Joshua's pov
"Okay these two cappuccinos for the couple over there" I ordered as I handed the two beverages to Mingyu. He soon brought them to the couple, while I stayed at the counter. It was the last order I finished preparing and now Felix would took over my position as my shift was finally over.
I petted the cats that approached me. I grinned at the furring animals.
"Bye guys!" I waved putting on my denim jacket.
Mingyu smiled and waved back, "See ya hyung!"
I turned on the car and headed back home.
"Hey I'm home now so we can go at the dry cleaning place" I texted Jeonghan.
A few minutes passed.
"Hi. Yeah I'll come in ten" He replied.
After Jeonghan knocked on my door, I greeted him and we headed to my car.
He held a shopping bag, inside was his silky beige shirt.
"I wonder where this place is... you're not abducting me or something, aren't you?" Jeonghan chuckled as we stopped at a red light.
I bursted out laughing.
"I wouldn't tell you anyways...don't you think?" I joked. It felt exciting to finally make fun of Jeonghan. Usually it was him doing that.
"Right yeah, you wouldn't tell me" Jeonghan smirked as he turned towards the passenger's window.
We finally arrived at the place and Jeonghan handed the shirt to the lady who worked there.
We dealt with this small errand and it didn't took long.
"It certainly feels strange to deal with this on my own... I mean without someone doing it for me" Jeonghan commented as we walked out of the place.
"I imagine... but don't worry, as time goes on you'll get used to it and I can always help you out whenever needed" I replied.
I hoped I didn't sound silly or anything.
Jeonghan turned to me. A soft smile formed on his face as he stared at me.
We got to the car and hopped on.
I turned on the car and we were driving once again.
"Hey can we stop there?" Jeonghan inquired, he pointed at a building that was down the road.
I was surely curious about what it was. Nevertheless I parked the car outside and it was clear to me what it was.
It was a florist.
"Remember my daylilies?" Jeonghan asked. His hands stuffed into his pockets as we walked inside the place.
"Of course how could I forget?"
"Well I wanna buy another type of flower so my daylilies wouldn't feel lonely all day long... since you know, I work now and I'm rarely with them"
I smiled at the thought of him being this close to those flowers. It was cute but unusual at the same time.
"That's reasonable... what flower were you thinking of?" I asked curiously as we walked next to the green and colorful plants.
"Cornflowers"
"Cornflowers?"
"Yeah they're flashy, they're a bright purple..." Jeonghan added.
"Yeah yeah I know... it's just-" I paused as we reached the purple flower aisle.
"Yeah?"
"Nothing, they're beautiful, you sure they'll survive with our climate?" I adjusted my sentence.
What I actually wanted to say was a different thing.
I've always known about the symbolistic aspect of the plant. Or at least what my mom taught me when I was a kid.
Cornflowers had a bizarre meaning. In folklore cornflowers were planted by young men in love; if the flower faded too quickly when picked up, it was taken as a sign that the man's love was not returned.
"They'll survive" Jeonghan paused, "Trust me, they'll live... I'll treat them good and they won't betray me" Jeonghan then added. He picked up a vase of the flower.
"Joshua you know... these flowers are special" Jeonghan continued, "I wanna see how long will they last, cuz you know, they're easy to maintain so they shouldn't fade away easily" He added.
We soon finished paying at the cashier and then we drove back at the apartment parking lot and headed inside.
"Can you help me out with this one?" Jeonghan glanced at the plant, "I wanna move it to the big vase on the balcony" he added.
I nodded and we headed at his apartment.
He wore his gardening gloves and slowly took the flower's roots out of the small vase and moved it to the big balcony vase.
Something about all this didn't feel new at all.
In fact it felt nostalgic.
"You know, my mom used to be really into gardening" I commented as I gazed down, holding the small and now empty vase, "her hands would hurt all day because of gardening" I murmured as the memory hit me. I missed her. I missed the mom that didn't kick me out. The one that never hurt me before that one episode.
Jeonghan removed his gloves as he put down the plant in the soil.
"Hey..." Jeonghan whispered.
He got close and pulled me into a comforting hug.
I softly smiled. It felt comforting. Jeonghan's presence was all that I needed.
"Thank you..." I murmured.
Jeonghan caressed my back.
"No need to thank me"
He finished off the whole gardening thing and finally he watered the plant.
"It looks amazing here don't you think?" Jeonghan questioned as he stood there, with his hands resting on his waist.
I nodded. The purple flowers certainly complemented the orange daylillies that were right next to them.
"They're pretty colorful I love it actually" I remarked.
"I was thinking of making instant noodles for dinner, is that alright for you Joshuji?" He then inquired as we got inside. Jeonghan walked to the kitchen.
"Don't need to bother I can eat at home..." I replied.
"Come on I want you to stay with me"
I widened my eyes as he said that.
"I- uhm..." I stuttered. I was sort of speechless.
"What's bugging you?"
I stayed silent.
It's not like it was his dinner offer that was the issue. And neither was his company.
But I knew he didn't live alone. I didn't wanna bother the others living there. Hoshi and... Dokyeom specially.
"Dokyeom... might come home any time soon..." I murmured.
Jeonghan sighed.
"Right"
"Jeonghan I don't know..." I added as my gaze fell on the floor.
"Sooner or later you'll have to face it, I don't want his presence to be a burden to you Joshua" Jeonghan commented, "it shouldn't stop you from being around me, or at least, that's what I hope so..." he then added.
"Yeah, you're right"
"So?"
"I'll have instant noodles with you Jeonghan" I smirked and rolled my eyes in fake annoyance.
A grin formed on Jeonghan's face as I pronounced those words.
He then chuckled.
