Oneshots

Somewhere (1)

Taehyung finds himself falling fast.

5,326 words. Mild language, mentions of drugs and alcohol, and implied sexual content.

I really hope you enjoy this little short story! This is the first part of a several. I've been working on it for a few months now and am happy with the way it turned out. Let me know what you think!

~

Taehyung hadn't come here to find someone. He wasn't the one who spent night out, spinning in neon lights, drinking away the day.

That being said, he hadn't come here intentionally. He had allowed himself to be swept away by his best friend, the older promising it would only be a minute until they could leave, watch movies late into the night at their apartment, before he had disappeared into the crowd of people an hour ago.

Taehyung hadn't seen him since, and he lingered by the bar, wondering if the man was going to reappear, realizing Jimin had the car keys. He had been sitting on a stool by the highly polished wood for a while now, ignoring everything around him, searching for the older man. He was nowhere to be seen.

"Can I get you a drink?"

Taehyung's rejection rose to his lips as he turned, then made eye contact with the bartender, a guy probably about his age. The man flashed a grin, tilting his head in greeting. "You've been here a while. At least drink something."

"Gin and tonic," Taehyung murmurs, and the man nods, turning to the glasses behind him. Taehyung's eyes trace the small ponytail on the back of the man's head, following the curve of his neck to the ink curling out from the sleeve of his black t-shirt. A flower, several characters, and lettering intertwined itself down his arm, terminating in lettering on his knuckles that wasn't readable from Taehyung's vantage point.

The man turns again, setting down a napkin, the glass centered upon it. "On me. You've been waiting a while. Get stood up?"

"No." Taehyung exhales, reaching for the glass. "My friend disappeared on me. If you see him, yell at him for me. He's short, blonde, answers to asshat."

The man chuckles, a hand brushing his long hair out of his eyes, the tendrils too short to reach the ponytail currently framing his face. "I know Jimin, if that's who you're talking about. I thought he left earlier, though."

Taehyung's lips part, and he swallows a tiny sip of the alcohol, watching the bartender. "Left?"

"Yeah, with his usual guy. One of the waiters, he gets off at about ten and your friend always shows up around then. The two of them always end up going home together." The man laughed, his eyes crinkling. "They always make a big fuss making out in the bathroom corridor until security catches them almost hooking up and asks them to leave - employees aren't supposed to mess around on site. I assume they go to finish what they started, so your friend's probably long gone."

"That fucker," Taehyung curses softly, his eyebrows knitting. "He was my ride home."

The guy nods. "If I were you, I'd call a cab."

Taehyung chews the inside of his cheek. "Yeah. Thanks, I guess."

"No problem."

The bartender turns, reaching for a rag, and he begins wiping at a water ring left by an abandoned glass. Taehyung takes a long drink of his gin and tonic, his eyes wandering to the bartender's tattooed arm. The veins flex underneath his skin, muscles rippling slightly, and Taehyung looks away. The man is well built.