wine drunk | Heeseung x Jay

three // trois

• winking // clin d'œil •
_________

"Ni-ki mentioned to me that he was busy today when we were talking yesterday."

Jay sips his wine leisurely, knowing that he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. when he agreed to stay, he agreed for until he had to leave for his flight. looking at the time now, a few minutes past 12 a.m., he had plenty of time so rushing wouldn't be necessary. plus, more time with the handsome man sitting in front of him right now too.

wine and great company: it's a win-win

"oh, i was going to ask you about that actually. how do you and Ni-ki know each other?"

"Ni-ki's wife worked as my boss's secretary for a while. we got to know each other and she introduced me to him. i grew up in France but my mother is Korean, so she taught the language to me, and i spoke it at home. after she and my father retired, they left me here and i stopped speaking the language. Ni-ki was the first person i spoke Korean with since my childhood. once we started spending more time together i realized how much i missed it."

"is Korean your first or second language?"

Heeseung smiles abashedly. "second."

Jay doesn't even blink. "you speak it well. i couldn't even tell it was your second."

Heeseung's ears turn pink and he hides his expression behind his glass. Jay— our charmingly oblivious protagonist— does not notice, too focused on swirling his wine around and teasing the rim to see if the liquid will spill over.

"Ni-ki mentioned you were American and that i could meet you if i wanted to. i declined, not wanting to intrude, but decided i wanted a drink tonight. he told me you'd meet at a bar, but he didn't specify which one. this one is the closest to my house, so i came. i didn't even see you at first because i was... well you see... a bit occupied."

Jay raises his eyebrow. "what kind of occupied?" of course the timber of his voice is deep. how else are you supposed to act when an attractive male is giving you his attention?

"yes, well i came here and sat at the bar next to a man. a woman came and set beside me and we started conversing. some time into our conversation the man to my left turned and said he couldn't help but listen in and asked if he can join us. we moved to one of the seating areas and the woman sat in the middle with me on her right and the man on her left."

Heeseung subtly turns and flicks his head behind him. Jay sees a man and a woman sitting together on a set of couches. they're sitting close together, knees touching, and the woman's hand is squeezed in the space between them, palm flat on the leather seat.

"it didn't take long for me to notice the way the man was looking at the woman. i'm not sure if she noticed but over time, he kept inching closer to her. i realized that i wasn't wanted in the conversation around the time you came upstairs. i stayed with them but noticed that you kept looking around. as i said before, you look American so i thought you might be the friend Ni-ki spoke of. i excused myself from the other two and took a chance by introducing myself. now we are here."

Jay sipped some more wine. "now we're here."

Heeseung gestures again at the duo and they both try to peer at them unnoticeably. the man is leaning into her, his ear close to her jaw and his head inclined down as she talks. the woman can't tell since her head is upright, but the man stares at her hand between their legs.

"they'll sleep together." Heeseung observes. "the man is purposefully close to her. this room is not crowded nor is it immensely noisy either. their proximity is not needed."