In which Yerin is a head bartender and Eunbi is her regular

When I signed up for the job, I knew I was signing up to be a social butterfly as well, chatting people up and talking to different people every day. What I didn't expect was to meet the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my entire life.

I placed the martini glass back on the overhead rack and reached out for another to wipe it dry. Bobbing my head slowly to the smooth jazz music flowing from the stereos, I polished the glasses while waiting for customers to pour into the bar.

I raised my hand to check the time on my watch and realized it was just 7:46 pm. Today I was on closing duty which meant I have roughly 5 hours left before the end of my shift. It wasn’t that bad though, I loved what I’m doing so it wasn’t that much of a chore. Before I could realize, an hour had passed, and office workers began to pour in for a night of drinking.

“One Bloody Mary please.” A man in a business suit said. I nodded with a smile and began preparing his drink. Accurately and swiftly, I pulled bottles from the rack and poured them into the jigger to make sure that I have the correct amount before emptying it into a mixing glass. Once done with the liquids, I sprinkled a pinch of salt and pepper and mixed by pouring them back and forth skilfully between the mixing glasses.

I then grabbed a highball glass and filled it with ice. Holding the strainer over the top, I poured the mixed drink into the glass and garnished with a stalk of celery before sliding it across the marble counter. The man caught it perfectly and gave me an impressed nod to which I returned the gesture. I looked around the bar to see if my favourite patron had arrived but sadly, no sign of her.

I took the jigger and rinsed it in the sink before returning to take another order. My hands worked fast to prepare a whole selection of drinks. Friday nights were the busiest since everyone came to get wasted on the weekends and there was no room for error. Having slightly more than 5 years of experience under my belt, I currently hold the position of Head Bartender. This meant that everything was to be perfect and spillage or breakage of any ingredients or equipment were to be at are minimum. Of course, I’m not as ruthless as I made myself sound. Everyone has to start somewhere, and mini accidents are bound to happen but as must as possible, I will help my juniors. After all, I’m a friendly person.

Just then, the main door opened, and a slender figure caught my eye. I turned towards the newcomer and welcomed her with a warm smile.

“Eunbi.” I nodded with a smile.

“Yerin. I brought company today.” She said and gestured at the man standing beside her which I just took notice of. I restrained myself from making a sour expression and smiled at him out of courtesy.

“Boyfriend?” I asked, swallowing my bitterness. The brown-haired beauty simply nodded with a smile.

“What shall I concoct for you today? The usual?” I asked, gaze shifting between the pair.

“Hmm… I’ll try something new today. Surprise me.” She said and I chuckled.

“How about you?”

“I’ll have a Long Island iced tea.” He said before turning his attention back to Eunbi. They slid onto the barstools and watched as I began to make their drinks. I decided to prepare the gentleman’s drink first while I thought of what I could prepare for Eunbi.

“Do you hold your liquor well?” I asked, trying to start a small conversation to turn his attention away from the girl who was watching me intently.

“I’m not that good of a drinker but I’m here as per her request.” He replied and I nodded in feigned interest. I grabbed the bottle of tequila off the rack and flipped the bottle before catching it flawlessly. I noticed the corner of Eunbi’s lips twitch upwards at the small trick as I let the liquid flow into the tin. I placed it back and exchanged it for a bottle of gin, this time tossing it flat behind my back. I quickly added the rest of the ingredients before capping a shaker on and shook it, smiling when I saw her amused expression. I filled a glass with ice, poured the drink in and stuck a straw in there before serving.

Eunbi suddenly lets out a laugh as I handed the glass to him and I shot her a wink, raising a finger to my lips.

“What? What’s so funny?” he asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“Oh, nothing.” She replied whilst looking at me. “Just thought of something funny.” She said and he shrugged, brushing it off.

“You’re evil.” She said and I laughed.

“I know,” I replied with a grin. “Now for your drink.”

I grabbed another mixing tin and tossed in some brown sugar, mint and squeezed lime wedges before mixing it together. The, I tossed in a couple of ice cubes and poured the tequila and cassis before shaking the entire tin. The secret to perfecting this drink is in the ratios. If everything is added at it’s intended amount, it would turn out beautifully but as soon as one ingredient is in excess, the entire concoction is undrinkable. I shook it till my hands felt numbed by the cold before pouring it into a Collins glass. I cracked open a can of 7-up and poured some of it into the glass before garnishing with a sugarcane stick and 2 mint leaves.

“Mojito Diablo. Lovely drink for a lovely lady.” I said as I gently placed the glass down in front of Eunbi. She nodded with a smile and pulled it closer.

“Suave, as usual, Jung Yerin.” She teased.

“Why of course. Only the best for my favourite regular.” I said. By the time their night was over, she had to hold her date up on his feet to prevent him from falling over. He was completely wasted. As they walked out of the door, Eunbi turned back and as soon as we made eye contact, we burst out into laughter.

Eunbi had been dropping by the bar on Wednesdays and Fridays for almost a year now. Should I be concerned about her drinking so often? Not at all because she would always have 1 light drink and chat with the bartenders for a couple hours before leaving, completely sober. Should I stop being a creep remembering which days she comes by and what she does whenever she’s here? Maybe.

I couldn’t help but admire her beauty everytime she walks through those mahogany doors. The way she walks is elegant even though I know she isn’t since she laughs like a man a lot. Not that I’m complaining since I do too but I guess that’s what pulled me in; her down-to-earth personality. She was honest and easy-going. However, my hopes were quickly shot down when she first brought this same man in. She introduced me to him but I never remembered his name. It wasn’t important to me but of course, I had to pretend I knew him.

Was I close to her? Absolutely not. We had a bartender-patron relationship. We never talked about our personal lives. Always what’s going on in the world, politics, our own views on certain world issues… I didn’t know who she truly was and she didn’t know who I was either. Heck, I didn’t even know her last name. I was simply Jung Yerin the bartender. Depressing, I know but I guess that is all we were meant to be.

Acquaintances.

I wiped the cordial glass mindlessly and stared blankly at the beer tap.

“Oi.” A voice said from behind and a hand landed on my shoulder. My grip on the glass loosened from the shock but I was able to catch it inches before it shattered on the floor.

“What’s the matter with you?” I hissed as I straightened up and turned around to face the person who scared me.

“What’s the matter with me? What’s the matter with you? You’ve been polishing that glass for the past 10 minutes. If you keep going, you’re probably going to wear down the glass and wipe a hole straight through!” my friend, you, said.

“Oh… Was I?” I asked, slightly surprised.

“Is something wrong?”

“Just… Tired I guess.” I said before returning the glass back to its rack. It was a lie of course. Yesterday was Wednesday but I didn’t see Eunbi. Petty, I know. She could have been held up by work or had something crop up at home or maybe that boyfriend of hers brought her out on a romantic date. Who was I that she needed to come see me every Wednesday and Friday? I sighed and wiped the condensation off the beer tap. I considered having a drink but that wasn’t too wise since I had to be sober to prepare alcohol. How ironic.

There was no time to mull around, however. Patrons began to enter and I snapped back into my professional self, serving up drink after drink. As the night deepened and the mood got lighter, people began to ease up on the alcohol and I was able to catch a break. Just as I leaned against the sink to rest my aching legs, the mahogany doors burst open and a familiar figure stormed through.

Touseled hair, bloodshot eyes that had both pain and weariness in them along with an agitated appearance triggered alarms that blared inside my head.

“What happened?” I asked as soon as she sat down. I wasn’t really expecting her to say anything since we weren’t exactly friends but she had me pleasantly surprised when an entire rant came flooding out of her pink lips.

“We broke up. We had a fight yesterday that’s why I didn’t come. I found out that he was cheating on me and I just lost it. 2 years! Did those 2 years mean nothing to him? I mean, was I that bad? I treated him nicely and I think I was pretty nice to him all the time! He always said that I was the only one but I guess not.” She ran a hand through her unkempt hair before resuming her rant. I leaned against the counter and listened to each and every word that she said. It might have been a bad idea because the more I listened, the angrier I felt. My blood boiled and I wanted nothing more than to tell her to take me to him so I could teach him a lesson.

But I couldn’t. There were boundaries and this was one that I knew I couldn't cross. Who was I to get so worked up and defensive of someone who I barely know on a personal level? All I could do was swallow the anger and bitterness as I tried to soothe her. I guess even my smooth words didn’t work because she grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards her, looked me straight in the eye and said: “Give me the strongest glass you got.”

Of course, I couldn’t refuse to make a drink so I did. I didn’t want to give her something that would knock her out and get her absolutely wasted because excessive alcohol consumption really isn’t the way to go in dealing with breakups. Without her knowing, I mixed up a slightly watered down version of a Blue Lightning. She took a swig and placed the old-fashioned glass back down on the marble countertop with a hard clink. I couldn’t help but wince at the rough handling of the glass but I said nothing, she wasn’t in the best of mood anyway. I watched in worry as she took another gulp before excusing herself to the washroom. I was called over by another customer just as another patron entered.

The man wanted 3 glasses of gin and tonic so I got to work, filling each glass with equal amounts of gin. As I cracked open two cans of tonic water to distribute among the highball glasses, I saw a figure from the corner of my eye. I tilted my head to the side as I poured the liquid into the glass to have a subtle look at who the person was. I almost dropped the can when I realized who it was.

There was Eunbi's boyfriend, sitting at the spot where she was and adding something to her drink. I emptied the can and stuffed a lemon wedge on the rim of each glass and served it. When I turned back, I saw that Eunbi was already back in her seat and had her drink raised to her lips.

"EUNBI!" I yelled before she could tilt the glass all the way and down its contents. She paused and looked at me along with several other patrons who probably thought I was crazy. I ran over and pulled the glass out of her hand.

"What are you doing?" she asked, brows furrowed in annoyance.

"I uh... The drink as gone stale. I'll make you another one." I said and quickly poured it into the sink and washed the glass done with water. I was 100% sure it was the classic Rohypnol tablet. It dissolves instantly in any liquid and is both odourless and tasteless. Plus, it's super cheap, making it the most ideal date drug. Before I could grab a mixing tin and get to work in trying to cheer the love of my life up, another yell caught the attention of the bar patrons.

"Hwang Eunbi!" a deep voice bellowed.

"So that's her last name..." I muttered under my breath as I watched him storm towards us, shoving past the other patrons.

"What do you want? I said we're done." She seethed, fist clenched on the countertop.

"We're not till I say so." he snarled and grabbed her wrist. "We're going home."

"No! Let go of me!" She yelled.

"Sir, let her go," I spoke up, using an authoritative tone.

"You," he growled. "Don't interfere with our relationship. You're just a bartender so focus on your job."

"I am but you are currently hurting my customer." I reasoned, eyes dropping down to his death grip on Eunbi's wrist.

"Why aren't you a nosy one." he scoffed and tried to pull her away but was stopped by another customer.

"You're hurting her," he said. It was true, Eunbi's brows were scrunched up as she frantically clawed at his hand, trying to free herself from his grasp.

". Off. She's my girlfriend. Don't tell me what to do." he spat. I nimbly boosted myself up on the short stool behind me and flipped myself over the counter, landing lightly on my feet. My sudden presence caused the enraged man to swing around and attempt to hit me with a right hook. In self-defence, I dodged and sent an uppercut straight into his underarm, causing him to release his hold on Eunbi. I quickly pulled her behind me and pushed her gently towards you.

"What a pain in the ." he roared and swung another punch at me. I sidestepped and jabbed his throat, causing him to choke and stumble back. I was going to kick him out before he could cause more damage but he kicked me. Although I managed to block most of the impact, I was still knocked back to the bar. He regained his senses and charged straight at me. I instantly grabbed an empty beer bottle that was conveniently sitting beside me on the countertop and smashed it against the side of his head.

The glass shattered over over the floor as he fell back from the sudden impact, gripping his head.

" you, call the cops," I said, taking a step back from the damage I've done. I wasn’t fazed one bit since I had dealt with several drunken fights over the years. I turned back to Eunbi and she looked at me with tearful eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked and she just threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my waist and buried her face into my shoulder. I couldn't move for a solid 10 seconds as all I could think of was her. Hands around my waist? Great! Resting her head on my shoulder? Fantastic! The heavenly scent of her perfume that seemed to have me feeling intoxicated? Unbelievable. The fact that I could feel a damp sensation on my shoulder as she sobbed silently? Not good at all.

I hugged her tight and rubbed soothing circles on her back to calm her down.

"It's okay. You're safe now. I'm here. He won't hurt you." I whispered. I had no idea why I said that but I was glad she didn't seem to shoot down the idea that I was here for her.

The police promptly arrived and whisked him away, taking our statements and CCTV footage before leaving. I handed the keys to you and told you to lock up the place before grabbing my wallet and keys from the staff locker. I helped the shaken girl to my car and opened the door for her. Settling her down, I buckled her seatbelt before shutting the door and jogging over to hop into the driver's seat.

"Where do you stay? I'll take you home." I offered but she shook her head slowly.

"Can we go to your place instead? I'm... I don't want to stay at home alone." she said after a moment of silence.

"You sure?" I asked and she nodded. I pressed my lips together and started the engine.

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I handed her a blanket and a cup of warm water which she accepted gratefully.

"Sorry about that... I can pay for dry cleaning." she sniffled and pointed at my white shirt that now has a patch of tear stain on my right shoulder.

"I know you can but it's okay. No biggie." I chuckled and sat down at a comfortable distance from her on the couch. "I just want to make sure that you're alright. After the... Sticky situation."

"I wouldn't have been if it wasn't for you. Thank you," she said and looked at me, lips curving into a genuine smile; the first smile of the night.

"It's no problem at all, just doing what anyone would have done," I replied with a smile. "The guest room is free for you to stay Eunbi-ssi. As long as you want."

"Eunbi-ssi? Why the sudden formalities? Are we not friends?" she asked with a slightly weak laugh.

"Are we? I never thought of us as friends... Not that I don't want to be!" I quickly added, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "It's just... We never really talk about our own lives and all we know about each other are our names and morals."

"Ah... Well, that's... That's true. Now that you say it." she said, scratching her head. "I never realized because I just talk so much with you whenever I'm there. It just feels like I'm meeting an old friend to have a drink at the bar twice every week to catch up. I've always seen you as a friend Yerin, I'm sorry that I didn't realize you felt otherwise earlier."

"Don't be sorry, it's not a problem at all. I didn't even know your last name until earlier." I said, unable to hide my bitterness. The brown-haired beauty seemed to find it amusing that I was sulking over such a small matter.

"Perhaps we need an official introduction after chatting so much over the past year. Hi, I'm Hwang Eunbi. Your typical office worker." she smiled and extended her hand. I took hold of her cold hand and shook it firmly.

"I'm Jung Yerin, your typical bartender." I grinned.

"I'm sorry again for not doing this sooner," she said sheepishly. "Honestly I wanted to tell you about my problems and just what happened during the day and my week whatever interesting stuff that happened during the week but I never had the courage to. I thought it was a little weird to be telling a bartender all these. Besides, I didn't want to disturb you while you were working. I also... also didn't really want to see when you had to flirt... flirt with others."

"You didn't? Are you insinuating that... You have some interest in me?" I asked, not believing what I just heard. Eunbi nodded shyly and my jaw went slack. How did I not know? How did I not pick up the hints all this time? How she complimented me whenever I did some flairtending to entertain and impress her, how she would look at me and tuck her hair behind her ear sometimes. Even the times where I caught her staring maybe a little too long at me while I was working on the other side of the bar.

"Maybe. You had always caught my eye but since I had... You know... I never wanted to really find out exactly if this was love or not out of consideration for him. But now that he's out of the picture... I guess it doesn't hurt to try, right?" she smiled and reached out to place a gentle hand on my knee. My gaze trailed up slowly from her hand on my knee, up her arm and to her brown eyes.

"I guess so," I muttered under my breath as a smile spread across my lips. I rested a hand on hers and looked into her eyes, gaze shifting between her left and right pupil that seemed to brighten up.

"But." she suddenly started.

"Huh?"

"I want you to know that this isn't rebound in any way. I genuinely am interested in you. Unless you'd like me to wait for a little before I start to chase you." she said. I could feel the seriousness and sincerity of her words. I knew she meant me no harm.

"I'm honestly okay with starting this right away but if it makes you feel a little more at ease, we can just... be friends for now," I said, not wanting to neglect her worries either. A relieved expression seemed to wash over her face and I guess I said the right thing.

"Yeah... Let's just take this slow. I have a feeling that we have plenty of time." she grinned.

"I think so too," I replied with a smile, patting her hand.

[A/N] Here's the one-shot in Yerin's POV that I tweeted about some time back. I had to focus on finishing Christmas Wonderland before starting on this minor one so here it is :) Hope you enjoyed the read~

Side note, in case you don't understand why they laughed when Yerin stuck the straw in the Long Island tea, I'll explain. Long Island tea is a drink consisting of many spirits and if you drink it with a straw, you'll aerate it which means you introduce air into the already strong drink. Which also means you will get drunk much faster than if you were to drink directly from the glass itself.

If you have any other questions, feel free to leave a comment below and tell me what you think! ^^