The scene shifted.
Inside the Big Bird Carousel Bar.
Brook, dressed in his bartender’s uniform, wiped down the counter with a cloth. It was five in the afternoon, an hour when business was virtually nonexistent.
Unfortunately, someone was already face-down against the bar.
This guy was an old regular, punching in like an employee more diligently than the bartenders themselves. Brook was starting to wonder if the man wanted a job here. What a nuisance.
Clad in a British trench coat, his hat tossed to the floor and a draft beer sitting before him, the man muttered: “My youth… it’s gone…”
What had they talked about last time?
Wiping the cocktail shaker, Brook racked his brain. Something about stacked beauties being his type, wanting to divorce his current wife, and whatnot.
He had even claimed his marriage was merely a superior’s order. Tsk, tsk, tsk. A true tragic protagonist.
“Hey, bro, looks like you’ve got troubles again. You can talk to me. It’ll feel better having someone listen.”
Brook leaned his elbows on the counter, addressing the familiar stranger with genuine concern.
“…” He Ye lifted his flushed face.
After several seconds of silence—
Bang!
“Give me two glasses of your strongest liquor!” He Ye slammed the table with drunken swagger!
Seeing this, Brook shrugged without prying. He was just a bartender; his job was to pour drinks. He nodded in response:
“Two Big Bird Mojitos~~~ Coming right up.”
He Ye was heartbroken to his very core. His new life had begun with such bright anticipation, and he had finally shaken off those hounds from the Organization. Why did the combination of two wonderful things end up like this?
He had planned to invite Miss Aisha out for a day, finalize the job with the orphanage director, and find a cozy seaside flat bathed in spring blossoms. All these things were waiting for him!
Yet the moment he heard Miss Aisha was getting married, every ounce of drive vanished.
To hell with expectations. Tonight, he would drink until he passed out!
“Indeed! Strong liquor really does soothe the soul!”
He Ye downed the Big Bird Mojito, thoroughly sloshed, oscillating between manic excitement and crushing despair.
Whew, looks like he really took a hit, Brook thought.
New patrons arrived, leaving Brook no time to entertain He Ye. He mixed drinks and consoled the newcomers, including a balding, middle-aged loser who spent his days getting chewed out by his female boss while daydreaming about stomping her under his heel.
“Damned vixen! All she does is seduce the section chief!” The balding man pounded the counter, shouting bitterly.
“Whew, isn’t that just how pretty girls operate?” Brook whistled. If shaking his hips could rake in cash, he would have done it long ago.
Time slipped away, and night fell.
The bar quickly grew bustling and vibrant, multicolored lights washing over the faces in the dance floor as people gazed into each other’s eyes, drinking without end.
He Ye let out a beer burp as he woke.
He had no idea what time it was. His head throbbed, and his stomach was growling fiercely, but he refused to eat those two hot dog buns. They were his final memento, an inexplicable, lingering attachment.
“What time is it?” He Ye looked up.
The bartender had not swapped shifts yet. Seeing He Ye awake, Brook checked the clock. “Ten thirty-two at night.”
“Slept quite a while,” He Ye mocked himself.
The Big Bird Carousel Bar was deafeningly loud. He Ye rubbed his temples, his emotions having cooled considerably. He admitted that when he walked out of that bakery earlier, his entire world felt like it had collapsed. Dammit, how could she get married?
Perhaps numbed by the alcohol, or perhaps experiencing the post-bender clarity of a sobered man, He Ye felt far less gloomy now.
In truth, he had not loved Aisha that deeply; she had simply appeared at the right time, hadn’t she? If she had been a flat-chested slip of a girl, he might have… No, scratch that.
Stacked was his non-negotiable baseline.
Regardless, his new life still had to move forward.
Phew— Thinking of this, He Ye exhaled a lungful of stale air. “Check, please.”
Brook came over at the call and slapped down the bill. “Five draft beers and two Big Bird Mojitos. That’ll be a hundred and fifty-six kronen.”
“Are you robbing me?!” He Ye snapped.
“That’s the price, bro,” Brook spread his hands innocently.
Forget it…
Leaving with nothing had not meant completely empty-handed; he still carried twenty thousand kronen in cash. Compared to his previous wealth, it was practically nothing, but he could certainly afford this pocket change.
“I am never stepping foot in this godforsaken bar again,” He Ye grumbled with disgust as he fished out his cash.
Brook perked up, chiming in:
“For real? Bro, if you come back tomorrow, you’ll have a perfect attendance record! I’ve seen you six times in the last seven days. You’re really not coming tomorrow?”
“I’m going to embrace a new life,” He Ye scoffed.
“So the divorce went through?” Brook asked with keen interest. “Then why were you face-down on the counter?”
Hearing that, the bitterness that had just settled flared up again. He Ye bit his lip, uttering each syllable with venom:
“Motherfucker—”
“Uh, not you,” He Ye rubbed his head.
“Understood,” Brook raised an eyebrow.
Perhaps the story was simply too bitter, or perhaps venting under these circumstances truly offered relief. Having resolved to part with his past, He Ye spoke softly:
“The divorce went through. I was free. Just as I set out to pursue that stacked beauty… she announced she’s getting married.”
“Tell me, isn’t that totally fucked?” He sighed.
“Uh… getting married?” Brook arched a brow. “Not married yet?”
“Yeah, getting married. So I’m leaving this cursed city. Going somewhere where nobody knows me to live in peace. That’s it. That’s why I’m never coming back.”
He Ye ran a hand through the dark hair falling over his eyes, looking thoroughly dejected.
Brook looked at the friend he had known for six days, moved by the sheer sincerity of his words.
“Why give up?”
He Ye looked up, puzzled. “?”
“The girl’s only getting married, isn’t she? Bro, you’re handsome. You can’t steal a woman away? It’s not like she’s been someone’s wife for years.”
Brook spoke casually, straightening his collar. “A man is at his most charming when he acts recklessly for love.”
“…Holy… shit…”
He Ye stared slack-jawed, a sudden epiphany striking his mind like a ringing bell.
Right! She isn’t married yet! Why couldn’t I?
“March right up, punch the guy in the face, tell him you’re the man who truly belongs with her! If he has a problem, fight him for her! A blood-pumping duel of passion!”
Brook grew impassioned, putting up his dukes like a boxer. Yet He Ye, sitting across from him, cooled down after a brief surge of adrenaline.
Damn it all, modern people can’t pull that kind of scummy move.
Isn’t that just homewrecking?
He Ye possessed standard moral values after all. Once the rush faded, he recognized it as pure delusion. Looking at it from her perspective, beating up her lover out of nowhere was the behavior of a brat trying to get attention.
Still, the thought alone got his blood pumping.
“Forget it,” He Ye waved a dismissive hand.
Brook dropped his act. “Thought it through, bro?”
“I’m not an idiot,” He Ye said tersely.
Brook hid his grin and wiped the cocktail shaker, wearing an expression that practically screamed you’re going to regret this, pal.
He Ye felt annoyed. He was not going to die over a woman. He had simply fallen for a gentle shadow; it was not as though she were irreplaceable.
The world was vast. There were plenty of gorgeous women out there who would catch his eye. He could always find a new bakery beauty—so long as she was stacked.
He Ye pulled out the invitation card, intending to toss it into the nearest bin. Looking at the damned thing made him sick, like a red clown nose mocking his face.
As for the two hot dog buns, having worked through his frustration, he simply viewed them as a way to fill his stomach.
Just then, someone approached, like a mongrel following the scent of bread with a wagging tail.
“Sir… sir…”
A girl cloaked in a tattered hoodie timidly tugged at the hem of He Ye’s coat. Her face was filthy, shockingly unkempt.
He Ye: “?”
He looked across at Brook, pointing at the girl. “Who’s this?”
Brook scratched his head. “You know how it is. Weird folks wander into bars all the time. Totally normal.”
“Are you sure you didn’t just let a vagrant in?”
“Sir… I’m starving. If you just give me a bite to eat, a piece of bread, I’ll go with you for the night…”
The girl spoke pitifully, her voice weak and drained as she held onto his coat. The moment He Ye heard the tail end of her sentence, his expression turned deeply suspicious.
Wait, something’s not right.
Could this be a honey trap working in cahoots with the bar?
After a pause, He Ye reached out and yanked back her cloth hood. The girl flinched, instinctively pulling the hood back over her head like a rat that could not bear the light.
Yep, ugly as sin. Grime obscured her features, and her knotted black hair was practically crawling with fleas. A honey trap was out of the question.
“I’ll give you food, but forget about coming with me. Don’t cause trouble.”
Taking pity on her, He Ye pulled out a hot dog bun and handed it over. The girl grabbed it eagerly with both hands.
“So yummy! So yummy!” Clutching the bread, her eyes sparkled.
He Ye took a bite of his own hot dog bun, having gone all day without food. But seeing the destitute vagrant beside him scarfing it down like a starving beast, his lips twitched.
“Dammit, you completely ruined my appetite. Take this one too. Stop hovering.”
Feigning annoyance, He Ye tossed the half-eaten bun to her. The vagrant did not mind in the slightest, devouring it with such ferocity that He Ye’s eyelid twitched.
“So yummy! So yummy!”
Fuck, I really can’t stand seeing this.
“Hey, do you guys have real food?” He Ye turned to the bartender.
Brook thought for a moment. “Sure. Fried rice, noodles.”
“Two plates of fried rice, then. This kid ate the dinner I saved for myself,” He Ye said, irritated.
Before long, two steaming plates of fried rice arrived. He Ye finished his first, while the filthy girl stood nearby, watching him with wide, longing eyes.
“Can’t finish the second one,” He Ye patted his stomach, having taken only two bites from the second plate.
“Th-then… this plate…”
“Can I get a refund on this?” He Ye asked the bartender.
“Already touched it, bro. No refunds,” Brook shrugged, shaking his cocktail shaker.
“Yay!”
Muffled sounds of frantic devouring immediately echoed from the side.
Seeing this, He Ye quietly gathered his trench coat. While she was busy shoveling food into her mouth, he pushed open the doors of the Big Bird Carousel Bar and stepped out. Inside was neon warmth and drunken revelry; outside was a biting chill and dim streetlamps.
It was early March, marking his seventh year in a foreign land. Walking through the night breeze, He Ye felt his thoughts drift.
He fingered the invitation card in his pocket, looking around. Great, not a single trash can in sight.
He had no choice but to shove it back into his pocket and return to the inn first.
Yet he had barely walked two hundred paces when a rustle sounded behind him. Someone was tailing him.
Trained as he was, He Ye slipped around a corner into the shadows, waiting to see if the tail was an accident or deliberate.
To his surprise, she actually tracked him down.
“Sir, my nose is sharp. I smelled your scent… I told you, if you gave me bread, I’d go with you for the night…”
She clasped her hands, standing before him in her tattered clothes beneath the orange streetlamp. She looked every bit like a shady vagrant attempting a mugging.
He Ye’s feelings were complicated. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he put on a menacing scowl to drive her away:
“Hey, kid, do you have any idea I just had my heart broken? Come with me for the night, and your legs won’t stop shaking tomorrow!”
“I don’t mind!” She patted her chest. “I’m tough!”
Can you please not…
He Ye surrendered. Fuck, is this world getting worse by the day?
Seeing He Ye’s expression crack into total exasperation, looking ready to bury his fingers in his hair and scream fuck, the girl felt an immediate sense of familiarity. The fine gentlemen she had tricked before always put on this exact act!
She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she had picked the right mark!
Patting her chest again, she said earnestly:
“I just want a place to sleep, even if it’s just for one night. I knew you were a good person, sir. You’ll definitely find someone better in the future… Just let the heartbreak go!”
“Shut the hell up…” He Ye turned away, utterly drained.
“Sir, sir…”
The girl scampered after him.
