*Note: This is all in Jihoon’s perspective. I’ve been making a lot of one shots in the member’s perspective haven’t I? okay maybe I’m exaggerating a lot since it was only like three.

Okay um, this one shot’s main genre is sad with a bit of fluff and comedy here and there. I got the idea from watering the plants (even though they barely grew due to the stupid weather up here in Canada.) and so I thought of this idea. Enjoy!

Sunflowers

It started from that summer. That one summer that I met you.

"Do I really have to go to the hospital mom? I mean have to practice a lot for the next few weeks since-" I was cut off by my mom and she started to lecture me again. "For the last time Jihoon, yes you do! Your grandma is anticipating to see you and she’s on the verge of possibly being fatally ill and-"

I cut her off like how she did to me, “I know, I know but you know how serious I am about practice and I’m about to-” “Live your dream,” my dad finished for me. “Yes Jihoon, we know but at least spend time with your grandma for just these few weeks.”

I sighed, “Fine.” For the rest of the trip to the hospital out in the rural region, I stared out of the window while listening to music and found nothing interesting. Just plain fields filled with crops and such. It seemed forever to get there considering it seemed like there was only one road to travel from.

It was about an hour or more until we’ve finally reached and I was hungry as heck. I rubbed my stomach and looked around the small town. How are people able to live in such a small town? I thought since I was more used to urban regions.

"Now, Jihoon, you must behave the best you can and don’t do anything embarrassing," I heard my mom say. "Yes, eomma," I said and walked into the building.

I sat down and waited as my mom and dad did some business for a bit. I was listening to music and I observed the hospital.

After about 10 minutes of waiting, my parents told me to go visit first so I walked down the hallway and towards the elevator. Shortly afterwards, the elevator finally arrived at the 14th floor.

I walked down the hallway and looked for the room my grandma was residing in. After about five minutes of pacing down the hallway are back multiple times, I sighed and gave up.

Was it room 415 or room 416? I thought. I knew I should’ve listened better to my parents. I took a deep breath in and risked it. I walked towards room 416 and took one last deep breath before going in.

I placed my hand on the handle and opened it as I heard the click. “Hello halmeoni, it’s your amazing grandson, Jihoon-” “Oh thank god the nurse came back! This has meat in it! I’m a vegetarian and I’ve said it for about a million times!”

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked up to see someone else instead of my grandma. Before I was able to say anything, I felt something smack my face.

"Ow! What was that for?!" I said and glared at the person on the bed. It was a female who had a shocked expression on their face. "Oh sorry, I thought you were a nurse," the girl said.

"Anyways, who are you and what are you doing here? What’s up with this ‘amazing grandson’ thing?" The girl questioned and had a bored expression on her face as she propped her chin onto her hand using the window ledge.

"Oh, I’m Lee Jihoon," I replied. "Oh so you must be here to visit your grandma," she replied. "I must’ve went in the wrong room, sorry about that," I said and I turned around to leave.

"Hey Jihoon!" I heard the girl say and I turned back around to see her with a devious smile. "Have you ever thought about drinking more milk to grow taller?"

I glared at the girl as I left her alone to laugh like a creeper. “What’s up with her?!” I mumbled. I walked into the next room and greeted my grandma, “Hello halmeoni, it’s your amazing grandson Jihoon.”

"Oh hello Jihoon," my grandma said and she patted the chair on her left as she continued to eat her soup. We started to have a conversation for a few minutes until a question popped into my mind.

"Halmeoni, who’s the girl in the other room?" I asked. "Oh, that must be the owner of the hospital’s daughter," my grandma said and finished up her soup.

"If I remember correctly, I believe that she is your age but a bit younger than you," she said. "She came here to this small town since the air here is more clear and fresher. The pollute city air wasn’t good for her health and she had some lung problems due to it."

She sure didn’t look very sick though. I thought. “Anyways, you don’t have to worry, she’s very mean to everyone!” My grandma said. “She insulted me and said that I was short too!”

Well you would be taller if you didn’t have osteoporosis. I thought and I laughed as she continued to explain. “I was outside taking a very small walk and then afterwards, I got scolded at because I wasn’t supposed to go outside!” She explained. “Grandson, I suggest you don’t befriend her because she’s a devil! A devil I tell you!”

I laughed and after talking for a while, my parents went in and talked as well. The day went by pretty quickly and I was back home in no time but I still did have to go and visit my grandma.

---

"My grandma said that you were a ‘devil’," I said. I was back at the hospital and decided to pay a visit to the girl from before. I was curious as to what her name was.

I was a very curious boy back then.

"Oh you came back huh? What? Do you want me to apologize or something?" She asked and placed down her book. Yes because as a matter of fact, I’m taller than you so don’t call me short. That was what I wanted to say but I chose not to.

"Well I didn’t have anything else to do so I decided to pay you a visit," I replied. "Did your grandma say anything else about me?" She asked and raised a brow. "She suggested me not to befriend you," I said and she laughed a bit.

"And yet you came to see me? What? Did my charms work on you and so you want to ask me out so that we could be together forever?" She said and laughed.

If only, if only that last line of being together forever could have lasted. I could only dream of that ever happening in a happier world.

"What? No way! You never told me your name," I said and she drank some water before answering me. "My name’s _______," she said and pointed to my backpack. "What’s that for? Going hiking of some sort?"

"Oh, no, it’s just some books that I brought to write some lyrics," I said and took out one of the books. "Oh are you in a band or something?" She asked as she grabbed the book out of my hands.

"Somewhat, I’m in a pre-debut group called ‘Seventeen’," I replied and I looked at her as she flipped through the books. "What’s this? ‘Blooming Flower’?" She asked and flipped to the next page.

My eyes widened and I tried to quickly snatch my notebook back. She laughed and moved it to her right. “Well isn’t that a nice flower!” She said sarcastically and flipped the page. She stopped laughing and her eyes widened.

"Wow, did you draw this?" She asked and looked up towards me. I snatched back my notebook, "Yes I did." "Huh, I always wanted to see sunflowers in person though I never got a chance to though," she said and tapped her fingers on the bed.

"What do you mean?" I asked and titled my head to the side a bit. "I’ve only ever seen the sunflowers in the pictures downstairs but never in real life. They seem to look really beautiful so I’d like to judge it myself," she replied and stared out of the window for a bit before looking back at me.

"Your sunflower drawing is really good though," she said. "Thank you," I said as I put my notebook back into my bag.

"But I’d say my favourite is probably the one from before, you know, the ones with uneven petals and a huge center with leaves sticking out from the ground," she paused. "It was very, very, significantly detailed!” She ended with a sarcastic note and laughed.

I laughed along but stopped when her laugh turned into harsh coughs. I scrambled to the other side and gave her the water bottle. “Thank you,” she said and we both looked up when we heard the door click.

"Oh, I didn’t know there was a visitor here," the nurse said and walked in towards us. "The doctors are coming to check up on you and so as the visitor, we advise you to come back tomorrow as visiting hours is finished in 30 minutes." The nurse turned back around and left.

I was about to leave until I turned around and asked, “Can I come back again tomorrow?” She smiled, “Of course, I wouldn’t mind making fun of your other drawings.” I chuckled and left.

Why did I say that? Was it because of how her smile seemed to always brighten the room? How her pale, thing body seemed to glow underneath the sun’s rays? I always wondered about what seemed to make me ask such a question.

---

"How are you not able to draw such a simple flower but you’re able to draw such beautiful sunflowers?! What is this logic?!" She shouted and laughed. "I don’t know! It’s just like that I guess," I laughed along with her as she drew another flower.

I attempted to draw it but I failed miserably with a petal turning out to somehow look like some sort of monster that kids would be scared of. She sighed, “When will you ever learn to draw basic kindergarten drawings?”

"Yah! It’s not that bad!" I said and playfully hit her arm. "Yes it is! It’s even worse than a kindergartener’s!" She said and laughed.

It seems that she liked to make fun of others to entertain herself. I guess making fun of others was her main source of entertainment.

The door clicked open and I looked up. “Jihoonie! Grandma is released from the hospital, let’s go home!” I saw my grandma and she was about to come over until she saw _________. “Oh never mind, it seems like my back pain has come back, please take me back to my room.”

I saw my grandma walk out of the room with a very confused nurse. I laughed, “Well that was weird.” “Sure was,” she said and laughed along with me.

"Well I guess I should start leaving now," I said and packed my things. "Okay then," she replied and started to leave.

It was everyday that I had come to visit you. Every single day. I always seemed to rush out of the car and run towards the hospital with a big smile plastered on my face.

You were the type of person to do that to me. You were the only one that was able to make me run like a fool and never grow tired of it.

---

"This is very refreshing," ________ said and ate another scoop as I finished up with my ice cream cone. I had bought us both ice cream since the doctors said it was fine. It was a really hot day so it felt twice as refreshing to eat a cold snack.

She finished up her ice cream and placed the empty carton the side. She placed her hands on my cheeks and poked it. She laughed, “Your cheeks are so puffy.” I moved her hands away and finished swallowing.

She took my bag and grabbed my notebook. She flipped to the very end and laughed again, “As usual, your drawings are very….interesting and insightful.” “Yah! It’s not that bad really!” I said.

"I always wanted to see sunflowers though, grown sunflowers and not cut flowers," she said. "I always see either cut flowers or paintings of it, I want to see the real thing though."

The real thing…the real thing… It repeated in my mind and suddenly an idea had pop into my mind. “Ah! I’ll be right back!” I said and quickly left with my bag. I ran out of the room and the hospital which left _________ very confused.

I was walking back from the flower shop down the street of the small town. I looked at the seeds in my hands as I walked towards the hospital. I had the idea of buying sunflower seeds and planting them so that ________ would finally be able to see flowers bloom before her eyes.

I went back to the room and walked in, “Hey ________, I’m-” I quickly closed the door once I saw her coughing harshly. I looked through the glass window at the door to see her holding a tissue with blood on it. My eyes widened and I walked away in a state of shock, not knowing what to do.

Why did she never tell me her illness? Not once has she ever mentioned it either. It was a painful sight to always see you in such pain but I was never able to bring myself to even aid you.

---

Days flew by and before I knew it, it was the final day that I’d be able to visit you again. The final day of everything…

"Only now you were able to draw a proper flower? Barely even! It took your three weeks to draw one!" She said and handed me the notebook back.

"Well I guess it’s thanks to you," I said and smiled. "Say, how do flowers grown right from the earth look like? Are they stunningly beautiful or terrifyingly ugly?" She asked and giggled.

"Stunningly beautiful," I said and paused. "Just like you but you seem to shine more than them." I saw her eyes widened a bit as she blushed. Before I could even think of what to do next, my lips were on yours just like that.

She pulled away and smiled, “Will you promise me to show me how stunningly beautiful they are next time?” I raised my pinky and we sealed it with a pinky promise, “I promise.”

That was the last time I ever saw your beautiful smile. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep your promise. Even in the end I wasn’t able to ask about your illness or even give you the sunflower seeds. It also seemed like the sunflower seeds didn’t want to stay forever either so it seems it had disappeared.

I went back once again after a week you’ve left and I walked into the room. Everything looked the same except there seemed to be something added to the room.

"Oh, before ________ had left, she said that the flower planted in the pot was there in memory of her," the nurse said. "Though I wonder how it’ll be able to grow with such little sunlight."

I took a deep breath as I approached the bed. “I touched the small little stem of the flower. “I-I’m sorry I couldn’t keep the promise,” I whispered. “If only we could be together once more or even forever but I guess that only happens in fairy tales.”

I felt a tear slip down my cheek and I wiped it away. “I miss you a lot ________,” I whispered. I stood up and opened up the window to let the sun shine onto the flower.

"I miss you _________," I said and I let my tears just run down my cheeks freely. "I….I love you."

Those three words that I’ve kept inside me. If only I was able to say it before, if only I had brought myself to say it earlier. I love you….

OKAY! SO! How was it? Was it more sad or fluff? I’m not so sure either. Anyways, hoped you enjoyed it!

-Admin L