Ethereal | Venti x Zhongli

Chapter 4

a/n: Yo. It's a new chapter, boiiis. I'm already writing another one too.

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At some point, the young man had left, leaving me alone with my thoughts and uncertainties. Before he left, he'd told me to ask Venti to contact him and let him know if he wanted to stay with him before the end of the next week, when he'd be traveling to another place.

"Hehe, how'd you like it? Amazing, right?" Venti asked me once he finished his work for today. I clapped for him and he bowed elegantly. "Got my paycheck, today's a big one." He showed me his instrument case. There were a lot of coins and a few paper money too with a bigger value. "Today's drinks are on me!" He shouted loudly but luckily I was the only one to hear it. "Maybe it's best if you save at least some of it...?" I suggested, clearly worried about his financial situation. He held onto my hand, "All I want is to treat you to some good wine, no worries~" Not waiting nor asking for my thoughts regarding his offer, he led me to the nearby bar. The interior design of it was to my liking. Very simple and modest. It appeared to be a place where people came to relax and have a drink or two in peace rather than get wasted.

At first, he was sneaking around but once he took notice of something he straightened up and sighed in relief. "Hi, Master Diluc! I'm glad it's your shift today. One of your coworkers kicked me out last time, can you believe it?" Venti sat himself on a bar stool, doing one spin while at it. "Sorry about that. It must've been the new guy, we'll tell him about the deal we made with you and make sure he apologizes next time." Said a tall bartender with a high, red ponytail. "No need for apologies! Just tell him to not kick my precious bottom, please." He rubbed it as if still reliving the pain.

"There's a free table over there. Sit and wait for me, okay~?" Following his request, I went over to the table while he stayed behind to order wine for us. Since it was taking a while, I got lost in my thoughts. Venti... he's quite charming, isn't he? To me, it feels as if he cast a spell on me through his heavenly music. It's not only his music that interests me anymore but he himself too. If we really have to part ways... I'll truly miss him.

A sensation of something soft pressing against my cheek brought me back. When I realized that just a moment ago I was kissed, my face heated up. "Ehe, sorry. You were spacing out so I couldn't help myself." My hand laid on my cheek. I doubt people kiss one another just because of spacing out. Is it just his thing to kiss people casually like that? The thought of him being that way towards others sparked an unpleasant feeling in me.

A glass of wine was placed in front of me. "This one's the best of the best, you gotta try it." He smiled widely, sat next to me and happily began drinking his wine. "Hah! So goooood~!" He rubbed his cheek against the wine bottle. "I got us the whole bottle, I couldn't help myself..." He giggled sheepishly. Of course you did. Ah, I just hope it wasn't that expensive. Since it was a gift from him, I decided to just lay back and enjoy it too. I took a sip. "Mhm, nice indeed." He'd already finished drinking his first glass and was already refilling it.

"Right~? I'm glad you like it. It'd be a shame if my date didn't enjoy his drink..." At first, I didn't really react much to what he'd said. His date? Oh... Oh. It's a date? "I... I didn't know we were on a date." I said quietly with hesitation. "Hehe, of course, dummy. What else does it look like?" His fingers playfully sneaked towards my hand. "I thought we were simply getting a drink together." Albeit confused about it, I actually didn't mind the idea of it being a date. Though that made me think a little further into the implications of that. Either he's being playful or he really thinks of me in that way. He likes me? Mhm... hmm. Huh.

I couldn't quite wrap my head around the thought of that. To not flatter myself too much, I concluded he was simply being playful with me.

But then my mind reminded me about what he was attempting to do last night. Although I shrugged it off as nothing but a misunderstanding and was meaning to forget about it, I couldn't. It's only a 'what if' but if he was actually interested in me in that way... It was quite awful, what he did before but... I only found it so, because it was forced on me. What if it wasn't forced? Would I be fine with it? It was all too much on me, going from 'we might part ways soon' to 'what if we got together'. It was giving me a headache. I have to break the news to him. I shouldn't let myself get attached. There's no need for unnecessary dilemmas too.