Work Text:
‘Excuse me, do you happen to have any sunflowers?’
Yoongi looked up when a voice suddenly interrupted the silence in the small shop. He was about to close for the day and he wasn’t really expecting any more customers.
The day had been decent. Five old ladies, two couples, a husband who had forgotten his wedding anniversary and a schoolgirl who was buying flowers for her sick aunt. His last costumer had been a lovesick teenager buying flowers for their crush. Luckily, the shop was doing better lately, and he was thankful for every costumer.
Just not for this one who’d decided to bother him at the end of a long day, when Yoongi felt tired and shitty and just longed for the comfort of his bed. He forced a smile onto his face and informed the boy that, no, unfortunately they were out of them.
‘Roses then? You must have them, right? I mean what flower shop doesn’t sell roses?’
‘At the back, currently we’ve got pink, red, and yellow ones.’
‘Thanks!’
Yoongi leaned on the counter as he fumbled with a pair of scissors, eyeing the boy. He noticed that his hair bounced as he walked and for some strange reason it incredibly annoyed him. His voice was an octave too high for his liking as well.
And his ass.
Yoongi had to force his gaze away from the boy’s leather pants to keep himself from cutting his hand instead of the lily.
‘You’re supposed to cut them a little bit sharper, they will last longer that way.’
Yoongi was taken aback when he suddenly found the boy standing in front of his counter, six pink roses in one hand and money in the other. He grinned at Yoongi as he shoved the bills onto the counter, tilting his head slightly.
When he didn’t get a reply, he annoyingly pressed on.
‘Have you ever scared people away?’
Yoongi shot the boy a confused look as he took the roses from his hand and carefully wrapped plastic around them.
‘What?’
‘I mean, doesn’t your boss mind the fact that you’re wearing a leather jacket and you have your brow pierced?’ the boy chewed at his lip thoughtfully. ‘Not to forget your hair Is pink. Also, do you smoke? I can smell it from here. This is a flower shop. A beautiful one, by the way. But you look a bit...’
He hesitated and leaned in a little closer, getting dangerously close to Yoongi’s square meter of comfort and personal space.
‘Misplaced?’
Yoongi took a deep breath.
This fucking kid.
He clasped his hands together, forcing the friendliest smile on his face that he could manage. ‘As far as I’m concerned, people come here for the flowers and not for my looks.’
The boy chuckled, grabbing his flowers of the counter. ‘Yes of course! Not that you’re scary to me. Your hair actually kind of goes well with my roses.’
The next second soft petals were brushing against Yoongi’s earlobe as the boy held the small bouquet next to Yoongi’s head, examining how alike the two shades of pink were, a smile playing on his lips.
‘See?’
Okay? ‘Um.’
‘My mom will love these,’ he continued to smile that stupid smile which somehow made Yoongi nervous as the still nameless boy left the shop.
-
How Yoongi ended up hiring the kid a week later is still a mystery to him. But he did know that he would now spend every Tuesday and Friday, 10 to 5, in the presence of a certain Park Jimin.
Yoongi wasn’t sure why he hadn’t burned or ripped his application letter to shreds.
Maybe it was because, at the end of the day, he did need the extra pair of hands helping him out with the new shipments and flower arrangements.
His first day was a Tuesday. Tuesdays meant lots of new shipments. All Yoongi did was point Jimin in all directions, making him carry everything (and stare at his biceps as the boy did so.)
He quickly noticed that Park Jimin was a talker, whereas Yoongi liked to stay quiet. In the hours Jimin had been there his first day, Yoongi had already learned the reason as to why he needed this job; it was because he had to pay for extra dance classes outside of college.
Also, his favorite color was light blue, his favorite number 3 and he laughed obnoxiously loud at his own jokes.
Yoongi liked it when Jimin laughed, though. Because when Jimin laughed, his whole body laughed. Hands coming up to cover his mouth or to run his short fingers through his dark hair. The slightest hint of a dimple appearing on his cheek as his eyes turned to crescents. Body shaking as he looked up at Yoongi, trying to catch his breath.
Yeah, Jimin’s laugh was kind of cute.
He was still an annoying little shit, though.
Who managed to knock over a total of three vases, sit on two bouquets, and cut his finger five times that day.
-
Yoongi also wasn’t pleased when on Jimin’s second day, the following Friday, the younger decided to literally shower him in flower petals when Yoongi came back from his smoking break.
‘Park Jimin. What the hell are you doing?’
Yoongi crossed his arms as he looked at the younger who was holding the blue bucket they used for dead and wilted flowers above his head. The contents now all over Min Yoongi and the floor.
‘Cleansing you from the toxic stuff in those sticks of death!’
‘I’ll make sure your paycheck gets cleansed if you don’t clean up the mess you made right now.’
Yoongi brushed some petals of his shoulders and angrily picked some out of his hair as he shook his head at Jimin, who sighed in response and got on his knees to gather the petals off the floor.
‘Hyung,’ Jimin had gotten accustomed to calling him Yoongi hyung in the short time they had known each other, and honestly, Yoongi didn’t really mind. What he did mind was the fact that he was positive there were even petals in his butt crack. ‘Are you mad at me?’
Yoongi sighed, walking over to the dahlias. ‘No, I’m not. Just clean it up, okay? We’re going to try something new today.’
Jimin looked up from his position on the ground, ‘We are?’
‘You’re going to help costumers. But first, we’re going to practice, get behind the counter.’
The younger boy did as he was told and got up after throwing the petals away, straightening his back and giving Yoongi a questioning look.
‘Pretend I’m the costumer.’
‘What? Are we going to do role-play or something?’
‘Yes.’
Jimin sighed but still smiled brightly as he leaned forward over the counter, staring right back at Yoongi.
‘Hello miss, how can I help you?’
Yoongi rolled his eyes, groaning. ‘I don’t know if you have noticed but I’m the proud owner of a dick.’
‘But most customers are female, right?’ Jimin bit his bottom lip, suppressing a grin, ‘Got to keep it realistic.’
Alright.
‘Are you disrespecting your customer right now, Park Jimin?’
‘No, what?’
‘I want five white tulips, three lavender stocks, and fill it up with daisy poms. I’m in a hurry and if you don’t finish it in 3 minutes, I will yell at you.’
‘What? Yoongi hyung this is my second day I don’t even know what lavender stocks are.’
‘I’m not Yoongi, I’m your customer. 2 and a half minutes left, I would get started I were you.’
Yoongi jumped on top of the counter and sat on the hard surface as he watched Jimin’s struggle in amusement. The boy furiously repeated that he had ‘no idea what lavender stocks even are!’ and he was ‘just going to throw some flowers together!’
Yoongi shook his head as he unlocked his phone, looking out of the shop window. They had had four customers so far, but he knew from experience that in about half an hour, people would start coming in.
‘Done!’ Jimin smacked the bouquet down on Yoongi’s thigh, the plastic messily wrapped around it, panting for breath.
Yoongi held it up, examining the flowers. Two broken stalks, some random yellow petals peeking out between the white and purple ones. He felt a small hand push against his back, causing him to stumble off the counter.
‘That will be 10.000 won, please.’
He turned around to find Jimin on the other side, grinning and holding his hand up.
-
Yoongi soon learned Jimin wasn’t a disaster when it came to handling costumers at all. Actually, Yoongi was positive the increase in teenage girls coming in every day was due to Park Jimin. Complimenting every female, putting stressed husbands and schoolboys at ease and making comments about the ‘great’ weather, even when it rained. Jimin was the sunshine the flowers needed. Yoongi was simply there to water them from time to time.
They made it work.
Yoongi slowly started to appreciate Jimin. He was a quick learner, and three weeks in, still always on time.
‘Morning, hyung!’
Yoongi didn’t even bother to look up from the display he was trying to arrange, mumbling a ‘morning’ back.
‘Did the new shipments come in already?’
‘They’re at the back, move the roses to the front. Only the white and red ones, though.’
‘Okay!’
Yoongi got back to rearranging, cursing under his breath every time his fingers scraped past thorns or he managed to break a stalk. He sighed, frustrated. He really needed to get better at this.
‘Hyung?’
Yoongi was about to snap and yell an annoyed ‘what’ back, when he noticed Jimin leaning against the doorframe between the back and the front of the shop. A red rose between the younger’s fingers as he looked at the older boy.
Yoongi watched the younger slowly bring the stalk up to his parted lips, walking over to Yoongi.
‘Jimin?’
‘Hyung, dance with me.’
‘I know you’re a dance major but we’re not gonna tango or whatever you have in mind, put the rose back.’
‘But Yoongi hyung,’ Jimin pouted, holding his hand out, ‘At least spin me around.’
Yoongi looked at the boy in front of him, big eyes trying to read Yoongi’s neutral facial expression.
‘I can’t sell that anymore now it has your saliva all over it,’ Yoongi mumbled as Jimin grabbed his hand and dragged Yoongi away from the shop window. He lifted the older boy’s hand in the air and stood underneath their intertwined fingers, slowly spinning himself around, rose still between his teeth. He used his free hand to take the stalk out of his mouth.
Yoongi really didn’t trust the look in the younger’s eyes.
‘Let’s do one of those dramatic fall back things where you hold me by the waist!’
‘Let’s not.’
Before Yoongi could process what was happening, Jimin was leaning back and almost knocking a stand with tulips over. Yoongi managed to grab the boy just in time, awkwardly staring at Jimin as the younger hovered above the ground, their faces dangerously close.
He noticed his heartbeat speed up as Jimin burst out into laughter, dropping the rose on the ground next to him. Yoongi quickly looked away, wanting to see anything but the two brown eyes staring back at him. When he looked to his left, though, he was greeted by the sight of a customer, looking at the two boys in great confusion.
‘Oh, sorry, good morning! Can I help you?’ Yoongi nervously smiled as he quickly helped Jimin up. He turned his back to the younger and walked over to the middle aged woman who started talking about purple asters.
That was the day Yoongi realized he was absolutely, completely screwed for the first time.
When he couldn’t look at Jimin for another hour without blushing and when he, Min Yoongi, actually stuttered when Jimin asked him a question about some Peruvian lilies.
It was the day that he realized that maybe, just maybe, he was developing a small crush on the boy.
Fuck.
-
‘Hyung?’
‘Mmh?’ Yoongi placed his elbows on the counter and rested his chin on his palms as he watched Jimin water some plants.
‘Why do you smoke? It’s blending in with the flower scent and its gross.’
Yoongi shrugged his shoulders, ‘To relieve stress?’
‘Or to add to the badboy aesthetic you’re so desperately trying to pull off?’
Yoongi sighed, continuing to watch the younger move about the shop.
‘And even though you probably think you look very intimidating with your piercings and ripped jeans, you’re kind of cute with your pink hair.’
The older boy simply chuckled at the comment, carelessly changing the subject as he drummed his fingers on the counter, ‘Jimin?’
‘Yeah?’
‘You’re watering yourself.’
‘Ah, shit!’ Jimin yelled noticing the puddle around his feet.
Yoongi laughed at him, ‘sometimes you really are an idiot, Park Jimin.’
Jimin looked up from his drenched shoes, tilting his head to the side, sending a death glare in Yoongi’s direction. ‘What did you just call me?’
‘An idiot.’
Jimin smiled, innocently taking a step towards Yoongi. ‘Do I need to water you as well, hyung?’
‘Don’t you dare.’
Within seconds Jimin was chasing him around the front and back of the shop, watering can swinging in the air. When Jimin had him cornered in the back, Yoongi felt the heat spread from the tips of his ears down to his neck. Jimin was coming close, too close for Yoongi to stay calm and remember how to fucking breathe.
‘Jimin, don’t you fucking dare.’ Yoongi shielded himself with his hands, trying to keep Jimin at a safe distance as the boy lifted the watering can. When Jimin was about to tilt the object to shower Yoongi in the water meant for the flowers and plants, Yoongi acted out of reflex. He did the only thing he could think of and smacked the thing out of Jimin’s hands, soaking the younger instead.
It was an accident, really.
Just like it had probably been an accident that Jimin’s white shirt turned see-through within seconds. And that this made Yoongi very aware of what was underneath said shirt. The outlines of well defined abs now permanently burned behind Yoongi’s eyelids. And if it was possible for Yoongi to feel even hotter, well, then it had just happened.
Okay.
So apparently Yoongi was actually really crushing on Jimin.
Fuck.
No panic, he told himself. You have had crushes before. This happens all the time. It will be over in a week. Two weeks tops. Stay fucking calm, Min Yoongi.
‘I, I think I just heard a customer come in,’ Yoongi muttered before harshly pushing past a confused Jimin.
‘Hyung?’ he heard the younger call after him, ‘do you have any spare clothes? Hyung?’
Yoongi responded by yelling a, ‘yeah, somewhere,’ back. He covered his burning cheeks with his slightly shaking hands, hoping it would make the redness disappear.
-
‘I’m sure the lucky lady will love them,’ Jimin reassuringly smiled at a nervous teenage boy who was fumbling with his snapback. Jimin sent the boy off with a, ‘good luck!’ and walked over to Yoongi, who was sitting on the ground between the dahlias and sunflowers, yawning at him.
‘Jimin, you can’t just assume he’s buying them for his girlfriend.’
‘Not necessarily a girlfriend, it could be for a date too.’
‘Flowers aren’t just for dates.’
‘No, of course not.’
Yoongi nodded. They were 25 minutes away from closing and he felt absolutely exhausted.
‘They’re for sick relatives, mother’s day, funerals.’
‘We don’t do funerals.’
Jimin noticed the change in Yoongi’s voice, simply whispered an ‘oh,’ back as he sat down next to the boy on the cold floor.
‘You look tired, hyung. You’re overworking. You should take some days off.’
Yoongi shook his head, running a hand through his pink fringe.
His hair needed to be re-dyed soon.
‘I would, but I can’t.’
‘Why not? You don’t run this shop.’
‘Unfortunately, I do.’
Jimin shot Yoongi a questioning look, ‘What? Wait, do you mean, you’re actually my boss? This place is yours?’
‘Officially, it’s still my mom’s.’
Yoongi could feel the familiar lump forming in his throat when the subject called the woman who gave him life came up. It was so much easier to just push emotions away than to face them.
‘Can’t she work for you, then?’
‘She’s dead, Jimin.’
Yoongi noticed Jimin gasping at how blunt he had been. Well, Yoongi had never been one to disguise something by vagueness and pretty words. He felt a hesitating hand land on his shoulder, a thumb rubbing what were supposed to be soothing circles. ‘I, I’m sorry Yoongi, I didn’t know.’
‘She left this shop to me. I’ve been running it ever since she passed away six months ago. Got to make her proud, you know.’
Yoongi looked up, meeting Jimin’s brown eyes.
God, there was so much pity in the way he stared back at Yoongi.
Yoongi immediately looked down again.
The younger boy dropped his gaze, too. ‘I’m sure she is, the shop is doing well, right? You get a lot of customers.’
‘I hope she is. There was nothing she loved more than this damn flower shop.’ Yoongi scoffed, feeling tears burn behind his eyelids.
He wasn’t going to cry. He didn’t cry while she was sick. He didn’t cry when he received the news that she was gone. He didn’t even cry at her funeral, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to cry now. Yoongi shook his head, hands balling to fist, fingernails digging so deep into his skin it started to hurt. ‘And the worst is, I don’t even like flowers. All they do is remind me of her.’
Suddenly the weight of Jimin’s hand disappeared from his shoulder. Yoongi watched in confusion as the younger walked to the door, turning the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed.’ He flicked the lights off and returned to his spot, now sitting opposite Yoongi.
‘Jimin,’ his voice broke and he was mad at himself for not being able to keep it together the way he normally did. ‘We’re still supposed to be opened for another 20 minutes.’
‘Well we’re closed now.’ Jimin whispered, shuffling closer and making their knees touch. ‘I’m really sorry about your mother, Yoongi.’
It was the first time Yoongi cried over his mom. He couldn’t help it. Not when Jimin stroked his hair and whispered that he was sure that it was not the shop she had loved the most, but Yoongi.
-
‘Hyung? Did I ever tell you you’re the best boss ever?’
‘Jimin, are you high on the flowers or something?’
Yoongi sat on the chair behind the counter and gave Jimin, who was lying on top of it, a small kick, causing the younger to stir. The boy let out a giggle in return, followed by a dramatic whine.
‘No, I’m just happy.’
Yoongi weakly smiled, ‘Well, I’m glad.’
It went silent for a bit. Yoongi could sense the younger wanted to say something, it was obvious in the way he would raise his head every few seconds, only to lie back down moments later.
‘There’s no rule against dating customers right?’ he whispered after a good ten seconds. ‘Because I kind of got asked out and now I kind of have a date tonight.’
Oh.
There it is.
Yoongi awkwardly coughed, gaze moving from Jimin to the wall, forcing a soft chuckle to leave his lips. ‘Is that why you called me a good boss? So I’d let you get away with picking up girls here?’
He was very probably not being a good boss, actually. Dating costumers was unprofessional. But then again, this was a goddamn flower shop, and Yoongi didn’t take himself or the entire flower business very seriously. Not to forget that Jimin didn’t even call him hyung half of the time and bossed him around more often than Yoongi liked to admit.
Jimin sat up, slight blush appearing on his cheeks. ‘No, no, it’s not like that! This is the first time something like this happened! And she asked me out, I didn’t try to get with her or anything, I was just being my usual self.’
‘I see,’ Yoongi noticed his hands starting to shake. He needed a cigarette, he needed to get away from Jimin. ‘No problem, have fun.’
‘You really are the best! Hyung, what flowers should I get her? Roses? Roses are romantic, right? Yoongi?’
But Yoongi was already at the back of the shop, next to the opened window. Trembling fingers fidgeting with his lighter.
Of course Jimin was straight.
Of course he was going on a date with a nice girl, who he met in his own damn shop. He took a long drag, still vaguely registering Jimin’s voice calling for him. He smoked in silence, calming down again. Don’t get mad at Jimin, he firmly told himself. It’s not his fault. Be happy for him, okay? Don’t you dare ruin this for him. You’re gonna go back there and smile, wish him all the best on his date.
Nevertheless, the sound of his heart slowly crumpling to pieces was deafening in the heavy silence when Yoongi returned to the front of the shop. Finding Jimin cradling about 20 red roses in his arms.
‘She’ll like these right?’ the younger hesitantly spoke up when he noticed the older boy had returned.
Yoongi did his best to smile.
‘Yeah, she’ll love them.’
-
‘Morning,’ Yoongi yawned from his spot next to the orchids when he noticed Jimin walking in.
‘Morning,’ the younger responded and walked to the back to drop his bag and jacket. Yoongi stared at the door opening through which Jimin had just disappeared. He wanted to ask Jimin about his date, even though he knew the answer would bring him pain. But showing interest is what friends did, right? After all, it was safe to consider Jimin a friend.
Or at least, Yoongi hoped so.
He watched as the younger carried some containers with flowers to the front. Jimin was oddly silent. No comments about the weather, the flowers, Yoongi’s choice of clothing for the day. Yoongi spent some minutes listening to the ‘calming’ music Jimin had insisted they played in the shop for good vibes. He decided to break the silence when the sounds of ‘raindrops hitting the ocean’ made its entrance and he couldn’t take it anymore.
‘How was your date?’
The answer was plain and simple. ‘Good.’
Yoongi weakly smiled, searching for the younger’s eyes. ‘I’m glad, she’s a really lucky girl.’
Jimin let out a soft chuckle, ‘don’t say that, hyung.’
The older boy sighed, not even bothering to avoid the truth. Jimin wouldn’t known he meant it that way anyway. ‘I’m serious, you’re a great guy. What did you guys do?’
‘I took her out for dinner and we went for a walk afterwards.’
Yoongi couldn’t help but wonder if they had held hands.
He wanted to hold Jimin’s hand so bad.
Yoongi forced another smile on his face, ‘Park Jimin, who would’ve ever thought you had such a romantic side to you! Did she like the roses?’
‘She did, we’re going on our second date on Thursday.’
It took all of Yoongi’s weak acting skills to mumble a ‘that’s great,’ and have it sound somewhat sincere.
‘Yes, she’s really lovely. She told me her friend is single as well, you’re single too, right? Maybe we can double date, hyung.’
Yoongi felt his cheeks heat up, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. ‘Yeah, I, kind of am not interested in girls.’
‘Oh.’
Oh.
Yoongi figured it was time to fucking abort mission because congratulations, he had just fucked up. He wanted the ground to swallow him right then and there because Min Yoongi from Daegu, you are an idiot, randomly coming out to your crush like that.
‘I see. That’s perfectly fine, hyung. No big deal.’ Of course Jimin would casually smile such an important announcement away. Of course Jimin would be accepting.
They continued working in silence again, ‘raindrops hitting the leaves in the forest’ now playing in the background. When 15 minutes had passed and Jimin still hadn’t said another word, Yoongi got a little worried.
‘You’re okay, Jimin? I’m sorry if what I said made you feel uncomfortable.’
‘No, no, it’s okay. I was just thinking. Can I get the day off on Friday? I have midterms next week and I still need to do a lot of studying.’
See, Jimin was avoiding him already. He could probably expect an resignation letter before the end of the week. There went all his chances of ever getting to call Jimin his.
Wait, what was he even saying. Jimin was straight. Jimin liked girls and boobs and long hair falling over shoulders. Yoongi had neither of that. Jimin would never be his.
‘Yeah, sure.’
-
Friday came around quickly, despite the fact that Yoongi had spent most of his Thursday night staring at the ceiling. Jimin had been on his second date that night. He couldn’t help but wonder if he and his date would have kissed by now. That was normal, right? Having your first kiss on the second date?
Yoongi sighed, he was so pathetic. Investing his energy in something that would never be worth it because it could simply never be.
It was silent in the shop without Jimin’s presence. Yoongi helped some costumers, took a lot of smoking breaks, and left the new shipments for the weekend in the back because carrying them to the front was just too much work for his tired body. He played with the pencil in his hand, mindlessly scrabbling lyrics down on a small piece of paper. His passion was, and would probably forever be, music. But he had given that up when his mother had passed. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do, but now he doubted it.
Owning a flower shop had never been his dream, it had been his mom’s. But hadn’t his mom’s dream not also been for Yoongi to be happy and to be doing the thing he loved most? He sighed as he crumpled the piece of paper, noticing a customer walking in. It was a girl around his age. Dark hair peeking out from underneath a beanie, hands tucked into the pockets of a pink bomber jacket.
‘Can I help you?’
The girl turned around, politely smiling. ‘Yes, eh, is Jimin here today? He normally works on Fridays, right?’
Yoongi nodded, placing the pencil down on the counter. ‘He does, but he’s not here today.’
‘Oh,’ she sounded slightly disappointed, ‘Did he call in sick?’
Yoongi was a bit lost to why this girl was asking him all these questions about Jimin. ‘No, he had to study for his midterms.’
At this, the girl’s cheeks turned pink, and she nervously tugged her beanie a little lower. ‘He didn’t show up on our date yesterday, so I figured he wasn’t feeling well.’
Yoongi’s grip on the counter tightened.
So this was the girl. The girl Jimin went on dates with. God, she was pretty. He could totally see her and Jimin together. Happily walking next to each other, his arm around her waist.
‘And that’s,’ she bit her lip, ‘strange. Midterms aren’t until three weeks from now.’
Did Jimin leave his date hanging? That sounded incredibly unlike the younger. And not only that, he had lied about the reason for wanting a day off as well? Yoongi awkwardly stood there, not sure what to say. ‘I, I don’t know. That’s what he told me.’
She slowly nodded, taking a step back. ‘I’ll get going then, when you see him, can you tell him I dropped by and ask him to text me? He won’t respond.’
‘Yeah, I will,’ Yoongi told her before she turned around, leaving Yoongi alone with all the flowers and plants and a lot of confusion.
-
Unlike Yoongi had expected, he did not find a resignation letter the following Tuesday. He did find a smiling Park Jimin, though, wishing him a good morning, making comments about the weather, the flowers, and of course, Yoongi’s choice of clothing for the day. He sent every costumer off with a, ‘have a nice day!’ and even helped Yoongi rearrange the displays.
He knew he had to confront Jimin, not only about lying to him, but also about ditching his date. He still pushed it off until the very end of the day, though. Waiting until the ‘open’ sign had been flipped to ‘closed.’ Yoongi leaned against the counter as he watched Jimin put some dead flowers and expensive vases away, patiently waiting for the boy to finish.
‘Jimin?’
‘Yeah?’ the younger hopped onto the counter next to Yoongi.
Yoongi wasn’t sure what to begin with or how to even start the conversation he was about to have. He figured he should just go with whatever came up in his mind first, which happened to be, ‘your date came in on Friday.’
Way to go Min Yoongi, way to go.
Yoongi noticed Jimin’s leg twitch a little, a staggered breath leaving the boy’s parted lips. ‘She did?’
‘Yeah,’ Yoongi sounded surprisingly casual and he was proud of himself for keeping it together. ‘She was worried about you since you didn’t show up on your guys’ date.’
An uncomfortable, heavy silence followed, and Yoongi needed some time to gather the courage to interrupt it.
‘Why did you leave her hanging like that, Jimin? I thought you liked her? She’s a nice girl.’
Jimin stared at his hands, ‘She is, she’s really nice.’
‘Also, your midterms aren’t until three weeks from now. I don’t mind giving you a day off, but why would you lie?’
The smaller boy looked up in shock, cheeks coloring a deep red, ‘How do you know that?’
‘She told me. Also, she asked me to tell you to text her back since apparently you won’t respond to her.’
Jimin avoided Yoongi’s stare, running a hand through his hair. ‘I don’t think I will.’ The words were barely audible, but loud enough for Yoongi to hear. Jimin opened his mouth to add something to his statement, but closed it again moments later.
‘Why not?’
Jimin shrugged his shoulders, swinging his legs. ‘Because I’m confused, hyung.’
Yoongi pushed himself off the counter, moving to stand in front of the younger. ‘About what? You can tell me.’
Jimin shook his head, a shy smile appearing on his face, ‘No, I don’t think I can.’
‘You have to apologize to her, though.’ Yoongi was proud of himself for saying that. ‘She looked genuinely worried and upset.’
Jimin murmured a, ‘yes, I will,’ and went back to looking at his hands.
‘You’re sure you’re okay?’
‘The entire time I was with her I kept thinking about you.’
The sudden announcement had Yoongi at a loss for words and it took him a moment to recollect himself. ‘I’m sorry, what do you mean?’
‘Well,’ Jimin scoffed, looking vaguely pissed off with himself. ‘All I can think about lately is kissing you, and I’m really fucking confused because I’m pretty sure that I’m not supposed to feel that way, yet I do.’
Yoongi felt his heartbeat speed up as he readjusted his snapback just to give his hands something to do.
Jimin groaned, ‘And it makes no sense, because you see, I like girls. I always have. But now I am developing feelings for you, and I just don’t get it.’ His voice broke, and suddenly the corners of his mouth dropped. ‘And it scares me so much. When you came out to me it was like the last push I needed so I tried avoiding you, but obviously it didn’t work. And if you want to fire me now, that’s okay and I’m sorry. But you know,’ he ran a hand through his hair, ‘I’ll at least won’t have to look at you anymore and I won’t feel the strange desire to hold you and kiss you.’
Yoongi listened to the younger in shock, slowly processing every word leaving Jimin’s lips. ‘Jimin?’
The younger shook his head and moved to get off the counter, but Yoongi stepped closer, blocking him in his way.
‘I’m sorry, hyung, I’m really sorry I shouldn’t have said that but I just couldn’t take it anymore.’
‘Do you want me to kiss you?’
It went silent, only the sounds of their breathing audible, the dim light still coming from outside giving Yoongi the opportunity to try and read the younger’s expression.
‘Hyung, what?’
Yoongi weakly smiled back at him, repeating his words, ‘Do you want me to kiss you?’
Jimin stared back at him in disbelief, biting his lip. ‘I think so, yes, but...’ He closed his eyes, ‘I’m scared, hyung.’
‘It’s okay to be scared.’
‘You really don’t have to do this.’
Yoongi wanted to tell Jimin how much he actually wanted to do this.
‘Jimin, I will kiss you now, okay. And if you don’t like it or want to stop, just push me away, alright?’ Yoongi moved to stand between Jimin’s legs. ‘Open your eyes and look at me.’
The younger did as he was told and Yoongi brought a hand up to Jimin’s face, cupping the boy’s heated cheek. He slowly leaned in, stopping when their noses brushed against each other. He whispered a, ‘ready?’ against the younger’s lips and waited for Jimin’s eyes to flutter shut.
All he wanted for Jimin was to be at ease, to let him know that how he was feeling was okay.
Yoongi briefly connected their lips, pulling away to reconnect them, feeling Jimin relax into his touch a little. When he pulled away for a second time, he rested his forehead against Jimin’s, waiting for the boy to open his eyes.
‘That wasn’t that bad right?’
The younger boy let out a chuckle, whispering a ‘no,’ back, before leaning in and being the one to kiss the older boy. Yoongi felt Jimin’s arms snake around his waist, pulling Yoongi closer. He moved his hands down to Jimin’s neck, sucking on the younger’s bottom lip, Jimin parting his lips to deepen the kiss.
Yoongi pulled away after some minutes of being drowned in Park Jimin and his soft lips, feeling breathless and a little dizzy, but so incredibly happy. He took a step back to admire the boy in front of him, pink swollen lips, tousled hair and his fingertips still lingering on Yoongi’s hips.
‘Give it some time, Jimin. You’ll work your feelings out sooner or later, and hey,’ he ran a hand through Jimin’s dark locks, ‘I’ll be right here. I’ve been in your position. No matter what, you’ll be okay.’
He smiled back at him, sincerity in his voice. ‘Thanks, Yoongi.’
Yoongi resisted the urge to peck Jimin’s cheek before turning around, mumbling a ‘no problem.’ He made his way over to the back, finding his leather jacket and putting it on after handing Jimin his bag and jacket, grabbing his keys. Out of habit, Yoongi immediately grabbed his lighter the minute he walked outside.
‘I’ll see you on Friday,’ Yoongi searched his back pocket for his pack of cigarettes.
‘See you on Friday ,’ Jimin nodded, biting his lip to hold back a shy smile. Yoongi sighed, leaning against the shop window, watching Jimin walk to the end of the street. He shot the boy a wink when he turned around.
Yoongi took a long drag of his cigarette, contently watching the smoke blend with the late afternoon air.
-
‘Oh my god.’
‘Fuck yes, Jimin.’
‘You’re so good at this, babe.’
Yoongi was surprised he was still able to form decent sentences, when he was so close to just panting out random vowels.
‘Are you sure you’ve never done this cause, ah fuck, you’re so good, you feel so good.’
Jimin simply nodded as he continued working his tongue around Yoongi’s length.
The older boy tried his best to stay silent. He really did. He wasn’t even sure how they ended up in the far back of the shop, next to the window he normally smoked underneath. Ripped jeans pooling around his ankles, trying so damn hard not to moan out in pleasure.
Suddenly, Jimin pulled back, eyes wide in shock, lips slick and swollen. Yoongi immediately let out a whiny ‘Jimin,’ cause he had been so close, goddamn it.
‘I heard someone.’
‘You’re not going to let me finish because someone just walked into the shop? Jimin, you can’t do this to me.’
Jimin’s eyes shot to the closed door and back to meet Yoongi’s begging eyes, whisper shouting that, ‘hyung, there’s a fucking costumer!’
‘And I need to fucking come!’ Yoongi hissed back in the exact same tone.
The younger boy got up, knees slightly aching from being pressed against the cold floor. ‘Well, you know where the bathroom is.’
‘This is unbelievable, I think I’m going to accidentally lose your paycheck.’
‘And I’m going to make you money by helping a customer, please be thankful. Do I look presentable?’
Jimin wasn’t even surprised when Yoongi told him ‘no,’ and made his way over to the bathroom to finally get his release. Jimin quickly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, making a mental note not to touch any flowers the upcoming 5 minutes.
‘Did they at least buy something?’ Yoongi sighed when he walked back in, still a little pissed over having to finish on his own.
‘Two bouquets!’
Yoongi walked towards the younger boy standing behind the counter and wrapped his arms around his waist, resting his chin on Jimin’s shoulder.
‘The next time you better let me finish, though. Coming to the thought of you is no fun.’
Yoongi loved making Jimin blush, and hell, was the younger blushing right now. He turned his head to peck Jimin’s pink cheek before turning around and cleaning the floor from some petals and stalks.
This was what they did. This was what they were. No official titles to call whatever it was they had going on. And honestly, Yoongi was content.
He knew Jimin wasn’t ready. Jimin was still trying to accept the fact that in this society, he turned out to be different from what was considered acceptable.
Yoongi kept his distance when there were costumers in the shop. He knew Jimin didn’t want people to know about, well, them. Let alone his sudden change of sexuality. He only wrapped his arms around Jimin when they were alone. Only allowed his hand to find Jimin’s after a long day of work. Only kissed Jimin when no one was watching. And for now, that was all he wanted.
Yoongi was happy.
-
‘I’m going to quit.’
The announcement was sudden. No signs beforehand. Jimin just dropped it like he was announcing a bathroom break. Yoongi tried his hardest to make his response just as casual.
‘Oh, you are?’
‘I’ve saved up enough money for my dance classes, and even though working here is great, it takes up a lot of time I actually really need for college and everything.’
Yoongi nodded. Not having Jimin around in the shop was gonna suck, but he understood. ‘I see. I’ll miss your annoying face around here, but I mean, it’s not like we’re going to stop seeing each other,’ Yoongi hesitated slightly. ‘Right?’
The, ‘yeah,’ leaving Jimin’s lips sounded anything but convincing, and Yoongi mumbled a, ‘we’ll talk later,’ because there were still costumers surrounding them.
When later arrived, though, Yoongi was close to shitting himself. Jimin had smiled at him, sure, but something in the way he looked at Yoongi hadn’t felt right. ‘So.’
Jimin dragged his palms across the counter, letting out a sigh. ‘So.’
‘When were you planning on having your last day?’
‘I was thinking next week? It that’s possible, of course.’
‘Yeah, I’ll try and find someone new by then.’
As if replacing Park Jimin was even possible. The thought itself seemed absolutely ridiculous to Yoongi.
Jimin weakly smiled, ‘I’m sure you’ll find someone.’
That statement could be taken two ways for Yoongi.
‘What’s going to happen to us?’ Yoongi walked up to Jimin, standing on the other side of the counter so he could face him.
Jimin still managed to avoid the boy’s gaze. ‘I don’t think I’m ready, Yoongi.’
‘That’s okay,’ Yoongi sighed, ‘Even though, honestly, I’m a bit worried.’
The younger boy reached out to run a hand through Yoongi’s, now faded, pink hair, but when he noticed the serious expression on the older boy’s face, he pulled back.
‘Why are you worried?’
Yoongi nervously played with his fingers, ‘Because chances are you will go out there and meet the most beautiful breathtaking girl and fall head over heels in love with her.’ He dropped his head in some pathetic act, ‘And forget about me.’
How could Yoongi ever compete with beautiful breathtaking girls? Jimin had always liked beautiful breathtaking girls before he met Yoongi.
‘Don’t say that.’ Somehow the chuckle the younger included sounded forced and misplaced.
‘But it’s true, isn’t it? It could happen. Did it already happen, Jimin?’
Jimin shook his head, trying to put his hands over Yoongi’s which were resting on top of the counter, but the older boy quickly pulled them away.
‘But basically, what you’re saying, you don’t want to continue this? You don’t want to continue us?’
The silence was enough of a response for Yoongi.
‘Just to make sure, you didn’t use me, did you?’
The shock crossing the younger’s face mixed with the quick, ‘of course not!’ almost put Yoongi at easy during the process of his heart being ripped out of his chest and spit on by Park Jimin. ‘I would never, hyung!’
Yoongi took a step back, nausea suddenly overwhelming him. ‘You’d be surprised with the amount of guys trying to get with me just because they like to have a dick up their ass every once in a while.’
Jimin blushed at the statement, ‘well, I mean. We didn’t even do it.’ He looked at his intertwined fingers on top of the counter. ‘I mean, we didn’t have sex.’
Unconsciously, Yoongi’s fingers shot up to his neck, a single purple flower blooming there prettily. He’d be lying if he’d say they had never come close. But Yoongi had always put a stop to it, because how Jimin was feeling had always come first. Whether Jimin had been comfortable had always been his priority.
‘All we did was, you know, mess around.’
That was the exact moment Park Jimin decided to set Min Yoongi’s heart on fire and blow out to flame to leave it ice cold.
‘So that’s all it was to you, Jimin? Just ‘messing around?’
Jimin didn’t come back after that day.
Instead of finding a replacement for Jimin, Yoongi sold the shop a week later, deciding to finally chase after his dreams of making music.
-
Yoongi didn’t like graveyards.
Sure, they could be beautiful in fall when the colorful fallen leaves fell upon the gray gravestones.
They were cold in winter, but the candles somehow still brought a sense of warmth and light.
Together with all the living things, they transformed in spring, when people came out to clean up the graves and put fresh flowers below the names of lost loved ones.
But Yoongi had only known the graveyard in summer, because it had been the only time he had been there, and only once.
Yoongi preferred the flower shop as a place he went to remember his mother instead.
It had been her all. She had been so goddamn passionate about those damn flowers, and no matter how hard Yoongi tried, he couldn’t understand it. He was incredibly happy and relieved to see that the new owner did share said passion. Her name was Minah, a distant acquaintance who poured her heart into the business. Yoongi still dropped by almost weekly, see how things were going, help her out here and there, talk about his mom a little. He liked it that way.
Until one afternoon.
It was a gloomy Thursday, and he’d walked in to see a certain someone talking to Minah. He recognized the boy’s back immediately.
‘If you happen to see him this week, can you please tell him I want to see him? And ask him to call me?’ Yoongi noticed Minah had seen him and he quickly put a finger to his lips, hoping she would get the hint to not let Jimin know he was there. The boy’s voice was shaking and he looked visibly nervous.
‘Maybe also tell him I’m really sorry and I’m ready, he’ll know what I mean.’
Minah politely smiled at him while the older boy warily made his way over to a still oblivious Jimin. ‘You should tell him yourself.’
‘Yeah, I know I should, but I’m kind of convinced he hates me because I fucked up so, so bad. Oh my god, why am I even telling you all of this? I’m so sorry I…’
‘He’s standing right behind you. Tell him yourself.’
The squeaky sound which resembled Yoongi’s name almost made Yoongi forget about their last conversation.
‘Yoongi!’
‘Hi.’
‘Can we, eh, talk?’
Yoongi stepped closer to Jimin, leaning in to whisper in the boy’s ear, sarcasm dripping off his voice. ‘You’re sure you want that, Jimin? I mean there are people here. What if they see us? That’d be disgusting, right?’
‘Yoongi, please don’t be like this.’
Yoongi sighed, lifting his head, ‘do you mind if I take this to the back for a minute?’
Minah casually waved him off. ‘Go ahead.’
Yoongi walked through the door, Jimin following him and closing the door behind him.
‘Want to mess around some more?’ Yoongi knew he was taking this too far, but he was just so incredibly pissed off. And maybe acting like a brat would help him forget the weird ache in his chest.
‘I’m really sorry. I don’t know why I said that, it meant so much more to me,’ Jimin hesitatively reached out for Yoongi’s hand. Yoongi allowed their fingertips to brush, but still pulled back.
‘Then why didn’t you say so? I thought you actually liked me, wanted to be with me.’
The younger boy sighed, running the hand which had previously been awkwardly hovering above Yoongi’s, through his hair. ‘I thought you understood me when I told you I was scared. I had lived my entire life believing in something, and suddenly that something changed. First I told myself it was just a phase. But then we kissed and sometimes you would hold me or tell me I was beautiful. And I would feel indescribable happiness, but it would also feel so wrong and I pushed it away and hurt you, and in the process of doing that, I hurt myself as well.’
Yoongi appreciated Jimin’s words, he really did, but they weren’t going to mend his broken heart. He accepted the boy’s apologies.
He figured they were done for real now. ‘So what happens next? Already met that beautiful breathtaking girl?’
The frustrated groan leaving Jimin’s lips in response surprised him.
‘Yoongi, how much clearer do I need to make it? I have a big fat gay crush on you.’
Yoongi couldn’t hold back a giggle in response.
Yes, Park Jimin had just made Min Yoongi, local wannabe bad boy, giggle.
‘And if you’re okay with it, I would love to take you on a date. To a restaurant with lots of people who will all be disgusted by the fact that we’ll be holding hands, but guess what, I won’t care.’
Yoongi shook his head. Park Jimin was a fucking idiot.
Soon to be his fucking idiot.
‘So what’d you say?’
‘I’d love to go on said date with you. Maybe we can even kiss and make some people choke on their food.’
‘I should get you flowers, right?’ Jimin stepped closer, wrapping his arms around Yoongi’s waist, ‘I heard roses are perfect for dates.’