[CONTENTID1] 018. [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2] Silence Comes [/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

“Well, well, well.”

Jongin parked his scooter as soon as he reached toward the front of the shop. As the engine shut down, Eunseo pursed her lips as he looked at her with gleaming eyes that meant I-told-you-so. It was obvious he was amused by the fact the person that she had denied liking before was now her boyfriend. With a shy smile, she raised her fist as a warning only to drop it soon after.

“It was about time you got together with your city boy,” Jongin said as he removed his helmet and hung it on a handlebar of his scooter. “How’s everything for you two?”

“Normal,” Eunseo replied. Her relationship with Baekhyun wasn’t as eventful, which was good. Nothing especially bad was going on, it was only the stirrings of a normal relationship between them. “Just normal.”

With a nod, “You’re living life as if it’s a movie and don’t be discouraged by how normal it is, it’s better than something bad,” Jongin shrugged. He looked down the street before turning to her, “Is Baekhyun visiting you here today?”

Eunseo nodded, “Yeah he is, he’s on his way here. Maybe in a few minutes.”

“Wow,” his lips slightly parted. “Time is really working well for the both of us, huh?”

“Yeah, and actually,” Eunseo smiled, “Jennie is inside the shop,” Eunseo gestured toward the store with her finger. 

Today was the day she was going to give a coworker of hers some bouquets and other gifts for their birthday, their name was something like Jisoo. It was a surprise to see her come by since the boutique was always busy. It was great telling Jennie everything she had yet to mention over text.

“Really,” Jongin gasped as he stood up from his scooter and peered into the shop. Seeing his partner standing inside, his eyes beamed. “Is it okay if I go in with the box and talk to her a bit?”

“Yeah, just don’t get too distracted,” Eunseo smiled as she walked toward the door.

Jongin smiled as he untied the ropes around the cardboard box and excitedly jogged into the shop with the help of Eunseo holding the door open. Looking inside, Jongin’s arrival got the attention of Jennie who smiled at his presence and pulled him into a tight hug after he had set the cardboard box onto the counter.

“Cute,” a voice from behind her said.

Startled, Eunseo’s hands slipped from the door handle as she turned to the person behind her. It was Baekhyun peering at the couple in front of them in awe.

“You scared me,” Eunseo exclaimed as she smacked his arm. “I thought you weren’t coming until a few minutes.”

“Well,” Baekhyun began as he reached for the door handle and held the door open, “Traffic wasn’t so bad after I finished rehearsals.”

She was reminded of how soon his concert was coming, in almost eleven days. Time passed by since he had mentioned it to her and she had yet to buy tickets.

Jongin and Jennie walked out of the shop holding each other’s hands. With Baekhyun’s presence, the couple stopped in their tracks. With the looks on their faces, it was obvious they were surprised to see him here. 

“Baekhyun,” Jongin greeted and pulled him into a hug. “How have you been? I thought you wouldn’t arrive until a few more minutes.”

“I’m doing good,” Baekhyun smiled, “Traffic wasn’t so busy, so I was lucky enough to visit.”

“Eunseo, you lucky girl,” Jennie smiled as she nudged her lightly with her elbow. Then bowing toward Baekhyun, Jennie introduced herself.

“Baekhyun, nice to meet you,” he bowed back. 

“Eunseo told me about you, I didn’t think such a person would exist but look where we are now. It’s so good to finally meet you,” Jennie stated.

“Thank you,” a shy smile came over Baekhyun’s face. “Both Eunseo and Jongin have mentioned you as well.”

“Really?” Jennie’s eyes widened before casting a look at the two of them. “You guys didn’t say anything weird, did you?”

“No,” they answered and shook their heads in unison. 

“I’ll buy it,” she responded with a skeptic look. Glancing down at the bouquet in her hand, she jumped in alarm after then checking her watch. “Crap, I have to run to the boutique. Again, it was wonderful to meet you, Baekhyun.”

Quickly she pulled Eunseo into a hug and as Jongin strolled over to his scooter. “Babe.”

“What,” Jennie asked.

With the helmet in his hands, he placed it onto Jennie’s head and strapped it in. A grimace came upon Eunseo’s face as Jongin placed a small kiss on her nose followed by light giggles. 

Noticing her reaction, Jongin pouted, “Don’t give me that look… You guys would act the same way. I bet!”

He wasn’t wrong. 

“Okay okay,” Eunseo crossed her arms over her chest. “I won’t judge anymore,” she laughed.

With a smile, Jongin bid farewell as he sat upon his scooter with Jennie sitting behind, wrapping her arms around his waist with the flowers in her hands. It was a cute sight.

“Be careful,” Eunseo cautioned. 

“We will,” Jennie responded as Jongin started the engine. They then drove away and the low hum of the vehicle faded down the street.

“How was rehearsal,” Eunseo asked. “I’m sure it’s daunting with the actual tour coming up soon.”

Glancing at Baekhyun, it was starting to be more clear the event was starting to take its toll on him. His eye bags were starting to be prominent and overall, his face seemed dull. She couldn’t imagine the stress he was experiencing.

“It went well, but I feel a bit more tired recently. I guess with the day coming up, I’ve been putting too much energy into it. My hands are pretty sore,” Baekhyun responded before looking down at his hands and flexing, then straightening them repeatedly. His face scrunched in pain.

“Don’t strain yourself too much,” she warned softly as she held his hands and gently soothed them. “You shouldn’t injure yourself before your tour, that would be unfortunate. I suggest taking some time for a break between intervals as you’re practicing.”

“You’re acting like my grandma,” he chuckled. 

“Well, like your grandma, I worry for you too,” Eunseo sighed. “You’re someone who puts in so much effort, you sometimes forget to take care of yourself. Luckily we see each other every day so I can remind you,” she then ended with a smile.

“Thank you,” he said softly. “Say, did you get tickets for my tour yet? In Seoul?”

“No… I’ve been caught up with things, I completely forgot. But I’ll try to get them soon. I would hate to buy tickets for seats far from the stage.”

To finally see Baekhyun play more seriously, it would be breathtaking to see him up close in a seat where she could see him as a human rather than a tiny dot in her eyes. 

Baekhyun nodded before asking, “Do you need me to buy a ticket for you?”

Shocked, Eunseo waved her hands declining his offer. “Oh, of course not! I’ll do it myself… It’s better that way.”

“Okay okay, but I hope to see you well enough from the stage,” Baekhyun pouted. “Otherwise it would be a waste to not see the person I would want to see most.”

Warmth crept up toward Eunseo’s cheeks afterwards. Holding back her smile, she let go of his hands and lightly smacked his shoulder. Baekhyun, unaffected by her, then grabbed her hands gently. His thumb traced light circles onto her skin.

“It’s the truth,” he softly said with a smile as his eyes looked down onto her hands. “Why am I being punished for that?”

“Because,” Eunseo began, then in the corner of her eye, her mother stood inside the shop with an amused look on her face as she watched the two of them. “My mom’s looking and it’s a bit embarrassing.”

“Really,” Baekhyun looked up into the shop window and smiled before waving toward her mother. “I should stop then.”

“It’s best you should, or else we’ll both be victims of teasing again.”

-

“So, wrap it like this?”

After finishing a bouquet, Eunseo turned to her mother as she began wrapping the paper around the flowers. Though she never worked with multiple wrapping papers at once, it seemed easy. But at the moment, it was the most difficult thing to do. No matter what she did, the papers seemed to be too tight, too loose, or too unorganized. They were starting to wrinkle from the multiple attempts.

Eunseo’s mother glanced down at the bouquet in her hand and pursed her lips before shaking her head. “No, you make it look so messy.” Taking the bouquet from Eunseo’s hand, she unwrapped the bouquet and held the papers up. With a frown, her mother turned to her. “And you still want to wrap this with this wrinkly thing?”

“It’s for practice,” Eunseo responded before sighing heavily. “I don’t get it. I’ve watched you do this so many times that I could memorize it all in my head but everytime I attempt to do it, it never works out.”

“Seeing is different from doing,” her mother responded as she threw the papers into the trash bin nearby before pulling out new wrapping papers from a drawer and setting them onto the counter. Then placing the bouquet on top of the papers, she gestured for Eunseo to start.

Hesitantly, Eunseo picked up a corner of the papers and folded them in half. Looking up to her mother for any sign of approval, her mother’s expression remained neutral. Then taking the bouquet, she laid them in  the middle of the papers before folding one side of the paper over the flowers.

“Now,” her mother began. “Make sure the corner of the paper is around an inch away from the bouquet when you fold it over.”

“Okay,” Eunseo replied, then pulling the paper closer towards her direction until it seemed like an inch to her eye. “Is that good?”

“A little less.”

‘Okay, how about now?”

“A little more.”

“This?”

“Good.”

“I feel like I’m conducting some sort of procedure or something,” Eunseo whined. Taking the other half of the paper, she folded it over before folding up the remaining paper on the bottom before securing it into a previous fold. “Like this?”

Her mother shot her a bewildered look. “How come you did well when I watched you?”

With a shrug, she answered “I don’t know? Pressure from a more experienced person and the fact that you’re my mother?” Eunseo grabbed a pair of scissors and cut off a foot of ribbon before tying it around the wrapped bouquet that she somehow miraculously did perfectly.

“Well at least you’ll be able to work as well and quickly as me soon,” her mother chuckled as she nudged Eunseo’s side.

“When I’m not busy, then yes I will,” Eunseo smiled after tying a bow and adjusting it.

“Say, you and Baekhyun didn’t share much affection for each other today when he was visiting, di