The day started as usual, Kyungsoo took a sip from his cup of coffee before walking towards the door and flipping the sign from Closed to Welcome. Not even a minute passed by when he heard the tinkling of the tiny bell on top of the door signalling that his first customer of the day was there, right on schedule. He turned around and smiled at the tall guy with silver hair wearing a nice black tuxedo and carrying a small black briefcase.

 "Good Morning Mr. Park!” Kyungsoo greeted him warmly, his lips forming a heart shape smile. "The usual sir?” he asked even if he was already at the counter picking and t flowers of different sorts, roses, lilies, stock, sunflowers, daisies and alstroemeria  “Your girlfriend must be so lucky, isn’t it every girl’s dream to have flowers at their doorstep every day?” he continued working on the flowers, arranging them in a nice basket.

“Well, we aren’t exactly together” the man replied. “I mean we never were and I don’t think we will ever be” Mr. Park smiled sadly and lowered his head.

“Oh, uhm” Kyungsoo hesitated as he felt the awkward air between them. He wasn’t very good at handling awkward situations but decided to say something. “I think whoever that person was, was stupid.” Realizing that he sounded rude he continued “Sorry no offense, it’s just that because of this same flower arrangement that I made, the person I like the most fell in love with me. I thought the magic would be for everybody.”

“I’m pretty sure we all have our different magic, just like there are different fairytales” Mr. Park replied kindly to him with no hint of judgement in his eyes. As he reached for the flower basket his huge fingers slightly brushed the florist’s smaller ones.

“Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow Mr. Park” Kyungsoo smiled waving him goodbye.

“Chanyeol” Mr. Park grinned at him as he opened the door “My name is Chanyeol" he bowed his head to Kyungsoo before heading out.

"Chanyeol. That’s a nice name” Kyungsoo whispered and smiled to himself. He took another sip from his cup of coffee when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and his best friend’s face flashed on his screen. He sighed deeply and was very much tempted to tap the red button but he tapped the green one anyway. “Luhan” he said sternly.

“Why the hell do you sound so awful so early in the morning?” Luhan’s cheerful voice asked from the other end of the line.

“Why the hell are you bothering me so early in the morning?” Kyungsoo answered as he brew himself another cup of coffee, the other one was already cold. “If it’s another one of your dating schemes I’ll seriously cut off all ties with you”

“Hey! Relax I just want to see how my best friend’s doing” Kyungsoo could hear the lie on Luhan’s voice, so he raised one of his eyebrows.

“I am pretty sure you are raising your left eyebrow now, okay fine but trust me on this, this guy will be perfect for you he’s tall, he’s handsome and he works at a bank!” Luhan’s voice was so loud Kyungsoo has to move his phone an inch away from his ear.

He took a deep breath before answering “Luhan, that’s the same thing you said about the last one, what’s his name again? Uuuhm”

“Kris?” Luhan filled the name for him.

“Yes. That one, he was nice but it was a disaster after he got drunk and I don’t want another man throwing up on my favourite black shirt again”

“Number 1, you only have black shirts. Number 2 Kris doesn’t work at a bank and Number 3 just please trust me on this? Sehun said he’s really a nice person and…”

“Wait, who’s Sehun?” Kyungsoo cut him off.

“He’s uhm this guy I’ve met a few weeks ago, we are uhm, kind of, dating” Luhan said, and just like how Luhan knew Kyungsoo raised his eyebrow, Kyungsoo also knew that Luhan was blushing behind his phone.

“Luhan, I really don’t want anyone right now. You know I already have…. had … him” there was a moment of silence between them and Luhan was the one who broke it.

“Kyungsoo, you can’t stay alone forever, and if you haven’t noticed yet, you’ve been doing the same flower arrangement for a year and a half now” Luhan argued.

Kyungsoo looked around at his shop and indeed his best friend was right, every corner of his shop was filled with the same flower arrangement, the very same one his loyal customer bought just a few minutes ago. “Fine, but this will be the last one. If this messes up, no more dates alright?” he said.

“Great! 7pm tonight at Viva Polo, and please wear something nice. Something not… black” Luhan said before hanging up.

…

Kyungsoo had been staring at his closet for 30minutes now, trying to figure out what to wear. He tried to follow Luhan’s advice, but he realized all he had was black, or something as dark as black. He rummaged through his clothes again when he saw a flash of white, he reached for it and pulled out the white sweatshirt with the word “everything” printed in front, the “very” was encircled. Kyungsoo let out a small laugh because up to this day he still didn’t get why it was encircled. He hugged the sweatshirt tight on his chest, his small laugh turned to small sobs and he eventually felt warm tears trickled down his cheeks. He let himself cry for a few minutes, then he got up fixed himself and head out to Viva Polo.

…

Kyungsoo immediately spotted his best friend’s blonde hair, sitting beside a tall handsome man as he entered the restaurant. “I’m sorry I’m late” he said to them when he reached their table.

“Oh no you are just in time, he’s not here yet anyway, Kyungsoo… Sehun… Sehun… Kyungsoo” Luhan said gesturing his hand to the owner of the name as he said it.

“Hi!” They greeted each other awkwardly. Sehun was very handsome but quiet, Kyungsoo thought looking at the man and trying not to stare.

“And wow! You’re not wearing black, I’m amazed” Luhan was sincerely shocked since his best friend always stick to one colour.

“Shut up” Kyungsoo glared at his best friend “Now where is this guy you’re bragging about?”

Sehun was the one who answered “I’m sorry he’s very dedicated to his job, he’s a bit workaholic, one of the reasons why I’m trying to find him a partner actually,” he talked so fast that Kyungsoo made a mental correction, Sehun was very handsome but not quiet. “Anyway he might be a little late but oh wait there he is!” Sehun exclaimed as he raised his hand and waved to Kyungsoo’s date. 

“Hello I’m sorry I’m late” said a familiar deep voice. Kyungsoo looked up his eyes widening and shouted “Mr.Park!” His loyal-customer-turned-date turned to him and laughed “Oh! You’re the florist from that shop!”

“Kyungsoo, my name is Kyungsoo.” he found it a bit rude that he didn’t even bother to remember his name even though they meet each other almost every day but he waved it off.

“Hold up you know each other?” Luhan and Sehun said almost at the same time.

“Yeah. He’s my loyal customer” Kyungsoo said.

“Oh, cool this went far better than I expected” Sehun said.

“We can now leave you guys, our work here is done” Luhan said. The two of them stood and left just like that.

“Now this is awkward” Chanyeol chuckled.

“You have no idea” Kyungsoo replied staring at the plate in front of him, thinking about a hundred ways on how to kill Luhan later.

“Shall we order then? I’m starving, just order anything you like, my family owns this restaurant” Chanyeol said when the waiter came to their table. They ordered Chicken and Mushroom Pasta and some red wine. Kyungsoo thought that Mr.Park… er… Chanyeol as he kept on mentally correcting himself, wasn’t what he thought he was. He kept thinking that Chanyeol was a silent, romantic professional but in reality he was a guy who laughs freely and loves to tell funny stories, but it wasn’t as if they really had a proper conversation at the shop. This morning’s conversation was the longest on the record.

“Kyungsoo? Are you okay? Am I boring you?” Chanyeol’s question pulled Kyungsoo away from his thoughts.

“Oh..uhm..no! The food was just really delicious” Kyungsoo managed to say, which again, made Chanyeol laugh.

“You’re so cute. It’s obvious you’re bored but thank you. I’ll tell my mom what you just said” Chanyeol replied and Kyungsoo let out a laugh as well.

By the time they were having their 3rd bottle of wine, the restaurant was almost empty except for them and one other couple by the door. Through these bottles Kyungsoo learned a lot about his loyal customer. 1. He has a sister and she’s a news anchor 2. He has a pet ferret when he was a kid 3. He plays the guitar 4. The flowers he’s buying everyday were not for a girl, which of course is obvious now since he’s on a date with him, it was actually for his best friend who passed away more than a year ago. He was secretly in love with his best friend back in high school until his family moved away for college and they grew apart since then. Frequent connection became less and less until one day his best friend changed his FB status from single to In a relationship and he cut off all contacts entirely.

“You know what ? I never even had the chance to say goodbye” Chanyeol said with a painful smile, obviously a bit tipsy. “I just found out 3 months later, so to make up for it, I decided to bring him flowers every day. That idiot just loved flowers and your flower shop makes the same arrangement he likes- liked” he corrected himself “so… that’s where we are” even if he was telling a sad story he still  managed to flash a smile and show that set of perfect pearly white teeth.

Kyungsoo didn’t know why but he raised his glass and said “Here’s to moving on” Chanyeol looked up and gave him a questioning look but it turned to a warm smile in an instant and their glasses clinked. “Here’s to moving on” Chanyeol repeated and again smiled at him. Kyungsoo was starting to get used to this smile and he was thinking how weird it will be tomorrow when things get back to normal. In that moment a beautiful woman walked to them with the same warm smile Chanyeol had.

“Hello are we enjoying ourselves?” she said.

“MOM!” Chanyeol exclaimed. “Kyungsoo this is my mother, Mom that is Kyungsoo, my uhm date for tonight. He said the food was great” Chanyeol continued.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Park” Kyungsoo stood up and shook Mrs. Park's hand.

“The pleasure is all mine, really, this is the first time I’ve seen Chanyeol on a date again, I’m really happy" Mrs. Park said sincerely. "And also, I don’t mean to be rude, but as you can see we are closing and I think that’s enough alcohol for both of you, maybe it’s time to get thissomewhere else you know”. She gestured to the two of them when she said the word “this” and winked suggestively when she said the last two words which made Kyungsoo blush.

“I’m sorry mom, we’ll go now thank you” Chanyeol said before giving his mom a hug. Kyungsoo thanked her for the food and followed his date outside the restaurant. The walk to Chanyeol’s apartment just a few blocks away from the restaurant was silent. Kyungsoo thought it must be because they were both tired.

They reached his apartment and while waiting for Kyungsoo’s cab Chanyeol finally spoke. “I really want to get you home but I think I drank much more than it’s allowed for someone behind the wheel. I’m sorry I’ll make it up to you.”

“It’s alright I enjoyed this night anyway” Kyungsoo replied. He really did, his life was very quiet except for when Luhan comes to bother him in the shop, that’s why Chanyeol’s stories and laughs were really an unusual melody to his ears. “Thank you Mr.Park” he said as they stood in front of the apartment door.

Chanyeol squinted his eyes and leaned down to whisper to the smaller one’s ears, “Chanyeol. I told you my name is Chanyeol, and I also enjoyed this night” He was so close, Kyungsoo felt his lips brushed his ears as he spoke. Kyungsoo’s heart was starting to beat faster. “Here’s your cab now” Chanyeol hailed the cab and waved his date one last goodbye, leaving Kyungsoo in his own thoughts.

…

The day started as usual, Kyungsoo took a sip from his cup of coffee before walking towards the door and flipping the sign from Closed to Welcome. A minute already  passed by and he hadn’t heard the tinkling of the tiny bell on top of the door yet signalling that his first customer of the day was not there, as scheduled. He was looking forward to see the tall guy with silver hair wearing a nice black tuxedo and carrying a small black briefcase, but there was no sight of him that day. The ringing of the shop’s telephone startled Kyungsoo as he rarely received calls from customers these days.

“Good morning! DK Flower Shop, how may I help you?” Kyungsoo greeted as cheery as possible.

“Hello can I have the usual flower arrangement be delivered to my room please? Thank you. My room number is 1201” a deep voice said on the other line.

“Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Yes. It’s me” the other person on the line chuckled like a kid doing a prank. “How are you? I wanted to call you to check up on you but I didn’t have your phone number so I called the shop” even through the phone Kyungsoo could hear his smile.

“Did you just wake up?” Kyungsoo said, because it’s obvious from his voice that he just woke up.

“Yeah, it’s my day off and I have a bit of a hangover, but I want to win the loyal customer of the month award so please deliver the flowers? Thank you” Chanyeol said, maybe it was the alcohol but Kyungsoo thought that he talked more comfortably now.

“You are my only customer these days, and I’ll be there in like 15 minutes” Kyungsoo laughed lightly.

“Can’t wait to see you” Chanyeol said then hung-up. Kyungsoo felt his blood warming up on his cheeks and slapped himself awake. His phone vibrated, and to his disappointment it was Luhan.

“TELL ME EVERYTHING!” Luhan screamed even before Kyungsoo could say hello. His best friend sounded like a 14 year old girl in a slumber party.

“He’s nice I actually had fun last night” Kyungsoo answered. The flowers were already arranged and the only thing he had to do was to get his coat and keys and close to shop. “He's…decent” he added.

“Decent? Okay like decent boring or decent able?” Luhan pried on.

“Gosh Luhan you have such a dirty mouth” Kyungsoo said, disgusted even if he really wanted to say the second choice.

“I know, Sehun loves it, anyway where are you going? I heard the bell on the shop’s door” Luhan asked.

“I’m going to Chanyeol’s apartment” Kyungsoo answered.

“Decent able. Yes! Sehun he’s decent able!” Luhan said to Sehun somewhere in the background, before shrieking to his phone’s speaker. Kyungsoo already inched the phone away from him but he could still hear Luhan. “Okay… I’m alright now… I am so happy for you! You have to tell me everything after okay? I love you buh-bye” Luhan then ended the call and Kyungsoo decreased the number of ways he thought of on how to kill Luhan, maybe he’ll thank him for a change.

…

Kyungsoo’s large owlish eyes stared at the brass numbers on the door waiting for it to open. He heard the locks click and then he saw Chanyeol, but not the usual Chanyeol he used to see every day. His silver hair were dishevelled as he clearly just got out of bed. He was only wearing a pair of Iron Man boxers and Kyungsoo swore that he saw a glimpse of his morning wood. “I’m sorry I fell asleep again after I called you! I know I look very indecent please forgive me” he said as he took the flower basket from the florist’s hands. “Ah, hold on I’ll get the payment” he said.

“Oh! No need that’s for free” Kyungsoo said trying to avoid staring at his customer’s chiseled abs. “That’s for the customer of the month thingy” he added.

“Aren’t you so great, did you have breakfast already? I can make an acceptable version of pancakes if you could just wait a moment” Chanyeol offered. Kyungsoo wanted to decline so badly but he thought that no one really comes to the shop anyway so why not spend a day off.

“Well let me see that pancake then” he replied and then went inside. Chanyeol said he’ll just shower real quickly and change into something more presentable so he left Kyungsoo sitting on his sofa. The florist took the liberty to look around Chanyeol’s small apartment. It was very minimalistic, most of the furniture were either black or white with some greys dispatched over the room. He noticed some awards on the case below his flat screen TV. There were awards for billiards, bowling and something like employee of the year award. There was also a framed photo of two young boys in the middle of the trophies. He was about to come forward and look at it closer when Chanyeol came out of the bathroom wearing a white t-shirt with a red “Supreme” logo on it and brown khaki shorts. His hair was still a bit wet and he looked more like a teenage boy more than a legal-aged adult working at a bank. “Are you ready for my pancakes?” Chanyeol asked.

“That sounded dirty but yes I am” Kyungsoo responded which made Chanyeol break into a laughter. “Okay, get cooking you ” Kyungsoo said.

The pancakes were indeed acceptable in the human society, it wasn’t anything special but it tasted like home. “Thank you for the meal” Kyungsoo said after finishing his third serving of pancakes.

“You’re so formal, loosen up a bit okay?” Chanyeol said. He flashed another smile which warmed Kyungsoo’s heart. He prefer to see Chanyeol like this rather than the gloomy version especially whenever he was talking about his late best friend, which reminded him of the flowers, uhm, aren’t you bringing them to his uhm…” Kyungsoo mentally slapped himself for ruining the cheerful aura around them.

Chanyeol smiled but did not flash his perfect teeth. He said “Yup I’ll bring them today, and to make up for last night I’ll drop you off your shop” Kyungsoo was a bit disappointed that Chanyeol did not ask him to accompany him but he decided that was not his business anyway.

“You don’t have to but thank you” he replied as he took his last sip of coffee and placing the cup on the sink.

“There you go again why are you so formal to me?” Chanyeol laughed and he put an arm around Kyungsoo. They were already standing in front of the sink, washing the dishes and the close proximity made Kyungsoo dizzy. He could smell Chanyeol’s after shave and body wash. “See? We are already this close” Chanyeol continued to say as he shook Kyungsoo playfully.

…

Chanyeol dropped Kyungsoo off to his shop, but on the way there he offered to take Kyungsoo to dinner later “I’ll pick you up by 6, don’t forget alright?” Chanyeol shouted from inside the car.

“I won’t” Kyungsoo replied, he waited until Chanyeol’s car turned the corner before going inside the shop.

He made a different flower arrangement that afternoon, while waiting for 6pm to come.

“That’s different” Luhan said as he entered Kyungsoo’s shop.

“Lu!” Kyungsoo smiled to his best friend.

“Okay who are you and what did you do to Kyungsoo?” Luhan stopped in the middle of the shop and raised his hand. He formed his two index fingers in a cross as a defence.

“What are you, five?” Kyungsoo said as he placed the new flower arrangement in front of the shop.

He filled Luhan with information about his date and what happened this morning over tea and tart. “See? I told you, you are perfect for each other. Both of you were two people living in the past who needs someone to help them move on” Luhan said.

“You make it sound so romantic” Kyungsoo noted.

“It is romantic. I’m happy for you” Luhan reached out to touch his best friend’s hand.

“So this is how it feels to finally move on huh?” Kyungsoo said more to himself than Luhan “I think I’ll visit Jongin tomorrow, to get his blessing.”

Luhan said goodbye at around 5:30 and 30 minutes later he heard the tinkling of the tiny bell on top of the door signalling that his date already arrived.

“That’s a new one” Chanyeol pointed to the new flower arrangement displayed in front of the shop.

“Yeah I just made it today” Kyungsoo replied.

“It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful” Chanyeol said smoothly, which made Kyungsoo blush. He tried to hide it under the red scarf wrapped around his neck but the taller one noticed it anyway.

…

Kyungsoo noticed that they were heading to Chanyeol’s apartment again. “Since you liked my pancakes this morning I decided to cook something again for you” He said as he pulled over the sidewalk.

“I’ll get the pizza’s phone number just in case” Kyungsoo replied teasing him.

“I like your sense of humour, but yeah just in case.”

They did not call pizza delivery though. Chanyeol seemed to inherit his mom’s talent for cooking and he made what he called a-human-society-acceptable-pasta-Bolognese. They drank wine again but this time it was Kyungsoo’s turn to talk. Chanyeol felt bad for blabbering last night and asked him a lot of questions.  He then found out some things about Kyungsoo 1. He has a huge collection of Pororo merchandise in his room, in fact he’s wearing a Pororo boxers right now. Chanyeol decided he’ll verify it later. 2. He loves to sing and actually won a couple of singing contests when he was in high school. 3. He’s an only child. 4. His fiancée died a year and a half ago due to a car accident, and it was the reason why Kyungsoo doesn’t drive a car. He was traumatized by it and it took him a few months before he was able to put his life back together.

“I didn’t notice it at first, but you gave me another reason to live, because you always come to my shop and buy those flowers, I had a reason to get out of bed and well… live” Kyungsoo said finishing his story, feeling suddenly very vulnerable about his confession.

“I guess we both gave each other a reason to live” Chanyeol said. He stared into Kyungsoo’s eyes and noticed how big and round they were. “You know what I did today?” he said while he slowly inch closer to Kyungsoo.

“I finally said goodbye to him, I decided it’s time for me to move on” his face was only a few centimetres away from Kyungsoo’s. “Me too” the florist was able to say before Chanyeol closed the gap and pulled Kyungsoo into a deep kiss. They made love that night and Chanyeol did verify that Kyungsoo was wearing Pororo boxers before throwing it somewhere in the room.

…

The next morning Chanyeol found a note on his bedside table:

Off to say goodbye to him.

Chanyeol smiled and tried to relive what happened last night. He noticed a flower arrangement on the kitchen table when he got up. On it was another note:

Say thank you to him for me.

And so Chanyeol decided to visit his late best friend’s grave one last time.

…

Kyungsoo couldn’t believe what he was seeing. In front of his ex-boyfriend’s grave was a very familiar flower arrangement, the same one he was holding now and the same one he just left on Chanyeol’s apartment. The flowers were still fresh like they were just put there yesterday, and in fact it wasn’t just one basket but 5 baskets. He checked the name on the tomb stone, Kim Jongin, that’s right. He also checked the label on the flower basket and it was indeed his shop’s label. He tried to remember the name of Chanyeol’s best friend but he realized that he never mentioned it. His head was buzzing and he felt the world swam around him when he heard his name.

“Kyungsoo? What are you doing here?” Chanyeol said, his expression reflecting Kyungsoo’s.

“Was he… Was he your best friend?” Kyungsoo pointed to the grave in front of him, obviously shaking.

“Yes. How… How did you know? You said you were…” then it him “Oh. So he was”

“He is. Yes he was” he corrected himself in between sobs. Tears pooled from his eyes and Chanyeol quickly came towards him and hugged him tight in a warm embrace. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I didn’t know…  I… I never even tried to know who was his partner back then I’m sorry please don’t be mad” Chanyeol whispered to his ears frantically as he felt his own tears trickle from his eyes.

“No, no I’m not mad” Kyungsoo looked up to him and smiled weakly. “Can’t you see what he did? He let us meet each other, he brought us together.” Kyungsoo was so overwhelmed he was still shaking. Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile.

They both thanked the man who brought them together and promised to bring flowers to him every day. “I guess the magic does work on everybody” Chanyeol said gesturing the flower arrangements around them. “But there are also different fairytales” Kyungsoo said before they turned around and walked away, hand in hand towards their own happy ending.