Suho loves many things in life. He loves musicals and bunnies, the sunshine and all the kids in his class – yes even the two little trouble makers Baekhyun and Chanyeol who glued his to a chair once. He loves reading and Star Wars and the smell of freshly mowed grass. But the thing he loves most of all is his precious flower garden.

His flower garden is his pride and joy. He’s spent months on months tending to it, watering it, and making sure it’s free of any weeds and harmful insects, the useful ones can stay of course. He carefully picked every flower, consulted the internet and countless books on gardening to find the right spots to make sure all the flowers will bloom beautifully and to the very best of their abilities. From the roses bushes he spent pruning, the beautiful Blue Hydrangeas, his assortment of Asters in their red, purple and pink blooms, his Cup Flowers in their stark but delicate whites, the Snapdragons he was gifted and his newly added Calla Lilies.

It makes him happy to wake up on Saturday morning knowing he can work in his garden. By noon he takes a break as usual and drinks some lemonade while reading a book in his study, to spend the rest of the day lazing around or finishing assignments or test that still needed grading.

One such Saturday morning however he discovered a hideous crime had taken place. His friend and fellow teacher Luhan had stopped by to talk about the theme for their bake sale. In his joy to welcome his friend into his home, he very nearly missed the sudden lack of soft pink coloured flowers from its spot along the gate. His eyes widened, and he lifted a hand to his chest in offense. His breath caught in his throat and Luhan looked as alarmed as he himself felt.

“What’s the matter? “ He asked turning in confusion as the other pushed past him with hast, eyes wide and unbelieving as he knelt down next to his favourite little flowers.

He felt a tinge of sadness at the roughly broken of stems and clearly uncaring ripping of the precious little blooms. He’d been carefully tending to them, this was the first year he’d managed to have them bloom. And instead this disgrace, this villainous deed of pure evil had been done to them! Oh, how cruel the world truly was.

“My Tulip Angelique, just look at my precious baby, Luhan! “He cried as his fingers traced the uneven edges, a few blooms still left but the lack of colour against the green was like a stab to the heart as he felt mist gather in his eyes, a lump at the back of his throat. “What kind of monster would do such a thing? “

Luhan, still a bit confused stepped closer and knelt next to him, looking alarmed but still trying to be remorseful. “Oh, they picked one of your favorites. Aww, you have been telling me how happy you are they bloomed this year, I’m sorry. “

“It’s an atrocity! “He cried in outrage, “a blatant attack on my beautiful beautiful garden!”

“Now I’m sure it’s not- “

“Do you think it’s one of my students? “

“Why would they- “ Luhan started but got quickly cut off by a surprised shout from Suho.

“I did give Sehun detention twice this week, but to be honest he deserved it for super gluing poor Tao’s hand to his face while he slept, “

“I’m sure Sehun doesn’t know where you live- “

“What if he has an older brother in the mafia and they’ve assassinated my plants as retaliation for punishing the young heir to the family? I remember Xiumin mentioning that Sehun’s older brother looked particularly scary at the concert last year. “

“This is not the Godfather, I’m sure it’s nothing like that- “

“Oh, an inside job then? Or someone with a vendetta against me personally? “

“Suho calm down, it could just be- “

“A flower thief!” He yelled as he straightened, and his face clouded with worry “They must be after all of the precious beautiful flowers in the town, I see my neighbors haven’t been growing any this year…. do you think I should warn the police? “

“Or it could just be someone picking flowers for their girlfriend on the way to see them? “ Luhan supplied hopefully trying to calm down his friend. “It’s not uncommon for people to do so, especially younger teens who don’t have enough money to buy fancy roses. “

Suho seemed to consider it before he shook his head, a sudden flash crossing over his face as his mouth opened and closed before he gestured for Luhan to bend down and whispered into his ear “What if it’s aliens? “.

“Listen, I very rarely say this to people that aren’t myself, but you have got to calm down. I’m sure there is a reasonable, logical explanation for it. “Luhan said turning the two of them back towards the house and away from the flowers, hands firmly on Suho’s shoulder to steer him towards his front door, “But now can we please talk about that bake sale, I was thinking woodland creature themed this year… “

Since the flower assassination – as Suho revered to it in hushed, disgusted tones under his breath at school – he’s started to notice a pattern the last few weeks. Every Saturday he would wake up and rise to tend to his garden to discover another violent plucking of his precious flowers. It seemed random at first, but he soon realized it was the flowers closest to the sidewalk that suffered these continuous attacks every Saturday morning.

After much council with his best friends and co-teachers Xiumin and Luhan on this very delicate subject, he’s decided that enough is enough. Four weeks of this madness and his blooms have been stolen with no remorse or consent for his garden aesthetic, bald patches now evidently left in once over flowingly full spaces. Not only with this thief stealing his precious babies but he was also messing up the Feng shui he’s created in his garden to keep the balance in his life. He’s been seeing it in the chaos that erupted on the playground. Just last week sweet little Jongin had punched Jongdae in the face for messing with his new friend Kyungsoo. He was convinced that the garden’s suffering lead to his own. This madness had to be stopped!

So that Friday night Suho devised a plan, he set his alarms to the break of dawn, so he could be awake in time to catch this flower thief red handed and make him explain their devious actions. If he could make them repent and apologize, he was sure the good Feng shui would return to his garden and in turn his classroom.

Which is why come Saturday morning he was hiding behind a very strategically placed pot behind a large rose bush and awaiting the appearance of the flower snatcher. As the dawn settled in around town, he was eyeing every pedestrian and potential enemy as they walked past his house, would it be the little boy in the bright orange jumpsuit that stole his blooms or the old lady with her walker that mauled his precious flowers? He was so distracted glaring after the teenage boy who almost ran over his yellow daffodils with his bicycle, that he nearly missed the tall looming figure that had stopped beside his red Peonies and was lowering to his haunches.

His voice got stuck in his throat as huge hands reached out and grabbed a petal, first softly brushing over them before the figure, still disguised from full view by the rose bush, curled long fingers around a stem and snapped it in half. In shocked horror – and mild fascination because those were really long fingers connected to big hands that looked really really damn nice - Suho sat and watched as the stranger plucked a decent bunch of his Peonies, gathering them together into a little makeshift little bouquet before rising to his feet again.

Shocked at the sheer height and size of this hooded thief, he almost didn’t react quick enough and would have missed his chance to catch them red handed if he didn’t yelp out a shrill, and embarrassingly much less intimidating than desired, yelp of “murderer!” It seemed to startle the hooded figure enough for him to turn around as Suho stumbled out from behind the pot.

“You! It’s you stealing my babies and deforming my garden!” He yelled stumbling forward as the hooded figure just stood there looking at him. “You thieving flower snatcher! You debauching de-blooming deviant! “

“Did you just call me a debauching de-blooming deviant? “ a low voice, much older than Suho had expected called out sounding disbelieving and also amused at the same time.

“Reveal your face you hooded hooligan!” Suho demanded as he stepped closer to them. His pride took a bit of a blow to see that they were significantly taller than him, but he wasn’t going to back down as he squared his shoulders and looked at the figure who pulled the hood back from their head.

For a moment Suho was almost blinded by the attractive features on the man in front of him, his eyebrows surely strong enough to capture anyone’s attention but the blank look on his face left him with an eerily feeling of familiarity. He’s seen a similar blank look on Sehun’s face hundreds of times before. Now looking at this tall stranger with the sharp jaw and striking features he could almost swear he saw a resemblance to the boy.

A sense of dread set in as his eyes noticed the piercings in his ears, the way his fingers were adorned with rings and a gleaming golden watch to match. His heart stopped as he remembers what Xiumin said about Sehun’s scary older brother that showed up with tattoos and what looked suspiciously like a blood stain on his collar to their annual concert last year. Xiumin had said he was tall and intimidating and almost as expressionless as Sehun… could this be him? The scary mafia boss here to make Suho and his flower garden suffer for giving his baby brother detention? Was he going to die today?

“ Listen, I know I probably should have asked but I wasn’t sure if you’d let me take the flowers if I did,” His deep voice breaking him out of his thought as his head snapped back up to the tall figure, now rubbing a hand nervously down his neck looking much less expressionless and much more guilty. He was kind of cute like this.

“Wait... what? “

“I mean, I probably should have asked before I plucked your flowers, but you are the only house growing flowers on my way- “ his voice trailed off into a mumble as he looked away again, the flowers still clutched tightly in his big hands.

Taking in his appearance properly now Suho noticed this man was quite dressed up, almost as if he was going to see someone. Maybe he wasn’t out here to assassinate his garden after all.

“So, you are not Sehun’s brother here to kill my garden to teach me a lesson? “

“What? Who the hell is Seahoon? Look man, I just wanted some flowers for uh… uh my friend and like I said I’m sorry I took them without asking. “

So Luhan was right. A little relieved it wasn’t a planned attack on his garden he decided that whoever was getting his hard-labored flowers better be pretty ing damn special. He patted his pocket to check if his cell phone was still inside, stuffed his keys into the other pocket and turned to look at the taller man again.

“Alright lead the way lover boy. “

“WHAT? “The other asked confused, his eyebrows furrowed together in what was possibly one of the most terrifying facial expressions Suho had ever seen in his life. Luhan’s horrific laughing face included.

“I said lead the way to your ‘friend’ because whoever you are plucking my flowers for better be amazing to warrant this kind of weekly flower theft, “ Suho said crossing his arms on his chest pulling on his teacher face.

“Are you serious? “

“Do I look like I’m joking? I take flower theft very seriously, I’ve spent precious hours of my free time growing my beautiful garden, it’s relaxing and makes me happy and your flower theft has robbed me of that relaxation. So, whoever you are so carelessly plucking them for better be downright amazing to deserve them. Go on lead the way now, we are going to meet them. “

“You wanna meet them? As in you wanna go with me? “

He was very handsome, but it seemed like this particular individual wasn’t very bright. It’s okay, Suho thought smiling patiently up at the man, if he can handle his classes without loosing his cool, then he can definitely indulge the tall intellectually challenged stranger looking at him, his face completely mortified.

“Yes, I fully intend to follow you to your friend today to make sure they deserve my hard work. “ Suho said slower, actually looking the still horrified man in the eyes as he spoke. The expression on his face wasn’t so concerned he’s actually be swooning right now. He really did have a gorgeous face.

“I don’t think that’s a – “

“No, No, Mr. Thief! You can’t talk me out of it, let’s go!” Suho said with his teacher-voice. Granted it wasn’t very authoritive at the moment, but it usually worked well on his students. “Come one, take me to them. “ He said walking past the tall man and for a second he thought they won’t follow until he heard hurried strides catch up to him.

As the walked side by side, the stranger still clutching the Peonies in his hand, Suho realized they were heading downtown rather than into the business district’s direction. Downtown was exactly the kind of place people would hang out on dates. Cute coffee shops, the old library a few restaurants and shops scattered here and there. This just confirmed Luhan’s Theory that it was flowers for his girlfriend. Why he would pick form Suho’s garden was still a mystery when he obviously had enough money to just order a big fancy bouquet online to be delivered. The watch didn’t look cheap by any means and neither did the silver in his ears that was sparkling in the early morning sunlight.

Against his own better judgment, and since he’s never done very well with awkward silences, Suho decided small talk was a good way to keep him from bursting at the seams.

“So, what’s your name? “

“Huh?” The gruff response came before the other seemed to straighten his hunched shoulders, seemed like he was just as nervous or thinking of something intently. He cleared his throat and stopped to extend a hand.

“Kris. Kris Wu. “

“Suho Kim. “

The two smiled at each other for a second before Suho looked way, thinking it wasn’t fair that someone looks that good just turning up their lips, as they continued on their way.

“So, Kris, tell me about this friend we are visiting today, a boy or a girl? “

“Uh. boy. “

Suho nodded as he thought about it. You could totally bring your platonic friend flowers every few days. Guys can do that. That or he actually brought his boyfriend flowers. Suho wasn’t opposed to that and wasn’t going to rule that out as a possibility, a lot of people were more open about being gay now a days. He himself preferred guys over girls.

“So, tell me about them.”

He wasn’t sure if Kris would actually do so guessing by how uncomfortable he looked. He was rubbing at the back of his neck again and kept shifting his eyes of the side. Suho was worried that Kris might think he was against him being gay or doing this to taunt him and his boyfriend, so he settled on starting to tell him more about himself and his friends.

A few minutes into his story about Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s recent disastrous adventures this week involving the Biology Lab Skeleton and a questionable pair of pink Rilakuma underwear, Kris was smiling such a ridiculous gummy smile that made Suho’s heart skip a whole lot of beats. Its funny how a smile softened the taller man’s face so much and made him look much less scary Mafia Boss and much more Handsome Goofball. He stared at the curve of his lips as he laughed, looking away as soon as Kris turned his eyes back to him.

He almost felt like blushing. Kris was actually quite a nice guy, he was tall and handsome, charming but equal amounts of condensed stupidity as he’d seen earlier when he’ almost tripped over his own two feet while busy laughing. Tall and intimidating at first but surprisingly soft under all that scary.

Then the bunch of Peonies in Kris’ hand caught his attention and he mentally scolded himself. Here he was ogling someone that already had a boyfriend. Maybe Xiumin was right, he did need to get out more.

“So now that you’ve had a day in the life of a teacher, tell how much further is it to your friend? “ He said accentuating the word with a ridiculous wiggle of his eyebrows. If Luhan was here he’d be wailing about how Suho was an embarrassment to the human race. Some of the tension seemed to seep back into Kris’ shoulders as his posture hunched a bit again and he shifted the flower to the other hand flexing his ridiculously long fingers right next to Suho’s and it was highly unnecessary in his opinion.

“Still a while down actually… but uh… we are getting close.”

Suh nodded as he took in the dwindling buildings and the bit of an incline in front of them. This was the part that lead to the last few family houses, the cemetery, and the old ancient Oak tree up the hill next to it. He recalls having heard some of his students talk about how pretty the view from up the hill was. Tao had even asked him a few weeks ago if the Oak tree really had magical wishing powers like Kyungsoo had told him. He’d wanted to wish for someone special to love him back. Suho had told him he wasn’t sure and that he should try it and come tell him when it worked. Now a part of him wanted to wish for the same thing today.

“So, this friend of yours, want to tell me a bit more about him now? “

“Oh well uh… he…”

“Wait what’s his name? “

“Ah, Zhang Yixing. Lay for short. “

“How old is he? “

“He would be around 26 now, I think? “

“Ah me too! When did you guys meet?”

“We grew up together, our parents were the only Chinese people in our neighborhood, so I spent most of my childhood either in their house or having him over in ours. He was my only friend in Primary School and through most of high school too actually. At least he was, still is kinda, my best friend to say the least. “

Suho nodded in understanding. Childhood friends that managed to remain friends for longer than just their childhood always had a special bond between them. He luckily met Luhan and Xiumin the year Luhan transferred to their high school. Luhan had this unique ability to adopt people and force them all to be friends in some way shape or form.

He’s glad he did end up friends with Luhan and Xiumin, they have kept him sane throughout the years.

“What’s he like, Lay, you said?”

“He’s different. He used to be the best dancer I’d ever seen in my life, those idols and performers on stage could never compare, he was just so good. He’s also stupid and stubborn, he worked himself into illness, wouldn’t listen to any of us when he caught a cold and practically dragged his body to practices even while it was busy shutting down on him. At first, I didn’t understand him, didn’t really understand why he was doing that to himself. Couldn’t he tell he was hurting himself? But then one day he told me he’d never have forgiven himself if he didn’t give 100% of himself to his passion. Who cares if he hurt and blead and broke, he’d do it all for the moment of glory he craved so badly.”

Suho looked at his face, the way his grip was tightening around the stems and he almost wanted to tell him he was going to crush the peonies in his grip, but the look on his face made him keep his mouth shut. He looked sad, almost regretful about something. The atmosphere was a bit testy, so he decided to lighten the mood.

“Ah, I see, and does he like flowers? “

“Yeah he always has,”

“Does he know about the meanings behind different flowers? “

“I… uhm I’m kinda not sure…” Those strong eyebrows knitted together again as he frowned, then he turned to face Suho and really, Suho though, this was just becoming so very unfair to be this close to someone so handsome and so very unavailable. “Do you? “

“Yes, I do, would you like to hear exactly what the flowers you’ve been stealing means? “

Looking sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck again, he mumbled out a no that Suho would have never been able to make out if he wasn’t used to dealing with a hysterical sobbing Tao every so often. That was like playing the world’s biggest game of guess what syllable this sounds like.

As Suho was so deeply into his explanation of how flowers mean things and the different flowers, their names and the significance had all been planned when he planted his garden, he didn't even realize as the taller started to slow down across from the cemetery. He nearly bumped into the tall male as he stopped and with a deep sigh started to cross towards the gate with a steely determination in his eyes as he marched forward, a confused and slightly terrified Suho following before.

Why where they going in here of all places?

Maybe he’d been too trusting, maybe he’s believed Luhan’s theory too quickly and this was all just a ploy to get him into a secluded space before he was going to burry him alive. He started to type a quick message to the group chat telling Xiumin and Luhan to call him in an hour and if he wasn’t answering to come find him at the cemetery, hopefully still breathing.

As they marched down the cobblestone path, Suho had to stake up a small jog to keep up with the other man’s impossibly long legs. He was a bit frightened as the seconds ticked by and the silence of the graveyard just engulfed them. He was too hesitant to ask what was going on. Then after another sharp turn to the left, he came to a stop and bent down in front of a white stone.

Suho stared at Kris in confusion as he took the peonies and carefully arranged them in the small flower vase next to the stone. As his eyes trained on the taller male’s huge hands again Suho’s eyes drifted to the inscription on the stone as his throat felt tight and his heart dropped all the way to his feet.

Zhang Yixing

Oh… oh no.

He felt a lump form in his throat that threatens to choke him to death as he watched Kris give a deep and respectful bow at the grave before he got up and moved closer to Suho again. All the while avoiding his gaze no matter how hard Suho tried to make eye contact with him.

This was not what he’d expected this morning when he’d demanded to meet his friend and possible boyfriend.

“Morning Xing, you must have been lonely again, I’m sorry I can’t come by as frequently anymore, things at work have gotten so busy that weekend seems to be my only free time to come visit, but here is someone who wanted to meet you today. He’s very kind and terribly persistent and hopefully uh…. understanding also and… he looks like he’s about to pass out… “

“I would never!” Suho whispered quietly.

The look Suho gave Kris was enough to make him splutter out an apology. “ I’m sorry, I just didn’t know how to tell you I was heading to the graveyard, most people don’t really want to know that much about someone’s life they just met, but you did demand to come with me and meet my friend… so uh…” he trailed off eyes shifting back to looking at anything but Suho again.

“And meet your friend I have, it’s nice to finally meet you Yixing. I’m glad Kris has been stealing the flowers from my garden for a good cause. I was about to charge for all the flowers he’s been stealing from me. Although I think next time, I’ll bring the flowers instead, this idiot friend you have has been bringing you the most ironic flowers that mean things like long healthy and eternity... “Suho chuckled as he could feel the disbelieving gaze of Kris on him.

Kris stared at the younger male as he laughed in shock. He clearly hadn’t expected him to react like this. Kris and Suho spent the next few minutes just talking to Yixing. Suho even told him a bit more about himself as he explained to Yixing that he was a teacher. When the sun started shining a bit too brightly for it to be comfortable, Kris suggested they head to a coffee shop so he could apologize properly for stealing his flowers.

Suho agreed.

Suho stared at the downtown area from his vantage point at the top of the hill, the scenery looked wonderful in the changing colours of the season. He had a bouquet of fragrant white flowers in his hands as he stared off into the early morning glow. This time he’d went to an actual flower shop for the arrangement as his garden wasn’t in bloom anymore, but he still wanted to bring Yixing something nice. It was his birthday today after all.

The sound of footsteps had him smile, he wasn’t as late today as usual. Work had been calming down it seems. He smiled as Kris’ huge hand came into view handing him a cup of coffee as he sat down next to him under the big Oak tree. They sat in comfortable silence for a while enjoying the early morning glow in the cool breeze. October was always one of Suho’s favorite months. He turned to look at Kris, his hair had grown much longer since the first time he’d met him, and he was wondering if the other was growing it out or just hadn’t found the time to get a haircut again.

He’d been a bit reluctant in wondering if his suggestion to go visit the grave today would be a good idea or not, but Kris’ face had lit up and he agreed warmly. Now sitting here, he knew it was a good choice to make.

“Those aren’t from your garden? “ Kris said as he eyed the bouquet. “I don’t remember seeing Lilies in your garden, and you have red roses, not white ones.”

“I know, I just thought it’s a special occasion so I feel like I could get him something nice, you did say his favorite colour was white right? “

“Yeah he like white a lot,” Kris hummed in response, turning his face away from the sun to stare at him. “Thank you, both for the flowers and for wanting to do this with me today.”

Suho smiled and nodded as he turned to face the other man sitting beside him. The soft glow of the morning sun cast him in a yellowish glow. Kris had a soft smile on the corner of his face as he looked at the other man. The newly died blond hair made him look like some magical being when the light reflected off his smooth skin.

He suddenly remembered Suho’s story about how Tao had told him about wishing on the big Oak tree since it had magical powers. As he looked at the man beside him, he felt his chest flood with warmth. Maybe it wouldn’t be too foolish to wish on the tree himself now?

He’d been spending more of his weekends with Suho, either going out for dinner or going to the nursery to help him pick out his next flowers for his garden. He’d tried to plant a bunch of Hydrangeas himself a while ago, but they had died, and he’d decided that maybe he really wasn’t born with the green finger Suho had.

“All right then, let’s not keep Xing waiting, shall we? It’s his special day after all!” Suho said as he got to his feet and extended a hand to the taller. “Come on then Mr. Thief, we have a birthday boy to go visit!” He said smiling brightly as Kris’ larger hand engulphed his own.

Kris smiled as the other didn’t loosen his hold on his hand as they walked down the hill towards the cemetery. His heart feeling lighter than it had in years as he realized something ironic.

He may have stolen Suho’s flowers but on the first day he saw him, the other had stolen his heart.