Chapter Text
I rub my eyes, tired. Hyuna called Mizi and I in to do another gig at her boyfriend’s bar. I usually don’t mind, but this is the third night in a row doing this. I’m sure Mizi is tired of doing this as well, but she loves Hyuna too much to tell her anything. Whatever, as long as I get paid. I’ll tell Hyuna something after I arrive. I scroll on Instagumi a while longer before I arrive. The bar is titled, “Love & Peace.” Hyuna told me she had coordinated our outfits for tonight, so I just came in a black sweater and sweatpants. Once the taxi arrives at the bar, I thank the driver and tip him. The bar is covered in verdant, neon lights that catch your eye from a mile away. It’s tacky in my opinion, but it’s popular. The line outside is starting already, and the bar opens in thirty six minutes. Once the security guard lets me in, I take in the interior of the bar. Contrasting to the bright lights on the exterior of the bar, the inside is full of warm, dim lights, and a warm vanilla fragrance. The newly hired bartender, Acorn, smiles softly at me before returning to his tasks. The stage where we’ll be performing is in the back, but right in the middle. There are couches in the middle, and tall chairs at the bar. The space is large, and the equipment on the stage is already set up. Mizi approaches me, already in her outfit. It doesn’t fit Mizi’s style, it’s more Hyuna’s. A short white leather skirt and an off-shoulder red fleece top. For accessories she has black boots, black hair pins, and gold star earrings. Mizi’s just gotten a haircut- not a trim, but a cut- like a pixie cut.
“I like your hair, Mizi,” I compliment her, and she smiles.
“Thank you, Ivan! Hyuna’s waiting for you backstage!” Mizi replies, beaming.
Mizi’s an angel, honestly. She’s kind as well as genuine; one of the best people I’ve ever met. I nod at Mizi and head backstage. Hyuna’s also in her performance outfit, looking as fashionable as always. She’s wearing a red tube top, white jeans, black boots, golden star hoop earrings, and a matching golden wedding ring. Ah, right. This isn’t her boyfriend’s bar- it’s her fiancé’s. She’s been showing off her ring to every one of her colleagues, but Mizi, of course. Hyuna also has her hair up in a rare ponytail, showing off her many piercings on her ear. She has four on each, each having a matching pair. Other than the star hoops, there’s the studded diamond ones, and very tiny hoops, and lastly a pair of just plain circles.
“Here’s your outfit, Ivan. Do you like it?” Hyuna asks, presenting the clothes she picked out for me.
The outfit she’s showing me is a visibly tight black shirt, a black jacket with red embroidery, black pants, and red boots. She also supplied little silver studs for me to wear, along with a few silver rings.
“Yeah. Thanks, Hyuna.” I tell her, and go to the bathroom to change.
I lock the door, and change my clothes, my outfit the perfect mix of Hyuna and I’s style. Hyuna usually pays for my outfits, but I don’t accept them as gifts, and pay her instead. I’ll do that again. The jacket not only looks expensive, but smells expensive. As I exit the bathroom, Hyun Woo quickly enters it, waving at me briefly.
Hyun Woo plays the drums and is the one who does the least vocals out of all of the members of our band. Only four people, and Hyuna does the main vocals along with me. Hyuna can do all the instruments we do, but she says she’s busy writing the songs and doing most of the vocals, so that we can do them. I honestly think it’s for our equal share of participation, though I keep that thought to myself. Mizi does the keyboard, and I do the electric guitar. Hyuna’s songs are about love, heartbreak, acceptance, deception. Everything she’s been through, she says.
I hear Mizi and Hyuna conversing in low tones, and I go over to the mini bar, where Acorn is. As I walked over, I overheard that Acorn would bring over his boyfriend. He was talking to Durian, who had been working here slightly longer than Acorn. She asked Acorn what his name was, and he responded with the name of Marty. The name sounds familiar, and I smile. As Durian continued to ask Acorn questions, he answered her.
Now, after listening in on their conversation, I know that Acorn’s boyfriend, Marty, would bring a few of his friends, female and male. I glance at the clock, which tells me it’s twenty-three minutes until the bar opens, so thirty-three minutes until our performance starts. Hyuna calls us over to do a vocal and instrumental warm up. While we practice backstage, I overhear voices flooding the bar, so we ensue setting up the stage. I ask Hyuna if I can quickly get water, and she commends. I go over to Acorn, but he is busy conversing with a person who has shoulder length brown hair, presumably Marty, judging by the way Acorn was looking at him. There are two people standing awkwardly out of place next to presumably Marty. There is a black haired woman who has purple eyes, fair skin, and a stoic expression complimented with angelic features. She’s wearing a long black skirt and white turtleneck, with a light gray cardigan. She has long socks, assuming they go past her skirt, that are also light gray, and black mary janes. The man besides her catches my eye more, though. He had gray hair, aquamarine eyes, and a bored expression. He’s beautiful, in a way no form of art could ever capture. He could be described as a new form of art entirely, just judging by his beauty. His outfit, though, is simplistic. A worn black hoodie, nearly gray, and comfortable pants, which were black as well. It seemed too plaintive for the regal man, but it still gave him glamour. The man catches me staring, and I look away quickly, only to see Acorn no longer talking to presumably Marty.
“May I get a glass of water, Acorn?” I ask him, and he nods fervently.
“Yes, just give me a second, please.” He responds, and leaves.
“Acorn was practically ecstatic to see you,” I tell Marty, smiling. “I’m Ivan, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Ivan,” Marty tells me, beaming. “You already know me. The people over there are Sua and Till.”
Sua greets me with a small smile, meanwhile Till nods in acknowledgement to me.
“Are you all skaters?” I ask them, peering over to Acorn’s direction, for he’s taking unusually long.
“Yes,” Till replies swiftly. Once I hear Till’s voice, I am immediately more drawn to him than I initially was. It’s naturally melodic, and I could listen to his voice for hours, days, endlessly.
As if on cue, Acorn turns up with the water. I give him thanks, and turn to them, plastering a smile on my face.
“I hope to see you all tonight,” I tell them all while I look at Till one last time before I return backstage.
I look around for Mizi, and spot her in front of the mirror, fixing her hair pins.
“Hey, Vani!” Mizi starts, calling me by the nickname she’s reserved when she’s feeling particularly giddy. “I have a feeling that today’s going to be awesome, including the performance. Has anything good happened to you today? You seem brighter than usual.”
“Nothing unusual, but I did meet this man,” I comment, looking at myself in the mirror. Mizi and I contrast so much, it’s slightly unbelievable that we’re good friends at first sight.
“What was he like? Is he interesting? What’s his name?” She questions in response, smiling at me.
“His name is Till, and he was quiet but very interesting.” I reply, smiling back. “I think I’d like to get to know him more.”
Luka peers inside the room, and looks at Hyuna.
“Three minutes until you’re scheduled to start.” He tells everyone, but mainly directs it to Hyuna and Hyunwoo. He’s the closest with them out of everyone, and least closest with Mizi. When she first met him, she told me she felt as if she had a grudge against him.
Everyone nods, and Hyuna kisses him lightly before he leaves.
I get my guitar, and strap it across my body while I watch the rest of the members scurry around the room, getting prepared. Once the three minutes pass, I test the mic and look through the crowd, and my eyes land on Till. He looks towards the stage, and that’s my indication to start singing. Weekly, the starter of shows change. This week it’s my turn, and it’s semi-unnerving, but once I start, the words just flow naturally, leaving me comfortable in my position. I look up at the crowd once more, looking for Till, and see him staring. I smile at the crowd like Hyuna has instructed me to do, so we could attract more audience. I initiate a chorus with Hyuna and Mizi while Hyunwoo plays the drums. As we synchronize, I look up to see Till gazing at me, and I smile in return. He seems surprised by my action, and looks away, flushing slightly. As our interaction ends, I go back to singing alone, reflecting. The soft beat of the drums guides me as I sing, the song made by Hyuna for Luka, the lyrics sweet and lovely. I occasionally flash a smile at the crowd, and I catch Till’s eye once more. I wave at him, and he waves slightly in response, seemingly unsure. In vain, I blew him a kiss for a simple reaction from him. He turns red in astonishment, and as the song transitions to Hyuna’s solo, I continue to observe him. He’s still red on the ears, the only indication that he’s still thinking of our interaction. Till is half-heartedly glaring at me and fuming, which is quite adorable. Once he sees me watching him, he panics and goes to chat with Sua, though she’s fixated on the pink haired woman next to me who’s playing the keyboard. Fifty more minutes pass, and the show ends earlier than usual, due to Luka convincing Hyuna to take a break. Hyunwoo goes over to Isaac, Jacob, and Dewey at the bar, while Mizi beelines towards me.
“Did you see her? She was the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen! I told you today was going to be good!” Mizi squeals, her face nearly the same shade as her hair. “I’m going to go look for her, Ivan!”
As I bid her good luck, she goes and looks for Sua, most likely. She’s one of the new faces here. I look around for Till, attempting to be discreet. I spot Till, who’s drinking a glass of water. He looks bored once more, but also mesmerized by the interactions surrounding him. He’s standing in a crowded area and looking around, his mouth slightly parted.
“Are you looking for someone?” I ask Till, approaching him. I catch him off guard, and he looks surprised, an expression he wears often.
“Oh, it’s you. Ivan, right? No, I’m not looking for anyone. Sua’s probably with your pianist, and Marty’s probably doing the same with Acorn. I’m not planning on being a third wheel, so I’ll just wait for the bar to close…” Till pauses, and checks his phone. “Which is in four hours. Wow.”
“That’s quite a long time to stay all alone, isn’t it?” I ask Till, my face lighting up.
“Are you insinuating on wanting to be with me? If you’d like, you can accompany me.” Till says, then pauses. “Just don’t pull any weird shit like you did when you were on stage.”
“You didn’t enjoy it? I was led to believe otherwise due to your flushed state.” I remark, pretending to ponder.
“That was out of surprise,” Till defensively retorts, the tips of his ears reddening again.
“Sure,” I coolly tell Till. “Now, may we take this to the sofa? I’m sure that practice has tired you.”
Till smiles, amused by my suggestion, but agrees nonetheless. I lead the way, and Till follows.
“Your singing was good,” Till compliments, then adds with a laugh. “Almost as good as mine.”
“Really? Then why don’t you go to the stage?” I add on, teasing. “ It’s empty, and I’m sure everyone would love to hear your voice.”
“I’ll pass,” Till tells me slyly. “You don’t deserve to hear my voice or my beautiful songs yet.”
“Well, I can’t wait to hear once I am worthy to you,” I reply, and he becomes flustered again, to which I laugh.
“I doubt you’ll ever be,” Till tells me in retaliation to my laugh.
“Ouch,” I smile, noting Till’s personality. It’s so delightful. “Sorry, Till, this will sound ignorant, but what is ice skating, really? What do you do?”
Till’s face lights up at that, the mention of his job. That’s humorous to me, I don’t think I have that much energy for even singing. I don’t have much energy at all, but that’s off topic. Once I finish speaking, he goes straight into the subject. What his favorite competitions were, how he felt about it, his favorite choreographies, and more topics that I didn’t understand. It’s true, I didn’t comprehend much of what he was saying, but I did enjoy seeing Till happy. He was so happy and caught up in the topic that it was mesmerizing. It was nearly thirty six minutes after until he realized he was rambling.
“I also-” Till’s eyes meet mine, and he smiles, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I’ve been talking non-stop, and this conversation has been nearly all about me. What about you, Ivan? What do you like?”
“What do I like? Other than music, I pursue nothing, so I honestly don’t have a clue.” I state, and look around the bar. Everyone was either talking or dancing, listening to the band that was now playing. In contrast to our style of music, which is mainly rock, the band that is currently playing is jazz music. “What about you, Till? Do you have any input on music?”
“I studied music in high school, and that’s about it,” Till tells me blandly, and gets up from the couch, stretching. “Do you wanna get out?”
“Sure,” I say with a smile, and stand up as well. “Let’s go outside. Or do you have a particular place in mind?”
“Not really, though we can go on a walk and decide where to go after that,” Till supplies, and I guide him through the clusters of people.
It’s cold out, once we exit, and Till’s face tints a light pink, which is adorable. We walk through the streets, following the lights. We don’t say much, but I watch Till as his face smiles at every light. Till and I go through a path in the park, and the moon reflects onto the pond and we take a seat on a bench near it. The small stream is calming, and I focus on it. Each time Till exhales, it leaves a small cloud, and he seems ecstatic over something that small.
“Ivan,” Till starts, then stops.
“Yes, Till?” I ask, turning my gaze over to him, where he is watching me.
“I just feel like I know you from somewhere. I tried to disregard the feeling, but it’s there, and it’s prominent.” Till pauses, looking at the pond, and looks back at me. “Ivan, do I know you?”
“I’m sorry, Till, but I don’t know you. I’ve never met you until today,” I reply, smiling simply. That’s the truth, though I am sorrowful to tell him. “I do wish I met you earlier, but we cannot control time.”
“My apologies, then, Ivan. I know I must sound irrational.” Till looks away, his face now gloomy.
There’s a small silence between us now, and I can feel Till’s watchful eyes on me. I look at the flowers, edelweiss and peonies. They remain by the pond, the red peonies contrasting to the harmony of the white, blue, green, and dark gray hues that the nature of the park all synchronize in.
“Would you like to walk with me?” I ask Till, and as I turn my head, I see Till also watching the flowers.
“Sure,” Till agrees, and seemingly tears his gaze away from the flowers.
We exit the park, and the warmth of the cafes and restaurants lightens the mood. There are families buying bread in bakeries, friends buying a cake, and a couple going on a date. Once we finish walking around two blocks, Till starts to speak.
“Do you want to go to that bakery?” He asks me, and I shift my gaze to see which one he’s talking about. It’s cute, with a little brown bear wearing a blue and white striped apron on a sign with “Take My Hand.”
“If you want to,” I reply, smiling at him. Till flushes a little, and looks away. Once we enter the bakery, an aroma of bread wafts through the room. “Do you want to buy anything? Or shall we look around first?”
“Let’s look around first,” Till smiles, and heads to the sweet bread section.
There are various designs, consisting of hearts, bunnies, bears, and cats. To be honest, all the breads have similar designs, it’s just the toppings that vary. Till’s eyeing a simplistic blueberry muffin- one that’s sprinkled with sugar and powdered sugar.
“Do you want the bread?” I ask Till, going up to him.
“Yes, but I left my wallet with Sua. I told her to protect it… for reasons.” Till states, mournfully.
“Do you want to go take a look at the other breads? I’m sure that’ll ease your mind.” I offer, and motion towards the savory bread section.
“I think I’d get even more hungry then,” Till sighs. “If you’re ready, let’s go.”
“Of course, but I’ll need to use the restroom first,” I flush apologetically, and Till’s eyes widen, and he mutters something intelligible. “What was that?”
“I’ll wait for you outside,” Till says, and waves, leaving the doors.
As I see Till turn around, I quickly get one of the muffins Till was eyeing and a blueberry filled cat pastry. I go to the cashier, and pay quickly. I meet Till outside, waving and smiling slightly. Till turns to look at me and smiles.
“Hi, Ivan.” He grins, and my heart skips a beat.
“I got you something.” I tell Till, showing him the bakery bag, and Till beams at me.
“Thank you so much, Ivan!” He’s holding the muffin in his hands like it’s a grand prize, and takes a bite of it. “Next time, I’ll buy you something to make up for this.”
“Alright,” I reply, and my heart warms at the thought of next time. “Want to walk a while longer? Afterwards, I can call you a cab.”
“Sounds good to me.” Till’s eyes crinkle in joy, and I can’t help but feel more drawn to him with each expression he makes.
☆ ☆ ☆
“That was tiring, but I enjoyed it,” Till comments, smiling endearingly.
“Yeah, me too,” I reciprocate, smiling back, and pulling out my phone. “The Uber is almost here. Once it picks you up, I’ll go back in if you don't mind.”
“I don’t mind. If you don’t mind, Ivan, could I have your number? I’d love to do this again with you,” Till tells me, smiling bashfully.
“Oh, of course. Could you input your number on my phone?” I ask, handing him my phone.
“Yeah, sure!” Till coughs. “Yes.”
I laugh softly at that, his excitement charming. As he takes my phone, I see the Uber pulling up. He hands it back to me, and I change the contact to “Till (˶ˆᗜˆ˵).”
“Thank you, Till. I’ll look forward to talking to you soon,” I smile, and he returns the smile.
Till nods, and waves as he gets into the car. “Have a good night, Ivan.”
“You, too, Till.”