#rocky fluff

It was a warm Friday evening, and your boyfriend told you to come over to his place after your shift ended. After all, Minhyuk knew your schedule like he did his own. He was way too invested in your work rant and corporate tea to ever zone out. Though he’d never audibly admit it, he was well aware of what was going on at your workplace – all details of Sarah’s love interest of the passing week, every single annoying customer you had to deal with, questionable fashion choices Sanha decided to try to discover his vibe, etc.

Just when you were to use your key, the doors opened.

Minhyuk was a bit of a mess. His hair was a birdnest instead of his usually silky locks, but he had a bunch of colorful hairpins, so you let it slide. He looked absolutely adorable in them, and you low-key loved this messy vibe he was giving off.

“I have a surprise,” Minhyuk casually said after he leaned in to give you a quick ‘hello’ peck.

“Oh, I know. What is it?” you asked in excitement. You had tried to persuade him all week to tell you all about it, but by some unknown forces, Minhyuk somehow managed to prevail and keep his mouth shut. Usually, he’d give in straight away, so you were on high alert now.

“You’ll find out when we get there,” he said with a playful wink at you. There’s no doubt you’d love his surprise; however, you’d much appreciate it if he decided to give you a little spoiler as curiosity was literally killing you.

“So we’re going somewhere?” You inquired, grabbing him and pulling him against you. You tried to be sneaky. If Minhyuk didn’t pay much attention, his tongue might’ve slipped. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out – much to your surprise, Minhyuk was unyielding.

Sighing in defeat, you followed him to his car, sliding right into the passenger seat. As per usual, Minhyuk drove to unspecified location, and you took it upon yourself to shuffle the playlist.

With Minhyuk’s hand resting on your thigh (thank god there was no traffic, or else it would make you really upset if he had to change the gear every thirty seconds or so) and delightful music in the background, you filled him in on today’s portion of work drama. He was focused on the road ahead, but he still nodded his head, hummed in acknowledgement, and, on several occasions, threw in a rather perplexed ‘she did what now?’

“Are we there yet?” You inquired, looking through the window. Your time spent in the vehicle could be counted in hours now. You had a few ideas in mind when you thought about his surprise (most of which were not-so-innocent), but having him drive you outside the city borders was not one of them.

“We’ll be there soon,” Minhyuk vaguely replied, but upon hearing your deep sigh, he quickly added, “give or take, twenty minutes.”

Shortly after Minhyuk gave you that piece of information, the right blinker went off as he exited the highway. You were now on a dirt road, maneuvering the car through a thick forest. To be completely honest, if you were inside the vehicle with anyone other than your boyfriend, it’d be your cue to start panicking.

The deeper into the woods you got, the clearer everything began to be.

“How did you find this place?” You asked, staring through the window in awe at the marvelous sights around you. The sky was of a pinkish shade as the sun was descending behind the tall crowns of coniferous trees. The still lake shone in sparkles, reflecting the rays of the sun.

“How did you find this place?” You knew this lake, but you had no idea there was part of it without people in sight. At this time of year it was usually overpopulated with families, water sports enthusiasts, and fishermen.

“Moonbin told me about this place,” Minhyuk replied with a shrug of his shoulders as he turned the engine off and got out of the car. You followed suit and watched him open the trunk. “He discovered it when jogging. Can you believe that?”

“His lifestyle sometimes worries me. Does he or Jinjin ever have a cheat day?” You chuckled, prompting a silly conversation about your friends’ fitness routines.

“Is that what I think it is?” You asked, seeing something that looked awfully like a picnic basket in the trunk of his car. You had been giving him dozens of not-so-subtle hints that you’d like him to take you out on a picnic, but you never thought he’d actually do it.

“You’ve wanted to have one since forever, so I had to make your wish come true,” Minhyuk stated matter-of-factly as he picked up the heavy basket.

“Do you need any help with that?”

“I’m fine. Just take the blanket, can you?”

“No problem.”

Carefully, Minhyuk put the picnic basket near the edge of the bank of the lake. With joint effort, you spread the blanket on the grass and sat down to enjoy the cozy atmosphere.

Minhyuk really outdid himself today. Not only did he provide you with the most romantic scenery, but he also thought about the right type of music softly playing in the background from his Bluetooth speaker and your favorite dishes. Moreover, despite a few Tupperware containers with delicious food, he also got you your favorite wine.

“You’re such a loser. I love you,” you confessed in between bites.

“Slow down; you have to make room for dessert,” Minhyuk giggled, showing you a container with two large meringue cake pieces.

“You’ve drunk wine! I think we’ve got enough time to finish all of it,” you pinpointed, knowing your picnic was a whole night type of event.

It was getting slightly chilly, but you were determined to survive the cold weather no matter what. Minhyuk had prepared all of this for you, and you chose not to complain about minor inconveniences. Instead, you’d kiss him and show him how much you appreciate that random romantic gesture.

“Let’s get married this autumn,” Minhyuk blurted out, making you choke on your wine. You had talked about the prospect of marriage before, and you always wanted to tie the knot during autumn. It was your favorite season, everything looked breathtakingly beautiful, and Minhyuk was that kind of boyfriend who would do anything to make you happy.

Exhibit A: this freaking picnic slash stargazing slash proposal.

“Do you mean it?”

“Of course, I do. That’s what you’ve always wanted, and we still have more than enough time to organize it; friends and family only. And we could splurge on our honeymoon. What do you think?”

“I’m sorry, but because we just opened, we haven’t been able to properly label all the flavours. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me!” He kindly explained.

You looked at all of the colours and began to grow curious when you saw several brown ice creams next to one another. They looked slightly different, but it was hard to tell.

“Could you please tell me the names of these chocolate-looking flavours?” you asked, and he clasped his hands together with a smile before explaining.

“Ah, this one is just regular chocolate,” he said, pointing at the one furthest to your left. “This next one is actually coffee-flavoured. The one after it is hazelnut flavoured, and the last one is Rocky Road.” He then pointed to himself with his thumbs and smiled so brightly that his eyes tightly scrunched up. “My name is Rocky too!” he said, and you laughed along with him.

“I’ll take that one then,” you told him, and he happily scooped some Rocky Road for you.

After you paid, Rocky said, “Try some now and tell me how it tastes.”

So you tried a bit and it was some of the best ice cream you’ve ever had. It wasn’t too sweet or bland, and all of the small toppings blended well together. It felt soft on your tongue and instantly made you smile.

“It’s so good!” you exclaimed, leaving a grin on Rocky’s face.

“I’m so glad you like it! That one is my own recipe,” he said, proudly.

After you took a seat to finish the rest of your ice cream, you watched as the cars outside zoomed past and a light drizzle began to fall from the sky, splashing onto the tall windows of the shop. You began to worry, remembering that you had forgotten to check the weather and thus, forgotten to bring an umbrella.

When you finished your ice cream, you walked to the door and sighed at the sight of the now intense rainfall. You took off the thin jacket that you were wearing and tried to cover your head with it. Then, you felt a light tap on your shoulder.

You turned to find Rocky holding out an umbrella.

“Take it, I’ll be staying in here all day anyway,” he said, pushing the umbrella gently into your hand.

“But-” you started.

“No, it’s okay. If you take it, that means you’ll have to come back, which is good for me and this store!” Rocky chuckled.

With that, you took his umbrella after thanking him. Stepping into the rain and walking back home, you watched as Rocky waved at you through the window.

The next day, you returned Rocky’s umbrella to him. He greeted you with a smile and thanked you for returning it.

“Now that you’re here, do you want to try a new flavour that I’ve been working on?”

He smiled when you nodded and then scooped a small amount of a peach coloured ice cream into a little cup. When you tried it, it tasted fruity.

“It’s so good... what flavour is this?” you asked him.

“It’s a blend of orange, pineapple and mango,” he said, grinning.

“Woah, that’s quite the combination,” you responded.

“I like to try new things,” Rocky said.

-

You ended up entering Rocky’s ice cream shop at least three times a week after that. He would always greet you with a huge smile, waving both of his hands wildly. Each time you would try something new, and each time, Rocky would bring more samples for you to try. You were practically a taste-tester for his creations, but you didn’t mind it.

Your favourite was still Rocky Road, though. It was so well-made and tough to beat.

You tried your best to get the word out about Rocky’s ice cream shop, and eventually it paid off. It started to get busier. Rocky said it was because his ice cream was so good; you said it was because your promotion skills paid off. Which one was true, you’d never know.

When you were visiting Rocky again one day, you noticed that someone else was standing behind the counter. Worried, you walked past the line and got the attention of the worker.

“Excuse me, I’m sorry but where’s Rocky?” you asked.

“I’m here!” he said from your right. He didn’t have his apron on but he was wearing his usual hoodie and jeans.

“You scared me! Why aren’t you working today?” you asked him.

“I wanted to take a day off. You usually come on this day of the week, it seems like you’re not busy when you come on this day?”

You nodded in response, agreeing with him.

“Well then, how about we hit up some of my favourite ice cream places?” Rocky asked you, winking.

You blushed and looked away. Did he seriously wink? What is going on?

“Wait, but why?” you asked.

“I’ve got to check on the competition. But maybe also it’s about time I take you on a date,” he said, mumbling the last part slightly while looking away from you.

Your smile spread from ear to ear.

“A date?” you said loudly, leaving many people looking in your direction and Rocky chuckling.

“Yes, but only if you want.”

“Of course I want-! I mean yes. That would be nice,” you said, calming yourself. You had developed a liking for the boy behind the ice cream counter. He was easy to talk to and always so kind to you, you couldn’t help it. So of course you wanted to go on a date with him.

“Let’s go then,” he said, holding your hand in his and walking towards the door. To your surprise, it had started raining.

“Let me guess, you don’t have an umbrella again?” Rocky asked you, smirking.

He grabbed the umbrella from a bronze-coloured umbrella holder by the door. It was the umbrella that he had given you on the first day that the two of you met.

“Guess we’ll have to share this one,” he said.