A Flower For A Muse 꽃｜花

Pre-Bloom 사

TW: Mentions of suicide and death. Read at your own risk.

INT. CAFE - 3 PM

CAESAR'S POV:
Since my shift was almost over, I cleaned up the last table and went to change my clothes, Hoku also ended his shift here; I still need to ask why he avoided those girls earlier.

EXT. CAFE DOORS

I went outside, Hoku was waiting for my arrival; his body language was more relaxed than before.

CAESAR: Soo.. are you going to tell me now?

He was hesitant, hands motioning me to follow. As we walked down the street, I patiently waited for him to speak first. We strolled upon a park bench, and I looked around to take in the scenery, this year winter didn't snow much; instead, it's just dead plants everywhere, and the weather is slightly chilly. I wrapped my hands around my body, shivering a little. I should've worn something more warmer.

HOKU: Are you cold? Do you want my jacket?

CAESAR: No, keep it. I don't want you to catch a cold.

He snickered a little, eyeing me down and up, he noticed my hands were turning a little red from the cold. He swiftly took off his outer coat, leaving his light orange sweatshirt on, and wrapped his jacket on my shoulder. It was a sudden act, I wasn't sure how to receive his offering.

HOKU: Silly boy, I grew up in cold places, despite being Hawaiian, I grew up northern side of America. I promise I won't be cold.

I wasn't sure if I should accept it, but the wind was making my skin numb. So I didn't object to his offer.

CAESAR: Well, thank you. Are you going to tell me now?

I wasn't sure why I suddenly felt so shy, probably because he gave me his jacket. It has to be. The wind flew into our faces, it felt refreshing; I tilted my head a little and stared up at Hoku, he was staring at me too. His eyes were a dull green but they still lit up in sparks; it was hypnotic.

HOKU: Hey, you with me?

He waved his hands in front of me, I didn't notice I spaced out.

CAESAR: Yeah, sorry I didn't mean to zone out.

HOKU: It's okay, I'll tell you, you know Ying Lian? I think you two introduced yourselves by how much you'd be laughing outside when they were about to leave.

I slowly nodded my head.

HOKU: So she was my little brother's ex-girlfriend, his only girlfriend in his lifetime. They were together for 4 years.

I nodded in engagement, scared of where this conversation was going.

HOKU: The thing is, we all used to be friends, she was our neighbor when we moved in, and my brother TIKO liked hanging out with her, I was a middle schooler back then, they were two grades younger than me they always hanged out, eventually they broke the news to me about them dating, it wasn't much of a surprise. Everything was going fine until one night, we received the news of our mom being dead. Tiko was more devastated than anybody because me and Tiko aren't blood-related, he's adopted.

A small gasp left my mouth.

HOKU: We were the first family he felt like he could belong in. His biological parents died in a car crash, he was the only one that survived and I knew he blamed himself for being the only survivor. All the other 3 foster homes he's been thrown in, traumatized him badly, he one day showed up at our house when I was about 10 years old, and we got along after he started to open up to us. My mom took care of him better than I did, my dad wasn't around, he's in jail but that's for another story.