love you later | yeonbin

006

"See this flower?" Yeonjun asks and points at a yellow flower. There's a little sign pressed into the soil, a pretty cursive handwriting spelling out the name of the flower, and Soobin wouldn't be surprised if it is Yeonjun's own. Aconitum coreanum.

Soobin doesn't even hesitate and leans forward to inspect it closely. The morning had been peaceful, almost strangely so. Yeonjun still liked to rile him up and give him odd jobs to do around the house - just two days ago he made him clean out a cupboard of old potion ingredients of questionable consistency. It seemed odd, given the fact how closely Yeonjun guarded anything magical against Soobin's prying eyes, but he'd done as he was told. Turned out it hadn't been anything dangerous, but it hadn't been pleasant either way. Soobin was not keen to find out what the muddy green liquid that gave off the smell of rotten eggs was meant for.

"It looks weird."

"It's poisonous," Yeonjun says with a deadpan voice.

Soobin's heart stops for a second as he moves away quickly, eyes wide as he gasps for air.

"What the hell?"

Yeonjun bursts out in laughter as Soobin has never seen him do before. His eyes disappear into crescent moons, his smile bright and perfect as he leans over, almost folding himself in half. Happiness looks good on him, Soobin thinks, and before he can stop himself he lets out a soft chuckle himself, now that he is over his first shock. Somehow his heart still hasn't gotten the message, stuttering in his chest as his eyes are fixed on Yeonjun.

"You should have seen the look on your face," Yeonjun says, his laughter having faded into a soft giggle. "Relax, it doesn't actually hurt you just by looking at it. I'm not trying to kill you."

"Really? Could've had me fooled," Soobin mumbles under his breath but even he can tell that he doesn't sound nearly as upset as someone should if they suspected someone of attempted murder.

Yeonjun only snorts.

"Just the roots are poisonous. So unless you wanna rip the plant out and nibble on the roots, I'd say you're pretty safe."

Soobin only hums but then decides to ask the question that had been burning on his mind the entire morning. Yeonjun had given him simple tasks - he had to water some flowers, add fertilizer to others, and move yet others from one pot to a different one. It was tedious work, and Soobin didn't claim to be an expert in all things flora, but even he had noticed that some things in the greenhouse didn't add up. For one, everything was in bloom. It was still early in the year, much too soon for many flowers to open their buds, yet the greenhouse exploded with colors.

"Hey, how is it possible that all these flowers are blooming at once?"

"What do you think?" Yeonjun says and smiles at him as he holds up his hands and wiggles his fingers gently.

"Magic."

"You know, you say you use magic, and yet I haven't seen a single trace of it. I haven't seen you use it even just once."

"That's what you think. Maybe you just don't know where to look."

And before Soobin could reply, Yeonjun reaches past him to snap the bud of a rose off its stem. As he holds it out in front of Soobin, the petals start unfolding, one by one until there's a fully blooming rose sitting between Yeonjun's fingertips. Eyes wide with wonder, Soobin takes it from him and twists it around before he looks back up at Yeonjun. When he does, he comes to face with a look so full of softness, that it makes a soft blush rise in his cheeks.

"Um," he stammers. "What about this one then?" He points towards a flower that is sitting just behind Yeonjun. "Why is that one not blooming?"

Yeonjun twists around, and the soft smile has yet to leave his face as he softly cradles the leaves in his hands. "It is. It's a moonflower. It only blooms at night. That's something not even I can control."