Arukōru (Alcohol) Bar (BL)

Shukishi (part 2/6)

"Let's go home now," he said again.

"Right..." I lowered my arms.

Rikiya sighed with relief and stepped out from behind Anzai.

After things had settled down, we locked up the bar and went home. Anzai seemed quite tired as he got into bed as soon as he could. I joined him and yawned. He turned to me and suddenly wrapped me up in a hug.

"Anzai... Are you okay?" I asked.

He nodded against me. "I just want to stay like this...for tonight..."

The whole night?! I hoped he couldn't feel my heart pounding...but how could I say no to him? I hugged him back and closed my eyes. We soon drifted off to sleep.

As the yakuza boss said, another man came to the bar before we opened to discuss our deal and to ask me to sign a contract. I was going to agree on whatever percentage of profits he wanted no matter what, but I was still surprised it was less than 90%. It was actually a feasible amount that still gave me breathing room.

It felt strange... He was the only one I ever had a pleasant experience with. He was terrifying and I felt he could have killed all of us by now if he wanted to, but he seemed decent otherwise. I couldn't believe I actually thought that though.

I felt very glad that the ordeal was now over. I hoped we could put it all behind us for now. I knew it'd be hard to forget some things... Especially for Rikiya... But we had hope that things could always get better. I knew that if my friends were here for me, and I was here for them, we could accomplish anything.

Anzai nudged me with his elbow one night while working. "Shukishi seems distracted lately."

I glanced over at the sofa he was on with girls surrounding him. He was on his phone and not being very attentive to their conversation. His expression looked a bit serious.

"Do you think there's something wrong?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. Just something I noticed."

Of course I knew all my friends worked for me, but I felt I'd rather not have to tell them how to do their jobs and be something like a nagging boss... I also felt bad if something serious was going on with him. I was totally willing to help if I could. A lot had been going on lately so I was sure he knew he could come to me with anything he wanted to. And if he didn't want to, he should know there's a work-life balance that one should try hard to keep...

As days passed, he seemed more and more distracted by his phone to the point that he stepped outside so he could finish whatever he was looking at in peace. At least that's what it seemed like to me. Anzai and I looked at each other. Then with a silent resolve, I stepped outside as well.

Shukishi immediately noticed me. "Ah, Nari."

"Hey... Is something wrong?" I asked.

He pocketed his phone. "My bad, have you come to scold me?"

"I'd rather not... But if this continues, I might have to. I totally understand if something is wrong though and you have to take care of it."

"Getting scolded by you wouldn't be so bad..." He smirked.

"I'm being serious! If something's wrong, just tell me. You can get some time off, you know. I just want my customers to feel important while they're here. It means a lot to me that they're happy when they come here." And it wouldn't be the best to lose customers and lose profits right now...

"Of course... I've seen just how happy people are when they're at the bar. And I know how important it is right now to keep them happy. I'm sorry I've been ruining that lately. There is some personal business that's been distracting me, but I'll work harder."