Chapter Text
Hanbon had been sitting at the bar for at least an hour. She had went to just get food, craving the greatness of a good bar burger, but ended up having a drink or three. Just as she was about to leave, the door jingled, signaling someone’s arrival.
Instinctively, Hanbon turned to look at the door, but immediately turned away. Of course, it had to be the worst person to have seen at that moment. Her ex, Boom Boom, and her new girlfriend Hanbon didn’t know the name of. She looked down at her glass, trying to pretend she didn’t see them, but it was too late; they had already made eye contact.
“Hanbon?” Boom Boom smiled, walking up to her with the woman on her arm. “Long time no see!”
‘Long time’ had been three months ago, when the two of them had called it quits. Hanbon was over Boom Boom, but seeing her with someone else while she was still painfully single herself was a new annoyance she didn’t know she could feel.
“Yeah.” Hanbon smiled tightly and fakely, eyes skipping to the new girlfriend before back to her drink.
“Are you here alone?” Boom Boom asked, a slight laugh slipping out with her words.
Oh, fuck. Hanbon was not going to let Boom Boom have the upper hand and make her seem sad and lonely.
Hanbon swallowed, then spoke without thinking. “Yep. I’m on a date, actually. Just waiting for them to show up.”
“Really?” Boom Boom put her hands on her hips, “I hope you didn’t get stood up.”
Hanbon’s heart pounded, but she didn’t let her anxiety and anger show. Boom Boom was so good at being passive aggressive without realizing. The door jingled once more, a man coming in by himself.
Once again, Hanbon quickly spoke, not a single thought about consequences in her brain. “There he is now!” She got up off the bar, running up to the man.
She knew her mistake when she looked at the man’s face up close: it was none other than her coworker Will’s roommate, Anthony Potero.
He looked at Hanbon in shock and a bit of confusion. “Just go with it,” She mumbled, dragging him over by the arm. “Boom Boom, this is Anthony, my date.”
Hanbon looked at Anthony, praying he would lock in and not embarrass her. She was way in over her head. To her surprise, Anthony spoke, “It’s nice to meet you, Boom Boom.”
Boom Boom simply just nodded, then looked at Hanbon, “Well, I’ll leave you to it. Have a good date, you two.” With that, Boom Boom and the mystery woman walked away to sit in a booth.
Immediately, Anthony turned to Hanbon, “Okay, what the hell was that?”
Hanbon cringed, sitting back down at the bar. Anthony took the stool next to hers. “Sorry, Anthony, that’s my ex and I just needed an out and--”
“Hanbon, right? I barely know you. You’re lucky I decided to go along.”
She sighed, “I know I am. I’ll buy you a drink. I’m sorry.”
Anthony bit his lip, then nodded. “Okay, yeah, fine. I’ll accept that.”
She called the bartender over, letting Anthony order whatever he wanted and put it on her tab. “Sorry, again.”
Anthony looked at her, “It’s fine. What’s the whole deal with her?”
“We broke up months ago, and I’m over her, honestly, but she brought this new girlfriend over to me, just parading her around, and I panicked when she asked if I was alone. Then you walked in.”
Anthony laughed dryly as the bartender set his drink in front of him. “Well, aren’t you lucky.”
“Shut up.”
Anthony swirled his drink. “So then what? I’m just your boyfriend in front of this person?”
Hanbon paused. She hadn’t thought that far. She had Boom Boom on social media, still, so there was now holes in her not-very-thought-out story. “I… don’t know.”
“She’s staring over here, you know.” Anthony muttered into his drink.
In the corner of Hanbon’s eye, she could see Anthony wasn’t lying. Boom Boom’s eyes were basically burning a hole into their heads, staring with an odd amount of intensity.
“Great. Pretend I said something funny. Pretend you’re into me.”
Anthony fake laughed, a little too dramatically, leaning back in his chair and clutching his drink. “Oh, Hanbon, you’re hilarious!”
Hanbon rolled her eyes, a smile threatning to grace her lips. “Okay, you don’t need to overdo it.”
Anthony smiled and took a sip of his drink. “Sorry, just playing boyfriend.”
Hanbon sighed, taking yet another big jump. “Will you… do this for me? Just for… like… social media, and social stuff? I know Boom Boom shows up to a bit of Coy’s friend’s stuff, so—“
Anthony laughed, a real one, out of disbelief. “You’re asking me to be your fake boyfriend? Really?”
Hanbon felt her ears turn red. “Yeah, I guess.”
Anthony stopped talking, seemingly thinking. He took a long sip of his drink before setting down the now empty cup. “What the hell, sure.”
Hanbon’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe he agreed that easily. “Really?”
“Yeah. I have nothing better to do, and if it gets me to go to parties, Will’s been wanting me to, so… gets that off my back.”
Hanbon grinned, hugging him excitedly. “Oh, thank you thank you thank you!”
Anthony stiffened at the hug, not hugging her, but patting her back awkwardly. “Um, you’re welcome.”
She pulled away, smiling widely at him. “Here.” She took out her phone and handed it to him, an open contact screen ready. “Give me your number. We can plot out our meet-cute later. I have a morning shift at the diner, so I have to go.”
Anthony quickly typed in his number, then handed the phone back to Hanbon. “There you go. Text me, then.”
Hanbon smiled, “Roger that. See you, Anthony.”
“See you, fake girlfriend.”
With that, Hanbon ordered her uber and left.
-
Hanbon walked into her apartment she shared with her coworker and best friend Coy. She hung up her coat and keys, walking into the living room where Coy had been sitting, watching a movie.
He looked at her, mid bite of popcorn. “No bar food to-go for me? I’m moving out.” He joked.
Hanbon smiled, a little nervously. “No, but I have to tell you something.”
Coy set his popcorn bag aside. “What’s up?”
Hanbon sat down on the ottoman across from Coy, taking a deep breath. “So… Boom Boom came into the bar.”
Coy’s eyes widened, “No fucking way.”
“And she brought that new girlfriend with her.”
“NO FUCKING WAY.”
Hanbon groaned, “I know! I was thinking the same thing! Like seriously, you know this is my favorite bar and you just— nevermind, I need to calm down, there’s more to the story.”
Coy raised an eyebrow. “More? What’d she do?”
“She didn’t do anything. I made a stupid decision.”
Coy leaned closer, a his expression suddenly turning into one of concern. “Bon…”
“I told her I was waiting for a date. I thought it’d end there, but then she made a comment about me maybe getting stood up, and I did NOT want to be seen as a charity case by her and her new girlfriend, so out of panic, the first guy that came in, I grabbed and said was my date.”
Coy’s jaw dropped. “Hanbon. You did not.”
“I did!” She shrieked, rubbing her face with both her hands. “And wanna know what’s worse?”
“It gets worse?”
“The guy that came in was fucking Anthony. Will’s annoying roommate.”
Coy’s mouth dropped once more, and he didn’t speak at first. A few seconds passed, and he finally muttered, “You’re joking.”
“I have never been more serious, unfortunately.”
“Jesus, Bon, at least it’s over.”
Hanbon bit her lip nervously, “…About that.”
Coy stared at her, “What did you do?”
Hanbon took a deep breath, cringing as she spoke very fast, “I may have asked him to fake-date me for social media and parties and he said yes. I got his number.”
Coy stood up in surprise, “BON!”
“I know, I know! I’m sorry!”
Coy groaned, putting his head in his hands. “I love you, but you’re a mess.”
“I know, I know.”
He sighed, patting the couch next to him. “I suppose I’m supposed to help you keep up this facade? How long is it even going to last?”
“I don’t know. We were going to text about it.” Hanbon sat next to him, taking a piece of popcorn from the half-empty bag he discarded.
“Well, are you going to text him?”
Hanbon whined, “Ugh, I will in the morning. I don’t wanna deal with the consequences of my actions right now.”
“Of course you don’t.”
“Can we just shut up and watch the movie, Coy?”
“You don’t even know what’s happening.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
With that, the two of them leaned back and watched whatever Coy had put on, letting the Anthony-shaped elephant in the room fizzle out, and be a morning problem.