This is a work of fiction. Story and characters belong to J. Lovelace.

***

The sky was slowly turning brighter outside, indicating early hours in the morning when Jun opened his eyes and slowly sat up on the bed. He rubbed his forehead with a groan from feeling the discomfort of a hangover. His stomach wasn't feeling well either, it hurt like someone would deliver a spinning back kick to his gut. Only the light chill of the morning was somewhat comforting to his bare skin as he had no shirt on.

Half-conscious, he waved with his arm to the right feeling around with his hand to reach his glasses, but ended up waving in an empty space. Surprised, he looked to the right. There should be a night stand right next to the bed... but there was nothing.

An uneasy feeling creeped into his mind and formed a lump in his throat. He slowly looked around. Now he realized that the room he was in wasn't his own. Unknown walls and decor were a sign that he wasn't in any of his friends apartments either.

Finally his stare turned to the left and he froze. The other side of the bed was occupied by someone he didn't recognize. The man was sleeping peacefully facing Jun while laying on his front and embracing his pillow underneath. He had no shirt either, only covered with the bed sheets up to his shoulder. Meanwhile Jun started to panic inside, he instinctively grabbed the sheets and pulled up, assuming what everyone else would in this unambiguous situation. But on the contrary to his fears he was still wearing his pants with the belt wrapped tight. The beige haired bed companion had some gray sweatpants on. It seemed that nothing regrettable happened between them, but still...

Jun put the sheets back with a heavy sigh, hunched forward and hid his face in hands. He tried to calm down wondering what was he doing last night to end up in this situation. The numb headache was definitely a hangover, so he must've gone out drinking.

After a couple of deep breaths his memory started to come back, bit by bit.

He remembered that he wasn't feeling well lately, like not being himself. He felt fatigued all the time and sometimes reacted aggressively for no reason. Everyone including doctors blamed it on stress, so it was what he believed too. The timing was convincing as the job wasn't going easy on him, it was a busy season after all, so it was safe to say that everyone was stressed out. Eventually during a convenient change of pace his coworkers wanted to unwind and suggested that they all should go out drinking. He agreed to join them, and so they went to a place that they wanted to check out for a while. It was a fair distance away, but the positive reviews of the club seemed to be worth it, and everybody needed some change of scenery anyway. Going to a different part of the city felt exciting on its own, or, at least that's what others were saying. Jun didn't care much about it. He looked up at the bright neon sign with an indifferent expression and followed others inside.

It was a nice spacious bar with a calm, soothing atmosphere inside. The minimalist furniture was in black and gray, and some cold colors to emphasize it. The light was set up so that the field of vision was restricted to the nearby tables, and due to the strange fog everything else sort of faded to black beyond that area. It seemed like cigarette smoke, but the scent was vaguely sweet like cotton candy. It could've been a mix of both as some people did have a lit cigarette in their hands.

Nonetheless, the mood was perfect to just forget the outside world and relax within the circle of friends at the table. Or alone with your thoughts, your call. The volume of the slow jazz music was just right to hear the conversation at the table, but reducing other people talk to a faint murmur.

For the first time since a while Jun felt somewhat relaxed and enjoyed the atmosphere. He was having a good time despite a slightly withdrawn attitude. He just let everyone else do the talking, his replies being short and to the point when they turned to him. At the beginning at least. He got more open the more he drank. Since they all came by bus, nobody had to hold back their liquor. The time went by on conversations like complaints about the workload, judging the taste of the colorful drinks, taking selfies, mentioning hobbies and little gossips. The usual.

At some point after a couple of people got up to hit the bathroom, Jun's gaze wandered around the nearby tables. Everyone else had a good time in a circle of their friends having civil conversations while drinking. He scanned the area slowly until he stopped at the table to his far right. A few tall men in formal attires, in their thirties perhaps, were having a smoke while chatting casually, and the bottles of alcohol they had looked expensive. It seemed like a meeting between businessmen, a bit odd to hold in a bar like this, then again Jun had no idea how well known it was in the higher circles. One of the men was particularly interesting, despite being no different than the other. There was just something about him that Jun couldn't explain. Granted, judging by the look he was his favorite type, but there was something else. If he had to describe them by colors as an example, the others were dull, dark shades of red and blue, but that one's aura was white. It was interesting, but also somewhat spine-chilling. Why? He couldn't tell.

He wasn't even sure why he thought that or why was he breaking out in cold sweat. Something like a primal fear lodged in the back of his head was warning him about that particular man, even though he had no reason to feel that way. After all, he didn't know any of the people at that table.

***

*

Jun raised his head, then looked at the man sleeping beside him. Now he realized it was the guy from the bar, the one whose aura he described as white. He looked a bit different in the sunlight, with messy hair and no suit on... and not threatening at all. To be fair, sleeping leisurely like that put himself at danger.

At a second glance around the place looked too personal to be a hotel room, so they most likely ended up in the man's apartment.

But how? Jun looked away and brushed his chin, taking his memory for another spin.

The coworkers noticed that he wasn't paying attention to them and that he was just staring holes at the other table, so they started to tease him a little. They knew his preferences and quickly guessed who he's eyeing. They encouraged Jun to approach him, but he just cut their chatter short when he stood up to leave for the bathroom. As he did, he glanced at the man again and a chill went through his spine as their eyes met.

The stranger's eyes were completely black save for the white irises that pierced his mind, nearly instantly making him sober. Like a pair of cold demon eyes staring deep into the soul. Jun stumbled and leaned on the table to regain his balance, startling his friends a little while at it, but they quickly laughed it off assuming he's too drunk to walk straight. They asked if he needs help, but he didn't reply and just went ahead, so they left him be.

His heart was pounding hard as he splashed some water in his face. He was tired, that's all, he thought. The light was just playing tricks on him, right? The typical excuses went through his mind. He wasn't going crazy, or was he? He leaned against the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His chest started to feel a bit tight and there was some unpleasant buzzing in the back of his head, but it must've been the alcohol having its effect on him. Once he noticed he's unable to move, he realized it must be fear. That man was scary, setting off some red flag within his mind. He didn't want to go back, knowing that he'll have to pass by his table again.

Jun snapped out of his thoughts when one of the coworkers entered the bathroom to check on him.

"Man, you look like you've seen a ghost!"

He commented, to which Jun thought that maybe he did. Maybe the guy wasn't really there.

His friend gave him some comforting pats on the shoulder and they went back. Jun didn't dare to look at the other table so he just lowered his head and followed his friend. But then he bumped into someone and raised his gaze to apologize. Of course fate had to do its thing and let him bump into THAT guy. He gasped tensing up, but realized that his eyes were now normal, nothing demonic that he saw earlier.

"It's alright."

The man replied short in a soft tone and passed him by. This calmed Jun somewhat and he returned to his seat, scoffing himself for freaking out over something so ridiculous. He emptied his drink in one go and agreed to himself that he needs more than just a night out - a week long vacation far away from people.

The night went on with booze, snacks and chatter, and Jun glancing every now and then to his right, still with a mix of fright and admiration. That man was really his type, but definitely out of his league. Eventually the fancy men got up and left, and a bit later Jun's group followed suit, or what was left of it as some coworkers went home earlier.