Work Text:
Gladiolus
The boy who was seated behind the counter seemed a little too taken aback from that word, from that name and his mind really felt the need to get lost in the maze that was his memory till it was able to recall the forgotten meaning of that flower’s name.
Strength, moral integrity. Something else, also. Something along the lines of gladiators, maybe? The boy felt like the two words were linked, even if he wasn’t really sure how yet. Yes, “ yet “ was the key world because the thirst of knowledge really needed to be sedated or else he’ll never be able to work again, he’ll never be able to stay focused and that wasn’t allowed. He needed to stay put, to work hard till the end of his shift in order to have at least some money to survive. Ah, being a university student was already a torture, imagine being a broke university student. Better not think about that.
His hands seemed to react quicker than his thoughts and moved from the little bouquet he was handling before to the phone that was in his jeans back pocket. Not that it was a big deal, the flowers weren’t gonna get up and leave from the front door of the flower shop, that was for sure, so maybe he could have stopped working for a little while: a break. Yeah, a break would have been good, a break would have been fucking amazing.
Personally speaking tho, the young man really didn’t want to use a pink paper to wrap those flowers. He would have preferred something more vibrant, something more eye catching, but you know, the customer’s always right. Still, he was going to complain about it to his boss nonetheless, just because he really enjoyed bothering him. Oh, oh he was going off track.
The face reflected on the screen helped him to remember what was he doing, why was he on a break: gladiolus and gladiators.
“ They are named after the Latin word Gladius due to the long and pointed shape, very similar to the roman sword used by gladiators. “
Pride. Gladiolus was a symbol of pride, the same pride gladiators had during their fights, their mortal combats that weren’t really deadly despite what movies used to showcase. The boy knew that gladiators rarely died during those matches, but still he pitied them. Not pity, more like compassion, sympathy towards those men which life was supposed to be filled only with battles, weapons and blood.
The florist loathed every form of violence, every type of physical confrontation. He failed to conceive the use of the force as a useful way to resolve problems.
Using your voice, saying what you are thinking, what are your views on a certain matter without being mean nor rude to others, those were fruitful methods to stop diatribes and misunderstandings.
Weapons, violence, oppression were all going to lead to suffering and pain.
To think that a flower as delicate and fragile as a Gladiolus was connected to something so brutal and crude it made him shiver.
Well now that his curiosity was fed, he needed to go back to work and finish that flower composition. Passiflora. Who on earth would straight up think that using Passiflora would be a great idea? Like c’mon, it was a tropical flower, clearly not meant to live in a place like Jeju. Yeah, at least winters were not as cold as in Seul but still!! Not a tropical weather!!
Too busy rummaging through the drawers in order to find which fabric and color would have been the most suitable one to finish the bouquet, the boy didn’t really notice nor hear the sound of the bell meaning that someone had entered the flower shop. But then, when he came back to the counter and he saw a standing customer looking at some orchids, he almost jumped. It was not a surprise that, you know, people came to the flower shop, but that day had been extremely boring and monotonous: literally he had had zero customers for the whole day. It was almost like an apocalypse occurred and everyone died or like, turned into zombies and its well known that zombies only like brain which wasn’t something a flower shop could give them, nor Donghyuck by any mean. Not that Donghyuck considered himself stupid, to be honest he felt like he was pretty clever if he had to say so himself, it was just one of those days where he wasn’t the wittiest of the wittiest people on earth. Blame university, that shit was tiring, and he really just needed some time to relax, maybe sleeping for more than?? four hours per night?? Yeah, that sounded pretty nsfw.
Anyways, back on the customer: the florist could swear he never ever saw his face before which was already fucking festive because it meant he wasn’t going to worry about that Passiflora bouquet for another short amount of time. Poor tropical flowers, he was pretty sure they’ll be dead in around three days. Ah, what a terrible end.
.. Back to the customer, again: Donghyuck really was having a hard time staying in focus that day. It was a boy, the customer was a boy. A new boy. A cute boy. Like, a really really cute boy. Not as handsome nor as breath taking as his boss mr Nakamoto was, but still cute.
it was a captivating face, the boy thought. Maybe because it was the first time he saw him, which was weird, in a way. The store wasn’t in the center of Jeju, it was in the suburbs and the clientele was always the same. The same old grannies that asked for the same hibiscus; the same old men asking for the same old red roses ( which, by the way, c’mon? roses were ok but like? there were a lot of other beautiful flowers? ugh he really hated when people kept on buying the same stuff over and over again. and also roses were too overrated ), so having some new customer was pretty much a miracle. Even better when the new customer was THAT cute. His facial features were so fresh, so different from Donghyuck’s usual view, that he really couldn’t stop himself from staring. It was a new territory for him, and god forbid he was gonna take full advantage of the new scenery. He was so curious, so taken aback by this breath of fresh air, that he completely forgot the good manners a nice employee needs to have. Better stay in track young man, he told himself.
“ Welcome! Can I help you? Are you looking forward buying some flower? “
Well no shit Sherlock, of course he was looking for some flowers, he entered a flower shop not a pharmacy. But like, how funny it would have been if cute stranger asked for like?? some paracetamol?? Yeah, that really would have made Donghyuck’s day.
“ Oh! Well .. to be honest I have no idea .. like yeah! I want to buy flowers I guess “ cute stranger spoke “ Flowers are pretty, this place is pretty, I was kinda drawn to it I guess, that why I opened the door and – well, and entered. “
Oh no, oh no the stranger was embarrassed. Oh no, the stranger was blushing. No, no, no, it couldn’t be true, he was even cuter, the fuck? His little mole on the side of one of his cheeks was becoming less and less visible under the shade of red that was now taking over his cute face. That was no good, he wasn’t allowed to be this cute, for god’s sake.
“ Cute. Well, may I ask you if the flowers are gonna be a gift? Like a present for a mother maybe, or a father, or a sibling, a girlfriend, a boyfriend even! We don’t discriminate. “
But said stranger kept on shaking his head without saying anything. Then it wasn’t a gift for someone. Man, Donghyuck really couldn’t help him if he didn’t know who would have received the flowers.
“ A bouquet for yourself then! It’s always good to buy something for ourselves, you know? We deserve flowers too and I’m pretty sure you are a fully capable and a very hard-working man. You seem like someone who will work till the very end of his shift without complaining and maybe even taking more work than what you are supposed to. You look extremely gentle and kind maybe we can work on that! There are a lot of flowers that’ll go well with that type of personality, with your type of personality. Maybe we can use something a little more refined, I feel like that would be perfect. Yeah, something more precious since your face is so new to me, I feel like you deserve something special so that you’ll remember this flower shop even when you’ll be far away from this town while the only thing that I would have left from you will be some cash but ehy, at least I’ll meet you again in my dreams lover boy. Maybe some delicate flower and not too loud unlike me, the boy who’s been talking nonstop for the past three minutes and please say something or I’m gonna keep flirting with you because that’s what I do when someone as charming as you is willing to listen to me for so long. Not that I’ve ever met someone as charming as you before anD NOT THAT I FLIRT WITH EVERYONE OH MY GOD PLEASE HELP ME I’M DYING UP HERE “
That was it, Donghyuck screwed everything up. Damn, why wasn’t he able to have normal conversations with cute boys? Like, was it asking too much??? Being able to not make a fool out of himself was too much?? AT LEAST not in front of cute stranger™. He wanted to bury himself face down, maybe his next life would be better than this one, though he wasn’t so sure about it knowing how much of a pain in the ass he was to his boss, but in his defense it was too much fun seeing mr Nakamoto Yuta san being all angry but not really angry because “ Donghyuck oh my god, you are lucky you are cute “ and then giving the younger boy some time off because “ you are too funny, I can’t be mad at you, thank you for keeping me company and making me all happy “. Maybe that was it, maybe whoever was upstairs really enjoyed seeing him suffer, maybe it was entertaining for him/her/them.
Still, Donghyuck had to make eye contact with the boy, with the customer. Maybe he was going to buy something anyway. The thing was, Donghyuck didn’t expect the boy to become a hot mess, all red and shy, all fidgety and nervous giggles. Cute. Damn, he was cute.
“ Well since we are .. being honest, or at least saying what we’re thinking out loud, I guess I can tell you that like – the gift, yeah .. “
Oh no, no. the florist could feel the tension. Probably the stranger was gonna tell him that he made him uncomfortable and he was gonna leave one of those nasty reviews and maybe sue him. Well, he deserved this, Donghyuck really needed to bite his tongue before speaking, and for crying out loud, stop flirting with cute and shy boys. But cute and shy boys were his kryptonite, and this cute and shy boy even had glasses. Like, what the fuck?? That was not fair, life was not fair. At least he’ll be able to see cute stranger in court. Yeah, that’ll be nice. Imagine going home to your parents and be like “ mom, dad, I got sued by a cute boy because I flirted with him a little too much damn right I know I’m a mess do you think the judge would be merciful if I tell him that said cute boy was wearing specks and that I’m a weak bitch for soft cute shy charming glasses-wearing soft boys? “. Yeah, that could work.
“ Yeah ok, I came into this flower shop after five whole minutes of standing in front of the door watching you do your things just because you looked endearing while working with those flowers .. “
Wait. Wait sorry what? Cute boy was not mad? Cute boy was – wait, did he just compliment him? Man, that was unexpected. Should Donghyuck say something? No wait better shut up, he really didn’t want to appear in court, even if it meant meeting the stranger again.
“ And your touch – like, your touch seemed so gentle, you seemed so gentle towards those petals and I .. I guess I kinda wished I was a flower too?? Uh?? And I wanted to see that up close, like I wanted to see your hands up close and kind of like also your face and everything yeah .. I didn’t even think I would have been brave enough to open the door but I’m right here now and I guess uh I have to buy something but I don’t know anything about flowers and I don’t even have a favorite one so I guess you can make a bouquet for me and then I can buy it?? Yeah, yeah please make me a bouquet, I trust you. “
Well, that escalated quickly. One second he was ready to be in jail and the next one he was running around the shop in order to find some cute flower for that boy. And he was nervous, Donghyuck felt nervous. He really didn’t know why, since making a bouquet with no strings attached was the thing he loved the most about his work, and yet here he was, being all jumpy and shit.
He decided to use what he had, what he learned from the small ( and embarrassing ) talk he had with the cute stranger to choose the flowers and .. oh, maybe?? Maybe he could?? Like, he really didn’t want to have a restraining order from him but?? Maybe he could ask, right? To ask some information, right?? For the bouquet, of course!!
“ So .. may I ask you your name?? You know, some flowers go better with certain names than others, yeah. And also, mine is Donghyuck. “
Ok, that was a lie, he was completely, fully, entirely and utterly lying. There was no such thing as good names and bad names for flowers, but it was not like there was any other way to ask his name, right? Right??
“ Oh uhm, Mark. The name’s Mark. And your name is very pretty, Donghyuck. I bet every single flower goes well with your name. “
Oh man, OH MAN, was cute stranger™ flirting? Man, was he flirting with him? Cute stranger really was something else, going from shy giggles to smooth smirk in just a matter of seconds.
“ I mean you are not too bad yourself, Mark. I MEAN YOUR NAME, YOUR NAME IS A PRETTY NAME TOO, I WASN’T REFERRING TO YOUR FACE. NOT THAT YOUR FACE ISN’T GOOD. YOU GOT A VERY NICE FACE, VERY NICE TO LOOK AT and damn I’m rambling let me work on this flower composition please. Are you perhaps a vampire, sir? Usually I’m better at flirting back than this, are you sucking all of my smoothness away, sir? “
Yeah cool, Donghyuck gained back his composure, that was a win if you asked him. At least he kind of saved himself. He really needed to focus on the flowers, though. But cute Mark really had the audacity to laugh. And it was a cute laugh, and his nose was all scrunched and his eyes were shut together and his eyebrows flew up and .. man, Donghyuck really was fucked, he forgot all the meanings behind flowers. That was not going as planned. Literally, his mind kept on going back to one of those memes like:
‘ Donghyuck: ok back to business
Donghyuck, two seconds later: I’m filling a missing person’s report for my heart because that shit got stolen the exact same moment Mark giggled ‘
And that was not funny, at least not to Donghyuck which was literally grabbing flowers without even thinking about it, just hoping they’ll look cute together. I mean, they all were kind of cute together, not gonna lie. He had always had a nice eye for complementing colors, but he preferred when the flowers held a special meaning instead of looking pretty. But apparently his brain decided to shut down so no more cool facts nor legends about the chosen flowers for poor Mark.
“ Donghyuck, uh .. sorry if I made you uncomfortable it’s just that you really look in your element while you are surrounded by flowers and that kind of took my breath away. Not, uh, I hope I don’t sound too much like a creep, but I really think that you are very pretty, and I was wondering if you would like to make me some more bouquet next time?? I just moved here and I don’t know any other flower shops but I feel like I’m gonna be stuck in your shop for a long time because yeah uhm you look very .. nice?? I mean, when you do your things, when you work and yeah man better shut up, I’m making a fool out of myself ain’t I? “
Other .. oh so he wanted other flower compositions because he looked pretty while making them? Well, that was a first. Not that someone told him he was pretty, Donghyuck knew he was at least nice to look at because that’s what his mother told him, and what Yuta told him and all his friends, but no one had ever complimented him like that. Every word Mark told him was wrapped in such a tiny layer of courage, almost as if Mark was trying so hard not to be all shy and blushes around him and that was cute, Donghyuck thought, but also extremely brave. And suddenly Donghyuck remembered. Not really, not that much, but he remembered the right flower, the only flower needed. How could he forget?
He excused himself so that he could go in the back of the shop, reassuring Mark he’d come back soon and then, after five whole minutes, he reappeared with a freshly made bouquet. Well, it was just a little posy of flowers, but that was more than enough. The paper was white, yeah not that eye catching, but he supposed the flowers needed to be the center of the composition and not some useless wrapping.
“ Strength of character, never giving up: it just felt right, it just felt like that’s your flower, Mark. “
The boy seemed surprised, and Donghyuck couldn’t blame him. He literally spent ten minutes picking up random flowers from the shop to just come back with a completely different bouquet made of just one genre.
“ Also, not to startle you but it also means infatuation. EHY KEEP YOUR WALLET IN YOUR POCKET this one is on the house, am feeling generous today cute boy. “
Mark, poor young man, looked like he didn’t know what to say, he was frozen in his place with the flowers in one hand and the wallet in the other, but his shyness melted away as soon as he realized that on the wrapping there was a business card with not only the information of the flower shop, but also a number written with a pen: was it Donghyuck’s phone number?
“ I’m sorry does that mean I’m allowed to text you?? Because it sure looks like that. “
Oh cute boy was being oblivious and dense on purpose right? Good, Donghyuck liked to play.
“ Yeah please when you give Gladioli to someone it also mean send nudes so better not crush my hopes up young man. “
Ok not gonna lie, making Mark a red mess was something that really made Donghyuck feel better about the whole flirting and risking a restraining order stuff. But apparently Mark also was feeling bold so he removed one of the flowers from the composition ( which?? rude?? Donghyuck wanted to woop his ass. he worked so hard on that bouquet and he really felt the need to ruin it?? cute boy or not, Mark was going to square up and catch those fists screw the whole non violence that he was preaching before) just so he could give it to the florist followed by a little ‘ well please send some to me too then ‘ and. AND. He smirked. He had the audacity to smirk. And yes, maybe Donghyuck wouldn’t be able to engage a physical fight with him because yes, now it was his turn to blush which was fair, he deserved it.
“ Ok but really, since you just moved, please feel free to text me if you need something. It’s fun talking to you, I enjoyed our conversation even if it was awkward at some point, but I guess we could say that the fault was mine. I mean, it was yours because you are all cute and shit but I’m going to take full responsibility for the embarrassing attempts of flirting that I made so .. just text me, ok? If you want to, of course. “
The boy smiled at him, both knowing it was time to part away but it didn’t stroke Donghyuck as a goodbye, it was almost as they made a tacit promise to meet one another sooner or later, more sooner than later, and for that Donghyuck was thankful.
The customer, Mark, was not even near the door of his shop when the florist received a message, a cute message nonetheless. Just a flower emoji, but that was more than enough for him to know that it was Mark. After saving the number and watching his new friends?? walking away to god’s knows where, he decided it was about damn time to answer him and so he did.
‘ Gladiolus also means infatuation, Mark. Please take your responsibility and see you soon. ‘
And Donghyuck knew, he knew he made the right choice intrusting him, in giving him a bouquet of Gladioli. He just knew it from the moment he walked in his flower shop and he kept on knowing it every time the boy came back, day after day, week after week. They weren’t able to meet every day, both of them had a job and other personal commitments but they learned to carve out some time for each other. It was never something big, they would hang out in parks or museum or cinemas. They didn’t like going out to party, also, so the nights spent together were always boring in a way, always on the couch watching television or talking about how much of a bummer it was for Mark working as a waiter in one of the restaurant in the center of Jeju even if he really wanted to be a music teacher. But Donghyuck’s job was to reassure the boy, that he needed money for the university in order to become a teacher. And Donghyuck knew, he knew Mark was going to be one hell of a good teacher, he could feel it. He was caring, nice, patient and overall warmhearted. But also strong, brave, ambitious. A Gladiolus. Yeah, Mark was the epitome of a Gladiolus.
And Donghyuck knew everything was going to be fine, Donghyuck knew it but still kept on reassuring the boy even the night before his first day as a teacher in the local elementary school. He kept on reassuring him when he made one of his students cry because he had to give him a bad mark.
And Donghyuck knew he made the right choice when he inherited the flower shop because his boss decided to move back to Japan, and he knew he made the right choice when Mark got so thrilled as soon as he gave him the news and started to hug him and shower him with affection. And Donghyuck knew.
And Donghyuck knew everything was going to be alright when the two went on the beach as always, since it was the youngest favorite place, because Mark enjoyed watching him playing with the sand like a baby, even though they were old enough to probably have a baby themselves. And Donghyuck knew it was fine when he saw Mark on his knee that same day, waves soaking his jeans, holding a necklace with some generic flowers as a pendant. It wasn’t a proposal, Donghyuck knew it, Donghyuck knew everything about Mark, it was just a promise.
“ Stay with me forever “, he said. The cute stranger said, Mark said. And Donghyuck knew he made the right choice when he agreed, and they moved together. Donghyuck knew everything was going to be fine when Mark asked him to come back to Canada with him for some weeks just so he could make a true proposal and they could marry there. And Donghyuck knew it was the right choice when he said yes and he found out all of his friends were also in Canada and Mark had organized everything beforehand so they could have their wedding surrounded by the people he cherished the most which were the little group of friends they made towards the years. Nineteen friends and some family members since not everyone was happy to hear that their son was getting married with another man, but that was fine, everything was going fine. They had each other and they had nineteen other friends, for fucks sake. They had their own little family too, their supportive little family and that was what Donghyuck cared about.
And Donghyuck knew he made the right choice as soon as they kissed, as soon as he heard his friends cheering, his friends crying, his friends loving them. Their friends, they were their friends. And Donghyuck loved every single one of them, from the oldest to the youngest, from the tallest to the tiniest, from the most exuberant one to the shyest. He loved them and he loved Mark and he knew, he knew he made the right choice when he threw the bouquet he made himself to god’s knows where. He knew he made the right choice when Mark gave him a single Gladiolus and said “ Strength of character, never giving up, infatuation. I take full responsibility of my action, Donghyuck. I love you. “
And Donghyuck knew everything was going to be alright. He knew he made the right choice and kissed him. And never once he looked back and regretted choosing a Gladiolus for Mark. Not even once.