It was a Thursday afternoon and I was sitting at Lovely Day enjoying a cup of chocolate milkshake which Mingyu had gotten without me even asking. Ninth Line was going through a rehersal for their upcoming gig on Sunday and I was there to video tape them and give them critics. 

 

Lovely Day was a small cafe located at the corner of the street near my house. It's interior was painted all black and it had neon strobe lights everywhere to serve as the lighting. It had this clubby and hiphoppy feel despite it's name. I first came here when Ninth Line got offered gigs to play. I had ordered a cup of choclate milkshake and fell in love with it at first sip. Since then, Mingyu has been buying chocolate milkshakes for me whenever we came here or whenever he passed by. He'd reach my front door all tired and sweaty from band practice with a Grande cup of chocolate milkshake to-go in his hands, smiling. 

 

"Minji, could you come here for a sec?" Jihoon called out to me, he was tangled in a mess of wires. 

 

"Oh my gosh, what happened?" I approached him, tugging on the wires trying to untangle the poor boy. 

 

He frowned at me, "I tried to plug in my guitar to the amp but then I couldn't find the amp so I just kept spinning and now I can't get out."

 

I laughed as he broke free, thanking me. This time, he dragged the amp beside him and plugged it into his guitar. The other boys were setting up too. They all waited for Mingyu to take his spot behind the drums before rehearsing. I quickly grabbed my phone from the table and opened the camera. I counted to three before I pressed play. At three, they started playing and the cafe was filled with the catchy tune of Do You?, their "debut" song.  

 

 

As Jisoo sang, I couldn't help but remember the day I first heard him sing, I fell in love with his voice. His charming and confident presence on stage made it difficult to not gawk at him. Star struck some would say, but I thought it was more of fondness. Through Mingyu, we got to know more about each other and since I hung out with the band often, we got closer and then eventually he asked me out. The whole band was really happy for us then, Jihoon even came up with a ship name for us, "2ji" which I still cringe at till today. Mingyu however, wasn't looking that good on that day. His smile seemed forced but maybe he was having a bad day. During my whole relationship with Jisoo, Mingyu and I seemed to have drifted apart which saddened me but I had Jisoo to cling on so it was bearable. 

 

Jisoo was a really sweet guy. He was the only one with a car in the group so he'd drive me to and from school back to my house even though his house was located on the other side of town. Every morning I'd see his car parked outside my window, with him leaning against it, scrolling through his phone. I'd see him in the exact same position when he waited for me to finish my extra classes after school. He liked leaving little sticky notes on my locker during his break. The messages were always short but sweet like "Have fun in class, sweetheart." or "Do well in the test, love!!" During bad days he'd come over to my house where he'd listen to me rant about my problem no matter how trivial it was. All good things have to come to an end I guess. Jisoo broke up with me last November. He had come over to my house, eyes puffy, looking glum. Concerned, I asked him what was wrong. He didn't say anything for a while before he blurted out, "I'm ending it here," I remembered feeling like the whole world was crashing down on me, I demanded an explanation. He refused to give me one, saying that it was best for things to go this way. I remembered crying alone in my room, and Mingyu coming over bringing ice cream and chocolates everyday. He sat beside me, letting me cry into his chest, not minding when I ruined his muscle tanks. He never said anything but somehow that calmed me down. It was difficult trying to move on because everytime I saw Jisoo in school or at band practise I'd crumble again. But, I did it. 

 

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"AHAHAH LOOK AT MINGYU'S FACE," Jisoo pointed to the paused screen on my phone. 

 

"Hyung, please maintain next time," Mingming patted an annoyed Mingyu's back. 

 

"Just freakin load already," Mingyu tapped impatiently at the buffering video. I swatted his hand away. He tapped faster, smirking. 

 

The boys were reviewing their rehersal video. They were planning to play a total of 3 songs for their gig this weekend.  The video finally loaded and they were satisfied with their performances. 

 

"Okay, guys. Good job. Remember the gig's this Sunday. You can go home now," Mingyu announced.

 

Mingming took his guitar case ready to leave but got held back by Mingyu, "Not you. I was referring to Minji," They both stared at me. Mingming had a puzzled look on his face but his mouth formed a small 'o' after Mingyu whispered something into his ear. 

 

"Woah, dude. You're amazing," Mingming bro-fisted Mingyu before he gestured for me to leave. 

 

Weird, I thought. But i left anyway since I needed to stop by the florist's to get sunflowers for my Mom. She told me to buy sunflowers because she thought that the living room needed "some sunshine" She was going through a flower phase this time which  I didn't mind much because her last one was of porcelain dolls. I didn't like coming home to creepy glass dolls staring at me everywhere I went in the house, even in the toilet. You see, My Mom loved redecorating. I started up down the street two shops down from Lovely day coming to stop right infront of a flower shop. 

 

The shop was lined with bright, colourful tulips and roses. I pushed opened the door as the bell above it chimed. It's interior was painted a clean white, and was decorated country style. I walked around the store searching for sunflowers but found none. Bummed, I went to the counter to ask for assistance. The employee was bent down on the floor, arranging flowers properly in a pot full of soil. 

 

"Excuse me?" I called. The person didn't seem to hear me so I tried calling again. 

 

The person looked up and I found that he was the person I least expected to see working as a florist. Kwon Soonyoung. His quickly covered his face with his hands but remembered that he had soil all over them. After realizing that, he started wiping his face violently but got more dirt on his face than before. He walked backwards into the staff room but bumped into the door. I stifled a laugh. 

 

"Hey, I didn't expect to see you here?" I giggled a bit. His face was beet red and he kind of looked down at the ground. He swore then that he could paint a perfect and accurate picture of the floor tiles.

 

"Yeah, well. I work here during my spare time," He awkwardly wiped his hands on his white jeans, "," He muttered as he studied the damage he did to his pants. 

 

I cleared my throat, "Do you have any sunflowers?" 

 

"Uh yeah. Here," He handed me a bouquet of sunflowers neatly arranged, 'It's the last one." 

 

I took it and payed him. He blushed a little. I walked towards the exit and he called out, "For my grandma!" 

 

I turned around and raised an eyebrow. 

 

"My grandma, she used to own this shop," He continued, "Didn't wanna put her hard work to waste so here I am. Working to keep it going," 

 

I nodded slowly, a smile forming on my lips as I exited the quiet store. 

 

 

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"But Mom, I can't leave this quickly. It's too sudden," Jisoo pleaded with his mother but she remained firm with her descision. He had known that this day would come but he wasn't expecting it to be so soon. 

 

"At least let me play this Sunday?" He tried again. His Mom sighed and hesitantly gave in. 

 

"This is the last time, Joshua," She huffed before going back to packing up. 

 

That night, Jisoo lay on his bed and called up Mingyu. The phone ringed 3 times before a groggy voice answered. 

 

"I'm going," Jisoo sighed.