“Hello!~~ This is Fany Fany Tiffany! I can’t get to the phone right now-”

Hyoyeon frowned at voice mail. She ended the call and slumped down against the front door of Tigress Bar and Grill.

“What are those idiots doing?” she mumbled to herself as she leaned her head back against the cool glass.

“No Luck?”

Hyo looked up at Eunhyuk and shook her head, the corners of pulling down slightly.

They had finished up not too long after the trio had left and Hyoyeon went to retrieve her key only to discover it wasn’t there. After dumping out her purse and scouring the entire bar, she regretfully came to the conclusion that the key was missing.  And now her friends were not answering her calls. She sighed in frustration and closed her eyes. “Just my luck.”

“If you feel that bad about having to spend time with me I’ll just have to break the door-“ Eunhyuk began, rolling up his sleeves to exaggerate his point, but stopped when Hyoyeon began laughing.

“What? I’m serious Hyoyeon.” He said, feigning offense.

“Pfft! Alright, alright. I believe you.” She assured him “But the Boss would have our necks if you went Incredible Hulk on the door so cool it.”  She said as the corners of began to lift along with her mood.

“Ahh, then it’s no use.” He said regretfully before changing his tone and adding, “Well, we might as well make the best of this!” He was smiling widely now, his gums peeking through slightly, and so Hyoyeon smiled too - her eyes forming crescents as she accepted the hand that he offered to help her off the floor.

“Now! I’m pretty sure you wanted to learn how to make a mojito earlier!” Eunhyuk clapped his hands together and made his way behind the bar.

“Not learn!” She corrected defensively as she followed close behind. “I want to Perfect making it.”

“Riiight. Now, let this oppa show you what to do!”

She rolled her eyes and chuckled but watched closely as he began to prepare the drink- soda, sugar, rum, mint. When he finished he took a sip.

“Wahh!” he exclaimed, smacking his lips, “Perfect!” He said with a wink while holding the drink out to Hyoyeon. She grabbed the glass and eyed in skeptically before sipping it slowly, letting the minty concoction sit on her tongue before swallowing.  When she looked up at him, her expression was full of surprise, “Woah! This is actually really good!”

Eunhyuk beamed at the compliment. “Now you try.” He said while gesturing behind the bar.

She nodded and prepared to make her own. Eunhyuk gave her a few pointers along the way which she humbly accepted and when she finished she held it up to him to taste test. “You first.” She insisted. He accepted and she watched eagerly as he drank her mojito. His eyebrows scrunched and he looked at the ceiling while cupping his chin in his hand, as if pondering deeply.

“Yah!  Monkey, stop playing around and tell me how it is!” her impatience was evident in her voice.

He looked at her and smiled “It’s good!”

“Chincha!?” She reached out and tried some herself.

“Mmm!~ Who’s the master now?” She chimed arrogantly while lifting her chin up and tipping her glass in his direction.

He chortled. “Still me! You’re my apprentice.”  She smacked his upper arm lightly and sipped her drink again.

“So, what else do you want to make?” He asked while scanning the liquor shelf behind the bar.

Throughout the night the two of them prepared a variety of drinks- bantering and teasing each other the whole time. They were enjoying themselves so much they didn’t notice how much time had passed, or how much alcohol they had consumed until it was quite obvious they were both a bit intoxicated.

Hyoyeon sat on the bar with one of Eunhyuk’s latest drinks in hand.

“This is an original.” He commented as the girl held the drink up to the light. The red blue and yellow liquid sparkled in her hands.

“Hurry and drink it before the colors mix!” he said while hopping up on the bar to sit next to her. Hyoyeon nudged him again for rushing her, (as it was one of her habits to become a little bit violent when she drank), and brought the drink to . She took a big sip and her lips.

“OMO! This is seriously good Oppa! (Another drinking habit was losing any qualms about addressing Eunhyuk as “oppa”)

He smiled widely to himself, gums and all, as he watched her take another sip. She turned to give him a thumbs up and he noticed a little dab of blue staining her pink lips. He reached out and gently grazed the speck with his thumb before he realized what he was doing and only after realizing how incredibly soft her lips were. They sat frozen in place with their eyes  glued to one another. His hand remained suspended near her face as if not sure what to do next. They were only inches apart-such a small distance- a distance that would be so easy to close…

Hyoyeon turned first, her face slightly flushed, and Eunhyuk used his hesitant hand to smooth down the hair on the back of his neck as he too looked away.

Her voice broke the short silence that followed. “Oppa, what’s this drink called anyway?” She asked. Luckily, the alcohol helped her get over her bashfulness and she was able to break the awkward mood.

“No name.” he smirked at her disappointed pout.

“Mmm… How about…” She studied the drink “ ‘Firecracker’!” She exclaimed while snapping her fingers and looked to him for approval.

He chuckled. “Very original Hyo.” He replied sarcastically.

“Tch! Wae?” She nudged him again, this time a bit harder. “It’s a good name! Think about it, the colors are like fireworks-red, blue and yellow. Plus, it’s a great summer drink!” he watched with amusement as she justified her name.

“Firecracker huh?” he paused, “I like it.” He said with finality  and was glad he accepted the name because he was rewarded with an elated Hyoyeon who sat smiling proudly to herself on the bar. Then, her expression suddenly became a little more serious.

“Oppa, can I ask you a question?” She asked lightly, glancing over at him only to find that he was already looking at her. Her eyes fell back on the ‘Firecracker’.

 “How did you become so good at bartending?”

It seemed like a simple question, but she was hoping his answer might leave some clues about his past-who he was, where he was from and so on.

Why was she so curious about him? She still couldn’t answer that question herself.

 “Oh, so you finally admit I’m a bartending god?” he replied, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

“Hey, I never said that!” she lifted her hand to hit him but stopped when she saw how he was staring off into the distance, as if caught in some distant memory.

Should she have asked? Hyoyeon wasn’t sure if the past was a “Taboo” kind of topic with Eunhyuk. Not to mention, they still didn’t know each other that well. But she was curious and her inebriated state made her a little more open with what she said.

So she waited patiently and began closely observing his profile in the meantime. She had traced the profile of his face with her eyes and had just reached his prominent adam’s apple when he spoke, breaking her trance.

“Lee Hyukjae  was born in the country side, in some tiny town that no one really knew or cared about.”

He paused and she scooted the tiniest bit closer to him.

“He wasn’t the… coolest, or the smartest, or even the most handsome of the country bumpkins-Surprising I know.” He added with a smirk and she chuckled.

“But he was ambitious. He had big dreams as well as long term goals and knew he didn’t want to live some ordinary life, working some 9 to 5 job out in the sticks.”

Hyoyeon gazed in front of herself, eyes not focused on anything in particular and nodded slowly as he talked.

“Sooo, he got a few- no- many part time jobs, saved up what he made and after high school he left and traveled the country a bit- doing any odd jobs he could find in order to make more cash and keep him traveling.” He looked over at the blonde,
“And one of those odd jobs was bartending. I ended up staying in that particular city longer than intended so I earned quite a bit of experience as a bartender in the meantime.”

“Soo..” She started slowly as her brain, which due to the alcohol wasn’t on its ‘A Game’ at the moment, but something had registered in her head and it was a bit… upsetting. “When you’re done here…” She paused and met his gaze “You’ll leave again?”

“Was that a bit of sadness in your voice Hyoyeon?” He teased, but his voice was tender and he was grinning.

She scoffed and slapped his bicep. “I think that alcohol has gone to your head, Lee Hyukjae!” she gave him another hit and he caught her hand this time.

“Yah, I told you not to use that name! Lee Hyukjae is the country Bumpkin- Lee Eunhyuk is the really cool, rogue traveler!”

Hyoyeon stuck her tongue out. “Well I like Lee Hyukjae Better!” and she raised her free hand to attack once more but he was quicker and both of her wrists in his hands.

Hyoyeon’s laughing paused.

Did she just say she like Lee Hyukjae?- Wait.

More importantly, when had they become so close to each other?

Her palms tingled as she recalled the tension from earlier.

The same tantalizing distance was between them once more.

There was an aggravating hammering in her chest that she prayed he couldn’t hear.

Eunhyuk… Why did he look so serious?

She began to turn her head in an attempt to the bright pink she was sure her face had taken on.

“Kim Hyoyeon..”

Hesitantly, she looked back at him and this time he closed the short distance between them.

PICTURE! (I didn't forget- I just couldn't find many parts to draw out >.>;;)

Uguuuuuuuuuuuuuu~ Well here we are. I hope you all aren't disapointed with this chapter since It's a bit shorter than I expected it to be. (\=_=)\;;

Plus, I only drew one pic.

But hey, they kissed! \(^3^)/

Plus

Very mild make out scene coming up (kekeke)

Anyway, thanks for the support, comments, and subscriptions.

And don't be shy- Please tell me what you think. I read all the comments. ~ <3