Forget-me-not

Cynthia

The moment Cynthia saw Hyunjin standing and facing the midnight blue water, she called his name. When he turned around to face her, he was wearing another black face mask. He pulled a black gloved hand from his darkened trench coat and waved at her. 

She paused and stared at him. A bitter breeze swept her hair back and blew it past her shoulders. Her own hands were wrapped in a pair of sandy mittens. A beanie in a similar shade was slung over her head. Tears quickly welled up in her eyes. 

She blinked rapidly not wanting to cause him worry and rushed towards him. She practically threw herself into his arms. Hyunjin wasn't expecting her sudden added weight. He stumbled back before he steadied himself. "Woah, are you okay?" 

"I missed you," she mumbled. Her arms wrapped around his waist. Her cheek pressed against the side of his chest. "I thought something happened to you." 

"Hey, I'm alright." He wasn't quite sure how to react to the sudden affection. Knowing that this was Seungmin's girlfriend made him feel weird, but she seemed to need some type of comfort. "Are you okay?" He finally opted for the safest option and gently ruffled the beanie on her head playfully. 

"Yeah, sorry," she sniffled and pulled away, wiping her tears with her mittens. She blinked rapidly again trying to get them to stop falling. Hyunjin frowned when he saw her response. "Don't mind me, it's just been a rough past few days." 

"Do you want to talk about it?" 

"Not really." 

Hyunjin wished she would have discussed it. He had a feeling there was a lot more that happened after Cynthia ended the phone call with him, but he didn't push it. "Come on, let's go get you some of that coffee I talked about yesterday."  

"I still don't have money." 

"I have plenty of that, so don't worry." 

The two talked and talked and talked. Cynthia mostly rambled about how bored she was and Hyunjin discussed some of the things he did with his band members. When Hyunjin led her into a small cafe, she glanced around in awe. She had only been in one cafe so far and that was with Flora. 

Flora didn't let her stay in places and linger around. Flora liked going in, getting coffee, and leaving again. She was the same way at the bakery and at a clothing store she took Cynthia to. Cynthia barely had time to take in the scenery around her. 

The small and quaint coffee shop was bustling with service. Once Hyunjin and her had their coffees, the pair sat at a small table in the back corner. Cynthia popped open the lid of her warm coffee and blew into it. Hyunjin wasted no time sipping his iced americano. 

"Do you come here often?" Cynthia was the first to break the silence. She glanced up and her doe eyes met Hyunjin's. 

"Sometimes. They have amazing coffee and I like supporting small local businesses. I think it's so much better than the overpriced name brand stuff. How do you like it?" 

Cynthia took a sip of her coffee and her face scrunched in displeasure. She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed. Hyunjin frowned, "not a fan?" 

She shook her head. "No, it's not that. I shouldn't have taken such a big sip, it's still hot." 

Hyunjin chuckled and slid his iced coffee over to her. "Take a sip of this. I promise that it'll make you feel a lot better." Without objection, Cynthia did what she was told. Hyunjin smiled beneath the face mask. 

Before the accident, Cynthia felt somewhat like a younger sister. Growing up without siblings had pros and cons. On one hand, Hyunjin loved the devoted attention from his parents, but on the other, he was often lonely. 

Seungmin and him were close. When Seungmin got a girlfriend, it wasn't much of a surprise when Hyunjin got to know her. He was thrilled for Seungmin, but at the same time, he wanted to be sure Seungmin wasn't being used. Unfortunately, it was something they had to deal with quite a bit. Fans could be a lot sometimes and sasaengs were so much worse. 

The first day Seungmin introduced Cynthia to Hyunjin, Cynthia provided Hyunjin with a dozen of his favorite cookies. He hadn't questioned it during the previous day when Seungmin asked what his favorite kind was. He was baffled when he glanced down at the neatly shaped cookies. It almost felt like it was too good to be true. 

Cynthia had taken time out of her morning to bake him cookies. In fact, they were still warm when he unwrapped them. He was so baffled and shocked by the move, he couldn't speak which led to Seungmin flicking the middle of his forehead and Cynthia worrying that he was injured. 

It quickly became clear that Cynthia didn't know much about Stray Kids. As she sat down with the two guys for lunch, the three of them bonded by talking about music. Seungmin and Hyunjin were in Stray Kids. Seungmin admitted he knew Cynthia could sing. 

She denied it multiple times. The whole thing was amusing to Hyunjin. The pair bickered like an old married couple. It wasn't until a few days later when Seungmin showed up with a secretly taken video of Cynthia singing that Hyunjin finally believed him. 

"Hyunjin?" 

He suddenly blinked and snapped out of his daze. He shook his head slightly and glanced down at Cynthia. He pulled his hand from his propped up palm and sat back in his chair. "Sorry about that, I zoned out. What were you saying?" 

"I was asking what you were wearing because it smells good. Is it a perfume or something?" She tilted her head to the side and her eyes glanced over. She blinked and her face suddenly lit up. "Wait! I know where I smelled it! What are they called? The thing, your things, your band thingies." 

"Huh?" 

"The plushies!" 

"The Skzoos?" 

She was practically bouncing up and down in her chair. "Yeah! Yeah! Those things! What's the puppy one?" 

"Puppym?" 

"I own that one! The scent you're wearing, it smells exactly like it. I've been kinda sad because it's starting to fade, but I like the scent. What's it called?" 

Hyunjin's eyes met hers. They were wide and filled with an overwhelming amount of hope. Beneath the mask, a grin stretched across his face. Maybe things could still work out after all. 

What had he put on this morning while in a hurry? None other than Kim Seungmin's cologne.