▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

TODAY was yet another day, Mira dreaded to walk home. She sighed while brushing the dirt and soil from the entrance of the flower shop. Her boss, Chanyeol, was inside—yelling loudly on the phone. He asked her to clean the porch of the shop. He didn't want her to hear him yelling and being cross with god-knows-who.

Mira didn't mind though. She liked the slightly cold late-spring air and the smell of the flowers that still lingered around the wooden porch.

Students from the university up the hill were walking past the flower shop, most of them already finished their studies for the day. Mira walked groups of peers walk towards the closest subway station.

Girls were wearing cute dresses and blouses while holding their books in their hands and giggling with each other. A sigh left her lips.

Nara and Gaeul were these kinds of girls. They would dress nicely for school and walk with each other to their classes. Mira wasn't part of that—because she decided to learn a profession, instead of studying something.

Mira wouldn't know what to study either way. She sighed once more and brushed some blossoms, that would've fallen from their respective flowers, into a pile. She knelt down to brush the dirt into a tiny shovel before throwing it away.

While Mira was cleaning her utensils and started carrying the buckets of flowers inside the shop, someone called her name.

She almost dropped the bucket of Forget-Me-Nots. She whistled and set the bucket down, looking for the owner of the voice. She chuckled when she saw Lee Donghyuck awkwardly standing in front of the porch of the flower shop, holding a bottle of ice tea and a bag of prawn crackers.

„Hi", he stuttered taking a step closer. Mira laughed. „Hi", she said, her voice slightly breaking. She didn't experience seeing Donghyuck again.

The last time she had seen him, was when he saved her by the crossroad. A reminder struck her mind. „Oh! It's good to see you!" She exclaimed, taking a glimpse into the flower shop. Chanyeol was still on the phone.

With a grin, she jumped down the porch and walked over to Donghyuck. „I forgot to thank you for the drink and the chocolates last time", she started. „They were a lifesaver!" She grinned.

Donghyuck was only a little bit taller than her, so when she looked at him, she looked directly into his eyes—which made the one year older boy a little bit nervous.

„You're welcome!" He quickly answered. „I wanted to properly thank you for your help back then, but I felt a little awkward so I handed the stuff to your co-worker." - „He's actually my boss", Mira chuckled and saw Donghyuck's ears turn into a dark shade of red.

University students kept walking down the hill, past Donghyuck and Mira. The boy looked at the stuff in his hands. „How long is your shift?" He asked, trying to swallow the embarrassment in his voice. Mira took a quick glimpse at her wristwatch. „Fifteen more minutes", she answered and Donghyuck nodded.

„Do you want to have a snack with me then?" He asked, the blush reaching up to his cheeks now. Mira looked at the prawn crackers and the ice tea. A smile crept up to her lips and she nodded quickly. „Mhm!" She sang and Donghyuck grinned.

„Grand! I'll wait until you're done with your work", he said and sat down on the wooden bench next to the flower shop. Mira grinned down at the older male and jumped up the porch to finish her cleaning.

Somehow the thought of hanging out with Donghyuck after a long day at work was exciting Mira. Firstly, she wouldn't have to head home to her furious sister and secondly, she would spend time with a nice (and cute looking) acquaintance.

She hadn't had friends in such a long time! So meeting Donghyuck and slowly getting to know him meant a lot to Mira.

And Donghyuck seemed extremely nice. He was going out of his way to buy her the ice tea she loved and treating her flower-shaped chocolates. There was something behind it. And Mira liked that. A lot.

She finished cleaning the porch and brought the broom into the storage room. Chanyeol was still on the phone. He had a tired expression on his face when Mira walked up to him, to ask if he would lock everything. He held his hand up, before answering the person on the phone first. „I'm fine with yellow. Only if it's light yellow." He sighed and pressed the phone onto his chest.

„I'll finish up, so get changed and go home", Chanyeol smiled and went back to his phone call. Mira bowed and walked into the changing rooms. She took off her apron and her polo shirt before slipping back into the shirt she came with—a loose blouse with a big bow on the front. Mira quickly combed her hair with her fingers and wiped the mascara smudges from under her eyes. She took a deep breath and shouldered her backpack before leaving.

Wishing Chanyeol a good night, she jumped down the porch over to where Donghyuck was sitting and patiently waiting for her. „I'm here!" She grinned and Donghyuck smiled. „Should we eat in the park close by?" He asked and Mira nodded.

The walk to the park was short and none of them said anything until they arrived at the quiet park that was lit by the street lights and the slowly rising moon.

Donghyuck found a quiet place by a tree and sat down, patting the seat next to him, motioning Mira to sit down. Mira smiled, took off her backpack and sat down. „Thank you for inviting me", she said, when Donghyuck handed her the bottle of ice tea.

„You're welcome!" He grinned and took out a bottle of ice tea from his backpack. „I actually wanted to invite you for quite some time", he confessed and Mira widened her eyes.

„Why?" - „To be honest, I wanted to get to know you better. I couldn't forget our awkward first meeting back then. I didn't show the best side of me", he opened his own bottle and took a big sip out of it.

„You were in a bad mood. Everyone has days like that." Mira said and Donghyuck nodded. „Still, I wanted to thank you for helping me back then. I wasn't in good condition when my teacher punished me." He chuckled slightly and Mira pressed her lips together.

„At least your fine now", the florist said and leaned back, watching the sky get darker in front of her. „You know", she started, feeling weirdly comfortable with Dongyhuck around, „I'm glad you asked me out for ice tea and prawn crackers tonight." She took a sip out of her bottle. „I didn't really feel like going home."

Donghyuck watched the girl and tilted his head. „Are you having problems at home, Mira-sshi?", he asked and Mira sighed. „Drop the ‚sshi'. I'm comfortable with your calling me Mira... how old are you?" She asked all of a sudden. „I'm almost twenty." Dongyhuck said and Mira giggled. „You're older than me then!" She pointed at herself. „I'm still eighteen. Six more months until I turn nineteen!" She grinned and Donghyuck smirked and looked at her with a cheeky grin.

„I'm your Oppa then~" - „Apparently." Mira said, looking at Donghyuck with a bored expression. „Wow, doesn't that excite you at all?" He asked, pouting. „Why should it? You're barely a year older than me—" - „You were born November 2001, that makes me older!" He yelled and Mira started laughing.

„So you want me to call you Oppa?", she asked, cocking an eyebrow. The way Mira casually dropped the word made Donghyuck blush. „Well, you don't have to. I'm comfortable with you just calling me Donghyuck." He said and looked down onto his lap. „Unless you want to...", he whispered and Mira started laughing.

„You're so awkward, Donghyuck-oppa!" Her laugh rang in Donghyuck's ears and he smiled. Noh Mira had a beautiful laugh; the way her lips curled upwards and her eyes turned into small crescents made the older male burst out into a giggle.

„You're cute", he burst out and Mira widened her eyes. „Ya! I'm not!" She whined and leaned back against the back of the bench. „Thank you for making me laugh though." She grinned. „That made my day, really." Mira grinned.

„T-There's this flower festival in Ansan next Saturday... Do you want to go there with me?" Donghyuck asked and pressed his lips together, hoping for Mira to give him an answer he liked.

„Ansan? Next Saturday?" She asked and Donghyuck nodded. „Gimme a second", she opened her backpack and looked for her calendar. Once she grabbed the tiny book and checked the date, she gave Donghyuck a warm smile.

„I'm free!" She grinned and put the calendar away, fishing out her phone. „Would you give me your phone number so we could plan this a little bit?" She asked and Donghyuck nodded, grabbing his own phone and handing it to Mira.

„Please do the same", he grinned and started saving his name and number in her phone. And Mira did the same.