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“I’m never letting you talk me into going out again, it’s fucking freezing.” Baizhu was hunched in on himself, buried in a large jacket that did little to fend off the chill of the night air. He was already regretting electing to leave his wheelchair at home, his cane was doing little to stave off the ache in his hips and knees. “I still don’t know why you dragged me out here,” he complained.
Him and Zhongli were standing outside of some bar and grill that was far too expensive for Baizhu’s taste, waiting on his best friends boyfriend to show up. Of course the stupid rich boy was late.
Zhongli just smiled, used to his best friends dislike of his partner. He wrapped an around around Baizhu’s shoulders, pulling him in to help warm his smaller frame. “Ajax wanted to go out tonight and he suggested I invite you. He really is trying to get you to like him, you know.”
“Yeah, well, dragging me out to a bar in the freezing cold is not the way to do it. I should be working on my lab report.”
“Come on, a-Zhu. You needed a break from that anyways. There’s no need to be bitter.”
“I’m bitter because Ajax,” he sneered, “got to ride on mommy’s money and never had student loans to pay off and now he’s getting you to drag me out here when I should be studying.”
Maybe that wasn’t entirely fair. Zhongli had also come from a rich family, but unlike Ajax, he had been estranged from them since he was 17. Ajax was different, his mother was a big-shot CEO who had paid for all of her beloved sons undergrad on top of the generous trust fund that he had gotten access to at 21. Even now, he was living in a penthouse on top of a building the family business owned. Baizhu—who was raised by his brother and grew up barely making ends meet—tried not to hold it against the ginger, but he made it so difficult at times.
Instead of commenting on his friends bitter attitude, Zhongli just rested his chin on top of Baizhu’s head, letting him continue sharing his body heat. “I’ll make sure he pays for your drinks and food a-Zhu, don’t worry.”
It was times like this where Baizhu was grateful for how well Zhongli knew him. All it took was a comment that morning about his loan payment being due next week and Zhongli was already moving to make sure he wouldn’t have to stress about money tonight. He really should thank him, but Zhongli’s boyfriend was the one who insisted on all three of them going out tonight, so instead he scoffed.
“Good. Who in their right mind goes out to a bar on a Thursday anyway?”
“There you are!”
And there was Ajax, dressed to the nines in a silk designer button up and pressed dress pants. He was wearing one of those faux-fur jackets that always made Baizhu shudder, and today was not the exception. The younger man was practically begging to be mugged, if you asked him. Not that they were likely to get mugged here in the fancy upscale part of town.
Stupid showoff Ajax for picking such an expensive restaurant in such a nice part of the city.
Zhongli was quick to leave Baizhu’s side, and he immediately mourned the loss of the body heat his best friend provided. The biting cold sent a flash of pain up his left leg. Great, now he had to deal with the uncomfortable cold on top of them groping each other.
“Here we are, are we just going to stand out here in the freezing cold or are we going in? My goddamn hip is going to give out if we keep standing here.” Baizhu almost felt guilty when Zhongli quickly pulled away from his position wrapped up in Ajax’s arms to come over to help support his body weight. Almost.
“Why don’t we get inside, you should get off your feet a-Zhu.”
Ajax grinned that blinding smile of his, ushering them forward and through the large engraved doors. “Of course, I’m so sorry Baizhu.”
The inside of the building was just as extravagant as the outside, all carved mahogany and Persian rugs. Elegant wood tables were spread across the open floor, and a long bar with shelves upon shelves of liquor was nestled into the far corner.
“This doesn’t look like somewhere you go to just get drinks,” Baizhu observed, taking in the vaulted ceiling and crystal chandeliers that cast a dim glow around the luxurious restaurant.
“You really think I’d take the two of you to a shitty little sports bar? Dinner is on me tonight, don’t worry about the price, a-Zhu.” Ajax grinned, reaching across Zhongli’s body to squeeze Baizhu’s bicep. He briefly considered if going to jail for cutting the gingers hand off would be worth it, but ultimately decided that upsetting Zhongli would be worse than dealing with the momentary revulsion he felt.
Fucking asshole thinks we’re close enough for him to call me a-Zhu. Bastard.
“Oh, don’t worry,” he scoffed, ripping his arm away from he younger man, “I won’t.”
Baizhu let himself fall back as the happy couple chatted with the hostess. Ajax must have pulled some strings, because despite the full waiting area, they were immediately shown to a private table, tucked away in the corner opposite from the bar, away from the rest of the restaurants patrons. Baizhu found himself seated next to Zhongli with his back to the restaurant and Ajax sat across from his boyfriend. He felt his spine prickle with discomfort, he never liked having his back to this many people. Once they were settled, it didn’t take long for a waitress to greet them.
“Welcome to Angel’s Share, my name is Elya and I’ll be taking care of you all tonight. Would you be interested in sharing our specials tonight?”
“That would be wonderful, thank you.” Zhongli was wearing that smile that was usually reserved for clients, the perfect picture of customer service.
Baizhu busied himself with the menu, zoning out as she spoke. Flipping to the back to look over their selection of drinks, he felt his brows raise as he looked over the prices.
“Can I get you all started with anything to drink?”
Fuck it, Ajax is paying.
He smiled at the waitress, pointing down to the menu. “Can we get a flight of green tea shots?”
“Baizhu, you know those aren’t actually tea, right?” Ajax asked, brows scrunched in concern.
Baizhu reached over to squeeze Zhongli’s hand to keep himself from punching the younger man. “Actually, make them all doubles.”
Zhongli snorted—actually snorted—at that, squeezing back. “He knows what a green tea shot is, Ajax. He’s not a child.” Turning back to the waitress, he smiled again. “We’ll also take waters for the whole table, thank you.”
The fifteen minutes passed in a blur, shortly after their drinks came out, they sent in their food orders. As they waited, Baizhu was subjected to Zhongli and Ajax’s constant coddling of each other across the table. After being forced to bear witness to Ajax’s ‘fuck me’ eyes for the fourth time that night, Baizhu quietly excused himself, scanning the restaurant for somewhere he could escape to.
Truly, Zhongli should thank him. There’s only so long someone can go listening to their best friend and the man they hold a grudge against flirt before they need to take a breather. Making a beeline for the bar on the opposite side of the restaurant, Baizhu quickly settled himself onto a stool. On the other side of the counter, there was a long bartender. He was taller than Baizhu, with long curly red hair that was pulled up into a pony tail. He was wearing a silver waistcoat over a black button-up.
My god he’s the most gorgeous man I’ve seen in years.
“Hello,” he greeted, grateful to the shots from earlier for gifting him liquid courage. “Could I just get a glass of water? I need to get away from my table for a bit.”
The handsome bartended smiled, a tiny thing that you wouldn’t be able to pick up on if you weren’t looking for it.
“Date going badly?” he asked, pushing a full glass of water across the bar top.
Baizhu snorted, pulling the glass of water closer. “No, more like it’s going too well. I was dragged along to be a third wheel for my best friend and his boyfriend.”
The redhead winced in sympathy. “Need me to call you a cab?”
“No, thank you though.” He subtly re-adjusted his cane so that it wouldn’t fall. “I love a-Li to death but he really needs to stop inviting me to go out with them. He’s trying very hard to get me to like Ajax, his boyfriend.”
“What’s wrong with him? Is he a creep or something?”
“On paper, he’s perfect,” Baizhu groaned. “He’s ex-military and comes from a rich family, even finished school right after coming back from his first tour. I just—” He winced, rolling his wrist out as a bolt of pain shot up his arm. “There are a lot of personal petty reasons why I don’t like him. I’m not exactly in the best health, and he has this idea in his head that I need to be coddled because I’m disabled. It’s just… it gets exhausting.”
He watched the bartender freeze, rolling his own wrists by his sides. “I know what you mean. I’m sorry he treats you like that.”
Baizhu jolted, a blush settling across his face. “I’m so sorry, I quite literally just met you and I just dumped all that on you.”
“No, don’t worry about it,” the taller man assured. “It happens more often than you’d think.”
“Still.” Baizhu hesitated, leaning back. “I hope I’m not keeping you from your work by chatting with you.”
“Not at all.” The handsome bartender picked the towel he was holding over his shoulder, leaning on the counter towards the shorter man. “Thursdays are usually our slowest day. Not many people want to go out for a drink.”
“That’s what I told Zhongli!”
The redhead chuckled. “I don’t have much else to do unless someone comes in, so why don’t you tell me about yourself.
Baizhu grinned, leaning forward to match him. “I’m studying pharmaceuticals. You need to get a PhD to go into drug research and development, so here I am.”
The handsome bartender smiled. “That’s incredible, you must be very smart.”
Baizhu felt a flush creep all the way up his neck to the tips of his ears, and he pulled back slightly. For the first time all night he was grateful for the dim lighting of restaurant. “It’s really not all that impressive, plenty of people get their PhD.”
“It take a lot of dedication to see it through though. I debated continuing my education after finishing my masters program, but ultimately decided that it wasn’t worth the effort.”
“Oh, what did you study?” Baizhu knew he probably looked like a giddy schoolboy, but he couldn’t help himself. The alcohol created just enough of a pleasant buzz to take the off edge of all the stress that had been building up over the past few weeks, but not so much so that he wasn’t present.
A small smile graced the bartenders face. “I studied biology with a focus in ornithology during my undergrad and got my masters in business management.”
“Ornithology?” Baizhu’s eyebrows shot up. “I don’t mean to be rude, but how on earth did you go from ornithology, to business management, to bartending?”
The taller man’s eyebrows pinched together, and Baizhu rushed to correct himself. “Not that there is anything wrong with that! It’s quite impressive that you have such a diverse resume. I suppose I was just curious as to why you took such a drastic turn when it came to your masters program.”
“Ornithology is my passion,” he explained, features smoothing out into a soft smile as he spoke. “I knew that I was going to go on to a masters program in business, so I decided to spend my undergraduate years pursuing something I loved.”
“Do you work or do research with birds still?”
“I do.” A fond smile passed across his face. “I have a falcon, Vennessa.”
“Oh wow, that’s quite the pet.”
The taller man leaned over to grab a towel and began to dry the whiskey glasses. “Do you have any pets?”
“I have an albino bronzeback snake named Changsheng.” Baizhu readjusted himself on the stool in an attempt to alleviate the throbbing pain in his hip. “Now I know your falcon’s name but not yours. I’m Baizhu.”
The handsome bartender set aside his towel, planting his hands on the edge of the bar and leaning in. “Diluc.”
Baizhu grinned. Diluc, what a lovely name.
“Just Diluc?”
He watched as the redheaded bartender fumbled, expression contorting into something almost… pained. Without thinking, he reached across the counter to place a soothing hand on the other mans wrist.
“I’m just kidding, I don’t much care for my family name either.”
“No, it’s just…”
Baizhu shifted, suddenly acutely aware of every point of contact between them.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Baizhu apologized, taking his hand back.
“No, not at all,” Diluc assured him. ‘I’m sorry for making things awkward.”
Baizhu smiled softly, taking a sip of his water. “It’s quite alright.”
The pair watched each other for a long moment, simply observing.
“Anyways,” Diluc cleared his throat. “Going back to school, what about you? Did you have a straight path or did you go all over like me?”
“I studied biochemistry in undergrad, biomedical science for my masters, and now the official title of my PhD track is ‘Pharmaceutical Sciences in Drug Development’. So, a pretty straight track all things considered.”
“You knew what you wanted so you went for it. That’s really impressive.”
Baizhu blushed, busying his hands by pushing forward his now empty glass. “Nothing brings me more joy than learning. If I could, I would spend the rest of my life in school.”
Diluc looks up at him through his bangs as he refills Baizhu’s water. “Have you ever considered becoming a professor? You’re clearly very passionate about your studies, and you’re already on track to get your PhD.”
Burying his head in his hands, Baizhu groaned, feeling his face heat up for the umpteenth time that night. “You need to lay off the flattery, I’m going to get a big head.”
“I’m serious, you amaze me.”
Baizhu snorted, taking a sip of his water. “I’m sure that’s what you say to all the pretty boys who sit at the bar.”
“Not all of them. Just you.”
This man!
Baizhu could swear that he could see a faint blush creeping across Diluc’s cheeks.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ajax waving, trying to get his attention. His phone buzzed with a text from Zhongli.
“Our food is here, would you like me to bring it over to you?”
“It looks like my food just got out.” Baizhu worried his lower lip between his teeth, debating his next words. “I—”
“I get off at eleven.”
Baizhu froze, watching as a dark blush overtook Diluc’s face.
Is he—
“If you want, I mean.” The redhead was trying to hide behind his bangs now, looking anywhere but at Baizhu. It was endearing. “Not that I expect anything of you, of course, I just—”
“I’ll be waiting in the lobby.” Baizhu grinned, giddy delight filling his chest to the brim. He glanced down at his watch. “That gives me an hour to finish eating and to come up with an excuse for a-Li. What would you like to do?”
Baizhu nearly giggled at Diluc’s expression. The poor man was frozen in place, jaw loose and wide-eyed.
“I— we—”
Taking pity on him, Baizhu leaned forward, lacing their fingers together.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he assured. “Would you like to come over to my place? I can make us tea, we can keep talking like we have been. Nothing else, I promise. I just…” He glanced back to the table where Zhongli and Ajax were both watching them now. “I’d really like to get to know you better, Diluc.”
“Would riding a motorcycle be too hard on your body?”
“A motorcycle?”
“My motorcycle.” Diluc swallowed, looking down at their joined hands. “Can I drive you home?”
Pull yourself together Baizhu, you’re acting like a giddy child who got cookie.
There were so many things he wanted to say, so many thoughts rushing through his brain. He wanted to tell him how he was the first person he had met in years besides Zhongli who made him feel comfortable enough to open up, to laugh.
Instead, he said, “Looks like you’ll get to meet Changsheng. Does that mean I can meet Vennessa soon?”
Diluc smiled. “I guess it does.”