"You've been here a while," Pierre mumbled, stirring the straw in his glass of juice.
Wooseok wiped down the counter for a second time that evening, after a customer had lost control of himself and vomited all over the bar. Wooseok had seen a lot of things since he started working here, but that was the first time that he ever felt his lunch come back into his throat. Now that it was near closing time, Wooseok couldn't wait to get into his bed and sleep off all his troubles.
"I'm trying to save up some more cash," Wooseok answered, "once I get my week off, I'm hoping to go with my brothers to Vegas, spend some time away from this city."
"Interesting." Pierre removed the straw from his glass and swallowed the rest of the juice in one large gulp. He then passed the glass to Wooseok for him to clean later. "I thought you would be here hoping that girl would come back."
Wooseok rolled his eyes. "She's just a customer."
"That you took out to dinner at my favorite restaurant," Pierre smirked, "and who you eventually took back to your place afterwards. How was it?"
Wooseok's eyes widened as he shushed Pierre before any of the other co-workers could hear what he had just said. Pierre only chuckled, stroking his beard gently.
"I was only joking, but from your reaction, I'm assuming you actually did go home together," Pierre said, his voice much lower. "Are you planning to date her or something?"
"She has some things going on," Wooseok sighed, "and what happened at my place was supposed to happen just once. It's a shame, though, the stuff that she has going on."
"Like what?"
"I can't give you all the details," Wooseok said, dumping the towel into the trash along with the latex gloves he was wearing, "but long story short, she was married for a while and she found out her husband was cheating. She's still young, she could get anyone she wanted, but she's in this place where she's kind of stuck between trying to be independent and find a new man and waiting for her husband to come back."
"That's where you come in, right?" Pierre asked, crossing his arms on the countertop.
"What do you mean?" Wooseok wondered.
Pierre shrugged, clearing his throat before saying, "She obviously trusts you a lot. I mean, I know this bar is for people to come talk about what's going on in their lives and all that, but I can see you guys have a bond. She lights up when she sees you and she takes your advice seriously, and you even opened up about your life to her. I'm not saying you guys are going to be a couple, I'm just saying the chemistry between you both is strong."
Wooseok shook her head. "I'm giving her the wrong idea, then."
"Excuse me?"
"She's going to get better right?" Wooseok said, "She's going to find somebody that will change her life and make her happy, or she's going to be fine being single and grow that way. From what you're saying, she and I are becoming too close."
"I think you're missing the point, Wooseok," Pierre pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm just saying that you guys could be really good friends."
"I definitely should slow things down though," Wooseok sighed, "remember Rhonda? She came in for months trying to see Freddie after he told her how to make the most of her time in New York. He had to quit his job and relocate just so she would stop bothering him."
Pierre shook his head, chuckling. "She was crazy, man, still makes my heart race thinking about how terrible she was."
Wooseok laughed too, reminiscing how Rhonda would ask about Freddie's shifts so she could show up. "I'll slow things down with Romaine. She's nice, but I definitely need to be more careful with her."
"Right now's a good time to start."
Wooseok looked at Pierre, who was looking out towards the exit with a small smile on his face. Wooseok turned and looked as well, finding Romaine standing there underneath the bright, yellow lights that spelled 150 Bar.
Her eyes were puffy, like she had been crying for the majority of the day. Her box braids were tied back in a pony tail, and she wasn't dressed all nice like Wooseok was so used to. She had on a black puffer coat and blue jeans, wearing a pair of white sneakers. Overall, she looked sick.
Romaine looked into Wooseok's brown eyes and Wooseok could see the pain she was hiding inside them.
"Can we talk for a minute? Please?"
♡
Wooseok took Romaine down the street to a Mexican fast food restaurant. After seeing her physical state, he feared that she had not eaten, and wanted to make sure that she at least had something in her stomach while she was sitting with him.
He ordered them a large plate of carne asada fries with extra meat and no guacamole, before he faced her and took her hand in his.
"Tell me," Wooseok mumbled, "what did he do?"
Romaine closed her eyes, knowing the tears were already forming again. "I went to breakfast with my sister and he walked in with that bitch."
Shit, Wooseok thought. There was bound to be a time when Romaine was going to see the woman her husband left her for, he just didn't think it was going to be so soon. He assumed that the divorce was going to be finalized by then.
"And what happened?" Wooseok asked.
Romaine tried to talk, but she already felt choked up. Wooseok rubbed her fingers in his palm to soothe her. Her fingers were so cold and she moved them so slowly, as if they were numb. He wondered how long she was out in the cold trying to reach the bar and find him.
"The waiter made them sit at a table by the entrance, so on the way out, I had to pass by them. I was hoping I could just walk out and have them not say anything, but the girl stopped me. She smiled in my face and greeted me. She wanted to know how I did my braids and she kept asking me questions about my hair and told me she liked my outfit. She had no idea that the man she was with was still married to me."
"So, did you tell her?" Wooseok asked. Surely, Romaine told the girl what was going on and put her in the loop.
"N-No, and I should've." Romaine began to sob and Wooseok shushed her, rubbing her arms to remind her that he was still here. "I should've told that girl everything that happened to me, I should've let the girl know but Simon was there and I-I..."
Romaine stopped talking as the waitress put down their food and gave them some napkins. Romaine kept her head down so the waitress wouldn't ask if everything was alright. Wooseok thanked the waitress and turned his attention right back to Romaine.
"Why didn't you? Were you scared?"
Romaine shook her head.
"So what happened? Why didn't you?"
Romaine sighed, wiping her eyes with one of the napkins on the table. She lifted her head up and looked at Wooseok. Her face was hot with embarrassment.
"Because when I saw Simon walk into the restaurant with her, he looked the happiest I have ever seen him," Romaine said lowly, almost in a whisper. "He looked into my eyes when she was talking to me with such pleading eyes. I still love him, Wooseok, to the point where I let him continue living that fantasy with his girlfriend."
Wooseok could not believe the words he just heard come from her mouth. After all that this man had done to her, she still loved him, to the point that she let him be with the woman that he cheated on her with. There were no words that Wooseok could even muster in response to what she had said.
"Tell me I'm an idiot," Romaine told him.
"Why would I do that?"
"Because that's what you're thinking," Romaine answered. "You're thinking that I'm this crazy, ass bitch who allowed her cheating husband to go off and do whatever the hell he wanted."
"If you knew that what was what I was going to say out loud when you came to find me and tell me this, then why would you come out of your house to find me at all?"
"Because I want you to tell me that to my face," Romaine spoke. "Put me in my place and tell me to find that girl and tell her the truth. Tell me to mess up his life and to do everything to make his life with her a living hell."
"I'm not going to tell you that, I'd never tell you to do that," Wooseok let go of her hands and crossed his arms, leaning back into his chair.
"What would you tell me then?" Romaine raised her eyebrow. Wooseok shrugged his shoulders, giving her a look that Romaine had never seen before. It made her feel warm, like when she drinks wine.
"It depends on if you have work tomorrow or not," Wooseok responded.
"I don't," Romaine answered quickly.
Wooseok began to close their cartons of food, stacking them on top of each other before going to the front counter and asking for a plastic bag.
"What are you going to tell me?" Romaine asked, watching as Wooseok bagged the food and the napkins.
He tied a knot on the top of the bag and and took Romaine's hand in his once again, leading her to the exit of the restaurant.
"I'm telling you that you should spend the night with me again."