— Two days later —

Friday, July 23rd, 2021.

00:50 am.

The night finally starting for me, I step inside the nightclub while lighting a cigarette up and bow to the two guards to show some respect, getting them to do so in return.

Knowing I will not be greeted by the woman I want to see, I continue my way towards the bar, without falling upon any of the girls yet. I stick my cigarette away from my lips to breathe out, and I lean towards the bar to order a drink. "Hey, Mister Jeon! Some whiskey?" Jae guesses right, so I smile and nod.

This does not feel the same way anymore now that I cannot be close to y/n. I am not submitting to Sookyung's order and rules, I only do this for y/n because I know she will be the one paying for it.

"Here you are, Mister Jeon," Jae brings my attention back to him, and I thank him and grab the glass to head to a table with a single leather seat. I take a sip to put my drink down on the table, and I sit down.

I trap my cigarette back between my lips and watch the people dancing, only to look for y/n. The spot where she usually stands to wait for a man to call her is empty, and I cannot seem to notice her anywhere else.

"Mister Jeon!" Lily comes closer, grasping all my attention with her glitter dress. "Hey," I smile and hold my cigarette away as she sat down on my thigh. "I missed you," she wraps her arms around my neck to hug me, and I touch her back, subtly. "You're sparkling from everywhere tonight," I chuckle, mentioning her pretty clothing. "I am, what do you think about it?" she straightens her back and lays one hand on her chest, and I cannot help smiling. "You're gorgeous," I move forth to tap the ash off in the tray, and once I lean back, she follows the same movement to press her red lips against my jawline. "You look even better."

This compliment flutters me, but I do not show it and peek up at her features. "Shh. That isn't true," I shake my head and take a drag on what I know to be toxic, but which soothes me a lot. "It is," she pouts. "Mister Jeon is the most handsome man I've ever met," she combs some strands of my hair back, being soft and gentle. "If you say so," I let the smoke out of my mouth, and I look for y/n again, hoping for her to not be with Kangdae or another pervert.

"Aren't you going in your room tonight?" she asks, and I tell an uncertain answer. "Maybe later."

"Hm," she does not stop playing with my hair, doing it slowly and delicately enough to not bother me, but for some reason, she inches closer to rest her petite body onto mine and drifts her fingers to my throat. "You look sad tonight, are you okay?" she rubs the tip of them on my skin, and her legs go up. She crosses them over my other thigh and snuggles up against me. "I'm fine. Don't worry," I tell a lie and stroke her waist to reassure her and make sure she does not concern herself about me.

"Sure? Because I can give you some kisses, cuddle you, or give you a massage if you're not," she speaks a little closer to my ear, and I pull my cigarette out to smile and look into her eyes. "I'm alright," I run my fingers through her hair and call attention to it. "When did you dye it?"

"Yesterday," she expresses some obvious delight at the sound of this question as if she was happy to talk about it. "Sookyung told me to dye it pink, so I did it," she mentions this asshole, but I do not say anything about him. "It's pretty, I like it," I compliment her so that she does not doubt that, and she shyly responds to it. "I'm glad you do."

I take my eyes off of her to tap the ash off the tip again, holding her waist whenever I go forth and fear pushing her to the ground. "Wait here, I'm coming back in a few seconds," she does not explain what makes her do so, but she leaves my lap, fixes her short dress, and walks away.

I did not plan on moving anyway, so I stay here and stub my cigarette out but check the girls here. I am craving her for real. This has not happened in so long, I hate this feeling.

My eyes setting my attention on different people, my heart abruptly skips a beat once I finally catch sight of the most beautiful woman. I put my elbow down on the armrest and skim my bottom lip with my middle finger, and I stare at her walking up to the bar, her hair tied in a low bun, I never glance away from her.

She gets stopped by a man, not one that I know, but he does not touch her, he only says some words that get her to nod and force a smile. Then, as soon as he steps away, out of sheer luck, her eyes meet mine, and I do not pretend to be looking away, I maintain this contact.

This moment, which must seem short to others, feels pleasantly long to me, long enough to hasten the beating of my heart and fill my veins with heat. I do not move or head towards her, knowing the consequences this will have, and she does not either, however, her glossy lips curve up into a sincere smile, and before I could even return it, she goes away. I do not resist but keep looking, and I watch her stop at the bar, but Lily comes back.

"Close your eyes," she gets on my thigh and hides something in her hands, but I hesitate, wondering what she is preparing. "Why?"

"Please, Mister Jeon," she begs me, so I give in and close my eyes. "Do not cheat," she slightly fidgets onto me, and I listen. "I won't," I patiently stay still, hoping for her to not do anything wrong or inappropriate when I am giving her my trust.

"Alright, don't move," she kindly touches the neck of my shirt, and I feel her body lean closer to mine, getting me to instinctively heave my hand up to her waist. The warmth of her body covers mine, and she presses her lips against my neck, getting me to open my eyes right away.

"Hey," I glide my hand up her back but feel her kiss my collarbone. "Don't do that, Lily," I grab her neck to make her stop, and she pulls away. "Why? I just wanted to leave some red lip prints on your skin," she reveals what was done, so I take my phone out to open the camera and check the spots she touched with her lips.

"Lily..." I click my tongue but smile, nervously. "Keep those for your boyfriend. Alright?" I wipe some of the lipstick, which was smeared by my fault, off her skin. "Do you know what I have to do to other men here? It's nothing."

"I know, but I don't want to be included in those," grab a tissue from the box on the table to clean my thumb, and she makes a sad puppy face. "But you don't force me, that's the difference. I do it because I want to."

"I know," I cannot find another answer. "Can you hand me my drink?" I try to change of subject, and she takes it. "Here."

"Thank you," I swallow a big amount of this alcoholic drink, and I check if y/n is still at the bar. Since she is not, I do not empty my glass but put it back on the table.

•••

1:30 am.

Some knocking on the door of my room get me to raise my eyes up from my glass of champagne, and I put my cigarette down in the ashtray to go and open the door.

"Honey," Cherry puts an instant smile on my face and wraps her arms around me, so I hold her tight and press my lips on her cheek. "Hey, come in," I step back and let her join me. "How are you doing?" I close the door, and we both sit down on the sofa. "Good, but what about you?"

"Good," I pretend and pick my cigarette up to keep smoking when this is already my fifth one today. "Hm. Are you sure about that? I can tell when you're not alright. I know you."

I smile, not having enough strength or courage to tell the truth. I stick the cigarette between my lips and set my eyes on her green ones. We both remain pretty silent, the music from downstairs entertaining us, I pull the cause of my addiction out and glance down at the table. "How is y/n doing?"

"I knew it," she chuckles and runs her fingers through her black hair, knowing me more than I wish she did. "I know she doesn't have the right to be with you anymore because of Sookyung, and it has an impact on her," she tells me, and I stay quiet to listen, carefully. "We talked in the changing room earlier, and she told me she was upset at Sookyung."

I sigh and thicken the air with more smoke. "I can't stand to be away from her."

"Well, I saw that Lily is enjoying it a lot," she raises her eyebrows and puts her forth, and I laugh, understanding what she means by that. "She just likes to be with me, and at least, she's not with some perverts who take advantage of her."

"Yeah," she does not seem to agree, but I do not ask anything. I know she is not her favorite person. "Stop smoking so much, you're gonna have cancer," she bends over to snatch the cigarette out of my hand and stub it out, and I scoff. "I don't care," I clear my mouth and throat with some champagne, but she glares at me. "I do, and y/n does too, so don't you dare say that."

"Hey, don't talk to me like that, young woman, I'm your elder," I do not mean it in a rude manner, and she smiles, brightly. "It doesn't matter," she shrugs as if she did not care. "And stop opening your shirt like that when you're near Lily, she's a real pervert," she points at my deep opening, getting me to glance down at it and lay my hand over my chest. "How do you know?"

She directs attention to my neck. "Those lip prints are one good evidence."

I smile and ignore it, and I drink the rest of the champagne in my glass but watch her stand up. She grabs a towel and heads towards the sink, and she turns the faucet.

"What are you doing?" I put my empty drink down, and she comes back after soaking the material with water. She walks up to me, and she bends over to rub it over my neck. "I'm removing those disgusting stains."

I chuckle but let her do it.

•••

2 am.

"See you, Mister Jeon," Lily hugs me as I walked down the stairs to leave like everyone does, and I hug her back. "See you, take care, and sleep tight tonight," I pat the side of her head, and she smiles at me before stepping back to move to the changing room, but I do not go yet, I try to find y/n.

I stick my hands in the pockets of my trousers, and once my eyes land on y/n, I realize she was already staring and nibble on my inner cheek. I smile at her to say goodbye without words, and she sends me the same response back, so I leave the place and feel a little better about the small interactions we had.

— Next day —

Saturday, July 24th, 2022.

11:30 pm.

The time passing, the people enjoying their time around me, I bring my cigarette up to my mouth and smoke while standing at a high table. I check where Lily is and see her come back with the glass of whiskey I asked for.

"Here you are, Mister Jeon," she places it down in front of me, and I thank her and leave a tip since I know Sookyung does not take the money away from her. "Do you need something more?" she comes closer and wraps her arms around my body, so I put one around her neck and speak in her ear. "Can you bring Cherry here for me, please?" I run my fingers through her hair, and she nods.

She walks away so I take a drag on my cigarette, this only source of comfort I have, and I lean over the high table to rest one arm on it and look around me. The pink and blue strobing lights erasing some features in the nightclub, I still recognize the ones I am used to seeing and look for the only woman I want to hold near me.

"I'm here, honey," Cherry grasps my attention with her pretty voice, and I smile and bring my cigarette away to speak in her ear. "Hey, do you know where y/n is? I haven't seen her yet," I move back to look into her eyes, and she points her finger up towards the first floor. "She's with Kangdae. I tried to go instead of her, but Sookyung wouldn't let me."

I sigh and glance down to tap the ash off the tip. "Was she with him last night?" I raise my eyes up to hers, and she nods. "She has to be with him every night now, and— Wait, can we talk about it outside?"