“Hi, this is your bouquet,” a shadow towered over her as she turned around to see a bright candy-coloured table bouquet at her eye level.  “Remember to keep them somewhere shady, they also can’t take in too much water. “ Seohyun looked up, way above the bouquet of flowers, to where the deep male voice originated from.

“Oh, thank you… Are you new here?” She asked out of curiousity, while balancing the stuffs in her hands with the table bouquet. She have been patronizing the same florist for the past one year now, and it was the first time she had seen this guy – really tall (considering that she was tall for a girl and he was still one head taller than her); and unlike the usual staffs, he had a cold expression, especially those brooding eyes… He basically just felt unapproachable as a whole.

"Yea," he turned to walk towards the flower station without any second look at her. Seohyun frowned at his reaction and walked out of the store. "He sure doesn't seem like a happy person, pfft." She thought to herself as she was walking home. Upon stepping into her house, she dropped all her books and folders on top of her shoe rack while she placed the table bouquet on her kitchen table. She took a step back to observe it.  To her surprise, the flower arrangement looked so... happy and cute. Another look at it and she felt all warm and fuzzy in her heart, as though all worries from the day of work have been lifted off her shoulders.

Her day ended off badly at work, which was why she decided to get a bouquet of flowers to cheer her up. Somehow, apart from playing the piano, they always seem to do the job well. The staffs at the shop were also really chatty and friendly, that was why she have always patronized them… until today.  The new guy had rubbed her off the wrong way, but somehow the flower arrangement said something different from what she felt. Feeling tired, she shrugged off her thoughts and went on with her daily routine before heading to bed.

-----

The next day, a Saturday, Seohyun went out early to run some errands. As she was approaching the florist, she took a peek in and noticed the tall guy from before. He was bended over, tending to the pastel coloured peonies, then standing up to water the pale pink roses, and then finally caressing the multi-coloured daisies as though he was talking to them… all these were done with such gentleness and care, absolutely different from the way he interacts with people. Seohyun pursed her lips for a moment, looking thoughtful, before she knocked on the glass door of the shop. The guy turned around, and then walked towards the door when he saw Seohyun gesturing to let her in.

When she saw his cold expression, Seohyun could not help but shift around awkwardly. “Erm… I just wanted to apologize for my rudeness yesterday… as well as to thank you for the flower arrangement. Gerbera Daisies symbolizes cheer up, and so does the pink and yellow roses. You were trying to cheer me up yesterday. So, thank you.” Seohyun looked up at the guy after she completed her sentence. For a moment, she thought she caught him blushing… but he spoke before she could process her thoughts. “Just doing my job,” he said with no expression.

Feeling even more determined, Seohyun tried to break the ice again. “I think we started off on the wrong foot. Here, I’m Seohyun. I’ve been patronizing this store since I’ve shifted here a year ago. & you are?” She saw a slight change in the guy’s expression. “I’m Kris, if there’s nothing else… I’ll get back to work,” he spoke with that poker face again. But this time before he could turn around, Seohyun stuffed a box in his hands. “My present, for yesterday, have a great day at work.” She said before hurrying off. Kris looked at the disappearing back and stared at the box in his hand. He opened it and found sandwiches and a salad in it. As he turned around to walk into the shop, the cold expression on his face turned into a warm smile.

As she walked on, Seohyun could not help but feel the warmth crawling up her cheeks. “Ahhhh~~ I must be crazy, I MUST BE CRAZY!” She thought to herself, as she slapped her cheeks gently with her palms. She recalled the tiny change in expression in Kris’ face earlier and felt the warmth crawling up again. There was no denying… the chemistry between them was building up. She only came to realize the meanings of the flowers after looking them up this morning. She thought that she was rude as well, and decided that she would pack an extra set of breakfast… she would keep it for her lunch if she did not manage to give it to him; it was a win-win situation for her. Honestly, who would not feel something for such a sweet gesture (hidden meanings behind the flower arrangement), even though they did not know each other beforehand?

It was already 9pm after running her errands for the day. Seohyun decided that she would pass by the florist on her way home. She was not hoping to bump into Kris since it was already late, but to her surprise… there was a familiar figure outside the florist. “Thank you, it was delicious,” Kris said while sticking the lunchbox out to Seohyun. His facial expression was something unreadable again, and Seohyun pouted unconsciously at the sight of that. “You’re welcome,” she smiled at him sweetly, and this time, she noticed the blush on his cheeks visibly as a smile creep up on his face.  “Erm, I guess I’ll leave now. This is for you. Erm.. Thank you again,” he stuffed the bouquet of white lilies into Seohyun’s hands and left.

Seohyun was taken by surprise by his gesture, especially the bouquet of white lilies. Or to be exact, the calla lilies, her favourite flowers, that symbolizes beauty, purity and innocence.  She hugged the bouquet to her face and took a in a deep breath of the fresh lilies. A smile was plastered on to her beautiful face as she continued making her way home.

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Six months have passed since their first interaction. Kris and Seohyun have gotten a lot closer to each other. He had started to open up to her more and she would spend time over at the florist during the weekends. It had become a norm for Seohyun to bring him lunchboxes, while Kris would make flower arrangements for her home monthly. Her knowledge on flowers have also been increasing by looking up the meanings of them whenever she received the arrangements from him. 

She found out that Kris was the nephew of the owner of the florist, and he grew up with his aunt. He only started working at the florist because his aunt had to go out of town for a few months. His passion was in music, and not flowers, thus the cold look he put up. He also once said, despite the reasons, he preferred being around flowers more than human beings. “Why?” she asked, “because they would never betray you,” he said while staring deep into her eyes; his eyes no longer that cold, though it still seemed a little mysterious.

-----

Exactly a year from the day they first met, Kris asked Seohyun if she would be free to meet him at the florist after her work. Being the innocent one she was, Seohyun went to the florist after her work. However, unlike the usual days, the florist was dark from the outside. Seohyun cautiously pushed the door to enter, and saw Kris standing in the middle of the shop. Kris stepped aside and revealed two chairs (placed facing each other) behind him. He then gestured for her to sit down on one of the chairs while he walked away. Seohyun was confused, but still followed the instructions and sat down in the centre of the shop where the flowers surrounded her. Before she could speak, Kris walked out of the counter with a guitar in hand, and sat down in front of her. He looked into her eyes, cleared his throat then started strumming and sang:

What day is it
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive
I can't keep up, and I can't back down
I've been losing so much time

'Cause it's you and me
And all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it's you and me
And all the other people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off of you

Why are the things that I want to say
Just aren't coming out right?
I'm tripping on words
You got my head spinning
I don't know where to go from here

'Cause it's you and me
And all of the people people with nothing to do
Nothing to prove
And it's you and me
And all other people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off of you

Something about you now
That I can't quite figure out
Everything she does is beautiful
Everything she does is right

'Cause it's you and me
And all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off of you and me
And all the other people with nothing to do
Nothing to prove
And it's you and me and all the other people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off of you

What day is it
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive

(You And Me by Lifehouse)

The look on his face, his deep voice blending in with the guitar … everything made Seohyun tear up, she was touched and surprised at the same time; touched that Kris was doing all these for her, and surprised because she never knew he was capable of doing such things. Kris’ singing ended, and he panicked when he saw tear glistening in her beautiful eyes. “Ahh, please don’t cry,” he said nervously, unsure of what to do except to embrace her into a hug.

Kris took a deep breath and looked up at the flowers while Seohyun was still in his embrace. “You know… I am not a perfect person, and I still have many things that I have to learn… the past one year being around you has taught me so much,” Seohyun could feel him taking a gulp, before he let go of the embrace. He walked to one of the floral displays and took out a bouquet of beautiful roses with calla lilies, and stood in front of Seohyun.

“These are for you, calla lilies that simplifies beauty, purity and innocence… paired with thorn-less roses, meaning love at first sight. I fell in love with the pure, innocent and beautiful you since the day we first met, so much so that I can't take my eyes off of you... and I always struggle to find the right words to say to you; a dozen of the roses because, I want you to be mine. Seohyun, will you be mine?” Kris bit on his lower lips and looked up from the flowers, into Seohyun’s eyes. She held out her hands to hold the bouquet of flowers and crinkled her nose, “you know, it’s the first time I heard your voice so much at one go. Will you sing for me more often if I were to say yes?” Upon hearing her reply, Kris was dumbfounded, but when he noticed the cheeky look on her face (despite the tears rolling in her eyes), he quickly took a big step towards her. He held her face in his hands, then tilted her head up and finally closed that distance between them with a kiss on her lips. 

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A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I did while working on this for the past 3 days. Hehe. Once again, I'm open to comments & feedbacks! :) 

P.S. Dedicated to my two lovely girls, Gllo & Viv. ♥♥♥