The cold crisp air made it’s way through his lungs, slightly stinging them, but he tried to resist collapsing right then and there on the stone cold pavement. He probably made a bad idea staying up till the latest hours of dawn, working on flower arrangement orders for the next day (and he also might’ve continued working on producing some music).

His only goal for this morning was to get himself some nice, steaming hot chocolate, and rest for a while until Hakyeon nags him to hurry up and help out at the store.

Wonshik would always go to the coffee shop at the corner of the street.

It wasn’t really well known, but he loved it since it was small and conveniently placed a couple of blocks further away from his shop, roughly 10-15 minutes by foot. 

Its interior was comfortable, with its round tables scattered neatly, the vibrant and various flowers that adorned the entrance and the tables, and the freshly baked cakes and small treats on display. He entered and a small bell jinggled softly above his head.

 He dragged himself inside the cafe, and he was immediately greeted with warmth and the aromatic smell of coffee. He was still trying to blink away his sleepiness, that is until he heard a cheerful “hello” from behind the counter.

 

 

Now he was fully awake.

 

Not because he was intrigued by the smoothness and enthuastic tone of the voice, no, not at all.

 

Nor was it because he wanted to see who’s voice it could possibly belong to, no.

 

Wonshik would never admit these things, he just simply wanted to know since it was a different voice than the familiar employee whom he’d always meet every morning (and maybe to see who could be this cheerful at 7 am in the morning).

As soon as he looked up, he swore that his breath got caught in his throat, his eyes were blinded by the clerk’s stunning bright smile, and his heart pounded violently against his chest.

Because Wonshik was definitely not awestrucked with this man’s appearance.

Ok. He (finally) admits that he is.

He slightly hesitated in his steps before he went to the counter, and probably the first time after an approximate 6 months, he stuttered while ordering his regular drink.

“A h-hot ch-chocolate please”, he swore he would never mess up while ordering a simple plain hot chocolate, but it seems like he proved himself wrong.

“One hot chocolate, is that all? Would you like to order anything else?” the clerk, which his nametag read ‘Jaehwan’, chirped.

“N-No,” he stuttered out. Gosh, his mouth should stop following whatever his heart is doing because Wonshik was so sure he had weirded this cute clerk out already (although Jaehwan thinks otherwise).

“Name?”

“Wonshik.”

As Jaehwan went off to make his order, Wonshik hurried and scrambled to his seat.

His heart was still beating in his chest even as he sat down at his usual spot, at the corner of the cafe. He tried to calm his heart down, he figured he still had a lot of time, it’s still 7:05 am after all. He relaxed himself as he listened to the soft piano tune from the cafe.

He had always loved the morning visits to the cafe, where they had no customers yet and he felt like all his stress could finally be washed away. He nearly dozed off to sleep (again), but the chocolate scent alerted him awake.

Jaehwan handed him his order on the table, and Wonshik mumbled a soft ‘thank you’ to him. He thought that Jaehwan couldn’t have heard it, so he stared at his drink with slight embarrassment.

He took his first sip and felt relief and warmth wash all over his body. His mood just improved a ton today, solely because of this drink (and probably a certain someone, which he’ll never admit out loud). He expected Jaehwan to go back to the counter and clean up, while waiting for other customers.

What he didn’t expect was for him to sit right across him.

Great, just—great.

“Hi, I hope you don’t mind me sitting here?” Jaehwan asked quietly, almost as if he’s trying not to scare Wonshik away (although Wonshik would never be scared of someone as bright as him).

“Its still in the morning so there isn’t much to do, and I’m still waiting for my co-worker to arrive soon.”

“U-uh, sure—that’s fine I guess.”

“Great!”

They were silent for 5 minutes, Wonshik seemingly trying hard to avoid staring at the impossibly handsome clerk in front of him as he fiddled with his phone. Jaehwan merely hummed alongside the music tunes, which Wonshik found to be extremely soothing.

Wonshik kept on stumbling on his words, but he finally decided to build up his courage to ask a question.

“U-um, are you a new employee here? I just, uh—haven’t really seen you around before.”

“Oh, yeah! I just started working here last month. I decided to take up the job since I live nearby, and I know a thing or 2 on how to brew them,” he replied.

“How about you? Do you work around here?”

“Y-yeah, just a few blocks from here actually,” Wonshik managed to reply. Boy, he sure felt giddy at such an early time in the morning.

“Oh, really? That’s neat! What do you work as?”

“A f-florist,”Wonshik managed to squeak out.

He slightly ducked his head down, swirling his drink. He never really got good feedback whenever he says that he works as a florist. Anyone would think that he works as a tattooist, or perhaps, a rapper.

While they got the ‘rapper’ part correct (although he only produces tracks, he rarely raps, but sometimes he creates some lyrics if he’s feeling extra creative), he was certainly not a tattooist. Sure, his body has tattoos, but he thinks that his clumsy hands wouldn’t be able to handle tattooing someone else.

Wonshik’s left hand had something that resembled a sun and a moon colliding with one another, with stars surrounding it. Its quite hard to describe something that had such exquisite beauty, despite black being the only color used.

His collarbone and chest area had illustrations of flowers and leaves etched onto his skin. Chrysanthemum and several roses covered a certain part of his chest as their petals littered around it. On his right shoulder were several blooming hibsicus and peonies, and their leaves intertwined and twirled gracefully, ending at the nape of his neck with a budding flower.

There was no specific reason as to why he chose all the tattoos he had, he just found them so breathtaking. Although he didn’t get them on impulse, he chose each one carefully. Ravi is a man who appreciates stunning artworks after all. He can’t understand why people judged him a lot just because of his tattoos.

The gazes directed to him at work and even the streets would just—irritate him from time to time.

Were florists not allowed to have tattoos?

Thankfully, he wore an oversized sweater today, the sleeves covering half of his palms and his neck tattoo barely peeking out from beneath it. It was still quite visible, but at least it wasn’t completely out there for the world to see.

Jaehwan must’ve already seen his tattoos though. There’s no way that he could’ve missed the black ink peeking out under his white sweater.

Before Jaehwan could say any remarks, the bell jingled; someone else had entered.

 

“Ah, Taekwoon-hyung, you’re finally here. Took you some time,” Jaehwan said to the tall, pale figure. Taekwoon seemed to have a scowl etched on his face, shivering as he entered; he was surely having a pleasant morning.

“No Jaehwan, you’re the one that’s too early. Who goes to work as early as 7 am?” Taekwoon replied as he relished in the warmth of the café.

“The sign literally says that we open at 7 am, hyung. Just admit that you woke up late, yeah?” Jaehwan remarked.

Taekwoon huffed out a sigh, and turned towards Wonshik who’s just sitting down quietly. They made brief eye contact until Taekwoon spoke.

“Ah, hey there Shik. Sorry I made you deal with this brat here, hope you didn’t mind,” he said.

“Hey!”

Wonshik let out a soft chuckle; he found the two bickering quite entertaining.

“No, no, it’s alright. That reminds me, when would you like me to deliver the flowers?” he asked.

“Oh, you’re done? Quick as always. You can send them to us by tomorrow, if that’s possible,” Taekwoon replied as he head to the back room to put his bag and change to his uniform.

 

A slight gasp was heard in front of them.

 

“Wait, so you’re telling me, this is the man that’s been making all of our flower arrangements? Are you serious?”Jaehwan asked with a voice that’s probably a little too loud and blaring to be a question.

“Yes, yes he is Jaehwan. Didn’t I tell you before?” Taekwoon replied as he went to the counter.

Wonshik just stared at Jaehwan, who’s mouth and eyes were wide open; he clearly looks amused and shocked at the same time with this newfound infromation. He let out a soft chuckle looking at his expression, he found his actions to be adorable. (he’ll never say this out loud, though.)

“ I swear to god you didn’t, did you? Was I not listening? Oh god—I was dazing off again was I?”, Jaehwan stammered.

“So you’re the one that made our place lookin’ all fancy and pretty?” Jaehwan asked, turning his gaze to Wonshik all of a sudden.

“ I’m in love with every single flower decorations you’ve arranged! Seriously! They just seem to make the place much happier and lively because their colors are so vibrant!” Jaehwan stated out loud, again with that blaring voice of his.

Wonshik didn’t mind though.

He loved how Jaehwan looked with his eyes shining and mouth stretching from ear to ear.

“Y-yeah, I was busy last month so I couldn’t visit the cafe to check on the flowers. But Taek kept me updated and fortunately took care of the flowers well, which I’m ultimately thankful for,” Wonshik replied bashfully as he played with the hems of his sweater.

He felt this warmth inside of him, he felt proud and happy. He always feels the happiest whenever people compliment his flower arrangements.

 

When he told Taekwoon about wanting to work in a flower shop, he recommended a friend of his that was opening up one nearby his cafe. Wonshik was glad enough that he could be hired despite his tattoos, which his friend paid no attention to.

His friend, Hakyeon, was very much amused by Wonshik’s enthusiasm with flowers, and said that even though he had a rough appearance, the way how his eyes shone whenever he talked about flowers is something you can almost never miss.

When they first opened, their customer count was close to 0.

Wonshik was slightly blaming himself, wondering if he was the reason why customers weren’t coming, because of his intimidating figure.

He does have a slight tall and lean figure, after all. Hakyeon always reminded him though, that appearances shouldn’t matter. He hired Wonshik for a reason, and he trusts him to handle their flowers.

Slowly though, several customers would enter their shop. The looks on their faces were priceless whenever they would see the various types of flowers they sold. They stared in awe, different flowers scattered the shop, ranging from the smallest, tiniest and delicate ones, to the most vibrant ones with wide and soft petals. They also sold several pots ranging from different sizes and shapes, along with some vases as well.

Initially, they were all slightly intimdated by Wonshik, but the boy always managed to put on a soft smile at the counter. Whenever the customers were about to leave, he would put on the most warmest smile, showing his crescent eyes, cheeks stretching to the edges of his face and seemed as if he was radiating pure sunshine and happiness.

They’re not a famous shop, but they do get the regular customers occassionally. They don’t make the best sales, but Hakyeon and Wonshik are content. They don’t need tons of customers, they just want to enjoy what they love doing the most, and coincidentally, both of them absolutely adore handling flowers.

 

A sudden buzz dirsupted Wonshik out of his own thoughts, and grabbed his phone. Turns out it’s a text from Hakyeon:

 

Yeonie : (2)

-Shikkie hurry ur back here and help me set up the store and orders

-Ur not the only one who got lack of sleep last night y’know

Me:

K, I’ll be there in abt 15mns

I’ll buy u your usual coffee alright

And that muffin u like

Yeonie:

Ur the best ilysm thank u my child

 

Wonshik let out a small laugh, followed by a sigh, as he stood up and started to gather all of his things.

“ Was that Hakyeon?” Taekwoon questioned from behind the counter.

“ Yeah, I gotta head back to the shop soon,” he said while stuffing his wallet into his pocket,

“Oh, before I go, can I get a coffee and a muffin?”

“ Y’know, the usual, for Hakyeon. The, uh—damn i forgot,” Wonshik said.

But before he could even text Hakyeon, Taekwoon quickly prepared a berry muffin and a hot caramel macchiato and stuffed them in a paper bag.

 

Like the one Hakyeon always orders.

 

Oh?

 

“You remembered?” Wonshik questioned Taekwoon with a hint of playfulness in his voice.

“Sh-shut up and just quickly give it to him before it gets cold, alright?” Taekwoon replied with a quiet yet stern voice. Although Ravi had an idea of what’s going on, he decided to keep quiet for the time being.

“Well then, I’ll get going. See you tomorrow, I’ll be carrying your flowers here during opening time.”

“Ok, thanks a lot Shik,” Taekwoon replied, and hurriedly took care of the next customer that had just entered.

Just as he was heading out the door, bracing himself for the harsh, cold weather again (he made a mental note to dress warmer tomorrow), a voice stopped him.

“Wait! You forgot your hot chocolate,” Jaehwan hastily said to him and handed him his cup.

 

Although, that wasn’t the only thing Jaehwan handed him.

 

On the same day, Wonshik’s heart stuttered uncontrollably for the second time.

 

Jaehwan handed him a scarf, his scarf, and Wonshik was ultimately flustered because not only that,

Jaehwan wrapped it around Wonshik himself.

 

His cheeks turned to a bright shade of red, all the way to the tips of his ears, and even the nape of his neck. He also might’ve heard a very low chuckle and a soft ‘cute’, but he’s too busy trying to process his thoughts of what just happened.

God, can this guy charm him any more than this?

“ I uh, figured I should probably give you my scarf since you did look like you were freezing when you got here, and the weather’s probably colder today so I thought I’d give it to you ,” Jaehwan said to him, with that smooth voice and gentle smile of his, although he looked almost shy this time, different than how he was earlier.

“ You can give it back tomorrow, when you deliver the flowers. I—I don’t mind.”

“Th-thank you, Jaehwan, I-I really appreciate it,” Wonshik let out softly.

 

(Taekwoon smiled upon seeing the two, but he’ll pretend he didn’t see anything.)

 

“Jaehwan! Hurry up and help me here you brat!” Taekwoon shouted from the cashier.

“Alright! Coming! See you tomorrow, Wonshik!” he quickly shouted and ran back to the help as more and more customers had just entered. 

“Y-yeah,” Wonshik softly mumbled as a reply and quickly bustled out the door.

 

 

Although he had a couple of blocks to walk in this freezing weather,

and his drink had probably turned cold,

he didn’t care.

His steps were light and he smiled as he thought of that cute clerk and his smile.

 

Wonshik was already anticipating for tomorrow to come, to meet him once again.

 

 

---

hello!!

i'm sorry i ended up taking more than a week to update, i was really trying hard to make it an enjoyable first chapter

anyways, do you guys like it so far?? i personally enjoyed writing the last scene, its so s o f t <3

hopefully chapter 2 won't take a month but it probably will, sorry about that! i take time when i write, i try to make sure i choose the right words and all~

i'm sorry if there were any mistakes here, i probably read it a total of 7-8 times while trying to edit it :'-)) and i got so tired so i just-- anyways

thankyou for reading!! comments and  subscriptions are really appreciated, they keep me motivated!!

 

anticipate ravi's mixtape dropping on 23/01/2018!! hype my boi up

until next time everyone!