Hey bartender
Pour 'em hot tonight
'Til the party and the music and the truth collide
Bring it 'til his memory fades away

Bartender
- Lady A

»»————-　➴　————-««

Buildings were the perfect study subject for shapes. They're everywhere in the city— Towering structures, curved domes, angled slopes. It was an element Jeongguk spent his time admiring often.

And if he wasn't so caught up in them, tilting his head up to survey their designs, he would've missed the familiar pair of dark eyes peeking down at him from the roof of a commercial building.

His jaw dropped, skidding to a halt in the middle of the pavement. He received a few complaints and annoyed stares for that.

Ghostie? he mouthed.

But as soon as the nickname left his lips, the ravenhead evaporated into thin air.

He wondered if hallucination was part of his injury, glancing down at his arm as he continued down the path to work. Maybe he was losing his mind. Maybe the night he spent tossing around in bed, trying not to think of the way the ravenhead handled him so gently, so prettily, meant more than he wanted it to.

Suddenly, a cold chill seized his bones and he tensed. Nope. Can't be a coincidence. He did a full three-eighty this time, taking in his surroundings—

"Hi."

"Ohmygod." Jeongguk stumbled over his feet, drawing even more attention now.

Taehyung stood in front of him, hand rubbing his neck sheepishly. "Hi, Gguk."

He could feel the heat blooming from his cheeks to his neck. Jeongguk mustered up a glare, pulling out his phone to press it against his ear. "I knew I saw you!" he cried as soon as the onlookers had abandoned him, "Stop embarrassing me in public."

Jeongguk's last words crowded together in a whiny tone that Taehyung found disgustingly adorable.

"Sorry," Taehyung chuckled, "I didn't expect such a strong reaction from you."

"What are you doing here?" Suddenly, Jeongguk's eyes narrowed into squints. "Wait a second... were you stalking me?"

"I'm not stalking you!" The ravenhead gave his best attempt at acting offended, hand on his heart. "I was... watching over you."

The chestnut boy made a face at him. "Why?" He began walking again, picking up the pace. "I'm gonna be late for work."

Taehyung started taking long strides with him, following close behind as if they were attached by the hip.

"What are you doing?"

"What?"

They looked ridiculous, starting and stopping around the block like they couldn't make up their minds.

"Why are you following me?"

The ravenhead cleared his throat. "I told you I'd come with you."

Jeongguk blinked at him. "Huh?"

"To find your camera, remember?"

"Ah," the chestnut boy acknowledged, "You don't need to come with me. I mean— I'm sure Charles has it. I left it with him. And he said he'll be back for his picture."

Taehyung shrugged. "How're you so sure he wouldn't steal it?"

"Because unlike you, I believe people are inherently good, not selfish," Jeongguk revealed, feet moving automatically in front of one another, "At the end of the day, we're all just trying our best."

A good part of Jeongguk believed in that. In fact, he fought every day to shove that belief down his throat and keep it there. But sometimes even the most radiant streaks of sunshine don't make it past the seasonal thunderstorms.

"Hm, tell that to people to take advantage of others," Taehyung countered airily, speaking his mind, "People who make promises they don't keep."

It was like Taehyung hurled a rock and dented his armor. Jeongguk's lips were pursed into a tight line after that, head hung low.

The ravenhead was quick to pick up on his change of demeanor. "Hey," he said softly, "Hey, I didn't mean that." He didn't know why he cared so much to keep that smile on the boy's face. "Jeongguk?"

"You're wrong."

That came out harsher than he intended it to.

"You're wrong because we're gonna turn this corner" — Jeongguk gestured dramatically to the end of the block — "and I guarantee Charles will be standing right there with my camera in his hands. Right there in front of the bar."

Taehyung's eyes expanded into saucers at the boy's sudden spike in confidence. He didn't understand Jeongguk's overprotectiveness over his beliefs. Not yet.

They turned the corner. The ravenhead failed to mask the shock on his face.

There, right in front of the bar, stood a man with a camera strap around his thick neck.

Jeongguk broke into a sprint, mouth spilling with words of gratitude as he greeted the man. Taehyung stood gawking. His whole brain malfunctioned when the chestnut boy handed Charles the picture, waved him off, and turned to Taehyung with a cheeky wink.

Spluttering, Taehyung hurried forward.

"Say I was right," Jeongguk commanded. His fingers clutched his camera as he got on his tiptoes, purposefully crowding into the ravenhead's space.

Their noses were merely inches apart now, and Taehyung felt like he was truly seeing the chestnut boy for the first time. He didn't notice the constellation concentrated in his eyes, or the tiny blotches of a moles scattered on his skin.

"Say it."

"You— you were right," Taehyung muttered, taking a step back.

"Great," Jeongguk beamed, lifting a hand to tap the ravenhead's nose, "You look a little flustered, ghostie-postie." He whipped around then shoved the bar door open like nothing happened.

Like Taehyung wasn't imprinting the image of Jeongguk's face into his mind at the speed of light. He shook his head, screeching when he realized his feet had hovered a few inches up from the ground. Panicked, the ravenhead forced himself back down.

That was his first float.

Someone walked through Taehyung's body to enter the bar and his eyes followed her until he spotted the chestnut boy through a window. Bottles of wine stood to attention behind him and the neon lights bounced off furnished wooden surfaces. Jeongguk was in an apron now, hands moving skillfully as he tended to customers' needs.

A tiny scoff escaped Taehyung's lips.

Him? Ghostie-postie? Flustered?

He stepped into the bar, music consuming his senses but target locked on the boy in the apron— that boy with his stupid voice and his stupid little smile.

Two can play that game.

Effortlessly, Taehyung made a beeline towards him, joining the boy behind the counter. He was unspotted, of course, being the invisible ghost he is.

Sometimes ghosting around was fun.

But he wasn't invisible to one person.

Jeongguk glanced at him briefly but made no move to acknowledge the ravenhead. He was on duty, after all. There were half a dozen eyes on him and if he started talking to seemingly no one...

Taehyung raised himself onto the counter, legs dangling as he tapped his chin and read the chalkboard. "Mm, I'll have a Martini. It's been a while," he requested, leaning down to meet the boy's eyes, "Can you do that for me, Gguk?"

Jeongguk ignored him, turning away to check on one of his new customers.

The ravenhead grinned, plotting his next move.

"Yeah of course," the chestnut boy was saying to a college girl who just took her seat with a companion, lips graced with a polite smile, "Just one?"

Once he got her order down, Jeongguk turned around to fetch it— only to find himself staring straight at the ravenhead.

Taehyung's hands were planted on the counter next to Jeongguk's waist, arms caging him against it. A devilish smirk was plastered on his lips.

Jeongguk could've easily walked through him. But something about the ravenhead's presence only made him shrink back, breath hitching.

"What are you doing?" the chestnut boy whisper-yelled, eyes darting in every direction but Taehyung, "There's people around."

Taehyung shrugged. He brought a steady hand up to Jeongguk's face, pretending to cradle his jaw carefully. For a fleeting second, he wondered how it would feel to have his skin under his fingers. "So?" he ridiculed.

"S-so—"

Gathering himself, Jeongguk marched through the ghost, expecting the chills that ran up his spine. He didn't look back, nor did he say anything, but there was a change of attitude— like he was embarrassed.

Taehyung chuckled under his breath, prideful with the knowledge that he had gotten under the boy's skin. Both figuratively and literally.

He gazed out into the rest of the bar, deciding to give Jeongguk a break from his antics. The boy's workplace sure seemed like a handful.

He blinked— a flash of gold swept across the glass doors. Taehyung leaned forward, confused. It must've been a shiny set of jewelry someone was wearing when they passed by.

Suddenly, Jeongguk was back, cheerily sliding the customer her drink. He went to fetch her some napkins when the ravenhead stood in his way once again.

"What?" Taehyung grinned. "Just go right through me. You know you can."

The boy glared, but the simultaneous pout on his lips told a different narrative.

"Or," he continued, stepping forward to minimize the space between them, "do you like it when I'm this close to you, hm Gguk?"

The boy's voice grew smaller and smaller by the second. "You're distracting me," he peeped, "Stop it."

"Aw," Taehyung cooed, "Flustered, are we?"

"I—"

"You!"

Both of them turned to the man who was shaking an empty glass in their faces— mostly Jeongguk's.

"I've asked a young lady for a refill nearly five minutes ago!" the man complained, pressing his entire body weight on the counter, "So where is it?"

Jeongguk looked around frantically while Taehyung narrowed his eyes at the man's tone of voice. It wasn't a friendly one.

"Sorry, sir," the chestnut boy said, "I think she went on her break."

At once, the man threw the glass over and shattered it, Jeongguk gasping and jumping out of the way immediately.

Smashed glass two days in a row? Socks' black cat bad luck must be rubbing off him.

He looked up and inhaled a second time when he saw Taehyung leap over the counter, barely landing before he kicked over the man's chair forcefully, causing him to fall.

Laughter erupted around them, fueling the man's humiliation.

Jeongguk met Taehyung's eyes with his own wide with shock. The ravenhead looked properly angry, ankle still hooked around the leg of the stool when the man reseated himself as if he would gladly do it again. As a matter of fact, he seemed to be two seconds away from bashing the man's head in.

The chestnut boy gulped. "What was your drink, sir? I can get you a new one."

He was quick to it, not wanting another raging outburst before he announced to everyone he'll be going on his break even though his didn't start till lunchtime.

Taehyung watched the chestnut boy disappear into the back room. Reluctantly, he followed him, but not before threatening the man one more time. It was stupid— no one could hear him. But no one touches Jeongguk and gets away with it.

The back room was quieter, the music dulling through the walls. Jeongguk stood midst all the lockers with his arms crossed, trying to reach the full capacity of intimidation. But he wasn't fooling Taehyung— not when the ravenhead noticed the subtle tremble of his shoulders and the hand cramped protectively over his bandages, like he was scared history would repeat itself.

"What are you doing?" the boy asked exasperatedly, eyebrows pinched together.

Taehyung didn't know why his mind couldn't conjure up an answer. What was he doing?

"What are you doing here? Why'd you follow me in? I don't understand."

The ravenhead felt his throat burn. "I wanted to make sure..."

"Make sure what?" Jeongguk frowned. "I got my camera now. Don't worry—"

"It's not that," Taehyung cut him off, sighing, "I wanted to make sure that didn't happen again." He gestured towards the boy's injured arm. "Didn't want you getting hurt..."

"I'm okay." The chestnut boy's arms fell limp to his sides.

"I know."

A tense silence blanketed them. Taehyung never wanted more for Jimin to teach him how to disappear like they can.

"Okay," Jeongguk said suddenly, scratching the collar of his shirt absentmindedly, "Can you at least... help out? Maybe?"

"Hm?"

"Maybe stop teasing me to death and start handing me some limes." Jeongguk broke into a cheesy grin.

Taehyung was convinced this boy can smile through anything at this point. "Yeah," he replied, lightening up, "Yeah I can do that."

"Good." The chestnut nodded, shifting towards the door, "Okay then..."

"Or!"

Jeongguk turned around to face him.

Taehyung's grin intensified as he rolled up his sleeves and rubbed his hands together. "How about some magic tricks?"

__________

how's the story so far? :]

truth be told, i've been struggling lately because i've been trying to rest and give myself a break from everything but since i'm a productive bitch, i feel icky about sitting around and doing nothing
i swear i'm at war with my own personality lmao

how are you guys? it's been a while since i checked in

thanks for being here
- hay