from august to december

chapter three

middays were humid and warm, eden could leave the apartment with just a shirt, but as soon as the sun had set, the warmth it had brought had passed.

and so the black haired man grabbed his thin grey sweater and closed the white painted door behind him.

he swept his hair back elegantly while walking down the long hallway to the elevator, and when he entered, he pressed his forehead onto the cool metal walls.

his eyes were still swollen from crying, why was shino so mean to him, why did he only ever want the worst for him.

arriving at the bottom floor, eden exited with a quiet sigh and pushed the huge glass door open, breathing in the chilly air of the night.

the cafes would be closed at this time of the day, but there was still this one bar and he hoped to see one of them there.
he just knew one of them would be.

eden hid his soft hands in the sweater, slowly taking the familiar route to the old and cheap bar.
and even though a huge wave of sadness made its way through his body, he walked with the same smooth movements as he always did.

as soon as he got there after a ten minute walk, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes surrounded him, people so drunk they probably didn't remember their own names stumbled around the front, vomiting at the side of the road.

he was disgusted, not used to the neighborhood he grew up in anymore.

he tried to cover the smell while holding his nose when opening a small door to the inside.
some soft r&b was playing in the background, the light was dimmed, a deep yellow making the smallish room look even tinier.

it was hot and the black haired man immediately took off the sweater, seating himself at one of the uncomfortable barstools, his gaze moving around.

there were a few people sitting at the tables, smoking, drinking or playing cards.
drunk laughter and bad jokes filled the air, people were celebrating whatever and filling up their throats with any kinds of alcoholic poison.

then, one particular pair of eyes caught his attention.

they looked almost cat like, dark, dangerous and the weird yellow right above the head of the man made him have deep, violet eye bags.

ignoring the bartender trying to get eden's order for the third time now, he swung off the stool and confidently walked over to the pair of eyes, while thinking about what shino had told him today.

...you can't bring them back with your imagination.

he shivered and outweighed whether or not he should take another step. he could almost feel the burning in his chest from earlier all over again. but it was too late, the person had already seen and remembered him.

and so, with a last breath and a last blink, he let himself sink into the chair opposite the man.
who was obviously confused.

"eden?"
"hiroto?"

hiroto laughed brightly and studied eden's face, even the ugly light didn't make him any less attractive, his eyes were glowing like two suns and his hair shone like stardust.

eden did the same, taking in the small details of the older's face, his damaged black hair and still crooked tooth.
but also his flawlessly pale skin and smooth rose lips.

maybe the thick air inside the bar made both lose their ability to think logically when they burst into wild laughter, slapping the table and throwing their heads back dramatically.

"i-i thought you moved away?" eden finally asked his friend while folding his hands on the table calmly, grinning at hiroto widely.

the black haired returned the warm smile and his gaze softened at the words of eden.

"you didn't actually think i'd leave you here alone right? with shino?" the older laughed and lifted his glass, filled with pure vodka. like always.

eden cleared his throat.
he hated alcohol, the look, the smell, the taste.
and especially the consequences of drinking it.

that's why he used to hate coming here, even back then when they would be all together, spending their time and playing shot games.

nothing had changed, he knew how bad alcohol was. he had seen it with his own eyes.

but he swallowed bravely while preparing an answer.

"well i'm glad you didn't, he's going crazy," he explained while ruffling his hair, imitating his oldest.

hiroto laughed loudly and placed the glass back down with a thud, without having taken a sip.
the crushed ice inside the glass made a satisfying sound when he swung it around on the cheap metal table, keeping his eyes on his younger friend, who suddenly looked incredibly relaxed and comfortable in his company.

"is he now? he's still not dating anyone?" hiroto asked sarcastically and nodded at eden, indicating a wink.

said person rolled his eyes and let his gaze wander outside, from the table they were sitting at he could see the street in front of the bar, although at night it wasn't lit that much, so besides the lights of some apartments in the area, he couldn't really identify anything.

"i believe not," he explained and looked back at hiroto who had lost the warm expression on his face.

without a second thought, he chucked down the entire glass of the alcoholic beverage, making a grimace right after and shaking his entire body.

suddenly something shiny caught eden's eye and he looked at hiroto's dry hand.
"a ring?" he asked confused, raising an eyebrow.

the older now also moved his eyes onto his hand, smiling softly when knowing what eden meant.

"it's from leo, our promise ring," hiroto said quietly, leaning a little closer to eden so that only he could hear him.

eden chuckled.
"you guys are so cute."

hiroto returned the gentle laugh, his voice much deeper and raspier.
he shyly tucked the ends of his green sweater.
"i guess so," he whispered when looking back at eden.

the younger could see so much love in his eyes, so much comfort and understanding.
or at least that's what he thought.

because the bartender who had been watching him the entire time worriedly tilted his head to the side.

he had been sitting at this table talking to himself the entire time.