Chapter 1:

“Yixing, I need you to take the trash out!” his mom called. He rolled his eyes. In his opinion, once you graduate high school, you should graduate from doing all of the petty house-chores.

“Okay, mom!” he called down the stairs. He took his ear buds out and paused the song his iPod was playing. Then he slid off of his bed and went down the stairs. When he got into the kitchen, he glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 3:37. His eyes widened. It was later than he thought it was. He hurriedly got the garbage liners and went around the house to collect the garbage.

When he finished, he went up the stairs and grabbed his phone.

“Mom! I'm going out!” he called as he exited his house and went onto the street.

It was the beginning of the summer, and it was already hot. Lay was wearing tan cargo shorts, a red t-shirt, and brown flip flops. He was quickly walking down the sidewalk. His destination was the little flower shop on the corner. That shop was blessed with his presence every day, even though Lay didn't like flowers very much.

He crossed the street and kept walking. He was almost there. Lay felt in his back pocket to make sure his wallet was there; it was. So, he kept on walking. He e final corner before arriving at the front door. He took a deep breath, and then he pushed the door open.

Hearing the light tingling of the bell, the person behind the counter glanced up from the puzzle he was working on. Seeing the customer, he put his pen down and walked around the counter and up to him.

“Do you need any help?” he asked. He recognized this boy; he was here every day. Suho assumed he had a girl who loved flowers or something. If so, this guy was a dedicated boyfriend. The boy looked at him and smiled.

“Uh, yeah. I'm looking for the roses,” he said shyly. Suho smiled back and gestured towards the display closest to the counter.

“Over here, let me show you,” he said. He put the stand so close to his main work space because they were his favorite kind of flower, and he liked to see them. They made him happy. He led the boy over to the stand.

“Which color?” he asked.

“I'll have the prettiest looking pink one, please,” said the customer. Suho smiled at the request and went over to the pink roses. He all of the flowers delicately before selecting the best-looking one. He picked it up and showed it to the boy.

“Is this one good?” he asked.

“Perfect.”

“Okay, let me wrap it up for you,” he said. He walked over to the counter where he walked around the back, and the other boy walked around to the front.

Lay watched as he clipped the stem gently and wrapped up the bottom of the flower with a wet paper towel. When he finished, he picked up the flower with care and handed it to him. Lay blushed slightly when their hands briefly touched, but he looked down to hide his face from the older boy.

“That'll be $2, please,” Suho said. Lay reached into his pocket and got out his wallet. He fished out two $1 bills and handed them to him. Suho put the money in the cash register and looked up again. Lay bowed his head slightly.

“Thank you,” he said. Then he scurried out. Suho watched the boy go out and turn on the corner. The pink rose was his favorite, and he had been looking at that particular one all day. It didn't occur to him that the boy who was just in the store always asked for the prettiest pink rose because it was his, Suho's, personal favorite.

He rested his forearm on the counter and picked up his pen again. He resumed his puzzle.

Lay, meanwhile, was cursing at himself. Suho didn't seem to notice anything about him at all. He just treated him like a normal customer. Lay just walked into his house and brought the rose up to his room where he sat on his bed and stared at it. He got sick of staring at the delicate flower after a while. To him, it was a symbol of failure. If Suho had noticed, then he wouldn't have the stupid flower, Suho would. He picked up the flower and threw it full-force into the garbage can and flopped onto his bed.

Back at the shop, Suho had just finished his puzzle. He held up the paper and stared at his finished work. When the bell rang, signaling that a customer had come in, he put down the picture and looked at the person. His face lit up when he saw his boyfriend walking towards him.

“Xiumin!” he said and hugged him. Xiumin smiled and hugged him back.

“Are you planning to get off work any time today?” he asked when the hug was broken.

“Soon,” Suho said, smiling and waved it off.

“Soon as in 15 minutes? Or soon as in four o'clock in the morning?” Xiumin teased and raised his eyebrows.

“I only stayed in here until four o'clock once!” Suho protested and went back behind the counter.

“But I had to come out here at two in the morning five times to pry you away after the time I found you passed out on the counter at four.”

Suho scoffed behind the counter and rolled his eyes playfully.

“Whatever,” he said.

“So what time are you getting off?”

“Sometime around five...” Suho said, looking down at the counter.

“I'll be back then,” Xiumin said. Then he walked over to the counter and pecked Suho's forehead before walking out of the store. Suho smiled and pulled himself up so he was sitting on the counter. He pulled his knees up and rested his elbows on them, looking around his pretty and fragrant shop.

Lay was sprawled out on his bed and staring at the ceiling of his bedroom. He was playing with the zipper of his coat. Just pulling it down, and then pulling it back up. He was thinking about if maybe he should approach Suho, because he's been buying a flower every day for almost a year, and nothing has happened. He sighed and rolled over on his bed, glancing at the clock. It was almost eleven. He sat up and gripped the covers and slipped his toes under them and laid down under the covers. He laid his head on his pillow and closed his eyes.

Tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow, he thought.

“C'mon, Suho, it's 11:30,” Xiumin whined, tugging on Suho's sleeve.

“I'm perfectly aware of the time, Xiumin,” Suho said without lifting up his eyes.

“Then why didn't you leave with me 6 hours ago when I showed up?” Xiumin whined. He rested his chin on the counter and blinked cutely at Suho. Suho glanced up at him and smiled and blushed slightly.

“Because I had something to do,” he said and bit his bottom lip.

“You've been doing nothing but staring at that paper and occasionally writing something down!” Xiumin protested, sitting up and pointing at the paper. “What is that anyway?”

“It's--” Suho began. Xiumin snatched it away and looked at it.

“A puzzle? You blew me off for 6 hours for a puzzle?” Xiumin yelled, pointing at the paper. Suho hid his face. Xiumin put the paper back down on the counter and put his forearms on the counter and his forehead in between them. “What am I going to do with you?” Xiumin whispered. Suho just stayed silent, blushing really red into the counter.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Xiumin asked, lifting his head just a little bit to peek at him.

“I love you?” Suho said to the counter. Xiumin sighed and rolled his eyes.

“I love you too,” he said. Suho lifted his head off of the counter and smiled at him. Xiumin just put his hand on the front of Suho's head and put his head back on the counter.

“I'm still mad at you. You don't have the right to look at me,” Xiumin teased. Suho let his head be put back on the counter, but then he lifted it up again. He put his elbow on the counter and his chin on his fist and looked at Xiumin. Xiumin stuck out his tongue and walked back to the door.

“Do you want to see if there's any place to eat?” he asked and put on his coat.

“Sure,” Suho said and grabbed his coat. Then he put it on and went next to Xiumin.

“Let's go,” Xiumin said and laced his fingers through Suho's. The he leaned down and kissed Suho's cheek. Suho smiled and opened the shop door. They stepped out and Suho locked the dor behind them, and they set out.

Here's the first update! I had this chapter half-written for a couple of days, and I finally came around to finishing it. How did you like it? Oh-- and I should just warn you that updates are going to be REALLY slow. Sorry.

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