Author's recommendation:

| 1. Open a tab of youtube. | 2. Search Periphescence by Glowworm. | 3. Put in on loop. | 4. Enjoy reading. |

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Stretching his limbs out far, Wonshik yawned. He let out a long sigh before returning to his laptop screen. The Jjajangmyeon really hit the spot, he thought. He was gradually feeling sleepy. Shaking his head, he stood up and jumped around the room. Slapping his face a few times, he tried to refresh his brain.

‘Plants help us to heal the most.’

He stopped in his pace and looked around. The walls were greyish white and the windows were bare. The coffee table along with the simple couch set by the corner of the room was duller than ever. He sighed. It almost seemed like the room were far worse than all the patients he’s ever handled. It didn’t sit right with him. He shut his laptop off and got ready to leave.

“Why is it so windy today?” Wonshik wondered as he fixed his hair.

He let out a sigh as he stared at his reflection for a while and looked up. He was at the old folks’ home. He didn’t know why he suddenly decided to go there but his guts persuaded him to. So there he was. He walked up to the reception desk and found himself lost for words. He didn’t even know granny’s name, so how was he to meet her?

Ah. There’s another way.

“Excuse me, is the volunteer Lee Jaehwan in?” He tried.

“I’m sorry but he called in sick today. Do you want to leave a message? I could pass it to him,” said the receptionist.

“It's fine, thank you,” he smiled awkwardly and walked away.

He found an empty bench by the end of the hall and settled on it with a sigh. Idiot, he scolded himself. He looked at his phone and thought of asking Hyuk directly for granny’s name but it didn’t feel right. He sighed again.

“That’s quite the long sigh there, young man. And to think I’m the one older here, not you,” said a voice beside Wonshik.

He followed the voice and was absolutely delighted to find that it was granny herself that was talking to him. A wide smile grew on his face.

“Granny!!!”

“Oh, do you know me?” Granny asked with a gentle smile.

“I’m…” his voice trailed off.

‘You don’t remember?’ Of course not, you imbecile; she has dementia. He wanted to punch himself but he opted to manage the situation as best as he could. Sitting up straight, he looked at the elder and held out his hand.

“Sorry, granny. I didn’t introduce myself, how rude. My name is Wonshik. We talked once before but my face is really common so you couldn’t have remembered,” he said, working up a smile.

“Oh, really now? Well, then I’m pleased to meet you. I’m sorry that I couldn’t remember you but my memories' a little foggy lately so don’t be hurt by it, alright?” She said as gently as one could get and shook his hand.

“Of course not, everyone’s allowed to have foggy memories once in a while, right?” Wonshik chuckled.

Granny laughed.

For a while, they talked about everything on that hall bench but through the conversations, Wonshik managed to get granny to talk about Hyuk; though she still regards him as ‘Han’, Hyuk’s father. He went along with it and entertained her with the little things that he could say. When it started to die down, he finally remembered why he was there in the first place.

“Actually, today I came here to seek advice. Someone told me that plants are the best when it comes to healing a person. I wanted to decorate this room I have since it’s really sullen but I don’t know where to start. Randomly placing plants won’t work, will it?”

“Ah, I used to say that too but it’s not that the plants that heal us. It’s us that nurture it, care for it as it grows, it helps us to heal ourselves. That’s why when you put a plant near you, you eventually grow with the plant,” said granny, her eyes lost in distant sight.

“…grow?”

“Yes, grow. As the plants grow bigger and stronger, some prettier, we grow to be patient, loving and understanding towards the world. To grow a plant is hard work, my boy. You need to always water it, love it, be understanding of it if it grows slower than others and if it goes sick. They can’t speak or move so they can’t express themselves if they have something wrong with their growth. It’s up to us to understand it, don’t you think?” Granny smiled.

Being a psychiatrist, Wonshik only knew how to handle human beings…not plants so the topic was beyond interesting for him. He wanted to know more about it but at the same time, he was developing a headache. Maybe he was sleepy, he thought.

“What’s your favorite color, Wonshik?” She suddenly asked.

“Um…I don’t really have a favorite. What about you, granny?”

“I like the color of the sun, all of it. The bright yellow when it rises, the dark orange as it starts to set and the purple-maroon color it makes when it finally meets the ground.”

“Granny… you’re really poetic, do you know that?” Wonshik smiled.

“I hear that a lot, my boy.”

---

“I regret nothing,” sighed Hakyeon as he walked into the already familiar apartment.

“You’re a really good companion to talk to, do you know that?” Jaehwan asked.

They were back from the supermarket with all of the things in Jaehwan’s list in their hands. It was a short trip but it was enjoyable for both of the males since they were interacting as if they’ve known each other for years. I haven’t felt that free for a while now, thought Hakyeon.

“As a psychiatrist, of course, I know,” he chuckled.

“No, I meant as a person,” Jaehwan laughed at the other.

“Well, I haven’t heard it in a while so thanks. You’re not so bad yourself; I haven’t talked to anyone about matters other than work for the past year and to think it would be with a friend I just made not 2 weeks old.”

“My pleasure then,” said the younger, beaming.

He put the bag of groceries on the dining table before arranging them in the kitchen cabinets and refrigerator. Hakyeon followed his lead and tried to help a little here and there. He settled on the couch after they were done and was then presented with a popsicle by the other. They enjoyed it in short silence.

Jaehwan’s eyes were darting all over and being the psychiatrist that he was, Hakyeon didn’t say a word; he waited for the other to be able to say it on his own. The air changed. He’s about to ask something serious, Hakyeon noted.

“Say…do you think I can meet with Taekwoon again?” He finally asked in a quiet voice.

There it is.

“...sure. Why do you ask?”

“I mean, it’s usually hard to visit like I did the last time, isn’t it?”

“Well…I’d be lying if I said no but it can be arranged. We still have one more experiment to go and maybe we can fit you in. What do you think?”

“Experiment…you mean like the one you did the other day?” He asked quietly.

“Yes.”

“It helps with his rehabilitation, right?” His voice was wavering.

For some reason, Hakyeon could hear the concern dripping from the other’s voice as he spoke. A soft smile came across his face. He sat closer to Jaehwan and settled a hand on his shoulder.

“That question deserves a big ‘yes’. We would do nothing less to help him,” Hakyeon said as firmly as he could.

Jaehwan looked up and he couldn’t help but gasp at the determination he saw in Hakyeon’s eyes. No one can ever doubt that, he thought. He took a deep breath and decided to put all his trust in the male sitting across him. He couldn’t help Taekwoon back then; he made it even worse so for the moment, he would do anything to make up for that.

He nodded and directed a weak smile to the other.

“This last experiment is going to be the hardest for him out of all those before and all of us are going to help. You, me and Wonshik. I thought of only letting him go through it with Hongbin like he always does but I don’t want him to be dependent. He needs to find a way to stand on his own even when we’re there to help him.”

“Yeah…okay. I trust you.”

“And I, you.”

---

A little later into the evening, Hakyeon decided to go check up on Wonshik and the two important patients of his. He couldn’t sit right if he didn’t. He arrived around 6 pm and he was shocked to see that the monitoring room he’d been sitting in for months had been totally transformed. He stood in the doorway and gaped. The walls were still the same but the couch had a new set of covers, the coffee table had a neat, clean cloth laid on it with a small plant placed on it and there was another one by the glass table, next to Wonshik’s laptop.

‘Shocked’ would be an understatement.

He walked inside and looked around. The chairs by the table had new sky blue cushions on it and there was an empty white mug decorated with black stars next to a half-filled mug with the same design but the colors were inverted. He walked over to the couch and sat in the middle of it. The blankets that they used before were neatly folded by the armrest. He thoughtlessly picked it up and sniffed it. It smelled like it was laid out in the sun with the breeze passing by.

It was heart-warming, somehow. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh, hyung! I thought you were with Jaehwan hyung?”

It was Wonshik. He just came in from his rounds. He walked over to the elder and sat next to him, making Hakyeon scoot over to the other side. A little annoyed, the elder lightly elbowed the other. Wonshik gave out a little groan and chuckled.

“What, you don’t like the changes I made? I tried really hard, though,” he whined.

“Why so suddenly? For a moment, I thought you should be placed in one of the patient rooms,” he joked.

“I kinda had enough with the gloomy atmosphere. We’re not patients so our rooms shouldn’t be like theirs, don’t you think?”

“…well yeah, I guess.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“Hyung.”

“What?”

“Taekwoon asked for a favor today.”

Hakyeon’s eyebrows shot up as he heard. He turned to the younger and waited.

“He asked if we could let Hongbin stay in his room for the night.”

“So what did you say?” Asked Hakyeon, curiosity getting the best of him.

“I said yes, of course. I think he has some sort of surprise for Hongbin seeing how busy he was moving around his room,” said Wonshik.

“Really? Then I guess it’s okay to let them have their way once in a while since Taekwoon hasn’t asked from us in a while. The last he did was for a song. It was so random,” Hakyeon sighed as he turned his head to the screens.

“Really? That’s weird. Hongbin asked me for a song too not long ago. And it was an English song, at that,” he followed the elder’s gaze.

“I think they both have something in mind for the other.”

Wonshik blinked and a knowing smile appeared on his face.

“Hyung, should we both go home for today?” He suggested.

“You can go if you want. I’ll stay.”

He nudged the elder and he turned to face him.

“Are you acting like you don’t understand or do you really not understand?” Wonshik asked, a little annoyed.

“What?” Hakyeon was puzzled.

“You do know they have a thing for each other, right? I think tonight they’re going to prove that to each other and with us being here, I don’t think it’d be nice,” he smiled.

“…what?”

“Oh, come on hyung! Let’s just go home. I finished the reports for the last time and even edited the documents for the next experiment. We can go home!” Wonshik was frustrated.

Wonshik stood and helped the confused other to stand as well. He turned his laptop and monitoring screens off and set the alarms on; in case anything happens to the two patients. He got back to Hakyeon and pulled on his arm as he walked out. The elder was more than just confused, he was flustered.

“Wait, wait WAIT!”

“What???”

“What do you mean they have a thing for each other? What do you mean tonight they’re going to prove it? What do you mean we can’t be here? We’re monitoring from a different room, they can’t see us!”

Groaning and sighing at the same time, Wonshik ran his fingers through his hair. This hyung...

“You may be smart in psychology and counseling but you’re hopeless when it comes to this. They like each other. They’ve been looking at one another ever since we started this project, the first experiment; though they haven’t said anything to one another yet. And now, for the past few weeks, they’ve been busy preparing something to do that exact thing. Even if we’re here and they can’t see us, it’s rude! Have common sense, hyung, sheesh!” Wonshik ended with a heavy huff.

A little more than stunned, Hakyeon blinked. His eyebrows were knitted together and his frown was more than visible.

“Hyung!”

“I get it, I get it, okay?”

“Then why are we not going?”

Though he was frustrated, Wonshik stood his ground, trying to be nice to this hopeless hyung of his.

“Why don’t you call me ‘sunbae’ anymore?”

Wonshik snorted. He pulled on the elder’s arm again walked them both out.

---

Is it possible to die of pre-embarrassment? Taekwoon thought to himself nervously. He fidgeted through every passing second and it showed no signs of settling down. He tried his best to breathe as his eyes slowly trailed to his left side. Even at the sight of the light brown hair, Taekwoon’s mind went blank.

Hongbin was the same. He was staring at nothing but the floor. His fingers felt like they weren’t his fingers; they were awkward. He wanted to look at Taekwoon but he didn’t have the courage because he knew once he did, everything will just fade away. It would’ve been fine if he didn’t have anything to say and only wanted to gaze at the other but this time, it was different. He had so much to say that if he didn’t do it then, he would’ve exploded. Mustering the little courage he had left, he turned to his side and faced Taekwoon.

“I-”

And everything disappeared.

He had only looked at Taekwoon for a brief second yet both his brain and heart gave up on him, just because the elder was blushing from the edge of his cheeks to the tip of his ears. His eyes were darting all over the room and his fingers were curled up, stiff by his knees. In Hongbin’s eyes, it was adorable. So adorable that he lost most of his previous nervousness.

He inched closer to the elder and tried to meet their eyes. It took everything in Taekwoon to not lie down and hide under the bed. He did his best to stop averting his eyes and slowly meet them with Hongbin’s. He immediately regretted it once his heart made a giant leap as it feasted on Hongbin’s bright yet slightly shy smile. He gritted his teeth.

Unsurprisingly, Hongbin noticed. Ever so gently, he reached his hand out and wrapped his fingers around Taekwoon’s stiff fist. The elder flinched. Softly, he caressed the elder’s hand, trying to help him calm down.

“I’m nervous too,” he whispered with a gentle smile.

“…I’m…I’m super nervous,” Taekwoon breathed.

“Then do you want to hold my hand…?”

He turned his hand and revealed the slightly sweating palm. He chuckled quietly and tried to cover his face, embarrassed. A soft smile suddenly carving on Taekwoon’s face, he took it. He let out a shaky breath and tried to face the other properly.

“Thank you…” he smiled.

Don’t give up on me again, heart! Hongbin scolded himself inwardly.

“F-for what?” He stuttered.

“…for always offering a hand.”

Hongbin could feel his heart close to committing suicide.

“It’s my pleasure,” he smiled, his expression suddenly softer than before.

“Um…can you, um, can we stand up?” Taekwoon looked at their hands.

“S-sure?”

Both of the males slowly stood up. There was a brief silence. Taekwoon took a deep breath and led Hongbin to the door. He stopped right before it and turned to the other. He felt a cold sweat breaking from under his bangs. Hongbin was eyeing him intently, probably wondering what he was about to do; his stare subtly wavering Taekwoon’s heart. The taller squeezed the other’s hand and let it go.

“I’m going to turn the lights off-”

“-what”

“I’m only turning it off to show you something…is t-that okay?” He asked gently.

Hongbin didn’t answer. He was looking at the light switch with a worried expression.

“Hey. I’m here. I’ll be here. I won’t leave you b-but you have to trust me. I need to show you this or not…o-or not I’m going to regret everything.”

“…but I’m still scared.”

“I know. I know…I am too, although, it’s a little different than yours. I’m scared you might not understand what’s about to happen and I’m scared you might…distance yourself a-after seeing it-”

“There is no way I would do that,” the shorter said, immediately looking up with furrowed eyebrows.

“W-well…the same goes for me. I won’t leave you.”

Hearing that, Hongbin unconsciously grabbed onto Taekwoon’s shirt by his side. Taekwoon held his breath. Hongbin has never touched the other parts of his body other than his occasionally trembling and sweating hands so it caught him off guard. He could feel a little tremble in the other’s fingers. He swallowed his saliva.

“O-okay…h-here I go then. Take a deep breath, close your eyes a-and…and trust me.”

“Don’t leave, okay?” Whispered Hongbin, slightly grabbing Taekwoon’s shirt by the hem.

“I won’t,” he said as he turned off the lights.

Slowly, he reached for the trembling hand by his side. He gently wrapped his fingers around the other’s and led him a few steps closer to the wall. Hongbin reluctantly followed. Once they stopped, the shorter heard the other let out a long, trembling sigh. He wanted to know why but he wasn’t speaking. Thankfully, he didn’t have to.

“O-okay, you can open your eyes now.”

He was still scared to do so but hearing the nervous tone from Taekwoon, his curiosity got the best of him. He opened his eyes, hoping to see the face that he adored so much before him but it wasn’t. It wasn’t as great but it was still wonderful. Hongbin couldn’t actually express what he was seeing in words but he didn’t mind it at all; he was never one to be good with words anyway.

“They’re…words,” he breathed, barely above a whisper, “glowing words… glowing, familiar…words.”

Hongbin read through some of them and the realization slowly started to sink in. His heart skipped a beat; it was Park Hyoshin’s Wildflower, all materialized with most probably more than a box of glow in the dark marker pens. If that wasn’t amazing enough, it was all arranged into the shape of-

“-a wildflower.”

My chest hurts, a thought crossed Hongbin’s mind. He felt it tightening even more.

“It’s…this…this is so beautiful. Hyung…did you, did you do this?”

He waited for an answer as he closed in the gap from his spot and the wall. He reached his hand out and slowly started to trace the masterpiece under his fingertips. They felt real. They felt so real it almost brought tears to Hongbin’s eyes.

“…hyung… did you, did you do this yourself? T-the whole thing, this wonderful drawing? Hyung?” Hongbin turned to Taekwoon.

It was dark, yes, but god was it wonderful. The view of Taekwoon in the dark, only slightly illuminated by the glow in the dark drawing on the wall was the only thing that could ever take Hongbin’s breath away. A faint, sad smile appeared on his face. He could feel tears b at the edge of his eyes. He rubbed them away with his sleeves and sniffed.

As soon as Hongbin did it, Taekwoon took in a sharp breath. Did I do something wrong? He panicked. He nervously held out his arms and gently touched the other. He pried Hongbin’s face up and bit his lip. Taekwoon didn’t know what to do.

“What’s wrong?” Taekwoon whispered to him.

“Nothing,” Hongbin slightly chuckled and smiled.

What a beautiful smile, thought Taekwoon; beautiful…but sad. That was when his hands unconsciously went up to the sides of the other’s face and his fingers started to trace the outlines that could be seen in the dim room. He’s always seen that face from afar; even the closest was never enough to let him notice just how perfect Hongbin was. As his fingers traced, his eyes eventually followed and fell on the Hongbin’s. His fingers stopped.

“O-oh, s-sorry, I didn’t realize w-what-” he pulled his arms back.

“…I don’t…I don’t really mind. It actually felt nice,” Hongbin said with half a smile.

Nervous, Taekwoon wiped his palms on his sides. He averted eye contact. Hongbin, on the other hand, was enjoying himself a little more than before despite his fear of the darkness subtly hung around him. Trying his best not to be distracted by it, he looked at the drawing on the wall again. He sighed.

Beautiful, he thought.

It’s a big flower, a big flower drawn by glow-in-the-dark pens. However, that wasn’t what was amazing about it. It was the method of drawing the flower. Usually, it would be lines of sketches, darkened edges and blank spaces but this…this piece of beauty was one of a kind. Who knew a picture could be drawn with just words, nothing more and looked this breathtakingly beautiful.

Hovering quietly by the other’s side, Taekwoon slowly reached for Hongbin’s hand again. Hongbin didn’t turn around but he greeted it with a soft smile. He gently squeezed his hand and pulled their bodies together, sides softly touching each other. He let out a content sigh.

“…you’re amazing,” he whispered, “so amazingly talented, amazingly warm-hearted and…amazingly beautiful.”

Taekwoon squeezed his hand as he felt his chest tightened. Unknowingly, he scrunched his face up and bit his lip. He quietly moved behind Hongbin as he let go of his hand and placed both of them around the younger’s body. He buried his face in Hongbin’s neck and slowly let a shaky breath out. Without a single word, Hongbin slowly Taekwoon’s arms that were by his chest and smiled as he closed his eyes.

He’s so warm.

Sniff.

He’s crying.

Hongbin opened his eyes and took a second before slowly turning around in the other’s arms. He wrapped his arms around Taekwoon’s sides and let him continue to bury his face in his neck. Hongbin gently the other’s back as he felt the worry in his mind thicken. Even so, he knew better than to let it eat him. He closed his eyes and started to quietly hum a tune. After a while, Hongbin no longer felt the shaky breath by his neck; it was calmer then. His worries started to fade away as he was convinced of so. He let out a relieved sigh and rested his arms around Taekwoon’s waist.

Hongbin buried his nose and lips in the other’s shoulder and took in the familiar smell. Ah, I love his-

“I love you.”

“Hongbin… I love you.”

---

Author's note: 

From the bottom of my heart, I apologize to everyone that has been patiently waiting for this story to continue. I know I'm not very good at keeping track of my updating schedule but I also know that I will never forget about it, at least not this piece; I love it too much to actually forget about it. I owe you all an explanation and here it is: these past few months have been the most turbulent ones in my life and I had no way of escaping. I was too depressed, too broken, too messed up to write and I was afraid I might break the story (and/or myself) if I did so. I know I shouldn't give so many excuses but I am human and I am allowed. I wanted to give you all more than just this one chapter update like promising to update again within the same month but I no longer like making promises. I don't want to break anything else now after all that's happened. 

Although...I do hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Lots of love.