Han Jing's eyes bleared open, and he focused on the very first thing that appeared in front of him. It was a blob of pink, a fur of pink, no—it was a hair of pink. And he soon realized that he was leaning across the man's body. What the…?
"Oh, back on earth again, Jing?" Mou Gu glanced at him and grinned. "Glad you're back in the world of living."
"What?" He narrowed his eyes at the man. His words didn't make much sense, but he had too much of a headache to care. His head was foggy and cloudy. That was the same wasn't it? He sighed and staggered away from the man. "What happened?" His back met a cold hard wall and he leaned against it.
"You drank a lot." Mou Gu scrunched up his nose. "You should be glad that I was there, or else who knows what would have happened to you?"
"What?" He said it again and tried to balance himself on his feet. He looked around and found himself inside the restaurant of Mou Gu. "I don't remember anyone inviting me to a bar—"
"Geez, what a blackout." Mou Gu motioned for him to sit at a chair. "It was just an hour ago and you can't remember anything? You, me… and some other people? My friends, you don't know them."
Han Jing eyed the man. "No." He was trying to curb his drinking habits, he wouldn't have gone to a bar like this with some complete strangers. He would have done that in college, but not recently. Mou Gu didn't know that.
"Better get yourself checked up on a doctor or something."
"Will you pay for my health care?" Han Jing asked back.
The pink-haired man pouted, "What am I? Your sugar daddy?"
Han Jing plopped down back into one of the chairs and narrowed his eyes at Mou Gu. "You did imply that if I got a boyfriend then I wouldn't have to pay anything—isn't that you trying to flirt with me?"
Mou Gu coughed, "Ah, you still remember that. Good."
"Hmm?" He raised a brow at Mou Gu. He smiled at him, "Why would I not remember that?"
"Nah, I mean—what if the blackout was that bad that you got amnesia? Or maybe you started forgetting things, like some psychological trauma or whatnot. Your mom's going to blame me for it and she's pretty nice." Mou Gu smiled back and folded his hands together. "I wouldn't want to be held accountable for that."
"Pfft… my father might thank you for it." Han Jing was chatty right now. He was aware of that, but it didn't stop him from saying it. It was like his mouth was already willing to divulge anything that came to his mind. He needed to clamp his mouth shut. And yet it was like he was a cloud. His mind was unsteady and he could have been rocking back and forth, a bowling pin right now in a bowling alley. It was a weird metaphor, but that was how he felt. Or maybe a pirate on a ship during a storm, that was how unstable he felt.
And yet he needed to be on his feet.
Mou Gu frowned slightly, "Why?"
Still this was a chance to get everything off his chest. It shouldn't have mattered, but it did. Han Jing couldn't help but chuckle, "Wouldn't I be easy to brainwash if I got amnesia—my dad can say, 'oh Han Jing, you have a job at this place. And you're always doing this to help your family around'. He can probably dictate my whole life for me and I wouldn't even be able to tell a thing."
"Oh," Mou Gu didn't know what else to say to that.
Of course, he wouldn't have any words. Han Jing didn't go around yapping about this to anyone.
Still, he said too much.
He'd probably regret this, but what time was it? Han Jing sighed and scratched the back of his head. He couldn't keep up with this any longer… he forced himself back up to his feet. He needed to get home, his mother was going to kill him if he stayed up too late.
"Where are you going?"
Han Jing crossed his arms over his chest. "Home? Where else."
"Why not stay here?" Mou Gu rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you want something to eat? I can whip you up something quick to eat."
"No, that's not necessary. What if you put something in my food?"
The pink-haired man rested a hand underneath his face, he sighed. "...you're somewhat a mess when you're intoxicated are you not?"
"I don't even remember myself drinking, Mou Gu. I don't smell like alcohol." Han Jing muttered. But of course, this was something that the man in front of him was going to deny because Han Jing didn't know any better. Still, he was walking his way out of here.
The door to the restaurant opened up—
A young but tall man entered the premises of the diner. It was the guy that Han Jing saw the last time, the dude he thought was an escort. Whoever this guy actually was. Han Jing glanced at his right and noticed Mou Gu's widened eyes. An unexpected occasion.
"Song? What are you doing—"
"You told me to come here after twenty minutes." Song said.
Han Jing took that information in, he could use that. He crossed his arms over his chest, "Did you drink with us, dude?"
"Huh?" The look on the young man's face was blank.
Even more blank than Han Jing could muster himself. The man had sanpaku eyes too, and according to what the old people said about it—it was a sign of imbalance. Not that he actually believed that stuff, but even so. There was something wrong about this man. He didn't want to be judgemental about it, but he could feel it.
Mou Gu stood up to his feet. "Yeah, we did drink with Song—he's one of the friends we were with earlier, but because you blacked out, we had to leave early. I told Song that if I didn't come back to the bar, he might need to come here and get some hangover stuff for you. Which this guy also forgot. Are you hammered too, Song?"
"No."
"That's good then." Mou Gu smiled.
"Mhmm." That was all that the man said.
Well, this guy looked like a worse case of a NEET than him. Despite everything about this guy, he felt some sort of camaraderie and strode up to him. He offered a hand, "My name's Han Jing. I don't remember you at all, but nice to meet you."
The man reached out and shook his hand—and the man had a light grip. At least light when compared to his towering appearance. "I'm Dai Song Lan."
The guy didn't even bother to say 'nice to meet you too'.
"I see, so how did you meet, Mou Gu?" He asked and looked up slightly to meet the man's eyes. Han Jing thought of himself as a tall person, he was taller than Mou Gu, but this guy was taller. He still smiled though.
"Isn't that a little too much for an introduction?" Mou Gu called out behind him.
Han Jing raised a brow, and turned to his friend. "I think that's a simple question to ask when you just met someone though. But I'll answer the question first then," He glanced back at Dai Song Lan. "You see, Song. Is it alright if I call you, Song? Mou Gu and I went way back in university days, freshman year. He was the popular kid with the pink-hair and I was his seatmate. What about you?"
"Song and I met through—"
"Work," Dai Song Lan answered with a nonchalant shrug.
Han Jing rubbed his chin, "I see. What kind of work do you guys do then?"
"Cleaning up."
"Huh?" Han Jing didn't expect to hear that, but the look on the man's face was serious. Blank, really. It was hard to tell if he was messing around or something else. "Cleaning up what?"
Dai Song Lan shrugged again, "The trash in this city."
"Oh…" He knitted his brows together and looked behind to see Mou Gu's reaction.
Mou Gu had a hand over his heart, "Geez, why did you have to say it like that. I don't exactly like talking about my side-job, Han Jing. It's not the cleanest work, you get it?"
Han Jing scrunched up his face, "I'm really going home."
"What—don't leave me!"