It wasn’t until Friday night that Sohal got a message to meet up with Asa at the park again. Asa didn’t have to spell out why for Sohal to know the reason for this meeting.

Don’t worry. It’s walking distance from the park. I’ll walk you to you-know-where.

Sohal forced himself to take in a deep breath as he sat down on the bench, waiting for Asa. He wore a casual t-shirt but he still felt like he was underdressed. Asa never said how formal that place was, so showing up in clean clothes was enough, right?

Before he could contemplate if he had time to run back to his apartment to change his clothes, Asa appeared. He had a blazer and a dress shirt with pants to match. Compared to Asa, Sohal definitely looked like he was underdressed. Was it too late to back out?

“You made it!” Asa slapped his hand on Sohal’s shoulder. “Hope you’re excited.”

They made small talk as they walked from the park to the row of buildings. The brick of the buildings had a thin layer of rust on them and parts of the sign lights flickered every so often.

“Lazy Crown Bar and Grille?” Sohal eyed the sign of the bar the two were headed towards. “I never took you for the type of person to go to these kinds of places.”

“Follow my lead,” Asa said while walking inside. “You’ll know when we’re there.”

Sohal nodded and followed behind Asa as the two entered the bar. As soon as he stepped inside, the smell of booze invaded his nose. The scent made him slightly nauseous but he managed to ignore it.

It was emptier than Sohal expected it to be for a Friday night. People milled about, drunk off their asses. Many of them still had drinks in their hand, and Sohal wondered how many of them were regulars. Baskets of half eaten food littered every other table.

Asa strolled over to the bar and placed his arms on it. The bartender immediately saw him and put down the glass she was cleaning. Sohal lingered by the two, watching to see what would happen next. He couldn’t deny that the service here was quick at least.

“What can I get for you tonight?” Her eyes drifted to Asa’s hands as if she was looking for something. Nobody else seemed to be sitting at the counter.

Asa lifted one hand and pointed at the wrist on his other hand, a strange gesture that Sohal hadn’t seen used before. “I’d like to order the Double Blue Orgasm please.”

The way Asa said the order made Sohal think back on whether he had ordered the drink before. The way it was done so casually made him do a double take. He never thought he’d hear such a dirty word from a close friend before. Maybe in a private place like his home but not in a bar.

“Great choice,” the bartender replied with a grin. “It’s really popular around here. Do you need to know where the restrooms are by the way?”

“Yeah, can you show us please?”

The bartender nodded towards another bartender who took her place at the counter. Then she gestured for the two boys to follow her towards the back of the establishment. There was a hallway that branched out from the main bar area leading to the restrooms.

It wasn’t easy to see at first but there was a large framed picture hanging on the wall. She lifted the frame upwards and reached a hand behind it. A sharp clicking noise resounded throughout the empty hallway. The picture frame returned to its original place after a few seconds and then the whole wall moved to reveal a set of stairs.

“Thank you as always.” Asa turned to Sohal with upturned eyes. “Let’s go.”

Echoes of laughter and yells came from the stairwell. The bartender waved a hand towards the stairwell with a smile. Sohal pressed his lips together.

“Is that normal?” Sohal asked. He was starting to have second thoughts about coming along, but it was already too late to back out. Asa looked way too eager to go in, which only made Sohal feel more guilty.

“Yeah, people are just very… open and non-traditional. If you’re uncomfortable, just let me know. Okay?”

The way Asa phrased his words made Sohal wary.

They slowly descended down the stairwell. The sound of music and people became louder with each step. By the time Sohal reached the bottom, he could barely hear Asa.

It looked like a bar inside of a bar, but the people here were much different. They looked happier and more free to express themselves. Nearly every inch of Vein was crawling with people. Some people were wearing tight leather clothing with harnesses. Blue lights flashed and music blared which only enhanced the chaotic atmosphere.

“Hit me harder daddy!” A scream pierced through the loud music.

Blood rushed to Sohal’s face. If he thought the earlier phrase was vulgar, what would this be classified as?

“This place is only for adults. Don’t worry about kids wandering in here,” Asa said coolly.

They walked through the crowd and Sohal overheard snippets of conversation. He swore he heard someone asking whether… certain bodily fluids were vegan or not.

Asa pointed towards an empty table near the bar “There’s a good seat over there. We can chill there and order drinks.”

They began to make their way to the seat when Sohal was stopped.

A hand gripped his shoulder and all the muscles in his body tensed up. He turned around to see piercing dark eyes stare back at him. Sohal felt himself gulp as his heart began to pound faster. He swore it was almost as loud as the music in the room.

“Who are you and how did you get in here?” The man asked him. He towered over Sohal and crossed his buff arms over his equally buff chest.

Sohal opened his mouth but the words didn’t come out. That was when an arm wrapped around the man and Asa’s friendly face popped out from behind him.

“Chill, he’s with me. It’s his first time.”

The hand instantly released from his shoulder and the man shrugged off Asa’s arm.

“Sorry, have a good time.”

Sohal silently nodded his head. The man disappeared into the crowd but Sohal’s eyes lingered in the direction he had left.

“Everything alright?” Asa put a gentle hand on Sohal’s arm.

“Yeah… Just a little... spooked.” Spooked wasn’t the right word. Sohal knew that but he didn’t know what other word would have fit. The new experience was almost disorienting.

“Don’t worry about it,” Asa said. “The people here are friendly, just overly cautious.”

Sohal bit his lip. “Gotcha, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Okay, I’ll go ahead and order drinks and food. It’ll be on me. Anything you want?” Asa pointed his thumb behind him.

“I’ll get whatever you suggest.”

“Alright. I’ll be back soon. Have fun and socialize with people and if anyone asks, you’re here with me.”

Before Sohal could get another word in, Asa had already left to find a waiter to place the order. Sohal took a seat at the table and kept his eyes on the ground. He didn’t want to make any unwanted eye contact.

The environment was way more chaotic than he had anticipated. He could only feel himself shrink with every second that passed as he became increasingly aware how out of place he was.

A basket of fries came into Sohal’s view and he instantly looked to his right. The man from earlier was sitting beside him but was looking off to the side. Sohal looked around the room to see it could’ve been anyone else but judging from the glances Sohal was receiving, it was probably the man.

“Is this for me…?”

“Yeah, you don’t have to eat if you don’t want to. Just felt bad that I scared you earlier.”

“Ah, thanks. That’s really nice of you.”

“It’s no problem.”

Sohal pulled out his phone and began to aimlessly scroll through it. His eyes landed on the Fated app before quickly opening it. There was nothing new on it and he gave a frustrated sigh. He heard a chuckle beside him and he saw the man beside him trying to hide his grin.

“What?”

“I just find it funny.”

“Find what funny?”

“You’re in a secret club for people to find other options for partners that aren't on that terrible service, yet you’re on it anyways.”

“I guess you’re right.” Sohal’s face suddenly felt very hot. “I never had any good luck with Fated.”

"Fated? More like fake. Am I right or... am I right?"

Sohal gave a chuckle. “You had bad experiences with it too?”

“Yeah, I think everywhere here did.”

“I don’t understand how… You’ve got a nice face.” Sohals eyes widened as he realized what he just said. “I mean, I can’t imagine anyone rejecting you.”

The man didn’t seem to mind or at least didn’t show he cared. He flicked his bangs to the side with a finger. “Hm, well… looks don't solve everything.”

“That’s fair.” Sohal thought back to the date from earlier and felt a shiver shoot up his spine.

“Looks like your friend is coming back. I’ll take my leave.”

“Ah, okay. It was really nice talking to you… uh… What was your name?” Sohal shifted in his seat.

“Rune.”

“Nice… I’m Sohal.”

Rune stood up from his seat and waved. “Well, I’ll see you around then.”

“Um, see ya.” Sohal waved back. “Thanks for the fries!”

“Sohal!” Asa yelled.  “I brought sustenance and more company!”

A person stood next to Asa and they were wearing an oversized t-shirt and had large glasses perched on their nose. They seemed to be helping Asa as they had drinks in both their hands while Asa carried one drink and what seemed to be a party platter of food. They gave an awkward wave to Sohal and he copied their gesture.

“I’m Emari, nice to finally meet you.” They held out their hand.

Sohal took their hand before shaking it. “You must be Asa’s other partner. I’m really glad to finally meet you.”

“Hey, when did you get fries? I told you everything was on me,” Asa said, glancing at the basket of fries sitting next to Sohal.

“Oh, the guy gave it to me earlier as an apology,” Sohal replied.

“Reeeeeallllly? Did anything else happen?” Asa’s eyes were lit up and his eyebrows were curved to suggest Sohal had gotten into some mischief.

“No, no. It was just fries.”

Asa looked unconvinced. “Hm, alright.”

Sohal decided to change the subject. “Anyways, how did you meet Asa, Emari? He hasn’t told me much about that.”

Emari’s face broke out into a grin. “Well, to give context, I’m bisexual but I always stuck with dating females whenever I went into Fated. One day, I wanted to switch it, but they wouldn’t let me, so...”

Sohal couldn’t focus on the story. His hand reached for a fry and he quietly ate it as he tried to look as attentive as possible. He couldn’t stop his mind from wandering to Rune and how nice he was earlier. He even wondered if he would ever meet him again.