Chapter Text
Climbing out of the taxi cab with a sigh, Taehyun pulled his woolen sweater up to his nose and cheeks that had already rosen because of the crisp winter winds.
And though his small body shivered uncontrollably from the sudden shift from the warmth of the taxi to the cold, January weather, Taehyun made no effort to put a skip in his step. Instead, he slid in his earbuds and played his playlist of slow songs before carrying on with his stroll.
Winters in Seoul have always been his favorite times of the year, and as such, he would use every second to admire the way the snow that fell lightly from the sky covered his city in thick, white blankets.
“Who’s trying to disturb my peace already at this time in the morning?” Taehyun thought to himself, unable to ignore the constant buzzing in his coat.
Expecting it to be one of his friends, Taehyun’s mood was quick to drop when a series of text messages being sent at rapid speed appeared on his lock screen.
haneul:
hey its been like twenty minutes you good?
your coffee is getting cold yknow lmao
and i look stupid sitting here by myself
but we can always reschedule if ur not feeling well
hello? taehyun?
“Like hell I waste my time again rescheduling with you,” Taehyun thought with a loud scoff while sliding the phone back into his coat pocket.
To him, it was just another day where another meaning and fleeting crush dwindled out just as quickly as it had appeared.
But this time, he thought that he finally found the one, that he finally found someone worth giving a second glance at. But, of course, fate always had other plans, and whether Taehyun liked it or not, the cycle must continue.
Just as fate had wanted it to.
“Oh, the flowers, I forgot they were coming today,” the boy thought to himself before grabbing the box placed next to the door before stepping into the flower shop, where he was quick to let out a sigh of relief as his chilled body tried to take in as much of the shop’s comforting heat as possible.
“I doubt you had any errand important enough to willingly walk outside to that cold ass air.”
Taehyun, nearly jumping out of his skin, whirled around to see a familiar brunette sitting in one of the spinny chairs a few meters away and staring at him with a blank expression while two styrofoam cups sat near him.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Beomgyu - Do you know how weird it is for you to not say anything when I first stepped into the shop? You look like a stalker just sitting there,” Taehyun told him in an exasperated tone as he placed the box of flowers on the counter before placing his slipped-off jacket on it. “Or how you just casually invited yourself in here knowing I wasn’t here?”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong, my dear, because I didn’t know you weren’t here until I called out to you five or six, times and got no answer,” Beomgyu corrected as he began to spin around in the chair. “But seriously, what were you out doing in this type of weather? I was out there for two minutes, and felt like I was about to die.”
“Unlike you, I’m not weak-blooded and can actually handle the cold,” Taehyun replied with a sigh while unplugging his headphones to let the soft music play throughout the shop. “And I went on a date.”
Beomgyu’s brow was quick to raise at that while a mix of skepticism and excitement flooded over his face. “A date? I’m surprised Kang Taehyun goes on dates, let alone know what one is,” he said with genuine surprise while placing his arm on the counter to support his head. “So, who’s the lucky man?”
“Shit, in this situation, nobody,” Taehyun sighed out while the familiar feeling of annoyance flooded him over. “You know the boy in my music engineering class? Haneul?”
“Wait, the boy you had a crush on because he had a mullet? You asked him out? I didn’t think you’d grow the guts to do it.”
“I was psyching myself up for three whole days, and just my luck, it turned out to be an absolute waste of my time!”
“Oh, come on, it couldn’t have been this bad,” Beomgyu said, now sitting up straight. “What happened? Did he cancel on you? Turned out to be a weirdo?”
“He cut his hair,” Taehyun stated simply as he stared into Beomgyu’s eyes. “He fucking cut his long, beautiful highlighted hair into a fucking bowl-cut .”
It was clear that Beomgyu wasn’t able to take Taehyun’s words seriously despite how upset he sounded, as his lips were suddenly forced into a straight line to try and appear serious, but failed from the way his eyes glinted with clear amusement.
“Well, uh, hmph , well, did he look… nice ?” Beomgyu asked, struggling to speak without laughter, let alone without a smile.
“Sad thing is, he didn’t even look decent . It felt like I was talking to a high school freshman who hasn’t even hit puberty the entire time,” Taehyun huffed as he grabbed a vase off of one of the shelves before grabbing a pair of scissors to cut open the box. “So, naturally, I went to the “bathroom” twenty minutes ago to ditch him.”
Taehyun looked up to see Beomgyu staring at him with wide eyes, astounded. “Taehyun, you can’t just ditch someone mid-date!” he pointed out with the click of his tongue. “You’re not gonna get any type of date any time soon with that type of attitude.”
“It's not my fault that I want an actual man as a boyfriend and not a prepubescent looking boy,” Taehyun scoffed as he slipped on a pair of gloves before reaching down into the box and pulling out a vase.
Inside stood eight red and pink five-petaled flowers that had a smell likened to apricots that leaned against the rim of their glass vase.
“Oh, wait, those are actually kinda pretty,” Beomgyu noted as he stopped spinning in his chair for a moment. “What type of flowers are those?”
“They’re oleanders. Never worked with them before, and honestly, I don’t have plans on it either,” Taehyun said as he carried the vase over and placed it onto a lonely shelf. “They’re poisonous all over even when dead, and its sap can irritate your skin,” he explained while glancing over his shoulder to give Beomgyu a long, hard look. “So, please, for the love of God, if you ever work with one of these flowers, wear protection.”
“Never gonna have to worry about me because I never plan on working with flowers in the first place,” Beomgyu assured before grabbing one of the styrofoam cups and making his way over to Taehyun. “But, since it’s so cold out, I stopped by some cafe earlier, and got both of us some hot cocoa,” he hummed. “And don’t worry, I put extra sugar in it, just how you like it.”
Whether it be the soft chorus of the piano still playing in the background, or the dim lighting of the winter sun that reflected perfectly off of the powdered snow, Taehyun didn’t know what exactly made Beomgyu look so angelic in that moment.
All he knew then was that things fell a little too perfectly into place, and he didn’t even have the capacity to try and figure out how he felt about it.
“You know you didn’t have to get me this, right?” he asked while still taking the cup. “What if I had something while I was out?”
“Oh please, since when do you give up on the offer of free food, hot chocolate in January at that?” Beomgyu asked with a raised brow with a bright smile. “I know you too well, Tae. Couldn’t fool me even if you tried.”
With his heart suddenly doing somersaults, Taehyun was quick to turn around and look back at his oleander flowers in hopes of covering his burning red face.
Taehyun didn’t know what was going on with him.
He’s only ever felt like this during his middle school crushes, a time where he would fall head over heels for anyone that smiled at him nicely for a full two months straight.
And Beomgyu…He couldn’t feel that way for Beomgyu.
Sure, he couldn’t deny the fact that Beomgyu was sweet, extremely funny, had a face likened to a sculpture that took years to create, had hair that practically demanded for someone to run their hands through, and had a body that both greek gods Apollo and Aphrodite would envy, and-
“Fucking hell, Taehyun!”
Taehyun, frozen in place, couldn’t even react when Beomgyu took him by his wrist and pulled him away from the puddle of hot chocolate that laid at his feet.
“I get that you’re clumsy, but can you at least try to move when you make a mess?” Beomgyu scolded as he grabbed a nearby napkin to wipe away some of the hot chocolate that spilled onto his hands. “Did you burn your hand or something? Or is everything okay?”
Taehyun couldn’t respond, only able to stare wide-eyed at Beomgyu while a familiar feeling of dread washed over him.
Oh no.