𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐌 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐄 (𝐓𝐚𝐞𝐤𝐨𝐨𝐤)

//021.👠

LIGHT WEIGHT

The man who approached Tae appeared confident and authoritative. His suit, the expensive-looking watch, and the shiny, well-polished shoes all indicated that he was probably a wealthy man in comparison to the men Tae had seen inside this bar thus far. Most of the men on the second level were dressed in suits, but this man stood out.

Maybe it was the perfect cut of his jacket, the expensive diamond cufflinks on his wrists, or his perfect hairstyle, which appeared to have been held in place with a whole tub of gel. Or maybe it was the confident, arrogant air about him which seemed to be something that rich, entitled men naturally gave out.

His observation was confirmed when the man gave him a business card with the words CEO written on it. Taking his acceptance of his business card as a good sign, he took the seat next to him and began a generic but polite conversation with him.

He examined him closely. His eyes were not as cold as Jeon Jungkook's. When he smiled, it appeared to reach his eyes; he did not smile wickedly at him, as Jungkook did. His words were polite and well-mannered; he did not threaten him, unlike Jungkook.

Why was he thinking about that guy right now? Why was he comparing this guy to him? That was unfair to the man in front of him.

He then smiled back at the smiling CEO in front of him and made polite conversation. After all, this is why he came here, correct? To become more knowledgeable and experienced? He appeared harmless, even nice, so why did he feel so different than when he was with Jungkook?

He spoke politely, but Tae felt a little uneasy. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, as if they detected danger. He shivered, but not from the cold, and when he attempted to touch his hand, he could not help but pull it away from him. The way he looked at him suggested a hidden agenda, despite his attempts to appear friendly and interested, unlike Jungkook.

Taehyung sighed quietly as that man's name popped back into his head; he took another sip of his bitter drink and winced at the terrible taste. He assumed he was overthinking things due to how things turned out last night.

So he persevered and pushed all thoughts of Jungkook to the back of his mind, along with the strange feeling he was experiencing. He looked up at the man again, as he pretended to have heard the words he just said.

It seemed that the man noticed that he seemed to wince everytime he took a sip of his drink so he suggested that he try a different one. When the man clicked his fingers, a waiter hovered near them, demonstrating the disparity in how the extremely wealthy were treated compared to the general public in this establishment. He was also most likely a regular customer, and the owner appeared to make sure he was satisfied by assigning him his own personal waiter when he entered the establishment.

He said something to the waiter, who promptly left to do his bidding. A few minutes later, he noticed the waiter walk back towards their table with four different drinks in fancy shaped glasses, which he carefully placed on the table. The man beside him then generously tipped the waiter, prompting him to leave.

"Here, try these. "They taste much better than that drink you have there," he said convincingly. "This is a mojito, a Cosmopolitan, an apple martini, and a Long Island Iced Tea." He began by pointing to the lime and mint-flavored drink, then to the pinky red one, then to the green one, and finally to the tea, which looked like its name.

Tae was hesitant at first, but he decided to try it because it was exactly what he came here for: to gain experience, and it fit his goal. He took a sip of the pinky red one because it looked nice, and surprisingly, the man was correct. This drink was much better than the one he thought JImin had bought for him!

Curious to see what the others tasted like, he took a sip of each and discovered that they all tasted equally good, but he preferred the pinky red one the most. So he took that drink and began sipping it as the conversation continued. He had now learned about some of the fancy drinks available at bars, and not all of them were as bad as the first one he tried.

He appeared to relax slightly after finishing the first cocktail, then moved on to the next. The man smirked as he observed his reaction to the first drink he had just consumed. His face flushed, and his eyes began to glaze over. He also appeared to be having difficulty forming his thoughts, and his words were becoming slightly slurred. 'He is quite the lightweight! The thought that accompanied that smirk was, "This is going exactly as planned."

As he sipped his second cocktail, an apple martini, a thought occurred to the slightly drunk Tae. I need to tell JImin about these drinks! These are so delicious! He needs to try them as well!

As his friend's name rang in his head, Tae looked up, his eyes zooming in on where Jimin had stood a while ago, but he could not see him anymore. She frowned as she looked around.

Where on Earth had Jimin gone off to?

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Happy Reading