ONE
I always hated my job. But when you grow up in a poor family, it’s kind of hard to pay for a Master’s Degree in mathematics. Hence the reason for dancing on a pole every night of the week trying to pay off bills and the thrill of it all, not letting my brother find out. He would make me quit in a heartbeat. He owns his own café and of course I could always work with him if it wasn’t for me being so clumsy. He won’t even let me near the kitchen in our two-bedroom home. I arrive to work at approximately 10 pm every night. But tonight I had been required to be to go in at nine. So at 8:58 I walked into the overly hot building to be wrapped in the stench of alcohal, cigarettes and sex. The club is still empty due to it not opening for another 2 hours. “Ah, Namjoon, I see you got my message.” I was greeted by the owner of the club who was way to cheery, everyone knows he’s only in it for the money. “Why did you need me early?”“We have a new dancer. You are going to teach him the routine.” I grumbled under my breath, letting out a long sigh. “Yeah, sure thing.” Per usual, my voice was laced with sarcasm. He patted me on the back a pearly smile plastered on his lips. “Glad we could come to an agreement.” I rolled my eyes and walked to the dressing room. A boy with soft features and light pink on his cheeks sat in a chair clutching a small bag. “Hi, I am Namjoon. Austin told me I am helping you with the routine. If you are a quick learner I will also help you with your personal routine. What’s your name kid? You don’t look that old, why are you working at a place like this?”“I’m J-Jungkook. But people call me Bunny.” I watched silently as he completely avoided the question about why he was working here.“Well, Jungkook. I don’t know why you chose this job. But you have to get broken in sooner than later. The people that come in here are nothing but nasty perverts who will literally pay for a lap dance. You can say no. But if the customer complains Austin will be upset and that’s the last thing you want. Come, you need to get changed.” I say waving my hand for him to follow. I walk to the costume closest and find a few outfits for the boy. “These 4 look like they will fit. You are pretty petite from what I can tell. You can change as many times as you want. Only problem is that customers usually don’t like when their favorite dancers change often. So I would stick to 2 or less outfits.” I hand him the four outfits. One filled with a red lace bralette top, tied in with thick red fishnets, a garter belt and extremely revealing white shorts. The next was a low cut sheer black tank top with tight leather pants with belts wrapped around the legs to define the thighs more. The 3rd outfit was a soft sheer white top with a low cut and blue thigh highs and a single pair of underwear due to the shirt being long and baggy. The final outfit consisted of a yellow leather top and black underwear style shorts paired with yellow fishnets.
He takes them looking at them not much of a look on his face. “How did you choose an outfit?” I think for a moment with a blank look. “I uh just tried them on and wore the one that made me more confident. Jungkook, this isn’t a job for someone who isn’t comfortable with their body. If you want to dance find a job and dance teacher or assistant.”
“I can’t I have to do this. I already have 3 jobs. I can’t pick up another one during the day.” He muttered I watched as he slipped out of the thing shirt he had on and slipped the head top on and pulling the shorts up his thin frame. I watched patiently as he tried to pull the shorts down in the back a ways. “That’s as far as they’ll go. Maybe you should try this one. It's less revealing it will just be harder to dance.” He nods taking the outfit from me as he slips off the shorts and pulls the leather pants up that define his perfectly framed thighs. He pulls the loose top over his head. I grabbed the leather belts meant to go around his thighs. “I’m going to put these on try to hold still.” I wrap the belts around his left leg and 2 on the other. I stand admiring the look. “You look good they will definitely like you.” He just nods. I let out a sigh and leave the costume closet and walk back to the dressing room deciding I will change before we open. “Now the routine we have about an hour and a half. You probably won’t have a personal routine for a few more weeks but sits something we can work on.” I untie my shoelaces taking the shoes off and walk to the curtain that leads to the stage. “I will show you how to do the routine then we will work through it together. Sound good!”
"Yes.” I nod my head walking to the stereo. I turned on Earned It by The Weekend waiting for the voice to come in. I wrapped an arm around the pole wrapping my body around the pole as the music started. I took my free arm sliding it down my body as the sensual beat filled the room. As the chorus began I left the pole and smoothly slid down to the floor. Letting the music completely take over my body. I danced perfectly to the beat having done the dance several times before. My body moving in sensual ways that would have any man on his knees. As the song came to an end I finished up the routine and turned to place my right hand above my head onto the pole and my other hand on my hip and the song faded out. I heard small claps from the small boy. “That was really good.” He said rather quietly. “I’ve done it for along time. It's ok if you don’t get it on the first try. I want you to try without my help so I can see what you picked up. ” He nodded walking onto the stage. I restarted the song and watched the boy quietly my arms crossed over my chest. I watched the first third of the dance which he seemed to have gotten down perfectly towards the middle it began to sloppy and in the end he messed up a few moves but generally got it. “That was good. During the chorus, you began to get a little sloppy. So let’s try those parts again. The ending and beginning was good but there are a few things you could perfect.”
“Okay.” He said with a small smile. I glance at the clock hoping he has time to get it down before people show up. “We have 45 minutes to get the majority of it down then I have to teach you how to make drinks. Let's try the chorus without the music then we will try it with the music.” I led him onto the stage again. “I want you to go through the chorus part and if you make a mistake I will correct you. Ready?” He just looked at me and nodded. He began the chorus and within the first few steps his feet got tangled and he lost his balance for a moment before regaining it. “Do that part again,” I say looking at his feet. “Your footwork was off. You see how you lost your balance. That's because you moved your left foot over your right before you finished the right footwork. It’s like this. Watch my feet.” I slid my right foot over the stage planting it firmly but quickly to the ground before moving my left over the top of right and dropping to the ground. I stood back up and looked at him. “That's how it's supposed to be. You have to firmly have a hold of your weight with the right foot before you even think about moving the left or you will lose balance and not do the move correctly. Try again but continue the dance.” He began the loves at the beginning and dropping to the ground gracefully as I had shown him. ‘Good he knows how to listen.’ I stopped him a few more times to fix things but since time ran out he had it down enough to pass by. “Drinks are really explanatory. You’ll be serving in your outfit before and after your routine.” I say taking out four glasses placing them on a tray handing it to him. Walk around the club and try not to drop them and do it with one hand. You have 30 minutes. In 15 we will fill the glasses with water. I wipe down tables and pull the chairs down placing them on the floor in the rightful places. I walk in front of the new dancer a few times to test his balance. “Good job, that was good. Now let’s see if you can do with them full of liquid.” I put ice in the glasses filling them with water and handing the tray back to him. “Good luck.” He begins walking around again. Austin comes out of his small office and looks at the boy.“Is he good?” He asks me not looking away from him.“He’s a quick learner. He’s doing a good job.”
“Well, he better be perfect by opening we have important people coming in.” He says with a colder tone. “He will do fine. He’s new cut him some slack.” Austin glared at me with cold eyes. Before I knew it I was shoved against the wall his hand wrapped tightly around my neck. “If it’s not perfect I won’t take it out on you.” He leans closer to my face and growls in my ear. “I will take it out on him. Do you understand me?” His hand growing tighter around my neck my vision getting spotty. “Y-yes.” I choke out submitting under his tight grip. “Yes, what?”
“Yes, s-sir” His hand releases me as I bend over attempting to regain my breath and rid of the dots dancing in my vision. “He better be, we open in ten minutes go change.” I watch as he retreats to the small office located in the VIP hallway. I look around after regaining my composure. Jungkook is looking at me with wide eyes. “Are you ok?” He asked setting the tray down and walking to where I am standing.“Yeah, he was just messing around don’t worry about it. Just go practice the routine a few times before we open. The other dancers will help you if you have any questions.” I walk to the back grabbing my bag. I change into my outfit. A loose white see-through tee shirt that hangs off my shoulder. A pair of black shorts that hide under the shirt paired with pink thigh highs. I pull the dancing shoes on my feet. Run my hand through my hair and take one last look in the mirror. Once I decide I look acceptable I walk to the floor and grab a tray of drinks. I serve several drinks over the next hour until the clock reaches 12 AM. I hand my tray to the dancer who just finished his routine, whose name I think is Mark. I take my place on the floor of the dark stage. My head leans back but just as I did I catch a glimpse of a group of 4 men all dressed in different types of suits. One wearing a flashy suit jacket with black slacks and a white button-down. The other 2 dressed in black head to toe. And the one in the middle who wears a dark red suit with striking blonde hair. He radiated dominance that sent shivers down my spine as the other 3 followed him to the back taking a seat. I took a breath and took my eyes off the group of men. “Gentlemen please welcome Doe.” Austin’s voice rings through the club. As his voice fades out the music starts and the lights turn on.
