It was the morning of spring’s first day. Basking at the sun’s bright rays, Sanha enjoyed what it had to offer to his body. He spread his leaves as if embracing the sun, readying himself to absorb the carbon dioxide and photosynthesize. After doing so, he waited a few seconds. And as if right on cue, he gleefully danced with the morning breeze. He was used to this routine every weekday.

 

During the two days of pure loneliness, where no classes where being held at the school’s premises, Sanha would always miss his favorite person that waters him and takes care of him properly. So when he heard the clanking of the roofdeck’s door, he was very aware and happy of what would come next.

 

A student with soft blonde hair entered the roof deck. He dropped his bag at one corner and went to a supply room to take out a watering can, which he then filled up. Sanha recalled that it used to be different people every week that used to come every morning to water them but for some reason, this boy would come everyday for the next two years to water them instead. Not that Sanha was the one to complain though. In fact, he liked this student the most as he knew how to take proper care of the plants and he would talk to Sanha about his interesting days.

 

The student proceeded to water the plants in the mini garden of the school’s roofdeck one by one, taking his time to make sure that every single plant was fed properly and going the extra mile as to check the soil of each flower bed. Various of them rejoiced, swaying their bodies with the rhythm of the wind that swept through the chilly early morning. After finishing with the rest, the boy then went in to water the blooming white philadelphus located in the corner.

 

“Well, how is Sanha, my favorite flowering shrub doing lately?” the student smiled as he propped the watering can to feed it water. Myungjun was the one who named him Sanha as the boy felt weird to talk to plants without calling them names. Not complaining about it, the blooming philadelphus found the name endearing.

 

“Good morning Myungjun. Beautiful and blooming as always,” Sanha replied, laughing. Although Sanha knew the boy couldn’t hear or understand him, he still enjoyed talking to the other as it became a habit of his. Especially since not a lot of students really bothered to communicate with plants or taking proper care of them.

 

“You know what Sanha? I saw Jinwoo in the subway again this morning and,” Myungjun paused and sighed before continuing. “He’s so dreamy with those half asleep eyes.”

 

Myungjun shrieked as he recalled the encounter and the boy’s face. While the other plants protected their hearing from the sharp note, Sanha was very well acquainted with this. After all, he has heard this every morning since he met him. He continued his banter for a while; talking about how he felt embarrassed as he didn’t prepare himself and that he might have looked stupid and some other things related to this boy named Jinwoo. But before the boy could continue his stories, his watch started to alarm; signaling the start of his classes. So, he quickly fixed himself and left the watering can beside Sanha.

 

“Classes are about to start. I’ll come again at my break time to check on you guys. Bye!” Myungjun said as he stood up and took his belongings. After a few seconds, the boy had disappeared.

 

-

 

“Who was that?”

 

Sanha was taken by surprise when he heard a voice near him. He searched for the owner’s voice and realized it was Minhyuk, a lady bug, that was sitting at one of his leaves.

 

“That’s Myungjun. He waters us everyday.” Sanha was way too invested in Myungjun’s banter that he didn’t notice that all his friends were already here. Eunwoo, a pinkish white prunus tomentosa, was the one who responded to the lady bug.

 

“You must be new here?” Moon Bin asked. He was a menelaus blue morpho butterfly; a very rare butterfly that came to visit everyday because he found Eunwoo to be the most beautiful flower he had ever seen. And ever since then, he would always stay by Eunwoo’s side and the two were practically inseparable.

 

“Yeah. I was hiding over the new daisies they had recently planted here and I happened to stumble here,” Minhyuk smiled. Unlike the others, Minhyuk had just came after a few weeks when the wilted flowers were removed and replaced by the daisies, which Minhyuk considered his home. The ladybug would often wander around the area when no one was around.

 

“Looks like he has a lot on his plate,” Minhyuk told the others.

 

“Well yeah. I’ve been here for two years now. And for that whole time, there was never a time the boy never mentioned about this Jinwoo,” Sanha replied, thinking how the boy looked happy yet sad at the same time when he talked about that boy who he liked.

 

“Have you guys met him? This Jinwoo guy I mean,” the ladybug questioned them.

 

“I don’t think we have. Have we?” Eunwoo looked at Bin, making him wonder too.

 

“Nope. We only know him by Myungjun’s description and it doesn’t really help that all he associates with him is ‘perfect’, ‘wonderful’, and ‘the one for him’,” Sanha replied, still thinking if he had ever seen the boy at least once in the roofdeck.

 

For the rest of that day, all of them wondered what Jinwoo looked like and if there was a chance the boy knew Myungjun or liked him too as much as Myungjun liked him. But they did come to conclude that it seemed to be a one-sided love between the two as they’ve never seen them together.

 

-

 

The days went by with the similar act done each morning - Myungjun watering and talking to Sanha and the group growing more and more curious of who this Jinwoo is. Sometimes, the group would wish they would grow into humans for a day just to see this Jinwoo and tell him how wonderful and pure hearted Myungjun is.

 

They appreciated Myungjun. In fact, they loved him. And with each growing day, they could see in the boy’s eyes a certain sadness floating in his dark black eyes. There were days that Myungjun would tell them his declining hope for the two of them. Feeling down, Sanha and the group wanted to help so badly. But what could they do? They’re not human beings who could talk or walk.

 

Bin once tried to look for Jinwoo by following Myungjun after his morning watering session. But it proved to be unsuccessful as people tried to catch him or take a picture with flash, forgetting that his species are very rare in the area. Also, he couldn’t really tell who was Jinwoo from all the faces and bodies in the wide campus.

 

-

 

“Okay guys, that should be okay for now. I’ll see you again on my lunch break,” Myungjun smiled as he finished talking to Sanha and Eunwoo.

 

After a few minutes of Myungjun’s departure, Minhyuk had wandered of to the other side of the roof deck. Not hearing the clanking of the entrance door, he still continued his little exploration until he reached a table which had a bag on top of it. Getting curious of what the thing was, Minhyuk ventured in it but only to regret it after a few seconds as the light that shone through its opening started to dim and the opening had been sealed. He shouted his friends’ names in hopes that they’ll hear him but it was to no avail.

 

-

 

“Oh my god fresh air! Sunlight!” After what felt like the longest and most horrid time, Minhyuk was relieved to see a ray of light shine through a small opening. He slowly crept out of the opening, being cautious of his environment. When he came out of the insides of the bag, he began weary of where he had been transported into.

 

He examined his surroundings; it was a spacious room illuminated by bright lights on the ceiling. There were a handful of desks and chairs, some with students occupying it while others being vacant. It was quite noisy compared to the atmosphere the roofdeck had. Minhyuk figured he must’ve been at one of the classrooms of the campus building. He panicked as he thought of how to get back to his friends at the mini garden at the roofdeck and he feared his little wings and his decreasing stamina would not be enough to get him all the way back home, let alone navigate himself in the maze of the spacious room. He became restless and started roaming around the surface of the bag.

 

Deep in his thoughts, Minhyuk was halted when his surroundings started to darken slowly. He looked up, only to see an approaching finger ready to squash and kill his innocent life. Due to fear, his body became stiff and his mind couldn’t react fast enough to process what was about to happen. He was so scared that he just closed his eyes and waited till everything was over.

 

But nothing happened. Quite contrary to what Minhyuk had thought, someone had saved him. Before he was squashed. A familiar voice screamed, which seemed to come from the other side of the room. Everyone’s attention was paid into him.

 

“No wait! Don’t kill him!” a voice called to the owner of the finger. There were sounds of footsteps coming towards Minhyuk. Taking a peek, Minhyuk saw a familiar person and was beyond relieved to see it had been Myungjun.

 

Myungjun placed his finger to one side of the bag and Minhyuk reassuringly climbed on it fast. After a while, they were back to the roofdeck. Myungjun placed Minhyuk near Sanha.

 

Sanha, confused as to why Myungjun was here at an irregular time and as to why he had Minhyuk in his finger, asked, “What happened?”

 

“Long story,” Minhyuk said but it looked as though Sanha would get his answers as Myungjun started speaking.

 

“Are you alright little fellow? You almost got squished there,” Myungjun looked at Minhyuk, who now was happy and thankful for the other.

 

“You almost died?” Sanha asked Minhyuk, shocked.

 

“Almost if not for our Myungjunnie,” Minhyuk smiled at Myungjun.

 

After a few seconds on checking Minhyuk, who was perfectly fine now and flapping his tiny wings as he enjoyed coming back to his home, a sudden realization popped out of Myungjun’s mind.

 

“Oh no. What have I done?!” Myungjun spoke so hurriedly and groaned while he held his face with both his hands.

 

“Now he’s gonna think I’m a weirdo who loves bugs and to think I shouted at him,” he continued. “I’ve made a fool of myself once again. Nice one, Kim Myungjun. Now he definitely thinks you’re a weirdo. Can the ground swallow me right now, please?”

 

Sanha and Minhyuk were confused to Myungjun’s sudden actions; he kept biting his nails and going back and forth, thinking of something and then making a face of remorse and fake crying.

 

“What am I gonna do? Maybe I should hide here and skip classes? It’s too embarrassing to go back down there,” Minhyuk talked to Sanha but was surprised when he felt a presence near him. He turned around and his eyes widened at the sight of who it was. He was so surprised that he fell from his squat position and to the floor.

 

“Are you ok?” the person asked, a look of genuine worry in his eyes.

 

“Uhhh.. yeah.. just,” Myungjun desperately tried to fix himself up as quick as possible but the person tried to help him get up by assisting him.

 

Both Sanha and Myungjun were now even more confused by the events happening. Who was the other student? Why is Myungjun turning red? Why is Myungjun suddenly not talking? They both have so many questions and the resulting silence that came after didn’t help at all.

 

“I’m sorry,” the boy apologized out of nowhere.

 

“For what?” Myungjun replied a little too loud. He mentally slapped himself for that.

 

“For scaring you. And for almost killing your friend,” the boy replied as he squatted to examine Minhyuk and tried to play with him. Myungjun didn’t respond. Or more like he couldn’t.

 

“These flowers are beautiful,” the boy said as he looked and smiled at Myungjun.

 

“They’re-”

 

“Philadelphus,” the boy muttered underneath his breath. Myungjun was astonished. Personally from his experience, no one really knew, or cared for the matter, of the names and species of plants.

 

“Uh yeah. Sanha’s my favorite among all of these plants,” Myungjun absentmindedly said.

 

“Sanha?” Myungjun was awaken from his thoughts to see an adorable questioning face.

 

“It’s the philadelphus. I named him Sanha,” Myungjun said.

 

“Cool. What’s his name?” the boy pointed at the prunus tomentosa.

 

“He’s Eunwoo. And the butterfly next to him is Moon Bin.” The boy just smiled as he examined the plants. By now, Eunwoo and Bin had become curious like Sanha and Minhyuk of this mysterious boy beside Myungjun.

 

“How come you got to name them?” the boy asked, seemingly not running out of questions.

 

“I don’t know. Because I water and talk to them everyday, I guess?” Myungjun shrugged. After seconds swept by with the fresh breeze, the boy spoke.

 

“Can I water them with you next time?” the boy smiled at Myungjun. It took Myungjun by surprise, making him not able to respond right away.

 

“Yeah sure… Jinwoo” Myungjun spoke softly and almost inaudibly. Jinwoo just smiled at him and continued to look at the plants while Eunwoo, Moon Bin, Minhyuk, and Sanha had widened their eyes and shouted all together, “THIS IS JINWOO?”

 

-

 

Every morning that came after had changed along with the wind, hinting at the gradual change of seasons. Instead of one talkative boy who came everyday to water them, it became two talkative boys. Discovering that Jinwoo had a lot of interest in plants and botany, the two naturally got along together. In fact, the two were inseparable now.

 

Jinwoo found Myungjun very endearing and funny. While Myungjun was still the same case; still head over heels over Jinwoo. One day though, when both Myungjun and Jinwoo decided to eat lunch at the roofdeck, Myungjun was surprised by what was happening right in front of his eyes. Jinwoo, who was sitting beside him the whole time, confessed to Myungjun casually. Although it may have looked casual to Myungjun, Jinwoo had been nervous the whole time.

 

It turned out that Jinwoo had liked him for a long time too, Sanha discovered one day as Jinwoo started to talk to him, Minhyuk, Bin and Eunwoo when Myungjun wasn’t around. They couldn’t help but swoon at the revelation and they tried their hardest to not intervene between the two.

 

Jinwoo revealed that Myungjun was a smart student whose very likeable and funny. Although both of them never really had a chance to interact, Jinwoo would always look at Myungjun during their class. He even mentioned that they go to the same subway line, which the group already knew due to Myungjun’s endless blabber, and that he had always wanted to sit next to him as the boy always slept on his way home. Jinwoo smiled as he recalled Myungjun’s fluffy cheeks and how adorable he looked as he dozed off.

 

Funny enough, on that very same day when Jinwoo confessed to the group, Myungjun went to the roofdeck to tell that he thinks that he’s falling in deeper into Jinwoo with each passing day. Myungjun claimed that all he thought about was Jinwoo all day; how one smile from him could make his day even before it was starting, how his laughter could easily melt his heart, how a simple brush against his skin could send him shivering from the sparks.

 

It took Myungjun a while to respond, which didn’t help Jinwoo’s fast beating heart. But when he did, all the plants had rejoiced and danced as both Moon Bin and Minhyuk started to fly over the two, who were now hugging affectionately.

 

-

 

“You know what?” Myungjun said, talking to Sanha, his favorite plant, one summer day.

 

“Thank you guys from the bottom of my heart,” Myungjun said and proceeded face Minhyuk.

 

“Especially you, who was nearly squashed that day,” Myungjun laughed.

 

From the distance, Myungjun could see Jinwoo coming to him. “Come on, we’re gonna be late for class.” Jinwoo offered his hand, which Myungjun held without hesitation.

 

“See you later guys,” both of them smiled at Sanha and Minhyuk, with Myungjun now clinging to Jinwoo’s arm and both of them talking and looking blissful, just like how Sanha had always wished to see his favorite student; happy, smiling, and with the boy who he loves and loves him back.