So here Bell was, sitting at their favorite human bar, nursing another drink and lamenting a lost love that wasn’t even love at all. Truth be told, they didn’t know if they loved Carrie at the end. They wanted to, though. They wanted to love her so badly. Perhaps that was the problem, they’d fallen for the idea of what they’d wanted her to be and not who she really was. But when she smiled at them the first time they’d seen each other at this very same bar, Bell couldn’t help but think maybe this was finally it. They’d only made it six weeks.

Maybe that was the universe telling them it was time to stop for a while. A few months not looking, not worrying. That sounded good right now, actually. Maybe they just needed to put this all behind them for a couple weeks and just see what happened. They did say sometimes the thing you wanted or needed would show up when you weren’t looking for it.

No, she couldn’t think like that. Hoping for a chance meeting was still looking, wasn’t it? They needed to truly let go of expectations. They needed to just… be. When was the last time they’d done that? When the answer didn’t immediately come to her, Bell sighed and her frown deepened. How sad.

“Big sigh,” a voice commented.

Bell glanced over at the person who was now occupying the seat beside them. Well, sort of. He was half sitting, half propping himself up with his other leg, elbow resting on the bar counter as he watched them. He had a pair of red-lens sunglasses propped on his head and was wearing a white tank top with a pastel blue and pink shirt over it, left open. His jeans were faded and torn at the knees in that clearly intentional way. They couldn’t help but wonder if he could be mistaken for a K-pop boy with the right makeup and outfit. He was handsome, after all. Bell’s eyes drifted over his features and his lightly tanned skin. His hair was blond from the tips of his ears up and dark brown on the underside, blond bangs framing his face. A memory tickled at the back of their mind at the sight of it, but they couldn’t quite place it. His gray gaze was sharp, despite the casual smile he wore so easily. He looked like the kind of guy who got attention whenever he wanted it. After all, he already had hers.

Bell smiled back at him, though that woefulness was still there, and tipped their drink towards him. “Bad day,” they replied, then took another sip.

“Why’s that?” he asked, shifting to sit at the bar properly now.

Bell scoffed and let their gaze drift over to Kennedy as she came over to see to him. She didn’t say anything at first as the bartender interjected. “What can I get you?”

“I’ll take an Amber, if you have one on tap,” he replied. Glancing Bell’s way one more time, he added, “And bring another vodka cranberry for them, too.”

Bell raised a brow at that, but didn’t protest. Not like it was the first time they’d gotten a free drink from a bold stranger. She knew what people tended to think of her; beautiful, mysterious, charming. She was all those things when she wanted to be. It was easy to score free drinks when you could look any which way you wanted— though Bell had never quite been the type to change much from her original features. While she occasionally altered her body to suit her identity, for the last several years she’d been going all natural: fluffy ginger hair, wandering green eyes, a slim but slightly curvy figure and a pretty face with high cheekbones. Today they’d chosen to bind their modest chest, something they only slightly regretted thanks to the tightness in their heart from all the roiling emotions.

Kennedy gave them the tiniest smirk as she set a new one in front of them. She took out a tall glass next, walking over to the tap to pour his beer. Once she’d set it in front of him, he lifted the glass and motioned to Bell, nodding in their direction. “Toast?”

Bell scoffed again, still half-smiling. “What are we toasting?”

“New friends,” he replied.

That made Bell grin a little wider, slightly amused, and they nodded, lifting up their new glass and clinking it against his lightly. “Sure. New friends,” they said, tone very noncommittal. The likelihood of actually making a ‘new friend’ tonight seemed very slim, but they weren’t going to turn down an easy ticket to getting tipsy. If he wanted to think they could be friends, then sure. They sipped at the new vodka cranberry. It was definitely weaker this time. “Though, friends usually know each other’s names.”

“They do, don’t they?” He set his beer down and offered his hand to them instead. “Name’s Tae, nice to meet you.”

“Are you Korean, Tae?” Bell asked, watching him.

They hadn’t heard that name too often since leaving Asia— aside from around campus. A certain Tae Yun was a subject that got whispered about in the cafes and commons enough that Bell had taken notice. ‘The heartbreaker’ some girls called him, the ‘easy score’ some guys would say. They’d never found themself in the path of the infamous Tae, but it seemed that had finally changed. Funny how this was the place where they finally crossed. Bell glanced at his blond and brown hair again, and the memory that had been trying to surface finally clicked in place. That was one of the defining features of Tae Yun, according to all the gossip. If a boy with blond and brown hair comes onto you... Sometimes it was a warning, other times it was encouragement. Bell’s smile shifted ever-so-slightly into a smirk.

Tae chuckled softly and nodded. “Well, half Korean.”

Bell set their glass down, running their pointer finger along the rim, then took his hand and gave it one shake. “I’m Bell. Also Korean.”

“Really?” He gave another small, single laugh. “Small world.” He took up his ale and took a deeper drink. “You are way too cute to be moping alone at this bar, Bell.”

It was Bell’s turn to chuckle at that. Already the game was starting. “Oh, should I be moping with you, then?”

“You shouldn’t be moping at all,” Tae replied.

Bell’s smirk relaxed back into a lazy smile as they turned their attention back to their drink. “Kind of hard not to right now.”

“Yeah, why’s that?” Tae repeated his earlier question.

A small sigh left Bell before she could stop it and her lazy smile promptly disappeared into another frown. They didn’t owe him an answer, they didn’t owe him anything. But they’d never been good at keeping it all inside, and he was willing to listen— for now. “My girlfriend broke up with me tonight.”

They glanced at him to gauge his reaction. Tae watched them for a moment before looking at his own drink. “Well, she’s stupid for letting a cutie like you go, then.”

This time the noise that left them was a small snort. “Keep calling me cute and I might think you’re trying to take me home.” If the rumors were true, that was exactly what he was doing.

“Uh, yeah?” Tae commented casually, meeting their gaze. “You’re hot, but that’s not the only reason I bought you a drink. Looked like you could use one.”

His blatant reply caught Bell off guard and they stared at him for several seconds before a sheepish smile crossed their face and they looked back down into their drink, picking it up and bringing it to their lips to try and hide the expression. Bold indeed. Usually people were more coy about their motives when it came to such things. Then again, Tae probably didn’t get around as much as he did by being coy. “I didn’t expect you to just admit it.”

“Just being honest,” Tae said with a shrug. “I spotted you from across the bar, alone, and thought you might want the company.” He glanced over their head briefly, then back to them. “Plus, you are really cute.”

Bell looked down the counter, noting a few empty seats at the end and a table nearby where one of the guys was watching them. Other friends, perhaps? Had this guy really just ditched his friends to come try and score with them? The other boys at the table didn’t seem bothered, talking amongst themselves and laughing. As she watched the one guy, he finally looked back to his friends and said something that she couldn’t make out above the noise of the other patrons. While she could hear everything in the bar with crystal clarity, she’d never quite managed to master the art of separating the different threads of conversation.

Tae was hardly the first person to proposition them at a bar, of course, but he was the first to just outright admit it instead of using honeyed words to get what he wanted. Well, he’d used a few, but still. Bell didn’t really make a habit of going home with suitors on the first meeting. People like that were known to have ill intentions on occasion, and while she was hardly worried for her physical safety, that didn’t mean she wasn’t vulnerable to other pains. Humans were hardly a threat for a gumiho. She was faster, stronger, the all-around better predator. No, they didn’t have anything to worry about there.

She was considering how to turn him down when a thought occurred to her. Why? What did they have to lose? Freshly single, in need of a good pick-me-up, and not looking for anything committal, why not just go home with a cute guy who was interested? What was the worst that could happen, she became another notch on Tae Yun’s bedpost? That probably wouldn’t be so bad. He was probably good, right? After all, he got around.

Bell let their bashful smile shift more into a smirk. “Well, be a good conversationalist and maybe you’ll get what you want.”

Bell shifted in their seat to face him better and rested an arm against the back of her tall chair. “Alright then, Tae. Converse with me.”

“Do you come here often?” Tae asked.

Bell laughed. “I said converse with me, not try and pick me up.”

“Why not both?” Tae asked with a grin. “I come here from time to time and I don’t remember ever seeing you.”

“She only comes here when she’s sad,” Kennedy cut in as she walked by. “Hurts my feelings.”

Bell rolled their eyes. “That’s not true, but I... guess I could stand to come by more.”

“Where do you hang out when you’re not here then?” Tae asked, then took a sip of his beer as he waited for an answer.

“I go to the arcade a lot,” Bell replied. She wasn’t going to mention the Smiling Shojo. Aside from feeling like it was poor taste to advertise another bar in the middle of one, creatures didn’t really care for humans in the few spaces they made just for themselves. You couldn’t let your hair down around humans, so to speak.

This seemed to pique Tae’s interest and he tilted his head slightly. “The arcade, huh? What games do you play?”

Bell began to relax again, the lazy smile staying on her face. Now this was a subject she could talk about with ease. “I like dancing games mostly.”

“Like DDR?” he asked.

That made Bell’s smile widen and they nodded. “Yeah, that’s one of my favorite ones.”

“Are you any good?” Tae smirked.

Bell scoffed and held a hand to her chest like she was offended. “Of course I’m good! I wouldn’t mention it if I wasn’t.”

“Hmm, I might have to see it for myself to believe it,” Tae commented, then finished off his beer and set his empty glass on the counter.

Another soft laugh spilled from Bell’s lips and they followed suit, placing their glass beside his. “Meet me at the arcade sometime and I’ll be happy to kick your ass.”

Tae waved at Kennedy as he said, “It’s a date.”

“Well, we’ll see about that,” Bell commented under their breath.

“You want another?” Kennedy asked as she approached.

Bell nodded. “Another ale for my new friend, too.”

That made Tae preen a little. The bartender nodded and got to work on the drinks. Tae turned his attention back to Bell and asked, “Don’t want to go out with me?”

Bell accepted the fresh vodka-cran with a nod of thanks, then met his gaze, holding the drink between them. “I have to see if you’re worth it first.”

It was Tae’s turn to scoff. “I promise I am.”

“I think that’s up to me to decide,” Bell countered, then took a drink.

“Well, whenever you want to find out…” Tae trailed off and sipped at his new ale.

Bell laughed gently again and took another sizable drink. “Patience is a virtue, Tae.”

“I never said I was virtuous,” Tae commented.

Another laugh, another drink. “I guess you didn’t.” They gestured to his glass with their own. “When we’re done with this round, how about we go for a walk?”

Bell couldn’t help but laugh again, louder this time. The boy had no idea how easily she could’ve done exactly that. She wondered what his liver tasted like after a few beers, but quickly shoved the thought aside. “I was thinking a walk along the beach would be nice. The moon is real bright tonight.”

Tae nodded. “Sure.”

The two continued to chat as they nursed their drinks. Bell finished hers before Tae and took to chewing the ice while they talked. She learned that he wasn’t much for videogames, but did enjoy partaking with friends. “I’m more of a karaoke guy,” he admitted.

“Cute,” Bell commented, then crunched another piece of ice.

Tae made quick work of his drink after that and together they slipped out of their seats as they set their empty glasses side-by-side. Bell went to retrieve their credit card, moving slower than they might usually. Tae pulled his out faster and handed it to Kennedy, saying, “Both tabs are on me tonight.”

With a smile, Bell said, “Thanks.” Just as she’d expected.

Tae shrugged. “You can make it up to me next time. Once you decide I’m worth it.”

Bell rolled her eyes, but kept smiling.