Chanyeol led a very simple life. Every morning he’d wake up, slump out of bed, stumble over the rug on the floor and head into the kitchen. He’d fill the kettle up and turn it on, and whilst waiting for it to boil, he’d grab one of his many pun themed mugs and pop a spoonful of instant coffee into it. He’d then turn towards his little fridge and open it, rummaging around for some kind of food he could have for breakfast. Normally it would be leftovers from the night before, but Chanyeol had eaten out yesterday with his work mate, Junmyeon.

Today he sighs, closing the fridge and going to the cupboards, grabbing his back up breakfast of a granola bar before heading back to the kettle now it’s boiled. He fills up the mug with hot water and stirs in a spoonful of sugar before picking it up and moving forward towards the living room. Once he’s in front of his coffee table he places his breakfast on it then grabs the little watering can next to his balcony doors and heads back into the kitchen to fill it up. He then heads towards the balcony doors and unlocks them then slides them open. He breathes in the fresh morning air before stepping out onto the balcony. He places his cup of coffee on the little stool next to his little garden, and starts to water his plants going from left to right. His pansies look like they’re drooping a little so he pays more attention to them before moving onto his daisies and geraniums.

Chanyeol had always loved flowers. It started when he was younger and he’d see his father bring his mother a fresh bouquet every night, accompanied by a kiss on the cheek and a ruffle of Chanyeol’s hair if he was next to her. He loved seeing his mother’s smile as she found another vase to place the new bouquet in before setting it down next to the others and carefully removing the ones that had started to wilt. He once asked her what she did with the wilting flowers; she’d grabbed his hand and brought him to her and his father’s bedroom before picking him up and placing him on the bed. She reached up to the fourth shelf of the bookshelf parallel to the bed on the opposite wall and pulled down a thick leather bound book. She sat next to Chanyeol and opened to the first page, inside were many different flowers all flattened and either taped or glued into the book. Next to each page was a different date, going all the way back to 70’s when they had first started dating. She explained to Chanyeol that every time a bouquet had started to wilt, she’d pick a few different flowers from that arrangement and press them to put into this book. It was her favourite hobby. This had continued on for years, Chanyeol always asking his mother to look in her book and his mother smiling and ruffling his hair and asking if he'd like to help. It continued until the day she finally succumbed to the brain tumour that was discovered 5 years earlier. Now instead of her pressing flowers his father gives to her, Chanyeol took over the hobby and every week when he visits his mother’s grave, he replaces the slightly wilting flowers his father had left there a few days earlier and presses them himself, carrying on the book, and carrying on her memory.

Chanyeol snapped out of his flashback when he heard a small yap from next door. Weird. He swore no one lived in Apartment 2C. He placed his watering can on the floor and pottered over to the edge of his balcony. From there he could see the tiny poodle staring up at him with big eyes. It yapped again and Chanyeol smiled. If there was 2 things Chanyeol loved most in this world, it was puppies and flowers. Oh, and apparently cute boys as the poodle’s owner steps out onto the balcony. Chanyeol’s breathe catches in his throat.

Soft strands of pale pink hair still mussed up from sleep fall across the boys eyes. Smooth caramel coloured skin that contrasts the pale colour of his hair perfectly. Half-closed eyes with long eyelashes that fawned over his cheeks when he blinked. Soft plush lips that were constantly accompanied by a small sliver of tongue that would swipe over his bottom lip. A sharp jawline softened by hints of stubble spreading across it. A large black sweatshirt swallowing the boy’s small but sturdy looking figure with hints of his plaid boxer shorts that peeked out whenever he raised his hand to run it through his hair. He was ethereal.

Chanyeol didn’t know how long he was staring at the beautiful man before the man must have realised he wasn’t alone. His sleepy eyes moved to meet Chanyeol’s wide ones. Once he locked eyes with the man, Chanyeol realise he was screwed. Chocolate caramel coloured eyes stared back at him, framed by those wonderful long lashes. When the other man’s eyes widened, only then did Chanyeol snap out of his fantasy and turned around to grab his coffee and try and submerge the ever-growing blush that accompanied his cheeks. When he turned back around, his neighbour was still staring at him. Chanyeol coughs slightly before taking a sip of his coffee and addressing his neighbour.

“Um hi! I’m Chanyeol, your new neighbour! Welcome!”

Both Chanyeol and the beautiful stranger winced at his tone. It was 8am on a Saturday morning and the only noise that should be in the air was the sound of the buzzing morning traffic below. The other man cleared his throat before nodding his head back at Chanyeol. Chanyeol took another sip of his coffee and saw a smirk appear on the other man’s face. Chanyeol had to focus everything on not spitting his coffee out at the sight of the smirk on his beautiful neighbours face. When he finally swallowed, he looked up and saw the neighbour had gone, the poodle too. Chanyeol’s face fell. Why didn’t he tell me his name? Chanyeol turned his attention back to his mug and realised why the other had smirked. He’d chosen today to use the mug that says “Pug Life” with a picture of a pug with a bandana on it. What can he say, he had a thing for dog pun mugs.

inspired by: this tweet [ i changed laundry for flowers (／。＼) ]

may make this a 2 parter if people like it ~~