Roses and Paper
Roses and PaperIf you've read this fic already then ok lol this is my original AFF account, I made the papawufine to write only exo fics but I decided to delete that account and put all stories here.
------------------------------------------------------
The sky was just the right shade of blue, it was unusually a quiet day. It was only a Saturday, and Chanyeol had decided to wake up early on this particular day. It was a special day. Chanyeol sat up from his bed, his eyes still half open and his hair a complete mess. At home he had ignored everyone like always, not saying a single word even to his own mother who simply watched as her son had left their home. Chanyeol made his way, his destination of choice took exactly 15 minutes. In the span of 15 minutes he could only hear words in his head.
"It's not going to be forever"
"You say that now but you never know."
"No, I'm being honest."
"It's a lie."
"Everything was a lie but this."
Chanyeol didn't picture anything else but lips moving, words coming out of them. Painful words. But as soon as Chanyeol got to the small bookstore his face changed automatically. He entered the quiet shop and went to the back of the store, taking stacks and stacks of different types of stationary and taking them all towards the registrar. Chanyeol sat on the stool by the registrar and one by one he began folding the papers into various ways of creating a flower. He spent a good four hours creating a magnificent bouquet of paper flowers. He made stems out of the green paper and arranged them carefully to look like a tasteful bouquet. After that, he'd look at it and smile. He'd admire it and put i aside, waiting for the clock to point to 12 noon. While waiting, Chanyeol walked to the back of the room and rummaged through the old books that were given to the shop to sell. He took out one in particular, a book filled with famous French poetry translated in English. He sat on the stack of larger books and out of curiosity, pushed back his glasses and flipped the book. He stopped flipping at a page with a paper squeezed in between the pages. He opened the paper, it was blank so he placed it on another page. His fingers traced through the title.
Tristan an Iseult
Chanyeol was about to read it when a customer had arrived.
When the clock struck 12 Chanyeol began to pack his bag and took the paper bouquet and locked up the store. He began his hour of walking to reach his next destination for the day.
The once clear sky was no longer a bright shade of blue. Now it was getting dark, from a distance the clouds were a shade of gray. Chanyeol had arrived to his destination and he stood by the empty side for a good five minutes before setting foot on the clean grass. He made careful steps, making sure not to step on the gray and black rectangular stones. It only took a few steps for him to get there. He placed his bag down and next to it he placed the paper bouquet. He laid down on the grass and looked up at the sky. He closed his eyes and this time images, not only words or lips, were running through his mind.
"I don't get it. What are you saying?" Chanyeol asked as he sat innocently on the bed. Baekhyun was standing in front of him, feeling nauseous. Baekyyun swallowed the lump on his throat. He looked at the space on the bed next to Chanyeol. He had the option of sitting right there next to him but instead he chose to walk across the other end of the room and pull a chair, dragging back in front of Chanyeol. "It's just... It has to be like that. Just understand it please." Baekhyun said and Chanyeol knew he had the right to be mad, but when he looked at Baekhyun's eyes he knew he could never get mad at him.
Chanyeol's eyes opened when he felt something wet drop on his forehead. He sat up and grabbed his bag, and walked to the nearest bus stop to get home.
The following day wasn't a great day. Chanyeol wore two jackets and brought an umbrella as he made his way to the bookstore. As he opened the store, there stood a fellow employee of his who was still in high school. The boy was behind the registrar, his head deep into reading. Chanyeol peeked at what he was reading, Romeo and Juliet. "That's a good book." Chanyeol said as he took his bag off his shoulder and set it aside. "Oh, yeah. I have to read it. I can't understand much but I'm taking it slowly. Hey, is it okay if I stay a few more hours today? We can split the pay I get for overtime." Sehun said and Chanyeol agreed. "Do you mind covering my shift tomorrow?" Chanyeol asked. "You can keep my pay for those hours." Chanyeol added and Sehun smiled. "Sure, I'll need the extra money." Sehun said and Chanyeol smirked. "Let me guess, you're trying to buy something expensive for that Chinese pretty boy in your class." Chanyeol said and Sehun buried his face deeper into the book, hiding his flushed face. Chanyeol only laughed.
The entire day it rained, not a single drop was spared. There were no thunderstorms but it was difficult to walk outside. But after a few hours the rain had slowly began to die down. Chanyeol and Sehun spent the entire time in silence. Except for the time they had argued about calling delivery for food. Sehun had argued he was hungry and Chanyeol argued that he should have sympathy for the deliverymen, considering the heavy pour of the rain. When it was time to lock up, Sehun had walked ahead and took a cab home after being convinced by Chanyeol. Chanyeol opened up his umbrella and began to walk, but stopped only a few steps later to stare through the window. Right by the window was a beautiful bouquet of white roses, with small baby's breath and dandelions tastefully decorated around them. Chanyeol grabbed the door's handle but stopped. He grabbed his handkerchief by his front pocket and closed his umbrella. He entered the flower shop next door with a white handkerchief covering his nose. He approached the registrar and saw an unfamiliar person behind the registrar with a gossip magazine. "Jongdae?" Chanyeol read the employee's name tag. "Welcome, what can I do for you?" Jongdae asked and Chanyeol pointed to the bouquet he saw by the window. "How much?" Chanyeol asked. "43, 478 won." Jongdae said with a smile and Chanyeol's eyes grew in surpise. "That's too expensive..." Chanyeol's voice was muffled. "Excuse me?" Jongdae asked, not being able to hear what Chanyeol had said. "Nothing, I'll take them." Chanyeol said and Jongdae nodded his head and took the bouquet.
Chanyeol had now made his way back to the same destination, and in the one hour he kept thinking of a very distinct memory that, despite how distasteful it was, was the greatest day of his life.
Chanyeol was burying his head in a good novel by Anne Rice. Baekhyun, Chanyeol's schoolmate had entered the shop. "Hi, you're Chanyeol right?" Baekhyun asked straightforward. Chanyeol nodded his head and Baekhyun tried to force a smile as he threw a tiny business card. Chanyeol took it carefully with his two hands. "Flower shop next door belongs to my parents. Come by if you feel like buying someone flowers or just sniffing them." Baekhyun said and left. The then 17 year old Chanyeol watched his disappear before looking back at the card. The following day Chanyeol visited their shop, but as soon as he opened the door and the flower's aroma entered his nostrils Chanyeol went to a fit of sneezes. Countless sneezes, sneeze after sneeze that disturbed the only other person inside the shop. "Are you allergic?" Baekhyun asked as he approached Chanyeol. Chanyeol nodded his head and Baekhyun clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Then why the heck did you even come here?" Baekhyun said as be then began to push out Chanyeol. "Go away." Baekhyun said. "Idiot." He whispered before closing the shops door. Chanyeol stared at the shop before deciding to head back.
Chanyeol had reached his destination. He walked to the same spot as yesterday and looked at the ground. For the past few months he had made paper bouquets but due to the heavy rain a few were washed away, some were stepped on and for short, they were destroyed. Chanyeol slowly placed the flowers down right next to a tombstone. "I saw this, and I know you love white roses, dandelions and baby's breath. I think this was made specially for you. Happy birthday." Chanyeol said looking down at the tombstone, and he felt his tears falling, as he remembered a truly happy memory, on this very day.
"Chanyeol, you need to be careful when holding and wrapping the flowers. Their delicate." Baekhyun said as he began demonstrating it in front of Chanyeol. It was Baekhyun's 20th birthday. Chanyeol had took a double dose of the allergy medication he had asked his doctor to give him a few years back, and even with a double dose he still sneezed a lot, his nose itched all the time and was clogged. Baekhyun had enjoyed it though, saying Chanyeol sounded cute. "I can't believe you still consider entering this place even if you're so deathly allergic to flowers. You're an idiot you know." Baekhyun said and turned to discover Chanyeol picking his nose. Baekhyun slapped Chanyeol's hand which surprised the tall boy. "That's disgusting! Stop doing that!" Baekhyun scolded Chanyeol. He turned around and began wrapping the flowers. "I go here because this is where you are everyday." Chanyeol said and Baekhyun stopped. His hands began to tremble and he felt like crying. Whenever Chanyeol tried to hint or slide in his affections for him, Baekhyun would feel depressed. "You should go." Baekhyun said, the atmosphere grew dark. Chanyeol felt confused. "I'm sorry, I know you hate it when I try to profess my feelings. I can't help it, it's too hard because-" "Just go please? I'll call you later." Baekhyun said and Chanyeol's worried face turned into a smile. "Okay!" Chanyeol said cheerfully and hugged Baekhyun. Baekhyun didn't hug back, even if Chanyeol had waited. Chanyeol let go and immediately ran out of the shop to go back to the bookstore.
Baekhyun did not call, nor showed up. He had left the flower shop 2 hours earlier than the original time his shift would end. For the next few weeks Chanyeol had not seen him or heard. Chanyeol wanted to ask his parents, but Baekhyun's parents did not like how the two interacted. It was only until Baekhyun's next birthday the following year, after spending months in devastation thinking Baekhyun hated him or was forbidden by his parents to see him, did he realize what happened.
"You don't know?" Tao asked and Chanyeol shook his head unsure. "Come with me..." Tao said and took Chanyeol to the local cemetery. It was then and there, Chanyeol's world came crashing down. He felt his brain shut off, his eyesight going away and his blood dropping. There in front of him was Baekhyun's tombstone, date of death was two days after Baekhyun's birthday.
Chanyeol wiped away his tears and put on a smile. "I forgot to take my allergy medication Baekhyun, please don't be mad okay? I haven't taken any for a long time now. But I braved the fact that I could have died just to get you your favorite flowers. It seemed much better than the paper flowers I made." Chanyeol said.
From here was one final memory, the very few words they exchanged.
"Paper flowers?" Baekhyun said. Chanyeol smiled. "I can't touch flowers, you won't let me too. So I learned, and this way, they're in soft colors. Besides, each fold is my way of saying I love you. Because I do, and you don't need to love me back." Chanyeol said.
------------------------------
I remember I made this on my phone which is why it kind looks like i at editing lol
Comments