Oneshot Short Stories

𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆

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❛ETERNAL LOVE❜

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[ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 ]

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━ 𝐀𝐆𝐄 : 20 years old

━ 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 : charcoal black hair, hazel brown eyes

━ 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 : cold, nice

━ 𝐎𝐂𝐂𝐔𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 : a graduating botany student

━ 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘 : mom and dad, is the only child

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━ 𝐀𝐆𝐄 : 19 years old

━ 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 : dark chocolate brown hair, dark auburn eyes

━ 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 : sweet, bubbly, nice, a sunshine

━ 𝐎𝐂𝐂𝐔𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 : a florist

━ 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘 : only child in the family

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[ 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎 ]

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𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄𝐒 & 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐒

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Romance (✓)

Strangers to lovers (✓)

Sunshine FMC (✓)

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« 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 »

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━ author’s original storyline

━ the story is written in third person POV

━ likes and comments are very much appreciated!

━ 𝐁𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐃 words to indicate MMC’s thoughts

━ 𝑩𝑶𝑳𝑫 𝑰𝑻𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑪𝑺 words to indicate FMC’s thoughts

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━ 𝐃𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ━

❛𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞...❜

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━ 𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒 ━

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【 COMPLETE 】

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【 📖 】 ━ DO NOT copy or repost my works anywhere without my permission as it’s plagiarism but if you’re inspired or there’s anything you want to say about my book, you can comment it down or PM me!

hello! first time posting a story that has been sitting in my drafts for quite a while now and I’m still exploring more about writing. to those that read this oneshot story, i hope you enjoy it and i’m not the best at writing but i’ll try! do check out my link on my bio, thank you for reading this and enjoy! ✨🫂

【 💌 】𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄 ━ ❛𝟐𝟑/𝟔/𝟐𝟓❜

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“Why are you crying again~? What’s wrong?”

“A-are boys who like flowers weird...?” The little boy cried in front of his mother after coming home from school. He was holding some flowers he picked up from the school garden along with his flower book.

“Oh, Jake dear, it’s not weird at all. Mom thinks that boys who like flowers are pretty cool~” Jake’s mom bent down and caressed his cheeks while giving him a soft smile as he wiped away his tears and looked at her.

“One day, I’m sure you’ll be a great botanist just like your father~” she smiled at him, who started tearing up again upon hearing his mom mention his father. His father was someone he admired and looked up to, he wanted to be just like him one day, was what he told himself.

But to think at such a young age, he lost his father because of a serious illness and followed up with his mother’s death from a sudden accident. To think that he would never see his mom again hurts him...

She was gone forever and nothing will bring her back...

On the day of Jake’s mom’s funeral, he brought back a bouquet of lilies that his relatives gave to him as condolences for his mother’s passing. Lilies were also his mom’s favorite flower but the flower was slowly wilting away in the flower vase which only reminded him of her...

𝐈𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐭...he thought, it replayed in his mind over and over again like a cassette tape. Wishing that things and humans will never need to wilt away...

𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 ||

“Oh, my jesus! Jake?!”

“Oh...good morning Mr Dale...”

“Morning...don’t tell me you spent the night here again?” Mr Dale asked as he went over to take some things from the bookshelf of documents while Jake just sat up on the couch like a zombie.

Mr. Dale is a professor around the school who teaches about life science, specifically biology, and botany. The school is the only one around the neighborhood that teaches purely science.

Be it learning about biology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, botany, and many more. Meanwhile, Jake was one of the students in the school who studied botany from Mr Dale.

“I needed to keep an eye on the experiment.”

“You’re very dedicated to your thesis aren’t you?” Mr. Dale sighed before chuckling at the young boy who looked dead on the outside with those dull eyes of his.

“You can’t just waste your youth here like that, you know. Go out and have a breather instead of being cooped up in the lab all the time.” Mr. Dale suggested as Jake glanced up at him with a blank stare which was pretty much normal since he had never seen Jake smile at all before.

Not even once and if there was a day when he sees Jake’s smile, it’ll be a miracle.

“I need to get to my class now. Oh, and someone from the flower shop will be making a delivery here later around noon, can you help get it for me?”

“Yeah, sure...”

“Thanks, Jake. Also, don’t always sleep on the couch, it’s small and uncomfortable. You should go sleep in your room once in a while, yeah? ” Mr. Dale smiled and left the room as Jake just sighed, standing up from the couch and having a small stretch. 𝐈𝐭‘𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦...

He went over to the washroom that the room had and washed his face to freshen up a little. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐬 “𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫“.

All this time, Jake has been so engrossed about this project that he puts all his time and effort into it. To the point where he doesn’t pay attention to anything else like having fun, friends, or a girlfriend.

He was doing this so that he could forget about his mom’s death, it was like a way to distract himself from thinking about her and everything.

Jake went over to take a look at his experiment and was gonna take some tests with it when he heard a loud crash from outside. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭...?

He glanced over at the door and went over to take a look. He looked around the hallway to find a girl bending over while holding a big pot of lily flowers. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲...?

“Um...are you okay there?”

“Huh? Oh! I’m sorry, it’s nothing~ I just got a little lightheaded that’s all.” The girl smiled and wiped her forehead a little and sighed while he looked at her with a brow up.

“I brought the flowers for the flower experiment, do you know where Mr. Dale’s office is?”

“It’s here.” Jake pointed at the room that he had just come out from before the girl picked up the pot again and walked over to him. He moved away slightly to make space for her to go in.

“Um...I’m sorry for the trouble but there’s actually more outside...would you mind helping me?” The girl shyly asked as he just nodded. He waited for her to put the pot down, and followed her out to where the rest of the flower pots were.

When he saw the number of flower pots there were outside in the garden, he widened his eyes. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐫. 𝐃𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭? 𝐈𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐱𝐲𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭?

Then they started moving the pots one by one into Mr. Dale’s office and when they were roughly done moving it, there were still two leftover pots outside the garden.

“Umm...where do we put these now?”

“I’ll ask Mr. Dale...” Jake said and took out his phone to call Mr. Dale and asked him about it. After some minutes, he put his phone into his pocket and sighed.

“Let’s move this into the school’s greenhouse garden.”

“Um...I’m so sorry that you had to help me out with these.”

“It’s fine, it’s the professor’s fault for miscalculating.” He said as she just stared at him while a small tint of pink was painted on her cheeks and they started slowly walking towards the greenhouse with the pots.

“Are you the one doing the eternal flower thesis?”

“Huh? How did you-”

“Ahh, the professor told me quite a lot about you! He said that there was a lifeless student of his that wanted to create an eternal flower!” The girl happily said while smiling. 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬? 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲...

“He’s worried about you, you know? Since you always seem to do the work alone but...why? Why do you want to create an eternal flower?” She asked, glancing over at Jake as he did the same before looking away from her.

“I don’t like seeing flowers wilt and die...so I thought what if I could create a flower that never wilts.” Then a moment of silence washed over them and she looked up into the sky as the trees rustled along with the wind.

“Dying isn’t that bad I think. If I knew something was going to die, I don’t think I’d want to see it since I’d feel sad...” she softly said as he kept his silence and looked at the flowers in the pot that he was carrying. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫...

“It’s the same for people, it’s hard being close to someone, knowing that they’ll just leave you one day...” he unconsciously said it out loud, making the girl glance at him before looking away with a faint smile.

She knew it all too well...being able to get closer to someone is hard especially when nobody knows when or how they might leave in the end. It is just a matter of time before someone leaves without a word...only leaving traces of their memories behind.

“You must like flowers a lot...just like me.”

“You were listening to me?”

“The opposite of love’s indifference right? So if you don’t hate it means you like or love it.” The girl spoke up and placed the pot of flowers down on the floor as they reached the greenhouse garden and he did the same.

“Only when you like something, do you feel sad when you see it either. Same for flowers and people...” She smiled and stood up while looking down at Jake as he stared at her with slightly wide eyes.

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐦 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐦 𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫? He thought to himself for a second while still staring at her angelic smile. Her positive mindset seemed to slowly get to him with her cheerful attitude.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘 ||

Jake knocked on Mr. Dale’s office door while yawning, it was the first time in a while that he had slept in his own room in the school’s dormitory.

“Ah, speak of the devil. Anyway, instead of hearing it from me, it’ll be better to hear it from the guy himself, don’t you think?” Jake tilted his head, confused as to what the professor was talking about until the girl he met yesterday went over to him and smiled.

“Let’s have a friendly talk shall we?” Without letting him speak, she pulled him out of the professor’s room. They went to buy some snacks from a nearby stall around the campus and headed over to the school’s large garden at the back.

They sat down on a bench while facing the lake. It was refreshingly calm with the birds chirping and the trees rustling, it was like a musical masterpiece.

“So I’ve been thinking about it...if eternal flowers exist then there will be no need for flower shops anymore!” Jake just listened to whatever she had to say since he wasn’t really a morning bright person to be out in the school’s garden at this hour.

He glanced down at the name badge she wore on her shirt, 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬...𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐡𝐮𝐡?

“That’s why I think this research should be stopped!” She exclaimed while he just couldn’t care less about what she was saying. 𝐈𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫... 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨? He was staring blankly at the lake while daydreaming in his own sea of thoughts and she noticed it.

“Is that all you’re gonna eat? It’s so little...it’s like you’re on a diet or something.” Anora pointed out as she also noticed that Jake was just munching on a chocolate bar and nothing else while she had a sandwich.

“Most of my money goes into my research so I’m on a tight budget.”

“So you eat like this everyday? What about breakfast?”

“Yeah, I don’t eat breakfast...” She widened her eyes before looking at him seriously while he was disinterested. He hasn’t been eating much since he wants to save up yet also wants to put in his efforts into the research to make it a success. That was his main goal, right?

“That’s not good for your health! Your health is the most important thing to you, you know?! You need to take care of yourself better and stop taking it for granted. Everyone only has one chance of living...it’s precious...” She suddenly stood up from the bench and lectured him like any older sister or mother would.

“Woah woah, calm down...” Jake said as Anora tried to compose herself and sat back down on the bench while gazing at the floor. He drank his bottle of water while looking at her, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐡...

“Yeah, you’re right. We shouldn’t take our health and life for granted. I know that.” He took a deep breath in and looked up into the sky blankly with his dead-looking eyes that showed little to no life to it at all nor did it have color.

“For all we know, we both could die in some random accident tomorrow. Then you realize that death could creep up on you at any time at any day, it becomes a thought that you can never get rid of.” She stared at him while processing his words in mind, 𝒘𝒆‘𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒓, 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒆...? She thought while still looking at him.

Death is definitely a thought that she couldn’t get rid of. Especially when she’s actually the one who’s gonna experience it soon...

“My mom...she died in an accident while my dad died from a serious illness,” Jake spoke up, he didn’t know why he was telling that to her but something about her made him feel comfortable to do so.

“I see...but you shouldn’t take life for granted still, you’re given the chance to live and see things some people can’t. But we’re really similar...I mean we both like flowers don’t we?” Anora looked at him with a small smile while the wind blew against them as he stared at her with no emotions whatsoever. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧...𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

“I don’t get what you’re trying to say...I don’t like flowers.”

“Lips may lie but your eyes and heart speak the truth for itself.” She chuckled before looking straight ahead at the serene blue lake. The two sat down at the bench for almost half the day, chatting before bidding each other goodbye.

Ever since that day, Jake would see Anora more often when she came to deliver things to the office, or sometimes she would come and visit him herself.

“I really suck at this, don’t I? In the other research experiments I was able to observe them with no problems at all but this one, I had to redo it countless times...what did I do wrong?”

“Cheer up! Today I bought some um... sandwiches to share!” She smiled which grabbed his attention as he stared at her but this time his eyes showed a little life and light. Something in him shook as if her presence seemed to have some sort of effect to him.

They headed over to the greenhouse garden as always, to have their break. They sat down at their usual spot and she gave him a sandwich.

“Thanks for the food...” he thanked her before munching on the handmade sandwich of hers. Then he started explaining about the experiment earlier on and she patiently listened to him although she didn’t really get what he was trying to say about all the science.

“Everything you say is so complicated, Jake.” Anora interrupted Jake halfway while he stared into space as she giggled.

“You know, your dark eye bags have disappeared!”

“Yeah...I’ve been sleeping in my dorm more these days...”

“And you have been eating more food than before too!” She happily exclaimed while he just nodded at her statement. He didn’t know what was there to be happy about but seeing how happy she was, made him happy too.

“Well, it’s thanks to you.” He bluntly said making her cheeks turn rosy pink from blushing. She was glad...

“You know the first time I saw you, there was something about you that made me want to keep looking at you more,” Anora spoke up as Jake listened and this time it was him whose cheeks turned pink, not knowing whether he was just shy or gaining feelings kind of shy. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭?

“I take care of weak flowers, it always makes me happy when they freshen up and get better! The first time I saw you, I was really worried. I thought that you might end up collapsing at any time!” Her honest words made his mouth gape open a little bit as he looked at her. 𝐎𝐡...𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬.

“Well I’m glad you’ve gotten better and brighter now!” She smiled at him as she spoke every single word from the heart sincerely.

“Thanks...?”

“Now for the next thing, I want to see you smile!” She looked at him with shining eyes, in hopes that she would be able to see him smile at her for once. Just once was enough for her.

“I don’t really smile...”

“What? No way!” She shockingly faked a gasp and used her finger to pull the side of his cheeks up, making a weird smile on his face. Noah just went along with her as she laughed.

“I bet you look good when you smile~!” He pushed away her fingers from his face and playfully rolled his eyes at her. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐈 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝...?

𝟐 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 ||

Jake was in the lab doing his experiments without any breaks. Whenever he sees Anora he would often explain the biology of flowers to her and she would just listen. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧...

It was the first time he had ever made progress with his experiment while thinking about someone else rather than immersing himself in it. He was thinking about her as her words ‘you know, we’re really similar’ came into his mind...

“No we’re not...” he muttered to himself, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫...he sighed and shook the thought off his mind, trying to focus on his experiment.

After hours of trial and error, he was finally done with the first experiment of the eternal flower. It wasn’t really fully readied yet but it was still considered an eternal flower.

He might just be able to create the eternal flower he has been hoping for, giving this to her would be a good thank-you present right?

Once Jake was done with the things that he needed to do, he took his bag and the flower before leaving the school and he headed to the flower shop to find her.

“Um...excuse me?” Jake called out as he entered the flower shop. Upon hearing his voice, Anora turned to look at him before a smile appeared on her face.

“Jake! What brings you here? Are you looking for something?”

“No, I...um remember when I was talking about eternal flowers right? Well, I created one...” Jake handed her the flower that he was holding in his hands. She took a look at the flower with eyes that shone like diamonds and a small blush crept up to her cheeks as she smiled.

“You can keep it.”

“But-”

“I can make another one so it’s fine but I want you to have it Anora. Take it as a thank-you gift from me.” He said while she stared at him silently before looking down at the flower.

“So this flower will stay like this for a really long time, right?”

“Yeah, it will stay fresh like that no matter what. You just need to remember to change its water every day.” Her eyes widened after hearing the word ‘everyday’ before her eyes turned gloomy a little but still kept a smile on her face. Meanwhile, he explained a little more about the flower which was important to know.

“Don’t worry about it, your flower shop is still safe.”

“I see...” Jake then noticed Anora’s sudden change of mood, for some reason she didn’t look happy to receive the flower at all. He was worried but shrugged off the feeling and continued speaking.

“I wanted you to be the first one to have it since you’re the reason I was able to make it happen...”

“I’m sorry...I can’t accept this...” she suddenly said while looking down at the floor with her hands out to hand him back the eternal flower. She then looked up at him with a small smile.

“I don’t deserve to have such a valuable flower...” he took the flower back and stared at her, not knowing why she rejected the flower. The look in her eyes suggested that there was something on her mind.

“It’s okay...but if you’d like you can take it from the lab anytime. It’s still yours.” She just nodded and so did he, they exchanged a few more small words before he left the flower shop.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘 ||

“Looks like his motivation is at an all-time low.” Mr. Dale mumbled to himself as he saw how there was seemingly a gloomy dark aura coming from Jake. He was sitting by his table in front of a laptop, staring blankly at it.

“I have a delivery from the flower shop!” Jake’s eyes widened after hearing that the delivery of flowers had come. He turned around to see a man instead of Anora, herself.

“The usual girl never couldn’t make it?”

“Yeah, I’m looking after the shop starting from today.” Jake stared blankly at the man who looked exactly just like Anora, 𝐝𝐨𝐧‘𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞?

“Since my daughter has to be hospitalized, she’s in need of much rest.”

“What?! Anora’s hospitalized? Did something happen?”

“Huh? No, not exactly...” the man turned to Jake and had his eyes widened a little while Noah stared at him, wanting an answer from him.

“Is your name Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I have a word with you?” The man asked and Jake nodded his head before following him out of the lab and stood further away from it. He waited for the man to speak as he was getting a little impatient since he wanted to know what happened to Anora.

Jake waited a while until Anora’s father started explaining and telling him about her current condition.

“I’ve heard so much about you and your little experiment from Nora, she speaks so much about you! Ever since my daughter was little, she has been hospitalized many times and whenever the check-up results were good she’d be discharged. But this time the doctors are still unable to find a treatment for her condition...To be honest, she could die at any time. So it’s hard for her to be close to anyone.”

After hearing all that his eyes widened, 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞‘𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥. He knew nothing nor did she tell him anything about her health condition. All he did was just ramble on about eternal flowers...

“Go see her...I think she’d like to have you by her side. She’s at the Wonders hospital.” Without any more words said, Jake rushed back into the lab and grabbed his bag and the eternal flower before dashing out again.

Anora’s dad watched as Jake’s figure slowly faded out of sight before sighing. Then he let out a small smile.

“This lad might just be the one...”

Meanwhile, Jake was running down the street paths all the way to the hospital. It wasn’t too far from the school and all he could think about right now was Anora. The words kept repeating in his mind, 𝐧𝐨...𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. He didn’t want to believe it...

𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 ||

When Jake finally found Anora’s room, he swung the door open almost instantly, shocking her. He gasped for air and walked over to her bed, she was lying down while having an IV drip beside her.

“Nora...”

“Jake? What are you doing here...no, how did you know I was here?”

“Your dad told me.”

“Right...” silence fell on them as Anora tried to think of something to say as Jake slowly approached her bedside.

“I’m sorry if I didn’t tell you, I just didn’t want you to know. I befriending someone who wants to make an eternal flower when I’m already at death’s door myself haha...” Anora gave a small smile to Jake while softly chuckling at her state of self.

“I...”

“You should give that flower to someone better Jake...I would just let it wilt, to water the flower for the next 20 or so years, I can’t...” She gripped the blanket tightly before looking away from him, not wanting to let him see her tears that were threatening to fall.

“I just can’t do it...I...I’m sorry.” She apologized before crying softly and used one of her hands to cover her eyes while trying to wipe away her tears. He was standing there silently while holding tightly onto the eternal flower that he had brought along.

“On the day when my mom passed, I decided that I would become a botanist just like my dad. I started studying very hard for it and tried to reach my goal but the truth is that it was just a distraction...” He bluntly said while she silently listened to him like always.

“I needed something to focus on so that I could forget about my mom, it didn’t have to specifically be this eternal flower. But now, I’m glad I decided to do this...I really am because of this, I got to meet you.” Jake was speaking the truth, he was certainly glad to have met Anora...it was like heaven’s plan or maybe it’s fate?

“I know we may have not known each other for long but you showed me the meaning of life and most importantly how to cherish it. Now there’s another thing I want to cherish as well.”

“What is it?” She cracked up a cheeky smile as she removed her arm from covering her eyes to look at him, as if she knew what he was going to say.

“It’s you Anora, I love you.” Jake admitted his feelings as he reached out his hand to wipe away the tears stains from her face. Anora couldn’t help but blush at his gesture before suddenly, sitting up on bed and giving him a tight hug.

“H-hey-”

“Of all the things you’ve told me, this was the easiest to understand...I’m glad, I’m really...glad.” She sobbed into his shirt making him let out a small smile before patting her on the head, trying to comfort her.

“Don’t cry...it’ll ruin your pretty face.” He looked down at her as she looked back up at him. Then he used his thumb and wiped away her tears while smiling.

“Jake...you’re smiling!”

“No...you’re seeing things.”

“You are!” Anora smiled while Jake glanced away, trying to hide his little smile that showed how soft he was for her. He was indeed happily glad to have a girl like her by his side, always there for him and listening to him even if she didn’t know what on earth he was saying.

“I love you Nora...I really do.”

“I love you too, my sweet flower boy.”

𝟕 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 ||

“Then what happens? What happened to the lady in the story? Did she wilt?”

“Hahah, no silly. She didn’t...instead, she bloomed beautifully with a new life after her recovery! Their eternal love is what never fades.”

“It’s time for dinner!” A voice called out from the kitchen, the little girl in front of him hopped off from the couch and ran into the kitchen. He then followed after and smiled at the sight in front of him.

“Mom! Dad told me a good story, it was sad yet it was beautifully happy!”

“Oh really? Did you enjoy it?”

“Yeah! I loved it!” The little girl smiled widely at her mom, making the mom smile and ruffled her hair.

“Now go wash your hands and go eat hmm?”

“Okay!” The little girl ran off into the washroom to wash her hands while leaving her dad and mom standing in the kitchen.

“You told her about our story again, dear?”

“Well, at least she loved it.” Jake slithered his hands around the girl’s waist and gave her a peck on the cheek, making her giggle.

“I love you Nora.”

“I love you too, my love~”

“The eternal flower is there forever blooming... just like our love that blooms for each other. Don’t you think so?”

“Yeah I know, we’ve come so far, and look at our little one...growing up so well.” Anora and Jake stared at the eternal flower that was in its vase, placed by the kitchen dining table.

They’ve come through all odds and managed to hold up till now, vowing eternal love and devotion to each other no matter what happens.

It is only when a flower withers that there is meaning in its bloom...they knew it all along and they’re learning it every day. A life only holds meaning when you live it to the fullest, holding the hand of the ones that you love...

That’s something that we call eternal love...

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