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Evankhell groaned at the familiar chime sound, reminding her that she was still at work. “Hansung, do you mind taking their order? I’m still whipping up some bouquets back here,” She called from the back room.
She could hear the light smile in the blond’s voice as he replied, “No problem, Evankhell.” He turned to the four incoming before speaking again. “Welcome. How may I be of assistance to you today?”
The glower on the first man’s face was evident as he disregarded the question that the store owner had asked him. “Is Miss Evankhell here today?” He asked, forcing a smile onto his features.
Overhearing his voice, Evankhell rushed to the front of the store. “Bam?! Oh, it’s so great to see you! You didn’t tell me you were coming!! Come here. I’ll give you one of our newer flowers as a free gift.”
“Why hello there,” One of the men spoke to the flowers in the front. “You sure look mighty tasty-”
“White, can you please stop trying to eat everything you see?” The third sighed, pulling him away from the bouquets. “Just because they care about Bam doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want.”
“You never let me have any fun, Yama!” White sulked, leaving the other three to look at the flowers “respectfully”.
Bam giggled at their antics and accepted the flower Evankhell had extended to him. “Thank you, Miss Evankhell. It looks beautiful! I apologize for the intrusion, but the four of us had a free day and Karaka wanted to get some flowers for some reason.”
“For our master,” Karaka clarified. “I was hoping to give him a nice gift out of gratitude.”
Evankhell led the two of them to find some complementary flowers to make a small bouquet, while White was God knows where. Hansung stayed at the front in case any customers came in, and Yama decided to make small talk with him, since everyone else had left.
Gesturing to the machine next to Hansung, Yama quirked an eyebrow. “Is that- a coffee machine?”
“Indeed it is. Instant coffee, to be precise. Would you like a cup?” Hansung smiled, turning the machine to showcase his collection of instant coffee packets.
“I think I’ll pass…”
The door chimed again, and the two men turned their attention to the newcomer who introduced himself with the loudest sneeze known to man.
“Stupid pollen allergies,” The man groaned. Looking up, he noticed the two males in front of him. “Yama? What are you doing here?”
“It’s a FUG outing or something.” When the man sneezed again, Yama couldn’t help but to laugh. “Terrible allergies, huh, Yasratcha?”
“Oh, shut up.”
“Instant coffee?” Hansung offered, and Yasratcha glared at him as an answer. Hansung took the hint.
“Shit!” Yama yelled, pinching his finger with his other hand.
“Language,” Karaka corrected, while Bam fretted over whether or not he was okay. While threading flowers together, he had pricked himself with a thorn, but it was just a small pain that would be gone soon.
Directing their attention back to her, Evankhell showed them how to thread flowers together and bring them together at the end. They’d been working on flower crowns for almost two hours, because none of them could focus long enough to-
“ACHOO!” Yasratcha sneezed obnoxiously, turning his head to the side.
Yama rolled his eyes. “Can we kick him out?”
“Miss Evankhell, is it alright to be taking time off of work to teach us this?” Bam asked with concern laced in his voice. She nodded, reminding him that Hansung was at the counter, and they didn’t have much to do that day anyway.
After another hour passed, Hansung came by to offer them coffee. “I have a wide variety of flavors. Just take your pick.”
“Hansung, please-” White started, but Bam smiled at the male.
“I’ll take a cup of whatever you recommend!”
What an angel, Evankhell thought.
Somehow, Karaka’s flower crown came out the best. Who would have expected he’d have a secret talent for these things? Yasratcha’s was the worst due to his constant sneezing and allergic reactions. Bam had made a cute and colorful one, while Yama’s resembled something a dog would wear. The last to finish was White, and his was just… questionable.
The four slayers along with Yasratcha and Evankhell put their crowns on, some of them (Karaka and Yasratcha) against their will. Originally, Bam was only planning to converse with the others and pick out some flowers, but they’d ended up staying there for four or five hours. Well, it was their day off, and it was well spent. Karaka would be able to give Jinsung the flowers he picked out, and Yasratcha would probably visit the doctor to get new medication for his allergies.
It was only a short outing, but it wasn’t their first time there by any means. From that day forward, the slayers started to visit the flower shop from time to time on their free days, and Yama would drag Yasratcha along. On the days when the shop was closed, Bam offered to take them to flower fields or various farms.
One of Bam’s favorite outings was to the apple picking farm. Hansung was surprisingly excited about picking apples, saying that he could find some way to turn them into a new type of instant coffee.
Evankhell, Karaka, Bam, and Hansung were the normal type of people. They all stuck together and collected apples that looked good, following a regular path.
White, Yama, and Yasratcha were the wild ones of the group. White had a tendency to walk through the bushes rather than following the dirt trail, and he’d find the worst looking apples just to chuck them at Yama. Yasratcha caught on to this, seeking the bad apples to pelt the red-haired male with. Fed up with their antics, Yama threw the apples back, the three of them waging an all out food fight in the middle of the farm.
Needless to say, those three were kicked out of the farm. The other four were able to continue their business without any trouble.
Another one of their excursions was to a greenhouse. It was different from the usual greenhouse in that there was a pond and a bridge, and the interior was almost like a jungle house. If anything, it was some sort of botanical garden.
Once again, White caused the most chaos. He found himself on the bridge, jumping off into the pond below, which no one was supposed to swim in. It was a real pond, but it wasn’t an amusement park ride.
Bam screamed in distress when White jumped, while Yama and Yasratcha cackled to themselves from the sheer stupidity. In one of the other areas of the botanical garden, Karaka wondered why he let Bam drag him out on these trips.
Hansung ended up buying a small coffee bean plant that was for sale, even though Evankhell told him that was for real coffee, not instant coffee, but he insisted. White got permanently banned from the place, and none of them were surprised at that development.
Another time, Bam took them to visit a flower garden, and Yama stole White’s clothes beforehand, so the latter was panicking trying to find something to wear. The two of them ended up switching clothes, and White tried to sue Yama for identity theft. It didn’t work obviously, and the police got extremely angry with White for wasting their time.
So, after being kicked out of various places, the group of seven found themselves back at the flower shop. This time, Jinsung decided to come with them, and Bam also invited Hwaryun. Jinsung liked the flowers Karaka gave him so much that he wanted to see the shop, or so he said. Maybe he just wanted to see what the slayers were doing that was more important than training.
Hwaryun kept to herself most of the time. Bam assumed she’d like the red flowers, because her hair was red and she tended to dress that way, but he saw her looking at the dark colors, especially the black flowers.
“Do you like black, Hwaryun?” Bam gave her his signature angelic smile.
She nodded. “I think there’s a lot of mystery in the color, and that’s what makes it so beautiful.”
“Black is a rare color for flowers,” Hansung noted. In all honesty, Bam didn’t expect him to have any knowledge on flowers, so he was a bit taken aback. He figured all he studied was instant coffee and how to get on people’s nerves, but that wasn’t important at the moment.
While Hansung was educating Hwaryun on the physical properties of black flowers, Bam silently excused himself to check on White and Yasratcha, since they seemed to cause the most trouble in the group.
Somehow, White had gotten a hold of whipped cream and was chugging it down his throat, while Yasratcha was cheering, and Yama was wishing he could get out of this situation.
“White! What the hell are you doing?!” Jinsung yelled, snatching the container from his hands.
“We’re just having fun, old man!”
Bam winced. That was the one thing you shouldn’t do: pick a fight with Jinsung. He sighed, knowing what was coming next. Someone would start throwing punches and then they’d all end up-
Jinsung started chugging some of the whipped cream, and Bam gaped. Was he the only mature one here?
“Guys!!! This is a flower shop, not a club! What are you going to do if someone walks in? We have to be respectful! I’m sure Evankhell would be upset if she found out what you guys were doing!”
Somehow, he was able to mediate the situation and they all calmed down. That was one crisis avoided. Bam got all of them, minus Hwaryun and Hansung, to make flower crowns again, this time teaching Jinsung how to make his own. They trimmed any thorns on the stem before starting, unlike last time. Bam got creative with his, adding a bit of sparkle and glitter.
When Hansung and Hwaryun were finished talking, the two of them joined the group. Hwaryun somehow knew how to make one, so she did so on her own. Hansung poured instant coffee as a finishing touch on the flowers, and Evankhell looked at him like he was an idiot (he was).
Karaka moved next to Bam to look for a certain type of flower behind him, while Bam was discussing their new training regimen with Jinsung. On the stairs behind them, Hwaryun had moved to finish her flower crown in peace, enjoying being away from the commotion.
Evankhell was discussing plans for the shop with Hansung in another area while he admired his instant coffee flower crown. In another section of the shop, Yasratcha and Yama were arguing about something, while White occasionally contributed to their conversation.
There was a lot going on in all of their lives, with the harsh training and trying to balance different parts of everything, but the slayers were making it work, and so were the other five. All of them enjoyed these little meet-ups they had, and they wouldn’t trade them for the world.
At the end of the day, the fresh smell of flowers and springtime could always ease their souls and make them smile with content. Well, most of them.
May was one of the most cheerful months with all the colors and seasonal joy. No matter what month it was, the flower shop began to hold a special place in all of their hearts, and it was like their spot for the seven that visited and the two that ran it. For Evankhell and Hansung, it was always special, but it had a deeper meaning now.
April showers bring May flowers.
The fresh scent of blooming flowers would always welcome the group of friends, but their favorite time of the year to view them was always May, because that’s when it all started.