Chapter Text
It started like this:
When Yunho had told Mingi that he had a job for him, Mingi had been sceptical. Sure, he needed a job, which would hopefully help him move out of Yunho and Seonghwa’s sofa before winter arrived, but the black cat hybrid also didn’t want to be a charity case for his best friend.
(“If you wanted to kick me out, you could’ve just said so, Yunho.”
“Make a bad joke about that again and I’m washing your mouth with soap. Now come get your dinner, you silly cat.”)
Despite Yunho’s best attempts at reassuring Mingi that the job had been a coincidence, that the dog hybrid really hadn’t gone out of his way to find him work and it hadn’t been trouble at all, it wasn’t until Seonghwa arrived home later at night that Mingi began to look at things from a different perspective.
“Both the manager and I are basically useless in winter, which leaves only one fully functional employee in the shop. He asked if we knew someone who might want to work there, and I thought of you,” explained Seonghwa. Mingi could see some of Seonghwa’s shiny salamander scales peeking out from the collar of Seonghwa’s thick knit sweater; although the worst of it was yet to come and that fall hadn’t been as cold, Seonghwa was already wearing multiple layers of clothes in order to keep his body temperature in check. “Besides, I only suggested he had an interview with you; whether you get the job or not, I have no power over that. Just think about it, yes?”
And Mingi had thought about it, and had decided to go to the interview, and had got the job so quickly he had been tempted to refuse it.
(“He barely asked questions, hyung. That’s a red flag, like, anywhere. And people just aren’t that welcoming to black cats, usually. How desperate are you all for help?”
“...Only a bit.”)
And so Mingi had started working at Blooms and Petals, a small flower shop in an even smaller district of the city.
The job wasn’t bad at all. Mingi woke up early in the mornings and helped whoever was on the morning shift with setting everything ready for the day, then took care of the boxes when the shop received new flowers, and even took care of deliveries sometimes. Most of the clients, he noticed, were elderly hybrids and the occasional family, sometimes even a couple, but all in all the days passed quietly at the shop.
Mingi was glad that the hybrids working there were agreeable, too. He had known Seonghwa since the salamander hybrid had started dating Yunho a few years back, and having a familiar face around had helped Mingi soothe the jitters of working at a new place. Then there was Choi Jongho, a bear hybrid younger than him, who was actually the grandson of the shop owners and was acting as current manager, and the one to hire Mingi. Jongho was one of the best put-together hybrids Mingi had met in a while, and the two of them had gotten along fast. And then there was Kang Yeosang, a crow-tit hybrid that was possibly one of the most beautiful hybrids Mingi had ever seen. Mingi had been delighted to discover that Yeosang’s hair was actually a mix of hair and feathers, giving him a fluffy and soft appearance.
(“Don’t let his face trick you, he loses feathers everywhere when he’s stressed and it’s a nightmare to clean them up,” said Jongho.
Yeosang sprayed him with a water bottle for that.)
All in all, things were good. Better than good, if Mingi let himself hope. It would be a while before he could move out to live on his own, but he was relieved that he didn’t need to worry about finding shelters like before, and he could take care of his own groceries now instead of relying on Yunho and Seonghwa for the most basic things.
Things were looking up, and Mingi was content.
Some weeks later, when Mingi would be nervously trying to stop his swaying tail from giving him away in front of a drenched snow leopard hybrid, he would blame Jongho’s pout for ever finding himself in that situation.
“Mingi-hyung, I’m promoting you to customer service right now. Congrats!”
Mingi choked on the sandwich he was eating during lunch break.
“What do you mean, promotion? Customer service? That’s not on my contract!”
“It is now.” Jongho smiled. Mingi frowned at him until he sighed. “Okay, listen. I got a call from the clinic, turns out my grandma fell on the way home and I really need to go check on her. The nurse said it’s not serious, but I’m not letting her go back alone.”
“Shit, Jongho, I’m so sorr-”
“And Seonghwa-hyung can’t come cover for me right now, and Yeosang-hyung is working at the cafe today, and if my grandma knows that I closed the shop early she’ll have my head, hospitalised or not. So, you’re my last option.”
Mingi swallowed with difficulty; his throat was dry, and he could feel the tell-tale signs of anxiety beginning in his stomach. Suddenly, he wasn’t hungry anymore. It wasn’t that he didn’t like interacting with others, he just wasn’t confident in his customer service skills. He didn’t want to scare half the elderly women who came regularly off and have them gossip badly about the shop.
Sensing his unease, Jongho tried to calm him down.
“I don’t think there’ll be that many customers today anyway, with the way it’s been raining. If anyone comes, there’s a flower code cheat sheet next to the register, or you can even tell them to come back tomorrow if you want. Anyway, Seonghwa-hyung shouldn’t take too long either for his shift,” explained Jongho. “Please, just this once?” He pouted.
So Mingi found himself spending the afternoon sitting behind the counter, alternating between tapping his fingers on his knee, twisting his tail in his hands in a nervous habit that had never quite gotten away, and jumping in alert at any sound that came from outside. He had already attended to two elderly ladies who had come to get their requests, all the while putting on his friendliest smile and trying not to make a fool of himself (it hadn’t stopped the ladies from looking at him warily and exiting the shop quickly), and a duo of mother and daughter who, thankfully, only wanted a pink flower (the mother had insisted that any type of flower would be fine, as long as it was pink), to which Mingi had been more than happy to oblige.
To be honest, Mingi was secretly hoping that no one else would come, or that they would at least wait until Seonghwa arrived so Mingi could go back to the staff room and hide until closing time. He was all too aware of the fact that other hybrids found him intimidating. Was it his height? Or maybe he had a rude resting face? It wouldn’t be the first time someone had assumed him to be an unapproachable hybrid based on first impressions, no matter how much Yunho insisted that Mingi was 'the softest kitty that deserved everything good in the world'.
He was caught up in his mind when the door opened abruptly. Startled, Mingi nearly fell off the chair and looked up to see a very drenched hybrid entering the shop, muttering curses under their breath. The hybrid looked up, and Mingi’s breath caught up in his throat.
The hybrid who had just arrived was a snow leopard, if Mingi assumed that the darker spots on the other’s undercut were natural and not some extremely realistic dye job, and just looking at him picked Mingi’s interest, his tail swaying behind him. Even drenched, the hybrid had already been tagged as “someone super cool” in Mingi’s mind.
If only he weren’t glaring at Mingi.
“You’re not Jongho,” he said, almost accusingly.
“Sorry.” Mingi winced. His initial interest had changed into nervousness. What even was he apologising for? Not being Jongho? “He’s out right now. Can I help you with anything?”
The snow leopard grimaced, looking around the shop like he expected Jongho to jump out from behind the plants at the back while screaming ‘Gotcha!’.
What Mingi wouldn’t give for that to happen right then.
“Is he going to take long?” The hybrid shivered and shook his head, sending droplets of water everywhere. “It’s kind of important.”
Mingi frowned, his heart beating fast. “I’m not sure.” He tried to tame his tail and keep his ears straight despite his nerves. “Can I help you? If not, you could wait until another coworker gets here. Should be here any moment now.” He gave a strained smile. “Or I could take note of your order, and then you could come back tomorrow, to sort it out with Jongho.”
The hybrid had a troubled expression on his face. With his arms crossed, he looked every bit as uncomfortable as Mingi felt. Finally, he nodded.
“Yeah, okay, let’s do that.”
“Great,” said Mingi, although nothing about the situation was ‘great’. He fumbled around the counter, looking for a notebook or a memo pad or anything where he could write. He finally found a discarded paper and a pen, and looked back to the snow leopard, waiting for him to talk.
The other looked at him with less animosity and more curiosity, like he’d never seen someone write down an order before. His tail swished once, twice.
“You’re new here, aren’t you?”
Mingi nodded.
“I thought as much,” he muttered. He didn’t give Mingi time to feel offended by the remark before squaring his shoulders and speaking louder. “I need five thousand flowers for a wedding reception two months from now, mostly small bouquets but possibly some arrangements as well, the bride hasn’t decided yet. Preferably white and pink, nothing too strong, even better if they’re winter flowers or something like that.”
Mingi stared at the snow leopard, his hand writing down the instructions on its own. The other hybrid stared back. Embarrassed at what could be misinterpreted as a show of misplaced feline intimacy, Mingi quickly broke eye contact and read the order back out loud.
“Five thousand flowers for a wedding, bouquets, white and pink, winter, in two months, yes?”
“Yes. Arrangements too, write it just in case, please.”
“Right.” Mingi bit his lip. He wasn’t sure of how they were going to fit that amount of flowers in their storage room and the fridges, but he decided to leave that discussion to Jongho. “Did you have a specific type of flower in mind?”
The hybrid hesitated. “I think… I’d rather discuss it with Jongho when I come back. He’ll have some ideas by then, anyway.” He nodded; whether to reassure Mingi or himself, Mingi wasn’t sure.
“Sure. I’ll tell him to expect you, then.”
“Okay. Thank you.” The hybrid hesitated for a few moments before looking back at Mingi. “Good luck with the job.” Then he turned and rushed out the door onto the pouring rain.
“...Thank you?” said Mingi into the empty shop.
Mingi stayed quiet for a few minutes, breathing deeply to calm his heart. Later, when he recounted what had happened to Seonghwa, Mingi had three realisations:
The first realisation was that the snow leopard, despite seeming a bit harsh, had been the only customer to wish him good, which made Mingi feel warm, a small smile forming on his lips.
The second realisation was that the shop had a perfectly fine notebook where they could write down orders and the contact details of the customers, and it was inside the first drawer of the counter.
The third and final realisation was that not only had Mingi embarrassed himself by not finding said notebook, but he had also completely forgotten to get the hybrid’s contact information, so he had no way of saying who exactly had come to the shop, even if he seemed familiar with Jongho. Mingi felt like crawling into a hole and entering hybrid hibernation himself from such a newbie mistake.
“It sounds like the one who came in was Hongjoong,” said Seonghwa while petting behind Mingi’s ears in an attempt to console him. “He’s kind of a regular here, don’t worry about it.” At Mingi’s sceptical noise, Seonghwa insisted. “Really, it’s all good. Knowing him, he’ll be back tomorrow. You did well, Mingi, really.”
The next day, Mingi learned from Yeosang that Kim Hongjoong was an event planner that usually worked with the flower shop. Despite the shop being on the small side of businesses, they sometimes acted as suppliers for different event planning agencies, and Hongjoong’s company had been a regular for little more than a year. Yeosang also told him that Kim Hongjoong had indeed come back and kidnapped Jongho to the cafe down the street to talk about his order, and Mingi had just missed them by a few minutes while delivering in the neighbourhood.
Kim Hongjoong had also asked about Mingi, although not directly and with different words because he was 'a little gremlin, like that', in Yeosang’s words.
So Mingi decided, while twisting his tail in his hands and after catching himself looking out the windows in hopes of catching a glimpse of the snow leopard, that next time he met Kim Hongjoong, he would make a better impression. Maybe, he would even try to start a conversation.
Things were looking up again, and Mingi was happy.