There's no light, saved for the pendants hanging over the tall wooden bar counter, their green shields gleaming. They remind Yoongi of the kitchen lights from his family's old house. He pads towards them, feeling the pull.

A tall silhouette stands behind the bar, head dipped, hands busying with a rag and a clear glass. Smoke shrouds the bar like a white gossamer cloud, or maybe he's just tired. Yoongi blinks hard, and it's gone.

Yoongi pauses when his waist hits the edge of the leather bar stool. He licks his lips and hesitates.

The figure looks up and sweeps drooping blonde curls away from his eyes, "Want a drink?"

"Um, sure."

"What would you like?"

Yoongi shrugs his shoulders and draws a blank.

"Don't know what you want?"

"No idea."

"Hmm." The figure eyes him thoughtfully, and replies, "What do you like? Sweet, bitter, or maybe something more fun, more exciting?"

"I - I honestly can't tell you. I've never had a drink before."

"Not a problem, that's what I'm here for." A cheshire smile, "Say, do you like cherries?"

"Hmm?"

"Cherries. Hard to get the fresh ones here, but I manage sometimes. I love making syrup with them, boiled with sugar until it's condensed. I can make a cherry cordial for you?"

"Um, sure."

The figure's lips curl, and the glint in his eyes is fond, surprising Yoongi. He gestures at the bar stool,, "Please make yourself comfortable, Yoongi. It'll take a moment."

Yoongi doesn't ask how he knows his name, only loosens his shoulders a little at the words. He's really not the best at introductions, or so his parents and teachers always tell him. It's nice not having to do it for once. He climbs up onto the bar stool with some effort, and lets his legs dangle. After a moment, a thought suddenly occurs to him and makes him blush, "Wait, what's your name?"

The bartender's hands keep moving between different bottles on the shelves, "My name?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, it's rude that I didn't ask for your name."

"Aww." The bright brown eyes crinkle, "Nobody ever asks for my name."

"Really? My mom says it's the nicest thing you can do for someone, to remember their name and always say it properly."

"Your mom is very kind. She used to prefer strawberry daiquiri, but over the years, switched to Old Fashioned." A forest green handkerchief adorns the bartender's slender neck in a fluttering bow. Yoongi thinks he's never seen anything so... so elegant.

"And love, my name is Taehyung."

Taehyung. Yoongi says it in his mind over and over. Taehyung. "I won't forget, I promise."

"I know you won't. I've never forgotten a name before either, but this feels different, you know? A promise, between just the two of us."

"A promise?"

"Yes. How about this, love. I'll let you hold the power of my name, so you can see me whenever you want. But in return, you promise me something too."

"What do I have to promise?" Yoongi furrows his brows, and leans in closer to Taehyung.

"That you will stay true to yourself for as long as you can. That you will remember me and come back to me til the very end."

Yoongi mulls it over. He's not sure what it all means. It doesn't feel right to make a promise he doesn't understand. He rubs the polished bar counter absently, tracing the wooden whorls and hearing their whispers.

"Think it over, no rush. Maybe you'll agree if you like the drink."

Taehyung finally selects a rounded crystal glass with intricate carvings, and places it on the counter. He brings over a large clear flask and swishes the ruby red liquid within. Yoongi sees shapes, round and dark crimson, blurred into the liquid like forgotten shadows of things once real. The liquid tumbles into the glass, as if it has a life of its own, willingly free falls into its destiny.

Taehyung pops open another bottle and takes a satisfying whiff. Yoongi tries to read the label on the bottle, but his vision is hazy, can't seem to line up properly.

"Hmm the good stuff. Although, maybe we just put in a little now? Next time, and the next, I'll add more when you're used to the bitter and tough." A quirk of his brows. Yoongi nods dizzily and gulps.

A splash of something is added to the ruby red. It gushes into the glass with a clatter. Taehyung steadies the glass and shakes his head, "Impatient. Something I could never understand. Why rush when there's all the time in the world, in a loop, all together."

Another hissing dash of golden specks, and a sprinkle of neon green that sprouts and vanishes in the glass, and Taehyung's lips curl, "Voila."

The glass slides over, Yoongi extends over and cups it with both hands carefully. His very first drink.

His eyes flicker to Taehyung, who wiggles his brows at the glass, "Yes, take a sip. That's usually what you do with a drink."

Yoongi sucks in a deep inhale, and dips down. The liquid is cool on his lips, and a fragrance spreads in his mind, saccharine and calming, enveloping him like a warm mist. It tastes - it tastes like-

that one time when he got lost from his mom and was so alone and scared and the sky was turning dark and the crowds suffocated him but then she finally pushed through the crowd and hugged him tight and rubbed his back endlessly and told him to never do that again-

The memory assaults his mind, and Yoongi gapes, choking back a sob.

"Do you like it?"

Yoongi bites his lip but nods warily, fingers gripping onto the glass tight.

The creases between Taehyung's eyes smooth out, "Good. I do make the best cherry cordial in the whole wide universe, you know. Now, love, tell me everything about you."

"Hmm?" Yoongi licks the ruby red liquid with the tip of his tongue, and hums, like a little bird lost away from his nest.

"Everything, your dreams, your fears, the toys that you can never part, the thoughts that make your heart sing." Taehyung's hands are splayed on the bar counter, eyes attentive, "I have all the time in the world."