A loud pounding woke me from my dazed stupor. I had been lying on my bed for about an hour now, simply reflecting on my life. It was something I did often these days, mostly because it refreshed me. But the knocking on my door had harshly ripped me out of the peace, causing me to let out a groan. Sliding off of my bed, I groggily made my way over to the door.
The moment I twisted the doorknob and pulled the door open, I sighed. Seunghyun was standing there, a bright smile making his face practically glow. I didn't even get the chance to protest before he let himself in, closing the door behind himself. Kissing me sloppily, he said, "Good morning, beautiful. How'd you sleep?"
"Seunghyun..." I warned. I didn't really want to talk to anyone at the moment. I just needed my space. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to hear me.
"Good? Good. I've been restless. You know, without you beside me."
"Seunghyun..."
"It's a good thing I came to visit. I wasn't sure how much longer I could last without seeing your pretty face. I was-"
"Seunghyun!" I shouted. His eyes widened in surprise and his mouth hung open mid-sentence.
"What?"
"I really want to be alone right now," I explained, making sure he was listening this time.
"Well I'll only stay a little. I just wanted to apologize for making you uncomfortable back in Japan," he told me, resting a hand on my shoulder. He gave me a pleading look when I sighed in annoyance.
"We all know that's not true. If I'm correct, you'll stay for hours," I reminded him glumly. It had been about 2 months since we arrived in Europe. Now, we were in Spain. For those past two months, he'd been begging for a second chance. He must've been upset over my frantic escape from our "dance lesson," since then he's been on my back all night and day about it. I've tried to resist his attempts to win me over, and thankfully, I've made it this far without giving in.
"But this time I'm serious," he whined.
"Mm hmm," I replied dubiously as I made my way across the room.
"No really! I have a proposition to make!" My ears seemed to perk up at the word "proposition."
Turning around, I raised an eyebrow and urged, "Well go on then. Let's hear your little 'proposition.'" Something gave me the impression that it wouldn't be very different from the others.
Rubbing his hand together, he proposed, "Well, I can set up something special for us. Maybe a little dinner date at a nice restaurant. I hear they have some great places to eat around here."
Chuckling, I replied, "That's sweet of you, but you already know my answer."
"Yes?" he asked excitedly, his eyes lighting up in hope.
"No," I stated coldly, ignoring his look of disappointment.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not interested in going on a date with you," I answered truthfully.
"Ouch," he said with a grimace, "Is it that bad?"
"Not really, no," I shrugged, "I just don't think it's a good idea."
"So you think love isn't a good idea?"
I paused for a moment, searching for the right response. I wasn't upset enough to tell him I didn't love him. I didn't want to hurt him. But I couldn't be with him anymore. I had to fix my entire double relationship problem, and this was the only way I could think of. Finally finding the suitable words, I replied, "That's not what I meant. I just...can't. At least not now."
"Not now?" he asked, surprised, "Well when then? It's been two months, and you still aren't ready."
"I know. It's just not the right time yet, you know?" I explained.
He shook his head with a sigh. "No, I can't say I do."
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Folding my arms, I told him, "Seunghyun, you've used this proposition multiple times. If it hasn't worked in the past, it surely won't work now. So yeah, I think you know when it's the right time or not."
"No!" he protested. Seeing that I wasn't convinced, he scratched his head and whined, "I didn't ask recently."
"Well you're asking me now," I replied firmly. Pointing to the door, I said, "Look, you promised you'd only be here for a short while, didn't you?"
"I did," he sighed. Pressing his lips together, he started to move towards me. But after a little thought, he shook his head and stepped away. Walking towards the door, he called out to me, "I'll check back later, so don't you worry!"
"Now that's something I can trust you to do," I joked, earning a smirk from him. Then, without another word, he gave me a small bow before heading out the door.
~
The mid-day sun beamed down on me, and all seemed strangely quiet. The streets were pretty empty, mostly because I chose a more secluded area out of the eye of the public. I was sitting in the front seat of a van I had borrowed with a boxed lunch on my lap. The savory flavors of the food burst onto my tongue the moment I took my first bite, making me shiver in delight. I hadn't had food like this in a long time, and the prospect of finally eating something like this was thrilling.
Suddenly, my peaceful excursion was interrupted when the sound of the door to my right swung open. I jumped as a man hopped into the passenger seat beside me. My first instinct was to fight, but the moment I identified the man, I just let out a sigh in exasperation.
It was Seunghyun. His hair was matted down and teased to look a little curly instead of his usually pompadour. A premature yellow flower was tucked behind his ear. Without giving me a chance to speak, he removed the flower and handed it to me. "Will you go on a date with me now?" He gave me a child-like stare, poking out his bottom lip for an extra persuasive effect.
"You try too hard," I sighed, smiling at his ridiculous effort.
He chuckled and replied, "It's what I do."
Eyeing him quizzically, I asked, "How'd you find me here?"
"I have my ways," he said mysteriously with a smirk. Examining my food, he picked up a piece of meat and dropped it in his mouth. Smiling in delight, he asked with mouth full, "What is this?"
"I'm not sure," I answered, swatting his hand away before he could take another piece, "I got it at some restaurant a couple blocks down."
"Well tell the chef it's amazing," he said, licking the remnants off of his fingers.
Widening his eyes cutely, he asked, "One more bite?"
Sighing, I nodded and held out a piece of meat on the end of my fork. He leaned in to take a bite but swerved to the side at the last moment, landing a kiss on my lips. I pulled my head back in surprise as he smiled and bit the piece of meat off of the fork. Rolling my eyes, I elbowed him in the side playfully and said, "You sneaky boy." He chuckled and ran his hand through his hair. As he did so, my eye caught onto the flower bud once more. Pointing to it, I asked, "What's up with that?"
"This?" he asked, removing the flower from behind his ear, "This is a symbol."
"What kind of symbol?"
"A symbol of our love," he answered, eyeing me like a precious gem.
"Of course..." I said, folding my arms.
"Right now, it's a small bud, but as our love blossoms, so will the flower," he explained. When he paused, it felt the entire world was holding its breath. It was even more silent than before. It so so silent that even I couldn't find the power to speak. Smiling, he took her hand, clasping it between his. "I hope to still be happy with you when the flower is in full bloom."
In those few words, my heart melted completely. It was so sudden I could feel my body just crumble. Sinking back in my seat a bit, I sighed. I couldn't turn the flower down. Maybe the date, but not the flower. Taking it from him, I bowed my head and gave him a sweet grin. "Thank you, Seunghyun. I'll treasure it forever."
"So flower. Date. Yes?" he asked again, even more excited than before.
I looked down at the flower. It looked so fragile and small, yet so beautiful and wondrous. I just wanted to hold onto it forever, just like Seunghyun had said. But if I did that, that meant I couldn't let him go. And that would hurt my plan to fix this huge mess. Looking up at him, I stared into his big, brown eyes. He seemed so hopeful, and turning him away would only destroy that. Making up my mind, I ignored any future regrets I might have.
"Yes," I answered.
"Yes?" His eyebrows were now hidden in his bangs.
"Yes," I repeated, smiling at his excited reaction.
Overcome with joy, he sucked in a deep breath and shouted, "You hear that? She said yes! A pretty girl said yes!"
I laughed as he beamed up at the sky with a cute smile and pumped his fists. Suddenly, he turned to me and said, "I promise to make this the best date ever! You won't be disappointed!" Before I could respond, he swung the door open and jumped out of the car. Grinning, he ran down the street as fast as he could, jumping up into the air with a "whoop." I laughed as he went and watched him until he was nothing more than a dot in the distance. Holding the flower up to the light, I smiled at it. Closing my eyes, I pressed it to my forehead and silently made a wish. When I was done, I reopened my eyes and rested the bud on the dashboard.
No regrets, Jae, no regrets.
________________________
Hey, guys! This chapter was inspired by the scene between Seunghyun and Shin Se Kyung in Tazza 2 where they first meet. He gives her this yellow flower in the movie, so I was like might as well incorporate that in my story. Anyways, I hope you're excited for my next chapter. Also, I have a huge announcement. I just uploaded my Seungri fanfiction called "Like Catching a Shooting Star." If you're in need of a new fanfic to read, go ahead and check mine out! Until then, buh-bye!