𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 | 𝐚 𝐭𝐱𝐭 × 𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

six - an unusual day at the flower shop

an unusual day at the flower shop

the discovery of the corpse had thrown the entire nation into shock until it was confirmed to be a dummy. now the academia was demanding the culprit of the twisted prank to surrender themselves before the police were called in.

which also resulted in two days of suspension of classes.

in the meantime, lia had been paid a visit by a bunch of unexpected and unwelcome people.

first, it was yeonjun and soobin. they showed up at her mother's flower shop at eight in the morning. yeonjun was already well acquainted with her mother and was therefore welcomed with open arms. soobin was quiet and lia sensed his behaviour had something to do with their not-so-good history.

she was just glad that he was there to scold yeonjun.

second, not an hour after the two boys showed up, hwang yeji did.

hwang yeji was the school beau, one of many but she had a good reason. she was rich, cool and popular, and lia couldn't be more annoyed when yeonjun sprinted up from his seat when he saw the girl walking in inside the shop.

it was also then that lia learned, yeonjun liked yeji. courtesy of the boy for making it obvious for the entire world to see.

i feel bad for her. she has to tolerate his annoying ass.

let's just say yeji wasn't the happiest to see yeonjun. she was also very surprised and confused because she didn't know, or it had never been a possibility to her, that lia would be acquainted with the boys.

"soobin? you too?"

and lia also learned, yeji was familiar with soobin. maybe they're friends, like a close circle of rich kids.

"what are you guys doing here?" yeji looked between the boys and lia.

"ask the baboon beside you," soobin grumbled, motioning tiredly at his friend.

"this is my mother's shop," said lia.

yeji now trained her eyes at yeonjun to which the boy replied with a grin, "lia is the new member of our photography club so we wanted to pay her a visit. ya know, get to know each other better."

yeji looked around, not buying what yeonjun had said. "lia, i need a bouquet for an anniversary. are you in charge of the shop?"

"yes. hold on," lia got up, "what flowers do you want in the bouquet?"

"why do you even need a bouquet in the first place?" chimed yeonjun.

when yeji chose to ignore him, soobin answered, "it's her parents' anniversary today. her mom invited us, i'm not surprised you never heard of it."

"right. i was with beomgyu the entire day yesterday. yeji-ah, darling, can i come too?"

yeji scowled at the nickname. "whatever. your parents declined the invitation but tag along with soobin or beomgyu if you want, i don't care," then she said to lia, "white and golden is their theme. can you help me with that?"

lia smiled, "of course."

when soobin tore his eyes away from the florist, yeonjun's annoying smirk greeted him. he scowled to which the latter leaned down and whispered, "i'm not saying anything."

lia frowned at their exchange but her attention was turned away by yeji.

"so… do you have any plans tonight, like homework, coaching and stuff?" asked the girl.

"no," lia pressed her brows and shook her head.

"cool. i'm gonna take the liberty of inviting you to my parent's party tonight at seven. yeonjun can tell you where it is and the dress code is white, gold must be avoided at all costs. my mom freaks out when she isn't the odd one out and i mean this in a good, flamboyant way—it's a little warning." yeji explained.

"wow. yeji, i- thank you. i'll be there."

don't misunderstand her—this was her first time ever getting invited to a party and it made matters worse because the hosts were rich.

"the bouquet's done," she said, handing over the bouquet to the taller girl. "that would be fifteen."

"it's beautiful." yeji handed over her credit card and it was returned in no less than a minute.

"thank you-"

"darling, is white compulsory for guys too?" yeonjun interrupted. he had been slurping his coffee quietly across soobin until he had to open his mouth.

yeji glared at him. "just avoid gold, kay? i know you never listen but please, i'll excuse you for the cringey nickname if you do me a favour this one time."

and lia thought yeji's mom must have severe OCD judging from the way yeji had to emphasise the dress code every time.

an all-knowing, irritating, and cursed smirk adorned yeonjun's lips and he said, "of course, darling. i wouldn't dare disobey you."

yeji walked out, rolling her eyes.

"bye, yeji," said soobin after her.

lia watched as a rare, small smile graced the boy's face. they must be really close.

"now that she's gone, can you please tell me why you guys are really here?" eventually, she tore their attention away as she joined them at the table.

the boys looked at each other. yeonjun began, "the photography club is just a font for a secret paranormal investigation bureau soobin, beomgyu and i started after we lost someone to the strange circle of suicides surrounding ace. he was an older brother, a friend and a mentor. we took notice of the unexplained mystery of ace while trying to find answers for his untimely death and…

"we found out that the centre of this mystery is the death bell, it takes a life with it every time it rings. not to mention the invisible force that's hunting for victims all the time. the last time the bell rang, it was supposed to take a life but soobin and i… we did our best to retrieve the corpses of its previous victims."

"how?"

"by looking for them. the entity hides them and we find them, and it returns the body before we expose it. it's disturbing and we can't really say what the entity is up to next but all we know is that it feeds on despair, sadness, heartbreak, anything that drags you down and drowns you, you name it. its evil, lia, and it will continue to kill unless we do something."

in the midst of comprehending what she had just heard, lia stammered, "w-we?"