White Gardenia [TANKHUNNONSEE/OFFGUN]

part 11: candle light

I'm trying to finish this asap but lmao I've written too much
the upcoming chapters gonna be hella long
then irresponsibly, I posted my SeanWhite fic that's far from finish as well
go check it out if you're interested!

Nonsee remembers every bouquet he personally arranged for. It's something he loves to do. Something he genuinely enjoys despite the many, many painful memories it brought him. When he cut a stem, he could hear his mother and grandmother arguing in the living room. While filling the vase with water, it's his late father's drunken shouting that resonated in his head. When a thorn pricked his finger, Non recalls seven-years-old Ai's crying and Min's annoyed gaze. The smell of rose, lavender and lilies is forever etched into his mind, bringing him back to that huge mansion. The one he used to think he will never leave, that he will spend his last pathetic breath in.

Yet, now Non lives in a small, rented two-story house with people that he loves and actually loves him back. Life is still beautiful. It is still worth-living, thankfully. That made perfect when a new addition to the family came into the world.

She is precious, untainted, too good for this world. Non was deeply moved when he held her for the first time. Feather-light, fragile little angel-in-disguise that came into his life as a blessing. Looking into her round, shiny eyes made Non determined to give her everything. The fairytale he never got to fantasize about, the dream he never got to chase, the childhood he never got to experience.

Prim, he named her, after primroses, the first flowers to bloom in spring. The symbol of youth, innocence and new beginnings. Iris wholeheartedly agreed with it despite her initial reluctance to continue the tradition of Bussababan - naming daughters after flowers. But Prim is now the center of their universe, one they can't live without anymore.

Doting uncle, call him that if you shall. The little girl was the whole reason he came up with the idea of Pink Beauty... And who knows if she'd be the reason Non shut it down as well?

"Aa Non, here you are...!" Prim's chirpy voice echoed in the storage room. Non was about to turn around with a fake wide smile, but she continued. "We found him!"

"Amazing, N'Prim! Thank you so much!"

Non's pretense smile dropped to the ground. His initial response was to get up, turn tail and run. Why is he here?

Tankhun bent down to talk with Prim. Eyes shining and skin glowing even under the unsupportive lighting of the storage room. His smile was brilliant, exactly the picture of him that Non had burned into his memories. Yet there are some changes too. The dark layer under his eyes, or the slightly protruding cheekbones - he must've lost some weight... While Non must've lost his mind!

"Prim...!"

The girl paused, turned to Non and ran to his side.

"Why are you here? It's messy and full of dust..." He eyed Tan slightly. "And why do you bring an outsider in here? It's a staff-only area, you know?"

Tan raised his brows in mini panic. "Uh, sorry, it's my fault! I asked her to take me here. Don't blame her, please."

Non glanced downward. Eye contact is too much for him right now. "I... am not asking you, Khun Tan..."

It was stupid and unreasonable. Prim is too young to understand the tension. She's just a child. "But Aa Tan isn't outside people?" And children drop bombs like they do breathing. "Aa Non gives Aa Tan flowers like Papa gives Mama."

Oh, no. Non might have to shut down White Beauty as well at this rate. Maybe then he'd feel poor once again and focus only on making a living and survive without the time for anything else. Anything that could add injury to his already scarred heart.