𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 ♡ seongjoong

𝜗𝜚 003

A week had passed since Seonghwa and Hongjoong saw each other for the first time, and neither of them had reached out to the other following their encounter. It made Hongjoong feel a bit bad about himself, as though he wasn't enough or that Seonghwa didn't care for him in the way he did for the other.

He had stopped going to the flower shop as much as usual solely out of the fear that he would run into Seonghwa again and be berated for simply existing as himself, even though he knew it was fairly unlikely that would happen. He didn't think Seonghwa was the kind of person to do that, but anything was possible from his perspective.

Days would go by where Hongjoong did nothing except mope around his apartment, and he would begin coming to the conclusion that the thing with Seonghwa was likely a one-off. There was just as likely a chance that the other didn't care as much about him as there was one where they both deeply cared for one another, but Hongjoong was more inclined to believe the former.

On a particular morning, Hongjoong was watering his plants as he does biweekly, and he heard a notification come from his phone in his bedroom. His entire demeanor immediately perked up, and he began to feel at least a little bit hopeful that Seonghwa had finally sent him something.

He set down his things and rushed to the room, picking up the phone from where it was charging on the nightstand. He lifted it and checked what he had received, although his mood fell from the high it had just reached.

The incoming notification was, in fact, not from Seonghwa. It was just some random spam text for a service he likely signed up for three years ago then forgot about.

He sighed and set his phone down as he sat on the bed, his head tilted up towards the ceiling as he started to think about Seonghwa again. He wasn't sure what this semi-mysterious person was doing to him, but he knew he couldn't handle it anymore.

He felt as though Seonghwa might be the right person for him in this life, given it's his last and that's what he really wanted: to be unconditionally loved and cared for by somebody else. It's something that he's always yearned for, but never really acknowledged until he met Seonghwa for the first time.

Something about Seonghwa was so alluring and attractive, and Hongjoong had to know more.

So he finally made the bold decision to send a text to Seonghwa.

He was shaking a little with anticipation as he picked his phone back up, and opened his messaging app. He carefully clicked on the drafted conversation with Seonghwa, where a simple message he had typed out before was sitting:

Hey, do you think we could meet again sometime? At the flower shop or someplace else? I really want to get to know you better and

The message just ended there. Nothing more, nothing less. He was being so straightforward with it, which was out of the ordinary for him since he's more of an implicit person with what he wants. He never shares his desires out loud and hopes for others to read the room and pick up on it. It explains how he's secretly so clingy and affectionate, even though he always acts the complete opposite and like he doesn't want it at all.

He quickly deleted the message and began typing out a new one. He knew he was going to miss all the shots he didn't take, and he's living his final life. It was now or never.

Hi Seonghwa! Do you think it's possible to meet at the flower shop this evening? It's totally fine if not. Don't feel pressured to show up. I don't wanna make you feel that way. Just send me a reply if you can go or not. I hope I didn't startle you by sending this...ㅠㅠ

With a little bit of hesitation, and a lot of overcomplicating Seonghwa's potential response, Hongjoong sent it.
He did it.
He finally did the thing he'd been dreading for so long, and he hoped everything would go exactly as he planned, where he and Seonghwa met up again and talked things over and grew really close to each other and—

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a new notification coming from his phone. It was a new message—and sure as hell, it was from Seonghwa. He won!

Or, at least, he thought he did.

He clicked on the notification and was greeted with a reply:

This number is currently not in service.

Oh, you have to be kidding. Did Seonghwa abruptly change his number and didn't tell Hongjoong? He's been waiting all this time to receive a response, and this is all he gets? Or did something else happen that he just didn't know about?

Either way, he was starting to freak out again. Hell, maybe even more than he did while he was typing out the message to Seonghwa. This was definitely the last thing he needed happening—he just wanted to reach out to the person who's been drawing him for the past week. He just wanted to know if they could see each other again; now, he was starting to worry they might not ever get that chance.

What he didn't know, however, was that Seonghwa was in the same boat, and was yearning to talk to Hongjoong just as much.

Seonghwa was sat in his living room, a soft pastel blanket draped over his body as he looked at his phone. He was waiting for the moment where Hongjoong would text him, just as he had been for the past week or so—unfortunately, to his dismay, not once had he received any update from the other.

He decided to open up Instagram to pass the time, where he was looking through the list of suggested accounts for him to follow. There was one that caught his eye, with the display name being nothing besides "joong 🌻," and he instantly clicked on it, praying the account actually belonged to Hongjoong and not somebody else.

As he scrolled through the account, he saw several photos of a quaint apartment adorned with flowers and plants of all sorts—yep, this definitely had to be Hongjoong's personal Instagram. There were also a lot of crafty things on this account as well, such as some DIY clothing and flowerpots, and other little creations like that.

After scrolling further for a bit, he eventually followed Hongjoong and decided to shoot him a DM, praying he would actually receive an answer. If he didn't, then he had no idea what he was going to do with himself. He just wanted to see the other again—maybe it'd bring him some closure he never really thought he'd necessarily need to experience, but only time would tell.

Hey Joong, it's Seonghwa, the guy you met at Yunho's flower shop a week ago. I was waiting for you to send me a text first but I didn't get anything, and your account came up on my homepage so I decided to see if we could talk on here. You don't have to respond; it's fine if you can't talk right now or anything. I just wanted to make sure you're doing alright and see if we can go out sometime.

He sent the message, and immediately he was waiting for a response. Was he scared? Only internally. He generally didn't have a hard time sending or receiving messages, however with Hongjoong he felt as though that was different—and he wasn't so sure he wanted to acknowledge it.

Around half an hour after he sent the message, he received a text from another one of his friends, San.

Hwa!! Are you down to go to a karaoke bar tomorrow night with me and a few of my other friends? We really need more people to come with us...

Seonghwa was still reading the text when San sent another.

It'll be fun, I promise. There aren't going to be a lot of people there in the first place so I think it's alright for you to come. Let me know if you can!! We haven't gone out in a while so it'd be nice if you showed up 🌟

He was a bit confused by the sudden invitation, but it's not like he was in opposition to it or anything. Going out with a few friends, drinking and singing—sounded like his ideal night, in all honesty. However, there was one small thing that was on his mind...
   
He just hoped Hongjoong would potentially be there too. It was a far stretch, but you can't keep a boy from dreaming, now, can you?
   
He texted San back, accepting the invitation, and now he had to sit back and wait for the next day to pass.

And also hope that somehow, Hongjoong would be there.