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“When you were in Seoul, you were never yourself, you felt empty most of the time. But when you relocated, you started to bloom. You started becoming yourself again.” was the last thing Johnny’s best friend, Shownu, had told him over the phone before he hung up to catch up on sleep.
But of course, sleep didn’t welcome him with ease. Instead, he decides to hold a staring contest with the wall, thinking about what Shownu had said to him.
Johnny, when he left Seoul to live in the outskirts of Gangwon-do, had felt very empty when he first settled into his apartment, his new home. He just left his office work to open up a tattoo parlor in the province, using up half of his earnings that he had worked hard for the past 5 years.
He never wanted to follow his mother’s footsteps in becoming an accountant, he just took up the course as it was deemed to be an Asian-family friendly course. Johnny studying accountancy for 5 years doesn’t mean that he lost his passion, though, he still drew once in a while whenever he had the chance to, opening up commissions to help his mother lessen the funds that she had for him.
So when Johnny opened up to his mother that he had quit his job and decided to buy an apartment and rented a shop for his tattoo parlor, he didn’t expect that his mother would tear up.
“Youngho,” his mother called him, “I’m glad that you decided to open up to me, I’m sorry for making you think that you couldn’t take up arts. I saw you hate accountancy through the years, and I’m sorry for not confronting you sooner. I’ll support whatever you want to do, as long as it’s legal, young man!”
So that’s what Johnny did, after making sure that his parents would be okay even without the help of their only child, he fled out to Gangwon-do. Their young married neighbors, Donghyuck and Jaemin, had even promised to Johnny that they would always visit his parents. The thought of that makes him feel comfortable and at ease, that it almost makes him lull to sleep.
What kept him awake is the thought of the flower shop that’s just across his tattoo parlor, mainly the owner of it. Johnny remembers seeing the florist for the first time, since his best friends, Shownu and Yuta, would always make their way to tease him about it.
He remembers the florist approaching him as he was walking towards his parlor. He had just come back from the school of the teenager that he had protected from the old man that was harassing her, and he didn’t have time to ice up the bruise on his cheek from being punched.
The florist wasn’t scared of him despite the rumors about Johnny being a gang member, nor was he scared that he had tattoos scattered around his body.
“I knew it, you aren’t the bad guy that everyone paints you as!” Johnny looked up from looking at the ground, to see the most beautiful person that he saw. The young man was smiling at him, his dyed pink hair shining brightly as the sun hit his back. His smile quickly turned into a frown, concern taking over his facial features.
“Are you okay? I have an ice pack in my shop, I’ll lend you it!” Johnny didn’t even have the time to respond, the man was already dragging him as he held Johnny’s wrist. At the age of 29, Johnny didn’t think that he would have a crush that makes him all go feel like a high school student again. But here he was, blushing, just because of this man that’s concerned about him and holding his wrist.
Johnny didn’t even notice that they were already at the flower shop. He sat at a stool where the man signaled him to sit. He sat straight out of the nerves when the man came back with a ponytail on his wrist and an ice pack. He didn’t even get the time to think about how close their faces were with each other, and how the man had pulled his hair into a half ponytail.
Johnny took the ice pack from the man’s hand, thanking him as he placed the pack on his cheek, trying to contain his blushing. They sat into a comfortable silence when the man started to speak, “You know, you were pretty cool back there. Protecting the teenager from the old man, you even took his punch like a champ! And you even made sure that the girl would arrive safely at her school. It was pretty amazing.”
Johnny looked at him in awe, the man’s eyes were sparkling, “Oh uh, I just did the bare minimum, no one should be forced against their will, especially if they said no multiple times. Thank you, by the way, for having doubts about what people had said about me.”
The man shook his head, "No need to thank me, I mean, that should be the norm, right? No one should judge someone just because of their appearance, or their aura."
Johnny smiled at him when he realized something, “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t get your name, actually. Is it okay if I ask for your name?”
The man’s eyes turned wider, “Oh man, where are my manners! My name’s Mark Lee!”
Johnny gave him a wide smile, “Hi, Mark. I’m Johnny, er, you probably know that by now.” he scratched the back of his neck, which made Mark giggle. Johnny tried to contain the beating of his heart, placing his palm on his chest.
They talked for the whole morning until Mark’s phone alerted him of the opening time of his store. Johnny asked for Mark’s number so that they could learn more about each other. Mark eagerly gave his number to Johnny, walking him up towards the entrance door.
Johnny gave back Mark’s ice pack when he thought that he wouldn’t need it anymore. But of course, as things never end smoothly in Johnny's life, as he was waving goodbye to Mark, he slammed towards the door, bumping his head against it.
He remembers Mark rushing out to him, giving back his ice pack towards him before mercilessly laughing. Mark’s laughter that day rang out in his ears, and for once, Johnny slept soundly, all because of a beautiful man named Mark Lee.