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Jiyeonstudiedthebouquetin front of her. The colors were vibrant and the stems hadn't drooped. They looked good even after hanging out in a Fall Festival tumbler full of water while she filmed with Kazu. Not bad for an eleventh-hour grocery store purchase.
She tore the cellophane at the seam and rewrapped the flowers with the pages of a newspaper, also sourced from the grocery store. The final touch was a length of yellow satin ribbon that she'd found in her car. It brought an element of whimsy that couldn't be achieved with plain kitchen twine. She couldn't remember where the ribbon came from, or why it was in her car. Janie would call it serendipity. Life was often serendipitous or miraculous, but never merely coincidental.Maybe magic exists, Yeonnie. Ever think of that?
She tied a bow, then examined the results. More time was spent adjusting the loops, making them equal in size, yet not so large that they lost their shape. The ends turned out too long,but Jiyeon left them as they were. Those would be pretty as they fluttered in the breeze.
Back when she was Emma all the time, part of her success came from paying attention to the little things: tying a bow, adding a braid, mixing a hint of caramel into a client's brunette balayage. Details often made the difference, drawing the eye and holding attention. Caring about them could set you apart from others posting similar content. Jiyeon didn't mind the extra effort, even though it might be overkill here. She doubted anyone else would be uploading a post like this one.
The idea came from Star-Connect. Fans weighed in daily, and ever since taking over theSunshine 24/7page, she'd been careful to sift through the avalanche of comments. Somewhere in the lengthy chain of responses to Jungwoo's post was a Sunshine who wrote,Reminder that Hong Namgyu bought flowers for Emma AND everyone on staff???? When will somebody buy HIM flowers????
Jiyeon thought this was a valid point. Knowing Apollo would film a segment at the high school that morning, she woke even earlier than usual and raced to Lowell’s. Thank goodness they had a store in Monroe. It opened at 6:00am just like the Lowell’s in Lemon Grove. As long as she hurried, Jiyeon could catch the guys before they left. She'd love to get two posts out of one morning.
She had the bouquet ready. Now she just needed Namgyu to take a break. Did he ever run out of energy? Where did it come from? Nicky and Kazu were no better, running races and arguing about the rightful winner, best out of five and then best out of ten. The rest had slowed down ages ago. Max walked along the track’s outer ring, embroiled in another phone call. A sister, most likely, or perhaps all three. Kei, Jesse, and Jungwoo were draped over the bleachers in attitudes of despair.
That's where Eunjae had been when she arrived. The others kept their distance while he talked with Ezra, surpassing Jiyeon’s expectations. And she understood how difficult it was, to take that step back, to give space despite wanting nothing more than to run in and help. But he needed to connect with Ezra on his own. No one else could do that for him.
She checked the parking lot. Eunjae had gone driving with Denny and the film crew, more footage for the show. They weren’t back yet. In the meantime, Namgyu showed no sign of slowing down. Jiyeon decided it was time to call in reinforcements, setting a course for the bleachers. This brought her past the spot where Simon and Ezra sat in the shade. The former had a book lying open in his lap.
Jiyeon paused to say hello. She’d been meaning to talk to Eunjae’s dad, anyway. Opening with the weather was a safe bet, even for someone as high on the reticence scale as Simon. Then she cut to the chase. “We’re looking for Mrs. Romero. Do you have any contact info for her? Even if it’s not recent, it could still be useful.”
After a beat, Simon nodded. “Vivian sent an email, years ago. I can find the address she used.”
She hadn’t really dared to hope, and this seemed much too easy, but a lead was a lead. Jiyeon left her number and continued to the bleachers. Ezra caught up to her.
“Are you doing another video?”
“Well, I’m trying,” she replied. “Namgyu’s making it kinda hard to get this done. I might have to run some laps.”
“Which one is he, again?”
Jiyeon cleared her throat. “Awwww!”
“Oh. Purple hair. I could go get him.”
“No, it should be a surprise. Just need him to come over for a second.”
Ezra kept pace with her, lurking like a gangly, teenager-shaped shadow while Jiyeon stopped at the bleachers for some help. She knew the exact brother to ask. Upon request, Kei was kind enough to bawl out, “Namgyu-hyung! You're thirsty! Get some water, big dummy!”
From the other side of the track, a loud gasp. “Aww, I really do need some water!”
Jiyeon leaped into action. She held the bouquet at arm’s length, then recorded herself holding it while walking from the bleachers, her hand and the flowers centered in the frame. Later, she’d speed it up and add a title.POV: Namgyu gave you flowers, so you gave him flowers, too. Jiyeon could see the post unfolding in her mind’s eye. The most important part was his reaction.
He didn't disappoint. Initially, Namgyu scanned the area with a baffled smile on his face, searching for the bouquet’s lucky recipient. The smile remained until Jiyeon explained that the flowers were for him.
“Ha! But why? Did I win a game? I do win a lot, but I usually notice when it happens.”
“No reason. Sunshines just thought you should have some flowers.”
Namgyu took the bouquet. “Flowers for no reason? That's what these are?”
“Uh-huh.”
“And they're from Sunshines?”
“Yeah. It was their idea.”
“But that's so nice! It's the nicest thing ever!” Namgyu leaned closer to the camera, misty-eyed. “Sunshines, you’re the best. This is my favorite day. Aww, I wish I could buy flowers for all of you! But I need to save up because I spent so much money on Keiichi-kun’s birthday present, and it was Max’s birthday two days before that, they’re almost twins, so I really went overboardon my financials this month. That’s what Zuzu says and I believe him—”
