Desert • Flower | TaeJin || BOOK 3#

II. He who longs for flowers

"You want the flowers that badly?"

Taehyung gives a snort, fed up with being harped on about it. It's not his fault to want to see flowers and moreover, he wants to give flowers to the lady who is very kind to him. However, no matter how hard Taehyung tries, he will always come up with something else but flowers. Not even plants come out that can grow from flowers. Taehyung can't make strawberries, which come mainly from flowers. It gets to be frustrating and he tries all the time.

"Why can't I make flowers? I should be able to make flowers, I can make anything else."

"Well, maybe because you don't have a flowering dragon, you have a usual soil dragon; in normal soil you don't get flowers. Even if you put seeds for that."

"Flowering dragon?" asks Taehyung stunned by that revelation. "Is there such a dragon?" He doesn't know much about it, he only knows about his own, that there are wind, fire, wood; beyond that he doesn't know of any.

"Yes, there are plenty of them! In the capital. There they can get the treatment they deserve. Most of them are kisaeng. You can tell someone has a flowering dragon because their hair is colored like the petals of a flower," explains one of the workers leaning on a shovel.

"Some have yellow, some have green. The great majority have them red or yellow in some cases you even see orange, a mixture of the three colors; but there is hardly ever a more extravagant color. They say there are very few that have pink and that they come from Japan most of them." Another younger worker recounts and Taehyung is thoughtful. I'd like to meet one, maybe then I could see flowers.

~ * * * ~

"The kisaeng are very special and very beautiful escort ladies. They are all going to be educated young ladies, skilled in dancing, singing, playing instruments; they will know how to talk to you about poetry, politics, economics. They are very special creatures who must be well taken care of," replies the lady of the house, eating a couple of Mochis. Taehyung has a cheek full of them and a sugar rim around his lips.

"No kisaengs here?" the boy asks with his mouth full and the lady shakes her head.

"The nearest kisaengs house is a week or so away" she calculates with a little grimace. "They are a very expensive expense in all their kinds, but they are very good people and very polite so, they are worth it."

"Ummm..."

"Don't be scared, there are men too, it's just that it's usually a feminine term because they started out as just women. Over time and with the dragons swarming around, it ended up being mixed. The men do just as well," explains the woman when she sees Taehyung's doubt.

Taehyung just looks thoughtful. That means there will be some man with flowering dragon and that man might have pink or purple hair. Taehyung would like to see someone with purple hair, it would be very pretty. Maybe more than pink, but since he's never seen them head on, who knows which he likes better.

~ * * * ~

They bought flowers today, lots and lots of flowers. They are going to decorate for a visit. Taehyung was obliged to order them and realized that their texture is very soft, as soft as the lady's hand that allowed him to help me place them in the living room; where she and her husband are going to receive guests. What strikes Taehyung is that although they are very soft, he does not have soft hands. It's something he's noticed a lot, but until now Taehyung hasn't been aware of it. His hands are rough, porous and very hard, not to mention gigantic for someone his age.

Taehyung is supposed to have soft hands, all children have soft hands and even when they work on what he does, they don't change: they should be soft, but they are not. Taehyung starts to think about it a lot, worried. He wants them to be soft and even though he tries at night to file them down, nothing happened. It's like filing a stone. You're just going to make a small scratch and nothing more. He took a flower from a bouquet without anyone noticing and kept it in his room; now that he holds it tight and tries to feel its softness, in the process he destroys the petals.

Taehyung wonders if the reason he can't make flowers, is that maybe between his hands, they won't last at all.

~ * * * ~

There is a vibration on the ground. Taehyung has realized that he can sense the better than many, he knows when the sheep are out, when one ran away, when the chickens are running around, when there are people running around, when the horses are coming, and he can slightly differentiate the footsteps of people. They walk directly on the ground: women walk very softly, like a fluttering bird unless they are carrying something heavy; men always stomp, it gets worse when they have something heavy in their hands, they take very long steps.

Taehyung hears something different than usual, imagine what comes walking around and it's strange because there's not supposed to be more people. No, no guests today, there's nothing else. Taehyung checks everywhere to make sure everything is okay, all the animals are in place, everyone ate, did their ugly adult stuff; they are on their lunch break and still it doesn't make sense. There is no reason for that sound.

His dragon starts an investigation, Taehyung sees him from above and at the same time, he also hears the earth better than he does. When he realizes, Taehyung discovers that there are a couple of extra people who shouldn't be here. Not recognizing them, Taehyung decides to tell the lord of the house to avoid any trouble.

"Sir there seems to be-"

His dragon shoots out in the direction of the person behind the lord of the house, he attacks immediately and without allowing it to do any harm; on the ground rests a silver dagger and the older man is frightened away. Taehyung takes the lady's hand and runs with her to the garden to see what other masked person was about to hurt her. Due to the fright Taehyung lifts a stone wall, prevents him from approaching. Taehyung hugs the woman and she hugs him.

The problem is soon resolved without complication and before Taehyung knows it, he is back inside the house. Trembling and panicking.

"How did you know that was going to happen!" Demands to know lord of the house. "Were you even with them!?"

"I-I heard footsteps and came to see if something was wrong- it scared me I thought! I was they going to kill you."

"Listen?" the lord repeats stunned.

"Y-yes. I can hear people's footsteps on earth, he helps me to do it" Taehyung points out the dragon showing bright eyes and his tearful, believing that he did something wrong. "There were two more people than usual and I wanted to come and tell you." stammers Taehyung nervously.

After a bit of questioning, it was discovered that the people had nothing to do Taehyung and it would have been a bit illogical, after all, he has no one. The boy was celebrated with a huge thank you dinner for doing his duty to the house, he had a week off as a reward and was also given lots of flowers as he requested.

"Do you believe that Someday it could be flowers?" asks Taehyung to the lord of the house with almost tearful leave, he wants to make flowers, he wants to make something this nice. Taehyung wants to believe that he can make something this delicate and beautiful.

"Effort and perseverance is able to do everything, even the most impossible. If you are already able to make the soil fertile and the footsteps sound, why would it be impossible to make a flower?" the man asks with a fatherly look. Lately they have noticed that he treats Taehyung closely and affectionately.

"Because I have not been able to do it so far. What if I will never be able to do it?"

"Don't be impatient. In impatience is error and though you must err a lot, it is better to do it for having tried well, rather than having rushed" He recommends putting a hand on his shoulder. "Besides, you don't know what kind of flower it will grow at some point. Be patient, persevere and work hard OK?"

Taehyung nods with a square smile and hugging the man, the gentleman stirs the gesture with much affection and pats of the back.