LJ version here.

How ironic, Jongdae thinks as he stands outside his flower shop, hands on his hips as he curiously inspects the shop next door. It’s a tattoo parlour of all places, and the contrast is almost laughable.

The gothic script on the window spells out Dragon Tattoos and a black dragon curled around the letters glares back with crimson eyes. The shop hours on the door state business doesn’t open until midday but Jongdae’s already itching to know who he’s going to be working next to.

It’s only the first day of his newly-opened florist, and given the choice he probably wouldn’t have bought the building beside the tattoo parlour, but it was on the main street after all – plenty of foot traffic, parking spaces out the front and a cozy little café just across the road.

Jongdae’s arranging some white orchids in the window when his first customers come in, cooing over the pretty flowers and the freshly painted pink décor. They’re quite friendly because he’s new to the area, happy to hang around and chat and tell him the best places to go. Business picks up before noon and he wonders if he should hire someone to help out part-time.

“Sure we can, but there’ll be a delivery fee as well. Is that alright?”

The lady nods and pulls her purse to pay, and Jongdae gives her a warm smile when she tells him to keep the change.

“Have yourself a nice day, m’am!” He puts away the roses she’d ordered for her anniversary party, shelving them in a fridge in the back and sticking on a label with the delivery address she’d specified. He’d have to consider getting someone to be a courier for sure.

When he comes back out there’s only one person in the shop, some blond guy standing by himself in the corner and sniffing a bouquet of carnations festooned with ribbons. Jongdae dusts his hands and makes his way over to ask if he can be of any assistance, when the customer turns around and Jongdae sees he’s wearing a Christmas sweater with reindeers on it.

“Hi there,” Jongdae says cheerfully, hiding his puzzlement because it’s warm enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt outside and this guy seems to have gotten his festive seasons mixed up. “Can I help?”

“I like your shop.”

There is an uncomfortable silence, and the blond probably feels as awkward as he looks right now. “Oh, I meant…” He’s cute, all blushy and trying to hide behind the bouquet of carnations in his hands.

Jongdae laughs and waves it off. “Thank you,” he grins. “We just opened today.”

What he doesn’t expect to follow is a hand extended towards him for a friendly shake, but at least this guy’s face has gone back to its normal colour and there’s significantly less tension in the air.

“I’m Joonmyun, by the way,” he introduces himself with a blinding smile that has Jongdae disarmed in less than a second. “I just noticed your new shop so I thought I’d come and say hello. It’s good to meet new people in the area, you know?”

Jongdae resists the urge to coo at him. Joonmyun was just so awkwardly cute, in his silly red sweater and his mannerisms of a tongue-tied high school girl. He couldn’t be much older than Jongdae himself.

“Yeah, why not?” Jongdae spreads his hands in a welcoming gesture. “I’m Jongdae, nice to meet you. What do you know, a day into business and the people here are already so nice.”

Joonmyun laughs nervously. “We try to be as welcoming as possible. Well, I guess I should get going…” He looks down at the flowers he’s holding. “Oh. Where do these go…”

“Here, let me take them for you,” Jongdae offers quickly, swooping in and plucking the carnations from Joonmyun. “Come to the counter. Would you like a card attached?”

“U-uh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t going to buy those,” Joonmyun stammers, face going pink again.

Jongdae pauses mid-step and turns around in surprise. “You weren’t? Ah, excuse me for thinking that!” He flushes at his own mistake and moves to put them back when Joonmyun hastily grabs a random bunch of pink lilies from the display and holds them out.

“Actually, I-I wanted to get these ones,” he says embarrassedly, but both of them know Joonmyun hadn’t come to purchase anything at all. But he seems eager to please, shoving the flowers into Jongdae’s arms and pushing him over to the counter so he can pay.

“Thanks,” Joonmyun says timidly when Jongdae hands his change back. “I really needed, um, something to brighten up the place?”

Jongdae’s heard his fair share of excuses from males who come in to buy flowers so he doesn’t mind whatever Joonmyun says, really. He beams as he passes over the cluster of lilies to its new owner and chuckles to himself as Joonmyun all but runs out the door.

“Hope to see you again soon!” he calls after the blond, before going over to help another boy find flowers for his date tonight.

Jongdae plops into a chair and throws his sore feet up onto a nearby stool. What a day. It’s not yet closing time but he feels like he could do with a well-earned break. He hangs up the ‘be back in five’ sign on the door and dashes across the road to get coffee and a sandwich.

On his way back, as he’s about to let himself back into the florist, he notices the tattoo parlour is open. Now would be a nice time to pop in and say hi, he supposes, because one could always do with friends when in new places.

Balancing his coffee and sandwich in one hand, he pushes the door open with the other. The old-fashioned bell above his head jingles; did people seriously still use those?

It’s a little darker and gloomier-looking from the inside, but it’s quite clean and tidy, with couches along the window and a stack of magazines for waiting patrons. The walls are neatly lined with various tattoo designs from tribal skulls to portraits to cherry blossoms, the latter sparking Jongdae’s interest mildly – being a florist after all – and a smaller section of the wall is sectioned off for displaying piercing work offered by the parlour.

Jongdae finds a sleepy-looking kid behind the reception desk who blinks up at him briefly before greeting him. His nametag reads Jongin, written in perfect handwriting that hardly suits someone of his age.

“Hiya,” he says. “Did you already manage to get booked in for today?”

Jongdae’s about to ask what the meaning of ‘already’ is, when he spots a vase of pink lilies sitting on Jongin’s desk beside his computer.

Didn’t he just…?

“You’re the new florist next door, yeah?” Jongin asks, cocking his head.

“Sure am,” Jongdae replies, still looking at the flowers. Odd. “Did you come in today?”

“Nah, I saw you when I walked past earlier. We were wondering when you were going to come by.” Jongin smiles and a silver ring strains slightly around his plump lower lip, and he suddenly doesn’t look so sleepy anymore.

“Oh.” That sets Jongdae’s agenda a little off-kilter. “My name’s Jongdae and – hey, who’s ‘we’?”

Jongin regards him with an expression of amusement. “He really didn’t tell you?”

“Are you talking about-”

Jongin turns his head to shout out into the back, a line of silver studs from his lobe to helix glinting in the weak light of the shop. “Joonmyun-hyung, there’s someone who wants to see you!”

…Joonmyun? Jongdae’s jaw drops open. Shy, awkward-

“I’ll be there in a sec, hold on!”

Jongdae shakes his head. “It’s okay, you don’t have to, if he’s busy I can always come back-” Maybe he’d just heard wrong, or it was probably another guy with the same name, because how juxtaposed would it be for someone like Joonmyun to work at a place like this?

“You’re all good. Hyung’s working on someone at the moment but he won’t mind,” Jongin assures him, and then he appears to have dozed off again.

How juxtaposed would it be indeed, as Joonmyun himself comes out into the front and Jongdae nearly drops his sandwich in astonishment.

It’s still the same guy who’d come into the florist hours ago and made himself buy flowers just so he wouldn’t feel bad – but somehow, here in his zone, surrounded by his work and b with confidence, Joonmyun looks right at home.

He’s not even wearing his Christmas sweater, instead donning a plain white tank and black latex gloves over his hands. The most eye-catching thing Jongdae can’t stop staring at are Joonmyun’s arms; the massive dragon on his left sleeve crawls up his skin and around his bicep, stopping to sit around his shoulder. On the other arm is a collection of things Jongdae can’t quite make out from this distance, but he’s sure they’re just as daunting. A crimson rose blooms on the side of Joonmyun’s neck that hadn’t been visible under his collared shirt before, and there are several bumps under his clothing that suggest he’s hiding a few other things.

“Um,” he says with the awkwardness Jongdae’s already come to adore, “I didn’t think you really wanted to see me again…”

Nope, that’s the right Joonmyun without a doubt.

“That’s not true,” Jongdae protests. “I just…” He trails off. “I just didn’t think I was going to find you... here?”

Joonmyun flashes his trademark smile as he strips his gloves off and drops them into a nearby bin. “I know,” he says sheepishly. “I hope I don’t seem too out of place, but I did say I was in the area.”

Jongdae feels a laugh bubbling up in his chest. “You got me by surprise,” he admits, eyes crinkling at the corners, “but yeah, wow, you’re pretty cool.”

Joonmyun blushes again, and it’s just so cute to watch the awkward tattoo artist’s face go so many shades of red. “Thanks…?” It’s like he doesn’t even know he’s cute.

Jongdae looks down at the coffee and sandwich in his hands. It’s now or never before his courage flees him, and asking never did hurt anybody.

“So,” he says, now kind of wishing he’d brought some nice flowers along to make the mood, “since you’re a local, you must know where the best places for us to have coffee are, right?”

bye guysssss see you after my exams ORZ