Night Sky Bloom

17- Dandelion

Felix and Seungmin arrived at Jisung's house on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Jisung was out back, tending to his plants in the greenhouse. He heard their footsteps before he saw them- leave it to his best friends to invite themselves into the house and to know exactly where he'd be.

"Didn't expect to see you guys today." Jisung chuckled before lifting his head with a bright smile.

"Yeah, but those are like... the most fun days." Felix bit his lip while giggling.

"I feel like I should be offended. You should just expect me every day. Always. At any time." Seungmin clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"Sure, I'll just start wondering where you are at all times if you are not in my home, stealing my tea." Jisung laughed before beginning to pluck small weeds growing in the vegetable section. "Make yourselves at home. I just have to water them all and trim the herbs before I can hang out."

Seungmin nodded and headed over to the row of potted plants along the edge of the wall. "I'll give you a hand watering these guys." He picked up the watering can and began showering the ferns and herbs with care.

Felix opted to wait on one of the small benches. As he watched Jisung continue weeding, he furrowed his brow. "Why don't you just get a sprinkler system or something? Wouldn't that make it easier to water all these plants?"

Jisung laughed, not looking up from his task. "Yeah, probably. But I kinda like doing it by hand, you know? Gives me a chance to fuss over each one."

Seungmin chuckled, giving Felix a knowing glance. "Ah yes, the trademark Virgo attention to detail and need to have full control," he teased.

Jisung just shrugged, a faint smile on his lips. "At least I let you handle the watering."

"Only after thorough lessons on 'how not to drown plants' that took like two whole years." Seungmin added with a raised eyebrow and smirk.

"This is why I let other pretty boys do the work. Too much effort to learn things I care very little about." Felix leaned back, swinging his legs below the bench.

"So you don't care about my plants?" Jisung gasped in faux-offense.

"That is correct." Felix said.

"I'm literally only doing this so you can make us drinks faster." Seungmin pitched in, very helpfully.

The three friends spent the next half hour watering, trimming, and pruning any herbs or plants that required it until Jisung was satisfied they had received the individual attention they needed. After washing up, they both sat at the table while Jisung set to making tea- the real reason they came over all the time.

"How are sales to town going, lately?" Seungmin asked after Jisung had sat back down.

"Same as usual, except... apparently there are a lot of places requesting fresh mint for homemade tooth powders." Jisung realized he had to explain further when looks of confusion crossed both Felix and Seungmin's faces. "Like... how do I explain this? Instead of toothpaste, you dip your toothbrush into the powder and it's supposed to re-mineralize your teeth or something. I guess they need mint for the taste and smell. Which is fine, of course. I wanted more spearmint in my garden, anyway, so-"

"And why's that?" Felix asked, leaning forward with his elbows on the table, propping his head on his hands. Seungmin sighed and sat back in his chair.

"Because... I don't have enough?" Jisung answered with a question, mirroring his tone while tilting his head and furrowing his brows. It was a weird question with an obvious answer.