hello <3 like i said in the foreword....this is a story perfect for Feb 14th and Secret Santa seems to have ended in just another disaster smh :-( i will just write at my own pace next time lol.

so, i already know Nisanishyun05 requested this one^^ i saw the comment hehe <3

The Flower Poet

Prompt 1: "Roses are red, violets are blue, love never crossed my mind until I met you."

When Sunggyu received the first card, he thought that he had accidentally traveled in time to Valentine’s Day. Because, who wrote cheesy flower poems at any other time of the year? And why had that person even left something stupid like that on his counter? Who had left it there? He couldn’t remember anyone leaving it behind after paying but at some point it was suddenly there today. At first he thought it was for someone else but someone had written his name on one side of the card. The writing looked pretty, so he guessed that it must’ve been a girl who wrote it. Sunggyu turned the card around in his hands.

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Love never crossed my mind

Until I met you

He snorted once again. Who even wrote poems for anyone these days? And ‘roses are red’ were probably the most uncreative poems ever. Not to mention that Sunggyu felt like that person had only chosen this type of poem because of his occupation. He worked as a florist in his own flower shop. Sunggyu had inherited it from his mother after she died in an accident. Her shop was called ”Julia” and was pretty famous in their town. Sunggyu couldn’t complain about his job. He always had plenty of customers thanks to his mother’s hard work in the past. She had taught him everything there was to know about flowers and she was the one who had gathered so many regular customers. Some of them Sunggyu had known since his early childhood. He used to stay downstairs at the shop with his mother even when he did his homework. Sometimes he had helped out too. Many customers had grown fond of him over the years and now they supported him all too gladly.

Sunggyu had a good memory for faces, so he knew most of the customers after their first visit. There were women and men, young and old, lovers and loners. Yet he wasn’t sure who could’ve left that card for him. Possibly one of the two young ladies that had bought flowers this morning but Sunggyu figured that, when they buy flower bouquets, they surely had a boyfriend or husband waiting for them. Plus, he had seen them quite often and they had never openly flirted with him or asked him out. Most costumers knew that he wasn’t particularly interested in women. Sunggyu had dated two girls in the past but neither had made him very happy. They had been nice but that was it.

He had dated some guys too but nothing had worked out. His longest relationship had lasted for 3 years with a guy called Hoya. It had casually started with some Netflix & Chill and ended with Hoya leaving him for some job in Busan. To be fair, he had invited Sunggyu to come with him but the older man had rejected the offer. He hadn’t wanted to leave his mother’s shop behind. Sunggyu had promised himself to take care of his mother’s legacy until the day he died. Hoya had left and now they sometimes exchanged texts on their phones but there was no more romance going on. His ex-boyfriend had found a new love; someone who loved dancing as much as he did.

“Sunggyu-ssi?”

He quickly put the card beneath the counter and looked up. Someone had entered the shop during his mental absence. “Ah, Chorong-ssi. Are you here to get a bouquet for your husband’s grave again?”

She smiled. “Yes, same as always. You know what he liked.”

Sunggyu nodded. He had been preparing bouquets for her dead husband’s grave every month and before his mother’s death, it had been her job. The young florist moved through the little shop with practiced and fluid movements. He knew very well which flowers to pick and every corner of the flower shop was imprinted in his mind. While he gathered all the flowers, Sunggyu tried to remember all the people that had visited the shop today. There had been two girls so far, a business man in his 30s, Mr. Lee from the bookshop across the street and now Chorong, who definitely didn’t leave the note for him.

“Is something wrong, dear?” The old lady asked behind him.

He glanced at her. “No, of course not. Everything’s fine.”

“You look a little distracted today.” Chorong seemed genuinely worried about him.

“It’s nothing. Someone just thought it was funny to leave me a poem.”

“A poem?”

He huffed. “A stupid one.”

“Don’t judge it so harshly. Maybe that person wrote it just for you.”

Sunggyu rolled his eyes shortly and grabbed some greens for the bouquet as the last step. He walked behind the counter to make the bouquet. “He or she didn’t put a lot of effort into it then. Why even leave me a card like that? How am I supposed to know who sent it?”

“An anonymous poem?” She laughed shortly. “Sounds quite romantic. That person certainly succeeded in making you curious already. Can I see it?”

“Be my guest.” The florist said and showed her the card, before returning to his task.

Chorong read it and then laughed softly. “Isn’t it cute? Sounds like someone fell in love with you and it’s their first love.”

“Oh please...who has their first love at this age? Because I doubt it’s from a little kid.”

“Stop thinking so negative, dear. You’re an attractive man. Why shouldn’t someone fall head over heels for you?”

Sunggyu rolled his eyes. “Because I’m...just me. Nothing special.”

He wrapped up the finished bouquet so that it would survive the way to the graveyard. It was cold outside and the wind was strong. “You’re special, Sunggyu. You make the prettiest flower bouquets in town. You inherited that from your mother, just like your youthful looks.”

“Stop flattering me, Chorong-ssi. It was probably just a joke anyways. I doubt anyone has a crush on me. In a few days this incident will be forgotten.” He took the card from her hands and threw it into the trash bin.

The old lady didn’t look very happy with that but she didn’t comment on it. She paid the usual price for her bouquet and Sunggyu handed it over to her. Chorong nodded. “We’ll see about that, Sunggyu. We’ll see.”

He totally didn’t pull the card out of the trash after she was gone.

The next day, Sunggyu found another card while he was sweeping the floor of the shop. The florist frowned and picked it up. While the first card had been simply white, this one was pale red. His name was on one side and Sunggyu glared at it for a moment, silently sending prayers that the other side didn’t have a poem on it. He checked his surroundings and turned the card around.

Roses are red

Violets are blue

I've never seen anyone

As beautiful as you

Sunggyu scoffed. “Who writes cheesy stuff like that, seriously...”

Once again, he had no idea who had left the card behind for him. Sunggyu didn’t think that any customers from the day before had shown up again today. What did that mean? It wasn’t a ghost, right? A shudder ran down his spine. Sunggyu put the card in his pocket and quickly cleaned up the rest of the shop. Once he was done, Sunggyu stepped back behind the counter. There were no customers at the moment, so the florist sat down on his stool to inspect the two cards once more. The writing looked identical. Whoever had written both poems, tended to add little hooks to the letters a and h. The writing really did look quite girly.

Sunggyu held the two cards above his head and looked at them. “Who are you? Why are you not showing yourself?”

Of course there was no reply. Instead, the bells at the door rang when a customer entered. Sunggyu quickly stood up and hid the cards under the counter again. “Hello. What can I do for you, sir?”








The cards never stopped coming. Every day, without fail, Sunggyu would find one. He already had over 10. One card had been hidden in between the red roses, another one had been left on the inside of the window and some had just appeared on his counter again without him noticing. It was quite frustrating because the florist couldn’t pinpoint who the culprit was. That person didn’t once leave their name on the cards. The only thing Sunggyu got were more and more cheesy poems. After work, he often sat down in his armchair upstairs and drank a hot chocolate, while reading over the cards again. Not because he liked them. No, of course not! They were cheesy! And...and stupid! He just liked laughing while looking at them!

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Sugar is sweet

And so are you

At first Sunggyu wondered if that meant he was fat.

Roses are red

Violets are blue

But woke up to find

A new color: it’s you

Maybe his heart did skip a beat when he received that one.

Roses are red

Violets are blue

The center of my world begins

And ends with you

That was the latest poem he had received. Sunggyu found it hard to continue believing that all of this was just a game; a joke. Who would put that much effort into a game? He was really curious about the author of those poems by now but Sunggyu still had no clue. The florist was on alert every day but so far the poet had always managed to go unnoticed. Maybe he really was a ghost. Or she. Sunggyu didn’t know the gender of his mysterious admirer but he somehow felt like it was a guy. He hoped it was a guy. He did feel flattered by the effort and the words, and Sunggyu might give that person a chance to date him. But first the poet had to come out of his hiding or Sunggyu had to catch him in the act!

Two days later, he finally managed to catch the culprit – or at least he thought that. Sunggyu had just turned away to put the money in the register when he heard the card slide onto the wooden counter. He grabbed the woman’s wrist just as she was about to push the card under a bunch of flyers, no doubt so he wouldn’t find it that quickly. Her eyes widened and opened to an unspoken ‘oh’. He knew that woman – Jisoo. She had been around every now and then to buy flowers but, as far as the florist knew, Jisoo had a boyfriend waiting for her at home.

Sunggyu’s eyes flashed. He held onto her wrist as his other hand grabbed the card. “I knew it. Is this card from you?”

Jisoo’s eyes went anywhere but to the spot where he stood. “Please tell me. I need to know.”

She swallowed and glanced over her shoulder. Sunggyu followed her gaze and saw someone looking back at them. A young man with dashing blonde hair. As their gazes met, the stranger’s eyes widened and then he ran away. The florist gasped. “You owe me an explanation! Wait here!”

Sunggyu ran around the counter and out of the shop. He looked down the street and saw the back of the man in the distance. He sprinted after him, determined to catch the poet today. If he turned out to be a creep, Sunggyu would tell him to never come again but if he turned out to be really crushing hard on him...well, then Sunggyu might give that cute guy a chance. And cute he had been.

And fast he was. Sunggyu wasn’t getting closer. “Y-Yah! Stop!!”

The man didn’t listen and eventually the florist gave up. His lungs were burning and he was getting too far away from his shop. Sunggyu rested his palms on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He had figured that the person behind the poems must be shy if they didn’t approach him face-to-face, but this shy?! Do I look that scary? Sunggyu wiped his sweaty forehead and looked around again. The poet wasn’t coming back. He puffed his cheeks shortly and turned around again to walk the whole way back. Hopefully Jisoo was still there and ready to answer some questions for him.

The florist went back to his shop and was relieved to see that the young woman had kept watch. “I’m sorry, Sunggyu-ssi. He was so cute when he asked for my help. I couldn’t say no.”

“First off, who is that guy and second, what exactly did he ask of you?”

Jisoo nervously played with her fingers. “I don’t know his name. He stopped me outside the shop and asked me to leave this card for you, without you noticing of course.”

“And you didn’t bother to ask any question and just did it?” Sunggyu narrowed his eyes at her.

“Well, I did ask him why and he told me that he likes you. He was blushing really cutely too. It was obvious what he meant his words.” She giggled shortly and her cheeks became rosy. “You’re so lucky, Sunggyu-ssi. He’s a good-looking fellow. I want you two to date, so I agreed to help out. Isn’t the poem cute?”

Jisoo giggled. He turned the card around with a slight frown.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
How about a date tomorrow?
I’ll pick you up at two

He pursed his lips. “Why can’t he just ask me directly instead of leaving me these cards? He even ran away from me!”

“Well, you didn’t exactly break out into a smile when you saw the card...” Jisoo commented.

“Because all this hiding makes me frustrated!”

She laughed. “So what? He just offered you a date, big guy. You’re off work tomorrow, right? Meet up with him and you’ll get the answers to all your questions. That is if you haven’t scared him off with your chasing.”

Sunggyu glared at the card. Would his mysterious poet really show up tomorrow? Maybe he had scared him off? When was the last time a cute and handsome guy like that had tried to confess to him?

“Hey, can you give me my bouquet now? I really have to go.” Jisoo interrupted his thoughts.

He suppressed the urge to huff and put on his business smile instead. “Yes, of course. Just take it, okay? No need to pay me.”

She raised her eyebrows in question but then she grinned. “I should deliver poems more often. Thanks!”

Jisoo left and Sunggyu looked back at the card. Would the hide-and-seek finally end tomorrow? The florist felt so nervous suddenly when he thought about talking to the handsome guy from before. Did that guy really like him? Was he the poet behind all of those cards? Were his words true? There were so many questions and he felt slightly afraid of the answers. Sometimes the illusion of something was better than the reality.

He had only seen his poet for a short moment but the thought of meeting him still had Sunggyu’s heart fluttering. The florist pulled out the first card he had received. He smiled. “Love never crossed my mind until I met you...huh.”