Title: Pantoufle's
Fandom: Chocolat / Antique
Rating: G
Length: ~700
Content notes: Silly crossover time.
Summary: Jin-hyeok wanders into Anouk's shop.


The snow was coming down hard when Jin-hyeok ducked into the little shop in the outskirts of Paris. It had, actually, been snowing all day - big, fluffy, snowglobe flakes, but sometime not long after he'd managed to give the others the slip, the wind had picked up and down it had come.

If he were being honest with himself, though, it wasn't just for shelter from the weather. Eventually, they'd stop celebrating Ki-beom's award, impressive as it had been, long enough to notice he was missing. Then, undoubtedly, Soo-yeong (and maybe Seon-woo) would want to track him down, when all he really wanted was a few precious hours of peace.

Jin-hyeok was almost certain that they wouldn't think to look for him in an out-of-the-way chocolaterie. What less likely place to find him? So there he was, brushing snow off his scarf and out of his hair onto the mat by the door, trying to ignore the cloyingly thick scent of sugar.

All dusted off, Jin-hyeok glanced around. It was remarkably quiet; no other customers nor any shopkeeper in evidence, which was just as well as he didn't intend to buy anything. Still, standing by the doorway didn't sound terribly appealing, so, minding the little snow puddles he'd made, he stepped further inside to glance through the display cases.

The chocolates were pretty enough, he supposed, in an old-fashioned way, and some of them wouldn't look out of place on a plate next to one of Seon-woo's mille-feuilles, especially the dark truffle off to the side laced with thin white lines, or perhaps these over here, with rough edges (were those nuts? maybe the joconde imprime with a pattern to match)...

Lost in thought about updating Antique's menu and what that might mean for potential sales, Jin-hyeok didn't notice the kitchen door opening until the chocolatier, who had come out of it with a tray of chocolates, said a cheerful "Bonjour," and nearly made him jump out of his skin.

"Bonjour," he returned, once his stomach was back where it belonged.

She had started restocking the case he had been looking at from the fresh tray, arranging things neatly, tidying up signs to match the new chocolates, and he took the opportunity to look at her: she was about his mother's age, once-brown hair now going gray, though still handsome enough. When she'd done, she put the tray down on the counter behind her and turned back to him, catching his gaze with her own. Her eyes were dark and certain, and he found to his discomfort that it was a struggle to look away.

He expected her to say Can I help you or perhaps What do you want or even Why are you staring at me, I'm going to call the police.

What she said was "Ah, I see." And then she was moving, moving back - and he breathed again as her eyes left his - to the counter. There was the sound of pouring, the distinct ting of silver on porcelain, and before he'd quite recovered his composure or decided what exactly was going on, she was placing a small cup in front of him, no bigger than a shot glass.

"What," he began, and was cut off by a little shake of her head.

"It's your favorite. Please try it?"

Jin-hyeok didn't have a favorite chocolate any more than he had a favorite cake, unless you counted ones he didn't have to eat, in which case he had many. He looked down doubtfully at the cup, and back up at her again.

She only smiled. He thought about the way no one could resist Seon-woo and shuddered a little under his heavy peacoat. The world wasn't ready for two of them.

But he pulled off his gloves and lifted the cup anyway, welcome heat flooding his fingertips. It was only that it would be rude not to try what was offered, he told himself; afterwards, he could pay for it and go find some other sanctuary.

It was thick and rich and bitter as tears, with a peppery heat blooming after it that knocked all thoughts of winter - and sugar and those long-ago cakes - clean from his mind, sweeping the fear out with them. Sputtering, Jin-hyeok nearly dropped the cup, his eyes going wide with the shock of it.

"It is," she said. "Isn't it?"