social | meanie

twenty two

warning: mention of drug use

wonwoo went home, changing into a better and more comfortable set of clothes before heading off to see minhyuk. he entered the address minhyuk sent to him and started to follow the blue tracker.

he looked both ways before crossing the dim streets. one lamp creating enough light to illuminate the sidewalk for wonwoo to see. it wasn't even that late but the night breeze still sent chills down wonwoo's spine, giving him goosebumps along his skin.

the location of where minhyuk was extremely dark and suspicious. the walls were covered in graffitied art and broken to the core, leaving a disgusting and abandoned look for it. this part of seoul wasn't as populated as the center, which would be good on minhyuk's part, of course.

he looked at google maps on his phone, seeing where the blue arrow was taking him, which seemed to be further down one of the open alleyways, full of trash bags and scattered pieces of rubbish.

the smell was a whole new level. the place reeked of some kind of smoked drug, intoxicating the air that wonwoo had to breathe in, mixing with the aroma of junk thrown away in the large green trash dumps.

after a few minutes of following the blue pathway shown on his phone, wonwoo finally reached a building that he suspected is where he would find minhyuk.

the exterior wasn't half bad actually, it looked quite luxurious, almost royal like. it surprised wonwoo a bit, seeing as how it's surroundings were the complete opposite of luxurious. it wasn't that tall of a building, he guessed it wouldn't be a very big place.

to the right hand side of the doors, was a sign attached, reading 'La Rose Noir' in gold lettering.

he opened the doors and the room he stepped into was marvellous. the lights were dimmed to a red hue, and the walls were painted with a dark crimson colour. the floor was lined with a fuchsia carpet, leading up to a counter which a lady sat behind.

the woman sat wore a white mask, decorated with silver and diamond-like gems all around. the gems were small and shiny, reflecting a beautiful pattern from the lights onto the walls. she looked up at the feel of someone's presence in the room, seeing wonwoo standing at the front entrance. she closed and laid down her magazine and asked, "hello, how may i help you?" she smiled, showing small dimples at the corners of her lips.

"i uh... have to meet someone here." wonwoo replied, walking towards the golden, marble counter.

"you're a bit on the young side, aren't you? who are you meeting?" she questioned, uncrossing her legs and sitting up straight in her black dress.

"i'm meeting someone called lee minhyuk. is he here?"

"what's your name, sir?" the woman said, pulling out a document from a filing tray.

"wonwoo. my name is jeon wonwoo." she flipped through a few pages, searching for his name.

"ah, minhyuk is expecting you in The Haze. it's the fifth floor." she stated. she stood up from her leather seat and said, "i'll show you the way. oh, and he also told me to give this to you when you arrived." she handed wonwoo a black mask, gold designs engraved on the sides, giving it a nice accent.

"why do i need a mask?" wonwoo asked, sliding the mask onto his face.

"it's to keep your identity hidden. this is an underground club after all. the boss, le monsieur, cares for the people's identities and not having them exposed." she smiled again and lead wonwoo to one of the main rooms on the first floor.

the room they entered was a nightclub. it was full of people. people sat by the silk couches, drinking away. "are they members? why don't they have masks on?"

"they're just regulars. they just have a drink and get on with their night. this nightclub is a disguise of what really La Rose Noir is." she answered, leading wonwoo to an elevator. she scanned some sort of ID card before the doors opened. she walked inside and pushed the fifth button, with wonwoo trailing behind her.

wonwoo expected it to go up, but the elevator's movement and vibrations told him that they were going further down.

the elevator made a small 'ding' sound before the doors slowly opened, revealing a dimly lit room again. not many people were on this floor, they all were wearing masks, holding a rolled up piece of paper to their lips whilst laughing away, enjoying the pleasure they were having from whatever they were smoking.

she gestured wonwoo to where minhyuk was sat and said her goodbyes before returning to the lobby upstairs.

the aroma was again full of a mixture of smells. smells that he knew were caused by smoking different types of drugs. along the walls displayed cabinets in different sections, labelled with names of drugs even wonwoo has never heard of. they all had locks for probably safety reasons and not wanting anyone to steal the expensive items.

"you want some?" wonwoo was surprised by the sudden voice, creeping up on him like that. he turned around and saw a tall figure behind him. the man, he assumed, was wearing a black silk top with ties at the ends of the sleeves. leather pants that hugged around the thighs, showing off every curve of this man's body. mask was in the shape of a fox, black and gold — similar to wonwoo's but different design and shape as wonwoo's was something that a ringmaster at a circus would wear.

although the man's identity was hidden behind the mask, wonwoo immediately knew who this man was just by the sound of his voice, he knew it all too well from all those years ago.

"minhyuk..." wonwoo growled.

"growling already? and all i did was just offer you a taste of heaven." minhyuk smirked and blew out smoke in front of wonwoo's face, making the other cough.

"i have your stupid money, minhyuk. just don't bother me, or any of my friends and i'll be off on my day." wonwoo dropped a bag on one of the tables and started to leave when he was stopped by minhyuk's firm grip on his wrists.

"leaving so soon? oh, baby. you only just got here. why not sit back and have a cigarette for once in a while." minhyuk smiled, inhaling more of whatever type of drug he was taking.

"the deal was that i give you the money and that's it. what more business do i have here."

"the money was just so i could get you to meet me. plus i know you wouldn't give me real money." minhyuk laughed as he opened the bag, revealing the fake stacks of money.

"then what do you want?"

"let's go somewhere... private, shall we?"