Red Chrysanthemum - Minsung

Chapter 23

A week passed without much ceremony, Hyunjin and Chan still very much in their honeymoon phase. Minho was a little jealous of how quickly they got together and he was especially envious of how happy they were.

Jisung still calls him bro and dude, and fuck it shouldn't hurt this much, but after he failed to confess, the pressure has increased to unbearable degrees. He needs to voice these emotions and not to just anyone, it has to be Jisung in particular. But his fear of rejection was coming back with a vengeance after the stunts the younger pulled on him in high school.

This time, it wasn't Minho's fault they broke up. It was Jisung who got too caught up in his own thoughts and wasn't ready for a relationship. Minho had told himself that he could be patient, that he'd be patient for him. But they drifted apart and now they've come back together as just friends.

And yet, Minho is left wanting more. Again.

But he's been waiting for five years for the blond to make the final move and he never has. No matter how much the older wants him to seal their fate, Jisung still has that inherent shyness from before, that one brick wall around his heart that he can't seem to break down.

Minho sighed as he ran his fingers through his dirty hair. He'd been feeling particularly negative about the whole ordeal recently, seemingly not over his failure to confess last week. He was trying to think of something to do for Jisung, they have been beating around the bush for far too long and he needed to put something into action.

Snapping out of his daze, he jumped out of bed, heading to the bathroom for a shower and a change of thoughts. When he stepped out, he sent a quick message to his brother, hoping he'd respond soon. Felix didn't come home from wherever he was last night but he'd told Minho he was staying at a friend's so he didn't worry. In fact, the blond had been spending most of the last few weeks out with 3RACHA, the friendship he'd once had with Jisung restoring itself as he tried to get closer to Changbin, for reasons the dancer was well aware of.

Minho was no fool and neither was Felix, they don't talk much about their love lives, especially when they're so entwined with their friendships, but they both know in some sense. The brunet knows about the blond's pursuit and vice-versa. They support each other through thick and thin.

Even if Minho's plan falls through and his relationship with Jisung ends in rejection, he knows his brother will always be by his side. They've gone through worse after all.

He set up directions on his phone for a florist nearby, finding one at only a five minute walk from his apartment and a seven minute bus ride from Hyunjin's. A delighted smile took over his lips, followed by a sudden wave of nerves. He was doing it, he was actually going to do it.

He pulled on a simple outfit of baggy black sweatpants and a dark grey hoodie and he rushed out of the flat, the door slamming loudly behind him. He hurried all the way to the florist, he stopped in front of the shop, his nerves coming back full force. Minho stepped inside with a small "bonjour", his eyes immediately scanning the shelves for what he was needing.

A ball of fear weighed down his stomach. What if they didn't have the flowers he wanted? What if Jisung doesn't love him anymore? What if he squandered all of his chances when they were in high school?

Shaking his head, he pushed away all of his parasitic doubts. He couldn't stop second-guessing himself, always so unsure of how well everything was going to pan out. But now wasn't the time to be unsure, he had to put on a brave face and ask him out, like he's been wanting to do for so long.

He kept on scanning the myriad of flowers, looking at all of the cardboard name tags to see if they were the right ones. Finally, on a small shelf near the street window, sat exactly what he was searching for.