Work Text:
Hua Cheng had a problem. Well, not actually a problem. He didn’t think it was a problem, but others around him disagreed.
A small flower shop had opened just a couple doors down from the coffee shop he worked at a few months ago. The flowers weren’t the problem. It was the person who owned the shop. And here was where the disagreement came in, the guy was gorgeous. He’d come in several times to get coffee or a sandwich. He was always unfailingly kind and polite. Always offering a smile, asking after Hua Cheng and how his day was going, what he’d baked today, what he was up to. Hua Cheng was hopelessly in love. Unfortunately, every time he came in, Hua Cheng seemed to lose any and all verbal skills he possessed and forgot anything he’d ever done before and any interest he had. Okay so fine, a small problem.
“You know you could just go over there.” He Yu handed the coffee cup over to the customer and started wiping down the machines.
Hua Cheng scowled at him. “You don’t even know what I was thinking about.”
He Xuan raised an eyebrow. “Every time you start thinking about Xie Lian you get a dreamy look on your face.”
Hua Cheng open and closed his mouth looking for any sort of excuse but he knew it was useless. He groaned and slumped back against the counter. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Talk to him.”
“I think I prefer back when you were scared of me.”
“That’s a lie, I’m your favorite coworker.”
He Xuan was, sadly, once again correct. Hua Cheng did enjoy working with him. He was smart, good at his job, and usually, kept his nose out of other peoples business but still somehow managed to know everything. Hua Cheng decided to stay quiet and go back to idly doodling.
The rest of the afternoon passed quietly with only a few customers here and there. A half hour before closing Hua Cheng sent He Xuan home and started cleaning and prepping things for the morning.
A few minutes before close, the door chimed and someone else walked in and Hua Cheng bit back a groan, tempted to just tell whoever it was they were closed and to come back tomorrow. He plastered a fake smile on and walked back into the front. As soon as he saw just who it was that had just walked in, he grinned and waved them deeper in.
“San Lang!” Xie Lian’s voice was clear and soft, as beautiful as a bell. He was dressed in a soft white shirt and jeans and was carrying a bouquet of colorful flowers. “How are you?”
“Better now,” Hua Cheng said. “What can I do for you?” Anyone else, he would be cursing them and offering a limited menu. For Xie Lian he would turn the espresso machine back on, offer to bake a new batch of cookies, whatever he wanted.
“Ah, I had some flowers that were starting to wilt and I thought maybe you’d want them?” Xie Lian placed the vase on the counter and smiled shyly.
Hua Cheng blinked at him and the bouquet set in front of him. It was beautiful and colorful. He didn’t know much about flowers and could only name a few, daisys and tulips among them.
“Oh, wow!” Hua Cheng reached his hand out and gently ran his finger along the petals. “How much do I owe you?”
Xie Lian immediately waved him away. “Oh no, no. Like I said, these are close to wilting, I couldn’t sell these to anyone and my friends are sick of me giving them flowers.”
“Well, in that case, thank you.” They didn’t look close to wilting to Hua Cheng at all, but what did he know. “They’re nearly as beautiful as you.” The words slipped out before Hua Cheng could think better of it.
Xie Lian’s face was dusted the prettiest pink as started walking back towards the front door. “Ah, um, thank you. For uh, taking them! And for the-I should head back to the shop.” Xie Lian waved and ducked out the door.
Hua Cheng watched until he was out of sight before he groaned and dropped his head into his hands and groaned loudly. He was useless.
* * *
“He gave you flowers?” He Xuan asked. It was early the next morning, and the two were in the middle of prepping for the coming day
Hua Cheng slid the bread into the oven, closed it, and set the timer. “He said they were going to wilt soon.”
“Right.” He Xuan did not sound convinced at all. “Okay.”
Hua Cheng sighed and turned back to the counter and went back to kneading. Maybe He Xuan was right, maybe he should take a chance and ask Xie Lian out. What’s the worst that could happen? He stopped coming in occasionally for coffee?
Once they were open, the morning was too busy for Hua Cheng to stress over what he should do. It was just after lunch when it slowed down and He Xuan dropped a coffee cup in front of him. “Take your lunch.”
Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow at him. The two of them hardly ever took any sort of formal lunches, usually preferring to step into the back to eat when it was slow and they were caught up.
“Take one of our sandwiches and take it to Xie Lian. God, do I have to spell out everything for you?”
Hua Cheng grinned and grabbed the coffee. He quickly put together one of their sandwiches, one he knew Xie Lian liked and darted out the door. His heart beat harder as he got closer. He had no reason to be nervous, it was just coffee and a sandwich to say thank you. Totally normal things to do.
He pushed the door open, it chimed softly.
“I’ll be right with you!” Xie Lian’s voice came from the back.
“Don’t worry, it’s just me,” Hua Cheng called back.
Xie Lian popped in from the back and smiled. “Just you? That’s my day made.” He was carrying a ribbon in his hand and walked over to an arrangement on the counter. He wrapped the ribbon around it and tied it off in a bow before turning back around. “What can I do for San Lang?”
He held up the food and the coffee. “Thanks for the flowers yesterday.”
Xie Lian beamed at him and took the bag from him. He opened it up and grinned. “Oh, this is my favorite! Thank you. Do you have to go back to work now, or can you split it with me?”
“I have a few minutes.”
Xie Lian smiled and ducked his head. A strand of hair fell in front of his face and Hua Cheng ached to reach forward and tuck it behind his ear. He truly was the prettiest man he’d ever seen.
The two ate and talked and Hua Cheng was absolutely giddy. The more he got to know Xie Lian, the more he liked him. He was smart and kind, with a razor sharp wit that had Hua Cheng laughing and laughing.
“The coffee shop is yours?” Xie Lian eventually asked. He swept the crumbs off the counter and threw them away.
“Oh, no,” Hua Cheng said. “The owner is almost never in and I’ve worked there the longest but not mine.”
"You’re good at it,” Xie Lian praised. “Is it what you want to keep doing? Or eventually open your own?”
“Uh, no, actually I want to be an artist,” he admitted. “I draw a lot between customers and at home. And on the bus. Anywhere I can really.”
“I would love to see them sometime,” Xie Lian said.
“I’ll bring some by,” Hua Cheng promised. “What about you? Have you always wanted to be a florist?”
“Mm, no, not exactly. I’ve always loved flowers. My mother had a flower garden when I was growing up. We would tend it all the time. She was always on the hunt for new seeds. I liked gardening with her but it wasn’t until later I decided I wanted to have a shop.”
“What changed?” Hua Cheng asked.
Xie Lian shrugged. “I wanted a change and something that reminded me of her. And I like how much flowers can say and how many occasions they can fit into.” Xie Lian smiled up at him. “You know different flowers have different meanings?”
“They do?”
Xie Lian nodded. “They’ve been used as a long time as different ways to send messages.” He pointed to the flowers he’d put together when Hua Cheng came in. “Take these for example, they’re for a couples anniversary.” Xie Lian pointed to each flower as he explained the flowers, “These are lisianthus and mean lifelong love, these here are lilies and they mean that the person is beloved and the love is pure, and these are apple blossoms which means they prefer the person over all others. And baby’s breath have several meanings but also help tie everything together.”
"They’re beautiful,” Hua Cheng said. “You have a gift.”
Xie Lian blushed and waved Hua Cheng’s compliment away.
“What about you?” he asked. “What’s your favorite flower?”
“The snow lotus.” Xie Lian answered with no hesitation. “They’re tough things. They grow high up in the mountains and only bloom once after years.”
“I take it they’re hard to get?”
Xie Lian laughed. “Very. They’re endangered so you can’t pick them and they’re hard to grow elsewhere.”
Damn. There went his plan to get a bouquet of them for Xie Lian.
The door dinged and pulled the two back to reality.
“Hello,” Xie Lian greeted.
Hua Cheng sighed. “I should head back to work.” He turned to go but not before a hand reached out and squeezed his. He looked back. Xie Lian had his hand in his, a soft smile curled his lips.
“Thank you for the food and the company, San Lang. I really enjoyed it.”
Hua Cheng smiled and squeezed Xie Lian’s hand back. “So did I.”
Back at the coffee shop, Hua Cheng pulled his phone out and scrolled through photo after photo of snow lotus’ until he felt he had a decent grasp of them. Between customers, Hua Cheng sketched until he was satisfied with what he had. Closing could not come soon enough. He wanted to go back to Xie Lian’s shop and keep talking to him. He wanted to ask him about his childhood and his friends and what kind of food he liked. Hua Cheng wanted to know everything about him.
He Xuan watched as the flowers bloomed on his page. “I take it the coffee went well?”
“Shut up.”
The second closing time hit, Hua Cheng practically shoved He Xuan out the door so he could lock it.
“I bet Shi Qingxuan would like some flowers,” He Xuan said. "I’m sure Xie Lian would be able to help me pick out some good ones.”
Hua Cheng glared at his coworker. “Step into his shop and I’m never feeding your fish for you again.”
He Xuan rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Hua Cheng made his way back down to Xie Lian’s shop, sending up a silent prayer of thanks that Xie Lian closed after them. He pushed the door open, glad to see that it was empty.
“Twice in one day, I feel very special,” Xie Lian grinned at Hua Cheng.
“You are special,” Hua Cheng said honestly. “I, uh, I have something for you. I said I would show you some of my art work?” He slid the paper over the counter to Xie Lian. Xie Lian pulled it close and ran his fingers over the lines. Hua Cheng twirled his earring, nerves twisted his stomach. This was it, no going back now.
“San Lang,” Xie Lian breathed. “These are beautiful. You drew this?” Hua Cheng nodded. The page was filled with snow lotus’ in different stages of blossoming. “All this afternoon?”
“Yes,” Hua Cheng said.
Xie Lian’s eyes were a bit misty, his face soft and full of something that looked a little bit like love.
“I lied about the flowers I gave you,” Xie Lian admitted suddenly.
“What?”
Xie Lian rounded the counter and stepped up close enough that Hua Cheng would barely need to reach out to touch him.
“They weren’t close to wilting. I put them together. For you.”
“Why?” Hua Cheng stepped half a foot closer to Xie Lian.
“Because I like you.” The way Xie Lian said it was so simple and so much. It was like a fact, the sky is blue, grass is green, Xie Lian likes Hua Cheng. “I like you and I wanted to ask you out but I wasn’t sure how.”
“I like you, too.”
Xie Lian smiled and stepped forward so there was almost no space between them. He cupped Hua Cheng’s cheek and stroked it with his thumb. He lifted up on his toes, moving slowly, and pressed his lips to Hua Cheng’s. His lips were soft and warm, a pleasant press against his own. Hua Cheng’s hand found Xie Lian’s waist and pulled him into him a little more.
Hua Cheng pulled back and tucked Xie Lian’s hair behind his ear. He took a deep breath and grabbed one of Xie Lian’s hands. “Xie Lian, will you go out with me?”
Xie Lian beamed and pressed another small kiss to his cheek. “I would love to. Will you stay while I close up?”
“Of course,” Hua Cheng said.
The two finished the last few things that Xie Lian needed to do, trading giggles and soft kisses as they cleaned. Not too much later, the two left and Xie Lian turned to lock up the doors.
“Ready?” Xie Lian asked.
“Absolutely.” Xie Lian held his hand out and Hua Cheng happily took it and the two turned and started walking down the street, talking about what foods they liked, places they’d been, places they wanted to go and maybe someday would get to go together.