Aster Petals

❀ eight ❀

"Should I wear this? Or this?" Seokjin asked Namjoon, glancing back and forth at the two suits he had on hand.

Inside their room, they were getting ready for the funeral which will occur later in the afternoon. Namjoon was just polishing his black leather shoes—which looks quite brand new—while Seokjin was trying to pick between the two suits he had on hand, wondering which of the two should he wear for later.

The suits he had had different colors, one was black and the other was blue-grey, but nonetheless looks to have similar appearances. Though the problem wasn't that of a big deal, it still made Namjoon wonder why he had such a hard time picking when he could just grab one and go.

Namjoon sighed and shook his head. "Do you really have to pick between the two? It looks the same." He honestly comments.

"Hey, you gotta look handsome in a suit Namjoon," Seokjin states, lowering his hands and shooting a look at the younger. "Even if it looks the same, there should be this aura that shouts on the top of its lungs 'Wow! I'm gonna look handsome in this one!'"

Namjoon snickered, "oh really now?" His brow raised, finding it to be silly.

"Yes of course!" Seokjin blurted out, his voice rising up and down unsteadily, "you gotta look good in any form of event Namjoon. You have to dress up formally in any form of occasion, even at funerals. Of course, it depends if it's a formal or a casual one."

Namjoon's lips quirked, "Jin hyung, you know that you look really handsome in any suit right?"

He doesn't get an immediate reply, only the sudden silence and the low whispers of the atmosphere. Somehow, this had Seokjin silenced, faint colors of pink dusting his cheeks. However, Namjoon wasn't able to catch it. Oblivious to how Seokjin could've felt from that harmless remark. 

"Y-yeah of course! I look good in anything!" Flustered, he forced a laugh. It turned out to be quite brittle and unsteady, unlike what he had wanted. "You know Namjoon, you should pick a suit that best suits you." He suddenly mentions, attempting to divert away from his awkwardness.

Namjoon continues to stare at him, having the greatest urge to laugh. "Really now? I guess I should pick a good suit since I can't look nice in every suit unlike you."

"Well, I am flattered Joon," Seokjin grinned with appreciation, holding back a nervous laugh. "But really, you too would look good in any kind of suit, if you ask me." Though he wanted to smile confidently, the product of it turned out to be a bit bashful.

Namjoon could feel his face heating from that small compliment that Seokjin gave him. "Thank you..." He breathes, words trailing off to the distance.  It was just a simple comment and a single gaze and it had, unintentionally, entrapped Namjoon in an atmosphere that had engulfed him with love and infatuation towards his hyung.

His heart beats for him, for the man who had once loved him. He was enamored, the feelings only able to grow from there, so do the flowers that flourish inside his stomach.

Bountiful, a garden of bountiful flowers continue to bloom within him. Beautiful blue Aster petals that sprout from his stomach and bloom with such elegance and dainty.

Beautiful, yet painful.

Those flowers were for Seokjin. Those flowers were because of Seokjin. For he suffers this disease from unrequited love. A disease that Seokjin had once suffered, now does Namjoon experience its uneventful wrath.

"Namjoon, is everything alright?" Seokjin hung the hangers of the suits by the closet, eyes fixated towards Namjoon's, then crossing his arms and gazed at him with a concerned stare. He tilted his head a bit down, "you're um, staring..." He manages to say, following it with a quiet awkward laugh.