*BHMPHKLONK!*

“Rez look what you’ve done!” Violet shrieked as she pointed to the terracotta pot, now in thousands of pieces.

Rez cocked head at her and twisted his body to look behind him. A shard of pottery was under his sneaker, along with some tiny white flowers that had fallen from the branches. He moved his foot and winced as he stepped away from the mess, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Whoops,” Rez mumbled as he glanced at the scattered mess of pottery, dirt, and crushed flowers. “Look, it was an accident okay? And in my defense, he shoved me!” He whipped around to face the young man named Christophe, who was standing a few feet away, arms crossed and brows furrowed.

“I told you to get out of here,” Christophe hissed as he got up in the other man’s face. “She’s not interested in you and your ! Besides, she’s too f-ing smart for you!”

“Stay outta this kid!” Rez snapped at him, curling his fingers into a fist. 

Violet stepped between them and tried to push Rez in the direction of the door. “Guys, don’t even think of starting a fight here! Rez, you’re not allowed to be here – it’s a busy day for all of us and we can’t be responsible for you!”

“Vi seriously, why are you siding with this guy?” Rez demanded as he stared at Christophe. “What’s the big deal anyways – I just happened to be in the neighborhood and –”

“Neighborhood my !” Christophe spat before stepping closer.

“Shhh!” Violet hissed as she strained her ears. “Christophe, you know the boss is going to kill you if she sees you fighting someone in front of our guests today!” Her back stiffened when she heard the voice of their boss nearing them and she craned her neck to look around the corner.

“We’re excited to have you visiting our offices today gentlemen,” the boss said to the group behind her. She stopped abruptly when she spotted the mess on the floor and gestured to the broken shards scattered around. “Pardon the mess – please come this way and step around it.” She bowed her head in apology and flagged down Violet to lead their guests to the conference room.

“Violet here will show you to our board room – I’ll be with you shortly,” the boss told the group. She patted Violet on the shoulder before brushing past to speak with Christophe.

“Ah…good morning guys,” Violet said as she put on a polite smile. “Welcome to our offices! How was your flight here?”

“It was good, but is everything all right?” a young man asked as he pressed his visitor sticker onto his sweater. Suho read the visitor sticker.

Violet nodded as she began shepherding the group toward the conference room. “A little accident but easy to clean up! So, uh can I get you guys anything?” The group however, made little effort to move as they couldn’t help but watch Christophe and the boss curiously, the tallest member cocking his head at Rez with a suspicious look.

“Christophe, we have guests visiting us now – I need you to conduct yourself like a proper young man and keep your conflicts out of the workplace please,” the boss warned him. “Whose plant is that by the way? And who is this man?”

“Sorry to keep everyone waiting! Line at Starbucks was longer than usual!” a female voice called out. She rounded the corner balancing several trays of paper cups with glossy white lids. As she came into view, she creased her brows and looked for her boss. “What’s happening? Something up?”

Christophe jerked his head and stepped forward, using his arms to block Rez from reaching the girl approaching them. Rez craned his neck and tried to move past the other boy, flashing a faint smile.

“Hey Kit Kat, can you tell your brother to stop ing me?” he drawled.

“I’m not her brother,” Christophe said as he glanced over his shoulder.

The girl ignored Rez and she placed a cup in Christophe’s hand before addressing the boss. “Good morning Boss,” she greeted. She pulled out another cup and passed it over to the woman, explaining that it was freshly brewed and the barista used a new syrup bottle.

“Thank you Kit,” the boss replied as she accepted the cup and took a sip. “Thank you for bringing coffee for our guests. Gentlemen, this is Kit – she works on special launches and event themed merchandise. Kit, this is EXO, the special guests I mentioned a few days ago. They’re collaborating with the company on a limited edition collection of products.”

Kit smiled politely at the group as they introduced themselves and bowed in unison. She juggled the trays and asked who wanted coffee versus tea. She counted silently in her head as hands went up and she passed out coffee before moving tea filled ones to the top.

“Here, I’ll help,” Suho offered as he took one of the full carriers. He glanced over his shoulder and the tall boy sporting a visitor sticker bearing the name Chanyeol stepped forward to grab another tray from her.

“Thank you, Sir,” Kit replied as she met Chanyeol’s eyes.

“What? Ah please…Chanyeol,” Chanyeol corrected her as he tilted his head.

“Pardon me for the formalities Chanyeol,” she apologized with a faint smile. “Old habit.”

He pulled a cup from the carrier he accepted and he raised it in her direction. “Thank you for the coffee.”

“Of course,” she replied, “it’s a little something to say welcome. Everyone here’s excited to have you working with us.” She turned and placed the empty carriers on the edge of her desk, holding her hand out to Suho for his empty carrier once he handed out the last cup.

“Yes, I was about to show them around until I saw this mess on the floor. Would you happen to know whose plant that is?” her boss asked.

Kit whirled around and looked down at her boss’s feet. She froze when she saw a familiar design on one of the larger shards of pottery, followed by a single white blossom that had been stepped on. Christophe watched her reaction and lowered his head guiltily.

“Kit, I’m sorry,” he said, “He showed up and almost went through your stuff. I got mad and shoved him, told him to get out and stop messing with your things. He knocked into your desk and well…”

The group had been watching the girl look from the floor, then to Christophe, before looking up at her boss. Chanyeol noticed that while her face seemed neutral, her eyes were stormy.

“That’s why this happened?” the boss asked as she glanced over at Christophe then Rez. “Young man, why are you here? Do you have an appointment with us today?”

"No ma’am – he just came in thinking he could socialize as he pleased – Vi and I tried to tell him to leave but he wouldn’t listen,” Christophe added.

“I just wanted to say hi. I mean look, it was an accident okay? Stuff happens and things break all the time,” Rez offered.

Kit squared her shoulders and turned to address the woman. “I’m sorry for the trouble this caused Boss,” she said. “I’ll clean up the mess right now. Oh and I have that PowerPoint you wanted for the Halloween events – I can send you the file once I’m done here.” She turned to the group and ducked her head as she apologized for disturbing their tour of their offices. “I promise the team effort and coordination is better than this. We’re very fortunate to have your band collaborating with our company for this collection.”

Suho stepped closer and looked her in the eye. “It’s fine Miss,” he said. “You have no reason to apologize – I believe the guy who broke your plant should be saying sorry to you.”

“Yah and he should leave now! I think Noona doesn’t want you here!” another one piped up as he narrowed his eyes. 

Suho scowled and nudged the boy who spoke. “Baekhyun-ah don’t yell – there’s people working!”

“Aish Suho, he’s making Noona uncomfortable! I can tell!” Baekhyun added. He looked to the tall boy and nudged him. “Chanyeol-ah, you agree with me, right?”

Chanyeol nodded as he twisted his lips in a frown and he stared harshly at Rez. He narrowed his eyes at the other guy as he took a sip from his cup.

“Look I’ll buy you a new plant okay?” Rez sighed as he threw his hands up.

“You can’t just buy her a new one!” Christophe snapped. “That one was irreplaceable! A friend gave it to her!”

The other members glanced among themselves and quietly exchanged comments in Korean.

“He’s certainly made himself unwelcome here,” D.O. muttered to Chanyeol.

“Noona’s ex maybe?” Sehun guessed.

Chanyeol shook his head violently at that suggestion before looking at Kit again. He only met this girl a few moments ago but he felt upset that someone so careless destroyed something she clearly cared about.

He followed Rez’s gaze to Kit; the latter seemed flustered about the turn of events and the attention suddenly placed on her. He felt a burning desire to grab this guy by the shoulder and shove him as far away from her as possible. Get away from her, you bastard, he thought as he bit his tongue, trying to force down another sip of coffee.

The boss tapped Kit on her shoulder and softly murmured her apologies about the plant. “I’m sorry to leave so abruptly but I need to keep them on schedule – they only have so much time.”

“No, please continue,” Kit replied. “I’ll focus on work once this is done and Rez will be leaving.”

“Ex?”

Kit shook her head no and muttered, “No, he just doesn’t like hearing that I’m not interested.”

The boss shot her a sympathetic look before shepherding the band into the board room, thanking Violet for her assistance. Chanyeol lingered, and glanced over his shoulder, claiming he needed to tie his shoe. Baekhyun hung back and claimed that he needed to grab a drink of water. Violet pointed in the direction of the water fountains and Baekhyun strode over, passing Chanyeol who was kneeling down to “tie” his sneaker. He kept one eye in Rez’s direction, silently wishing this idiot would leave already.

Violet returned with a broom and dustpan and Kit accepted them from her, dropping her briefcase on her chair. She gestured for everyone to move out of the way and she began sweeping up the mess. Meanwhile, Chanyeol reached out to pick up a white blossom a few feet away. It had not been trampled on and he turned the snow white blossom in his fingers. He had never seen a flower in the shape of a heart before – not one that seemed to grow naturally into this shape.

“Rez just leave,” Kit grumbled as she swept up a pile of dirt and shards into the dustpan. “You don’t work here and you’re not allowed to just hang around my office. And I don’t want a new plant – not from you.”

“I’ll just get you one – what are they anyways?” Rez replied, ignoring her previous statement.

Kit carried the dustpan to the trash can and emptied the contents into it. “Bleeding hearts,” she replied, avoiding his eyes.

Rez blinked and shook his head at her. “Kit Kat, I swear sometimes you’re obsessed with death – only you would like something with a depressing name that emo kids would find cool.”

Chanyeol dug his fingers into his palm and scowled at Rez after hearing that comment. Baekhyun was returning from the water fountain and he raised a brow mid-pause in wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

“Aish this guy’s an ,” Baek murmured in Korean, shaking his head. “Ah we should head in there – Suho hyung will –”

Chanyeol ignored his friend as he grabbed his cup and picked it up, pushing himself to a standing position as he balanced the cup and the blossom in either hand.

Kit straightened up and she gripped the broom tightly in her hand.

“Well it’s my favorite flower,” she stated, looking him dead in the eye. “If you actually paid attention to what came out of my mouth instead of tuning me out, you’d remember that I said I thought roses were cliche. Besides, I already said I don’t want a new one, not from you. Because the one that is in pieces now was from my family friend Emma Lindy. The pot that was planted in? She had that made special, just for me. That was the last time I saw her before she was hospitalized. She’s like a second mother to me Rez, and looking at these made me think of her!”

Christophe pried the broom from Kit’s fingers and murmured that he would finish cleaning up the mess. Kit allowed him to take the dustpan and broom and she stepped out of the way.

“So they may not have the prettiest name, but they’re different from any other flower,” Kit continued, trying to keep her voice steady. “You know why they’re called ‘bleeding hearts’? It’s because the flowers grow and fill up with water until they reach their full size. Once they’re fully grown, they’ll burst or ‘bleed out’ the water and fall off their branches.”

“That’s still really depressing – Kit I swear you need to stop being so –”

“You need to go,” Chanyeol spoke up as he approached Rez. He looked down at the other boy and crossed his arms over his chest. “She asked you to go and you’re being annoying. Besides, all you do is talk over her.”

“Hey man, you don’t know her like –”

“I said go! Get lost!” Chanyeol growled in his deep voice, his face inches away from Rez’s.

Some of the other employees looked up from their work at the sound of Chanyeol’s deep voice and he felt his ears warm up. His eyes remained fixed on Rez and he watched as the young man backed up a few steps, almost colliding into Violet. She gripped Rez by the elbow and nodded at the entrance to the office.

“Rez, let’s go,” she said. “You’ve caused enough trouble for all of us.” Before he protest, Violet threw him her frostiest look and he clammed up, staring back at Chanyeol and Kit.

Chanyeol stepped in front of Kit and glared at Rez as the latter reluctantly stumbled toward the door. Christophe looked at Chanyeol and slowly clapped for him.

“You, are my hero right now,” he murmured with a nod. “That guy thinks ‘no’ means ‘I’m playing hard to get’ and hasn’t stopped bugging her since he laid eyes on her.”

Chanyeol looked modest and he glanced over at Kit, flashing the white blossom at her. A small smile crept across his face and he turned the flower in his fingers.

“I think they’re really pretty,” he said. “Yes, the name is sad but I like the shape and they’re very different. Maybe…like you?”

She looked up at him and returned the smile, a bit of color gently flooding her cheeks. “They’re underrated and I think people should appreciate them more.” She dropped her gaze and rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m sorry you guys had to witness this – I swear he’s just an annoying loser who thinks it’s cute that I’m not swooning over him. Never dated this guy – not once.”

“Ah I believe you Noona,” Baekhyun called out as he joined the pair. “He seems too dumb for you anyways. Besides, you’re not emo or dark – maybe a little romantic at heart?” He smiled cheekily at Kit and winked before Chanyeol rolled his eyes and elbowed him hard.

---

Three days later

“Mr. Park! We weren’t expecting to see you back here so soon!” the receptionist declared. “Are you meeting with the boss today?”

Chanyeol shook his head and lifted the small pot containing pink bleeding heart blossoms hanging from various branches. The pot had a sheer white ribbon tied in a bow around it, thanks to Xiumin’s meticulous tying skills.

“I wanted to deliver this to Kit,” he murmured with a small smile. “Is she in today?”

The receptionist nodded and began dialing Kit’s extension to reach her. She pressed the phone to her ear and waited for the young woman to pick up. “Ah hi Kit,” the receptionist said, “Mr. Chanyeol Park has a delivery for you. Are you available now to come get it or shall I have him come to you? …Sounds good, I’ll send him back then.”

---

“A delivery huh?” Kit murmured as she swiveled in her chair to face him. “What’s up Chanyeol?”

He moved the flowers from behind his back and held out the pot, a shy smile on his face. She blinked, staring at the flowers in shock.

“I’m not trying to replace the ones from your family friend,” Chanyeol explained as he stepped closer to her, “but I really liked learning about them from you. They might be one of my favorites now and looking at them makes me happy.” He placed the pot in her hands and met her eyes with a sweet smile.

“Chan…I mean Chanye–”

“I don’t mind Chan,” Chanyeol replied. “I like it when you call me that.”

She swallowed the lump in and rose from her seat, arms outstretched as she slowly wrapped them around him.

“Thank you,” she whispered.