Aria had never been one for public grand gestures.
But… maybe that was changing.
Because ever since Kaelira's rooftop picnic date—a beautiful disaster that still made her smile like an idiot—something inside her had cracked open. Something brave. Something that whispered:
You can show her how much she means to you.
You can be soft out loud.
So here she was, tiptoeing into Kaelira's agency building with a very suspicious-looking box covered in hand-drawn daisies, stars, and exactly one cartoon pigeon saying "shoo."
Inside the Mystery Box:
• A mini bouquet of violets, forget-me-nots, and baby's breath, arranged in a tiny glass bottle with "You survived the windstorm, my knight 🩷" written on a tag.
• Kaelira's favorite strawberry gummies, a bag of them shaped like tiny flowers.
• A pair of fuzzy pink socks ("for cold dressing rooms and lonely rehearsals").
• A note in soft handwriting:
To the girl who makes rooftops feel like home.
I hope today feels gentle. Love always — Bloom
Aria dropped it off with one of Kaelira'd stylists (a sweet girl named Yeonji who may or may not already be shipping them) and ran back out like the place was on fire.
She didn't expect Kaelira to reply until way later. Rehearsals, meetings, practice… idol things.
But thirty minutes later:
💙: YOU MADE ME CRY IN A MAKEUP CHAIR??
💙: I'M GOING TO HUG YOU UNTIL YOU DISINTEGRATE
💙: WAIT
💙: …WHERE DID YOU get pigeon stickers THAT FAST
Aria just giggled and sent:
🌼: I have my ways. 💅
🌼: Glad you liked it.
She thought that was it.
It wasn't.
⤹ ❀
Two Hours Later: Twitter Explodes
It started as one photo.
A blurry behind-the-scenes shot someone posted on a K-fan account. It showed a corner of Karina's waiting room… and on the table?
The Box.
Cartoon daisies. Handwriting. Pigeon art.
Someone zoomed in.
Someone else enhanced it.
And then the comments came flooding in:
"WAIT WHO GAVE KAELIRA THIS??"
"Is this… a fan? A friend?? A FLOWER GIRL???"
"I see violets and forget-me-nots. THAT'S A LOVE BOUQUET Y'ALL"
"MYSTERY GIRLFRIEND WHEN??"
"Not the pigeon sticker war starting again 😭😭😭"
By 8PM, #KaelirasMysteryBox was trending in Korea.
By 9PM, someone had drawn fan art.
Aria stared at her phone in pure horror.
"Oh no," she whispered to Daisy the cactus on her shelf. "I've created chaos."
⤹ ❀
Kaelira had seen her fair share of weird hashtags.
But this one?
This one made her blush so hard she nearly choked on a gummy.
Yeonji peeked into the dressing room. "So… um. Are we pretending this box is not from the florist girl you've been mooning over for a month?"
Kaelira pulled a cushion over her face. "We are not talking about it."
Yeonji just sipped her iced coffee, amused. "You gonna address the rumors?"
Kaelira lifted her head slowly. "...Would saying it was from my mom be too obvious?"
"Your mom doesn't draw pigeons."
"Darn it."
⤹ ❀
Kaelira finally called Aria after midnight.
Aria answered in a whisper, curled in bed, her fairy lights casting a soft pink glow across the room.
"Please don't hate me," she said immediately.
Kaelira blinked. "Hate you? Aria, I've been smiling like an idiot all day."
"But the rumors—"
"Let them talk," Kaelira cut in, voice quiet but steady. "I'm not ashamed of having someone who cares for enough to send flower-themed survival kits."
Aria was silent for a moment. Then: "So… I'm not in trouble?"
"You're in trouble for making me miss three dance cues thinking about kissing you again, yeah."
Aria laughed softly. "Sorry."
"Not even a little bit."
They fell into quiet.
Then Kaelira added, "Wanna know what I told Yeonji?"
"What?"
"I said… maybe the florist girl is just someone who makes my world a little softer. A little braver. A little more like home."
Aria's heart squeezed.
"You're such a sap," she whispered.
"You make me that way," Kaelira whispered back.
⤹ ❀
Kaelira posted a photo on her private fan app.
It showed the box—violets, gummies, pigeon sticker and all—with the caption:
"When someone knows exactly what your heart needs. 🌸"
And in the corner of the image, just barely visible, was a hand.
Soft knuckles. Short nails. Holding a tiny bouquet.
The fans went wild.
But neither of them clarified it.
They didn't need to.
Because behind the screens and the cameras and the chaos, Kaelira texted one simple message:
💙: When can I see you again?
And Aria replied:
🌼: Tomorrow. And I'm bringing real pigeons. For backup.