Mingyu got home after a while. He unlocked the door, slipped off his coat and made his way to the bathroom. He put in the pink toothbrush in the toothbrush holder and folded the pink towel neatly on the rack. Then, trudged into Minji's room. Finding her still sound asleep and not silently crying, he sighed in relief before approaching her. He placed the pink rubber bands on the beside table. He reached out to smooth her hair but stopped short. He closed his eyes, shaking his head as he walked away to the living room to get some rest. 

 

~

 

Minji's digital watch beeped. She opened her groggy eyes and looked at the time. 9am. She groaned, rubbing her eyes. She looked around and then blinked. Had she fallen asleep at Mingyu's? She knew that her Mom was probably flipping right now. She felt around for her phone and sure enough there were 15 missed calls and 8 angry text messages. She slapped herself before dialing her mother. 

 

"YOUNG LADY WHERE ON EARTH ARE YOU?!" Minji held her phone away from her ear. 

 

"I'm really sorry Mom. I had a long night and slept over at-" 

 

"YOU SLEPT OVE-"

 

"Don't worry, Mom. It's at Mingyu's," Minji said calmly, waiting for her response. 

 

"Oh, okay then. Psh, you should've told me earlier! Okay, honey, stay there for as long as you want! Have fun! Tell him I said hi! Oh and remember to get me some more sunflowers from the same store you got the old ones from! They're really pretty and of good quality so I want to decorate our front door with it to let the next door neighbours be jealous," 

 

I sighed, smiling. My mom was always like this on the phone, she did all the talking and there was no way you'd get a chance to say something. She was like a machine gun firing at you all at one go. 

 

"Okay, Mom. Take care, I'll be here for a while," I replied. 

 

"Remember the flowers! Bye!" She chirped before she hung up. 

 

Well that went better than expected. 

 

Minji rolled off the bed, falling exactly in the middle of the big carpet on the side of Mingyu's bed. The perks of sleelping over at your best friend's house often. Yawning, she walked towards the toilet. 

 

"Shoot, I don't have a toothbrus- Oh wait," Minji spotted the pink toothbrush on the holder. Mingyu must have gotten her those because he knew she loved pink. Anyway, she took it off and started brushing her teeth. Then, she washed her face with one of the face soaps she had forgotten to bring home from the last sleepover session. Wiping her face with the pink towel, she looked at herself in the mirror and frowned. She hated how her face was too round. She turned to the side and in her stomach. She turned back and pinched her thighs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mingyu shrugged and went back to the toilet. 

 

Minji got out the eggs and milk and laid them neatly on the counter together with the pancake mix. Taking a bowl on the rack, she mixed the ingredients together making sure not to overmix them because no one likes thin pancakes, right? 

 

"Hello," Mingyu whispered into her ear from behind her. He tugged at her pink rubber band, letting her hair fall. 

 

"Ugh, tie my hair back unless you want hair in your pancakes," Minji groaned at her immature friend. 

 

"How?" Mingyu tilted his head to the side, studying the rubber band. 

 

"Just tie a ponytail. Simple," Minji brushed hair out of her face as she the stove and greased it with cooking spray. 

 

Mingyu held the rubber band between his teeth. Then he grabbed her hair, awkwardly smoothing it out as he struggled to not let go of the bunch he already had in his hand. Finally he tied it loosely around her hair and thankfully got it to stay. 

 

"Done. It's a work of art, Minji" Mingyu clapped. He looked at his masterpiece in awe, proud of his achievement. Minji shook her head and carefully spread the mixture into the pan. 

 

Mingyu knew that this was his signal to do what he was always assigned to do. He took out some blueberries and strawberries from the fridge before cutting them neatly. Then, he waited for the chef to finish making the pancakes. 

 

Minji placed 2 plates of pancakes on the counter and Mingyu arranged the berries on each stack of pancakes. Minji put some whip cream on them and drizzled maple syrup as the finishing touch. Mingyu grabbed two cups and poured milk into each cup. 

 

"Breakfast is served," Minji bowed. Mingyu applauded and gave her a thumbs up. They both sat down opposite each other and started with their meal. 

 

Too hungry to speak, they both ate in silence. 

 

"You know," Mingyu said out of the blue. 

 

He swallowed before continuing, "I don't think you look sh*tty," 

 

"You heard me?" Minji was taken aback and honestly kind of embarassed. 

 

Mingyu waved his fork around, "That's not the point," He looked straight at Minji before continuing, "I think you're a perfect piece of living being. I know that nobody is perfect in this world but to me, you are. Jung Minji, I think that you're worth more than those numbers on the weighing scale or those delusional images you see in the mirror. I think you're beautiful," 

 

For a moment, the two just stared at each other. Both shocked at what just came out of Mingyu's mouth. Minji looked down, hiding a small smile. 

 

Mingyu cleared his throat and stabbed small pieces of pancakes, stuffing them in his mouth. 

 

"I meant to say, these pancakes are lovely," He said while chewing. 

 

Minji nodded slowly. 

 

~

 

The two had finished breakfast and were now sitting on the coach, watching a re-run of some drama. 

 

"Get dressed," Minji suddenly got up.

 

"Why? The wife's about to find out about her husband's affair," Mingyu whined, pointing towards the tv. 

 

"I just remembered that I need to get flowers for my mom," Minji said as she zoned out staring at the screen. The thought of going back to that store was uncomfortable. What if Soonyoung was on duty today? But he already stopped helping out. Minji's mind was a mess. 

 

"Aww, okay then. Don't want her to go mad again. Remember that time when you didn't get her those dolls that you were supposed to? She went ballistic," 

 

"Ballistic. Yeah..." Minji replied blankly. Trust Mingyu to use big words. 

 

~

 

On the way to the florist's Mingyu being the usual chatterbox he was, couldn't stop talking. He talked about anything under the sun. From how he forgot to buy orange juice to how Jihoon got stuck in the toilet cubicle. The boy didn't seem to run out of breath. 

 

"..AND THEN HE CHOKED!" Mingyu exclaimed, cracking up at whatever he said. 

 

"Ha ha. Yeah, that's funny. Ha," Minji wasn't paying attention. She thought about what to do if she saw Soonyoung again. Should she run away? Or should she demand for an explanation plus apology? The whole thing made her head hurt and she didn't even know why this was bothering her so much. Maybe it was because she trusted him. 

 

Soon, they stood in front of the petite flower shop. It's appearance didn't change but all of a sudden it seemed less inviting than before. 

 

"In here?" Mingyu surveyed the exterior of the shop and peeked inside. 

 

"Yes here," Minji took a deep breath before pushing the door open. The chimes above the door tingling. 

 

"Welcome to Kwon Florist's. How may I help you- Oh, hey there Minji!" Mrs Kwon greeted cheerfully as they entered the shop. 

 

"Hello, Mrs Kwon," Minji bowed and Mingyu did too. 

 

"Ah I see you've brought a friend!" Mrs Kwon eyed Mingyu up and down. 

 

"Yes. This is Mingyu. Mingyu meet Soonyoung's mother, Mrs Kwon. Mrs Kwon meet my best friend, Kim Mingyu," Minji did the introduction. Mingyu's eyes widened as he mouthed "Soonyoung?" to Minji. Minji nodded, not meeting his eyes. 

 

"How cute! But Soonyoung's not in now though. He went out to get lunch for us," Mrs Kwon said arranging tulips into bouquets. Minji recognized those tulips, they were the ones Soonyoung had given her when he asked her out. She gulped. 

 

"Um actually I'm here to buy some sunflowers. You've got really pretty ones," Minji fiddled with the hem of her shirt. 

 

"Oh okay, I'll get some for you," Mrs Kwon walked out from the counter and disappeared into the rows of neatly arranged flowers. 

 

"This is Soonyoung's shop? Holy ," Mingyu gasped as he played with the petals of the tulips. 

 

"Yes it is. Now quit touching them," Minji slapped his hand away. 

 

Mrs Kwon reappeared and she held a bouqet of bright sunflowers in her arms. She handed it to Minji. Minji got out her wallet to pay but Mrs Kwon put her hand over Minji's gently. 

 

"Take it as a gift, honey," Mrs Kwon smiled sweetly. 

 

"No, it's okay I can pay," Minji ped her wallet and pulled out some money. 

 

Mrs Kwon waved her off and pushed the two teens out the shop, "Have a nice day!" 

 

Minji pushed open the door but bumped into someone on the way out. The first thing she noticed was the person's black converse. 

 

"Minji?" Soonyoung stared at her. His eyes shocked.

 

Minji stopped in her tracks. Mingyu, who was following closely behind, bumped into her. 

 

"Move," Mingyu pushed Minji lightly but she didn't reply. He looked at her and then at the person she was looking at.

 

"Soonyoung," Minji blurted out. 

 

"Mingyu," Soonyoung stared at Mingyu. 

 

"Assh ole," Mingyu glared at Soonyoung.  

 

Minji's throat tightened. Her mind going back to last night. She couldn't look at him again. She knew she'd crumble. She started walking away, tugging on Mingyu's wrist. 

 

"Wait," Soonyoung grabbed Minji's hand but she pulled it away. She quickened her pace and soon was out of sight. 

 

"I can explain…" Soonyoung whispered, tightening his grip around the bags of food he bought for his mom. 

 

~

 

"What's bothering you, dear?" Soonyoung's Mom put an arm around her son. 

 

"A lot of things," Soonyoung sat down on the chair beside his Mom. 

 

"Want to talk about it?" His mom asked as she poured some soil into the pot. 

 

"Just about grandma and something else," 

 

"Grandma's doing well, son," His Mom said hesitantly. 

 

"No, she isn't. And Dad's not helping either," Soonyoung rubbed his face, frustrated. His mom sighed. 

 

"We'll get through this together, Soon-ah," His mom reassured him. 

 

"But we don't have enough-" 

 

"There's always a way," 

 

Soonyoung sighed. 

 

~

 

"He's a jerk," Mingyu sat beside Minji on the park bench. 

 

"No he isn't. I am the jerk. I ran away when he wanted to apologise," 

 

"How did you know he was going to do that? For all you know, he might have been asking for the damn answers to the math homework we have," 

 

"Shut up. He isn't bad. I know he isn't," 

 

"This is why you don't trust people that easily. You just met him like what a few months ago?" 

 

"So?" 

 

"So, you can't judge his character so quickly," Mingyu ran his fingers over the sunflower petals. 

 

"Neither can you. Why are you so butthurt over me liking Soonyoung better than you?" Minji couldn't help it. She wanted to defend Soonyoung and she knew that this wasn't the right way. But it was too late to take it back. 

 

That shut Mingyu up. 

 

He nodded slowly, "Right," 

 

"I'm sorry. I really am. I wasn't thinking before I spoke and- I'm sorry," Minji mentally killed herself. 

 

"No, it's okay. I mean, who would pick a sunflower in a field of roses?" Mingyu looked down at the flowers. 

 

Minji bit her lip. 

 

"I've got to get going now. I just remembered about the History assignment," Mingyu stood up to leave. 

 

There was no History assignment but Minji nodded, "Yeah, me too." 

 

Then, they parted. 

 

~

 

 

 

A/N: I feel bad for Mingyu :( Oh well.