Breaking Rules

RULE # 1: NO OFFICE ROMANCE

View from the fifth floor

She stood up slowly from bed... watching the last rays of the now orange sun disappear little by little.

"Kya!" she spoke to the wind blowing through her fifth floor window "Anyeong Hae!"

Night was engulfing the city but she had just woken up. As the office crowd trudged towards the streets and blaring car horns filled her tiny apartment, Dara thought that her "day" was just about to start.

She directed herself towards the mirror and made funny faces. "Good morning! Dara fighting!" she told herself and squeezed her cheeks to form a smile.

Life was hard but she shouldn't look gloomy. As Chaerin-ah always told her, "We're the baddest females in Korea! We're always fierce!"

And so she was... as long as her friends were with her.

And as long as she was able to watch him sing... ah... him. She looked dreamily into the orange sky gradually turning into purple.

***

I see you despite all these blinding lights

Ji knew her schedule by heart. At 7:00 PM, he looked up the door to find her walk-in.

"Anyeong" she greeted to everyone, bowing to him without making eye contact, bowing politely to Manager Teddy and scooting over to her friends. She had her hair up today, like usual. It seems so soft and he had always thought how she'd look like with it down. He'd never had the courage to ask her though.

They only knew one another through work and had never had the chance to grow close. He was a performer and she was one of the waitresses. Teddy had strict rules about "romance inside the office". The performer he replaced got pregnant because of a waiter and some of her fans, big-time patrons of Teddy's club got really angry and decided to transfer to another hang-out. It had caused quite a slump for Teddy and he replaced all of his staff, explicitly stating to his new employees that no one is to be involved with each other.

See, unlike other clubs, Teddy's is ultra luxurious and a favorite hunt of the rich and famous of Seoul. All of his performers are offered contracts by various music labels and artists management groups and his patrons dole out cash like its running out tomorrow. They appreciate Teddy's promise of exclusivity and the high class performances he offers that only few are allowed to see.

That's why very few of his performers actually agree to sign up with labels or management groups. Why work hard training, not sure if you'll even get in the lime light, when you shine so bright on your own in a stage where all those who watch you treat you like a god? And they pay like a god just to see you too.

The more exclusive Teddy made out a performance, the more rave and hooplah it got. Patrons would shell out just any amount he told them too. But what he admired in Teddy is that the man made sure that his patrons got their money's worth – he wouldn't show a performance short of extravagant.

And his marketing skills were to envy too. Teddy once decided to open the club to media men and the buzz about Teddy's became all the more louder. Word spread that "Only V.I.P.s get inside Teddy's".

And everyone wanted to be a V.I.P.

It was the same for him. The exclusivity attracted him to accept Teddy's proposal that faithful night a year ago when he and his group were performing for a bar on the other side of town. He had not found it a problem to agree to the "No Relationship" rule back then but during their first night to perform, amidst all the lights on stage, his eyes caught sight of her.