[FIC] Hot chocolates and a milkshake

Title: Hot chocolates and a milkshake
Characters: Hangeng, OC
Rating: G
Wordcount: 3.805
Summary: How buying yourself a CD for your birthday can turn out.
A/N: Do you know this feeling when you write 3.805 words and feel like you could’ve just not written them at all? That is how I feel right now. I really don’t know what this piece of story is good for, just that it is a story for my unni’s birthday and she deserves something with lots of Hangeng in it like this. Also; I just can't stick to short stories, they always have to be long(er) these days.

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It started probably many years ago. The first time she met him, they were in a CD store, both taking a different copy of the same CD. When she glanced at him to see who was taking the same as her – a normal human curiosity – he sent her a friendly smile and nodded shortly in greeting, making her automatically nod back. For her, it would have ended there, but he turned the CD around, looked at the track list on the back for a moment and then said: “So you like them too?”

She of course couldn’t just ignore him, but she didn’t feel like sharing her favourite music with a stranger, so she slightly shook her head as she replied. “No, it’s for a friend. She has a birthday coming up.” Well, that was partly true at least. She DID have her birthday coming up soon. He looked up at her again at those words, expression seeming interested.

“Oh really?” he then asked, leaning a little closer to give her copy a closer look. She instinctively shied away from him a little, but he seemed unaffected by that as he merely continued talking. “There’s some damage on this case. If it’s for a birthday you should get one that at least looks as new as it is.” The next thing she knew, she was holding his copy and he had taken hers.

“Happy birthday to the friend.” he told her, smiling once more at her before walking off. She could only stare after him, dumbfounded. When she looked back at the CD she was holding, she saw that it was indeed a much better state than the one he had taken with him, and she couldn’t help but smile, because this one was much prettier. So she set for her father and showed him her CD, telling him she wanted that as her birthday present.


Some three or four years later, she was meanwhile living in the city with her flatmate, going to university there and enjoying life as a young woman in her twenties, she went out for a drink and they met again. It had been around the same time in the year, her birthday coming up soon, and the weather outside being horribly terrible. She met up with her boyfriend in a café a little more downtown.

Things had been going rough between them since she wanted to study and pass her year whereas he wanted to party and make love, so she kind of expected the break-up, but that didn’t make it any less hard to hear him tell her it was over. He was a sweet guy when he found it in himself to care and she did love him, but she preferred finishing her studies so she could be less dependent on her parents over having fun with him and remaining under their care forever.

So that’s how her now ex-boyfriend walked away on her, leaving her with his empty glass of coke that he didn’t even pay for. She didn’t move at first, just staring at the empty glass, considering how it was much like their relationship had been near the end; just the package and none of what was supposed to be inside. She sighed, poked a finger at the glass and then quickly had to reach out to stop it from falling off the table. Right when she put it back in place, someone spoke up.

“Rough day?” it sounded next to her and she looked up to see the bartender putting a hot chocolate in front of her. She frowned at it, looking back up to him immediately after.

“I think you’re at the wrong table. I didn’t order a..” she started, but he interrupted her with a friendly smile.

“It’s on the house. Hot coco always helps.”

For a moment she thought he was trying to hit on her, but then he nodded in greeting and turned away, walking off again. She followed him with her eyes, seeing how he took the jar filled with tips and pulled some money out to put it in the cash register, probably matching the amount she would have had to pay for the hot chocolate. She felt like she was stealing his money taking the drink, but when he looked up at her, she quickly focused on the hot chocolate in front of her, picking up the cookie that came with it.

It was half an hour later when she left, leaving money for the coke and a tip that was probably twice the amount of the cost of the hot chocolate. When she reached the door, someone called out a ‘Hey hot coco!’ and when she looked back, the bartender was standing at her table, smiling at her, the money in his hand. “Happy birthday to the friend.” he told her, nodding again in greeting and walking back to the bar.

She left with a confused feeling and it wasn’t until late that evening that she suddenly remembered in a flash the boy from so many years ago who had said the same to her when she went buying a CD and she found herself considering if he was the same guy. But how could that be? It would be too big of a coincidence, and more importantly, why would someone even remember such a detail?


Surprisingly, it wasn’t even two weeks later when she saw him again, since her friend, Tan Zhi Xin, dragged her to the same café her ex had taken her, saying it was a cosy place with a very friendly and polite bartender, a great spot to have a drink for her birthday. It isn’t hard to imagine her surprise and amusement when her friend parked the car in front of the slightly familiar café and they walked in to see the more than slightly familiar young man standing behind the bar, looking up to greet her. When his eyes landed on her, his smile widened if only slightly, and he nodded in greeting.

“Heya hot coco.” he said amused. “Back for seconds already?” For some reason she didn’t feel the same apprehension towards his closeness as she had done the previous time, kind of realising it was just his way of acting and not some cheap way of flirting, so she smiled back at him.

“Afternoon birthday boy.” she then replied, making up a nickname for him on the spot. “I figured I couldn’t leave the opportunity to have another hot coco on the house.” He grinned even wider, if that was humanly possible and motioned the both of them to take a table. They did exactly that, Zhi Xin picking up the menu to be able to hide behind it as she shot her a questioning look.

“You’ve been here before?” soon followed the look and she couldn’t help but smile a little amused.

“Why yes..” she replied, leaning back in her chair and looking at the other shortly. “This is where my ex broke up with me.” Immediately Zhi Xin’s expression turned from surprised to apologetic.

“Oh my gosh, I didn’t know! Why didn’t you tell me?” she exclaimed, immediately growing silent again when the bartender walked up to their table.

“So a hot coco for hot coco.” he said, putting it in front of her, before turning to Zhi Xin. “And what can I get you, miss?” Her friend gave him a short pensive look, before smiling.

“You can give me a hot coco too if they’re free anyway.” she then said with an amused grin. The young man laughed.

“A hot coco on the house it is then.” he said, but her friend stopped him before he could leave.

“And pancakes with sugar for both of us, don’t you think?” With those last words, Zhi Xin turned back to her, so she nodded. Eating pancakes was always nice and if her friend was paying anyway, she would not object. A slight smile spread on her face as the young man went back to the bar to get their orders.

It was a pleasant evening, just chatting with Zhi Xin, eating delicious pancakes and drinking two hot chocolates each. To her, that was probably one of the most enjoyable birthdays in a while and she went home feeling more relaxed than she had done for a while. When they left the bar, they put enough money on the table to pay for everything they had taken, including the four hot chocolates, because it didn’t feel right to let birthday boy pay for their food, even if he offered to do so himself.


A long time passed again after that in which she went to school, studied and slept. With the exams coming up, she had no time to play around, which was quite a bummer to say the least. Yet one day she found herself with no food left in her apartment and her roommate staying over at friends, so she was forced to go out to get groceries or some sort of food. It was a fifteen minute walk to the closest store, but the only thing closer than that was a hot dog stand and she really didn’t feel like hotdogs, so the walk didn’t sound too bad to her.

When she arrived at the store, it was as good as empty, which wasn’t that big of a surprise since it was near closing times. She went to get the stuff she needed – vegetables, meat, some spices,.. – before calmly moving on to the cash register. There was one person before her and when that young man turned to leave, she suddenly heard a ‘Heya hot coco!’

Surprised, she looked up, but the guy walking away was completely unfamiliar to her. Frowning a little, she put the last item on the cash desk and turned to the cashier. That was the moment when her mouth dropped open a little and she quite dumbly gaped at the happily smiling, all too familiar young man.

“How are you this evening?” he asked her and she suddenly remembered what closing her mouth was like so she could swallow and answer that question.

“Are you stalking me?” Or she could ask that, of course. Even though it wasn’t what she had planned on saying, it was what she had wanted to ask, but it was still embarrassing. He merely laughed, eyeing her in amusement.

“I could ask you the same, no?” he then said, as he started scanning the products. “You’re the one who keeps showing up at my work.” She smiled, slightly embarrassed still, but then just passed him her reduction card as if nothing happened.

“Speaking of which.. Got tired of bartending?” she then asked, just to not look like a complete fool, but it didn’t help much as he grinned and shook his head.

“No, I’m still doing that. I just work multiple jobs to earn my living.” he told her, amused at her being so flustered. She nodded in understanding.

“Isn’t that hard to keep up with, two jobs and school?” she wondered, taking out her wallet and scanning through it for money.

“Three jobs, actually, and I left school. You know, too much work.” he grinned, so she smiled back, but his words didn’t really reach her as she discovered right at that moment that she had brought no money – or at least not enough. She let out a muttered curse, then looked up at him with a slightly panicked expression.

“I didn’t bring enough money.” she told him, answering the question written on his face before he could ask it. “Is it okay if I run home quickly and come back to pay? I’ll be twenty minutes if I hurry.” she pleaded. He immediately picked up the bag and started putting it aside with a smile on his face.

“Yeah sure that’s n-“ he started, but then he stopped, his smile faltering. “Wait.. We’re near closing time and the boss has to leave early today, I can’t keep open..” Her face fell as she stared at her groceries. No money meant no groceries, no groceries meant no food, no food meant either hotdogs after all or starving. She wasn’t sure which one she preferred. Before she could decide which one she preferred, he spoke again. “Tell you what.. My shift ends in like five minutes. I’ll pay for you now and I’ll wait outside with your groceries while you get the money” She stared at him.

“Are you serious?” she then asked, obviously not believing that someone would actually do that for a stranger. But he just grinned and nodded.

“What part of the city do you live in?” he then asked her and she didn’t even hesitate as she pointed in the general direction of her house, naming her street. His grin only widened at that. “Really? I can walk along then and save you the trip back. My place is only a few blocks away.”

So that’s what happened. He walked home with her once the store was closed and she let him wait outside for a minute as she got the money. He left after a short goodbye, but she couldn’t help calling him as he was about twenty meters away from her, making him turn back with a questioning smile. She felt slightly insecure for a moment, before manning up and clearing her throat.

“Uh.. I never got your name.” she said, sending a slight smile his way, and he grinned at her, turning around again and walking on without replying, but right before she could feel offended, he lifted a hand to wave at her, not looking back as he answered.

“It’s Hangeng.”


Her exams and holidays all passed before she saw him again. Even if she had wanted to see him before, she didn’t know anything about him, just his name and the places he worked at, but she had no idea when he worked there, so trying to catch him at work would pretty much be a lost cause. It wasn’t like she was dying to meet him either. But they met again anyway. This time not at one of his work places, but randomly on the street.

And after that it happened again and again and again. Never planned, never arranged beforehand, but always happening. Mostly he was the one calling out to her first, making her notice his presence, but a few select times she would be the one calling him first. They never purposefully went to look for each other – at least she didn’t think so. But one day, that changed.

It did not because of him, but because of her ex. One day he appeared at her door and as she opened up for him, he stuffed flowers in her hand, smiled, wished her a happy day and left again. She was left staring at his flowers for about a minute, before she went after him. He as nowhere to be seen anymore. Slightly dishevelled, she found a nice vase for the flowers and put them on the table because it was a waste to get rid of them.

Her next week was spent ignoring her roommate who kept going on about her secret admirer who kept sending her all kinds of presents. When she finally called up her ex to ask about it, he told her he wanted her back, and even though she turned him down multiple times, he didn’t listen. She wanted to talk to Zhi Xin about it, but she knew her friend would only tell her to give him another chance because he was a great guy.

So instead, that evening, with little hope in her heart, she took a bus to the more downtown part of Seoul and walked into the café Hangeng worked at, happy to be greeted by his signature ‘Heya hot coco. How’s the day?’ the moment he walked up to her table. She smiled at him, but then sighed slightly as she gave him a ‘It’s going good.’ in reply, immediately gaining his interest.

“Give me a moment to serve these other customers.” he told her. “I’ll get back to you immediately after.” He walked off to help the people still wanting drinks and came back a mere ten minutes later, putting a chocolate milkshake in front of he. She couldn’t help but smile. The weather outside was wonderful that day, so it amused her that he changed the usual hot chocolate he’d pass her. What surprised her more was that he took a seat on the chair next to her, however. “Shoot.” he then said and she automatically made a gun with her hand to pretend to shoot him. He chuckled. “Okay, bad wording. Tell me what’s up.”

“Ah, you know..” she sighed, hesitating a moment as she looked at him, but then things just spilled. “There’s this guy who keeps bothering me even though I tell him to go and it’s starting to annoy me.” She took a sip from her milkshake and then stirred it a bit with her straw.

“What does he do then?” Hangeng asked, obviously wanting her to tell him what’s up so he could help. She felt herself smile already just because he showed his care for her. It was strange but nice to realise how they went from strangers to .. strangers who cared about each other. Yeah, if you thought about it like that it was just strange, nothing else.

“Well.. He used to me my boyfriend last year. We broke up a few months ago, but now it seems like he wants me back, which makes no sense because he’s the one who broke up with me to begin with. But I don’t want him back, really.. I’d rather just focus on my studies for now and then see later what I’ll do with my love life.” she explained the situation, earning a pensive nod from Hangeng. “And I tried to tell him that, but he says he’s fine with studies coming first and that he’ll just spend my free time with me, but.. If I’m completely honest, I don’t love him anymore, and he just won’t listen when I try to tell him that.”

Hangeng looked at her a moment, nodding in understanding, and then sat up a little straighter. “Tell him you found someone else?” he then told her. “They usually back away when they realise you really did move on.”

“But he’ll never believe me unless I come with proof.” she objected to that, causing Hangeng to frown and continue his musing.

“That’s a problem indeed Maybe you can find someone to help you out, pretend to be your new flame?” he uttered after a while. They both lapsed into a silence thinking over that possibility. “But who could help you without making things complicated to keep up later? Do you know anyone he doesn’t?”

And then there was the awkward moment in which he stared at her waiting for her answer and she stared back with an idea, hoping he would get it. They remained silent until she opened her mouth to offer her idea, but that was about the moment when he seemed to catch what her look meant and he immediately lifted his hands in a rejecting way.

“Me? No, no, no, I can’t!” he protested, so immediate and set that she was a little taken aback. But the next moment she realised her own bluntness.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” she apologised, which seemed to calm him down. “You probably have a girlfriend and all that. It was stupid of me.”

“No it’s not that.” he immediately denied. “It’s just.. I really suck at acting. People can see in a blink when I’m lying.” He sent her a sheepish smile, but was called away by another customer before she could respond. She was left to ponder over the possibilities by herself again. When he sat back down, she looked up to find the other customers had paid the bill and left, so they were the only ones now. He sighed as he thought over the situation again. “I wish I could help you out, though.” he then said.

“Maybe you can.” she suddenly piped up, an idea forming in her head. His worried face made her grin. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t involve any pretending. We can just take a picture of the two of us with my phone like couples do, making a cute face or something?” At that, he started smiling.

“That’s a good idea!” he agreed. “We can do it now if you want? It’s a public place, makes it all the more believing.” She looked around for a moment, feeling slightly awkward, but then deciding that he was right and that it didn’t really matter where they took the picture anyway.

So she took out her phone and he immediately moved closer to drape his arm around her shoulders. They took a bunch of pictures, ranging from cute to funny to absolutely embarrassing. At one point he even patted her head and told her he’d call her milkshake from now on, for as long as the summer lasted. She chuckled at that and as she lifted her milkshake glass happily to empty it, he snapped a solo shot of her with his own phone. She frowned at that, making him show her the picture. She actually didn’t look too bad, so she was okay with him keeping it.

“Hey I have to get back to work now, before the boss comes by and sees me messing around.” he told her as he pocketed his phone again. Before she caught what was going on, he had leaned in and pressed a kiss on her cheek. For a moment she froze in shock, but then she turned to look at him. He was calmly looking back, not seeming the least bit embarrassed. She frowned, slightly confused and unsure of what to make of it, whether to take it as just a kiss or see more behind it, but before she could open her mouth, he smiled and ruffled her hair.

“Don’t worry.” he then said. “I’m fine with sticking around in your friend life until you finish your studies and feel ready to think about your love life.” He grinned as he got up from his chair and picked up her empty milkshake glass to take it to the bar with him, leaving her staring after him with a feeling that probably could be named best as ‘speechless.’


It was there, at that moment, that she realised he was either mentally deranged or an angel sent from heaven, but either way, it made her feel happy that she was allowed to call him a friend.