"Can I work at this shop?" Yoojun asked the lady who sold flowers. His voice was a decibel above a whisper.
"Ah," she paused for a moment. "Yoojun—that's your name right?"
Yoojun's eyes widened.
At the surprised look, "Mr. Nakahara told me about a man staying with him."
"He said you helped him a lot." She continued, smiling. "How is he doing right now?"
"He is dead."
There was a pause.
The wind passed a little slower and the flowers seemed to decay.
"Are you okay?" The old woman said in a voice that a mother reserved for her wailing child.
Yoojun nodded.
"Can I get a job?" He asked. Again.
"Sure, I would like to have some help." The woman smiled.
Yoojun's eyes brightened.
"Do you know anything about taking care of flowers?" She asked as she walked inside and he followed her.
He shook his head.
"But I did use to farm? I want money to farm again." He mumbled the last part.
She hummed in acknowledgement.
"You know, I want you to grow this." She pointed at a few bunches of pots.
"Okay…how though?"
"Figure it out," She said, her smile never leaving her face. "And bring me the grown one."
She took one pot and gave it to him.
He stared at it.
"I'll pay you enough to buy anything for farming till you grow it right." She said and he stared at her in wonder.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"Okay." Yoojun smiled.
She touched the pot, "Just remember that the happiness of a flower returns when you place it in the right shade."
"And that flowers need more than shade."
He repeated both lines.
She chuckled.
"Now off you go!" She said and pushed him away.
He turned away and carefully held the pot. Then he stopped.
Looking back at the woman he yelled— "what's your name?"
"Shizuka," she yelled back. The wrinkles on her face disappeared for one moment.
"Thank you." He bowed and ran away.
Yoojun felt his heart race at the thought of being able to buy anything. It felt like his body got oxygen in every cell.
He ran back.
Back to the house.
Posie was lying next to the grave, mooing.
"I got a job!" He yelled to the graves. "See I'm not a kid like you think old man."
Yoojun took off his shoes and walked inside.
He put the pot on the ground. And then stares at it. There were small buds growing.
He wondered what he should make her but?
A pig?
No too much work—he thought.
What about chicken?
He was getting excited about growing a farm.
He looked at the pot.
What should he do with it?
He decided to place it outside.
In the right shade. Like the woman asked him too.
He watered it.
He gave it some fertilizer.
It didn't budge.
Meanwhile he asked the woman to buy some fertilizers. She agreed without any hitchhike.
It felt unfair to ask it of her without any results and he felt guilty.
But he asked anyway.
The old woman treated him to dinner. And sometimes taught him extra things about farming.
She was good at it.
Shizuka was a good mentor.
He understood that.