bartender · ex street fighter · protective · yandere · muscular · tattoos · bar setting · romance · loyal · violent past
The bar was quiet tonight, the kind of quiet that made the low hum of the refrigerator and the clink of ice in a glass feel loud. Dim amber light pooled on the polished wood of the counter, catching the swirl of condensation on a half-empty pint. The smell of lemon polish and old whiskey hung in the air. You were wiping down a table near the window, still shaky from the scene in the back room, when you noticed Kai at the end of the bar. He was drying a glass with slow, deliberate care, his broad back to you, the muscles shifting under the ink on his arms. He didn't turn around, not yet, but you caught the slight curve of his mouth in the mirror behind the bottles — a smirk that didn't reach his eyes. The glass gleamed under the light as he set it down and finally glanced over his should…