flowers for you | yoonkook, y.k.

Prolouge Part 1 <001>

<Yoongi POV>

Maybe I'm just being extra about it, but when I was younger, I absolutely loved flowers. I still do.  I remember whining to my dad when I was younger just so I could see all the pretty flowers at the flower shop in the corner of the street where we used to live.  I don't even know why I liked them so much.  They just made me feel safe for some reason, they were pretty too.

Where we used to live was at an old apartment.  My dad ended up becoming a single father.  He had just finished high school when he realized he would have to become a parent for me.  So instead of going to college, he worked countless jobs to make sure I would have a good childhood or something while his ex-girlfriend— i refuse to call her mom— stayed at the apartment to take care of me.  Although the ex-girlfriend left shortly after the many times she neglected to take care of me, once even leaving me in the car to cry for half an hour I remember my dad telling me.

I'm sure my dad was pretty fed up with her, so he came to the conclusion of taking full custody of me, and seeing how his ex barely cared about this, they both went to court and finally got it over with.  Dad didn't know what to  do after that.  He continued doing multiple jobs, hiring people with the little extra money he had to take care of me while working.

That's how I grew up with my childhood friend Namjoon, he was about a year younger than me but that didn't really affect much.  His parents decided to take care of me while dad worked so they're practically like family to me now.  Namjoon never really understood why I loved flowers so much, but then again neither did I.  Namjoon was really clumsy... but nice to have around.

When I was a little bit older, around seven years old, Dad still struggled getting a good source of income with his wage being just a little below average.  They only things he really payed for was the apartment lease and our basic needs. 

My classmates in grade school could probably tell we were poor since they bullied me for it.  I knew that they took it too far when they started breaking my belongs and making trip in the hallways for 'fun'. Even my teacher knew about this but it seems like she didn't care at all.   So I told Namjoon and even though he was a grade below me he was pretty understanding.

"Don't be mean to Yoongi hyung!" The kid Namjoon said in his high pitched voice. "That's not nice!"

The bully whose name I don't remember argued back. "Don't talk to your upperclassmen like that!"

For goodness sake we were in grade school at that time. 

"If you be mean to my Yoongi Hyung again you'll regret it!" Namjoon huffed, stepping forward.

We were both the same height at that time, but Namjoon outgrew me later on. 

Namjoon sent that bully home crying that day and fortunately neither of us got in trouble.   But sooner or later, my Dad found out and felt bad that I was being bullied.  So we went to the mall and he bought me new clothes along with a pororo plushie that I still have in my room sitting right on top of my bed with the other plushies.

"Don't worry papa, when I grow up, I'm gonna buy us a big house!" I told him as he tried to fit a shirt on me in the dressing room.  "With lots of space and a big pool for swimming!"

Yongcheol, my dad, smiled.  "Really?  I thought you didn't like swimming."

"That's because the pool isn't for me, it's for you.  You said you like swimming a lot!" I answered.

"Alright then, make sure to work hard for it."  Dad stated, patting my head lightly. 

We don't live in the old apartment I was talking about anymore though.  When I was ten, Dad finally saved up enough money and bought a small two-story building after many contracts and confusing things that I couldn't understand and still don't really understand now.

With a bit of work, the building soon became our own flower shop. Well, more like the first floor, the second floor was basically where our rooms, kitchen and bathroom was. Dad and I both worked hard to perfect the building, styling the place exactly how we envisioned, while on a budget of course.

We also did lots of research and studying about how to open a flower shop beforehand. Dad already came prepared to be spending lots on the essentials while I on the other hand started to learn about all the different types of flower arrangements and other things.

Long story short, the opening day of our shop went amazing, lots of people had stopped by and decided to take a look, Dad told his ex-coworkers about our shop, hoping that some of them would come, which they did of course. I don't think Dad had ever seen me that happy and excited before.

<Jungkook POV>

When I was younger, people just loved me for some reason. I always wondered how I got along so well with most people. I think it was just because of the expectations my parents had on me and it just kind of grew on the other people around me. Or maybe it was because my parents were such high people, they were strict, but kind as well I might say...?

My mother was an accountant and my father was a teacher, we weren't rich rich but we were nowhere near poor either. And because they were so busy, they rarely made time for me in the day, but I could tell they still loved me.

Before I entered grade school, I would usually have a babysitter take care of me. Once I could talk, they always asked if my babysitter was nice, they always asked if I was fed enough, they always made sure I was okay. They always tucked me in bed at night and told me they loved me.

Then when I finally entered grade school, you bet my father was always on my tail about good grades, making sure I was always the top of my class. That's... also when the expectations started to rise. Not just my parents expected this, my whole class did.

They would ask what was wrong when I had gotten anything lower than the highest grades. They told me to play less and study more, I was only eight when they expected me to be perfect. Don't get me wrong, my mother and father were good people, but sometimes they ask for too much from me.

Their expectations got so high to the point where I was even expected to act a certain way. Apparently they think I have no limits whatsoever. I was always plastering a fake smile on my face and expected to act nice.

I stayed up so late to study for a test once in fourth grade that I barely got enough sleep to probably function normally— keep in mind I was much younger then— and my parents still expected for me to be nice.

They don't understand that you can't just yell at your child and think they'll be fine right after. I had my breaking points too. After lots of talking though, I think I finally got them to understand that, seeing how they finally treated me much less of a robot and more of a human.

By the time fourth grade was over, my teachers were so surprised at my growth in learning that I was even able to skip fifth grade and go right to sixth. A/N: There are six years of primary school in South Korea. What the teachers didn't tell me was that I had to be socially and emotionally ready. They just expected me to know. They expected me to adjust to the changes quickly.

Too many expectations.

The only good thing that happened in sixth grade was Taehyung. My best friend. I've had lots of friends throughout grade school but taehyung was the only one who I guess I just felt a connection with.

He was super laid back and was practically a walking vibe checker. Taehyung knew when a person was toxic, or fake, or just using someone in general for something. I admire him a lot and he likes to tease me because of it. I've gotten used to it though.

Word Count: 1451

A/N: MNSDFNMDND I PROMISE THE STORY'S GONNA BE MORE INTERESTING SOON