Ships Passing In The Night ｜Markhyuck (OT21 AU)

Chapter 42

Taeyong's skin was cool and smooth everywhere it made contact with his own. Whether from handling ice for all the drinks he'd been making behind the bar or from his own natural body temperature, Donghyuck wasn't sure. What he was sure about though, was that he had been expecting--well, something. Something more; something impactful, which might suddenly allow everything else to make sense.

That didn't happen.

Instead, Donghyuck felt Taeyong's fingers flex within his own a few times, the gesture both courteous and polite, and then pull away. He almost didn't let them go, tempted to hold on until he felt whatever it was that he was so sure that he should have felt, but then the slight chill was gone and Taeyong's hand dropped out of view behind the bar that separated them.

"Are you okay?" Donghyuck wasn't sure exactly what expression graced his face right then, but the concern in Taeyong's eyes, as he lifted his head to make eye contact, told him it wasn't good. He felt empty, mind searching fruitlessly for some spark of cognizance deep inside himself, but he still managed to nod and offer the older man what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Taeyong frowned. "Was my hand dirty? I deal with spills and mess all the time back here, so I probably should have washed them first. I'm sorr--"

"It's fine." Donghyuck forced himself to interrupt the apology, shaking his head quickly to assuage Taeyong's concerns. "I'm fine." He grinned back earnestly, mirroring the relieved smile that crossed the bartender's lips at his words, forcing all the turbulent thoughts into the furthest recesses of his mind for the time being. He also ignored the heavy, pointed gaze that he felt pressing in on him from Dongyoung to his right.

"I'm Taeyong, by the way." Taeyong glanced over at Chenle and Jisung, and then back at Donghyuck before continuing. "You probably already know that, since--well, heaven knows I've heard enough about you to feel like we've been friends for years at this point." Jisung ducked his head, hiding behind his hair, and Taeyong chuckled affectionately. "Feel free to call me hyung. I don't know about you, but I feel like we can probably skip right past the getting-to-know-you stage."

"That sounds good to me, hyung," Donghyuck agreed. "You, uh, might have been mentioned a few times too." He didn't bother to point out that said mentions had almost exclusively come from Dongyoung, or that the two younger boys had done their level best to keep Taeyong's name a secret thus far. He guessed that it didn't really matter anymore, now that everything was out in the open-- and everyone was here .

It didn't matter either way in the end, given that nothing had happened, Donghyuck thought somberly.

"All good things, I hope," Taeyong said questioningly.

"Of course." The older man looked like he wanted to say more, but the unpleasant squeal of a sound system turning on from somewhere across the room effectively curtailed the rest of their conversation. Turning, Donghyuck saw that a short, slightly overweight man in a suit now stood on the newly completed stage, wielding a large microphone. He tapped it twice, before asking people to take their seats, and, as if that was the cue he'd been waiting for, Sicheng spoke for the first time since his arrival at the bar.

"Hyung, I know you're still busy, but we need to warm up." He spoke softly, so softly that Donghyuck almost had trouble hearing him. Taeyong, however, clearly didn't have that issue, nodding in silent agreement as he started to unpin his name tag and slipped a small, white towel off his arm and onto the bartop in front of him. Glancing across at the sole other bartender, he made a swift, circular motion with the fingers of one hand that the man seemed to understand, then turned back to face their group.

"Okay. Sungie. Chenle-yah. You know the drill by now." Taeyong fixed them both with a serious look, despite the obvious warmth lingering in his gaze. "Find yourselves a seat near the front, where we can see you from both the waiting area and the stage. If you need to go anywhere, don't go alone. Stick togeth--"