Flowers

She smiled to herself. 

Proud of the arrangement she made. How she chose the colors and the leaves, then the wrapper to finish. She thought about adding a little more to make the bouquet dazzle and shine, but she knew that Mina just wanted something simple and Sana made sure it was simple.

Sana took one good look at the bouquet and sighed in content. 

It was perfect. 

She had to take a photo.

Right when she took one good one with the perfect angle, the doors to her shop opened. Sana kept her phone in her pocket, turned around, a smile ready on her face. 

“Good morning!” she greeted the customer. 

Sana was always ready to face the day, handle her customers with care and to arrange flowers because it was the only thing she loved doing. 

Her mother said she was made for this job. Her father said she herself was part of the many beautiful flowers they sell. They were words that Sana lived by since she was little. She always spent her days here, arranging flowers with her mother and grandmother, watching the till with her father and listening to his knowledge about flowers and flower arrangement. 

Momo and Mina had always believed that she loved flowers more than anything. And she had to agree. 

It made sense that her parents decided to let her manage the shop while they prepare for retirement. Sana didn't need a high paying job and lavish lifestyle to be happy in life. 

All she needed was the smell of her shop in the morning, how the colors made the hardwood walls of her shop mean something and the smile on her customers' faces whenever she gave them their orders. 

Customers come and go. Her day always passed by so quickly; flowers upon flowers, some with red wrapping, some pink or yellow. The glitter that was scattered on her arms, hands and maybe even her face. The length of ribbon that she memorized by heart. 

She loved her job. She loved her flowers. She loved the fact that she had a reason to always get up in the morning. 

“Hello,” a small voice greeted her. The familiar, sweet voice made her look up immediately, she felt her heart thrumming wildly in her chest when she saw Tzuyu standing in front of the counter. 

Her favorite customer. 

And the other reason why she loved to get up in the morning. 

“Tzuyu!” Sana greeted her, her smile was from cheek to cheek and her excitement was too hard to contain. She placed everything, patted her hands hurriedly and approached the counter. “What can I get you today?” 

The college student looked at her carefully, then to the display of flowers behind the counter. But she didn’t say anything yet. Just thinking thoughtfully. Which was new because Tzuyu always had something in mind and said it off the bat. 

Sana still didn’t know why Tzuyu came in almost every day buying a small bouquet of flowers. All different each time she came in. 

It happened randomly last two weeks ago. She came in with a bunch of friends, one of them was looking for flowers for a girlfriend and Tzuyu was just training behind, keeping quiet and not touching anything. 

She thought that Tzuyu wasn’t interested at all. But seeing her the next day and asking to buy flowers took Sana by surprise. Tzuyu introduced herself, asked for a small bouquet of roses and when Sana prepared it and sold it to her, Tzuyu bowed and left. 

The next day she came by again, asked for daisies and when Sana handed it to her, she decided to introduce herself too. 

Sana, 25 years old and loves flowers. It was risky because she didn’t know if she should be doing that. But Tzuyu smiled at her for the first time, there was a cute dimple that showed on her face and that was when Sana knew her feelings were in trouble. 

Each day since, it was a different flower, different facts about themselves exchanged and a different feeling each time it happened. Feelings that bloomed like the flowers she was tending and selling. 

Despite them exchanging little tidbits about themselves, Sana never bothered asking why Tzuyu always bought flowers. But it wasn’t like it was her business of knowing, Sana was able to cater to a customer who wanted her service and that was all that mattered to her. 

Plus, it was just a harmful crush. She had a crush on Tzuyu. And that was normal. 

It wasn’t like she was going to do anything about her feelings. It wasn’t like Tzuyu was one of the reasons why Sana loved doing her job or getting up early in the morning to open and clean and sort out every flower, flower petal and leaf there was. It wasn’t like she had been shamelessly fantasizing them being together, holding hands, sharing soft kisses, and talking about flowe—

“What’s your favorite flower, unnie?” Tzuyu suddenly asked, and that took Sana by surprise. 

Her favorite flower? 

No one really bothered to ask her that, so she never really thought of it. 

She was honestly stunned. 

“Can’t think of one?” Tzuyu asked again, teasingly this time, she smiled, and the cute dimple showed itself again. 

Sana felt an exaggerated thumping in her chest when she saw it. She clutched her shirt, as if she was keeping her heart inside her chest or else it would jump out. But she managed to keep her vulnerability inside and smiled cheekily at Tzuyu.

“Maybe because I like everything,” she said in confidence. Then she looked around her shop. “All flowers are so unique and beautiful that sometimes choosing one over the other feels unfair.” 

Tzuyu nodded and then she kept her hands in her pocket. She stayed quiet for a moment until she finally moved from her spot. “I’ll come back tomorrow.” 

Sana’s eyes went wide, panicking slightly. “Y-You’re not going to buy anything?” 

The younger woman shook her head with a smile, already heading out of the exit. “If you can’t decide, then I can’t either.” 

Tzuyu’s words had been stuck in her head for days. 

Her absence at the flower shop had also been pretty loud and Sana realized a little too late that she couldn’t ignore it. 

She promised to come back the next day, but she hadn’t—Sana stopped herself. Did Tzuyu even promise? 

But with how she came by everyday felt like a promise. Something that was unspoken, something that could be felt, which was why it was stronger and more disappointing that Tzuyu wasn’t visiting. 

“She’s a student,” Sana suddenly said out loud, fixing the gardenias for an order she had. “And she’s graduating. She’s probably just busy,” she continued, as if saying everything out loud was going to make her understand the situation more. 

It was helping. 

Sana always talked to herself whenever things got a bit too much in her head and her flowers weren’t helping anymore. She was always cheerful and optimistic, but she also had her weak moments. 

The entire thing just felt so silly, and she honestly wanted to hate herself for jumping into conclusions about the younger woman and feel bad about it. There was a reason and Sana’s flower shop wasn’t the only place Tzuyu wanted to go to every five in the afternoon for almost two weeks straight. 

Guess her pending questions would have to wait until Tzuyu made time to see her. Maybe by then, she could finally have the courage to ask Tzuyu out. Maybe for lunch or dinner, or even just coffee after Tzuyu’s classes or something. Anything. 

Sure, she loved her work, and she wanted to put all her focus on it. But she remembered her parents telling her that she needed to tend to herself like she did with all the flowers. The cute exchanges with Tzuyu honestly felt like a sign of it finally happening. That Sana could take time off of her precious work to have something beautiful bloom as well.

Maybe it wasn’t Tzuyu? Or maybe the timing wasn’t right?

Her mind was a mess.

Why did she have to have feelings?

She sighed, grabbing the bottle from the side and spritzing the flowers.

“I wonder what it’s like to be you,” she whispered to the orange gardenia. “To just be pretty and not worry about feelings. Just there and hoping to keep growing and not wilt and die.”

“I don’t think wilting and dying is a nice thing to experience,” a voice suddenly came from behind and it startled her. 

Sana squeaked, turning around and raising the bottle at them, pressing it out of panic and water sprayed out, hitting the visitor. She lowered her arm, eyes wide when it was Tzuyu in front of her. Face wet from the water.

She blinked.

Once. Twice. Three more times.

“Oh my god!” Sana panicked again, grabbing her towel and running out of the counter to come close to Tzuyu, immediately wiping her face with it. “Oh my god, Tzuyu, I’m so sorry.”

The tall woman simply giggled, allowing Sana to clean her up. “That’s okay, unnie. I should apologize for surprising you like that.”

Her shoulders fell, looking up at Tzuyu. But suddenly she was made aware of how close they were. Or the fact that this was the first time Sana was standing in front of Tzuyu with no counter to come between them. 

Tzuyu smelled… amazing. A certain fragrance was there. Like a rose, mixed with subtle scents of citrus. Her eyes were so brown, and her skin was so fair. Sana couldn’t help but take it in, looking at every piece of her in detail. 

But Sana blinked and took a step back when she realized she was staring, feeling her entire face warm up at how silly she was being. 

“W-What are you doing here?” she managed to sputter out.

“I wanted to ask you if you’re free,” Tzuyu said slowly, as if she was being extra careful with her words. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to show you.”

Her brows shot up, not expecting this at all. Her mouth opened but then closed. Seriously contemplating the request. But she wasn’t sure. There were too many things to process. 

Wait—why was she being stupid?

“Yes!” she blurted out, all too excited by her split second revelation and it made Tzuyu raise her brows. She cleared her throat to save herself from more embarrassment. “I’m honestly done with work, so I’ll just close up shop.” 

She then turned around, untied her apron and then almost scrambled around to figure out what to do first. Should she turn the lights off first? Should she lock the door then the lights? But then she might need to leave some on for security. Where were her keys? Did she need to bring a cardigan—

Sana paused. Then she turned to look back at Tzuyu, suddenly realizing that she was in scrubs and she looked incredibly cute in them. She shook her head. “Where are we going?”

Tzuyu looked taken aback by the question, like she wasn’t prepared for it. But she pursed her lips and nudged her head towards the exit. “Just a ten minute walk from here,” she said, then smiled sheepishly. “I’d love to tell you but it’s… actually a surprise.”

Her heart wanted to burst at the sight. Tzuyu looked shy, or how her smile was even cuter when she was looking flustered. And she wanted to surprise Sana? What for? 

But then again, why did she need to question when she could just go with her and find out?

Sana smiled back. “I’ll get my jacket then.”

The walk was nice, she had to admit. 

They talked a little, catching up on their week and Tzuyu explaining that she had been busy with school and some projects. Something about working on this new x-ray machine and knowing how to properly place animals in it or something.

At least she finally knew why Tzuyu had been gone and that she was just moping and being dramatic about it. 

But it made her realize that Sana had no idea what Tzuyu did in her course. But it sounded like the younger woman loved what she was doing because of how animated she looked when she explained some of the things she did in school. 

But Sana thought it was cute that Tzuyu wanted to help animals. She honestly looked like the type to adopt pets rather than buy from the store. 

“Here we are,” Tzuyu said, arriving at a small animal hospital. Sana remembered the name because of Momo, since she brought her dogs here. Tzuyu then opened the door for her. “Come in.”

Sana nodded her head, bowing at the entrance before entering. The place was honestly really clean, pictures and charts of anatomy of different animals were splayed all over. A giant whiteboard was behind the receptionist’s desk, it had red and blue markings scribbled on it, like who was the vet on duty that day and who was hospitalized. 

It honestly amazed her that this was what an animal clinic looked like from the inside. Sana never had a pet, so she didn’t have a reason to come inside. 

Her breath hitched when Tzuyu leaned a little close to her, nudging her head again. “It’s at the back.”

Sana followed quietly, greeting the personnel that were still inside, fixing up equipment, syringes and cleaning tables and all. For some reason, no one asked Tzuyu why she had a guest with her, or why Sana was being allowed inside the employee only area. 

She wanted to ask but she also wanted to know what Tzuyu wanted to show her. 

When they reached the glass door, Tzuyu stopped and looked at Sana. “I… I wanted to show you what I’ve been doing with the flowers I’ve been buying from you.”

Before she could answer, Tzuyu opened the door and led her in. It was a small little office, filled with crates and little pens and a doctor's table. But there was something—multiple things that took her by surprise. 

All in small, decorated pots and vases were all the flowers that Tzuyu had bought from her. All were in the same arrangements, the flowers looking beautiful as they decorated the entire room. 

She placed her hand over her mouth, taking everything in. “Tzuyu…” 

“Some of the dogs like the flowers. It gives a bit of life here in the observation room so it wouldn’t be so gloomy,” Tzuyu explained. Then she walked towards one of the cabinets, opened it and retrieved a beautiful bouquet of flowers, all of different varieties. Tzuyu held it in her hands and walked towards her, cheeks turning red as she approached. “I… I also wanted to get you flowers, but you don’t really have a favorite flower, so I tried to get one of everything.”

Sana was stunned. Probably beyond words. The bouquet was gorgeous. Something that she could arrange herself, but she was so used to making them that receiving ones herself was such a different experience. Unfamiliar and yet her insides were fluttering. 

A playful thought came to her, taking the flowers from Tzuyu and raising a brow. “Where were you getting these flowers?” she asked teasingly.

Tzuyu’s eyes went wide and then started shaking them in front of her. “I’m not being unloyal to you, I swear,” she said quickly but then her look softened. “I just needed to get these without you knowing.”

Her heart softened at that. 

Tzuyu was such an unexpected sweetheart. Doing all of this for the animals they take care of, wanting to use her flowers to add life to their space. 

The flowers. Sana wanted to preserve these forever. It really did have a bit of everything. Roses, gardenias, pansies, one white lily placed in the middle. She even felt her heart throb at the sight of small carnations decorating the side. 

Though, her fluttering feelings were suddenly flying low when reality hit her and she didn’t understand why all of this was happening. 

She looked up at Tzuyu, brows furrowing at the amount of questions in her mind. She gripped the flowers a little tighter, trying to find her voice. “But… why?”

“There’s a reason why I’ve been buying flowers from you almost every day for thirteen days,” Tzuyu answered softly, stepping closer to Sana. She looked down at the flowers and then at her, eyes looking warmly and a smile that was slowly showing itself again. “When I first saw you, I couldn’t really describe what I was feeling. I went with my friends there because I needed a break from all the studying and I saw you for the first time and the only thing I kept thinking was how am I going to see you again and not being weird about it.”

Sana blushed. “So you decided to buy flowers from me every day?”

“Yeah,” Tzuyu answered with a weak laugh. “But I tried to learn more about you. I’m honestly a shy person, but I wasn’t really going to go anywhere if I didn’t say something first.” Tzuyu then took a deep breath and looked at her again. “I really want to ask you out. And I couldn’t think of a smart and less expensive way to do it.”

She couldn’t control her smile when she heard that. Her face was starting to hurt, her eyes disappearing as well, heart fluttering like a kaleidoscope of butterflies running wild inside her chest. “I wanted to ask you out too,” she said as well.

Tzuyu’s eyes went wide, cheeks turning red again. “Really?” she asked in disbelief, pointing to herself. “You… You feel the same way?”

Sana nodded, one that was definitely sure, an easy question for her to answer. “Yes, I do.” 

“Wow,” Tzuyu said, breathily, like she couldn’t believe it. But then she composed herself, gently holding Sana’s hands that were still on the flowers and Sana happily allowed her to do so. “Can… Can I take you out to dinner then? Get to know you even more?”

She pushed herself closer to Tzuyu, wanting to hug her. She hadn’t felt this happy in a long time. She nodded her head, smiling uncontrollably. “Yes, I’d love that.”