His eyes, with that hint of orange that reminded him of honey, gazed directly at his face, and Leon felt himself freeze instantly.
The scent coming off him was sweet, like cotton candy, and Leon could feel the pleasant warmth radiating from his body. Those delicate hands reached out, his slender frame bending slightly as he reached for the bottle of alcohol. The pretty man tilted his head just enough for his hair to shift as he turned toward Leon, and it was as if every small movement bewitched him, making his chest tighten.
Leon, a grown man who's almost in his thirties, felt his heart nearly stop when those sweet lips began to move.
"Keiji-san, do you want me to pour the wine? You've just been sitting there quietly without saying a word."
How could he speak so normally? Leon wondered. At that moment, it felt as if the world had stopped spinning, and some part of his senses had malfunctioned. He remained seated, stiff like a robot, his brow furrowed, struggling to control the direction of his gaze, which kept drifting almost involuntarily downward— toward the man's chest, where a slight curve of his pecs was revealed.
The man had no breasts, of course, yet the smooth skin there glistened under the light. Leon forced himself to stay still, trying to focus elsewhere, not wanting to accidentally pop a boner in the room.
"Keiji-san?"
"Yeah… just … pour me … one."
"Huh?" The man tilted his head, clearly confused by Leon's stuttered, but because it was his job as a server, he didn't question and poured wine into Leon's glass, filling it almost to the top.
Then the pretty man moved closer again, sliding near enough that Leon could feel the sides of their thighs brushing together.
"Come on now, Keiji… it's your first time here, but you don't need to look so nervous. You're an alpha, act like a man, Keiji, haha."
The older man who had brought him here laughed, his thinning hairline barely hiding his amusement. Unlike Leon, who was stiff with tension, the man was accompanied by two omega servers— both attractive, though not nearly as captivating as the pretty man sitting right next to him.
The older man's hand rested casually on the waist of one omega, while the other omega brought a glass of wine closer to him.
Ha, if he had known he would be brought to this kind of place— Leon wouldn't have come. Yet, it wasn't entirely unpleasant. Thanks to the old man, Leon got to see those honey-orange eyes again.
"Hm, Keiji-san? Could it be that you don't like wine?"
Leon stayed silent, his face burning at how close they were. His hand shook as he lifted it to take the glass from the man, who smiled at him after handing it over. Reflexively, Leon drank the wine in one go, and the man clapped his hands, laughing in a cheerful tone.
Why am I acting like this? Leon wondered. He had thought that with time he would forget his feelings, but it seemed that what people said out there was true; first love isn't easy to forget. And the man, still watching him with blinking eyes, his long lashes … if Leon had the chance to stare at that face for the rest of his life, he would never grow tired of counting each lash every single day. Hell, he would even count the fine strands of hair on his head, which looked impossibly soft, and even from this distance, Leon could catch the faint scent of the shampoo he used— it smelled like strawberries.
However, the thing he was most curious about, why was he working in a place like this? Wearing those sexy Christmas-themed clothes, with a deer ear headband on his head. Ethan, his first crush— how could he possibly be here?
Leon thought this might be some kind of wet dream, so he pinched his own thigh several times, just in case he woke up. But no matter how hard he tried, he was still here, with the old man— his uncle's business partner, the one who had led him to the bar and then to the VIP room.
Leon hadn't expected to run into his middle school crush.
He ran through all kinds of explanations in his head. Maybe the man, whose name tag didn't say "Ethan" but "Riku"— was just an omega who looked like Ethan. But from this close, Leon could easily spot the small beauty mark at the edge of his left ear, in exactly the same spot as Ethan's. He knew Ethan was Japanese, but Ethan had said he had lived in New York for a long time and had never told him his Japanese name.
It had been more than twelve years since he last saw Ethan, and their last interaction was back in middle school, so naturally, much had changed. Yet the man in front of him, whose name tag read "Riku," pinned to the left side of his chest— was almost indistinguishable from Ethan. His hair was a lighter brown, his eyes a honey-like brown-orange, and his fair skin glowed in the light. The differences were subtle, his jawline had matured since the last time Leon saw him, and his height was certainly far from the Ethan of middle school.
His body was still slim and lean, just the proportions had changed with maturity.
Even after finishing a full glass of wine, Leon's throat felt thirsty for another. Just as he reached for the bottle, he was stopped by the omega sitting gracefully beside him, whose much smaller hand gently squeezed Leon's wrist.
"!!!!!!!"
"Let me pour it for you, Keiji-san."
All this while, Leon had struggled to speak, unable to suppress the nervous tremor in his throat every time he tried to utter a word.
Fortunately, the omega, apparently named Riku— simply smiled. Leon, having had plenty of experience in social settings, could tell that the smile didn't reach his eyes, It was the polite, professional kind of smile, not a genuine one, but even so, it still made him look undeniably beautiful.
Seeing Leon nod, Riku poured the wine with careful precision. He brought the glass toward Leon's lips, but Leon instinctively refused, taking it back into his own hand.
"You can use my VIP membership card if you're interested in coming here again."
"Ah, no need, Hajime-san. I don't think I'll be coming to this bar again."
Leon wasn't the type of man to frequent a place so clearly a club disguised as a prostitution. His eyes flicked quickly toward Riku. The man sat calmly beside him, so close that Leon could distinctly catch the pleasant scent of the omega's cologne.
Could this place really not be a club for … well, that kind of work? Because in no way Ethan would do something like that.
Feeling Leon's gaze, the omega's eyes narrowed briefly, but he quickly smoothed his expression and offered a polite smile to Leon.
Without a doubt, that expression just now. A typical expression of Ethan that Leon had seen so many times before.
This man was clearly Ethan, but then, why? Why was he working in a place like this?
"Why not?" Hajime-san laughed, as if Leon had said something absurd. "Look, aren't all the omegas here so cute? Especially the omega sitting next to you… Riku-chan. I hear you've only just been allowed back in VIP after being banned for a while. Well, it's good that you're allowed again."
"Huh? Why were you banned from the VIP room, Riku-chan?"
Leon blurted the question reflexively and immediately felt embarrassed for saying the omega's name aloud. He averted his gaze for a moment to calm his racing heart before looking back at Riku, whose brow twitched slightly though his lips still held a smile. Ah, that familiar face he had longed for so much was finally right in front of him.