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The bell above the flower shop door chimed softly as the first customer of the morning stepped inside.
Warm sunlight spilled through the front windows, painting golden streaks across rows of fresh flowers. The shop smelled like roses, eucalyptus, and the faint vanilla candle Sunoo insisted on lighting every morning even though Jungwon always complained it was “too sweet.”
“It smells like a bakery exploded in here,” Jungwon muttered from behind the counter without looking up from the ledger in front of him.
Sunoo snorted as he adjusted a bouquet of pale pink carnations. “You say that every day and yet somehow you survive.”
“Barely.”
“You’re dramatic.”
“And you’re wasting the ribbons again.”
Sunoo spun around, offended. “Pretty presentation is important for customer satisfaction.”
“It’s a flower shop, not a fashion show.”
“This is why I’m the charming one.”
Jungwon finally looked up, dark eyes calm and annoyingly unreadable. “Who says you’re the charming one?”
Sunoo opened his mouth to argue before a laugh interrupted them.
“Neither of you are charming before noon,” Heeseung said as he entered through the side door balancing a cardboard tray of drinks.
Sunoo gasped dramatically. “Heeseung hyung, you’re my favorite person.”
“You said that yesterday to the mailman,” Heeseung pointed out.
“The mailman brought me coupons.”
“The bar is so high,” Jungwon said dryly.
Heeseung rolled his eyes fondly and handed them their drinks. “One iced vanilla latte for Sunoo, one americano with exactly two sugars for Jungwon because apparently you’re the most boring person on the planet.”
Jungwon accepted the cup with a quiet thanks, deciding to just ignore Heeseung’s comment.
Sunoo narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why do you always remember his order better than mine?”
Heeseung snickered. “Because your order changes every three business days.”
“That’s called being adventurous.”
Jungwon glanced up. “It’s called being annoying.”
Sunoo pointed accusingly at Jungwon. “You’re outnumbered.”
But Jungwon was already pushing Sunoo’s drink toward him before he could reach for it himself, sliding the straw into the lid automatically.
Sunoo blinked.
Jungwon froze for half a second like he’d realized what he’d done, then calmly returned to his paperwork.
Heeseung noticed. Judging by the tiny smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, he definitely noticed.
Sunoo ignored the sudden warmth creeping into his face and took a loud sip instead.
The morning passed comfortably after that.
Customers drifted in and out while soft music played from the old speakers near the register. Sunoo floated effortlessly around the shop charming elderly women into buying extra potted plants while Jungwon quietly rebuilt arrangements customers had accidentally crushed while browsing.
Somehow they always moved around each other perfectly.
Sunoo would reach for scissors and Jungwon would already be handing them over.
Jungwon would start looking for twine only for Sunoo to point silently toward where he’d left it.
Years of friendship had turned working together into instinct.
Around noon, the front door swung open hard enough to make the bell clang.
“I need help immediately,” Jay announced.
Sunoo looked up. “Good afternoon to you too.”
Jay removed his sunglasses dramatically. “This is an emergency.”
“You say that every time you need flowers.”
“Because flowers are important.”
“You’re buying apology roses again, aren’t you?” Jungwon asked without looking up.
Jay looked personally offended. “First of all, I’m getting peonies this time. Second of all, this is not an apology.”
“Anniversary?”
“No.”
“Birthday?”
“No.”
Sunoo squinted at him. “You forgot someone’s event entirely and now you’re panic-buying expensive flowers.”
Jay sighed heavily. “I hate that you know me so well.”
Jungwon snorted quietly.
Jay wandered through the shop while muttering things about “color balance” and “visual elegance” despite how he had openly admitted he knew nothing about flowers the first time they met him.
“You own more designer jackets than anyone I’ve ever met,” Sunoo said, “but that does not make you qualified to arrange bouquets.”
Jay placed a hand over his heart. “Fashion and flowers are connected artistically.”
“No, they’re not.”
“They absolutely are.”
Before Sunoo could argue further, another familiar figure appeared in the doorway with two dogs tugging enthusiastically at their leashes.
“Sorry in advance,” Jake said immediately as one of the dogs tried to eat a display of baby’s breath.
“Biscuit!” Sunoo laughed, crouching down to rescue the flowers. “You can’t eat inventory.”
Jake smiled sheepishly. “The shelter’s doing cleaning today, so I volunteered to walk them for a while.”
Biscuit immediately leaned against Jungwon’s legs.
“You like him more than me? I give you treats!” Sunoo said to the dog in betrayal.
Jungwon crouched down to scratch gently behind Biscuit’s ears. “Maybe he just has good taste.”
“Oh, now both of you are insulting me.”
Jake laughed brightly while Sunoo continued to fake argue with the dog.
From behind the counter, Jungwon watched Sunoo smiling with the animals.
The sunlight caught in his hair. His laugh filled the entire shop. Even after all these years, Jungwon still didn’t think there had ever been anyone prettier.
“Dude,” Heeseung said quietly from beside him.
Jungwon nearly jumped. “What?”
“You’re staring again.”
“I am not.”
“You absolutely are.”
Before Jungwon could defend himself, the door opened once more.
This time, the atmosphere shifted immediately.
“Oh,” Sunoo said softly. “Hi, Halmeoni.”
Mrs. Choi Sunja had known both of them since they were kids. She used to bring them snacks after school when Sunoo and Jungwon spent afternoons helping at the flower shop before they inherited it from Jungwon’s grandmother.
Usually, she walked into the shop smiling warmly.
Today she looked pale and nervous. Her eyes flicked toward the windows before she forced a smile. “Good afternoon, boys.”
Sunoo’s smile dropped instantly. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said too quickly.
Jungwon noticed it too. He straightened slightly behind the counter.
Mrs. Choi clutched her purse tightly as she approached them.
“Have either of you…” She lowered her voice. “Have either of you noticed someone following me lately?”
The shop went quiet.
Sunoo frowned immediately. “Following you?”
“It’s probably nothing,” she said, though she clearly didn’t believe that herself. “I just thought I kept seeing the same car.”
Jungwon’s expression sharpened. “Did you report it?”
Mrs. Choi hesitated. “No.”
“You should,” Jungwon said firmly.
She glanced toward the windows again.
“If anything happens,” she started quietly, “don’t trust--”
The front door slammed open before she could finish.
“Hyung!” Sunghoon called, helmet tucked under one arm. “Delivery for the Jung wedding just got delayed because someone parked in the loading zone and--”
He stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the tension. “Oh. Hi, Halmeoni.”
Mrs. Choi stepped back immediately, her expression closing off. “It’s nothing,” she said quickly. “I’m just being paranoid.”
Sunoo didn’t look convinced. “Halmeoni--”
But she was already forcing another smile. “Can I just get the usual lilies?”
Jungwon and Sunoo exchanged a look but neither pushed further. How could they when she looked so shaken?
By evening, rain had started falling outside in soft silver sheets.
Sunoo was wiping down the counter while Jungwon counted the register.
“You’ve been quiet,” Sunoo said.
Jungwon hummed absentmindedly.
“Are you worried about Halmeoni?”
Jungwon finally looked up. “Something was wrong.”
Sunoo nodded slowly. “You think someone was really following her?”
Before Jungwon could answer, his phone buzzed sharply against the counter.
He frowned at the screen, then his expression changed completely.
“What?” Sunoo asked immediately.
Jungwon looked pale. “It’s Heeseung.”
A horrible feeling settled in Sunoo’s stomach. Heeseung didn’t text unless it was important. “What happened?”
Jungwon swallowed once, but it didn’t help. “...Halmeoni’s dead.”
Everything after that blurred together.
Police lights painted the street red and blue. Rain soaked through Sunoo’s hoodie as officers moved in and out of the apartment building downtown. Someone said the word stabbed. Someone else said homicide.
Sunoo couldn’t breathe properly. Jungwon stood beside him the entire time, close enough that their shoulders touched.
The detectives questioned them almost immediately after learning their flower shop had been Mrs. Choi’s last confirmed stop before her death.
“What exactly did she say to you?” one detective asked sharply.
“We already told you,” Jungwon replied evenly.
Sunoo sat stiffly beside him, exhausted and shaken.
“She came to buy flowers,” Jungwon continued. “That’s it.”
“She mentioned being followed,” the detective pressed.
Sunoo looked up. “Because she was scared.”
“And yet neither of you contacted authorities.”
The accusation underneath the words was obvious.
Jungwon’s jaw tightened slightly. “She didn’t ask us to.”
Another detective entered holding a notebook. “We checked nearby security footage,” he said. “No confirmed sightings after she left the flower shop.”
Sunoo felt sick.
The detective’s gaze sharpened. “So right now, your shop is the last known location before the victim’s murder.”
Hours later, they were finally allowed to leave. But by then, rumors had already started spreading online. People whispered outside nearby stores. Customers posted theories. Someone online called them “the flower boys with blood on their hands.”
Sunoo stared numbly at the comments on his phone while sitting behind the counter in the darkened shop.
“They think we did it,” he whispered.
Jungwon reached over silently and took the phone from his hands before locking the screen. “Don’t read that stuff.”
“But what if--”
“No.” His voice was calm, certain.
Jungwon crouched slightly in front of him, fixing Sunoo’s crooked apron strings absentmindedly like he always did whenever Sunoo got stressed.
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” he said quietly. “So don’t let them make you feel guilty.”
Sunoo looked at him for a long moment. Even now, Jungwon looked composed. But Sunoo noticed the tension in his shoulders. The exhaustion beneath his eyes.
He was scared too.
He was just trying not to show it.
The bell above the door rang suddenly. Several police officers stepped inside. One of them held up a warrant. “We’re conducting a full search of the premises.”
Sunoo’s stomach dropped.
Around them, officers began opening drawers, checking storage rooms, searching through bouquets and paperwork alike.
The shop suddenly felt unfamiliar. Violated.
Sunoo stood frozen near the counter while strangers tore through the place he loved most.
Beside him, Jungwon quietly clenched his fists hard enough for his knuckles to turn white.
_______________________
Three days after Mrs. Choi’s murder, the flower shop still didn’t feel normal. The usual warmth had been replaced with something quieter. Heavier.
Customers lowered their voices when they walked in. Some stared too long. Others avoided eye contact completely.
A few regulars stopped coming altogether.
Sunoo pretended not to notice.
Jungwon knew he noticed anyway.
“You’re crushing the stems,” Jungwon said softly from beside him.
Sunoo blinked and loosened his grip on the roses in his hands. “Sorry.”
Jungwon gently took the bouquet from him before he could ruin it completely. Their fingers brushed briefly. “You should take a break.”
“I’m fine.”
“You haven’t sat down in four hours.”
Sunoo opened his mouth to argue, but the bell above the door chimed before he could.
Heeseung entered carrying coffee trays again.
“At this point,” Sunoo sighed, “you’re financially supporting us singlehandedly.”
“You both look one inconvenience away from collapsing,” Heeseung replied. “So yes.”
Sunoo accepted the drink gratefully, though his smile faded quickly when he noticed the folded newspaper tucked under Heeseung’s arm.
The headline mentioned Mrs. Choi’s murder again. Another article speculating, another article reducing her life to gossip.
Sunoo looked away immediately.
“They already stopped caring,” he muttered.
Heeseung frowned. “What?”
Sunoo laughed bitterly. “The police. They think it’s gambling debts now.”
Jungwon’s expression darkened slightly.
The detectives had visited again that morning only to inform them they were “expanding their investigation into the victim’s personal affairs.”
That pretty much translated to “they no longer considered the murder urgent unless it connected to something interesting.”
“They barely even asked about the person following her,” Sunoo continued angrily. “She literally told us she was scared.”
“Sunoo--”
“No, it’s ridiculous.” His voice cracked slightly. “She was our friend.”
The shop fell quiet.
Jungwon stepped closer instinctively. “I know.”
But Sunoo shook his head. “They’re treating her like she did something to deserve it.”
Jungwon knew that look on Sunoo’s face. The stubborn one. The dangerous one.
“You’re thinking about investigating this yourself,” he said flatly.
Sunoo didn’t answer, which was answer enough.
“Absolutely not.” Jungwon immediately shut it down.
Sunoo stared at him. “What?”
“It’s dangerous,” Jungwon pointed out.
Sunoo scoffed. “And doing nothing isn’t?”
“We’re already suspects, Sunoo!”
“Exactly!” Sunoo snapped. “Which means if the police aren’t even trying, we have to figure out what actually happened. Both to find justice for Halmeoni and clear our own names.”
Jungwon rubbed tiredly at his temples. “Sunoo--”
“She came to us for help,” Sunoo whispered.
That stopped him.
Sunoo looked genuinely devastated.
“If she was trying to warn us about something…” His voice lowered. “What if we were her last chance?”
Jungwon hated when Sunoo looked at him like that, like he was carrying the weight of the world by himself.
Because Jungwon would do almost anything to lighten it.
Even things he didn’t think were smart.
He exhaled slowly. “...Fine.”
Sunoo blinked. “Fine?”
“But we do this carefully,” Jungwon sighed.
A smile spread across Sunoo’s face so suddenly it caught Jungwon off guard. “You agreed way too fast.”
“You were going to do it anyway.”
“That’s true.”
“I know.”
Despite himself, Jungwon smiled faintly back.
And just like that, they started digging.
The first thing they did was retrace Mrs. Choi’s final week.
Sunghoon drove them across town most nights after closing, his motorcycle helmet hanging from one arm whenever they stopped somewhere suspicious.
“I still think this is a terrible idea,” he informed them as they stood outside Mrs. Choi’s favorite grocery store.”
“Yet you keep helping,” Sunoo pointed out.
Sunghoon sighed. “Because if I don’t, one of you might end up dead. Or worse, on the news.”
Sunoo raised an eyebrow. “Being on the news is worse than death?”
Sunghoon shuddered. “The ten o’clock news anchors creep me out.”
“What if we ended up on the morning news?” Jungwon asked.
Sunghoon shrugged. “I don’t watch the morning news. I’m not elderly.”
“Why are you so worried?” Sunoo asked.
“I’m worried because you literally questioned a stranger in an alley yesterday.”
“He looked suspicious.”
“He was taking out recycling.”
Sunoo crossed his arms. “Suspiciously.”
Jungwon quietly hid his smile.
Over the next several days, small pieces slowly started fitting together.
Jake helped the most at first. Everyone seemed to trust Jake instantly, which made gathering information ridiculously easy.
He started long conversations with shop owners easily, neighbors opened doors for him, even grumpy apartment managers somehow ended up telling him things they probably shouldn’t.
“She was asking questions,” Jake said one afternoon while sitting cross-legged on the shop floor with one of the shelter dogs asleep in his lap.
“About what?” Sunoo asked.
Jake frowned thoughtfully. “Nobody knows exactly. But apparently she’d been arguing with someone recently.”
“Who?”
“That’s the problem.” Jake scratched behind the dog’s ears absently. “Nobody saw his face clearly.”
Jungwon leaned against the counter. “What about the threatening messages?”
Jake looked up sharply. “You already know about those?”
Sunoo and Jungwon exchanged glances.
“She mentioned being followed,” Sunoo admitted quietly.
Jake’s expression immediately shifted with concern. “She never told the police that?”
“She did,” Jungwon said flatly. “They didn’t care.”
By the end of the week, Jay became involved too. Mostly against his will.
“I cannot believe I’m participating in criminal activity,” he complained while sliding a folder across the cafe table toward them.
“You’re literally just helping us look at public records,” Sunoo said.
Jay lowered his sunglasses dramatically. “Using my father’s connections.”
“Which you were very eager to brag about yesterday.” Jungwon raised a brow.
Jay huffed. “That was different.”
Jungwon opened the folder carefully. Inside were copies of financial reports and property records.
One name appeared repeatedly. Han Minseok, a wealthy local businessman.
Sunoo frowned. “Why would Halmeoni have anything to do with him?”
Jay leaned back in his chair.
“Because he owns half the redevelopment projects downtown. He owns the building Halmeoni lived in,” he said quietly. “And there have been rumors for years that he’s involved in bribery.”
Jungwon looked up sharply. “You think she found proof?”
Jay hesitated. “...Maybe.”
That same night, Riki stumbled into the flower shop after classes looking unusually solemn. “You are never going to believe what I heard.”
Sunoo looked up immediately. “What?”
Riki dropped his backpack dramatically onto the counter. “I was delivering arrangements to that fancy restaurant downtown right? And these businessmen were talking about Halmeoni.”
Jungwon straightened. “What did they say?”
Riki lowered his voice. “One of them said she ‘should’ve minded her own business’.”
Silence filled the shop.
Sunoo felt cold all over. “Did you recognize them?”
“No,” Riki admitted. “But one of them mentioned greenhouse shipments.”
Jungwon and Sunoo exchanged another look.
Greenhouse shipments.
That phrase stayed in Jungwon’s mind for the rest of the night, especially after they made their next discovery.
Mrs. Choi’s niece eventually allowed them to sort through some of her belongings, hoping they might recognize something important.
Most of it seemed ordinary, stuff like receipts, appointment reminders, and old photographs.
Then Sunoo found the notebook.
“Wait.”
Jungwon looked up from across the table. “What?”
Sunoo carefully opened the back cover. Inside, pressed between two pages, was a small, deep blue flower.
Jungwon frowned. “That’s strange.”
Sunoo stared at it for several seconds before recognition flashed across his face. “I know this flower.”
“You do?”
“We used it once for a wedding order a couple of years ago.” Sunoo carefully lifted the delicate pressed bloom. “It’s a blue Himalayan poppy. I only remember because the bride was absolutely insistent it be this specific flower.”
Jungwon’s brows furrowed. “Those are expensive.”
“And rare.”
Only one greenhouse supplier in the city sold them, an exclusive greenhouse connected to several luxury development companies, including Han Minseok’s.
The realization settled heavily between them.
Mrs. Choi really had been investigating something, and someone had killed her for it.
By the second week, the flower shop stopped closing at reasonable hours entirely.
The lights stayed on long past midnight while papers, receipts, maps, and photographs covered the counter.
Sunoo sat cross-legged atop one worktable while reading through notes.
Jungwon stood nearby organizing timelines on a whiteboard with markers he stole from Riki’s college supplies.
“You have terrible handwriting,” Sunoo informed him.
“You’ve known this. And you’re one to talk.”
“My handwriting has personality.”
“It looks like you have a medical emergency halfway through.”
Sunoo grinned tiredly and Jungwon looked at him for a moment too long.
He looked beautiful even when exhausted. His hair was messy, his sweater sleeves were pulled over his hands, and his eyes were heavy with sleep, but he still looked beautiful.
Jungwon looked away first.
Later that night, they walked back from the convenience store together after grabbing instant ramen.
Without thinking, Jungwon automatically moved to the side closest to traffic.
Sunoo noticed again.
He’d started noticing little things recently, such as the way Jungwon always reached for doors before he could, or the way his voice softened whenever he said Sunoo’s name, or the way he quietly hovered nearby whenever crowds made Sunoo anxious, like protecting him was instinct.
The realization made Sunoo’s chest feel strangely tight.
“You’re staring,” Jungwon said suddenly.
Sunoo nearly choked on his drink. “I was not.”
“You almost walked into a pole.”
“...Maybe I was distracted.”
Jungwon laughed softly.
Sunoo realized with startling clarity that Jungwon almost never sounded like that around anyone else. Only him.
That thought stayed with him long after they returned to the shop.
Around two in the morning, Sunoo finally fell asleep at the counter surrounded by scattered notes and empty coffee cups.
Jungwon noticed immediately and he approached quietly, careful not to wake him.
Sunoo’s cheek rested against folded arms, his breathing slow and even beneath the warm glow of hanging lights.
For a moment, Jungwon simply stood there watching him, the same way he always had since they were kids sharing snacks after school, since the awkward teenage years spent side by side at flower markets before sunrise, and since every moment in between.
Jungwon carefully removed his jacket and draped it over Sunoo’s shoulders. Sunoo shifted slightly but didn’t wake.
Jungwon smiled faintly. Then, quietly enough that only the flowers surrounding them could hear, he whispered, “I think I’ve loved you my entire life.”
The confession disappeared into silence.
A few hours later, Sunoo woke up alone at the counter. Jungwon had apparently gone to the storage room.
Still half asleep, Sunoo reached automatically for his phone. There was one unread message from an unknown number.
His stomach tightened immediately.
The text contained only one sentence.
Stop digging before you get buried too.
_________________________
The first dead bouquet appeared three days after the anonymous text.
Sunoo found it waiting outside the flower shop door early that morning with wilted roses, blackened lilies, and every stem snapped cleanly in half.
For a few seconds, he simply stared. Then Jungwon appeared beside him carrying the shop keys.
His expression hardened instantly. “Don’t touch it.”
Sunoo looked up slowly. “You think it’s from them?”
Jungwon didn’t answer right away, which was answer enough.
The bouquet disappeared before opening hours. Jungwon threw it away himself.
But after that, things only got worse.
The anonymous calls started first. Always late at night, always silence on the other end.
Sunoo would answer with shaky hands only to hear breathing on the other end before the line disconnected.
Then someone shattered the flower shop window at two in the morning.
Sunghoon had been the one to call them after spotting it while passing by on his motorcycle. By the time Sunoo and Jungwon arrived, glass littered the sidewalk like ice.
Sunoo felt sick looking at it. It wasn’t long before he was crying.
Someone had thrown another bouquet through the broken window. This one was soaked in something dark red that looked terrifyingly close to blood.
Jungwon immediately stepped in front of Sunoo before he could get closer. “Don’t look.”
Sunoo huffed through his tears. “I’m literally already looking. I can’t not look.”
“Sunoo.” His voice carried that same calm firmness it always did whenever he was worried. The one that somehow made Sunoo listen even when he didn’t want to. Sunoo hated how relieved it made him feel.
Over the next week, Jungwon became impossible. He insisted on walking Sunoo home every night. He checked the locks three separate times before leaving the shop. He stopped letting Sunoo go anywhere alone entirely.
“You know I’m capable of surviving independently,” Sunoo complained while Jungwon hovered nearby during grocery shopping.
Jungwon raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You almost got hit by a bike last week.”
“That happened one time,” Sunoo protested.
Jungwon didn’t budge. “It happened yesterday.”
Sunoo opened his mouth to argue before realizing Jungwon was right. “...That’s not the point.”
Jungwon just handed him the basket before quietly steering him away from the street again.
Sunoo noticed every single time he did that. Every single tiny protective thing.
And lately, noticing those things had become dangerous. Because once he started noticing, he couldn’t stop.
He noticed the way Jungwon’s hand instinctively hovered near the small of his back in crowded places, the way his eyes searched for Sunoo first whenever something startled him, the way his voice softened whenever Sunoo looked scared.
It made something warm and terrifying bloom inside Sunoo’s chest, something he wasn’t ready to name yet. Even though, deep down, he already knew.
One particularly bad night, Sunoo started carrying a pocketknife. A small one, barely bigger than his palm. He kept it hidden inside his apron pocket.
Jungwon found out accidentally while reaching for a spare ribbon behind the counter. His fingers brushed metal and he froze. “...Sunoo.”
Sunoo immediately looked guilty.
Jungwon slowly pulled the knife from the apron pocket, disbelief written all over his face. “You’re carrying this around?”
Sunoo crossed his arms defensively. “It’s for protection.”
Jungwon frowned. “You could hurt yourself.”
“I could also get murdered,” Sunoo defended.
Jungwon flinched visibly at the word.
Sunoo regretted it immediately. “I didn’t mean--”
“No.” Jungwon exhaled shakily. “I know.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then Jungwon quietly folded the knife shut and placed it back into Sunoo’s hand carefully.
“If anything happens,” he said softly, “you stay behind me. Okay?”
The sincerity in his voice made Sunoo’s chest ache.
“Okay,” he whispered.
Later that afternoon, Heeseung cornered Jungwon beside the cafe espresso machine while Sunoo was distracted helping customers next door. “You look exhausted,” he said.
Jungwon rubbed tiredly at his eyes. “I am exhausted.”
Heeseung smirked. “You’re also staring at Sunoo again.”
Jungwon nearly dropped his coffee. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Heeseung snorted. “You’ve been in love with him for years. At least commit to it.”
Jungwon stared at him in horror. “Can you lower your voice?”
“I’m just saying,” Heeseung continued calmly, “if you keep looking at him like that, eventually he’s going to notice.”
Jungwon instinctively glanced through the cafe window toward the flower shop. Sunoo stood laughing at something Jake had said while arranging sunflowers.
Jungwon looked away immediately. “...He can’t know.”
Heeseung’s expression softened slightly. “Why not?”
Because losing Sunoo would ruin him. Because friendship was safer than heartbreak. Because Jungwon had spent years convincing himself that loving Sunoo quietly was enough.
He didn’t answer.
Back at the flower shop, their investigation finally uncovered something real, something dangerous.
It started in the storage room. Boxes covered the floor while dust floated through weak afternoon sunlight filtering from the tiny back window.
Riki sat dramatically on the floor surrounded by old paperwork.
“If I die from dust inhalation,” he announced, “tell people I suffered heroically.”
“You’re nineteen,” Sunghoon replied flatly. “You’ll survive.”
Riki groaned. “Barely.”
Sunoo ignored them while sorting through old invoices. “Wait.”
Jungwon looked over immediately. “What?”
Sunoo held up a stack of receipts. “These shipments.”
Jungwon crossed the room quickly.
The invoices listed repeated deliveries from the same exclusive greenhouse supplier connected to Han Miseok. But there was something stranger attached to them. There were numbers, dates, and symbols written in Mrs. Choi’s handwriting, like coded notes.
Jake frowned from nearby. “That doesn’t look like flower inventory.”
“It isn’t,” Jungwon murmured.
Sunoo opened another dusty box. Inside were dozens of photographs such as pictures of meetings, money exchanges, luxury cars parked behind greenhouse facilities late at night. One photograph clearly showed Han Minseok shaking hands with a city official.
“Holy shit,” Riki whispered.
Mrs. Choi really had found evidence. Real evidence.
Then something metallic clattered against the floor. Everyone turned at the sound.
Jungwon bent down first. A small silver key attached to a faded tag rested near his shoe. The tag said Greenhouse Locker 12.
The room went completely silent.
Sunoo slowly looked up at Jungwon. “They know we have this somehow,” he said quietly.
Jungwon’s jaw tightened.
That meant the threats weren’t just intimidation anymore. The killer believed Sunoo and Jungwon possessed evidence capable of exposing everything. And that made them targets.
That realization settled heavily over all of them.
After the others left that night, rain started falling again, soft at first, then harder against the windows.
Sunoo sat alone in the back room surrounded by buckets of flowers while staring numbly at the key in his hands when his phone rang suddenly with an unknown number.
His stomach twisted immediately, but he answered anyway.
There was only silence, then slow, intentional breathing.
Sunoo’s hands started shaking. “Who is this?” he asked.
He got nothing.
Then finally, a distorted voice said, “You should’ve stopped looking.”
The line went dead and something inside Sunoo snapped.
By the time Jungwon found him, he was sitting on the floor between flower buckets trying unsuccessfully not to cry.
“Sunoo?” he whispered.
Jungwon crossed the room instantly. “What happened?”
Sunoo shook his head hard, breathing unevenly. “I can’t--”
Jungwon crouched in front of him immediately. “Hey. Look at me.”
Sunoo tried to speak but his voice broke apart halfway through.
For weeks he’d been pretending he wasn’t terrified, pretending the threats didn’t keep him awake at night, pretending Mrs. Choi’s murder didn’t replay in his mind constantly. But now it all crashed down at once.
“They’re going to kill us,” he whispered.
Jungwon’s expression shattered. Without hesitation, he pulled Sunoo against him.
“It’s okay,” he murmured softly. “I’ve got you.”
Sunoo gripped the front of Jungwon’s sweater a little too tightly.
But Jungwon never complained. He simply held him closer, one hand steady against Sunoo’s back, the other tangled gently in his hair.
The room smelled overwhelmingly like roses.
Sunoo buried his face against Jungwon’s shoulder and realized with startling clarity that this was the safest he had felt in weeks.
Jungwon had always felt safe.
“You’re not allowed to scare me like this,” Jungwon whispered shakily against his hair.
Sunoo froze slightly. There was something fragile in Jungwon’s voice. Something dangerously close to confession.
Jungwon pulled back just enough to look at him. For one terrible, breathtaking moment, Sunoo thought he might actually say it, might finally say whatever had been living silently between them for years.
Instead, Jungwon swallowed hard and looked away first.
“We’ll figure this out,” he said quietly.
The moment disappeared, but the feeling didn’t.
Later that night, after Jungwon fell asleep on the shop couch in the break room, Sunoo remained awake staring at the ceiling.
His thoughts spiraled endlessly through Jungwon shielding him from danger, Jungwon remembering tiny details nobody else noticed, and Jungwon holding him like losing him would destroy him.
And suddenly the truth became impossible to avoid anymore.
He didn’t just need Jungwon. He loved him. Maybe he always had.
The realization terrified him almost as much as the killer did.
Two nights later, everything finally fell apart.
The rainstorm started just before closing.
Thunder rattled the windows while Jungwon locked the front door and Sunoo finished gathering leftover bouquets in silence.
“You should go home with Jake tonight,” Jungwon said suddenly.
Sunoo frowned. “What?”
Jungwon shrugged, but it didn’t look convincing. “Just in case.”
“You’re coming too,” Sunoo said.
Jungwon hesitated slightly. “I need to finish inventory first.”
Sunoo immediately crossed his arms. “Then I’m staying.”
Jungwon’s eyes widened. “Sunoo--”
Sunoo shook his head. “I’m not leaving you alone.”
Jungwon stared at him for a moment. Then he quietly said, “Okay.”
The lights went out seconds later. Complete darkness swallowed the shop instantly.
Sunoo startled hard. “Jungwon?”
“I’m here.” His voice sounded close, but Sunoo couldn’t see anything.
Then, there was a loud crash. Glass shattered somewhere near the front entrance.
Sunoo’s heart almost stopped.
“Get down,” Jungwon ordered sharply.
There were footsteps, fast and heavy. Someone was inside the shop.
Sunoo barely had time to react before a figure lunged from the darkness.
Jungwon moved instantly. He shoved Sunoo backward hard enough to send him crashing against the counter just as a knife flashed through the dark.
“Run!” Jungwon shouted.
The attacker swung again.
Sunoo grabbed the nearest object, a ceramic flower pot, and hurled it blindly. It shattered against the intruder’s shoulder.
Everything became chaos after that.
Jungwon struggled with the attacker near the doorway. Sunoo reached for the pocketknife in his apron with shaking hands, then sudden, burning pain exploded through his side.
Sunoo gasped sharply. The attacker had gotten him.
Before he could recover, Jungwon grabbed the person violently away from him. “Don’t touch him!”
The rage in Jungwon’s voice sounded almost unrecognizable.
Then Jungwon jerked suddenly as the attacker struck again. Blood spread darkly across his shirt.
“Jungwon!” Sunoo lunged forward despite the pain.
The attacker raised the knife again, then headlights flashed violently through the broken storefront windows.
A motorcycle screeched outside.
“What the hell?!” Sunghoon shouted.
The attacker froze, then bolted immediately through the shattered entrance and disappeared into the rain.
Sunghoon rushed inside just as Jungwon collapsed to one knee. Blood dripped onto crushed flower petals scattered across the floor.
“Call an ambulance,” Jungwon managed hoarsely.
Sunoo dropped beside him instantly despite his own injury. His hands shook violently as he grabbed Jungwon’s arm.
“Stay awake,” he whispered desperately. “Please stay awake.”
Outside, sirens wailed louder and louder. Red and blue lights reflected across rain soaked streets.
And inside the ruined flower shop, ambulance lights flickered over blood-covered petals like scattered roses beneath a storm.
_________________________
The first thing Sunoo felt was pain.
The second was panic.
His eyes flew open to harsh hospital lights and a sharp antiseptic smell filling the room. For one disoriented second, he couldn’t remember where he was.
Then everything came rushing back at once.
He remembered the rain, the blood, Jungwon collapsing into his arms.
Sunoo jerked upright immediately and regretted it instantly when pain tore through his side.
“Easy,” someone said quickly.
Jake appeared beside the hospital bed looking exhausted.
Sunoo grabbed his wrist and asked, “Jungwon?”
Jake’s expression softened immediately.
“He’s alive,” Jake assured him.
The words hit Sunoo so hard his entire body nearly gave out with relief.
“He’s okay?” Sunoo asked.
“He lost a lot of blood,” Jake admitted carefully, “but he’s okay.”
Sunoo pressed his shaking hands over his face. For several terrifying seconds, he genuinely thought he might cry again.
Jake sat beside him quietly.
“He kept asking about you before surgery,” he said softly.
Sunoo’s chest tightened painfully. “Can I see him?” he asked.
“Not yet. They’re still monitoring him,” Jake replied.
Sunoo hated how helpless he felt.
Across the room, Heeseung stood near the window holding untouched coffee.
“You scared everyone,” he muttered.
Sunoo gave a weak laugh and said, “Sorry.”
“You’re not allowed to apologize for getting stabbed,” Heeseung told him.
“That seems unfair,” Sunoo argued.
Heeseung huffed quietly. “Shut up.”
Despite the words, Heeseung looked suspiciously emotional.
Hours later, Sunoo was finally allowed into Jungwon’s hospital room. The sight nearly broke him.
Jungwon looked pale against the white sheets, with dark hair messy against the pillow and bandages disappearing beneath the collar of the hospital gown.
For the first time in years, he looked fragile.
Sunoo carefully sat next to the bed and waited.
When Jungwon finally woke up several hours later, his eyes unfocused briefly before immediately searching the room.
“...Sunoo?” Jungwon murmured.
Sunoo nearly laughed in relief.
“I’m here,” he said.
Jungwon visibly relaxed the second he heard his voice.
“You’re okay?” Jungwon asked.
“You literally got stabbed protecting me and that’s your first question?” Sunoo demanded.
Jungwon frowned faintly like he didn’t understand why that was surprising.
Sunoo’s heart hurt.
“You idiot,” he whispered shakily.
Jungwon looked like he wanted to say something else, but exhaustion dragged him back under before he could.
Sunoo stayed beside him anyway.
The attack changed everything.
The police finally stopped treating the case like gossip and started treating it like attempted murder. Officers guarded both hospital rooms and detectives questioned them repeatedly. News stationed swarmed outside the building.
But despite all that, Sunoo and Jungwon still didn’t trust the investigation completely. How could they after weeks of negligence? How could they trust it after Mrs. Choi had practically begged for help before dying, only to get none?
“The killer panicked,” Jungwon said quietly three days later while both of them sat together in Jungwon’s hospital room.
A laptop rested open between them, covered in notes.
Sunoo frowned. “What do you mean?”
“They attacked us because they think we have evidence,” Jungwon explained.
Sunoo slowly nodded.
“And now they know we survived,” Jungwon continued.
Jungwon’s expression darkened slightly.
“They’ll come back,” he concluded.
The realization settled heavily between them.
Sunoo should’ve been terrified. Instead, strangely, he just felt tired.
“Tired enough to help me catch a murderer?” Jungwon asked dryly.
Sunoo blinked. “Are you making jokes right now?”
“A little,” Jungwon admitted.
“That’s concerning,” Sunoo replied.
Jungwon smiled faintly, and suddenly Sunoo realized something terrifying.
Even bruised, exhausted, and attached to hospital monitors, Jungwon was still unfairly pretty. That thought followed him for the rest of the day.
The plan formed slowly after that.
“We spread rumors,” Jay said while pacing the hospital room dramatically. “Simple psychology. If the killer believes you recovered the missing evidence, they’ll try to retrieve it.”
“You sound disturbingly enthusiastic about this,” Sunghoon noted.
Jay ignored him and continued, “We reopen the shop early. Make it look like you’re returning to normal.”
“And we’ll have trusted officers staying nearby,” Heeseung added quietly.
Sunoo looked around the room at all of them. At his friends, the people who stayed, the people who helped, at the people who refused to leave them alone through any of this.
Emotion swelled painfully in his chest.
“You guys really don’t have to keep risking yourselves too,” Sunoo said.
Riki looked personally offended. “I was almost suffocated by storage room dust for this investigation. I’m emotionally committed now.”
Jake laughed softly. “Besides, someone has to stop you and Jungwon from doing something reckless.”
“That ship sailed weeks ago,” Sunghoon muttered.
Once they were discharged from the hospital, everything moved quickly.
The flower shop reopened sooner than expected. Freshly repaired windows gleamed beneath warm afternoon sunlight while bouquets filled the front displays again.
To outsiders, it almost looked normal. But underneath, everyone had a role.
Jay installed additional hidden security cameras throughout the shop. Jake distracted reporters lingering nearby by “accidentally” leading them toward fake tips across town. Sunghoon monitored nearby streets every night from his motorcycle. Riki tracked suspicious online activity and anonymous accounts connected to the threats. Heeseung watched constantly from the cafe next door. And every evening after closing, Sunoo waited.
The trap was simple, almost too simple. Which made it terrifying.
Three nights later, the killer finally took the bait.
Rain tapped softly against the shop windows while Sunoo pretended to organize invoices near the counter. The hidden greenhouse locker key sat visibly beside him.
It was intentional. It was a lure.
His pulse hammered painfully in his chest.
From the back storage room, Jungwon waited hidden out of sight. He was ready.
The shop lights flickered once, then the back door creaked open.
Sunoo froze as a figure slipped silently into the darkened shop wearing black gloves and a hood.
For one horrible moment, fear rooted Sunoo completely in place.
Then he remembered Jungwon was nearby. Immediately, breathing became easier.
The intruder moved toward the counter slowly. They moved toward the key.
Sunoo deliberately stepped backward and asked, “Looking for this?”
The figure snapped toward him instantly. Their voice came out low and distorted.
“You should’ve died last time,” the intruder said.
Sunoo’s stomach twisted violently. “You killed Mrs. Choi because she found evidence against Han Minseok,” he accused.
Silence followed.
“She wouldn’t stop digging,” the killer said.
The confession sent ice through Sunoo’s veins.
“She found the payment records, the bribes, the greenhouse shipments,” the killer said, taking another step closer. “And she passed them to you.”
So that was it.
Mrs. Choi had uncovered financial crimes tied to redevelopment projects and illegal money transfers hidden through greenhouse supply accounts.
And the killer believed she’d handed proof to Sunoo and Jungwon before dying.
“You murdered her over money?” Sunoo whispered.
“It wasn’t supposed to become messy,” the killer replied.
Then he lunged suddenly. Sunoo stumbled backward hard enough to crash into flower displays.
“Jungwon!” Sunoo shouted.
The storage room door slammed open instantly. Jungwon tackled the attacker before they could reach Sunoo again.
The shop exploded into chaos. Flower buckets crashed sideways, glass shattered, and the killer swung the knife wildly toward Jungwon’s shoulder.
“Watch out!” Sunoo yelled.
Sunoo grabbed the attacker’s arm desperately while Jungwon wrestled the weapon away.
For one horrifying second, the blade turned toward Sunoo instead.
Jungwon reacted instantly. He shoved Sunoo aside hard enough to protect him, and nearly took the knife strike himself. Again.
“Jungwon!” Sunoo cried.
Sunoo grabbed the fallen metal watering can nearby and slammed it against the attacker’s wrist. The knife clattered across the floor. At the exact same moment, police burst through the front entrance.
“Don’t move!” an officer shouted.
Everything stopped at once. Officers forced the attacker violently to the ground while the killer shouted curses loud enough to echo through the entire shop.
Sunoo stood frozen, breathing hard. Jungwon immediately crossed the room toward him.
“You okay?” Jungwon asked.
Sunoo stared at him in disbelief. “Is that just always your first question?”
Jungwon blinked once. “...Yes?”
Sunoo laughed shakily despite himself.
Police later confirmed everything.
Mrs. Choi had discovered evidence exposing financial crimes connected to Han Minseok’s redevelopment company.
The killer, one of Minseok’s “associates”, murdered her to keep the operation hidden and became convinced she’d passed evidence to Sunoo and Jungwon before dying.
In the end, Mrs. Choi really had been trying to warn them.
Weeks later, the flower shop finally began feeling warm again. It felt safe again.
The broken windows were repaired and the rumors slowly faded. Customers returned little by little.
And for the first time in months, Sunoo could breathe without fear curling beneath his ribs.
One evening after closing, soft music played quietly through the shop while golden sunset light spilled across rows of fresh flowers.
Sunoo sat atop the counter sipping iced tea while Jungwon reorganized ribbons nearby.
“You’re staring again,” Sunoo said suddenly.
Jungwon nearly dropped the ribbon spool. “...What?”
Sunoo smiled faintly and said, “You do that a lot.”
Jungwon looked away immediately. That reaction alone told Sunoo everything. Warmth spread through his chest.
“Jungwon,” Sunoo said softly.
Jungwon finally looked up. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Jungwon exhaled quietly like he’d finally run out of ways to avoid this.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” Jungwon said.
Sunoo’s heartbeat quickened instantly.
Jungwon rubbed nervously at the back of his neck, a habit he only had when genuinely anxious.
“I think…” He laughed weakly before continuing, “No, actually, I know.”
Sunoo waited silently.
“I’ve loved you since we were kids,” Jungwon confessed.
Everything inside Sunoo stilled.
“I think I always will,” Jungwon continued with a sad smile. “But I didn’t want to ruin what we already had, so I just--”
Sunoo kissed him without thinking twice.
Jungwon froze completely in shock.
Sunoo pulled back just enough to whisper, “You talk too much when you’re nervous.”
Jungwon stared at him like he’d forgotten how breathing worked.
“You--” Jungwon began.
“I love you too,” Sunoo admitted.
The words came easier than Sunoo expected. Maybe because they’d been true for much longer than he realized.
“I just didn’t figure it out until I almost lost you,” Sunoo said.
Jungwon’s expression softened so completely it nearly made Sunoo emotional all over again.
Then he kissed Sunoo back. It was gentle, warm, and certain. It felt like coming home.
The bell above the shop door suddenly jingled violently.
“ARE YOU TWO FINALLY DATING?” Riki yelled immediately.
Sunoo nearly fell off the counter in horror.
Behind Riki, Jake looked delighted, Jay looked smug, Sunghoon looked exhausted, and Heeseung looked totally unsurprised.
“I told you this would happen eventually,” Heeseung said calmly.
“You were spying on us?!” Sunoo cried.
“Obviously,” Jay replied.
“That’s insane behavior,” Sunoo complained.
“You literally solved a murder together,” Sunghoon said. “Your relationship stopped being normal two weeks ago.”
Jungwon laughed quietly beside him and Sunoo turned toward him automatically. And there it was again. That same warmth. That same certainty.
Only now, Jungwon reached over openly and intertwined their fingers behind the counter without hesitation. There was no fear, no hiding, just them, together.
Outside, spring flowers bloomed brightly beneath the evening sun.
And for the first time in months, the flower shop smelled only of fresh blooms instead of fear.