Chapter IX - Red Tulips

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It was half past noon when they finished a movie and decided to just sit around. Jaemin was sitting on the middle of the sixth bench from the front with a book in his hand and Jeno on his lap, reading the same book.

Jeno was lying on his side before he suddenly turned away from the book and lied flat on his back, facing upwards. He stared at Jaemin without a single blink for quite a while until Jaemin had had enough.

"Yes, Jen. What do you want from me?"

Jaemin broke the silence, still keeping his eyes on the book.

"Jaemin, your hair colour, is it always this pink?"

Jaemin was startled at the sudden question. He gave Jeno a quick glance before trying to look at his hair that fell on his forehead.

"As long as I can remember, yes. I could say that it's kind of my natural hair colour. Actually, it was quite weird though. If you look close enough, you can see that the roots are dark brown. But as they grew longer, the colour faded and ended up in soft pink. I don't get it either. I don't hate it but I always get picked on a lot because of it."

Jaemin held out a few strands of his hair and his lips pouted subconsciously. Jeno let out little giggles at the sight.

"It's beautiful."

Jeno complimented, making Jaemin flustered and speechless. However, he managed to keep his composure and hummed a response, eyes still blankly staring at the same page he had been on for almost ten minutes.

"Jaemin."

Jeno called out his name, but he was totally ignored by the other. Jeno pouted at the cold shoulders treatment he received from Jaemin and started to whine to gain his attention.

"Jaemin, it's my birthday. Pay attention to me. You can finish that book later. It wasn't that good either. Jaemin~."

Jaemin finally gave in to the cute whining ghost on his lap. He closed his book and put it aside before looking at Jeno.

"Alright, Jeno. You have my attention now. What do you want?"

Jeno suddenly got up from Jaemin's lap and sat sideways beside him, facing his direction. He smiled his eye-smile and scooted closer. He put his left arm on the back of the bench and supported his head with his palm, eyes still staring into Jaemin's.

"You."

Jaemin involuntarily raised a teasing eyebrow at Jeno's sudden peak of confidence. He smirked and scooted closer to Jeno before copying what he did.

"Really?"

Realization suddenly kicked Jeno in the head at how bold his own action was and he started to look anxious at the close proximity. But neither of them moved away from their spot. Jaemin could feel the usual cold breeze that brushing against his skin whenever he appeared to be in contact with Jeno.

Jaemin could tell that Jeno was flustered miserably in front of him. If only he was alive, Jeno would have been a blushing mess and Jaemin would have fun staring at him forever without blinking.

Jeno cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to regain his confidence. Jaemin snapped out of his daydream and focused back on Jeno.

"Jaemin, do you, perhaps, knew anything about the flower language?"

Jeno tried to ignore the almost non-existence space between them and change the topic.

"Nope. But that sounds interesting."

Jaemin's eyes sparkled with interest at the sudden new topic brought up by the other. Seeing this, Jeno smiled even brighter than he already did, as if it was even possible.

"You see, some flowers carry interesting and special meaning or symbolization with them. For example, purple Hyacinth means 'please forgive me', carnation in pink means 'I will not forget you', but the two toned one means 'I cannot be with you'. Lavender symbolizes devotion and lilac represents the first emotions of love. White clover reminds you never to forget those you love. The most cliche one, red rose, represents love and desire. And red tulips.."

Jeno paused for a while, glancing towards the direction behind Jaemin's back. Jaemin turned to look at the said direction and saw the beautiful red tulips he had brought for Jeno as his birthday gift by the window. He turned back to face Jeno and wait for him to finish his sentence.

"Red tulips are considered as a declaration of love."

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