Dandelions | Taeyang and Daesung

RoseFangedLion

The air smelled like warm honeysuckle and nostalgia. Sitting in the soft grass in the park sent echoes of the summer camp Daesung had attended as a youth through his body. He felt his age again for the first time since he had been diagnosed with leukemia. The word “remission” repeated in his head a thousand times over, the same way the doctor had said it that morning. It made the world look brighter than it had in seven years.

In truth he should have taken his boyfriend with him to the appointment but he couldn’t bear to see them close the café that they owned with some friends for another day. It had been closed enough for these appointments over the years and he had had a good feeling about this one.

With a deep and relieving sigh he stood up in the radiant late morning warmth and continued his short walk. He had beaten impossible odds. He deserved this walk. He deserved to kick the fluff off of the dandelions in the grass and watch them exploded like puffy little fireworks. In his amusement he managed to pick a couple of yellow ones. They looked like the sun and it was too early in the summer for wild flowers. Dae had been adamant as a child that dandelions were flowers, not weeds.

The door swooshed open with his excited swing and the bell rang out loud. Monday mornings were always crowded like this, with people from wall to wall, the line had morphed into an ameba as orders were shouted out. JiYoung was the first to spot him.

“Hey Dae,” Ji smiled leaning on the pastry display he was standing behind . His flashy red hair was starting to sparkle with sweat during the mid-morning rush. “Looking for YoungBae?”

“Sure am,” Daesung answered, “But it’s always good to see you too.”

“Just not as good,” the skinny redhead winked as he opened the case to grab a doughnut. “SeungHyun, Dae is looking for his Bae.”

Everyone hated that joke. Everyone. The tall, blue haired baker groaned, wiping a flour smudge on his cheek with more flour. “YougBae,” he sighed, “There’s someone here for you.”

Suengri waved politely from the register, his silver locks falling in his face a he tried to keep up with his orders and then proceeded to shout at JiYoung for getting distracted. “Are you even watching the tickets?” He huffed.

“Maybe you’ll feel good enough to help us with this mess soon,” Ji laughed rushing to catch up and flashing a killer smile at everyone he handed food to. He made it hard for anyone to be upset about the delay in service, and that’s how he had ended up at the counter instead of Seunghyun during the busy hours. They were both fantastic bakers, but SeungHyun didn’t have the personality to handle the public.

“Who’s looking for me?” Youngbae’s sweet voice called. Messy black hair bounced through the door to the back where they were making more delicious sweets. His bright pink apron was covered in splashes of frosting and batter. Several people made a point to whistle at him but he seemed to have missed it completely. “Dae?” he asked, “What are you doing here? Did you walk from home?”

Daesung rolled his eyes; he had been feeling well enough to go on short walks for a while now. “Actually I walked from the hospital.”

The whole room went relatively still. All of their regular costumers stopped and quieted as Youngbae ducked under the divider that separated behind the counter from in front of it. “From the hospital?” concern crossed his face. He was trying not to panic in front of the whole store.

“Yup,” Daesung smiled, holding out his small bundle of dandelions. “I didn’t have time to stop and get flowers.”

“So you brought me weeds…on your way from the hospital?” Youngbae shook his head and wiped his hands on his apron, “What am I going to do with you Dae?”

“You are going to celebrate with me,” He offered with the brightest smile he could manage, “I’m officially in remission.”

Relief rippled through the air slowly as his words soaked through. “No more cancer?” Jiyoung shouted in the odd stillness.

Tears started to well in Youngbae’s chocolate brown eyes. It had been seven years of fighting, and scraping, and hurting, and fear. Seven years of bad luck he guessed, but now his beautiful, kind boyfriend was free (relatively anyway). “No more cancer?” Youngbae pulled his taller lover into a bone-crushing hug. His soul emptied into his chest and he cried, he sobbed, crying tears of absolute joy for the first time in ages, “No more cancer.”

“No more cancer,” Daesung said, rubbing his darling Youngbae’s back, trying to soothe him. Dae had already cried his tears for this, or at least he thought he had, but seeing all of his friends so happy brought them back. A flood of emotions, a release of pent up anxieties and unreachable future dreams came crashing down on him.

It must have looked ridiculous, the entire staff of a cafe crying like babies in the middle of their peak hours. “We’re going to lose customers over this.” Daesung said, trying to separate himself from the hug before one of his ribs broke.

He looked up to see Seunghyun hanging in the doorway with a rag hung over his shoulder “Don’t worry about the business Dae,” he said, “Let Suengri fret about the numbers today.”

He was going to point out that Seungri never fretted about the numbers when his bone crushing hug very suddenly became a soft kiss that tasted like lemon butter cream and the hope of days yet to come. He melted, he melted into nothingness, into the knowledge that he could spent the rest of his life with this man, with these friends, in this place. After seven long years he could breathe again. He could stop putting off that wedding for fear of death and he could enjoy life.