The Six Moons: One-Shots

12. A Work of Art

"Hey! You're back!" the bartender greeted. Joong smiled and did an elaborate handshake with him, "I hate business trips" he said as he sat down in front of the bar. "The usual?" the bartender, Ben, asked to which Joong nods.

It's been a while since the last time Joong visited Ben's bar. He was Joong's first friend when he moved to the City to pursue his dream of being an Artist. He'd just come back from Japan where he sold his latest art for a whopping seven figures and decided he wanted to celebrate. He's a well-known artist but he uses a pseudonym so no one really knows who he is except his immediate family (his mother, step-father, and three half-siblings who are still too young to even bother with his work) and Ben.

"Are you going to close early tonight?" he asked as he looked around, "The bar is completely empty". "It's not completely empty. A bigshot customer rented the whole place" Ben told him. "Why'd you let me in? You'd get in trouble" Joong began to stand from his seat but Ben stopped him with a wave of his hand and a shake of his head. "No, no. It's cool. He's in one of the booths and he said he doesn't mind if one customer comes in so long that they don't make any big noise" he explained, "Besides, you're my friend and I say you can come in" he placed Joong's usual drink in front of him. "He?" Joong asked and Ben nodded. "You've seen the movie Chasing Moonlight, right?". "Yeah?" Joong frowned and nodded his head once. Ben nodded towards the direction where the booths were, "That's him". Joong nearly choked on his drink, "Nine Konrchid?". Ben raised his brows and nodded slowly, "The one and only".

Suddenly, the bigshot customer, Nine, appeared around a corner and approached the bar. He gracefully slipped onto the barstool next to him. Joong, on the other hand, couldn't help but admire how Nine's purple hair shined beneath the slightly dim lights of the bar, and how he looked even better than the pictures. His skin looked so soft and smooth, his long, dark lashes framed his eyes so well, and his lips looked like they'd taste like strawberries. And his body, oh man-with only a simple shirt and pants on, Joong could see why so many people him or be him.

"If you're going to talk about me then at least do it to my face" Nine said, snapping Joong back to reality. He looked at Ben and then at Nine, "Oh, we weren't talking about you-" Joong tried to say but Nine gave him one of those looks that said "I wasn't born yesterday" so he opted to just stop talking.

"Is there anything I can get you?" Ben asked, his happy yet professional demeanor on. Nine tapped his glass twice and Ben quickly got him a refill. Joong thumbed on his drink and looked everywhere but in the direction where Nine was sitting. "Here you go" Ben said and placed a new drink in front of Nine.

A thick, awkward silence hung in the air. So thick that you can practically cut it with a knife. Nine moved his eyes towards Ben then turned his head to Joong. "Well don't stop talking just because I'm here" he said and gestured for them to continue, "Go on".

Ben smiled, "So, Joong" he started, putting stress on his name for some reason, "How was your business trip?". Joong took a sip of his drink, winced at the burning sensation down his throat, and then shrugged. "I didn't have the time to visit tourist spots if that's what you wanted to know" he said. "You're a businessman?" Nine asked. "I guess?" he answered with a shrug. Nine frowned, "You guess?". "I mean, I do have a business but it's not a big business yet so I don't think I can call myself a businessman" he rambled, making air quotation marks when he said "Big business" and "Businessman". Nine drank some of his drink and wagged a finger at Joong. "You're a businessman, period. It doesn't matter if your business is big or small. It's still a business" he said.

Ben bit back a snort as he watched the two interact. Suddenly, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at Nine who waved a dismissive hand at him. "We'll be here. Go on". ben smiled gratefully and stepped out to answer the call, leaving Joong and Nine on their own.