Flower Man

 “You’ll be around, yeah?”

Ugh, it's that time of the year already?

“See you then. Don’t be late!”

I still couldn’t refuse, after all these years.

Closing my phone, the sight of my room entered my vision. Shelves of unsorted novels, unmade bed, food containers on the floor, cracked mirror; there’s tons to criticize, but I never bothered to. It’s only when he’s around that I started to be conscious of it, although it never amounted to more than mild discomfort and anxiety. After confirming that I did in fact have a dress proper enough, I threw myself to the bed, failing to hit the pillow. Staring at the ceiling, with my hands blocking the direct light from the evening lamp, I thought to myself if it was worth polishing my nails just this time.

The next day, I ended up waiting for him near the usual fountain; him being late as usual. Just as the sunlight breached the tree cover, a particularly loud group of people appeared, audibly laughing and joking and generally having fun. One of the taller guys then separated from the group, and started strolling towards me, bouquet of flowers in hand. It’s him.

I looked down for a bit, hiding my blushing face and heavy heart, before I stood up and finally managed a “how have you been?” out of my mouth. He offered a gentle smile instead of an answer, while gesturing for me to take the flowers. I took it with both hands, and when I didn’t say anything for a bit, he broke the silence.

“Don’t tell me, you still haven’t looked into it?”

“Look dude, I don’t even know what species this is…”

“Come on, it’s honestly not that hard,” he exclaimed, followed by a hearty laughter.

“Alright, flower man…”

He suggested a little waffle ice cream stand that’s just a short walk away - well, a short walk for him. With his stylish overshirt jacket, shining one-sided earring and nicely waxed hair, it somehow made the air around him thicker, and it’s harder to move around; especially with this carelessly ironed one-piece. I hoped my eye bags weren't bothering him much.

We usually start these outings with snacks, and end them with a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant, since food was about the only thing we could be equally thrilled about. His attempt at dressing me up in a local boutique was met with my best impression of excitement, which he didn’t buy. He ended up trying and buying a few things for himself, and when I saw his gentle face lose his excitement a little, something mildly stung within me.

“You know, I’m worried about you,” he started as we walked away from the boutique.

“Worried that I didn’t spend hundreds of dollars on extra clothes?” I teased, matching his latest spending.

“Hey, it’s not about how much they are. It’s about trying, and giving your best! I mean, how are you gonna find a boyfriend like this?” he protested, which felt like an attack coming out of nowhere. I knew he meant well though; he always does.

“And how is that working for you?”

“Ahaha…” a weak laugh escaped him, followed by a sigh. “I broke up with my girlfriend a few weeks ago.” 

“Is that so?” I quickened my pace. “Well, you’ll get over it.”

“You’re so heartless,” he matched my pace, then patted my head with a smile.

The next place wasn’t that much better than the last; but at least it’s in my domain. It’s a heaven of novels; from ongoing series to timeless classics, the bookstore had just the thing for about any type of reader. I quickly skipped to the fantasy section, inspecting works of recognizable authors, hunting for great deals. I shoved him a novel titled “Hunting Ravens”, which is a great dark fantasy work with no over-the-top concepts, and easy to get into without any convoluted worldbuilding details in the way. Still, I doubt he got anything out of it beyond the visual of a red-eyed raven perching on a skeleton hand, and sure enough, the next time I looked at him, the book was already back on the shelves. Noticing that I had just about enough books with me, he proceeded outside to wait. It almost felt like we’re not on an outing together.

Dinner was at a new seafood restaurant that I heard about, but never tried. It was decent enough, thankfully, and we asked about each other along the way. He kept asking about my career, and while I understand that freelancing wasn’t all that in people’s eyes, I convinced him that I was getting by just fine. I was more worried about his classes overseas, still not believing that he could comprehend a full-fledged physics course taught in Korean; to which he just responded with a loud “Daebak”, whatever that means. 

Another group of people approached our table, greeting him in pleasant surprise. He responded with a charming laughter, and then a friendly banter. It’s a little hard to ignore some of the glance from his friends; surely comparing only the surface-level impression. They asked him to join them in what sounds like an impromptu karaoke session, to which he gave a vague answer, before they finally left.

“Sorry about that,” he whispered, “they’re just excited.”

“Nu-uh. Are you not gonna join them though?” I inquired, fully knowing that his world is over there.

“Let me suck a little more energy out of you, before I join them. Okay?” he pleaded with a gentle smile, one that I couldn’t refuse. 

After we parted, I simply went home, threw the one-piece away and slipped into my kinda-clean pajamas. I’m not going to wear the one-piece anytime soon, after all. Opening a new world inside the book I bought, I spent the rest of the night where I belong.