Between Petals and Papers | annyeongz

Finale

Yujin was never fond of flowers.

She used to understand the theory behind taking care of plants. Her mother used to tell her that “to make a plant grow, you have to make sure that it gets the right amount of sunlight, have adequate portion of water, and also have the right kind of soil. You have to be gentle, consistent, and kind to them. Saying nice things to plants would help them grow and negative things would make them faded. It’s like they have feelings too, just like humans. Once you help these little young plants survive and survive in this world can make them become beneficial to you too.”

Her mother believes that plants give out something more than just oxygen which humans breathe, for example a fruit or vegetable which we eat gives out nutrients, and trees gives us shade and prevents soil erosion, and flowers provide some sweet aroma on its vicinity.

Her mother made sure to let Yujin plant and grow them too, when she was still young. Yujin knows that it was for her own good to be able to know how to garden and have plants on her backyard someday, and she always admired how pretty their yard looks like as it was decorated by different sort of plants. She wanted to learn her mother’s ways and cultivate it as her own, if not, become a better gardener.

However, things just didn’t work out for her because every single plant that Yujin tried to take care of, withered away.

Yujin didn’t know if it was because she was young or if she was cursed or if she just didn’t have the green thumb unlike her mom, wherein her touch seems to be the saving grace in making these plants live even when they are already in their weakened state. Yujin wanted to be able to grow one too and that explains why she kept on trying to plant a seed, nurture it for days, only for her to end up disappointed as it didn’t live under her care.

Yujin grew tired of trying and of seeing the same outcome every time. And eventually, her admiration for the plants turned into hate.

She came to learn how to despise every seed, every shrub, every vine, and the plants that she loathed the most were flowers. Because even if they are pretty to look at, the way that it is grown is too demanding of attention, gentleness, and care, and Yujin disliked it.

When she grew up, she forgotten the reason she liked them and came to a conclusion that she never understood why her mother would spend time taking care of them, and all that she really wanted was for her mother to pay attention to her instead. Yujin became jealous of the plants that receive her mother’s time, dividing her attention. She recalls talking to her father about it but he simply gave an excuse saying that it’s her mother’s leisure and that she’ll be able to understand it more when she gets older.

Years had passed yet she still carries an ill feeling towards plants and flowers alike.

She knows that a flower’s beauty is fleeting, temporary, ephemeral as others would say. Their bloom does not stay for a long time. Once you pick flowers away from the garden and not put it on a vase, the beauty which they hold will eventually fade and they will wither. All that would be left is its discolored petals on the ground and its lonely stem.

Yujin believes that flowers are only good for the aesthetic value and nothing more.

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August 22, 20*0

“What’s your favorite flower?”

Yujin couldn’t hide the shock that she felt when her friend, Wonyoung, asked her that question. She finally finished middle school and recently transferred to a high school that will help her excel more on her chosen craft, thankfully (and due to her hard work) she passed the entrance examinations.