Taemin couldn’t wait to go out and feel the cold breeze freezing the tip of his nose again. He craved some fresh air filling his lungs, instead of the scent of sweat and alcohol from the interior. “Here we are—” he started, but the once sad girl was now staring at him with a less friendly look. The boy blinked a few times before feeling the drink he made being shoved in hands. Why was she doing that?
Maybe he was too naïve, and half of his problems in the club were provoked by that useless trait. Taemin wasn’t used to get suspicious about anything – he tried to think about the good sides of the cases far too much. After seeing the outside and facing the opportunity of running away for a while, Taemin only cared less about those problems - and focused on the one in front of him. The redhaired girl he tried to help was now suspecting him and his much-loved drink, but he’d prove her wrong. Well, at least he’d try to.
“Yah, why are you being like this?” The boy said, sighing and letting his lower lip curl in a small pout. The only illegal thing in this drink is its taste. Criminally delicious. He stopped himself from letting out such lame words and instead, he just took the straw to his lips and spent some generous seconds taking a big sip of the drink. He closed his eyes, pleased by the taste of his own masterpiece and offered it to the girl. “See? I’m not asleep or dead, it’s safe. Now I’ll step in and bring you another straw, I’ll be right back.” He was then ready to prove to the unknown girl that he didn’t care about adding another problem to his endless list.
With a small, but firm nod, he stepped inside the club and walked to the bar – only to return to the parking lot a few minutes later, dragged by a very angry man. “If you want to sneak out of your working place then do it, but don’t expect me to pay you for this! You’re only getting your tips for tonight, little shit.” And just like that, in less than five minutes, he was already being kicked out of the club, even though it was just for another few minutes. It wasn’t the first time it happened to him – in fact, that was the most polite one. He stumbled out on the parking lot, and as soon as he got out, a victorious expression formed on his face. “See? I don’t care about that man, or about this job. I just wanted to play in the snow for a while.” His smile returned, less bright than before, but still proud of the unnecessary act of bravery.
“Oh, and here’s your new straw.” He stepped towards her and dipped the thin object on her drink, taking off the old one.
She waited for his reaction for a good minute, and when it finally came she had to control herself to not give up and continue holding the glass. But control wasn’t her forte, not when she had the excuse of bright lights and dizziness, and soon she let go of the tight grip on the drink.
Just holding it as she was doing earlier, not pushing it to him or anything, she could focus on staring at him instead. He seemed just about to cry - he had the same expression many of the kids she had met on her travels a lot before had - but no tears came out of his eyes and what he did next surprised her.
Having him leaning down and sipping on her straw wouldn’t surprise any normal mundane girl - the most that would happen would be the girl to crack up some dirty jokes - but Soojung isn’t normal or Mundane and this simple action of his makes her eyes widen as if they’re going to pop out of their socks while his eyes are perfectly closed and he’s relaxed as he drinks of her drink.
When he’s done, he walks away to, as he says himself, to take another straw to her. She is alone, but her suspiciousness is not completely gone as easy as he was, and she doesn’t step inside the parking lot yet. She prefers to look at the colorful drink that is back in hands, a pout still graceful covering her lips because hell, she did want to taste the drink he had made especially for her but he did it instead and now the half of the glass was empty.
And there was not much hope she would come back to that noisy club again – she’s sure of this when she hears screams and the boy is back, but this time not alone. Unconsciously, she takes some steps back and into the parking lot and keeps her lips shut as the man screams at the boy. It’s not like she doesn’t want to help, she does and she shows that when the man leaves and she glares at him by the corner of her eyes.
“Wait– ” She stops him before throwing the old straw away and takes it instead, letting the both straws flow on the drink before she places the glass on the top of an old bottle rack. Her eyes are widen and her hands seem to be shaking a little as she grabs his shirt, looking for any sign of abuse or anything that could have been her fault.
A sigh leaves her lips in relief when she sees none but the smug grin on his lips, and the mermaid shakes her head at him, uncurling her fingers from his shirt’s collar. “Ahh, why are you like this…? Aren’t you afraid of dying, kid? Oh my God, I almost had a heart attack now!”
