Six
Flowers, Flowers, and More Flowers
School today, for Sehun, was worse than usual. Every day , but today was worse.
Kai though, thought it was a rather pleasant day. Well, not exactly because he had a math exam coming up in a week, but all was swell because he had gotten Kyungsoo's consent to be his tutor until the day of his math exam. Which means, yes, after work he and Kyungsoo will be walking together to Kyungsoo's apartment to start the tutoring session. To Kai's luck, not only was Kyungsoo willing to be Kai's tutor, Kyungsoo had also offered a sleepover so that they could squeeze in extra hours of studying in the morning. Kai was more than happy to accept the elder's offer, of course.
"Yesterday, Kyungsoo was reserved to me. Today, Kyungsoo is reserved to me. Tomorrow, Kyungsoo will be reserved to me. The day after tomorrow-- " Kai went on the whole day while Sehun grumbled on the side.
"Today, Kyungsoo is reserved to me. Tomorrow, Kyungsoo will be reserved to me--"
By lunch time, Sehun had had enough of Kai.
"Okay okay! I get it; everyone gets it! Now shut up"
Kai raised a brow at Sehun before smirking. "Hey, it's not my fault Luhan at math." Sehun wanted to smack Kai in the face but held it in. It was true; Kai was right. Luhan does at math. But that wasn't exactly the problem. The problem was even if Luhan was good at math, he would never agree to tutor Sehun.
Sehun groaned and walked away from the lunch table. "ty day huh?" Kai yelled as Sehun walked away. As Sehun reached the corner, he raised his middle finger in the air towards Kai's direction. Kai snickered as he got up to follow his best friend. A ty day it was indeed.
Sehun felt a buzz from his phone and quickly checked to see who had texted him.
*Yixing*
Not feeling the need to check the stupidity he expected from the text, Sehun immediately set his phone down.
After contemplating for a minute, he gave in and swiped his phone unlock to check what the Changsha man had to say.
"Do you have a cellphone in your back pocket?"
"WTF" Sehun responded back.
Ten seconds and another text from Yixing came. "Cause that is calling me"
"What the fu--" Sehun was interrupted by another text from Yixing before he got to finish the text.
"Next time, how about trying something like that"
Yixing snorted on the other line as he continued restocking napkins into the napkin dispenser while shooting flirtatious gazes at two high school girls that had been eyeing him since they entered the café.
"Guess the grass really is greener on the other side. Thank god I'm as straight as--"
"a ing u-turn" Chen, who was trying to hold back his laugh, interrupted Yixing's speech.
Yixing rolled his eyes and resumed back to his previous actions. Before slipping his phone back into his pocket, he sent another text to Sehun and chuckled. "Or how about, are you from China? Because I'm China get your number"
Smiling in victory, Yixing spoke to himself with grace. "I am such a funny guy"
While Sehun was having horrible time at school, Luhan, on the other hand, wasn't in much of a different position either.
Nothing went right since his encounter with his so-called anonymous flower boy.
Hell, if he was being honest, nothing went right since the fact that he had to wake up at four in the morning for coffee beans. But Luhan preferred to keep that part out because it was unnecessary at the moment. His top priority was that he almost caught the said boy but had let the guy slip away right before his eyes.
Luhan glanced over at the flowers still set on his desk.
He tried to guess who the boy was.
He tried to guess why the hell would anyone send flowers to him.
Sure, Luhan knew he belonged in the better-looking-than-average-men compartment, but he sure as hell knew his attitude more than anyone. He had a sour attitude that had no tolerance for anything. Or maybe he just has low tolerance for stupidity and as sad as it seems, stupidity practically follows him everywhere--primarily in his café if he was asked specially where.
Which was exactly why Luhan ran straight to the bus stop when he noticed Chen and Kai halt at the door for a chat that evening after they had just closed the café for the day.
"Hey. Where was your soul mate today Kai?"
Kai responded with confusion on his face.
"Oh Sehun. He didn't come today."
It took another second before Kai responded, "Oh.. Oh! He--"
"Ahh, you thought I meant Kyungsoo didn't you?" snickered Chen.
Kai blushed.
"So, I heard about your tutoring sessions" Chen purred to Kai as he slipped an arm over the younger's shoulder. "Mind if I join?"
"No," Kai answered almost too quick.
"Are you sure? I'm pretty sure you could use a little thing or two about education. Kyungsoo wouldn't be much of a help in that area of knowledge--if you didn't know. Like, did you know, after a duck has , its falls off and it takes a whole year for it to grow back? Bet you and Kyungsoo didn't know that"
It took a second for Kai to take in Chen's words. "Wait, what--"
Chen shrugged. "Just thought you'd like to know that education is my best area of knowledge--my forte you could say"
"Wh--"
"I guess my nasty mind just likes to get lost into the realms of wonder." Chen shrugged once again, "it brings out the best of me."
"I--" was all Kai could squeeze out before catching Kyungsoo's figure jogging over to them two. "All right, I'm ready Kai. Let's go."
Chen wiggled his eyebrows and leaned closer to Kai with a hand covering his mouth from Kyungsoo's view. "Did you hear? He said he's ready~" Kai's eyes widened as a faint blush creeped its way to his cheeks. He did not have time to respond before Chen spoke again, directing towards Kyungsoo this time.
"Hey there my little Kyung~"
The said man waved a hand at Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo frowned; he had never liked it how everyone treated him as a kid. It wasn't his fault he had a nonexistent shoulder and a height that did not do much of a help as well.
But Kyungsoo wasn't exactly let down from those two factors though. In fact, he believed he was considerably tall if he took in account of all the people in the world. Not everyone was born a Kris or Chanyeol.
Nevertheless, Kyungsoo smiled at Chen because really, Chen wasn't that bad of a guy if taken into consideration.
"Hey Chen!" A greeting that was a little too enthusiastic for Kai's liking, Kai noted mentally. "Not going home yet?" Kyungsoo asked for the sake of mannerisms.
"Oh, I am. But I thought it would be nice to stop and share some of my knowledge to spread Kai's horizon a little bit more. You know what I mean? Just to keep the wisdom alive for the younger generation because god knows how many kids these days are losing traditional ethics and manners" Chen smirked.
"That's very kind of you Chen. So what'd you tell him?" Kyungsoo asked, a little curious as to what the two were discussing before he had came. He had always wondered what kind of conversations Kai had with the other guys. Did they talk about stuff like Kai having a girlfriend (or possibly--hopefully--boyfriend), just stuff like that.
Kyungsoo had always been a shy one, too afraid to speak his mind and too afraid to stand up for himself. He had always thought if he asked too much, he would be crossing the line, which was his biggest worry of them all.
"Oh you know. Things like purity is a mask for ual frustrations and--"
"Let's leave" Kai interrupted as he sneaked an arm around a flushing Kyungsoo's shoulder, dragging the both of them away.
Chen tsked. "I didn't even get to the fun part yet"
The two just kept walking further ahead. Chen clicked his tongue as he saw how Kai glared at a few girls down the street for eyeing Kyungsoo. "So possessive; how laaaame."
"I am extremely sorry you guys do not realize you are in the presence of perfection!" Chen yelled towards Kai and Kyungsoo's direction though he was sure they were too far to hear him.
One must always end with grace and wisdom, Chen believed.
"It's been six days since Sehun has been gone. What's up with him?" Kris asked Luhan one day.
"How the hell would I know?" Luhan grumbled in an annoyed fashion and left Kris standing at the front register alone. How the hell would he know. He wasn't Sehun's nanny. Why did everyone keep asking him; shouldn't they be asking Kai instead. Hell, there's only one thing he wanted to know and it was that he was still recieving flowers despite the past event. The flower boy sure has lots of guts to still be at it.
Lost in his thoughts, it wasn't until Luhan caught Kai walking through the front door of the café without Sehun again that brought him his senses back.
"Kai!" Luhan called out.
"What's up?" the younger ansered with a nod.
"Is he quitting?" questioned Luhan.
"Who?" Kai asked.
Luhan was in no mood for this. "Sehun, of course! Why would I ask you if it wasn't for Sehun?"
Kai smirked. "Well, you couldn've been asking for anyone else. If you have forgotten, there are ten other people that work in this place with the exception of you and me. You can't just expect me to actually know who out of the ten you were asking about--"
"Forget it" Luhan replied as he rolled his eyes and headed towards his office. Apparently the whole world's mission for the day was to irritate Luhan, and it definitely was not failing.
Luhan held out the flowers on his desk and read the usual cheesy note attached along.
"If I were a stop light, I'd turn red everytime you passed by just so I could stare at you a bit longer."
Luhan tried distracting himself with thoughts of who could be the suspect of being his anonymous flower boy but to no luck, flower boy was not enough of a distraction, surprisingly.
" this." Luhan stood from his chair and walked up to his door, waiting for Kai to walk by. It wasn't until another minute that he caught Kai walking with Kyungsoo towards the supply room, which was next to his office.
"Kai, I need to talk to you. Kyungsoo, I'm just going to borrow him for a minute and I'll return him right back to you so don't worry"
A hint of pink spreaded on Kyungsoo's cheeks as he stumbled to find the right words to say, "I--It's all right. Kai and I are just.. I mean, we were just--"
"Yeah yeah I don't really care what you two are up to, if you didn't notice. But I'd like to speak to him--privately--for now so, excuse us please" Luhan gestured towards his room and didn't bother to wait for Kai to head in first.
"I'll be back in a minute the latest" Kai smiled to Kyungsoo before following Luhan into the room.
"Oh Sehun is sick. He has been coming to school, yes. However, he gets sick right at the moment the bell rings for the end of the day and heads straight home afterwards. He's sorry, well that's what he said. I don't really think so though, but that's what I think. Well I'm pretty damn sure this is all you wanted to know right? All right then, later Boss Lu."
Kai did not wait for Luhan's response; he was sure that was all Luhan needed him for. Luhan was left at a loss for words. "What the hell?" was all that ran through the older one's mind.
Kai caught up with Kyungsoo, who was just a few meters ahead. "Kyungsoo! Hold up!"
Kyungsoo turned with a confused look plastered on. "Well that was quick...?"
Kai chuckled. "Of course. Of course it was."
It was about three in the afternoon when Xiumin walked into Luhan's office looking for his custom made apron that was suddenly missing from his locker.
"Hey Luhan. Have you seen my--" Xiumin's eyes wandered around as he spoke and then lingered on Luhan's hands. In disbelief, Xiumin squinted his eyes and scanned Luhan's hands carefully.
"What? Is there something wrong with my hand?" Luhan asked and waved his hands in front of Xiumin's face in an attempt to bring the guy back to reality.
Xiumin blinked and then grabbed Luhan's hands, slowly feeling the curves and bends of each finger. Luhan tried to free his hands away in disgust, "Dude what the ?"
Xiumin still kept a strong grip of Luhan's hands, not planning to let them go anytime soon.
"If this is your way of confessing it's definitely--"
"Sparkles."
"not going to-- wait, what?"
"Sparkles. Luhan," Xiumin slowly starts, "Why the hell are your hands covered with sparkles. Don't tell me you're a--" Luhan cocked an eyebrow. "What exactly are you trying to get to?"
Xiumin stopped himself and bursted out laughing. "Wow Luhan, I never thought this would be your style" Xiumin said in between laughter. Still annoyed form previous events, Luhan was about ready to yell but suddenly his eyes widened in realization.
"Oh no. Hell no. Look, it's not what you think. It's.. it's--" Luhan hesitated to reply. There was no way Luhan was going to tell anyone about the flower boy and the flowers he's been receiving the past years.
"It's okay Luhan. I understand" He held in another laugh. "I totally understand. You should be proud about it. Live life to the fullest; live life without regrets. This is a secret that must never be told. I will keep it for old time's sake. For you, my friend. Yes, for you." Xiumin patted Luhan's shoulder and pretended to wipe a tear from his left eye as he headed out the door.
Luhan was left speechless, " What the just happened?"
This time, it was Yixing that came to Luhan with his concerns.
"Hey Luhan! So about changing my hours to a full time shift--"
"No" Luhan immediately interrupted.
"....Why?"
"Because you see," Luhan pointed a finger at Yixing, "you being a full time employee means I have to, by law, provide you benefits. Health insurance, paid vacation, and all that other . And what do I gain from that? Nothing. Everything comes out of my pocket so no" Luhan glanced innocently at Yixing with a soft smile. "But, by all means, you are always welcomed to work over time--without getting paid of course." Luhan sent another one of his angelic smiles to Yixing who, in response, gawked at how fake it was. If Yixing didn't know Luhan better, he'd be damned fooled Luhan's smile was genuine.
Yixing walked out without replying back. It was no use.
"That er" Yixing wispered to himself.
After all, Luhan was the only one that could ever shut him up. Well, only because he had a use for money, and Luhan was the source of it. Yixing hated to admit it but working for Luhan really wasn't all too bad. Maybe he should consider Luhan's proposition.
After another thought, Yixing snorted. "Hell no, not in a million years."
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A/N: black coffee photo for luhan's bitter attitude
wow thank you so much for the subs! really idk what else to say besides thank you♥
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