Work Text:
Thursday, January 30th
When Hao tells Ricky that he has found a replacement for himself while he takes the entire month of February off work to go travel with his long-term boyfriend Sung Hanbin, Ricky really should have known better than to agree to it without meeting the replacement face to face first. But Ricky had put off the hiring process for so long because he’s in denial, and by the time he realized he should’ve started accepting applications a while back, it was too late. So based on Hao and Hanbin’s recommendation, Kim Gyuvin gets hired immediately.
“He’s one of Hanbin’s best friends,” Hao tells him on his last day of work, entirely too happy to leave Ricky to his own devices at this store that they built together from the ground up, despite the busiest month of the year coming up in a couple days’ time. “Hanbin even trusted him to take over the dance club after he graduated. Gyuvin’s really sweet, honest, and hardworking. You guys are the same age, but he’s going to graduate in July with a sports science degree ‘cause he took a year off to do his military service. And now he just has one class left to take this semester, so he’s pretty much free to work.”
“A sports science degree huh,” Ricky ponders, “does he have any experience in working with flowers or anything?”
“Um… He learns fast?” Hao offers hesitantly, and Ricky wants to hit him over the head with the computer on the counter.
“He better. I don’t know how else I would survive next month without you.”
Zhang Hao pats Ricky on the shoulder when he hears the tinge of sincere worry in his voice. “Don’t worry too much, okay? You’re doing a great job running the store. I’ll be back before you know it.”
Ricky takes a deep breath and exhales loudly to allow Hao’s words to marinate, the words spoken in his mother tongue giving him more comfort than he would like to admit. Ricky could do this. He could hire Kim Gyuvin, train him for the next week, and work side by side afterwards. It would be as if Hao had never left, a month would pass in the blink of an eye, and then everything would be perfect like they are now.
In hindsight, he really should have known better.
Monday, February 3rd
Kim Gyuvin comes in early in the morning in a flurry of laughter, sparkling eyes, and mile-long legs. Ricky sees him passing through at seven thirty as promised, with two equally tall and long-limbed friends in tow. He opens the door to the store halfway as he waves them away, the brightest and widest smile plastered on his face.
“Bye-bye! I’m off to work like an adult now, okay!” He yells while giving them a little salute. “Yujin-ah, be good at dance class for Gunwook and don’t forget to eat well. And Gunwook! Take care of my son and make sure he socializes with everyone, alright? Love you guys! See you later!”
He sends the two figures walking away a flying kiss and pushes the door to the flower shop all the way, before finally turning around to face Ricky behind the counter, who has been watching the entire encounter with mild disbelief and confusion.
“Hi! I’m Kim Gyuvin.” He reaches out a hand to him for a handshake, and Ricky grabs it wordlessly. “You must be Ricky! You own this store, right? We spoke on the phone on Friday.”
First thing Ricky notices when the other boy looks straight at him is that the picture on his KakaoTalk ID Hao showed him does not do Gyuvin justice whatsoever. The way the soft strands of his wavy brown hair fall over his forehead, the mischievous, brilliant glint in his bright eyes, the tall and regal nose, and most importantly; the happiest and most sincere smile the world has ever had the pleasure of seeing. Well, then.
The first half of the day is slow, as to be expected of a Monday morning. Ricky gets most of the basic training out of the way quickly and thoroughly — the full tour of the shop, which flowers are stored where, how to wrap a basic bouquet, how to process different kinds of payments — as they are as familiar to him as the back of his hands. And to his absolute surprise, Gyuvin soaks up all the information like a sponge, taking it all in stride even as he jokes around and laughs freely and compliments Ricky for every little thing that he does.
By Ricky’s count, Gyuvin has complimented his flower arranging skills five times, his unmatched ability to pull off the worker’s uniform flawlessly thrice, his cute accent every other sentence, and inexplicably, Ricky’s natural aegyo tendencies six times. Ricky can feel himself losing his mind a little more each time with every compliment that Gyuvin showers his way, his traitorous heart missing a beat now and again. Begrudgingly, Ricky admits to himself that if he weren’t careful, he could end up developing a teeny, tiny, harmless little crush on his employee .
By the latter half of the day, Gyuvin hit his stride in making single-flower bouquets, creating them with such ease and precision despite having only had half a day’s worth of practice (granted, he’s been practicing over and over again with the one stem of rose that Ricky gave him), and he looks so proud of his creation every single time that Ricky can’t help but be proud of him, too.
Just as he’s about to think about how good this arrangement between them has worked out, the door opens and a girl steps in, dressed head to toe in a lacy pink outfit, from the big bow on her ponytail to the soft ballet flats on her feet. When she spots Gyuvin, she gives him a friendly wave and walks over to his side of the counter to speak to him, requesting a single red rose wrapped in pink paper and a pink bow. Gyuvin quickly starts making her order, his long, elegant fingers folding and twisting the flower every which way as he makes it as pretty as it can be for the girl in front of him. Ricky watches the familiar way in which they interact with each other and feels a strange, heavy feeling settle on the bottom of his stomach. Could she be his girlfriend? He wouldn’t be surprised, in any case. A guy as handsome and amicable as Kim Gyuvin surely has never known the feeling of being single for long no matter where he is.
“Here you go, Haewon-ah!” Gyuvin smiles brightly, handing her the bouquet that he has carefully worked on as she finishes up making her payment with Ricky. “My best work yet, only for you.”
“Thank you,” the girl replies, and her layered skirt swishes with her movement as she grabs it enthusiastically. “I’ll see you later, Gyuvin-oppa !”
“Oh, are you coming by our apartment later then?”
The girl nods in reply, squeezing the bouquet in her hands subconsciously in a nervous gesture.
“Ah,” Gyuvin says in realization, his voice teasing. Ricky glances at him out of the corner of his eyes as he types random numbers on the computer, subtly eavesdropping on their conversation. “I see. I see!”
“Stop.” The girl, Haewon, Ricky recalls, flushes red at the change of tone of his voice. “Don’t.”
Gyuvin laughs, the sound soaring through the air and fills it with unadulterated joy. “I didn’t even say anything!”
She lets out a little happy laugh in return and waves them both goodbye, leaving Gyuvin to cackle quietly in her wake.
“Girlfriend?” Ricky asks, and couldn’t help but note a tiny twinge of something in his own voice that he refuses to acknowledge as disappointment.
“Huh?” Gyuvin looks at him, pausing his tidying for a second. “Who? You mean Haewon?”
Ricky nods, and Gyuvin shakes his head as he lets out a little laugh. “Hah. No. She’s one of my little sister’s good friends.”
Before Ricky could apologize for assuming, Gyuvin continues. “Well, she’s more like her… situationship, I guess you could say.”
If Ricky’s look of surprise shows on his face, Gyuvin doesn’t comment on it. “You asked her if she was coming to your apartment later.”
“Yeah, ‘cause I live with my little sister.”
“Ah,” Ricky says, trying not to let hope seep into his voice too much at the newfound knowledge that Gyuvin isn’t dating this girl, at least. Though that doesn’t mean he isn’t dating another girl, but. Baby steps.
Gyuvin then launches into a full-blown story of how his baby sister and Haewon have been dancing around each other for the past two and a half years, and apparently everyone except them can see that they have a crush on each other as wide as the Pacific Ocean. He then tells Ricky that he has a masterplan to get them to confess because he’s sick of seeing them not date, despite obviously being very good for each other, and he will keep pushing them towards each other until they finally get together.
The loving and gentle way of which Gyuvin speaks of his sister and his genuine hope for her happiness fills Ricky with such warmth that he’s rendered speechless by it, unable to form coherent sentences that would accurately describe how he feels about Gyuvin, or his plans, or his feelings. So he stands there and listens, making sounds of approval every once in a while, and basks in the absolute positivity and unadulterated joy that only Kim Gyuvin exudes.
Ricky is in so much trouble.
Tuesday, February 4th
The next morning, Ricky teaches Gyuvin how to process online orders, delivery and pick-up. As he does so, Gyuvin leans on him with an arm thrown around his shoulders, patting him gently every once in a while as he praises Ricky for every little thing that he does, including but not limited to: checking the website and social media accounts, scheduling the delivery, and taking deposits for pick up orders.
“Wow, so is it really this busy all the time? And you do it all alone?” Gyuvin asks, scrolling through the orders that came in overnight. “There’s like, at least twenty orders scheduled for today. And this isn’t counting the possible walk-ins. We’re gonna have our hands full, huh?”
Ricky smiles proudly to himself, even though he knows business will slow down after Valentine’s is over. “It’s not usually this busy, this is just because the fourteenth is coming up. But we’re doing pretty well.”
“Yeah, no wonder you need an extra set of hands this month.” Gyuvin brushes himself off and walks to the counter. “Should I take cashier duty and you get started on the pick up orders? These ones are too complicated for me to arrange myself anyway.”
“Sure.” Ricky agrees, looking over the list and mentally mapping the locations of flowers he would need to make the order. “You wanna help me make it?”
“Always.” Gyuvin tells him, already collecting the materials for a medium-sized bouquet and placing it on the counter. Flower shears, floral tape, ribbon, regular tape, wrapping paper. Gyuvin dictates each item as he places them on the counter, and Ricky marvels at how easily they seem to work together already, despite having only done it a day prior.
Not long after that finds Ricky gathering the flowers together on the counter, counting the roses and estimating the fillers and the greens to create the requested bouquet. Gyuvin is looking over his shoulder, shadowing his actions and asking relevant questions, and as much as he doesn’t want to admit it, it makes him very, very distracted.
“So do you do all the big ones first, and then the fillers later? Or do you do big one, little one, big one, little one? And when do you put these green ones in? ‘Cause yesterday you only showed me how to make a bouquet with all the same flowers, so how is this one different?” He asks continuously, his breath hitting Ricky’s ear with every word and his hair brushing against Ricky’s own as he watches his movements closely.
“Um, you start with, uh, the focal flower. The, uh, rose,” Ricky stutters through his explanation, the feel of Gyuvin’s warmth pressing up against him derailing his focus with each passing second. “Choose the centerpiece rose first, then, um.”
“Then?” Gyuvin turns his face just a little to look at Ricky’s own and it takes every little bit of self control not to turn his head and stare at Gyuvin’s curious eyes from a centimeter away. Deep breaths, Ricky. You got this. You’re a pro. You’ve made this exact bouquet a hundred times, at least.
“Grab two more roses,” Ricky clears his throat before continuing on, “and like, put it, um. Underneath, the um. The first one. Like…” Ricky demonstrates the step with slightly shaky fingers.
“Cool,” Gyuvin says seriously, even though all Ricky has to show for five minutes’ worth of work is holding three roses on one hand. “Do you think it’s okay if I hold these instead and you can teach me how to do it?”
“Sure,” Ricky hands him the roses carefully, grateful that at least this way Gyuvin won’t be able to spot his unsteady hand easily. He feels ridiculous admitting that, since all Gyuvin did is stand there, but well.
“So what next?” He asks, holding the stems a little too tightly to not mess up the placement. Ricky swallows down a smile at how cute he finds it.
“The greens, in this case eucalyptus,” Ricky hands Gyuvin a stem and points to the bottom left. “This here, and put another on the other side.”
Gyuvin obeys easily, grabbing another stem and carefully setting it next to the roses before clutching all the stems so hard that Ricky can practically feel his own fist straining.
“Don’t hold the stems so hard,” Ricky says, prying Gyuvin’s fingers loose with his own before he could think it through clearly. “It’s fine to hold it slightly loose, that way it’ll be easier to adjust the flowers and move them around as you need.”
“…Ah,” Gyuvin says, a beat too slow. “Okay. You’re really good at this.”
“You’ll get there too, with practice.” Ricky withdraws his hand, but if during the process he lets his knuckles brush against Gyuvin’s own on purpose then no one has to know.
“Your hand is really soft, by the way.” The offhand compliment takes Ricky by surprise a minute later and he drops the baby’s breath in his hand. “You work with flowers all day and yet your hands are perfect. I’m jealous.”
Gyuvin opens his free hand, palms facing up. “See mine? It’s all calloused from basketball. And baseball. And badminton.”
Ricky has no idea what comes over him, but he uses his index finger to graze over Gyuvin’s hands, feeling the rough texture of it under his fingers, warm and electrifying to the touch.
“I see.” Ricky says, as if in a trance. A few seconds later, he seems to realize what he’s done and quickly withdraws his hand. “Shit. I mean, fuck. I mean.” He clears his throat. “Sorry.”
“No need.” Gyuvin snaps out of his daze and picks up the stem of baby’s breath that Ricky had dropped earlier. “So, um. Is this next?”
Ricky lets out a breath he had been holding and nods. “They’re the filler flowers. Baby’s breath.”
“Right. So where do these go?”
Ricky points at the blank spaces between the roses and the eucalyptus, explaining that filler flowers are meant to be just that, covering up the gaps that look too empty. As Gyuvin follows his instructions, Ricky glances at the clock on the wall and quietly heaves a sigh.
It has been seventeen minutes since they started this bouquet and they have barely anything to show for it. On any normal day, he would probably be trimming the stems at the fifteen minute mark, ready to wrap with the decorative material of choice. But alas. He takes another deep breath and secretly dreads how long this day will be.
Wednesday, February 5th
“Hey, Ricky?” Gyuvin calls from the other side of the store where he’s grabbing roses from the coolers. “Is it okay if I take a picture of myself with some flowers and post it on Instagram and tag the store account?”
Ricky doesn’t look up from the bouquet he’s working on, all his concentration taken up by the task. It’s their biggest order of the day, and Gyuvin has been delegated to collecting the numerous blooms while Ricky arranges it on the counter out front. “I don’t see why not.”
“Great!” Gyuvin wastes no time in posing, holding up what seems to be twelve white roses with one arm when Ricky looks up. He gives the camera a blinding grin, and Ricky is momentarily struck by the sight of it, how natural and how pretty he looks by the window with the sunlight streaming in. Gyuvin places the roses down, and picks a single one up to pose with it, holding it up just so until the petal covers one eye and he gives the camera a barely-there smile. The next pose has him tucking the flower behind an ear and he winks at the camera, playful and happy.
“Looks cute.” Ricky calls out to him, and Gyuvin startles so hard he almost drops the rose. “Whoops, sorry.”
“You don’t sound sorry,” Gyuvin grumbles, but both of them know there’s no heat in his voice. “Why would you scare me like that!”
Ricky chuckles, the atmosphere around them lighthearted and vibrant. “Well. I need those dozen white roses, for one.”
“Oh, right.” Gyuvin picks the flowers up again and walks over to Ricky, his long strides taking him there quickly. Ricky has a fleeting thought that those legs should be walking a high fashion runway covered in fancy fabrics, rather than in plain black pants in the backroom of a flower shop for only Ricky’s eyes to see. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” Ricky says, quickly picking one and placing it gently where it needs to go. “Let’s hope your post will bring some good business for me, huh?”
Gyuvin just laughs at him in response, but really, Ricky should have known better than to doubt him.
Ricky really, really, really should not have doubted Gyuvin’s popularity and reach. Because less than an hour later, he finds what seems to be half of the SNU student body in his flower shop. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but still.
Following the lunch hour, people enter the store in a never ending stream and ask for Kim Gyuvin each and every time, guys and girls alike as giggly and blushy messes, doing their best to stutter through a conversation about types of flowers and wrapper colors and the words on handwritten cards. Gyuvin charms them all effortlessly and gives away his million dollar smiles like they’re worth nothing, thanking them for giving him the chance to assemble their bouquets of choice. Ricky’s temples throb with increasing annoyance with every person that comes through, though for what reason exactly he can’t quite place his finger on.
It’s nearing six in the evening when it finally slows, the area around campus clearing out as everyone goes home after a long day at school, and the two of them can wind down and start cleaning before the store closes in an hour’s time.
“Phew.” Gyuvin says, dropping himself down on a chair by the counter after he wipes down his work surface following another big order that Ricky had to assemble. “That was a lot of flower orders.”
“Mm.” Ricky hums his assent, too wiped out to formulate a full sentence. “Never had that many walk-ins in my life.”
Gyuvin perks up. “Really?”
Ricky fixes a look at him, one that says yes, really.
“So would you say that was because of me?”
Ricky sighs in exasperation. “Yes, Gyuvin. When you said you wanted to post the shop on your Instastories, you failed to mention that you have five thousand followers.”
“Um,” Gyuvin nervously says. “I didn’t think a lot of them would care, honestly.”
“How do you even befriend that many people?”
“I don’t,” Gyuvin shrugs. “But I do join a few programs and sport games and dance competitions and stuff. So they’re mostly acquaintances at most, or maybe they have seen me play or perform or something.”
Ricky recalls the crowd of people that came to visit today just to support Gyuvin in his new, temporary job, and tries to think if he would ever do that for an acquaintance or someone he’s admired as a performer.
“I wouldn’t wait half an hour for a flower just to support an acquaintance, I don’t think.” He admits honestly.
“Well, some of them were my friends. The dance club juniors, for one. A couple of my old classmates. Some of the student council members.” Gyuvin lists them as he counts on his fingers. “A few people that I play basketball with regularly.”
Ricky stares at him in slight wonder, and suddenly he couldn’t help himself. “A bunch of them have a crush on you, by the way.”
Gyuvin blinks in surprise. “No, they don’t.”
“Yes they do.”
“Like who?”
Ricky resists the urge to roll his eyes, because how oblivious is Gyuvin? People have been blushing and stuttering in his presence and he has the audacity to not admit that as them liking him?
“What about the first group of girls that came in?”
Gyuvin furrows his brows trying to remember. “Ah, them? They were groupmates with my sister one time for a project. They came over to our place and stayed the night, or something. Pretty sure I made them pancakes in the morning. But then I never went out of my way to talk to them again, so they have no reason to like me. They probably just needed flowers for Valentine’s.”
“Kim Gyuvin.” Ricky puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him from moving to convey his point. “If I slept over at a classmate’s house and then their tall, kind, and handsome older brother made me breakfast in the morning, I’ll be daydreaming about that for the rest of my life.”
“You think I’m tall, kind, and handsome?” He whispers, brown eyes seeking Ricky’s for an ounce of insincerity. Not that he’d find any, because Shen Ricky may be many things but a liar isn’t one of them.
“That’s all you got from that?” Ricky tries to cover up how flustered he feels by turning around and pretending to tidy again. “Surely this isn’t the first time someone’s told you that.”
“Maybe not,” Gyuvin allows, and Ricky can practically feel the teasing lilt in his voice. “But it is the first time a fellow tall, kind, and handsome man has ever said it to me.”
Ricky feels his cheeks redden and says nothing as Gyuvin laughs freely behind him.
Thursday, February 6th
If Ricky thought yesterday’s crowd was bad, he has a gut feeling that today is about to be worse. Word has spread that Gyuvin, who apparently is a known campus sweetheart, is working at a flower shop and is personally making rose bouquets for whoever asks for him. And so Ricky has spent the entire morning manning the cashier while he watches Gyuvin work his customer service sorcery that makes every customer feel like the most special person to walk through their doors. It’s honestly kind of scary, Ricky thinks, how naturally good he is at it.
It’s only after the lunch hour rush has settled down with all the deliveries sent away, that the two of them have a moment of down time for Ricky to have a proper conversation with Gyuvin again.
“How do you feel about today’s workload?” Ricky asks him, and even if Gyuvin doesn’t answer, Ricky can already tell what he feels judging by the way he is slumped on the couch in the back room after a quick lunch break.
“Great,” Gyuvin deadpans. “I love making you more money at the expense of my irresistible charm and raw magnetism.”
Ricky laughs then, a small and airy sound, but Gyuvin’s smile widens just the tiniest bit after he pulls it out of him. Ricky shoots him a genuine smile of his own back, and feels a little smug when he feels Gyuvin’s eyes linger on his face for a few seconds too long at the sight.
Within just a few days, somehow he finds himself feeling weirdly content and relaxed in Gyuvin’s presence, a sort of comfort that doesn’t usually come easy for him, not even with people he’s known for much longer than this. It’s the kind of feeling that you get only around the people who understand you most, and he doesn’t know how or why this is happening with his new employee, of all people, but he refuses to linger on the thought.
“Isn’t it so ironic, that I hired you to lighten my workload and instead you somehow managed to achieve the complete opposite?” Ricky says to him, settling on the armchair across from where Gyuvin lies on the couch. “Everyone who came in left the shop half in love with you. Well, if they weren’t already, I mean.”
Gyuvin’s reply is muffled by the armrest, but Ricky knows a groan of embarrassment when he hears one. Then in a smaller, more timid voice, he hears Gyuvin mutter I’m sorry under his breath.
“Don’t be sorry,” he says comfortingly. “More business is always good, right? But I wasn’t kidding about the whole half in love thing. What’s your secret to being so good with people?”
Gyuvin makes a movement that is almost a shrug, but it’s hindered by the way he’s lying on the couch. “I dunno, I’ve just always liked socializing and making conversation, I guess.”
“I see that. You’re like the single most E person I have ever met in my life.”
Gyuvin sends a toothy grin in Ricky’s direction. “I know introversion hates to see me coming.”
Ricky himself is an extreme introvert, and he could not imagine introducing himself to people first or toeing the line of flirting with strangers in place of providing them a product or a service. Gyuvin on the other hand, seems to be right at home as the center of attention in any sort of social interaction, and he is the type of person who could befriend chewed up piece of gum stuck on a sidewalk. Furthermore, Ricky knows for a fact that he has had a number of customers come in and ask to be mutual friends on SNS. And if history is any indication, it’s just a matter of time before they form a sort of easy, casual friendship that can only come with being an extremely easy going person like Kim Gyuvin.
“That’s… very admirable, actually. I could barely text my two friends back and yet you can bond with anyone in such a short amount of time. And you can somehow keep a casual friendship with that many people? No wonder everyone wants to be near you.” Including me, he does not say.
Gyuvin flushes at the compliment, his ears turning an adorable shade of red. “I try,” he says. “But to be honest I just reply to their stories every once in a while and that seems to be enough.”
“It’s more than I’ve ever done.”
“But isn’t it also nice to have a few best friends who know you really well, rather than a hundred acquaintances you know in passing?” Gyuvin asks him, slightly changing the topic to get it off himself.
“Well, I really only have two best friends. I have Hao-hyung and Seok Matthew. You know him too, don’t you?”
“Matthew-hyung?” Gyuvin nods his affirmative. “He was in the dance club when Hanbin-hyung was president. He’s really good at hip hop style dances, it’s crazy.”
“That’s the one. He and I met at some international student mixer somewhere. He asked me to join the dance club too once, but I have like, three left feet. So I never went.”
“You know, we have so many mutual friends, why haven’t we met before this?” Gyuvin ponders, eyes glued to Ricky’s face from where he lies on the couch, his gaze trained and unmoving, as if dissecting every micro expression on his face. Ricky’s heart picks up speed, his own eyes staring back at Gyuvin with the same intensity, and he stills .
For all that they have been talking like close friends, Ricky still finds it hard to form coherent sentences when Gyuvin’s full attention is focused on him, eyes set on his face as if seeing through him, and worse still, is being in his close proximity. Bantering across the flower shop while they both do their own tasks? Easy. Poking fun at each other while they share a lunch on an old couch in the break room? Fine. But to have Gyuvin’s warm, heavy gaze pinned solely on him, or for Gyuvin to be close enough that he could feel his warmth against him? Forget it.
Ricky can still feel the weight of Gyuvin’s attention on him even hours later, long after the conversation ended and they went back to work.
Friday, February 7th
Less than twenty minutes after opening the store on Friday morning, Ricky is manning the counter while Gyuvin is having breakfast in the back, when a girl walks in and says in the most melodic voice Ricky has ever heard. “Calling Kim Gyuvin!”
Ricky hears the sound of Gyuvin’s legs scrambling to gain footing from getting up too quickly, and he tells him to slow down. Really, who is this girl, that she has Gyuvin jumping to his feet in record time and leaving his food behind? In all of the four days Ricky has known him, he has never left his food for anyone. And much to his surprise, Ricky is suddenly greeted by the sight of Gyuvin holding their customer on both sides of her face, squishing her cheeks with his large hands that could encompass her entire face. “ Gyuvin?!”
At the sound of his name, he turns around with a giant, satisfied smile on his adorable face, and says in his cheery voice, “Ricky! Meet my baby sister!”
After Ricky calms down from the shock (though he still isn’t entirely convinced that Gyuvin wouldn’t just grab customers by the cheeks if he finds them cute enough), they get their introductions out of the way. Gyuvin’s baby sister Gyuri is eighteen, and she’s just starting her degree in special education. She and Gyuvin are similar in build with their insanely long legs and the exact shade of wavy brown hair, but there is a calmness about her that Gyuvin glaringly lacks. Even though she’s dressed casually in a black fitted tank that shows a tiny bit of midriff, layered with an unbuttoned black denim jacket, and a pair of loose, straight-leg jeans, she still looks like she could be on a Parisian runway instead of going to her 8 AM classes. Apparently the Kim siblings have that in common, too.
“So,” Gyuvin throws an arm around her shoulders and gives her a teasing grin. “What kind of flowers are you looking for?”
“Roses,” she says surely. “Pink, and white.”
“Bouquet size?” Ricky asks, mentally mapping the flowers they have in stock.
“Big, I guess?”
“Do you want only roses, or do you want a combination of roses and something else?”
“I actually don’t know a lot about flowers,” she admits, “do you have a recommendation for me?”
Ricky can feel Gyuvin’s stare burning the side of his face as he converses with his sister about what she wants, and doesn’t know what to make of it. But if there’s one thing he does know, it’s the language of flowers. So he tries his best to ignore the other boy and focus on the task at hand. By the time they decide on the pink roses and white hydrangeas combination, Gyuvin is back to teasing her and pinching her blushing cheeks.
“Oh, I can’t believe this! My baby sister is confessing!”
“I am not,” she tries to shrug him off, but the small smile on her face betrays the action. “I’m just bringing Haewon flowers because she gave me a rose a few days ago, and then yesterday she brought me a packed lunch that she made herself. I’m just trying to return her friendship in kind.”
Gyuvin then asks her if she knows that she is absolutely misreading the actions as platonic when it is, in fact, incredibly romantic on Haewon’s part. Ricky listens to them argue halfheartedly as he arranges her bouquet, and even he has the urge to roll his eyes when Gyuri makes an argument that Haewon had accidentally made too much food and therefore, it was just luck that she ran into her first and she became the recipient of her extra bento. And when Haewon asks her to spend Valentine’s together? Oh, it was just because she has no one else to ask when all her friends are taken, so it makes total sense that they’ll spend the day together platonically. Gyuvin has no qualms about keeping his frustrations to himself, and Ricky hears him groan about her obliviousness at least fifteen times in as many minutes.
“Wow. This is gorgeous,” Gyuri tells Ricky when he hands the bouquet to her. “She’s going to be so happy when I pick her up from the dorms with this.”
Ricky thanks her with a smile as Gyuvin buries his face in his hands in exasperation, but he says nothing else.
“How much do I owe you?”
“Fifty thousand won.” Gyuvin’s eyes widen at that, and he looks like he wants to say something but Ricky quickly signals for him to stay quiet. After she has paid, she promptly picked up her bouquet and breaks into a sprint to get to the girl’s dormitory to reach it before her friend leaves for class.
“This is ridiculous,” Gyuvin says to him as soon as the door closes behind her. “They’ve been flirting for the past two and a half years and she still swears up and down that they’re just friends. At least Haewon is honest about liking her romantically.”
“I think it’s cute.” Ricky replies as he wipes the counter down to get rid of the leaves and dirt left behind. “I’m sure they’ll figure it out eventually.”
“I hope so. But speaking of ridiculous,” Gyuvin then turns to him and points an accusing finger in his direction. “You! Don’t you think my sister will find out sooner or later that you only charged her a third of the real price of that bouquet!”
“A fourth, actually.”
“That’s even worse!”
Ricky shrugs nonchalantly. “I love matchmaking, what can I say. And if this Haewon girl understands flowers like your sister says she does, she’ll know that the roses mean love and affection, and the hydrangeas mean honesty and new beginnings. Your sister needed that exact flower combination.”
“No way, really? That’s perfect for confessing! Wow, Ricky. I’ve never known anyone who knows more about flower language than you.” Gyuvin seems to think for a second before continuing. “And also, you don’t even know my sister and you still did the sweetest thing ever. Thank you for that.”
Gyuvin is looking at him with something that makes Ricky’s heart glow with warmth, and he doesn’t know how long he can withstand the feeling without wanting to kiss the boy senseless, so he moves the conversation along. “Well, I want them to get together too, now, just from how you’ve been talking about them.”
“You mean how I’ve been saying that they’re completely blind to the fact that they have a massive crush on each other?”
“Yes.”
‘“Interesting.” Gyuvin clears his throat and taps Ricky on the arm to get his attention.
“Hm?”
“Ricky, would you be able to tell if someone has a crush on you?” He asks, eyes glued to Ricky’s own as if searching for an answer there.
Ricky’s heart stutters in his chest, the overwhelming feeling of having Gyuvin’s undivided attention back in full force. “Um. I don’t, um. I think. Maybe? I… can?”
“You don’t sound sure.” Gyuvin replies quietly, his gaze unmoving.
“I-”
The bell twinkles when the door to the store is pushed open, and the tension between them breaks just like that.
Saturday, February 8th
It’s nearing six in the evening when Zhang Hao comes in to the two of them tidying up the store and throwing teasing jabs at each other as they do. “Hi, you two.”
“Hao-hyung!” Gyuvin drops the broom in his hands and quickly drapes himself over the older boy. “How are you!”
“I’m great, thank you.” Hao unlatches Gyuvin’s limbs from around him and brushes off some dirt from Gyuvin’s apron that rubbed off on the jacket he’s wearing that Ricky recognizes as Hanbin’s at first glance. “And you?”
“Much better now that our most handsome hyung is here, of course.” Gyuvin winks at Hao and gets a head pat in return.
“Ah, a charmer as always, our Gyuvinie.”
“Only for you.”
“Liar.” Both Ricky and Hao intonate at the same time.
“You flirt with all the customers, don’t even joke.” Ricky points out without missing a beat and pulls a laugh out of Hao.
“But you’re my favorite customer, hyung.” Gyuvin winks.
“He’s not even buying anything, how is he a customer!”
“Yah,” Hao says in dismay, “what do you think I’m here for?”
“To bother us and to rub your perfect relationship in our faces?” Ricky offers.
“Well, you’re not wrong.” Hao concedes, “I’m here to buy flowers for Hanbin cause he’s driving us to Busan tomorrow and I want him to know how much I appreciate him.”
Ricky wants to say that there is no way Hanbin doesn’t already know how much Hao appreciates and loves him like no one else does in the world, but he supposes there can never be a limit to such lovely sentiments. “I’ve got just the arrangement for you, ge.”
Zhang Hao follows Ricky to the back to help him carry the flowers he needs, and Gyuvin returns to his task of sweeping the floor. When the boy is out of earshot, Hao corners Ricky and speaks in their mother tongue so Gyuvin wouldn’t understand.
“So what’s up with you and Gyuvin?”
Ricky freezes for a second, but tries to play it off. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Hao clicks his tongue in dismay. “I’ve known you for a decade, Ricky. You can’t lie to me. That look you had on your face when you and Gyuvin were joking around, what else?”
Ricky turns around to where the roses are and pretends Hao doesn’t exist.
“Oh my god.” Hao quickly follows suit, effectively taking away his only option for an out. “You like him.”
Ricky stays quiet, so Hao speaks again. “You’ve been around him for one week and already you have a huge crush on him.”
“It’s not huge,” Ricky shoots back, and only realizes too late that this does not help his case whatsoever.
“Ah,” Hao says smugly, “so it is a crush.”
Ricky finishes grabbing the flowers and walks back out. “It’s nothing, it’ll go away in a few days. A week, max.”
Hao hums in thought. “Who and when did you last have a crush, again?”
“I don’t remember.” But if he’s being honest, he does remember. It was during freshman year of uni, and his crush on Nicholas (the captain of the university basketball team, no less) did not go away for three whole years of his university life. He had only managed to move on after Nicholas graduated and he stopped seeing him running around shirtless in the courts every single afternoon.
“Hm.” Ricky hopes Hao would drop it, but he knows better than to hope with his best friend where his love life is concerned. “Hey, so how’s Nicho doing?”
“Don’t know.” Ricky says, plucking out some red roses for his bouquet.
“Is he still single, by the way?”
“Don’t know.” White roses would be nice in this too, Ricky thinks.
One thing about Hao, is that he is nothing if not persistent. “Where is he now?”
Ricky has the strongest urge to hit him over the head with his armful of colorful flowers, and he knows Hao will not drop it until he’s proven correct. “My god. Fine. Nicho’s working as an engineer, he’s dating his freshman year roommate EJ and they’re moving in together, and now they’re living in Tokyo. I saw his Insta stories.”
Zhang Hao laughs in satisfaction. “I see. And you said you don’t remember.”
“Shut up.” Ricky pushes him gently after he puts the flowers down. “I don’t even like him like that anymore.”
“Oh, I know,” Hao says teasingly, “I was just calling you out on your ‘don’t remember your last crush’ bullshit.”
Ricky levels him with what he thinks to be a glare, not that it intimidates Hao even the slightest bit.
“Ricky, come on. It’s me. I know you and your type and how long your crushes last. You’re not capable of being casual if your life depends on it.”
Ricky wants to deny it and get Hao off his back, but he can’t. Not with his horrendous track record. He has had a total of three crushes in his life, and strangely enough, they lasted for 1, 2, and 3 years respectively. And if history is any indication, that means his crush on Gyuvin will stick around for the next 4 years.
“I’m so screwed,” Ricky tells him, dropping all pretenses. “I’m getting a crush on my employee and I’m breaking company rules and HR will get me.”
Hao raises a brow at him. “HR?”
“You, obviously.”
Hao laughs at him as he helps Ricky grab the wrapper and ribbon that he wants. “Nah. HR says as soon as the month is over, you’re free to ask him out.”
“No thank you. He could be straight, for all I know.”
Hao looks at him in disbelief, then switches to Korean to address the other boy. “Gyuvin-ah, how’s your ex-boyfriend doing these days?”
“Myung Jaehyun?” Gyuvin tilts his head as he looks at Hao. “I haven’t spoken to him in a while. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
Hao then turns to him with a shit-eating grin and Ricky is tempted to use the tape he’s holding to shut Hao up.
Friday, February 14
“This is the longest day ever.” Gyuvin complains as they turn the sign on the door to Closed. Ricky hums in agreement, too tired to form complete sentences, social battery entirely spent.
“I can’t believe how many people come in for last minute flowers.” Gyuvin continues, taking stock of the blooms they have left and logging them to the tablet in hand. “I would think that by 8 PM on the actual day they should already have flowers. And that guy who came in last asking for two bouquets, one for his wife and one for his girlfriend? What the fuck was that about! I should’ve punched him!”
“Don’t.”
“Obviously I won’t, 'cause that would reflect badly on your business,” Gyuvin grumbles, “but if I ever see him in the wild, when I’m no longer working here? It’s free game.”
Ricky sighs. “Gyuvin-ah, please don’t punch anyone.”
“He would have deserved it.” Ricky agrees with that, so he says nothing. “He doesn’t deserve a Valentine. I know a lot of people who are more deserving of love than that guy.”
“Everybody else who aren’t cheaters, you mean.”
“Correct.” Gyuvin says resolutely. “Being cheated on sucks.”
Something in his voice gets Ricky’s attention. “You-”
“Yep.” He pops the last letter out in indignation. “ Sucks.”
For a reason he can’t fathom, Ricky seems to have lost all control of his mouth. “Is it your ex-boyfriend? The one Hao-hyung asked you about?”
“Oh, Jaehyun?” Ricky nods, recalling their conversation from nearly a week ago. “Nah. It was just a girl I dated in middle school. Jaehyun is like, the most loyal person you will ever meet.”
“I see. So why’d you break up?” So much for not wanting to talk for the rest of the night, Ricky thinks to himself, but he couldn’t seem to help his curiosity when it comes to Gyuvin.
“He got put into a debut team for an idol group, actually.” Gyuvin tells him. “It’s a big company, so they’re really strict about their dating ban, at least for a few years. And he has to delete all his social media and stuff. But I’m also not the kind of person that does well being hidden. If I’m with someone, I want them to be proud of me and who I am, you know? Dating an idol… that’s not for me.”
“Yeah.” Ricky doesn’t personally have any dating experience (with idol trainees or otherwise) but he thinks he too, would like to be with a person that’s clearly proud to have him by their side. Much like Hao and Hanbin do, always showing up to each other’s dance competitions and violin performances and even family functions, inseparable and unbreakable as a unit. “If I ever date, I’d want it to be with someone like that too.”
“If?” Gyuvin looks him straight in the eyes. “You’ve never dated before?”
“No.” Ricky looks back at him with the same intensity, and he feels his heart skip several beats.
“Is it, like…” Gyuvin tries to formulate his words carefully. “Is it because you’re aro, or ace, or…?”
“Oh. No,” Ricky tells him, though he’s glad Gyuvin doesn’t jump to the immediate conclusion most people do, which is that there must be something wrong with him to have never dated in his whole twenty-three years of living. “I’m gay. I just never had the courage to ask someone I like out, I guess.”
“Oh.” Gyuvin blinks in slight surprise. “So does that mean you’ve never spent Valentine’s with anyone before either?”
“No.”
“That won’t do.” Gyuvin mutters to himself and he walks over to the coolers in the back where they keep their bouquets. It’s empty now that everyone has picked up their Valentine’s day orders, save for one medium sized bouquet of white rose and camellia flowers, elegantly wrapped in black paper and tied off with a white ribbon. Gyuvin had made it earlier in the day as practice, paying the price out of pocket at a discount as he had intended to bring it home to display in his living room.
Ricky watches him closely, and his mouth goes slack as Gyuvin offers the bouquet in his direction. “Here. Happy Valentine’s day, Ricky.”
Ricky accepts the offered bundle of flowers and stares at it in wonder. “Um, what-”
“I made that earlier, for practice,” Gyuvin explains, suddenly nervous. “I know it’s nowhere as good as your bouquets, cause you’re literally the most talented person with flowers I’ve ever met, and you’re literally so cool, and you’re like, really pretty, so-”
Ricky puts a hand on Gyuvin’s arm to stop his rambling. “You’re giving this to me?”
Gyuvin looks at him and Ricky can feel his own eyes soften, the boy in front of him so genuine and pure in his intentions. “Yes, of course. You deserve flowers too, you know? I mean, you deserve a bigger, better one than this ugly one I made, but still .”
“Thank you.” Ricky feels the telltale prickle of tears gathering in his eyes, so he turns around and wipes them away from before Gyuvin could see. “No one’s ever done this for me before.”
Gyuvin shakes his head. “You deserve this, and many, many more flowers in the future, okay?”
“Okay.” Ricky can tell that he’s close to choking up again, but Gyuvin doesn’t seem to have noticed. “Thank you. Really. You’re very sweet, did you know that?”
“It’s nothing,” Gyuvin grins at him. “I’m just happy that you like it.”
“I love it.” Ricky tells him, leaning in to catch the sweet scent of roses mixing with the scent of camellias. “Hey, Gyuvin?”
“Yeah?”
“You want to have dinner with me tonight? We can order something before you leave.”
“Oh.” Gyuvin stops tidying for a second and looks at him closely. “I thought you said you wanted to go home as soon as we’re done cleaning. You must be exhausted, being around people all day.”
Leave it to Kim Gyuvin to still worry about Ricky’s social battery, even though Ricky had been the one to ask him to stay. “I changed my mind.”
“I didn’t give you the flowers to make you stay and have dinner with me on Valentine’s day by the way,” Gyuvin elaborates, speaking faster and faster due to nerves. “If you’re tired and you want to go home to recharge, please do that! I’m not asking you to stay out of pity, or guilt, or anyth-”
“Gyuvin.” Ricky cuts him off gently, “I want to stay. Let’s have dinner together.”
“Then I’d love to.” Gyuvin gives him a smile so bright that Ricky feels his chest constrict at the sight.
“But if I end up not talking a lot, or if I’m not responding how you want me to, then-”
“Don’t even worry about that.” Gyuvin pats him on the shoulder to cut him off this time. “I’ll be happy to just hang out with you and eat together.”
Ricky gives him a smile of his own back, trying to convey how thankful and happy he feels with just being around Gyuvin, and if Ricky hears Gyuvin’s breath catch at the sight, that’s for him to overthink later that night when he lies sleepless in bed, and not for Gyuvin to know. And even though all they exchanged during dinner time were stolen glances and tiny little smiles over jjajangmyeon, somehow it feels like the most romantic thing Ricky has and will ever experience in his life.
Friday, February 28th
“I can’t believe how fast this month has gone by,” Gyuvin says to Ricky as the two of them get ready to close up for the last time. “I really thought it would feel longer, cause we’re so busy every day. But it feels surprisingly short.”
“Hm.” Ricky responds in agreement, and he sees Gyuvin send him a smile out of the corner of his eyes. “Thank you for being Zhang Hao's replacement. You’re the best person I could’ve asked for.”
Gyuvin’s smile widen even more at the compliment. “Ah, it was nothing! I really loved helping you out. And I’m happy that I have enough to buy my new laptop, finally! All thanks to you!”
“I mean it.” Ricky tells him, voice serious. “I was really worried when I knew you had no experience in working as a florist, but you pick things up really fast and you’re funny and you’re really charming. Everyone is going to miss you so much around here.”
“I love it here.” Gyuvin says sincerely. “Can I still come around sometimes, to hang out with you? Even though I don’t work here anymore and I don’t need to buy any flowers?”
“Of course!” Ricky exclaims, unable to hide how happy the question made him. He had worried earlier in the day, about whether or not he and Gyuvin will keep seeing each other now that they aren’t going to work together anymore. But really, he should have had more faith in Gyuvin and his superpower of keeping friendships alive no matter the circumstances.
“I’m glad.” Gyuvin replies back, though his voice has lowered to a little above a whisper at the sight of Ricky’s smile.
The two of them stay still right then, as if stuck in a trance. Neither are willing to break the silence, nor to disturb the moment. Ricky can see the way Gyuvin’s lips part as his tongue flicks out to wet them, and it would be so, so easy if could lean in, and-
“Ahem.” They both turn at the sound of someone clearing their throat.
Ricky is about to tell them the shop is closed when he realizes that it’s Gyuri and Haewon, standing by the door hand in hand, their faces painted with poorly concealed amusement.
“Hi,” Gyuri says, the teasing grin on her face an exact copy of her brother’s as she looks at them. “Are we interrupting something?”
Haewon turns away to hide her giggles on Gyuri’s shoulder, though it does little to stifle the sound. “I don’t think we’re wanted here, babe.”
Gyuvin’s eyes zero in on their interlocked fingers after hearing the pet name. “Are you two finally-“
“Yep.” Gyuri says, scratching the back of her neck shyly with her free hand. “We are.”
Gyuvin shrieks in joy, running towards them with his arms open to hug them both at once. “Ah! Finally! My efforts have paid off! I did this, Ricky! I did it!”
Ricky huffs in amusement at the sheer joy on Gyuvin’s face, though he can’t fault him for being happy that they’ve finally gotten together, and especially not when he can see three faces practically beaming with happiness in front of him. “Congrats, you two.”
“Thank you!” Haewon replies sweetly while Gyuri salutes at him. “I’m Haewon, by the way. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself properly the last time I was here.”
“That’s okay, you were distracted with getting the perfect flower. Right?” Ricky says to her, spotting the red spreading across her cheeks. “I’m Ricky.”
“Nice to meet you.” Haewon says, and she glances at Gyuvin quickly before turning her eyes back to Ricky. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Like, a lot. ”
Gyuvin freezes from where he now stands behind them, one arm around each of the girls’ shoulders. “Haewon.” He says, vaguely threatening.
“You have?” Ricky looks at Gyuvin, but the other boy is decidedly avoiding his gaze. “What have you heard about me?”
“Oh, you know, this and that.” Gyuri says vaguely, removing Gyuvin’s arms from around them. “Like how you’re the first person to make Gyuvin feel comfortable from the first meeting in a long time. Or how there’s no one in the world more deserving of being loved than you.”
“Gyuri!” Gyuvin whisper-yells, poking her waist to shut her up. “Stop this right now!”
Gyuri just smiles threateningly back at him. “How could I stop now, without helping my brother fulfill his wish? You certainly didn’t stop until my wish came true. And now it has.”
“Aww.” Haewon smiles at her, clearly smitten. “That’s so cute, I’m gonna cry.”
“Um, what…” Ricky trails off, feeling like he’s losing grip on his conversation, unable to keep up. “What did he do, exactly?”
“Expose me, that’s what.” Gyuri crosses her arms to show her displeasure, but it’s easily overshadowed by the clear happiness on her face. “He screenshots my messages to him, which are private , and sends them to Haewon.”
“What messages?” Ricky asks, though deep down he thinks he can guess the answer.
“You know. Messages from me talking about how I wish Haewon would love me back, how lucky the person she’s gonna date will be, how I wanted to cry when she smiles at me, stuff like that.” Gyuri elaborates, her face turning red as she does. “And Kim Gyuvin, this traitor , just sent it to her with no care in the world. Even though he has no way of knowing whether or not she likes me back.”
“Of course I know she likes you back,” Gyuvin grumbles. “What do you take me for? I have eyes, you know. Nothing escapes me.”
The girls look at each other and Haewon breaks out into giggles. “Why don’t you tell him what he’s not getting, babe?”
Gyuri squeezes her hand and turns to Ricky. “So my brother is a dummy, and he has been waxing poetry about you every night. About everything from the color of your hair to the sound of your laugh and your addiction to strawberry flavored anything.”
Gyuvin tries to cover her mouth with his hand, but she swats it away easily. “Oh! And after your date on Valentine’s day, he spent the whole night lying on the couch and talking to the ceiling about how much he likes you, and how he can’t believe no one has ever been worthy to date you before, and how he needs to make himself worthy so you’ll look at him, and how-“
“Alright that’s enough!” Gyuvin tells them, ignoring their complaints and shoving them out the door. “I’ll see you at home, Gyuri-yah!”
“Actually, we’re both going to our place.” She tells him. “Haewon is sleeping over tonight.”
“Fine, fine, I don’t care!” He waves them away. “See you guys later!”
“Don’t come home too early! And be safe!” Gyuri yells back at him and the two girls break out into a run to escape Gyuvin’s wrath, the sound of their joyful laughs fading the further they go.
“Aah! They’re menaces! Just awful together. I should have known better than to get them together. Now I’m the one paying the price.” Gyuvin is still staring out of the door, refusing to turn around and face Ricky. “Hey, um. About them-”
“Gyuvin.” Ricky calls him, and the boy freezes in place. “Close the door. Turn around.”
“Ricky, I swear. If you’re going to-”
“Turn around.”
“No. I’m kinda scared.”
Ricky swallows a smile at how nervous Gyuvin sounds. “You think I’m scary?”
“No,” Gyuvin says, though he has his eyes squeezed shut as he turns around. “But I’m scared of what you’ll say.”
“You’re being silly.” Ricky takes the chance to walk closer quietly, knowing that Gyuvin can’t see the action.
“Don’t tease me, Ricky.” Gyuvin says, now using his hands to cover his eyes.
“I’m not.” Ricky grabs his wrists to pull them down gently. “Was what she said true?”
For a second Gyuvin gets the thought that Ricky can probably tell that his pulse is racing from the way he’s holding his wrist, but he decides that he doesn’t care anymore. He opens his eyes, and finds Ricky so close that his already irregularly beating heart starts going so batshit insane that Gyuvin doubts if he’s even going to make it out alive.
“Yes, it’s true.” He admits, sad and defeated. “I don’t know why she thinks the payback for getting her a girlfriend is to take away one of my most precious people I’ve ever met by making me confess, but-“
“Stop talking.” Ricky then grabs Gyuvin’s chin with one hand, bringing it closer to his own as he tilts his head and places the sweetest, little chaste kiss on his lips.
When he pulls away, Ricky can see the smile that spreads across Gyuvin’s face in slow motion, and feels his heart settle the sight of it.
“I like you so much, Gyuvin.” Ricky tells him, looking him straight in the eyes, hoping to convey all his sincerity. “I hope you like me too.”
“Wha-“ Gyuvin huffs in disbelief. “Of course I like you too! Did you not just hear the most embarrassing proof of how much I like you from my little sister?”
“Hm,” Ricky says, smiling a little. “Maybe we should call her over and have her tell me even more things.”
“Or,” Gyuvin loops his arms around Ricky’s neck slyly. “Maybe we can just stay here, alone, and we can make out while I tell you how much I like you in between.”
“Mm,” Ricky nods his agreement immediately. “Sounds good. Let’s get started.”
Okay, so maybe Ricky was wrong. Sitting on the floor of the shop and stealing longing glances over black bean noodles while they share a comfortable silence isn’t the most romantic thing to have ever happened to him. This is.
fin.