Stella (1)

It was definitely a lot busier than usual. 

People were indulged in their own entertainment and fun. There were some people at the bar while others sat down at tables. Since Playlights was a mixture of night and strip club, there were a mixture a male and female, though leaning towards the male population. 

Customers who were here for the night club experience was all crowded at the dance floor where a house DJ was playing his remixes on the center platform. There were two dance cages on either side of the center platform with dancers already grinding out their moves. In fact, the two dancers in the cages were none other than Hayoung and Jinseon. They were quite popular in the club, and even had a bit of their own social media following. So it wasn't a surprise when there was a bit of an audience in front of their dance cages. 

The main bar and two side bars were also bombarded with customers waiting in queue for drinks. For the male customers who wanted the strip experience, those services were provided upstairs on the second floor. A second bouncer stood at the bottom of the stairs to safeguard the entrance. Since the second floor was a strict no photography zone, the bouncer generally checked for such items. There was also a third floor, but the entrance was through a private elevator and back door. It was only available for VIP customers. 

Kyunghee weaved through the jam-packed field teeming with bodies and heavy scent of alcohol. She walked towards the dance cage where Jinseon was occupied. They exchanged a look, knowing that it was time to switch out the dancers. As Jinseon stepped down and Kyunghee stepped on to the platform, the audience attention was also shifted. 

It didn't take long for her to pick up the rhythm as she danced to the sound. The club itself was dark but there were dynamic strobe lights that was visually stimulating. Despite that, she noticed a few people were filming with their phones. She hated being filmed and photographed, and even though she tried to change it, Bongseok had no intentions of enforcing a no photography rule in the entire club. The most he was willing to comprise was allowing her to wear masks if she wanted when she was up on the stages. Of course, he was even reluctant to allow that until Jiwon stepped in and he couldn't say no to her. 

However, she was on stage now. She was Stella, not Kyunghee. 

Stella shot the enthusiastic crowd a killer smile as her sexy body moved to the music. For Stella, it was a routine just like any other night. Being up on stage, dancing, seducing the audience—she was a natural born charmer. The blaring music, the incessant catcalls and hollers was interwoven with her powerful yet sensual moves on stage. The long synthetic wavy purple hair flowed with each motion. The color itself was eye-catching but she looked good in it, making more heads turn in her direction. The lace mask highlighted her superficial grey colored eyes—which was achieved through colored contacts—but also gave an air of mystery. 

Audiences increased in numbers. 

For Stella, it was easy to mesmerize and tempt attention on to her. She was confident, magnetic and provocative. 

In the midst of dance, Kyunghee had a strange, bugging sensation which pulled away her focus. It was the kind of paranoia you get when someone was staring fixedly at you from afar. Her movements slowed down as she looked around distractedly, attempting to locate the source of her discomfort. 

Her eyes landed on a shadowed figure watching over the dance floor from the second floor. He was standing directly in front of the lights which was a huge contrast against the club's dark environment, making it hard to see anything else but his outline. She couldn't distinguish the man's features, but she felt as if the man's eyes were piercing the gap through to her. However, she couldn't confirm if it was real or simply her imagination. Yet the person accompanying him was none other than Jiwon. 

For some reason, she had a sense of curiosity towards the man. Although she couldn't see his face, but judging from the way he carried himself and the crisp, expensive suit he was wearing, she knew he was someone very important. The fact that Jiwon was beside him further supported his status, especially since Jiwon only serviced VIP guests. He must be the person Bongseok was talking about earlier. 

"Stella!" 

Kyunghee's attention was brought back to the situation at hand as a young man suddenly jumped up onto the dance cage beside her. He had a huge smile of admiration spread across his face. Kyunghee responded with a smile, recognizing the young man immediately as one of her regulars. 

He started showing up to the club about a year ago, which was when he turned twenty-one and met the club's minimum age requirement. His friends had celebrated his birthday by taking him to Playlights. That was how Kyunghee met him, when his friends bought him a private lap-dance from her. Although the truth of the matter was they just spent the entire time drinking with each other in one of the private rooms on the second floor. After that, he would visit every weekend, because she always saw him in the crowd watching her performances, but eventually the frequent visits were cut back. Even then, every time he came to the club, he would give her a huge tip. 

Soon, the staff also took notice of him and would jokingly call him her number one fan. He had never been rude to her, although there were times he did get a bit too excited because of the alcohol and crossed a boundary or two, but it was never out of malicious intent, so she would let it slide. A few times they even exchanged friendly conversations at the bar. 

She learned his name was Park Sangmin. He was a university student, studying to become a prosecutor, though the schoolwork oftentimes stressed him out. The more Kyunghee talked to him, the more she became fond of him, though never too much to divulge her personal information. She was guarded on that front. However, she could tell he was a good kid at heart, even if he frequented places like Playlights. He didn't judge her, so what rights did she have to judge him? Besides, visiting the club every now and then was his way of relieving stress as a student. 

"Hi Sangmin," Kyunghee greeted warmly. 

"Stella, I have your present!" Sangmin exclaimed. She could tell he was a little bit buzzed. 

There were two large 50,000 won bill in his hand as he folded it and put it between his lips. Looking at her playfully, he pointed to the wad of bills between his mouth, wriggling his eyebrows with purpose. Two of his guy friends in the crowd was whistling and catcalling. Kyunghee understood his intent. 

There was a game at the club between the dancers and the customers. When a customer wanted to tip a dancer, they would get up on stage with the girl and put bills between their mouth and the girl would take the money by using her own mouth. Sometimes it wasn't even money. There were times when customers would give the dancer a rose or take a shot with her. In fact, one could even say this game all began thanks to Sangmin. It was him who started it when he first tipped Kyunghee and it was filmed. The video spread on the internet, and soon others were doing the same. Naturally, Bongseok didn't stop the customers because it was a form of marketing for the business. 

Feeling unabashed as it wasn't her first time, Kyunghee leaned in towards him until their noses were touching. With purpose, she placed both hands on to his shoulders and slightly parted her lips. The two of them exchanged a mutual, playful look with one another before Kyunghee closed her lips on the bills and pulled it out of Sangmin's mouth. Immediately the crowd cheered, enamored by the interesting sight of a wide-eyed, spirited young man and a completely opposite, sexy Goddess-in-white. 

Kyunghee took the bills from her mouth and winked at Sangmin. "Thank you, darling." 

He motioned his finger for her to come hither. Curiously, Kyunghee leaned in towards him so that she could hear him better. His arm snuck around the small of her back as he said, "Let's go take a shot together at the bar! My parents went on vacation so I'm celebrating my two weeks' of freedom!" 

She laughed. Pulling away from him, she nodded her head with an 'ok' hand sign. Beaming with energy, Sangmin offered his hand and right that moment as he did so, he coincidentally glanced in the direction of the club's entrance. He suddenly froze, shocked and confused at first, but then his eyes dilated, replaced with a sense of panic. 

Kyunghee grinned but as she was about to take Sangmin's hand, he promptly retrieved it, leaving her hand in hanging in midair. Confused, Kyunghee looked up and noticed Sangmin looking inexplicably nervous. He body seemed a bit tense too. 

"Sangmin?" Kyunghee prompted, bewildered. 

"Ah shit!" Sangmin cursed, his voice filled with agitation and a hint of dread. 

Kyunghee followed his gaze into the mass of people. It looked like he had noticed someone he knew, but Kyunghee wasn't sure who had caught his attention. There seemed to be someone moving towards them, but the strobe lights made it hard to focus. 

Sangmin abruptly wheeled towards Kyunghee with an apologetic expression. "Stella, I'm so sorry. I'll take a rain check on the drink. I have to go!" 

Before Kyunghee could say anything, Sangmin hopped off of the stage, grabbed his two confused looking friends, whispered something and pulled them away. Standing on the dance cage gave Kyunghee's line of sight a vantage point as she was able to look over myriads of heads to where Sangmin was making his way, which was to the main bar. At the main bar, he grabbed a petite girl in a red mini-skirt and black halter top. Again he whispered something into her ear which made the girl look around frantically. Then the four of them exchanged a few words before hurriedly scrambling towards the back exit. 

As it was time to switch dancers, Kyunghee stepped down the platform. Right then, someone's shoulder bumped into her brusquely. The force of it nearly made Kyunghee trip on her stiletto heels, but she managed to catch her balance. When she lifted her head, all she could see was the muscular back of a tall man and his broad shoulders. The man didn't seem to notice that he had bumped into her, didn't even bother turning around. Instead, he picked up his gait, heading towards the back exit. 

Kyunghee wondered if the rude man was the person Sangmin and his crew was running away from, but she reeled in her curiosity. It was none of her business anyway. Kyunghee touched her right arm, the area where the man had roughly bumped into, feeling a bit irritated. 

When she got near the stairs leading to the second floor, her feet stopped as if it had reasons of its own. Remembering the shadowed figure and the paranoid impression earlier, Kyunghee slowly lifted her eyes upwards. She was hoping to catch sight of that man's face, but alas, her luck wasn't there. Instead she saw his back figure walking further away. Kyunghee couldn't explain it, but she had a subtle ache of disappointment. 

Shaking her head, Kyunghee laughed at her own absurdity.