Edelweiss: noble purity, courage, daring

A calm September day was reaching its end in the district of Wangsimni-ro. On the streets, people were either walking to their homes or closing down their businesses, but other than that, they were practically empty. That is, with the exception of the Baedal Flower Shop. Inside, Oh Soo Yun, who was the shop’s owner, was putting away flowers with the help of Jung Hee, her eldest son. As Soo Yun and Jung Hee were doing this, the younger son, Sehun, was working behind the register as the very last customer paid 53995 won for a bouquet filled with crème roses, white lilies and blue hydrangeas.

“Annyeonghi-gaseyo,” Sehun bid farewell to the customer as he left. Soo Yun smiled at her son, proud of him for being hard-working with both school and labor. She knew Sehun should enjoy his teenage years instead of helping make ends meet. But nothing was ever easy, especially not for a lower middle class family like theirs. Soo Yun sighed before walking towards Sehun and hugging him. “My dear Sehun, well done,” she told her 17 year-old son. Sehun let out a soft grunt. “Mom, stop hugging me,” he said, “Jung Hee, help me.”

Jung Hee just stood there with a smug expression. “No can do little brother,” the elder son replied, enjoying the moment. Sehun just grunted even more; he didn’t really enjoy displays of affections, whether they were directed at him or not. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his family, no matter how annoying (in Jung Hee’s case) they could be. But Sehun wasn’t the type to be all lovey-dovey and open with people.

Soo Yun let her son go and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was past seven-thirty.

“Gosh, time passes by,” she said, “Sehun, do you mind closing the shop while Jung and I go prepare dinner before your father arrives?”

“No, of course not.”

“Thank you so much. Come on, Jung Hee,” Soo Yun said before she walked to the back of the store with Jung Hee, to a door that led to their apartment.

Sehun made sure the cashier was properly closed, the accounting books placed where they’re supposed to be, and broomed the floor clean. He was about to shut the lights off if it wasn’t because he caught the sight of a person running. That’s weird, he thought. Usually, the streets were empty by that time and the person, who he identified as male, was wearing a suit and carried a silver briefcase. “He doesn’t seem like someone who lives around here, he probably got lost,” Sehun said to himself. The boy was going to turn away, but he saw a group of tough-looking men surrounding the stranger. Sehun’s eyes widened when he realized the men were part of a local gang when he recognized their insignia, a red-eyed skull, on the back of their shirts. If the man was running from them, it’s most likely they were trying to rob him.

Crap, what do I do? If I call the police, they will arrive around twenty minutes or so, and by then it will be too late.

Before he could process anything else, Sehun found himself walking out of the shop with his broom in hand towards the group. He stopped a few feet from them, feeling relieved that the troublemakers didn’t notice his presence yet. Sehun found a rock next to his foot and grabbed it. “Hey!” Sehun yelled, “leave him alone!” One of them faced him while the others didn’t even bother looking at him. “Go away kid, or else!” the man replied. I’m not a kid! Sehun got angry and threw the rock towards one of the guys who was closer to the stranger. He must have thrown it really hard since the guy fell down and didn’t stand up right away.

“Now you’ve done it! Get him!”

One of them ran towards Sehun, but the latter struck the guy’s head with the broomstick. He saw another running behind him and hit him on the stomach with the edge. Two more guys were coming on either side of him. He swung the broom, aiming at the thug’s head, but failed when the other got a hold on the object. Sehun moved out of the way when a fist and the second guy were too close to him. Both idiots ended up hitting each other and Sehun laughed at the sight, without realizing the guy whom he threw a rock at stood up and sneaked up behind him with the briefcase in hand. The guy was about to struck Sehun with it if it wasn’t for a man with a black suit beating him to the ground. Sehun turned around and saw more men with suits on capturing each of the robbers. The thugs were groaning in pain as this happened. One of the newly arrived men grabbed both of Sehun’s arms behind him.

“Ah! What the hell?!” Sehun exclaimed. He started flailing to no avail since the man’s grip was too tight. “I’m not one of them!”

“Kwan, let the boy go.”

Sehun turned his head to see the stranger standing as he fixed his suit. “Kwan” released his grip on Sehun. As he rubbed his wrists, he let out a “thank you” to the stranger and Kwan. The stranger let out a chuckle.

“I should be the one thanking you, Mr.-“

“Oh. Oh Sehun.”

“Well, Sehun-haoche, I am very grateful for your presence. You saved me from these criminals who managed to separate me from Kwan and the rest of my security team.”

“It was no trouble,” Sehun replied. Well, sort of, he thought as he ran his hand over his brunette hair.

A few minutes passed before the police arrived at the scene. Sehun had to give his statement to the policemen. Then, they asked the stranger if what the boy said was true. The stranger agreed with Sehun’s version of what happened. After this, the police left along with the bruised thug in their cars, leaving behind Sehun, the stranger, the man’s security team and a few curious residents who were startled by the loud sirens. Soon enough, the people went back inside their apartments, but Sehun’s family, including his father who arrived a bit after the police came, stayed with the two males outside.

“Sehun, that was very reckless of you,” Soo Yun scolded her son as she hugged him. “You could’ve gotten hurt!”

“But I didn’t ge-“ Sehun was about to complete his sentence if it wasn’t because Young Soo, his dad, shook his head. If Sehun said a single retort to Soo Yun, Young Soo and his two sons would have to listen to a day-long lecture (he wasn’t exaggerating; this had happened before).

“I apologize for interrupting,” the stranger spoke up, “but you have to acknowledge your son’s heroic actions. Please do not scold him for saving this man’s life.” Crap, the Oh males thought, we’re screwed now. They were now expecting Soo Yun’s reaction.

“Well, I guess you’re right,” Soo Yun replied nonchalantly. Sehun, Jung Hee, and Young Soo let out a sigh of relief.

Kwan walked towards the group. “I’m so sorry to interrupt,” he told them, “but I’m afraid we will have to leave right now. Sir, your wife is worried and requests your presence immediately.”

“Have you told her what happened?”

“No sir.”

“Good,” the man then faced the Oh family. “I’m afraid I have to depart. I bid you farewell to you all,” the stranger said, then bowed.

“Wait!” Sehun exclaimed, startling everyone. “Can you please spare me a few minutes of your time before you leave?”

It took a few seconds for the stranger to process what was said, but he nodded despite his confusion. Sehun thanked him and rushed to the flower shop. When he entered, he went straight to where the flowers were stored. He tried to memorize every flower and their meanings before choosing two roses, white and red respectively. Sehun ran back out and offered the rose to the stranger.

“Please accept this.”

“Why are you giving me this?”

“It’s for you to give to your wife. It will be quite useful to calm her down once you tell her what happened,” Sehun explained.

The stranger accepted the roses. “How much is it?” he asked.

“It's a gift.”

“Thank you again, Sehun,” the man smiled, “I should go. Good night.”

“Good night, Mr.- um, I’m sorry, I never got your name,” Sehun said sheepishly.

“It’s Kim Jae-Hwa.”

Both Sehun and Jae-Hwa bowed to each other. Then, Jae-Hwa was led by Kwan to one of the three black Rolls-Royce Phantoms. The cars then drove away. A few minutes into the road, Jae-Hwa was admiring the roses. He then let out a laugh, which startled Kwan.

“Are you okay, sir?” Kwan asked. Usually his boss would be silent when he was in a car.

“It’s odd, don’t you think?” Jae-Hwa faced his bodyguard.

“What’s odd?”

“He gave me the roses. He had no knowledge of who I was. If he did, I would’ve recognized it immediately. He just gave me the roses for my Ae Cha, who happens to love roses, without expecting anything in exchange…” Jae-Hwa drifted off into thought until a “Sir” from Kwan’s mouth brought him back to reality.

“Kwan, call Mi-Hi as soon as we get home. Tell her to gather all the information she could get on Oh Sehun. I believe I should reward him with something of his liking. After all, anyone who helps the chairman of Kim Enterprise deserves it.”

Author's Note:

Before I explain a few unsignificant things (that is, if anyone is reading the Author's Note), I want to thank anyone who suscribed to The Wondrous Stride of a Mugunghwa and a Peony, which is my first fanfiction on this website. I guess you could figure that out because of the lack of photos and creative backgrounds and no story cover whatsoever (*weeps in emo corner T^T *). If anyone can give me any tips on how to do that on this website I will be grateful.

Anyway, if you noticed, the chapters are indeed named after flowers. I guess it sort of matches the title and the flower theme of the story (Sehun is the Mugunghwa and Luhan is the Peony). And yes, some OCs are named after flowers... (I think you are probably assuming, "This girl's obsessed with flowers, WTF." Yes, yes I am... Damn, I literally took 'flower boy' to a whole new level; Sehun is a flower boy in both appearance and occupation).

Until next time, XOXO Gossip Girl... nah ^J^