BTS-que

Say hi to the night

Have you ever just tried to escape your life, because you got so tired of it? Well, meet Aria, a young woman who did. Coming from a small town on the outskirts, she packed her things and bought on a one way ticket to the city. 

She got off the bus at the terminal, it is early morning. The temperature here in the city is warmer than in the outskirts. She opens a button of her blouse and rolls her suitcase into the bus terminal, trying to find a map of the city. "First things first. I need to find a place to stay. Then I need to find a job. That won't be that hard, this is after all the big city, with lots of opportunities!" She cheerfully says as she makes her way to the subway.

She opens the door to a crappy apartment, the wallpaper is from last century and what looks like the interior design too. It smells like old people and there are flies on certain places in the apartment that she rather not want to know what is there. Full of courage she undertakes the endeavor to clean the apartment. It was cheap in rent and well located. She has no reason to complain. Actually, she finds herself to be very lucky to have found it. Gullible as she was she took it from a landlord that was slick as slime. Just as his hair was. He knew exactly what kind of naive, outside young woman she was, and used her like that. She takes out the trash, and rips off newspapers that were plastered over the windows. But when she looks out, she wished she didn't. The view was horrible and the building in front of her has big windows too, so there was no privacy. An old man was walking around naked. She averts her eyes quickly and made up her mind to definitely place curtains. She opens the window and the city noises come in, filling the apartment. It is a big contrast to her small, little house on the fields, where the only noises you heard were the birds and the cattle. Full of vigor she is cleaning on.

After cleaning for the whole afternoon, she managed to make the place a bit more accommodating. Altho there is a spot on the lived-out couch that she doesn't get clean, nor does she care to find out what the spot is. She just places a cloth over it and a pillow. "There, all better." She nods. She goes out to grab a newspaper and starts to browse the job section. Full of good courage she starts to call, visit places nearby. She is open for many things. They shoot her down, all the time. But the evening, she returns to her apartment. She has enough to sustain her for about 2 months of rent if she lives on 1 meal a day. She could not save up a bit before she left. She just figured she would find a job on the get-go. But apparently that is harder than it seems. She only had experience as a minimum wage worker in a restaurant before so of course she tried for that first. She sinks in the couch and sighs. "It's just the first day. I'll make it tomorrow."

Tomorrow came and went. Just as the next. And the one after that. She is about halfway through the month. All the places had an overflow of people applying. There was one place tho... She is holding the card and is in a red light district. A guy on the street offered her the card, saying they are always looking for people like her. She isn't born yesterday, the moment she is in front of the place, she knew right away it's a hooker district and bar.  She shakes her head and makes her way back to the respectable part of the city. "I would starve rather than sell my body like that." A guy suddenly puts his arm around her. "Hey gorgeous, are you hitting the streets today? Care to join me to the motel? Where is your pimp?" She stiffens and before she realised, she shook his arm off of her and started running. She can hear him run after her. She is in blind panic, running without thinking or knowing where to.

Alley in, alley out and all over again. She has no clue where she is but she quickly entered a place. She is panting and still very upset and scared, but is calming gradually down, feeling safer already by just being away from the street. When she reverts back to herself, she turns around and is greeted with a neon sign at the end of the hallway. 'Love Yourself' it says. She moans. "Must have entered a place like that..." Just as she is about to leave, she hears some harmonic singing and some upbeat music. "A place like that doesn't do singing, what is this place?" Curious as she is, she enters and walks towards the sign. Hesitantly she opens the door and sees a big room full of chairs and booths, a bar with large mirrors and a very charlestonian interior design. There are spotlights on a stage and on the stage are 3 of the most handsome men she has ever seen, dancing. There are no people in the bar, so she figured it is a rehearsal of some sort. She looks around a bit more and jumping up from just putting something on the ground behind the bar, is a breath taking handsome man. He wipes the sweat from his brow in the most handsome way. He notices her. "You shouldn't be here during this time." He comes from behind the bar and grabs her by the shoulders, trying to usher her out. "What is this place?" She manages to ask him before she is with him out in the hallway. "This? This is a cabaret bar, burlesque, we perform fine arts and give the clients a wholesome experience. And you shouldn't be here." He gently pushes her away again. "Wait! Do you need a waitress?" She scrambles to get a paper out of her bag, with her resume.

"We aren't hiring. I am perfectly capable of managing." And he pushes her more persistently towards the door. "Hold it!" Another voice sounds through the hallway. From the other side of the neon sign, stands a bulky man. His black silken shirt barely holds it together around his muscular body. His strawberry blond hair is long, hanging over one side, revealing a clean shaven undercut. His face looks very manly and handsome. He steps down a few steps and walks towards them. "She trespassed here." The handsome man starts but the blonde haired man only has his eyes on her. There is a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and a soft smirk is dancing on his thin lips. "She is looking for a job, that's not trespassing to me." He grabs her paper and glosses over it, while she is surprised about how she is still standing somehow after feeling her knees turn weak at the intimidating aura this man exude. His eyes meet hers while she is still staring at him. "That doesn't seem like a bad resume at all. You will do. Can you start tonight in about 2 hours?" The handsome man's jaw drops and he looks in disbelieve at the blonde man. "She'll be in your care now Jin, get her dressed and ready for the shift." "Yes, Namjoon ah." Jin's behavior shifted completely in receiving the order from Namjoon. He now pulls her into the bar again and shows her around.

"Normally the clients come collect their drinks at the bar, but apparently you will be bringing them to them now. Just make sure you get their orders right and remember the guest their faces, we haven't gotten a numbering system to locate the tables because we never waited on them before." He throws her some clothes and an apron. "This should fit you. Get dressed backstage and report back to me in 15." "Wait! What is your name?" "I am Kim Seokjin, but you can call me Jin for short. It will be easier to communicate when it is busy. I am the manager and bartender of this place. The man you just saw, was Kim Namjoon, the big boss of the place. These are all the people you should know. Don't bother the artists and just do your job, nothing more. IF you fail tonight, I will personally fire your ass. Got it?" Jin talks sternly to her and she nods. "Yes, Jin." And she hurries to the back stage.

She undresses and holds the clothes he handed her in front of her. It's a slightly revealing black dress, and she is happy to be wearing the apron in front. It looks too glamorous to be working in but she doesn't doubt him, and don't want to cross him at all. "I'll show you what I'm made off tonight." She says out loud while stepping into the dress. Suddenly another voice sounds through the room. "I can already see what you are made off." She turns around and quickly covers her body in terror. A tall, handsome man has a wide smile on his face, while leaning against the doorpost in a nonchalant way. "I-I am sorry! I didn't know this was a dressing room for men." The man steps forward. "There are only dressing rooms for men here. We never had female employees before. So I can't blame you. But I must say, with a body like that, you are made of the finest materials." "Please sir, I'm not that kind of woman. Don't touch me." He seems disappointed and clicks his tongue between his teeth. "Djees, have you only known harassment? Not every guy is out there, trying to get in those fine panties of yours." He rolls his eyes. "Actually I was almost harassed just an hour ago..." He immediately shifts his body and his face shows worry. "Are you okay? I am so sorry! Have a seat. Do you want something to drink?" He changed his behavior just like that.

She just shakes her head. "Could you turn around please? I would like to get dressed now." "Sure, sorry." And he turns his back to her. She quickly pulls up the dress, and it is a bit tight, pushing her girls up. It is quite revealing. In mean time he keeps talking. "My name is Jung Hoseok, but you can call me Hobi for short. I am the performance leader. Jin handles the in-front of the stage, but everything from behind the stage till here, is under my supervision." She gives the okay and he turns around. "Look at you. So gorgeous. Have a seat." And he pushes her down. He grabs the brushes on the make up table and starts to softly retouch her face a bit. "So what do you do here? Are you a new dancer?" "No. I have a nightshift in the bar. I am under Jin's supervision according to your rules." He keeps on brushing over her face and slowly she can see herself turn more and more beautiful under his skills. "Oh, that explains the apron I guess. Well, I wish you the best. Make sure to be quick in serving, so you don't block the guests their view. There, done." And he puts down the brush. She looks in the mirror and almost didn't recognise herself anymore. "You should get back to Jin now. He can be very whipped about punctuality. Try your best tonight." You notice it is nearing the 15 minutes and dash for the door. Just before you exit, you hear Hobi call out to you. "Oh, and before I forget it, Welcome to the Night." And he winks.