"I just don't want to see it happen again. You may be one of our best employees, but I will not hesitate to fire you Miss Lee."

Her boss' voice was strict and she knew that he meant every word. As easy it was to get hired, as easy would it be to find another girl that would fit the job perfectly.

She wasn't anything special.

"I'm not threatening you Chayoung. You know I value you as an employee, I just won't tolerate a such action."

"I know." Chayoung sighed into the phone.

She wondered why her boss hadn't called her earlier. The previous shift she had was the night that guy got too violent.

That night, she ran away even though her shift hadn't ended yet.

The guy was just so rough and he wouldn't listen to her. He paid her for sex, not for choking her. He said it was his kink, but stuff like that was something you were supposed to agree on before the deal. And they hadn't.

Chayoung had gotten uncomfortable but when she tried to protest, he pinned her up against the wall. He told her how he loved it when she struggled against him. 'It made it more intriguing'. But the minute he let go of her to remove his pants all the way off his legs, Chayoung ran out of the room.

She was scared, but she could do nothing. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she had to pretend that everything was alright. She couldn't cry, because what if her boss saw her? He would fire her.

So she kept her eyes fixed on the ground. She wanted out of the club. She wanted to go home. Home to her shitty apartment she only had a few days left in before she would move into her college dorm.

Chayoung wanted nothing more than to stop selling herself. She couldn't wait for that day to come. But as of right now... she couldn't afford it.

Then she bumped into that guy, Jungkook, who turned out to be her classmate and saw her in her messy clothes in the middle of a strip club.

"I promise, it won't happen again."

"Correct. It won't. I'll see you at work tonight. You have a 5 hour shift, don't forget it."

"I won't." Chayoung sighed, "I'll see you there."

Across campus, a tall figure was watching Chayoung.

Jungkook noticed the wrinkles that seemed out of place on Chayoung's forehead. He didn't know her, but they just didn't fit.

He wondered who she would be talking to.

As he left his dorm, leaving for class, the boy had caught sight of the girl walking back and forth in the middle of campus. He couldn't help but linger and observe the girl.

He watched her, recalling her outfit she had worn at the strip club.

He refused to admit it, but despite his morals, the boy couldn't help but to think of how hot she looked at the club... before he noticed her trembling of course.

The girl's hand lowered with her phone in it. It seemed as if her call was over.

And Jungkook grabbed the chance to approach her.

"Chayoung!" He called out when he noticed she was about to walk the other way.

The girl stopped and when she met his eyes, her expression turned puzzled.

"I just wanted to apologize for yesterday." Jungkook announced.

"Apologize for what? People bump into each other all the time." She shrugged, "But thank you."

"No not that..." Jungkook said but halted his sentence. Did she even want an apology?

"What then?" The girl shifted in her spot.

Jungkook mentally palmed his face, only now realizing how stupid it would sound.

Hey, hi. I'm sorry about whispering into your ear the other day. Girls use to love when I do that but I felt that you didn't. Sorry about that.

Fuck it sounded terrible.

Jungkook respected girls to a certain point. He did not need to knock down his pride because of a simple whisper.

"Nothing, forget it."

Chayoung looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. A silence fell over them and in that short silence, Jungkook decided that he wanted to know why she was a stripper.

It didn't attract him as it would with other guys, but it surely didn't scare him away either.

"Have you found a partner for the assignment yet?"

The surprise on Chayoung's face was evident.

They only got the assignment two days ago, so of course she hadn't. She hadn't even thought about it.

"No." She replied.

"Want to pair up?"

Chayoung thought that Jungkook would've already paired up with that blonde guy in the same class. They appeared to be friends.

Jungkook showed the girl a closemouthed smile which made her shove away the questions of why he wanted to pair up with her.

"Sure."

"Cool." Jungkook said, "Want to start working on it tonight?"

Chayoung clenched her teeth before answering, "I'm not available tonight."

Jungkook didn't need sophisticated thinking to realize what she would be doing. The realization was written all over his face and Chayoung felt a lump form in her throat. God, how she hated that he knew about her job.

"What about tomorrow after school?" The girl broke the uncomfortable silence that she knew would gradually make her blush. Not in the typical way, but because she felt humiliated.

"Sure thing." Jungkook replied.

No more words were said, and Jungkook watched as the girl walked away from him, her hips swaying and the skirt she wore, unnecessarily short.

His buzzing phone woke him from his staring.

Jimin: I really hate to ask you this, but should we get started on our assignment later? [ 10:56 am ]

Fuck

Jungkook totally forgot that he actually already had a partner. Or maybe he didn't forget; he just didn't care.

Jimin could find another.

Jungkook: Well, about that... [ 10:57 am ]

❁₩❁

"You're drinking?"

Chayoung jumped and had to cough caused of the shock she got. Her heart raced and she had to catch her breath before she replied.

"Iseul you scared the living shit out of me!" The girl whined and put down her glass on the bar table.

She laughed, but quickly got serious. "Deserved, we're not allowed to drink."

"I know." Chayoung sighed looking at her glass which was still half full.

Chayoung's shift would start in a few minutes. It was her first shift after she ran away. She didn't know why, but she was nervous.

If the same man that bought her last time was there, she would simply have to avoid him and not step down from the stage until her shift was over. There was nothing to be worried about.

But if that was really so... how come the girl was drinking alcohol in the worker's lounge before her shift?

"Why are you then? You know what happens if our boss catches you."

Iseul was a kind girl. None o the employees that worked at that strip club knew why their co-workers did. The most they knew about each other was their real names. But Iseul had always seemed like a kind girl, if you asked Chayoung. Despite her craziness. But to be fair, who works at a strip club and is not a tiny bit crazy?

"No reason. Just... wanted to have some fun tonight." Chayoung lied.

Iseul shrugged it off, "You can do that any other day. You're not even here as often anymore, you should have plenty of times to drink on other nights."

It sounded more like a question than a statement.

Chayoung had gone from full time and back to being a part timer. Her boss had agreed with that, knowing she started school. He was an understanding boss and nothing like how Chayoung would've ever expected her boss as a stripper to be like before she met him.

Iseul took the lack of answer from the girl across her as a sign that she didn't have one — or at least didn't want to say. And the blonde girl respected that and instead grabbed her co-worker by the arm.

"Our shift is starting. Now let's go out and make some heavy cash!" Iseul's voice was whiny and enthusiastic.

Chayoung never questioned that Iseul loved her job. It was a feeling she would never be able to relate to.

And so the shift started.

The anxiousness left Chayoung's body as she reached the stage and swung herself around the pole, Casey now taking over.

au.n.

How are you liking the story so far?

I know we're only three chapters in, but I still want to here >.<