The place he had ragingly stepped in earlier tonight, just as he stormed out of his office, was not as he expected from the outside.
The front building, with his dark colour and damaged old sign, stating The Blue Moon in half erased cursives had led him to believe that he would enter in a dilapidated place. Somewhere it wouldn't matter if he acted out of character, rudely or caused some fight.
But instead, he had entered in a parallel dimension. Or at least, that's how it looked to him as he put his first foot in the clean, almost fancy, bar. Nothing was rowdy here, it was calm, accompanied by soft music, almost soothing to the mind.
They had indeed a very dark atmosphere, but it was rather caused by the fact that the furniture and some of the walls were in intricate shades of black. Cut by some white and royal blues highlight. Like the white grand piano that was brightly lit up on a lonely platform at the far back on his right. The varnished surface was immaculate and reverberated some of the blue neons that were positioned over it toward the black lined covered wall in the background.
Too stunned to remember his previous state of mind, he calmly observed his surroundings. People were pleasantly having a drink and talking in groups, with a partner or on their own.
It didn't feel like being alone would be such a problem here.
A muffled cling from glasses presented on the mahogany bar, shook him up from his frozen position at the entrance and he confidently walked toward it. Although The Blue Moon bar wasn't what he had first expected, it would do all the same.
Well maybe not for finding trouble, but nonetheless, he would be able to vent his frustration and calm down from his awful day.
vVvVv
He had been here for more than half an hour, not minding anyone or anything as he let his unfocused gaze wander from his new spot, when he saw another surprising addition coming in.
Not that he wanted to care for anyone right now, but the seemingly younger guy who entered in the bar was obviously out of his comfort zone and it grabbed his attention for a while.
In one word, the guy was plain. It might sound a bit judgemental, but if one was just going to summarise the young man who hesitantly approached the blue lightened bar to sit on the edge of his stool, this word suited him the most. Plain clothes, although that was obviously branded dress shoes and suit. And the white shirt under it wasn't giving off any king of taste for style either. From his point of view.
Same for the man's build. He was of an average height with eyes of the standardised brown that most people in their country were bearing. He still gave a bonus point to the guy for his unruly curly hair and his soft oval face that was giving off a friendly aura.
For a while, he felt himself being curious about the newcomer but soon lost his interest over his own glass of dark amber. He needed a refill.
Tiredly, he rubbed his face in his mind. He was fed up with all the things he had had to deal with all day. People were unable to do anything or even bring results, eventually relying on him to shoulder it all. And they weren't even aware enough of it to give any recognition of his hard work. No, it was normal, it was his duty they said. That was expected of him or rather, it was like his moral obligation as the person he was.
And that was more than he could bear with tonight.
More so, when he was also considered to be the one who must take blames for things he wasn't responsible for. Just for the sake of his name and future possible position.
He was tired.
Sighing, he welcomed the tall and slender bartender who brought him his second glass of the strong alcohol. Before going leisurely toward other customers, including the awkward guy that had captured his interest earlier.
Speaking of which. What the heck was he up to now ?
Straightening his head and looking up toward the whole place, he had no mind of witnessing such a surprising scene. The younger and plain man from earlier was currently not so plain anymore. Wearing suspender over his still depressingly simple white shirt, he had opened the upper buttons letting, for all to see, his smooth skin adorner with a golden chain on display.
He was talking to a sexy-dress wearing woman, his right forearm leaning on the bar as he hunched toward her while she leaned further away her hands securely circling around her cocktail glass.
It didn't look like they knew each other and if he could bet on the outcome of the exchange, he would say that it would definitely end badly.
And so it did.
His prediction had been soon proved right with the woman shoving the young brown haired man away, almost yelling a curse. The scene made him want to smirk at the clumsy attempt of the guy to grab his drink back afterward. Sheltering his head from the woman's hands that were flying in his direction, when he had closed in aiming for his glass.
Getting curious with the guy's next action, he rested further on the black wall in his back and took a sip out of his own glass. Witnessing the clumsy, sometimes goofy attempts at flirting that the man was showing the bar to witness.
vVvVv
A loud shout and sounds of metallic stools being thrown on the hard floor stirred him away from his deep thoughts.
He had been lost for some times now, engulfed in a memory induced by small things he had seen earlier. He didn't even remember what had awakened the annoying thoughts. Scoffing at the images of his exes that were lingering in his mind, he turned his attention back to the brawl that he could see from the reflection of the mirror behind all the bar's bottles.
Turn out that the flirt nooby, as he had nicknamed him, was now in a tricky situation.
He was cornered, his side back incruste to the top of the blue light on the bar's corner, by a woman who was aggressively yelling at him. Next to them, and not making a move to calm things down, was a man sitting on his stool a bit withdrawn behind the woman's back.
He looked to be the source of the argument and was cowardly taking cover from the raging exchange.
"You disgusting slut ! What makes you think that you could touch my men ?" the woman yelled in the curly haired man's face.
Almost spitting in her furry, poking flirt nooby in the chest with her fang like nails.
"You are already a bore to the eyes as it is, don't you fucking go wag your tail at people's boyfriend, you twat."
That was enough. How ever she was right on the fact that cheating wasn't something to be forgiven or encouraged, she should look at things in their whole instead of rushing to conclusion by herself.
Stepping closer to the scene-making three people, he fixed his eyes on the woman. More of his top's button went slyly undone.
The flirt nooby had his back turned to him by now and didn't see him approach. But the woman did and under his purposely burning look, her speech slowed down. She was transfixed, inevitably, drawn in.
He knew he had this effect on some people. That was one of his assets, one that he abhored, truth be told, as it was also his bane. But he had to act and this was going to be the best way.
To teach her a lesson.
His eyes still locked on hers, he stopped just a feet apart from the younger man who was cowering away from the couple. On her side, the woman was now silent, her mouth gaping, her breath hitching as her eyes grew wider and darker.
Just like he had planned. Lust was taking over.
He offered her a sly smile, his eyes going from head to toes and back, racking on her carefully maintained body as if he liked what he saw. Look like she put a lot of money to be fit and beautiful by societal standards.
"What is a fine specimen like yourself doing here ?" he asked, his eyes locked in between her brows.
She giggled, bettling her eyes, confident that it was meant for her.
His smile went bigger, his voice deeper and more seductive as he kept on.
"Are you free to ..." he trailed off.
And was soon interrupted by a chirpy and eager voice.
"Of course I would ! Let's go darling." her words sounded all sultry as she reached for his arm to entangle it with her own.
He smirked in a flash but regained control of his face as he looked down at her first before letting out a fake surprised expression.
"I'm sorry ? I thought I heard you saying something about this man being your boyfriend just earlier ..."
"Don't worry sweety, me and you should ..."
"Ya, ungrateful woman, how could you ?" interrupted her future ex-boyfriend.
"So what ? You were interested in that little twerk over there. Like that we are both happy, don't you think ?"
And they went on, arguing like two dogs in heat, forgetting where they were, only making more noise in the calm blue lighted bar.
Smirking in victory, he swiftly freed his arm from the unapologetic woman and turned ninety degrees to his left. The younger man was frozen on his side, his eyes going into a frenetic left and right back and forth. He was completely confused, absolutely lost by the turn of events.
And really who could reproach him that ?
"Want to go somewhere calmer ?" he asked in a whisper, his lips close to the younger's small ear.
Said ear became all red in an instant, earning an amused chuckle from the sly saviour. Not wanting to waste more time in the proximity of the unfaithful couple, he grabbed the other by his sleeve and pulled him to his previous corner.
That place was safer for now. Silence and a darker, more intimate space, welcomed them.
He signaled the bartender for another round of drinks for his new companion and him while the younger man stayed fidgeting standing up at his side.
"Seat ! Stop thinking."
He didn't want to sound so bossy, but really, habits were hard to ward off. So he tried to soften his quite assertive sentence by a friendly smile and faced away. Better leave the dumbfounded man to regain his bearing first.
After a while not hearing anything, he picked quick glances at the man. Finding him either thinking hard or ruffling his hair, his elbows leaning on the bar's top.
"You ok ?" he asked wearily.
"In your opinion, where do you think it went wrong ?"
"Wha-at ? With that couple ?" he hadn't thought that would be the first words the other would utter "Obliviously ..."
"Was it my sex appeal ? Or the pick up line ? Or was it my outfit ?" he expectantly looked at the older man who was gapping by now, forgetting the interuption "Why can't I get at least one person interested ?"
"So you have been silent, all this time, because no one has flirted back to your corny advances ?"
He needed to confirm that he had understood the problem right. That was so not going according to what he had guessed how someone, who had just been slapped and insulted in his face, would have reacted. And the guy kept throwing him off balance one time after another.
"Name is Mark, by the way. Thanks for your help earlier." the man said with a big grin, making a u-turn in their conversation.
Leaving him with no choice but to shake the held up hand, answering with his own curt introduction.
"I'm Vee."
vVvVv
They had been talking for almost an hour. Vee had been fascinated by all the small information he had learned about Mark. Like the way, his eyes crinkled when his wide and beautiful smile ate up his oval face. Or even the fact that under the influence of his happy agitation, his hands flew all over the space between them. His black hair covering bits of his soft looking skin as he moved his head from left to right or up and down.
The man, who was really younger than him by a year, was so captivating.
Turns out that a big jerk of a man had broken up with Mark a few months earlier. Getting back on his feet after his first ever heartbroken state, the young man had decided to tackle the many things his ex had chastised him for while leaving.
Namely and mainly that he was too serious and boring for the dumbass to spend more time with him.
What an idiot.
Vee was sure of one thing, concerning the curly haired man in front of him, he was nowhere close to boring. If anything, he was a dork yes but an adorable one who had a way to find ridiculous ideas. And putting everything on the line to make it happen.
Like, for example, thinking that he needed to be more attractive. Hence coming to a bar to flirt with strangers, be more experienced and 'leveling up' on the romance market. How cute and naive could that be ?
Borderline dangerous too, if Vee was asked. Just think about the previous predicament he had found himself in. Or the others that he could imagine after listening to some of the pick up lines he had tried.
"Why would you ask someone to drape themselves around you to heat the floor ? That's stupid and so cringe-worthy." the black haired man asked, mirth in his eyes.
"I know ! I was almost throwing up while saying it. I'm going to whack the one who wrote that it worked on the internet, if I ever cross paths with them."
Vee chortled at the exaggerated frown adorning the brown haired man's face next to him. Said man, not aware that he had caused a stern man to smile more in one night than in his usual week, made him choke on his drink once more with his reckless sentence.
"You are the best looking guy here and I need to get laid. Care to come with me ?"
The liquid that Vee had carelessly sipped, came through the wrong pipe, burning its wall and coming back up in a natural reflex. Strong cough threatened to stop his breathing. Fighting to regain control of his lungs, he faced the wall, his face reddening from lack of air.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. That one is too aggressive."
The disappointed voice came from behind him, choking him again, accompanied by a scoff. He almost lost his balance when he tried to turn around but was stopped on his way by a strong arm and a much softer hand that went up and down his back. Offering comfort for his still uneven breathing.
"Are" he gulped, his voice was raspy from his coughing fit "Are you trying to get yourself kidnapped in a corner or what ?" he rumbled, once he had been able to get a stable hold on his shaking breath.
"What are you talking about ? Of course not. But seeing from your reaction, thank god I didn't use that one." Mark shook his head in disapproval.
"At least use one that won't get you in trouble and just make the other laugh !" he ranted once again.
The thought that the brown haired man could have ended up raped freaked him out. One night stand were good and all, but consensual sex was the base for anything !
"If you were an object, you and I would be pieces of a puzzle. Because we fit right into each other."
Vee sighed. Damn that cute dork, his heart was doing more sport in his heart than during a fitness session.
"At least that one is cute and somewhat funny." he still answered the unheard question linked to his seat-mate's last sentence.
Thinking back on it, the black haired older man even chuckled. Which brought a proud smile on Mark. In turn making them laugh wholeheartedly from the ridicule of their situation. One man blurting out stupid pick up lines to another who originally wanted nothing but to be alone.
He was so far from that now.
"Seriously though P'Vee, what did I do wrong ? I even put lenses in, getting rid of my spectacle for the night."
Vee blinked.
He knew the question was serious and came from the younger's insecurities. Being thrown away for reasons that one had no power on was hurtful. Although it wasn't on the exact same subject, he did have his own experiences with such rejection and he knew how much it could stink. For a long time.
People came to you with their own conception of what you are supposed to be or what they think they need and took the first way out as soon as they found out that it wasn't just like they expected. Leaving the other with a bleeding wound.
Silence had been stretching for too long and Vee could see Mark being all fidgety on his stool once again. The curly haired man, rubbed his eyes, visibly uncomfortable.
"Why is it so freaking unbearable ?" the younger man complained.
"Let me look." he offered, his will to help in full force.
He forcefully took Mark's chin in his left hand, careful not to hurt him though. His eyes zoomed on the long lashes framing two intense brown orbs that were fixed on his face. Comically enlarged in surprise.
Ignoring the tender sensation under his fingers, Vee focused on the problematic eyes. Examining attentively the frequently hidden white orbs. Those lashes were making things difficult with their constant batting.
It's only when he noticed that the brown eyes were either avoiding his gaze on a side or fixing something lower, that he realised that he had been once again too bossy.
And most probably making the inexperienced man in front of him all shy.
His breath hitched.
His skin reacting to the contact under his fingers and to the soft breath he could feel grazing his cheek. The pink lips letting it escape suddenly caught his interest. A pinker and sliker muscle peaking through it for just a second or two.
Slowly, he let his eyes climb up. Taking in the softly straight nose just a few inches apart from his. Admiring the quality of the pink blush adorning the round cheekbones. And finishing on two enlarged brown turned black orbs that seemed to entrap him.
He couldn't think of anything anymore. Questions like what he was doing or why he had come here in the first place, had lost all their importance. His mind was blank. Only one thing remained at the tips of his tongue.
"Can I ..?"
vVvVvVvVvVv
Look who's back ?!
And once again I have to thank my dear letmewritethewords thanks again for the inspiration ^^ your request keep pushing me to go further and explore the writing world. Hope you like this one too.
I originally planned to make it a one-shot, but I don't seem to be able to tie it up so short and it would have become a long ass chapter ... so .... ^^'
Or should I stop it here really ? I like the tension I feel right now. Or is it just me ?
As always, comments, vote and do your things !
I would love to know your though on this new pair I'm trying for. I originally wanted to try on a new style but I changed direction so it's kinda the same, right ? Or is it at least a bit different ? (I erased more than 2000 words haha 🤦) I don't know anymore *help*
See you when we see each others.
Cheers
SetByeol ~