Chasing Love

 

A person’s scent is his soul.

 

            Yoochun was taking a walk that fine day with his best friend Changmin when he first caught the smell that would haunt him for days. He was taking his time walking along the lines of cherry blossom trees. Changmin, his friend, was telling him about the new trends in the perfumery business in France. He was very much interested in making a new perfume for his most favorite client, Yunho, but he was having a bit of a problem with certain measurements of essential oils. Yunho said that he was going to give it as a present. So that was what Changmin was helping him with. They were discussing whether eucalyptus could be an ingredient for the head note* when a sudden whiff off an unidentified smell drifted to Yoochun.

            It paralyzed him for a moment because the fragrance was unlike he had smelled before. He had been to different places and studied various smells but he had never encountered a smell like this. It was very arresting. Yoochun felt like he was momentarily taken to another place and he could see himself standing at the sea side. He smelled the sea, the sand, the saltiness of the air. But aside from that he could also smell the waves. He could clearly see the waves in his mind’s eye as they crash onto wet stones where small crawling creatures live. There was also another smell, but he couldn’t place what it was. So he wanted to find out.

The mysterious scent was very fresh and definite that Yoochun found himself standing. He didn’t know when he closed his eyes at all. When he opened his eyes, his eyes darted to and fro, looking for that mysterious smell that just washed his body and made it alive.

Changmin saw his friend stood up, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was as if Yoochun was trying to smell something. He inhaled and also tried to smell his surroundings. He didn’t smell anything different. Changmin was about to ask Yoochun what he smelled when his friend opened his eyes. He was surprised because Yoochun had that wild look about him. He knew that look.  It was the look of a man bent on doing something. And because it was Yoochun, Changmin knew that it had something to do with smells.

“Yoochun-ah, wait! Where are you going?” he called out to his friend when he leapt on his feet suddenly and started going to the opposite direction from where they came from.

“I don’t know! Don’t wait for me Changmin-ah.” Yoochun answered excitedly as he ran towards the smell.

~~**~~

Junsu was going out of the store where good quality glass vials were sold that day. He kept his purchased items in a small bag and decided to walk home and not take the car. He wanted to think while walking. Junsu was having some problems with a new scent that was commissioned from him by his all time favorite client Jaejoong. The man wanted Junsu to make a vanilla scented perfume; he said he was going to give it to somebody. Junsu was known as a very talented perfumer in Seoul so he was sought by different people too. Junsu didn’t mind, he loved making scents. He loved smells. When he created a scent, he felt as if he was making a captured essence of that smell. And that was what he loved about his job.

It was on that day when he was just stepping out of the store when he caught a scent that made him pause in mid-stride. His head whipped around in the direction of the smell and he inhaled deeply. The scent was very new to him. Yes, he could identify the smell of jasmine and orange and some sort of lilies but there was also another smell that he could detect but he couldn’t really place it. He took another whiff of it and Junsu could almost swear he felt himself in a garden.

The garden was full of lilies and jasmines and roses and other gorgeous flowers. It was as if he was surrounded by the essence of the flowers. He could almost see each petal as they opened their buds for him. The silky feel of their leaves could be felt through that scent. There was also a subtle hint of oranges that he could almost taste and Junsu was taken by surprise. He just knew that he had to find that smell, to discover it so he could capture that scent forever.

He stood in front of the shop, momentarily shaken. Then he bolted to the direction where he could smell the elusive scent. Something was telling him that he should hurry and his heart was telling him that this was it. The most mysterious smell that he could ever find was near him. He knew he had to see what it was. So he ran.

~~**~~

            Both of them were running so fast that they didn’t notice that they were about to collide with each other. They rounded in a corner and determinedly ran towards the direction of the smell they were looking for. Junsu turned the same time Yoochun did and they bumped into each other soundly. The impact sent them both to the ground. Junsu fell on his side and Yoochun fell on his bum.

            “Ouch! My arm…I think I broke it.” Junsu complained. He rubbed his arm.

            “Oh god, my hurts. I think I can’t walk.” Yoochun also voiced his complaint. He rubbed his abused posterior.

            They looked at each other ready to give a scathing answer to each of their complaints when they got another whiff of the scents they were looking for earlier. They slowly took a sniff and closed their eyes. They were again transported to the places they found themselves earlier. It was really disconcerting.

            Both of them inclined their heads towards the smell and as they did, the scent seemed to get stronger. Junsu opened his eyes first and found himself a mere few inches away from Yoochun’s face. The man still got his eyes closed. Junsu’s eyes drifted to the man’s lips and all of a sudden the scent was forgotten. His desire to know the smell was over ridden with the desire to keep staring at the man’s plump red lips. Junsu gasped as he realized what he was doing.

            Yoochun heard a gasp and that shook him out of the stupor he was in. He opened his eyes and looked straight in the face of Junsu. The man was wearing an adorable shade of pink in his cheeks and Yoochun would have admired it more had he not realized how close their faces were to each other. A sudden embarrassment made promptly made him blush too but he quickly moved away before the other man could notice it. He awkwardly stood up, his pain forgotten. All he could think of was to get away from the man as soon as possible.

            It was the same for Junsu. He wanted to be away from the guy as soon as possible but his heart was insisting he do the opposite. When he saw that the man had stood up, he also stood up slowly. He knew he felt pain on his arm but he forgot about it especially when he saw the man’s cheeks redden the way apples did.

            Both men uttered an apology of sorts because they weren’t sure of what happened to them. It was then that Changmin made an appearance.

            “Yoochun-hyung! What happened to you? Are you alright?”  

            Yoochun just nodded ‘yes’. They started to walk away from Junsu. Changmin helped his hyung walk.

            It was then that Yoochun noticed that the scent of the smell was getting weaker.

            Junsu watched as the men leave. He was still absent-mindedly rubbing his sore arm. But as Yoochun and Changmin disappeared in a corner, he noticed that the scent he caught earlier was becoming fainter and fainter.

~~**~~

            It was days after Junsu and Yoochun smelled that unforgettable scent. During that time, both of time couldn’t seem to get the scent out of their minds. Both of them wanted to get another chance to smell it. Each of them wanted to experience the same thing that they did that fateful day. But they knew they couldn’t.

            Junsu tried going back to the store that he went to but he didn’t get anything. Not even a hint of what he smelled that day. He went home sad with a sense of longing.

            Yoochun went back to the same spot where he was walking that day. He even rounded the corner where they collided but he was unlucky. The smell was not there. Yoochun felt an acute sense of loss.

            In that week, a party of a famous celebrity was being held. Both Junsu and Yoochun were invited. Their clients Jaejoong and Yunho were there too. They were the ones who wanted to commission new scents from the two best perfumers in Seoul.

            Yoochun was lounging with a group of acquaintances sipping his margarita slowly. He was truly bored. He didn’t know that Junsu was also there, talking politely to some people. Like him, Junsu was also bored.

            Because of boredom, Yoochun stepped away from the group of people and he moved towards one of the balconies. He was blessed with fresh air. He thankfully inhaled the sweet air and felt his heart thud erratically. He just smelled the scent again. Yoochun frantically turned to search for it when his eyes rested on Junsu who was just about to come out to the balcony too.

            Their eyes met and each other’s gaze. Their heart beat in unison just as they felt the scents envelope the both of them.

It was then that they knew that they had found the perfect scent they were chasing after all along. And it was magnificent.


A/N: head note-the scent we smell from a perfume after a few minutes