Flowers

Chapter 2

"Maybe you should wear a shirt with longer sleeves Mini," Minhee doesn't bother looking at Hyungjun, trying to concentrate on the reading he has to complete before his next class. Of course, that is not enough to stop him though "Mini I'm being serious you should hide your flowers," He sounds upset and that annoys Minhee even if he tries to stop the ugly feeling from growing inside him.

"Hyungjun that's something mean to say to someone," Jinwoo interrupts when Hyungjun seems about to say something else and Minhee promises himself to invite the younger boy to have some ice cream with him after class. Hyungjun puffs his cheeks sending a glare to Jinwoo as threatening as a toy poodle could be. Minhee mistakenly thinks his friend is going to drop the topic quickly being proven wrong when Hyungjun glances back at him, reaching with one of his hands to cover his phone's screen where he is reading the document Wonjin sent him.

"I'm worried about you Minhee," His voice is small and his big eyes shine with sincerity, the concern on them as clear as day making Minhee feel a little like an asshole for making his friend worry, but only a little "You're not going to archive anything by flaunting your hyacinths around! He won't stop to even consider they're meant for him!" His friend's face flushes the louder he speaks, a couple heads turning to their direction and Jinwoo reaches to pat Hyungjun's back as he gives a small bow to those whose eyes he catches in place of an apology.

The university's cafeteria is definitely not the place to have this argument. Minhee takes a deep breath to calm himself down, he is not going to snap at Hyungjun, he knows he is looking out for him and wants to stop him from hurting himself further but he is also looking down on his feelings. Hiding his mark would be like saying he's ashamed of them when he's not.

If his feelings for Yunseong are strong enough for these flowers to bloom on his skin then he should be proud of them even if they're born thanks to an uglier feeling, the jealousy he feels when seeing Yunseong with his boyfriend, the adoration on his eyes when Donghyun sents him a simple text, the tulips that cover his back that he has only seen in pictures posted by Donghyun on his Instagram account.

He'll move on, eventually but right now he is in love with someone out of his reach and he'd rather face his feelings, take them all in stride without running away or hiding them, that way he won't feel bitter when his flowers wilts and disappear. He has told this to Hyungjun already but he doesn't seem capable of understanding or just refuses to.

Hyungjun with the small royal blue forget-me-nots next to his left eye that matches the ones Minkyu, his boyfriend, has on his shoulder, should be able to understand him. Someone with flowers that mean "true love" should support his standing yet Hyungjun refuses to. His desire to protect his friend from himself is stronger, but not stronger than said friend's dedication.

Jinwoo sighs worriedly as Hyungjun and Minhee keep staring at each other neither making any signs to give up "Just let him be Hyungjun," He slightly pulls on Hyungjun's arm and thankfully the older glances away, his doe eyes sad and his lips forming a quivering pout as if he were about to burst into tears at any moment. Jinwoo turns to face Minhee trying to convey through his eyes that he doesn't want them to fight.

It's Minhee's turn to sigh and he reaches over the table to pat the top of Hyungjun's hair, the curly brown locks soft under his hand "Thank you for worrying but support me instead ok? If I ever need to talk about it I'll tell you guys," Hyungjun nods his head and takes Minhee's hand in between both of his giving it a gentle squeeze. He'll always be there for him.

~🌸~

Seungyeon lies his head on top of the dining table taking in a deep breath, his phone's screen still showing the text message he had just received. Sunho, his roommate and senior at university, walks past him taking a glance at his phone before he hums and continues walking to the fridge opening it to rummage through it for a can of beer and apple. After he washes the apple he sits down in front of Seungyeon opening the can of beer and pushing it his way.