Archive of Our Own

Dongho’s eyelids were starting to feel heavy as he tried to keep himself awake on the shop’s counter. It's a Saturday morning and he's waiting for the new recruit to come. Waking up at this ungodly hour was a mistake, but Dongho made a lot of mistakes in his life, so it’s nothing new. A yawn overcame him once more and that’s, what, the fifth time this morning?

He knew for a fact that he's not a morning person on the weekends, so as the clock ticked, he felt more and more regret for asking the guy to move in on this particular day at this particular time. He could’ve asked the guy to come on a Sunday evening, but he decided to be an idiot and do this.

Though, there was no other day more ideal than a Saturday morning for doing something like this since Dongho scheduled the shop to open later at ten when it's usually at eight.

The ringing of the bell above the door startled Dongho into feeling more aware as he jolted and stood up to greet whoever was at the door.

"Good morning!"

By God was the new recruit a ton more chipper than he was on such a lazy morning.

“Good morning.”

It’s out of Dongho’s control that he’s in a sour mood and he couldn’t put on any expression other than a scowl. He just wished that the new recruit wouldn’t be scared of his canonically brutish appearance.

The new recruit appeared in front of the counter and it startled Dongho because when did he walk from the front door to here?

It’s not the magical appearance that startled Dongho, though, it’s the magical appearance. The new recruit actually looked like a garden fairy up close. There’s that newly dyed pink hair, purple knit sweater, and those weird dimples appearing because of the smile. Dongho didn’t remember ever having an interview with the guy, but he did, he really did and it was only about a week ago.

“Mr. Kang Dongho, right?” The new recruit—whose name absolutely escaped Dongho’s mind—blinked owlishly at him.

“Yes, that’s me.” Dongho stood up from where he’d been sitting for at least half an hour now. “What’s your name again?”

Instead of being mad that Dongho forgot his name—they had an interview, for fuck’s sake—the new recruit beamed a brighter smile it almost blinded Dongho. “It’s Choi Minki!”

“Alright, Minki, your room is on the right side of this corridor.” Dongho motioned to the slightly lit up corridor behind the counter lazily.

Minki nodded as he huffed to hoist up the luggage he’s carrying with both hands.

“Oh.” Dongho remembered something as he reached out for his back pocket and retrieved something from it. “And here’s the key.”

Minki took it from Dongho’s hand and nodded once more, face still enthusiastic as ever. “Thank you for letting me take the empty room, Boss!”

The room had been empty for years, it had been empty since Dongho started the business and he didn’t know what to do with it. He put a bed there for when any of his friends or relatives decided to stay the night, but other than that, the room had no use. It’s on a whim that he decided to advertise it along with the recruitment ad.

“Yeah, yeah.” Dongho brushed Minki off and told him to hurry. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes to get used to it, and after that you can get back here so I can teach you the basics of the cash registry and some flowers knowledge.”

“You got it, Boss!” Minki mock saluted before going to the back corridor and disappearing into his new room.

Dongho shook his head to try to get rid of the morning cheer ringing in his ears. He’s definitely not ready for this, but he’s glad that his local-gang-leader look didn’t have any effect on Minki. That’s one good thing from the recruit, hopefully he’s more than just a cheery front and chill attitude.

But hey, Minki was already more than Dongho could ever hope for. Minki was the only one who answered the hiring ad, and he’s actually decent enough for this job.

Dongho sighed.

That was the story of how he first met Choi Minki—second time, actually, but this felt more official.

🎕🎕🎕

It was still early in the morning when Dongho heard loud clanging from outside his room. What day was it? Monday? Weren’t they supposed to open at eight on weekdays? It sure felt like a lot earlier in the morning.

However early it was, Dongho had to check because what if it was a burglar? He’s not risking a thief getting away with his roses.

When Dongho got to the counter, he sighed in relief because no, it’s not a burglar; but he’s also confused because what was Minki doing—

“Oh, good morning, Boss!”

The cheery recruit seemed to be watering… some of the plants?

Dongho scowled. “Do you know what time it is?”

“It’s six, Sir.” Minki smiled. “I just thought maybe it would make your life easier if I got up earlier to do the watering.”

It made Dongho’s life easier but it definitely shortened his life span by a few years from having to wake up an hour and a half earlier than usual. He appreciated the initiative, though. Minki was a good kid.

Dongho shook his head and took a deep breath. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“There is, actually.” Minki moved to water another pot of fern hanging from the ceilings. “I noticed that there’s a bucket of roses that haven’t been dethorned.”

“Sure, I can teach you.”

Minki’s eyes lit up upon hearing that. “That would be great, Boss! Wait, I’m going to put this watering can where it belongs and I’ll come back in a sec.”

While waiting for Minki to store the watering can, Dongho took a pair of gloves from a compartment beside the counter. He’s starting to think that having Minki around should be a nice change. Maybe he’d start waking up earlier and water the plants and dethorn the roses earlier and be cheerful in general. Maybe he’d start properly wearing shirts instead of the sleeveless undershirt he always sported daily.

His customers never really complained about that, never really complained about how Dongho was technically serving them while shirtless. Especially the girls. The girls never complained.

Dongho walked to where the roses were and checked which batch still had thorns.

“It’s the white roses, Boss.”

Before Dongho knew it, Minki was already standing beside him, taking one stem of white rose out of the bucket. He shoved it in front of Dongho’s face to show the abundance of thorns still attached to it.

“Alright, let’s take them to the worktable.”

Out of courtesy, Dongho took the bucket with him and gave the gloves for Minki to carry since it’s definitely lighter.

There’s only one table in the whole shop besides the counter. At first Dongho thought he didn’t need it, but sometimes the counter was too annoying to work on. Whenever he's making flower arrangements or dethorning roses, he kept having the flowers falling off the other side of the counter and it shortened his life span by a few days everytime.

Dongho put the bucket of roses on one side and instructed Minki to put on the gloves as he did so himself. He then took a rose from the bucket.

“Take one for yourself,” Dongho started.

When Minki followed what Dongho did, Dongho sighed. He realized that dethorning roses was literally just pulling the thorns off the stem.

“You just… pull the thorns out.” Dongho demonstrated, pinching the thorn and pulling it so it would come off. “But be careful or you might rip off the stem.”

Minki frowned for the first time since he came to the shop and Dongho actually thought that it was adorable.

“That’s it?” Minki asked as he’s struggling to pull off the thorn.

Funny how he said that in a mocking tone as he’s failing to do it himself. He’s not used to gripping such a small thorn with a glove like Dongho, he’s still new to this anyway. Contrary to popular belief, being a florist is more than just poetically explaining the meaning of flowers while handing them to customers. In fact, that's not what they did at all.

“You do it like this.” Before either of them knew it, Dongho was already stepping closer to Minki and reaching over to hold Minki’s hand.

It made Minki stiffen in his place. Dongho was definitely in his personal space and he’s… not actually complaining.

Dongho brought the stem closer to their eye level and guided Minki’s gloved hand to the thorn. “Pinch it with your nails.”

Minki did as was told and the thorn came right off. “Ah.”

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Dongho spoke, but it sounded too much like a whisper.

When Minki turned to look, Dongho’s face was only a few centimeters away from him. It made Minki’s breath hitch involuntarily as his gaze was met with Dongho’s. It couldn’t have been worse, except Dongho’s hand was still on Minki’s and Dongho was, as per usual, practically not wearing any proper shirt.

Dongho himself didn’t realize what predicament he had landed himself in, at least until he saw the bewildered way Minki was looking right back at him. This was inappropriate, maybe he should move right now. Right now, Dongho. You should move right now this was inappropriate—

“Boss.” Minki’s voice woke Dongho up from his reverie, but it’s too hoarse that Dongho started to overthink again.

What was it Minki wanted to say? Would he play it off coolly like Dongho wasn’t harassing a new recruit as a boss? Hopefully, it’s not the fact that Minki would resign—God, it’s still his third day here please don’t make him hate Dongho.

“Uh.” Minki cleared his throat as he moved away and scrunched up his nose. “How long have you skipped showering, Boss?”

Dongho did not expect Minki to ask that at all. He still had the courtesy to sniff himself, though. “Why? Does it smell that b—oh God.”

Minki grinned at his boss. That’s a win, at least Minki didn’t consider resigning right then. Dongho was a little embarrassed, but that’s all.

“I will—”

“Yes, please.”

“You can take care of the thorns while I shower?”

“Yes, now go.”

Minki was a good kid, it might do Dongho good to keep him around for a long time.

Dongho pulled his undershirt collar to sniff himself once again. God, he smelled worse than the natural fertilizers he had to deal with a few days ago.

As Minki was left with the dethorning, he just wondered why Dongho didn’t use shears. Shouldn’t it be easier? What an odd guy. He must ask about that later.

🎕🎕🎕

“So, how’s the new boss?”

As a wise man, Minki never skipped a chance to have early breakfast with his best friend whenever the latter had time. Seeing as how Wednesdays were always prime time for them to do it, Minki was now seated comfortably on a chair in a diner with Jeonghan seated across him. There’s a 24-hour diner in front of W Flower Shop—where he’s working now—and it would be a shame if he didn’t take advantage of it to have as much time to spend with Jeonghan.

It’s six in the morning and the shop would be open at eight anyway. Jeonghan hated Minki for making him wake up so early, but he still complied.

“He’s fine.” Minki sipped his daily fix of coffee—which was not bad at all, he might want to get more later—as he was reminded of the morning events that happened on Monday. “Not as composed as you would think when you’re thinking of a boss, but he’s nice.”

“Well, I mean.” Jeonghan cut the egg on his plate and forked it into his mouth. “He’s a florist, I’m not exactly imagining a company executive with all the suits and pompous attitude.”

Minki grinned at the imagery because Dongho was far from refined and he barely wore a shirt on a daily basis.

“How old is he anyway?” Jeonghan spinned his mug, trying to stir his drink without using a spoon.

Minki leaned back on his seat, nursing his coffee mug with two hands. “You’d be surprised.”

Jeonghan raised an eyebrow. “Try me.”

“He’s our age.”

Now Jeonghan’s eyebrows rose even more in surprise. “I was thinking a middle aged man with proper attitude and random money-giving because he thinks you’re his son now.”

Minki scrunched up his nose. “You’re bad at imagining.”

“That’s why you should explain in detail!” Jeonghan spat. “For all I know I could be imagining an old man when he’s actually a really fine young man with nice hair and lean body.”

Minki raised an eyebrow as he smiled lopsidedly.

Jeonghan blinked. “Well that look is saying something. So tell me, is he at least handsome?”

“This is an improper talk about my boss.” Minki sipped more of his coffee.

“I’m taking that as a yes. Is he single?”

“Hush, Jeonghan, you have Seungcheol already.”

“I’m asking for you.”

Minki frowned at that. “Hey, I don’t need you to dabble in my love story.”

“I’m just looking out for you.” Jeonghan’s eyes softened. “I’m starting to pity Seungcheol for thirdwheeling whenever the three of us go somewhere.”

Minki had to laugh at that. “What, so if I have a boyfriend, they can thirdwheel together?”

“Exactly my thought.” Jeonghan grinned cheekily.

“Well.” Minki tapped his chin, as if in thought.

Dongho was… well, Dongho. He’s not pretty, but he looked like he could be the protective type of boyfriend that would fight anyone. He’s not pretty, no, but he looked like a fine man that would sweep anyone off their feet. Minki hadn’t spent enough time with him to know more, but he’d probably update Jeonghan on one of their scheduled breakfasts.

“He’s not like your typical pretty boys.”

“So, not like Seungcheol?”

“I don’t think so, no.” Minki smiled. “Add some tattoos and make him look more rugged.”

Jeonghan whistled lowly, it made Minki giggle. “I mean, I feel like he’s not your type, but he has to be a local favorite.”

“I’ve seen the way the local girls look at him whenever they’re there to get flowers for their lovers.” Minki grinned. “It’s like they forget they have boyfriends already.”

Jeonghan laughed. “See? I simply must meet this boss of yours one day.”

“If it could make you swerve, I suggest you don’t”

“Being competitive, I see.” Jeonghan taunted. “I won’t take him if you’re interested.”

Minki rolled his eyes jokingly as he hit Jeonghan’s foot with his own. “He’s fine, but I’m not thinking about getting a boyfriend anytime soon.”

Jeonghan smiled mockingly. “Yeah, sure, whatever you say.”

They’d been friends since forever. Minki thought the world would be a cold, cruel place without Jeonghan around to brighten it up with his weird antics and sarcastic remarks. It’s always nice to have someone to talk to when things got worse than it already was. He felt fine for now, but it’s still nice to meet Jeonghan.

“Hey, thanks for agreeing to have breakfast here.” Minki nudged Jeonghan’s foot with his own.

“I would’ve complained if the food tastes bad, but they’re fine so I’m refraining.” Jeonghan grinned.

“I have to go back to work now, I’m pretty sure Boss hasn’t woken up.”

“Oh, so you’re his personal maid, too?”

Minki glared and faked a pout as a show. “I’m just making sure the flower shop is working properly. I wonder how he survived alone for so long.”

“Well, he doesn’t have to worry about surviving alone now.” Jeonghan rested his cheek on his palm lazily. “You do know that you’re a great person to work with, don’t you?”

Minki smiled sincerely. “I don’t, thanks for letting me know.”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes. “Come on, I’ll pay because you just got a new job.”

“Then, I’m paying next week.”

Jeonghan smiled. “Only if you tell me more stories about this hot boss.”

Minki purposefully sighed loudly for Jeonghan to hear. The latter just laughed.

🎕🎕🎕

The next weekend Minki woke up in, he woke up because of the music he heard from outside his bedroom. Who in the world thought blasting Disney music on a fine Saturday morning would be a good idea? His boss, apparently, Minki found out when he walked out of his room and through the corridor.

Said boss had foam slabs and flowers scattered across the worktable with one pot smack dab in the middle of everything.

“Good morning, Minki.” Dongho offered a smile—or at least it must’ve been a smile, except he rarely smiled so it looked more like a grin.

Upon closer inspection, the flowers were fake so Dongho must be working on display arrangements.

“Good morning, Boss.”

“Do you know that we sell fake flowers, too?” Dongho asked as he put another fake tulip in the pot.

“I mean I’ve seen the ones on display in front of the shop, but I didn’t know we sell them.” Minki sat on one of the chairs in front of the worktable.

Dongho hummed. “Do you want to try it?”

When Minki nodded, Dongho got up from his seat and took another empty pot from a nearby shelf and put it in front of Minki.

“You have to put two layers of this foam inside the pot before you can arrange any flowers.” Dongho passed the partly cut off foam to Minki along with a pair of big scissors.

“Hey.” Minki frowned as he took the scissors in his hand. “You have scissors for cutting foam but not smaller ones for the thorns?”

Dongho shrugged, opting to continue on his own arrangement. “I had one, it broke and I keep forgetting to buy a new one.”

“Well, we’re grocery shopping tomorrow, right?” Minki tried to measure the size of the pot and cut the foam accordingly. “I’ll remind you then.”

For a few moments, Minki struggled with his foam cutting. It’s hard to make the size fit in the pot without too much excess, but he finally managed.

“What do you do after the foam, Boss?” When Minki glanced at his boss and the flowers he’s handling, he could see that said boss was almost done with his arrangement.

Dongho threw his gaze sideways. “You just put the flowers inside.”

Minki eyed his boss suspiciously. For what it’s worth, he knew that Dongho wasn’t really good at giving clear instructions. That’s why the incident on Monday morning happened.

Seeing how Minki was still not moving, Dongho assumed that Minki wasn’t sure about what he’s doing. Before Minki knew it, Dongho had shifted his chair so their sides were now flush against each other.

“It’s like this.” Dongho took a stem of fake baby’s breath and demonstrated it carefully, holding the bottom part of the stem and jabbed it into the foam.

What was it with Dongho and his idea of personal space? It’s like he never dealt with a human being before. Minki would’ve questioned it if Dongho was actually a middle-aged man with perverted expressions, but Dongho was just a half-decent boss with almost zero expression save for a scowl and a little smile (or at least, that's as much as Minki was allowed to witness for now).

“So, like this?” Minki took a stem of… he wasn’t sure if it was a fake lily or amaryllis, but he didn’t care for now. They’re fake anyway. He tried to stab the stem on the foam, but ended up accidentally bending the stem instead.

Dongho let out an airy laugh when Minki groaned. How was he so bad at this? Well, at least his boss was entertained enough to laugh at him.

“You have to hold the bottom part of the stem, Minki.” Apparently Dongho didn’t learn from his past mistakes, as he now held the stem in Minki’s hold and guided Minki’s hand to the right position.

This time, Minki had the courtesy to blush because of the proximity. When Dongho actually showered, he smelled nice and that undershirt was not helping, why was his boss so against wearing a shirt like normal people? For the record, it’s hard to focus on the task at hand even if it was just putting a freaking flower on a foam.

“There we go.” Dongho smiled when Minki managed to put his first stem in the pot—not really, that was Dongho doing the job, but Minki thought that maybe he could do the next one.

“Okay, Boss, I think I got it!” Minki exclaimed enthusiastically, trying to brush off his boss by taking another fake flower in his hand.

Minki didn’t ask for it, but being the good boss that Dongho was, he watched Minki for the second attempt. When Minki made it, he made a show to tell Dongho that yes, he could do it now. The boss nodded approvingly and gave two thumbs up with an accompanying smile.

The smile looked nicer. Perhaps Minki liked it better than the usual half-grin. Maybe he had a little crush on his boss after all.

That’s why he didn’t mind when Dongho actually forgot to shift his chair back to its original position and they had to arrange flowers side by side on the worktable.

🎕🎕🎕

“Okay, maybe he’s cuter than I initially thought.”

Jeonghan raised an eyebrow at him from across the table. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You know.” Minki shrugged, bringing his coffee cup closer to his lips. “He’s like a casanova except he doesn’t realize he’s a casanova.”

It’s another Wednesday and Minki managed to rope Jeonghan into coming to the diner in front of the flower shop again. Honestly, Minki didn’t insist, but Jeonghan agreed anyway.

Jeonghan grinned. “Sounds like trouble, I like trouble.”

“Except, he’s not.” Minki scrunched up his nose, thinking about some things. “I think he’s oblivious.”

Having the same kind of incident twice in the same week? Minki thought Dongho would’ve realized he’s in someone else’s personal space, but no, he didn’t. Or maybe Dongho did it on purpose and he really was a casanova like Minki said.

“So your boss is an innocent hot guy?” Jeonghan frowned. “Can’t say I believe that.”

“He just likes staying in shape.” Minki tapped on the table with his fingernails. “He goes to the gym on weekday nights routinely.”

“You mean, every weekday?”

“No, only on some days but I can’t really remember on what days.”

“Why don’t you go with him, then?”

Jeonghan welcomed Minki’s groan with a grin.

One reason Minki didn’t want to do it was because he hated weightlifting and all that gym stuff. Another reason was he might hyperventilate if he had to witness Dongho working out with no shirt on.

(But how would he know Dongho worked out while shirtless? It was just an assumption, but whenever Dongho was back in the flower shop, he didn’t even bother to put the shirt back on and Minki could literally see the sweat glistening on Dongho’s abdomen it was almost a sin.)

“You’re missing out on seeing some shirtless action.” Jeonghan wiggled his eyebrows.

“It’s not like he ever wore any proper shirt on a daily basis.”

Jeonghan almost choked on his coffee, but Minki remained unfazed. “You’re saying he doesn’t wear any shirt on a daily basis?”

Minki shrugged and grinned. “He wears a sleeveless undershirt, the semi-transparent one nonetheless.”

“Is he still hiring?”

Jeonghan laughed and raised his hands in defense when Minki pretended like he wanted to throw his mug.

“You can line up with the local school girls and uni students as customers.” Minki grinned. “He’s around the shop day in and day out so you can see him anytime.”

“But you practically live with him.”

And it’s not good for Minki’s heart, no. For one, Dongho only wore undershirts. Second, Dongho forgot his jeans sometimes, too. It felt like a clownery. He knew that Dongho had been living alone for so long, but could he at least learn some proper manners now that he’s living and working with someone else?

“It’s a privilege because nobody else deserves that.” Minki sipped on his coffee. “I was the only one who answered his job ad.”

Jeonghan tsked. “That’s just bad advertising and you’re lucky you found it.”

“Exactly!” Minki beamed. “Doesn’t that mean that it’s fate?”

“I vaguely remember you saying you don’t need a boyfriend.”

“Oh, shush.” Minki blushed. “I didn’t say I mind having someone to fawn over.”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure.”

Yeah, sure, a boss like Dongho should give Minki more energy to go through the day. Jeonghan might not believe that, but really, it wasn’t a big deal.

🎕🎕🎕

But Minki was left wondering, anyway. Did Dongho have any lovers? It felt impossible since Dongho never left the shop except to go to the gym and weekly grocery shopping on Sundays—and Minki was always with him on those grocery runs. Could it be that Dongho was actually meeting someone on his so called gym trips?

It’s a question he didn’t really dare ask. Dongho could have a long distance relationship with someone, but Minki never really saw Dongho on his phone during work.

It definitely was a question he had to keep for someday. Today, he’s manning the register as Dongho showed the customers around to look at the many kinds of flowers. The boss said that it would be alright if Minki wanted to be the one in charge of flower picking since it’s way more fun than just sitting and dealing with money. Minki didn’t want to do it yet, he’s not fluent in explaining about the flowers for now. Maybe next week.

“Hello.”

A customer—she looked like she’s a university student—put a bouquet of roses on the counter for Minki to check out.

“Hello.” Minki beamed his best smile—because that’s his job for now, be as nice as possible to the customers even if some of them could be really frustrating—and took the bouquet. “Is this all?”

“Yes, but I have a question.” The girl smiled, a blush coloring her cheeks.

Minki refrained from raising his eyebrows and rolling his eyes. “What is it?”

“Do you know if the other staff has a girlfriend or a boyfriend or something?”

And by other staff, she must have meant Dongho. Minki made a show of looking over the girl’s shoulder to place a stare at his boss. Ah, there’s the bastard, talking to another female customer with a smile on his face and casually running his hand over his hair. If that wasn’t intentional, Minki would love to smack his boss on the face and tell him to stop being so charming (except Minki knew it really wasn’t intentional and the only thing he would smack his boss with was his lips).

But that would be inappropriate, so he threw that idea out the window and turned his attention back to the girl in front of him.

Internally, Minki was judging the girl so hard because she’s getting a bouquet of red roses, for fuck’s sake, why would she ask whether Dongho had a lover or not?

Minki didn’t know the answer to that, though, so he’d just answer to the best of his ability. “I’m not exactly sure, but I don’t think he’s seeing anyone.”

“Oh?” The girl’s eyes lit up. “Can you tell him I said hi, then?”

That’s not new. Some people left their numbers in the sticky notes Minki stored on the counter, but some just decided to say hi. Ever since Minki started manning the cashier, he never bothered mentioning those numbers to Dongho, however. He didn’t care enough to tell Dongho about them—honestly, it’s not like Dongho would call the numbers anyway.

Today, Minki was curious enough that he planned on asking Dongho about them after they closed the shop.

“Sure, I’ll tell him.” Minki grinned, operating the cash register to count the amount she had to pay. “Do you want to leave a name?”

“Not really, I just want him to know some people appreciate him as the only local florist.” She fiddled with her hair, looking shy as she said it.

The only local florist, yeah, sure. It’s not like Minki didn't dethorn the fresh batch of roses every morning—now with shears, thankfully, since he reminded Dongho about it last Sunday—and it’s not like Minki didn't water the plants and wake Dongho up so they’d open on time. It’s not like Minki didn't rearrange the flowers on display because Dongho’s idea of aesthetics was horrendous. Oh, that’s right, he did all of that. He’s a florist too, dammit, even if he’s new around here.

“That would be fifteen thousand won, thank you.”

The girl paid the exact amount and Minki handed the bouquet back to her with a smile. “I’ll make sure to tell him, don’t worry.”

“Thank you!” She left with one last glance at Dongho and Minki grimaced.

Throughout the whole day, similar events happened with not only the girls giving their numbers for Dongho to call, but the guys too. Minki was concerned that maybe some people walked in to buy flowers for their loved ones only to be starstruck by the semi-shirtless florist showing them different colors of roses and lilies. It’s definitely a shame, but he couldn’t say that he blamed them.

The stack of sticky notes were now used for the purpose of writing down numbers and “hello”s from strangers to Dongho. Maybe Minki should tell Dongho to consider getting a cork board to be put up behind the counter so he could display all the numbers the customers had given.

By the time night rolled around, Dongho flipped the “open” sign to “closed”.

“Nice work today, Minki.” Dongho smiled.

Now that’s another thing. Dongho had gotten better at smiling around Minki. He’s also not as expressionless as he made it out to be at first. He’s kind and that scowl only appeared when he’s running on a little amount of sleep—which explained the terrible face Minki was met with on the first day he arrived.

“You too, Boss!” Minki mock saluted. “I have a present for you.”

The smile turned into a frown pretty fast. “A present?”

Minki motioned for Dongho to come over to the counter and when he did, Minki shoved the stack of sticky notes on Dongho’s face.

“What’s this?” Dongho took it from Minki’s grasp—and Minki tried to brush off the electric feeling when their hands brushed against each other.

Minki crossed his arms on the counter. “All the numbers your customers left you.”

The crease on Dongho’s forehead deepened and Minki had the urge to—kiss it, maybe he should kiss it better so Dongho’s not frowning so hard like that—iron it so it wouldn’t have that many creases, just like his clothes.

“Isn’t this good?” Dongho grinned. “We have so many numbers we can prank call anyone when we’re bored.”

What.

Minki eyed Dongho like he did a horrible crime. Even if the only expression Dongho displayed was an innocent smile, Minki didn’t believe whatever was going on in front of him. But really, he had so many admirers and that’s the only reaction he had? Impossible.

“Aren’t you going to call them properly?” Minki tried again.

“What for?” And the frown was back. “Oh, is this a sign that we should have a guestbook so we’d know who frequents the shop?”

It’s… unsurprisingly hard to subtly convey a message to Dongho. Minki had a hunch that Dongho understood what he’s trying to say, but Dongho was just unfazed.

In the middle of Minki thinking hard about it, Dongho walked past him and into the corridor.

“If they’re giving you a hard time, just tell them I’m not dating anyone because I’m not interested in that stuff.” was the last thing that echoed through the corridor before Dongho disappeared into his room.

Huh, so his boss wasn’t seeing anyone. Now that’s news.

And that’s something Minki kept thinking over as he cleaned up the counter from small petals and stray leaves.

🎕🎕🎕

“Do you ever really study the meaning of flowers or do you just give customers what they vaguely understand and choose the proper colors for them?”

Dongho looked back from where he was arranging a few pots of larkspurs and thistles—Minki was proud that he’s getting himself familiar with the flowers—with a few lilies and daisies peeking out of the middle. Minki was impressed, perhaps Dongho’s sense of flower aesthetics wasn’t that bad after all. Then again, Dongho might’ve made the display arrangements many years ago and never bothered to change them ever since.

“Most of our customers don’t really know anything besides roses.” Dongho stabbed another stem of lily in the middle of the arrangement, thought for awhile, and decided he didn’t like it so he replaced it with a daisy. The flowers were real this time.

Minki took his seat beside the boss on the worktable. “And do you?”

“I don’t really care about the meanings.” Dongho took the shears and cut off the bottom of the stem diagonally. “People want their bouquets to look pretty, I help them. Besides, flower meanings are weird and it’s not like there’s a formal study on them.”

Minki raised an eyebrow. “So you do know some of the meanings.”

“Only some.” Dongho seemed to be content when he finished another arrangement. “At least I know that Victorian people decided on peonies to represent anger and they’re on marriage flower arrangements nowadays.”

Minki grinned.

“And that you should never give white flowers to people visiting the hospital because they generally mean death.” Dongho took another slab of foam and a rectangular pot, put the foam inside it, and slid the pot in front of Minki. “Come on, you have to learn arranging fresh flowers.”

“What difference is there anyway? Don’t you just....” Minki took a stem of daisy and almost stabbed it on the foam, but he had Dongho’s hand holding his wrist in record’s time.

When Minki turned around to look at Dongho, the latter raised his eyebrow disapprovingly. It should be taken as a reprimand, but all Minki could think of was how his boss was attractive and how one of his hands was in said boss’ vise grip.

“Before you do that, Minki.” and Minki thought the way Dongho said his name was nice. “You have to cut the bottom part of the stem so it would be sharp enough that it’ll help you with the job.”

Minki blinked, thinking about how they’re sitting side by side again because Dongho just shifted his chair closer. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” Dongho let go of Minki’s wrist and took the shears he’d been using, offering it to Minki. “You use this.”

Minki took the shears from Dongho’s hand and lined it with the bottom part of the stem, getting ready to cut. “What, cutting off the bottom part makes it sharp?”

“Yes.” Seeing the error in Minki’s ways, Dongho’s hand was back on Minki’s as he fixed the angle a bit, making it diagonal the way he’d been doing. “If you do it like this.”

Oh, joy. Maybe Minki had to pretend being stupid whenever Dongho had something new to teach. It’s really clear now that Dongho was a very hands on boss because he’s not good at explaining things verbally.

Minki beamed at Dongho. “Oh!”

“Yeah, oh.” It seemed like Dongho wanted to roll his eyes because Minki was so lame, but he refrained.

“Thank you, Boss!”

Dongho waved him off. “It’s my job.”

Technically, it was.

Minki was aware that there was no distance between them, but he never moved to take a better position while doing his job. It’s hard to arrange flowers when they kept having their arms colliding into each other, but Minki felt fine about it. The warmth Dongho radiated was enough for Minki to make him not want to move anyhow.

“What about you?”

Minki was almost startled off his seat when Dongho suddenly said that. “What about me?”

Dongho grinned, hands and eyes still focused on arranging the flowers. “Have you ever learned the language of flowers?”

It’s nice to have Dongho starting a small talk. Minki knew that he started the topic first, but still. It’s rare to have Dongho trying to liven up the atmosphere by speaking first. Maybe he’s learning to bond with his one and only recruit; and Minki was more than fine with that.

“I at least know that myrtle is the best flower to represent weddings.” The daisy in Minki’s hand didn’t look too fresh, as it had some blackened spots around the center part. “Hey, Boss, do we keep these ones or toss them?”

The moment Dongho leaned over to inspect the flower on Minki’s hand, Minki almost wanted to die. Almost. Because Dongho smelled like flowers and his favorite soap and he’s as close as he could be to Minki in the best way possible. Maybe not the best way, but one should get the point.

“Keep them.” Minki had the audacity to be disappointed when Dongho pulled back to his own space and continued his work. “People won’t notice a single botched daisy in the middle of an arrangement on a stage.”

“Alright then.” Minki went back to his work. “A stage? What is this for anyway?”

“A road safety seminar.”

Minki stared at Dongho confusedly. “A seminar?”

“Yeah, do you ever notice people having flower arrangements on the stages of seminars and talkshows?”

Now that Dongho mentioned it, Minki vaguely remembered seeing them on some talkshows he attended. They’re there, pleasant to the eyes, but not doing much else. But really, that’s the idea of flowers. People saw them in nature, decided they liked them, and cut them off to be corpses for decorations.

“Come on.” Dongho stood up when he saw Minki putting the last larkspur on his arrangement.

“What?” Minki glanced at Dongho before looking back at his flowers and fixing one out of place thistle.

Seeing that Dongho was waiting for him, Minki also stood up with a questioning look.

Dongho scratched his head, realizing he hadn’t told Minki about their plan for the morning. “We’re going on a ride to the hall downtown.”

A ride, it turned out, was a delivery trip with Dongho’s old and relatively small cargo truck parked in the garage beside the flower shop. Oddly, Minki never noticed that the frame of the garage had the same color as the flower shop’s exterior. He always thought that the garage belonged to the building beside them since Dongho never mentioned anything about a damn cargo truck.

After loading the flowers into the back of the truck and making sure they wouldn’t topple over on the way to the hall, the two florists got in the seats.

“So, you really do everything by yourself?” Minki was half amazed half horrified at this point.

How could someone do all the mundane things like watering the ferns and dethorning the roses while also explaining the flowers to customers and manning the cashier plus delivering flower arrangements on some days? Minki was starting to question whether Dongho was a human or not.

“It was hard at first.” Lord, did Dongho look fine steering a damn truck like this. “Then, I got used to it. It's fine for a long while, but suddenly everything gets back to being overwhelming.”

Minki supposed so. It must be fine working alone, but it could only let you do so much before the loneliness creeped in and the job felt tiring. Even before Minki arrived, the flower shop was open from eight in the morning until seven in the evening on weekdays and ten in the morning to five in the afternoon on weekends. When Dongho got tired, he closed the shop on weekends or shortened the open hours on weekdays, but other than that? W Flower Shop was open all year long.

“How did you do it?” Minki stared out the window, taking in all the local sceneries he never got the chance to witness.

“Sheer willpower?” There’s a slight chuckle. “I don’t know, I’ve always loved flowers despite not knowing their language.”

Minki hummed in acknowledgement.

“My old man introduced me to the shop, but he has retired from the business now.”

“Where is he now?” Minki averted his gaze to Dongho, acquiring his boss to elaborate as he would never pass on the chance to hear family stories from anyone he knew.

Dongho smiled, the faintest of it, but Minki witnessed it anyway. He had a feeling he’s in for a long story, but their journey downtown and back would take some time anyway, so he’s all ears.

That’s when Minki found out many things about Dongho. He’s glad to know more than just a scowling boss who never bothered to wear a shirt. And maybe it’s just Minki’s feelings, but the boss got a lot more attractive then.

At that, Minki had to clear his throat.

No, that’s an inappropriate thought.

But, was it really? He's pretty sure he caught Dongho staring at him from the rearview mirror a few times throughout the whole ride.

It could just be Minki's imagination at play, however.

🎕🎕🎕

“I might want to marry him now.”

When Jeonghan choked, Minki remained unfazed.

Minki wasn’t sorry that he made his best friend choke on his coffee like that, no. What he said was partially true, maybe a little exaggerated on his part but hey, who wouldn’t want to marry a rugged multitalented man? Maybe not multitalented, more like composed and orderly . Those wouldn’t be the words Minki thought of if he had to describe Dongho back then, but nobody would be able to pull off that level of multitasking if they’re not as disciplined as Dongho.

Jeonghan cleared his throat. “You’re funny.”

“Okay, I don’t exactly want to marry him.” Minki tapped on his mug thoughtfully. “But, trust me, you’ll like him if you’ve met him.”

Jeonghan still had a suspicious look on his face as he scrutinized Minki from his usual place across the newbie florist. “What other things have you learned about the guy anyway?”

“The fact that he literally did everything alone in that flower shop?” Minki shrugged. “You won’t believe what things he’s been doing by himself for so many years.”

“Okay, so he’s independent.” Jeonghan raised an eyebrow.

“I think it’s more than just independent, but I’m not sure how to describe it.”

“Okay, so is Seungcheol still going to be the only thirdwheel when we go out next?”

“Maybe.”

When Jeonghan raised an eyebrow and smiled cheekily, Minki inhaled a deep breath.

“I mean.” Minki glared at Jeonghan while stirring a packet of sugar into his coffee. “Of course. Why did you have to ask?”

“Well.” Jeonghan said, fixing the stray hair falling over his eyes. “It’s like maybe you could have someone to go with us to our next movie trip.”

Minki rolled his eyes. Maybe he’s wishing a little that it could happen, but what did his boss say again? “Tell them I’m not dating anyone because I’m not interested in that stuff”? Dongho could be asexual or aromantic or both, for all Minki knew. He could be secretly into flowers, like into them, and that would be horrible for Minki.

Or maybe Dongho actually had someone, but he’s keeping it a secret for whatever reason he had.

“I don’t know.” Minki rested his cheek on his palm, stirring his coffee idly while thinking about his boss. “It’s not like he likes me even if I like him.”

Before Jeonghan could retaliate, Minki added, “Plus, he’s my boss.”

“So what if he’s your boss?”

“It’s inappropriate, dammit.”

Jeonghan snorted. “But as you said, the work is not as formal as office work and he’s not a pretentious boss wearing a suit and a Rolex watch. He won’t give you an illegal promotion out of favoritism.”

Minki opened his mouth to retaliate, closed it to rethink, and came up with. “It’s still inappropriate.”

Then again, Jeonghan wouldn’t understand. It’s more about manners than anything else. Manners. How funny Minki had to mention that when Dongho still hadn’t learned about personal space and he had to deal with shoulder-to-shoulder work everytime they’re dethorning roses together or arranging flowers on the worktable.

A literal brute like Dongho wouldn’t understand that. He’s as free as the eagles soaring above grasslands, doing whatever he wished to; except he’s in a flower shop and the only freedom he radically took was about uniform policy. Dongho even let Minki dress like him, except Minki didn’t want to because Minki was so prim and proper he wore collared shirt and dress pants everyday. Well, not exactly everyday, but the most informal top he wore was a sweater.

Jeonghan pursed his lips. “I want to know the person so I’d know how inappropriate it is for you to date him.”

Minki lifted his mug and brought it to his lips. “You can visit the flower shop after we’re done here.”

Then, as if on cue, the door to the diner opened and in walked a certain Kang Dongho.

‘Why,’ Minki thought, ‘Why does life keep giving me a hard time? I specifically asked for this not to happen, has the universe forsaken me?’

It’s not a bad thing that Jeonghan got to meet Dongho after more than a month of just hearing Minki’s stories, but Minki just didn’t want that. Because Jeonghan would say things even more stupid than he already did.

But, maybe if Minki acted like he didn’t see his boss, he would get out of this alive.

“Hey, Minki!”

Or not.

Had he ever learned a disappearing spell? That would be great, thank you.

Jeonghan was alarmed when he heard the call of name, and the only thing Minki could do when Jeonghan turned around was facepalm internally and put on his best smile.

“Good morning, Boss.”

Hearing the mention of ‘Boss’, Jeonghan averted his gaze back to Minki, frowned, and smiled amusedly all in the course of five seconds. Minki, with all his might, wanted to deck Jeonghan right then, but he had to refrain.

Dongho just waved and smiled at Minki without walking up to their table, so that much was great. He just headed straight to the counter.

That must be one of the rarer times Dongho woke up this early to do something else other than going back to sleep or staring at the ivy and ferns.

“So, that’s the boss?” A smug look decorated Jeonghan’s face for a split second before he turned to watch Dongho ordering something from the cashier. “Color me impressed.”

“Can you tone down the staring?” Minki hissed, kicking Jeonghan’s leg without enough power for it to hurt.

“Chill!” A grin reappeared. “It’s not like he will look this way— okay, I spoke too soon.”

Seeing that Jeonghan snapped his head towards Minki and acted as natural as possible, Minki knew that the boss was really looking their way. He only snickered at his best friend before glancing at his boss.

When Minki’s gaze was met with Dongho staring back at him while leaning on the counter, the boss smiled. Perhaps it would be polite for him to actually have a small talk with Dongho before continuing his breakfast with Jeonghan.

“Can you excuse me for a moment?” Before Jeonghan could comment on anything, Minki already stood up and made his way to the counter—he’s sure he heard Jeonghan muttering something along the lines of being whipped, though.

“So this is where you go to every Wednesday morning.” Dongho had to stop leaning on the counter because it made him a hundred times more attractive and Minki wasn’t sure how that was possible.

Minki just grinned. “Yeah, you don’t mind, right?”

“Of course I don’t.” Dongho did that thing again where he ran his hand over his hair and Minki almost combusted. “I’m not normally awake at this time, anyway. It would be unfair if you already started working while I’m still snoring.”

His boss was cute and Minki was doomed. Especially with Jeonghan most likely watching them from his seat.

It didn’t seem like Dongho’s order was going to arrive anytime soon. Maybe soon, but not that soon. “So, what are you doing here, Boss?”

“Grabbing some breakfast.” Dongho smiled. “Because I’m an idiot and I forgot to get some eggs and cooking oil on our last grocery run.”

“You should make a list for our next ones, then?”

The conversation sounded domestic. Oddly domestic. Too domestic. Like they'd been living together only recently and they're still trying to figure things out. Well, that's actually true to some extent.

“That would be a great idea.” Dongho turned his head to see Jeonghan again, who had the audacity to smile and bow his head a little as acknowledgement, and Dongho smiled in return. “Say, is that your boyfriend?”

“My b—” Dongho was referring to Jeonghan and Minki just wanted to roll his eyes to prove the point that— “No, he’s not.”

Minki did sigh, though. The mental image of having Jeonghan as his boyfriend made Minki want to slap his best friend right then.

“Huh.” Dongho spent a longer time than Minki thought he would, staring at Minki’s shared table with Jeonghan—or maybe at Jeonghan, oh God what if Dongho wanted to be introduced to him?

It didn’t exactly leave any room for Minki to reply or anything. He could ask something else back at Dongho, but he noticed that the boss looked… troubled? Why would he look troubled?

“Here’s your order, Sir.”

The two florists turned to see the cashier returning with a paper bag. Dongho gave a smile and a small ‘thanks’ before checking the content of the paper bag.

“I’ll head back first, okay?” Dongho patted Minki’s head like a kid, and it left Minki stunned. “Don’t forget to come back to the shop, though.”

“Of course I won’t.” and Minki was left stupidly longing for that hand to stroke his hair.

The boss had the audacity to glance back and grin before exiting the diner, Minki wondered how he had survived for this long.

“So, you were right.” was what Jeonghan said when Minki sat back down on his original seat.

It left Minki confused. “What?”

“You told me I’d like him if I’ve met him.” Jeonghan’s grin was evil, it fit him. “I do, he’s cute.”

Minki actually smacked his palm on his face this time. He knew he was right! He didn’t need to be told that directly, now it just felt more real.

Jeonghan shrugged, sipping on his coffee. “I won’t stop you if you want to go back earlier.”

“It’s alright, I still want to be here.”

Well, Minki almost literally spent his twenty-four-seven with Dongho and only had less than two hours to catch up with Jeonghan weekly. He’s alright with staying a bit longer.

🎕🎕🎕

Staying a bit longer didn't mean he's going to stay for long, anyway.

When Minki got back to the shop, Dongho was checking the flowers they had on the shelves. Once again, the boss was blaring some Disney music from his phone that had been ungracefully left on the worktable among other things.

“What’s your favorite flower, Minki?”

Not sure Dongho was talking to him, Minki had to turn around and stare hard at him. Dongho still had his eyes trained on the shelf in front of him, but when he heard no response from Minki, he glanced curiously. Dumbass, who else could Dongho be talking to?

“My favorite flower?” Minki thought for awhile and that in itself was already a sign that he didn’t exactly have one in mind. “I like anything that looks pretty, I don’t exactly have any favorites.”

Dongho only hummed in reply.

“Why’d you ask?” Minki went for the roses buckets, checking if he had to dethorn anything before they opened the shop.

“I’m just wondering since I don’t have one either.” Dongho took a stem of small daisies and walked over to Minki. “I guess that just makes it harder if I wanted to give flowers to you.”

‘What,’ Minki thought.

“What,” Minki said, turning to find his boss up in his personal space again—when did he get this close?

Dongho didn’t say anything, though, just stared back at Minki with those damned beautiful eyes of his, charming and unblinking. There’s a pause, a literal pause before Dongho smiled and took one daisy head to bring it up. When Dongho reached out his hand and tucked some of Minki’s hair behind his ear to place the flower there, Minki’s breath hitched.

For a second, Minki thought Dongho was actually way closer than he had ever been all these days. It’s a curse, Minki swore Dongho’s floral scent was a curse as it happened to be his favorite floral scent out of the whole damned shop and he’s inhaling so much of it right then. There’s the stray thought of maybe I should kiss him, but Dongho wasn’t looking anywhere else other than Minki’s eyes—while Minki’s own eyes had traitorously trailed down to those lips.

But then, Dongho wasn’t budging anyway. He didn’t make any move to run away, but nor did he do anything to pull Minki closer and it’s sending mixed signals into Minki’s mind.

Minki himself wasn’t sure what he’s supposed to do in this situation. Maybe he should just take matters into his own hands and—

The alarm clock on the counter went off and Dongho already bolted before Minki’s hand could reach up to tug at the boss’ shirt and close the gap. There’s a feeling of longing and the sudden lack of warmth when Dongho left and Minki could only sigh. What was he thinking? He couldn’t have just done that, that would’ve been stupid and it would’ve left them in an awkward limbo.

“Come on, Minki, we’re opening up the shop!”

“Alright!” Minki stared at his feet before heading to the door to flip the ‘closed’ sign to ‘open’.

It’s fine. Minki was fine. He didn’t know what overcame Dongho, but it shouldn’t be a problem.

Right?

‘Of course,’ Minki thought, as his hand kept reaching out to the flower on his ear, unconsciously making sure it stayed there throughout the whole day.

🎕🎕🎕

There’s only so many things Minki didn’t understand in this world. The first one was maths, how he came to hate it after many years of being taught by bad teachers. He swore he could’ve done better if he had been taught better. He actually blamed them as the reason he never had any intention to go through the science path. The second one was how Dongho had been acting ever since… that day.

Instead of staying with Minki in the shop throughout the day as per usual, Dongho disappeared from early morning and only came back around nine. When Minki asked him where he went, Dongho said that he’s trying to revive the greenhouse behind the store. It’s the first time Minki ever heard of it, but apparently Dongho only got around to tending to it because Minki was around now.

Minki had no problem balancing between thinking up the perfect bouquet and tending to the cash registry now, but he’s just worried about his boss. Usually Dongho would take Minki to every errand he had, even if it meant leaving the store to open later into the afternoon when they had to do delivery across town.

It’s a bit heartwarming that Dongho trusted Minki enough to take care of the shop for, what, it had been three days now? They’re not lacking any customers, people still come to get flowers for funerals and hospitals and special occasions. Many of them asked about Dongho, though, and Minki wasn’t sure he answered them truthfully when he said “Boss is tending to the greenhouse, he’s alright.”

The first part was most probably right, because why would Dongho lie? The question came to whether he was alright or not. Did something happen in his family? Minki would hate to intrude, but if he could help with Dongho’s problems, he would.

“Thank you, Ma’am, come again!”

Minki smiled at the last customer of the day before flipping the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’. It’s usually Dongho who did that.

When Minki knew that no customer could see him anymore, he dropped the smile. It sure got lonely in the shop without Dongho around. He’s glad that Dongho watered the plants and dethorned the roses in the morning before heading to the greenhouse again, but it’s getting ridiculous, in Minki's opinion.

That day, too, Dongho said not to wait up because he’d be back late. Minki could always try to look for this greenhouse, Dongho said it’s right behind the flower shop, right? Only Dongho was stupid enough to lose the key for the door at the back part of the shop which was supposedly a shortcut to the greenhouse. Now he had to walk around the block to get there.

Minki was not brave enough. He didn’t know the way around here and it’s better not to leave the shop unattended at night. So, he just waited there at the counter. A day of work was tiring enough, but did his mother raise a loser who couldn’t even hold off sleep for a few hours? Dongho should be back by nine after all.

The clock rolled around and it’s suddenly nine. Minki had gone through checking the thorns on the roses twice by then, making sure the customers tomorrow wouldn’t accidentally bleed their fingers on them. There’s no sign of Dongho walking into the shop, so Minki decided that he should just go back to the counter.

But then, sleepiness came over him and before his boss came back, he already fell asleep on the counter.

🎕🎕🎕

Minki was not sure how he ended up on his bed or why it’s morning already, but it’s still pretty early so he might catch Dongho before he made his way to the stupid greenhouse again. So Minki did, he threw his blanket—he’s under a blanket?—to the side and hasted outside his room.

There’s his boss, on his last potted plant to water and about to flee again.

“Boss!” Minki was sure he meant to reprimand his boss, but his tone softened.

Instead of that troubled face Minki witnessed for the past days whenever he accidentally ran into his boss—funny how he used to see Dongho on a daily basis and now it’s running into his boss—Dongho actually offered one of those genuine smiles.

“Good morning, Minki.” Dongho stored the watering can in the shelf once he’s done the last pot. “I’ll be in the greenhouse again today.”

Not lying, though, Minki actually missed Dongho’s voice. Perhaps that should change today.

“Actually.” Minki started, and Dongho stared at him with interest. “I promised Jeonghan to go with him to the movies after the shop closes tonight and I don’t think leaving the shop empty is a good idea. Can you get back earlier than usual?”

Dongho opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, closed it back, and came up with, “Sure. Yeah, sure, I can do that.”

“Good,” Minki said, because that part where his boss seemed weird was still there, “And Boss?”

“Yeah?”

Minki didn’t have time to hesitate, Dongho might bolt out that door any second now. “You can tell me if you feel troubled about something, you know?”

A smile bloomed again on Dongho’s face. “Yeah, of course.”

But Minki didn’t quite believe him. It seemed like Dongho just needed a quick pass to slip out of the conversation and avoid Minki again.

That’s it.

Dongho had been avoiding Minki, hadn’t he? Whatever reason did he have to avoid Minki like that?

Perhaps Minki should ask. He really should. Communication should be the key to everything—except that damn shortcut door to the greenhouse, that one’s staying locked.

Before Minki could open his mouth to say anything, though, Dongho was already out the door. He didn’t even say goodbye. What a joke. Minki’s life must be a joke to Dongho right then.

Sighing frustratedly, Minki slumped down in front of the counter and fiddled with the stack of sticky notes he still kept there. He would like to know, he really would, but he also wanted to yell at Dongho for leaving the damn shop so carelessly like this.

He had to fix this, somehow.

🎕🎕🎕

Except, Minki spent the whole day trying to come up with an idea to make Dongho talk and none of them felt right.

The shop had closed five minutes ago and Minki was left sitting in front of the counter exactly the way he was this morning. Dongho should be here soon. Maybe Minki could cancel the plan with Jeonghan and just trap Dongho in the shop to make him talk. If Dongho would just say something, anything at this point that would be fine. Not one of his small talk crap, though, not those.

Walking from the greenhouse to the shop shouldn’t take long, right? Waiting for ten more minutes should probably be enough.

Except, the ten minutes stretched to fifteen, the fifteen stretched to thirty, and Minki was getting more and more annoyed by the seconds. Dongho told him he could go back on the shop’s closing time, but where was he?

From: Angel Jeonghanni

Are you still coming with us?

Minki didn’t know anymore, but at this point he’s sure he’s not going to catch the showing time and it ticked him off. He sent a quick message saying he’s going to skip this time, Jeonghan should understand that something was wrong. He’d tell his best friend on their next breakfast, most likely.

Now, it’s just the matter of waiting for his boss to come back.

It’s boring and Minki was mad, but he’s also worried that something might have happened to Dongho. If some local gang actually got hold of Dongho, Minki wasn’t sure even he could fight them off. What if he’s kidnapped? Because there’s no way Dongho’s not back yet just because he’s stalling.

The more Minki waited, the more he didn’t know what to do with himself. Dongho was literally on the other side of the door at the back of the shop. Minki had tried knocking on that door a few times over the course of the few days Dongho went there, but to no avail. It’s probably some ways away from where Dongho was usually doing… whatever he was doing in there. Or Dongho was just plain ignoring Minki.

If there was a suggestion box for the boss, Minki would write his complaint in blood red ink and tell Dongho that he was not being a good boss right now. That might go through Dongho’s skull and make him realize that, yes, the shop got more than a bit lonely without him and Minki was sorry if he did anything wrong.

As the clock ticked and it reached sometime past ten, however, Minki no longer missed his boss. There’s a lot of unread messages from Jeonghan, probably asking whether he’s okay or not, but Minki didn’t feel like answering any of them. If the roses could talk, they’re probably going to tell Minki to fuck off from so many times of checking and rechecking the thorns; and if the ivy could do anything, they’d slap Minki for trying to braid the vines.

When it’s almost eleven, the door to the shop opened and Minki was beyond mad. He snapped his head to the direction of where Dongho was and saw his boss actually looking guilty. It dissipated some of the anger in Minki, but he’s not sure he could talk like this.

“I’m sorry for coming in so late.” Dongho closed the door behind him and locked it with his keys before facing Minki again. “I’m so sorry, did you—”

Minki held up his hand as a sign for Dongho to stop talking and he did, despite looking even more guilty. “I’m mad at you, I’m not having this conversation right now.”

It really was Minki’s intention to wait up, but now he didn’t feel like talking.

Now the shop fell into another silence as Minki fled to his room and Dongho was left dumbfounded in the dimmed out space.

🎕🎕🎕

Minki swore he didn’t mean to make everything worse than it already was. At least his boss was back in the shop, working with him again and this time, they’re taking turns manning the cashier throughout the day. Minki would be in charge of the cash register until around noon, then Dongho would take over until night.

They’re not talking, though. Everytime Dongho spoke up, it’s only about work related like whether they had to dethorn roses or make flower arrangements that day. Other than that? Minki still couldn’t speak up without wanting to spit out to his boss about how mad he was about being ignored for days and denied his time out with his best friend when the shop had closed.

It went on for a few days and at this rate, Minki was as much of a villain as his boss was, and he’s starting to feel guilty.

“Do you plan to stock on orchids in the shop, Sweetie?”

Minki was in the middle of accompanying an old lady around the shop as she’s in the middle of scrutinizing a carnation from one of the buckets.

“We might do if there’s a lot of request.” Minki smiled, he’s a natural at answering customer’s questions now, Dongho should be proud—if they’re not ignoring each other, anyway.

The old lady turned to look at Minki and handed him the carnation in her hold, making Minki confused. “Are you in a lover’s quarrel with the other guy?”

Minki was more confused now. “Who?”

“The one manning the register.” The old lady gestured to the general direction of where Dongho was without being conspicuous enough to be noticed. “I frequent this shop enough, I notice.”

What did she notice? The wrong fact that Minki and Dongho were lovers or that Minki was ignoring Dongho?

“I asked him one time about you and he smiled so wide I thought I never saw him smile like that before you’re around.” The old lady walked again to the hyacinths, prompting Minki to follow her. “And now he keeps looking your way, but without that smile on his face.”

This is one very perceptive lady, but Minki supposed when one had spent so many years in life, they developed a better sense of detecting emotions and deducing gestures.

“Say, am I right?” She took a stem of hyacinth, looked at it, and placed it back in the bucket.

Minki should deny whatever the old lady said, but it would be awkward if he did because did Dongho really look at him like that?

“Yeah, I’m mad at him for something he did,” Minki said instead, because that much was true, “And I thought it would be better to talk when I’m not as mad anymore.”

“How long has it been?” She smiled, almost too knowing.

“Uh.”

“Stalling is also not good. You’d end up sweeping it under the rug when you’re no longer mad at him and the same thing could happen again.”

Minki did not ask for life lessons about love, but he’s not complaining.

“Come on, you can make me a bouquet for my late husband’s grave and I’ll be out of your hair. I’ll also take that carnation on your hand.”

Minki nodded, immediately asking the lady to wait at the counter while he headed to the worktable and prepared the paper and plastics for the binder. Choosing the flowers wasn’t hard, Minki navigated his way through the shop to take some pink camellia, white calla lily, baby’s breath, and forget-me-nots. Personally, if the customer didn’t specify the flower they wanted, Minki always got that combination for grave flowers.

He quickly worked about the bouquet and decided on the best way to make it look pretty. After so much practice of doing this, he’s almost a natural now. Almost, except sometimes he still chose the wrong flowers for some bouquets and they ended up looking horrendous. At least, to him. Customers couldn’t really tell apart the good looking bouquets and the ones Minki actually wanted to tear apart.

“Here we go.” Minki brought the bouquet and the single lonely carnation to the cashier, handing them over to Dongho for price counting.

“You made a good one,” The old lady said to Minki.

“Really?” Minki smiled at her, avoiding having to see Dongho. “Thank you.”

The cash register dinged from beside them, prompting both to look at the cashier.

Dongho looked up, smiling, eyes automatically landing on Minki before he averted his gaze and turned to the lady. “That would be twenty one thousand won, Ma’am.”

After paying, Minki walked the old lady to the door out of courtesy, since there’s nobody else in the shop at the moment. When they’d reached the door, the lady shoved the lonely carnation at Minki’s hand, making Minki confused again.

“This one’s for you, actually.” She smiled. “Carnation is one of the flowers you give people for forgiveness, maybe it’ll help.”

Minki returned the smile and opened the door for her. “Thank you.”

“No problem, Sweetie.”

Minki ended up taking a clear vase from one of the compartments beside the counter, filled it with water, and placed it on the counter. When Dongho threw him a questioning look, Minki put the single carnation inside and left it like that.

Maybe it’s time Minki talked to Dongho. The whole ordeal started because Dongho was ignoring Minki, anyway, and now it’s just a game of who would cave in first from the lack of talking between them.

🎕🎕🎕

When the shop closed that night, Minki was nervous enough he thought about stalling before facing Dongho and apologize to him for being mad and ask him what’s wrong. While Dongho disappeared into the corridor to get a broom for cleaning the petals and fallen thorns around the worktable, Minki fiddled with his fingers and looked for something to do.

Luckily, before Dongho came back to the room, Minki noticed that one of the hanging pots had a broken cord so he had to fix it. How could he not? What if someone walked under it got smacked by a fallen pot because one of the cords suspending it was broken? He took a spare cord from the compartment beside the counter along with a pair of pliers and dragged the shop’s ladder over to where the pot was.

It’s not supposed to be hard, especially since Dongho had taught him about it once.

“I need to talk to you.”

Except, Dongho entered the room at that time and decided that he wanted to say something.

Minki spared a glance at Dongho, almost thinking about pleading for his boss to just speak later. “Sure, say whatever you want to say, but I’m still fixing this thing.”

Dongho hesitated when he saw what Minki was doing. “You sure it’s alright? I can wait until you’re done.”

“I can multitask.”

Or Minki was just looking for an excuse to not look at Dongho.

“Uh, sure.” From his peripheries, Minki could see Dongho scratching his head.

It took Dongho some time to speak, Minki thought his boss changed his mind about this whole talking thing.

“I’m sorry for what happened,” Dongho started, “I promised to come back when the shop closed and I didn’t so you couldn’t go with your friend.”

Instead of feeling better that Dongho apologized first, Minki felt his anger rising up again. That’s what he’s apologizing about? Minki supposed he deserved an apology about the whole let’s-avoid-Minki-by-tending-to-the-greenhouse ordeal first, but apparently Dongho was not sorry about it.

“Apology accepted,” Minki said curtly.

“What?”

“I said.” Minki turned to look at Dongho with one hand still holding on to the pot. “Apology accepted. I suppose Jeonghan wasn’t too mad about getting to have some time alone with his boyfriend.”

“I thought,” Dongho started again, but cut himself short before saying something he might regret.

What did he think? That it might have to take more than just a one liner apology for leaving Minki waiting in the shop until almost eleven in the evening? Why didn’t Minki ask for any explanation?

“What did you think?” Minki spat, “Look, I’m not too mad about that.”

The ladder shook a bit when Minki gestured around with the pliers in his hand, Dongho got wary about it.

“I don’t really care if you’re still tending to whatever you’re growing in the greenhouse or anything, but why aren’t you telling me anything?” Minki didn’t mean to be mad again when they’re having this conversation, but here he was, voice rising while talking to his boss.

“I was worried, Dongho.” Minki never called his boss by name before. “You leaving so early in the morning and coming back late everynight, even when I told you to come back when the shop closed that one time, I was worried!”

The ladder under Minki’s feet was starting to wobble, but he didn’t realize.

“Minki, be careful up there—”

“I thought you got kidnapped by someone or injured yourself in the greenhouse!” Minki eyed his boss. “Anything could’ve happened and I know you were ignoring me and I told you that you can trust me if you have anything troubling you but AHH—!”

“Minki!”

When the ladder toppled over and Minki fell, he shut his eyes tightly, thinking it’s going to hurt when his body received the impact. It never came, however. The only thing cushioning his fall was something akin to arms and muscles and wait—

The ladder clanged against the shop floor and Minki opened his eyes to see Dongho looking back at him worriedly from a very, very close distance that he could smell that familiar floral scent again. He was in his boss’ arms, with his own arms unconsciously wound tight around Dongho’s shoulder, holding on for dear life and wishing he didn’t have to fall.

This kind of scenario had happened a billion times, yet this time Minki heard his own heart beating hard against his ribcage, neck reddening from the embarrassment, and he wished he could just disappear. Minki could feel his arm’s skin burning from the contact with Dongho’s muscular shoulder, he wished for this moment to stay a bit longer. Dongho looked really good up close now with the dimmed light of the shop. What if—

“Can I kiss you?” It was a whispered plea from Dongho, but Minki was almost unsure about who said it.

“Why would you want to kiss me?” Minki frowned. “And why did you have to ask? I’m still mad at you and I wasn’t finished talking, but why can’t you just—”

This time, Minki wasn’t too late to pull Dongho’s shirt and crashed their lips together.

When Dongho’s breath hitched and his hold around Minki tightened, Minki smiled into the kiss proudly. No, he was not done talking, but if he could kiss Dongho like this? He didn’t mind at all.

It didn’t last long, but enough for Minki to feel dizzy. When they pulled away, Dongho rested his forehead against Minki’s.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile now.” Dongho’s voice was hoarse and it made Minki flush to think that he’s the one who did that.

“What?” Minki asked dumbly. “I thought you were avoiding me because you have problems with me or something.”

“I was avoiding you because I thought the feeling was inappropriate and I have to get rid of it, so I gave time to myself.” Dongho smiled, cupping Minki’s cheek with his hand. “It didn’t go away, and it wasn’t on purpose that I happened to fall asleep after thinking about you the whole day on that night you told me to come back early.”

Minki frowned. What a dork.

“I’m sorry I avoided you.”

Minki rolled his eyes. “Shut up.” And he kissed Dongho again.

Maybe Dongho wasn’t complaining either about this arrangement. They’d find a way to work around it.

🎕🎕🎕

“Oh, come on, Dongho.” Minki tsked. “I have to go, Jeonghan is waiting for me in the diner.”

“But I’ll miss you, Babe.” Dongho whined.

When did Dongho get this whiny? He used to be a cool and composed boss, but now he’s acting like a kid around Minki.

“You can see me everyday!” Minki tried to push at Dongho’s chest for him to scoot, but Dongho didn’t budge at all. “I swear you might get bored of me soon.”

Lately, Dongho loved lifting Minki up and putting him on the worktable, caging Minki there with both arms on Minki’s sides. Minki loved it, he rarely had to complaint when they had time to kill and Dongho was craving some kisses. But goddamnit, it’s Wednesday morning and they’re making Jeonghan wait.

“I’ll never get bored of you.” Dongho lifted his head from its initial spot on Minki’s crook of neck, now cupping Minki’s cheeks and staring at him with the most serious expression ever.

Minki rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, now get off me.”

“One more kiss?”

“I swear to God.”

“Please?”

“Okay, fine, but I’m going after that.”

Dongho grinned mischievously, which screamed trouble to Minki, but he couldn’t really do anything when Dongho closed the gap and claimed his lips.

Minki’s hand automatically nested on Dongho’s undershirt collar, gripping on the patch of clothes there. Yes, Minki promised one kiss, but Dongho didn’t specify how long he’s keeping Minki his prisoner on the table there.

When the bell above the entry door dinged and someone stepped in, Minki wasn’t fast enough to push Dongho away before the intruder saw them. Dongho did pull away out of courtesy, though.

“Oh My God.”

Minki groaned and smacked his forehead against Dongho’s shoulder when he saw that the intruder was Jeonghan.

“I can’t believe you’re making out with your boss while I’m waiting for you across the street.” Jeonghan grinned amusedly, not mad at all since similar things had happened with him and Seungcheol. “Hello, Dongho.”

Dongho waved at Jeonghan and smiled, no hint of remorse on his face as Minki braved himself to face his best friend. “Sorry for occupying your friend, it was my fault.”

“No need for apologies.” Jeonghan leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. “Are you coming with us for breakfast?”

Minki pushed Dongho away—this time Dongho complied and stepped back—and jumped down the table. “No, he’s not.”

Dongho acted like a kicked puppy, it made Minki want to slap his—lips, with his own lips. “Yeah, I have roses to dethorn.”

“Alright then,” Jeonghan said.

“Bye, Boss!” Minki reached the door and immediately dragged Jeonghan by the wrist outside the shop.

“Bye, Babe!”

Dongho grinned when Minki visibly glared at him before closing the door.

Well, Dongho didn’t exactly think he was going to end up liking Minki like this when he first recruited the guy. But, hey, roses weren’t always red and violets were never blue in the first place, so life found a way.

Dongho didn’t mind having Minki around to cheer up the shop, especially when Minki was the prettiest flower there.