Working at a flower shop isn’t the most thrilling of jobs, but Jungeun finds that just fine, especially when it allows her to fill in the time between customers with countless other activities, from reading, to drawing, to daydreaming, to even just scrolling through her phone.

Okay, usually just scrolling through her phone.

It helps that she owns the place. There are perks to being your own boss.

You can’t get in trouble, for one thing. Jungeun probably likes this perk the most.

There’s also a certain novelty to people-watching, watching people stroll by on the busy boardwalk, stopping by the smell the flowers Jungeun meticulously sets outside on display everyday, occasionally deciding to pop into the store and buy a simple something.

She also just likes the location— right by the seashore, just across the road from a seemingly eternal busy beach.

There are many perks to running a flower shop in sunny California— the flowers blossom all year long, for one thing, which means that the business is also pretty good year round. Jungeun’s well aware that she’s the go-to florist when it comes to weddings, and the warm weather plus beachside location means that she’s called to action for a lot of beachside weddings.

It’s a pretty good life.

Not the busiest life, but a good one nonetheless.

Similarly, Tuesdays aren’t the busiest in-store business days, so on Tuesdays, Jungeun tells Jiwoo, her best friend and fellow employee, that she and the handful of other employees can have the whole day off, leaving Jungeun to man the store herself.

And by “man the store,” she means sit behind the register, using the second stool as a footrest, and scroll through her phone virtually all day long.

This Tuesday in particular is nothing special. It’s the first Tuesday of June, and there’s a wedding coming up over the weekend that Jungeun’s catering her flowers to, but she’d finished the displays yesterday with Jiwoo’s help, so there’s nothing left to do but sit around and wait.

Naturally, the telltale sound of the glass door being pushed open, the little bell jingling from its perch, is a bit startling, and Jungeun nearly jumps at the noise, instinctively locking her phone and straightening up in her seat.

Her jaw drops open only a moment later.

There’s a girl standing in the entrance of the shop now, curiously peering around at all the flourishing booms with a thoughtful look on her face, and with her platinum blonde hair cascading down her back in ripples and a prominent jawline yet delicate features, Jungeun would’ve thought she was a model, looking like a goddess even in her casual muscle tee and short shorts.

All it takes is a quick glance at the Korean characters plastered behind the side of the cash register – courtesy of her father when he had worked here – for the unfamiliar girl to brighten and shoot Jungeun a happy smile.

“Hello! This is such a pretty shop you have!” She greets Jungeun in fluent Korean, and Jungeun’s mouth opens and closes wordlessly before she finally manages to muster out a greeting in return.

“H-hi!” Jungeun stutters, forgetting her first language for a hot second, inwardly wincing, already knowing that her mother would’ve smacked the back of her head for her mental lapse. “U-um… Can I help you with anything?”

The blonde girl beams, switching easily to perfect English.

“Would you happen to have forget-me-nots here?”

Jungeun is quick to nod, wiping her hands on the red apron she wears before tilting her head in the direction of further down the right aisle.

“We’ve got some over there. How much would you like?”

“Just a small bouquet, if that’s okay?”

“Sounds like a plan!” There’s a brief pause where Jungeun takes a deep breath, shooting the blonde-haired girl a sheepish smile before mumbling out a small, “Okay um, ‘scuse me,” and darting off.

--

By the time she returns to the shop entrance a few minutes later, Jungeun’s holding a bouquet of forget-me-nots in her hands, the blue blossoms wrapped prettily in her shop’s signature red ribbon. Meanwhile, the blonde girl is leaning up against the counter, presumably texting somebody on her phone judging by the way she scrunches her nose before furiously tapping away on the screen in response.

Upon noticing Jungeun approaching, she immediately pockets her phone, her smile instantly returning as she sees the flowers in Jungeun’s grasp.

“They’re perfect!” She says gratefully, handing Jungeun over a couple of bills. “Thank you, Jungeun, really.”

“Wait, you know my—” The girl smirks, pointedly staring at the name tag pinned to Jungeun’s nametag, and Jungeun snaps shut to end that thought. “Uh, right.Right, the name tag. Forgot about that.”

The other girl giggles, and Jungeun feels her soul ascend to the heavens.

“My name’s Jinsoul, by the way,” she tells Jungeun, and Jungeun blinks. She swears she’s heard that name before. “I work at the new tattoo parlor down the boardwalk.”

“Oh!” Jungeun snaps her fingers, suddenly recalling. “My friend Haseul got a tattoo there last week!”

“Haseul, that’s right!” Jinsoul grins. “She’s dating my boss, Vivi. I was the one who tattooed the white bird behind her ear. Vivi would’ve done it herself, but Haseul was too busy squeezing her hand the entire time so she couldn’t actually do much.”

“That sounds exactly like Haseul,” Jungeun chuckles, shakes her head at the mental image of her terrified older friend getting a tattoo. But then the thought occurs to her— that means that the girl standing before her is a tattoo artist.

Jinsoul must see the surprised look of realization on Jungeun’s face, because she immediately tips her head back and laughs.

“What? Do I not look like a tattoo artist to you?” Jinsoul asks playfully, sticking her tongue out with a spark of amusement in her eyes.

“I-I,” Jungeun stammers, “Um, I-I mean…I just didn’t—”

“Did you expect me to be covered from head to toe in tattoos?” Jinsoul sounds incredibly amused.

Jungeun ducks her head, looking embarrassed.

“Sorta…? Oh god, I-I don’t mean to offend you or anything, I’m sorry for generalizing, you look great with or without them, I—”

Jinsoul’s bright laugh cuts her off again, and suddenly Jungeun finds Jinsoul’s comforting hand resting on her upper arm.

“Don’t worry, Jungeun, I’m not offended!” Jinsoul giggles, and Jungeun swallows anxiously at the close proximity, meets Jinsoul’s vibrant eyes with her own wide ones. “But I will say,” she smirks, and Jungeun wonders if she can melt into the ground. “Just because you can’t see them, doesn’t mean I don’t have any tattoos.”

With that, Jinsoul leaves with a smile that renders Jungeun speechless, desperately searching for wherever the air in her lungs went.

She thinks Jinsoul took it with her.

--

“She was flirting with you!” Jiwoo all but squeals the following day as they’re shelving a new shipment of flower pots. Jungeun winces, covering her ears with her hands at her best friend’s loud noise. Over twenty years spent in a friendship with Jiwoo, and Jungeun’s hearing has never quite been the same since that first day of kindergarten.

“She was describing her occupation to me, Wooming.” Jungeun flicks Jiwoo’s arm as though flicking away a fly. Jiwoo steps away, pouts as she shoves the pot she’d been holding into its proper place, and crosses her arms petulantly.

The blonde florist rolls her eyes, chuckling to herself as she stoops to grab another pot.

“Jungeun,” Jiwoo says sternly, gripping Jungeun by her shoulders and looking her dead in the eye. Jungeun scrunches her nose in annoyance, having fumbled with the pot at the sudden contact. “If you don’t think that line she fed you about having hidden tattoos isn’tflirting, you’re literally hopeless.”

“Okay, first of all,” Jungeun says pointedly, “I’m not hopeless. Second, weren’t you the one who didn’t realize like, four different customers were flirting with you until they outright asked you on dates and I got to say that I’d called it?”

“I believe your exact words were, ‘I ing told you so, Jiwoo!’ for the last guy,” Jiwoo states, though she breaks out into giggles as she remembers the way Jungeun had stood behind the poor dude, making faces as he’d tried to suavely flirt with her. After a few visits to the flower shop, he’d asked her out on a date, to which Jiwoo had easily turned him down with an apologetic smile.

“Good times,” Jungeun smiles dreamily, looking off into the distance, reminiscing. “Ah, his face when you told him you were gay.”

“Alright, that was pretty funny,” Jiwoo relents with a laugh. “I still don’t know how you could tell though. Like, I had no idea until he asked me out.”

“Jiwoo,” Jungeun raises an incredulous eyebrow. “He bought a bouquet of flowers, only to present them back to you.”

“I thought he was just being friendly!”

“Please remind me how I suddenly am the hopeless one.”

--

Three days later, and Jungeun’s more prepared the second time around— or, as prepared as she can be the moment she sees Jinsoul in the corner of her eye, walking by the storefront, stopping to sniff the flowers.

Jinsoul stands back up only to meet Jungeun’s gaze through the large glass window, and that wide grin is back on the older blonde’s face as she makes her way to enter the store.

Immediately, Jungeun sets down her phone, sitting up straighter as Jinsoul easily strides up to the register, waving wagerly as she approaches.

“Jungeun!” Jinsoul greets with a friendly smile.

“Jinsoul,” Jungeun greets in turn, a smile involuntarily spreading across her own lips. Her gaze flitters over Jinsoul’s form briefly, and it only confirms Jungeun’s suspicions that Jinsoul just looks good, always. Today, the older blonde’s hair is tied up into a neat, high ponytail. Almost self-consciously, Jungeun tucks a strand of hair behind her own ear. “Anything I can help you with today? Or are you just looking?”

“Actually, yes, there is something!” Jinsoul twirls the end of her ponytail, tilting her head in a manner that reminds Jungeun of an eager puppy. “So in all complete honesty, I bought those forget-me-nots on a whim because I liked their blue color, but then I got curious and started Googling things. Is it true that there’s a special language to flowers?”

“Yep, sounds about right,” Jungeun nods, tilting her head, easily recalling her lessons as kid. “My mother taught me all about it when I was young. Is there a specific flower and meaning you’re looking for?”

“Truthfully, not in particular,” Jinsoul’s smile turns sheepish. “I just thought it was interesting, and since I’ve got the rest of the day off, I figured it would be more engaging to hear about it from an actual florist than just reading it from some flower blogging website.”

Jungeun mouths a silent ‘O’, nodding her head understandingly. She regards Jinsoul considerately, smile softening.

“Well,” she starts, pushing herself up from her stool, beckoning for Jinsoul to follow. Jungeun leads the other girl over to where she’d retrieved the forget-me-nots the prior day. “For starters, you can probably get a vague sense of what forget-me-nots stand for, but they represent undying love, connections that last through time, and loyalty.”

“Wow,” Jinsoul marvels, stepping forward, staring at the blue blossoms as if she’d decided to do a reevaluation. She reaches out to touch one, only to hesitate and look to Jungeun, who chuckles.

“You can touch it,” the florist smiles, bobbing her head in the affirmative.

Jinsoul nods wordlessly, reaches forward again to run her finger over a petal, looking thoughtful.

“So,” the tattooist speaks after a brief moment of silence, “Do all flowers have meanings?”

Jungeun scrunches her brow, crossing her arms as she tries to think.

“I’m not sure if all flowers have meanings,” she finally says, slowly turning on her heel to look around her shop, taking into account all the flowers present. She smiles to herself. “But, at least, all the ones here in this store have meanings.”

“That’s so cool!” Jinsoul exclaims, a sort of childlike excitement overtaking her expression. She bounces on the balls of her feet, shifting from one foot to the other before catching sight of a cluster of nearby dark purple blossoms. She points to them eagerly.

“So what are these?”

“They’re delphinium,” Jungeun says, stifling a light laugh at Jinsoul’s enthusiasm. “They symbolize big-heartedness and fun. I gave a bouquet of those to my friend Yerim at her high school graduation ceremony a month ago.”

“She must be a cheerful person then,” Jinsoul guesses, looks thrilled at Jungeun’s nod of confirmation before side-stepping and pointing to a pot of white flowers. “Okay, so up next! What’s this?”

--

“She came back just to chat?!” Jiwoo screeches the next day, and Jungeun groans, prays that their rooftop greenhouse’s glass walls don’t shatter in on them because of the noise. “Why is it that Jinsoul stops by every time I’m not there?"

“Okay, that’s purely coincidental, and I’ve got no control over that,” Jungeun raises her dirt-covered hands in defense, arches an eyebrow at Jiwoo, as if challenging Jiwoo to tell her she’s wrong.

“I will meet the elusive Jinsoul one of these days!” Jiwoo results to declaring, tugging off her gardening gloves and slamming them to the ground for dramatic effect. “I have planted the seed, and I will see the harvest!”

“Get the hell off stan Twitter, you useless gay,” Jungeun deadpans.

“ Excuse me, Kim Jungeun," Jiwoo cross her arms. "I don’t think you get to call me a useless gay.”

--

She’s sitting in the middle of one of the shop’s aisles, a large glass vase in front of her, halfway filled with flowers, when Jinsoul comes to visit the subsequent day.

“Jungeun?” Jinsoul’s voice rings loud and clear throughout the otherwise empty store.

“I’m in the rightmost aisle!” Jungeun calls, midway between slotting daisies between the carnations she’d already added.

Jinsoul’s head pops into the aisle, and noticeably brightening upon seeing Jungeun seated cross-legged on the ground. She covers the distance between them in a few strides, squatting down to curiously look at the arrangement of flowers Jungeun’s fiddling with.

“Wow, what’s this for?”

“It’s a display arrangement for a baby shower one of my customer's attending,” Jungeun explains, sticking her tongue out in focus, trying to decide whether she’s added enough daisies.

“If I’m bothering you, I can go,” Jinsoul offers.

“No!” Jungeun nearly yelps, looking up from the in-progress arrangement with wide eyes that meet Jinsoul’s surprised ones. However, the older girl’s expression quickly morphs from surprised to amused, and Jungeun blushes, looking away.

“I mean, your company’s always nice,” she mumbles. “There’s no need for you to leave if you don’t want to.”

Suddenly, Jinsoul’s kneeling right next to Jungeun, an unreadable expression on her face that easily fades into a genuine smile.

“Then I’ll stay,” Jinsoul says gently, and Jungeun feels her heart threaten to pound its way out of her chest, so she swallows thickly and nods, biting back a large smile of her own as she decides, yeah, maybe a few more daisies wouldn’t hurt.

--

“Awww, this is adorable!” Jinsoul gushes, admiring the framed pictures on the store wall of a little Jungeun standing outside the storefront, the child’s arms filled with gorgeous blossoms practically spilling from her grasp. “I didn’t see these pictures the other times I was here. So that means you grew up in the area?”

“Unfortunately,” Jungeun says jokingly, placing the pot of daisies back onto its shelf. She moves to take a few stalks from the cluster of daffodils. “The business is my family’s, actually. I inherited it from my mom, who inherited it from her dad, and you get the point. My parents eventually did the same as the rest of my family has done and moved to LA to be closer to our grandparents, while I stayed and took over the shop.”

“Ah, I see… This place is rated five stars on Yelp, y’know,” the older blonde comments, throwing a smile over her shoulder as Jungeun retrieves a pair of purple hydrangeas to place into the display.

“Of course!” Jungeun can’t help the pride that slips into her tone, and she puffs up her chest proudly before dropping to the ground to work her project. “Nothing but quality flowers come out of this store, even generations down the line.”

“I can see that!” Jinsoul steps away from the pictures, turning on her heel to look at Jungeun instead, curiosity glimmering in her bright eyes. “So what was little Jungeun like, growing up by the oceanside?”

“Ah,” Jungeun takes a moment to consider, a light laugh leaving her lips as she recalls her high school years. “My friends and I got into a lot of shenanigans, really.”

“Oh?”

“A bit hard to believe, I know, considering how I never leave the shop these days,” Jungeun adds, seeing Jinsoul’s surprised expression.

“What type of shenanigans are we talking about?” Jinsoul questions, appearing genuinely interested.

“We were known as the local punks, Jinsoul,” Jungeun chuckles, settling backwards on her hands as Jinsoul joins her to sit cross-legged on the floor with wide, surprised eyes. “Well, Jiwoo not so much, but our friends Heejin and Hyunjin dragged the rest of us into a helluva lot of things we never expected to do back when we first started high school.”

Jinsoul laughs, the sound ringing through the otherwise empty shop, and Jungeun finds herself grinning involuntarily at the noise.

“What did you guys even do?” Jinsoul asks through giggles of disbelief.

“Pulled a bunch of pranks, stole a few shopping carts, snuck into the abandoned buildings near the old pier a few times, among other things,” Jungeun shrugs, a wry smile curling at the corners of her lips. “Mostly graffiti though. Got caught for that once, actually. That single night in jail was a bit rough, not gonna lie.”

“Are you telling me that the local florist has jail time?” Jinsoul's eyes sparkle with mirth as she tosses her head back, shoulders shaking with repressed laughter.

Jungeun whines through her teeth, an attempt – and failure – to stifle her own wide, wide smile. She reaches around the in-progress display on the floor, shoving Jinsoul playfully. The older girl grins, allows herself to topple onto her side, dragging Jungeun with her, blonde hair spilling around her like a halo.

Jungeun inhales sharply, stopping her fall with a propped up elbow as Jinsoul looks up at her, something mischievous there. Jungeun certainly hadn't expected that.

The younger blonde gulps as Jinsoul unabashedly rakes her eyes up and down Jungeun's form.

“So,” Jinsoul drawls, a lazy smile playing on her lips. She pushes herself up by the palms of her hands, drawing so close to Jungeun's face that the younger girl immediately pulls backwards, startled. Jinsoul grins. “What's this about jail time?”

“Well, like I said earlier,” Jungeun chuckles lightly, finally regaining her bearings as she rolls back onto her feet to kneel on her knees. She extends a hand that Jinsoul takes, pulling the older girl back up to sit. “It was just for one night, since we got caught spray painting the back of some old warehouse. It didn't get put on record or anything though— Chief Jo's an old friend of ours, since we're close friends with his daughters, Haseul and Yeojin, so he let us out with a warning the next morning.”

“Are you reformed now?” Jinsoul jokes.

Jungeun lets a playful shrug roll off her shoulders.

“The jury’s still out.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Mmhm.” In an uncharacteristic act of boldness, Jungeun smirks, cocking her head as she eyes the older girl coyly. “Why? Gonna do something about it?”

Jinsoul merely grins again, sticks her tongue out languidly through her teeth.

“I guess I’ll just have to keep a close eye on you, Kim Jungeun.”

--

Jiwoo’s shockingly calm – relatively – when Jinsoul finally meets her, and Jungeun is mentally wiping the sweat from her brow in relief when she exits the back room, having just finished taking inventory, only to find Jiwoo and Jinsoul sharing a laugh in the front.

It’s Jinsoul who notices Jungeun approaching from the back first, but Jiwoo must realize who’s suddenly captured Jinsoul’s attention, so the brunette is quick to quip a, “And that’show Jungie made a complete fool of herself in front of the entire school during that one talent show!”

“Ha ha,” Jungeun rolls her eyes, elbows Jiwoo in the ribs lightly – Jiwoo lets out a loud ooffor dramatics – and pleading looks in Jinsoul’s direction. “Don’t listen to a word this girl says, I didn’t even come within a fifty foot radius to those end-of-the-year talent shows.”

“Aw, what a shame,” Jinsoul clicks her tongue in faux disappointment, laughter dancing in her eyes. “Jiwoo was telling me all about how you love playing love songs on the piano.”

Jungeun scowls deeply, because that’s not actually entirely wrong, and Jiwoo and Jinsoul burst out into light laughter again. In truth, the sight’s probably one of the most endearing Jungeun’s laid witness to— her best friend and new friend getting along so well. Still—

“I think I’ll need to ask Jinsoul to leave,” Jungeun bemoans. “I don’t think I can handle the two of you in one room at the same time.”

“Hey, there’s no shame in enjoying love songs!” Jinsoul grins. She reaches out, places a hand on Jungeun’s shoulder and steps closer. “I used to play things like ‘A Thousand Miles’ and ‘Paper Hearts’ on the piano all the time.”

Oh?

That catches Jungeun’s attention, and her gaze flickers up to Jinsoul, surprised.

“You play piano?” She asks inquisitively.

Jinsoul nods, shrugging with the casual raise of her shoulder as she leans against the register counter, propping herself up on an arm.

“I mean, I’m usually at the tattoo parlor, which means less time to play these days, but yeah! I started lessons all the way back when I was eight.”

“Whoa, that’s a while,” Jiwoo marvels. “So you were into music?”

“Yep. My mom was a piano teacher. I suppose she passed that love onto me.”

“So why’d you decide to become a tattoo artist?” Jungeun asks curiously.

“Ah,” Jinsoul grins. “I just wanted to.”

Jungeun blinks, confused.

“Wait, what?”

“I got my first tattoo a few years ago, and I thought, huh, that looks fun!” Jinsoul hums slightly, as though reminiscent. “I liked drawing and I thought I’d be able to do it well, so I tried it out and performed pretty decently. I kept practicing, and here I am,” she tilts her head up, proud of herself, “A full-fledged, one hundred percent professional tattoo artist.”

Jiwoo has to leave shortly after, much to Jinsoul’s displeasure and Jungeun’s inherent relief. She throws her arms around Jinsoul’s shoulders in some dramatic goodbye embrace, bumps her shoulder against Jungeun’s with a suspiciously loud wink.

(Jungeun never thought she’d be describing a wink as loud, but that’s exactly what it is. Jiwoo somehow makes it work.)

“Seeya later, loser!” Jiwoo shouts into Jungeun’s ear right before she dashes out of the shop, leaving Jungeun’s ears ringing and the single thought of okay, never mind, that was loud, circulating through her spinning head.

“Jiwoo and her extra …” Jungeun mutters under her breath, not even caring if Jinsoul hears her.

It’s not until the moment they’re finally alone, though, that Jinsoul turns to Jungeun, muffled giggles hidden behind a hand, and Jungeun sighs, ready to apologize for her best friend’s boisterous behavior when she’s abruptly cut off.

“Jiwoo’s a total sunflower, isn’t she?” Jinsoul comments. She laughs to herself at the notion, and Jungeun feels something warm swell in her chest at the idea that Jinsoul actually remembers Jungeun’s winding rambles about flower meanings. “Am I doing this flower-language-thing right?”

Jungeun laughs, nods her head, gazes at Jinsoul fondly.

“I think you’re doing it perfectly, Jinsoul.”

--

It’s a few days until she sees Jinsoul again, but still, Jungeun ends up leaping from her seat, her phone dropping onto the countertop with a clatter as sees the tattoo artist approaching from down the boardwalk a whole two days later. She genuinely thinks something’s wrong when Jinsoul barges into the shop, bursting through the doors with the most serious, sternest look on her face.

“Jungeun!”

“What’s wrong?” She backtracks. “I-is there something wrong? Are you alright?” The words flow from Jungeun’s lips instinctively, and she reaches out to grip Jinsoul’s forearms without thinking.

Jinsoul looks like she’s panting heavily. The older blonde takes a deep breath.

“Come eat lunch with me.”

Jungeun gapes.

“What?”

“You. Me. Lunch break. Now.” Jinsoul breaks it down easily.

Jungeun’s mouth opens and closes like a fish for a moment, before laughter bubbles up and suddenly she’s clutching her stomach, bent over from laughing so hard.

“Wait,” Jungeun wheezes out between more bouts of laughter. She ends up just sitting on the floor, legs splayed out in front of her, holding up a hand and begging for Jinsoul to hold up. “Wait just a ing second, I can’t breathe — ”

“Stop laughing!” Jinsoul complains, but her words have no strength behind, especially with how easily she joins Jungeun on the floor, an ever-growing grin on her face as she wraps her arms Jungeun’s shoulders, buries her head into crook of the younger girl’s neck as she whines. “Jungeun, stop!”

“You’re so dramatic!” Jungeun gasps as Jinsoul pulls away, a pout on her lips.

“You’re so mean!” Jinsoul’s pout deepens, but it all but dissipates into thin air when Jungeun absently grabs her hand, pressing their palms together and comparing Jinsoul’s hand size against her own.

“Your hands are large,” Jungeun mumbles.

“Yours are just small,” Jinsoul insists.

They lapse into a momentary silence, Jungeun casually playing with Jinsoul’s fingers, Jinsoul occasionally intertwining and relaxing her hold, and it’s strange, because usually, under any other circumstance, Jungeun’s positive that she’d be having a mental breakdown. A pretty girl? Sitting in her flower shop? Holding her hand? Jungeun’s not entirely sure she’s in the right reality.

“Give me a second,” Jungeun suddenly says, pushing herself up from the ground. She takes a step away from Jinsoul, only to pause for a moment, turning on her heel to see the hint of worry that flashes through Jinsoul’s eyes. Jungeun’s quick to placate her. “Just stay here! I’ll be right back.”

Jinsoul nods, the worry fading into actual interest, and she rests her palms against the floor as Jungeun scrambles away, into the store aisles.

When the florist returns, she finds Jinsoul still seated, quite literally not having moved from her position. Jungeun smiles to herself, kneels back on the ground, gingerly handing Jinsoul over a single, solid pink flower.

“A carnation?” Jinsoul voices aloud, a hint of wonder underlying her tone. Jungeun watches Jinsoul think for a moment, knowing that the older girl is wracking through her brain, trying to figure out if she knew the meaning already. Finally, Jinsoul gives up, shaking her head with a small smile and looking Jungeun’s way. “We never got around to carnations. What does this one mean?”

“Um,” Jungeun feels a hint of pink dust her cheeks as her face heats up ever-so-slightly. She hopes she doesn’t resemble the flower in Jinsoul’s hands too closely. “Carnations have a lot of meanings, and they’re different depending on their color, but carnations that are a solid color have a meaning of affirmation. So, um, yes.”

“Yes?” Jinsoul tilts her head, runs her thumb over one of the pink petals. “Yes to what?”

“Yes, I will go get lunch with you, Jung Jinsoul,” Jungeun says with a soft laugh.

“Oh!” Understanding dawns on Jinsoul’s face, followed by an expression of excitement.“Oh! That’s great,” she breathes. “Okay, let’s go then!”

--

The pink carnation remains firmly tucked into Jinsoul’s hair, even as they walk back to the flower shop.

Their hour-long lunch break passed by way too fast, and one half of Jungeun’s brain found herself wishing she could have more time by the time she and Jinsoul were exiting the boba tea shop, sipping contentedly at their respective drinks.

The other half reminds Jungeun that she’d left the shop under the watchful, yet somewhat airheaded eyes of Jiwoo and Chaewon, both of whom Jungeun loves dearly, but still— you can never really be too careful.

“How’s your order?” Jinsoul asks, her bare arms brushing against Jungeun’s as they walk close together. “What did you get?”

“Chocolate milk tea,” Jungeun says while chewing down onto a pearl with satisfied hum. “Lots of bubbles, and I’m loving it. You?”

“Jeju green tea smoothie with extra pearls,” Jinsoul recites before taking a peek at Jungeun’s cup. “Can I try a sip of yours?”

“Sure thing. Swap?”

They exchange cups, Jungeun taking a quick sip, letting the refreshing, cool taste of the green tea wash over her taste buds, trying not to conjure her inner schoolgirl and think about the fact that Jinsoul’s mouth had been on the straw.

(It’s ridiculous because it’s not like Jinsoul’s the first person she’s ever shared a straw with, she’s shared her boba tea with Jiwoo, Heejin, Chaewon, and the rest of her friends on countless occasions. It’s just that this is Jinsoul, and Jinsoul’s somehow managed to take her breath away since day one.)

Meanwhile, Jinsoul takes a sip of Jungeun’s drink and immediately nearly chokes on a laugh.

“Is this your go-to?” Jinsoul asks in disbelief.

“Why yes, yes it is,” Jungeun smirks. She’s long gotten used to this response from others, and it’s still amusing every single time.

“Leave it to the florist to have the most diabetes-inducing order!” Jinsoul tsk ing in playful disapproval as she hands Jungeun back her cup and looking all too happy to retrieve her green tea back.

“Hey, you said it yourself! I’m a florist,” Jungeun says defensively, “I was basically raised on the sickeningly sweet. Favorite drink, favorite music, favorite flower, the list goes on and on. I just make up for all the sweetness with biting sarcasm and the occasional self-deprecation.”

“You’re not wrong,” Jinsoul relents, before she pauses. “So… what is your favorite flower, by the way? You know mine, but I don’t think you ever actually told me yours.”

“Oh,” Jungeun stops in place, chew on her bottom lip, pondering. She stares at her boba tea, at the perspiration that’s collected on the plastic thanks to the sweltering summer heat, wonders what would happen if she could melt away as easily as the cool drink in her grasp. Oh well, she’s already come this far.

“Um, this’ll sound really cliché,” she prefaces in embarrassment, but Jinsoul only smiles encouragingly, nods for her to continue. “But my favorite flowers are roses. The red kind.”

--

There’s a surprisingly lack of teasing from Jinsoul after her little confession, and even Jungeun laughs when the only thing Jinsoul says to that is a cheeky, “I always knew you were a closeted romantic.”

“Most people get surprised,” Jungeun says shyly, ducking her head as her lips close around the straw for a second before speaking again. “I’m a florist, so they think my favorite flower would be a bit less… mainstream.”

“That’s bull!” Jinsoul exclaims, and Jungeun cracks a smile at her outburst. “No, really! Like, things become mainstream for a reason, and that’s because lots of people have reasons to like them. Roses are beautiful, and their meaning is basically universal. There’s no shame in liking what everyone else likes. Sometimes, it’s perfectly fine to go with the flow.”

“Oh man,” Jungeun laughs, covering her reddening face with her free hand, peeking out between her fingers, biting her bottom lip. “Thank you though, Jinsoul. That’s really nice to hear.”

“Of course,” Jinsoul nods resolutely. Then she hesitates, as if debating on her next words. “I suppose it’s only fair that I confess something as well.”

“Hm?” The younger blonde furrows her brow. What could Jinsoul possibly confess?

“I told you that I’d bought those forget-me-nots on a whim,” Jinsoul says, chuckling under her breath. “Which isn’t untrue, but the full truth is that I walked into your store because I walked past the shop the first time and saw you just sitting behind the register with your nose buried in your phone. Then, when I walked past on the way back, you were still staring at it, looking so bored, and I—” Jinsoul sheepishly rubs at the back of her head. “I figured there were better things a pretty girl like you could be doing— well, besides ruining your eyesight, of course.”

Jungeun stares wordlessly at the older girl, taking a good minute to process everything Jinsoul had said.

Then a smile breaks out across her face.

“So you decided that who better than yourself to be a distraction for me?” Jungeun guesses, grin growing by the second.

“Something like that,” Jinsoul mumbles, only to squeak Jungeun pulling her in for a brief hug, drawing away way too soon.

“Thank you, Jinsoul,” she tells Jinsoul earnestly, and feels herself glow with happiness at the way Jinsoul’s face suddenly gets red. Jungeun’s always loved roses for their deep red color, and she thinks that even though Jinsoul looks amazing in blue, she dons red quite well too.

--

Their first lunch together is only the beginning of a new daily routine.

From then on, Jungeun finds herself getting lunch with Jinsoul nearly daily, eating across Jinsoul at whatever restaurant on the boardwalk they feel like stopping at. Jungeun finds out that Jinsoul’s still new to the area, having moved into town a month ago, so Jungeun’s more than willing to bring Jinsoul around, showing the older girl all of her favorite spots to eat.

It always ends with boba tea though, and more often than not, they end up trying new flavors (for better, and for worse), switching at some point on their walk back to the flower shop.

Jungeun’s close friends and coworkers way too much for it, Jiwoo especially.

“They’re totally dating, aren’t they, Chae?” Jiwoo gasps one day, shaking the small girl by her shoulders excitedly— too excitedly actually, Jungeun thinks, more than a little bit worried that Jiwoo’s gonna shake the poor girl’s head off. “Did you see the way Jinsoul winked at Jungie after she dropped her off from their lunch date?”

“They do look pretty close,” Chaewon admits, shooting a smirk at their boss, who sits behind the workbench on the other side of the store.

Jungeun rolls her eyes, continues tying the buttercups in her hand into nice little bouquets.

“They’re not lunch dates,” she insists, fixing the yellow bow before moving onto the next bundle. “We’re just two friends going to lunch together.”

“You guys eat together every day,” Jiwoo states.

“So? I ate lunch with you guys every day for over twelve years.”

“That’s because the three of us grew up in the same school system and basically were obligated to sit with each other every day,” Jiwoo points out. “Plus, we had no other friends.”

“She has a point,” Chaewon says helpfully.

“Whatever,” Jungeun scrunches her nose. “Besides, I don’t even think she likes me that way.”

“Hah! So you admit that you like Jinsoul!” Jiwoo exclaims, pointing accusingly at her best friend, who immediately freezes.

Chaewon snickers behind the pot of white camellias she holds. Jiwoo just smirks triumphantly.

“I-I never said that!” Jungeun stammers.

“You’re bundling buttercups, aren’t you?” Chaewon observes innocently, though a wry smile manages to creep onto her features. “Don’t those symbolize childishness?”

Jungeun gapes, gaze immediately snapping down to the remaining pile of buttercups, still yet to be bundled. Then she tips her head back and groans.

Of course she’s being betrayed by her own flowers.

“Jiwoo!” She snaps, whipping off her gloves. “You’re finishing the rest of these!”

Jiwoo laughs loudly, the sound ringing the store, even as Jungeun bumps her hip against Jiwoo’s, swats at Chaewon’s snickering figure before plopping down at the register.

She picks up her phone, unlocks it and is about to navigate to Twitter before hesitating.

A moment later, she sets it down again, locking it before pulling out the sketchbook beneath the register. She digs out a pencil, and starts drawing.

--

It’s a pretty normal Saturday, the first of July, when Jungeun’s doing the flower catering for yet another beachside wedding. This summer alone, since the start of June, this is already Jungeun’s third.

The theme colors of the wedding this time are purple and white, which means that Jungeun’s been spending a lot of time around heather, lavender, delphinium, and tuberose over the past few days— not that she particularly minds.

She, Jiwoo, and Chaewon are all present to help with the set up, along with Johnny and Mark, two other workers at the flower shop, who take more of the late shifts with Jungeun.

Everything’s going relatively smoothly, and Jungeun’s watching Johnny and Mark hang up a string of flowers around the white tent when a flash of blonde catches Jungeun’s eye, and instinctively, she turns around to chase the color with her eyes.

Jinsoul’s there in a beautiful white dress, a similar white shawl wrapped around her shoulders. She stands not too far away, chatting with who Jungeun recognizes as the bride’s mother, and she’s about to make an effort to walk over to Jinsoul when Jungeun suddenly realizes that Jinsoul’s not actually alone.

There’s a beautiful brunette that casually sidles up to Jinsoul, tapping the blonde’s shoulder to get her attention, and Jungeun feels her world still when she sees the grin that lights up Jinsoul’s face at the brunette’s appearance.

Jinsoul and the brunette shift, and Jungeun gasps because the brunette’s lavender dress isbackless, leaving the gorgeous tattoo she dons for all the world to marvel.

She has wings – of course she does – painted gorgeously on her back, and Jungeun can’t begrudgingly help but think that it’s fitting— with her long, straight black hair, slender figure, and charming smile, Jinsoul’s friend – more than friend? The thought makes Jungeun’s chest hurt, and she can’t pinpoint just why – looks nothing short of an angel.

Of course she does.

“Sooyoung! Oh my, you’re gorgeous as always! And I can see you added more to the sleeve!” The mother of the bride gushes adoringly, and that’s when Jungeun finally notices the additional tattoo on the brunette’s – Sooyoung’s, apparently – arm.

It’s an entire music score. She’s too far away for Jungeun to be able to tell what piece, but the face still stands— Sooyoung has a music score tattooed on her arm.

She thinks back to how Jinsoul loves the piano.

“I did!” Sooyoung laughs jovially, Jungeun can hear it clearly. “I added the wings just a few weeks ago. I’m glad it looks fully healed now! Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Oh, it is!”

“I was the one who tattooed it!” Jinsoul chimes in, grinning as she nudges Sooyoung, and Jungeun in a breath. “I did a pretty great job, don’t you think, Soo? We spent so long designing it— like, entire nights trying to figure out how to make it work!”

Sooyoung brushes a hand down Jinsoul arm with a chuckle, says something quietly to the blonde that makes Jinsoul laugh, and there’s a sinking feeling in Jungeun’s gut.

She turns away, unable to listen in any longer, doesn’t want to see Jinsoul standing there with someone else.

It hurts.

“Mark, can you raise that end higher?” Jungeun calls towards Johnny and Mark, but her voice breaks by the last word.

The two boys share a concerned look.

“Jungeun, you alright?” Mark asks, worried. His gaze flickers over to Johnny, silently asking what to do.

Johnny only shakes his head, motioning for Mark to tie the flower strand higher. The younger boy nods, raising his hand, but his anxious expression persists.

“I’m fine,” Jungeun tries to say reassuringly, attempts a smile, but even she feels it slipping. “Don’t worry about me, I’m okay.”

--

Of course, she can’t escape Jinsoul entirely, and Jungeun curses her own blonde hair with how easily Jinsoul picks her out from the other staff members setting up, eagerly jogs up to Jungeun to say hello.

Jungeun just can’t find it in herself to return Jinsoul’s energy, so she musters up a feeble smile.

“Hi, Jinsoul.”

“Jungeun…” Jinsoul frowns, steps close and puts her hand on Jungeun’s forehead, much to Jungeun’s chagrin. Her pounding heart can’t take much more, Jungeun knows this. “Are you feeling okay? You look unwell.”

“Yes, I’m fine, really.” That’s the first lie. “I’m just tired.” A second. “I was up until late last night finishing the arrangement, so I’m just lacking sleep.” Well, third time’s the charm.

“You shouldn’t have come then,” Jinsoul’s frown deepens. “I’m sure Jiwoo and Chaewon would’ve been able to handle everything without you just once. You need to rest.”

Jungeun shrugs weakly.

“You know me, Jinsoul. I just had to be here. But… I think I might go take your advice this time. I’m not feeling that great…” She flashes Jinsoul a final smile. “I hope you enjoy the wedding, I know how much effort was put into organizing all of this. I’ll… I’ll see you around.”

--

That Monday, Jungeun’s sitting in the back room when she hears Jiwoo’s soft voice quietly tell Jinsoul, “Jungeun’s sick, Jinsoul. I’m sorry, she’s not in today.”

It had also been in the back room that Jiwoo had found her, hugging her knees up to her chest, when her best friend had returned to the store that Saturday afternoon, after Jungeun had left the wedding set-up early.

“Jungie…” Jiwoo had murmured, immediately wrapping her friend into a tight embrace.

“I think there’s somebody already, Wooming,” Jungeun had managed to mumble out through sniffs. “So please, when Jinsoul visits this week, tell her I’m not in. Just… just say I’m sick or something. Just, please.”

“Okay,” Jiwoo had murmured, pressing her lips to the crown of Jungeun’s hair comfortingly. “Okay, I will. I’ll do my best, Jungie.”

Now, Jungeun covers her ears with her hands such to not hear Jinsoul’s disappointed sigh, to not hear the footsteps retreating from the shop, to not hear the way the glass door is pulled open once more, for Jinsoul to hesitate in the doorway, only to ultimately close it, leaving without another word.

Jungeun tries not to picture Jinsoul’s dejected expression, because that hurts too. She’d never imagined that she could ever be the reason for that saddened look.

This too, is a routine that starts to become the daily norm— it’s just that this new routine is somehow much more draining than the previous one. There’s no lunch or walking in the sun, no boba tea and trying new flavors, no laughing over funny facial expression, no more childhood stories or little secrets.

There’s no more Jinsoul, and no Jinsoul means that there’s no more air in Jungeun’s lungs, because Jinsoul had managed to steal it right at the very start.

Jungeun spends the rest of the week trying to find new ways to breathe.

(She’s human though, so she doesn’t have many other options. The closest thing she gets is filling the back room with forget-me-nots.)

(It’s sad and ironic.)

--

She takes to bringing her phone with her into the back room, plugging in her earphones to drown everything out as she takes count of all the pots, seeds, and tools in the back room, time and time again.

She doesn’t hear whenever Jinsoul visits anymore, just knows that it’s during her usual lunch break. She only knows because it’s Jiwoo who tells her, relays Jinsoul’s well wishes to her.

“She’s looking sadder and sadder by the day, Jungie,” Jiwoo tells her quietly. “Every time you’re not here, it’s like her expression droops even further.”

Jungeun never replies to Jiwoo’s updates, only chews on her bottom lip before slipping in her earphones again, goes back to wrapping bouquets.

She returns to the back room every day during her lunch breaks though. Every day, without fail.

Everything sort of blends together back there. When she’s not counting, she’s scrolling through her phone until she’s sure that Jinsoul’s lunch break is over, meaning that she won’t be coming by any time soon. It kinda , how Jungeun knows Jinsoul’s schedule to a tee.

Every day, without fail.

--

A whole week passes by, feeling like an eternity, and suddenly it’s like the already sweltering summer is amping up the stakes, because that Saturday is the hottest one yet.

Jiwoo’s also just about had enough.

“We’re going to the beach,” she demands that morning, dragging Jungeun out of the back room, who groans, but doesn’t have the strength or drive to resist.

“But why?” Jungeun grumbles, crossing her arms petulantly, to which Jiwoo actually rolls her eyes at. The sight actually makes Jungeun do a double take, because since when did Jiwoo do that?

"Seriously Jungeun,” Jiwoo says sternly, “You can't keep hiding yourself in here. You're gonna become a gremlin and die, and not one of those cute, lovable gremlins, but those ugly ones that set tolls on bridges and stuff that no one likes—”

“I think those are trolls, Jiwoo—”

“—and I won't stand for it,” Jiwoo continues like she’d never been interrupted. “The only gremlin we know is Hyejoo, and at least she's making bank in her gremlin den by being a gaming streamer. You’re not even doing anything productive back there—”

“I’ve been taking inventory!”

“You’ve taken inventory at least ten times this week,” Jiwoo deadpans. “We haven’t gotten a new shipment of flowers since Tuesday.” Jungeun grumbles again at that, having to concede that point. “Plus, even gremlin Hyejoo has Chaewon going to the beach today. Sowe are getting your damn out of this shop.”

There’s nothing Jungeun can really do against a cursing Jiwoo.

--

The beach is simultaneously the first and last place Jungeun would’ve expected to finally run into Jinsoul again— the last place, because it’s not like she’s ever seen Jinsoul there before, but also the first place, because this is California in the dreadful summer heat, and both of their shops are literally right next to the ocean, for goodness sake. Why wouldn’tJinsoul be at the beach?

So of course Jinsoul’s at the beach with Sooyoung.

It’s so incredibly unfair, how good the two of them look— Sooyoung in her burgundy bikini, bold winged tattoo and musical sleeve on display, and even Jinsoul in her navy singlet, a towel wrapped stylishly around her hips.

“Jungeun!” Jinsoul calls happily, waving her hand as she approaches Jungeun and Jiwoo’s beach blanket. Sooyoung’s at Jinsoul’s side, much like she had been at the wedding, and Jungeun tries not to let it show how much it makes her chest twist in awful ways she never thought it could. “Jiwoo! It’s great to see you guys!”

“Hi there, Jinsoul!” Jiwoo says cheerfully, and Jungeun nearly flinches at how energetic her best friend is. A week of isolation does that to people, she supposes grimly. “It’s great to see you too.”

“Are you feeling better, Jungeun?” Jinsoul asks, turning to Jungeun with a worried furrowed brow. “Jiwoo told me you were sick this week.”

“Ah, I’m doing a bit better,” Jungeun says quietly, her smile small but still present. It might hurt to see Jinsoul, but she supposes it’s better than being completely Jinsoul-deprived. “Jiwoo thinks the sunlight will do me good, or something like that.”

“Jungeun’s a florist through and through!” Jiwoo chirps. “She’s basically a flower at this point.”

“You’re not wrong,” Jinsoul chuckles, and oh god, how Jungeun had missed that sound. “She’s certainly as pretty as one.”

Wait, what?

“Oh, so this is the infamous Jungeun I’ve been hearing about!” Sooyoung says with a friendly smile, speaking up for the first time. Suddenly, Jungeun feels way too aware at the way Sooyoung glances her over, but there’s nothing harsh in the brunette’s gaze, just sheer curiosity and genuine friendliness.

“Soo!” Jinsoul groans, swatting at Sooyoung’s shoulder with her hand. Meanwhile, Jungeun’s mind is still reeling, because what.

“I’m Sooyoung. Jinsoul and I work together at the tattoo parlor, and Soul’s nearly chewed my ear off from talking so much about you,” Sooyoung jokes, completely ignoring the older blonde girl. “It’s exhausting, but super endearing at the same time. She was a wreck with you out of commission this week.”

Okay, really, what?

Jungeun’s brain works overtime, whirling a mile a minute as she’s trying to process all of this information.

So hold up. Does this mean that —

“Wait a second, so you and Jinsoul aren’t dating?” Jiwoo suddenly asks loudly, voicing aloud the very thoughts that had been running circles in Jungeun’s subconscious, and Jungeun actually lets out a startled squeak at Jiwoo’s bold question.

There’s a poignant silence that resonates between the four girls for a whole fleeting moment in time as Sooyoung and Jinsoul immediately turn to look at each other in utter surprise. Meanwhile, the few seconds is more than enough for Jungeun stare off at the ocean and deeply contemplate whether drowning to death is a viable option at this point.

Then—

Sooyoung laughs.

“We’re not, no,” the tall brunette chuckles, elbowing Jinsoul in the side, to which the blonde girl grunts and glares at her friend. Sooyoung sticks her tongue out, rolling her eyes before fixating Jiwoo a smile in turn. “Jinsoul and I are strictly best friends.”

“Ohhhh, I see!” Jiwoo’s tone is way too happy, way too bright, for it not to be suspicious, but if Sooyoung and Jinsoul notice, the pair of tattoo artists don’t say anything.

“It would be weird to date Sooyoung,” Jinsoul adds with a grumble, crossing her arms. “We’re best friends, but she’s also technically my boss. Like, imagine sleeping with your boss, who also happens to be your sister.”

“Ew, gross,” Sooyoung scrunches up her nose comically, and Jiwoo giggles. “Soul, I never understand how you somehow manage to worsen our friendship on the daily, especially when it feels like we hit a new rock bottom every hour we're in the same space.”

"We've taken out our spoons and we're tunneling beneath, Soo," Jinsoul winks playfully at her friend, and as soon as yesterday, Jungeun knows that single interaction without context would've crushed something in her chest.

It doesn't do anything this time. In fact, she almost feels… lighter.

Jungeun lets out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. She catches Jinsoul’s eye, flashes the older girl a shy smile and gets a bright beam in return.

Her chest feels light for the first time all week— she feels weightless, and Jungeun relishes in it, especially as Jiwoo happily asks if Sooyoung and Jinsoul want to share their large beach blanket with them.

--

“I’m gonna go get some food and ice cream!” Jiwoo proclaims after ten minutes of friendly conversation. She stands up from where she’d been seated on the beach blanket, dusting off her hands before setting them on her hips, looking around at her friends. “I'll pick up lunch for all of us. Anyone wanna come with?”

“I’ll come!” Sooyoung is quick to jump up. She stretches her arms for a moment, just as Jinsoul and Jungeun share an amused look that Sooyoung catches out the corner of her eye. She stares at the two blondes pointedly. “What?”

Jinsoul laughs, shakes her head.

“Nothing, Soo,” she says unconvincingly, trying to smother a grin, and Jungeun stifles a chuckle of her own. “Anyway, I’m not hungry at the moment, so I’ll just stay here, if that's okay? Might even go for a swim.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jiwoo chirps, bouncing eagerly on the balls of her feet. “Jungie?”

“Hm?” Jungeun snaps out of her daze, having been silently watching Jinsoul for the past few minutes. “Oh, I’ll stay here as well.”

“You should swim with me, Jungeun!” Jinsoul enthuses, and Jungeun flushes but nods her head. She’s really doesn’t have any more excuses to avoid Jinsoul anyway.

A minute later, and Jiwoo and Sooyoung are off, walking down the boardwalk together, leaving Jungeun alone with Jinsoul on the blanket.

--

The towel around Jinsoul’s waist drops. Jungeun tries to look away.

She fails. Miserably.

Jinsoul is quick to toss her singlet over her shoulders, throwing it down to the bag she’s placed on the corner of the beach towel, and Jungeun’s jaw drops at the sight of the older girl in front of her standing unabashedly in a dark blue bikini, smirking the younger girl’s way as Jungeun gapes.

That’s not what captures Jungeun’s apt attention though.

It’s not the bikini, as utterly stunning as Jinsoul in a bathing suit is, but rather, it’s the tattoo that wraps around Jinsoul’s body that Jungeun’s eyes immediately lock on to.

On Jinsoul’s beautiful porcelain skin, blue forget-me-nots bloom in the shape of ocean waves, stemming at the older girl’s left upper thigh, just peeking out from beneath her swimsuit, before traveling up to her waist and spanning diagonally across, the blue flowers appearing to blossom across the expanse of her back before arriving at Jinsoul’s right shoulder blade, ending in a gorgeously designed sapphire betta fish.

Jungeun gasps. Had that tattoo always been there? She briefly recalls Jinsoul’s words from their second meeting, where Jinsoul had coyly implied that she had more tattoos than what could be seen to the eye.

Surely, Jinsoul’s current outfit doesn’t leave much for the imagination.

Then she remembers that first day, when Jinsoul had entered her flower shop, asking for forget-me-nots as a way of inspiring herself.

There’s no way the tattoo had been on Jinsoul’s body way back then, at the beginning of summer. Perhaps the design hadn’t even been conceived.

But that would mean—

“Aren’t you gonna take a dip, Jungeun?”

Jinsoul’s clear voice above the sound of the rolling ocean waves cuts through Jungeun’s thoughts, and the younger blonde blinks, immediately coming back to reality.

“Wha— Jinsoul, I’m sorry, what did you…?”

“The ocean, Jungie,” Jinsoul says dramatically with a flourishing hand, blatant amusement hidden within her laidback drawl, especially at the way Jungeun visibly cringes at the nickname. “It awaits your presence.”

Jungeun rolls her eyes playfully, already feeling more at ease around Jinsoul. All the awkwardness surrounding Jungeun and her inability to look Jinsoul in the eye after her presumptions was quickly vanishing, and their normal dynamic slowly slips back into muscle memory.

“Please don’t call me that,” Jungeun huffs, tugging off her tank top and jogging over to Jinsoul, who chuckles and lets out a low, appreciative whistle at Jungeun’s red, backless one-piece.

“Nice choice,” Jinsoul pokes Jungeun’s side with an index finger. The younger girl squirms away as Jinsoul grins. “So why can’t I call you ‘Jungie’? Jiwoo calls you that all the time.”

“She’s been calling me that since we were toddlers,” Jungeun complains as Jinsoul hooks their arms together, and Jungeun’s right hip bumps with Jinsoul’s left, connecting where Jinsoul’s forget-me-not tattoo blossoms from. It’s positively sweltering out, but Jungeun feels a shudder run down her spine, coinciding perfectly with Jinsoul’s light-hearted hum of acknowledgement.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Jinsoul relents as they continue to walk towards the water, the look on her face thoughtful. They pass by a group of people lounging in beach chairs, and Jungeun raises a curious eyebrow as Jinsoul appears to subtly shift in position, obstructing Jungeun from their view.

A loud wolf whistle pierces Jungeun’s ears, and her eyes roll up to the top of her head as the noise is immediately followed by the cacophony of male voices hollering.

If Jinsoul cares about them at all, she doesn’t let Jungeun know.

Instead, the older blonde only nudges Jungeun with her shoulder, motions to the ocean with a brief flick of her head.

“Race you to the ocean, babe!” is the only warning Jinsoul gives before taking off across the sand, leaving a malfunctioning, gaping Jungeun in her wake.

It takes Jungeun a moment to realize that she actually has to catch up, and the younger blonde stutters a that’s not fair! before racing after the other girl.

--

Jinsoul’s already ankle deep into the waves when Jungeun finally reaches her, crashing into Jinsoul’s body with her own, her arms tightly wrapping around Jinsoul’s waist with ease, leaving her panting heavily from the sudden exertion, and rendering Jinsoul breathless with laughter.

“You caught up fast,” Jinsoul giggles, her right hand absently reaching to play with Jungeun’s fingers that tap mindlessly against a toned stomach.

Jungeun shakes her head, shoulders still heaving.

“Babe?” she asks, the word toppling from her lips before she can stop it, with a type of desperation that has Jungeun completely flustered, and Jinsoul laughs.

“You said I couldn’t call you ‘Jungie’, so I had to improvise,” Jinsoul explains, and Jungeun buries her burning face into Jinsoul’s bare shoulder.

“You’re gonna be the death of me,” she mutters under her breath.

“Hm?”

“Nothing.”

“Hey,” Jinsoul says, softer this time. “Hey, can you swim?”

“I’m from southern California, Jinsoul,” Jungeun states plainly, eliciting another giggle from the older girl that gets something in Jungeun’s stomach fluttering— a bit different than butterflies, more like a little school of fishies just swimming around.

(Jungeun thinks Jinsoul would be proud of her word choice.)

“So if we go deeper and I swim away from you, you won’t drown?” Jinsoul asks.

“I’ll try my best not to.” There’s a silence, a pointed eyebrow being arched in her direction, and Jungeun groans. “Jinsoul, I was on the swim team!”

“Good,” and then suddenly Jinsoul’s turning her face so that their faces are mere inches apart, a teasing smile playing across Jinsoul’s lips and it reminds Jungeun of the forget-me-nots that spill from Jinsoul’s soul, blossoms from Jinsoul’s heart, rushes over Jungeun like the ocean waves. How did she ever manage to survive a whole week without Jinsoul there? “Because I’m gonna need you to stay afloat for me, yeah?”

Jungeun only nods, smiles and lets Jinsoul take her hand, pull her further out into the water.

--

“So are you ever gonna tell me?” Jinsoul asks, once the water comes up to their mid-torsos. There are significantly less children around now, nothing but the peaceful sound of the waves and their bodies slowly pushing their way through the water.

Jungeun automatically freezes, pulling her hand out from Jinsoul’s grasp.

“Tell you what?” She asks cautiously.

“Why you were avoiding me for an entire week,” Jinsoul says matter-of-factly, and her tone is so nonchalant she could've been talking about the weather. Jungeun has to do a double take, eyes going wide, but then Jinsoul’s laughing, tugging Jungeun back towards her as Jungeun instinctively tries to move away. “Don’t think I didn’t notice!”

“H-how—” Jungeun stutters.

“I knew that something was wrong since the wedding… I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d keep a close eye on you,” Jinsoul says, softer now, and Jungeun takes a deep breath. Jinsoul continues to stare at her imploringly, patiently, so Jungeun gulps, tries to find the words to put it eloquently.

Life doesn’t really work out the way you want it to, though, so instead, the words that end up tumbling from Jungeun’s lips are, “I thought you and Sooyoung were dating, and I felt really jealous and sad because I’d gotten too attached to you, and I didn’t know what to do about it so instead of approaching you and talking through things to clear everything uplike I should have done, I distanced myself and wallowed in my own self-pity because um, I’m really dumb…? So— ow! Did you just flick my forehead?!”

“That’s for overthinking yourself into believing I was dating Sooyoung,” Jinsoul smirks, and before she even has time to reply, Jungeun lets out a muffled squeal as Jinsoul suddenly lunges at her, dunking her backwards into the water.

Jungeun’s probably submerged for maybe five seconds at the most before she’s pulled back up, breaking the surface and gasping for air as she’s brought into Jinsoul’s tight embrace.

“And that,” Jinsoul murmurs, low into her ear, low enough that Jungeun can hardly hear it over the pounding of her own heart as she clutches to Jinsoul’s arms to steady herself,“that was for avoiding me all week.” She pauses, and Jungeun stills as she continues. “I missed you, Jungeun.”

“I definitely deserved that,” Jungeun rasps, still grasping Jinsoul’s arms. “I thought a week away would make things better, but nothing actually changed…? If anything, maybe even more, I just wanted—”

Jungeun stops in her tracks, blushing hard as she pointed avoids Jinsoul’s eyes. She’s already said too much.

Still, there’s nothing she can do when Jinsoul gently takes her chin within a soft hand, carefully tilts her head up to meet her gaze before using her free hand to tuck back a few wet strands of hair behind Jungeun’s ears.

“What is it that you want, Jungeun?” Jinsoul asks, her voice low, almost teasing. There's that coy glimmer in her eyes again, and Jungeun wears she's never felt a nervousness like this, not even when she was sitting in that town jail cell with all her friends, waiting for the night to end, wondering if she'd be grounded for life for spray painting the words I'M REALLY ING GAY in big red letters on the side of the abandoned warehouse – she’d been worried about the spray painting part, not the gay part – and—

But then Jinsoul's looking into her eyes like she's got the answer to the mystery, like it's the most obvious thing in the world, and Jungeun swallows thickly, takes a moment to think.

There's a lot of things she wants in life.

It would be cool if her flowers lived forever. As much as she loves those things, they're alive themselves, and it can get hard to watch them wither away.

A towel right now would be nice too, since she’s just been dunked underwater.

A tattoo. She’s been thinking about this one a lot. Sure, it's permanent, but what does it matter if it's something she loves? Life is always changing. Suddenly she’s inherited the flower shop, and her friends were all over, some still in the town, some off to college, new people entering her life, and— well, then there's Jinsoul.

Jinsoul who hadn't come gradually but more fluttered down like a dandelion seed, took over Jungeun's place like a weed but oh, Jinsoul's anything but a pest. No, Jinsoul had blossomed all over with the most vibrant of petals, sprinkling beautiful forget-me-nots into all corners of her life. Jungeun's grown up around all the colors, all the different hues. Once upon a time she’d sworn her favorite color was red but suddenly she's contemplating painting the shop walls blue.

Without thinking, her hand comes up to brush against Jinsoul's shoulder blade, to touch the sapphire betta painted on Jinsoul's skin.

Jinsoul beams, and Jungeun feels her heart do crazy things.

Yeah, Jungeun thinks it’s fitting— she thinks it would be nice, if Jinsoul was something permanent, a tattoo, perhaps as painful, but just as beautiful, maybe more; but better.

Much, much better.

So what is it that she wants?

Well, that answer came easier than anticipated.

“I want you,” Jungeun breathes, surprised to find how easy her words slip out, how they’re not drowned out by the ocean waves. It's like the whole world has ceased in its ruckus, just for them, for Jungeun and Jinsoul.

And Jinsoul's wide, wide smile somehow becomes impossibly wider.

“That's great,” Jinsoul whispers, staring at Jungeun with a sort of awe sparkling there, shimmering like the ocean mist, and before Jungeun knows it, her arms are looped around Jinsoul's neck, the taller girl pulling her in by her waist. “That's really great.”

And then Jungeun’s giggling— oh god, she's giggling. When did that start happening?

“What's so great about it?” Jungeun asks, equally as hushed.

“It's great because,” Jinsoul leans in, brings their foreheads together, her smile growing softer—

“Because I want you too.”

And Jungeun’s already up on cloud nine, can’t find the words to respond to that, so she settles for widely grinning at the older girl, threading her fingers through platinum blonde hair.

Jinsoul bumps their noses together and they giggle. Jungeun involuntarily tugs Jinsoul closer, shudders when one of Jinsoul's hands touches the small of her back.

“I'm going to kiss you now,” Jinsoul mumbles, growing shy, and maybe Jungeun's heart does the whoosh thing, like Jiwoo so eloquently describes in her tweets, because a shy Jinsoul is a new Jinsoul, and Jungeun's way too eager to find out all the different Jinsouls there are.

But that can wait for a little, because there are other matters on hand at the moment.

Namely how Jungeun can't seem to take her eyes off Jinsoul's lips.

“If you don't kiss me in the next five seconds, I'll kiss you myself,” Jungeun mutters, and Jinsoul laughs before dipping closer.

And then it happens.

--

Jungeun swears that flowers bloom between their lips the moment they meet, because there's no way anything sweeter than flowers exist but here we are.

Jinsoul tastes impossibly sweet, her lips feel impossibly soft, and their kiss feels impossibly too brief, so naturally, after lack of air makes them pull apart, it's Jungeun who leans in to pepper kisses all along the column of Jinsoul's neck, planting more flowers there, sees them blossom from Jinsoul's lips in the older girl's laughter, in the way Jinsoul's hands grasp at her tighter, in the way Jungeun finally looks up, sees Jinsoul's flushed face, and feels like she's floating on air.

Her most gorgeous display, her most perfect garden, Jinsoul is everything Jungeun could want and more— an eternal flower, a permanent tattoo, the warmth enough to consume her, set her aflame by the sun.

Except she doesn't burn up.

No, under Jinsoul's loving, affectionate gaze, Jungeun thinks she blossoms.

--

“So how do you like the tattoo?” Jinsoul asks an our later, after they’ve both dried off and have taken to lounging beneath the large umbrella Sooyoung had fetched from her car. Jinsoul wiggles her eyebrows, and Jungeun laughs, sitting up before reaching out to trace the forget-me-nots along Jinsoul’s back.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” Jungeun marvels, smiling as Jinsoul wriggles close to her, pushing herself up and curling her body around Jungeun’s slightly smaller frame. Jungeun shudders but laughs at the ticklish sensation as Jinsoul begins to pepper kisses along her shoulders. “Was this the tattoo you were talking about back when we first met? The one you said was hidden?”

Jinsoul pauses in her ministrations. “Er, something like that.”

Jungeun raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“The betta fish was there, that was my first tattoo ever, and I had gotten it before I moved here, after I’d graduated high school,” Jinsoul explains. Then she leans back down to press her lips to Jungeun’s skin, closes her eyes with a hum. “The rest of it though, the forget-me-nots, they were all added after I met you. The flowers I bought during that first meeting… they were my inspiration for the design. I really loved them, Jungeun.”

“Oh wow,” Jungeun whispers. It’s all way too surreal, everything that’s happened today, but to think that the flowers she’d handed Jinsoul over on that first day had gone on to remain eternally on this amazing girl’s body… just wow. “So was Sooyoung the one who tattooed it?”

“Mmhm,” Jinsoul nods. “It was an exchange between the two of us— I tattooed Sooyoung’s wings, and a week later she tattooed my forget-me-nots. It happened right before I asked you to get lunch with me that first time, actually.”

“Wait, really?” Jungeun’s eyes go wide. “Don’t tattoos hurt for a while? And you got yours across your whole back… I couldn’t even tell!”

Jinsoul shrugs, a sheepish smile on her face. “My pain tolerance is pretty high.”

“You’re amazing,” Jungeun shakes her head in awed disbelief, an airy laugh leaving her lips.

“You’re the amazing one, Jungeun! You helped me out a lot,” Jinsoul smiles, nuzzling her nose into the crook of Jungeun’s neck. “I’ve never felt like this before, but… but the flowers you gave me, the feelings I felt that day, the feelings I’m feeling with you right now, I have a reminder of them all. They’re… they’re so special to me.”

“Jinsoul…” Jungeun says softly, blinking back a sudden, surprising wave of moisture in her eyes. “Jinsoul, baby, c’mere—”

That’s all that needs to be said for their lips to connect again, and Jungeun doesn’t think she’ll ever grow tired of that weightless feeling she gets from kissing Jinsoul. Never ever, without fail.

“Baby,” Jinsoul breathes when they pull an inch apart. “I like that. I like you. I really like you, Jungeun.”

“I know you do,” Jungeun giggles, squeaking when Jinsoul pecks her nose. “I like you a lot too, Jinsoul.”

“You better,” Jinsoul hums. “Because you’re absolutely stuck with me. We’re going back to our daily lunch dates on Monday, and on Friday, you’re letting me take you to dinner, ‘kay?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jungeun chuckles, bumps their forehead together again. “Hey.”

“What’s up?”

“So if I told you I’d been thinking of getting a tattoo, what would you say?”

Jinsoul’s smile in response is breathtaking.

“I’d say it sounds like a plan.”

--

It’s a warm night in mid-July when Sooyoung peels back the bandage from Jungeun’s left shoulder blade with the utmost care, pouring warm water over her skin to let the coverage be removed in a virtually painless manner.

Jinsoul smiles, cups Jungeun’s face with her free hand the moment the bandage is fully removed. Her occupied hand squeezes Jungeun’s comfortingly, knowing it had been a long couple of hours.

“Brave girl,” she says proudly, and Jungeun flushes, ducks her head into the crook of her girlfriend’s neck. “Seriously, babe, it looks so good!”

“You can thank Sooyoung for that,” Jungeun laughs, throwing yet another grateful look over her shoulder at the tall brunette wiping her hands with a towel.

“You both can thank me by remembering to refrain from irritating your skin,” Sooyoung jokes, and Jungeun grins. “I have to say, the design was really great Jungeun. You must’ve worked really hard on it.”

“Thanks! My sketchbook full of designs can finally rest easy,” Jungeun chuckles.

“It’s so cute that you guys have matching tattoos now!” Jiwoo coos endearingly. “Jinsoul and her forget-me-nots, Jungeun and her roses… that’s total couple goals!”

Jungeun only grins, looking over her shoulder again to stare into the mirror, admiring the cluster of deep red roses that now adorn her left shoulder blade. It’s not as big as Jinsoul’s but it’s a start, and overall, the experience hadn’t been nearly as bad as she’d imagined it would be— probably because of Sooyoung’s steady hand and Jinsoul’s constant comfort.

Jungeun figures that she’ll definitely be adding to it, perhaps in the far future.

And her girlfriend had held her hand and talked her through the entire tattooing process for hours. If Jungeun hadn’t been sure if Jinsoul was The One before, she sure as hell knows now.

“I want couple tattoos too, Youngie!” Jiwoo declares, and Sooyoung throws back her head and laughs.

“Let’s start with a few concepts and designs, Jiwooming, and then we’ll go from there.”

Meanwhile, Jungeun turns to Jinsoul, nothing but pure adoration in her eyes as she leans forward to rest her head on Jinsoul’s shoulder. The older girl smiles, her arm wrapping around Jungeun’s waist, letting Jungeun lean her untattooed side into her body as she presses a soft kiss to Jungeun’s temple.

“Brave girl,” Jinsoul says again, and Jungeun hums this time, pleased.

“You’re the best, baby,” Jungeun whispers. “Thank you so much for staying with me today.”

“Of course, Jungeun.” Jinsoul’s smile is soft. “Let’s get you back home, babe. We’ll get you cleaned up.”

“Will you stay?”

“I’ll always stay.”

“I don’t deserve you.”

“I think we deserve each other.”

“Y’know what? I do too.”

They bloom together.

 

End.