blood flowers

Clasping a bunch of gladiolus peter pears flowers in his hand, Youngjae apologetically thumbs the wilted petals. The edges are gnawed away by brown like an illness, but it persevered for a good week and a half. Daehyun had taught him how to lengthen its longevity by cutting the stems only when a few flowers at the bottom had opened. They were a vibrant apricot colour, much like a good sorbet ice cream on the weekends.

Youngjae places them into the compost pile. He sends a message to Jisook, reminding her to see a doctor. She had complained of some discomfort in her chest this morning.

The store is silent, a recurrent occurrence no matter what time of the day. They had a patron this morning who bought three stalks of petunias for her late grandmother. Delicate and demure, she fits Daehyun’s ideal type well. During a drinking night a long time ago, Daehyun had mentioned he fancied girls who were like flowers. If Daehyun had been here in the morning, Youngjae wonders if he would be attracted to her.

Hanbin sweeps the floor, hiding a yawn behind his hand.

“Why’d you take the night shift if you’ve got early classes tomorrow?” Youngjae asks.

“I didn’t come for that morning shift two weeks, and I judt realised that daehyun paid me for it anyway,” Hanbin fills in.

“Taking the night shift won’t help,” Youngjae chuckles as Hanbin puts away the broom. “There’s not much to do.”

Hanbin shrugs. “Daehyun said he worries when you’re alone in the store at night, and you have to lock up on your own.”

“Oh. But how does having you around help? You’re just a high schooler.”

Hanbin shoots Youngjae a stony look while Youngjae simmers into a mischievous laugh. “He shouldn’t worry. I’m twenty-three years old. Besides, he always comes down at night to check on me.”

“You’re twenty-three, but you look like you’re in preschool.”

It’s Youngjae’s turn to squint at Hanbin. He raises a hand threateningly and Hanbin daringly high-fives him, scooting off his chair in caution.

“Sometimes, I can’t tell the difference between you and Jiwon,” Youngjae snorts. “Both es.”

“Daehyun groups you in with us, so if you call us es, you’re one too,” Hanbin smugly returns. “Right, is Daehyun coming?”

“Soon. We’re going to plan our trip,” Youngjae chirps, getting excited at the thought of it.

“Nice. Are you guys travelling out of the country or just within?” Hanbin asks.

“We haven’t decided yet. But I was thinking of going to Jeju, since he likes greenery so much.”

“Yeah, he’d like that a lot,” Hanbin muses. “Jiwon and I were saying we should chip in. Daehyun’s been so nice to us.”

“Why not you spend more time with him alone? He’ll be so happy,” Youngjae jests.

Hanbin flushes in embarrassment. “Hey, I’m not that awkward with him, alright? It’s just… he reminds me of my Dad so it’s weird.”

“How are you like with your Dad?”

“Uh, we don’t talk much.” Upon seeing Youngjae’s soft look, Hanbin quickly clarifies, “It’s not like we don’t get along. My Dad’s a quiet guy. He loves my sister and me a lot. He’s the kind that does things for us without saying it.”

Youngjae nods, fondly piecing together Daehyun’s personality with these words. That does sound like the kind of father Daehyun would be.

“What are you guys planning to give Daehyun?” Youngjae asks.

“I don’t know. Something he can bring overseas. We were thinking of a neck cushion.”

“That’s sweet,” Youngjae hums. Before he can give another suggestion, Daehyun strolls up to the flower shop entrance. He cracks a small smile upon seeing Youngjae and Hanbin, nudging open the door.

“Slacking off, huh,” he comments. Clad in a black windbreaker and dark grey sweatpants, Daehyun looks as dull as ever.

“I almost thought a piece of the darkness outside walked in,” Youngjae chortles. “I told you to wear brighter colours.”

“I wore a yellow shirt last week when you weren’t around. Jiwon looked like he was about to have a heart attack,” Daehyun heaves.

He glances over to Hanbin. “I told you not to come. I’ll still pay you for yesterday’s morning shift.”

“You told me before that you worry when Youngjae has to close up on his own.”

“When did I say that?” Daehyun mutters. “Anyway, you can go home, Hanbin. Youngjae and I will lock up.”

“You did! You said Youngjae looks fragile.” Hanbin has the decency to quieten down, belatedly assessing whether he should have said that.

Daehyun parts his lips, gaze darting from Hanbin to a now ticked-off Youngjae.

“Fragile?” Youngjae retorts.

“I didn’t mean it to be offensive. You just look that way.”

Daehyun quickly changes the topic, gesturing to the door. “You have school tomorrow, Hanbin. Go home before I get reported for child labour violations.”

Hanbin grins. “Well, okay.” He packs his water bottle and jacket into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. He stops by the door and rubs his neck.

“Uh, Daehyun. You should stop blood flowering,” Hanbin coughs.

While Youngjae tries not to erupt with laughter, Daehyun blinks back at Hanbin. “Oh. Uh… I’ll think about it.” He similarly squeezes the back of his neck while an awkward silence falls over them.

“Cool.” Hanbin nods, uncomfortably standing around for a moment more before stepping out.

Daehyun immediately turns to Youngjae with a glare. “What the hell did you tell him?”

“What? I just said that you skipped taking a break for your last blood flower, and that it’s really bad for your health,” Youngjae giggles.

“And?” Daehyun squints sceptically.

“And that we should each let you know that it’s bad for you, so you’ll finally get it into that thick head of yours.” Youngjae shrugs. “He said it because he wanted to. I didn’t force him to; it was seriously just a suggestion.”

“You know Hanbin’s uncomfortable around me. You’re going to make things worse,” Daehyun drawls, lightly whacking Youngjae’s forehead. Youngjae cradles his head with a whine.

“He’s not uncomfortable. He just doesn’t know what to say to you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Same thing.”

“You should take his advice, by the way,” Youngjae pointedly states. “Think Hanbin would prefer you alive than dead.”

“Blood flowering won’t kill me, you . Stop exaggerating.” Daehyun rolls his eyes. “Let’s go up already. I’m starving.”

The breath of flowers trickle away as they step out of the store, locking up. They climb the stairs to Daehyun’s place while chatting about Hanbin.

“Hey, Hanbin said he was going to confess to his crush, right? How’d it go? I totally forgot to ask him just now.”

“You don’t see any Hanahaki flowers coming out of his mouth, right?” Daehyun fills in. “It went well. His girlfriend came over to the store too. She’s a fiery one; never saw Hanbin so meek in my life.”

“Ugh, I missed out so much all because of my finals,” Youngjae groans as they ascend the last flight of stairs to Daehyun’s floor. As they walk to the end of the corridor, Youngjae notices a woman in her early thirties. She stands opposite Daehyun’s unit, unlocking the door.

The woman glances over and melts into a smile. “Hello.”

She’s pretty. Youngjae watches as Daehyun simmers into an amiable smile, rare when he’s not with his friends or in the flower shop.

“Hey. Work ended late for you?” Daehyun chuckles.

“I’m actually earlier than usual,” she sighs, running a hand through her long auburn locks. “How’s the flower shop?”

“Slow business, as always.”

The woman laughs softly. “Well, I’ve been meaning to get some daffodils to put by my window. Are you strictly off work or can I put in an order now?”

Daehyun grins. “I’ll deliver them to your doorstep by tomorrow. How many stalks do you want?”

“Five, please. Thank you.” She nudges open her door and slips off her high-heels. “I’ll be waiting, then.”

After she shuts the door, Youngjae glances over to Daehyun and his persistent smile.

“It’s hard to find people like her nowadays who appreciate flowers, huh?” Daehyun hums, turning to his unit and fishing out his keys.

Youngjae parts his lips, pausing for a moment. “Is that Sunhwa?”

Daehyun stops in his tracks. He swivels his head to Youngjae, wearing a deer-in-headlights expression.

“You said Sunhwa loved flowers,” Youngjae mentions. "That's Sunhwa, isn't it?"

"Why do you need to know?"

Youngjae pouts. "I've never seen her before, even though I've came here so many times. Everyone else on this floor is an elderly person. Who could it be other than her?"

"You haven't seen her around because she works really long hours. She's barely around."

"So, it's her?"

After a long moment, Daehyun lowers his head and heaves. “Yeah, yeah.”

“So, that’s her?” Youngjae glances to Sunhwa’s door. “Wow… She’s really pretty. She’s exactly your type.”

“What’s my type?” Daehyun muses, kicking open the door and holding it open for Youngjae.

“She has a demure feel to her. Kind of sophisticated.” Youngjae remains staring at Sunhwa’s unit, fluttering his lashes in some awe. So that’s Daehyun’s first love—the one who managed to tear Daehyun’s devoted heart away from his forever love, flowers. In the years he’s known Daehyun, he’s never gotten to see her. It feels kind of surreal and stirs a somewhat odd feeling in his guts.

Sunhwa. The girl who made Hanahaki flowers bloom for the first time in Daehyun’s lungs. The girl Daehyun grew daffodils twice for, the girl who never knew of his love for her, because she didn't feel the same way. Youngjae wonders how wonderful she must be for Daehyun to helplessly fall in love with her again, against his will.

“And how’d you know that’s my type?” Daehyun nudges Youngjae in and shuts the door behind him.

“You told me once when you were drunk,” Youngjae says pointedly. The worry seeps in and he knits his brows. “Should you still be living so close to her? You stay right opposite her.”

“It’s fine. I don’t like her in that way anymore.”

“You fell in love with her twice,” Youngjae reminds in consternation. “Daehyun, you already do blood flowering. I don’t want you growing another set of Hanahaki flowers and ruining your lungs even more.”

“It’s fine,” Daehyun sighs, sending Youngjae a look. “You’re starting to nag me a lot lately.”

“Because I’m worried. I didn’t say much at first because I didn’t want to be nosy. That’s my biggest mistake.” Youngjae curls his fingers. “Himchan’s getting more and more worried too. How can I not nag you?”

Daehyun makes a face. “I should really tell that guy to stop talking so much to you.”

Seeing Youngjae’s piqued look, Daehyun drops his head in defeat. “Look, I’ve got everything under control, okay? Sunhwa’s really busy because of work and all. Like I said, I rarely see her around and I don’t get to talk to her. How can I fall for her like that?”

“Still…” Youngjae scrunches up his lips.

“I avoid her as much as I can. I really don’t see her at all. This is the first in weeks so I decided to talk to her,” Daehyun assures. He roams to the kitchen and brings over a packet of instant noodles.

“Got your favourite flavour, seafood.” He picks up a plastic bag, dangling it from a finger. “And lots of meat. Let’s start cooking and planning for the trip.”

Youngjae relents with a short nod. They gather in the kitchen, Daehyun plucking out several instant noodles packets. They toss 4 packets into a pot of boiling water and Daehyun fries the meat that he’d left to thaw. He forces Youngjae to watch him so Youngjae can learn some basic cooking skills to make something other than eggs and ramen.

They sit in Daehyun’s living room with the huge pot of noodles. Youngjae’s eyes trail around the unit while Daehyun scoops up some noodles for him. It’s been a long time since Youngjae came here---he used to visit sometimes, much more often than now, at least. They’d binge watch movies together and have hot pots, eating till their bellies overcame their belts.

Ever since Daehyun started blood flowering, he’s been too tired to hang out with Youngjae as much. It shows in his moods too, despite Daehyun being a reserved person who Youngjae always dubs as incapable of not looking half-dead. His eye bags have darkened and he’s visibly lost weight, the meatiness over his arms thinning out against his narrow shoulders. That perpetual expression he wears makes him look so worn-out, like he has to intentionally breathe, else he’ll forget to. He seems resigned---perhaps to a fate of blood flowering to keep the beloved flower shop his parents passed down to him.

Youngjae takes his bowl quietly, his appetite dwindling as the nostalgia layers his throat. He misses those days, but he’s as helpless as Daehyun. He's not rich and he's one of the contributing factors to why Daehyun has to do blood flowering, being an employee of the store. Back then, when Daehyun suggested the idea, Youngjae was definitely against it. However, Daehyun promised he’d keep it under control and honestly, Youngjae didn’t feel he had the right to object to Daehyun’s wishes. He was just a friend. Daehyun was his boss.

The flower shop is the one thing Daehyun remembers his parents by most, after all. Youngjae had constantly respected that up till recently. It’s nerve-wracking to see Himchan’s frown get progressively deeper with every surgery, his words more grim and desperate. Youngjae has to be that annoying figure to bug Daehyun, because Daehyun himself is too blinded by love to acknowledge anything else but the flower shop.

He should have been more firm with Daehyun from the start. If he’d done so, perhaps now Daehyun lungs wouldn’t be a harvest for flowers every month. Hellebores in the winter, Dahlias in the summer. Youngjae never knew something as beautiful as flowers could be so sinister.

“What’s with that look?” Daehyun snorts. He places more fishcakes into Youngjae’s bowl. “Eat up or your noodles will get fat.”

Youngjae stares at his bowl before taking a few bites. “Did you really not tell her that you liked her?”

“Sunhwa?” Daehyun knits his brows together. “Why would I? She’s taken. My confession would just be burdensome.”

“It must be pretty burdensome for you too. To keep your feelings to yourself for such a long time.”

Daehyun shrugs. “Well, you remember, right? I only found out I liked her when the Hanahaki flowers sprouted. So it wasn't that long of a time.”

“How could you not know that you like someone?” Youngjae deadpans.

“Tell that to the thousand other people shocked by their Hanahaki flowers,” Daehyun returns indifferently.

Youngjae halts for a beat before conceding reluctantly. “It's weird, though, that the Hanahaki flowers are a wake-up call for some people. It's weird they need flowers to know they like someone.”

“Hanahaki flowers are a wake-up call. They tell you what you won’t admit, what you’ll take years to realise on your own,” Daehyun sighs thoughtfully.

“She must be pretty amazing for you to fall for her twice,” Youngjae remarks quietly, an undecipherable heaviness pulling down on his chest. Fatigue, probably, and some sadness on Daehyun’s behalf.

Daehyun lets out a low chuckle, wistfulness clouding his bleak irises. “She was just always around me. I never understood what the butterflies in my stomach were--till I started vomiting flowers, that is.”

“You’re really not worried you’ll fall for her again?”

Daehyun churns out a small smile, glancing over at Youngjae. “I won’t. Stop worrying for me. The Hanahaki surgery gets rid of your feelings, remember? I just didn’t take Himchan’s advice and kept talking to her, so the daffodils grew again.”

He puts away his bowl and crosses his arms behind his head, contemplating to himself. His gaze finds the ceiling like searching for constellations.

“It’ll be pretty pathetic if I fall in love with her again.” Daehyun laughs, his head lolling to the side as he muses. “Can you imagine that? Falling in love continuously with somebody who doesn’t love you back, so helplessly.”

“You look at someone and you think, I’m going to fall in love with you again, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it,” Daehyun wheezes.

Youngjae’s face contorts at the imagined torment. “That’s like the worst level of Hell.”

Daehyun laughs loudly, amusement colouring his cheeks with a lovely warmth. He looks over to Youngjae and hums, “It really is. It’s good that the Hanahaki operation gets rid of the feelings once and for all. So people don’t have to suffer from one-sided love.”

“Yeah. At least we have fewer sad endings this way.” Youngjae gulps down some soup and yelps when he scalds his tongue.

“Seriously, are you a kid?” Daehyun gets up and grabs an ice cube from the fridge. He pokes it into Youngjae’s mouth, much to Youngjae’s surprise.

“Eat slowly. I won’t fight with you for the food.”

“Let’s discuss the trip,” Youngjae pipes, on the ice cube. “I’m thinking about Jeju.”

“Sounds good. Why there, though?” Daehyun asks. He nibbles on his wooden chopsticks.

“Greenery. You like flowers,” Youngjae scoots over. “Have you been there before?”

“Yeah. With my parents, when I was pretty young. Eight years old?” Daehyun sits up and his rough hand touches Youngjae’s by accident.

He pulls away. “Hey, it’s alright. Let’s go somewhere you want to go. I don’t have any preferences.”

“I want to go to Jeju. We can go trekking through the fields and get a hotel room beside the sea. There’s a lot of flowers there,” Youngjae chirps. “You said before you wanted to see Spirited Garden. It’ll be the perfect weather since it’s Spring.”

“I said we can go somewhere that you like. I’ve seen a lot of flowers; I don’t need to see more.”

“If you don’t have anywhere you want to go, then I’m choosing Jeju. You might get more inspiration from your bouquets after seeing the flowers there,” Youngjae firmly repeats.

“You really don’t listen, do you?” Daehyun squints at Youngjae. “I said to choose somewhere you like.”

“I did. I said Jeju,” Youngjae retorts. “You’re the one that’s not listening.”

“And yet you’re listing reasons about there being things I like there. You like Japanese comics, right? How about we go to Osaka?”

“It’s called manga. And no, I said I want to go to Jeju.”

Youngjae pokes his head into Daehyun’s personal space, the florist jerking back in askance. Youngjae flashes him a pair of puppy dog eyes.

“I want to see the flowers too. It’ll be fun. Please?”

Daehyun turns away and emits a hefty sigh, much too easily giving in without a second thought. “Fine.”

“Yay, great,” Youngjae cheers. He leans back against the couch and rubs his belly. “Let’s go explore Jeju for five days. Where do you want to go afterwards? Out of the country?”

He reaches for his phone on the couch. “Do you know this country called Singapore? It’s called the garden city. The people there are really accepting of flowers. We could go see there.”

Daehyun tilts his head. “How long are you planning for the trip to be?”

Youngjae blinks. “I thought it’d be three weeks?”

“That’s too long,” Daehyun instantly returns. “I thought you meant I’d take a break for three weeks and we’d go somewhere during that time for a few days.”

“Oh.” Embarrassment crawls over Youngjae as he looks away, feeling somewhat unwanted and like a burden. He’d been so excited about this trip last night. Unable to sleep, he got out of bed every now and then, searching up places to fill their weeks-long itinerary. Places, in particular, that Daehyun would enjoy. He noted them all down and mentally planned the route in his head.

“Yeah, let’s keep it to a few days, then,” Youngjae concludes. He moves aside to get some water.

Daehyun glances over and shifts, once more finding a place next to Youngjae. “Wish we could go for longer. But I have to come back to take care of the flowers,” he says, voice dropping a few decibels as he discreetly tries to comfort Youngjae.

“But Hanbin and Jiwon-”

“Will kill all the flowers and leave me bankrupt,” Daehyun finishes. He pats Youngjae’s head. “I’m sorry. We can go on another trip some other time to make up for it.”

Youngjae lets a soft smile slip, warmth tinting his cheeks a gentle pink. Daehyun’s eyelids fall as his gaze lingers on Youngjae’s swollen lips. He fondly tugs Youngjae’s cheeks.

“Your mouth’s like a red calla lily,” he laughs. “Anyway, three weeks is seriously too long, even if I didn't have the flower shop to worry about. Where would you get the money to tour the world with me?”

“I’ve been saving up, alright? I’m not as broke as you think I am.”

“If you’re not broke, then start eating proper meals. I should seriously tell Jisook about how you live.”

“I feel like you bring up my girlfriend more than I do whenever we talk,” Youngjae states, sending Daehyun a dirty look. “Do you have a thing for her or something?”

“I’m not a homewrecker,” Daehyun maintains. He gestures to Youngjae’s laptop. “You wanted to plan, right? We should do it now or we’ll keep dragging it out.”

Their shoulders brush as they talk over their dinner, noodles slowly turning cold between the bouts of laughter. They list out the places they’ll go in Jeju and Youngjae checks out the flight ticket prices, even though Daehyun says it’s useless, their planned date being so far away.

Midnight cascades over their silhouettes, moonlight reaching out over their feet through the fluttering blinds. Youngjae bites back a yawn, posture now slumped against Daehyun’s shoulder. He types up the last of their destinations and shakes his head to keep awake.

“Go to bed already,” Daehyun chides for the third time. “We can do up the rest later.”

“I have to calculate the ticket prices and the route,” Youngjae argues, words dispersing into another yawn.

“You’re coming for work tomorrow night, right? We can do it while we’re in the shop.” Daehyun reaches over and claps Youngjae’s laptop close, earning a grunt from the sleepy college boy.

“I want to do it today,” Youngjae murmurs incoherently. Daehyun muffles a laugh and takes Youngjae’s laptop away.

“Go and sleep. You can’t even speak without slurring your words.” He gently grasps Youngjae’s wrist and helps the boy off the floor.

“Take my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Youngjae groggily glances back at Daehyun, raising his brows. “Didn’t we used to sleep together in the same bed?”

Daehyun pauses. “Did we? I can’t remember. It’s been a while since you slept over.” He shrugs and stacks up their bowls.

“Yeah. We don’t hang out as much as we used to,” Youngjae bluntly returns. Last year, after his night shifts, Daehyun would randomly ask him up to eat supper together. They’d watch TV and chat boisterously. Often, Youngjae would be too tired to go home, so he’d sleep over. After a few nights, Daehyun complained the couch was too hard and joined him on the bed. It was big enough for it not to be awkward, but it wouldn’t have mattered to Youngjae anyway.

“Go to my room. As I said, I’ll take the bed. Jisook would be jealous if she heard I’m sleeping with you,” Daehyun jokes, ignoring Youngjae’s piercing insinuation. He roams away to the kitchen to wash up the dishes.

Somehow, the slip of his girlfriend’s name from Daehyun is starting to get irritating. Youngjae crawls up the couch and curls himself up. Expectedly, when Daehyun steps out, he groans.

“Seriously...” Daehyun stands over Youngjae as the boy dozes off. He tenderly rolls Youngjae over and Youngjae glares up at him through tired eyes. He’s dangerously close to crossing over into a crippling state of what he calls ‘tired wakefulness’, what he dreads in general but oft waits for when he’s studying for his finals. It’s where he can’t sleep despite being tired because he’s been thwarted from sleeping too many times.

“I told you to sleep on the bed.”

“You take the bed. The couch makes your back hurt.” Youngjae stubbornly rolls back, snuggling against the couch. “You told me that.”

Daehyun exhales thickly and the silence pieces together his decision. He nudges Youngjae to face him once more.

“Let’s sleep together on the bed,” he concedes, weariness grating away his words into a rasp.

Daehyun’s queen-sized bed smells of musk and sandalwood, a remnant of Daehyun’s more distinct scent. Youngjae buries himself in the sheets.

Daehyun joins him after brushing his teeth, muttering a few apologies when he touches Youngjae by accident. Paying no heed, Youngjae hugs Daehyun’s pillow tighter, nose nuzzled into the cotton.

“You should ask me to come up after work more. Like you used to.”

Daehyun edges around. “You’re really blunt when you’re sleepy.”

“Too tired to care about being embarrassed.” Youngjae’s eyes remain shut as he breathes in the earthy odour. “Why don’t you ask me to come up anymore?”

Daehyun doesn’t answer the question. “Does it make you sad?”

“Obviously,” Youngjae murmurs.

“Sorry. Blood flowering’s making me more tired than I expected,” Daehyun whispers. He moves closer, and Youngjae feels the shadow of Daehyun’s fingers on his stomach. They disappear as fast as they come.

“It’s okay. I was just curious.”

Some quietness follows. Daehyun belatedly offers, “You can come up anytime you want. Just give me a heads-up.”

“It’s fine. I know you’re tired.” Youngjae stirs. “Thanks for agreeing to take a break.”

“Why are you thanking me when you’re pushing it for my sake?” Daehyun chuckles lowly.

“Because I know you’re blood flowering for the flower shop. And it means a lot to you, so it’s not easy to give it up.”

Daehyun’s breath tickles the nape of Youngjae’s neck.“You always know how to make me feel bad.”

His voice diminishes into a raw heaviness. “Wish you didn’t care for me so much. Makes me feel guilty that you do.”

“I have to, since apparently, you think you’re undeserving of love,” Youngjae mimics mockingly the words Daehyun had spouted to Jessica. He turns around and squints at Daehyun’s corny grin.

“Why the hell did you say that to that wrench? I wanted to punch you when I heard that,” Youngjae mutters bitterly. “Where’d you even get such a stupid idea from?”

Daehyun lets out a quiet laugh. “It’s... just something I realised about myself after a while. I keep giving away my love so easily even though I know I’m going to break my heart over and over again. Must mean I don’t give a about myself that much.”

“And you wonder why I have to in and nag you when you think this kind of stupid crap.” Youngjae almost turns around but Daehyun halts him. In an oddly intimate gesture, Daehyun loosely grasps Youngjae’s cheek with one hand.

“And I always give in to you.” He laughs, eyes crinkling by the sides as he wheezes out a contrary sigh. “We keep talking about blood flowering. Let’s talk about something nicer. How excited are you for our trip?”

“Really excited,” Youngjae replies honestly. His cheek bristles at Daehyun’s touch as he uncomfortably squirms.

Daehyun lets go upon noticing. “Why? Is Jeju that interesting?”

“Mm. Aren’t you excited to see the canola flowers?”

“I am. You chose a good place to go. For the trip after this one, let’s go to Tokyo.”

“We haven’t even finalised this trip and you’re planning the next,” Youngjae chortles. His heart buoys up in his chest at Daehyun’s suggestion like hollyhocks. Daehyun may be saying it on a whim, but Youngjae hopes not, and that they’ll go on many more trips after this one.

They chat for a while more before Daehyun gets tired, struggling to stay awake. He falls asleep in the midst of their talking and Youngjae drapes the blanket over him.

As Youngjae falls into a slumber, he dreams of baby’s breath against his cheek.

A/N: Thank you for reading! <3

ON TO LOVELY THINGS

THANK YOU SO MUCHThunderStruck for this wonderful artwork!!! ;v; So gorgeous!!! Daehyun's expression looks so sad, AGH my heart hurts ;;