Tangled in Heartstrings

Enticing Beginnings: Chapter Three

Sunwoo stood right outside the dimly lit entrance of the strip bar. His stomach was tied in impossible knots of anticipation. He felt this surge of determination rising inside of him as he looked down at his phone to confirm that he was on time.

He slowly took a breath as he stepped into the building. A familiar scent of smoke and alcohol greeted him, along with the mingling conversations happening around him. Sunwoo made his way around the bar, trying to find Minjun. His heart was pounding against his chest with a mix of excitement and nerves.

Finally, there he was, Minjun. Sunwoo put his game face on and confidently stride towards Minjun. Minjun looked up from where he was seated, and a warm, welcoming smile spread across his face as he greeted Sunwoo.

"Welcome back, Sunwoo. Well, since you've already proved to me that I can trust you, are you ready to show me what you got?" Minjun's voice was filled with encouragement, boasting Sunwoo's confidence even further.

With a big nod and a determined expression plastered on his face, Sunwoo replied, "Yes, I'm ready to give it my all." Minjun just let out a chuckle at Sunwoo's cuteness. He motioned for Sunwoo to follow him, so he did.

Minjun walked into the back section of the bar, and Sunwoo followed closely behind. Minjun called out to Chaeyoung, who was the makeup and stylist for the dancers, along with Youngbin, who was in charge of making the routines for the dancers to perform on stage and also being the Mc at the beginning of each show.

"Hey, what's up?" Chaeyoung said, walking up with her hands in her pants pockets and Youngbin standing beside her.

"This is a new dancer in training. I don't know if I'm going to hire him yet. It all depends on tonight. So I want you to get him ready and teach him something so he can go on stage, got it?" Chaeyoung turned her gaze to Sunwoo and half smiled at him, while on the other hand, Youngbin looked at Sunwoo, then back at Minjun, in disbelief.

Minjun raised his eyebrow, and Youngbin began to talk. "How do you expect him to learn a whole routine in like fifteen  to twenty minutes? Minjun, they're about to go on sta=." Sunwoo cut him off by saying,.

"I'm very fast at learning and good with improv; if I mess up, I promise you won't even notice. Just please let me do this." Minjun let out a small side grin, bringing his attention back to Youngbin, who looked distressed.

After being silent for a few seconds, Youngbin just nodded his head in defeat. "Fine, I'll teach you bits of a routine, and you add pieces as we go. But since you weren't here for our rehearsals, you won't be able to go on the first stage with all the dancers. Is that cool?"

Sunwoo smiled and shook his head. "Yeah, no, that's perfectly ok. I will not disappoint you." Youngbin mouthed 'you better not' before letting Chaeyoung take him away to go get change.

Minjun kept a straight stare as Sunwoo walked away. 'Why is he so perfect?' He thought to himself. Youngbin quickly caught on to what was happening and said, "You're staring hard." Minjun was about to let out a reply, but Youngbin shook him off.

"Don't try to defend yourself; it's obvious you feel something." Minjun just looked down at his feet and nodded as he brought his head back up.

"I don't know; that kid just got something about him, but he's too young for me to feel something about him." Youngbin walked over with a grin on his face and grabbed onto Minjun's shoulder, making Minjun face him.

"If you like him, why not tell him? You're acting like you're forty, and he's fifteen. Minjun, he is an adult, not a kid, and while yes, he is a little young, that doesn't mean that he isn't right for you or that you aren't right for him; remember that."

Youngbin then walked away, leaving Minjun standing there in deep thought. Minjun set aside his notions and went over to the bar to get a drink. He sat on a stool next to the bartender and ordered a drink. Minjun tapped away on the marble table, waiting for his order to be brought up. The bartender walked over with his drink and handed it to Minjun, who reached out and took it while saying thank you.

Minjun was about to take a sip, but someone behind him said, "I'm a little late, and you couldn't wait for me." Minjun turned around to see Jihoon. He just rolled his eyes and drank out of his cup. Jihoon, annoyed, sat next to his friend and called over to the bartender to get his regular.

"I seriously needed this. I finally had a date after months, and the guy ended up being a total dick. He said, "I forgot my wallet. Can you pay?". So I told him I needed to use the restroom and just left the restaurant; hopefully he found a way to pay." Minjun just cackled at Jihoon, who finally got his drink and gulped it down fast.

"You need to slow down before you end up drunk, like at the New Year's party we went to. Still not over the fact you threw up on me and then had the audacity to kiss me." Jihoon's jaw hung low before slapping the back of Minjun's head.

"You should feel lucky that you got to kiss me. I'm a great kisser." Minjun just shook his head. He called the bartender over and said, "Get us two bottles at table six." He then grabbed Jihoon's arm, walking over where Minjun was originally sitting.

They both sat down, and Minjun began talking. "Can I ask you something serious?" Jihoon just gave Minjun a confused look but told him to continue.

"So, um, yesterday you remembered that person who came to apply for a job here. Well, I don't even know how to say this, but I just felt something about him. Like something very special." Jihoon smiled while listening to Minjun's rant about the anonymous guy.

"And I was cool to, you know, start something, just not so soon, but when I took him to my office so that I could see his application, I found out that he was nineteen." Minjun finished, and Jihoon just stared at him blankly.

"And..." Jihoon said, and Minjun gave him a puzzled look.

"What do you mean by "and"? Thats it." Jihoon closed his eyes and took deep breaths, making sure he didn't kill his best friend right then and there.

"You, Yoon Minjun, just went into detail about someone you like; which by the way you haven't done in years, and you are telling me that you have not made any moves or at least given a hint whatsoever," to which Minjun just agreed.

"Are you fucking stupid? Why would you not make a move if he is of age and someone you like out of all people?" Jihoon loudly said as Minjun just eyed him with a vacant stare and opened his mouth to speak, but Jihoon just put his pointer finger in front of Minjun's lips, making him shut up.

"I know you're about to give me the 'he's only a teenager and I'm twenty-four' bullshit. Let me tell you that I don't give a rat's ass. You are going to ask him on a date like now, and you don't have a choice because I will hire a hitman to murder you."Minjun thought Jihoon was joking but taking one look at his face he could tell it wasn't a joke.

"Fine, I guess I will, but I will do it after he gets done with his training shift." Jihoon smiled, gave Minjun a peck on the cheek, and poured himself a drink.

The lights went dimmer as the stage spotlight came on. Youngbin went out on stage as people clapped and cheered. He waited until the noise died down before beginning to speak. "Hey everyone. I'm glad for those who have made and I hope you guys have a fun night. We'll, start bringing our dancers out, and I hope everyone here is respectful, and those who can't follow the rules will be escorted out by our guards, so let's not have to do that and have a good night. Also, for private time with our dancers, it's an extra fee anyway, Enjoy again." He ran off the stage, and the music soon started to play as a bunch of dancers walked out and started their show.