「 only the rain 」 • TAKA

「 s e v e n 」

"Beer please." Taka orders, his voice having a deflated quality to it. And then he got to the point. "Who was that woman?"

The bartender looks at Taka with a passive face, his eyes flicking momentarily at the contrasting colored ink on his right shoulder. Eyes widening fractionally at the conclusion, his face turns into a sympathetic one, and he gives Taka his order.

Taka thanks him and stares at his beer mug thoughtfully. "You have beautiful mugs..."

"A shame you had to drop one."

"I'm sorry." Taka deflates even more, sipping his beer dejectedly.

"At least you paid for the damage. Some locals make it a sport who can do the most expensive damage and then leave, just like that. Don't worry though, I put them in jail." The bartender shrugs.

"I see..." Taka replies hollowly. A few silent minutes pass, he looks at the bartender. "The woman--"

"You mean the girl?" The bartender corrects him and Taka hisses as if the man had scalded him with just his words.

"Yes... the girl." He says girl as if it tasted too sweet on his tongue. Almost like the forbidden fruit, and Taka thinks that maybe he's right. Maybe she is a forbidden fruit. Too sweet and only seventeen you pervert, his mind supplies. The reminder only makes him gulp down half of his beer in an attempt to chase the sweetness away with bitter liquor.

"Sansa's daughter." The bartender tells him and Taka leans forward, ready to hear more.

"Sansa? Is that... the bar owner?" Taka remembers the red neon lights at the bar entrance and tries to make a connection.

So the woman--girl, you pervert--Taka cringes at the disturbing reminder and throws back his head to guzzle the last of his beer. "Another please." He grumbles and slams the mug down in self-irritation, the glass bottom hitting the marble counter with a resounding cling.

The bartender narrows his eyes at the distraught vocalist but takes the mug and fills it with beer nonetheless.

"I know what you're thinking. What you're feeling." The bartender says.

Taka looks up with a frown but he doesn't say anything.

"She really is seventeen." The bartender continues, face smug and amused.

"You're not really helping." Taka replies with a snort. He now associates seventeen with the taste of bitterness as he keeps on downing half of each mug he orders.

Great, it's like a game. Take a shot everytime you're reminded that she's seventeen. He thinks and orders another mug fill as he finishes with the last one.

"The girl's mother was my boss." The bartender says, leaning on his hands on the counter.

"Was?"

"She left 2 years ago. Said I was promoted to boss. Told me to take care of her." The bartender tells him, looking at the entrance longingly.

"Of the girl?" Taka asks as he silently reads the nameplate on the bartender's left chest. Jin.

"No. The bar."

"Oh." Taka looks down, feeling somewhat sorry for the girl. A mother who cares more for her business than her own daughter can't be good a sign.

"Sansa has not yet returned. But she sends funds for the bar." Jin says and turns back, wiping the beer counter even though it was dry and clean.

"What about the girl?" Taka asks, changing the subject upon seeing the tenseness in Jin's shoulders. This seems to be an unwise thing to say because Jin's shoulders become even more rigid.