Tally Marks- soulmate au

Chapter Nineteen: Roses

"I'm not gonna lie to you, that's kind of creepy." Wonwoo said to Junhui.

"Yeah, I mean, you met the guy 2 days ago and yesterday you basically stalked him." Seungcheol said, agreeing with Wonwoo.

"Oh, come on! It wasn't creepy. Was it?" Junhui asked the other two as he leaned back into the bench that he was sitting on.

The three of them were sitting in a desolate skate park with sandwiches in hand and drinks besides them. They had gone out for lunch and came to sit at the empty skate park. It was the middle of a Wednesday so the usual group of students that would be found here were absent from the scene. Junhui was sat on top of a bench while Seungcheol and Wonwoo were reclined on the ground in front of him.

"Yeah, it was definitely creepy." Wonwoo said before taking a bite of his sandwich.

Junhui sighed as his face contorted into one of confusion and disappointment. "Really?" he asked, sounding almost defeated.

"Yes." Wonwoo and Seungcheol said simultaneously.

Junhui ate his sandwich with a pout upon his lips. "That's not what I wanted."

"Look," Seungcheol started. "You literally met him two days ago. The day you met him you did research on him and asked questions to the people he works with until you figured out what he likes and then you bought him a camera. All without ever talking to him. You've met him once and that's it. Don't you think that his is a bit fast?"

Junhui sat in silence for a moment, thinking about it. Maybe he was being a bit fast. Maybe this was a bit strange. It was just that a wave had come over him and he acted without putting too much thought into it. Maybe he should have thought about it more. Maybe then he wouldn't have done something so spontaneous. What if Minghao now thinks he's some sort of creep? What if he just ruined any chance he ever had at even becoming friends? What if he just scared Minghao off. Damn it. He just ruined everything. Oh god, now what is he supposed to do? He should probably make it up to him, right?

"Junhui." Wonwoo said sternly. "Stop panicking. It will be fine. Now eat your sandwich so we can head back to the office."

And so he did. He finished his sandwich and so did his two companions and then they all began to walk back to the office. On the walk back they talked and talked, well, except for Junhui. He just couldn't stop thinking about Minghao and how he may have just messed up everything. They were about halfway back to the office when all of this thinking and all of these what if's had lead him to let out a deep sigh. Seungcheol and Wonwoo looked up at him.

Seungcheol put his hand on Junhui's shoulder in a reassuring manner. "Come on, stop thinking about it. Everything's going to be fine."

"I guess, it's just, what if I just messed everything up."

"Stop thinking about the what if's. That's not healthy. We really need to get your mind off of this. Tonight, the three of us are going out. That's final." Wonwoo decided.

Seungcheol smiled widely. "Hell yeah!"

"I guess." Junhui said.

When they finally made it to the office, they said good-bye to Seungcheol, as he worked on a different floor, and then they went to their floor. They casually chatted on their way up the elevator but no matter what, Junhui was sort of out of it. He kept thinking about Minghao and how he messed everything up. It was kind of a disappointing, to be kind of excited about something only to realize that you and only you ruined any chance you had at succeeding at that thing. Junhui was the only one at fault. He screwed up. Just him. He was just so intrigued by Minghao. He only wanted to know more about him. He only wanted to at least be friends. That's it. He needed more friends. More people to talk to. And if the person he was hoping to be friends with was incredibly hot, then that's just a bonus.

But that's besides the point. He still screwed up his chances. This is exactly why he needed to get out and make new friends. He needs to get better social skills. Despite the fact that he's been alive for centuries, he still sucks at talking to people. He doesn't really know how to make new friends or how to approach new people. With Wonwoo it was just one of his luckier days, but apparently that luck wasn't staying on his side for Minghao. He didn't even go out of his way to meet Seungcheol. Wonwoo had met him first and introduces the two. And with Seungkwan and Cheryl and Joshua, they all just worked at the place he visited every day. It was destined for them to get to know each other on a more personal level. But now, he was trying to make friends on his own and he was utterly failing. God, he really should think before he does things.

He kind of felt defeated at this point. It's not like he had any right to do anything like that. At least, not this soon. He only met the guy once and that was the day before. He just really didn't want Minghao to slip from his grasp. He had him right there. But he realized that he grabbed on too tight and his opportunity cracked and broke in his fingers. Shattered like a broken, glass heart. Now all he was left with was the shards of what could have been. And he was absolutely devastated.

Of course, glass could always be glued back together, but it will never look as seamless as it once was. So, he guessed there was still some hope, but it was still different. However, as he had found this little glimpse of hope, he decided that there was still a chance. So he guessed that it wasn't all bad. Maybe he could still try to talk to Minghao. That's what normal people do, right? He could apologize for being creepy and maybe try to start again. Yeah, that's what he decided to do. He was going to go down there and apologize for any inconvenience he had caused Minghao. He would apologize for making Minghao uncomfortable and he would ask if he could possibly try again.

By the time he left the elevator he was determined to fix the mess he had caused. He walked out of the elevator less depressed and he told Wonwoo that he was going to fix this small disaster he had made. Then he made a b-line for his office. He threw his door open and swiftly took off his jacket. He tossed his jacket on the rack by his door and went to go sit down at his desk to see if Minghao would still be doing shoots on the 7th floor, but before he could even turn his computer on, he noticed something.

The light had glimmered off of something small, flat, and square sitting on his desk. Out of curiosity, he turned to see what this was, because he definitely didn't recall having anything on his desk or even in his office that fit that description. He reached across his desk and picked up the item. When it came fully into his view, a cute, little smile slowly crept onto his face. And when he turned it over, his smile grew even bigger. In his hand, he held a small polaroid photograph of four different colored roses. One pink, one lavender, one blue, and the last orange. On the back of the polaroid was a little note.

Thank you for the camera. In return, I give you 4 flowers. I wonder what they mean? Maybe you'll have to look them up. ;)

-X.M.