Eunseo straightened her skirt from the abrupt attack of the spring breeze as she hurried to the flower shop before the arrival of her bus.  Her eyes narrowed in confusion when he was nowhere in sight.

 

A shuffling sound came from behind the counter.  She kept the sound of her heels to a minimum as she got closer to the counter and peered over it.  The temporary florist was ostensibly busy stacking gardening products on the bottom levels of the shelf behind the counter.

 

An amused smile formed on her face.  She leaned over the counter and waited patiently for him.  Initially, she did not have a good impression of him, having assumed that he was a pathetic middle age man working on a dead end job without any ambition.  Even when she learned of his actual age, she had thought his attitude was too lax.  Now, she saw him differently; she found that he was a surprisingly diligent worker for someone his age.  In fact, she began to wonder why someone with his work ethnic ended up as a temporary employee here.  Was it a lack of education that limited the possibilities for him?

 

Suddenly feeling a presence towered over him, he looked up and his mouth hung open, surprised.

 

“Good morning,” she deliberately greeted with a cheery tone and waved at him – the actions of which he would have never anticipated from her usual cool demeanour.

 

“E-eunseo-sshi—” he paused, seemingly tried to stop his stuttering, “You’re here for the forget-me-nots, right?  Just give me a sec.  I’ll bring it to you now.”  He got up, ready to go into the plant cooling room, until a slender hand stopped him.

 

“Kwangsoo-sshi,” she let go, secretly amused of his sudden display of self-consciousness.  He was simply too easy to read, surprisingly innocent for his age.  “Carrying a bouquet to work every day is not exactly feasible for me.”

 

He shook his head and chuckled lightly at this.  “Eunseo-sshi, we have been over this many times now for the past week – I’m not going to disclose the sender’s information to you,” he made clear.

 

“I know.”  She smiled.

 

He narrowed his eyes, confused.  He waited for her to continue.

 

“I was going to suggest dropping by after work instead.  This way, I don’t have to carry flowers all day.”

 

“Oh…that would have been my next guess,” he responded, clearly flustered.

 

“Okay, then that settles it—”

 

“Wait,” he interrupted, ostensibly with great consideration, “I don’t plan to run this shop 24/7…So, what if you decided to work overtime?  I can’t wait for you all night.”

 

“Hm…” she eyed him suspiciously.  “You seem to know me quite well…like a stalker.”

 

“W-what?!”  He was dumbfounded.  “Yah, Eunseo-sshi, do I look like a stalker to you?  I wouldn’t have the time even if I wanted—wait, let me rephrase that—I’m not a stalker!”

 

She chortled heartily at his reaction.  “I was just saying.  Hm, you’re surprisingly inflexible.”

 

“Is insulting me really that fun?” he muttered, not really expecting an answer.

 

Seeing that her bus was almost at the stop, she panicked.  She didn’t realize that she had wasted so much talking to this inflexible, middle-age looking twenty-something for so long.  She told him hastily, “Anyways, I’ll pick up the flowers after work from now on.”  Then, she rushed over to the bus, waving at the bus driver to wait for her, something she hadn’t done since high school.

 

~*~

 

Just before Eunseo entered the conference room, she walked by an extremely disorganized desk with various files and documents scattered across the surface.  She put her hand on her hip and scoffed.  She noticed the desk had been like that ever since she came back from vacation, but she didn’t know who occupied this desk.  Her company would take in interns every now and then, and frankly, she didn’t have the time or the patience to get to know every single one of these interns.  Instead, she delegated the babysitting task to the team leaders and let her assistant, Sora, supervised and summarized a report for her.

 

Irked by the mess, she picked up a document, hoping to find out who this desk belonged to.  Her eyes travelled across the page.  “Lee—”

 

“Director-nim, all the team leaders are in the conference room now,” her assistant, Sora, told her nervously.

 

Eunseo put down the paper and nodded.  She never did get why Sora lacked so much in the confidence department even though she was capable.  After all, she should be proud that she was able to keep up as her assistant for more than two years now.  All the assistants prior to her had only lasted six months at most.

 

Sora exhaled a sigh and her shoulders relaxed as she looked at the messy desk.  She made a mental note to clear the desk before lunch as she followed Eunseo into the conference room.

 

Eunseo leaned back, crossed her arms, and titled her head slightly in condescendence.  “So, did any of you find out who came up with the proposal?”

 

The team leaders looked around hesitantly before Team Leader Park raised her hand unexpectedly.

 

“It was an intern from this eonni’s team,” Team Leader Park smiled conscientiously, “but he quitted after just two weeks.”

 

“Oh, really?”  Eunseo raised an eyebrow with suspicion.

 

“Oh yes, Team Leader Park is right!” Team Leader Lee backed Team Leader Park, which was strangely out of character for him. 

 

“That punk couldn’t even last two weeks,” another team leader followed.

 

Very soon, the rest of the team leaders sided with Team Leader Park, seemingly begging the Baby Devil to let it go.

 

Much to everyone’s relief, Eunseo finally sighed, “That’s unfortunate.  This kid seems talented.  But, I supposed it can’t be helped.  Anyways, let’s move forward with the proposal.”

 

The tension on the team leaders’ faces relaxed at last.

 

~*~

 

For the first time in six years, she got off work on time, ridiculously, for fear that she might not be able to pick up the flowers.  She had a hunch – based from his constant refusal to let her in on the secret sender’s identity – that Lee Kwangsoo might actually have the nerve to ignore a customer’s call just because it was outside of the flower shop’s operation hours.

 

The flower shop was closed, much to her disappointment but nonetheless within her expectation the moment she stepped out of the bus.

 

She glanced at her watch and it was not even seven O’clock in the evening yet.  She took out her phone and was about to dial the flower shop’s number when she realized she did not know the number.  She stuffed the phone back into her Gucci purse, disconcerted.  However, she was not defeated.  No, far from it.  ‘Didn’t he mention that he lives in the attic?’ She looked up to the window at the top of the building.  She cast her eyes to focus on the path in front of her again as she let a sigh of annoyance.

 

A pebble – an insignificance and an unnecessity, but very much glaring – invaded her line of vision.  He was just as insignificant and glaring as this small pebble – unwanted dust in her eyes, but she was having trouble getting rid of it.  She hated being denied, especially from those of ostensibly insignificant backgrounds – they should be honoured to have her in their presence, in fact.  She did not think she thought overly highly of herself because it was the truth that she had often witnessed from those around her – except for him, of course, who was probably holed up in the attic at the moment.

 

Where was this sudden bitterness coming from?

 

She ridded her thoughts all at once and picked up the insignificant pebble.  She threw it as hard as she could at the window that sheltered another insignificant.

 

Much to her dismay, her strength had only carried the pebble to hit on the concrete surface beside the window before rolling off somewhere onto the grass.

 

The muscles surrounding her beautiful cherry lips tightened.  However, just when she was about to leave, the temporary florist called out her name.

 

She looked up – her eyes ostensibly did not expect anything, but a victorious joy secretly danced in her heart.

 

“Eunseo-sshi,” the temporary florist looked disbelieved, “were you trying to vandalize the shop?”

 

Flustered by his accusation (albeit somewhat true), she crossed her arms defensively and rebutted, “Do I look that bored to you?”

 

“Actually,” A fatherly smile – seemingly intended to annoy her more than anything, creeped onto his already middle-aged face, “you are unexpectedly childish, Eunseo-sshi.”

 

hung open, disbelieved.  An air of frustration struggled to expel from her chest.  She averted her eyes from the window temporarily before realizing that she had lost sight of him completely.

 

Soon, she heard footsteps cascading down the staircase.  Before long, she saw the temporary florist coming out of the store from the front door with a bouquet of azure forget-me-nots.

 

Seemingly unsusceptible to her disdain, he grinned boyishly and presented the beautiful bouquet in his hands to her.  “Your daily present, Eunseo-sshi.”

 

She crossed her arms and stared coldly at him.

 

He nudged her arm gently with the bouquet.  “Come on, Eunseo-sshi,” he pleaded like an innocent child.  Maybe he felt slightly guilty for teasing her earlier.

 

She swiftly took the bouquet and her heels.

 

“Wait!  You’re not going to ask me about the customer today?” he asked, puzzled by her sudden icy behaviour.  “You’re just to leave like that?”

 

She threw back a sharp gaze.

 

“Who knows,” he shrugged, “I just might let it slip if I’m in a good mood.”

 

“That’s rather unprofessional of you, Lee Kwangsoo-sshi,” she remarked.  She waved off his offer.  “Forget it.”

 

~*~

 

Forget it.

 

Yet, she didn’t forget to drop by and pick up the flowers everyday.

 

Everyday without exception.

 

Somehow, she did not allow herself to stop and wonder why.

 

“So, is that person tall?”  She had her arms rested on the counter.

 

He simply shrugged and resumed with the shelf cleaning.

 

“Hm…so, he’s a short guy?” she questioned hesitantly.

 

He smiled and shook his head.  He paused the cleaning again and asked her, “Are you planning to ask me yes and no questions all day?”

 

Her face brightened up proudly.  “You were shaking your head!  So, he must be a tall guy.”

 

“Huh?” he was caught off-guard by her assumption.  “N-no, that’s not what I meant.”

 

“You’re slowly slipping, Kwangsoo-sshi,” she taunted.

 

“Shouldn’t the bus be here already?”

 

She walked over to him and gave a swift kick behind his leg.

 

He widened his eyes at her incredulously, completely taken aback and puzzled by her action.  “E-eunseo-sshi!”

 

“Yah, don’t you know how fortunate you are that I even waste my precious time talking to you?  Most men could only dream of it.”  She stuck her tongue out at him and immediately made her way to the bus stop.

 

This was becoming their everyday routine.

 

In all honesty, not just him, she also found herself puzzling.  Perhaps, she was the one slowly slipping.

 

~*~

 

At work, rumours were flying around—which was not unusual, but what was unusual was the heated discussion about Eunseo’s sudden change in behaviour – her blissful smiles and unexpected friendliness—that even caught the attention of the company’s janitors.  What had gotten into her, they all wondered…and frankly, worried.

 

“Did something good happen to you lately, Director?”  Sora asked amiably when she bumped into Eunseo, who was making a cup of coffee in the break room.  She was probably the only one on close term with Eunseo in this hellish jungle-like company.

 

“Huh?” Eunseo was unsure of what her assistant meant.

 

“Your smiles look different nowadays,” she pointed out somewhat clumsily.  “You seem more at ease these days, just like—” she paused in mid-sentence, suddenly having the urge to smack herself for making such blunder.

 

“Just like…what?” she raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

 

“Nothing,” the assistant shook her head and hurriedly poured the instant coffee into her cup of hot water and stirred it.  “Oh right, I better check in with the team leaders about their schedules for the next meeting.  Enjoy your coffee, Director.”  She looked apologetic.

 

Eunseo took a sip of her coffee as she watched her assistant’s back until she was out of her line of vision.  She knew that there was something amiss in the atmosphere lately, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it.

 

~*~

 

“Kwangsoo-sshi!” she called out to him, who was probably stacking inventory behind the aisles again.  She lifted up a box of canned beers and placed it on the counter.

 

“Hey Eun—” his voice stopped mid-way when he saw her opening a can of beer.  “Er…What are you doing?”

 

“Had a rough day today.”  She wanted to erase, from her mind, the image of a particularly rude and demanding client that she had to deal with this morning.  “So, drink with me.”  She opened another can and stuffed it into his hand.

 

He let out a sigh, “I’m not drinking while at work.”

 

“Tsk.  Such an inflexible guy.  No one will buy flowers at this hour anyways.”

 

“Yea, I know.  If it wasn’t for you, I would have closed the shop two hours ago.”  He put the can of beer back on the counter.

 

She scoffed, “you’re annoying for a temp.”  She took a big gulp of the beer.  She let out a breath of relief.  The invincible weight on her shoulders shredded off immediately.  “This is really good stuff!” she commented, suddenly seemed particularly mesmerized by the label on the can.  She held the can to again.

 

A few dry laughs emitted from the temporary florist.  He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, unintentionally mocked one of her signature behaviours.  “Are you drunk already?”

 

She slammed the can on the table after she gulped down the entire content.  Her eyebrows knitted close together as she pouted.  She pointed a finger at him, “Yah, why are you copying me?”

 

He shook his head wearily.  He grabbed her wrist just in time before she grabbed another can of beer. 

 

She stared at him, confused and disappointed.

 

“I’ll lend you my ears for tonight, so stop drinking already,” he told her.

 

It took a moment before she could register his words.  A foolish grin, unfitting of her usual demeanour, formed on her face immediately.  She was beyond feeling tipsy already.  She sat on the floor and held her knees close to her chest.  She suddenly realized that she was enjoying the feeling of being drunk; this strange, loving feeling along with its unexplainable loneliness ever since she started working again all became numb now in the face of drunkenness.

 

The temporary florist had no choice but took a seat right next to her on the floor, his back resting against the counter.  He decided to keep quiet and waited for her.

 

The long silence dispelled when she finally spoke up, “I’m tired of keeping up a front…What’s the point of it if I can’t win?”  She glanced at him – her eyes shone like the moonlight hanging just above them, right outside the flower shop.

 

He did not say anything, as if he knew her story wouldn’t just stop there.

 

She averted her gaze to the front again.  “I know they – those people at work – are hiding something from me,” she confessed at last, mostly to herself.  “It’s like the entire world knows…And they have this strange pity look on their faces as if I should know it well too…But I don’t know, you see?”  She shook her head and raised her hand to reach for another can of beer that was just sitting on top of the counter surface.

 

This time, the temporary florist did not stop her.

 

Maybe he actually wanted to hear her out?  She didn’t know but continued anyways.  She took a sip and sighed.  “I really don’t know…It’s kind of like this ever since I came back.  They don’t seem to have the guts to overthrow me either…Everything seems to spiral slowly out of my knowledge and control and…I really hate it…much like this stupid, mysterious sender.”  She pouted bitterly at this.  She glared at him.  “And you!  Aren’t you just a temp anyways?  It’s not like you’re going to be here for—oh, why can’t you just tell me who the mysterious sender is?  Am I not a customer?  I can pay double what he pays…”

 

“Eunseo-sshi, we’ve been over this—”

 

“And you know what is the worst of all?” she let the question lingered longer in the air.  She was feeling the heat on her face.  “The worst of all is that…I don’t seem to care anymore…I just like dropping by here.”

 

She could feel his gaze on her.  Many questions must be flashing through his mind during this one moment.  She smiled shyly.  “It’s relaxing here…and I feel I can be myself around you.  In fact, I can’t help but think that it would be the perfect scenario if you are the mysterious sender…”

 

After a brief while of silence, the temporary florist got up and concluded, “go home.  You’re drunk.”

 

She shut her eyes tight and massaged her temples.  She looked up and saw that he was clearing the counter.  “Yah…” her voice came out oddly pitiful, “you got a girlfriend or something?”

 

He did not answer her, but his face worn a solemn expression.

 

~*~

 

When she woke up the next morning, she found herself in her room, tucked comfortably under a warm, fluffy blanket in her bed.  There were beer cans scattered all over.  She thought she had been drinking at the flower shop.  Did she continue drinking when she got home too?  It was as if last night never happened.  She had never felt so shameless – all because of a certain temporary florist.

 

~*~

 

The path she walked on, the places she touched, and the death glares she sent were all below zero degree Celsius. 

 

As soon as Hojoon saw Eunseo closed the door to her office, he went up to Sora.  He asked the Baby Devil’s assistant discreetly, “Hey, what’s up with her?  Wasn’t she all happy and springy a few days ago?  And here I thought that she’s finally—”

 

Eunseo’s office door swung opened abruptly.

 

“Sora—” the Baby Devil paused upon seeing Hojoon.  “Hojoon-ah, did you need to see me?”

 

“Director!” he called affectionately, but grinned rather nervously.

 

She raised an eyebrow callously.

 

Sorry, I’ll get back to work.”  Hojoon quickly cowered back to his desk.

 

“Sora,” she turned to her assistant, “gather all the files with regards to the Song Brothers Ltd. and write a summary report on the company's market demographic trend for the past five years.  Please put the report on my desk before you leave today.”

 

“Yes, Director.”  Then, with some hesitation, she pushed herself from her chair and followed Eunseo into the office.  She asked seemingly out of concern, “Are you doing okay, Director?”

 

“I’m fine…” Eunseo was puzzled.  “Is there a reason you asked?”

 

Sora shook her head and her face became slightly red in embarrassment.  She smiled apologetically and stepped out of her office.

 

Eunseo reclined into her queen’s throne once the door was closed.  Her right hand dropped weakly on top of the arm rest.  There was that peculiar melancholy in the air again, of which she couldn’t recognize.

 

Wouldn’t recognize…

 

~*~

 

Ever since that night when she got herself unwittingly drunk, she still picked up a bouquet of forget-me-nots every day without exception.  However, the days of their friendly banters were no more – he simply handed her the bouquet and told her to have a great day like he would with any other customer and she would just take the bouquet without saying anything.  She did not even bother trying to figure out the mysterious sender anymore and he…did not make an effort to remind her anymore.

 

Until one morning...

 

Eunseo was walking to the bus stop as usual when the temporary florist called out to her.

 

She stared at him coldly.

 

He smiled and motioned her to come over with his hand gesture.

 

She frowned at him.  Did he think they were on speaking terms again?  Nonetheless, she walked over to the counter.

 

As expected, he handed her a bouquet of forget-me-nots.

 

She let out a sigh of annoyance.  “Didn’t we already agree that I will pick it up after work?”

 

“Sorry, I won’t be here by then,” he smiled apologetically.

 

She froze at that moment and her mind went blank.

 

“Today is—”

 

“S-sorry, let’s talk later – I don’t w-want to miss my bus,” she averted from his eyes and fumbled through her words.

 

“Eun—”

 

“Kwangsoo-sshi, you should know by now that I’m a very busy person,” she interrupted him, panicking.  “So, let’s wait until I return, okay?”  Her voice was becoming a pathetic plead.

 

“It’s my last da—”

 

“Shut up!” her voice shouted over his, as if that would delay the inevitable – why did she feel such way?  She covered her ears, refused to hear from him.  She did not want to see the apologetic look on his face either.  She didn’t deserve it.

 

However, despite all her attempts, his words still reached her – like they always did, “Eunseo-ah, it’s time to wake up.”

 

She lowered her hands and asked bitterly, “Why?  Do you find me annoying?”  Tears were gradually her eyes.

 

He smiled warmly at her – like he always did.  “I would never find you annoying.  You know that.”

 

“T-then…why…?”

 

“You know that very well too.”

 

Suddenly, everything rushed back to her like a merciless ocean wave.  The forget-me-nots dropped from her hand.

 

~*~

 

It was a beautiful afternoon despite the winter chilliness that still lingered in the early spring air.  It was a stupid idea suggested by her fiancé (and very soon-to-be husband) to hold their wedding at this time of the year.  He had expressed his love for a particular breed of tiny blue flowers, called forget-me-nots, on multiple occasions saying that it reminded him of her ice princess presence.  He had insisted to decorate the entire wedding hall and reception area with these flowers.

 

Despite her husband-to-be’s lack of sense with regards to the weather, she still thought this was the best day of her life, especially when the gentle sunlight shone on them as if it was giving them a blessing. 

 

Almost everyone from their workplace, in additional to family members and close friends, had arrived to give the couple their blessings.

 

Most of their work colleagues were surprised when they announced their wedding date.  Well, in all honesty, she was surprised with herself to some extent as well.  She had always been one of the vocal ones against the idea of office romance, and yet she found herself falling for his charm somehow.  He was her subordinate and two years younger than her no less.  But fate was a funny thing.

 

Fate was a funny thing…

 

Their best moment and their happiness were all overturned by an inhumanely loud crash.

 

The windshield shattered immediately into millions of shining shards as he instinctively protected her body with his.

 

All screams and anguishes drowned in the presence of the red sirens.

 

The scattered blue petals suspended in the smoky air just moments ago rained back on them – perhaps trying to soothe their broken souls during this unexpected turn of event.

 

~*~

 

She dropped to the ground in defeat.

 

His image was fading…Of course — he was never there in the first place.

 

Her sobs became uncontrollable in an instant.  The tears were drenching her beautiful, moon-white face.  She couldn’t recall the last time she cried because she never really did until now.  A billion tiny pins stabbed her heart at the thought of him.

 

“C-customer-nim, please don’t cry…” A young man kneeled down in front of her.

 

Through her red, puffy eyes, she saw the name, Lee Donghae, written clearly across.  She smiled bitterly.

 

Of course, he was never here in the first place – he couldn’t be here.

 

And she couldn’t – no, she did not dare to – go to him now, not after all that he had done for her.  But she wished that she had gone with him on that cruel, fateful day.

 

The florist, Lee Donghae was becoming distressed, unsure of how to handle a customer who suddenly burst in tears.  All he had told her was that there would be no more forget-me-nots after today due to seasonal change.  He knew this customer must love the flowers very much because she would drop by to buy a bouquet every day.  However, he never anticipated that she would suddenly burst in tears at the news…

 

~*~

 

Seasons came and gone in a blink of an eye and it was now spring again.  A woman in grave black strolled down the designated pavement with a bouquet of forget-me-nots in her hand.  She stopped at the tomb plate with a picture and the name, Lee Kwangsoo, engraved on it.  She kneeled down and placed the bouquet gently besides it.  “Don’t worry about me anymore.”  She smiled wistfully.

 

The expression in the picture never changed – he was always smiling warmly back at her.

 

 

 

 

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Author's Note:  This has to be my most illogical & flawed story yet.  I have thought about fixing the plot even if it's just at least a little bit, but I just couldn't help myself in the end and thus, I present you with this illogical & flawed story without any reservation.  I don't know, it was as if was there was a peculiar, unseen force that told me to keep writing with this initial idea in mind without reservation (even if it didn't make any sense).  Or maybe, I'm just too lazy to fix it.  Anyways, even though it's somewhat illogical & flawed, I actually have written exactly what I had in mind for this story more or less (albeit my immature writing skills).  

On a side note, I don't think I'll be writing any more angst stories in a long, long while because these stories tend to make me sad and depressed.  Ha, I usually don't even read angst stories, but yet I wrote one here (actually two, if you count one of the drabbles - My Letter to Prince Charming - I have here at AFF as one).