When the heavy shower had turned to be more like a small number of crystals falling off the ground, the girl rustled in her sleep. She tried to flutter her eyelids open, but due to the intense light, she decided otherwise. Her arm felt dead and her back sore, definitely from sleeping in the same position for too long.

Without moving the rest of her body, and after her fatigue lessened, she began to open her eyes. Her brown orbs started to see blurry images, however they started to turn clearer as her sight came adjusted.

Her nose smelled the divine scent coming from the roses and jasmines, but her sight detected nothing of them. Instead, right in front of her was sun-kissed… skin? Long eyelids? Tousled, short black hair?

A man?

Her lazily opened eyes shot wide in surprise and her body jolted instantly because in front of her was a man—a boy, to be exact, who happened to be the store’s employee who happened to be the only one working at that time.

That awkwardly cute boy whose looks matched neither his personality nor interests.

She almost stumbled backwards in her seat, although fortunately, her hands held into the corners of wooden counter in an instant, preventing the incident from happening. What she couldn’t prevent, though, was that awful noise of wood being dragged against the floor, which was also loud enough to stir said boy awake.

Minho let out a big, shameless yawn as he stretched his limbs, before sitting with his back hunched. The tears he got from sleeping blurred his eyesight, and he ran the back of a hand against his closed lids for a quick rub.

He tried to recall the events before he fell asleep on the counter, as the soft pitter-patter of rain filled his ears. His mind had memories of the white satin bow against his fingertips, the smell of rain, the slight ring of Stocking’s collar bell, him finding his Keroppi umbrella… which brought him to his memory of letting the stranger in the flower shop, before sitting up abruptly in panic.

Various assumptions ran through his mind; what if that stranger was a con artist and took advantage of his sleeping state? Without even noticing his surroundings, Choi Minho rushed to the cashier machine and ransacked its contents with slightly blurry eyes, making sure that even a single bill was left untouched.

A gust of air was let out from his parted lips, as a sign of relief. He was too busy calming his rapidly beating heart by running a hand against his chest, that he didn’t even realize that the former thievery suspect was right across him.

“Uhm.” She cleared in purpose, head hung slightly low as her eyes fixed on the funny sight in front of her. She tried containing herself from laughing—she guessed that he suspected her, and she wasn’t even offended—and failed since a small bubble of laughter escaped her lips.

“I’m sorry.” Caught red handed, Minho struggled to make an excuse nervously, hand rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just… I’m just...”

“Making sure that no one robbed the store?” The girl finished his sentences, before sealing her lips tightly.

“Oh, huh, yeah! That…” Minho agreed, with a foolish expression sculpted on his face. He noticed the tremendous heat trying to set his cheeks on fire (well, figuratively, anyway), so he looked down in an attempt to hide the apparent blush that would most probably make his sun-kissed skin a few shades darker. It was no secret that he’d rather dig a hole and stick his head inside it. Like an ostrich would, yeah.

On the other hand, she found it really cute and tried to more. “You must’ve been a responsible worker,” she started, trying so hard so that her words didn’t sound taunting or teasing, “Checking on the store first thing’s first.” She smiled a little, waiting for his reaction.

He looked definitely flustered, and rather surprised by her unexpected reaction. He really did thought she’d feel offended. Or maybe he should stop being such a worrywart. (He’d gotten the trait from his grandmother.) “Oh, uh, yeah,” He mustered up some thought to give said girl a rather ty, stutter-y reply. “Uh, thank you, by the way… for that.”

You should be more social, Minho, dammit.

The girl laughed earnestly and without any restrain for the first time in front of him, shoulders slightly hunched as her hand went up to cover in reflex. The sound of her laughter was rather shy and a little bit shrill, like wind chimes clinking against each other from the slight wind. The ends of her eyes crinkled upwards, forming two dark, crescent moons, and her skin itself resembled the pale, dim and cool gleam of the moon.

He’d blame his elder sister once again for this, but he felt as if the whole world faded but him and her, and the whole background would change into a cheesy glittery pink with a whole bunch of red roses. Which, Minho justified, was quite true, as they were inside Grandma Lee’s flower shop, which walls were painted a dusty pale pink shade. Not to mention the heavenly smell. Minho couldn’t help but to smell a whiff of the fresh flowers.

“By the way, do you think the rain is going to stop soon?”

Her sudden question surprised Minho and shook him off his delusion, yet he still tried to answer. “I’m not so sure, it’s gotten better though. Are you in a hurry? I’m sorry I have no umbrella, let me see if I can borrow one from next door.”

“Oh, no! It’s okay.” She stopped Minho from standing up to borrow an umbrella; his professionalism and courteousness amazed her even more, yet it would feel wrong for her to make him wander around below the rain. “I’m not that much in a hurry.”

“But what about your flower?” He asked unexpectedly. “I assume that it’s for someone?”

She pressed her lips lightly into a straight line, before nodding carefully. “But this can wait for a little while!” She remarked immediately after her action, before Minho could offer his help once more.

“Are you sure?” The way Minho asked his question was so undeniably, innocently cute; the way his head tilted just-so-slightly while he unconsciously (or subconsciously? She wasn’t sure) showcased his biceps by stretching them towards the bottom of the stool he was sitting at, palms pressing against the wooden seat. He looked so childlike yet mature at the same time that she’s unsure of who’s the senior between the two.

“Yeah, yes I am,” She reassured. “I don’t mind staying here a little while longer.”

Her last sentence sent the slightest, almost unnoticeable pink to his cheeks, as he tried to compose himself after hearing her indirect statement that she didn’t mind to stay with him a little while longer, or so he thought. “O-okay then, make yourself comfy.”

She gave him a small nod in response, and soon the downright uncomfortable air of awkwardness enveloped them. Yes, he had taken quite a liking towards her and in return, she quite admired him, for some things, but they’re practically strangers. Strangers who had never shared any personal details to each other, strangers who were just in that place, and in that time for a transaction. Strangers who didn’t even know each other’s names.

Trying to be more welcoming, Minho offered her something warm to drink, like a cup of tea or coffee. And when she declined his offer politely, they were deafened with silence once again.

Minho then busied himself by taking a silver pail filled with water, with various flowers he had picked earlier inside. He began inspecting the bloomed buds, one by one, with much meticulousness. He was thinking and searching for ideas for the centerpieces Mrs. Han ordered for tomorrow.

He was thinking of simple yellow and orange tulips that’d remind everyone who saw them of the fresh-aired, pleasant countrymen-clad countryside of Netherlands, with immeasurable tulip fields and large, rustic windmills. Mrs. Han’s request was to help her remember her momentous trip to Europe, and the tulips were a fresh change from the usual, less modest arrangements Grandma Lee usually fixed.

He went inside for a moment, even without taking a look at her, and came back almost instantly with a wide, thick cloth. It had several dirt stains when she looked at it closely. He laid the cloth on top of the wooden counter, so that water and dirt wouldn’t taint the shiny surface of the wooden counter. He then took a handful of tulips, fresh from the supplier’s garden, and placed them on top of the counter. He took a pair of garden scissors and trimmed the excess leaves from the tulips, before he began arranging them.

Minho hoped that Mrs. Han would be pleased with his work, setting aside the sudden change and the fact that he was an inexperienced rookie. He smiled a little at his work, momentarily forgetting the beautiful stranger’s presence just parallel to him before Stocking arose from its bed and nudged Minho’s leg with a purr.

“You want food? Wait a sec…” Minho guessed, as though he could read the feline’s mind. Finally diverted from his work, he averted his gaze from the fat cat to who was in front of him.

She was looking at him all this time, observing and studying and following his every move intently and with so much interest, although he hadn’t noticed. She looked at how his hands handled the flowers, and his serious gaze when he contemplated on how the flowers should be groomed, on how furrowed his eyebrows were when he concentrated on arranging. She noticed his change of personality from before he had set his mind completely on his work.

It had actually made her admire him more.

And when their gazes met, a very slight blush crept upon her cheeks. She was a composed person, and was good at concealing her true feelings. She was a good actress, too. But she couldn’t certainly prevent the blood rushing wildly beneath the skin of her cheeks, and her pale, snow-like skin only showcased it more.

It wasn’t hard to figure out that she’s embarrassed for being caught staring, although weirdly enough, the boy did nothing but to curve his lips upwards, before excusing himself to prepare some cat food to Stocking.

She was, no doubt, puzzled at the boy’s sudden change of character. Despite his attempts on hiding it, she noticed that the boy had taken quite a liking towards her, maybe short-lived infatuation, most probably in awe of her physical appearance. Call her arrogant and proud, but a lot of people had seen her more or less in a similar light, although his unnatural grins and pink cheeks still flattered her.

To her, at times like those, he looked like your usual shy high school student. And at times like when he offered her his hospitality, he seemed like a gentleman in disguise. In instances like when he worried over her opinion towards him, he appeared as if he was a worried middle-aged lady. It was like he had multiple, contradictive personality traits, and it perked the curious side in her.

She was quite eager to figure him out, which was quite odd, since she tended to be more aloof and rather hostile towards strangers.

She didn’t realize the object of her thoughts had returned, and placed a bowl filled with cat food down to the floor before the cat gobbled its contents. He then returned to his workstation, the counter.

“Ah, sorry,” he apologized, probably for ignoring her, a little bit nervous. “I have a short phone call to make. Could you please excuse me one more time?”

Taking her slight nod as a sign of approval, he took hold of the store’s telephone, before he dialed a number. It was a short question, with Minho doing almost all the talking, about ordering two crates filled with vibrant yellow and orange tulips.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized for the nth time that day, after ending the call with the store’s supplier. After her meek, “Okay,” the entire room went dead silent again. Minho had decided to play music from the speakers. The store had a missing absence of the music that had stopped a while ago since the playlist Minho had set had already finished playing. He slid his iPod open and clicked on a new playlist.

I’ve become tired of everything darling


All day I wanna lay around with you darling

A relaxing acoustic song knocked on their eardrums, letting the sweet tune coming into their ears. It eased their discomfort by a bit, and their actions were mostly he trying to make himself busy and bobbing his head to Eddy Kim's Darling and she pretending to check on her phone.

“What’s its name?”

“Pardon?” Not really expecting the girl to say something, Minho didn’t really catch what she was saying.

“The cat; what’s its name?”

“Uh, oh,” Minho contemplated on whether to tell her the silly, pun-y name or not. “It’s actually called Stocking, because of its legs, haha, get it? And, uh, it might sound embarrassing but I didn’t name it and…”

“It’s cute,” She cut him out, smiling to him. For a moment, he wasn’t sure if she meant the cat’s name or his rambling. And a moment later, he felt like face-walling himself because the choice was obvious.

Not knowing what to say, he finally said, “Thanks?” after a pause.

In the other hand, even though she liked his gentlemanly side, she found his shy side very cute. Like, a kitten playing with a ball of yarn cute.

“Oh, look, the rain’s stopped.”

Seeing the water droplets were no longer falling from the sky, Minho just had to utter the pretty obvious remark. The girl, who wasn’t aware of this, instinctively looked behind her, to the glass window that overtook the entire wall, which was facing the street. Upon seeing the cloudless sight, she turned around to him and said, “You’re right.”

Minho smiled back momentarily, before realizing that the rain stopping meant her leaving. Which was true, because she immediately arose from her seat, running her hands through her sundress to smooth out creases, before taking her flower in her hands. “So this is my cue to leave, then.”

“Oh, of course!” He said, rather dejectedly, as her walking figure was nearing the exit door. “I hope that person will love the flower!” He half-shouted, remembering the yellow rose.

She let out another tinkling laughter, before replying to him in another half-shout. “Definitely!”

Grinning, Minho silently waited, waiting for her to utter the three syllables, or perhaps two, of her name.

But he had actually gotten more. Instead, he got two times the amount he’d expected.

Before her ink black hair disappeared into the outdoors, her head peeked inside and from her smiling lips, words were sent out. “I will meet you again tomorrow.”

I know I'm almost two days late, but happy birthday, Jung Soojung! (and to me as well, lol). And I realize I have two things I have to be sorry for. First, I'm sorry for the long delay. I have tests and remedials for them and huge school projects and settling requirements for my college application... things have been quite hectic lately. Plus, I'm not in the mood of cutesy, fluffy writing, since it's been quite hard on me personally. I've actually written a story that reflected my emotions lately, and although it's not finished yet, I hope to be able to share it with all of you soon. I actually could update two days earlier but I took some slack hahah. And second, sorry for the boring update! I realize that the story is so horribly and painfully slow-paced, and I promise, this'll be the end of it! 

Enough with the rambling, I sincerely hope you all enjoyed this one! Thanks for reading!

P.S: Hint for next chapter: someone will not be able to keep their promise. ;)