Chapter Text
"Hey, hey, Kirishima! Check this out!"
"Uh, Kaminari, are you sure you should be doing that?"
Bakugou could feel his eye twitching as he cleaned one of the glasses, making sure every single speck of dirt and fingerprint was gone. It had already been sanitized thoroughly, but the two numskulls that he was training were real pieces of work. And he had known them both for several years.
He was supposed to be training them on how to make cocktails today, but…
"Whoa, Kaminari! How did you do that?!"
He glanced over to see Kaminari stacking shot glasses in a pyramid formation, all of them balancing perfectly. But then, he grabbed the practice bottle of liquor—there was no way Bakugou would let them use real liquor to practice their stupid tricks with—and of course, all of the shot glasses tilted and fell to the floor, shattering into tiny pieces.
…Bakugou didn't think they were quite ready.
"You idiots! Does it look like we can afford for you to break more glasses?!" Bakugou yelled.
"Ah, sorry, Bakugou," Kirishima apologized, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah, sorry. We were just wanting to get to the tricks already!" Kaminari said.
Bakugou was ready to throw the glass in his hand at them, but he knew that it would just be another expense. He slammed the glass down on the counter and stared at them with anger in his eyes.
"You morons are supposed to be studying the menu! To memorize!" Bakugou shouted. He pointed to the bartender's handbook on the side. "If you don't have half of those orders memorized, then I'm putting you shits on busing duty. Got it?!"
Kaminari and Kirishima straightened their backs in fear, both visibly swallowing before hurrying to grab the manual to look through the different recipes and guidelines.
Bakugou scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Your asses are lucky that I'm the one that hired you. You'd be fired already if it was anyone else."
"R-Right. Thanks, bro!" Kirishima said.
"You're the best, Bakubro!" Kaminari chimed in.
"Don't call me that, idiot!"
A customer hopped up on a barstool, leaning over the counter. "Four Horsemen. Straight."
Bakugou nodded once to the man in silence and then grabbed the bottle of whiskey, preparing the drink with finesse and ease. He could hear Kirishima and Kaminari whispering about his technique, so at least those idiots would learn something.
He placed the drink in front of the man, who nodded and rested a few bills on the counter. Bakugou snatched them up and put them in the register.
"Hey, Bakugou, can I try making that?" Kaminari asked.
"You can try when you've got all of the ingredients memorized," Bakugou said, grabbing another glass to clean.
Kaminari pouted and leaned on the counter. "Man! You're so by the book!" he said.
"Don't worry, Kaminari! There're other things we can do while we memorize this stuff," Kirishima said.
"Oh? Like what?" Kaminari asked, looking more interested.
"Giving backstories to the patrons!" Kirishima said.
Kaminari cocked a brow. "Backstories?"
"Yeah! Look," Kirishima said, nodding towards the guy at the end of the bar that Bakugou just helped. Bakugou couldn't help but follow their gazes in mild interest. "That guy probably just got done with a long day's work at some ritzy office. Now he's here to drink away his troubles before going home to his loud kids."
Bakugou rolled his eyes.
Kaminari's eyes brightened, immediately catching on. He glanced around until he spotted a girl sitting in the corner.
"Oh, what about her?" Kaminari asked. "I bet she's a real heartbreaker! Goes bar-hopping to find love!"
"Wow, that's really… romantic, Kaminari," Kirishima chuckled.
"Oh, brother," Bakugou said with a scoff. "You are both idiots."
Kaminari frowned. "Okay then, Mr. Know-It-All. What do you think their real backstories are?"
Bakugou rolled his eyes again and went to look at the two customers they had pointed out earlier. The man sitting at the bar didn't have a wedding ring, but his finger had a ring tan. Meaning divorcee. And the woman, she was sitting by herself at a table, a notepad in hand as she was gazing around the restaurant. She would take notes here and there.
"The man down there lives alone. Divorced. But it was an ugly one, so he's here to try to drown in his troubles," Bakugou said softly, setting down a clean glass before picking up another one to wipe off. "And the woman over there ain't lookin' for love, morons. She's an artist or writer or whatever. Taking in sketches or something for some kind of art project or book deal."
Kaminari and Kirishima both swiveled their heads to look at the customers, their jaws dropped as they observed them in a different light.
"Wow, Bakugou!" Kirishima said. "How did you notice all of that?"
Bakugou shrugged. "Been working here awhile. You see all kinds of different people come in."
Kaminari's eyes drifted to a different part of the restaurant, his head tilted slightly.
"Well, what about that guy?" he asked.
Bakugou turned his gaze to a man sitting alone in a booth. He was already an odd one since his hair color was split right down the middle—one half red, the other white. He also had a gnarly scar on his face. As Bakugou took in his body language, he noticed that the man was fidgeting slightly, his head turning around to stare at the entrance. Bakugou also noted the two glasses of water sitting on the table. And no one else sitting with him.
Ah, so he was waiting for someone. But who?
"Dunno. Looks like he's waiting for someone," Bakugou said, going back to wiping his glass.
"I think he's been there a long time," Kirishima said, looking a little nervous.
As if right on cue, a waitress walked over to the man's table. She pointed to the entrance where other people were waiting to be seated, and the man wrung his hands, looking a bit nervous.
"Oh. It looks like he's being asked to give up his seat," Kaminari said.
"Aw, that really sucks," Kirishima said. "You think he got stood up on a date or something?"
Bakugou narrowed his eyes at him. He didn't see a ring on his finger, but that didn't mean anything. That guy could've been waiting for anyone. His mother, even.
Then, a moment later, the waitress pointed to the bar area.
Ah, shit. She was probably telling him that he could sit at the bar and wait. Damn it. Oh, well. Hopefully this guy tipped well.
The man hesitated for a moment longer before getting up and moving over to the bar, sitting at the very last seat. It gave him a good angle of the entrance, so if he needed to, he could flag down his friend or lover.
Bakugou sighed. "All right, get back to work, you slackers."
While Kirishima and Kaminari went back to studying the menu, Bakugou grabbed a napkin and headed over to the mystery guy with the weird hair. He slid the napkin over in front of the guy.
"Whad'ya want?" Bakugou asked.
The guy looked at him with wide eyes. And oh shit, he had two different colored eyes. Damn, that was hot.
"What?" he asked intelligently.
Bakugou sighed, biting his tongue. The manager he hired often reminded him to hold back on his anger when dealing with customers. Even the annoying ones. It was a trend, it seemed—the hot ones always gave him the most trouble.
"You're at the bar. What drink're you havin'?" Bakugou asked, leaning on the counter.
The man blinked back at him, perplexed. He placed his hands neatly on the counter.
"Oh, uh. I'm not sure," he answered. He fiddled with a ring on his finger, and as Bakugou looked more closely, he could see a gold band. Bakugou hated that he felt disappointed. "The only drink I've ever had was champagne, and I didn't really like it that much."
Bakugou noticed the way the man glancing at the door, still whimsically looking on as he waited for this very late person.
He sighed. Well, it didn't look like he was going to leave any time soon.
"Here, look through this," Bakugou said, tossing a drink menu at him. "Wines and beers are in the front, then mixed drinks, and then the hard stuff is in the back."
The man nodded slowly and carefully looked through each page, his brows growing closer together with each glance.
"Um. Do you have tea?" he asked.
Bakugou wanted to yank out his hair. "Does it look like we serve tea here? This is a bar, moron!"
The man wasn't phased by Bakugou's outburst. Instead, he looked back down at the menu in mild interest.
"What about this?" he asked, pointing to a drink.
Bakugou leaned over, unintentionally getting close to the man. He smelled good, too.
Ah, forget it, forget it! The man was taken, for crying out loud!
He read the name of the drink and almost scoffed.
"Long Island Iced Tea?" Bakugou said with a cocked brow. "You know that it's really all alcohol, right?"
The man shrugged and handed him the menu. Bakugou rolled his eyes and grabbed the ingredients.
"One Long Island, coming right up, Princess," Bakugou said, making the man flinch and look at him incredulously.
"Princess?"
Bakugou ignored him though, and he continued to make the drink with extreme finesse and precision. He could feel the eyes of Kirishima and Kaminari staring at him as he worked, which was good since he needed them to learn anyway.
He poured the drink and slipped a straw into it, and then he slid the drink over to the man. The glanced down at the drink and fiddled with the straw, unsure of what to make of it.
"Just try it," Bakugou said. The man leaned forward and put his lips over the straw, and just before he could suck up some of the alcohol, Bakugou slapped his palm on the counter. "But don't drink it too fast, idiot! You'll get drunk off your ass!"
The man nodded seriously and slowly took some small sips of the drink, his eyes blinking rapidly as he swallowed.
"Oh," he said. "It's… different." Bakugou narrowed his eyes, and the man was quick to quick to lift his hand and wave it. "But not in a bad way. I like it."
Bakugou stared at him just a moment longer before he rolled his eyes and walked back to the other end of the bar, leaving the man to ponder his drink. Kirishima and Kaminari were staring at him with wide smirks on their faces.
"The hell you two idiots smilin' at?" Bakugou asked, wiping off his hands.
"You think he's cute," Kaminari said.
Bakugou whipped his head up, his eyes widening in anger. "Hah?!"
"It's true, Bro!" Kirishima said. "You were way nicer to him than you've been to anyone I've ever seen!"
Bakugou rolled his eyes and grabbed an empty glass from the counter. He started to clean it roughly, his biceps flexing with effort.
"He's whatever! Just 'cause he's got doesn't mean I'm into him!" Bakugou said. "He's taken, anyway."
Both Kaminari and Kirishima frowned.
"You sure about that?" Kaminari asked.
"Yeah! You should find out for sure!" Kirishima egged on.
"Tch, would you guys piss off?! You're annoying me!" Bakugou whispered harshly under his voice.
"C'mon, dude," Kaminari said. "You haven't dated anyone seriously since…"
He glanced at Kirishima, who sighed. "We weren't that serious, bro. Just playin' around." He glanced back at Bakugou. "Just talk to him. Figure out what his deal is."
"Yeah! If he's with someone, why is he here alone?" Kaminari asked. "Plus! We need to learn how to schmooze the customers for more tips!"
"Good point!" Kirishima said, eyes sparkling.
Bakugou sighed and slapped down the glass on the counter, throwing his towel over his shoulder.
"Fine! If it'll shut you morons up!" Bakugou said. He huffed and reluctantly slid back towards the opposite end of the bar counter, grabbing the stray glasses along the way to clean.
The man's eyes were locked on the door, the Long Island in his hand and the straw in his mouth. He appeared to be in some sort of daze as he slowly sucked on his drink. Still waiting for someone, he presumed.
Bakugou turned his head back to his idiot friends, who were both giving him thumbs-up and silently cheering him on. Bakugou sighed. He never should have hired those two.
He turned back towards the man and started cleaning the glasses he had picked up earlier.
"So," Bakugou started, feeling irked that he was so easily swayed by his cohorts. "Why're you here?"
The man startled at Bakugou's voice and turned back towards him with wide eyes. He set his drink down and frowned slightly.
"I'm… waiting for someone for dinner," he answered.
Duh, Bakugou thought. "Yeah. I saw you get kicked out of your booth over there."
The man's eyes widened as he froze for a moment. Then, he lowered his gaze and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Oh. You saw that, huh?" he asked.
"Yep. There's a wait limit," Bakugou explained.
"I see. I didn't know that," the man answered. He clasped his hands together and fiddled with the ring on his finger. "I'm waiting for my husband. It's… our anniversary."
Damn, Bakugou thought. So he really was taken.
"And you picked this place to have your anniversary dinner?" Bakugou asked with a quirked brow.
The man shrugged one shoulder. "We had our first date here."
Bakugou rolled his eyes and scrubbed his glass harder. "Could've picked a better place."
"He recommended it."
"Still could've been better."
The man didn't respond, which made Bakugou roll his eyes. He put down the clean glass and tossed the towel over his shoulder. He glanced at his watch for the time.
"Well, he's pretty late for dinner," Bakugou mentioned.
The man blinked at him and then also looked down at his watch. When he realized that it was nearing nine in the evening, his eyes widened in shock, his cheeks quickly losing color. He pulled out his phone and tapped a few times, his brow furrowing in concentration.
"He… should be here soon," the man said.
"Hmph," Bakugou harrumphed. "We close at 10:30, just so you know."
The man clutched onto his drink and nodded wordlessly. It made him look like a little kid.
Bakugou sighed and headed back to the other side of the bar, where Kaminari and Kirishima were both eagerly waiting for him to return.
"Well?" Kaminari started, wiggling his eyebrows.
Bakugou scowled. "Well what?"
"What's he like?" Kirishima asked with a toothy smile. "Is he nice?"
"Did you get his number?" Kaminari asked.
Bakugou sighed and rolled his eyes. "He's an idiot and no." He flung the towel in the small hamper below the counter, rather angrily if he were to admit it. "He's married. He's waiting for his man right now."
That made the other two pause, both of them looking at each other apprehensively.
"His husband is pretty late," Kirishima said.
"Yeah," Bakugou said, watching as he spotted another customer plopping down at the counter. His eyes gazed past that customer to watch the man at the end, his bicolored eyes still fixated on the door. "Whatever," Bakugou said, forcing his gaze away. "I don't give a shit."
He could feel the stares of his coworkers on his back as he retreated to make more drinks to smelly men, but his gaze was locked on the lonely man sitting by himself at the end of the bar.
The shift passed by rather quickly at that point. Bakugou filled out drinks and taught the other two idiots how to make a few once they had memorized some recipes. Soon enough, the restaurant was empty and the lights in the kitchen and main dining room had been turned off for the evening.
Bakugou was finishing with cleaning behind the counter when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He glanced up to see Kirishima smiling toothily at him while pointing to the other end of the bar. Bakugou followed his finger and blinked a few times at the sight.
That man was still at the bar, his body slumped over the counter. His eyes were closed and his bangs had fallen in front of his eyes. He looked so peaceful and cute. He wasn't the type Bakugou would go for, but he was so handsome and good-looking and his voice was so smooth and soft and—
Ah, crap. What in the world was he thinking?
"Want me to kick him out?" Kirishima asked, a little sadly.
Bakugou shook his head. "I'll deal with it."
Kirishima smiled softly at him and patted his shoulder. "Okay, Boss. See you tomorrow!"
"You two better study that menu!" Bakugou barked.
Kirishima saluted and caught up with Kaminari at the front door, both of disappearing into the night.
That left Bakugou alone with this stranger who was passed out on the counter. And now that he looked closer, he could see that the man hadn't even finished his drink. Was he that much of a lightweight?
Bakugou sighed and walked over, his brain coming up with different ways that he could wake this guy up and get him out of there as quickly as possible without being awkward. But he couldn't come up with a single idea where the man would not be embarrassed.
Oh well.
Bakugou took in a deep breath and then slapped his palm loudly on the counter.
"Oi, Sleepin' Beauty! Time to wake up!" Bakugou shouted.
The man flinched, his eyes fluttering open and squinting up at Bakugou.
Oh crap. He was damned cute, for crying out loud.
Bakugou pushed those thoughts out of his mind and threw a thumb over his shoulder towards the rest of the restaurant.
"We're closed. So take this show on the road," Bakugou said.
The man sat up and looked around at the dark restaurant, his brows quickly knitting together as he realized that he had been completely stood up.
What idiot of a husband neglects his spouse like this? The man had been sitting there waiting for hours!
"Is it?" the man said, pulling his phone from his pocket. He twisted his lips when the time blinked back at him, and his shoulders slumped. "Oh. I see."
He stood up from the bar counter and rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. There was the embarrassment, Bakugou thought.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to be a burden on you," he apologized.
Bakugou rolled his eyes, but his heart was clenching a little. "Whatever. Just get out already would ya?" he said. "And don't get hit by a car or anything. I'd feel pretty shitty if I served a lightweight and caused him to stumble around at night."
The man swallowed and looked down at his drink, realization blooming in his eyes.
"Oh, right," he said, and he pulled out his wallet, looking to Bakugou expectantly. "How much do I owe you?"
Bakugou took a moment to look the guy over, observing the heavy bags under his eyes, the dark circles that also accompanied them. His once-pressed shirt was now wrinkled and no longer tucked in, and his hair was a mess, both sides mixing into one another at the part to create a hazy pink color.
Bakugou wanted to strangle whoever his husband was, and he was furious for feeling this way. He had never felt this way towards anyone before in his life, so why was this guy so different? He didn't even know his name, for crying out loud!
He finally sighed and waved his hand in the air. "Don't worry about it. It's on me."
The man hesitated, his eyes flicking back and forth from his wallet to Bakugou.
"But… I can't just not pay for my drink," he said. He looked lost for words.
"You didn't even finish it! Don't waste your money on somethin' you didn't even like," Bakugou said, gesturing towards the half-empty glass that was still sitting on the counter.
The man let his hands fall to his sides and hang there limply. He suddenly looked like a kicked puppy, and Bakugou hated it.
"Look, just keep your money, alright? This time is on me," Bakugou said.
The man snapped his head up. "This time?"
Don't get your hopes up, Bakugou told his traitorous heart. He nodded once and continued sweeping up the floor.
"If you come back, I'll try to make you something you actually will like, got it? Sheesh, don't read into it so much," Bakugou growled.
"Oh," the man said. He tucked his wallet back into his pocket and nodded at him. "Thank you very much, uh…" He leaned forward and squinted at the nametag on Bakugou's breast pocket. "Bakugou-san."
"Oh, gross! Don't add any honorifics to my name, shithead!" Bakugou snapped. "Now get out already! I have to close this place up!"
The man smiled, and Bakugou felt his heart leap.
Damn it.
"Okay. Thank you, Bakugou," he said, and he turned towards the door and walked out silently.
The door clicked softly behind him, and Bakugou was alone. He sighed and rested the broom against the wall, folding his arms across his chest.
"What freakin' weirdo."