𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩 | 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴

𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐒𝐤𝐲 ❀ 𝐙𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢

"you're no fun, why do you get the same thing every time?" his ginger friend groaned beside him.

"i've tried all of the other drinks and i can't say i'm particularly fond of them."

you kept your head facing the counter in front of you as you tapped your fingers on the wood quietly. you kept glancing at them from the corner of your eye. you couldn't tell if you were uncomfortable or flustered with such attractive men sitting so close to you. it was likely a mix of both.

unfortunately, one of them just had to notice.

"seems like someone's interested in you, zhongli~."

this is why i hate gingers.

"hm?" zhongli hummed before looking over to see you as you now fiddled with the end of your sleeve.

"she kept looking at you," childe whispered in his ear and he nodded in understanding.

he was about to say something when venti raced up from behind and slammed an empty bottle of wine on the counter as he stood between childe's and zhongli's stools.

"another bottle of dandelion wine, please! the ginger over here is paying!" he cackled, clearly already very wasted from the previous bottles he'd consumed.

"all of your organs are going to fail you someday," zhongli sighed as he was brought his glass. he took a short sip of it and turned his head to look at the shorter boy.

"oh yeah? well your back is gonna fail you one day, grandpa!" he huffed.

you stifled a laugh and turned your head the other way so none of them would see. you caught a glimpse of keqing and ganyu in the crowd of people and smiled slightly. they were definitely having fun together. your mind was brought back to your partner's infidelity and you sighed, resting your head on your arms while you closed your eyes. meanwhile, venti was finally given his dandelion wine. zhongli noticed how upset you seemed and planned on saying something, but...

"excuse me-" he started, tapping you on the shoulder to catch your attention.

your head perked up, but he was promptly cut off by venti dragging him over to where the other people were dancing. he shot you an apologetic glance, which you responded to with a half-hearted smile. childe followed after them after slamming a stack of cash on the counter to pay for the alcohol.

music blared as you set your head back down again. at this point, you were waiting for your friends to come over and tell you they were ready to leave. you were supposed to be their sober driver, so you couldn't exactly leave by yourself. besides, you'd feel guilty for abandoning them despite the fact that they did the same to you.

zhongli was beginning to get a headache from all the noise, but he dealt with it instead of saying anything. he continuously looked over to you to see if you had brightened up at all, but every time he looked, you were in the same position. after a few minutes, he finally decided to approach you again. he sat in the seat he occupied before and let out a heavy exhale before turning his head to you.

"excuse me, miss?"

"hm...?" you hummed tiredly, lifting your head and looking to your left. "oh. hi."

"hello," he smiled, though it gradually faded into a frown. "are you alright?"

"ah, i suppose my gloomy aura was too obvious, huh?" you chuckled bitterly. "i'll be fine."

"would you like to talk about it? i realize confiding in a stranger could be... difficult, but if it helps, my name is zhongli," he introduced. you liked the way he said it.