field notes from a bar that is absolutely not waiting

tsundere.bar

A monochrome cocktail herbarium annotated by a bartender with terrible emotional discipline.

reserved for no one 照

Cover Slip / folio no. 00

I did not make this for you.

The bar was merely open. The chair was merely empty. The glass was chilled because glasses sometimes become chilly for no reason at all.

you looked tired, so I saved the corner seat
denials poured 00
Plate I

Citrus amarum reluctans
peel pinned at 22:14, bitterness behaving.

Bitter Index / tab: not for you

Do not mistake garnish for affection.

Index of bracing things: quinine, black tea, closed doors, the phrase “you again,” and one drink stirred exactly the way you mentioned once.

Recipe 2b 2 drops cherry bark bitters 1 embarrassed twist stir until denial clarifies
“Fine. Your palate is... annoyingly precise.”
compliments hidden 00

Pressed Garnish / herbarium drawer

The blossom was already pressed.

Ume petals rest under translucent tape beside a lunar lemon wheel. The label insists the specimen is common. The careful handwriting disagrees.

NOT SENTIMENTAL
seats saved 00

Unread Letter / folded twice

I wrote nothing down.

A letter hides beneath the receipt, folded with geometric severity. Its first line has been crossed out so thoroughly it becomes a black ribbon.

Your usual. I remembered by accident.
“But the ice is clearer when you arrive.”
almosts counted 00

Last Pour / closing ledger

Last call is not an invitation.

The ledger closes, the ribbon bookmark slips to tomorrow, and a red seal warms the page edge like a berry hidden under ink.

last call softened 00
心

Come back, if you have nothing better to do.

There may be a glass waiting. It is unrelated to whether you are missed.

00