Sean sat on his bed facing the glass window in his hospital room. The warm morning sunlight poured into the room through the small cracks in the open window. Sean stared straight ahead, not knowing exactly what he was looking at.
But apparently, what he saw was completely different from what was in his mind at that time.
Flashback
Sean gave a sunflower to Rhea who was sitting alone on a wooden bench in the park.
Rhea looked surprised by Sean's sudden arrival, bringing sunflowers as well. Rhea accepted the flowers with a forced smile, it was obvious that there were still remnants of sadness on her face. "Thank you."
Sean sat next to Rhea. "Do you know why I gave you sunflowers?"
Rhea shook her head.
"Because I want you to continue to be as cheerful as the sun," Sean replied.
Rhea silently looked at the sunflower she was holding.
"I know... I know very well that you're sad. Everyone will be sad if they are left by someone they love. But that doesn't mean we have to be down forever, right?"
Rhea played with the sunflower in her hand while listening to what Sean said.
"I want you to smile like before. Rhea who was always cheerful, Rhea who always got mad at me, Rhea who was full of enthusiasm, and Rhea who was strong."
Rhea turned to Sean who was staring straight ahead.
"You have to remember, there are still many people who love you and who care about your happiness."
"..."
"I want, from now on you continue your life with a smile and happiness. I'm sure you can do it. He... will continue to give you encouragement, right?" Sean smiled at Rhea who had been looking at him.
Rhea looked at Sean confused.
Sean, who felt that Rhea was looking at him strangely, was also confused. "What's wrong? Why are you looking at him like that?"
"You're really Sean, right?" Rhea asked.
"What?" Sean didn't understand. "Well, of course I'm Sean. Why?"
"I'm not sure the Sean I know could talk so maturely like this," Rhea said. "The Sean I know is still childish."
Sean snorted in annoyance. "So that's what you've been judging me like this whole time? That's why you still don't want to accept my invitation to go on a date?" Sean was very annoyed. "Just so you know. Even little kids will grow up. They can't stay little forever, right?"
Rhea laughed seeing Sean's annoyed expression.
Seeing Rhea laugh, Sean was happy. "You can laugh now? So when can we start our romantic first date?"
Rhea hit Sean's arm. "Is it okay to go on dates? I DON'T WANT IT!"
"Why not? I've been waiting for you for so long. How long am I going to keep waiting for you, Rhe? You're really going too far." Sean played with his tiny lips.
Rhea laughed again. "Didn't you say you would wait for me? So just be patient."
Sean smiled sweetly and pinched Rhea's cheeks. "You'll regret rejecting a guy as handsome as me."
"Adowwwww....!" Rhea also pinched Sean's chubby cheeks. "You too, as a guy, don't be too confident. Even if you look like a wreck, you'll be called handsome."
Sean laughed to himself remembering the incident.
"Rhea, Rhea... I will keep waiting for you. I will not give up. Keep going Sean!" Sean encouraged himself.
Back to the present.
Then Sean's smile suddenly disappeared remembering that Rhea had not visited him at all. Let alone visiting, she had never even called. Chats were only read. Sean played with his phone.
"Rhea... call me, please. What's wrong with you, actually?"
***
After school, Rhea worked part-time at a minimarket as usual. This afternoon, the customers were very crowded, as a result, Rhea, who was on duty as a cashier, was very overwhelmed handling the customers. After about two hours of busy serving customers, finally the customers began to quieten down towards the afternoon. Rhea could rest a little.
"Huh... it's so crowded today, huh? I'm tired." Rhea wiped the sweat on her face and combed her hair with her fingers.
Rhea looked outside the minimarket, she saw a pair of high school students who were dating---wrong, wrong, more precisely a high school boy who was trying to woo a girl he had a crush on in all sorts of ways. Not knowing why Rhea was reminded of someone.
Flashback ...
"A box of sweet chocolates for a very sweet person." Sean came to Rhea's workplace carrying a box of heart-shaped chocolates that he bought somewhere.
"What are you doing?" Rhea even sweats. "Still trying to seduce me?
It won't work."
Sean showed his surprised look. "Wow... so chocolate seduction doesn't work for you either?"
Rhea looked away.
Then Sean reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a box of cookies—no, more like a cookie box but smaller. "How about this then?"
"What's that?" Rhea asked suspiciously.
"Just open it yourself."
Rhea was forced to accept it and opened it. It turned out that the contents were sunflower seeds. "What is this?"
"That's called sunflower seeds. Have you ever seen them?"
Rhea shook her head.
"What a coincidence, it means this is the first time you've seen sunflower seeds. Just eat them as a snack, they're delicious," Sean said enthusiastically.
Rhea just looked at the number of sunflower seeds in the box.
"Does that mean the chocolate was rejected and replaced with sunflower seeds?" Sean asked as he lifted the box of chocolates.
"It's up to you." Rhea didn't care. "You better go home now. I'm still busy." Rhea shooed him away.
"So you're kicking me out?" Sean asked. "I'm a customer here, right? As a worker, you should know the saying 'The Customer is King'. So you have to treat customers the best you can."
Rhea was already irritated and wanted to put Sean in a sack and throw him into the sea. "So what's your real purpose in coming here? If you want to shop, go there, find it yourself, pay, and then go home."
But when he was kicked out, Sean didn't leave immediately, instead he rested his chin on his hands and smiled to himself while looking at Rhea who was angry. "But I'm not satisfied with seeing you yet."
Pleats!
Rhea smacked Sean's head.
"Ow!" Sean screamed, rubbing his head. "Was that rough?"
"Go home. I'm busy. After all, why do you have to show your face here? Just make it brown."
Sean pouted. His tiny lips looked adorable. Rhea knew that too.
Back to the present.
Rhea shook her head as she realized what she had done. "Gosh, what did I do? What's the point of me remembering that playboy? He likes to flirt and doesn't know he already has another girl? Damn playboy, lecherous!" Rhea cursed Sean.
His gaze then fell on the cell phone he had placed in the open drawer. For a few seconds he hesitated, then he reached for the flat object and looked at it.
'How is Sean now? Is he okay or not?'