flowery road || verkwan

iii || daisies

'have you had your breakfast?' i asked hansol the next morning. he nodded to my question as i unfolded the wheelchair by the side of his bed. 'i heard your parents came over to visit last night.'

'yeah,' he answered. 'they were worried and offered to stay with me for the night.'

'you probably said no.' i laughed, locking the wheelchair in place. a glittery eyed smile took its place on his face.

'what's the wheelchair for?' hansol scrunched his nose up in protest. 'i know i look weak but-'

'-you are!' i said, shaking my head. 'the doctor said you were supposed to be in bedrest today. i negotiated. here's the negotiation.' i stuck my nose up in the air proudly.

hansol muttered something under his breath before he shot his eyes back up at me. after letting out a burdened sigh, both of his arms shot up in front of him. i stepped closer towards him. that was when his arms wrapped themselves around my neck for support. it made me feel nervous.

'well, help me onto it then, please.' i could feel the red rushing to my cheeks as he chuckled by my ear. 'i am weak, after all.'

ignoring the fact that he had just used my words against me, i carefully helped him out of his hospital bed and onto the wheelchair. then, we went off to the park. there was a ramp provided for ease of patients, so i didn't have much trouble pushing him towards the greenery.

the weather was perfect that morning. the grass was a bright green and the topiaries contrasted against the blue sky. after we went along the park's path for a few minutes in silence, hansol pointed towards a small patch of white near a bench.

'daisies! can you get me there, seungkwan?' he pleaded. of course, i couldn't reject him. i pushed his wheelchair to the bench and pulled the brake down to make sure it didn't roll away from me. 'help me get some?'

for the next minute, i plucked the small white flowers from the grass and placed them on the blanket on his lap. although we had only been out for roughly fifteen minutes, i was already beginning to sweat. once i was done, i sat down on the park bench, silently cursing at myself for having such low stamina.

meanwhile, hansol was happily gathering the flowers on his lap into a small bundle. he tied it off with a stray stem. a smile appeared on his pale face as his fingers slipped over the small daisies.

i couldn't help but smile too.

'you've got to be kidding me, jeonghan,' i hissed, slamming my hands against the floristry counter. 'you're leaving me here alone?'

'come on. the daisy seeds are arriving tonight and you're the only one i can trust with them,' he explained, resting an arm on my shoulder. 'besides, what's the worst that could happen?'

'um, let me see. someone might barge in here and rob the store of its money and kill me in the process!'

'stop being so dramatic, seungkwan. there's a lock on the door for a purpose.'

'but what about me being here alone? what if i get killed? jeonghan, this is your floristry! you can't abandon it just so you can have dinner with your-'

just then, the door to the floristry opened with the tinkle of a bell. two people walk in. one of them was seungcheol, jeonghan's childhood friend; the other was a brown-blond haired boy. jeonghan skipped over to embrace seungcheol quickly.

'oh, i forgot!' seungcheol said as he pulled away from jeonghan. 'seungkwan, this is vernon. i thought it would be nice to have him keep you company.'

'have a good evening, you two! i'll be back by 10pm to lock up,' jeonghan exclaimed as he grabbed his coat. 'don't die, seungkwan.'

the two of them disappeared out the door in seconds, leaving me with the stranger. we locked eyes, awkwardly smiling at each other before i bothered to walk up to him. i thought it was only fair that i tried to introduce myself.

'i'm boo seungkwan,' i said. as i looked at him, i couldn't help but pay attention to the way his eyes twinkled. 'vernon, right?' he nodded.

'call me hansol,' he replied. 'let me guess. you were dragged into this too?' i nodded. we both laughed, this time less awkwardly. 'i brought some cookies.'

'hey seungkwan,' hansol said, pulling me out of my thoughts. 'thanks for bringing me here.' i mustered a smile.

'i'm honored.' he smiled back.

and like that first night we spent together in the floristry, laughing about how shit our friends were over cookies, we spent the rest of the afternoon talking about how we met.