FLORA IN SPRING | ksj

00 | MARIGOLDS

PULLING HIS GLOVES off, seokjin rolled up the sleeves of his soft cotton shirt again. his thumb brushed over the blue fabric that mimicked the hue of the crystal sky on a clear spring day.

a sigh danced past his pursed lips, gaze flickering up. he had spent the entire day working in the garden. planting seeds, transplanting seedlings from cool pots to warm earth, watering, weeding. his attention had been completely swallowed by the mundane tasks of gardening.

he hadn't realised just how much time had fluttered by until the sky had morphed from a baby blue to a swirling swatch of colours that blended into the perfect palette of dusk. cricket noises filtered into the air, punctuating the silence that filled the space.

picking the gloves off the ground, seokjin straightened. his gaze was drawn to the cluster of marigolds that almost seemed to shine even in the approaching darkness. their bright colours always stood out no matter where he put them. they didn't need to ask for attention, simply garnering it by being themselves. they reminded him of a certain someone.

a smile unwittingly curled his lips at the thought of her. it disappeared almost immediately, a familiar churning twisting his chest. he missed her. he hadn't caught a glimpse of her in a week, not by his own doing. things had been incredibly busy at the flower shop. and he knew the academy would also be abuzz with activities seeing as summer was quickly approaching.

his gaze cast downwards, realising he'd missed all his chances to spend time with her before responsibilities began bearing down on them. rather than out of sight, out of mind, what he'd gotten was absence makes the heart grow fonder. because all he'd done was miss her.

"you're a difficult man to see, these days, seokjin kim."

the soft voice floating into his ears made him jump in surprise. spinning around, seokjin's eyes met flora's smiling ones. in that second, seokjin felt an inexplicable sense of serenity. suddenly, everything seemed to be alright. perfect even. he loved how the mere sight of her never failed to put his mind at ease. an even wider smile crawled over his lips as they stared at each other from a distance.

"hi, jinnie. did you miss me?" her head tilted to the side, lips pulling up over her teeth in a happy grin. she stood at his patio in a yellow dress, staring back at him standing in the middle of his garden simply gawking at her.

swallowing the lump in his throat, he quirked a brow at her playfully. "why? did you miss me?" he let out teasingly. "yes." flora responded without flinching. his breath caught in his chest in surprise at how easily she admitted it. he faltered over his words, feeling flustered. "i... i missed you too." the words left his lips with a stutter.

the corners of her bright eyes creased with mirth. "that's nice to hear." she remarked softly. "i was beginning to worry that you might have been avoiding me."

his gaze flickered away from hers in slight guilt. "it's been really busy at fleur elise lately. a lot of events keep popping up and they're keeping me occupied." he explained softly. "it's been busy at the school too." she admitted with a quick bob of her head.

slowly approaching her, something registered in his mind. "wait," he paused, feet coming to a stop a few steps away from her. "how did you get in?" he glanced behind her. "oh, jimin gave me his spare key." she answered. he pressed his lips in a line, eyes shutting briefly. "of course."

"is that a problem?" she asked softly. his brows drew together, head shaking. "definitely not." he assured her. her lips curved in a smile. "you look even prettier than i remember." the words slipped out of his mouth before he realised.

he watched the way her face slowly lit up with a bright smile. it was like watching the sun rise on the horizon and once again, his breath caught in his chest. "thank you. you're pretty easy on the eyes too. too easy." the last bit left her mouth on a breathy note.