you that just draws me too you and it scares me. I have never really had these feeling before. Then when I hear you sing, I get so many other emotions all at once that I cannot even begin to explain them. I want to get to know you better too; I want to be able to talk and laugh with you without feeling awkward that be overcome with the need to run away because I don’t know what else to do. I want to love you too Lee Hongbin, so don’t be scared, I am not going to reject you.”

Hongbin was overcome by so many strong emotions that the only thing he could do was pull her into his arms and hold her close to him. Jiah laughed as Hongbin clung to her, wrapping her arms around his waist, burying her head into his chest, and breathing in his scent.

In this moment, both had never felt happier, finally being able to confess their feeling and knew that this was just the beginning of their very beautiful shy love.

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