House of Flowers

Chapter 19

Today was the day of departure. Eunrae promised to come to the station to bid farewell to him, but there's only fifteen minutes before his train came, yet she's nowhere to be seen.

"Jimin! Sorry I'm late!" Eunrae was always like that—making people worry. But then when Jimin saw her sheepish smile, he immediately forgot the boredom that grew because of waiting.

"It's alright, what took you so long?" Jimin rubbed the exhausted girl's back, whispering her to take a deep breath.

"I pulled an all nighter to make this for you!" Eunrae lifted a handmade bracelet and let it hang in between Jimin's eyes.

It was a bracelet made from tree roots with different flower petals around it.

Jimin took the bracelet in awe and carefully placed it on his palm, gazing at it with much adoration, treating it so softly as if it was his own heart. "Thank you so much for this, Eunrae," he thanked her, examining the bracelet even more intensely.

He noticed something on the bracelet. One of the petals were actually came from the flower that she put above her lantern the other day. "Are you still not going to tell me the meaning behind this one?" He pointed the petal.

Eunrae chuckled. "That's a homework for you, Park Jimin. Try to figure it out and tell me the answer when we meet again one day."

"Alright then, you stubborn little thing." Jimin ruffled her hair, trying his best to cover the sad smile that threaten to form on his face.

"Go, Jimin. You don't want to be late, do you? Go and conquer all the challenges that you might face, now and in the future. I always got your back, supporting you all the time. Do give me a full report about what happen in your life later. Don't you dare to miss a single detail of the wonderful adventure that you'll start soon." Eunrae held his hands and was also trying her best to smile. She had never felt this sad before, never felt so crushed and empty.

"When you first came here, you were so sad and negative, but now, you've become a better person. I can tell that much. They said after the rain falls, the earth hardens."

Jimin laughed and replied, "Okay then. See you in the future, House of Flowers." Was everything he could say to her. A lump formed in his throat that made him forgot to say all the words he has learnt in his lifetime. He was really, really sad.

"So long, Park Jimin." The girl waved at him as the train finally arrived at the station.

And it was the last memory they created before he went back to the city.

But who knows if the spark of infatuation that they had incited could die one day just like a dried petals, just like how the flame in the lantern die, just like how their feelings died while waiting until the day they could see each other again.