*Kuya - older brother

“Thank you and have a nice day!”

“Sungjong ah! Have you ordered our coffees yet?”

I saw Sungjong’s smile drop when the customer he had been attending to left the flower shop. I just came out of the backroom and was heading for the display baskets at the front of the shop, a dozen fresh daisies in my hand.

“Kuya,” Sungjong groaned. “The café’s just next door. Why can’t you-“

“Coffee, anyone?”

Just as I put the daisies on its respective basket, a voice from the open front door greeted us. Even before I looked up I already knew who the newcomer was just by his voice and his offer.

Oh, and Sungjong yelling his name was a dead giveaway.

“Dongwoo hyung!” Sungjong squealed, getting up from where he was seated near the back and running to give the newcomer a hug. “Life saver!” I shook my head at the youngest’s antics while arranging the last of the daisies.

“Whoa kid, careful,” Dongwoo chuckled trying to keep the four cups of coffee he held from spilling.

“Hi Dongwoo hyung!” Sungyeol and Myungsoo greeted at the same time; Sungyeol coming from the backroom while Myungsoo was watering the plants on the left side of the shop. The two of them went over to Dongwoo and after short hugs Myungsoo grabbed a cup holder and the two of them took their respective cups of coffee. They thanked the older and then went back to what they were doing.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Sungjong.” I rolled my eyes. I got up and went over to Dongwoo and took a cup from him as well, thanking him in the progress.

“So how much do we owe you hyung?” Sungyeol asked, pushing some buttons on the cash register for its drawer to open.

“Oh no need to pay.” Dongwoo waved his hands. “I was actually planning on trading with you guys, since the café is in need of new flowers.”

“Oh in that case…” Sungyeol’s gaze went to me as if asking for permission. I shrugged.

“What do you need?”

---

Business went by smoothly today. We had a few customers drop by; mostly boyfriends buying flowers for their girlfriends. It was already around past 5 in the afternoon and we were just closing shop.

“Everyone here?” I asked as I locked the front door.

“Just waiting for you and Sungyeol,” Myungsoo said from the back of our car.

“I’m here!” Sungyeol announced, emerging from the back of the shop. “Let’s go.”

We headed for the car and got in, Sungyeol at the passenger side and me at the driver’s seat. Just as we drove off we caught sight of a young man locking up his own tattoo shop just beside our flower shop. I glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Sungjong looking out of his window, seemingly trying to keep his gaze onto the boy we passed by.

When he settled back down I caught his eyes on the rearview mirror. I sighed. This meant trouble.

His eyes were pitch black.

“Good morning gentlemen,” Woohyun greeted as he entered the store with two cup holders in his hand. “Your daily dose of delicious coffee has arrived.”

“I don’t suppose we can pay you with flowers today as well?” I asked, a bit of playful teasing in my voice as I took a cup holder from his hand. I handed Sungyeol his cup before going over to the cash register and take money for the payment.

Woohyun laughed. “No can do this time hyung. I’m sorry,” he apologized. Myungsoo thanked Woohyun while getting the remaining cup holder. “I can give you a 10% discount though.” He grinned.

“It’s fine,” I dismissed. I already know how much the cups of coffee were and so after getting the money I handed it to Woohyun with a smirk. He thanked me and proceeded to look around the shop. I went back to watering the plants while sipping my coffee.

“Say, Sunggyu hyung,” he started, “your flowers and plants always seem so magical. Where do you get them?”

“Hmm?” I hummed. I took a sip from my cup before putting it down on top of the display table beside a pot of fresh santan flowers. “Oh we have a supplier from back where we live, hon. Beautiful, aren’t they?”

“Breathtaking.” Woohyun took a rose from a nearby basket and smelled it. “May I have this?”

“Sure, Woohyunnie.”

“Woohyun hyung!” Sungjong greeted, entering from the back door. Myungsoo handed him his cup of coffee and after that Sungjong immediately latched himself onto Woohyun. Based from experience, that’s never a good sign.

“Yes Jongie?”

“Do you happen to know the owner of the tattoo shop next door?” he asked. Oh boy. I knew it.

Woohyun seemed to be thinking, his brows furrowed together lightly. “Now that you’ve mentioned it, I haven’t had the chance of meeting them since they opened shop a few days ago.”

“Do you want to meet him?” Sungjong asked- well more like offered. I saw his eyes turn emerald green. Woohyun wouldn’t have any other choice.

“Sungjong,” I warned, my own starting to turn red. Woohyun wouldn’t be able to notice my eyes changing colors because he was already under Sungjong’s control.

“It’ll be fine, kuya,” he reassured me, his emerald green eyes twinkling. He then turned back to Woohyun. “So what do you say, hyung?”

“Sure Sungjong!” Woohyun eagerly agreed. Well, he didn’t have a choice- not when Sungjong used those eyes.

“We’ll be back!”

I shook my head, sighing. I watched Sungjong and Woohyun enter the tattoo shop from the tall front window while making swirly motions with my hand. The dying potted orchids in front of me regained life as glowing green dust flew from my hand onto the plant.

I hope Sungjong doesn’t cause trouble this time.

---

The day passed by fast and before I knew it, it was closing time already. After the four of us have settled in the car I drove off, heading to a road lined with trees that grew bigger and bigger the farther away from the city you went.

“So how was your thing with Woohyun and that tattoo guy?” Myungsoo asked, trying to find the most comfortable position at the passenger’s seat.

“It went well,” Sungjong answered, grinning. “His name’s Howon and he’s the same age as Woohyun. He’s quite reserved, which makes him all the more likeable.”

“You like him?” Sungyeol asked incredulously, turning to face Sungjong who was sitting next to him.

“What? No!” Sungjong denied immediately. He then smiled, eyes turning black again. “I want him.”

What he said next, I saw coming.

“I want him to be my toy.”

“Man in his mid twenties found dead by the entrance of the town today at approximately 5 o’clock this morning. Cause of death is still unknown; police teaming up with local medical examiners to see…”

“Wow, good morning to you guys too,” Dongwoo greeted sarcastically as he entered the shop, as usual with cup holders on both his hands.

“Morning hyung!” Sungjong greeted, as if the news did not bother him a bit. “Thank you for the daily coffee delivery.”

“Isn’t that the second one this week?” Sungyeol asked, referring to the news from the radio earlier and taking a cup of coffee from the newcomer.

 “From what I remember, yeah. And at the same place too.” Dongwoo gave out the cups of coffee to the rest of us. Myungsoo handed him the payment and nodded in thanks.

“Well, I gotta go back to the shop. For some reason both the bookstore and the café are busy today.”

“Alright then,” I said, “thank you for the coffee, Dongwoo.” He waved before going out of the flower shop and closing the door.

When he was gone I turned to the other three. Before I said anything, each of them began denying the question my eyes had asked.

“Kuya it wasn’t me!”

“I had nothing to do with that, nor the previous one.”

“I have my eyes on a new toy, kuya, why else would I get another one?”

I released a sigh while placing my cup of coffee on a nearby display table. He was right. “It has to be one of our kind though,” I concluded. “I mean did you see the body?”

The other three boys nodded. “Yeah it definitely was one of us.” Sungyeol agreed. “I can see through the charm they have put on that tree stump to fool the humans.”

“We’d be screwed if the authorities found out what really happened,” Myungsoo thought aloud.

I smirked. “Not really, Myung. They don’t even know where to find our kind. Much less know about it."

---

Business was unusually slow today which meant not a lot of people went inside the shop which meant no one could listen in to what we were talking about.

“Come on, kuya, please?”

“I said no.”Sungjong was practically begging now. What he wanted me to do was dangerous and we promised our leader that we wouldn’t do those things again. “A no is a no, Sungjong. You don’t want us to get in trouble now, do you?”

“But kuya,” he whined. “We won’t get caught. Just like the ones that killed that guy from this morning’s news, we won’t get caught.”

I looked at Sungyeol and Myungsoo, just watching this whole thing unfold before them. They were smirking, as if implying that I was going to lose. I looked back at Sungjong and his eyes were bright emerald again. “You know that doesn’t work on me,” I pointed out. “I taught you that trick.”

Sungjong’s posture slumped as he pouted. “It was worth the try.”

I groaned. “I’ll think about it, okay?” Sungjong visibly brightened after I said that.

“Great! Thanks kuya!” he squealed, clapping his hands and jumping up and down like a five-year-old.

“Hey I said I’ll think about it,” I insisted, emphasizing the ‘think’ part. Sungjong giggled while leaving the shop, a skip in his steps. That kid could really be a child at times. I shook my head. I turned back to the two and saw them still smirking at me, Myungsoo with an eyebrow arched. “Oh off.”

“We knew you’d give in to him,” Myungsoo teased, conjuring up a red rose and smelling it. He then gave it to Sungyeol, who took it with a smile on his face; he then smelled the rose as well.

“Like I said-“

“We all know what that means though,” Sungyeol interrupted me in that same tone Myungsoo was using earlier. “You always did have a soft spot for Jongie.”

I glared at them before shooing them away, ordering them to get back to work. The couple snickered before doing as they were told. I hate it when they’re right.  

---

A few hours later we were heading out of the city, driving along the tree lined road. No one really went down this road because most of the people lived in the city and mainly because of the rumours that surrounded this particular part of the province. People were to scared to venture down this path, because they believed that the place they would end up in was haunted. Also, rumour has it that people brave enough to go down this road and actually enter the forest at the end of it were either found dead or were never seen again.

It was different for us though. We can enter and leave that place unharmed. People from the city actually had no idea that we take this road on a daily basis because when we reach the border between the city and the start of the road Myungsoo casts a cloak around us. We couldn’t be seen.

We were now a few meters away from the entrance of the forest. As per usual, our eyes turned moss green as we approached the clearing. We entered the forest without so much as a scratch when for normal humans they’d be covered with scratches and gashes right now.

Myungsoo took of the cloak that he had casted earlier, his eyes turning pear green from the moss green a few seconds ago. As we drove deeper into the forest we started passing by human skeletons of varying ages. There were those that were centuries old while others only a few weeks. Those skeletons were the ones that tried to enter and explore the forest when they weren’t allowed to.

A few minutes later we arrived at the entrance of Biringan. This was where we lived. It was a whole new realm, hidden from the prying eyes of human beings. It also always looked like it was nighttime in here. It was as if this whole realm was being covered so that sunlight wouldn’t reach us. The trees that surrounded the place were also tall and intimidating. From what I heard in the human world, people have heard of this “city” but they could never find it no matter what they tried to do. That was because we keep our world hidden using magic. Humans weren’t allowed in here unless our kind allowed them to. And if we do they wouldn’t even know that they were here.

And that was what Sungjong wanted to do to that tattoo shop owner- what was his name again? Howon, was it?

As we kept on driving, our appearances started to change. We were going back to what we really look like. I could feel my face changing back: my nose getting pointier as well as my ears; my eyes turning back to their original ice green color and my philtrum disappeared.

We reached our house and got off the car. Our house looked like all the other houses: tall, full of plants and pointed at the top. We entered and then settled at the living room.

“So, kuya,” Sungjong, who was sitting on the couch with his legs crossed, started, propping his chin on both his palms. I paused what I was doing and looked at him. “Have you thought of a way on how to lure Howon here?”

Sungyeol scoffed, sitting beside his younger brother. “He has had an idea ever since you asked him earlier this afternoon.”

“Oh shut up.” I rolled my eyes at the snickering Sungyeol. “But yes, as much as I hate to admit it, I do have an idea.”

I have never seen Sungjong smile that wide.

We had decided last night that we were going to lure Howon to Biringan today. And of course it was I that was supposed to do that for him. Because sadly, as Sungyeol had said, only I was able to that out of the four of us.

Which was why I was standing in front of the tattoo shop directly beside my flower shop, about to knock on the door.

I put one hand behind me, while the other one proceeded to knock three times. As the door opened, a young man emerged and greeted me. "You know," he said, "the sign says open. You didn't have to knock."

"Oh that's okay," I replied, smiling. "I'm actually not here to get a tattoo but to give you a welcoming present of sorts." The hand behind me emerged holding a bouquet of lavender mayflowers. I handed the man the bouquet. "I understand you just opened shop a few days ago and I haven't had the opportunity to welcome you, so here. I'm Sunggyu, and I own the flower shop Ethereal next door. I think you've met my brother Sungjong the other day?"

The man nodded, taking the offered flowers. "Howon." He proceeded to smell the flowers. "These are lovely, thank you."

My eyes turned violet as violet dust started coming off of the flowers and started surrounding Howon. "Well I'm glad you like them. These are mayflowers which means 'welcome'."

His eyes started turning the same color as mine but was glazed. It was working. Soon his face went blank, as if he was in a trance.

Well he was.

"I'll make sure to put them in a vase inside the shop. Thank you." He turned around and went back inside.

I turned around and as I headed back I saw Sungjong standing in front of the shop. He was smiling, knowing that we would be meeting Howon later at the entrance of the forest.

It was raining today. The plants and flowers outside were getting the water that they needed, but they weren't really getting bought because not a lot of people were outside.

The bell by the door rang, signalling the entrance of customers. Sungyeol, Myungsoo and I turned our attention to the newcomer- newcomers, as there were two of them. 

"Dongwoo, Woohyun! What brings you here today?" I greeted, putting the rag I was using to clean the display tables and turning to face them.

"Nothing much," Dongwoo answered, heading over to the cashier to put the cup holders he was holding down. "Business isn't busy today and so the both of us are on a break. we thought we'd get you guys coffee on this cold morning."

"Sungjong's not here?" Woohyun asked, handing out the cups of coffee to Sungyeol and Myungsoo.  

"No," Sungyeol answered. "He was feeling a bit sick today and so he's at home, resting." 

"Aww that's too bad. I hope he gets better soon."

The radio station that was playing a random rainy day song suddenly got disrupted by a news report. "A new body has been found by the border at around 6:30 in the morning today. Police have identified the body as Lee Howon, 26. He recently opened and worked a tattoo shop on main street. They haven't discovered cause of death yet but they are in the process of doing so."

"Wait- Howon that owns the shop next door?" Myungsoo asked, glancing to the mentioned shop to hide the slight grin that was threatening to show on his face. 

"But we just met him a few days ago!" Woohyun exclaimed sadly. "That's sad."

I glanced at Sungyeol, who I found out was looking back at me. He was smirking, and as he sent me a wink with a lime colored eye I knew that the body was his doing. He always did have a knack for plants and illusions. 

I went back to wiping the table, my eyes turning emerald green. I saw Sungjong back at home in his room with his new toy, in front of  his vanity. Sungjong was happily playing with him, treating him like a doll.

Howon was sitting, face blank and eyes glazed. His hair was being combed by Sungjong.  

We weren't really supposed to be doing these kinds of stuff to humans but look at what we've done.

If we were to be really honest though, I have to admit, I wasn't at all guilty at what I did. I was actually quite excited to see if we were going to get caught in the future or not. I was confident on the latter.

Hello to whoever requested the santa I received! I'm sorry if the story doesn't seem to make sense or something, and if the ending really seemed rushed. Anyways, I still hoped you like it! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Merry Christmas!