Nope, ya'll aren't dreaming--it's really me!!

Writer's block and laggard motivation were pretty steep, but I'm proud to have finally gotten this out.

I found this AU prompt from Tumblr and just let the bunnies go.

Also, Happy birthday to MEEEEEE and happy birthday month to our adorable SooSoo. <3 <3

---

Your Flowers

 

Myungsoo had seen a lot in the five years he ran his flower shop.

 

Located in the heart of Seoul’s business district and close to one of the main subway stations, the young florist saw numerous top executives purchasing last minute arrangements to appease a mistress, a disgruntled wife; a salaryman purchasing a surprise bouquet at the end of the night; interns purchasing flowers for the boss, for their parents, or for new girlfriends.

 

Myungsoo had seen bouquets and floral arrangements for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and a host of other special occasions or just-because moments. No matter what, the young florist could see the smiles on his customers faces (some of joy, others of relief) and could only imagine the faces of those on the receiving end.

 

However, this situation… Myungsoo wasn’t sure how this situation would play out.

 

Friday nights were usually a little busy right around the end of the typical work day. Myungsoo and Jisoo, his part-timer, had taken care of the steady influx of customers buying the ready-made bouquets throughout the shop as well as taking a few specialty orders for weekend deliveries and pick-ups.

 

Myungsoo had just finished a transaction with a middle-aged salaryman and he waved to the customer as he left the store, reveling in the quiet calm of the store post-rush. He cleared the register, wiped down the counter, and pulled out a folder to begin looking over the specialty orders to be started on for the next day.

 

A small chime rang out through the store as the front door opened and Myungsoo glanced up to find a tall red-haired male quickly making his way to the counter. The man didn’t hesitate in any action he made, long legs making confident strides towards the counter, his head bowed as he counted bills from his wallet in-hand.

 

Suddenly, Myungsoo saw five ten thousand dollar won notes thrown to the counter in front of his eyes and the tall customer leaned towards him with an angry huff. Myungsoo glanced up, sure that his dark eyes were widened in surprise, taking in the tall redhead’s light brown eyes blazing in annoyance. The young florist couldn’t help but stutter, “Ca-can I help you, sir--”

 

“Give me whatever I can buy with that that just says ‘ you’ in flower!” the tall customer exclaimed, moving to then lean against the counter as his angry energy seemed to dissipate slightly.

 

“Pa-pardon me?” Myungsoo replied in confusion.

 

“Did I not say it clearly?” the taller retorted, meeting the young florist’s gaze with the same blazing expression. “Give me 50,000 won worth of flowers that say ‘ you’ to the person I’m giving them to!”

 

Shy as he could be, Myungsoo had never truly found himself as flabbergasted as he was at this moment. “I’m sorry, and how does one say ‘eff you’ in flower?”

 

“I don’t want to say ‘eff you’; I want to say ‘ you.’ God knows this asswipe deserves it,” the man replied. “And I don’t know exactly; that’s why I came to you… you’re a florist and this is a flower shop, so you have to know what will work. So tell me; what helps me say ‘ you’ to my roommate’s asswipe of a boyfriend who has a stick perpetually shoved up his ?”

 

Myungsoo felt his professional service facade crumbling as he ran his hand through his hair. “You’re buying ‘eff you’ flowers… for your roommate’s boyfriend?”

 

“Well, he earned them! Always being such a , nagging me about my  home office when he comes to stay the weekends with us--it’s my ing office; I can keep it how I want to--and just being so bossy about everything I do, what I watch on my TV, what I do with my free weekends. He just swoops in and acts like he’s the one who owns the apartment, when in fact he and my lame best friend are mooching off of me!” the taller male ranted. He then let out a long exhale before slouching slightly on the counter, his annoyance apparently dissipating after that rant.

 

Myungsoo could only stare at the man in amusement--safe to say, this was turning into a memorable encounter. “Feel better now?” he asked sardonically.

 

The man pulled his head up, surprise evident at Myungsoo’s teasing tone and causing a small smile to form. He let out a low laugh, “Yeah, a little bit actually.”

 

“So let me make sure I have this straight--you basically want to mess with this other guy and think flowers are the way to do it?” Myungsoo clarified.

 

The customer laughed again. “It’s just a theory I have… my roommate knows that his boyfriend and I don’t get along, so he’s hyper-aware of me pulling off any type of prank. I figure he won’t see this coming.”

 

The shopkeeper tilted his head slightly. “How do you think flowers will work?”

 

“It’s just a theory,” the man replied. “But Sunggyu’s always taking all these health supplements and vitamins and is such a baby about getting sick, so I figure maybe he’s allergic to flowers or something. Figured that I could mess with him with just a bouquet.”

 

“Wouldn’t they think it’s weird that you’re suddenly bringing him flowers?” Myungsoo asked.

 

“I wouldn’t bring them home for him,” the man replied. “I’d just bring them home and set them in the living room. Say my mom sent them to me or something… then hopefully the pollen can do the work and he’ll just start sneezing and crap...”

 

Myungsoo couldn’t keep his chuckles in any more. “Wow… I have to say, that is both brilliant and diabolical.”

 

“I thought so too!” the man replied cheerily. “So, can you help me out with this or what?”

 

The florist ran his hand through his hair once more, feeling his neck heating slightly under the man’s bright smile. “I mean, I can try… But since you don’t know exactly if he’s allergic to anything, I can only make a guess…”

 

“Well, what are most people usually allergic to? Sunggyu’s such a baby, he’s probably allergic to anything and everything,” the taller man replied.

 

Myungsoo glanced around the flowers displayed near him thoughtfully. “Even that depends. There are a lot of different flowers that people are allergic to… I guess the most common one would be stuff in the Aster family, but even that’s six different types or so…”

 

“Perfect! I can even change up the flower and they’ll never know!”

 

The florist moved over to a neighboring display, pulling a pre-made bouquet of yellow and white flowers. “Here, start off with some daisies and if you need something else, I have the other flowers in this family in stock,” he replied, placing the bouquet into the tall male’s hands.

 

The man glanced down at the flowers in hand, nodding in approval. “Looks like the best ‘ you’ I’ve ever said to someone.”

 

~*~

 

One week since the strange Friday transaction, Myungsoo didn’t realize just how much he was still affected by it. Any time he found himself displaying, working with, or even selling daisies to a customer, he could feel a faint blush creeping onto his neck as he thought of that tall customer--he found himself thinking not only about the man, but the seemingly crazy, yet weirdly thought out plan he had attempted to execute. There was the tiniest hope that Myungsoo held in that the man would reappear in the shop once more, allowing Myungsoo to find out what had happened.

 

And, yeah, sure, okay, maybe so Myungsoo could see the man in all his excitable, tall, handsome glory. But that was absolutely not obvious at all---

 

Unconsciously, Myungsoo found himself in front of the daisies displays in the shop. He made small adjustments to the baby’s breath hanging off of a bouquet of daisies much like the one he sold one week before. He switched around some bundles of chrysanthemums and chamomiles before taking a step back to mentally inventory the display. “Jisoo-yah! Can you bring out some mixed and gerber daisies please?”

 

From the back of the shop, Myungsoo heard the girl’s acknowledgement and she soon appeared with multiple bouquets in her arms. Jisoo handed a few over to the florist and moved to add the remaining bundles to the other side of the display area. After a few minutes, the two stood up to glance over the display. “Keeping the daisies in stock, huh?” she asked cheekily, Myungsoo catching her sly grin and knowing look.  

 

The young florist felt the back of his neck and ears heating up. “Th-they’re really popular right now! F-for spring!” he stuttered out.

 

Jisoo couldn’t hide her laughter. “Whatever you say, Myungsoo-shi. I’m not noticing much of an increase in demand right now though--”

 

Myungsoo knew his cheeks were fully inflamed. “Don’t you have inventory to get back to, Jisoo?” he retorted, his voice low to hide his embarrassment.

 

Raising one of her eyebrows knowingly, the girl continued to smirk as she raised a hand to her head in mock salute. “Roger that, sir!” she exaggeratedly said, making a flourished salute as she walked to the back of the shop giggling.

 

Taking in a deep breath, the young florist exhaled slowly to calm his racing thoughts. Perceptive as ever, Jisoo picked up quickly on just how affected her boss was by the man from last week… and she could tell, just by how the florist would react each time she , that Myungsoo was obviously taken in by the curious stranger.

 

And maybe a little smitten.

 

“He must have been quite the hottie to have you all worked up like this, Myungsoo-shi,” Jisoo said earlier in the week after Myungsoo had told the story once more.

 

Myungsoo gaped. “I--But I--I didn’t say anything like that! Just that---that he had red hair and he was kind of tall--but that’s it! I was more trying to figure out his crazy request than check him out!”

 

“Sure you were, Sunbae,” Jisoo had smirked as she went to straighten some of the outdoor displays. “You always do go for the tall ones anyway--”

 

“Yah!”

 

Sighing to himself, the young florist made his way back behind the counter to finish the final dressings and decor for some of their special orders being picked up the next day. He busied himself with pulling out speciality vases and filling them with stones, confetti, and other novelty decorations denoting a graduation, a 25-year marriage anniversary, and a new baby girl. He found himself so immersed in the task, that he barely registered the ringing of the door chimes, signalling a new customer. “Good evening, how can I help--”

 

“Oh, awesome; you’re here!” a voice called.

 

Myungsoo glanced up, meeting the same light brown eyes that had been dominating his thoughts since the first time he saw them blazing the week before. Instead of fury energizing him, the man had a wide grin on his face, gums visible and only serving to make the man more handsome to the young florist. “You! You--you’re back!” he stuttered out awkwardly.

 

The taller made his way over to the counter, leaning casually against the surface with his smile continuing to dazzle the young florist. “I wanted to come back and let you know how everything went down, but I wasn’t sure when you worked, so I just took a chance and waited. Glad it worked out!” the redheaded customer explained happily.

 

Myungsoo couldn’t help the flush he felt forming--this mystery customer waited and came back to see Myungsoo? To tell you what happened with the prank you helped him pull, his mind tried to remind him… his heart didn’t seem to keen on listening to that though… “Yo--You--I mean, you…” he found himself stuttering again.

 

Breaking his gaze away from the enchanting eyes, Myungsoo took a moment to clear his throat quickly and tried again to speak. “You can find me here anytime actually; this is my shop, so I’m here almost all the time unless I have to go to my warehouse partner or something…”

 

“Wait, this is your shop?” the customer asked in surprise. At Myungsoo’s small nod, the man breathed out a small whistle. “No wonder you knew so much! I figured I wouldn’t get much help with how weird my request was, but you knew right away what to suggest!”

 

Myungsoo glanced down shyly, unable to keep looking in those bright eyes and process the praise he was receiving. “Well, my grandparents ran the shop forever and then passed it to me when they decided to retire in the countryside, so I grew up around flowers all my life. I should hope a lot of it stuck.”

 

The tall man continued to smile, a small chuckle escaping his throat. “Well, considering how ridiculous I know that request sounded, I’m glad you didn’t just call the cops on me or something, oh-wise-owner.”

 

“Myungsoo is fine,” the florist replied, feeling his neck warm slightly under the man’s attention. “We appear to be around the same age.”

 

“Myungsoo-shi,” the man repeated, the calm, yet slightly humored tone making the florist’s cheeks redden. “Well, I just wanted to thank you again for willingly joining my diabolical plan,” he continued with a smile, turning upward one of his palms on the counter. “And, if you need to add a name to your shop’s blacklist, just put down ‘Lee Sungyeol, Crazy-Eff-You-Flower-Man’.”

 

Myungsoo couldn’t contain his laugh at the customer’s--Sungyeol’s--sarcasm and took the offered hand for a polite handshake. “I’ll keep you off the list for now, Sungyeol-shi. On one condition.”

 

“Oh?” Sungyeol replied, noting the challenging tone of Myungsoo’s voice. “And what would that be?”

 

The florist glanced back towards the back storage area, noting that Jisoo seemed completely occupied, and leaned across the counter towards the taller man. “I have to ask,” Myungsoo started, voice low. “Did it work? The flowers?”

 

Sungyeol suddenly let out a snorting laugh, turning his head away and breaking eye contact with Myungsoo. “Oh my God, sorry about that…” he replied after a few minutes of laughter. “It’s just---Oh my God, I thought you were about to spill some spy secrets or tell me this shop was a mob front, you were so deadly serious….” The tall man even moved to rub under one of his eyes, presumably from crying in laughter.

 

“Well, can you blame me?!” Myungsoo retorted. “I’m a florist; it’s not everyday that I get vengeful customer requests to tell someone to go screw themselves via daisy.”

 

Sungyeol continued to chuckle to himself across the counter--Myungsoo had to consciously remind himself to stop staring at the other man’s gums--and decided to take pity on the other man’s curiosity. “Well, that’s probably true. The short version of that answer is, yes, it worked. Sunggyu was hilariously whiny and miserable and stayed in my roommate’s room all weekend while Woohyun ran around like a lost puppy because Sunggyu’s even more of an when he’s sick. I would have to hide in my room all the time to go laugh.”

 

Myungsoo found himself unable to keep his smile at bay; Sungyeol’s triumphant grin combined with his overall enthusiasm proved highly infectious and the florist couldn’t help being swept up in the emotions. Plus his smile’s absolutely adorable. “So, can you explain again why you’re using flowers to bring misery to your roommate’s...boyfriend…? Did I get that right?” the florist asked.

 

“Yeah, I know it sounds ridiculous,” Sungyeol said, settling himself against the counter. “Basically, Woohyun’s been my best friend since we were kids, but we went to university in different cities. While he was in Gwangju, he started dating Sunggyu and they’ve been together forever, I swear. But when Woohyun graduated, he came here to Seoul and, since we were still friends, I let him move in with me and Sunggyu comes over on weekends so they can be sickeningly mushy.”

 

“So are they just disgustingly cute? Or just loud or what?” Myungsoo asked.

 

“No, nothing really like that,” Sungyeol replied. “It’s just that I’m a publishing editor, so I work at home mostly and over the weekends a lot. And my home office is in a nook in the middle of our apartment...sure, it may be a little messy or disorganized, but not everyone is a perfectly organized neat freak. But Sunggyu began taking it upon himself to start telling me how I need to re-organize my office, and then that I have to ‘clean up better’ or that ‘we’ve run out of this and I should go to the store’ or that we can’t have this food in the house because he doesn’t like it, and all this other crap trying to control how I keep up my apartment.” The taller man ran his hand through his copper colored hair, bristling at the obvious annoyances he was remembering.

 

“It’s just utterly frustrating that he rolls in every freaking weekend and tries to act like he owns the place. I mean, I’m giving his precious boyfriend a home, but does he care? Nope,” Sungyeol growled. “So I decided to give him a little taste of revenge. I don’t completely hate this guy and yeah, he’s great for my friend, but seriously dude, respect some boundaries…”

 

Myungsoo nodded in agreement. “So what? You just laid the flowers in the middle of the apartment and hoped or what?”

 

Sungyeol smirked. “Kind of. I walked all over the apartment with them and then set them in a vase on the dining room table for the weekend. Neither of them seemed to figure it out.”

 

Myungsoo smiled once more at the sight of Sungyeol’s grin. “Well, I’m glad it worked out. And that you came back to tell me; I’ll be honest, I’ve been wondering what happened all week.”

 

Sungyeol suddenly stood up straight. “But I didn’t come back just to tell you that!” he exclaimed emphatically.

 

Myungsoo felt his heart begin to pound. Wait, he’s not-- “You--You didn’t?”

 

“No, of course not!” Sungyeol replied. “I’ve got to keep this going; I’m here to get more flowers!”

 

Suddenly, Myungsoo’s racing heart returned to reality. “O-Oh! Right, of course, flowers… yeah, uh, I can help you out with that again…”

 

“You will?” Sungyeol replied excitedly. “Thanks Myungsoo-shi!”

 

“Yeah, no problem,” the young florist said, moving around the counter to join Sungyeol on the other side. “So, do you want to do the same flowers again or change it up?”

 

“We can use different flowers?!” The taller asked, surprise causing his already large eyes to widen slightly.

 

Myungsoo couldn’t stop his stomach from fluttering. “Ye-yeah, the Astor family that those daisies come from has about six other flowers in it, so we can use the same ones since they don’t suspect or you can get a different flower if you want to try it,” the florist explained, moving over to the display he and Jisoo had rearranged earlier in the night. “Whatever you want.”

 

Sungyeol glanced over the displays in front of him, his hand on his neck as he thought--Myungsoo couldn’t help but to notice the moles dotting along the length near his shirt collar. “Well, I told them last week that I just took them home from the office. Maybe I can get something new and just say that my mom sent them over for some reason?”

 

Myungsoo pulled two different bouquets from the display. “If you want a more subtle attempt, try chrysanthemums since they’re a little smaller and can blend into the room better. But if you want something more colorful, go with these Dahlias,” he explained, holding each bouquet out to the taller.

 

Sungyeol reached over, grabbing the bouquet of voluminous, fuschia-colored Dahlias, and took a sniff of the arrangement. He then glanced back at Myungsoo with smile. “Pleasure to scheme with you again, sir.”    

 

~*~

 

“You have to add more curl to those ribbons; this is a happy bouquet.”

 

“Well, excuse me Mr. Flower-Overlord, I haven’t been trained in proper ribbon curling procedure,” Sungyeol retorted. “In fact, I haven’t been trained in any of this considering that I’m providing you with free labor here.”

 

“You’re the one who kept coming in and offering to help,” Myungsoo replied with a smirk. “I wouldn’t be a smart businessman if I didn’t take a good offer when I see one.”

 

The redhead released an audible huff and blew his bangs from his eyes, continuing to run the scissors in his hands over pink ribbons tied around the vase in front of him. After a few more failed attempts to get more curl from the ribbon, Sungyeol let out a groan, dropping the scissors to the counter. “When is Jisoo coming back? I shouldn’t be doing this …”

 

“She went to grab some extra inventory since we have a bunch of graduation wreath orders this week,” Myungsoo replied calmly, turning the ignored vase towards him and expertly curling the neglected ribbons. “And get more Asters in stock because we have this really weird regular who buys them up every week--”

 

“Yah! You get free labor and entertainment out of this deal, so you can’t complain!” Sungyeol exclaimed.

 

The florist laughed at the taller man’s intensity. “This is true; it’s been an entertaining few months. Speaking of your long-term revenge, one of these vases is for you, so grab the flowers from the display--sunflowers and Baby’s Breath.”

 

“So pushy…” the taller replied, moving from the stool at the end of the counter to the displays across the store.

 

Myungsoo couldn’t stop himself from following Sungyeol’s movements across the store. The young florist may have been able to get over his stuttering around the redhead, but that didn’t mean his heart didn’t still flutter anytime he saw the other man--an occurrence that was becoming far more regular than even he could have expected (and maybe hoped for).

 

~*~

 

The door chimes rang out and Myungsoo glanced over his shoulder as he rearranged the roses displayed. “Welcome--oh hello, Sungyeol-shi!” the florist greeted, recognizing the handsome redhead.

 

The redheaded male smiled at the florist, causing Myungsoo’s neck to flame up in an almost familiar way. “I told you that you could just call me ‘Sungyeol’, Myungsoo-nim,” he replied, overemphasizing the honorific teasingly.

 

Heart fluttering, Myungsoo took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking and moved towards the counter to buy himself a few seconds out of the piercing brown gaze. “S-So, what can I help with today, Sungyeol-ah? You’re kind of early for your usual pick-up.”

 

“Ah, you noticed! Yeah, my production meeting this week was super-short because a lot of the managing editors were out at a conference. I’m already heading home, new assignments ready to go!” Sungyeol explained with a grin, showing off the three large, bound volumes in his arms. “And I’m glad it was too; did you see how dark the sky is getting? And I forgot my umbrella today...”

 

“You take the subway though, right?” Myungsoo replied.

 

“To get to my neighborhood,” Sungyeol said, leaning on the counter and placing the volumes down on the counter. “But I still have to walk about 8 blocks or so to get back to my street. And I can’t get these manuscripts wet or my boss will kill me…”

 

CRACK.

 

Both men glanced out the window, spotting a bright flash throughout the sky and heard the rain begin to fall outside the shop. Sungyeol let out a groan and folded his head into his hands. “!”

 

Myungsoo couldn’t stop the chuckle from escaping, even as Sungyeol shot him an annoyed glance. “What? It’s not like I’m going to throw you out of here in the rain; you can wait it out. I don’t mind.”

 

“Seriously?” the redhead replied, standing back to his full height. “That’d be awesome--thanks Myungsoo! But… ugh, I was really hoping I could have gotten ahead on one of these manuscripts this afternoon…”

 

Myungsoo suddenly perked up and headed to the back of the shop. After a few minutes and hearing a couple of small thuds, the florist reappeared, carrying a padded stool and placed it behind the counter. He glanced up at Sungyeol with a triumphant smile and held his hands out in a showmanlike gesture. “Ta-dah! It may not be a recliner or anything, but it’s padded at least. You can work right here; I need to work on some vase bouquets anyway, so I’ll be at the other end of the counter.”

 

Sungyeol cast an appraising glance over the counter. “Really? I’m getting behind-the-counter privileges?”

 

The smirk Sungyeol made caused Myungsoo to let out a slight giggle. Covering his mouth in embarrassment, the florist cleared his throat briefly to answer. “I mean, if you want to think of it that way… you can also just keep standing over there---”

 

“No thanks, this is good,” the taller immediately replied, causing Myungsoo to smile once again as he made his way behind the counter and settled to the florist’s left. “I’ll try not to interrupt your flower-making artistry down there.”

 

“Feel free to entertain me; I usually just have music on, but you can pay your due with stories,” the florist retorted.

 

“Yah! So much for ‘goodness of your heart’... I thought you were one of those soft-hearted, artsy types. Turns out, you’re ruthless under all those eye smiles and dimples,” Sungyeol said.

 

“Eye smiles and dimples, huh?” Myungsoo repeated with a smirk. Realizing his slip of the tongue, the tall redhead quickly glanced to his side, pinching his lips together, and flipped open the first manuscript, keeping his eyes glued to the page--Myungsoo couldn’t help but notice a slight pink on the other man’s cheeks though.

 

The two men proceeded to work in silence for the next few minutes, Myungsoo working to arrange a modest, medium-sized bouquet, while Sungyeol read through the first few pages of the manuscript, noting things throughout with a red pen he pulled from his pocket. The silence was calming, peaceful even, despite the continued rumblings of thunder and consistent sound of raindrops falling fairly hard from the afternoon sky.

 

After awhile, Sungyeol looked up from manuscript in front of him and watched as the florist next to him moved around the white flowers throughout the bouquet in front of him and moved to start wrapping a thick white ribbon around the vase’s edge. Sungyeol noticed how the other man’s movements were so practiced, so fluid, yet done with such precision and delicacy--it was almost hypnotic to watch Myungsoo work (and the eye candy didn’t hurt either). Feeling that he was watched, the young florist glanced over towards Sungyeol and meet the redhead’s gaze with a questioning look. “What?” Myungsoo asked.

 

“Nothing,” Sungyeol replied. “It’s just… kind of relaxing to watch you work. It’s so calm, yet so artistic at the same time. It’s nice.”

 

Myungsoo’s cheeks flamed as they always did whenever the other male seemed to pay him any attention. “It’s nothing fancy…” the florist sighed. “Just a lot of practice.”

 

The taller male crossed his arms on the counter and turned to face the florist next to him. “How does someone like you even become a florist of all things?”

 

Myungsoo scoffed. “What’s the supposed to mean?”

 

“Oh come on--don’t act like you’ve never looked in the mirror,” Sungyeol retorted. “With that kind of face, you should be on TV or on billboards, not putting together floral arrangements…”

 

The florist just chuckled. “This was my grandmother’s shop. I usually came here after school since my parents worked late into the night, so I would help her out with the cleaning and orders. She started teaching me more and more, and then after I graduated from university, I came here to help her run the shop together.”

 

“Your grandmother? So why have I never seen Auntie Kim before?”

 

Myungsoo lowered his eyes back to the vase in front of him, making miniscule adjustments to ease the palpable tension. “She passed away a few months after I came to work with her, a little over five years ago… She caught a cold during the winter, but just kept working… eventually, her cold became pneumonia and it was just too much for her.”

 

“...I’m so sorry--”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Myungsoo replied shortly. “I promised her that I would keep the shop going and I liked the work well enough. I hired JiSoo a few years back when I realized that I couldn’t do it all on my own. And I think so far, I’ve done my Grandma proud…”

 

Sungyeol’s expression morphed from worry to a small smile. “I think you have too.”

 

“You really think so?” Myungsoo asked, glancing over to the other man.

 

“I mean, if you can deal with customers that ask you for ‘ you’ flowers, you’ve reached a whole other level of career mastery,” Sungyeol replied with a grin.

 

Myungsoo couldn’t help releasing another laugh himself, turning back to the vase in front of him with a smile and slightly pink cheeks.

 

~*~

 

“Myungsoo--MYUNGSOO!”

 

The florist jumped in shock as a sunflower appeared in front of his eyes. Glancing to his left, he found a giggly redhead holding the yellow bud in front of his face. “Wh-what?!”

 

Sungyeol continued to grin as he removed the sunflower from Myungsoo’s personal space and moved to place it in a new bouquet in front of him. “You zoned out on me there; I wanted you to check my work, oh Flower-Master…”

 

Myungsoo moved his gaze from the redhead’s still amused face down to the vase on the counter--the yellow sunflowers stood out prominently, with the white Baby’s Breath scattered between the large blooms. The florist reached over to turn the vase to each side and nodded in acceptance. “Looks pretty good. So, ready to mess with your usual target this weekend then?”

 

“You bet!” Sungyeol replied, leaning down to grab his backpack from his feet. “Of course, if Woohyun’s as much of a as he was last weekend, it makes my pranking even more effective. I still can’t believe that idiot took Sunggyu out for a picnic under a bunch of pollen trees… I’m not even sure which made him more miserable--the tree pollen or my bouquet. But, works for me.”

 

Myungsoo tried to contain his smile to a small grin as he watched the tall male move around to the opposite side of the counter. “Well, happy pranking to you then…”

 

“Thanks as always, Myungsoo!” the taller replied with a wave as he walked towards the front door, new vase in-hand. “I’ll see you next week, ok?”

 

The younger florist merely nodded with a smile, waving as the taller man left the store. Once Sungyeol disappeared from view, Myungsoo lowered his hand slowly and let out a long, half-hearted sigh.

 

“...Damn, do you have it bad, Oppa…”   

 

“Holy sh--!” the florist felt his body leap into the counter, knocking his hip against the edge and making the male double over at the impact. As Myungsoo’s heart began to slow back to normal pace, he turned around to find his JiSoo giving him a devilish smirk as she appeared to be holding back laughter. “JiSoo? When did you get back--?”

 

The long-haired brunette’s grin finally broke out and she giggled. “When did I get back? Oh, about five minutes ago and was in the back… but I think your real question is, how much of that pathetic flirting attempt did I see?”

 

“Wha-what?! N-No, that’s not what I was asking at all--I--I mean…” Myungsoo’s stuttered answers only betrayed his true thoughts on their own, so the florist finally dropped the charade. “...Was it really that bad?”

 

JiSoo snorted audibly. “So you finally admit that you’re crushing on him that bad?”

 

Myungsoo felt his neck beginning to flare up once more. He turned his eyes downward, mumbling, “I mean, who wouldn’t? He’s so nice, funny, and have you seen his smile or his eyes? I mean, every time he looks at me, I can sometimes just feel myself freezing up and--”

 

“Oh really now?”

 

Myungsoo pursed his lips briefly. “I really don’t know what to do now…” he exhaled.

 

JiSoo looked at her boss steadily. “Simple, Oppa… you tell him.”

 

The florist sighed before looking at his assistant. “But how do I even do that?”

 

JiSoo’s teasing smirk turned to a more genuine smile towards her manager. “You’ll know what to do, Oppa. You always find a way to say it.”

 

~*~

 

Myungsoo closed the accounting ledger in front of him with a relieved sigh and placed it back in the safe underneath his desk. The young florist then shut the safe door with a thud and moved out of his small office towards the front of his shop. He passed JiSoo as he rounded the corner, the girl going towards the storage closets, presumably to grab whatever supplies she was missing for the mid-afternoon shop cleaning.

He grabbed a cleaning towel from the edge of the counter and began to wipe the glass panes along the top. Suddenly, a slim vase was placed right by his hand, along with clear setting stones. Myungsoo glanced up in confusion as JiSoo moved past him as though she hadn’t put the materials in front of him. “JiSoo, what are these for? I’m waiting on the deliveries before starting any orders--”

 

“This isn’t for a customer order,” JiSoo replied calmly, moving to face Myungsoo from the opposite side of the counter. “This is for the arrangement you’re going to make to give to Sungyeol and finally confess to him.”

 

The florist’s eyes widened, straightening up from the counter in front of him. “Wh-What?! No, no no, no… that’s not--I can’t--I can’t give him flowers!”

 

“Why not?” JiSoo countered calmly. “He walked in here asking for flowers that said one thing. He’s been here constantly since then, helping you make so many other arrangements that all say a range of other things. Why can’t you make one that tells him how you feel?”

 

Myungsoo couldn’t help but stare at his assistant, her words ringing too true for him to deny. “It’s just--it honestly feels so cheesy…”

 

“Oppa, you fell for him at first sight, became friends with each other, blush at the very sight of him, and now you want to become precious adorable boyfriends with him,” JiSoo said. “This whole situation is cheesy--why should your confession to him be any different?”

 

Myungsoo couldn’t help glancing at the vase in front of him. Sheepishly, he glanced back up towards the girl in front of him. “Do you think that this will really work?” he asked.

 

“Only one way to find out,” JiSoo replied. “But, of course it’ll work. This is you and your cheesy happy ending. Make it good.”

 

~*~

 

Myungsoo should have known that he wasn’t cut out for this. JiSoo had obviously overestimated his courage… he had obviously overestimated his ability to confess to Sungyeol, as evidenced by the floral arrangement still hidden below the counter, JiSoo’s piercing stare-down from the back of the shop, and the fact that Myungsoo’s stuttering conveniently decided to reappear the moment Sungyeol had walked into the shop today.

 

Sungyeol seemed to be in a jovial mood, his smile wide from the moment he walked into the shop, despite his complaints from the get-go about how much work he was going to have over the weekend to make up for a colleague out on extended leave. He chuckled as he told the story about how he had pulled out one of the sunflowers from last week’s bouquet and pressed it into Woohyun’s pillows to get the pollen into the fabric and add an extra layer of misery to his ongoing Sunggyu-prank.

 

Myungsoo knew he wasn’t paying as much attention as he should to the words coming out of the taller man’s mouth… rather, he was just focusing on the other male’s mouth itself. Sungyeol’s lips were plush and pink, his wide smile showing off brilliant white teeth. The redhead’s brown eyes shimmered with joy as he recalled each detail of his story, crinkling with mirth anytime he released a giggle. The more Myungsoo thought about telling the beautiful man in front of him how he felt, the more he could feel his heart pounding, neck flaming…

 

“Myungsoo!”

 

“Wh-what?!” the young florist leapt to his sense, finding long fingers snapping right in front of his face.  

 

“Ah, so you are in there,” Sungyeol replied with a grin, leaning on his elbows against the counter--a view that only made Myungsoo’s concentration worse. “I was getting ready to tell you about Woohyun’s latest home remedy, but seems you’re a bit distracted today--”

 

“I--I’m not! I’m not distracted, I promise!” Myungsoo exclaimed.

 

“Are you sure?” the taller male asked, leaning in closer towards the other male. “You seem like something’s on your mind…”

 

Myungsoo let out an embarrassed squeak, quickly hiding it behind a forced cough. “Wh-What?! Oh, uh, well, yeah… there’s a lot of orders that we’ve got coming in right now, so I’m just going through them in my head…”

 

“Oh really?” Sungyeol replied, standing up straighter. “I didn’t realize you guys were so busy this week. Tell you what; I’ll head out early so you and JiSoo can work your magic!” The taller reached down to grab his backpack from the floor and pull it over his shoulder. “I’ll catch up with you all next week--”

 

Myungsoo reached out to grab the other male’s elbow. “Wa-wait! You--uh, you…. Haven’t gotten your flowers for the week…”

 

“You have time to do that?” Sungyeol asked. “But you said that you had too many orders--”

 

“Well, I---I mean, I made something up for you already,” the florist stuttered out. At Sungyeol’s surprised glance, Myungsoo reached under the counter, noticing JiSoo walking to the back of the shopo, a smirk on her face. With a deep breath, the florist placed the bouquet on the counter and glanced through his bangs at the redhead’s reaction.

 

Sungyeol was surprisingly silent as he examined the floral arrangement. Myungsoo had constructed the bouquet in a more unique way, including many of the flowers Sungyeol usually employed in his prank bouquets--white gerber daisies and bright yellow sunflowers shining through--while also adding in new blooms. Purple lilacs and white baby’s breath filled in some of the gaps between the larger buds, concealing the more hidden message in the middle--white and red roses intertwined together in a message the young florist could only hope that the taller male understood.

 

The redhead’s eyes remained glued to the arrangement before he raised his glance to finally meet the florist’s. “What--what is this?”

 

“It’s just--it’s something that I made special for you…” Myungsoo stuttered, rubbing a hand nervously.

 

“But you already taught me how to make my usual arrangement--” Sungyeol replied.

 

“It’s not for that,” Myungsoo said, feeling his confidence drifting further and further away. “It’s a...a, uh, special arrangement…”

 

“Special?” Sungyeol repeated. “But, why did you make it?”

 

“Because I--I wanted to tell you something…” Myungsoo said. “And this was honestly the only way I could think of how to say it.”

 

Sungyeol examined the bouquet once more. “Really? Let me see if I can figure it out--oh! Sunflowers and daisies--that’s pretty much how we met!”

 

Myungsoo couldn’t help but smile at the memory. “Yeah, it’d be an understatement to say that it was a pretty memorable day.”

 

“For me too!” the redhead beamed, brushing through the flowers again. “And those are lilacs… that’s baby’s breath… you always told me those were the subtle, happier accents you put into any arrangement--”

 

The florist found himself beaming, realizing that Sungyeol remembered even those tiny details about his floral designs. “That’s right too…”

 

Reaching the center roses, Sungyeol’s eyes again rose to meet Myungsoo’s, only this time with slight confusion in them. “But the roses? You always said that roses are too impactful to use often because everyone uses them for any type of love… that in order to keep their meaning, they have to be used only when you really want to express how you feel to someone…”

 

“That’s true too,” Myungsoo replied, breathing in deeply before meeting Sungyeol’s glance straight on. “And that’s why I’m giving them to you. To tell you how I feel.”

 

Sungyeol seemed to freeze in place, his hand coming off the bouquet, leaving it lying between the two men on the counter. “Wait, wait… are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

 

“S-Sungyeol, I--”

 

“Myungsoo, do you like me?”

 

The florist felt his heart almost stop at Sungyeol’s question. Seeing the confusion in the redhead’s face and the apparent surprise the other male seemed to radiate, Myungsoo felt his confidence finally erode and all he wanted to do was retreat into his office to figure out how he had royally messed up what had been a seemingly great friendship. “..L--Look Sungyeol, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said it… just forget I said anything,” the florist said weakly, reaching out to grab the bouquet in front of him.

 

“No, Myungsoo, wait!” Sungyeol’s hand quickly grasped Myungsoo’s on the arrangement. “If you like me, look, it’s fine--”

 

“It’s obviously not,” Myungsoo replied, pulling the arrangement and his hand from Sungyeol’s hold. “We’ve built this great relationship, this friendship, and I just had to go and ruin it by developing some silly crush on you and your stupid smile--”

 

“Hey!” Sungyeol exclaimed, reaching back to grab the arrangement back from the florist’s hand. “That’s mine, mister! You made it for me--you said so!” Triumphantly, the redhead pulled the blooms over to his chest.

 

“Wha--stop, no! Give that back!” Myungsoo exclaimed, unsuccessfully trying to reclaim the lost bouquet.

 

“Why should I?” Sungyeol replied with a grin.

 

Myungsoo felt the familiar flame in his cheeks at the redhead’s gaze. “Wha--uh, I mean, because…. Because… because, you obviously don’t want it. Just give it back--”

 

Sungyeol merely smirked, keeping the bouquet to his chest. “Who said I didn’t want it?”

 

The florist knew his cheeks were red at that point. “Wh--what?”
 

The redhead finally burst out laughing, leaning close to the counter separating the two of them. “Look, Myungsoo… you’re not the only one who fell for someone’s adorable smile in this shop.” Myungsoo’s eyes widened in shock and Sungyeol continued, “Yes, I came in here originally to buy a bouquet to with my roommate, but I keep coming back because of a certain dimpled, shy, adorable florist who indulges even my weirdest request--and who makes me cute, cheesy bouquets to tell me how he feels because that’s just who he is.”

 

Myungsoo couldn’t hide his blush, feeling his heart warming once more at Sungyeol’s words. As he felt the relief rush into him, the male couldn’t help but glance at the taller once more. “...So… you really like it?”

 

Sungyeol smiled once more, moving as close as he could to the florist. “Of course, I do.”

 

And before Myungsoo could even process the other male’s accepted confession, he felt another pair of lips meeting his own and all thoughts left his head. A few moments later, he was staring at Sungyeol’s bright brown eyes mere inches from his face. “Oh wait, you meant the flowers, right?” Sungyeol teased. “Yeah, those are great too.”    

---

A/N: And that's all she wrote for this one! Hopefully this was as good for you all as it was to write for me. It did feel good to be back in the fic-writing mood, I will say.

I have a couple other ideas brewing to revive some of my old stories and include some newer ones, so hopefully this isn't the last ya'll have seen of me.

Leave a note on the way out if you're so inclined!