EDEN | mitsukai

six

the bourbon gently slides down his throat, contradicting the heat that would spread in his chest like the sultry summer in august. the buds on his tongue were tingling, screaming in his mouth for mercy after the several glasses he chugs down like a man who never had water.

the bar has been a thing for hakkai, his guise of solitude to the mess of his life. at first, he would occasionally sit and let the velvet drink sway his legs, eradicating his frustration into bubbles of fuzz from the alcoholic high. a glass or two is enough to burn the top of his mouth and veil his cheeks with cherries and a couple of giggles. it was exhilarating, so to speak, the high, the buzz, and the blur. at least, the man could seek nirvana in a couple of swigs of an aged drink.

however, the amount of high he reached was never enough to wring out the unease in him. though he had been an aloof person his entire life, hakkai has been a lot more distant recently. there was a void, a splotch of black in the middle of his canvas, his chest. hunched back and face kissing his easel, aimlessly brushing the paint, if not for the occasional ring of his phone, he had forgotten of the outside world. the seed that mitsuya had planted in him at the atelier blossom into petals of peril, bearing a shackle of discomfort resembling one his brother had on his throat. it was a deadly flower, hakkai fears to bear.

after swirling the drink in hand, he chugs it down as soon as he felt the familiar tug on his chest. it surprises him how easy it was to take down because he was never one to swirl tongues with the cold tip of a glass, but here he is intoxicated by a whiskey. even the good old scholars with tall beer glasses and thick tobaccos would praise him for the drinks he had that night.

"aren't you such an energetic boy?" sanzu smirks, eyeing him down another glass.

hakkai repudiated his statement, "aren't you keen outside of working hours, sanzu?"

"but, this is working hours."

he halts from drinking the bittersweet alcohol after hearing sanzu's reply. for the past three days, the mullet man had been accompanying him in the deserted aisle of the bar. both of their minds would wire, tangle, overlaps one another; an unhinged would understand an unhinged. hakkai has to agree that sanzu has been more of a therapist to his complaints than a mere stranger who sat beside him because of sympathy.

"interested, huh?" sanzu raised an eyebrow, swirling his drink in hand.

in-between the border of intoxicated and sober, hakkai chuckles, "i got the prodigy hooked on me, sanzu."

it was more of an insult rather than a compliment, tasting acrid on his tongue despite the hint of caramel on them, clenching his jaw to express the distaste about that statement. he found it funny that he piqued someone's interest despite the lackluster in his personality. hakkai doesn't know if he can consider this a blessing or a curse.

"though, i might have to ask," sanzu slurs, "is his cunning nature the only thing you despise about him?"

"what?" hakkai turns his head.

"he's a beaut-it is not something we can deny, a sly fox. but, is it the only thing?"

his mind was blank when he tried thinking of an answer. at least, a decent one to suffice the man beside him. nevertheless, he can never dodge the fact that it has always been a personal grudge like his wage of war against gods-all nothing but a couple of courage from his deep-rooted trauma. hakkai wanted to voice it out, but he decided to bite back his tongue, turning to gaze on the shin of his tipping glass.

"i wonder, sanzu." he smiles, "i wonder that is."

shibuya nightlife has always been neon lights, steamed ramen, blaring music, and the stench of vomit in every corner. sanzu was gone, stuck somewhere in the pool of sweaty bodies, alcohol, and drugs. the pink-haired lad tried convincing him, but the answer stayed the same, a no. he would choose to enter different quiet bars around the city than stick to somebody he barely knows. a glass of yamazaki is always better than the temporary warmth of somebody overnight.