elise | jjk ✓

vingt

📼 i can't believe
CYN
_______

"so," arielle takes a breath after talking for two minutes straight without so much as a sniffle. jeongguk finally can open his eyes and look at the small girl, blue eyes looking around at the bundles and bouquets surrounding them. "you got everything? everything makes sense?"

"arielle," jeongguk smirks, "i'm the one who pays you. of course this makes sense."

"right," the small girl nods. "i'll be on my way then."

jeongguk nods as arielle removes her apron and makes her way to grab her bag and go.

"thank you," jeongguk spurts before she can open the door to leave. she smiles and nods. "you know, you've really helped me these past few weeks, so i mean it."

arielle nods again, her hand pushing open the green door, "thank you, jeongguk," and she leaves.

it's just jeongguk and his roses now.

which, makes him think back to when it really was just that. an abandoned flower shop with rose buds and a few planters, a boy and a dream, and a painter upstairs that liked to visit the local bar a bit too frequently to pick up women. oh my, how far he's come, he thinks.

the policemen's ball. what an honour. jeongguk looks around at all the arrangements arielle has so graciously made—along with some help from rose, of course. jeongguk and taehyung were busy touring the venue and making important decisions on what needed to happen in order for the arrangements and ball to be exquisitely memorable. taehyung was his aesthetic connoisseur, after all.

that made him remember to send a thank you text to rose, just in case he didn't see her later on in the evening. she hadn't been around much which made jeongguk worry a tad, but to that he had to shake his head and remember; not his circus, not his monkeys. rose was probably just busy with other things. she did have a life outside of taehyung and their little life on blanche, after all.

"jeongguk!" his best friend comes booming into the shop, pulling jeongguk from his daydream. "looks like we're all set, huh?" the smile he wears is from ear to ear, a painted canvas peeking out the top of his satchel as he strolls towards jeongguk at the counter.

"arielle did a fine job," jeongguk nods. "i just hope we can deliver."

taehyung frowns and hits his friend lightly, "nonsense," he shakes his head, "this is going to be great. with your arrangements, my paintings up for auction... it's like the stars are finally aligning."

jeongguk's mind immediately rushes to elise.

he still hadn't told taehyung he asked her to stay in paris for a bit longer than she had planned. hell, he hadn't told anyone yet. he knew taehyung would get mad, he promised to keep adriana in the loop but that seemed to fail, and the only person he actually felt like telling was rose, but she was preoccupied and avoiding his calls, it seemed. she didn't join them last night for drinks... and that was her favourite.

so, in silence he would dwell on exactly why he asked her to stay. part being that they had to cut their conversation short the other day and neither had really talked about where they wanted this to head in the future. if all this could even be considered a this—but again, jeongguk didn't have anyone to consult, unfortunately, so he didn't know.

however, the stars, and their alignment, as taehyung likes to say—perhaps they are aligning this one time. elise is here for a short while—the exact time frame to be determined. but she's here, which is all jeongguk wanted in the beginning; proper closure, a real goodbye.

now, he can't help but wonder if it's not goodbye he should be saying, but hello. and the stars will align and everything will be okay because it's paris and it's elise, and it's still the same drunk on love place she and him fell in love with however long ago.

"gguk?" taehyung furrows his brows at his best friend.

"yeah?" jeongguk looks back at taehyung, thoughts silent as he digresses. "yeah, um, i think so too," he agrees with a nod. "i think this is exactly where i need to be."

"good," taehyung beams and pats his shoulder. "now... shall we go get ready?"

jeongguk nods reluctantly. to the ball they go.