Along the long and dark corridor, illuminated only by neon lights on the floor on the right and left sides and multicolored dim lamps on the ceiling every 2 meters, a tall man in a dark blue suit and a white shirt without a tie with the top two buttons undone walked slowly. Complete silence...the sound of his footsteps muffled the carpet. He glanced at his wristwatch and stopped a meter away from the red wooden door.

A minute later, the door opened and out stepped a young man in a red satin short robe, the kind worn by Thai boxing fighters.

"Is everything okay, Red?" - the man patted the kid on the shoulder, saw a faint nod and continued - "Go to the break room, eat something...you'll have a client waiting for you in an hour."

The guy walked further down the hallway and opened a black door labeled "Staff Only!"

"Hey Red, tell me, who is it this time? Just a simple unsatisfied person or something more fun?" - The entrant looked up at the sound and saw a short guy in a purple robe with long purple strands on top of his head and shaved temples, he looked to be about 20-22 years old. The kid was lying on a long couch with his legs spread and one on the backrest.

"Getting some air, Violet?" - Red avoided answering the question.

"Recovering..." - hummed the man - "My favorite twins came in together today and were mildly unhinged...ugh, that was rough..." - the guy rolled his eyes.

"They kept talking about some Kat and how he traded them to the mob. Maybe they lost the land! They usually care a lot about real estate deals. What do you think?! That's kind of interesting..." - The Kid finished speaking and thought for a moment.

"I guess..." - muttered the man in red and made his way to the small kitchen where dinner was already waiting for him in a plastic container - "Will the rest of you be here later?" - he continued, turning to the guy in purple, glaring at him, and added: - "You should at least cover yourself up!"

"I'll lie like this for a while...I used the cream...Heal soon, my dear!...I'll be going back to my fucking purple room soon. You and I have been on the prowl today, since the opening of the armor... except you're going home to bed soon, and I'm puffing until three in the morning..." - Violet first stroked himself, lips stretched and made a cute face while addressing his butt, and then the emotion on his face abruptly changed to the exact opposite.

"Can we swap colors?...I'm so annoyed...I hate purple...if of course I'm to choose...I'd vote for green, but Green is so obsessed with that color. Have you seen his new bike? It's like a grasshopper!"

"He always talks so much ..." - the guy in red thought with a sigh.

Red again left his coworker's questions unanswered put the container in the microwave and made his way to the table. The guys sat in silence, only the faint noise of the microwave could be heard.

Ding...

Red shuddered. Then calmly stood up, took out a container, opened the lid and looked at the Chicken Curry rice...

"That disgusting curry smell! I used to love it... They should have changed the menu! How many times can we eat this?! I've told Norman that a hundred times. He's probably eating steaks himself," Violet grumbled, picking up his phone and starting to play to distract himself.

The guy in red silently ate and went to the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later he finished getting cleaned up and came out. At the same time the door opened and a man in a blue suit walked in - "Ready?"

"Yes Norman, I'm ready," he replied calmly and stepped out into the dark hallway.

"11, 10, 9, 8" - Red mentally counted the steps to the red door - "I wish there was an earthquake or something...7, 6, 5, 4...it's not me...3, 2, 1...*inhale-exhale*, I'm passing out..."

Taking the handle, the guy put a working smile on his face and walked in.

"Hello, Khun," - Folding his arms in a VIP greeting, Red made his way into the red room and walked over to a spacious bed with a red bedspread and black satin pillows.

On it lay a naked large man in his fifties, with only a towel slightly covering him below the waist. One of the many rules of this establishment required customers to shower before being served.

"Wow you're handsome! My favorite color and size! Let's not delay. Let's start right now," the man patted the bed with one hand while he pulled off his towel with the other.

"Get your mouth ready! The job is from the belly button and down, not including legs. In this hour, examine everything well with your sweet tongue and finish by taking a piece of me with you...hahaha," a loud disgusted laugh rolled through the room.

Red showed no emotion, not a single muscle on his face twitched. He gracefully walked over to the man who had already made himself comfortable on the bed and spread his legs. Without taking off his robe the guy sat down between those huge hairy trunks and started the task.

The smell of the man's fat, flabby male body was disgusting, as was his taste. He was doing his job well, as all the customers were satisfied. Just for one moment, realization of what was happening flashed in the guy's eyes and his eyes warmed, but he quickly gathered himself and his gaze went blank again. It wasn't the first time he had to hide his real self deep inside to keep himself safe like he had been taught.

The man kept grunting, sniffling, and occasionally whimpering. Before the quiet bell rang, announcing that the hour was at an end...

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh...." - The hog rolled his eyes and came into the guy's mouth with a long, hoarse moan.

"Hrrrr... you really are a professional slut, my friends strongly recommended you to me... we'll definitely do it again! Not even that kind of money is a pittance," the man was clearly pleased with the result.

Red got up from the bed and immediately left the room, he didn't need to get dressed as he was still in his robe.

Strange. There was no one waiting for him outside the door. Without thinking much about it, he took a quick step towards the rest room. Without noticing that there were more people in it, he immediately went into the bathroom. Locking the door, he ran to the sink, turned on the water, opened his mouth and ... began to spit out its contents.

The gagging was so strong that the curry had also left his body and the water gradually washed it all away.

He reached over to the red cabinet on the wall, took out a toothbrush and toothpaste and began to scrub his mouth thoroughly. For about fifteen minutes, he performed progressive brushing motions, scrubbing every millimeter of his mouth.

"It's not you...Forget it!...*inhale-exhale*...fly away birdie!" - At the moment he stopped and seemed to hover for a moment, and then his eyes cleared.

After rinsing his brush and his mouth, and turning off the water, Red put his hygiene products back in his locker and...looked up, looking at himself in the large mirror on the wall.

He saw a handsome face of a guy with an idol hairstyle, wheat colored hair was styled and slicked up, thus revealing a beautiful high forehead, lips were red and swollen from recent actions, which made this face even more attractive, skin smooth, slightly pale, brown eyes...

There was so much bitterness in them, and under the colored lenses the ocean was gray and dead.

The boy blinked away a single tear that fell to the edge of the sink:

"Hope! ... you can do it! ... surely you can execute your plan and this will all be over... Think of the sun!" - he mentally addressed himself, smiling slightly at his reflection...and suddenly...

Knock, knock, knock

"Red, are you alive there? I know you take two only clients a weekday, but one promised double pay and picked you. Help me out!" - He heard Norman's voice.

"Fuck!" - the guy muttered softly, striking his hands on the edge of the sink, and then answered loudly toward the door, "All right! Just give me half an hour."

Coming out of the bathroom, he didn't find Violet on the couch, instead the guys in orange and blue robes were sitting there, they were actively arguing about something.

"It's a good combination. It's almost 'sea and sand' like I like it" , - Red said to himself, and his mind immediately flashed back to images from the past, of him happily building a sand castle, and his smiling parents calling him over, inviting him to eat Tao So*, his favorite dessert.

And the sun shines so brightly...and the sea wave strokes the sand so tenderly, making it smooth, taking with it all the traces that were left on it....

"Could the sea also purify my mind and my body?!"

*(From the author. Tao So is a Thai dessert, small round buns and come in several varieties: sweet with a salted yolk inside, salty with a salted yolk inside, and with a sweet filling. The dough of Tao So is made from peanuts, flour, water, oil and sugar. The sweet buns come in green tea, black sesame and other flavors)

He sighed, turned his head slightly to clear the memories, and moved toward the kitchen.

Green was sitting on the table, half sideways, his green robe slightly open, revealing his long white legs. The guy was drinking a green liquid from a clear bottle labeled "Orange Juice" and was drilling Red with a slight squint.

"Are you ignoring the club rules again, Green? Two fines last month wasn't enough for you?" - Red said without much emotion as he made his way to the refrigerator.

"Honey, hello to you too! I can't be without my favorite absinthe on this fucking job..... I'm being careful... okay? You're the one with the sharp eye, the rest of us don't notice or ... just pretend to not to! You're not going to turn me in, are you, sweet berry?!" - speaking, Green stroked the bottle, and said the last phrase in a half-whisper, making puppy dog eyes and swaying slightly on the table.

Red pulled out a bottle of water and sat down at the table.

"I've been meaning to ask, you leave early on weekdays...are you studying or are you writhing your back at a second job? I can't tell your age from your appearance...hmmm...22?" - Green sat up next to Red, elegantly running his hands through his long, pitch-black hair and tucking it behind his back so that it wouldn't interfere with the look on his interlocutor's face.

"..." - He didn't hear a word in response.

"I see... club rules! Well... I'll continue to be lost in conjecture," Green smiled a charming smile and shook his head, the movement causing his mane to muss again and strands to fall to his chest.

The guy took another sip from his bottle and threw his head back.

Hope didn't talk much to his six coworkers, he didn't want to get close to the people of this world, which was not about him at all, he didn't want to show them his real self. They weren't generally bad guys: they didn't bully him, they didn't humiliate him, they were mostly supportive or neutral, but he decided to himself that unemotional, quiet, cold Red could take it all, and Hope couldn't.

"Where are Yellow, Violet, and Indigo?" - Blue suddenly asked.

"Violet's on assignment, Yellow got really sick, and Indigo got fired for breaking Club rules, which ones I never found out, though I tried. So kittens, there will be more work to do in the near future hehehe," Green shared what he knew, as he was always in the know.

A moment's silence...

"May I have your attention please? I have a serious announcement to make!....From today, I'm not Orange! ... call me Vitamin!" - suddenly came the ringing voice of a kid in orange, he began to curl his fingers, listing, "Orange, tangerine, carrot, papaya, persimmon... there was something else... hmmm... never mind! In general everything is healthy, like vitamins! And clients say that after an hour with me they feel ten years younger! It all adds up!"

"Bltghgrrrrr..." - Green gulped heavily his green drink after hearing this.

Red immediately raised his left hand upward as his mentor had taught him.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem ... thank you! ... ahem... you're really the interesting one, the Flame!", besides coughing from Green's mouth, words began to slowly seep out, "There are many times more green and red goodies. So Red and I are more Vitamins. Why don't we call you Jack's Lantern?! Agree - you're a little scary," he stretched out the last word and began to laugh infectiously.

A pillow from the couch flew at him after those words. Blue and Green laughed loudly, Red smiled slightly, and Orange crossed his arms, arched his eyebrows, and pouted his little lips. The sight of him made the boys laugh even harder and they clutched their stomachs.

"Flowers, I see you're having fun! The bees are already in place," they were interrupted by Norman entering, everyone took the hint that it was time to get to work, got up and walked to the exit of the room.

"Red, do you still need more time? You can start later since it's not scheduled."

"The sooner I start, the sooner I'll be free," Red replied calmly to Norman and moved toward the dark hallway as well.

"11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1", -  this time the guy didn't think about anything, he just counted the steps and felt his legs getting heavier with each step, as if they were about to become leaden and he couldn't move anymore.

This happened every time a new customer came in and he didn't know what to expect from them.

A smile... a knock on the door...

He entered the red room. It was called like that for a reason-almost everything was carmine in color: the bedspread, the curtains, the carpet, and the decorations, such as the painting on the wall of a naked boy on a red horse. Red often looked at that work: though the horse took up most of the painting, all Red could see was the blue lake behind him and the rider's calm, pensive expression. Those two things had helped Red more than once when Hope was ready to let loose and let his emotions run wild.

A man in a red tracksuit sat on the bed with his head down, his hands resting in his lap and his fingers intertwined.

"Good evening, Khun," Red began in a calm sweet voice and immediately continued: "Can I help you take a shower? According to club rules..."

"I know! Sit down...let's talk first," the man rudely interrupted him without raising his head.

Red sat down on the bed half a meter away from the man and placed his hands on the bedspread on opposite sides of himself. He couldn't see the man's profile, as he kept his head down and his dark brown hair fell down, covering his face.

A moment's silence

Then suddenly...

"Shit!" - shouted the client and slammed his hands on the bed.

Silence again...

"This is bad..." - Red this hour did not bode well, in his head already flashed terrible images and his knees treacherously shook.

"I can't do this anymore... I can't! You know?! Endure this pain and their looks," the man hissed, then screamed and hissed again, clenching his fists.

"Too bad...too bad" , - as the client fell silent again, Red's right hand slowly pulled closer to his body, while his left began to move towards the nightstand that had a panic button on it, pressing it would allow him to call security.

The guy felt the air around him thickening, his body numb, but his heart was pounding like crazy and his lungs were short of air, causing Red to breathe more often. The feeling of threat and uncertainty was pressing...

Suddenly!

"Ah!" - Red stopped breathing and his heart skipped a beat... as the man turned sharply toward him.

FEAR took control of his whole being....