Anemone – forsaken

                As much as Yongguk wanted to keep his eyes on his mate all the time, he had no choice but to return to the mansion with the members because they were all stark and didn’t have any spare clothes at all. Instead, he let Jongup drive Daehyun home using his car and ordered Suwoong to follow them on his mototrbike since he was the only one who didn’t ripped off his clothes.

                All of the clan members, who were involved in the fight earlier, gathered in the sick bay at the ground floor of the mansion after putting on some clothes. With Minjee’s help, Narae tended to their small wounds using her healing tonic, while Eunbyul was looking after the kids in the play room.

                 “Thanks, mom, Aunt Minjee,” Himchan said before leaving the room, treated and patched up. Minsu did the same, following after his brother.

                “Be careful,” Narae reminded her sons. They were going to watch over Daehyun’s house, so that Suwoong could return home and get his wounds nursed.

                Yongguk was the last one to receive the treatment since he was the young alpha and had the least injuries. Even though he was the one going through a more violent fight, his body had a higher resistance as an alpha compared to the rest of the clan members. There were only a few bruises at some parts of his body and head.

                Suwoong came into the room right after the young alpha was done. The other members had already left before he arrived. He went straight to the bed where Narae told him to have a seat, causing Yongguk to scoot over to the end. He took off his shirt, revealing a great deal of scratches and bruises all over his torso. Narae immediately started cleaning the wounds without saying much.

                “How are they doing?” Minjee asked as she sat down next to Narae on another chair.

                “I don’t know. I only saw them before they went into the house.” Suwoong paused, wincing when the water soaked gauze was dabbed on a gash across his chest. “But they sure seemed tired,” he added.

                “Do they know about us?” Minjee asked again.

                Suwoong glanced at Yongguk, whose empty gaze was fixed to the floor. Letting out a gusty sigh, he turned to Minjee and finally spoke up. “Jongup saw us shifted in the woods. I had no time to explain to him, but I think he could have guessed.” He gave her a resigned shrug of shoulders. “I’m sure he’ll tell Daehyun hyung about it too.”

                Yongguk abruptly stood up, making the other three whipped their heads in his direction. Before any of them could say anything, he quickly walked out of the room.

                Minjee exchanged worried looks with both Narae and Suwoong. She had to excuse herself to go after her son and make sure he was alright.

                She trailed the young alpha’s scent before finding him at the conservatory. Yongguk was just staring out of the glass wall with his body leaning against another side of it.

                “Yongguk, are you okay?” Minjee asked when she reached Yongguk’s side. Now that she was standing there, she could see her son rubbing his chest right over his heart.

                “Why is it hurting so much?” Yongguk muttered under his trembling breath.

                Minjee took a hold of Yongguk’s hand on his chest. “Really? How long has it been hurting?”

                “I don’t know… It started to hurt after…” The image of frantic Daehyun in the woods flashed before his eyes, making him swallow hard. “…after Daehyun pushed me away…”

                Minjee frowned. “What? When?”

                “In the woods. He was so close when I was fighting against Jiho. Maybe he could feel there was something weird going on.” Yongguk shrugged.

                “Maybe he was just… shocked?” Minjee threw a wild guess, trying to prevent negative thoughts from getting to his son.

                “Of course.” Yongguk looked at his mother before nodding with a meek smile. He dropped his hand to his side without letting go of his mother’s hold. “I can’t believe he’d find out about us in this way.”

                Feeling his eyes start to water, Yongguk averted his gaze to the floor and clenched his jaw in frustration. “I’ve always imaged how one day, I’ll spill our secret to him and brace myself for his reaction. He might not believe it at first, so I have to convince him. He might be so shocked and scared, then, rejects me on the spot. I know I can’t face it. But how he reacted in the woods, was so much more than I can ever imagined.”

                “Oh, Yongguk,” Minjee pulled Yongguk into a hug. “I’m so sorry for you, but try to understand him, okay? Our existence has always been a mere folklore that normal people find hard to believe.”

                Yongguk returned his mother’s embrace and pressed his face on her shoulder. Maybe his mother was right. Maybe he was just overthinking about it. The pain was nothing he couldn’t bear if it meant Daehyun would come to him again after some time.

                Seconds later, Yongguk parted from his mother. “I need to go.”

                “Where?”

                “Daehyun’s place. What if the Massifs try to take him again?” Yongguk released his mother to walk away.

                Minjee caught his arm before he could make any move. “No, they won’t. Himchan and Minsu are on the watch now, right? You can take turns with them and just rest for now.”

                Yongguk breathed out an incredulous laugh. “You know I can’t do that. How am I supposed to rest when I’m not by his side?”

                Minjee shook her head, slightly amazed at how her son managed to hold himself from claiming the human all this time. “You should’ve confessed your love to him before this.”

                Yongguk said nothing after that. His gaze wandered away from his mother as he cleared his throat. When he turned back, his mother was already raising her brows at him. For a moment, he just nibbled on his lips nervously.

                “I… kind of did…? We’re actually lovers now,” he finally admitted with reddening ears.

                Minjee gasped, placing a hand on her chest. “Really?”

                “Yeah, I love him and he loves me back.” Yongguk grinned while scratching the back of his head.

                “You shouldn’t be so worried about getting rejected then.” Minjee patted her son’s back with a reassuring smile.

                Yongguk heaved a deep sigh. “I hope so too.” He carved a thin smile before fishing out his phone from his pocket. “I guess I’m just gonna call him then.”

                After they had arrived home, Jongup laid his brother down on the couch and carefully lifted Daehyun’s leg with the sprained ankle to place it on the stack of two throw pillows, whereas another one was slipped under Daehyun’s head. Then, he left him there for a minute to go grab an ice bag and a damp towel.

                The ankle was swelling up again, so Jongup applied the ice over it. Squeezing in beside his brother, he started wiping the sweats and dirt off Daehyun’s face with the towel.

                Daehyun just let the younger man do as he pleased since his mind was still in jumbled thoughts. He knew something weird had happened in the woods, but Jongup said nothing about it during the ride home.

                “Aren’t you going to tell me what really happened in the woods?”

                Jongup was taken aback by the sudden question. He thought Daehyun was falling asleep since the older man had his eyes closed.

                “Uh…” Jongup pondered for a moment, thinking of a way to break it to his brother without sounding ridiculous. “Of course, but… I don’t know if you’ll believe what I’m gonna tell you.”

                Daehyun lifted his lids as his brows knitted together above his eyes. “Believe what?” he asked, staring up at the ceiling.

                Jongup stopped cleaning his brother’s face with a heavy sigh. “I knew they have been hiding something from us, but now that I’ve found out, I still can’t believe that…” he paused to glance at the latter. “…they can change into dragons.”

                “Dragons…?” Daehyun snorted weakly. “You’re lying.”

                “You know I’m not,” Jongup countered.

                Daehyun’s mind went blank, but at the same time, it was racing with thoughts of Yongguk. He tried to find a proof for Jongup’s claim, until he recalled the touch of something inhuman at the back of his hands that struck him with terror. “But… how?”

                Jongup shook his head. “I don’t know. They just…” He thought for the right word before shrugging his shoulders. “…transformed…?”

                Daehyun breathed out incredulously. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

                Jongup nodded to himself in agreement. “I’d say the same if I didn’t see them changed right before my own bare eyes.”

                “Even the thugs?”

                “Yeah. All of them.”

                Daehyun stayed quiet for a moment, trying to accept the fact that the loud roars, the burning heat and the scaly skin were all coming from humans, who could change into dragons. “What do they look like?”

                Jongup blew out a puff of air. “You know I’m not good at describing things.”

                “Just tell me what you saw,” Daehyun insisted, feeling around for his brother’s arm before giving it slight shake. “I need to know.”

                Jongup sighed. His lips pressing together as he gave it a thought. “Well, they look like dragons…” he began with a shrug. “…with scales and fangs and horns and such. They were about the size of a… horse?” he asked himself with a tilt of his head and answered it on his own by nodding his head. “Or maybe a little bigger. And some of them have wings too.”

                Daehyun tried to imagine it in his head, but of course, he would never knew if it was similar to the real thing. “Aren’t you afraid of them?”

                “Hmm… Rather than afraid, I’d rather say… freaked out?”

                Right after that, Daehyun’s phone rang on the coffee table, telling him that ‘Yongguk hyung is calling’.

                Jongup stared at his brother, who didn’t show any intention to answer the call. “Aren’t you going to pick it up?”

                “I don’t know what should I say to him.” Daehyun held his hand out to his brother, gesturing for the phone.

                “I’m sure he’s gonna call me next if you don’t answer him.” Jongup grabbed the phone and placed it in Daehyun’s palm.

                Instead of connecting the lines, Daehyun just turned off the sound. “You can pick up if he does, but I won’t talk to him until I’m completely ready.”

                “Are you scared?” Jongup asked.

                “I don’t know... It’s just too much.” Daehyun frowned while running his fingers through his hair. “I mean, human that can turn into dragons? Who would’ve thought they really exist?”

                Jongup couldn’t help chuckling as he found it to be quite absurd now. “Yeah, I just came to know about that too.” He exhaled a long sigh and stood up. “What if we just forget it for tonight? You need to rest.”

                Daehyun finally turned his head in Jongup’s direction. “Can you sleep with me tonight?”

                “Sure, but first, we need to shower and eat something,” Jongup said before leaving for the kitchen to make dinner.

                Daehyun listened to his brother’s footsteps fading away. The phone in his hold started ringing with Yongguk’s name again, but this time, he was considering to answer it. Yongguk was just probably making sure that he was alright. So, he only needed to tell him that there was nothing for him to worry about.

                Before the line could come to an end, he picked up. As expected, Yongguk’s voice was full of concern as the man said his name.

                “Yeah, hyung?” he croaked, fighting the throbbing pain in his heart.

                “How are you doing right now? Are you okay?”

                “I’m okay.”

                “Do you want me to come over?”

                For a split second, Daehyun was thinking of saying yes. But then, the thought of gentle and sweet Yongguk turning into a vicious beast was messing up with his mind. It made him realize, he was not yet ready to face the man.

                He took a deep breath after leaving Yongguk hanging. Closing his eyes, he finally spoke up. “Hyung…” Only after that single word, his heart was hammering, causing him to be nearly in tears because of the pain.

                “I think we should stop seeing each other for a while,” Daehyun managed to voice it out at last. “I’m sorry, but I need some time to figure everything out.”

                He cut the line right after that without waiting for Yongguk’s reply because he knew he couldn’t bear hearing his beloved voice to be heartbroken. The hand holding his phone dangled off the couch as he screwed his eyes shut, his other hand clutched at his tight, painful chest.

                Minjee came into her son’s room after linking her thought with him. Yongguk was lying quietly on the bed with his forearm laid over his eyes. He lost so much weight within a week, had dark circles under his eyes and looked deathly pale.

                Carrying a tray of meal, Minjee went to sit beside the bed and let her husband close the door. Dongwan then made his way to his son before sitting at the end of the bed.

                “Yongguk, I brought some food for you. You should eat,” Minjee said, placing the tray on the bedside table.

                “I already ate,” Yongguk muttered without moving an inch.

                “Don’t lie to me. The last time you ate was days ago and it was just a mouthful,” Minjee scolded because she knew that her son would only come home at noon during his watch on Daehyun for the whole day and night, just to wash himself and change clothes. Even when the clan members brought some food to him, he would barely eat it.

                Minjee sighed when Yongguk was not responding to her. So she glanced at her husband, her sharp stare signaled him to say something.

                Dongwan gave her an assenting nod before shaking Yongguk’s foot. “Come on, if you eat, you’ll get to watch over your mate again.”

                Yongguk immediately removed the arm covering his eyes to look at his father. “Really? You’ll let me out of here?”

                Minjee glared at Dongwan, but the man pretended he didn’t see it. “You said it like we’re locking you up in here.” She huffed out her irritation.

                “But you are,” Yongguk retorted.

                “You almost fainted on your way in,” Minjee countered while bulging her eyes. “Now get up and eat.”

                “I was just a little bit dizzy,” Yongguk mumbled, finally forcing himself to sit up on the bed at his mother’s strict order. “Who’s guarding Daehyun’s house right now?”

                “There are Sungjoon and Youngjae from noon to evening, Wonjun and Suwoong after that, Himchan and Minsu after midnight,” Dongwan stated.

                Yongguk nodded in acknowledgement. Placing the tray in front of his folded legs, he slowly stuff the one pot meal into his mouth. Each bite would make him grimace as if it was something disgusting.

                After the fifth bite, he could feel his lungs burned. His stomach was suddenly churning, so he dropped the plate back onto the tray and jumped off the bed. He ran as fast as he could to the en-suite bathroom while covering his mouth which was continuously making gagging sounds.

                Both Dongwan and Minjee scrambled after their son. They kneeled by Yongguk’s sides, rubbing his back as he vomited into the toilet bowl.

                Yongguk was panting heavily after he was done. He was drenched in sweat and felt like all of his remaining energy had been out of his body. But of course, he didn’t want his parents to know about it.

                After flushing the toilet, Yongguk weakly pushed himself off the cold floor and tried to stand up. He almost succeeded if his head didn’t start to spin. Dongwan was quick to catch him from behind.

                “Yongguk, are you okay?!” Minjee cried while holding onto his arm.

                Yongguk finally managed to stand on his feet and nodded at her. “It’s alright, mom, dad. I’m fine,” he assured in a hoarse voice before going to wash his mouth at the sink, his father following closely behind.

                “I’ll make something else for you,” Minjee said.

                “No need, mom. It’s not about the food.” Yongguk continued to rinse the bitter taste out of his mouth. A moment later, he closed the tap and stared blankly at it. “It’s just that… It just hurts so much…”

                Both Dongwan and Minjee looked at each other, the concern for their son was clearly etched on their faces. The man was the first one to approach Yongguk, giving him a side hug while rubbing his arm. “It’s going to be okay.”

                “What if it’s not?” Yongguk questioned in a desperate whisper. “He didn’t answer my calls anymore. He never opened the door for me.” Wiping his mouth with a tissue, he turned around to his parents and leaned his back against the counter. “What if he formally rejects me?”

                Minjee drew herself closer to her son before caressing the side of his head. “Don’t say that. He loves you, doesn’t he?”

                Yongguk nodded with a feeble smile. “He loves my human form, but me in a dragon form?” He looked at his mother before shaking his head. “I’m not so sure.”

                There were tears starting to brim Yongguk’s eyes and Minjee tried so hard to hold hers from falling. “If he truly loves you, he will love all of you,” she tried to convince her son while kneading his shoulder.

                Yongguk rubbed his face, trying to prevent the tears from falling. His hand ended up covering his eyes when he failed to do that. “Damn, it hurts a lot!” he groaned through gritted teeth as the tears rolled down his cheeks.

                Minjee couldn’t help herself from breaking out into tears as well. She quickly pulled Yongguk into a hug. “You’ll get through this. Just hold on a little longer and believe in your mate.”

                Daehyun was casually pressing the keys of his upright piano at home, playing a song or two of his favourites. He was starting to miss the mellow and resonant sounds it produces after several days of being on leave from work. Even though his ankle was almost healed, he needed more time to get over the traumatizing assault which happened at the same place.

                It was not like he could stay home all alone either. Jongup had not been attending his classes ever since the day after the thugs’ attack and this was the first time Daehyun didn’t feel annoyed at his overprotective brother. This time, he needed Jongup to be by his side more than ever.

                That younger brother of his was sweeping the floor with the classical Beethoven playing in the background. The rejuvenating music reverberated around their house, but not loud enough to block out the sound of someone knocking the door.

                Daehyun’s fingers stopped playing in instance. “Who can that be?” he asked in an alarmed tone.

                “Who do you think?” Jongup asked back.

                Daehyun started fretting in his seat. “If it’s Yongguk hyung… I’m still not ready to meet him.”

                Jongup noted his brother’s unsettled expression. He shuffled to the door, leaning the broom in his hold against the wall before looking through the peephole. His breath was immediately caught in his throat at the sight of the man standing before the door.

                “It’s… Yoo Youngjae,” he uttered, unbelieving and confused.

                “Could it be that he wants to see you?” Daehyun wondered.

                “No way.” Jongup turned around to his brother, furrowing his brows. “Why would he want to see me? There’s nothing going on between us.”

                “I have nothing to do with him too,” Daehyun retorted.

                The door was knocked for the second time and Jongup already had his hand wrapped around the knob. “Well, since it’s not Yongguk hyung, can I just open the door?”

                Daehyun gave it a thought for a moment. The idea of letting someone who was not totally human into his house chilled him to the bone, but on the other hand, he was also curious to know what brought Youngjae here. “…Sure,” he said after a moment.

                Breathing in deeply, Jongup opened the door at last. “What are you doing here?” he asked the other man frankly.

                Youngjae’s face was etched with relief once he succeeded to make one of the brothers to show his self. “I need to talk to Daehyun.”

                Jongup frowned as he thought about it. Then, he shook his head. “I don’t think he wants to do the same,” he said and started to close the door.

                However, Youngjae stopped him midway. “Please. It’s an extremely important matter. It’s a matter of life and death,” he implored, staring earnestly right into the latter’s eyes.

                Looking at how grave Youngjae was being, Jongup contemplated again. A moment later, he concluded that he would not be at loss for letting the man in. He was sure Youngjae was not going to hurt him or his brother because he knew Youngjae was more than capable to do that without needing to knock on their door.

                Jongup nodded his head towards the inside of his house, silently telling Youngjae to come in. He closed the door after that and led the guest to the living room, where he told the man to have a seat on the couch.

                Youngjae did the exact thing, sitting at the end of the couch before putting down the gift he brought on the floor for now. He noticed Daehyun sitting on the piano stool and as expected, the young alpha’s human mate was not looking so good. It seemed like he had lost a good amount of weight with sunken cheeks and huge bags under his eyes. At least, he was not as bad as the young alpha himself.

                “He wants to see you, hyung,” Jongup voiced as he padded towards his brother before leaning his back against the wall next to the piano.

                Daehyun gulped anxiously. Slowly, he turned his body in his seat so that he was hopefully facing his visitor. “Wh-Why do you want to see me?” he braved himself to ask.

                “I assumed Jongup had told you about us,” Youngjae began.

                “I only told him what I saw.” Jongup folded his arms across his chest and shrugged his shoulders.

                Youngjae arched his brows at him. “And that is…?”

                “That you guys can change into dragons…?” Jongup stated matter-of-factly.

                Youngjae pursed his lips into a flat smile while nodding his head. “Or, you can say it as weredragons.”

                Jongup’s face contorted in confusion, as well as his brother. “Weredragons…? What, you mean like werewolves?”

                “That’s right. We are half human, half dragon. We can change into dragons and breathe fire,” Youngjae explained, brief and fluent.

                Still, both of the Jungs found the revelation baffling. “Are all your family members like that too?” the younger one questioned.

                “They are, but we are not quite a family. Not all of us are blood related. I was actually an outsider and they took me in. Same goes to Sungjoon and Suwoong,” Youngjae began to clarify. “As humans, we are a family, but as weredragons, we are a clan. Uncle Dongwan is the alpha leader, Yongguk hyung is the next one, and you, Daehyun,” he paused, looking right at the said man. “You are Yongguk hyung’s mate.”

                “What are you talking about?” Daehyun frowned, barely grasping the point Youngjae was making. “Alpha? Mate?”

                “Yongguk hyung’s soulmate.” Youngjae repeated in simplification. “Both of you are meant to be together. You are destined to love and be with each other for the rest of your life.”

                Daehyun’s breath caught in his throat. Everything Youngjae said was exactly how he dreamed himself being with Yongguk, but on second thought, anyone would have wished for the same thing with their loved ones.

                “How can you know that?” Jongup voiced out his doubt.

                Youngjae shook his head. “I can’t. But every weredragon will know if they have found their mate. Each of them will feel the instant connection. If Daehyun were a weredragon, he would know Yongguk hyung is his mate the first time they met each other, like how Yongguk hyung did.”

                Jongup raised his brows while jutting out his bottom lip. “No wonder he was being so weird before,” he mumbled to himself.

                “Are you going to reject Yongguk hyung as your mate?” Youngjae asked the unsighted man.

                “I really don’t understand what you’re saying.” Daehyun breathed out audibly, irritation beginning to show in his tone.

                “You can reject your mate if you can’t accept him, but it will be an extremely painful experience. You pushing him away is basically a form rejection. It will hurt not only you, but also your mate,” Youngjae made it clear before adding, “His heart is breaking, just like what’s happening to you right now.”

                Daehyun was left dumbfounded when Youngjae could easily discern his concealed agony. “I’m not pushing him away, I just… I just need more time.”

                “For what?” Youngjae too was seriously getting miffed.

                Daehyun lowered his unseeing gaze at the change in Youngjae’s tone. “Your world is too different from mine. I don’t want to make a decision that I’ll regret later.”

                Youngjae rolled his eyes, biting his lips to hold in anger. “Your world is our world. We live in the same world,” he asserted, throwing his hand up. “Just because we are different from normal human beings, it doesn’t mean we come from a different world.” He shook his head with a scoff. “But if we can keep living in this ‘world of yours’ despite being different, why can’t you do the same to ‘our world’? You, of all people, should know what it feels like to be different, Daehyun.”

                For a split second, Jongup just wanted to snap back at Youngjae because that man was subtly being rude to his brother. But then, he could see himself in Youngjae’s place. It occurred to him that Youngjae was only saying the truth without any intention to offend, just like what he did to his brother during their fight before. The only difference was that Youngjae’s choice of words were not that harsh compared to his.

                “Just give me some time to think about it. I’m not ready.” Daehyun let out an exasperated sigh. Of course he knew what it’s like to be different. He had been different from everyone else for as long as he could remember, at least not in his special school where all of the other students were considered different by normal people for being disabled. Rather than angry, he was more fed up with everyone treating him as an invalid, even both of his father and brother.

                So, he could understand why Youngjae was getting pissed at him. If nothing else, he didn’t have to keep a secret from everyone. But as long as the secret was not out, Yongguk and his family could be as normal as any other humans. He didn’t think it was that bad to be whatever creature they are.

                Youngjae nodded, trying to cool his head off at the same time. “I really hope you won’t reject him,” he spoke after a moment. “There will be consequences if a weredragon is rejected by his mate. Yongguk hyung can even die.”

                Daehyun lifted his head again in a jerk, frowning even deeper than before. “What do you mean?”

                Youngjae fixed himself in his seat as he was about to tell the humans another secret of his kind. “You know, there’s a fire burning in every weredragon’s heart,” he began. “When they found their mates, the fire will become more vibrant. But when they are rejected by their mates, the fire will extinguish. Their hearts will turn cold, harden and blacken until they can’t feel anything anymore. They’ll look like a living corpse. Most of them just rot to death. But even if they are strong enough to bear the pain and move on, they can’t really feel anything anymore. They will solely act according to their minds and only bad things can happen with that.”

                Daehyun’s breathing wavered along his throbbing chest. Just imagining those things happening to Yongguk caused his heart to ache even more. Yongguk is the kindest, most warm-hearted, gentle and loving person he had ever met. He would never want Yongguk to have any of the possible ends. Someone like Yongguk doesn’t deserve it.

                “A weredragon only has one mate,” Youngjae continued. “However, if both of them agree to be rejected by each other, they won’t have to face the consequences. But they can never mate with each other again. They will both suffer if they do that. Knowing Yongguk hyung, I don’t think he’ll ever reject you. So I really hope you’ll reciprocate. His clan has done so much for me.”

                While his brother was having his mind filled with Yongguk, Jongup used the time as a silent observer to focus on Youngjae instead. So far, he could deduce that Youngjae was not actually Yongguk’s cousin and Youngjae’s deceased lover could actually be his mate. Still, he was curious to know how Youngjae joined Yongguk’s clan and what made him feel indebted to them.

                Seeing Daehyun growing tense, Youngjae sighed quietly. “You can take as much time as you want, but you better hurry,” he tried to give the said man a fair warning. “I’m afraid it’ll be too late. The pain he’s having is more than you do since he’s the one being ignored. He had been guarding your house for the past week, no matter how much he was hurting, but today, he almost passed out right after he arrived at the clan’s house.”

                “Yongguk hyung had been guarding my house?” Daehyun asked in complete surprise. "How is he doing right now?"

                “He's fine after taking a rest. He stayed the whole day and night outside the wall of the backyard, on the roof, and even on the tree, but he barely ate anything,” Youngjae gave the details, keeping his thoughtful gaze on the latter. “He loves you that much, you know.”

                Daehyun didn’t say anything in return. Only staring emptily to the floor instead. Even if it felt like he was stabbed right through his heart, he tried to mask the pain as much as he could.

                “Just think about it thoroughly,” Youngjae requested intently. He was about to get up when he caught the sight of the gift he brought at this feet. “Oh, one more thing, Uncle Dongwan told me to give this to you.” He took the small glass vase filled with flowers before going to give it to Daehyun, forgetting that he should have told the blind man what it was.

                Regardless of that, Daehyun could easily guess that it was a flower bouquet after taking a hold of the glass vase that touched his knee. Feeling up to the tip of the flowers, he brought them closer to his face to get a sniff of their floral scent, which varied from one another.

                “What are they?” he asked after failing to identify the flowers on his own.

                “They are a mix of flowers from Uncle Dongwan’s garden,” Youngjae said as he stood in front of Daehyun. “I asked him twice if he really wanted to give it to you since he just kind of mix all the flowers with different colours and sizes without proper arrangement, but then, he said that you wouldn’t care about the looks as long as they smell good.”