That Monday, Seungcheol called your name as you entered Pledis. Unlike before, you did not reply. You walked slowly, your mind preoccupied with grief. You were completely desensitized to everything around you.

The feel of a hand on your shoulder made you turn groggily to see Seungcheol standing there. You weren’t sure what it was, but even the beautiful hue in his uniform appeared dull and colorless. His eyes no longer intrigued you nor did his grey hair do any justice.

“Are you ok?” Seungcheol asked worriedly.

With no emotion in your face you replied, “I have to clean the Seventeen room. Mr. Kwon called me and told me to do it this morning,”

You turned to walk away and Seungcheol bit his bottom lip out of concern. Was it too much of him to request for you when you weren’t feeling well? He hurried after you to help you open the janitor closet by removing the keys from your hand.

As soon as he got the closet opened, you thanked him and took the loop of keys from him. Seungcheol watched you enter and quickly made his way inside to help you grab some cleaning tools. After all, there was nothing to clean in the club room. Truthfully, he only really wanted to spend time with you, to make sure you were ok.

On your way over to the club room you didn’t speak a single word. You were so soundless that it made Seungcheol anxious. He slowly walked behind you, allowing you to take the lead. He had heard the story from Dokyeom. Last night at dinner, his friends had helped one another put together an understanding for your mood. He learned about Emjae and the minor details of your past. Ever since then, he prepared to cheer you up. He rehearsed it all night. But why was it that now that you were in front of him, he felt completely helpless.

Seungcheol opened the club room and for the first time you didn’t gasp and admire it the way you use to. He watched you enter with the broom in your hand, completely unaffected by the diamonds from the ceiling. Without a single word you began sweeping. Seungcheol closed the door and reached over to touch your arm.

You looked at him, “Yes?”

“Someone hurt you didn’t they…”

“No one hurt me. I’m just not feeling well,”

Seungcheol stared at you. Your eyes appeared empty and tired. It was obvious, you didn’t know that he knew. Silence lingered as Seungcheol searched his mind for the right words to say, “You never told me why you don’t like roses…”

Your eyes broke away from his and he stepped away from you to give you space. He already knew why, so why did he ask? Maybe it was because he cared too much and he wanted too much to hear the true story from you. He observed your eyes daze away at the floor as if you were in another dimension without him.

After a long silence you complained, “They stink, they don’t smell good at all,”

You turned around to continue sweeping leaving Seungcheol hanging on his own feelings. A small sigh escaped his lungs before he pulled a wipe from the container in his arm and walked over to the windows.

Seungcheol watched you silently from the windows while his hand wiped the window frame beside him. When the wipe grew extremely dry in his hand, he slowly pulled another one free to clean the same area he had been cleaning for 30 minutes.

You swept the dust into a dusting pan in silence. After emptying it out into the trash and clipping the pan onto the broom you looked over to Seungcheol.

“How long are you going to clean the frame of that window?” you asked.

“Oh,” Seungcheol pulled his hand away from the window embarrassed. He watched you walk over to him and set your broom against the window. Without breaking eye contact you pulled a wipe from the container in his arm and smiled. Seungcheol couldn’t understand the feeling, but why was it that all it took was a smile from you and he felt like a hero.

“Thank you for cleaning the frame…but these wipes are for windows…” you teased and turned away to wipe the window beside him. Seungcheol quickly pulled the wipe from your hand causing you to look at him.

“I’ll do it, you’ve already cleaned the floor,”

“It’s my job,” you reasoned.

“Then that makes it both of our jobs,” Seungcheol replied and you gave him a look. He added, “Don’t look at me like that, I am the leader of this club for a reason,”

You broke into a small chuckle, “Just give me back the cleaning wipe,”

“No,”

“Come on,”

“Nope,”

“Seungcheol, we’re not getting any cleaning done if you keep doing this,”

“Good, that way I can bother you for a few more days,”

You crossed your arms allowing your weight to pool to one side of your leg, “What am I going to do with you? Should I tell Mr. Kwon that you’re bothering me?”

“You don’t have to go that far,” Seungcheol whined and then afterwards composed himself, “Just let me comfort you, that’s all I want to do,”

Seungcheol watched a sad look gloss over your face as you tu