Efflorescence (2won)

2. First meeting

The man watered all his flowers again and smiled when closing the window, which had been open for a long time. He was wearing a white collar shirt, black jeans and glasses, it was his work outfit. He took his keys from the table and put them in his bag, then he walked to the door and went out.

The day was warm, sunny and happy, at least for him. He walked down the street with quick steps, and soon he stood in front of a small and cute flower shop. He walked in and smiled at the lady, who was waving at him.

"Hyungwon! So nice to see you!" She yelled, smiling.

"Hi, In-Sook." Hyungwon smiled back and put his bag on the counter.

"Today is a beautiful day, right?" In-Sook said, while looking out of the big window at the front of the shop.

Hyungwon giggled a little. "Yes. I was admiring the weather on my way here."

"Anyways, I have to leave soon and I won't be back until the end of your shift, but I think you'll be okay." She informed him.

"Oh? Yeah, I'll be okay." Hyungwon responded. "Are you going to a wholesale?"

"Yes, We really need to fill up with the cards." In-Sook said.

"Yeah... there are only few left." Hyungwon added. "Hopefully no-one is getting a funeral card today."

"Yes, it would be a bit embarrassing." In-Sook nodded. "Anyways, I should get going. Call me if something disastrous happens." She added before walking out through the back door.

Hyungwon smiled and put his bag in the back room. He then started to do a normal morning check with the plants. He made sure that the plants were watered and placed the cards better on the card stand. This was a normal working day for Hyungwon.

The beginning of his shift was quite normal. A couple of customers searched for summer flowers for a dinner party and one old woman bought a cactus. Hyungwon always smiled at the customers and tried his best to explain the treatment of the plants. He wanted to be friendly to everyone, even though the old woman, who bought the cactus argued with him that cactuses should be watered five times a day, and the woman was totally wrong. Hyungwon still took it and smiled at the woman who eventually bought the plant.

Hyungwon sat quietly, listening to the music that was playing in the shop. He loved the store. There was always beautiful, his boss was really wonderful and there was always old music playing quietly in the background. Hyungwon enjoyed his work, even though it wasn't very productive. His salary was quite low, but enough to pay the rent and food for him.

However, Hyungwon's normal day changed instantly after two men, he had never seen walked in to the shop. The first was dressed in black and had brown hair. The second one was wearing a black leather jacket and had a pink hair, which really stood out. The man was muscular and very handsome.

Hyungwon snapped out of his thoughts and smiled, while walking up to the two men.

"Can I help you?" He asked, trying to sound professional.

"Um, actually yes." The brown haired one said. "We're going to a funeral and we need flowers and a card."

Hyungwon cursed his head. Why were the cards almost out today? Why today? Hyungwon however smiled and walked to the flowers, which were usually used for funerals.

"Here we have our selection for the funeral flowers." Hyungwon explained as the two men followed him.

"Actually, we already have in mind what kind of flowers we want." The brown haired one said, smiling gently.

"Oh, of course." Hyungwon nodded. "What kind?"

"Lilacs." The pink haired man spoke up for the first time.