Junhong always noticed a wide variety of people walk through the shop doors. He always liked to observe them, as if they were creatures trapped in cages. They wandered through the tiny flower shop with gazes that were each different. He always smiled at them though, even if it seemed like they didn't want his kindness. There are a variety of reasons why people would want flowers. The contrast of those options are so different and Junhong likes to think about it a lot. He's often fascinated by the thought of it.

They would buy flowers for their dying loved one, then another customer would come in and buy roses for their first crush. It was like some kind of cycle, it was too different, but Junhong liked it. 

Junhong shook his head playfully, he clicked his tongue against his teeth and shook his head at a joke that his customer made. Mr. Park was here again, like he often was, Junhong laughed at the expression Mr. Park gave him. 

"What's the special occasion?" Junhong asked and tilted his head, eyeing the extravagent selection of flowers that he was wrapping up for his long time customer. Mr. Park sighed heavily and looked off to the side, his eyes darted around the shop in disinterested dismay. Junhong stopped short and furrowed his eyebrows. "Dont tell me..." Junhong lifted an eyebrow and leaned against the counter in mock exhuastion. "Are these apology flowers? Did you make your wife angry again?" Mr. Park crossed his arms and huffed, which was quite a sight, seeing as the man was well into his 50s.

"Well, it's no secret is it?" He asked and Junhong shook his head in disappointment. There was often a bite to Mr. Park's tone but Junhong learned not to take it so personally. When he first met Mr. Park a year ago, they really disliked each other. Mr. Park just didn't seem to like Junhong's smile all that much. He commented on it once, saying that it was much too bright for any normal human being. "She gets angry at even the tiniest of things, it's ridiculous."

"Well, she has good reason to. Marrying you probably wasn't easy on her." Junhong hid behind the huge flower arrangement when Mr. Park tried to swat at him. Junhong peeked around the flowers to find Mr. Park glaring at him, albeit playfully. Junhong smiled warmly and shrugged, tying colorful ribbons around the base of the flowers. "At least you're trying Mr. Park. She's actually quite lucky, if you ask me." Junhong glanced up to catch Mr. Park smirk proudly to himself. He was really a rather odd person, but he was very handsome. Junhong thought that he would like to look like Mr. Park once he had aged. He was tall, with a handsome face and short black hair with speckled gray mixed in. Everytime he walked into the shop he was wearing a suit and a gold watch, both looking nice and expensive. Junhong was secretly glad though, that his wife was often angry at him. That meant he would buy the expensive flowers, and Junhong always liked to sell those.

"Well, I'm almost done here." Junhong sighed and stuck in a small note that said 'I'm sorry' in elegant cursive letters. Mr. Park walked over and handed his card to Junhong with a tired expression on his face. This was kind of a routine now, if they were both being truthful. It was actually really nice when Mr. Park would come in on some evenings and order flowers for his wife. He took her on dates often and Junhong only met Mr. Park's wife once. They were such a lovely couple that Junhong couldn't help but feel very lonely when he looked at them. Although they seemed to fight often, he thought that they looked like they really love each other. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to forgive so easily. Junhong handed his card back to him and slid the flowers over to his valued customer. Mr. Park told him to keep the receipt and then picked up the heavy flowers. It seemed like Mrs. Park really liked things like this, and then Junhong had a thought, maybe his wife just pretended to be angry at him so that she could get expensive flowers. He laughed inwardly at that thought.

"Thank you, Mr. Junhong." Mr. Park said and Junhong frowned at the weird sounding way he adressed him. 

"I told you not to call me Mr." Junhong reminded, he could hardly see his face from behind the huge arrangement of flowers.

"That's right, I forgot, Junhong." Mr. Park grinned and turned around to walk towards the front door. "I suppose I will see you soon, knowing my wife." He shook his head and Junhong smiled wide. 

"Oh yeah, what did you do that made her so angry?" Junhong called after him and Mr. Park stopped and glanced over his shoulder.

"I'll save that story for next time." He answered, then said goodbye again and left. Junhong cleaned up the counter and thought about what Mrs. Park was going to say when she seen the pretty flowers waiting for her. He smiled for a fleeting moment and then stood in the flower shop for a minute, waiting to see if any other customers would walk in. Soft music was playing throughout the shop and it was making Junhong sleepy, he had to wake up at 5 in the morning because of an urgent call from his boss. It was rather bothersome that he had to take over orders this morning because of it, and this wasn't even a new situation to him. This kind of thing happened all the time. His boss was indecisive and busy, those two factors did not mix together and made for a very chaotic working schedule. "Hm..." Junhong decided to head to the back to start on his work. It was a few hours until closing time and he still had orders to fill, so they would be ready to be picked up tomorrow morning. 

It was really rather simple, he had a computer on a desk in the back, with flowers surrounding him in containers and buckets, ready to be arranged in a specific order. Then, wrapped and settled in a box with a note, or a customized letter- this part was the most difficult for Junhong. His boss liked to do things very simply and naturally, this meant that he didn't like to print things out. So Junhong spent months and nights of trying to fix his tragic handwriting into something very delicate and pretty. He learned how to make his cursive letters look less like a train wreck and his boss even paid him more for handwriting the letters. So, that took some time as well. 

Junhong checked the computer for orders and then went to cutting stems and ribbons, arranging colors and wrapping paper. Sometimes the orders were very light, and thankfully this was one of those days. His boss made a good decision though, right now Junhong was the only florist in the small area where he lived. They usually had good business. It wasn't like that when he first started to work though, he had studied plants and learned every kind of flower and their meanings. He learned how to store them, at what temperature and the certain steps he had to take to ensure the longest life of the plants. He worked hard, he gathered books that his boss gave him. He was desperate to keep this job that he was given. Thankfully, as time went on he adapted to everything and he became the only florist that his boss would accept. So, he kept his job. Then, more and more customers arrived and he was thankful that he had experience by then.

Junhong put on his gloves to handle the bundles of roses with thorns on them. He smiled happily at the state they were in, he had to admit, he felt some pride in the way they looked.

A sudden jingle of the bell in the front alerted him of a new customer. Junhong glanced at the time, an hour until closing. He sighed and put down the roses, took off his gloves, and put on a bright smile before stepping out to the front. 

"Welcome to-...Jongup?" Junhong frowned and tilted his head. "What are you doing here?" His roommate stood at the front counter with a grin on his face. It wasn't often that they seen each other outside of their apartment.

"Why are you so snappy?" Jongup asked and reached over the counter to punch his friend lightly in the arm. "I need some flowers, that's what florists do right? Or is this shop just for show?" He joked and Junhong rolled his eyes.

"It's because it's almost closing time." Junhong stretched and yawned, then took off his apron and walked around the counter to stand by Jongup. "And what kind of flowers do you need, do you have a girlfriend that I don't know about?" He teased. Jongup scoffed and waved him off.

"No, I told you that I was going to visit my mom for the weekend remember?" Jongup asked, Junhong made a small noise in acknowledgment, he had almost forgot. "Yeah, so I was supposed to leave an hour ago but I got held up." 

"Okay, then what do you need. Something small?" Junhong suggested and walked over to the many flowers that lined up against the wall. Jongup thought about it for a moment, then simply nodded checking the time on his watch. 

"Yeah, and she likes the color yellow so..." Jongup paused for a moment. "Are you sure you don't want to go?"

Junhong took a rubber tie and glanced over his shoulder at a fidgeting Jongup, he smiled and shook his head. He suddenly remembered a time when Jongup was late to visit and his mother scolded him even though she hadn't seem him in a few months. "Why didn't you leave earlier, she's gonna scold you." Junhong sighed and gathered different contrasting shades of yellow and bundled them together, adding more and more to get the shape that he wanted. Junhong had an eye for things like this, and even the decoration that he added had to balance perfectly with the arrangements. "Is she allergic to anything?" Junhong asked and glanced behind once again, Jongup shook his head.

Junhong added tiny yellow roses and daffodils with ranunculus as the main focus, along with craspedia and solidaster for decoration. He tied the rubber tie around the stems to hold them together and then showed Jongup his work. "Is this okay?" He asked and Jongup nodded in approval and patted Junhong on the back. Jongup had been in the shop more than once so he already picked out the wrapping paper and ribbons he wanted. Junhong wrapped it with finesse, oblivious to the fact that his skill was clearly showing. Jongup smiled proudly from behind the counter as Junhong finished up. 

"Thanks Junhong." Jongup smiled and handed over the correct amount of money in exchange for the bouquet of beautiful yellow flowers.

"You don't have to thank me." Junhong mumbled, but then took a small box of chocolate strawberries from the display cooler and slid it across the counter and in front of Jongup. "Here...so your mother won't be so angry." Junhong smiled brightly, and Jongup ruffled Junhong's hair from over the counter. 

"Then thanks for this." Jongup picked up the box and then said goodbye, heading towards the front door. "I won't be back until Monday probably, so don't go throwing any parties while I'm gone!" He laughed at his joke as he ran out the door. 

"You're the only one who throws parties!" Junhong yelled after him. He could hear Jongup's faint laugh from outside, then heard his car drive off and into the night. Junhong started to put everything away, the flowers in their coolers, water-filled containers. He took inventory and made small notes, making sure to remind himself of certain flowers that needed to be restocked or ordered. Most of the rare flowers needed to be ordered and delivered whereas others could be picked up from a nearby flower market.

Junhong finished cleaning and clearing up everything, bringing in the flowers that were on display outside, and locking up everything. It took a good hour and a half to get everything done but Junhong was used to it.

....

"Now...dinner..." Junhong mumbled and tried to ignore the headache that was forming. He didn't eat much all day, and he couldn't plan any meals with Jongup because he was gone for the weekend. Friday nights were usually spent alone or with Jongup, their dinner's consisted of pasta, salad, pasta, pizza, fried chicken and more pasta. Junhong didn't know how to cook very well and Jongup swore that the only thing his mother taught him how to cook was pasta. It was actually funny at first, until the only thing Junhong started to eat was different variations of pasta. Chicken pasta, plain pasta, pasta salad, and another one that Junhong just didn't want to remember.

Junhong walked down the road, carrying his bag with him that contained some books for when he got bored at work, some candy that he would eat throughout the day, his wallet, phone, keys and maybe a sweater for when he walked home and it was cold out. He counted his money quickly, realizing that the only option tonight would be food from a street vendor, which really wasn't all that bad. He passed a few street vendors until he caught sight of one that he wanted. He ordered and waited for his food while the lady cooked it. He ran a hand though his brown wavy hair, and tilted his head back to watch the stars that were out. It was almost midnight already. Usually he would get home by 10 or 11 but today had just not gone the way he wanted it to. He didn't bother to check his phone, he knew that the only message he probably had was from his boss telling him to make sure he locks up. 

"Sir, your food is ready." The lady said and Junhong smiled at her, handing her the money and taking the bag with his food in it. 

"Thank you." He smiled warmly and she smiled back at him. "Have a good night." He said and she nodded back, thanking him. Junhong walked away and tried to resist the smell of the food in the bag. His stomach was hurting from not eating.

Throughout the day, he was left with little time to think for himself. So when he finally got off work and he was outside in the night, walking home with only his thoughts to accompany him- it got a little overwhelming. It was like the thoughts all bombarded him at once. Finally when he thought he could get some peace his mind wouldn't stop thinking...shooting thoughts at him both good and bad. 

For some reason- tonight he remembered the day Jongup told him there was a job available for him. Back then they were in their last year of high school and Junhong wanted to get a job, since his family wasn't well off. Jongup said that he had a friend who owned a flower shop and would ask if he was hiring. That's how things started, he learned a lot and was able to keep his job. 

Junhong's thoughts skipped around to the day he got rejected by his father. It was a few months before graduation.

"Dad, I think I'm gay." The words that left Junhong's mouth that day could never be taken back but Junhong doesn't regret it. No amount of statistics or facts that Junhong scraped up could change his dad's mind. 

"After you finish high school, I never want to see your face again." 

It didn't even seem difficult for him to say.

It's still hard to talk about of course, the only parent he had left, abandoned him. The first time he told Jongup about it, he could barely get the words out. Jongup just hugged him and told him that he was his family and he would never abandon him. So, that's how they ended up living together after high school.

Jongup asked if he wanted to live together, and if he didn't ask- Junhong didn't know where he would have gone. As summer ended Jongup made plans to go to the local college and Junhong continued his work at the flower shop. Junhong knows that Jongup changes his plans just for him, he even selected a college close to the flower shop so that their apartment would be in the middle of both of their prominent places. Junhong feels bad of course, almost guilty but he doesn't bring it up, ever. 

Junhong hung his head in the cold of the night and tried to force his thoughts to the back of his mind, but that never worked. 

...

He was sitting on the couch now, all his food eaten and forgotten about on the coffee table. It's almost 1:30 in the morning and he can barely keep his eyes open, his thoughts are on a rampage.

He wondered if he should have accepted the invitation to go to Jongup's house for the weekend to visit his mom. He wondered what it would be like if he was in Jongup's shoes. He feels bad, he feels guilty. He feels like the people who buy apology flowers, he feels like Mr. Park.

He notices it now that he smells like fresh flowers that have not been put away. He doesn't like it, he hates how his job has been turned into a lifeline.

Junhong seen a wide variety of people walk through the shop doors. He always liked to observe them, as if they were creatures trapped in cages. He's just like them, his emotions never seemed to match up with what he was portraying. He wakes up in the morning just like them, but somehow it's different from those who have a crush or a date to the dance. He's more similar to those who visit gravesites. He doesn't want to wake up in the morning, and sometimes he thinks he wants to stop trying. How can he survive if he is barely living. Junhong closes his eyes and drowns himself in his thoughts.

He is darkness in a world of color.