Work Text:
Minho does not know shit about flowers.
Jisung talks about flowers having meanings all the time. And how different colours mean different things. It's pretty nice actually, to know everything around you has a meaning, that beauty isn't just beauty but that it's also reason. Flourishing and Symbolic. It gives you hope that you, too, have a meaning, and to some that's a comforting feeling.
Minho thinks it's lovely, truly he does. He thinks flowers are beautiful and smell nice, but he doesn't really care about their meanings. It's just too much for him to remember. He just cares that it makes Jisung happy. Because why would he focus on the flowers in the book Jisung tries to show him, when he could be admiring the gorgeous smile that glows on Jisung's face when he shows him. A smile that is shaped like love.
And he does try to listen to Jisung when he gets all excited about flowers, because if it's important to him then Minho wants to know too. But it's difficult when Jisung's eyes glisten like stars and his voice is the perfect range between high and low to sound like the perfect melody. Minho is just... in love.
So, so, disgustingly in love.
He thinks about Jisung all the time. Holding his hand, kissing his cheek, kissing his nose, kissing his lips, kissing his forehead, kissing his- okay yeah, you get it. Point is, Minho thinks about Jisung a lot. And that's not good. Because it's distracting him from his studies - he can't revise well for his exams if the only thing in his head is Jisung!
So, Minho has to do something about it. And that something is ask Jisung out! Because then at least his love will be carried by two people, and his mind can be his again. Yes, he'll ask Jisung out, for his own convenience if not for anything else.
Apparently, asking out your best friend, and love of your life, is a lot easier said than done.
It has to be meaningful, it has to be good and memorable. Jisung is his best friend, he deserves the best confession ever.
Now, Minho isn't too worried about rejection. And he's not being a narcissist when he says that. Nor is he being a narcissist when he says he's ninety-five percent sure Jisung loves him back. Because the two of them have always been on the same page.
Minho thinks that he and Jisung are inevitable, that they are going to happen, it's just a matter of time, and there’s no need to rush because they have all the time in the world. And Minho thinks Jisung knows it too.
So no, Minho isn’t worried about rejection. Or, at least he isn’t as long as he doesnt think about it too long.
What he is worried about, is the how and for that, he turns to one Bang Chan, the oldest of their friendship group, caring and fatherly and way too wise to be hanging out with the rest of them as much as he does.
“Chan, Chan, Chan, I’m going to fail all my exams and it’s all Jisung’s fault.” Minho wails dramatically after an equally dramatic display of barging into Chan’s apartment and flailing onto his couch like a starfish. It’s Chan’s fault, if he wanted to keep his privacy he shouldn't have given all seven of them spare keys to his apartment. Honestly what was he thinking, he’s the only one of them who owns an apartment (technically Jisung and Minho share an apartment but they all know it’s off limits most of the time, Minho is territorial and scary), it’s like chaos waiting to happen.
“Okay, Minho,” Chan walks in, scrolling through his phone and sounding entirely too unbothered at the fact one of his friends is in his apartment without his permission. And dropping honorifics too - Chan spoils Minho rotten. “Just because Jisung likes to play his music so loudly you can hear it through his headphones, doesn’t mean you’re going to fail your exams. Ask him to turn it down, you know he would if you asked him to.”
“One: I could never do that, that would make him sad. I could never make Jisungie sad, I’m not a monster,” Jisung probably wouldn’t even be sad at that, he’d probably think it’s totally reasonable and fine but Minho has a folder in his brain labelled ‘ Any Scenario Ever That Has A Probability Of More Than 0.0001% Of Making Han Jisung Upset’ and telling him to turn his music down is definitely on that list. The title’s a work in progress.
“Then study in the Library.” Also on the list. What if Jisung misses him? Or needs help and Minho isn’t there? Or-
“It isn't about the music, let me finish,” Minho complains even though he had left a long enough pause to make it excusable that Chan responded. “ Two: I meant It’s Jisung’s fault because I can’t focus! All I can think about is him! Chan-Hyung, how do I ask out Jisung? It needs to be perfect!”
Chan, bless his heart, looks positively stunned. “Y-You’re going to… ask Jisung out, so you can study for your exams.”
“When you put it like that it sounds dumb sure, but yes. And also because I’m in love with him.”
At least Chan looks a little less pale at the confirmation that Minho does actually love Jisung and isn’t just going to randomly ask Jisung out in order to… stop thinking about him? Chan’s right, that sounds dumb.
“And how am I meant to help with this, Minho?”
“You’re the advise guy,” there’s a big ass grin on Minho’s face. This’ll work, Chan will tell him what to do and Minho will march right over to Jisung’s house and get himself a boyfriend, and then pass all his exams.
"...Just ask him? Maybe? I don't know, man."
"Chan! You're meant to be the smart one!"
“Minho I suck at relationship advise! Anything! Anything else, but I’ve been single my entire life Minho, I don’t know the first thing about wooing someone.”
“First off, don’t call it wooing.”
Well, shit, what’s he meant to do now?
“Ask Changbin, at least he has a boyfriend.”
Thank you disembodied voice!
“Nope, still me,” Damn the disembodied voice sounds a lot like Chan, “you’re on my couch, dude.”
Changbin, as it turns out, is a right nightmare to find. He’s not in his apartment - obviously, Minho was just there. And he’s not in the campus studios and he’s not got any classes and he’s not at Hyunjin’s dorm either so where the fuck is he?
A ping sounds from his pocket and he fishes out his phone
Three new message:
chan (BAD ADVICE/DON'T LISTEN):
also changbin's at the gym today! 👍
he should be done soon but if ur feeling impatient then he'll be there !!
i still think you should talk to hannie urself minho
Ah, the universe is on the side of love today.
When Minho gets to the gym it’s to the wonderful (read: traumatising) sight of a shirtless, sweaty Changbin aggressively attacking some punching bags. Minho can admit Changbin’s muscles are impressive and large, but he’s not Hyunjin, he’s not into that. Minho is into cute twinks who sit like anime girls and who would struggle just as much as MInho would when carrying heavy boxes. He’d like Changbin to put a shirt on now.
“Would it kill you to wear some clothes, Seo Changbin?”
“Shut up Min- Minho? What are you doing here?” Changbin looks at Minho like he’s grown two heads, which Minho finds frankly quite offensive! Why is it so surprising that Minho is in the gym? He could work out! He doesn't, but he could. Whatever, not the point. Although Minho adds it to his to do list: Talk to Changbin, get himself a boyfriend, pass all his exams, and get swole to spite Seo Changbin and his dumb muscles.
“I’m in love.”
“Uhh, Minho, man, I’m taken…”
“Not with you, moron! Gross!”
“It would make sense, I’m irresistible!”
“As if!” Maybe talking to Changbin was a bad idea. Minho spins around and heads for the door, hearing Changbin laugh loudly and run after him.
Changbin takes Minho gently by the wrist and guides him over to where Changbin was stationed, complaining all the way but not actually fighting.
“You were saying?” Changbin presses as he picks up and finally puts his shirt back on, praise the lords, clearing up his stuff and pausing the music playing in his headphones.
“I’m in love with Han Jisung.”
“Well yeah? We all know that, Hyung, why did this cause disrupting my work-out.” He knows Changbin’s not actually mad. His tiny body is too little to hold anything other than muscle and love for Hyunjin. Disgusting.
“Because you have to tell me how to ask him out!”
“No, I don’t,” Changbin says, because he’s a dickhead.
“Yes, you do!”
Changbin just laughs, because he’s a dickhead. “Hyung, that’s definitely something you need to figure out how to do yourself.”
“But you have a boyfriend! You’re meant to know how I can do it meaningfully.”
“It’s not gonna mean anything if it comes from me, dude, it has to come from you,” Changbin is not being very helpful. Minho did not subject himself to Changbin’s gross greasy Gym-bod, only to not get his answers. “Besides, Hyunjin asked me out, not the other way around.”
“ You asked Changbin out?”
“...Yes?”
“Why!?”
“ Minho, have you seen his muscles?”
Too much, unfortunately. Minho hangs up on Hyunjin.
Great, Chan was no help, Changbin was a waste of time and brain cells, what now?
He could ask Felix, but as much as he loves Felix, he would definitely suggest something over dramatic and fancy - and while Minho is at a loss for ideas on how to ask Jisung out, he knows his best friend enough to be sure he would not want something so extravagant as any plan by Lee Felix.
Obviously he wasn’t going to ask Hyunjin, he has terrible taste! His plan would probably fail.
Kim Seungmin is a definite no. The day he asked Seungmin for help is the day he dies. Seungmin dies, that is, Minho would get Seungmin’s help and then kill him so he could tell nobody. Hm, maybe he could do that now? No, that won’t work, Seungmin would just tell Minho to figure it out himself. So killing him would be for nothing.
Yang Jeongin it is then.
“No.”
“What do you mean, no? I haven't even asked yet!”
The second he knocks on the door housing Yang Jeongin and his roommate, the door opens and promptly slams in his face.
“Yang Jeongin, this is no way to treat your Hyung!”
Jeongin opens the door once more. “I don’t care what it is, I want no part in it.”
“How do you know I even wanted to ask you for something? What if I just wanted to see my cute little Jeonginnie? Huh?”
“You have that look on your face, Hyung,” Jeongin drones with a face that exudes boredom, what a brat. “You want me to do something. And I will not!”
Jeongin goes to slam the door on him again but Minho is quicker. Holding the door open with his hand. Good thing Jeongin wasn’t actually trying to slam the door or his hand might’ve been cut clean off!
“I’ll cook you dinner for a week! Jeongin, please help me!”
“No.”
“Two weeks!”
“Minho-Hyung, whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll work much better if you do it yourself.”
“You’re only saying that so you don't have to help!”
“You’re right! Now leave! Good luck Hyung, have fun, love you, bye!”
And the door is once again slammed in his face. And he can’t even be mad at Yang Jeongin! He’s too cute.
Fine, he’ll have to try out what everyone keeps telling him to do… trying himself.
Minho has tried everything to ask Jisung out.
First, brainstormed with his goldfish. When that led nowhere, he inquired google and for the last week, Minho has been executing all his plans perfectly! And he still doesn't have a Jisung-shaped boyfriend!
First, Minho tried leaving a note for Jisung on the fridge, Jisung checks the fridge every day because he’s smart like that and puts reminders there so he doesn't forget. But by the time Jisung got home, the note had fallen off and been eaten by Soonie. Why was Minho a cat person again?
To be fair, even though Jisung didn’t know why Minho spent the rest of the day pouty and sulking, he still had them do a movie night with popcorn and takeaway pizza, the two of them snuggled on the couch with Soonie stretched across the both of their laps.
Ah, that’s why he’s a cat person.
Next, he tried scribbling ‘be my boyfriend?’ on the bottom of Jisung’s coffee cup when they went out the morning after the movie night. And in hindsight maybe the bottom of the cup was a bad idea, because Jisung didn’t even look at the bottom before finishing his drink and throwing the cup away.
He sent a letter, but forgot to sign it, so Jisung assumed it was a secret admirer and called it cute, but he didn't want to meet new people now.
He made Jisung a cake! That said, I love you ! On the icing! Jisung thought it was friendly.
He even sent Jisung a text (and he knows he said it had to be meaningful but he was out of ideas!) that said ‘do you want to go out with me, sung?” and Jisung just responded with a ‘we always hang out, min, you know u dont need to ask!”
This was getting ridiculous. It seemed that he really did need to just toughen up and ask Jisung out the old fashioned way. Via messenger pigeon.
It’s surprisingly much easier to find a messenger pigeon in this day and age, but unfortunately Chan caught him and immediately made him send the poor bird back.
Minho is just going to have to ask Jisung out, by asking Jisung out.
A quick google search and a secret flip through Jisung’s flower language book led Minho to the four most common flowers used to symbolise love. Of course there’s the rose, red for desire, pink for adoration, and white, for pure love. One of each held delicately in Minho’s hand. And then one Hydrangea,and a few stems of baby's breath. The website also recommended a sunflower and those were far too big to find quickly and would ruin the colour scheme Minho had going on.
Dainty and pastel. Like Jisung. God, he’s so in love.
And now Minho is standing outside his own apartment door, sweating and nervous, holding a bouquet of flowers he’s about to give to the love of his life. He’s hit with the need to back out. Like he said, Minho is ninety-five percent sure Jisung is equally in love with him, but that pesky five percent manifests himself as a very loud voice in the back of his head worrying that Jisung does not, in fact, love him back.
Minho is just about to turn and run down the corridor when the door in front of them flings open and a smiling Jisung is looking at him fondly. He’s wearing white sweat and Minho’s baby blue sweater is unsurprisingly swallowing him whole (Minho had broad shoulders), And Minho is suddenly and metaphorically knocked on his back by the wave of fondness and love that pours out of him at the sight.
Jisung is so, so beautiful. And Minho is so, so in love.
Before Minho even has the time to hide the flowers and run off, Jisung is looking down at the ensemble of plants held in Minho’s hand and his smile is wiped off his face immediately. And in place is left a gasp and a face filled with recognition.
Of course Jisung would get it right away, it’s Jisung.
And then the smile is back, tenfold and Jisung is looking up at Minho with his eyes of stars and his mouth shaped like love. There are tears brimming at his eyes and Minho has never seen a smile wider in his life. Minho has no doubt the same look is reflected on his face right now, he can feel the way his cheeks start to ache with the size of his smile but he won’t stop smiling, can’t. Not when Jisung is like this in front of him, looking like Minho just gifted him all the money he could ask for, not a few measly flowers that are definitely bending dangerously under Minho’s tight grip.
“Min, a-are these for me?” Jisung asks and Minho wants to scream ‘ yes, yes, of course, they are, these and a thousand more, as many as you want’ but his throat is closed up and he can’t speak.
Jisung looks at him with eyes filled with stars and understanding, because they’ve always been on the same page always, Jisung smiles at him with his mouth shaped in the prettiest heart, shaped like love, and gently takes the flowers from Minho’s hands.
“Minho, they’re beautiful, thank you,” Jisung says and a tear rolls down his cheek. He’s still smiling. Minho wants to reach out, to hold him but he can’t move, he can't speak.
Jisung looks at him then, really looks at him, and his eyes may still hold galaxies but now they hold determination too.
“Minho, would you like to be my boyfriend?”
And while most would assume this would cause Minho to choke up more, it’s these words that have him scrambling into action. He lets out a whine. “Jisung, no, I wanted to say it.”
And God Minho wishes he had a time machine so he could go back in time and hear the way Jisung’s lighthearted giggle echos around them, and down the corridor, over and over again. Jisung’s laugh is a sound he will never tire of.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he says, still laughing, “go on, you can say it.”
Jisung is leading them into the hallway, closing the door, and guiding Minho to the kitchen so he can put their flowers into a glass vase at the centre of the table. Once he’s done Minho takes both his hands and raises them to his lips, giving them both a small kiss to the knuckles and looking Jisung in the eye again.
“Jisung, will you be my boyfriend?”
“I would love to.” They’re both crying now, a steady stream of tears falling down their cheeks out of pure happiness. But it doesn’t matter anyway, because Jisung launches himself into Minho’s arms and they’re hugging, they’re here and together and they’re official and they’re boyfriends. They had both anticipated this moment, Minho and Jisung, inevitable. But being here is so, so, much better, Minho could’ve never hoped for more.
And then Jisung speaks. “So… this past week, you were trying to ask me out?”
“You knew!?”
“I was like, ninety-five percent sure, but that other five percent was a persuasive little bitch.”
God, Jisung is so perfect. “You’re so perfect.”
Jisung yelps as Minho picks him up and spins him around the kitchen, Minho basking in the trail of happy laughter Jisung leaves around them. This is perfect, Jisung in his arms, standing together in their kitchen next to a few bent flowers that symbolise their love. The flowers will wither eventually, but Minho will just buy more, because he knows their love will never run dry.
“God, I love you.”
Jisung’s smile is shaped like love. “I love you, too, Min, so, so much.”
With lips as soft as petals, and a contentedness that sprouts from him like a bud, Minho is finally able to call Jisung his, and can fall into the feeling of being Jisungs’s.
Minho decided, then, that he loves flowers.