3.

| 𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. |

Eunjae P.O.V

"Ma'am, we've arrived at your destination."

I shifted my distracted gaze from my hands to the taxi driver, who was looking at me expectantly from the rear view mirror.

I got my purse out, and handed him the amount for the journey, before getting out of the car, shivering slightly.

I tugged my pullover a bit more tightly around myself, a futile attempt to keep the cold out.

A mall I had visited very frequently, the mall in the heart of the city, now had remnants of Halloween decorations hanging desperately on the walls and glass, a little piece of tape all that was keeping them attached.

I was slightly baffled at the fact that the decorations were still not removed, even though Halloween was long over, about a week ago.

The autumnal wind was blowing, making the little baby hairs of mine fly around in an annoying manner.

I swept a hand over them, trying to get rid of their disoriented state. The action went in vain, as the hair just flew back up.

I sighed, fully aware of how hideous I looked when my hair was messy. That was probably the reason why I quickly wore a face mask next.

After briefly glancing at both sides of the road, I hastily crossed the road, now standing just in front of the humongous mall.

I made my way to the benches placed at the entrance, flopping myself on an empty one.

I brought out my fur cladded mobile phone and sent a simple text message to someone I had messaged multiple times before, seated at the very same place, in the very same situation.

I quickly got a reply stating that they're on their way.

Letting out a satisfied hum, I shifted on the bench to make myself a tad bit more comfortable.

This was how I would always get back to the rest house I stayed at after every assignment I was sent to.

The manager would definitely not let us stay in personal residences, as there was a risk of us running away, so he has rented a rest house where all of us stay.

Us as in all the other sēx workers.

Till date, I still have no idea where it is exactly located. All I know is that it's literally in the middle of a forest, so none of my fellow victims can escape from that hellhole.

After all our assignments, we're asked to come to this particular mall, and from there, a driver will come to pick us up, and take us back.

The mall was like a sort of a rendezvous for us all.

Even while going to the assignments' houses, we're dropped here and then we're supposed to go to the assigned homes on our own.

This was probably done to avoid tracking of us, and the whole organisation in general.

Why didn't I try to escape or file a complaint to the police?

Well, that's because they have blackmail material against every single one of us, and even have access to some of our families.

Most of us just stick to our work and continue suffering, just so our reputation and families are safe.

I did try to escape once though. I tricked the driver saying that I had no idea where I was and that I was lost, while I was sitting on a bus going out of the city.

Somehow, they managed to find me sitting on a bus stop on the outskirts of the city, waiting for the other bus.

They hunted me down and took me back to the rest house. They didn't do anything to me, but I knew that they were pissed. Very pissed.

I have no idea how they caught up to me so quickly. I suspect that they have a tracker somewhere, on either my clothes or my phone.

There is no other logical explanation for how they were so swift.

Although I hated this job, it wasn't too bad; I mean, obviously the work isn't pleasing, but I can manage. Plus, they give me a good amount of money.

Much more money than what a regular person would get, working at a normal job.

A skull shaped balloon, which was hanging on a streetlight nearby, finally got free from the tapes' grip and flew along with the wind, passing right in front of me.

The design of the balloon was straight up creepy; the eyes looked really hollow, and gave off a sinister vibe. The jaw was defined, but seemed really evil.

The entire balloon was evil.

Why did people even put up these kind of scary decorations?

Halloween is for kids to dress up and eat chocolates and candies and rot their teeth.

Not to be traumatised by the petrifying decorations.

I was brought out of my reverie when I heard a cry.

I looked around and saw a kid sprawled on the ground, the ice cream he was eating on the pavement beside him.

He began crying, pointing at his fallen ice cream. A woman, his mother I assumed, rushed to pick him up and brush his clothes, trying to shush him, but the kid began shouting louder.

Damn, the kid's got some lungs.

People were now staring at them, so the mother began murmuring promises of buying a new and bigger ice cream for him.

The kid abruptly stopped crying. When the mother turned back, I saw an evil smile painted on his face, which betrayed all the supposed innocence of his.

I was repulsed by his actions.

Kids these days are becoming too clever. They have their parents wrapped around their puny pinkies.

And the parents play along, but don't realise that they're spoiling them to such an extent, that they'll turn out to be obnoxiously bratty.

I wouldn't ever let that happen with my future kids. Yes, I would love them, but wouldn't let them control me.

My spiralling thoughts suddenly halted.

Kids of my own. . .

I don't even know if I can ever do it.

I sighed, when I heard a car honk three times, in a specific pattern.

I got the sign and walked towards the car, opened it and sat down, humming contently at the warm air inside.

I put my hand out, closing my fingers around a silky fabric I was really familiar with.

A blindfold.

Wrapping the blindfold around my eyes, I gave the signal and felt the car slowly beginning to move.

-

After a good thirty minutes, the car halted. I removed the blindfold and was met with the sight of the rest house.

It wasn't too bad, and wasn't shabby.

The rooms and bathrooms were cleaned regularly and were neat. The food was also good, so there wasn't anything to complain about.

We would get allowances, and were allowed to go shopping once a month. Only in pairs, though.

So, naturally, I chose Sunhee as my shopping buddy.

Not only is she a total sweetheart, she also has brilliant taste in clothes.

She was the main reason why I'm dressed decently, because, if I went clothes shopping on my own, the only thing I would buy would be black baggy clothes and other such clothes.

I mean, I don't like dressing up to look good, I dress to be comfortable.

And what's more comfortable than dressing up as a homeless man?

I automatically smiled recalling the first time we had gone shopping together. The look of horror and slight disgust she had, staring at the plain grey outfit I had held, was still embedded in my mind.

"You're finally here!" I heard a familiar voice cry.

Think of the devil, and here she is.

I smiled even more widely and turned to meet someone I considered my best friend.

Choi Sunhee.

x x x

A / N

A pointless filler chapter. Or is it?👀

A little insight as to how the entire prostitution shit works, at least in this AU of mine lmfao

This chapter was mainly to showcase Eunjae's thought process and how she thinks about things, as character development, I suppose.

Again, many Easter eggs here, which will make sense in future chapters, so keep a look out for it!

Vote, spam and share, shower me with love, because authornim is working hard for this </3

Stay safe!

Ciao~

-xo-
:]