Work Text:
For a moment, Jeonghan thought an angel had walked into his flower shop.
It was just a moment, but it was there.
Then the person closed the door, and he was just a person.
A very beautiful person. Jeonghan put up his book and looked inconspicuously over the top of it. The person was tall, with soft blonde hair that fell over his forehead and almost got into his eyes. His skin was clear and fair, completely free from blemishes apart from a small mole on his neck. His features were more pretty than handsome, but not too far beyond. And he had the loveliest smile that he wore lightly on his pink lips.
Jeonghan was beginning to wish he’d had some warning or something. It wasn’t every day a good-looking guy like that walked into his shop. Well, that pale brunette did come every day, sometimes with his short orange-haired boyfriend, but that was in the afternoon and Jeonghan was ready for him. This was unexpected.
The new customer wore all white, which explained why he looked like an angel at first glance. He wandered among the lilies while Jeonghan tried to fix his hair. He’d tied back his long, silky wheat-brown hair that day, and now he was rearranging his fringe, waiting for the customer to approach the counter.
He didn’t. He just kept on walking around, looking at the flowers. Jeonghan had the feeling this was the kind of person who just wandered about, looking at the flowers and smelling them, before leaving without buying a damn thing. The ones who thought that the shop was a gallery or something, instead of an actual shop.
Usually Jeonghan would just give them scathing looks until they got the idea and fled for their lives. Today, though, he was feeling generous. Mainly because the person in his shop actually looked like living art, walking among the flowers.
So Jeonghan waited. He had his book up and pretended to read, all the while watching the blonde look at the flowers. He watched as he inspected some pink roses, some azaleas, a bouquet of black irises. And he watched as he finally plucked one white carnation from a bunch of them, and then walk to the counter.
“Good morning,” the blonde said, and his voice had a unique quality which made it very nice to listen to. “I’d like this.”
Jeonghan put down his book, and wished he’d untied his hair. “Just one?”
“Yes,” the stranger answered. He smiled, a beautiful, sunny smile, and now Jeonghan really wished he’d untied his hair. With that smile, the guy was stunning, and that wasn’t a tag Jeonghan attached to just anyone.
Jeonghan waited for the customer to pay, while the customer waited for… what, exactly?
Finally Jeonghan got tired of waiting and said, “The money?”
“Uh, money?” The guy looked around a little awkwardly, as though he was literally searching for words to say. “I… don’t have any.”
“Then how did you expect to pay for that?”
“I… didn’t,” the blonde said. “I was kind of hoping you’d just give it to me, on account of my cute face.” He lifted up the corners of his lips in a cute, helpful expression.
Jeonghan scoffed, but had to hide a smile as well. It was so brazen it was almost charming.
“Well, I’m not,” he said, endeavoring to look unimpressed. “So either put it back or pay up. I haven’t even met you before, how can you ask me to give to you for free?”
“I’ve been in your shop a couple of times,” the stranger said. “You just didn’t see me.”
The only way I’d miss you is if you made yourself invisible. “So you know this is a shop, then, not some sort of charity event,” Jeonghan said. “I don’t just give things away.”
“But I’ve seen this on TV,” the blonde insisted. “The pretty florist lets the cute guy have one flower. It’s practically a rule.”
“That’s TV, this is real life,” Jeonghan said, pretending he was busy with something under the counter so that the guy couldn’t see his face properly. “If you want the flower, you’ll have to pay for it.” Pretty! He’d heard that so many times before, but this time he really liked the sound of it. Of course, gorgeous would’ve sounded better and been more accurate, but he’d accept pretty too.
“But I have no money,” the would-be customer said. “Can I pay for it some other way?” He blinked long, lovely eyelashes at Jeonghan.
The pretty florist thought about it, and then reached under the counter and handed the cute guy a cleaning rag. “I haven’t wiped down the counter in a while. Clean it and the carnation’s yours.”
The blonde stranger looked at the cloth, and then at Jeonghan. “This is kind of unexpected,” he said, but he took the rag anyway. “In the drama I watched the guy just smiled at the florist and that was it.”
“Well I’m not so easy,” Jeonghan said. “Do you want the flower or not?”
“Of course I do,” he said, and put up a bright smile as he got to work.
Jeonghan sat back in his chair and pretended to read again. The blonde wasn’t a very good worker. The pretty ones rarely were. Jeonghan himself was living proof.
“You never asked me,” the stranger said, wiping down the sides rather ineffectively, “but my name is Minhyuk. Lee Minhyuk.”
“Good to know,” Jeonghan said, keeping his eyes on the page without really reading anything. Minhyuk. Somehow the name matched with that cute face.
“Now’s the time when you tell me your name.”
Jeonghan suppressed another smile, and went on pretending to read.
Minhyuk went another route. “Whatcha reading?”
Jeonghan tried to ignore him (or at least pretend like he was) but Minhyuk wasn’t letting up. “Anything interesting?” he asked, again in that cutesy way that would’ve been so annoying if he wasn’t so good-looking.
Finally, Jeonghan gave up and raised the book so that Minhyuk could take a look at its cover.
There was a silence. A short one. “What’s it about?” Minhyuk asked.
“It’s a thriller,” Jeonghan said, and went back to looking at the page.
“Yeah, but what’s it about?” Minhyuk persisted.
Jeonghan sighed and said, “Did you watch that drama, ‘I Remember You’?”
“Nope,” Minhyuk said happily, and leaned forward for an explanation.
“Well it’s kind of like that drama,” Jeonghan said. “You should watch it. It’s good.”
“Would you watch it with me?”
Jeonghan laughed before he could stop himself. “What?”
“I just mean it would probably be more fun if I watched it with someone, instead of alone,” Minhyuk said, going back to moving the dirt around with the cloth.
“Then watch it with someone,” Jeonghan said. “Someone you actually know.”
“I know you,” Minhyuk said, still trying to be busy with the rag.
“No, you don’t,” Jeonghan laughed. “You don’t even know my name.”
“You could fix that right now, you know,” Minhyuk said, bending his neck and looking up coquettishly.
Jeonghan pursed his lips so he wouldn’t smile, and then put down the book. “That’s good enough. You can have the carnation.”
Minhyuk looked up, surprised. “Wait, that’s it? I’m done?”
“Yes, it’s just one flower,” Jeonghan said, taking the cloth from him. “You’ve earned it.” He handed the white carnation to Minhyuk, who took it distractedly.
“Wait, let me get this straight,” Minhyuk said, after a moment’s pause. “Because I only wanted one flower, I only had to work with you for a couple of minutes?”
“Work for me,” Jeonghan corrected. “But yes, pretty much.”
“So if I wanted more flowers,” Minhyuk continued, “I’d have to be here for longer, with you?”
“Yes,” Jeonghan answered, not bothering to correct him again. He looked very cute, standing there holding the white blossom in both hands as he thought it through.
“Okay, got it,” Minhyuk said. He smiled. “Thank you for the flower.”
Jeonghan watched him walk away, and only after Minhyuk had left the shop did he allow himself a smile. “What a weird guy,” he said aloud, and then stopped himself before he got carried away.
But he still untied his hair and fixed his bangs. He had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time they’d meet.
Two days later, Minhyuk returned to the flower shop, and this time he wanted three bouquets of the most expensive flowers Jeonghan had.
/p