Mark Tuan was yawning as he sat straight, stretching out his muscles before relaxing again. His alarm was loud and annoying, serving well its purpose, but Mark wasn’t pleased with it either way. He lazily grabbed his iphone and pressed the snooze button without really looking, and put his iphone away from him again. Mark snuggled closer to his bed sheets, sleep finding its way and silence falling all over the apartment again. It looked like time had stopped then; the male looking completely still as he fell asleep again and his apartment looking like the last time he had left it. Messy. The newfound silence was quickly broken by the alarm going on again, and Mark groaned. Without looking, he stretched out his arm, trying to find the source of all Hell and put it back to sleep. When he did, this time he did look & successfully put off the alarm.

Well, that’s certainly a way to start off his morning.

The alarm served its purpose because he was wide awake now. He could always go back to sleep even after that, but Mark had set up the alarm for a reason. He had a job, and one he liked enough that he was willing on waking up early for it.

The male finally got off his bed, scratching his as he walked over to his bathroom. The lights nearly blinded him when he turned them on, but his eyes were beginning to accustom to them once he splashed himself with some water from the sink. It was refreshing to do, even though the morning air was still lingering around his apartment. It’s partly why he doesn’t turn on his air conditioner these past days; it’s been so cold that he doesn’t need to turn it on to feel cool and refreshed. Mark wasted no time and washed his face, expertly applying the soap onto his face and splashing his face again, careful not to accidentally wet himself. Once he finished, he left the bathroom to change into some clothes; he settled for a normal donut jacket (obviously) and some blue denim jeans with some classic Converse.

Mark took his time with his breakfast since he liked checking out Twitter and other social media as he ate. When he finished catching up with everything, he finished eating his cereal and washed the dishes. He went back to the bathroom to wash his teeth; perfect teeth need constant love and care. As he brushed his teeth by memory, he styled a bit his hair with his free hand before spitting out the toothpaste onto the sink. Mark quickly cleaned it up by throwing it some water, aware that time was passing by.

Without checking himself again, he made a poor attempt at making his bed for now and grabbed his bag, clumsily tripping over some things he left on the floor. He closed the door behind him (he even double checked just to see if he closed it with lock and everything) and practically sprinted down the hall, passing by all kinds of people he saw on daily basis. There was no time to stop and chat with them, and he hoped that they understood that it was that and not because he was feeling antisocial.

The city during the morning is always crowded with people of all kinds. Mark learned this from an early age, seeing as to how he was born in a city as well. From working people trying to get to work (like him) to people that were penniless and needed help to people that were enjoying a day out in the city, there were was always something going on with their lives. And although he was never much of a people’s person, he found himself enjoying the city life style and the people. He guesses that’s why he decided to work at some place where he could interact with all kinds of people and learn a little about them. What better place than a flower shop?

A flower shop? It’s a question he’s asked a lot, but people are surprised even more when Mark explains to them that flowers can mean all types of things. He even brings out examples to them and people have to interrupt him before he goes on listing the reasons why he works at one. It bothered him a lot at first when people asked him about it but as time passed, he learned to deal with it. It’s their loss, right?

Besides, he gets to work with the one and only Park Jinyoung.

If Mark were asked to describe Park Jinyoung, then he would point to a picture of Park Jinyoung and him. (They’ve taken pictures together before.) Then he’d go like, “The one that’s like Snow White? The one with hair dark as night and skin white as snow? Yeah, him. Ain’t he just the prettiest?”

But it’s not just all about looks that Mark’s attracted to the male. It’s him as a whole; he remembers the first day they had met and how the latter had looked when he talked about flowers. It was beautiful, the way his eyes crinkled when Mark brought it up and his lips curved just the slightest. It wasn’t a full smile, but he would soon find out that when he did smile fully, it was magic. There’s something about the way he smiles that makes him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, that he just likes and can’t get enough. It makes him feel like it’s his duty to keep that smile on his face and to ensure that nothing causes it to disappear. It wasn’t just his smile. Park Jinyoung had eyes that twinkled with the stars, a mixed look of knowing and curiosity, that made him feel left out of breath. Heck, Mark’s so sure the latter could be talking to him about physics and the mysterious of Earth, and he would still feel plenty of attracted to him.

The bells chimed in cue as he entered the flower shop and all he could see were colors. Some flowers were blues, purples, others were oranges, whites, and there were a few selected that were an odd mix of pink, red, and orange. The flower shop was definitely a relaxing point amongst all of the noise and trouble that brought the city, and Mark could feel himself relaxing already. He breathed in the sweet scent of flowers as he walked under the magical flower archway they had built on their own. It was originally meant to be outside but after a few people tried vandalizing it, it was decided that it would be safer inside from delinquents that had nothing better to do. It turned out to be a better decision because customers often commented about how magical (and romantic) it made the flower shop look.

Other than that, the flower shop was just like every other flower shop. There were bushes of flowers that were being taken care of at the moment, while others were prepared in bouquets already in the cold storage made specifically for them. Some of the flowers were hanged, while there were other flowers that were already in pots for the convenience of the customers. The flower shop included also a few racks of magazines, a couple of bags filled with seeds in case the customer wanted to garden, and a ginormous room for gardening tools in the back of the shop. And of course, Park Jinyoung just happened to be the cute cashier of the flower shop.

“’Morning,” Mark greeted first, a smile quickly its way on his face. The day hasn’t even finished yet, but he already feels like it’s been wonderful so far.

Park Jinyoung smiled back immediately, looking up from one of their shop’s magazines, “Hey, Mark. You’re awfully early today.”

“I am?” He asked as he went behind the counter to the employee room. There he left his bag and quickly put on his apron.

“You are. You usually come in like ten minutes after your shift starts.” Park Jinyoung called out, “It’s a miracle our boss hasn’t even fired you yet.”

“It’s because I bring in all the ladies,” Mark says jokingly because he knows how much Park Jinyoung hates his jokes. He leaves the employee room just in time to witness the latter rolling his eyes, “Sure, Mark, whatever you say.”

He was about to reply with another joke but fell short when the door chimed again. A professional smile was plastered on their face as they welcomed a female customer. She looked around unsurely, peering in to some of the flowers and smelling them. It wasn’t an odd sight; they’ve had many customers before that enter their shop without knowing what they’re even looking for. It’s sometimes a pain having to explain everything to them. It’s mainly why he lets Park Jinyoung deal with those types of customers because he has the patience for it (unlike him). Mark thinks that the latter would’ve been a great teacher if it hadn’t been for his love for flowers.

Just because he lets Park Jinyoung deal with an eighty-eight percent of the customers, doesn’t mean he doesn’t do any type of work. While the latter goes off into detail about a flower named Baby Romantica to the female customer, Mark decides to continue taking care of the rest of the flowers. He grabs a pair of scissors and goes to the front of the shop, carefully picking out flowers to trim their branches. Some of the flowers had been long overdue already for their annual t. While he was at it, he could water them all and later help out Park Jinyoung with the customers. It sounded like a solid plan to him, he thinks as he starts t the branches off.

He’s not aware of how much time has passed but in the flower shop, time passes by too quickly for his liking. Before he knew it, the female customer was long gone and instead of her, were a group of adults looking for something suitable for a birthday party. Mark hadn’t paid much attention to the customers that came in and left since he was working on t the flowers, but now he feels a little bad for having left more burden on Park Jinyoung than he intended. With little reluctance, he placed back the flowers that were trimmed and organized them a bit so it would look pretty. As for the others that hadn’t been trimmed yet, he left them were they were and threw away the branches he had cut off. Mark walked over to Park Jinyoung, patting him on the shoulder with a smile. “It’s your turn to rest now.”

The latter looked relieved. “Thank you, Mark.”

Mark watched him retreat to the employee room before turning back to the group of adults. He offered them a polite smile before continuing off where Park Jinyoung had left; they were about to pay for the flowers. He thought of it as luck before the bell chimed once more, signaling that someone else had entered. His welcome was cut off by one of the people in the group, “How much is it?”

“That’ll be twenty dollars.” He said automatically, eyes immediately back to the customer in front of him. Mark patiently watched as the person in front of him took out their wallet and a neat twenty dollar bill. The rest was done easily and the group of adults left the shops chattering away with smiles on their faces.

A soft sigh escaped his lips before he looked around the shop, looking for the customer he couldn’t greet properly. The customer almost escaped him if it hadn’t been for the small ohhs and ahhs he heard coming near the flower archway. It was sort of endearing how the customer seemed to be trapped in their own little world, unaware of his presence. He finds it relatable since he once went through the same enchantment when he walked in through the doors (by then, the flower archway wasn’t built and instead, there was a small water fountain. They removed it since they received complaints from the customers that there were more mosquitoes than before) and fell in love with the place. Mark immediately went towards the customer, tapping their shoulder lightly. It appeared to be a male from their physique. “May I help you?”

A small shriek and a jump was all he got as an answer.

He stared at the customer weirdly, his own hand over his heart because he would be lying if he didn’t have a small heart attack the moment the customer shrieked. This had been the first time he received this type of reaction since he started working at the shop a year ago. Most customers turned around to face him and smile; they usually never shriek around his presence. It was weird. What’s more, his heart accelerated a bit more with the scare but for some unknown reason to him, it wouldn’t calm down. The world around him was suddenly mute as the customer turned around to face him, and everything he knew just went down hill.  

The customer before him was definitely a male, and it was most definitely a stranger to him. Yet the moment their eyes met, something in the customer’s behavior changed completely. From an embarrassed-polite attitude, the male before him was suddenly radiating sunlight towards him, almost as if he was happy to see him. There was this annoying magnetic pull pulling him towards the stranger; Mark was so tempted to pull him in into his arms and hug the life out of him, and maybe even kiss him until they’re left out of breath, but what the eff. He wasn’t accustomed to pulling strangers into his arms and kissing them. Much less cute ones. That wasn’t how he rolled.

Something was off about this stranger. He could tell that much, but his mouth wouldn’t formulate the proper words to tell him (politely) to get lost. Mark just couldn’t, not when the stranger looked so familiar to him. Especially when the stranger suddenly looked at him as if he was his entire world and reason to be living. How exactly do you tell someone to get lost when they look at you like that?

Neither spoke; Mark still feeling confused about the pull, while the stranger was looking for words. What words did he need? His eyes spoke louder than words ever will, raw emotion glazing his (pretty) brown orbs, and Mark thinks he could easily lose himself in them if it weren’t for… P-Park Jinjung? Who was it again? “I never thought I’d find you here,” the stranger suddenly spoke, his voice breathless and dreamy like when you talk to your crush.

That was what brought Mark back to reality. He suddenly blinked rapidly before processing what the stranger had said, raising a brow skeptically. “Excuse me?”

The latter let out a soft laugh, “I mean, I looked all over for you. I even traveled to Spain just in case you were born somewhere else.”

Mark’s face scrunched up even more in confusion, words spilling out of his mouth unlike earlier when he couldn’t, “Well, for one thing, I definitely wasn’t born in Spain. I don’t even know much Spanish. And secondly, sorry to say this, but you have the wrong person.”

It was the stranger’s turn to look confused now. He tilted his head slightly almost as if to say are you sure? And yes, yes, he was absolutely sure. Mark would remember someone as… memorable as he was, just to not say another word that started with “cu” and ended with a “te”.

Several heartbeats passed before the stranger seemed to realize that Mark was serious about not knowing him. His eyes widened at the revelation, emotions that were not properly said before spilling out now in the form of tears. It caught both of the males off guard, the latter looking as surprised as Mark was. He quickly wiped them away with his sweater’s sleeve, sniffing a little before looking up again at him. The happiness he had seen earlier was replaced by uncertainty and fear; fear for what, he had no idea. “I, I see. I’m sorry for this,” the stranger let out a shaky sigh, “But, uh, are you absolutely sure you don’t remember me…?”

A sigh escaped his lips before nodding, feeling guilty that such a simple action caused the latter to wince.

The stranger averted their eyes for a moment, biting their lower lip in thought before offering a simple handshake. “Well then, my name is Choi Youngjae. It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“Mark Tuan.” He replied curtly, accepting the handshake. After they shook hands, Mark watched Youngjae leave with a heavy heart. The latter looked like he had a couple of things he wanted to say but after something seemed to catch his eye, his behavior changed. He looked on guard as he left, a deep frown present on his face as if in thought, not once looking back at him again.

Just as he turned around to go back to the counter, he noticed Park Jinyoung had been silently there the whole time. His lips curved into a smirk once he noticed his presence, “I guess you don’t only bring in the ladies.”

Mark felt his face heat up with embarrassment, “What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” He rolled his eyes, “That guy just now was hitting on you.”

No ing wonder.  

A/N: I hope it seems promising up until now...? I promise it'll get better ;A; just bear with me for now 

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