Yoonoh remembered the day his Appa had left his life completely with Binnie.

There were no screaming, no smashing objects like he was scared of happening like what his friends at the daycare said about their parents fighting.

There was only gloomy silence and his Appa giving him one last tearful goodbye.

At the age of seven, Yoonoh knew that when his Appa packed his and Binnie’s bags, there was something wrong.

And then there was his Dad, who was begging for his Appa not to leave. Obviously, it fell on deaf ears, but eventually, his Appa had looked at him in the eyes full of anger, that even Yoonoh from a distance could feel it. He couldn’t hear their conversation as they tried to keep it down for the sake of him and Binnie who was napping beside him.

But he knew that the words he said had broken his Dad beyond repair.

And not long after that, his Appa took him in his arms for what seemed like forever before disappearing at the door along with a sleeping Binnie in his arms.

A few hours later, his Chami-hyung had to pick him up from the house with his girlfriend and stayed at his place for a few days.

Ever since then, Yoonoh had never seen his Appa and his little brother Binnie again.

Only years later, when he had been integrated in the family business, did he learn from Changmin the reason why his parents had divorced. His Dad had kept his life as a Mafia boss a secret from his Appa even after their marriage, and the way he found out didn’t help matters. A divorce was quickly drawn out, and since they had two children, the custody had been split. His Dad got to keep him, and his Appa kept Binnie, but even he knew that for the past few years, they were never a complete family, and Jaehyun had longed to see them again, no matter what it took.

And thus, thirteen years after the divorce, Jung Yoonoh, now Jung Jaehyun, a third year college student and managing his own team under the Jung Group, had found a way into the lives of his Appa and younger brother.

Moldir Florals.

…

Everything he has been preparing for was for today. From hiring the services of Ningning, to his secrecy behind Taeyong’s back. He had gotten in contact with Eunwoo, his classmate in most of his lectures, and had asked if he had somewhere he could do a part-time job for the sake of independence.

He prepared for everything, even building a friendship with the said person.

He felt bad at first for approaching Eunwoo only for him to get in contact with his Dad, but over the past few months that he had known him, he really became one of his good friends outside of his second life as a mafia heir.

So that was why he was currently walking with Eunwoo who recommended him to work at a flower shop where he also works part-time, as he had planned.

Eunwoo, noticing the nervousness of his friend, chuckled lightly, misinterpreting his nervousness.

“Calm down. Boss JJ is actually very nice. He’s been running this flower shop for years now.” he assured him.

Jaehyun grunted and scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t even know anything about running a flower shop. What do you do there?”

“Apart from selling and arranging flowers, Boss JJ provides flowers for weddings and other special occasions and directly supplies the shop. Your work mostly consists of carrying the heavy stuff and assisting in some flower arrangement classes every week or so.” Eunwoo explained. “Besides, it’s fun working there, especially with the other part-timers we have.”

“How many part-timers are there?” Jaehyun asked.

“Including Moonbin, there’s six of us. You’re the seventh part-timer.” Eunwoo counted. “And don’t worry about being found out. Taeyong and the others don’t frequent here since it’s mostly high-end here.”

Jaehyun figured that Eunwoo was right. Just by looking at the shops around them ranging from boutiques, jewelry stores and expensive reservations-only restaurants and cafes, there was no way a broke student would come here to buy something unless they were from private schools. Knowing his boyfriend, this was a place Taeyong will avoid at all costs.

He had told Eunwoo that he wanted to work part-time in order for him to have a sense of independence from his father, but he intends to keep most of his friends in the dark because this was a task that he had chosen for himself. That, and his father didn’t know what he was doing.

The only one who knew was Changmin.

“And he has no regular workers?” Jaehyun wondered.

“He does, but he keeps them at the minimum and is mostly doing the admin and backend things like deliveries for restocking and such. We part-timers man the storefront, the frontliners, if you will, and Boss JJ supervises hands-on.” he explained. “He said it was best if the young ones are manning the shop as it is best to enjoy looking at the flowers while they are in full bloom.”

“I don’t know if I agree with that philosophy, but okay.” Jaehyun relented, remembering at one point, his Uncle Changmin once told him that his Appa could be very sensitive to presentations.

When they arrived at the flower shop, one look from the black awning and gold lettering of the sign band can indicate that it was as high end as any other store in the street that he is in now. Eunwoo did inform him that people who usually go in here were well-off, and had also experienced delivering flowers on exclusive and member-only venues.

Looking at the display windows, the flower arrangement mockups could tell you that they are not fooling around with their work, and would definitely give you your money’s worth in their floriculture skills.

“Wow.” Jaehyun mused.

His friend only laughed and opened the door for the two of them, where the rest of the part-timers are now setting up some orders.

Jaehyun could see four of them in the store. Two are working on the counter, and the other two are doing orders.

“Oh, you’re here!” the one on the counter said with a bright smile, that Jaehyun could literally see flowers blooming from his aura. On his name tag was written the name, ‘MJ.’ Right beside him had the name tag of ‘JINJIN’ who was manning the shop’s laptop on the other end.

“Is this him?” JinJin asked.

Eunwoo nodded and then signaled the other two who were arranging flowers to come closer, “Everyone, this is Jung Jaehyun. Jaehyun, meet the team.” Eunwoo said as he started listing off the names of the part-timers.

MJ, whom he later realized was the hyper one in the group, is the eldest of them and is usually in charge of the register and dealing with customers.

JinJin is their main photographer for the shop’s online presence and would usually deal with online orders. Occasionally, he’s the pack mule if hands are short during deliveries and restocks. He is also the longest person in the shop to ever work with the shop since he started in high school.

Minhyuk, or Rocky, as he prefers to be called, is one of their best bouquet makers and would occasionally experiment with flower scents for some of their more demanding clients.

Lastly, Sanha, the tallest and the youngest, is also one of the newest ones in the roster, but he is quite efficient in matching flowers, and is the only one actively pursuing horticulture in his first year in college.

When he was done, Eunwoo raised a brow. “Strange. Where’s Boss JJ and Moonbin?” Eunwoo asked.

“Binnie-hyung just went to the storage to haul in the emergency delivery of white lilies that the delivery man forgot this morning.” Sanha told him.

“All by himself?” Jaehyun wondered out loud, knowing that the flowers that come in bulks tend to be too heavy to be lifted by one person alone.

JinJin laughed. “Don’t worry. He’s the strongest out of all of us. He could carry all five of us if he wants to.”

“Not the kind of intro I would like you know.”

Jaehyun recalled that the last time he had seen Moonbin, they were at the age of seven and six years old. The younger boy was always cuddled up with him when they were playing, and Jaehyun enjoyed playing with his little brother and would always squish his chubby cheeks when he had the chance. Binnie would always whine and complain, but he would still cuddle up beside his hyung. Their parents find it amusing and cute, and encourage the two to always play together nicely.

He expected the said little brother to be at the same height as MJ or JinJin, maybe even Rocky, but when he turned to look at the person who just came from the backdoor, his expectations were slashed.

In front of him was a tall young man, maybe even taller than him, and from the look of things, he seems to have a lean body figure just like him. He could tell that there were abs underneath the loose brown sweater that he is currently wearing. While his body is fit, his face says otherwise. Jaehyun mused that Moonbin had gotten to keep his adorable puppycat face and the dimples to go with it. His eyes held a warm feeling, pretty much like their Appa.

“And here’s our main part-timer, and Boss JJ’s son, Moonbin.” Eunwoo told Jaehyun.

“Nice to meet you.” Jaehyun bowed in greeting.

Moonbin simply laughed, “Yah, you’re older than me, there’s no need for that kind of greeting.” he told him. “I’m Moonbin, but you can call me Bin if you want.” he introduced himself.

“Call me Jaehyun then.” he introduced himself. “So...is this everyone?” he asked, turning to Eunwoo.

Moonbin laughed, “Yes, this is everyone in the part-time gig.” he confirmed and handed him his own beige apron with a name tag that says, ‘JAEHYUN’ in black letters. Along with it was a key on a peach blossom keychain. “Here’s your uniform and your locker key. You can put your things in the locker room first and come back here. I’ll run you through our tasks for the day.”

Jaehyun nodded as he followed the door that Moonbin pointed.

When he got inside and noticed that he was alone in the room, he let out a sigh of relief. He had gotten in without issue, and he even got to see his little brother within the first ten minutes of him being here.

Things were progressing smoothly, and Jaehyun would like to think that he will be able to integrate himself properly.

Storing his things in the locker that was designated for him, Jaehyun wore the apron and the name tag that was given to him. Looking in the mirror, Jaehyun almost did a once over on himself.

Normally when he looks in the mirror, he would always see himself as Jung Jaehyun, the eldest son and heir of the Jung Mafia Group. He would condition himself to harden his heart and mind when dealing with the family business, only allowing himself to show a portion of his true self to those he deemed as his friends and his team. The only ones he allowed to see his true self in its full glory were his father, Uncle Changmin, and Taeyong.

Now he looked at himself in the mirror and he could not see a trace of the mafia heir in it. Only his face as Jung Jaehyun, college student and now a part-timer undercover in his own Appa’s flower shop.

With a deep sigh and a small ‘fighting’ pose, he went out of the locker room only to find a new person in the storefront. From the back alone, Jaehyun could feel who this person was.

Platinum blond hair, a black and yellow sweater, denim jeans and brown chelsea boots. The man was a bit shorter than Moonbin, and he was emitting a very warm aura about him.

When Moonbin spotted him, he immediately motioned him to come closer. “Oh, Jaehyun-hyung, perfect timing.” he said. “Appa, this is Jung Jaehyun.”

At that moment, Jaehyun almost forgot to breathe as the man turned to face Jaehyun. Memories of his tender smile resurfaced, and all he could think about was how the tender smile had not changed in thirteen years. He could recall the soft whispers of lullabies and endearments and numerous ‘I love you’s that he had always heard everyday early in his childhood.

“This is my Appa, Kim Jaejoong.” Moonbin finished.

The smile that still graced him in his peaceful dreams was now in front of him, in real life, and he would ingrain the smile for the rest of his life if this would be the last time he would see them.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jaehyun.” his Appa had greeted him.

Not wanting to look like he was staring, Jaehyun bowed to him in greeting. “It’s also a pleasure to meet you, Jaejoong-sshi.”

It’s nice to see you again...Appa.

TBC