(Not) Waiting in Vain

Chapter 3

His watch showed that it almost seven o'clock when they finally arrived in the bar that Wuxian mentioned earlier. It was still quite empty, so Wangji can surveyed his surroundings with ease. The entrance of the bar was quite difficult to find, squashed between a coffee shop and a ramen shop. But unlike its narrow entrance, the inside is spacious. There are about a dozen table with chairs, a couple of corner booths with L-shaped sofas, but the most impressive of all is the gleaming mahogany bar. Unlike the usual L-shaped or U-shaped frequently seen in this kind of establishment, this bar stretched from one end of the shop to the other end in a semi-circular shape, just like it's namesake, The Crescent Moon.

"This place is pretty neat," admired Wangji. "It's not like any bars that I've been to."

"Of course not. This bar is special. I found it accidentally when I was finished my shift at a convenient store and saw a pretty lady having trouble carrying two bags of drinks. It turned out that she's a newbie at this store and was sent out to buy some drinks by her seniors and their clients. So, I helped her brought the drinks back, and she treated me with a ginger ale, since I was still a minor at that time." Wuxian smiled sweetly remembering that moment. "After I turned twenty, I began to come here about once a month, just to relax. I really liked the atmosphere here, it's very calming."

"I know what you mean," Wangji nodded. "It feels almost like being home, but not my home."

Suddenly Wuxian perked up and smiled broadly. "There she is! Lynda!" He waved his arms wildly. "Come here! I'd like to introduce you to my friend."

Wangji turned his head at the direction of Wuxian's wave and got a shock of his life. The woman that Wuxian mentioned was pretty, with dark blond hair tied into twin ponytails, wearing a cute blue cheongsam dress and a very sweet smile. The problem was, that woman was about 180 cm tall, although quite slim, but very hairy, complete with a thin beard. Panicking, he leaned closer to Wuxian. "That's not a woman. That's a man dressing as a woman. Are you blind?" hissed Wangji.

"Of course I know that's not a real woman. But it's the inside that counts, and that person's inside is a woman. She's very adorable, trust me," Wuxian whispered back. "Hi Lynda, it's good to see you again. How are you?" he greeted the newcomer.

"Oh Wuxian, it's so good to see you. I've been waiting for you a looooong time," Lynda said coquettishly. "I thought you already forgot about me," she pouted.

"Nah, I was busy, that's all. How are the girls?" asked Wuxian.

"Weeeeeell, Lucille had to quit because her mom got sick and she needed to care for her. And Beryl resigned since she's going to get married. Can you believe it? She's going to be married, finally!" trilled Lynda. "We were so excited when she broke the news. And we're going to throw her a bridal shower next week. You have to come!"

"Wow, really? I'd love to come. Do you mind if I bring a guest?"

"No problem! So, I see you're not alone this time. Hello, I'm Lynda," she extended her trim hand with brightly colored nail polish.

Wangji shook her hand timidly. "I'm Lan Wangji. Nice to meet you."

"Hello, darling, it's so nice to meet you. Do you know you're the first man he ever brought here?" Lynda nodded her head toward Wuxian. "Where did you two met? Have you known each other long? How long have you been together? He never said anything to me, nothing!"

Wangji choked on his beer while Wuxian burst out laughing. After a while he finally subsided and wiped his tears. "He's not with me, Lyn. Not like you meant. We're part of the same team on a project. And we're currently doing some survey for it."

"Uh-uh." Her disbelief was plain to see.

"It's true," insisted Wuxian. "Wangji, I could use some help here."