Chapter Text
"So... Phainon dear, have you been seeing anyone lately?"
Phainon stopped mid shoving the meat inside his mouth. It was a sudden question that he hadn't expected to hear from his mother — out of all people.
To tell the truth, he hardly had the time to think of that matter at all. Starting his own business at a young age was already a major issue for him, let alone matters of the heart. With an awkward smile he simply replied, "not at the moment." Then he continued eating.
His mother of course noticed the awkward reaction. "It's just that... your dad and I are worried. We know your working habits, it'll be nice to have someone taking care of you when we aren't there."
Phainon understood where the sentiment came from, his hardworking nature is no joke. One time his parents went deathly pale when they found out that he had collapsed suddenly during a particular stressful week. Being a dutiful son he was, Phainon started being mindful of his own wellbeing as to not worry his parents anymore. Alas, habits are hard to remove yet Phainon could proudly say that it was better than before.
Too bad his parents didn't think so.
"We won't pressure you or anything, but it'll be nice to have a daughter or son in law." His father tried to reassure.
Phainon nodded slightly with understanding, "I'll try my best, mom dad." Although he knew that his parents didn't mind it too much, Phainon still felt like he had some obligations to fulfill—or maybe he just didn't want to make them worried.
The rest of the conversation went unceremoniously. Normal stuff like how he's doing, is his business going well, what plan does he have for this month, as so on and so forth. Phainon took the liberty of washing the dishes this time, it allows him to organize his thoughts.
The water flowed steadily from the pipe as he scrubbed the dishes in a circular motion. He stared absentmindedly ahead onto the window. Phainon had many suitors in the past, be it men or women. His kind and charismatic nature often pulled people in, making him the top ideal choice for aunties to recommend their daughters to.
His thoughts were cut short by his mom calling him from upstairs.
"Phainon dear, your phone is ringing!" Ah, what a coincidence.
"I'm coming!" Phainon quickly put down the sponge and rinsed the last bit of foam from the dishes before speed walking to his bedroom. He took his phone from the desk and quickly plugged off the charger. After looking at the caller id, he could already guessed the reason behind the call.
"Mo Ran?"
"You picked up! I thought you'll be too busy with mama and papa."
Phainon sighed softly.
"We just finished dinner, is Chu Wanning ignoring your texts again?"
He could imagine the sly smile coming from the other side of the phone.
"Not me this time, it's Binghe. I figured that you should come along so I don't have to deal with him myself."
"Binghe? Is it about Shen Qingqiu?"
"Precisely, golden boy. So are you coming or not?"
"Do I even have a choice?"
"No."
And with that, the call was immediately hung up before Phainon could respond. He could feel a slight throb coming from the back of his head. Nevertheless, he couldn't just leave his friends like that. He didn't planned on staying overnight anyway.
After grabbing his stuff, he quickly went downstairs to bid his parents farewell.
"Mom, dad, I'm going. Something came up at work." Phainon mustered a sad smile, he could sense that they had hope he could stay a bit longer.
"You're a busy lad now. Don't worry about us and have a safe trip, dear." His mother said with a soft smile. She hugged her only son tightly, already used to his unpredictable schedule. Phainon returned the hug with equal energy and does the same to his dad who only smiled and patted him on the head.
"Your mother is right. Text us when you're back home."
"Will do."
Halfway back to the city, his phone then ringed from a notification—a bar location. He swiftly replied with a cute chimera emoji making a thumbs up before heading towards their usual meeting place.
Once he had parked his car, he slowly made his way inside the bar. It was a small and cozy place he and his friends frequented to whenever they wanted to hang out. The bar is nice and suitable for their likings, it's not too packed and loud with people. He spotted them rather easily, always sitting at their usual booth near the corner. It seems like they had already ordered some drinks judging by the number of glasses on the table.
Phainon took his seat across from them and eyed the duo.
Luo Binghe was gripping the glass of wine with a slight frown on his face. As for Mo Ran, he was simply twirling the drink in his hand with a bored expression.
"So, what's the occasion?" Phainon started as he poured himself some wine. He turned towards Luo Binghe with an inquiring look. "You don't seem to be in a good mood."
Upon hearing that, Luo Binghe's frown deepen and he downed the wine in his hand in one go. The curly haired man swiftly put the glass down once he's done and muttered something incoherent.
"We can't hear you, dude." Mo Ran said.
Luo Binghe shot him a look before voicing his thoughts louder.
"That Liu Qingge guy, he's been spending way too much time with shizun lately."
Phainon exchanged knowing looks with Mo Ran almost immediately.
"What do you need us for then?"
"... I need some romantic advices."
Mo Ran set his glass down slowly, "why didn't you say so." He leaned against the seat with his arms crossed then elaborated. "Simple. You don't want Shen Qingqiu to see that Liu Qingge guy again, right? Just make sure that they don't see each other anymore again."
Phainon knew where this is going.
"As in?" Luo Binghe asked.
"Kidnap Shen Qingqiu and lock him inside his house, " a pause, "or your house if you want."
Phainon immediately held out his palm. "Absolutely not, that just sounds like you want Binghe to attic-wife him."
Fortunately Luo Binghe didn't seemed like he was taking Mo Ran's terrible romantic advice seriously. "You're horrible at this."
While the two had a back and forth, Phainon took the opportunity to finally sip on his wine and scoured through his brain for some ideas. He never had any experience in romantic endeavors but he should be able to come up with a much more sensible advice than Mo Ran.
...
Oh! He had an idea. Phainon remembered reading some romance books recommended by Castorice during their college years.
"How about you act pathetic in front of him?"
The bickering stopped almost immediately as the pair turned their attention towards him. Phainon cleared his throat to explain himself more.
"It might sounds ridiculous at first but hear me out. By positioning yourself as fragile and dependent, Shen Qingqiu might feel obligated to stay and care for you." The white haired man rested his cheek against his palm and took a final sip of his glass. "Therefore, less time spent with that Liu Qingge guy."
Mo Ran whistled. "Oh wow, didn't think you had it in you."
"It's something I learned from a book I read back then." Phainon quickly clarified himself, realising that his advice seemed a bit out of character.
"I can do that."
There you go.
Phainon chuckled upon seeing Luo Binghe's determined look. He didn't think that the book may come in clutch on day, he needed to thank Castorice after this.
He absentmindedly poured himself another glass, wishing to forget his earlier predicament and enjoyed the rest of the night with his friends.
When sunrise came, Phainon was slowly awaken by the offending light peaking through the curtain. He rubbed his bleary eyes then yawned quietly, Phainon would usually woke up during the dawn so the extra hours of sleep also made him extra groggy than usual.
Phainon tried to sit up and looked around. It had seemed like he had been taken back to his apartment. Also, his throat felt thirsty as hell. Phainon noticed that a glass of water was placed on top of his bedside table... with a piece of paper tucked neatly underneath.
Enjoy your hungover. — Mo Ran
A soft laugh escaped from his chapped lips and he gulped the whole glass of water down. Phainon glanced towards digital clock. It read 6:34 AM. He has around 2 hours more to open his shop.
With that, Phainon stretched himself first before washing up to prepare for the day. In the back of his mind, he felt like he has forgotten something but didn't thought much about it.
As soon as he pushed through the door, he was greeted by the fresh and sweet scent of flowers around the shop. Yes, Phainon is a florist. Growing up in his hometown, Aedes Elysiae, Phainon was accustomed to managing his family's crops and taking care of plants. It came as no surprise when he opened his own flower shop one day, which he named "Aedes Elysiae" after his hometown.
Phainon started with sweeping around the place first then dusted off a few corners before arranging vibrant flowers at the storefront. Once he was done, he would rotate the sign to say 'open' and checked his emails for any commissions. That's how his morning would normally go. However this time, Phainon was surprised to see not a single commission placed for the day. Now that's not normal.
Feeling a bit concerned, he contacted a friend who was in charge of the shop yesterday.
...
"The person you are calling is unavailable."
Again.
...
"The person you are calling is unavailable."
Again.
...
"The person you are calling is unavailable."
Needless to say, it took Phainon three tries before the line finally connected. He heard a yawn coming from the other side and rubbed his temple.
"Interrupted your nap?"
"Mm.. yes." Another yawn. "If this is about the commissions, don't worry. Ren and I had cleared everything out when you took a day off to visit your parents."
Phainon's eyes widened slightly. "Really? All of it?"
"All of it. Ren and I are quite efficient with our teamwork."
"Well I guess that much is true.." Phainon muttered, ignoring the innuendos from the last part.
"I should compensate the two of you properly then next tim—"
"Save your effort." Jing Yuan quickly cut him off. "We wanted you to take a break for once, just enjoy the day as a compensation."
"Are you sure?" Phainon asked.
"One hundred percent." Jing Yuan confirmed easily.
"... Alright then," Phainon replied with hesitation. "Thanks once again. I'll let you continue your nap now," he bid him before hanging up.
With the rare free time in his hands, Phainon didn't exactly knew what to do other than waiting for customers to walk in. It's still early in the morning and people don't usually come at this hour, so he decided to spend the time looking at the new batch of flowers that came earlier this week.
He noticed that the ones inside the vase had withered, the two worker had probably forgotten to replace them yesterday. Phainon grabbed a few tulips, peonies, and hydrangeas for its spring charm. He firstly stripped away all the leaves below the waterline. Then with a sharp clean clipper, he snipped each stem at a 45-degree angle. After that, he filled a new vase his mother gifted him last year about three quarters full with lukewarm water and mixed in a flower food packet.
Now for the arrangement, Phainon carefully picked the largest bloom first, placing them at slightly different heights to avoid a flat, one-dimensional look. Once satisfied, he filled the gaps with the rest of the flowers. He made sure to evenly distributed the colors.
He didn't realised that he was too focused on the work that he didn't hear the doorbell ringing. A lean figure stepped onto the counter and cleared his throat to catch his attention. Phainon was a bit startled and quickly lifted his head up, all the while still leaning over to peer over at the vase at exactly ninety degrees. His bright blue eyes widened slightly when met with pale aqua ones, touched with a splash of magenta. How unique.
"..."
"..."
Phainon quickly gathered himself together and straightened his back. "Welcome...! What can I do for you?" He managed in one single breath. The man in front of him seemed unbothered by his earlier demeanor and just stated his order.
"A bouquet of fresh hydrangeas," was all the man said.
"Right away... sir?"
"Anaxagoras."
"Anaxa. That would be—"
"It's Anaxagoras." The older man corrected. He looked to be offended by having his name shortened into 'Anaxa'.
"... My bad, sorry Anaxagoras. That would be 27273 credits. Cash or cards?"
"Hmph, cards." Anaxagoras huffed out as if used to it already. Phainon would lie if he said he didn't feel embarrassed and slightly guilty.
The payment process was rather quick to save further embarrassment. "I'll have the flowers ready, please wait for a moment." With that, he hastily made his way to the back of the store.
Anaxa didn't have the time to nod before the white haired man had already disappeared to the back. He merely shrugged it off and decided to spend the time looking around the shop anyway. It was his first time coming here, his go-to flower shop had run out of hydrangeas that morning.
While looking around, his gaze caught a particular crimson red flower placed at the furthest corner of the shop, hidden away from direct sunlight. The flower was placed inside a vase then kept inside a glass bell jar.
From afar, it looked really identical to a red spider lily except its petals were curved inward.
Anaxa took a couple of steps forward until he was right in front of it. In a daze, he extended his hand to touch the jar but it was stopped by a much larger hand on his wrist.
"Hold on, this one can't be touched carelessly." A familiar voice came from beside him.
"Why so?" Anaxa asked before shrugging his hand off Phainon's grip. He soon realized how close they were when he could feel warmth emanating from the younger's body.
"...Too close." He merely said like a command, to which the younger obeyed without further words. Phainon thinked at the back of his head that Anaxagoras was quite grumpy and demanding, each to their own he assumed.
"That flower was founded on a mountain in the Sichuan Province by a fellow friend of mine. You could say that it's quite... exotic."
"I see, what's its name?"
“It’s called the Flower of Eightfold Sorrow. If I remembered correctly, it came from a legend where a jealous empress had implanted this flower inside the emperor’s heart due to his affection for the imperial consort. The flower took root by feeding on his blood and caused the emperor to be borderline obsessive towards the empress yet hateful towards the consort.” Phainon recounted.
He noticed the bubbling curiosity in Anaxa’s eyes when the older put a hand under his chin. “Fascinating. Then I assumed that it can only survive through blood supply based on the legend?”
“You’re correct.” The younger answered swiftly. Phainon waited for a few seconds before following up with another question. “…If I may ask, are you a researcher, Anaxagoras?”
“Not exactly, I’m a professor teaching in the Grove University.”
“What a coincidence. An acquaintance of mine also teaches there. His name is Chu Wanning.”
“Professor Chu?”
“Ah, do you know him?”
The professor seemed to thought of it first before answering. “We talked with each other a couple of times. He is a great company I must say.” Anaxa concluded. Phainon could guess why, they are both kind of alike in personalities. He wondered what Mo Ran would say about this.
“No one could replicate Wanning’s beauty,” the dog would probably say in an offended voice.
He was brought back from his fantasy when he saw that Anaxa had lifted the glass bell jar. His bright blue eyes widened almost immediately and he acted without thinking. He had to act fast alright! So he did what he’s best at, being a meat shield. Phainon swiftly pulled Anaxa behind him and squinted his eyes shut, making sure to cover his face with his arms.
The petals bursted open upon sensing threats and numerous fragments of sharp red crystals were sent flying everywhere like rain of shards. It was definitely a blessing that Phainon had wore a turtleneck with long sleeves at that moment.
Anaxa snapped out of a trance as if he had just regained consciousness. He placed a hand on his temple and shook his head slightly. “I apologise, I didn’t know what got to me just now.” He then turned his attention towards the man in front of him. “Are you alright?” he asked with urgency.
Phainon turned around with a reassuring smile. “I'm alright. It didn’t hit you at all, right?” Anaxa was slightly baffled that he was still thinking of him when the other was the one who had taken the impact. “Foolish man. What are you, a hero?” Anaxa grumbled. Phainon wasn’t given the chance to speak when Anaxa had tugged on his collar downwards. Pale aqua eyes swept across his face with quiet precision, Phainon felt his face warmed slightly at the proximity.
Anaxa clicked his tongue when he caught shards of red crystals glistening under the light on top of his snow white hair. Phainon’s face was mostly fine except for some clean minor cuts on his cheeks. There were also tiny fragments clinging onto his clothes, particularly his arms and abdomen. Phainon felt really embarrassed being eyed openly like this.
“I’m fine, I can handle a few—“
The sound of the front door slamming shut startled them both from their current predicament. The pair snapped their head towards the sound so fast that it seemed comical. Someone probably had gone inside and witnessed whatever this accident was. Anaxa let go of his collar as if burned and took a few step back, his gaze fixed on Phainon now with a "what to do" look.
Phainon's expression was none the better, his eyebrows we furrowed and his lips curled into a small frown. He really hoped that it was someone he didn't know, it would be a huge mess to deal with if it were one of his friends. He softly whispered "I'll handle this" to Anaxa before making his way towards the front door. When faced in front, Phainon's hands hesitated on the doorknob for a moment. He muttered a silent "it'll be okay" before finally twisting the knob and pushed the door open just enough to allow his head to peek outside.
Anaxa watched as the door was slammed shut once again. Who could it be, he wondered. Judging by the horrified look on Phainon's face, it was probably far from being a good news.
The said man slowly made his way towards Anaxa all the while keeping his gaze down, as if the floor was much more bearable to see than anything else.
"... It's my parents," he muttered in a weak voice.
Anaxa closed his eyes and exhaled a quiet breath. One probably wouldn't have predicted that a simple flower trip would turned into a messy drama.