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Jeno is allergic to a lot of things.
A lot of things.
Cats, for one. (Though he hasn’t let that stop him from adopting three of them.) Dogs, too. Peanuts. Tree nuts apparently belong to a whole different family tree of nuts, but he’s allergic to those, too. (Or so his mother claims.) Apples make his throat itch, and he’s probably better off without eating pineapple. Gluten is sometimes an issue, and he’s also mildly lactose intolerant. Mildly. Soy has caused some problems for him too. (Yes, he is that person in the coffee shop line that asks the cashier what their dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free options are. He’s used to the listless expressions on the cashier’s faces by now.) Jeno is also allergic to flowers—or is it the pollen that’s in the flowers? It’s probably the pollen. Jeno doesn’t really know the details of this particular allergy, having never bothered to ask his mom about it since it was always a minor thing. Some over the counter pills usually did the job easing the attack on his senses in the spring time or when the wind carried pollen from the neighbor’s garden across the fence.
Jeno’s flower slash pollen allergy is nothing life-threatening or debilitating, and he handles it how he handles his other allergies, skeptically until proven to be life-threatening and debilitating (and this mindset is the cause of many, many trips to the convenience store for allergy medication and a couple of EpiPens stabbed into his thigh). As nonchalant as he is about his allergies, they do make things a little inconvenient when a flower shop opens up across the street from the tattoo parlor that Jeno co-owns with his cousin who isn’t really his cousin, Doyoung.
Doyoung is the second son of Jeno’s father’s best friend’s younger sister’s first wife, so he’s basically family. Jeno has known him all of his life and he sees Doyoung more often than he sees his actual blood, so fuck formalities and official family trees. Jeno introduces Doyoung to everyone he knows as his cousin. No one bats an eye—most people actually assume they’re brothers and are surprised that they’re “only cousins”. (That’s a real ego boost for Doyoung who proceeds to fish for compliments in Jeno’s honor, asking things like “Right? He takes after me, doesn’t he?”) (He does take after Doyoung in a lot of ways, considering Doyoung was the one that got him into tattooing, but that’s a conversation for another day.)
What does Doyoung have to do with the story , the tiny Jeno on his shoulder asks, pointy red horns on top of his head and red tail swinging around his back. Nothing, Jeno just loves and respects him a lot, the other tiny Jeno answers, patient and serene, halo above his head and angel wings attached to his shoulder blades. Sorry, the tiny Jeno in his brain apologizes, trailed a little off topic! Jeno slaps himself on the forehead and rights his train of thought. What was he talking about? Pollen allergy. Bad. Flower shop. Good. Boy who works part-time at the flower shop. Really, really good.
Like, really, really, super good.
Jeno comes into the tattoo parlor every morning with watery eyes and a bout of loud, booming sneezes, but it's a small price to pay to see the eighth Wonder of the World in the sunlight with his own two eyes. Said eighth Wonder of the World being the boy who works part-time at the flower shop—whose name Jeno has learned through Jaehyun is Donghyuck—watering the potted plants hanging outside of the flower shop in the cutest fucking apron Jeno has seen in his life. It’s pale yellow and covered in little Animal Crossing fruits, for God’s sake, Jeno thinks with a sniffle. And Donghyuck’s smile—oh my God, have mercy on Jeno’s little heart. His fucking smile. It’s so warm and friendly like the morning sun itself, and it brings tears to Jeno’s already watery eyes.
Donghyuck, Jeno has noticed, like himself, is a little on the shy side, speaking little and minding his own business around anyone he doesn’t know well. To add to Jeno’s misery, Jeno, who wants nothing more than to talk to Donghyuck and make him laugh all day long, falls into the “anyone he doesn’t know well” category. They don’t know each other very well at all, so it’s only natural that they don’t have much to talk about, but Donghyuck always waves hello when he sees Jeno coming up the sidewalk, his smile brightening after Jeno tells him to have a good day. Donghyuck usually doesn’t say much nor does he try to hold a longer conversation with him, but Jeno doesn’t allow the less than ideal circumstances to stand in the way of him scoring a date with Donghyuck.
He has a game plan.
The game plan goes like this:
- Say good morning to Donghyuck.
- Ask Donghyuck if he would like to go on a date with him.
Good game plan.
Straight to the point.
100% doable.
You got this in the bag, man, little angel Jeno pats his shoulder.
Fuck yeah, he’s totally got this.
Like always, Donghyuck is crouched in front of one of the potted plants outside of the flower shop, watering them and carefully straightening out the stems of flowers that have started to droop. Today, though, Donghyuck is the first to say hello. He looks across his shoulder and lowers his watering can, raising a delicate hand to wave at Jeno as he bounds up the opposite side of the road. Jeno sees it like a page ripped out of a shoujo manga, blooming flowers and soft pink petals falling around Donghyuck’s face as he smiles, “Good morning, Jeno-ssi.”
Jeno’s motor skills falter as the center of gravity shifts and he trips in a crack in the sidewalk. He comes stumbling forward in a mess of limbs, barely catching himself on the bike rack as his brain short circuits and completely forgets how to function properly in the seconds it takes him to process that Donghyuck knows his name.
Donghyuck’s mouth parts, dark brown eyes wide with concern, standing up straight and looking like he’s not really sure if he should help Jeno up or not. “Jeno-ssi? Are you okay?”
“What? Me?” Jeno blinks, pointing to himself, “Oh, I’m fine! I’m totally fine, don’t worry about me.” Jeno waves off his concern, righting himself and sticking up peace signs in a rush of adrenaline crossed with embarrassment. “Good morning, Donghyuck-ssi!”
Nice, Jeno thinks. Half of his game plan is already completed and barely a minute has passed.
Donghyuck holds up a peace sign too, probably more out of instinct than anything, mirroring what he sees, and it’s cute enough that Jeno smiles so hard his cheeks start to hurt. “I hope you have a good day.”
“You, too!” Donghyuck chirps, “Oh, hold on, I have something for you!” Donghyuck disappears into the flower shop for a moment and reappears with a potted plant in his hands. Jeno follows Donghyuck with his eyes as he crosses the street and comes to a stopping point right in front of him. Donghyuck nods at the storefront past Jeno’s shoulder. “Jaehyun hyung told me it was your birthday tomorrow, but the shop is closed on Sundays, so, uh, I thought I should give it to you now. I thought this would be nice in your, uh, work space? In the shop.” Donghyuck holds the plant out to him and beams at him, sunny and radiant, and it’s like a shot of serotonin injected right into Jeno’s brain. “Happy birthday.”
Jeno’s heart jumpstarts in his chest, filling to the brim with excitement and exploding in a brilliant display of fireworks like it’s the Fourth of July in a white American suburb.
(That’s a lot of fucking fireworks, man.)
“Oh, uh. Wow. Thank you, Donghyuck-ssi.” Jeno takes the potted plant from his hands and cradles it to his chest carefully. In a daze, Jeno sucks in a sharp breath and accidentally attacks his own very sensitive, very allergic-to-pollen senses. A violent sneeze rakes through Jeno’s body and thunders through the quiet morning. Donghyuck startles at the force of it, taking a step back. “Ah—bless me, achoo! ” Jeno sniffs and straightens out his glasses. He can barely say a word before he sneezes again. “Sorry, I meant excuse me.” Jeno holds the pot closer to his chest so it doesn’t slip from his arms mid-sneezing fit. “I have allergies.”
“You do?” Donghyuck shoulders droop, smile faltering and looking like a kicked puppy, and Jeno chastises himself for saying anything to upset him in the first place. “I’m so sorry, I had no idea. This will probably only make it worse.”
Donghyuck moves to take the plant back, but Jeno holds onto it stubbornly.
“No! No, it’s okay, really. It only bothers me in the morning,” Jeno says, you know, like a liar. Still he thanks Donghyuck sincerely. “Thank you, Donghyuck-ssi. This is really, really kind of you.”
“You’re welcome.” Donghyuck rubs the back of his head, sheepish, a bashful smile on his lips, “Actually, uh, one more thing. I was wondering if you—” And it’s at that moment that his eyes drift to Donghyuck’s arms and his brain becomes a blob of jello, and rightfully so, as soon as he notices the black ink covering Donghyuck’s skin.
He has tattoos? Oh, God. Oh, good God, as if he couldn’t be any more perfect, any more 100% Jeno’s type , he also has tattoos.
You do not got this in the bag, man, little devil Jeno scoffs.
Little angel Jeno’s silence is deafening.
Donghyuck frowns, waving a hand in front of his face, “Jeno?”
Jeno is too overwhelmed to realize that Donghyuck has dropped the honorifics with him, speaking informally as he looks at him with increasing worry. Jeno’s eyes dart from the demonic plant from Hell in his arms to Donghyuck’s angelic face, to the ink running up and down Donghyuck’s arms, and back to Donghyuck’s face, and Jeno thinks that if he doesn’t make a run for it right then and there, he might drop to the sidewalk on one knee and accidentally propose to him.
“I’m sorry, uh, I have to go! I’m late for work!” Jeno says, once again, like a liar. He hightails it to the front door of the tattoo parlor and waves across his shoulder at Donghyuck who only waves back in visible hesitation. “Thank you so much for the plant, Donghyuck-ssi, really.”
The humiliation doesn’t hit until a couple seconds later, but when it does, it comes in a tidal wave of complete and total mortification that knocks the air out of his lungs.
Jeno breathes a sigh of relief as soon as he makes it into the shop, the bell ringing above his head as the door eases closed. He places the potted plant carefully onto the leather booth in front of the store window before he goes completely boneless and collapses to the floor, flailing around dramatically in a mess of limbs like an inflatable in front of the car wash.
And so here he is.
He has two problems. One being his allergies and two being his massive crush on Donghyuck. Both of which have proven to be a big pain in the ass now that spring has rolled around, the flowers are in full bloom and his life is starting to look like a shoujo manga, and only one of which can be solved with Allegra.
The lights above his head swim and a stray tear slips from his right eye and rolls down his temple. (It’s the allergies.)
Bro , Jeno thinks to himself, Donghyuck has tattoos.
“Doyoung hyung!” Jeno wails after a good ten minutes of laying completely still on the floor. He clenches his fist into the front of his hoodie and whines pitifully, “I think I’m dying.”
Doyoung’s voice floats in from the back room, “Can someone please get Jeno his EpiPen?”
A murmur, a clatter, a high-pitched squeak of an old drawer, and two pairs of approaching footsteps. A moment passes, and Yuta and Jaehyun stand over him, Jaehyun looking down at him with a carefully blank look on his face and Yuta shaking his EpiPen like a marker. “I got you, little man.”
Jeno lays flat on the hardwood flooring lifelessly and wipes his runny nose with his hand, “Make sure to stab it right into my heart so I die on the spot.”
Jaehyun laughs and Yuta nods seriously, “A little dramatic, Romeo, but I respect the drip.”
“Please do not do that.” Doyoung says as he comes out from his office, monotonous as he sips slowly on his daily cup of coffee. He raises a brow at Jeno, eyes doing a quick once over, and he takes the EpiPen from Yuta’s hands. “You don’t look like you’re having an allergic reaction.”
“Don’t judge a book by its cover, Kim Doyoung.” Yuta tsks, crouching by Jeno’s head and patting his chest consolingly, “Some troubles are inside here, right, Jeno?”
Jeno nods, reciting a tweet he saw a couple days ago, something about how his heart been broken so many times.
“I don’t understand why you’re so heartbroken though. Aren’t you the one that rejected him?” Jaehyun mutters as he scrolls through his phone casually. Jaehyun startles when he realizes all eyes are on him. “What’s with the looks? It’s true.”
What’s he talking about? Both of the little Jenos on his shoulders ask.
Beats me, Jeno thinks.
“What do you mean I rejected him?” Jeno asks, propping himself up on elbows. “Who’s him?”
Jaehyun juts his chin toward the window and they all follow his line of sight to the flower shop. “Donghyuck.”
Jeno frowns, thinking back on his conversation with Donghyuck. “I took the plant he got me, though.”
(“He got you a plant?” Yuta asks on the side, clapping a hand on his shoulder in approval when Jeno nods and points to it. “Not bad, Romeo.”)
“I don’t know, Jeno. It sounds like you did something . He texted me a bunch of sad faces like five minutes ago and said you bolted without actually answering him.”
At this, Jeno pushes himself up onto his palms, gaping at Jaehyun, “You have Donghyuck’s number?”
“He’s cute.” Jaehyun says simply. Jeno narrows his eyes at his answer and Jaehyun scoffs, raising his hands in the air in an act of surrender. “I meant like a baby.”
Jaehyun drops his phone into Jeno’s lap. “Read it if you want.”
Jeno pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and holds Jaehyun’s phone close to his face to read the texts. He frowns again when he realizes that Donghyuck did, in fact, seem to think that Jeno didn’t like him (which for the record, if it wasn’t clear enough, is completely incorrect).
Jaehyun taps at his phone after Jeno hands it back to him without a word, “I thought you liked him so I was surprised when he texted me this.”
“I do like him!” Jeno pouts and crosses his arms as he wracks his brain for what he might have said to make Donghyuck think that way. It had to have been after Jeno noticed his tattoos, right? Jeno admits he wasn’t really paying attention to what Donghyuck was saying, focused solely on the ink covering Donghyuck’s arms, but he doesn’t think he would have missed something like a confession so easily. He knows that Donghyuck was asking him something, though. What did he say? I was wondering if you. I was wondering if you what? Jeno holds his head in his hands and wills himself to think. What could Donghyuck have said?
Jaehyun’s voice draws him out of his hopeless backtracking.
“Donghyuck said he asked you out for coffee and you said you were late for work and had to go,” Jaehyun reads out loud. “Does that ring a bell?”
I was wondering if you would want to have coffee or something with me?
Oh, good God.
Yuta shakes his head. “The shop doesn’t open for another hour.”
Jaehyun clicks his phone locked and pockets it. “Donghyuck knows that, too.”
Doyoung, who had been quiet the whole time, only listening attentively as he gathered all of the facts and formed his opinion, finally breaks his silence. “He has tattoos, doesn’t he?”
“I gotta go.” Jeno mumbles, ignoring Doyoung’s knowing laughter and Yuta and Jaehyun’s matching expressions of confusion. He all but dashes out the door, stopping for a second to look both ways before crossing the road and barreling through the big French doors of the flower shop.
The wind chimes above the doors twinkle prettily with the draft that flows in and Jeno immediately feels his body react to the overwhelming scent of garden. In hindsight, maybe he should have taken some allergy medicine before strolling right into a battlefield, but to Hell with the consequences. He’ll handle the watery eyes and the runny nose and the constant sneezing at a later time. This will build his immunity. Jeno tries to breathe as shallowly as he can, but all thoughts of self-preservation are tossed to the wind as soon as Donghyuck comes bounding around the corner.
Jeno waves. “Hi.”
Donghyuck looks at him from around an armful of flower bouquets. He carefully places them onto the counter and blinks up at Jeno like he isn’t sure what Jeno is doing here. “Hi?”
“Hi.” Jeno says again, mind completely blank now that Donghyuck is looking at him.
Fuck, what was the game plan, again? Say good morning, little angel Jeno provides helpfully. Okay, he already did that this morning. Ask him out on a date, little devil Jeno hisses impatiently. Right. Fuck.
“Do you need something for the plant?” Donghyuck asks carefully, like he’s trying to make this conversation easier on Jeno. He smiles good naturedly, “It’s an easy one to take care of, so you don’t need anything special. Just some water once a week and good sunlight will be okay.”
“No,” Jeno shakes his head. “Uh, I just have something to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Do you want to go on a date with me later today?”
“Oh, thank God.” A voice calls out from the back of the shop. Jeno’s eyes widen in horror at the realization that they weren’t the only ones in the shop as a head of washed out pink hair pokes out above a row of leafy plants. “You’re Jeno, right? The boy of Donghyuck’s dreams who works at the tattoo place?”
Donghyuck reddens immediately, blushing all the way down to his fingertips. He whips around and hisses, “ Privacy , Taeyong hyung!”
Jeno nods and bows, hesitant, his own face reddening at the description. Taeyong flashes a million watt smile and looks between Donghyuck and Jeno triumphantly like he’s just played Cupid, “It’s a good thing you came. Donghyuck has been pouting for the last hour.”
Donghyuck frowns, crossing his arms across his chest. “Don’t exaggerate.”
“Just continue your conversation, boys.” Taeyong waves off Donghyuck’s complaints, crouching back down as he shoots a thumbs up at Jeno. “Act like I’m not here.”
Jeno wills himself to listen to Taeyong and focus completely on Donghyuck. “I’m sorry I bolted earlier. I noticed your tattoos and my brain completely shut down. I had no idea you asked me out for coffee or that you liked me at all.” He admits, scratching the back of his head. “Now that I know, I came to ask if you’d, I don’t know, want to have lunch or something? Dinner might be too much of a date date, not that I would mind, don’t get me wrong. I’d love to take you out on a date date, but I thought that might make you uncomfortable since we don’t know each other very well, and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable cause you’re like, really cute, and I have been thinking about asking you out for like, a whole month now…” Jeno trails off, slapping his mouth shut in mortification as soon as he realizes he’s rambling and sounding like a complete fool.
He words it simply. “Lunch?”
Donghyuck blinks at him in stunned silence.
“Lee Donghyuck, this is the part where you say yes.” Taeyong whisper-shouts, waving a spray bottle and tossing a small pebble at his head. Donghyuck shoots him a dirty look across his shoulder and Taeyong sticks out his tongue at him. “Do it already and put me out of my misery!”
Jeno flashes his most convincing smile. “So what do you say?”
Donghyuck shines like the morning sun filtering through the clouds. “It’s a date.”
What Jeno means to do is ask if it’s a date date, but instead he doubles over and sneezes so aggressively he startles Taeyong.
He makes Donghyuck laugh, though, so Jeno counts it as a victory.