★ | #04 | visit
"i mean, they can wait."

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ nicole's radio station
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attention • newjeans
"you're so fine. gotta, gotta get to know ya."

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THE Choi girl sighed in relief as she stepped into the flower shop, the cool breeze from the air conditioner fanning against her skin and becoming a sense of relief from the humidity the summer season brought along with it.

Soft laughter filled her ears, of which she rolled her eyes at and muttered a string of curses underneath her breath. “Oh, shut up, man. It's really hot outside! Feels like I'm cooking.” She grumbled.

“I didn't even say anything!” Her older brother, Choi Soobin raised his hands in defense, shaking his head as he wandered out from behind the counter.

“You laughed.” Seonmi commented, adjusting her hair which was put up into a claw clip.

“Sorry for having emotions?” Soobin snickered, earning a jab in the stomach from his sister, who grimaced and rolled her eyes yet again.

“Watch it, Choi Soobin. I could just walk out right now if I really wanted to, you know. I don't have to cover your shift.” Seonmi pointed out, clicking her tongue.

“But you are going to, because you love me.” Soobin teased, hand raising to rest on top of her head, patting it lightly only for her to swat his hand away with a grumble.

“Okay, don't get too ahead of yourself.” The girl huffed out jokingly, to which he shook his head.

“Oh, shush. You know you couldn't live without me.” The boy murmured, grumbling quietly as he fished his phone out of the pockets of his baggy jean shorts.

“I have to go, or I'll be late and they'll all kill me.” He pointed out, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

“Mhm, go. But just know that you owe me. Again.” Seonmi sighed out, taking her position behind the counter as she seated herself on a stool, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.

Soobin hummed, giving her a thumbs up before he slowly made his way towards the glass door, pushing it behind. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” He nodded, a small laugh falling from his lips.

“Thank you, Seonmi.” Soobin called out, waving her goodbye before exiting the shop.

The girl snickered, mimicking his words quietly to herself as she peered down at her phone, a sigh falling from her lips.

After last minute plans came up between Soobin and his four other friends, he had asked— no, begged her to take over his shift. After much thought, she agreed with the condition that he owed her a second favor in addition to the previous time she had covered for him as well.

Plus, she hadn't had much to do, having been cooped up in her apartment. It got quite lonely and draining after a while, as she laid around continuously and read, or watched shows and videos on YouTube.

With a sense of boredom lingering and affecting her mood, she decided to come in and swap shifts with her brother in hopes to be even just a little source of entertainment.

And, at the very least, to be preoccupied with something to make the day pass by quicker.

Two hours had passed. And in that time, a few people had come in to make reservations for upcoming events they were holding, and some had come in to purchase a bouquet on the spot.

Cleaning up a bit, the bell above the door rang throughout the building. Taking a deep breath in preparation for the usual customer greeting, she walked to the front of the shop, the words at the top of her tongue before she paused and raised her brows in surprise.

“Ah, hello.” Seonmi cleared her throat, bowing her head slightly. Sim Jaeyun let a small smile tug at the corners of his lips upon seeing her, confirming that she was, indeed, there.

“Hey.” He greeted quietly, eyes following her figure as she seated herself at the stool behind the counter.

“Back again?” The girl raised a brow, as he let out a breathy laugh and nodded his head, humming quietly.

“Stalkerish.” She joked, a widespread smile settling over her features as he blinked a few times, waving it off with his hand.

“I am not a stalker! I just wanted to see if you were in today.” Jake defended himself, before tilting his head. “Okay, wait, that does sound a little creepy.”

“You even admitted it!” Seonmi pointed out with a laugh, as Jake snickered and shook his head.

“I am not a stalker.” Jake denied, smiling as he raised his fingers to brush through his hair.

“I was on my way to my friend's restaurant and was passing by. I thought I'd stop by to see if you were in.” He explained calmly, earning a nod from the girl.

“It's your lucky day, then.” Seonmi sighed out, lips pressed together in a thin line. “This wasn't supposed to be my shift. I'm just covering for my brother.”

“Ahh, I see.” Jake hummed, drumming his fingers against the countertop. “Wait, is this a family owned business then?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I guess it is. My mom started it in the 90s, and now my brother and I are starting to take over.” The girl shrugged.

“Oh? That's actually kinda cute though.” He murmured, lips pressed together in a thin line.

“I guess. But wait, let's rewind a bit. Your friend has a restaurant?” The girl raised a brow, head tilted off to the side as Jake nodded shortly in response.

“Mhm! She runs it with her friends.” Jake replied, a smile spread across his lips. “It's not far from here. You could come with me, if you want.”

“That sounds like how I'd get kidnapped.” Seonmi huffed out a laugh, her tone of voice laced with sarcasm as Jake rolled his eyes playfully.

“When are you going to stop accusing me of criminal activity? Stalking, kidnapping? What's next?” Jake snickered, folding his arms over his chest.

“I don't know. I mean, the real crime here is that you can listen to the mickey mouse clubhouse soundtrack willingly.” She recalled, narrowing her eyes.

“Hey, you remembered!”

“I'm very attentive.”

“Didn't you agree with me on the hotdog song though?” Jake brought up, his gaze playful as he attempted to conceal the smile tugging on his lips.

“Yeah, one song. And only because I dressed up as a hotdog for Halloween when I was younger and I thought it was funny.” Seonmi spoke in defense, scrunching her nose up.

“But still, you listened to it.” The boy pointed out, lips pressed together in a thin line.

“Keyword; listened. Past tense. Also, it's not like I actively streamed that song. I only played it for that one day.” She explained, adjusting the strands of hair that was pulled out of the updo she put it in hours earlier.

“You still played it and didn't find it insufferable.” He countered, as the girl could only roll her eyes in a playful manner, letting a ‘tsk’ sound out past her lips as she gently shook her head off to the side.

“Okay, fine, I admit. It's kind of a banger.” Seonmi confessed in soft grumble accompanied with a sigh. “Why were we discussing this?”

“I don't know. You brought it up.” Jake chuckled, fingers cascading through his dark hair.

“True, true.” She repeated, nodding her head as a hum sounded past her pink lips, palms pressed against the counter top.

“Anyway,” he cleared his throat, “how are you today?”

Seonmi shrugged, taking a small breath as she propped herself up against the counter. “Could be better.”

“Bad day?” Jake raised a brow, head tilted off to the side.

“The most eventful part was waking up.”

“Damn, that bad?” He breathed out a small laugh, not expecting the confession as Seonmi chuckled and nodded her head quietly.

“Not really. I'm just being dramatic, truthfully speaking.” The girl sighed out, a small, closed-lip smile settling across her features.

“It’s just been boring. I only agreed to cover for my brother's shift because I was bored, and I was hoping that it would help pass time quickly.” She added on.

“Ohh, I see.” Jake hummed. “We all have those days.”

“Exactly.” She retorted, quiet laughter bubbling from her throat. “But, what about you? How has your day been?”

“Hmm.. I feel bad admitting this in front of you right now considering yours hasn't been the best, but I've actually been having a pretty good day today.” Jake began, hand fiddling with the necklace he wore as he smiled winsomely.

“I woke up feeling refreshed, and I think luck has been on my side all day. Plus, I'm about to go meet up and hang out with my friends soon.”

Seonmi nodded her head, listening intently as he spoke about his day.

“Ahh, I'm happy for you, seriously. That's great.” She said genuinely, giving him a smile along with a nod of approval, of which he returned happily.

“Thank you, thank you. I appreciate it.” He chuckled breathily.

“And don't worry, soon it'll be your turn. I guess the universe just wants to balance your life out? To give you a boring day so that when your ideal day comes, it's much more satisfying.” Jake spoke determinedly.

“I guess so.” Seonmi hummed, a gentle sound of a giggle filling the air around her before she regained full composure in the matter of seconds, keeping a friendly, natural smile on her lips.

“Not to sound rude or whatever, but you mentioned that you were going to hang out with your friends? Don't keep them waiting so long.” She recalled, as Jake sighed and shook his head.

“I mean, they can wait.” He uttered, as the girl laughed and shook her head.

“Sim Jaeyun, they're your friends. Don't keep them waiting.” Seonmi said, clicking her tongue.

“But I want to talk to you a bit longer.” Jake claimed, brushing his fingers through his hair.

“I'm here very, very often. You can visit anytime and I'll most likely be here. And if I'm not, you have my Instagram. You can just text me if you really want to.” Seonmi suggested, giving him a subtle reassuring smile.

“Hm, are you implying that you want me to text you more often, Seonmi?” He questioned, a brow raised as he smiled teasingly.

“Don't push it.” The girl sighed out, eyes narrowing slightly as he let a laugh fall from his lips.

“Yeah, yeah. Sure.” He rolled his eyes playfully, shaking his head repeatedly side to side.

“On a serious note though, sure. But let's not talk about Mickey Mouse so often. You heard about my upbringing with him.” Seonmi grimaced, shuddering dramatically at the thought of the Disney character.

“Okay, deal. No more Mickey Mouse.”  He agreed, holding his hand out for her to shake on it.

Seonmi huffed out a quick laugh, taking his hand and shaking it firmly before pulling away.

“It was really nice getting to see you, but I should probably actually go now.” Jake pointed out, pursing his lips as he rocked back and forth on his feet.

“But hey, let's hang out one of these days? So you can see for yourself that I'm not a stalker nor am I a kidnapper.” He added on jokingly, as she hummed quietly in response.

“Honestly, I would've gone with you to your friend's restaurant or whatever, but I can't because I can't just leave work. But yeah, maybe soon. It'd be fun and I need to hang out with other people that aren't my family members.” Seonmi chuckled, earning a winsome smile from Jake.

“Fair enough.” He concluded, nodding his head in understanding before he took a small step back.

“Well, I'll talk to you soon, yeah?” He tilted his head, earning a quick nod.

“Yeah. It was nice seeing you. Have a good rest of your day.” She called out, waving at him as he exited the shop before returning her words with a simple “you too!”

Seonmi let out a small breath, a smile resting on her lips before she brushed it off and went back to work, cleaning up whatever she possibly could to keep herself busy until closing hour.

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★﹐authors corner ．﹗﹑2.1k words
i don't know why but it took me nearly a whole
month just to write this chapter when i've had the entire thing planned out for months ?? 😭

just been vv unmotivated to actually piece it together and write stuff recently unfortunately lol

hoping i will actually stick to my word this time and not disappear for awhile forever and just not update 😋🤞

anyway guys i'm so sunburnt omg help
march 16th, 2024 — 10:34pm.
not proofread.