Chapter Text
The night shift of Moonflare Bar is quiet as usual. It's never been busy because it's located in a bit of a shady alleyway, and the customers who are most likely to show up are the usual ones — in short the oldies.
Moonflare is definitely not your go to bar but Noel, a tall raven haired man with brown eyes — wiping down shot glasses is definitely your typical bartender. Due to his amazing physique and mouth gaping proportions, Noel can easily lure people without doing anything, although the bar is not locally famous, it sure is among the oldies in the area. Also his tasks are simple, he'll just have to entertain customers and make them drinks.
As he was waiting for another usual to show up on a busy day in Seoul. The door then chimes, expecting to see another usual, he is suddenly put to halt when he sees an unfamiliar customer come in.
This tall man has light ash blonde hair, wearing a black turtleneck with brown slacks and a trench coat. As blonde passed by I was greeted by a strong scent of perfume. Judging by his outfit, he seems to be well off — but the more I checked the man's movement the more I noticed his slowness and tiredness. Must have been a rough day.
The latter's eyes track the blonde's movements, waiting for him to sit down as the other was removing his coat while checking around. He suddenly felt a bit anxious when he could already feel the blonde's movement towards the bar stool. This man had a strong presence, enough to make someone feel uneasy.
After a stretch of silence, the blonde spoke up. "Good evening." The blonde greeted raising his head up — our eyes met.
The blonde's eyes were finally visible. His eyes were crimson, it was so mesmerizing that I forgot to stop staring.
"Excuse me sir?" His hoarse voice quickly snapped me out of my trance.
"Ah- Good evening, you seem to be new here sir, is there anything you specifically want to order or prefer?" Noel regained his composure and continued to do his job.
The blonde paused before answering. "No…I'm just looking for a few strong shots, something to get me drunk fast. I'm open to your recommendations."
The blonde seemed to look like he had a strong tolerance. But since he asked for my recommendations — Best to give him something light.
"How about Long Island Iced Tea? It gets you drunk pretty fast." Noel offered his recommendation, strong yet a good starting drink.
The blonde had a skeptical look "I haven't tried that before. It's been a while since I've tried a new drink. I guess it won't hurt to try one." He leaned onto the counter with his hand on his face. Looking the bartender up and down, almost looked like he was checking him out.
The flustered bartender turned to the liquor shelf to make the blonde's drink. While he makes the drink, it creates a perfect time to make some small talk. "So– Rough day?"
The blonde then nodded, "yeah, it's been pretty rough." Noel quickly responded to him with a smile and handed him his drink, causing their hands to accidentally brush against each other — the latter froze at the contact but continued to work nonetheless.
Noel noticed the blonde still seemed fine even after drinking more than half the glass — that's a relief.
After finishing the drink the blonde spoke up and said "Hey, could you suggest another drink for me? I'm still not feeling drunk." Noel immediately complied with the customer's order.
Noel really was right, the blonde had an amazing tolerance. He started to set up the ingredients for the drink as the other was waiting.
After he mixed everything it needed to satisfy the others order – he gave it to him.
The blonde reached out for it and asked, "What's the name of this drink?"
Noel cracked a smile "Negroni, I made it because it resembles your eyes."
"Well thank you…? Uhm..?" The blonde stopped as he looked at him, probably guessing his name .
The latter then chuckled lightly as he finally got the hint. He grinned and said. “I would want you to tell yours first.”
Without any anticipation the other responded to him while giving him a boring look. "My name's Elias.”
“Elias Morgan”
The bartender let out a smile. And leaned down a little closer, his body looming a bit over Elias. "The name's Noel Emmet. Nice to meet you, Elias." Said by him while handing his hand to Elias, probably anticipating a hand shake — but Elias rejected it by staring at it, and then raised his two eyebrows, "Nice to meet you too, Noel.”
Noel just laughed and continued to make more drinks for Elias. They talked through the rest of the calm yet bustling night of Seoul. Soon the empty shot glasses on the bar counter continued to increase — After all those shots, Elias finally stopped and paid for his drinks.
Noel started to clean up while talking to Elias. Having his back turned, he hadn't seen Elias fall asleep on the counter. Noel looks up at the wall clock above the liquor shelves, 4am — It was closing time. Noel turned to inform Elias — Only to see the blonde sleeping on the counter. He continued to clean up and after finishing up, he went to the other side of the counter.
He knelt on the ground then gently shook Elias and quietly said, "Elias. You need to wake up, it's already closing time." Noel tried waking Elias up a few more times, but even after 20 minutes, Elias would not budge.
Noel gave up then started turning everything off in the bar. Noel grabbed all his and Elias' belongings. "Elias, I'm going to lift you up alright?" Noel effortlessly lifted Elias and carried him on his back and closed the bar.
"Now where do I drop you off...?" Noel mumbled to himself. He suddenly remembers the motel he passes by every time he goes to work — But then remembers the disgusting rooms in that motel.
Noel thought of the police station but that would mean Elias would have to stay in a cell. Noel, who was exhausted from his classes and work, just started to quietly walk to his apartment.
After arriving at the lobby he went into the elevator pressing the 3rd floor button, while waiting, Noel suddenly felt Elias' movement behind him. "Elias? Are you awake?" A small groan could be heard coming from Elias and then... a gagging sound (!?)
Noel froze. "Elias, do not puke. Give me a minute, ok?" The moment the elevator doors open, Noel bolts to his apartment quickly turning the keys to open the door. "Elias I need to slowly move you down alright?"
The moment Noel puts the blonde down, Elias vomits. Noel hurriedly carried Elias to the bathroom, helping him puke the rest out. "Elias, are you alright? Listen, I need to remove your clothes because you puked on yours, is it alright if I take it off?" A tired "Mn" could be heard from Elias.
Noel started to remove everything except the blonde's underwear. He took one of his towels and rinsed it with lukewarm water, wiping down Elias' face and hands. He grabbed a t-shirt from his closet and put it on Elias.
After that he carried Elias to his bed and gently laid him there.
Noel began to clean everything up. When he finished cleaning up he wrote a note saying — "hey, your stuff is on the nightstand, your clothes are in the laundry right now, and I left some extra things like food and hangover medicine, I left it on the table for you to use in the morning."
Noel looked at the time it was 6:24 am. "Fuck. My class is at 10... I guess I'll sleep on the couch today." Noel hastily went to the couch, getting ready to sleep as he glanced at Elias one last time. After that, he let out a sigh and slept