Loves Me Not

A Flower With Rotten Roots

Just a floor above the Move Consulting building was a massive ball room, specially made to host events by the companies at Move Conglomerate. It stretched wide, dark green marble flooring, high white walls supported by Doric columns and three giant chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Seojun's jaw dropped at the grandeur of it all. He had to arrive five hours early to set up the flower decorations.

"Woah. The people at Move have got some serious dough." Chorong commented as he helped Seojun carry all the table arrangements.

People were bustling about getting everything ready for the event. The tables were ready with white sheets and empty plates. All Seojun and Chorong had to do was set up the flowers. It took the boys four hours to set everything in a way that Seojun was satisfied.

Seojun wiped the sweat from his brow as he marveled at his own work. Each table in the room had a beautiful centerpiece; an artful arrangement of pale pink flowers surrounding a dark, deep colored flower. The event planner came up to the boys with his mouth shrunken. He had one of the table arrangements in his hand.

"I see you've used the flower that I wanted." He said sourly.

Chorong piped up, "We couldn't find enough to make the entire bouquet out of it so we used a single flower for all of the arrangements."

"And you've still used the Rose of Sharon." The event planner turned over the vase in his hand.

"We had to." Seojun gently tugged at the vase the event planner was holding. Tucked between the stems was a card with the flower meanings. He held it out for the planner to see.

The Rose of Sharon, national flower of South Korea. Symbolizing an eternal blossom that never faded. It also stands for love, beauty and healing in other cultures.

"Move Consulting helps companies heal. And they make sure the businesses they serve never fade. That is why the flower is important to them."

The event planner snatched the vase away from Seojun's hands and cleared his throat. "This clearly isn't what I wanted." He cleared his throat again. "But... the arrangement isn't half bad." The barest hint of a smile played on the man's lips. Seojun knew this was the only extent of approval he would get.

"Good job." The man departed before Seojun or Chorong had a chance to acknowledge the praise.

"Ya hear that? He said we did a good job!" Chorong shook Seojun who was acting cool on the surface.

"Look at you two, acting like you've won the lottery," said a voice from behind them.

Seojun rolled his eyes as he turned to meet Kang Sujin. He stopped short when he saw her, fully dressed for the event. She wore a black dress that was cinched at the waist and had a flared-out skirt reaching to her knees. The panels of the skirt overlapped, reminding Seojun of flower petals, much like a black rose. The belt around the waist had small, blunt, silver spikes. The shoulders of the dress were pointed and structured and had spike studs as well. Her wrists too had thin leather straps with spikes on them. From her ears, dangled long, pointy earrings. Her eyes were lined in dark kohl and finally, her full lips were painted a dark red and pulled back in a smirk.

"Woah. You look so cool." Chorong said dreamily.

"I know." Sujin said, not taking her eyes off Seojun. He knew she wanted his reaction. But for some strange reason, Seojun didn't want to give her that satisfaction. He kept his face stony and unreadable.

"The place looks amazing, Han Seojun. You've done a wonderful job." Lee Suho joined them as he pointed to the flowers hanging from the ceilings and covering the walls. "Shouldn't you guys be getting ready now? You don't want to be late."