Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Pangi groaned as his alarm woke him up earlier than it had in months. New morning, different shift, same shit. After months of working the night shift at the small cafe Pangi was employed at, his boss had finally approved his request to move to morning hours. It meant less time with his afternoon shift friends, but in exchange he would get more tips, and the rest of his day was his to make of it what he wanted. Plus the classes he was wanting to take in his college program all had upcoming sections in the afternoons. With that in mind he dragged his ass out of bed.

The down side was that all the orders of the regulars he had gotten to know in the later shifts were useless, and he was stuck with a totally new slate of customers who tended to be more grumpy in general. From what he had heard at least. Pangi had yet to experience them himself.

Despite his misgivings, he got to work bright and early the first day of his new shift to help deal with the morning rush, thankful at least that he didn’t have to open. The cafe was located near a college campus, but far enough away that it wasn’t a main hangout for the students, which left it mainly as the shop the local professionals preferred. He quickly learned that all sorts of business types would come in and order their morning coffee on their way into the office. Some of them he recognized from when they would stop by in the afternoon for something to get them to the end of their days, but most of the faces were brand new. The cafe would also get group orders through the morning, picked up by interns who would often come in little pods to get coffee for a whole floor.

He learned a lot that first shift, and it was hard not to form opinions as he went.

Pangi’s favorite customers had always been those having informal meetings in the cafe. Now was able to listen into a lot more of them since he was working the morning shift into the afternoon. Usually he would only catch the tail ends of last minute coffee runs. He liked listening into whatever gossip was too juicy to share in their building. He’d heard about some wild things. Office romances, embezzlement, firings, and all sorts of stories of sabotage. And that had been with the few things he had gotten to overhear. There was a whole new world at his finger tips, and he was excited to see what they had to say.

Very quickly into his first shift, however, he found a new least favorite type of customer. He had never seen this type come in when he was working the later shifts, so was surprised at the snippy attitudes. He learned from his coworkers they were the personal assistants or interns that worked under higher ups here on an errand. According to those who regularly worked mornings, they often came in frazzled and stressed to grab a single coffee for their boss while juggling three other tasks on their phones or tablets. They were rude, dismissive, demanding, and never left a tip.

The regular morning shift workers warned him that there were also some regular orders that would come in that were a little over the top. Not like requests to make a drink extra sweet or extra hot. But abomination type things like mixing the energy drinks they also sold with cold brew. Or the worst one, an ice blended coffee with hot espresso shots poured over the top doctored with full cream, each type of sauce on the bar drizzled in the cup and three different types of sugar free syrups. The description of it made his teeth ache and his stomach twist.

Apparently, it was ordered like clockwork each weekday, and sometimes on Saturdays.

When that particular order came in over the mobile ordering system he had flinched, having hoped it had been a joke that was being played on him. One of his coworkers noticed the look on his face and came over to see what his problem was.

“Oh…” Ros sighed. “Yea this one is really annoying to make. They’re really specific about it, so pay attention to the order of things.”

Pangi watched in stunned silence while Ros first made a medium size blended chocolate coffee with sugar free vanilla, caramel, and s’mores syrups blended into it, with heavy cream replacing the 2% milk they usually used. While the blender ran she drizzled their mocha, caramel and white chocolate sauces around a large cup, and started to pull two shots. The blended concoction went into the cup with the sauces, and then the espresso was floated on top. Whipped cream was floated on top and more mocha sauce was swirled over the top of the cream. It was capped off with a lid and Ros handed it to Pangi to put out on the counter. He was confused why she had given it to him, but went to hand it off anyway. Actually, he was horribly curious who would be there to pick up the drink.

The name on the sticker only read ‘Jules’ so when he called it out he expected one of the few middle aged women who were in the store waiting on their drinks. Instead a man walked up to the counter.

Pangi’s first thought was that he was sort of cute. He was in a simple black suit with a plain white shirt, and black tie. So plain that it made him stand out from everyone else who was all wearing at least a little bit of color. His fluffy brown hair would have given him a more approachable look but his dark brown eyes were overshadowed by the deep purple circles underneath them. He couldn’t fathom a guy like this wanting a drink that vile. He looked like more of a medium black coffee guy. Or an iced americano type.

The drink was scooped up, and examined. “Did Ros make this?” His voice was dripping with tension.

“Yea, she did.” Pangi answered.

The man rolled his eyes. “Yea figured…” He reaches for a straw anyway. “Thanks I guess.”

“Is that for you?” Pangi asked without thinking, not sure where he was going with this, but he wasn’t about to let someone be rude to Ros like that.

“No.” The word was snapped, the man already turning his back and scurrying out of the store.

“What a jerk.” Pangi mumbled.

“I can’t stand that guy.” Ros huffed from behind him. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to remake that stupid drink in the past because I got something wrong. He almost made me cry once because I forgot the sauces around the cup. He just blew up at me.”

Pangi frowned. The guy should have been banned from the store for that. Either way he wasn’t going to let Ros deal with him anymore. “Can you write down the instructions for me?” Pangi asked. “I can make it from now on. You shouldn’t have to deal with him if he treats you that way.”

“Would you?” A wave of relief washed over Ros’s face. “I’ll do it on my break.”

Things started to slow down in the afternoon towards the end of his shift, letting him slip into a more relaxed pace that he was more used to. Towards the end, Ros slipped him a piece of paper with instructions for the abomination drink on it, with a sympathetic look. “The trick is to always use the sugar free syrups, and don’t forget to pile on the sauces. I notice most of the time when I have to remake the drink it’s because I was too light on the sauce they want drizzled around the cup.” Ros wrinkled her nose in distaste.

“Got it. Make it stupid sweet.” Pangi slipped the paper into his wallet for safe keeping, determined to not let the morning shift get bullied by snooty men in monochrome anymore. Now that he was prepared and knew who to look out for he would get a few comebacks ready just in case. If that guy wanted trouble, he had found him.

The next day he started off strong, it was almost enjoyable to fall into the rhythm of a rush since he doesn’t feel like he’s wasting time not doing something. He’s starting to learn who to flash a smile to for a tip, and who doesn’t want to talk yet. Different shift, same shit.

There was a group of older ladies who came in, regulars, according to Ros, who liked to meet twice a week in the morning to gossip, who took to cooing over him. Their comments made him blush and they went crazy over it, insisting on tipping him a second time when they ordered new drinks. He played along with them, winking when he set their coffees on the counter, letting them banter and joke each time they came and ordered. He was having such a good time that his heart nearly sank when the order for Jules came in.

He grabbed the sticker, and put it on the large cup the drink was destined for and got started, pulling the slip of instructions from his pocket. He’s meticulous. Sugar free syrups, heavy cream. He went so heavy on the three sauces in the cup there were barely any clear parts left. He poured the blended drink in and then poured over the two shots. Finally, he carefully topped the cup with whipped cream, and then drizzled over extra chocolate sauce. Just to be certain.

It was perfect. He dared the man to say something nasty.

“Jules!” He shouted with a little more force than necessary. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the older ladies giggling and fanning themselves. But before he can even think to blush the guy from the day before had walked up. Pangi watched him twist the cup in his hand, carefully taking in the details. Without a word, he reached for a straw. “I made this one by the way.” He kept his tone just this side of polite. But there was an edge of warning that he allowed, just to make the point.

“Oh?” The man arched a brow at him. “We’ll see if it passes muster then. Don’t hold your breath.” His back is already to him.

“See you tomorrow Jules.” Pangi scoffed.

The man paused for a half second, and Pangi almost wanted him to turn back and say something. But instead he just left without another word.

“Thank you.” Ros laughed awkwardly. “Having to deal with him was the worst part of my day. He could just never be happy with what I would make.”

“Well now it’s the worst part of my day so don’t worry about it again, ok.” Pangi smiled at her.

“Oh but I feel terrible. I’m the shift lead, it should be my responsibility.” Ros frowned.

“I don’t really mind though. It’s just one drink. And if it bothered you so much then it’s worth it.” Pangi shrugged.

“If you say so. I don’t think his name is Jules though. That’s his boss I think. There have been a few others who have picked up that drink before him. He’s just the current person responsible.” Ros mused. “I don’t think I’ve ever made him his own coffee before. And he never gets anything else. I wonder if he’s not allowed.”

“Oh so he’s just an errand boy with an attitude.” Pangi rolled his eyes. “Pathetic.”

The next day he spotted the guy slipping into the shop just as the order came in, but instead of waiting by the door like normal he marched up to the counter. He doesn’t say anything though, which was odd but amusing. Pangi pulled the instructions out and started on the drink, making sure he was as heavy handed as he was yesterday, being careful to use the sugar free syrups and the cream. It doesn’t make him nervous that he’s being watched, it’s more annoying if anything, but he can feel the dark brown eyes follow him as he moves around his work station.

When the lid was finally snapped on he set it right in front of the errand boy. “Here you are Jules. You know if you’re going to get up close and enjoy the show you should at least tip.” He used his best smile on the guy, wondering if he could make him crack. Instead he gets an eyeroll. “Have a nice day Jules. Thanks for coming. See you next time.” Pangi made sure to use his super high pitched voice, just to piss the guy off more.

After that it became a game to him. Monday through Friday at least once a day but more and more often twice a day the man in the painfully plain suit, that never changed, came in to watch him make the ridiculous coffee drink and carried it away with minimal conversation. He had barely heard more than fifty words out of the guy since he took over making the order for Ros. But he had decided that he was going to tell the guy all about himself. He was going to force socialization onto him, since he couldn’t avoid it. If his boss was going to force him to order that stupid drink he was going to force him to listen to him ramble.

The next time the man came in he stood right at the bar, like he had the last time. “Hey man. How’s your day?” No answer. “Yea? That’s cool. I just signed up for some college classes last night. I’m pretty excited to start the new semester. I’m starting to get close to when I can actually do the hands-on stuff.”

Pangi looked over to where the man was standing, looking distressed while still watching Pangi make the drink. “Anyway, I was almost worried I wasn’t going to get all the classes I needed, but it worked out. Someone dropped it at the last minute and I got in.”

He snapped the lid on the cup, and set it on the bar. “Here you go, Jules. Thanks for coming in!”

The drink is picked up with a slight head shake, as if he was trying to dislodge everything Pangi had just said from his skull. Pangi accidentally lets out a snort, but the man ignores him.

He continued down that road for several weeks telling the man all about his schooling, his history in the military, his hobbies, and about his family.

“And so yea. I’m planning on going hiking out there again this weekend. You like hiking?” Pangi smirked at the man who would either just stare stone-faced at the coffee cup he would be working on or, on his more lively days, would roll his eyes. That morning he got an eye roll.

Pangi worked the morning shift diligently, not bothering to take offers to change his schedule or work weekends mostly because he liked his new routine, but also to make sure he was the one that dealt with the ‘Jules’ drink. It was kind of fun, but he could tell the man wasn’t phased by his antics either. So he decided to take a different approach.

It was hilarious the first day he didn’t chat to the man about himself. He kept getting odd glances as the silence stretched on. It was almost funny enough to make him deviate from his plan and just stay silent for a few weeks, but what he had in mind was too good to not try at least once.

Pangi completed the drink and didn’t set it on the bar just yet. He cleared his throat. “I have a medium mocha freeze with heavy cream in a large cup. Coat the cup in caramel, white chocolate and mocha. With sugar free s’mores, vanilla and caramel syrup. Two shots on top, extra whip, extra drizzle for Jules.” The man looked at him in horror. The second Pangi set the drink down, it was snatched up, and the man turned tail and nearly ran out of the store the second he had grabbed a straw.

“Oh wow.” Ros commented.

Pangi immediately felt guilty about embarrassing him like that. “Was that too far, Ros?”

“Maybe…” Ros wouldn’t meet his eyes though.

So he had fucked up. Damn. Now that Pangi thought about it the guy hadn’t really said anything negative to him since he had fully taken over making the drink. He just stood there. Pangi had wondered if he was making sure that it was made right, but it also occurred to him that maybe he was just making sure it was Pangi who was doing it. It didn’t really matter. Either way it hadn’t deserved being publicly shamed or bombarded with his personal life. Whatever rude comments the man had made in the past, Pangi considered them paid for.

The next day when the man came in, Pangi greeted him with a smile but that was all. He made the abomination drink as he usually did, and then set it down in front of the man without a fuss. “Sorry about yesterday. It won’t happen again.”

He didn’t expect acknowledgement from the man, but he saw him hesitate after grabbing a straw. “It’s fine.” The man didn’t say anything else, just stood there awkwardly for a few more seconds like he was contemplating continuing the conversation. Nothing came of it. The man grabbed the drink, and left.

Pangi wasn’t sure how to navigate this new interaction, but he promised himself that he wasn’t going to be mean to the guy anymore. He’d keep the conversation to a minimum and be nice.

The next day when the man came in he didn’t look so tense while standing at the bar. Pangi gave him a brief greeting when he arrived, and a ‘have a nice day’ when dropping off the drink. That was it.

As the weeks crawled on into summer he added in random comments or questions to his greetings and farewells, all of which went unanswered.

“It's hot out there today.”
“Stay cool.”

“It’s so empty without all the grad students in here.”
“Take care.”

“Got any weekend plans? I’m going hiking again.”
“See you on Monday.”

He never got anything back, but he hadn’t gotten an eye roll in months either. Pangi counted it as a win. Over time he had begun to look forward to his one sided exchanges. When he was bored or sometimes late at night he would even try to figure out what the mysterious suit wearing man was like outside of the few minutes he saw him a day.

Pangi liked to think that he had a girlfriend that was a budding attorney going to law school and was interning at a big firm. The guy was doing the corporate executive route and they would be a power couple one day with a big fancy apartment up in the clouds in a bigger city than the one they were in.

Sometimes he wondered what the mystery man would be like out in nature. Would he enjoy hiking, or would being outside freak him out? He seemed outdoorsy in the ‘oh I go sailing’ way and not in the way Pangi preferred. Which was fine. It fit the image that he had started piecing together. Pangi didn't think they could ever really be friends. But it was interesting to think about. They were just in two very different places in life.

Once he had been super bored and tried to come up with the exact opposite life for him. He got only part way through imagining the man being an assistant wedding coordinator looking to open his own business with a husband who worked as an art museum curator and got jealous.

Objectively, the man was his type. He was just a little shorter than Pangi was, which was perfect in his opinion. His face was painfully handsome when he wasn’t scowling, and his eyes were the color of dark chocolate. Pangi would be interested if the man could actually communicate, or at least smile. But his attitude combined with his shit taste in suits, Pangi had written him off as completely straight. Which was a shame.

It was probably for the best anyway. Pangi didn’t like to mix his work and his social life. He never hung out with any of his coworkers outside of the cafe except for Pili, but that was only because they had met before he started working there and he had gotten Pili a job at the cafe. It was his one exception. Mystery man, even if he did a full personality flip, became super communicative, and apologized for being a dick, wasn’t going to get a pass because he has a pretty face.

Summer drew closer to its end and a new term at the university started in mid August, meaning mornings were more swamped than usual. Pangi insisted on keeping his morning shifts to his boss, using his class schedule as an excuse. In truth he just wanted to see if the guy would crack one day and actually talk like a human. It was a silly and selfish reason to want to work a certain shift, but no one knew about it but him.

Plus, things at the cafe had settled into a nice normal for Pangi. He was making more money with tips, his sleep schedule was the best it had ever been, and he was fully used to the regulars that came in now. That was, until his birthday came around in early September. His manager, on Ros’s suggestion, insisted that he take that day off to enjoy himself. He had never taken his birthday off before for any job, and he didn’t really need the day, but his manager insisted. Something about it being his turn, and someone wanting to trade a morning shift.

He was out numbered. So he got to take a day off. His friends took him to see a movie and then out to dinner. They ended the night with a bar crawl, where Pangi drank more in a night than he had in months combined. A stupid decision, but everyone around kept wanting to buy him shots for his birthday, and it would have been rude to say no.

When he got back the day after he was a little hungover and slower than usual, but everyone who asked him what was wrong all gave him smiles and tips when they heard it had been his birthday. It made him think that skipping out on work on his birthday had been a waste. He had worked on his birthday before, but it had been the late shift where the number of people who came in was lower and tended to be broke college kids. Who knew that the business crowd would just throw money at you.

Around mid morning Pangi noticed the guy in the plain suit slip in the door. Immediately he locked eyes with him, and then began typing furiously on his phone. Pangi was so lost as to what that was all about so he looked to Ros for some help figuring it out. Had he missed something the day before?

Ros looked guilty, and came up to him. “He was upset you weren’t in yesterday.” Ros whispered into his ear. “He asked where you were like three times.”

Pangi had to hold back from rolling his eyes. He bet he wasn’t even worried, just pissed that Ros had to make the coffee. The sticker printed out for the mobile order, and he got to work even though he was pissed off now. He wondered if he had been gone still if they would have just not placed the order. Was that all he was good for? Did the mystery man not even acknowledge he was human and had feelings?

By now he had made the drink so often that it was second nature to him, and even while he raged in his head he didn’t make a mistake. He hadn’t needed the instructions in months and felt like he could make the stupid drink in his sleep at this point. When he set the cup down on the counter the man was already there waiting for it. It was perfect, no reason to complain, but the man was already opening his mouth.

“Where were you yesterday?” He asked, obviously annoyed.

“Aww… Were you worried about me?” Pangi gushed mockingly.

“You’ve never missed a day before.” The man neatly side stepped that one, he had to give him credit.

Pangi grinned. “It was my birthday. My manager gave me the day off.”

“Oh…” The man’s attitude deflated and he shifted uncomfortably.

“What, do you not get time off on your birthday?” Pangi asked.

“Afraid not, no.” The man reached for a straw, seemingly wanting a quick exit now that he couldn’t be angry.

Not that he was counting but Pangi estimated that this was the most words he had ever gotten out of the man at once before. He decided to see if he could get him to say anything else. “When’s yours? Your birthday, that is.” Pangi put on a far more friendly tone than normal.

“The sixteenth, this month.” The man answered after a moment’s hesitation.

The irony. “Oh yea? What do you like to drink?” He pressed, wondering how much longer he could delay him. “Maybe I can make you something special.”

“I don’t know.” A moment later he was gone.

Still, Pangi felt rather proud of himself. He was actually able to learn something about his mystery customer, and had a new objective in mind that didn’t involve making the guy’s life hell.

Pangi spent the next few days wondering what kind of drink the guy might like on his birthday. He almost wanted to just give him something simple like a latte. They had this Tiramisu syrup that made a killer drink. But he realized that the guy would probably just like something boring like an iced americano. Or maybe a cappuccino, extra dry. But the version of the man he imagined with a husband and tiny dog would have wanted something fancy. So Pagi can also see an argument for something like an iced matcha or a lavender latte. Very stereotypical. But that didn’t feel right either. Or maybe he was just a boring plain hot coffee kind of guy. Straight black. Like his suits.

Yawn.

Pangi eventually settled for a very neutral and inoffensive mocha, inspired by the man’s eyes. They’re like little dots of mocha themselves so it made some kind of sense to him. He then weighed his options between hot and iced, and quickly decided on hot. It was starting to cool off a little and get into the fall season, so he thought that maybe something warm would be appreciated.

On the mystery man’s birthday he waited for the sticker to come in for Jule’s drink, and quickly got started on the mocha first, writing ‘Happy Birthday’ on the cup. Pangi still doesn’t know his name, so he can’t include it when he normally would. The drinks come together one after the other rather quickly, and before he knows it he’s pouring the milk into the mocha while the shots finish brewing for the main drink. He waited until he could put whipped cream and the chocolate sauce on both the mocha and the main drink to finish them both at the same time. In the end he’s extremely pleased with himself. Multitasking win.

“For Jules.” He smiled at the man in the suit passing over the drink for his boss first. “I made you this by the way. Happy Birthday.” He pushed forward the other, smaller drink next, feeling a little nervous about how it will be received.

The man blinked down at it, confused. “What is it?”

“It’s just a mocha. It’s a little chilly today, and it’s your birthday. Consider it my gift to you.” The man blinked at him silently, making him feel like an idiot for trying. “It’s on the house, if you are worried about the cost. No worries.” He laughed awkwardly. Ok maybe this was a stupid idea.

“Oh… Umm… Thank you.” The man grabbed for the usual straw, and then picked up the second coffee as well.

“You’re welcome. Happy Birthday.” He called out, the man was already nearly out the door. As usual.

Damn, that was kind of pathetic. He went out of his way to be nice to the guy and he couldn’t even spare thirty seconds to show some appreciation. Pangi felt like a fool. He wasted all that time thinking about the perfect drink to make, for a lousy, awkward as fuck, thank you. Pangi couldn’t even convince himself that the man had meant it.

After that he finally decided to fully give up trying to be nice. Whatever interest or fascination he might have once felt was gone. Pangi wasn’t entirely certain why he tried so hard to get the man to warm up to him anyway. Maybe it was the challenge, or the plain old mystery of him but he guessed he was sort of over it now.

From that point on whenever he would hand off Jule’s drink it was always in silence, he didn't even bother with a ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Happy Holidays’ when it came around. The man didn’t bother to say anything first anyway. He just continued to pick up the drink with dark bags under his eyes and a scowl permanently carved into his face.

As the months stretched on it started feeling petty, but at no point did the man ever attempt to speak with him. There had been months of silence between them. The abomination drink also never changed with the seasons, which bothered him more than not being acknowledged. Being forced to make the same sugary goop day after day was so draining.

At some point it occurred to him that if he had been fed up with making it, the man was probably suffering a hundred times more having to pick it up every day. His friend, Aimsey, had once explained disassociation to him, maybe the man tried to disassociate through getting the coffee. Maybe it was the worst part of his day too. If that was the case then maybe he could understand his behavior. But damn. He could have just said that and he wouldn’t have taken it personally.

Sometimes Pangi wondered when ‘Jules’ was going to have a heart attack from all the sugar and caffeine they drank. He usually tried not to judge the customers, but this was a lot. Like probably the worst of all the customers in the cafe.

Apparently, the mystery man wasn’t that lucky because the order for the drink kept coming. The winter passed on into spring, and the drink was always the same.

Until one day he got the order for the drink but hadn’t seen the mystery man standing at the bar. “Jules.” He droned for the first time in nearly six months, placing the drink on the counter. A flash of color caught his eye, making him look up. A woman with red hair and green eyes was reaching for the drink instead of the usual mystery man. “Hey… that’s not yours.” He grabbed the drink and pulled it away from her. She was wearing a skirt suit in all black with a white button up underneath. Painfully plain, just like the mystery man had been, but obviously not him.

The girl froze and went pale. “Sorry, I thought you said Jules.”

“I did. But you’re not the guy that usually gets it.” Pangi sighed.

A look of understanding took the place of the panic. “Oh… Yesterday was his last day. He got a new job.” She explained, reaching for a straw. “I’m his replacement.”

“What?” Pangi froze. “He didn’t even say anything about it.”

“We’re kinda not supposed to socialize on company time. It’s a big part of the job. I really don’t have time for this. Sorry, see you tomorrow.” She leaned forward and grabbed the drink and scurried out of the cafe before he could protest.

Pangi was annoyed and a little hurt that the man hadn’t said something the day before. He had to have known it was his last day. But really? After nearly a year of seeing him, and making that stupid drink for his boss he couldn’t even say goodbye? Even if he would be coming into the cafe still, he could have at least warned him that someone else would be picking up the coffee instead. It was basic courtesy.

“He didn’t even say goodbye to me.” He pouted to Ros later.

“Wasn’t he a total jerk to you too?” She sighed, pulling more shots for the line of drinks they were working on.

“Well yea… But I guess he wasn’t supposed to socialize.” It was a flimsy excuse even to his own ears, but part of him wanted to believe that under other circumstances things would have been different. “And now I’ll probably never see him again.” There was a world where they would have talked, and been friends. Pangi could have learned which of his make-believe lives fit him best, and what coffee he actually liked.

Ros snorted. “What, did you like him or something?”

Yes. “No.” Pangi mumbled. And maybe that was it. He had never really questioned why he spent so much time thinking about the guy. But Ros was onto something he hadn’t fully recognized in himself. He had thought he was cute, and hoped that there was something more under that boring suit and tie. Pangi had thought that if he just kept at it he would find something, and the whole thing would have been worth it. “I liked how mysterious he was, I guess.” Pangi sighed.

“You can do better.” Ros said with a snooty tone. And Pangi just doesn’t have the strength to argue with her over it.

It wasn’t even that he was that attracted to the guy, well he kind of was… but he just… Pangi sighed. He doesn’t know. Maybe he is or was. Or he could have been. There was something about the guy that caught his eye from the very beginning. And it just sucked to think that it could have gone somewhere but it didn’t. He could have been the hot husband. It could have been their fancy apartment and small dog. But the guy was an asshole, and probably wasn’t into men anyway.

A few weeks went by with the new intern picking up the abomination drink. She was far less intense about the high standards that the mystery man had to the point that Ros didn’t mind making it anymore. The two had even started enjoying having small chats while Ros made the drink, and laughed together over how gross it was. Once that started happening, Pangi finally agreed to take later shifts twice a week to help their manager keep things balanced. There was no point in him sticking to the morning shift anymore.

The lack of constant pressure from the morning shift was a nice change to his routine, and it was good to see some of his old regulars again. Every once in a while he thought about the guy that he used to see every morning, but mostly he just kept his head down and kept making coffee. As the weeks passed he thought about him less and less.

“Iced mocha for Lucas.” He set the drink onto the counter and moved to start pulling the next set of shots.

“Thanks!” A bright voice filtered through his ears. “I didn’t know you were working in the afternoons now. It’s good to see you again.”

Pangi’s eyes snapped to the voice, shocked to see him. The guy. The intern, or former intern. Mystery man. He was actually smiling and looked well rested for once. The suit he was wearing was navy, with a crisp white shirt and blue and gold tie. No more monochrome. He looked… good. Happy.

“Holy shit dude.” Pangi grinned. “I missed seeing you in the mornings. I heard you got another job.”

The guy, Lucas, holy shit he had a name, nodded. “Yea I moved companies, and now I’m working hours I sort of get to set myself. I’ll hopefully never need to fight the morning rush to get coffee again.”

“That’s awesome. I wish you would have said goodbye though. It would have been nice to know that you were moving on. I would have bought you a coffee to celebrate.” Now that the high of the surprise was wearing out, Pangi found he was actually a little annoyed. Now the guy was showing up all bubbly and friendly? Was this even the same guy? Was he being pranked?

“Yea well… I didn’t think it would matter much.” Lucas shrugged. “Im sure you figured it out.”

Pangi forced himself not to react. “Oh… Yea your replacement explained. She’s really nice actually, she talks with us while she waits…” He said pointedly.

“That’s good. I hope she’s doing well. Well… It’s good seeing you. I’ll have to remember when you’re working and come around more during those times.” Lucas smiled, but it felt incredibly fake to Pangi. This had to be some kind of sick twisted game.

“It’s only a few times a week. Temporary.” He said dismissively.

“Well that’s fine. I’ll see you then.” Lucas scooped up his drink and gave him a little wave before walking out.

This had to be the Twilight Zone or something. There was no possible way that just happened.

Pangi went back to making drinks in a daze, his head spinning. What the hell had he just experienced? The guy just randomly spawned in, completely different from how he had been before, with no apologies and just some weak ass explanations. Ones that didn’t really explain or justify anything, mind you. He knew that they weren’t friends or anything, but he served the man a drink for over a year. Pangi thought that he would have at least liked to say goodbye himself, but as Lucas had said, it didn’t matter.

Or maybe he had always intended to come waltzing back into the cafe, acting like he hadn’t been a dick to the entire morning shift for over a year’s worth of time. That pissed Pangi off even more, that shit didn’t just go away at the drop of a hat. And Pangi wasn’t just going to forget how sad he had been when the guy just up and vanished. It didn’t matter… And that was it. Mr. Lucas had never recognized that the people working behind the counter weren’t just extras in his life, they had feelings too. Ones that mattered a lot.

But if this ‘Lucas’ wanted to try to come back in and pick up his little mocha and act all friendly, that was fine. He’d remember what he was really like when he came in. Or maybe he’d even insist on going back to the morning shift exclusively in a few weeks to avoid having more embarrassing exchanges than he had to. But Pangi wasn’t going to let this slide. If Lucas thought Pangi had been annoying before he was in for it now.

Chapter Text

Lukey was confused. He was in his favorite cafe, waiting for his coffee, and while he thought he heard the cute barista call out his name, it wasn’t exactly right. Still the drink on the counter looked like the one he had asked for at the register. He slowly approached it, and checked the writing on the side.

‘Lucuss.’

He grimaced. Right…

“Thanks!” He said anyway, giving Pangi a weak smile while taking the cup. He made a mental note to give his nickname next time instead.

Last week he had been pleasantly surprised that his favorite morning shift barista, Pangi, who he had started harboring a bit of a crush on, was working the afternoon shift. Lukey had lost touch with him when he started his new job. He had promised himself that he would never step foot in a coffee shop before noon again so long as he was working his own hours after more than a year of having to drag himself in, half asleep day after day, for a drink that wasn’t even for him. That stupid drink was so repulsive that it had put him off of ordering his own coffee, making him switch to energy drinks for the duration of his employment, with one exception.

On his birthday this past year, Pangi, a saint of a barista who was the only one who could consistently make his former boss’s drink properly, had gifted him a mocha of his very own. And it was so incredibly touching that he hadn’t known how to process it at the time. But his cold little heart had utterly melted, and he was determined that one day he would make it up to him. His boss’s controlling nature, and his half awake state had made him a poor customer in the past. But he was determined to make up for it now that he had been reunited with Pangi.

Only now that he had seen Pangi a second time the name on his cup was spelled wrong. Almost offensively wrong. His poor heart had little choice but to retreat until conditions improved. He decided to shake it off. Maybe it was a joke, or one of those trends. It felt wrong to assume it had been a malicious mistake, he’d give his nickname the next time he saw Pangi. Besides, he would rather hear his nickname from Pangi than his full name.

Three days later Pangi was standing at the register looking bored when he stopped by. The cafe was largely empty, and there was no one else in line. He walked confidently up to the register with a big smile. “Hello!”

“Hey, good to see you.” Pangi said with a total lack of warmth. The barista’s eyes were already on the register’s buttons, looking straight down. “What would you like?”

“I’ll have a medium iced mocha. No whipped cream please.” Lukey rattled off his new regular order, determined to have a positive exchange.

“Name?” Pangi sighed.

“Lukey.” He answered with a confident smile. This was going to be fine.

“Lukey?” Pangi paused and looked up from the cup. “What’s that, a nickname?”

“Yea. Lucas can feel a bit formal, you know.” He shrugged, trying to not make it seem like a big deal. But he could feel a pang of disappointment already starting to creep in and with it his smile was dimming. This wasn’t at all what he intended.

“Sure… Tap your card.” Pangi mumbled. Lukey completed the transaction feeling awkward. “One minute.” Pangi ripped off the receipt and passed it over, quickly heading over to the sink to wash his hands.

Lukey stood by the counter so he could watch Pangi work and maybe chat with him a bit. He was desperate to try to salvage the situation. “How’s school going for you?” Over his time picking up coffee every day in the mornings he had absorbed a lot of information about the barista. Mostly about how Pangi had been in the military and was now going to University using his veterans benefits. And while he hadn’t really been in the state of mind to converse with him about those topics until now, he had remembered most of what had been shared.

“Boring. I still need a few classes before I can start field training.” Pangi grumbled.

“Oh? So you still have a little while to go, huh?” Lukey asked pleasantly.

“Yea.” Pangi sighed, snapping the lid on the cup. He lifted it, making a show of reading the name. “Loo-key.”

Lukey felt his smile dim further, and a nervous laugh left his mouth. He took the cup, reading the name.

‘Lookie.’

“Oh…” He frowned. Pangi was staring at him expectantly. “Umm… Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Pangi said pleasantly.

He considered his crush officially squashed for the moment. Lukey took his straw and headed back to the office embarrassed.

It was another week before he saw Pangi again, this time the name, his full name, sounded correct when said out loud but the writing on the cup was a different story.

‘Lukass.’

It was so immature he almost wanted to complain. He might have, under different circumstances, but he needed to get to a zoom meeting for work and couldn’t spare the time.

His new job had him starting at the bottom, which was still a huge step up from the barely being paid intern position he had before. He analyzed reports given to him by a project manager and sent those numbers along to the team to help them with their work. So long as everything got done on time or earlier he was left to his own devices. He had started working later hours to help with his sleeping habits. Lukey had been a long time night owl, preferring to keep later hours than most. For now he was working in the small cubicle in the office, but he had noticed others worked away from their desks most of the time. While he longed to join them somewhere else, he also knew that it was good to put in the facetime around the office. But he liked to imagine a time where he could sit in the coffee shop watching Pangi work while he did his analysis.

Hell, he would have liked to ask him out on a date, but things had felt weird between them, and he had no idea if Pangi was into men or not. There was only so much rejection a guy could take at once. He supposed he could have asked one of Pangi’s coworkers but he had no idea if any of them had gotten a bad impression of him from Ros. And at this point it was clear Pangi wasn’t a fan of his anyway. He supposed he might have been a worse customer than he might have realized. But that was ok, he could endure a little teasing. Maybe Pangi would work it out of his system.

Over a week later, nearing mid August, Lukey finally saw Pangi again. This time the cafe was a little busier, it was a Friday afternoon after all, and there was someone else working the register.

It was Pili, one of the other baristas who usually treated him with the polite indifference that all the others did. “Hey Lucas. Your regular?” Pili asked, grabbing a cup.

“Yes please.” He was still drinking iced mochas, but had been considering branching out. Maybe even ask Pangi for a recommendation. He had started drinking the iced mochas when he showed up to the shop for the first time since he had started his new job. When the barista asked him what he wanted he had blurted out mocha since that was what Pangi had made him for his birthday. Ordering it iced was only because it had been warm that day, but now he didn’t think he could change it. It was his regular order that all the baristas expected.

“Alright, Pangi will have that out for you in a minute. Go ahead and tap your card.” Pili said politely.

A few minutes later everyone who had been in line before him had gotten their drinks, so he moved forward up to the counter. “Hey Pangi. Hope you’re well.”

“As much as I can be.” Pangi replied stiffly.

“That’s great. Do anything fun recently?” Lukey asked.

“Yea, actually.” Pangi’s tone brightened considerably. “I went on a really nice solo hike out in the valley. It wasn’t too hot so I decided to go out and get some air. It was epic.”

“That’s awesome. You’ll have to tell me the name of the trail. I’d love to see more of the area.” Lukey gushed. In his defense he had wanted to get out more often but hadn’t had the time or energy until recently.

“Yea maybe.” Pangi’s expression dropped, making Lukey wonder what he had said wrong.

“Lulu.” Pangi grunted, setting what was obviously his mocha in front of him.

He heard a small muffled laugh, and his eyes shifted over to Pili. The smaller man was laughing at him, clearly amused.

Oh… he was being mocked, not just teased. That explained the name thing. This was too much too often to be anything else. It was either retaliation or just bullying, and while he wasn’t certain which he wasn’t going to just let it happen.

“That’s not my name.” He huffed.

“What’s the problem? It doesn’t matter, right Pangi?” Pili elbowed his coworker.

“Yea. It’s not worth mentioning.” Pangi scoffed.

Clearly they were hinting at something, but he had no idea what it was. “Well I think it is. It’s rude.” Lukey snapped.

Pili rolled his eyes. “Maybe I just had some trouble spelling your name.”

Lukey stared at the two bewildered. Fine. “My apologies Pili, I didn’t know you had trouble spelling. Next time I can help you spell my name correctly. Six letters is a lot, but you’ll get better with practice. I’m proud of your efforts.” Lukey said loud enough for half the cafe to overhear. He grabbed his cup and straw, then stormed out.

It was stupid and childish, but he had been going to that shop off and on since he had been a local college student. He had gotten his first job nearby. And now this. The shame and embarrassment he felt stuck to him as he made the walk back to his office.

He didn’t bother to show his face for a few days, and it was just his luck that when he arrived Pangi was the only one working.

“Hey.” Pangi said, barely looking up from the register.

“Medium iced mocha, no whip.” He said stiffly.

“Name?” Pangi asked.

He groaned. “Lukey. L-u-k-e-y.”

“Luk…?” Pangi looked up at him.

“Key.” Now he was just being toyed with.

“Kay?” Pangi smirked.

“Ee.” Lukey shook his head. “You know what. Whatever.”

“You got it man.” Pangi grinned, scribbling way too many letters on the cup.

He tapped his card and moved to the counter. This time he didn’t bother making conversation. Clearly it wasn’t wanted.

“Here you go.” Pangi set the cup down in front of him, and he didn’t bother looking at the name, he just grabbed it and a straw and turned to leave.

“By the way. I don’t know how often you come in, but I’m getting moved to the night shift full time. So…” Pangi shrugged.

“What, are you telling me not to come back?” Lukey sighed, feeling defeated.

“Not at all. You’re a valuable customer.” Pangi grinned. “I just want you to know so you’re not surprised. I’m considerate like that.”

Lukey felt like that was a slight but he wasn’t sure how or why. “Oh… ok… Thank you, I guess. I suppose I’ll be seeing you around a lot more.”

“Looking forward to it.” Pangi’s tone was odd, he couldn’t grasp if he was actually pleased with the development or not. It made him feel uncomfortable either way so he left without another word.

As a matter of pride he refused to look at the name on the cup until he got back to his desk.

‘Luke-Key-Ee.’

He groaned in defeat, and decided he’s just going to ignore the names from now on. If Pangi wanted to punish him or tease him or whatever the hell this is then he’ll just deal with it until he can find a better coffee shop. Not that there’s a better one within walking distance that isn’t an overpriced chain shop. Maybe it was ok to buy bad coffee so long as they spelled your name right.

For the next two weeks he endured an increasingly ridiculous set of names.

‘Lucreek.’
‘Lululemon.’
‘Luca.’ Which felt very low effort. He had almost said something to Pangi about it until he noticed how tired the barista had seemed that day.
‘Lukie Pookie Pie.’
‘Lububu.’ That one actually made him mad because it wasn’t spelt right, but he still ignored it.
‘Lucky.’ Which he liked enough to laugh and smile about. Pangi had looked at him like he was a crazy person, but he hadn’t minded. It was the nicest thing Pangi had written on his cup since the ‘happy birthday’ from nearly a year before.
‘Lunacy.’ Credit for that one went to Pili, but Pangi had looked pleased with it given how badly the last one had backfired.

And then it was the day. Pangi’s birthday.

Lukey had planned his gift weeks ago, and even after everything that had happened he was still committed to paying back the coffee from last year. Since Pangi had wanted to get into working on planes as a mechanic he had bought a small model plane set that was still ridiculously expensive for the size. It was nothing special but he had it sitting in a gift bag just in case Pangi was working on his birthday. He tried his best not to be overly excited. Things had been so tense between them, but it was his hope that whatever had occurred could be smoothed over with a gift. A gift had changed his mind, why couldn’t it change Pangi’s?

He went in at his normal time, and found Pangi standing at the register with a silly little pointed paper hat. There was a big sign on the counter declaring it Pangi’s Birthday with a large tip jar stuffed with cash that had a note on it. ‘Tips for the Birthday Boy!’

“You’ve done well for yourself today.” Lukey smiled warmly, glad that Pangi had been well cared for on his birthday by the other customers.

“Well I’d hope so.” Pangi grinned, reaching for a cold cup.

“I umm… brought you a gift.” He held up the bag, slightly nervous.

Pangi froze for a moment then set the cup down, but didn’t reach for the bag. “For me? But why?”

“Last year when you gave me a free coffee on my birthday you were the only one to do something nice for me. I know I was a real mess back then and didn’t show proper appreciation for it, but I’ve been thinking about it ever since.” Lukey said truthfully. “Thank you for that. And thank you for helping me start enjoying coffee again. My boss had kinda ruined it for me up until then.”

Pangi blinked rapidly then shook his head like he found himself in some bizarro world that he couldn’t keep up with. Lukey still held out the bag for him, waiting patiently for Pangi to take it. Once he managed, Pangi opened the bag and pulled out the kit. Watching his face light up had been worth the trouble. Pangi’s light brown eyes lit up with excitement, and a huge grin spread over his face. A wave of relief spread through him, replacing the nervous energy with calm satisfaction. “Dude, this is awesome. Thank you. I wasn’t expecting anything from anyone.”

Lukey felt his cheeks heat up. “It was my pleasure. Like I said you were so kind to me last year. And you’ve been my favorite barista since you started working mornings back then. You made my life a whole lot easier actually, so I thought it was the least I could do.” His face warmed from the realization that he’s rambling now, and Pangi probably thinks he’s an idiot.

“Oh… I didn’t realize.” Pangi mumbled under his breath, but it was just loud enough for him to catch it.

“That’s my fault. Like I said I was a real mess during my last job. It was a real nightmare working for my ex boss. I mean… you’ve seen their coffee order. Imagine having to cater to all their other wants and needs.” He laughed awkwardly. “Sorry about how I was back then, and I hope I’ve been a better customer since.”

An odd look passes over Pangi’s face for a moment. “It’s ok. You weren’t too bad just… a little abrupt.”

“I was a nightmare. You can admit it.” He chuckled.

Pangi took a deep breath. “Yea… ok. You were really bad, to Ros especially. And kind of a jerk to me sometimes, but I forgive you. You’ve been really nice since. And I appreciate you apologizing. That’s… it’s really cool of you. Not everyone would have.”

“It’s a bit late, I know. But we don’t get to properly talk much. I should have thought to do it sooner.” Lukey admitted.

“No it’s ok. I shouldn’t have assumed you did it on purpose.” Pangi’s eyes shifted over to the nearly empty tables. “And if you want to talk more you should spend some time here hanging out. It’s always easier to talk to customers who sit at the tables.” The offer was unexpected.

“Oh… I… might be able to start doing that soon. I’m trying to put in some face time in the new office. But… if I knew your schedule maybe I could do my work in here once a week. To start at least.” Lukey shrugged, hoping he wasn’t being too presumptuous.

“Sure, I think Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays are the best, that’s when I close, I had to trade for some afternoon shifts. It would be nice to have some company on those nights. It gets a little lonely here working the closing shift.” He noticed Pangi shift his posture. Was he nervous? What on earth would he be nervous for?

“I’d love to.” Lukey says quickly.

“Cool… ummm… Did you still want your regular?” Pangi grabbed the cup after putting the gift bag under the counter.

“Oh, right. Yes please.” Lukey pulls out his wallet and taps his card then pulls out a few small bills and stuffs them in the tip jar.

“You don’t have to do that.” Pangi mutters, but Lukey can tell he’s happy about it. And it makes him feel good to add to Pangi’s birthday tips.

“I wanted to.” Lukey shrugged. He walks over to the counter, and waits for Pangi to make his mocha. “So do you have any plans this year?”

“Yea, I have the weekend off, and I’m going solo hiking and camping at one of my favorite spots.” Pangi grinned.

“I need to get out more. That sounds epic.” Lukey tried his best to keep his tone light. He’d been wanting someone to recommend places to hike to him for a while, but everyone in the area liked to gatekeep.

“I’ll bring you back a map, and show you which trails are the good ones.” Pangi stepped over to the bar and set his drink in front of him.

He picks up the cup, and can’t help but look at the name written on it.

‘Lukey =)’

It’s correct. Not only is it correct but there’s a cute little smiley face next to it. It takes everything he has not to react.

“I’m sorry about the whole thing with your name.” Pangi speeds through the sentence making him doubt what he heard at first.

“Sorry?”

Pangi sighed. “I’ve been messing up your name on purpose.”

“I know…” Lukey isn’t certain why Pangi is confirming what he already knew.

“I was annoyed at you about stuff. But you don’t deserve it, and I’ll spell it right from now on.” Pangi’s guilty face makes him fold immediately. He couldn’t stay upset with him if he wanted to.

“Oh… Well… It was kind of annoying, but I suppose it was never really that serious.” Lukey said carefully. “How about we call it even?”

“I’d like that.” Pangi smiled at him, relieved. And Lukey can admit that he felt a bit lighter as well.

“I hope you enjoy the rest of your birthday, and I’ll start bringing my laptop to work here sometimes so we can talk.” Lukey finally grabbed a straw for his coffee, having been too focused on Pangi.

“Cool. I look forward to it.”

“Me too.”

Lukey walked out the door, trying to act casual when he was floating on cloud nine.

His crush came back with a vengeance. When Friday rolled around he got to the coffee shop earlier than usual with his laptop bag at his side. Pangi was still working with Pili, who was at the register, and there was a small group of college students waiting at the bar for their drinks, but no one else was in line. The shop was starting to clear out for the night. There was an odd group of students here or there but the business crowd was all but gone by now.

“Hey Pili.” He greeted him with a smile, hoping that now that things had been cleared up with Pangi that Pili would be cool with him as well.

“Hey.” Pili rolled his eyes.

Apparently not. He prepared himself to deal with whatever nonsense would be written on his cup. At least Pangi would be making his drink. That was fine. Pili’s shift would be over in a half hour, and then he and Pangi could talk and be civil. At least that was the hope, but there was an ache in his chest that warned him away from being too hopeful.

Pili passed the cup over to the line of drinks, and Lukey eyed it warily. He had little choice but to move on. He picked out a spot close to the counter to sit at, and started setting up his laptop to work. When the crowd of college students had nearly all collected their drinks he cautiously approached the counter.

He watched Pangi finish up two hot drinks and then grab his cold cup. Pangi held it with both hands, turning it until Pili’s writing appeared. He read whatever was there, and then looked up and over, their eyes meeting. Lukey smiled and gave a small wave.

To his surprise, and shock Pangi threw his cup away in the trash with such force it made him jump. Immediately after Pangi stormed over to Pili. “I told you…” His voice dropped too low to hear the rest of it. Pangi snatched another cup from near the register, a large instead of the medium he ordered, and wrote something on it.

“You don’t have to be such a dick about it.” Pili grumbled, loud enough for him to hear.

“Shut up, Pili.” Pangi huffed, moving to the espresso machine.

Lukey felt frozen where he stood. What had he just witnessed? What had Pili written on his cup that was so bad that Pangi felt the need to make a scene? Not that he minded of course. He was nearly swooning over what he hoped was him being championed by Pangi. When the drink was done, Pangi took a deep breath and stepped over to the bar.

“Hi…” His tone sounded forced and awkward in his ears.

“Hey. You ok?” He almost didn’t want to ask, but how could he not at this point? Everything had played out right in front of him.

“Yea. It’s fine. Some people just don’t know their manners.” Pangi shot a dark look toward Pili. “But it’s fine. Sorry for the trouble, enjoy your drink.”

“I will, thank you. I’m just there off to the side. I'll probably be here until you close.” Lukey said softly.

“I’ll come chat with you later when I have a break.” Pangi’s tone was still tense, but Lukey could see that he was trying to not let it bleed into their interaction.

“Sounds good.” He gave Pangi his best and warmest smile, hoping it conveyed his gratitude. And that he was really hot for standing up for him like that.

He retreated to his small table off to the side. Lukey had opted for one near an outlet in case something needed charging, and because it gave him a good view of the espresso machine Pangi liked to use.

For a few hours he worked diligently, glancing up every ten to fifteen minutes to see what Pangi was up to. He was usually making drinks or cleaning but at least twice he caught him staring. Pangi would always look away quickly, as if he was embarrassed. It was sweet almost, making Lukey feel a little giddy like he used to when he was in college and would catch the eye of a cute boy in the library.

And then, Pangi was standing in front of his table with a half consumed drink gripped with one hand by the top, the straw sticking through his fingers at an odd angle. “Hey.”

“Hi. Join me?” Lukey scooted his laptop closer to himself to make a little more room at the table.

Pangi slid into the seat. “God I’ve been on my feet for hours.”

“How long is your break?” He asked.

“About fifteen minutes. But there’s barely anyone here. So unless someone comes in I can hang out for a little longer.” Pangi shrugged. “What are you working on?”

“Anyalyzing some numbers for the team I’m a part of. I do the analysis, and then they write the reports and do predictions and make recommendations to the other teams and all that.” Lukey explained quickly, wanting to talk about anything other than work.

“That sounds really fucking boring, I’m not going to lie.” Pangi said, cringing.

Lukey couldn’t help but laugh. “It can be, but I promise it’s better than what I was doing. And I actually have the chance for promotions now.”

Pangi nodded. “I guess that’s a good thing. What do you like to do besides work?”

“I like to read. I would like to be able to be more adventurous and get out and see the area more, but I don’t know the area outside of town well despite having lived here all through college and afterward.” Lukey’s only slightly embarrassed about that fact.

“Don’t the students go down to the beach and have bon fires?” Pangi asked casually sipping at his coffee.

Lukey chuckled. “Well sure, but I’m not a student anymore. I didn’t have time at my old job and now my coworkers don’t seem like the type. I’ve been hoping to join a group or club or something, but I haven't even begun looking.”

“You should go out on your own, I do it all the time.” Pangi said it with such confidence that Lukey almost felt like he could.

“Yea maybe. I would probably feel better going with someone the first few times.” He felt vulnerable admitting to that. It made him feel like he was fishing for an invite, but that wasn’t the case. Maybe later, once things between them were more settled and they could actually call each other friends.

“I get that. Keep an eye on the bulletin board by the door. People leave flyers about group hikes there sometimes. They’re usually on Saturday mornings.” Pangi pointed over to the overly cluttered board.

“That’s very helpful. Thank you.” Lukey had admittedly never paid much attention to the board. It was too chaotic for his tastes, but if Pangi suggested looking he would have to endure.

“So I don’t mean to be weird, but why do you only drink mochas? I get that everyone has their thing, but you don’t really strike me as a chocolate guy.”

“I’m really not. But it’s what you gave me for my birthday last year, if you recall. I had been living off of energy drinks but I used to love coffee when I was a student. You sort of renewed my passion for it. I’ve been wanting to ask you for a new recommendation, actually.”

“Me? Why do you want my opinion?” Pangi blinked at him owlishly.

“Because I trust you.” The words slipped out without meaning to. But that wasn’t weird right? You were supposed to be able to trust your barista to recommend drinks.

Pangi laughed. “What if I give you something horrible.”

“What, like my old boss’s drink?” He shuddered.

“Exactly.” Pangi’s face twisted in distaste. “You know I think I could make that thing in my sleep. I carried around the instructions for it in my wallet for months.”

“God that’s mortifying. For me I mean. Not you, of course.” Lukey shook his head at all the memories he had of that stupid drink. “It was always so embarrassing picking that drink up, and then knowing that depending on how it was made I was either going to have a bearable day or want to die at the end.”

“Was that why you were so critical of Ros?” Pangi asked.

He nodded. “I shouldn’t have lashed out at her. But my boss complained every time about how stingy she was with the sauces and syrups. She’d take it out on us, me specifically, and it ruined the whole day.”

“Ros is always very exact with making drinks. She wants to be a manager at some point and so always tries to make everything exactly how we’re trained to do so. I don’t really give a fuck, and just went crazy.” Pangi grinned.

“It worked. She loved you. God she sang your praises.” Lukey cringed at the memory.

“I don’t know how to feel about that, actually.” They both shared an awkward laugh. “Well… I should get back to work. I need to do the closing stuff. You going to be around for a bit longer?”

“Yea, I have more work to do, and if I don’t do it here I’ll probably just go home.” He hoped he didn’t sound like a loser for saying that.

“Cool. You’re welcome to stay. Do you mind if I put on some different music? You’re the last one here.” Lukey wasn’t certain how he was supposed to say no to Pangi’s hopeful expression.

“Of course not. Go crazy.” He grinned.

Pangi’s smile was worth the answer, no matter what ended up being played.

Of course it ended up being nothing crazy. Just some more popular music rather than the soft pop hits from ten years prior or the classical music that usually played in the background. Naturally, Pangi would have good taste in music.

He tried to keep his eyes to himself while Pangi moved around the cafe wiping down tables, and putting away bottles, and syrups. It was only when he started stacking chairs, that Lukey realized he needed to start packing up himself.

Pangi came by as he was slipping his charger into his laptop bag to wipe down his table. “You mind putting your chair up for me when you’re done?”

“No problem. I’ll be gone in a minute.” Lukey assured him.

“Me too.” Pangi winked at him, then turned to take care of some other task, and Lukey had to remind himself to breathe.

Was it too soon to ask him out to dinner? Probably. But his crush was morphing before his eyes into a full blown infatuation.

Somehow he managed to pull himself together and put up his chair, mirroring what Pangi had done for all the others. He awkwardly stood in by the counter, wanting to at least say goodbye before he left. A few minutes later Pangi came out from the back, and headed right towards a control panel on the wall.

“Go ahead and head to the door. I’ll only have a few minutes to let us out before the alarm sounds.” Pangi instructed.

Having been unaware that Pangi was actually almost done closing he had to quickly shuffle over to the door. Pangi joined him shortly and he even took the liberty of holding it open for them to both walk out of.

“Thanks.” Pangi said while turning the sign on the door from open to closed, and locking the door. Giving it a small tug to make sure it was locked.

“No, thank you. This was nice.” That was an understatement of course. He had been thrilled with how the night had gone.

“It was, I’m glad you stayed.” Lukey was suddenly very aware of just how close they were standing together.

“I wanted to thank you for standing up to Pili for me earlier, I…”

“You don’t need to thank me. It’s my fault Pili has been giving you a hard time. He doesn’t know how to reign it back in, but I warned him. If he does anything to you again just let me know.” Lukey nodded.

“Just curious… what was on the cup this time?” He dared ask.

“It was actually so stupid. It was ‘Leaky’.” Pangi shook his head.

“Oh… that’s a bit uninspired.” Lukey laughed. “Though I guess it’s hard to compete with your creativity.”

“Are you complimenting my ability to bully you?” Pangi scoffed. “Come on man.”

“What, I can be objective.” Lukey insisted.

“Where you headed?” Pangi asked, changing the subject.

“Home, I guess. But I need to stop by my office first.” He sighed, not looking forward to the walk.

“Fair. I’m headed to my apartment. I’ll see you soon?” Pangi seemed hopeful.

“Of course. Tuesday. Maybe I'll be able to hang out again for my birthday.”

“You don’t need to spend your birthday in a coffee shop.” Pangi said softly, his eyes staring straight into his own.

“You did.” Lukey shrugged. “I have to work either way.”

“I’ll have to think of a new drink to make you for your birthday then. What did you used to drink?” Pangi’s face turned thoughtful, and Lukey thought it was charming.

“It was so boring. Just cold brew. I was too poor for much else. I’m open to anything. Any flavor. I trust your expertise.” It was hard to not make a complete fool of himself but he was trying.

“What kind of sweets do you like?” Pangi asked.

“Fruity stuff mostly. I’m also a big fan of marzipan.” He shrugged. “But I can be adventurous.”

Pangi nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll think about it this weekend. Well get home safe, have a good night.”

“Night.”

They parted ways, going in opposite directions. Lukey could barely contain how giddy he felt. If Pangi was going to be thinking about what kind of drink to make him, that meant he’ll be thinking about him. Huge win in his estimation.

The weekend drags on, and Monday is practically insufferable until he sees Pangi for a few short minutes while getting his mocha. The barista doesn’t give anything away about what the next day would bring. Just leaves him with a cocky grin as he slides his drink over to him.

“See you tomorrow, Lukey.” Pangi winked at him before going back to the espresso machine, and Lukey feels like he’s about to melt onto the floor.

Honestly, Pangi might be the most attractive man he’s ever encountered. His fluffy hair, and light brown eyes really do something for him, but it’s the casual confidence that Pangi has that sealed it for him. He spent his entire walk back to the office trying to figure out how to give Pangi his number without it being weird.

Or how he could ask him out to dinner without risking their budding friendship.

The next day, his birthday, he can barely contain his excitement. He hadn’t been this amped about celebrating his birthday since he had been a kid.

After his visit to the gym, he came home and got a head start on his work for the day. Lukey had no real intention of working in the coffee shop, knowing his attention was going to be all for Pangi anyway. When the afternoon hit he dressed for the office despite not planning on spending much time there.

He gathered up his laptop bag, and headed out the door destined for the office. Every minute spent in his cubicle dragged on endlessly. When the clock finally hit half past four he let himself pack up his bag and headed for the shop.

The usual ten minute walk barely took him seven minutes today. It was a bit embarrassing how eager he was to see Pangi, but he told himself that it was his birthday, and if seeing his favorite barista was what he wanted then he was going to indulge himself.

Pili was working the register still with Pangi at the espresso machine making drinks for a few people.

He wasn’t sure what to do in this situation so he went up to Pili anyway.

“Oh… it’s the birthday boy.” It wasn’t the enthusiastic or fake happy tone that most people used when addressing someone on their birthday, but it wasn’t exactly negative either. It was more like he was bored. As if Pili was reciting a fact he held little interest in, which didn’t bother him.

“That’s me.” He smiled awkwardly.

“Pangi said he has something special for you so… I don’t know man. Go stand over at the bar or something.” Pili huffed.

“Right. Thanks.” Lukey walked away before he could hear anymore commentary. If there was one thing he wouldn’t stand for on his day it would be taking shit from Pili.

Pangi was diligently working through the orders ahead of him so he got himself set up at the same table he had sat at the other day while he waited. A few more people came in after he had gotten himself settled, and he felt a bit annoyed that he might not be able to fully enjoy Pangi’s new drink and attention properly. He would not be cheated out of Pangi time on his birthday. So he held back from going up to the counter until the crowd had fully cleared out, and Pangi was free.

Lukey slipped out of his chair and walked up to the bar. “Hey Pangi.”

“Lukey! Happy Birthday.” Pangi grinned.

“Thank you. It’s been a good one so far.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it felt like the appropriate thing to say.

Pangi reached for a cold cup, and wrote a few things on it. “I have a feeling you’re going to like this. I had to look over all our syrups to make sure that we had the right one. I also have a back up if you hate this but I’m pretty confident.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it.” Lukey watched as Pangi went over to the syrups station and put two different flavors in the cup. He was certain that one was vanilla, but the other was more in the back and he couldn’t really tell what it was. Pangi then poured the espresso shots over, swirling them together with the syrup. The cup was then filled with ice, and milk was poured over the top. There were no toppings added. No whipped cream or cold foam either. He was touched that Pangi had picked up that such additions weren't his preference.

Pangi snapped the lid on the drink and set it carefully in front of him on the bar. “Enjoy.”

Lukey picked up the cup, trying to figure out what it was by the writing on the side. But the only thing there was his name and a few balloons, quickly drawn in the black marker that they used.

He grabbed a straw, pushing it through the lid and took a sip. Right away he tasted the vanilla, but it was more than that. There was a smooth nutty flavor. Familiar, like the marzipan he told Pangi he liked on Friday night. He took another sip, savoring the flavor. “Is it almond?”

Pangi’s nervous expression brightened. “It’s a vanilla almond latte.”

“It’s perfect.” Lukey couldn’t help but smile. If he wasn’t nearly head over heels for Pangi before this ensured it. He was smitten. The man had designed him a drink after one of his favorite things. He had half a mind to throw himself at Pangi over the counter.

“I’m glad you like it. It might be a little more expensive than a mocha, but not too bad.” Pangi said guiltily.

“I don’t care. It’s worth it. Thank you. I had high expectations but you exceeded them.” Maybe it was the lighting but he would swear that he saw Pangi’s cheeks go pink.

“Get a room.” Pili coughed, walking past them with his things in hand.

Pangi sighed. “I need to get back to work, are you going to stay here?”

“Yea, until closing if you don’t mind.” Lukey said softly, despite everything he was still slightly uncertain about where they were at in their friendship.

“Not at all. I’ll see you on my break.” Pangi winked, and honestly Lukey was going to have to start taking heart medication if that was going to keep happening.

He retreated to his table, and drank his coffee while ‘working’ on his data. Most of his time was spent looking over at Pangi, watching the way he moved around the cafe. Still, he was able to finish what he needed to over the course of a few hours.

Long before Pangi came to sit at his table. When he did arrive he had his shift drink in hand along with another, smaller drink in the other. “I made you a small version of the other drink I planned for you just in case you didn’t like the first one.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” Lukey said, feeling rather spoiled at this point.

Pangi shrugged. “I’m mostly just curious what you’ll think of it. It’s probably too much.”

“How so?” Lukey asked, reaching for the cup. There was a straw already in it. Pangi was watching him, not answering his question which told him that he was meant to try it before he got to know what it was.

He took a small sip at first, surprised at how bright the flavor was. There was a warmth to the sweetness that he thought might be honey, and a sweetness from a fruit that tasted familiar but the way it mixed with the coffee and honey made it difficult to pinpoint. It was delicious. More of a summer drink than something for the upcoming fall season. He could see himself ordering it on a hot day.

“It’s nice. I would get it again, what is it?” Lukey asked again.

“Honey peach latte.” Pangi answered, taking a drink from his own cup. “Is it too sweet?”

“It’s a little sweet. Good for the summer I think. I like it. But you really hit it on the head with the vanilla almond. Marzipan is one of my favorite things, so I’m afraid I’m pretty biased.” Lukey admitted.

“I’m glad you liked them both. I went back and forth for a while on which one I should actually make for you though.” Pangi said it in such a way that it sounded like there was something to that.

“Oh? Why were you so uncertain?” Lukey asked.

“I guess I just don’t have a great read on what you like. You never change your order.” Pangi shifted his gaze downwards.

“Well I have two new drinks to get. I’ll be keeping you on your toes from now on.” Lukey thought it was funny.

“You should order whatever you want. You don’t have to get something just because I made it for you once.” Lukey frowned at the implication.

“Now hang on. It isn’t just because you made it for me. It’s because I like it, and it’s honestly too much extra effort to have to plan out what to order. I like having a usual drink.” Lukey huffed.

“Isn’t it a bit predictable though?” Pangi looked back at him.

“Why is being predictable a bad thing?” He challenged. “I think it brings a sense of normalcy to the chaos of my day to day.”

Pangi smirked. “That reminds me. I got you something.” He reached into his pocket and first pulled out a map of the local national park and then a keychain with a white figure attached to it. Pangi held it out, dangling it off his finger.

“Oh!” It was a fox. Or at least he thought it looked like one. The white rock it was carved from had little black and grey lines running through it, making it more dynamic. He adored it. “Wait, this is so cool.”

“It’s howlite.” Pangi said. “It’s supposed to be good for stress and stuff. I thought with how your work is you could use less stress.”

“Foxes are one of my favorite animals as well.” Lukey grinned. “How did you guess?”

“Well there weren’t a lot of options. You don’t really strike me as a cat, turtle or owl person.” Pangi chuckled.

“No, probably not.” Lukey carefully pulled the key chain off of Pangi’s fingers. It was heavier than it looked. The carving wasn’t the most detailed, but it was clearly meant to be a fox. It was charming. “I’ll put it on my laptop bag so he go with me to work every day.”

Pangi seemed pleased by that. “The map has the trails I like marked. If you ever have a spare weekend you should check them out.”

“I’ll do that.” Lukey picked up the folded map, setting it on top of his laptop, planning on opening it up once Pangi went back to his duties. “I wasn’t expecting all of this, thank you.”

Pangi shrugged. “Everyone should get to feel special on their birthday.”

“Well you’ve certainly accomplished that.” Lukey said sincerely.

Pangi’s grin settled into a more satisfied smile. “I’m glad. I know it isn’t a lot, but…”

“I couldn’t have asked for more. You’ve been perfect.” This time Lukey could definitely see the pink on Pangi’s cheeks.

“Thanks umm… I should really get back to work now. I’ll talk to you in a bit.” Pangi rose from his chair, and with one last glance walked back behind the counter.

Lukey wasted no time in putting his laptop away so he could make more room for the map. He unfolded it carefully and began to study it. The map contained more than just a few circled trail heads. There were small descriptions, for each trial that Pangi had hand written onto the map, and little areas with points of interest. He had gone through and marked waterfalls, cool rock formations, his favorite views and camping spots he recommended. It was a treasure trove of information, and Lukey spends nearly the rest of the time the cafe is open exploring each and every part that Pangi had marked.

It might have been one of the most thoughtful gifts he had ever received. He carefully folded it up, and tucked it into his bag with his laptop. After a few minutes of consideration he picked where to hang the little fox on his laptop bag. By the time he’s satisfied with it Pangi has put up all the chairs around him and disappeared in the back. Lukey sets both the chairs up on his table and waits for Pangi at the door.

While he waited he contemplated making a risky move. He’s a bit hungry after not having eaten since breakfast, and figured he’d go have dinner before he went home. The question was only if he would ask Pangi to accompany him or not.

He goes back and forth about it right until he’s standing outside watching Pangi lock the door to the cafe.

“Thank you for everything again. I’ve put my little fox guy on my bag, he looks great on here.” Lukey held up his bag for Pangi to see once he turned around.

“Nice! And I saw you looking at the map. I hope it helps.” Pangi’s pleased expression gives him the push he needs to ask him out for dinner.

“It’s brilliant. There was so much detail, I can’t wait to go out and find all the spots you pointed out.” Lukey gathered up his courage. “Actually, I’m about to go grab some food. I’d love to buy you dinner and pick your brain about a few things on the map.”

Pangi doesn’t give him an answer right away, shifting his weight back and forth, he glanced off down the road in the direction he went the last time they parted ways at the door. “Not this time.”

“Oh…” Lukey’s tender heart shattered into pieces. “No problem.”

“It’s been a long day and…”

“No need to apologize.” Lukey can’t stand the thought of hearing out whatever excuse Pangi will try to cook up. It’s fine. He’s a grown man, and he can face being rejected. “Thanks for everything today.”

“Sure… Happy birthday.” Pangi’s tone is fleeting and uncomfortable, making the air between them thick.

“Well I’m going to head off before the pizza place closes. See you around.” Lukey quickly headed off toward the pizza place. It isn’t down his usual route, but it isn’t down Pangi’s either. And that’s all that matters. He just needs to put space and distance between them.

Pangi shouted something behind him, but he’s already too far away to hear it. It doesn’t matter. He’d been a fool to think this had meant anything anyway.

Chapter Text

It was Lukey’s birthday and Pangi had just seen Lukey walk into the coffee shop in the middle of a rush. Pili directed him over to the bar, but instead of him waiting amongst the crowd Pangi caught him walking over to a table. Part of him had been hoping that Lukey would just jump into the crowd to give him the excuse to hand off his birthday drink without it being a big deal. For some reason he was a little nervous about what Lukey would think. He had gotten lucky with the mocha last year, but this drink was going to be more personal. So much more thought had gone into it, and he had consulted Lukey on his tastes beforehand, raising the stakes.

If he fucked this up it would ruin everything. Pangi didn’t have a lot of money to spare on a guy who he barely knew. No matter how much he had obsessed over him, he couldn’t confidently even call him a friend. And yes, Lukey had brought him a very nice gift that cost at least ten times what Pangi had spent. He looked it up online, that model plane set was way overpriced. But even if Lukey was willing to throw money at a completely unnecessary birthday gift, if anything this was the start of a friendship. If even that! He assumed that this would be a one time gift exchange.

It was for that reason alone why he had invested way more time, and thought into his gifts for Lukey rather than money. He didn’t have a lot of it to spare as it was, and he wasn’t going to spend it on some guy he hardly knew from his work. That would be crazy. Pangi had to remind himself that he didn’t want to be involved with anyone from his job, that was a boundary he had put in place just for things like this. He had been interested at some point, and maybe he even still was… But it wasn’t a smart move long term. His boss would be pissed if Lukey stopped coming in daily because they broke up. The cafe thrived on regulars, and even if Lukey didn’t come in as often, it was still multiple times a week.

Lukey still wasn’t at the counter yet. The crowd of other customers had only grown over the last few minutes, and glancing over Lukey was settling in at his computer, seemingly content to wait out the crowd. Fine, if the birthday boy wanted his attention all on himself then Pangi would indulge him.

It took over thirty minutes for the rush to finally wind down and another twenty for the counter crowd to disappear. He was frantically trying to clean up his workspace, and take stock of what he’d need to run to get in the back when he heard the scrape of a chair in Lukey’s direction.

“Hey Pangi.” He still wasn’t used to how bright and bubbly Lukey was now. Recently, he had been considering reporting Lukey’s former company for inhumane working conditions because there was no way there was that big a change in him otherwise.

“Lukey! Happy Birthday.” Pangi grinned. Somehow Lukey’s face brightened even more with his greeting.

“Thank you. It’s been a good one so far.” He nodded while Lukey spoke, and grabbed a large cold cup. Instead of writing what the drink was going to be he only put Lukey’s name and some silly drawings of balloons on it. Pangi had tested out the drink earlier, letting Pili try it for final approval. Pili had snatched the cup out of his hands and drank it down within an hour, so at least he knew it tasted alright.

“I have a feeling you’re going to like this. I had to look over all our syrups to make sure that we had the right one. I also have a back up if you hate this but I’m pretty confident.”
He explained to Lukey while carefully putting in the correct syrups.

“I’m sure I’ll love it.” He didn’t want to put his faith in that sentiment. It sounded sugar coated and fake. And maybe that was what was keeping him at arms length despite Lukey’s efforts to close the gap. Pangi was just waiting for him to revert back to how he had been before.

He finished up the drink, crafted specifically to taste like marzipan, Lukey’s favorite. Pangi didn’t get it, but who was he to judge? He only cared that Lukey liked it. With that in mind he kept it plain with no whip or fancy extras. Once the lid was on he set it in front of Lukey. “Enjoy.”

Watching Lukey go through the motions of examining the cup and grabbing the straw nearly gave him flashbacks. But instead of him running off he stood at the counter, putting the straw through the lid and taking a sip. It was different enough that it took him out of the moment.

Lukey looked at the cup like it had surprised him, and then took another drink. Pangi could see him processing his thoughts. “Is it almond?” Lukey glanced up at him, giving him a look of delight mixed with curiosity.

His reaction was better than he had been hoping for. “It’s a vanilla almond latte.”

“It’s perfect.” A huge smile spread of Lukey’s face, while he went in for another sip. There was something he couldn’t name in Lukey’s eyes that made him feel very aware of himself.

“I’m glad you like it. It might be a little more expensive than a mocha, but not too bad.” He said guiltily.

Lukey shook his head. “I don’t care. It’s worth it. Thank you. I had high expectations but you exceeded them.”

Pangi doesn’t know how to accept that compliment. He was searching for the words when he heard Pili walk past him.

“Get a room.” Pili huffed. He felt his cheeks go red at the insinuation. They’re not like that. Not even close. But he doesn’t say anything to Pili because he’s handed him a way out of having to keep up this conversation with Lukey. Not that he’s having a bad time, just the opposite. He feels himself getting sucked into Lukey’s magnetism and he needs a good reason to reset so he doesn’t embarrass himself.

He turned his attention back to Lukey. “I need to get back to work, are you going to stay here?”

Lukey doesn’t even hesitate. “Yea, until closing if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. I’ll see you on my break.” He winks at Lukey, but tells himself it’s only because Pili can see it from where he’s standing off in the storage area, getting who knows what. His friend scrunches his face at him and he feels satisfied that he had gotten Pili back from earlier.

Lukey leaves, heading back to his table and his laptop. Pangi lets out a breath, feeling both relieved and a little sad that Lukey had to go, but if he wants to make it out on time he needs to get his cleaning and closing work done. The door to the cafe opened and another group of grad students came in. If this current pattern held out he would be lucky to get out by midnight.

He busted his ass for the next few hours making drinks, doing restocking, taking out the trash, and sneaking looks over at Lukey. Pangi had expected him to leave early since it was his birthday, assuming that he had other plans. He couldn’t imagine why he would be here of all places. The only explanation that made sense was that he legitimately had work to get done, and was one of those people who don’t work well at home. He’d had a couple of friends like that in the past, they could never get their homework done at home.

Or maybe he was waiting for something? Pangi touched his pants pocket where the keychain was. The map was tucked in his jacket in the back. He hadn’t taken his break yet, mostly because he felt like he was so behind. But now that the store was half empty and there hadn’t been a new customer in the last ten minutes he found himself out of excuses.

He whipped himself up a quick vanilla latte, then grabbed for a smaller cup. Lukey had finished his latte within the first hour of him getting it and was just sitting there with nothing. They didn’t close for another two hours, so it felt wrong to have him just sit there empty handed on his birthday. Honey peach lattes were actually something he used to make in the summer when an old employee had bothered to come up with a seasonal drink menu for the warmer months. It had been one of the first things he had learned to make when he started, but it hadn’t appeared on any menu in years.

He didn’t know why he thought Lukey might like it. Lukey didn’t strike him as a person who would like sweet drinks, but Pangi thought the unique flavor combination might be a good fit. Admittedly, he had spent way too much time overthinking this whole drink thing.

Pangi ran to the back to grab the map he had made for Lukey before heading to the table. He wasn’t about to take him out hiking himself, that would be weird, but he could point out all the best spots. That was fine and didn’t blur any lines. He had spent a few hours of his free time tracing trails, marking out places to check out along the way, and the best places to camp for the night. It was just a collection of the things he had learned along the way. Nothing special. The map had cost him a dollar, the keychain he picked out was on sale for seven. He felt like he got off pretty easy as far as a return gift went, he just hoped this wouldn’t blow up in his face.

He walked over with the gifts in his pocket and the coffees in hand. “I made you a small version of the other drink I planned for you just in case you didn’t like the first one.” He said nervously, setting it down on the table.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Lukey said, but Pangi could hear the pleased tone in his voice. He plopped himself down, watching Lukey’s face for the reaction.

“I’m mostly just curious what you’ll think of it. It’s probably too much.” He shrugged.

“How so?” Lukey asked, reaching for the cup.

Not wanting to influence Lukey’s tastebuds he holds back on giving an answer. Lukey, without hesitation, tried the coffee, and Pangi can’t tell off the bat if he liked it or not. Seconds pass, and Lukey took another sip, contemplating the flavor like his decision was life or death.

Eventually Lukey put the cup down, smiling softly. “It’s nice. I would get it again, what is it?” Lukey asked for the second time. Pangi holds back his disappointment in himself. Clearly it wasn’t as well liked as the first drink.

“Honey peach latte.” Pangi mumbled, picking up his own cup to have something to occupy himself. “Is it too sweet?”

“It’s a little sweet. Good for the summer I think. I like it. But you really hit it on the head with the vanilla almond. Marzipan is one of my favorite things, so I’m afraid I’m pretty biased.” At least he can do one thing right. Fifty-fifty isn’t bad in the grand scheme of things. If he really thinks about it he’s two out of three with the mocha. Still on top.

“I’m glad you liked them both. I went back and forth for a while on which one I should actually make for you though.” Pangi sighed heavily. He had spent hours going back and forth with himself over it. Originally the marzipan latte was going to be almond and white chocolate but he thought it wouldn’t give the right flavor. He had also considered something made with lavender, or just a flat white. Something more adult, and serious. That was until he realized that was a stupid idea, and there was no way he could give Lukey a ‘serious adult drink’ on his birthday.

“Oh? Why were you so uncertain?” He can tell Lukey doesn’t want the real answer to that question. Pangi would feel too embarrassed to admit just how many hours of thought went into his choices anyway.

“I guess I just don’t have a great read on what you like. You never change your order.” Pangi shifted his gaze downwards in hopes that Lukey would let it go.

“Well I have two new drinks to get. I’ll be keeping you on your toes from now on.” Lukey grins at him, and his stomach twists. Why does he keep insisting on ordering what someone else picked out for him? It felt like a lot of pressure,

“You should order whatever you want. You don’t have to get something just because I made it for you once.” He regrets saying it as soon as it comes out of his mouth. Lukey’s face falls, taking on a bit of the expression he used to have in the mornings. He has to look away.

“Now hang on. It isn’t just because you made it for me. It’s because I like it, and it’s honestly too much extra effort to have to plan out what to order. I like having a usual drink.” The protest sounds flimsy in his ears.

“Isn’t it a bit predictable though?” Pangi glanced back at Lukey.

“Why is being predictable a bad thing? I think it brings a sense of normalcy to the chaos of my day to day.” Pangi is surprised by Lukey’s defensive tone. Was he just self-conscious about his order or was he upset about being called out?

Pangi didn’t want to argue with Lukey on his birthday, so he decided to change the subject. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the two gifts. “That reminds me. I got you something.” He decided to start with the keychain, dangling it off his finger towards Lukey. It was a little fox thing. He had picked it because the rock it was carved off of was white and black, reminding Pangi of Lukey’s old monochrome style. The girl working the register had explained what the rock was, and that it was supposed to help with staying calm and stuff. He didn’t really care about crystals, but the little thing had reminded him of Lukey.

“Oh! Wait, this is so cool.” Lukey leaned forward to examine it more closely. Pangi wondered why he didn’t just grab it for himself.

“It’s howlite.” Pangi explained, trying his best to remember what the girl from the shop had told him. “It’s supposed to be good for stress and stuff. I thought with how your work is you could use less stress.” God that sounded stupid.

Lukey’s face lit up anyway. “Foxes are one of my favorite animals as well. How did you guess?” Now that felt like a lie, Pangi just didn’t know enough to call him out.

And if it was true, then he felt slightly guilty that there wasn’t any guessing involved. Or even really an attempt to pick an animal he thought Lukey might like. The fox was the cheapest one in the shop in the right color. “Well there weren’t a lot of options. You don’t really strike me as a cat, turtle or owl person.” Pangi lied. Lukey was definitely more of a temperamental cat type in his opinion.

“No, probably not.” Lukey chuckled, and finally pulled the key chain off of his fingers. Pangi watched him go through the motions of examining it up close, acting completely charmed by it. “I’ll put it on my laptop bag so he can go with me to work every day.” Lukey smiled proudly.

Pangi tried to give a smile back, and directed his attention to the map. “The map has the trails I like marked. If you ever have a spare weekend you should check them out.”

“I’ll do that.” Lukey grinned, picking up the folded map. He had expected him to open it that moment, but Lukey focused on him instead. “I wasn’t expecting all of this, thank you.”

Pangi shrugged, trying to not make a big deal out of a couple things that didn’t amount to very much. “Everyone should get to feel special on their birthday.”

“Well you’ve certainly accomplished that.” Lukey said so sincerely it made his heart hurt. Did Lukey not have anyone? He had always imagined him with a significant other, but he must at least have a family. Or friends. But here he was, looking at these couple of trinkets and some coffee like they were really meaningful.

Pangi’s face fell for a second, but he quickly put his smile back on. He didn’t need Lukey thinking he was judging him or anything. “I’m glad. I know it isn’t a lot, but…”

“I couldn’t have asked for more. You’ve been perfect.” Oh… Was that flirting? It would explain why Lukey was so excited about the gifts he was just trying to hard. Which was flattering, but he didn’t know how to feel about it. And if he was flirting with him did that mean that Lukey liked… men? His head swam with the realization that he might have been wrong about him the whole time.

“Thanks umm… I should really get back to work now. I’ll talk to you in a bit.” Pangi rose from his chair, and grabbed his cup. He glanced back at Lukey once, but then got back to work.

Luckily a few customers came in a few minutes later, giving him something to work on. He needed something to do while he processed what he had just learned. On one hand it changed everything. But on the other hand, Lukey was still a customer, so in reality it changed nothing. He only knew a little better how to imagine Lukey outside of work.

The next time he looked over at Lukey his face was buried in the map. Pangi had expected him to glance over it maybe but he was full on studying every part of it with a stupid goofy grin on his face. He didn’t know how to feel about it, especially now. Pangi supposed he should be pleased, but instead he feels awkward and uncertain.

He had tried to push down the small crush he had on Lukey back when he was still an intern. It had been easy when he was still mad at him but recently things had shifted. Maybe they were just going too fast, and he wasn’t adapting well. He didn’t know how to read him or if he was being genuine or not. Pangi kept second guessing his intentions and sincerity. And now knowing that he actually had a chance with Lukey made everything worse.

After this birthday stuff he was going to try to take a step back from things. He was probably reading into Lukey’s actions way too much, and that last thing Pangi wanted was to get another rude reality check that Lukey didn’t feel the same. Even if he was into guys, it didn’t mean he was into him.

Pangi tells himself that he’s going to slow things down and just take some time to try to get to know Lukey better before letting himself get too much more invested in him. And if the calculating looks Lukey is giving him from his table are anything to go by, he’s going to need to be prepared. There’s something about it that says that their conversation after he locks the door for the night isn’t going to just be simple goodbyes. Lukey has something to say. He prays it’s just about the gifts or the coffee.

By the time he’s locking the cafe door for the end of the night he’s fully steeled himself against whatever plots are lurking behind those dark chocolate eyes. Lukey seems prepared, confident even.

“Thank you for everything again. I’ve put my little fox guy on my bag, he looks great on here.” Lukey holds up his bag for him to see. He shifts awkwardly, hoping that’s all there is to it.

“Nice! And I saw you looking at the map. I hope it helps.” Pangi tries to keep his voice light and pleasant, free from the nervousness he feels.

“It’s brilliant. There was so much detail, I can’t wait to go out and find all the spots you pointed out.” He catches the subtle shift in Lukey’s posture. Here it comes. “Actually, I’m about to go grab some food. I’d love to buy you dinner and pick your brain about a few things on the map.” Oh… Pangi wasn’t expecting to be fully asked out on a date. Sure part of him had been prepared for the possibility, but he hadn’t thought it would actually happen.

This is too much. They had literally just started being normal with each other, two weeks ago he couldn’t even stand the guy. He shifts back and forth, glancing down the street where he parked his car. Even if he was still interested in Lukey, this was too sudden. “Not this time.”

“Oh…No problem.” The confidence in Lukey’s face vanishes, and he immediately feels guilty about rejecting him.

Pangi scrambles to try to come up with an excuse. “It’s been a long day and…”

“No need to apologize.” Lukey cuts him off. “Thanks for everything today.”

“Sure… Happy birthday.” Pangi says softly, not knowing what to do now that the mood is ruined.

“Well I’m going to head off before the pizza place closes. See you around.” Lukey turns, and nearly bolts down the street.

Pangi’s stomach drops. “Lukey wait…” He calls after him. There’s no plan for what he’ll do if Lukey turns around, nothing has changed. But he doesn’t want them to part like this. Not on Lukey’s birthday. Not when things have been going so well between them.

Lukey doesn’t turn around though. Pangi takes a single step in his direction, but then second guesses it. He’ll have to apologize and make amends the next time he sees him.

Of course Lukey avoids his shifts for a few days. Pili lets him know that Lukey was coming earlier than usual to the cafe, before his shifts started. Pangi was getting deja vu, at this point they had spent more time ignoring each other than they had trying to be friends. This wasn’t what he wanted. He had just been taken by surprise, it had all been too fast for him, but it wasn’t him saying that he never wanted to see him again.

Pangi hadn’t even known Lukey was into men until a few hours before. There had been no time to process. Yea, maybe in his guilty late night imaginings, sure, he had hoped and wondered. But he hadn’t thought that it would be true and that Lukey would be into him. God, he had been horrible to him for weeks after he started coming to the shop again. And before that he had been an obnoxious prick for months. It didn’t even seem possible.

And there was no way that the offer had been casual. If it was, Lukey wouldn’t have rushed off and avoided him after. He had hurt his feelings. Fuck. He had to stop fucking things up with Lukey. The poor guy probably hated him now. That was at least his third strike.

He sulked around the cafe for another week before he saw Lukey again. When he slipped in the door Pili had been working the register, and he was on the bar. Pili gave him a knowing side eye. From what he could see Lukey didn’t have his laptop bag, which meant he wasn’t planning on staying. His stomach twisted in guilt.

Pili set the cup down for him, and he grabbed it. Lukey’s name was scribbled on top, with an order for an iced mocha. He frowned. Did Lukey not want his marzipan latte? Or maybe he had ruined the memory of it.

Shit. After all of that effort, he had tainted all the memories he had helped make for Lukey’s birthday. Why the fuck hadn’t he just agreed to get some pizza with him? It didn’t have to be a date or a big deal. He had certainly spent enough time thinking about Lukey that he could have justified breaking his own rules about keeping distance. Hell, he hadn’t really been keeping them in regards to Lukey as it was. Never, in all his time working as a barista, had he asked someone to hang out with him until the end of his shift. Not even Pili. He was a hypocrite.

Pangi lowered his head in shame and made the mocha. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Lukey was keeping his distance, chewing on his cuticles and avoiding eye contact. When the coffee was done Pangi didn’t want to put it on the bar, because he knew that Lukey was going to leave as soon as he picked it up.

“For Lukey.” He said softly, setting it down anyway. For a brief moment their eyes meet. Lukey looked guarded, and like he didn’t want to talk. But he had to say something, right?

“Thanks.” Lukey grabs for his straw, and Pangi gets flashbacks from when he used to bombard Lukey with one sided conversation when he was still an intern. He insisted to himself that this is different.

“Sorry.” He blurted out. Lukey looks at him bewildered. “About your birthday, sorry I…”

“You don’t need to apologize.” Lukey says quickly. “I shouldn't have made things weird.”

“It wasn’t weird I just… I have this rule about not mixing my work life and my personal life.” Pangi says even though he knows he hasn’t been fairly applying that rule to Lukey anymore.

“Oh…” Lukey frowns, and picks up his coffee. “I see. That’s fair. I can respect that.”

Pangi doesn’t know what more to say. “Sorry…”

“No, it’s fine.” Lukey puts a smile on that’s painfully false, and it makes Pangi want to fold and tell him that he wants him to be an exception; he just doesn’t know how that would work. And he just needs Lukey to be patient with him… But… He can’t bring himself to say those words, so he watches Lukey leave instead.

They carry on like that for a few weeks. Lukey comes and gets coffee, they have the limited but polite conversation that he has with the rest of his customers, and Lukey leaves once he gets his drink. He still mostly orders mochas. Pili tells him that sometimes he orders the marzipan latte when he isn’t working, but he can’t tell if Pili is trying to stir the pot or not. Either way, Lukey never orders it when he’s working.

Meanwhile, Pangi burns with the regret he feels for rejecting Lukey. He never thought he would get a chance with him in the first place and when he came he blew it. The life that he had been jealous of could have been his if he had just rolled with the offer instead of rejecting Lukey. He doubted he would be willing to give him another shot after everything he had done. Fuck he was so stupid.

Their uncomfortable arrangement continues for a few weeks, and Pangi feels like he’s back to where he was at the beginning of things, with Lukey acting standoffish and him trying his best to make conversation. Only this time, Lukey is a bit more talkative. Still, it’s a stalemate that keeps building up the tension between them, and no matter what he tries it doesn’t break.

“Hey, I noticed that there’s a group hike this weekend, it's on the board.” He says enthusiastically one afternoon.

“Oh… Will you be in attendance?” Lukey asks carefully.

“Naw. I have to study for exams.” Admittedly group hikes aren't his thing anyway, and even if they were he had a feeling that Lukey wouldn’t go if there was any risk of him being there as well. “You should go.” He encourages. “You always talk about how you want to get out and hike.”

Lukey frowns. “That’s true I just… I don’t know.” Pangi watches him preemptively grab a straw, something he never did before.

The minute the mocha hits the counter it’s gone and Lukey is out the door.

During the holidays he always wishes Lukey well. He wants so badly to plan a Christmas gift, or something for him. If Lukey would bother to stick around he’d even make him warm holiday drinks to try, but he hasn’t stayed to work since his birthday a few months ago. It inspires him to at least suggest one the next time Lukey’s close enough to the counter to chat.

“You know peppermint mochas are pretty popular right now. Especially hot ones. Would you be interested in something like that?” He asked casually.

“Probably not.” Lukey shrugged. “I like mine iced.”

“Some people get them iced. Actually we have a semi-regular customer who gets a peppermint white mocha. I think it’s a little sweet for me, but Pili likes it.” Pangi sighed. Lukey isn’t even looking at him. “Nevermind.”

“No, sorry. Just thinking.” Lukey replies in a distant voice, still not making eye contact.

“Well just let us know if you want to try a holiday drink.” He feels pathetic for even mentioning it. Like he’s desperately trying to keep Lukey’s attention. Which he kind of is if he’s being honest with himself.

A few days before Christmas he went in for his night shift with a plan. He had a candy cane in his pocket and he was going to give it to Lukey when he came in. For the first few hours of his shift he bounced nervously from foot to foot trying to stay calm. He hoped that this could help them get back to talking more, or at least convince Lukey to hang out again. It couldn’t hurt at least.

When Lukey came in he ordered another iced mocha, which was starting to feel like a personal slight at this point. He made the drink quickly, almost over filling the cup with milk from being so nervous. Pangi pulled it together, silently scolding himself for being an idiot. When he set the drink out for Lukey he pulled the candy cane out of his pocket.

“Here’s your mocha. By the way, I wanted to give you this.” He held out the candy, a traditional white and red striped one with a little green bow tied around it. Lukey looked at it with surprise and then guarded concern.

“What’s this for?” Lukey’s confused tone told Pangi this probably wasn’t going to end well for him.

“Because I wanted to give you something for Christmas.” Pangi insisted. “You won’t order one of our holiday drinks, and you don’t hang out here anymore so I thought I could just give you something small.” There. He’d done it. He’d brought up the tense situation between them.

“Why would you want me to?” Lukey asked, his eyes wide. “Is this some sort of joke?”

“I wasn’t expecting you to invite me out.” He can’t bring himself to imply that Lukey asked him out on what sounded like a date. He would probably just deny it anyway. “I’m sorry. I didn’t react the way I should have.” Or how he wanted to once he’d thought it over.

“You reacted authentically. I don’t need your pity or your candy canes.” Lukey replied stiffly.

“I just want to say sorry, and to try to stop things from being so weird. We don’t have to be friends. You don’t have to come in when I’m here. But for the record that’s not how I want it to be between us. If it’s what you do then I’ll respect that.” Pangi sighed, regretting this whole stupid thing.

“I thought you don’t make friends with people from work.” Lukey asked stiffly.

“Well if I was to make an expectation it would be for you. But I understand if I’ve ruined that.” And ruined the chance for anything more, but that’s another one of those things he can’t say outloud.

“You would make an exception?” Lukey asked slowly, as if he didn’t trust his own ears.

“Of course man. You’re like my favorite customer.” Pangi says bashfully. “Am I still your favorite barista?” Lukey doesn’t answer him right away. “Because I would understand if I wasn’t. I haven't exactly done a lot to deserve that title.”

Lukey shifted on his feet. “I suppose that title isn’t being held at the moment.”

Pangi nodded sadly. “That’s fair.”

Lukey grabbed his drink, but gave the candy cane a dismissive glance. “Thanks for the offer, and for the coffee.” He turned and walked out of the shop.

“Shit man…” Pili said softly from behind him. “I didn’t think he’d still be holding a grudge against you.”

Pangi shook his head and shoved the candy cane back into his pocket. He deserved that. At least he tried.

For the rest of the holiday season he picked up extra shifts at the cafe, waking up early to work the morning in hopes Lukey would stop by again at some point, but he never came. The new year came and went and then in a flood everyone went back to work and school.

The cafe was always toasty warm during these winter months so people tended to linger longer than normal, especially towards the end of his shifts. It made things a little less lonely but his eyes kept wandering over to what he had already permanently deemed ‘Lukey’s table’. He had sat there all of what, three or four times? But Pangi’s mind had already cemented the connection. Every time he saw someone else sitting there or found the table empty at the end of his shift he felt the stab of regret. It could have been Lukey if he hadn’t been such an ass.

By the second week of January he had given up on ever seeing Lukey again. He hadn’t shown up with the rest of the business crowd, unless he was coming in the mornings now, which he doubted. Pili hadn’t seen him either, and at this point was giving him these pathetic pity looks every time he asked about him.

Then, on Friday, Lukey slipped through the door of the cafe, looking around and meeting his eyes for the briefest of moments. Pangi watched him walk up to the register and spied his laptop bag on his shoulder. He was hoping it meant that Lukey would hang out and they could talk a little, but he didn’t want to let himself get too excited since Lukey could always just be heading back to the office with his things. But damn he couldn’t help but hope.

As Lukey left the register Pangi kept his head down and continued making drinks, his hands itching to grab Lukey’s cup first. He tried not to be obvious about watching Lukey’s path past the counter and over to his table. It would be mortifying for him to jump for joy over it, but his heart was soaring with this win. Lukey was back, laptop bag and all, at his table.

He’s so happy about it he doesn’t even mind that Lukey ordered a mocha again. Of course he would rather Lukey order the marzipan latte, but he told himself that he needed to be patient. That he needed to give Lukey time to feel comfortable again, and maybe one day he would get to make the latte for him.

Or maybe he had lied about liking it and was just trying to spare his feelings.

Pangi had been trying to not let himself drown in self doubt and second guess their time together from when they were on good terms. It would be easier if he wasn’t stuck in limbo. If Lukey had just stopped coming to the cafe he could understand, he would be able to mourn him and move on. But instead they were stuck in this halfway point where Pangi wasn’t sure if they could recover or not. After their last meeting he had wanted nothing more than to be able to let go, and yet… Part of his heart didn’t want to accept that it could be over. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly where Lukey had gone from customer, to having this fondness for him that he didn’t recognize. It was like Lukey brought out something in him he had never seen before. It was something more than just a crush, it was different.

It was this mix of competitiveness and affection. He hadn’t realized it at the time, he had just recently realized it was there. It was hard to justify the feeling of longing for someone you saw all the time, but the pattern was obvious. Pangi would always look for Lukey to walk in the door, like he was the best part of his day. And maybe he had been for a long time.

He might still be, even now. Because Pangi hadn’t felt this animated since the last time he had seen him. Lukey made him feel something. He thought it was just the anticipation of their confrontations. But it had changed with time, he had changed. And now Lukey made him feel excited. The anticipation was still there, but now it’s for the exhilaration he feels just by being in his presence. Lukey gave him a rush that he’s never felt before. And he let it slip through his fingers because he hadn’t understood his own feelings.

“Mocha for Lukey.” Lukey wasn’t at the counter, his face was buried in his laptop. He set the drink down, and instead of waiting to chat he went back to making drinks. Maybe he didn’t want to talk yet. He could deal with that. Just having him around was enough.

The truth was, he didn’t want Lukey to stay away. He wanted to keep him, he just wasn’t sure what words to say to make that happen, or if he could manage to say them if given the chance.

He went through his shift obsessively glancing over to Lukey’s table. At no point did he get the hint that Lukey wanted him to come over, the other man wasn’t even looking at him. They hadn’t spoken when Lukey had grabbed his drink either. And he even stayed away when he took his break. Giving Lukey space seemed like the right move, but fuck it hurt.

About an hour before closing Lukey started packing up his things, and threw out his empty cup.

“Have a nice night.” Pangi said as he walked by. The cafe wasn’t totally empty yet so he couldn’t say much more, even though he wanted to.

Lukey paused and turned towards him. He spied the little white fox he had given Lukey still on his laptop bag. That had to be a good sign, right? “You too.” Lukey hesitated, like he wanted to say something else, but turned to walk away anyway.

The next week Lukey started what would become his new pattern. He would show up right at 5:00pm, order a mocha, sit at his table, and leave an hour before closing. Apparently, he only stayed on the days that Pangi worked nights, which was crazy. They still didn’t talk much, or really at all, and at no point did Lukey give him any indication that he wanted to talk on his break. There were no conversations or smiles. No banter or jokes. And certainly no more invites out to dinner.

Pangi was committed to being patient, and respectful. What else could he do? For the next several months they stayed that way. Sometimes Lukey would be a little more chatty, and would talk to him about a coworker that was annoying him. And once when Pangi was learning a new seasonal drink he asked Lukey to try it, though he declined. And then for some reason the cafe completely changed the brand of syrups and sauces that they used, causing Lukey’s former boss to personally call up the shop owner and chew him out.

He had risked sitting at Lukey’s table to tell him about that one. Lukey’s wary gaze had only softened once it was clear that Pangi was only there for the purpose of retelling the story. As he walked away he even heard Lukey breathe a sigh of relief. That had settled things for Pangi. It was still too much too soon

In an odd way it was a relief to have this room to breathe as well. So much of his thinking for the past year and a half had revolved around Lukey. When he wasn’t studying or in class Lukey was all he could think about. With him in the cafe it was like the proximity allowed him to think clearly. Somehow having Lukey close satisfied a part of his brain that craved the other man. Without having to spend time talking it left him a lot of time to just exist and think about the little things that Lukey usually pushed out of his head.

Pangi would like to say that after these little conversations Lukey warmed back up to him, but he wasn’t that lucky. They kept to these small moments of speaking, but there were still some days where they didn’t speak at all.

In April things began to thaw a bit and the town became more active with events and open air markets. On a rather gloomy Friday in mid April one of those events had the whole area around the cafe crawling with people.

He wouldn’t have normally cared, but Lukey was late to arrive. His first thought was to blame the event. It was fifteen past now, and Pangi was trying to see out the window if Lukey was coming. He kept trying to tell himself that the streets must have been crowded or something else was holding him up. But it was the first time in three months he hadn’t shown up exactly at 5:00pm.

The cafe was still oddly packed, especially for it being so late. He had heard something about an event at the college, but Pangi hadn’t bothered to ask what it was. He just kept serving energy drinks to people who were clearly out of college already yet insisted on pouring vodka into their drinks before they left. He had already had to kick out three different groups for getting too crazy. Most people were fine. A little sun burned, and a little day drunk, but it was nothing they couldn’t handle.

He looked out the window for Lukey again. Pili was looking over at him sympathetically. Their boss had denied letting Pili stick around for a few hours of overtime to help with all the extra customers so he was about to have to take care of whatever chaos the night would bring on his own.

Two more people walked in, but neither were Lukey. He looked over to Pili silently begging for an explanation, but the smaller man just rolled his eyes.

“He’ll show up.” Pili sighed. “You’re so sensitive.”

“I’m just worried.” Pangi muttered. And there was this sick feeling in his stomach about it. Lukey was reliable, something he had learned over the last few months of quiet observation. This wasn’t like him. Maybe there was some excuse or explanation, but until he heard it from Lukey himself he was going with his gut that something was wrong.

A few minutes later his gut instinct was validated when he heard the faint sound of shouting coming from outside. It was a ways away, barely coming through the door and only because a customer had just opened it to leave. His stomach dropped. Normally he would have ignored it but he was so on edge his instincts kicked in and he was out from behind the counter in seconds, whatever drink he was about to make was left abandoned for Pili to sort out.

He pushed open the door and stormed out into the street, looking around for the noise. A little ways away was a group of men following after a familiar man in a suit.

Lukey.

He started walking in their direction, stopping once he got to the street corner so he could get a better idea if this was something he needed to involve himself in or not. Lukey had his head down, and was walking quickly while the group was jeering and laughing at him. Everytime he put more space between them the men started shouting at him, jogging to keep his pace. Pangi couldn’t make out exactly what it was. It had to be a cold and windy day as well, and their voices were being drowned out.

Without thinking he crossed the street, walking just as quickly to meet Lukey faster. He couldn’t take all of the guys on his own, but maybe he would be enough to get them to back off. For now they were just following Lukey, and making their drunk comments and obnoxious noises. But Pangi was more worried about them grabbing him and dragging him down a side street, or if they came back for him at the end of the night when they were bored and the alcohol had dried up. There were five guys, one he recognized as having been in the coffee shop earlier. One he had been forced to kick out for causing problems. The rest he didn’t recognize, but they were all wearing matching shirts for the event and all but one had a cup or beer in their hands.

“Hey!” It was a risk to draw attention, but he wanted Lukey to know he was there. “I was wondering where you were, I went on a walk on my break to see if I could find you!” He called.

Lukey looked up, relief flooding over his face. “Oh hey!” Lukey took the chance to jog over, leaving the others behind.

Pangi watched the five men pause and share questioning glances with each other. It was enough to let Lukey finally get some distance from the group and make it to him. “Come on.” He said in a low growl, still on edge.

Pangi walked backwards for a few steps, making eye contact with the men to warn them off. He wasn’t as strong as he was when he had been in the military but he was still in good shape. If it came to it he could take at least a few of them, depending on how drunk they were maybe he could get all of them knocked down so he could run for it. As long as he could get back to the cafe, if he could he could lock the door and have someone call the police. It wasn’t the cleanest plan, but it would at least make sure Lukey would be ok.

Luckily, by the time they were crossing the street to where the cafe was, three of the guys had already started walking away and the other two were just watching them walk back. No one had come after them, and it wasn’t all that dramatic. Still, he didn’t want to take any chances until they were across the street, only then did he fully turn around.

“You ok?” He asked quietly before they reached the door.

“I think so.” Lukey sighed. “It’s a bit of a story.”

“Do you want to talk about it now?” Pangi asked gently.

Lukey shook his head. “I just want to sit and process it.”

“Yea I get that. No worries. You let me know if you need anything, ok.” Pangi held the door open for him trying to be encouraging.

Lukey nodded, walking through. Pangi watched him bypass the register where Pili was standing, scowling, and headed right for his little table which was thankfully empty.

He went back behind the counter, and washed his hands, needing the moment to calm down and process that everything was ok.

“Proud of yourself Prince Charming?” Pili scoffed.

“Yea. He was being followed by five of those drunk assholes we’ve been kicking out of here.” Pangi snapped, drying his hands.

“Shit really?” Pili raised his eyebrows in shock.

“Yea. Be careful going home.” Pangi said pointedly, heading to the espresso machine. There were two cups still waiting for him, that he got started on right away. He needed to keep his hands busy and welcomed the distraction.

“You know I never leave home without something to take care of myself.” Pili chuckled darkly. “But yea sure.”

“Thanks for covering for me.” Pangi murmured.

“It was just a few minutes. It’s fine.” Pili shrugged. “Anyway, I already clocked out so I’m out of here. Have fun with your rescue.”

“You know you don’t have to dislike him because things between him and I are weird right now.” Pangi huffed. “I’ve told you this.”

“I know. I dislike him for my own reasons.” Pili smirked, and walked off, leaving out the front door.

Pangi shook his head and finished up the drinks still needing to be made. Once he called them out he glanced over at Lukey who had pulled out his computer but wasn’t doing anything with it from what he could tell. Pangi frowned. That wasn’t like Lukey, he could only assume whatever those guys had said had gotten to him.

He felt bad that he wasn’t able to sit with him at the moment. And while he couldn’t justify taking a break when they were still kind of busy, especially when he had just run out of the cafe, he could make Lukey something to help him feel better. His mind immediately went to hot chocolate. It was cold out, and the warmth and sweetness would help at least a bit. He wasn’t sure of the full scope of what happened, but hot chocolate certainly wouldn’t make it worse.

Instead of a traditional hot chocolate he went for a half dark and half white mix. His coworkers liked to be fancy and sold it to customers as a tuxedo hot chocolate, and it was pretty popular in the winter months. It was less popular now that it was spring, but he personally felt that hot chocolate was a year round thing. He made Lukey a large cup of it, and even added the usual whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top, leaving off the lid so he could appreciate it. Even though it wasn’t Lukey’s preference, sometimes whipped cream and extra chocolate helped.

He carefully brought the drink over to Lukey’s table himself, setting it down on a spare spot. The laptop had been shoved to the side of the table closest to the wall, and Lukey had a small notebook in front of him instead. “Hey, I brought you something.” He said softly.

Lukey’s eyes shot up. “Oh…” He could tell that Lukey had been startled by him, so he gave him a moment to recover. “Sorry I…”

“Don’t be sorry. You’ve had a rough day.” Pangi slid forward the cup. “Here, hopefully this helps.”

Lukey’s eyes fell on the cup. “Oh? What’s this?”

“Hot chocolate.” Pangi grinned. “It’s a little different than normal. So I hope you like it.”

Lukey picked the cup up slowly, examining it for a moment. He took an experimental sip, and looked up at him with surprise with a little cream mustache on his upper lip. It was cute, and it took Pangi a great amount of restraint to not laugh about it. “It’s sweet. Like really sweet.” Lukey’s tongue swept over his lip, collecting the cream there. Pangi froze. It was such a normal sight for a coffee shop but he had never seen Lukey do it since he never added whipped cream to his drinks. Just that little bit of white and flash of his pink tongue sent his mind straight into the gutter. To make it worse, Lukey scooped a bit of whipped cream up with his finger and popped it into his mouth.

Pangi’s brain short circuited for a moment. “Uhh… yea… It’s umm… Half white chocolate. It’s uhh… sweeter and creamier.”

His eyes followed the finger as it slid out of Lukey's mouth, making his own go dry. “It’s good. And I don’t even mind the cream.” Lukey smiled softly.

Oh… “That’s good. I'm glad… Uhh… hope it helps.” He turned on his heel and left before he made a fool of himself. He knew he was attracted to Lukey but he didn’t know he could be so easily turned on. It was lowkey embarrassing.

Luckily, there was lots to do behind the counter. Because everything had been so busy he was behind on cleaning and prepping for the morning shift. Between that and a continuous stream of customers he spent the next three hours barely able to glance Lukey’s way. When he did manage a glance it was mostly to make sure he was still there. He didn’t know how he was going to manage it but he was already planning on driving Lukey home to make sure he got there safely. Pangi would never be able to live with himself if he let him go and something happened. For all he knew those guys were still lurking around somewhere.

Logically, he knew that it was incredibly unlikely, but he couldn’t stop worrying about it.

After speeding through his tasks for a few hours he was able to catch up and nearly finish everything early. There was still over an hour and a half left to his shift, and he knew that if he didn’t talk to Lukey now he was likely to get up and try to leave soon.

He decided to bring another peace offering. He made himself a shift drink, an extra caramel latte with cold foam, and for Lukey he made the marzipan latte. If nothing else he wanted to try giving it to Lukey again. Maybe give it a redemption. He knew that Lukey had ordered it from others in the past, but this was different, because it was him making it. And that mattered to Pangi. It was his drink that was special for Lukey, and the fact he hadn’t gotten to make one for him since September had hurt. It was a selfish peace offering, he also didn’t know what else he could make, because there was no way he was making a mocha right now.

When the drinks were done he walked them over and sat down, setting Lukey’s latte by his now empty hot chocolate cup. “How are you doing?”

Lukey took a deep breath. “I’m ok. Just a little shaken.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked.

Lukey shrugged. “Not much to talk about. They cornered me on the way out of the office, apparently staff has been getting harassed all afternoon. The group chats have been talking non-stop about it.”

“Why didn’t anyone call the police?” Pangi frowned.

“Long response times. They’d be gone by the time anyone managed to get there.” Lukey glanced down to his cup, slowly letting his hand curl around it. “It’s fine, I knew I just needed to get to the cafe.”

“I’m glad I came to look for you. I was worried.” He said quietly.

“Were you?” Lukey asked, surprised.

“Of course.” Pangi said a little more harshly than he meant to. “Sorry, it’s just you always come in at 5:00pm on the dot. So when you were more than just a few minutes late I got worried and came to find you.”

Lukey frowned. “But what if I was just not coming?”

“Then when you came back the next time I would have held your mocha hostage until you told me where you had been.” Despite him being completely serious Lukey burst out laughing.

“Not my mocha, please Pangi.” Lukey chuckled, finally bringing up his latte and taking a drink. “Oh… This is…”

“Your marzipan latte.” Pangi confirmed, reaching for his own to have something to do with his mouth so he didn’t say something stupid.

Lukey’s eyes softened. “You know I stopped ordering it because Pili always botches it.”

“You could have ordered it from me.” Pangi said firmly.

Lukey shrugged. “It just… I don’t know.”

“I’d like it if you order it sometimes. I don’t think all that mocha sauce is good for you.” Pangi smirked.

Lukey’s eyes lit up. “Do you think I’m like 10% mocha by now?”

“Easily 12%.” They both grinned, laughing softly. “Would you mind if I drove you home tonight?”

“You can drive?” Lukey smirked.

“Yea, I have a jeep.” Pangi rolled his eyes. “How the hell do you think I get around?”

“I mean I just walk. I don't really bother with a car.” Lukey shrugged. “I don’t think I need to be driven home.”

“It would make me feel better.” Pangi insisted. Lukey rolled his eyes. “I’m worried those guys might be out there still, or someone else.”

“Pangi…” Lukey sighed.

“Please.” Pangi asked quietly. “I know we don’t talk as much as we used to but I care. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“And what about Monday when I have to go to work again?” Lukey sighed.

Pangi rolled his eyes. “Monday there won’t be an event with drunken idiots crawling around. It’s just the one time, ok.”

Lukey took a deep breath in. “Fine. You can drive me home, but I’m only agreeing because it isn’t far away so I don’t feel like I’m inconveniencing you.”

“Thank you.” Pangi let out the breath he had been holding. “I’m almost done with everything. So we can leave as soon as my shift is over.”

“That’s fine.” Lukey shrugged.

“Alright. I’ll see you in a bit then.” Pangi got up, and grabbed Lukey’s empty cup and his own drink.

“You see me all the time.” Lukey said under his breath, but he just heard it.

“Sorry?” Pangi asked, raising his eyebrow in question.

Lukey’s face blushed red. “It’s just… I see you looking over at me a lot.”

“Oh…” Pangi didn’t expect to turn the embarrassment back on him. “I guess I do.”

Lukey hesitates for a moment. “Why?”

Pangi tries to think of what to say that won’t make him sound like an idiot, but he can’t really think of an excuse. “Because maybe you’ll give me a sign that you want to talk again.” He shrugs.

“What made you think I didn’t want to talk to you?” Lukey frowned.

“The fact that you don’t talk to me.” Pangi says, confused.

“Oh… I suppose I haven't been doing much of that, have I?” Lukey says guiltily.

“You shouldn’t have to talk to me unless you want to.” Pangi grits his teeth. “If you still don’t want to, that's ok too.”

“So you’ve just been waiting for me to change my mind?” Lukey asks carefully.

Pangi sighed. “Something like that.”

“Oh…”

Pangi takes that as his cue to retreat behind the counter. He feels stupid and pathetic for admitting all of that to Lukey, and he half expects that Lukey will be walking out the cafe door any second now. It never happens. Every time his eyes wander over to Lukey’s table he’s sitting there, only now their eyes meet half the time. He’s still working in his notebook, his laptop already packed away. Pangi files it away for later, planning to ask about it at some point in the future if he can. He’s never seen it before today.

Lukey’s still here when it’s time to stack the chairs and clean the tables. He’s fussing on his phone, another atypical behavior. Pangi tries not to think about it too much, the day has already felt like a fervor dream as it is.

Minutes before closing he approaches Lukey again. “I need to grab something from the back, you want to grab your stuff and stack your chairs? I’ll meet you at the door.”

“Yea. I can do that.” Lukey says with an easy smile that Pangi hasn’t seen in months, and he can’t help smiling back at him.

Pangi grabs his things from the back, his leather jacket, and backpack. He pockets his keys, and clocks out, then goes to arm the alarm system. Lukey is waiting at the door, part of him considered that he might not be there, but at this point he was feeling a little more confident.

He holds the door open for Lukey, feeling a bit of whiplash from thinking about the last time he had done so. Instead of getting caught up in that thought he pushes it away and focuses on locking up. It only occurs to him once he turns around that he has to follow through with what he put into motion. He’s about to have Lukey in his jeep, and he’s going to drive him home like they had been on a date or something. His stomach twists with nervousness.

“Shall we?” Lukey grins.

“Yep. Down this way.” Pangi points to the direction he always walks. There’s a small parking lot for staff tucked between the buildings. The walk is short, and the cold air clears his mind. It’s so quick that his jeep is in sight within two minutes. There’s no time for them to speak in the transition, he doesn’t know what to say anyway. Whatever had given him the courage to speak so openly earlier had clearly left him.

“A black jeep huh?” Lukey asks excitedly once it comes into view. “I had imagined green or red for some reason.”

“Why?” Pangi is totally lost as to why Lukey would assume that. Black is cool.

“You just strike me as being more of a colorful person. I’m the one that does the monochrome thing.” Lukey says jokingly.

Being teased by Lukey doesn’t even feel real. He’s so aware of everything in that moment that the lighthearted conversation feels out of place. “I just think black is a cool color for a car.” He shrugs.

“I agree. This is the kind of car I wouldn’t mind being driven around in.” Lukey says brightly.

Oh… “Well maybe this doesn’t have to be a one time thing then.” Pangi chuckles and clicks the button on the fob to unlock the doors. “Go ahead and get in.”

He walks around the other side, sliding into the driver’s seat, and buckling himself in. Pangi starts the jeep only after Lukey is safely inside, getting himself and his things sorted. The radio is turned off so it doesn’t distract him, and he rolls down the windows to get some air. Despite how cool it was, it feels stuffy inside.

“This is great.” Lukey grins. He has to admit, if he wasn’t fond of Lukey already his enthusiasm towards his jeep would be winning him over. As it is, it's just another thing he can list about Lukey that he finds charming.

“I’m glad you like it.” Pangi says sincerely.

“I suppose you bought this because of all your hiking?” Lukey asked politely.

“Yea. Usually I have the top off, but there’s been so much rain I have to have it on. Hopefully in a few weeks I’ll be able to get in a good hike.” He wants to ask Lukey to come with him next time, but he stays silent.

“That sounds great.” Lukey grins. “Well, if you head back to the street you just need to go right down to the corner then make a left.”

Oh… right… taking him home. “Got it.” Pangi puts the jeep in reverse, backing out of the space and then gets on the road. “I can’t imagine it’s too far since you walk.”

“It’s only a few blocks away, it'll be on the left.” Lukey fidgets with his phone. “Umm… I wanted to thank you for driving me.”

“No worries. I’m just relieved you let me.” Pangi shoots him a wink.

“What I mean to say is… If you want, I have some cottage pie I made last night. I made far too much for myself and I was wondering if you’d like some?” He can tell from Lukey’s tone he’s nervous.

Fuck Pangi feels nervous too. “Yes.” He says instantly. “I’m starving actually, I’d love some.” There’s no way he’s making the same mistake twice. Pangi isn’t actually completely certain what cottage pie is, but it doesn’t matter. He’s going to eat it.

“In that case, you see the small alley just up ahead?” Lukey points to a small opening just ahead of them.

“Yea.” Pangi is already turning on his blinker.

“Head down there and I can open the garage for us. My apartment came with a parking space, though I have no use for it.” Lukey sighed.

“I guess it works out for when you have guests.” Pangi shrugged.

“I suppose. But I really never have anyone over.” Lukey huffed.

Pangi smirked. “Oh, so am I an exception then?”

Lukey lets out a laugh. “Yea, I suppose you are.”

The answer left him speechless. They sit in silence while the large rolling door to the garage opens. Lukey quietly directs him to the spot that was assigned to him, 204 which is apparently also his apartment number. Once they’re out of the jeep Lukey leads them up an elevator to the second floor and down a brightly lit hallway to a door tucked into a corner.

Lukey lets him in and turns on the lights. The apartment is nicer than his own. There’s a bathroom right off the front door, and a closed door that he assumes is a closet. They walk down a small hall down to a kitchen and living room, with a small flight of stairs to the right that goes up to a loft where he assumes Lukey’s bed is.

“Feel free to look around and make yourself comfortable while I reheat the pie. How hungry are you?” Lukey glances over towards him.

“Starving.” Pangi answered automatically. Lukey smiled, and turned back to his fridge.

Pangi took the time to look around the apartment, noticing that almost everything is either in black or white except for a pin board on a wall by the kitchen and some plants scattered around. The couch is plush and black with a knitted white blanket and white throw pillows. It looks like the perfect place to take a nap and he can feel the day catching up with him. THere’s a coffee table, a small desk space, but ultimately there is very little clutter. He drops his backpack by the couch and heads over to the pinboard.

It’s filled with pictures, some older from Lukey while he was in college, and some more recent. The newer pictures were all taken in the familiar lush green of the local trails. He can see some of the places he had marked for Lukey on his map in the background. There’s even a few pictures of the local hiking group he recommended, he can recognize several of the people he knows who are regulars of the cafe, and there in the back is Lukey.

“You joined the hiking club?” He asks, turning to face Lukey.

“Yea, I was tired of waiting for someone to get the hint I wanted to go with them and joined the group.” Lukey shrugged.

Pangi could tell Lukey was talking about him. Part of him wants to just let it go, but he’s been wanting to have this conversation for a while. They had been dancing around things for too long, and even though he was still afraid to say what needed to be said, he couldn’t imagine a better opening than this. He took a deep breath, steeling himself. “Did you know I really didn’t like you until my birthday? I could almost say I hated you.”

Lukey’s eyes widened. “I knew you weren’t pleased with me… Was it because of the whole morning coffee thing?”

“It was because you didn’t say goodbye. You just disappeared one day, and then when I saw you again you told me it didn’t matter that you had just ghosted me. I had tried for so long to get your attention and then you just didn’t care that I might have been sad to have you not come in anymore.” Pangi explained.

“Oh… I hadn’t even considered.” Lukey groaned. “That was rather rude of me.”

“I know. You told me that it didn’t matter too, remember?” Pangi said pointedly.

“I do somewhat recall that. That explains some things. Wait, so if you hated me why did you get me something for my birthday? Especially something so thoughtful.” Lukey asked, crossing his arms.

“Because I forgave you after you apologized. But your birthday was so soon after mine and it just was… it was too fast.” Now that they were approaching dangerous territory he felt himself losing his words

“I just asked you to dinner. It was just going to be greasy pizza.” Lukey frowned.

Pangi knew Lukey was going to do this. He hadn’t even accused him of asking him on a date outright yet. “Was it? Was it just dinner?” Pangi asked quietly.

Lukey’s cheeks went red. “Of course it was.”

“It felt more like you were asking me on a date.” Pangi pointed out.

“Thats ridiculous, I didn’t even know if you liked men.” Lukey snapped.

“Well I do… But I was a little shocked to have just figured out that you liked men too when you asked me.” Pangi admitted.

“Wait, how did you not know?” Lukey shook his head. “I flirted with you constantly.”

“I know… It’s just. I had this version of you in my head who was straight that I came up with when I first met you. You never told me anything about yourself so I sort of just made something up. And that person was the one that I imagined you were most often. I had a different one where you gay, but I thought about that less. And so I kinda just ignored the signs.” Pangi felt his hands trembling from his nerves.

“Why?” Lukey asked. The microwave went off behind him but Lukey walked towards him instead. “Why was that the one you considered less? I don’t understand.”

“Because I imagined you had a husband or a boyfriend or something and had a cute apartment and little dog.” He laughed nervously. “And I guess… I was jealous of that.”

“Of having that kind of life or…”

“That there was someone you were going home to.” He nearly whispered the words.

Lukey was quiet for a while and then met his eyes. “To be fair… I had been wanting to ask you on a date for ages… I thought that maybe for my birthday I could get my wish and you’d be interested.”

“I am. I know I said no before but I was, and I am… I was just… surprised. It was just too much too fast.” He struggled to explain.

Lukey nodded. “I see that now yea…”

“I wished I had said yes, I didn’t want to hurt you.” He says quietly, taking a brave step towards the other man.

Lukey snorted. “Yea well… maybe I was just being a little sensitive. It kinda sucks to be rejected on your birthday.” Lukey chuckles and he can’t help but do the same.

“I’d like to be your dinner date for your next birthday. And I’d like to take you hiking. And I’d like to talk to you on my breaks when I can.” He takes a small step forward towards Lukey so they’re face to face.

“Pangi, our birthdays aren't for another five months.” Lukey rolled his eyes. “Be serious.”

“I am being serious. In five months, I'll be your birthday dinner date.” He says firmly.

Lukey snorts. “Sorry to say but if you’re just a dinner date after five months then I don’t have much hope…”

“Then what should I be?” He asked, wanting Lukey to be the one to say it.

“Well I guess boyfriend would be the only acceptable title at that point.” Lukey’s tone has a hint of challenge in it that makes him smile.

“Do I have to wait for that? Is there an approval process or can I take that title now?” Pangi asks softly, feeling himself leaning closer to Lukey.

“Oh… umm… I’m not sure.” Lukey starts leaning in and Pangi meets him in the middle pressing their lips together.

Their first kiss is soft and teasing, a test to try to break the tension. Instead Pangi feels it grow, everything he had been feeling for Lukey comes right to the front of his mind making him hungry. Making him want. He cups Lukey’s face with his hands, kissing him more deeply now, pulling a soft moan out of him as he licks into his mouth. After a moment he feels himself being pulled, and he breaks the kiss just long enough to follow Lukey to his couch.

He pulls Lukey on top of him, bringing their faces back together while he sinks into the couch. It’s better than he imagined, the couch and the man. Lukey sits on his thighs, running his hands over his chest. He undoes Lukey’s tie while they lazily kiss, tossing it to the side. Part of him wants to go further, and strip Lukey out of his button up. But he can feel their kiss tapering off already, and a few seconds later they naturally part to breath, and Lukey slides off of him.

“We should probably talk about this first.” Lukey murmurs once he gets his breath back.

“Sure, so am I approved?” He grins.

“For what?” Lukey asks, confused. And he’s starting to be really fond of the stupid little face Lukey makes when something confuses him.

“For the title of boyfriend.” He says teasingly.

Lukey groans and crawls forward, settling himself in the space between him and the back of the couch. Pangi wraps an arm around his back, letting Lukey settle his head on his shoulder. They fit together well. “Yea I suppose you’re approved.” Lukey says finally.

“Alright, well that’s all I needed. Anything else you want to cover?” Pangi asks nonchalantly.

“Ugh, not at the moment. It’s been a day and I’ve just found a comfy spot.” He can see the smirk on Lukey’s face.

“Hey, all of me is comfy.” He insists.

“You wish.” Lukey says seriously, but his huge grin gives him away.

He could get used to this. In fact, he plans on doing just that.

Chapter Text

“Yea I got the peas.” Pangi mumbles into the phone while his eyes shifted from one pint of ice cream to the next, looking for the correct brand and flavor.

“And the mushrooms.” Lukey reminded him.

Pangi glanced down at the basket in his hand, double checking that they were already there. “Got those too. I’m just getting one last thing and then I’ll be coming home.”

“Perfect, I’ll be there in ten, left late because the new hire had a million questions.” Lukey sighed.

“That sounds annoying, but hopefully it means they won’t bother you this weekend.” Pangi chuckles. His eyes finally find the gelato, but he has to search to find the vanilla. He pins his phone to his ear with his shoulder, so he can open the door to the freezer.

“Well it won’t matter, my phone will be off anyway. It’s my birthday weekend, and I refuse to be available, I’ve already informed most of the team.” Lukey said firmly.

Pangi grins to himself, thinking over their plans while he slips the container of gelato into his cart. “Well that’s good. I’m not sharing you anyway.”

Lukey’s giggle echoes through the phone. “You better not. Anyway, see you soon darling. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Pangi hangs up the phone, slipping it into his pocket. He mentally ran over everything in his cart. Peas and mushrooms for their dinner, gelato for their dessert, and milk for their coffee tomorrow. Perfect. He would grab a bottle of wine but he knows that Lukey has that covered already, and even after all this time he can never remember any of the rules for it.

It had been nearly two and a half years since Pangi had gone home with Lukey and they had started dating. Lukey had started coming by the coffee shop more and more often to spend time together, until it got to the point where Lukey was coming in five days a week when he was working, even when they started living together. Six months into their relationship they had decided that Pangi would move in with Lukey, mostly due to how close the coffee shop was. Lukey had asked on his birthday, and Pangi had immediately agreed.

He liked to think that they had a healthy relationship. On weekends they went hiking together, or took day trips out to other nearby cities. Pangi learned about Lukey’s love for travel and nice food, and Lukey learned that Pangi was willing to try anything once if only for the challenge. And once Lukey and he actually started having more conversations that realmed beyond coffee and dancing around each other, their relationship took off and he had been blown away. Pangi found himself falling more and more in love with Lukey’s sense of humor, his wit, and all the goofy voices and faces he would make when he was able to just be himself. It was so stupid how much Lukey was able to make him laugh. Being with him was easy, and everyone had commented in those early months just how much happier he seemed to be.

In all honesty he had noticed the change himself, being with Lukey was the happiest he had ever been in his life.

Right after they had moved in together Lukey had gotten the first of his promotions, increasing his salary significantly. They had agreed at that point that Pangi would quit working at the cafe, so he could focus on the more technical and hands-on part of his education. It would also allow him to complete his studies faster now that he could dedicate more time to them. Lukey was great about it, making sure that Pangi always had free time to study. In return he took over cooking for a while, and made sure that he cleaned up as best he could. It was never really clean enough for Lukey’s standards but it cut down on the amount he did himself once he got home from work.

He had gotten a job right after graduation and began working regular hours making slightly more than Lukey was. At that point they were making enough to move into a bigger apartment, but they had been so attached to theirs at that point that they decided to sign a new lease, and save up for their future. Talks about a future involving marriage, a house, and even eventually children had started early on. Pangi confessed he just needed to live near an airport or an airbase, while Lukey’s eyes glittered with the possibilities of moving to a bigger city in a warmer climate. Pangi knew he’d follow him anywhere, anywhere he wanted to go. Marriage was a must for both of them, and Pangi being a child of divorce had very big opinions on taking marriage seriously. Lukey had understood, making sure that Pangi knew that he was serious about it too. His parents had love filled, long lasting marriage, and he wanted that for himself as well. So they started saving for their eventual future with the understanding that those two goals were the priority.

And for Pangi that meant the first thing his savings had gone into funding was a ring. Because like hell was he going to make Lukey propose to him. But more importantly, it hadn’t taken long for him to realize that Lukey was it for him. Often he found himself wondering how he managed to find the literal love of his life because of Lukey’s ex-boss's vile coffee order. It was admittedly hilarious.

Pangi had decided Lukey would be the man he married when they had taken their first actual vacation together after he had gotten his job and Lukey had gotten a second promotion. They had taken a short trip to an all inclusive resort in Mexico and had spent the days baking in the sun, swimming in the ocean and drinking. It had been nice to get away from their rainy little corner of the world for a while, and it also gave Pangi perspective.

While sitting on the beach together at sunset he decided that he wanted to share those moments with Lukey for the rest of their lives. There would never be anybody he could ever love and cherish more. And so when he got home he decided to plan. He started saving as much as possible, and tried to figure out the best way to go about asking Lukey to marry him. The easy answer was their birthdays. When he had started planning he realized they were coming up in a few months and he thought it would be a perfect opportunity to propose.

He had continued the tradition of making Lukey a new birthday drink every year even after he left the cafe. He actually made Lukey coffee every morning now that they were working similar hours. But he mainly rotated around a few of his favorites.

The first birthdays they spent together Pangi had made Lukey a biscoff latte, and the year after, with the brand new espresso machine Lukey had purchased for ‘them’ he made a banana bread latte he had seen on social media.

Lukey had liked the biscoff latte, and requested it about as often as he did mochas and marzipan lattes. But the banana bread latte had been a bit of a flop. But this year, Pangi was ready. He had tracked down a restaurant supply store near the airfield he worked at and had taken multiple trips to scope out what brands of coffee syrups they carried and which flavors. Once he was certain of his plan he knew there was only one option. One of the brands sold a tiramisu syrup and he was currently hiding it in the back of the cabinet where he stored his coffee supplies. He had experimented with ratios and espresso blends until he found the best combination and created Lukey’s birthday drink. Which was also going to be his proposal drink.

It wasn’t exactly to his tastes but he knew that Lukey would like it, and what it would mean. They had casually started talking about the details of what they would want in a wedding about a year ago. Lukey’s only major request was that they honeymoon in Italy. So what better way to propose than with a tiramisu latte? He thought it was rather brilliant, and he had carefully aligned his shopping trips around Lukey’s schedule to eliminate the risk of him catching on. A month ago he finally picked up the ring from the shop, a simple gold band with a row of diamonds running all the way around in the middle. He hadn’t had it engraved, since he wasn’t totally confident in the sizing, and he wanted them to discuss that together. But the plan was to add something special just for themselves later.

Now that he had the drink created and the ring hiding in his sock drawer all that was left was to make Lukey his coffee on his birthday and propose. He had gotten everything prepared for the next day, they were going to sleep in, he was going to propose, and then go on a hike and take cute pictures like he knew Lukey would want. Lukey thought they were going to go out to dinner alone after but instead he had organized a small party with friends and family at the restaurant. He was nervous about everything, of course, but he was also so excited he could barely focus these last few days. His coworkers had teased him about it endlessly.

Once he got back to the apartment he let himself in and joined Lukey in the kitchen, giving him a kiss on the cheek before putting the groceries away. “Hey, how was your day?”

“Ugh, long.” Lukey groaned. “I’ll take the peas and mushrooms now please.”

Pangi passes them over, and immediately went to put the gelato in the freezer to firm up. “I’m making us affogato tonight.”

“Ooo, making good use of your espresso machine, are you?” Lukey teases.

“You mean your machine.” Pangi shot back, putting the milk away in the fridge.

It was a running joke between them. The espresso machine had technically been a gift for Pangi. Technically. But since Lukey ended up benefitting from it the most he liked to joke that Lukey had bought it for himself. They often had light hearted disagreements on who had more claim to it given who got the most enjoyment from it.

“I’m glad you got more milk. Any hints about what to expect tomorrow.” Lukey asks slyly.

Pangi rollde his eyes. “It might be coffee based.”

“Not venturing into the matcha realm yet?” Lukey chuckled.

“Not for your birthday, hell no. I have standards to uphold.” Pangi scoffs, pretending to be offended.

“Oh, my apologies, I didn’t realize you were still gatekeeping.” Lukey said sarcastically.

“I just don’t think you’d like it. But if you want we can go to the cafe and have Pili make us one.” Pangi suggested.

“That’d be nice. We haven’t had a chance to visit in a while.” Lukey said, turning back to the pan. Pangi also knew that Pili was going to want to see the ring since he wasn’t going to be able to make the party.

“I’m gonna go take a shower, how long until dinner?” Pangi asked.

“Twenty minutes. I just need to finish the sauce and cook the pasta.” Lukey smiled warmly.

“Perfect.” Pangi gave Lukey another kiss on the cheek and went off to shower.

They ate their dinner with Lukey retelling all the events from his day at the office. Pangi didn’t contribute much from his own day. Currently his upcoming proposal was the biggest topic of conversation between the other mechanics.

When they were done Pangi did the dishes while Lukey showered and when he came out Pangi got started on their desserts. He half filled two small mugs with vanilla gelato and then poured freshly brewed espresso over the top. He brought both cups over to the couch, each with a spoon, and sat on the far end of the couch. He had learned rather quickly that Lukey had little concept of personal space with him, and any time Pangi was on the couch Lukey would inevitably end up lounging against him in some fashion. He was practically a pillow at this point, not that he minded. But it made sense to him that he stuck to the far side of the couch to have a little extra support for himself. One of them needed to be stable, and it wasn’t going to be Lukey.

He passed over Lukey’s cup and positioned himself the way Lukey preferred, slightly angled to the side. As predicted, Lukey took the cup, taking the first bite of gelato, and then leaned back against his chest. He pressed a kiss to the top of Lukey’s head, and then started on his own.

“I love you for getting the good gelato, but if I had known you were at the specialty shop I would have given you a longer shopping list.” He can tell by Lukey’s tone he isn’t completely teasing.

Pangi rolls his eyes fondly. “That’s why I didn’t mention it. You’d have me there for an hour, and dinner would have been late.”

“It would have been worth it.” Lukey insists, half turning around.

“Is it worth spilling your affogato?” Pangi asks pointedly, staring at the now creamy espresso perilously close to spilling over the rim of Lukey’s mug. Lukey quickly adjusts his cup and himself, settling back into his original position. “That’s what I thought.”

Lukey sighs. “Fine, then you owe me a trip there tomorrow after our hike.”

“If that’s what you want.” Pangi half imagines and half hopes that Lukey will forget all about this conversation come tomorrow, so he doesn't mind agreeing now.

“You’re going to regret agreeing.” Lukey chuckles. Or maybe he does.

It is only a few hours until Lukey’s birthday so Pangi just focuses on eating his affogato. Playing the long game with Lukey was not for the weak.

Later that night he was up way past when Lukey had drifted off, trying to go over his head the exact way he was going to ask Lukey to marry him. Admittedly, he was spiraling. He had assumed he would wing it, but now that he was hours away the nerves were catching up to him. Pangi was second guessing if he should put the ring on the straw like he originally planned or if he should hold it out separately. Maybe he didn’t even need to be holding the coffee at all if he could get Lukey to close his eyes…

“Why are you still awake?” Lukey mumbled, scooting closer so their shoulders were touching.

“I just can’t sleep.” Pangi sighed. There was to use trying to hide it, Lukey knew him too well.

“That’s not like you… What’s wrong.” Lukey turned towards him, propping himself up on his elbow.

“I think it might have been the espresso…”

Lukey snorted. “Well that just isn’t true. You’ve never had trouble sleeping because of caffeine. In fact the last time you couldn’t sleep like this was before your final exams.” Pangi froze. “What’s going on, darling?” Lukey’s concern filled him with guilt.

“Nothing, nothing’s wrong. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.” Pangi admitted.

“And you don’t want to tell me about it?” Lukey asked gently.

He knew that Lukey was too persistent for his own good, and he was going to have to give him something. “It’s supposed to be a secret…”

“Oh…” Lukey burst into giggles. “Well… I hate to burst your bubble.” Pangi’s heart dropped. He had only told a small handful of their mutual friends about the proposal. “But Aimsey accidentally mentioned something about a party within earshot last week.”

Pangi’s mind raced. “Oh… Shit… I’m sorry. You weren’t supposed to know. It was a surprise…”

“I had guessed. And I promise to still act surprised for everyone tomorrow.” Lukey closed the remaining space between them, cuddling up to his side. “But whatever it is that you’re fretting over, please don’t. I’d much rather you get a good night's sleep. I’m going to love whatever it is you have planned.” He feels Lukey press a small kiss to his chest, then settle back on his shoulder.

Pangi’s heart melted. He wrapped his arms around Lukey pulling him more fully on top of himself, and pressed his own kiss to Lukey’s temple. “I love you, you know that?”

“I do. And you take such good care of me and always try to make my birthday special.” Lukey murmured. “But I’m going to enjoy it so much more if you can enjoy it with me.”

Pangi couldn’t take it anymore. He shifted their position and cupped Lukey’s face, bringing their mouths together. They lazily kiss each other for a few moments until he can feel Lukey start to melt into him the way he does when he starts falling asleep. He breaks their kiss, and lets Lukey find a comfortable spot on his chest again. “I love you.” He murmurs.

“I love you too.” Lukey yawns. In moments his boyfriend is back asleep. Pangi focuses on the feeling of Lukey breathing and the faint feeling of his heart beat to help him fall asleep too. Eventually, he finally drifts off.

They woke up together in the late morning, their bed a little too warm, and the light from the window a little too bright. Lukey groaned and rolled off of him, stretching and flexing his stiff limbs. “Morning.”

Pangi shifted to his side. He loved the way Lukey’s voice was always deeper in the morning. “Good morning, and Happy Birthday.”

Lukey grinned. “It is my birthday. Thank you.”

“And since it’s your birthday, how about I shower first, and you can lay in bed for a bit.” Pangi offered.

“You’re not going to stay with me?” Lukey frowned.

“We’re not going to have enough time for the hike if we stay in bed too much longer.” Pangi chuckled.

“What if we just don’t.” Lukey pulled a pillow over his head.

“You’ll regret it in an hour and will wish you’d gotten up.” Pangi pulled the pillow away and placed a small kiss on Lukey’s lips. “Here, you wake up a little more, I’m going to shower.”

Lukey grumbled in the affirmative, grabbing his phone from the nightstand.

Pangi tried to act casual while showering and getting ready. He couldn’t exactly dress up for the moment, that would be too suspicious. “You want to go out for breakfast after our coffee?” He asked, standing in front of their closet, towel still wrapped around his waist.

Lukey looked up from his phone with a scowl. “I thought we wouldn’t have time for our hike? Going to breakfast would mean needing to come back and change.”

“Yea… ok. It was just a thought.” Pangi said defensively. “Why don’t you shower. I’ll have our coffee ready by the time you get dressed.”

Lukey bounced out of bed with a grin, walking towards him with a mischievous look in his eye. “Do I get to unwrap you later then?”

Pangi chuckled, batting away Lukey’s hand that was trying to sneakily grab for his towel. “Yes. I did you the favor of not wearing you out last night before our busy day today. But now I’m thinking I let you off too easy.”

Lukey giggled. “I mean… you still can…”

Pangi shook his head. “Go take a shower, birthday boy.”

“Oh fine…” Lukey sighed dramatically. “I’ll just perish then. On my birthday.”

“Somehow I think you’ll survive.” Pangi smirked, going into the closet to get something appropriate for hiking. Once he heard Lukey actually get into the shower he went into his sock drawer and got the ring box out. He slipped the box into his pocket in case he changed his plan at the last minute and needed it.

They had packed their backpacks last night so he had no more excuse to wait around. Pangi headed into the kitchen, grabbing the milk from the fridge and filling their cups with ice.

He worked on his own first, making a cinnamon honey latte which he quickly set to the side. The nerves hit him as the espresso brewed for Lukey’s drink. He had picked Lukey’s favorite frosted glass cup with the black lid, the monochrome on brand for his man. He mixed the syrup into the espresso and poured it over the ice in the cup, topping it with milk. Once the lid was on he set it to the side of the machine where Lukey wouldn’t see it. He didn’t put the ring on it yet, still not certain what the best way to go about it would be. It mostly depended on Lukey and what he would play along with.

Pangi went into the bedroom, finding Lukey finishing getting dressed. “Hey so…”

“So?” Lukey turned towards him, arching a brow.

“So I want you to close your eyes before I give the coffee to you…” Pangi said awkwardly.

“Wait, why?” Lukey laughed nervously. “Is it a weird color?”

“I mean… I don’t want to tell you. Enough has been spoiled already.” Pangi said smoothly.

Lukey’s expression shifted into something soft and sympathetic. “Ok, I’ll play your game. Do you need me to shut my eyes in here?”

“No… how about you sit at the table, and then I’ll bring it to you?” Lukey nodded, and headed to the kitchen. Pangi quickly grabbed the ring from the box, keeping it in his palm.

Lukey was standing at the table, waiting for him. “Where do you want me?”

Pangi pulled out the chair closest to the espresso machine, turning it so it faced away from it. The angle would let him get down on one knee without having to be in a weird spot, and it would give him a chance to slip the ring on the straw before coming over.

Lukey settled down on the chair with a smug smile on his face, and made a big deal out of covering his face with his hands. “Right… I’m ready.”

Pangi took a sharp breath and slipped around the chair. “Alright one second.”

He quietly slipped the ring onto the straw, letting it rest on the lid. With a few quick adjustments it was facing at the right angle, and he was ready. His heart was pounding while moved back around the chair to face Lukey, and carefully got down on one knee.

“So keep your eyes closed. I had a lot of trouble coming up with this flavor. And it took some effort to get it perfect. But for your birthday this year I have made you what I am calling… a ‘Will You Marry Me Latte’?”

Lukey’s hands immediately fell from his face. “Wait what?” His confused eyes sought out the cup. “Is that a ring. What the fuck?” Lukey laughed brightly. “Wait, of course. Yes. Holy shit, yes I’ll marry you. Pangi what the fuck?” Lukey laughed, his face gradually growing in a grin as reality hit him.

Pangi, on the other hand, had felt his heart stop and then restart at least twice. “It’s a Marry Me Latte.” He chuckled, still nervous.

“What the hell is that?” Lukey shook his head still grinning, slipping the ring off the straw and onto his finger. It fit his finger well, which had been another worry of his. But it seemed he had gotten the sizing correct.

“It’s a tiramisu latte. Because I know you’ll want to honeymoon in Italy.” Pangi shrugged, setting the coffee on the table next to Lukey.
The coffee went ignored, instead Lukey slipped out of his chair, wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. When they broke apart Lukey chuckled, holding up his hand so they could both admire the ring on his finger.

“Thank god. I was afraid I was going to have to propose for Christmas.” Lukey laughed.

“Like I was going to let you propose.” Pangi grinned, bringing their foreheads together. “I’ve been planning this for months.”

“Wait, is this what you were nervous about last night?” Lukey asked softly.

“Of course, I just couldn’t tell you without ruining the surprise.” He said, finally feeling his nerves start to settle.

“You’re amazing.” Lukey grinned. “I can’t believe you proposed to me with coffee.”

“Do you want to try it? The syrup was a little tricky to work with, not gonna lie.” Pangi reached for the cup, bringing it up so Lukey could take a sip.

Lukey took a quick taste contemplating it for a moment, and then went back for another. “It’s delicious. Not as sweet as I was imagining.”

“I’m glad you like it at least, I wasn’t a fan, personally.” Pangi admitted.

“Well I’ll just have to have you try the real thing in Italy.” Lukey grinned.

“You’re going to plan the honeymoon before we plan the wedding, arn’t you?” Pangi rolled his eyes.

“Bold of you to assume I don’t have it planned already.” Lukey said triumphantly.

Pangi shook his head. “You’re lucky I love you.”

Lukey placed a small kiss on his lip. “I know.”

They eventually made it to their hike, and spent less time hiking and more time staging a second proposal to take pictures of, posting it on social media after sending it around to their friends. Deciding that the real proposal would be kept to themselves.