May 8th, 2018

3:32 PM

Irene: Wendy, could you stop by the flower shop. I just got off my shift and kind of wanted to see

you. : )

Wendy put a hand over to stop her lips from splitting open like the Joker. She squealed quietly. Irene usually wasn’t this forward, well, she never was, even in the month they’ve been texting. It was impossible not to feel curious.

She sprung out of bed and straightened out the oversized grey sweatshirt she was wearing, it wouldn’t look flattering no matter how hard she tried. Wendy groaned and slung on a black baseball cap to try and trick herself into being cool. (Irene probably thought she was a dork though).

Wendy was smiling at her phone until she glanced up to see a familiar sign, ‘ReVel.’ The flowers had started blooming fully, beautiful white petals that held hearts of bold reds that looked like veins showing through porcelain skin. She hummed and wondered if these flowers had the nickname of vampire flowers, if not they should. Maybe Halloween…

“Wendy! You came fast.” Irene interjected, out of uniform now. Round glasses made her eyes look even larger and more sparkly, and a simple leather jacket made her just feel like she was made of confidence and innocence. Wendy glanced down to the other’s hands, that were wringing slightly. The hand motions paused, Wendy assumed she’d been caught. “So… I assumed your rosebuds had died.”

Wendy barked out a laugh, “Hey! Just because the picture updates aren’t that attractive doesn’t mean they aren’t okay!” Her eyesight crinkled with the wide eye smile, she hoped maybe she was doing the same for Wendy. She creaked open one eye and saw Irene smiling back at her, a hand covering the smile but it was there. For it could be seen in the way it tugged slightly upwards to the left and the corners of her eyes stretched out thinly like a note that had been carefully unfolded after being crinkled.

Irene playfully rolled her eyes and hit Wendy’s shoulder-- with more force than Wendy thought was possible of someone that was that short was capable of-- and stifled a response. “I’m the florist here. I don’t think grey leaves are a good sign with anything.”

“Bae Joohyun!” A voice called out from inside the store. Both parts of the pining couple looked over, one with concern and one with annoyance. The complaint came from a woman in a simple blue flannel and long scarlet hair. “You’re making people think this is a love hotel and not a flower shop!” She scoffed and muttered something else in a foreign language, it made Irene turn pink but left Wendy confused.

“So… Bae Joohyun. What did you have to show me?” Wendy teased, reaching out to grab Irene’s hand unconsciously. Somehow the way their hands slipped together into a passive handhold felt right. Neither pulled away as Irene quietly led the latter into the store. Leading her to a rack of white and yellow flowers.

Irene paused and turned to Wendy. “Son Seungwan~”

Wendy turned red and yelped, “Hey! Who told you that?”

It was Irene’s turn to giggle. “It’s the username of all your social media accounts, you’re not too good at hiding it if you’re trying. She turned back to the rack and her hand slipped from Wendy’s. She reached for a plot with two white flowers with long petals fraying outwards from a cylindrical yellow centre. “Here! These aren’t too hard to take care of. They’re jonquils. The upgraded version of daffodils.”

Wendy stared with expecting eyes for an explanation of their purpose and meaning like Irene did with every flower when they texted. But no response came. Simply Irene saying, “I already paid for them. So you can just walk out. And hey! Be sure to send updates of them I don’t want my money being wasted on something that’ll just die.”

Wendy dramatically bowed in return, “Greatest woman of this generation, I promise I won’t let your children die.” With that she gave a little wave and with her flowers tucked into the crook of her elbow she pulled out her phone.

Jonquils: Desire for Affection Returned