The door was violently kicked open and a huffing Jaejoong stormed in. He panted, grasping on the edge of the counter as we all stared at him in surprise.

            “Here,” he puffed out and outstretched his arm to me. “Flowers.”

            I blinked at the bouquet with a variety of flowers.

            “They’re lovely,” I tried to smile and carefully took them out of his hand.

            “I didn’t know which kind you liked, so I sort of got everything,” he said.

            “That’s,” I said and looked around. “Nice.”

            He frowned. “You don’t like it.”

            “No, no,” I assured him. “I do, I do. I just,” I shifted my eyes again. “Don’t have a vase for these kinds of things.”

            He sighed. “That’s because you don’t like them,” he slammed his head on the counter. “And here I thought I couldn’t go wrong with flowers.”

            “No, seriously, Jaejoong. I like them. It’s just that,” I paused, trying hard to phrase my words in a nice way. “H-how long will they survive?” I said instead and smiled apologetically as he slumped to the ground.

            Yuri laughed loudly from across the room. It’s been three days since Jaejoong started this thing of trying to impress me. I had established that we were now friends months ago, but the ambitious Jaejoong was determined to change my mind. I had declined this pursuit of his, but he was so persistent that I let him do whatever he wanted. Each day, he would do something and try to get my heart to beat faster. Unfortunately, I hadn’t fallen for anything he’s given me. I mean I wasn’t cruel and rejecting, it was just that…I happened to not be your typical girl. The first day, he had taken me to a carnival and won me a teddy bear. The carnival was fun, but I didn’t know what to do with the teddy bear. I didn’t need to hug it to sleep and besides, it was too small. I usually don’t like having stuff that would only end up collecting dust. So…disappointment number one for Jaejoong.

            The second day, he had given me chocolates. And you can never go wrong with chocolates. But I apparently ate them all too fast and threw away the cardboard box that held them. Disappointment number two. I didn’t know I was supposed to enjoy the treat slowly and appreciate the lovely red cardboard box that held the delicious chocolates. What was I supposed to do with it? Not eat it?

            And today, were flowers. Flowers to me are…are…okay. I don’t necessarily know what to do with them. They die to fast and I can never properly take care of them, because I was always too busy. Disappointment number three.

            But, you know, I still kept all of these things. The teddy bear now sits on the top shelf in my closet, and I did pick back up the chocolate cover and tried to admire it, setting it somewhere. And the flowers are now put in a tall cup I found for the lack of vases I have.

            “Just give up, Jaejoong,” Yuri said to him when he plopped down next to her and I poured water into the cup for the flowers. “You’re hopeless.”

            “Then why don’t you help me?” he gave her a glare and she rolled her eyes.

            “Hell no, I love watching you fail, not succeed,” she replied, still very much against him wanting to “improve” our relationship.

            Jaejoong was going to retort, but Mari entered the scene. “My, my,” she said and sat down to join them. “Another failure?”

            Mari was becoming a regular to the shop and it was no mystery why. She liked the chaos that would sometimes spurt out of nowhere, e.g. Jaejoong bursting in with a bouquet at hand, Yoochun confessing to Yuri, and her hitting him, Junsu running out the door when he unexpectedly sees a suspect of some investigation.

            “What did you get her this time?” Mari said and Jaejoong looked away, not wanting to talk about it. She glanced at me as I questioned where I could set the thing to look nice. “Ah, well you could never go wrong with flowers.”

            “You said the same thing about the chocolates,” he grumbled, and she and Yuri ended up laughing. He had no idea why, but can predict that they truly enjoyed the sight of him failing.

            “Well, Soo Yun isn’t your typical girl. How nice is that,” she said after wiping tears from her eyes.

            Jaejoong sighed tiredly. “Why do I even ask advice from you two.”

            “Oh, Jae,” Yuri said. “You’ve been with Soo Yun for the longest time. I’m shocked you don’t know anything she likes.” That only made Jaejoong want to dig a hole and hide in it, and Yuri knew that.

            Mari chuckled. “Okay, but in all seriousness—“

            “No, no, let the man suffer,” Yuri said.

            Mari ignored her. “Why don’t you do something with Soo Yun in mind rather than what any generic girl would like. Make her feel special, make her feel wanted. Observe her and then surprise her. Give her something that she never thought she needed.”

            The two ladies stared at Jaejoong with judging eyes as he contemplated about this deeply. After a minute of no epiphany, they all sighed.

            “Don’t worry,” Mari patted his back and stood up. “You’ll get there.”

            “Or not,” Yuri slyly added and also got out of her chair. She went to refill her mug as Mari went back to attend her own shop, leaving a very depressed Jaejoong alone with his thoughts.

            “You don’t have to try so hard,” I approached him and gave him a cup of his favorite coffee. “I like you just the way you are,” I smiled.

            “But I want you to like me more,” he whined and I blushed from his honesty. “I wish I had fallen for you when you were still in love with me.”

            I don’t know what it was, maybe anger? But I didn’t like the feeling of regret that was pouring out of Jaejoong at this moment. I cleared my throat. “Everything happens for a reason, and I’m sorry I can’t see you as anything more now,” I said and swiftly turned back to my post.

            There was a thud. Jaejoong had slammed his head on the table again. Yuri snickered evilly when I returned to her side and grabbed her mug.

            “I want to see how long he can keep this up,” Yuri said quietly so he couldn’t hear.

            “Not as long as he wants to,” I replied. “I