Minseok needed to take a nap.

 He had just gotten back from running the graveyard shift at the cafe, when his phone dinged. He sat up and rubbed his eyes wearily, opening the Messages app.

Little Sis 😇😇😇

 hello?

 hello?

 are you up yet?

 minseok? minseok? minseok?

 IT’S AN EMERGENCY

Minseok

What is it?

This better be good...

I woke up for you and I haven’t slept in almost sixteen hours….

you know the family reunion that we were having today

the one that you’re NOT GOING TO

I already told you I don’t need that in my life

ok ok 😕

I’m going back to bed

no wait the decorator canceled 😠😠😠

Wait, people hire decorators for family reunions now?

Was that always a thing?

we need someone to go grab flowers it’s for the centerpiece

No

please?

pretty please pretty please with vanilla chocolate honey and a cherry on top?

Just get your cousins to do it or something

Or just don’t get flowers?

Flowers are gross

Flowers are reproductive organs

STOP

It’s the truth

you still owe me one favor from last time though

you know, that time

No

yess

You’re evil

i’m RESOURCEFUL

I’m changing the angels to satan heads

🙄

i need the flowers in thirty minutes

i’ll meet you outside the house

Ugh

When can a man sleep for once

Any colors in mind?

idk

idc

just don’t get white crysatmum

*chrysanthemums

these are old superstitious people

Ok

tysm

though I knew i could count on you

YOU ALMOST BLACKMAILED ME

true true

bye

I’ll see you in thirty minutes

 As much as Minseok would have liked to pass out and forget about the whole thing, he wasn’t sure if his good person mentality was forcing him to stay awake, or if he was just a pushover that couldn’t say no. He threw on a pink hoodie and made his way to downstairs to his car.

 Minseok pulled out of the parking lot and shook his head, sighing to himself. He would have to find a decent flower shop in town, but he hadn’t ever gone into one of those places, or cared enough to notice a nice establishment floating around. Up until a few months ago, he didn’t even know what a florist was. Also, to make matters worse, his “college student living alone budget” made it nearly impossible to afford any sort of navigation advice, so he would just have to make do with his pair of slightly nearsighted eyes.

 “Flower shop, flower shop, flower shop…” he mumbled to himself, adjusting the rear view mirror. Minseok had zero idea where he was going as he took a right and drove into the city’s newer suburbs. He had kept his eyes peeled the whole time; whatever that meant, but still, there was little sign of anything except for the occasional McDonald’s and Starbucks.

 Finally, his eyes darted towards the corner of a well-groomed street, bordered with neatly trimmed square bushes, and wilted purple blooms. Minseok parked the car in a secluded area from down the street, and paid the parking fee before strolling towards the flower shop.

 From outside, the store was a cute place, with a sea green awning, and little succulents that lined the windowsills. Rainbow pinwheels stuck out at odd angles in a mesh hanging basket, and Minseok reached for one with youthful delight, laughing when he blew softly to make edges spin.

 Inside the flower shop, was total disorder. He couldn’t help but feel in awe when he walked inside. Blossoms filled each and every corner of the place, with red, yellow, pink, green and blue. The arrangements, neatly stacked on a shelf, bursted with a refreshing scent. Minseok wanted to stop and literally smell the roses, which were full and plump with satin petals. He hadn’t even known that even something as seemingly simple as flowers could be somehow so diverse and richly complex.

 “Um, hello? You’re, uh...not exactly supposed to be touching that. Uh. Yeah.” It took Minseok a while to register the voice coming from behind him.

 “Oh. Sorry.” Minseok dropped the rose back into the spotted vase, and turned his face up to get a good look at the employee. His eyes widened, and Jongdae’s face mirrored his. He couldn’t tell who was more surprised.

 “What are you doing here?”

 “I….work here.” The response was surprisingly dull, and Minseok wanted to beat himself up for asking such a dumb question.

 Of course it made sense that Jongdae worked here. It seemed to suit him, at least.

 “I’m also a university student,” Jongdae quickly added. “I study botany as my major, which is why I took up this job. Also, I like flowers.” Jongdae’s expression seemed to sour a little bit at the last line. “Don’t you dare judge me.”

 “I wasn’t judging you.” Minseok held up both hands in surrender. “I think I like flowers too, now that I'm in this shop..." he said sheepishly.

 Jongdae’s shoulders untensed. “Oh.”

 It was weird seeing Minseok like this, without the classic barista uniform that all the employees at EXODUS had to wear everyday. Granted, Jongdae had only seen Minseok once, and that was yesterday, but the former felt that he was going to be more or less a permanent part of his life. Also, he snuck Jongdae a third bagel yesterday, which was nice.

 “Is there anything I can do for you today?” Jongdae wiped a smear of potting soil from the back of his hand.

 Look presentable.

 “Actually, yes. I was hoping you could help me choose some flowers for a family reunion. The decorator canceled.”

 “Wait, people hire decorators for family reunions now?” Jongdae shook his head like he couldn’t believe it.

 “I know! It’s so weird, but apparently….”

 The florist lead Minseok to the front of the shop, pausing once in a while to nudge a pot away with his foot or clip a cutting from a green branch. “Do you want an arrangement, or a bouquet?”

 “A bouquet would be nice, but I’m not exactly sure.”

 “You’re not exactly sure....?” “What flowers scream family reunion?” The corner of Jongdae’s mouth lifted, and Minseok smiled back, somewhat pleased that his lame not-joke had worked. The boy looked damn cute when he smiled, anyways.

 And with Jongdae’s adorable grin, whatever aloofness spell that had been cast over the two of them disintegrated instantly.

 “Is there a color combination?” Jongdae asked. Minseok shook his head. “I don’t know. Knowing my family, almost nothing’s good enough for them.”

 Oof.

“You know what,” Minseok corrected, “It doesn’t really matter. You should go with pink or white.”

 “Good choice,” Jongdae murmured, practically skipping around the shop in his newfound excitement.

 “A rose,” he singsonged, as he plucked the pink flower from a jar. Minseok followed him around, amused. Soon, a group of ranunculuses joined, followed by a vine of vibrant sweet peas. The florist leaped and bounded around cheerfully, t flowers and adding them to his clutch.

 “Beautiful,” Jongdae said, contentedly.

 Minseok struggled to hide his wide smile behind his jacket sleeve, and opted to fake a cough.

 Jongdae laid the flowers into a sheet of cellophane and elegantly tied them up with a coral ribbon, holding them out for Minseok to see.

 “Done! What do you think?”

 Minseok “coughed” again. “It’s more beautiful than I’ll ever be.”

 Jongdae beamed up at Minseok before handing him the bouquet.

 “It even matches your clothing.”

 Pink is my favorite color.

  “That will be $24.99.” The florist said.

 Minseok handed over his credit card.

 “You know, I didn’t see you in the coffee shop this morning. It was only Sunny today.”

 The barista’s heart warmed. Was someone in the world actually implying that they wanted to see him?

 “She didn’t give me the free bagels either.” Jongdae pouted, and quickly noticed how entitled he sounded.

 Kim Jongdae, be normal please.

 If Minseok noticed, he didn’t seem to care. “ I try to work as many shifts as I can. I’ve always wanted to be a barista,” he said. “There’s something really soothing about coffee. I can’t get over it.”

 Jongdae met Minseok’s eyes. “That’s exactly how I feel about flowers.”

 Minseok picked up the bouquet and Jongdae reached over to hand back the credit card.

 “Thanks for visiting. I’ll see you around…..Minseok.” The florist waved at him as he exited the shop.

 Once outside, Minseok was free to smile however much he wanted without looking like a weirdo. So he did just that, practically skipping back to his car, and grinning like an idiot. The bouquet was placed as gently as he could manage, into the passenger seat.

 Nothing was going to dampen his mood today. Not even potentially seeing his family.