e p i g r a p h

❝if i had a flower for every time i thought of you,

i could walk in my garden forever.❞

jennie’s a certified pro at designing bouquets and wreaths. she’s been told countless times that she has the perfect eye for colour and combinations of flowers. not to mention, she makes the right collection to hit all the emotions her clients wish to convey. 

whether it’s for friendship, relationship, wedding decorations, condolences, or i’m sorry i cheated purposes, jennie nails it every single time. 

she’s been given plenty of compliments for her handy work, gaining quite a reputable reputation. jennie prefers not to call herself the flower whisperer though--it has an odd sound to it.

although there’s just one slight mishap to her talent, she’s allergic to pollen--not the simple sneezing a couple times and itchy eyes. she goes full-on stuffy nose, watery eyes, scratchy throat, and has a sneezing fest every couple of minutes.

but it’s a small sacrifice for her dreams.

plus, mr. jung of seoul’s floral gifts has just hired her to work for him for the summer. there’s no possible way she’s going to allow one measly allergy hold her back from accomplishing what nobody thought was a proper career for her. (it's also the only way she's going to manage to afford the expensive rent for her apartment--she swears her landlord is trying to get her bankrupt.)

there’s a guy walking around the shop, inspecting something, but jennie’s not sure what. all she knows is that he’s ridiculously attractive.

he fits the total charming boy next door kind of vibe with a face that would make francisco lachowski envious. truthfully, she would have turned into a blubbering mess in his proximity, but jennie kim has a type (the tortured musicians with a penchant for words and dogs) and unfortunately, he doesn’t make the cut. but that doesn’t stop her from giving him side-looks every so often though. after six hours of endless labouring, she can appreciate a little eye-candy.

however, his constant pacing back and forth is getting her a little irked.  doesn't he have somewhere to be? or better yet, a purchase to make?

straightening her name-tag and posture, she decides that she has enough of his mindless exploration/hunt for something. “hi, how can i help you?” she amiably asks with a pleasant expression plastered on her face.

he looks a little baffled from her question, looking up from his adventure of straightening a crooked name tag underneath the cluster of red peonies. his brows knit together in confusion. one hand tugging at the collar of his white shirt, he his head to the side.

“i’m jaehyun?” he annunciates slowly. “does that ring a bell?”

jennie, now the one perplexed, sincerely shakes her head, quietly pondering if he was someone in an esteemed position that she was supposed to know about. all mr. jung had explained to her was that bae joohyun was her supervisor and to report to her if there was any issues in the shop or with her shifts. somehow, she's getting the strange feeling that she might have to do that today.

“no, sorry, i don’t know any jaehyuns,” she replies with an apologetic smile. 

“unbelievable.” he shakes his head in disbelief. “my dad forgot to tell you again?” 

“your dad?” jennie arches an eyebrow, because she’s suddenly wondering if she should take some notches off his attractiveness meter. he’s seeming a little bit like a coward if his father is supposed to approach her first for him. i mean, there was a chance he was her co-worker, the guy her boss was talking about, but it seems unlikely.

“mr. jung. he owns this place, doesn’t he?”  jaehyun shrugs his shoulders. 

“wait, you’re his son? i didn’t know he had children.” jennie reels back, taken-back. it wasn’t as if she did a detailed search on her boss. she knew how popular his floral shop was after some extensive research and decided to apply. she didn’t make it a habit to stalk her bosses and their personal lives though. she kinda just assumed that he was one of the workaholics who didn't have a life outside of work. 

she's dealt with her boss' children before, but that was a completely different story. is she supposed to bow at his feet and tend to his every needs? make him pay for wasting her time with these stupid questions? feign politeness in hopes that he'll leave her alone?

oh god, what if he starts to report to his dad about her work habits--somehow, jennie's managing to detest him already.

“he somehow manages to forget us. i'm your co-worker.” he snorts a bit. “do we look that different?”

jennie squints her eyes and attempts to analyze him more carefully in a non-biased manner. maybe if she looks hard enough, she'll see some sort of resemblance? “um, a little i guess?” 

“really?” 

“the hair’s different, but that could just be an age thing and the shape of your eyes—“ she abruptly halts her words, because woah- he’s coming too close. 

jennie can make out the warm brown colour of his eyes. the little ring of lighter hazel around his pupils. the fresh scent of laundry detergent he’s emitting. she thinks, something’s about to occur that she might end up regretting like head-butting him by accident.

there’s a whiff of lavender that engulfs the air and she assumes that the delivery truck has come in with a fresh batch of flowers. 

and then, jennie feels a stubborn twitch in her nose before she sneezes in his face. to make matters only worse, she ing does it again. 

jennie would have stated it was a defence mechanism against him, but she logically estimates it’s more likely that the medicine wore off. ing six-hours of efficiency was a total lie.

really, up until this point, jennie’s hidden it pretty well through strong doses of medicine prescribed by her ever-so-hesitant doctor who was (fortunately) a firm believer of chasing your dreams. she’s zipped through her training without a sneeze or coughing fit. there was one part where she was extremely close to blowing cover until she excused herself to the bathroom to blow her nose and fake a yawn. 

he appears to be rather mortified, his hands sifting through his pockets for a tissue (most likely).

quickly, she grabs her nasal spray and takes a dosage, hoping her nose will clear up soon. it’s a serious pain when it’s all clogged up and her voice turns into a funny tone. a little too much of a hassle to attempt to hide.

“so let me get this straight you’re the worker he was going on and on about how wonderful she is,” unfortunately for her, jaehyun’s a smart cookie and catches on almost immediately. “yet you’re literally allergic to pollen.”

“no, i’m allergic to dog hair,” she stubbornly insists, itching more towards the back and praying to god that jaehyun will do the delivery acceptance forms. 

“there’s no dogs in here,” he fires back while in the middle of wiping his face from her sneezing fest with a clean hankerchief that has tiny daisies embroidered at the bottom.

“erm, cat hair?” jennie’s a little more unsure about her argument now and it's getting more apparent in her tone.

unfortunately for her, jaehyun's persistent as the river--which in this case is terrible. he's also great at poker faces and keeping a level-head which she's starting to resent/be envious at him for.

“no employee here owns a cat.”

“customer?”

”we have a strict no pets allowed policy enforced and i can see the prescription on your medicine," he smartly retorts, giving her a sharp stare.

well, , that puts an obvious dent in her plans of fooling him.

”please don’t tell your dad,” she rambles on uncharacteristically fast. “i wash my hands for at least thirty seconds after i sneeze. i wear a mask whenever my sneezing starts to activate once more. i take medicine when the sniffles come.”

jaehyun arches a bored-looking brow as if he's saying 'is that all'?

“i can’t afford to get fired.” she adds in a pleading tone, fighting back a glare at him.

“why not? you’re virtually unable to handle flowers which is something a florist does. that’s not even including the part where you omitted an essential detail to your employer," he logically reasons, crossing his arms together.

“look here, i need this job. i’m striving to prove my worth that i can do well. i love being a florist, i love designing bouquets, vases, and arranging flowers. this is my dream.” jennie bites her bottom lip. “my parents also don’t think i’m capable of doing this. they’re waiting for me to fail, so i’ll cave and go to med-school.”

maybe somewhere buried deep underneath his layers of skin and past his edges, jaehyun does have an empathetic bone in his body so after a long period of silence, he grudging agrees. “fine, i’ll give you a month.” 

“two months," jennie bargains, because she's a firm believer of taking chances and pushing her luck.

“a month and a half.” he starts to frown and narrows his eyes at her.

“two months.”

“fine, two months. don't make me regret this.”

“great, i leave by the end of the summer anyways unless your dad decides to keep me.” jennie smiles sweetly.

“you’re manipulative,” he bluntly remarks, not seeming very bothered by her statement. 

“i’m desperate. there’s a clear difference.” 

“baby’s breath is the universal flower tool for anyone struggling to find a combination,” jennie remarks solemnly, passing jaehyun a couple of delicate stems. 

true to his words, jaehyun hasn’t spoken a word about her condition to his father. unfortunately, they’ve also have had to work together for every shift, because other employees are deemed “untrustworthy” with this secret. she thinks, it's just his excuse to keep an eye on her and ensure that she's not jeopardizing the business.

he's not a terrible person at providing company (granted, if he's not saying something strange).

"roses are the cliche for expressing love.” jaehyun shrugs his shoulders.

"don't you dare put them in that bouquet," jennie threatens with a lethal stare. the customer specifically requested something original, not something mainstream. roses are the epitome of what they're not supposed to add.

"i wouldn't dream of it." he snips a couple of wilting leaves off a nearby cluster of red roses, careful to avoid the sharp thorns. jennie had to admit that he was quite skilled at this (which he probably already knows very well). granted, it's probably inherited from his father.

however, if it's one thing jennie has learned about jaehyun, is that he's incredibly confident in whatever he does. charismatic and charming whenever he talks to customers and he always seem to know what's he is doing. a couple of girls regularly come in just to see him work. jennie calls them the 'six o'clock starer squad' but with empty pockets.

jaehyun has this gift--to make it seem as if his whole attention is focused on you while you talk like you're speaking about something unworldly amazing. it's a little alarming, really. 

his phone goes off for the umpteenth time and jaehyun’s been ignoring it when jennie just wishes he would answer so it wouldn’t constantly interrupt her focus.

after three more rings, he peels off the garden gloves off his hands and (thankfully) picks up his iphone. "chaeyeon, stop calling me. i’m working.”

"no, no, no. i'm not picking up nutella for you on my way home. . ." he pinches his nose with his thumb and index finger in impatience. "why not? i'll tell you why. you have two working feet and a perfectly functioning car."

jennie shakes her head in amusement, avoiding gazing in his direction, because he might remember that she's able to hear their entire conversation.  

"goodbye." he abruptly cuts off the person on the phone and ends the call. 

“girlfriend?” jennie inquires curiously while wrapping soft tissue paper around her beautiful combination of flowers (inspired by a couple of tumblr posts). her customer is going to be delighted when she sees this.

“why, are you you jealous?" jaehyun scoffs. 

"as if, you're not really my type." now, it's jennie's turn to scoff. while, she wouldn't deny his attractiveness--but it's still a plain no. relationships between workers aren't the best way to go about things and he's not the right one. a little too forward.

"i'm everyone's type." he shamelessly drawls out.

jennie suppresses a laugh and raises a brow at him. he simply shrugs.

"okay, but in all seriousness, that was my crazy twin sister.” jaehyun puts back on his gloves and resumes working on the stack of orders they have to complete by the end of the day.

“oh no. there’s two of you?”

“yeah, apparently one of me isn’t enough to keep the world satisfied.” he's grinning now at the unimpressed look she's giving him. 

jennie promptly throws a torn-up piece of cream ribbon at him in response.

"how's your job going?" jisoo questions, taking a small sip of her iced coffee. they're situated in a petite cafe that jennie frequently likes to go to whenever she's in the mood for some caffeine. they also make killer scones and butter croissants there.

"it's been fine. great business, i honestly love the variety of flowers. they even have  multi-coloured roses and monkey face orchids." jennie mindlessly stirs her cup of cold milk, watching little bubbles start to appear. 

"any nice co-workers?"

"i've met a couple and they're great. i only work with jaehyun on shifts though." and it's not as if  there's a lot of people to choose from-- mr. jung had an alarming small amount of employees. most of them have been there for at least two years though. 

"oh, is he sweet?" jisoo curious asks, a teasing tone starting to seep out. 

"not sweet, but he's alright. he's not my type." jennie hastily adds before jisoo makes any unnecessary assumptions.

"jennie, literally nobody is your type. i think your ideal man is a fictional person.” jisoo basically releases a low sigh. 

"it’s okay to have high standards.” jennie sits a little straighter, defiantly. it's not as if she can't find someone, but they're just not the right person or at the correct time or place. unbeknown to others, jennie's a romantic--she believes when the time is right, the perfect person, place, and moment of time will come where you'll fall in love. 

even if it hasn't happened in the twenty-one years of her existence, it doesn't mean it isn't ever going to occur.

”it’s alright to have high standards, but impossible-to-achieve ones are not reasonable," jisoo brushes a lock of hair behind her ear and speaks in a motherly tone. "i’m just saying, have a more open-mind. you never know who might be around the corner.”

but it’s not that jennie is trying to have illogically high expectations, she’s just scared. 

“okay, weirdest thing you’ve ever made as a florist?” 

they're sitting on the staircases of the shop after closing hours, because they did the last shift of the day. frankly, jennie could have gone home an hour ago, but she's having too much fun with their conversati