Put It Under His Tab

After sending Susu home and watching her enter her apartment, Chen Mu went back to his car where he stayed for an extra fifteen minutes to make sure she didn't need anything. Seeing the lights from her apartment switched on and the shadow of her typing up her hair made him feel relieved.

He was afraid that after leaving her alone by herself, she would break down like she did in the office today. The vibration from his phone disrupted his attention, "Hello?"

"Chen Mu! Where are you?" Tian Yuo was already at the bar waiting for him.

"I had to finish up some files. I'll be there in twenty minutes." He replied in a neutral tone.

He cut Tian Yuo off the line before he starts complaining about his tardiness, "Need to be punctual, my ass. If she didn't cry in my arms today, I would ditch you a minute before our meet up time."

Since their birth, Susu and Tian Yuo's family had anticipated for their wedding. Therefore, Chen Mu knew his place as their childhood friend. He understood that there were certain boundaries that he should not cross. His feelings were also something that nobody should find out about.

Across the street from the bar, Chen Mu remained seated after loosening his seat belt, "Sigh, I could still hear her cries from earlier. What if she cries again when she is alone? Even though I've already tried to be the best friend that I could be, I almost lost control today."

His eyes fixated at the bar, "Tian Yuo, even though you've already been a stupid pig head, there is a limit to how far my advice could go. If it reaches the point where you are still blind enough to not realize how terrible you are treating her, I will go back on my own words."

He closed his eyes and leaned backwards to calm his mixed emotions, "I once said to myself that as long as Susu is happy, I could do anything for her, including giving up these feelings that I have for her. But if she is going to use her tears to wash her face every day like today, then I won't give one fuck about their engagement and our friendship."

After releasing another deep sigh, he walked towards the entrance of the bar. From the front door, he immediately spotted Tian Yuo sitting by the bartender, emptying his fifth shot. Pretending that he didn't know anything, Chen Mu walked passed the crowd and ordered a beer.

"Put my drink on his tab." His voice alerted the half sober man next to him.

"You're late! It should be you treating me!" Tian Yuo's face was flushed, and eyes were squinting as if he was having trouble recognizing who was sitting next to him.

"That's the advisement fee. Talk. What happened this time?" His voice sent chills down Tian Yuo's spine as if someone had attacked him with pointy needles out of nowhere.

"Yin Susu drugged me last night, and we slept together. This morning, Karen walked in on us and... I'm not sure what will happen to our engagement. Karen said that I no longer belonged only to her, so she needs time to think about our relationship." He tapped his fingers impatiently on the hard surface of the counter, waiting for his refill.

Chen Mu's hand gripped his beer mug slightly tighter, "You said Susu did it, but where is the evidence? Did she admit that she drugged you? Did you see her drug your drink? If not, then you can't say it is her."

"It's obvious that she is overly jealous that Karen and I got engaged instead of her and me! She didn't like the fact that I didn't want to marry her and even went against our parents just to prove my point!" He banged his fist against the counter a few times, releasing his frustration.

"Are you done?" Chen Mu drank two mouthfuls of beer.

"What?"

"I'm asking you if you are done throwing illogical senseless accusations against Susu. If you aren't, I'll help you order five more shots and wait for you to either die from alcohol poisoning or wake up tomorrow to talk. If you're done, then get your common sense together and you'll find many suspicious points in the situation."

"What do you mean?" Tian Yuo made a disappointed face at him for not showing any empathy.

"Dude, even though I call you stupid all the time, don't actually define that word yourself. First of all, let's break this down. Start with, how did you end up drugged to begin with?"

"A waiter handed me a glass of wine saying Susu wanted to give Karen and me her blessings, but she couldn't give me a toast without crying, so..."

His voice became three degrees colder than before, "Don't tell me you actually drank that..."

Tian Yuo nodded.

"You idiot! One of the first rules during any occasions is to never drink unattended drinks even if it is from the waiter! Even though that waiter mentioned Susu's name, anyone could have instructed him to say it. Continue. Then what happened?" Chen Mu sounded impatient and agitated by Tian Yuo's story.

"That's about it. I blacked out and the next morning, I woke up hearing Karen's cries and then saw Susu wrapped in a towel by the bed."

"And based on your super blurred memory from the previous night and the waiter's words, you judged the situation and blamed everyone onto Susu. I'm surprised you got out of the room without a single scratch across your face." He stopped making eye contact with Tian Yuo and drank another mouthful of beer.

"What..? This isn't what you're supposed to be saying to me!" His flushed face became even redder from fury.

"Oh? Then which script did you want me to follow? I'm here to knock some sense into you, not please you." Chen Mu munched on salted edamame that Tian Yuo had ordered so that he wouldn't accidentally give him a black eye.

"Then how should I fix this?" His hairstyle was messed up by his rough scratches against his scalp.

"Fix this? I don't think you told me the entire story yet."

"That was the whole situation!"

Chen Mu sharpened his glare from the corner of his eyes to meet Tian Yuo's eyes, "Knowing you, you must have said hurtful words to Susu afterwards right? All you ever cared for was Karen this and Karen that. Have you ever once listened to Susu's pleas and explanations?"

"What was there to listen to? Everything was pointing towards her drugging me! I saw the blood stain on the bed and told her to get the morning after pill. If she gets pregnant, I'm not taking responsibility for her." He swallowed another shot in one go.

"You said what..?" Chen Mu's breathing quickened and his tight grip left the beer mug after he finished drinking the last sip of beer.

"I told her that if she ends up knocked up, that child would be a bastard. I wont admit that child since it isn't my fault to begin with."

Grabbing onto his shirt's collar, Chen Mu pulled Tian Yuo away from his seat, "How could you say such disgusting words to her?! Did you really think that anyone would sacrifice their precious virginity just to tie down a guy who doesn't even love them back?! And you even spat out such nonsense about morning after pills and bastard children to her face?"

"Chen Mu, are you crazy? Let me go! you're choking me!" Tian Yuo felt suffocated by the pressure that Chen Mu was emitting.

"Hitting you would dirty my fists, so I won't hit you. What comes around goes around. You are blind today, but there is no room for regrets in the future. If Susu gets knocked up by you, I will take care of her and her child. I've warned you many times whenever you ranted or said negative things about Susu to pay attention to the person you thought of as close. I can't believe you still got brainwashed to this terrible extent. Shame on you."

Chen Mu left his share of the bill on the counter, "I'm paying for my beer and the edamame that I ate. If I put the food and drink on his tab, I'm afraid I would puke it out tonight. Thanks for your service. Get him a cab and charge everything else on his tab."

Back in his car, Chen Mu's fists were clenched tightly, "How the hell do I comfort her this time around?"