The most painful death to a mortal is one that is foreseen - Bacchylides

Death.

Why do we humans fear this useless thing so much?

Mainly because we think of what will happen to the people that we left behind, or the precious memories that will be stored in an abandoned compartment forever. Still, valueless lives do exist, speaking from my own experience.

The sharp silvery thorn pierced me deep within my spine, aching at the strongest collision possible as I fell forward at once. My whole body got engulfed by a figure, wrapping me in their arms as dizziness took over my control to function normally. 

Familiar hushes filled my hearing from the left side, ruefulness clear in their fading cries.

As life flashed before my dark brown eyes, I wondered whether I would ever see another sunrise again...

6 months earlier

Haeyang University in Seoul. 

I have been voluntarily stuck in this place for over two years now. You see, many say that your higher education years are one of the best times of our lives. That is indeed true, flipping through your pages of remembrance can help you identify the purpose of your existence.

Best friends, classes that get you instant fatigue, crazy college parties and even adventurous trips that would not be forgotten for a dime. Yet, the most important event of them all got to be the many crushes that one could be smitten with.

I do have someone like that in my unrealistic mind.

Straight dark eyebrows, perfect lips that turn upward in a perpetual smirk and the sharper jawline. A pair of black framed glasses on his nose bridge which enhanced his good looks and the cold gaze that he gave with his foxlike eyes that cannot be overlooked, such an attractive trait on him.

A click of fingers making a racking sound together snapped in front of my face, glimpsing to my right side to see the female part who made my university life easier.

The pointed black eyeliner was effortlessly done as always, a judgmental look found on her fair-skinned face. 'Yah Do Dohee, stop your delusions and get yourself a real dog treat to chew.'

Rolling my dark brown eyes, I grabbed the heavy books that I initially put on the furniture to make place for my best friend.

A bright smile played on my lips, leaning my chin on the back of my hand to stare into that specific direction again. 'Eunbi, that one over there is surely a delicious snack. Do not deny straight-up facts. You are just threatened by his hunkiness.'

Hwang Eunbi. We met on the first day of university. 

Introducing yourself can be a hurdle to born introverts like me, but this girl had my MBTI changed over the course of years. I cannot forget how she called herself "the woman who is going to make the whole world turn its head and congratulations, you are the first set."

This was pretty embarrassing if I say it myself. 

I snorted my laugh out immediately after while she frowned at my peculiar behavior. Ever since then, we sit in the back of our classes, doing nothing much than studying and keeping ourselves a decent amount from society if you do not include our close friends.

Despite having a couple of female friends walking along through our joint teenage years, I could not get closer to any of them for a particular reason. Ill-fatedly, the feminine side of humanity made themselves appear in shrieking chirps of rumors, creating an unpleasant atmosphere back in high school.

Fortunately, a sweet friendship which refreshed the soul came around the narrow corner, leading me unintentionally into a world full of amiable acquaintances that included this older sister from another mother.

Eunbi, who settled herself down stole my cup of hot coffee, taking a generous sip from the drink while exclaiming. 'Hunkiness my foot. Jeon Wonwoo is everything and beyond a guy with high sex appeal. Has this man ever talked with anyone besides those three friends of his?'

The moony name got my heart racing miles the second I heard the ravishing words, spotting him in the far-left end of the lecture hall. The meager smirk on his assumable soft lips, it got me unconsciously beaming like never before too.

My bicep got a strong hit by a firm fist, whining at the painful impact as the girl took her laptop out of her bag. 'Maybe you should reconsider looking around our group.'

Rubbing my arm to sooth the upcoming pain, I raised my eyebrows in question which made it clear that I was not amused by her suggestion. 'Our group? You mean those dumb idiots?'

If you were to ask me what the last place would be where I would speed date around, my genial friendship group could take the top tier on that matter. Do not get me wrong, the guys are sincerely gentlemen when they genuinely think you are a woman worth courting.

Unless your surnames start with Hwang or Do.

Eunbi expanded her black lined eyes while she explained nonchalantly, sweeping her shoulder length bob behind her right shoulder. 'What do you mean? Boo Seungkwan is a decent choice.'

The Jeju-born friend made me instantly think back about the one time that we took a hike at Cheonggyesan. My body and in particular my legs could still feel the vibrations running through them even though it was just one trip.

The "afterparty" part made me remember my stance as I shook my head in denial upon hearing the guy's name. 'We would get a divorce just because he would lose in score during noraebang (karaoke).'

She clicked her tongue while agreeing with my persuasive argument. 'Okay fair enough. How about Lee Chan? You have known him the longest.'

That is true. Remember that metamorphic sweet friendship?

Chan is the one who has been standing right beside me all through high school, showing that a transfer student could make anything possible with the right amount of help.

A lot of dreadful things caused my turmoiled life to take turns that cannot be repeated in words ever again. Nevertheless, Chan is aware about my horrid past and this is something that has been told to just a handful of people...

The brotherly feeling rode along my mind, scrunching up my nose to let my best friend know how I precisely felt about that idea. 'Disgusting.'

Well, her name would not be Hwang Eunbi if she stopped at my high school ally, bringing up another one that would make the frog spring right out of me. 'Yoon Jeonghan?'

My oddly jittery nerves were really being evaluated, slightly suiting my voice with irritation as I blabbered through my experience with the mentioned dude. 'Yah, remember when I went on that one forcible date with your boyfriend's evil twin? Jeonghan sunbae was constantly flirting with the server. And not because he is indeed a player, but because I reminded him of his younger sibling. Can you imagine the amount of embarrassment that I suffered?'

Joshua Hong is the most amazing man in Eunbi's life, constantly caring for her and the people surrounding but his best friend made my life a tiny bit insufferable. There is not one day that goes by where Yoon Jeonghan does not make a statement on how I dress, eat or breathe.

I am not going to lie that I found the angelic man with long locks of hair attractive, still that social engagement turned him into the ugliest devil, respectfully.

A soft reminiscent sigh left her lips, patting my right shoulder as she comforted me. 'Okay, calm down jagi (darling). I just wanted to let you know that some decent men are out there, waiting for you to incline their proposes.'

My teeth found my bottom lip, peeking to the enigmatic guy again while I drifted myself further into an alternate universe where the two of us would be happily married with a bunch of children. 

The disapproval reached my hearing, making a tiny smile appear on my lips. 'You will never change Do Dohee.'

In the midst of the eleventh evening of this aggravating long October, the neon blue light of letters that spelled DIAMOND shone right onto the asphalt streets. There were long rows of dressed down people, lining up as if there was a sightseeing of a bunch of celebrities inside the nightclub.

Partially right, this prestigious place is the favorite hangout place of various influentials including politicians, singers, actors and whoever who was loaded enough to buy their way inside the ruby walls.

The fainted sound of regular music bounced through the rooms. My knees were on the ground as I squatted down to reach the dirt that had been formed underneath the aisle for God knows how long.

Grimes made it hard to breath, a familiar sound of footsteps nearing me as the mundane deep sigh made me look back up. My dark brown eyes met the lightbulb first, but that got replaced by the smug rectangular grin almost at once.

His left eyebrow raised teasingly high up his forehead as he saw me in my usual awkward position. 'What are you? Cinderella? There is too much dust in there so make sure you wear a mask while doing those chores. Although, nobody asked you to clear them.'

Rolling my eyeballs around, I used my left foot to stretch my legs back up only to feel the cramps coming right up, holding myself steady against one of the liquor shelves. 'Safe for you to say oppa. You are flaunting your lavish looks to those rich ladies as I get myself a ramyeon while watching Kim Soohyun on the TV. That is a much better view anyway.'

The man in a winter blue tuxedo repeated my actioned words from earlier, sorting and adjusting the spare wineglasses with his right hand while keeping his fluffy eyes on me. 'And that is pretty rude for you to say Dohee-yah.'

The ambiguous feeling disappeared from my right leg, yet it lingered in the grimy air around us that I instantly questioned to the one in front of me. 'So, why were you looking for me?'

I saw a slight surprise in his face, knowing him for years now made me read him like an open book. 'What do you mean?'

A part beside my head started itching, rubbing it while reasoning my suspicions. 'Well, the Byun Baekhyun would never step back in this dirty place with his expensive suit unless he got a task for me like in the case of today.'

Thinking back about the time that I first met DOMINO's general manager, his young facial features compared to his age caught me off guard. I really thought that he was around my age, making the clear mistake to use informal phrases at first, only to learn after that he was indeed seven years older.

Byun Baekhyun showed apathetic feelings, our friendship gathered literally no dust over time. Still, the storage room needed a good turnout regardless, keeping myself in charge of all the so-called "back-office" work.

His giggle sounded innocent, lisping his own bust through his teeth. 'Hehe, you got me.'

A huge yawn escaped my mouth, covering my hand over it while I elaborated my tiredness. 'Tell me what it is so I can start without overdoing my hours. Classes got quizzing myself in my sleep oppa. It is really becoming a disease.'

My dark brown eyes met his fluffy ones, seeing a twinkle of concern that made me want to question it. 'Okay, I just do not want you to panic.'

You should never tell a woman not to distress herself, because that will take a rapid turn the other way around immediately.

I did not want to show my scare to the manager, cynically moving forward in the conversation. 'You are scaring me.'

Baekhyun leaned his frame on the stabilized cabinet, stretching both of his arms in front of his to prevent any muscle loss. 'There is a sudden wave of the flu in town, most of our girls called in sick today. If you do not mind, could you help us out?'

The damned virus probably reached my knees, not sure if Baekhyun had actually meant what he was telling me. 'As a hostess you mean...'

The manager sensed my clear disappointment. Along the employees, there was a silent agreement that I would not make myself available for tasks that required social contact.

Sounds pretty hypocrite, but there was an obvious reason why I would not...

Baekhyun corrected my guess of the job occupation at once, clicking his tongue while he reassured the upcoming fright. 'Waitress. I know that Inguk hyung has never let you near that spot, but we are really tight on schedule tonight and you are my only hope. Nevertheless, he actually insisted on asking you.'

My dark brown eyes sprung up upon hearing that intimate name. A suspicion lingering in my voice as I sputtered out while leaning against the cabinet besides the manager. 'Seo Inguk requested me?

Various emotions formed a headache, sensing a reason why our boss would suddenly change his way of handling. My habitual trait of clenching my fist came to show, the red flesh forming underneath still formed a firm path to calm me down after years.

Baekhyun whined his frustration out, making me shriek out of my musing as his voice got me holding in a snicker. 'Yah Do Dohee, you should learn some manners. Inguk hyung is oppa for you too. He is like what, a decade older than you?'

Puffing the air out my mouth, I shrugged my shoulders at once to send my ignorant message. 'I do not care. And I have told you this a thousand times, Inguk and I got a different story. We dropped formalities way too long ago.'

The manager nodded his head sarcastically, pushing himself from the cabinet while he stepped back towards the exit only to turn around. 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, I will keep my hands from it for now. So, will you help me or not?'

'Girly, could you please stop moving your eyelids? It is ruining your makeup.'

As my trembling body was clothed in a black and white tweed outfit with the darkest panty and black slingbacks underneath it, the skirt could not get any shorter that I had to push it down every time I moved a singular millimeter.

The elegant woman in front of me worked her experienced magic, her cat eyes showing nothing but attractiveness that could get any human swayed. 'Here is the deal. I have been given the task by Baekhyun oppa that I would not let you near those customers that well you know...'

A lot of dirty cops or corrupt politicians come here to fulfill their desires. I was bound to work at this place because of Inguk, his rightful deeds pressured me to do something in return. Yet, the manager's words got me rethinking my decision twice. 

I will ask my dear boss for an explanation later. He must have a good reason.

The long sigh escaped my lips, looking the woman right in the eyes as I conveyed my worries. 'I get it unnie. Is it weird that I feel nervous?'

Jennie Kim is her name, also known as the most desirable lady of DOMINO.

Every man in town wants to have his sole chance to spend time with her, even if it was for just a simple glance. She is a veteran at the nightclub, an influencer of some sort and strictly professional at her job.

We forcibly got close, my mind diverting back at the time when she cleaned up my brutal wounds...

She walked back to the corner of the touch-up room, making me reflect myself in the mirror. Jennie did an amazing job on making my best features spring out more define, but I felt like I was not looking at Do Dohee anymore.

This foreign girl was someone I was afraid to know, a watery line in my tired eyes forming unintentionally as I felt a pair of hands on both of my heavied shoulders. 'No, and this will never fade away either. Dohee-yah, you are prettier than you realize it. Show those men that they cannot mess with you, okay?'

Jennie touched my long black hair, styled down by her in loose waves as she relieved me by her next sentences. 'However, that would not be the case of tonight. The room that you will be serving are VIP's of our nightclub that I happen to know personally. I do not expect any problems to occur but if they appear, do not hesitate to push the button on your watch. Our guards will be waiting just outside the chambers.'

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Oh hello there! 

This part is kind of an intro to what Do Dohee's recent life is all about. Her past...we will leave those questions unanswered for now ;-) 

Jeon Wonwoo is the college crush we all want, don't we? I do not know why but this man can make me shy every day (mianhe Choi Seungcheol, Lee Seokmin and Kim Mingyu haha). 

Baekhyun, Jennie and especially Inguk are playing really important roles so stay tuned for that one.

What do you think about the characters up until now?

Also, Hoshi being a menace to DK in GoSe...save my poor fellow INFP PLEASE!!!

Song of the Update: Orbit by The8 (man, he slayed)

Anyways, leave your comments and votes <3 I am forever thank you to y'all

Love,

dahliainjeolmi01