It started with a text.
Kaelira đź’«:
Hey. You free tonight?
Aria 🏵:
Depends. Why?
Kaelira đź’«:
Trust me. Dress warm. I'll pick you up.
Not weird. Slightly mysterious, maybe.
But I promise it's worth it.
⤹ ⊹
And just like that, three hours later, Aria found herself climbing the back staircase of an old building in Seoul under a sky full of stars, bundled up in a navy coat and gripping a thermos Kaelira had handed her earlier.
"This better not be where you lure me into some celebrity cult," Aria joked, slightly breathless as they reached the final landing.
Kaelira laughed, holding open the door at the top. "I only do that on Wednesdays. This is Tuesday. You're safe."
The door creaked open.
And there it was.
A rooftop garden.
Not a fancy, magazine-style one. This one was personal. Lived-in. Quiet. Rows of mismatched pots lined the edges — some cracked, some chipped — with plants poking out in every direction. Fairy lights zigzagged above them, softly glowing against the dark sky. A low table sat in the middle, surrounded by cushions, a blanket folded on one side. It smelled like mint, soil, and early spring.
Aria blinked. "Wait… this is yours?"
Kaelira closed the door behind them. "Well, kind of. The manager of this building lets me use the roof. I started coming here during my trainee days — it was the only place I could breathe."
Aria took a slow step forward. "Kae… this is beautiful."
"Thanks." Kaelira smiled, softer now. "I've only shown one other person this place. And I don't even talk to her anymore."
Aria glanced at her, but didn't press.
Kaelira walked over to one of the planters and gently touched a small herb sprouting from it. "I'd sneak out here with ramen cups and hot packs stuffed in my jacket. Sometimes I'd cry, sometimes I'd just... stare at the moon."
Aria moved to stand beside her, watching as the wind played with strands of Kaelira's hair. The lights shimmered against her cheekbones, catching on the soft curve of her nose.
"I get that," Aria said after a pause. "My version was hiding behind the flower fridge. Not as pretty as this."
Kaelira chuckled. "Hey, petals and compressors? Kinda aesthetic."
They sat on the cushions together, wrapped in the same blanket after Kaelira insisted there was "no point freezing when you can share body heat." Aria tried not to overthink it, but her heart was definitely making a situation out of it.
Kaelira poured tea from a thermos and handed her a cup. "So. What's your favorite flower?"
Aria raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"Hey, I need to know these things. We're bonding."
"Fine," Aria said, pretending to think hard. "Ranunculus."
Kaelira blinked. "Bless you?"
Aria laughed. "It's a real flower! Tiny petals, layered like little moons. Super romantic without being loud about it."
Kaelira smiled like she was memorizing it. "Okay. Ranunculus. Got it. You just made that harder for me, by the way."
"For what?"
"…If I ever try to buy you flowers."
That shut Aria up fast.
Her heart did a somersault, completely unprepared for how casually Kaelira said it. Like it was obvious. Like it was going to happen. Like it already had.
"…You don't have to buy me flowers," Aria mumbled, cheeks warm. "I literally have hundreds."
Kaelira leaned in a little. "Yeah, but I'd want to give you ones that you didn't grow yourself. Feels different that way, right?"
Aria was still processing the sentence when Kaelira added:
"Besides, I think florists deserve to be given flowers too."
The air between them felt a little heavier — in a good way. Like a blanket you didn't want to get out from under.
They stayed like that for a while. Drinking tea, bundled close, sharing dumb stories. Kaelira told her about a fan gift that turned out to be a taxidermy frog. Winter nearly cried laughing. Aria shared about the time she accidentally sent a funeral bouquet to an anniversary party. Kaelira did cry laughing.
Then, when the laughter faded and the tea was nearly gone, Kaelira said quietly, "I was scared when I met you."
Aria turned to look at her. "Why?"
"Because it felt easy. Too easy. Like I could just sit in your shop forever and forget I'm supposed to be someone else outside."
Aria didn't know what to say to that. So she didn't. She just let her hand brush against Kaelira's beneath the blanket. A soft touch. Testing.
Kaelira didn't pull away.
Instead, she gently took Aria's fingers and held them.
And they stayed like that — two hands hidden under warmth, the stars stretched out above them.
Eventually, Kaelira whispered, "You make the world feel a little softer."
Aria squeezed her hand. "So do you."
She didn't know what this was exactly — not yet — but it was unfolding slowly, quietly, beautifully. Like a flower that only bloomed at night.