Flower ||| Ateez

19

A few days later, Lily was talking with Susan in the back of the store. The older woman was asking if she would feel comfortable running the store by herself for a few days while she went to her nephew's wedding.

Lily felt honored that the woman trusted her enough to be by herself, and she was confident that she knew the store well enough that she could do it. It's not like she had anything to do anyway.

The store was slow enough that she never felt overwhelmed. On the second day on her own, Lily hummed quietly to herself as she switched out the display in the front window, smiling contently. She had gotten quite good at picking out outfits and they usually sold later that day.

As she added the final touches, she glanced out at the street to check the weather when she saw them.

All eight of them.

Walking to a local pub for lunch.

She wanted to run and hide but seeing them brought so much joy to her heart, she couldn't bear to look away.

They looked... happy.

San was walking on his own, but she noticed he had a slight limp, favoring his wounded left side. Yeosang was right there, ready to catch him if something happened.

Yunho, Jongho, and Hongjoong walked at the front of the group, chatting about something that got the tallest excited and he started skipping next to them.

Lily felt her heart throb at the sight.

Seonghwa and Mingi walked behind San, and Lily saw them holding hands. She was shocked for a second, but then she was overjoyed that Seonghwa had found someone to take care of him.

Wooyoung brought up the rear. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and even though he smiled when San shouted something at him, Lily could tell it didn't reach his eyes.

Her heart crumpled.

He looked like he hadn't kept up with his hair. Brown roots were bleeding into the dull, fading silver.

She wanted to run to him, hold him, kiss him. She wanted to get lost in his swirling brown eyes.

Lily found herself walking to the door and forced herself to stop. No. You can't. You have to protect them.

She watched them walk into the bar. Without her.

---

A couple hours later, Lily paced back and forth in the store. They still hadn't left the pub. Why do I even care? It's not like I can go talk to them. They can't know you're here. If they find out, then he could find out.

Her thoughts spiraled out of control before they were interrupted by the door opening and the welcome bell ringing.

Lily's head snapped up and said, "Welcome!" Quickly trying to hide the fact she was about to have a panic attack.

"Hi! I wanted to know if you had any formal dresses?" The girl asked, blushing slightly.

"I do! What's the occasion?" Lily asked, leading her to the back of the store.

"My high school's prom is coming up, and I'm having the hardest time finding a dress I like."

"Well, I don't have a huge selection since we are a resale store, but I know I just got a few in last week, so let's see what we can find!"

The girls looked through the two racks while chatting. It felt strange, but natural to have a conversation with another girl. Lily was so used to being surrounded by boys, she didn't know how to really act.