Chapter Text
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The chimes above the door twinkled as the glass door with a white painted frame was slowly pushed open. Hearing the noise, Wei Li'an behind the counter, who was currently taking care of a calla lily and baby's breath for a bouquet order, peered over the counter. Bringing himself upwards to his full height, he quickly greeted the customer.
“Welcome to the Sounds of My Life,” Wei Li'an introduced the name of his flower store with a monotone and unenthusiastic attitude, paired with the quiet bird chirps and a light rain ambient sound over the speakers of his shop.
It had always been like that for the past who knows how long. Just a constant repetitive routine of greeting customers, hearing their orders, taking money that could hardly allow him a comfortable apartment, and arranging bouquets for orders over the phone. If it was a special day, maybe he was cleaning up the sign of his store, or occasionally talking with an acquaintance of his that he met when trying to start up his songwriting career, which failed not long after. Basically, his life was a failure in his eyes, ending up as a minimum wage worker at the age of 38.
His eyes hadn't even looked at the person in front of him while he waited for the customer to respond, but he heard the customer's voice first before he could see them.
“What type of flowers do you like?”
It was really just a normal low voice, but Wei Li'an had no idea why this voice suddenly felt like a daunting but beautiful melody to his ears, causing a shiver to run down his spine. He immediately shifted his head, his eyes meeting the piercing gaze of this new customer. He realised, not only was this man's eyes a stunning shade of a dark hazel brown, and not to mention they were really pretty, it had also been ages since someone actually had the initiative to ask him about himself personally. Usually conversations consisted of what flower was perfect for giving to a friend, a lover or what plant was easiest to grow—which Wei Li’an himself had no idea himself, but just answered based on gut feeling—but a sudden question about himself surprised him.
“...excuse me?” He tilted his head, replying in a confused and unsure manner.
The person on the other side of the cashier gave a smile that was way too charming for Wei Li'an to not notice. “You look really pretty, for the way your hair captures your face shape into a restrictive, but also beautiful aesthetic. I then made the conclusion and assumed that your favourite flower would be a beautiful one like you. I apologise if I had startled you though, I didn't intend to.”
Blinking awkwardly, Wei Li'an was completely taken aback. He did admit that this was completely out of the blue for him, why would someone suddenly focus on someone like him? Especially a random handsome guy that just happened to show up at his store? However, at the same time, he couldn't deny that he felt somewhat pleasant about the sudden change in his repeating schedule.
“I'm not sure,” he responded to the customer's question, before he walked out from behind the cashier, making his way to a shelf adjacent to the entrance. Reaching out his hand, he grabbed the stems of a flower that was on display. “I think I've always liked blue salvias. Don't know why.” He then laid against the light blue painted wall, holding the plant delicately, but also swaying it carelessly, the smaller dark blue hue of the petals flowing along with the air. The customer watched intently as Wei Li'an noticed their gaze.
“I would like to purchase this… blue saliva then.” The other male gave him a small smile, “my prediction was right. It was as pretty as you.”
Without realising, Wei Li'an felt his face heat up slightly. “No way man. That plant pot would be 1.25. The flower is 7.15.” He handed the flower to the mysterious male, before walking back towards the cash register, trying to calm his face down from whatever it was doing.
Wei Li'an watched the other man reach into his pocket, before taking out their phone. “Do you use WeChat pay?”
Shaking his head, Wei Li'an let out a sigh. If only he could invest in getting a universal card reader or something - not like he was already struggling with his bills.
“That's completely alright, I have cash,” the man let out a harmonious half hearted chuckle, before handing out the notes to Wei Li'an. “My name is Xu Haiqiao, it's nice to meet you, Wei Li'an.”
As the flower shop owner took the cash into his hands and leafed through it to check if the amount was correct, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. “Hi, Xu Haiqiao, but how do you know my name?”
The other charming man, Xu Haiqiao, quickly answered without wavering. “I used to work at an advertising firm for entertainment, I once worked with your store before as a task.” He took the blue salvia gently, but with precise, calculated movements, out of Wei Li'an's hands. “On your profile you seemed like my type so I decided to give a visit.”
While Xu Haiqiao had randomly announced that in the most calm and flirtatious way Wei Li'an could have ever imagined anyone say, he felt his face warm up once again. He did have eye candy and crushes towards one or two girls in the past, but he never would have thought himself as gay. So he brushed that possibility off immediately… although the other man did look extremely stunning.
“So, how long has this place been open for?” The other had then moved from the still position he was in to then start inspecting the store's available flowers and designs of the place that Wei Li'an had lazily set up that morning.
Watching the other take a particular interest in a small wooden carved bird, Wei Li'an replied, “It's been quite a while now, I've forgotten.” Wei Li'an couldn't help but also pay close attention to the way Xu Haiqiao's hair was a bit longer than his own, and just complemented the other's facecard perfectly.
He just stared as the other brought out his slender fingers to pick up the bird, giving it a small smile before placing it back down. “This place is decorated very well, I'm sure this store would attract all sorts of people. What do you think, Wei Li'an?” Xu Haiqiao, from his bent down position, stood back upwards and gave a look to the other, slightly rolling the way he pronounced the ‘Li'an part of his name. It almost made Wei Li'an feel his heart stop for a second from how cute it sounded from this random person, who suddenly had taken interest in his life.
Why was this person so friendly? It was a random event that Wei Li'an would have never known how to approach, even in this situation right now. He's never been in touch properly with anyone on a close level, and his friend Qing Lian was too busy with releasing songs to be able to engage in small talk in real life. Why had someone randomly started taking interest in him? Wei Li'an wasn't particularly a social butterfly, seeing how he had hardly been able to talk to anyone properly for the past many years of his life, so all together, this was absurd for him.
“Hold up,” Xu Haiqiao then turned fully to face Wei Li'an, his eyes portraying a conflicted emotion. “Are you alright? You've gone quiet for quite a bit, maybe my question was not right, sorry if I had said anything wrong. Are you alright?”
Not really.
“Yeah, I'm fine,” Wei Li'an gave a small reassuring half smile—he tried to shove it off quickly, as he didn't know what to do in this specific situation. “How about you then? How's your day going?”
“Not bad,” Xu Haiqiao sighed, before sitting down at a brown chair that sat against the wall next to the register, “I was trying to do some work today, but I’d been working non-stop so decided to take a break. This place seemed like a perfect place.”
As the two looked away from each other, their gazes turned towards the flowers placed around the store, the bird twitters quietly filled the atmosphere, creating a warm and calm feeling that Wei Li’an didn’t notice before.
Before he had even noticed, the two had begun talking as the sun rose higher up into the sky, the light clear blue adding towards the lively conversations the two began to have. Soon, Wei Li’an felt himself look at his phone less than he usually did, instead pouring out his words, breath and effort into living in the moment. The two chatted about all sorts of things - their jobs, interests, failures and successes in life, their friends and random photos that Xu Haiqiao had captured on the camera he had brought along. Customers bustled in and out, and Wei Li’an could have sworn that this was the day that the most visitors had waltzed in—maybe because of some of the surprised glances towards Xu Haiqiao’s stunning bright smile, and maybe a friendlier owner. Teases, remarks, a few flirts and light hearted laughter rang throughout the store as the chimes of the entrance jingled in a cheerful tune.
As time passed, soon the last customer walked out with a bouquet that Wei Li’an was making that morning. He slumped across the counter and let out a hefty sigh, puffing the air out of his cheeks. This was the most exhausting day this week, but somehow he didn’t mind. And it was the first time he didn’t absolutely go light speed to pack up and return home to his packet of instant noodles, instant hotpot and his comfy covers of his bed.
Xu Haiqiao stood up and walked over to Wei Li’an, bringing out a hand and ruffling the other’s hair. “You seem tired, do you want to go home now?” He bent down to face the other, causing the sleepy head to get slightly startled at the sudden close proximity, the dark hazel brown eyes looking softly back at him.
“Oh- uhm,” Wei Li’an coughed, his hand in a fist brought to his mouth, “Well yeah, this is when I close anyways.” Standing up, he unruffled his hair back to being not messy from Xu Haiqiao’s gentle touch.
“It was fun talking to you today.”
As Wei Li’an brought his bag from under the counter to start packing, he heard the customer’s words as he looked up, his heart somehow feeling like it was about to fly. His heart clenched in his chest as he looked at Xu Haiqiao’s genuine smile.
“T-Thanks…” Bringing a hand to his nape, he awkwardly scratched it, trying to not show the extent of how much that touched his fragile heart. It really had been a while since other people had really… tried seeing him.
Xu Haiqiao took a step closer to Wei Li’an, and although he was towards the other side of the cozy small store, it felt like he was stepping a universe closer to the flower store owner. Wei Li’an’s breath hitched as Xu Haiqiao opened his mouth. “Don’t worry about not being able to follow your dreams back then, as you told me. You can still follow them now—sing or songwrite every now and then once you get inspiration. It won’t always be there, but it will be there soon. And you have such a beautiful voice.”
As Wei Li’an’s eyes lingered on Xu Haiqiao’s heart-wrenchingly, comforting and handsome face, before the customer continued his words.
“But if you don’t want to follow your dreams, you could always follow me.” Giving a wink, Xu Haiqiao let out a bubbly teasing laughter that made Wei Li’an’s heart almost catch in his throat. “I’ll see you another day then, Wei Li’an!”
As the other left the shop after hours of hanging out, the jingle of the chimes, the bird tweets and the pattering of the rain over the speakers sounded louder than ever, filling the empty void of silence.
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Arriving in the cold chambers of what was his apartment block, he placed down his bag on the dining table and had a quick shower. His actions of turning on the water, drying himself and turning on the kettle were all done by muscle memory and instinct—shower, eat, stare at his untouched guitar, sleep was it for his night routine. But not today, another action was added to this routine.
Think about Xu Haiqiao.
He took the instant noodles out of the cupboard that Qing Lian so kindly gifted to him, opened the packets and poured its contents out. He then poured the boiling water over the noodles and closed it up.
It had been ages since someone took the effort to actually talk to him and his lonely self. With the exception of Qing Lian checking up on him once every while despite his constant busy schedule of releasing songs, performances and shows, no one else really had talked to him. At the flower shop, he was always just serving customers, talking nonsense about the flower meanings and doomscrolling on his phone.
The aroma of the instant goodness filled throughout the room, the air making Wei Li’an’s stomach rumble. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the drying rack before politely shoving the noodles down his throat.
Suddenly this random man who had taken interest in his boring life came. All the lifeless days of work being the only thing he did, his failed career, just himself.
Xu Haiqiao.
Xu Haiqiao said he was fun to talk to. A fun person to hang around, and a funny guy. Wei Li’an once in his life never thought of himself like that. He even said his voice was nice . Was he? He himself hadn’t really known.
After finishing his unhealthy meal for the day, he rushedly brushed his teeth, before heading to bed.
He slipped himself into his cool covers, rustling around before finding a comfy position and relaxed his tense muscles. Letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, Wei Li’an felt his eyes drooping, yet his mind was still racing.
He didn’t know what in the world just happened that day, but he knew that something was going to change. For the better or for the worse, Wei Li’an didn’t have a single clue. Hearing his heartbeat a little louder than usual, he shook it off before trying to get some sleep.
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