So it had all been decided. Everyone had a mission. Whether they would get their jobs done or not was a different story that no one really knew the ending to. They would either succeed or crash and burn. Ryeowook personally didn’t know whether to be afraid of the outcome or not.
Hankyung had been put in charge of finding photographers, chefs, servers, a florist, and a minister. Kibum was responsible for wedding music and the band at the reception. Heechul was ecstatic over being chosen to decide wedding decorations (they had declined his help with the outfit after he had suggested Ryeowook wear a white skirt with lace gloves, a low cut top and a tiara with a long frilly veil).
Eunhyuk was accountable for the entertainment and honeymoon location. Donghae was deciding on seating arrangement, food and table settings while Kangin was choosing who to invite and who the “bridesmaid” and best man would be. Eeteuk had taken control of what the “bride” was going to wear and Yesung was trying to find the perfect wedding bands and house.
Nobody asked Ryeowook to do anything or asked what he might want. They were all too busy running around and consulting each other on silverware, professional chefs, music, amusement, clothing, invitations, and all the rest of it. He considered asking why they just didn’t hire a wedding planner.
Ryeowook was slightly confused as to why he wasn’t doing anything but everyone else was. It was his wedding so why was everybody taking charge? He had no idea what he was wearing, eating, dancing to or who was coming. The only thing he did know was that the ceremony would be in the venue Hankyung worked at because Eeteuk insisted on it.
Well, he was grateful that it was a lot less stressing than planning for Eeteuk’s wedding. There had been a thousand times more chaos. Ryeowook sighed and watched as his hyungs scurried around, comparing notes and yelling at each other to “hurry up with the catalogue” or to “bring the phone” or “compare these two colours”.
He was just beginning to wonder if he would even be needed for the actual ceremony when Donghae gasped loudly. Everyone turned to him, expecting a calamity. They got what they waiting for.
“I just thought of something! Ryeowook doesn’t have a bouquet of flowers!” Donghae exclaimed loudly. Ryeowook jumped up and was about thank the gods for allowing him to do something useful when Heechul spoke up.
“That’s my area. A bouquet is decoration!”
“No it isn’t. It’s part of the bride’s outfit. That’s my area,” Eeteuk countered.
“Not at all! I’m the one hiring a florist; therefore I should choose the bouquet,” Hankyung announced.
“His bouquet should reflect his honeymoon location. So I should choose it,” Eunhyuk declared.
“What does a honeymoon place have to do with flowers?” Heechul demanded.
“Well, if he’s going to London then he should have English flowers. If he’s going to Vietnam, he should have Vietnamese flowers. If he’s going to Spain, he should have Spanish flowers, if he’s going-”
“He’s my bride, I should get to choose!” Yesung retorted, interrupting Eunhyuk’s explanation. Kibum, Kangin and Donghae turned back to their work. Their areas had nothing to do with flowers.
“Why don’t we ask Ryeowook what he wants?” Eeteuk asked. Ryeowook thanked the gods. He was finally going to be able to take control of at least one part of his wedding. Heechul spun to face the magnae.
“Alright, Ryeowookie, tell everyone that you want me to choose the bouquet,” Heechul stated.
“Sungmin-” Ryeowook began but didn’t get any farther.
“Good idea! Sungmin knows Kyuhyun who knows flowers! I’ll help him choose!” Heechul clapped. He raced over to the phone and searched for Cho Kyuhyun in the phonebook.
“Good work, Wookie-baby,” Eeteuk nodded in approval. Nobody noticed that the magnae’s mouth was hanging open. He had been about to say “Sungmin can help me choose flowers” but now that was impossible.
“Wookie, can you help me with something?” Yesung asked, appearing at Ryeowook’s shoulder. So glad to be of use instead of doing nothing, Ryeowook agreed. Yesung led him over to a table with pictures of different rings.
“How many rings are you going to buy, Sungie?”
“Just two but I want to know what kind of design you like so I can get you something similar to that,” Yesung explained. Ryeowook smiled. Yesung always knew how to make him feel better.
“I like the one that has a slim band but still looks pretty. Something simple but beautifully so,” Ryeowook described, pointing to a picture near Yesung’s elbow. The elder nodded and immediately put the picture to the forefront of all the others. As he did so, Ryeowook caught sight of the price.
“900,000 won?!” Ryeowook exploded. “Why on earth would you get something that expensive for me?!”
“Because I love you. Beside’s that’s the cheapest one,” Yesung answered calmly, comparing and considering different designs. Yesung’s answer made Ryeowook pause for a minute, stunned into silence.
“But…you shouldn’t spend so much on me,” Ryeowook spluttered.
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you and you’re worth it,” Yesung responded before kissing his lover gently.
~₪~₪~₪~₪~
“When do you want us to move?”
“Anytime you’re ready. Make sure nothing goes wrong.”
“You can trust me, boss. Nothing ever goes wrong with me.”
“I should hope so. But make this sometime before six. There’s a program on television that I want to watch.”
“Right. We’ll meet you at the secret location before the fifteenth hour.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“You won’t be disappointed.”
“You better not let me down. I expect you there at three o’clock. Whenever you’re ready. Over and out.”
~₪~₪~₪~₪~
Sungmin hung up the phone. His ears were ringing from Heechul’s excited shouting. Apparently, Ryeowook’s wedding plans were in full swing and they needed a bouquet for him. Kyuhyun agreed to make one up and Heechul had immediately gone into detail about what flowers should be used and what should match with his decorations, telling Sungmin everything.
“Aish, I think I’m going to go deaf at an early age,” Sungmin complained good-naturedly. Kyuhyun laughed and poked Sungmin’s side gently.
“Well at least they’ll have nice flowers,” Kyuhyun grinned. Sungmin pouted.
“I’m glad to know you’re so concerned about my hearing.”
“I love you, Minnie.”
“I love you too, Kyu!”
His old personality was coming back quickly and he welcomed it. It was nice to feel carefree and happy again. He placed a kiss on Kyuhyun’s lips and then hugged him. He loved their closeness and wished that he had a time machine so he could pause right here. Kyuhyun returned his embrace and kissed Sungmin’s ear.
“I forgot to tell you that Ms. Kyung Heebon will be picking up a few plants from me because I’ve run out of space and she’s agreed to buy them. So she’ll be over at around twelve okay?” Kyuhyun whispered. Sungmin sighed softly when he felt warm air blow over his neck. He nodded in confirmation and let Kyuhyun go.
“Have a good day at work,” Sungmin said, slightly sadly. He hated it when Kyuhyun left and hated it even more when he saw Kyuhyun leave. Perhaps the younger male sensed this because he gave Sungmin a deep, passionate kiss.
“I’ll have a good day if Taeyang doesn’t fire me the minute I walk in the door,” Kyuhyun kissed Sungmin’s forehead and took his hand, leading him to the front door.
“He won’t.”
“Minnie, it’s eleven thirty. I was supposed to be there half an hour ago.”
“If he does fire you, we’ll use G-Dragon’s influence,” Sungmin replied. Kyuhyun grinned.
“Think it will work?”
“Of course! And even if it doesn’t, I’ll use my cute charm and win your job back for you.”
“Thank God for back up plans.”
“Well how is it supposed to work if you’re going to be forty-five minutes late?”
“Aish, I should be going.”
“Have a good day. I’ll miss you, Kyu,” Sungmin felt suddenly shy as he voiced his loneliness when Kyuhyun wasn’t around. The look in the younger male’s eyes grew gentle and he kissed Sungmin softly on the mouth.
“I’ll miss you too, Minnie,” Kyuhyun replied. Sungmin sighed as Kyuhyun gave him one last kiss before walking out and closing the door behind him. He was already lonely.
Out in the hall, Kyuhyun was feeling the emptiness equally beside him. He had a strange sense of apprehension as he walked out of the building. He bit his lip and tried to ignore the feeling as he headed off for work. He would be back in his apartment for lunch and he would see Sungmin then. And then maybe he would be able to quench this odd feeling.
~₪~₪~₪~₪~
For the next half hour, Sungmin amused himself by tending to his plants. He was beginning to really enjoy gardening. He carefully watered the Kyuhyun and Sungmin flowers and then moved onto his amaryllis, orchid and tulip.
He was just about to water the ivy when the doorbell rang. He could hear the light, cheerful hellos of Mrs. Kyung on the other side of the door. He opened it and let her in.
“Sungmin, how are you? I’ve come for the plants and I brought the measuring tape to check that they’re all the right height,” the woman announced happily. Sungmin brought her the box that was holding the flowers Mrs. Kyung wanted to purchase.
“I’m good. And you?”
“Very well thanks. Thank you for these. It’s been a while since Kyuhyun has sold flowers. At one point, there was a waiting list to get into the apartment to see what sort of flowers were up for sale. I still have the tiger lily I bought from him two years ago.”
“He’ll be happy to know his plants are being taken care of,” Sungmin smiled. He waited for her to finish checking the sizes and then held the door open for the female as she walked past, holding the plants she wanted.
“Tell Kyuhyun that if he ever wants to open his flower shop again, this neighbourhood will be glad of it,” Mrs. Kyung said as she left. Sungmin nodded.
“Will do! And you will be the first to hear about it,” Sungmin promised. He liked their neighbour and made a mental note to tell Kyuhyun about the flower shop that everyone wanted him to re-open. He turned to walk back to his plants when he realized that Mrs. Kyung had left her tape measure here.
He put it by the door in case she came back for it. He then began to rearrange the ivy that was growing behind his plants. Sungmin smiled as he cared for the small forms of life underneath his fingertips. Kyuhyun was right; it was nice to have something to take care of.
The doorbell rang again and Sungmin knew it was Mrs. Kyung coming to get her tape measure back. He felt happy and he skipped back to the door. He picked up the small tool and opened the door to give it back to her.
Pain. Blinding pain. His left side was on fire. He stumbled backwards, the tape measure falling from his hand as he tripped, collapsing on the floor. He felt extremely tired as he tried to raise his head and figure out what just happened.
Two men walked into the apartment and closed the door behind them. Sungmin lay dazed on the ground. What was going on?
“It’s a nice place. I always knew this kid was a flowery type of person.”
“It seems like he’s been living her for a while. This must be where he was finding comfort with others.”
“Well, the tranquilizer shouldn’t take too long. Look, he’s already falling asleep.”
“Thank heaven. I’m tired of waiting around.”
Sungmin moved his head feebly as his body started shutting down. His eyes grew heavy and he tried his best to keep them open. He wanted to fight back but he knew it was useless. He was already too weak.
“Let’s just go. The boss will be angry if we take too long.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s motor.”
Sungmin felt his body being picked up from the cool floor. He tried listlessly to struggle but it was of no use. The men were simply too strong. He had one final thought. He reached out blindly and hooked his fingers around the edge of a pot plant. He felt a vague sense of satisfaction as he heard the shatter.
“It’s a good thing he lives alone. Otherwise we would have to clean that up.”
“Damn kid. Let’s go. We have only two hours to get there and traffic could be against us.”
“Yeah, we have an hour and a half of travel.”
Sungmin felt a sense of relief when he realized that they didn’t know about Kyuhyun. At least his lover would be safe even if he was not. In his hazy state, he still knew what had happened. These were Jiwon’s henchmen. He was being taken back to him.
He was placed inside a car and the world went dark. Despite this, he could somehow hear the voices of the men. There were more than two now and they appeared to be driving somewhere in great haste as they were swearing every time they had to stop.
Sungmin’s world changed when the car stopped and he was carried out. He could hear the sounds of a forest and he wondered vaguely where they were. Sungmin felt himself fade as they continued to walk.
When he woke up next, he was still slightly sleepy but far more awake. He blinked to clear his blurry eyes and looked around. He tried to move his hands but he found that they were chained behind him. His throat felt constricted and he realized that he was wearing a collar of some sort. He was about to try and struggle out of it when he heard a voice that made his throat lock and his heart seize.
“Welcome back, Sungmin. Did you miss me?” A voice asked. Sungmin swallowed. His eyes widened in fear as Jiwon walked out of the shadows, a demented spreading across his face.
~₪~₪~₪~₪~
No comments:
Post a Comment