𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐒 | 𝐊- 𝐏𝐎𝐏

𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗁𝗎𝗇𝖽𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗋𝗍𝗒

Chapter 11: Plan B

"I think I will have to put the others somewhere else." She climbs off the chair. "Thanks for your help but I should be getting back to my classroom to relieve the assistant. I can finish these later." She brushes off her hands and smiles at him, staring right past him as he stands, speechless, unable to move. He forces a half smile as he watches her walk out of the room, leaving him alone in the space with all of his terrible thoughts. She's leaving! He has to do something.

He runs out of the room into the hallway just in time to see her stepping into her classroom with the large vase of flowers. He bounds down the hall to her door, and he steps up to the glass to see her, surrounded by the children who are happy she has returned, and curious about the flowers. She crouches down to allow them to smell the flowers. He watches, his heart sinking, wondering if this will be the last time he sees her. She turns her head toward the door, looking up at him and her eyes light up, she smiles, motioning for him to come into the room.

He looks back at her surprised but he takes the opportunity and opens the door stepping inside carefully. The children regard him just as curiously as they did the flowers, but they stay close to their teacher.

"This nice man brought the flowers for us to share. Mr?" She looks at him curiously realizing she didn't get his name.

"Mr. Kim," he offers, happy to have the chance to tell her. He smiles at the children as they slowly gather around him.

"Mr. Kim is here to help us fix our building," she tells them, and he realizes that he's forgotten completely about the Director and Jimin! He hopes Jimin won't mind. "Would you like to take a seat and watch some of the children do flower arranging Mr. Kim?" He nods, smiling.

"Yes, I would like that very much." His heart is still shaking from her revelation but he's happy to get more time with her. She hands the large vase to a small boy, and he's surprised as the boy expertly carries it to a little table near the window. She steps closer to Taehyung, and reaches out, touching his shoulder to guide him toward a chair nearby. The chair is larger but still child sized and he sits awkwardly on the edge of it. Several children gather around his body and stare up at him. She takes a chair nearby and pulls it closer to him to sit by his side facing the little boy.

"Yu-jun, please be sure to wear your apron. You don't want to get your beautiful sweater wet," she says with a gentle voice. He nods and gets the apron hanging on the side of the little table. A child climbs up onto her lap and sits in her arms, staring over at him. He looks down, envious of the child being that close to her, and he watches as she runs her hand over the girls hair to smooth it while she watches Yu-jun work. He turns back to watch the little boy carefully choosing three flowers from the large vase. He pulls a tiny pair of pruning shears from a pouch in the apron and snips the ends of the stems. Taehyung turns back to Miss Wright.

"I didn't realize the flowers would be so useful, I thought they might just brighten the room," he says softly.

"They are both." She winks at him and his face flushes with heat. He looks up, suddenly aware of two faces in the glass window to the room, regarding them. Mrs. Lee stands peeking over the bottom of the glass, and Jimin is standing, smiling broadly at the sight of him. He looks away, embarrassed, unsure what to do, or how to tell him what he's feeling now, such a mix of emotions.

"Is that one of your associates?" she asks looking at Jimin and smiling.

"He's my oldest friend," he says, almost without meaning to admit it. He looks up at her in a mild panic and she smiles back at him as she rocks the child in her lap slowly.

"Here, these are for you." The small boy holds out the flowers to Taehyung. They are wrapped in a pretty bow, and inside a small vase no bigger than the palm of his hand. He drops his eyes shyly, looking at the ground. Taehyung takes the offering, and bows to him.

"Thank you, Yu-jun, this is the most beautiful gift." He smiles at the boy, and he's aware that she is watching him. He hears a tapping at the glass and they both look up to see Mrs. Lee pushing the door open.

"I think you are wanted for business," she whispers into his ear, her warm breath tickling his skin. He takes the opportunity to look into her eyes and smile one last time before he is pulled away from her light. He looks to the doorway and nods to let the two know he has understood. He stands and turns to her, she is unable to rise with the child on her lap but she stretches out her hand to take his. "Thank you for your kindness Mr. Kim, it will mean the world to these children," she says in a friendly tone, taking his hand and shaking it gently. Her touch sends another jolt through him, and he looks down at her, wishing he could stop time and freeze this moment, not wanting to leave her. She turns back to the small child on her lap.

"Is it your turn to arrange flowers Jiwoo?" The little girl nods and climbs down from her lap. She stands up, straightening her skirt, and steps closer to the children, leaving him to reluctantly join the others in the doorway. He shoots a look to Jimin to try to express his overwhelming feeling of warmth and happiness, and utter devastation at the idea that she's in love, with someone else.