Fairy Tale Bliss

Chapter Two

"It's not like I'm going to die or something. I'll just be a little congested tonight. It's fine. Seriously." Hanh and Jun had been arguing over Hanh's decision for quite some time. Hanh thought it wasn't a big deal, but Jun believed the complete opposite. 

"You tricked me!" Jun exclaimed, causing Hanh to giggle and bump into him with his hip. The streets weren't as busy as they were on the way to the cafe, so they didn't have to talk over the bustling of busy people.

"Oh, ease up! It's not that big of a deal. We're almost at my apartment." What Hanh didn't mention was that the reason he was rushing to get home before dark was not only because he didn't want to get jumped, but also because he had a job to get to. He wouldn't admit this to Jun, but he was a stripper. Not a prostitute, no, he always said even in the lowest of times he wouldn't get that low. He just needed the money and playing violin on the streets wasn't enough. Besides, he found pole dancing quite fun. He wasn't the best, but his innocent Asian looks made up for that and brought in many customers.

"Yeah, yeah. Is it that tan one over there?" Jun asked, pointing to Hanh's apartment. Hanh nodded. It wasn't a horrible apartment; it didn't have rats or anything. But, it wasn't a pent house, either. It was small but Hanh didn't mind. 

"Yep. So, this is where we part." Hanh couldn't hide the hint of disappointment in his voice. Jun was the first person to show any interest in him since he had wound up on the streets. Most of his friends had turned their backs as soon as he told them. And, the few that didn't, dropped him as soon as he told them he got the job at the local gay club. Not because he was gay, but because that meant he was a "slut." 

"Yeah, I guess it is. Hey, do you want my number? We should keep in contact. You were quite fun to hang out with, Hanh." Jun suggested, smiling timidly and rubbing the nape of his neck awkwardly. He even looked a bit shy, which was different from his normal confident self.

"Totally! What's your number? Uh, here." Hanh dug through his pocket and stopped walking, taking out a random pen and handing it to Jun. Then, he held out his hand. Jun stared at it for a moment with confusion riddled on his face.

"Write on it. Your number. Write it on my hand." Hanh instructed, giggling at Jun's expression. Jun had only recently came to America and he had never seen or been asked to do this before, back in South Korea. He was only there for about a month, anyway. Maybe two. 

"Oh! O-okay." Jun chuckled awkwardly, grabbing Hanh's hand and beginning to write his number slowly. The pen wasn't a great tool for this, but it was slowly showing up. Hanh blushed softly at how gently Jun was holding his hand. As if he had recently fractured it and Jun didn't want to wound it again.

"I will see you around, Hanh." With that, the men departed. Hanh into his apartment, Jun back toward the car he had parked to listen to Hanh's music. 

As soon as Hanh got inside, he plopped down onto the creaking couch, blowing out a breath of air. he would need to get dressed soon, but, first, he wanted to think about what had just happened. Was that a date? It felt like one. No, it probably wasn't. They had just met. Hanh got up and went to his closet, pulling out the duffle bag that he had designated for his job. Then, he grabbed a tuxedo costume. The only tuxedo part of it was the oddly looking tight underwear, bowtie, and a pair of cuffs. The underwear were more like tight shorts that were mostly black besides the crotch area that looked like the button up shirt part of a tuxedo. After putting the shorts on, he pulled on a loose part of sweatpants and a hoodie, putting the extra pieces of the lingerie into the stripper bag. 

Then, he was off.

When Hanh arrived at the club, it was around nine and there were already drunks staggering around outside the bar. He tried not to judge them, considering he didn't know their life story. Still, there were much better things he thought they could be doing to handle their emotions than getting drunk.

he could already hear the loud electronic music as he showed his ID to the bouncer, making his way to the "locker rooms" they had for the strippers. Clocking in, he took off his sweatpants and then his hoodie, putting the bowtie and cuffs on. He glanced in the mirror, turning to look at his butt before moving to leave. He knew he had a nice body. There were no markings, making him really take that innocent look that the men loved. 

"Okay, go out there, have fun, and make money so you aren't homeless." Hanh told himself, mentally preparing himself for the onslaught of stares and cheering. He would be dancing for an hour, then taking a break, then dancing for another hour, then another break, and then dancing for three more hours straight. It wasn't even his longest shift, either. 

Hanh walked out of the locker rooms and nodded his head at one of the guys that stood on the "pedestal" that he'd be taking over. The man dressed in just a thong that went over the shoulders nodded and hopped down, causing many people to practically swarm him. Hanh climbed up onto the tall stage, earning many cheers and yelps of excitement. He was very nervous his first time, but was gradually getting more and more used to it.

The song changed to a remix of Tove Lo's "Stay High." This so happened to be one of Hanh's favorite songs so he instantly began moving his hips to the beat, wrapping his nimble fingers around the pole and turning his backside to the audience, arching his back a bit to make his butt poke out. 

About an hour had passed and he was sweating, his fingers cramping from gripping the bar. The older man that would be covering for him during his break seemed to appear out of nowhere, motioning for Hanh to get down. Hanh got down gratefully, pushing through the crowd. His butt got groped multiple times, each time Hanh shoving their hands away.

Finally, he made it to the bar.

"Just a water." Hanh asked, smiling. It was stupid to drink on the job. Sometimes the boss would send a dancer home if he was too drunk. It was rare, but it happened. No one wanted to see a drunk boy sloppily wave his hips. Not in Hanh's opinion, at least.

The bartender put the glass in front of him, leaning on the counter with a rag in his hand. It seemed as if bartender's always had a rag with them.

"Busy night, bub. I have a feeling a lot of the new customers have to do with you. We haven't had fresh meat in a while. Well, no one with your pretty face." Stephen commented, grinning slyly. To others, this might have been seen as flirting. But, Hanh knew this man well enough to know this was just how he spoke.

"Yeah, I don't know. I've already gotten a ton of money. Two hundred dollars, almost. And, it's only been an hour. I need the money so I'm definitely not complaining." Hanh said, giggling lightly and sipping off his water.

"You know, if you really need money I can set you up with the back rooms-"

"No, Stephen. I'm not selling my body. No." Hanh protested before the bartender could even finish what he was saying. He refused to do that. Losing his virginity to a stranger was something he always promised himself he wouldn't do. 

"Okay, okay! Don't get defensive. I was just offering." Stephen said, shrugging his shoulders and wiping down the counter that wasn't even dirty, no residue on it besides the wetness of the rag. As Hanh watched him do this mindlessly, he suddenly zoned in on a very recognizable voice.

"Shit..." Hanh murmured, putting his head down on his arms to try and conceal his identity.