The relationship I picked up in the city at night has somehow lasted 10 years

I have a guy I drink with about once every three months.

We meet around 7 PM, go to an izakaya, head over to a bar one of us knows, and then at around 2 AM, we say, 'Alright, everyone's on their own now! See ya!' and part ways.

Nothing romantic ever happens, nor is there any sign that it ever will; we are just drinking buddies who are far too wholesome, doing nothing but drinking, complaining, and going home.

My first meeting with him was at a host club.

...Writing it like that makes things sound suspicious all of a sudden, which is funny, isn't it?

I was 20 at the time.
I was working at a club, and more than half of the cast there were 'host-crazy.' I had always wanted to experience it myself out of pure (and slightly wicked) curiosity, wondering, 'Why do such beautiful women all fall for hosts?'
That was when a senior colleague from the same shop (hereinafter referred to as Mana-san) invited me, and I finally made my first visit.

Mana-san wasn't exactly the type with a flashy face, but she was someone who worked there like an amateur. Like, 'her simplicity is her charm!'

She was a true 'host-crazy' who would make collages of her own selfies with her favorite host's promotional photos, and since her club salary wasn't enough, she worked multiple night jobs to keep visiting him.
My personal philosophy is that if you're going to take on a challenge, you want to go with someone who will make things more interesting.

As soon as we entered the shop, there was Mana-san, who looked used to it, and me, a beginner overwhelmed by the glitz.
Feeling uncomfortable, I was told to choose someone I was interested in from the 'men's book' (is that an outdated term?). I didn't know what criteria to use to choose, so in the end, I decided to leave it to a helper who Mana-san was close with to pick someone for me.

Before long, hosts took turns sitting with us, and without exception, they all kept touching me. It wasn't just a matter of knees bumping or holding hands.
(Wait, what kind of place is this? Am I being served? Or am I serving? Is this a touchy-feely pub??)
While confused, I decided to just smile and get through it.
However, I did stomp on the foot of the guy who tried to put his hand inside my skirt.
Even if I am a host club beginner, I know that's not right. Don't underestimate me.

Meanwhile, Mana-san was obsessed with her favorite host.
That's fine, I guess; given the structure, it can't be helped...

But there was one problem.
This person wouldn't buy any drinks at all, not for the cast, and not even for her favorite host.

I felt so bad that when I ordered a drink, she actually said, 'Wow, you're the first girl I've seen buy a paid drink for a host!'
No, you're supposed to buy them.
This is the kind of place where you're supposed to buy them.

Even though we were in the same service industry and working the same night jobs, I felt a slight sense of discomfort toward Mana-san, wondering why there was such a gap in our perceptions.

In the midst of all that, he was the next one to sit at my table.
His eyes were unusually large, and his face looked somewhat familiar.
...That's right, he's Dobby from Harry Potter.

Don't people often tell you that Dobby is a bad boy?
They tell me that so much that it's come full circle and I've grown fond of it.

Starting with such an opening, and since we were the same age, the conversation flowed, and I breathed a sigh of relief that a decent time had finally arrived.

However, that was short-lived. Mana-san, who had nothing to do because her attendant went to another table, barged in.

Saying, "Long time no see! You're still as handsome as ever!", she started touching his body excessively. The distance between them kept closing, and eventually, her hands even reached his pants.

I tried to deflect it lightly, saying, "Mana-san, you're too drunk! Your attendant will get mad at you, you know?" When an indescribable atmosphere began to form, the attendant returned, shifting Mana-san's interest to him, and I felt a quiet sense of relief.
I won't say what it was, but I was probably protected...

Two hours, the originally planned time, had passed, and when I said it was about time to go home, Mana-san said, "Let's extend! I'll pay!"
I couldn't refuse and ended up extending.

Extension meant I also had to nominate someone, and while I was wondering what to do, with her authoritative decree of "He's my favorite!", my nomination was arbitrarily set to Dobby.
Just... do whatever you want...

Even though I screamed in my heart, my voice didn't reach anyone.

After the extension, there were no major incidents. I exchanged contact information with Dobby () for the time being, and just as we were exchanging social pleasantries like "I'll come again," and "Next time I'll go to Chiharu-chan's shop too," Mana-san barged in again.

"I want to exchange contact information too!"
No, that's a bomb, isn't it? Stop it.

And then, just before the bill, as soon as she realized she couldn't go on an after-hours date with her attendant, a sulky Mana-san went to sleep.
A magnificent sulk. Wait, is this the time to be saying that?

As a result, I covered the bill for both of them on the spot, and when the attendant said, "Take Mana home with you," I told him, "I'm an adult, she can go home by herself," and left her there. Or rather, I ran away.

---That was our first meeting.

More than ten years have passed since then, and Dobby and I still drink together about once every three months. (Why?)

Since that one time, we haven't visited each other's shops, and for some reason, we've become drinking buddies who just hop between izakayas and bars, talk about random things, and go home.

There is no romantic feeling between us.
For starters, we aren't each other's types. The more I look at him, the more he looks like Dobby.

However, the troublesome thing is that he currently works at a boys' bar and seems to be somewhat popular, so sometimes customers who see us walking together write on message boards, "Who is that woman? Is she his ace?"
Even though I've never been to his shop?

According to him, he answers that I'm his sister when that happens. Before I knew it, I was dragged into the Harry Potter universe too.

Like that, even though our meeting was a mess, our relationship is surprisingly peaceful, and for some reason I still don't quite understand, we continue to hang out.

One of the reasons I go out drinking at night is
because there are moments when my life intersects with people I would absolutely never interact with under normal circumstances.

I love the chaotic city at night, where all sorts of things intersect: encounters that satisfy my intellectual curiosity, events that are like gum that keeps its flavor no matter how much you chew it, and interactions with crazy people that make me desperate to tell someone about them.

And whether it's a once-in-a-lifetime encounter or a relationship that lasts forever from there, each one has become a part of what makes me who I am.
Well, there are some people mixed in there who you really shouldn't get involved with, so it's half like gambling. High risk, high return.
And I generally keep losing that fifty-fifty bet. I can't seem to recover my losses.

I think I'll probably continue to drift from izakayas to bars with him, whom I met in such a city at night, and part ways at 2:00 AM, saying things like, "You never know what's going to happen in life, right?" without anything particularly happening.

Oh, by the way, I begged the manager of the club where I worked to get back all the money I had fronted at the host club back then.
And they lived happily ever after.