Requested by Train_girl

It was another dry night at the bar you were working at. A few old guys playing pool in the back, their cigarettes dimly lighting their faces in the dark atmosphere of the bar. Them, and another older man sitting at the bar in front of you were all the people that had come in that night.

You sighed and wiped the bar counter for probably the hundredth time that night, in hopes that there would actually be something to clean. Since you worked the night shift, you didn't finish working until the bar closed, which wasn't for another 3 hours.

I’m actually surprised he hasn’t shown up yet, you thought to yourself as you looked at the empty stool at the far end of the bar counter. But then again, why am I upset about that?

"How are you doing on this fine evening, __________," the ajusshi at the bar asked, interrupting your thoughts about your missing regular customer. You smiled at the old man and filled his empty glass with soju.

“Well, it’s not busy but there isn’t much business either. So it’s ok I guess,” you said. You leaned on the counter and the old man chuckled. “Well, that happens sometimes. There will be good and bad business days, but what can you do about it?”

You nodded in agreement. Usually the good business days were during the weekend, but you would only work on the weekends on occasion since you liked to keep that time free. So you were normally stuck working late weekday nights, with barely any tips to add to your nightly wage.

“Any excitement in the relationship department?” You looked at the old man in surprise. He was a regular customer at the bar, but you would rarely talk to him since you usually had someone else to talk to.

You looked at him and scoffed. “Really my only social life is at this bar with the customers. And since most of them are on the older side, there isn’t really much luck there.”

He let out a loud cackle at your response. “I see. But what about that one younger man that comes in often? What’s his name again? Louie or something?” He took another swig from his glass and set it on the counter. “Definitely something foreign.”

You smiled at the ajusshi’s guess. “Luhan. You mean?”

“Yeah, that’s his name,” he yelled, breaking the quiet atmosphere of the bar. You pretended to check your watch and frowned at the customer. “Ajusshi, I think it’s time for you to go home now. The sooner you leave, the sooner I can close the bar.”

He frowned in disapproval. “Wah, __________-ah you’re so mean to us old people. Let us enjoy ourselves while we can.”

You chuckled at his response and walked around the bar so help him out of his seat. You helped him put on his jacket and slowly escorted him out the front door.

“Here,” the ajusshi said, holding in his hand a thick stack of cash. Your eyes widened and you pushed his hand back toward him. “Oh no, I can’t accept this.”

He pushed it toward you again. “For all the times you’ve made me leave without paying, this should make up for it. Plus all the tips you deserve for being such a good bartender.”

Still hesitant, you take the money and bow 90 degrees toward the man. “Thank you so much.”

He smiled and patted your shoulder. “And try to grab hold of Luhan. I know you are usually around him a lot when he’s at the bar. Go for it.”

You stood there, surprised by the sudden motivation from the customer. You let out a fake laugh, “Yeah, I guess.” And with that, the ajusshi turned away and began walking down the sidewalk.

You sighed. Yeah right, I told Luhan to leave me alone since he kept flirting with me. I doubt he’ll come back to the bar soon.

As you walked back into the bar, you noticed that the two people playing pool had already left. You went to the area and collected the glasses and cigar trays around the area.

You were relieved that there were no other customers in the bar. You checked the time and saw that you would be able to close the bar 2 hours early.

As you were cleaning, however, you heard the bell ring at the door. You stopped what you were doing and threw the cleaning rag down on the table. You were now annoyed that you would have to keep the bar open for just one customer. You swung around and plastered a fake smile on your face.

“I’m sorry, we are closing early tonight.”

“Aw, even for a good looking, regular customer like me?”

You rolled your eyes when you heard his voice. Damn it, Luhan.

~~~

You looked down at the untouched glass of soju in front of Luhan and switched our attention back to him. You were amazed that he had come back to the bar, even after you had told him numerous times and even made a scene about leaving you alone.

He looked at you with a smile. “You look exceptionally pretty tonight.”

You scoffed and turned your back to him, drying glasses that were on the back counter. “Did you miss me,” he asked.

“Nope,” you replied curtly. He chuckled and continued talking. “You’re so cute when you’re pissed. I remember the first night I came here, you got mad at some old guy for dancing on the table during karaoke night. It was hilarious.”

His voice changed to a serious tone. "But there was actually something important I wanted to talk to you about..."

You zoned out didn’t respond, his voice completely fading out from your thoughts. The fact that he was always flirting with you drove you crazy. Not only because you knew he was never serious, but because you actually liked it and ended up falling for him because of it. The way he teased you, how deceivingly nice he was, and just his overly attractive looks hooked you.

“Are you listening to anything that I’m saying,” he asked, now standing beside you. You screamed and ended up dropping the glass that you were holding, causing it to shatter on the floor. Luhan looked at the floor and his mouth made an ‘o’ shape.

“Goddamn, Luhan. Don’t do that,” you said. You grabbed the trashcan under the counter and brought it closer to the pile of broken glass. You crouched down and began picking up the big pieces of glass. Luhan followed your lead and went down to your level and helped.

“Why are you so irritated,” Luhan asked as the two of you continued to clean. “You usually aren’t like this.”

You ignored his question and focused on picking up the glass carefully. Luhan waved his hand in front of your face and blocked your vision, “Hello, __________? Anyone home?”

You threw the last big piece of glass into the trash and stood up, fed up with his questioning. “Ok, Luhan. I’m irritated because you won’t leave me alone. When you’re here, you always flirt with me and say things you don’t mean.” You grab your hair and mess it up. “And the fact that I actually fell for you is what irritates me the most. I don’t know what’s wrong with me! I know you’re always joking around and drunk when you mess around with me, so I don’t know how the heck I-”

Luhan cut you off surprisingly by pulling you towards him and planting his lips on yours, causing your heart to beat at a hundred miles a minute. Your eyes widened in shock at the turn of events and you pushed him away.

“What the heck are you doing?!”

He gave you a sad smile. “You really weren’t listening to me earlier were you?”

You furrowed your eyebrows, confused by what he was talking about. He sighed, “Before I came back here and scared you, I was talking about how I ended up coming here often because I genuinely wanted to get to know you. As you know I’m not from Korea and you were one of the first few people I met here. And yeah, I joked around and flirted with you a lot because I thought you liked me too.”

He looked at his feet. “And I asked you out just now too, but you obviously missed it.”

You stood there, unable to comprehend everything that Luhan had just said. The turn of events was too much for your head, but at the same time you were happy beyond belief.

You checked your watch, the time being only 10 o’clock. You quickly grabbed the broom and swept up the rest of the glass, Luhan still silent in front of you and waiting for an answer to his confession.

“Hold on a sec,” you said and ran to the back to grab your coat and keys to lock up the bar. You ran back into the bar, and Luhan looked at you with a confused look. “Where are you going?”

You grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the bar, locking the door behind you. You spun around and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, giving him a big grin when he looked down at you with wide eyes. “We’re going on that date you asked about.”