Night Sky Bloom

19- Red Spider Lily

He couldn't stop thinking about it.

About him.

Touching him.

Feeling him.

Drinking in his scent like a child with chocolate milk- or whatever they liked these days. The same scent of vanilla mint that never seemed to leave his clothes or his surroundings, no matter what he did.

His smile when Jisung said it was beautiful.

The literal and metaphorical sparkles in his eyes when he asked Hyunjin, "Did you know I'm beautiful?"

The look Hyunjin gave them right after.

In all reality, he had no idea how that damned flower even got in his back pocket. He knew he left it on the workbench. He'd been avoiding questions for too many days. He used to be great at it, but his friends were too good at catching on nowadays.

Honestly, he'd been avoiding the questions for their benefit as much as his own. He still had no idea how to answer them. He went from absolutely hating Minho to dreaming about him when the moon was out, and thinking about him when it had disappeared. It seemed like it happened in the blink of an eye, although he knew that wasn't the case. It had been months.

And he was slowly starting to understand more about Minho as time went on. What he meant versus what he said, anyway. Trying to figure him out was like an infuriating puzzle sometimes. He was supposed to hate Jisung too- so what happened to that? Did he ever really hate Jisung? Or had his lip always wobbled, his breath always caught, and his blinks always been rapid every time he threw insults Jisung's way- and he just never noticed?

More questions.

Always so many fucking questions.

"No, no, you don't understand. He won't let anyone even look at the flower-" The air was thick with excited tension as Hyunjin whispered urgently to Felix, oblivious to the fact that his voice carried farther than he believed. Jisung walked over to his friends, who were waiting for him under their favorite tree. It had been several days since Jisung checked up on Minho, but he hadn't seen the latter around.

Hyunjin had said he was doing a lot better and he was surprised that the balm had made the pain and swelling nearly unnoticeable. Jisung just couldn't shake the feeling that he needed to see for himself.

The injuries, of course.

"What flower are we talking about?" Jisung asked, a smile gracing his cheeks as he took a seat beside his friends. He asked, but he knew. And his heart knew, considering how quickly it sped up in the span of a few simple seconds. Seungmin wordlessly broke off a part of the sandwich he was eating and handed it to Jisung without asking. Jisung's smile grew wider as he took it- Seungmin's families were bakers, and they could make the best sandwiches he'd ever had in his life.

"The flower you gave Minho," Felix replied eagerly, his eyes bright with curiosity. Jisung tried desperately to ignore his irregular heartbeat, hoping the flush he felt in his chest wasn't rising to his face. It was a small thing- the flower. Yet Minho wouldn't let anyone near it? Wouldn't let them look at it?

He wanted to know why, but that'd be more questions.

"Felix," Hyunjin let out a whine, clearly not wanting Jisung to know.

"If you didn't want him to know, you shouldn't have told Felix. And if you didn't want him to hear it, you shouldn't have said it when he was literally walking up." Seungmin shrugged nonchalantly. Jisung opened his water bottle and handed it to Seungmin, who took a sip before handing it back. Part of Jisung felt uncomfortable with his friends discussing his personal life, especially when it involved Minho. The whole situation felt foreign to him. The other part of him knew that they cared and had just as many unanswered questions as he did.