Playlights (2)

"I'm starving! Why is it so busy today? Jeez, I didn't have time to eat anything." In sauntered a girl with short blonde hair. Her real name was Hayoung but she went by the stage name Daisy. 

Following closely on Hayoung's heels was another dancer by the stage name of Jasmine, real name: Jinseon. "Because it's a Friday night. Friday nights are always busy." 

The two girls plopped down in the black couch behind the dressing table. 

"I know that," Hayoung rolled her eyes, "but tonight is especially busy." She picked up a snack bar that was lying amidst the heap of women magazines and tore open the wrappers. "I'm so hungry," she muttered in between chomps. "It's like all the other clubs have closed down and they all decided to come here because we're the only ones open or something." 

"Well, the cops blocked the entrance to Ansil Road, so a lot of businesses over there are suffering. One of my girlfriends, who works at The Rail, just messaged me earlier saying how dead it was because of the road block." 

"No wonder some of their customers are here." Hayoung's face scrunched up in displeasure. "I don't know how many times I've been asked about 'private services'. People know we don't sell sex here. We're not like The Rail. It's infamous for being a secret brothel." Hayoung looked at Jinseon with a judgmental expression and said snidely, "You should tell your friend to enjoy the vacation." 

Jinseon's face darkened, but she didn't retaliate. 

It was weird how the world works. People judged each other, even if they weren't that much better off, even if they had no reasons to act morally superior than the other. 

"Oh! Speaking of The Rail…don't we have an ex-member here? Isn't that right, Stella?" Hayoung turned towards Kyunghee with a smug smile as Kyunghee's stage name rolled off her tongue with mockery. 

Kyunghee hadn't expected to be roped into the conversation, but considering Hayoung's dislike for Kyunghee, it wasn't surprising for her to take a jab every now and then. 

"Didn't you used to work there?" Hayoung crossed one slender leg over the other. 

Hayoung's negativity towards Kyunghee started because of Jiwon. Since Jiwon was the most senior person at Playlights and with her years in the industry, she had built up a pretty powerful and lucrative Client List that acted as a strong backing for her influence. Although nobody knew exactly whose name was on Jiwon's Client List, it was enough to make the manager of Playlights cautious and respectful towards Jiwon. For this reason, Jiwon was unlike the other dancers. She didn't have to do stage dances or flirt with the ordinary customers to upsell drinks. She only serviced the VIP guests. So if you wanted to survive, it would be a smart move to have Jiwon on your side. 

Before Kyunghee, Hayoung was seen as Jiwon's girl. The two of them were often seen together with Hayoung constantly at Jiwon's beck and call. However, when Kyunghee was hired, Jiwon grew closer to Kyunghee. At the same time, she grew distant with Hayoung. Naturally this left a bitter and resentful taste in Hayoung. She didn't like being kicked to the curb and forgotten, so she viewed Kyunghee as a rival. 

"I didn't," Kyunghee replied tersely, reaching for her lipstick. 

"Oops, sorry, my mistake. You passed the audition, but came to work here instead." Hayoung giggled unapologetically, exchanging a look with Jinseon. 

Kyunghee stilled for a split second, but went on to ignoring Hayoung's words as she reapplied a layer of lipstick. It wasn't the first time Hayoung had this whole mean-girl act going on. Kyunghee didn't think it was worth it to give her the attention she craved for. Besides, there had been far worse things in life that had hurt her compared to these immature, snarky comments. 

On the other hand, Jiwon didn't think so as she gave Hayoung a cold stare. "What are you getting at, Hayoung?" 

Hayoung was slightly hurt by Jiwon's defensive stance towards Kyunghee. "Jiwon unnie, why are you giving me that look? None of what I said were lies. If anything, I was just a little envious of Kyunghee. Everyone knows how hard it is to get an audition for The Rail. Their standards for hiring girls are off the roof, but they also pay very well. All those girls drive luxury sports cars and have apartments under their names. I'm just surprised and humbled that Kyunghee would choose our club over a money-making outlet like The Rail." The cynicism in her eyes twinkled. She was enjoying it. 

"That's right. The Rail has its own criteria of selecting girls for a reason," Jinseon chimed in for the fun of it. "I heard their boss is a middle-aged man and he likes to test out the 'goods' first. I wonder if one of the criteria is to…well…you know…" Jinseon smirked. "It would make sense. If I only I could be that shameless." 

Jiwon shot Jinseon an icy look. "Doesn't your friend work at The Rail? Is she really your friend?" 

Jinseon was tongue-tied, turning red from embarrassment, but didn't dare to reply. 

There was a dark cloud over Hayoung, but somehow she managed to force a smile. "Jiwon unnie, your relationship with Kyunghee is so enviable. You won't even let us say a few harmless jokes." 

"Hayoung, a joke is not harmless if the other person is uncomfortable." Jiwon narrowed her eyes in warning. "And I take care of all the girls in this room. Have I ever turned any one of you down when you needed my help? Of course unless it's unreasonable or disadvantageous to me, but other than that, I've looked out for you girls. If you're going to act like you're better than Kyunghee just because she auditioned for The Rail then what about me?" 

That question turned the whole room quiet. 

"I've worked at The Rail before coming here," Jiwon said with an indifferent attitude. 

The confession shocked everyone present in the dressing room. People knew that Jiwon was a senior in the industry and that she had powerful backings, but nobody really knew anything else about her past before Playlights. 

"What makes you think you're better than the girls at The Rail, Hayoung? Because you only need to dance in sexy clothes and not entertain men as old as your grandpa?" Jiwon snickered, allowing the question to linger in the air. 

Kyunghee stared at Jiwon with reverence. Jiwon didn't have to share anything about her personal life. More than anyone, Kyunghee understood the sacredness of privacy. She was someone who was severely private about the intimate details in her life after all. For twenty-six years, she has lived under judging eyes of the prejudiced. Even though a stripper was still a job society discriminated against, it had somewhat less stigma than being known as a prostitute or even a high-class escort. The line as very fine, but it was there. 

Hayoung's face was contorted with discontent, but she held it back as she abruptly stood up. Looking at Jinseon, she said curtly, "Let's go." 

The two of them headed back out, heels after heels. 

Kyunghee said to Jiwon, "Unnie, you didn't have to let them know about your past." 

Jiwon's expression softened, shrugging. "It doesn't bother me whether they know or not. The reason I haven't said it before is because I didn't feel like it." Leaning closer to Kyunghee, Jiwon said, "This is a nice club, a great club, but I don't get my Client List just from the customers here." 

"Then—" 

Suddenly the door to the dressing room sprung open again and their manager, Min Bongseok, stood clearly in front of their view. He was a rather chunky man with a bit of a beer belly underneath the white collar shirt and black suit. He had nondescript features, though he looked somewhat flushed at the moment. However, what he lacked in looks, he made up for his managerial and salesman skills, particularly the sucking-up-to-rich-generation-kids kind of capabilities. With the exception of Jiwon, he treated all of his staff as just another number unless you were his favorites. 

"Jiwon! He's—he's here! What are you still doing sitting here? The VIP guest is here!" Bongseok huffed excitedly and nervously tapped his expensive watch on the left wrist. It was the only expensive watch that he owned, hence he was always first to show it off, even without being asked. "We can't let him wait for too long!" 

Jiwon sighed and put down her make-up powder. She stood up and walked towards him. "You should really calm down," Jiwon commented after assessing him. 

Bongseok took her advice immediately as he inhaled a few breaths to calm his nerves. "Ok, I'm good. Oh!" He stopped and turned to Kyunghee and reminded, "You're up on the stage in five." With that, he followed Jiwon to the front of the house, leaving Kyunghee alone in the dressing room as everyone else had vacated by now. 

She grabbed a white-lace feathery mask that matched her outfit for the day and put it on, so that most of her face was covered. She assessed herself one last time. 

Afterwards, she headed out to work.