fluid: haobin

8

"hyung, i have to prepare for my lesson now! bye!"

"wait but-" but hao is cut off by a door slamming shut. "what about my drink?"

he was in a bit of a cranky mood. he hadn't eaten anything all day, still had a bunch of papers to sort through, and had to meet up with jiwoong on the leasing terms and update them.

"ugh, i got so much to do," the manager rests his head on the table and messes his hair up but stops when hearing a knock on the door.

"hao hyung?"

"uh, give me a sec," zhang hao brushes his hair down and puts on a smile. "ok, you can come in."

"hi hyung, i have your drink," hanbin walks in with a plastic cup.

"why do you have this?" the chinese takes a sip, smiling as the caffeine wakes him up a bit.

"taerae came to my mom's cafe down the street and he said he had his lesson really soon, so he asked me to deliver it."

"your mom owns cafe fleur? we've been going there ever since the studio opened. best latte i've tasted," hao raises his cup as if to do a cheer motion.

"i'll be sure to tell you that," the younger smiles. "wait, then if you're so close to the cafe, then there's no way i haven't met you before. i was almost always helping out before coming here."

"i only go sometimes, it's usually only taerae that goes. i mean, it's possible but not so likely."

"ah, alright," hanbin rubs his neck. "oh yeah, before i forget, matthew and jiwoong hyung were asking if you have time tomorrow night for a small gathering."

"i should, fridays are pretty open for me," zhang hao looks at the calender on his desk.

"great, then text either of them that you're good by tonight for reservations. i gotta head out now, bye!"

"bye," they wave at each other then hanbin goes out, closing the office door.

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(flashback)

"that'll be 15,300 won," hanbin puts the numbers into the cash register before taking the mound. "and 700 is your change, thank you for ordering. we will call your number when your order is ready."

the line moves forward slowly until he's met with a tall but delicate figure hidden by a large black jacket with the hood on. the last one.

"hello, what's your order for today?" he tried to be extra cheerful for the customer who seemed to either be having a bad day or was feeling melancholy about something.

"i'll have a small caffe latte, 2 pumps of vanilla," the customer gives his card to hanbin.

"alright, and your total is 7,720," the cashier swipes the plastic and then hands it back. "your order number is 07 and we'll call it out when your order is ready. have a good day!"

the stranger bows and then leaves without a word. hanbin only stares at the figure, wondering what could be making him so gloomy on a saturday morning. and luckily for the cashier, there were no customers so he decided to spend some time adding a small surprise to the order.

taking the milk for the topping, he does a few swirls and taking some food dye, gives it a red color before making an intricate rose design on top.

"order 07!"