Ha Neul woke up with a splitting headache to the smell of alcohol and perfume, a saccharine mixture.  It made her want to barf even more.

 

She stared blankly at the white ceiling.  Where in the world was she?  She couldn’t have drunk enough to merit her a trip to the hospital.

 

Joo Ri walked into the room, wearing an oversized t-shirt and Pokemon pajama bottoms.  Well, she sure knew how to dress down.  “You’re awake?”

 

Despite her pounding migraine, Ha Neul managed a “Where am I?”

 

Joo Ri laughed.  “You’re at the host club, in our employee lounge.”

 

For a second there, Ha Neul thought she was crazy.  “How’d I get here?”

 

“I had to drag you along.  Girl, you really know how to drink.  Four bottles.  My god, most of them stop at two before they get drunk or feel like puking.”  She placed a hot towel on Ha Neul’s forehead and handed a bottle of pills to her.  “This’ll make it better.”

 

“Thanks,” Ha Neul responded weakly.

 

“And Hyo Ri says you can start tonight so get better soon,” Joo Ri informed, about to leave the room.  “Oh yeah, and before that, we need to doll you up a little….because…”  She looked Ha Neul up and down unsatisfactorily before leaving.

 

Ha Neul looked down at her clothes, trying to evaluate herself the same way Joo Ri had.  Nothing was wrong, she thought.  Perhaps she didn’t put on as much makeup (or any) as the rest of the girls here and she didn’t have any complementary accessories, but she couldn’t be all that bad.

 

 

But apparently she was.

 

“God Bella, were you a hobo in your previous life?  Your fashion sense .  Oh wait, even hobos have better taste than you,” Joo Ri commented, frustrated, as she helped curl Ha Neul’s hair.

 

Ha Neul tugged at her mini dress.  It was short enough to pass off as a top.  Where were the pants?  Up until now, she had accepted everything they had asked for.  She had drunk bottles of wine.  SHE HAD DARED TO CONTINUE IN THIS PLACE.  But the attire they wanted her to wear…Ha Neul felt like she was betraying Jun Su more than she already was.

 

“We’re sending you off as a companion with the other hostesses.  Wherever they go, you go—unless you happen to catch the eye of some customer.  And in that case, you go to that customer.”

 

Ha Neul nodded unhappily.  Joo Ri was making hostesses sound like slave girls.  Not cool.

 

 

Ha Neul raised the glass to her customer’s lips slowly and seductively.  She placed her hand on his chest and her head on his shoulder.  “Tell me more,” she whispered, refilling his glass with champagne.  This was so stupid, she thought.  As a rookie, they didn’t dare let her associate herself with the gang members in the back of the club.  No, according to Joo Ri, that was only for the more experienced hostesses, the more sought after ones.  Who knew what a novice could do to piss off those guys.  Instead, they stuck her in the front---with the greasy business men who cheated on their wives.

 

So Ha Neul, or as the club knew her, Bella, would have to move up quickly before she could even dream of serving Quiksilver.  But from the looks of it, not everybody seemed to know that Club Seoul was owned by the gang.  Joo Ri couldn’t tell her anything about the gang except that they usually sat in the back.  Of course, so very helpful.  Was that how they were making money?  Keeping a low profile to not drive away the civilians?  Ha Neul sipped her glass as she pondered over it, careful to refill the customer’s glass whenever it was emptied.

 

 

“Bella,” Hyo Ri motioned for her.  “First day at work and you’re already being requested,” she said proudly.  “Go over and accompany Mr. Cho.”  She pointed to a lonely table in the front of the store.

 

Ha Neul nodded and headed over to the customer.

 

“Hello Mr. Cho,” she greeted with a smile.  Her eyes widened as she realized who he was.  “We keep bumping into each other,” Ha Neul chuckled.

 

He returned the smile and patted the seat next to him.  “Except this time, you don’t have a suitcase, luggage girl.”

 

She took a seat.  “I’ll have you know, I have a name---not ‘luggage girl’.”

 

“Really?  What’s your name?” he asked, amused.

 

“Lee Ha---Lee Bella.  Just call me Bella, Mr. Cho.”

 

“Then in that case, just call me Jae Kyung.”

 

 

 

And it was then that Ha Neul decided she’d always like this Cho Jae Kyung.  It didn’t matter that he didn’t fit in with the rest of her customers.  He was clean-cut and proper (though his tie was a little too tight around his neck)---unlike those cheating geezers.  They could crack jokes at each other.  But most importantly, she could be herself, or at least more than she could with everybody else.

 

“So what will it be tonight?” she asked.

 

“Four bottles of red wine?” he teased.  “I still can’t believe you downed all that on your first night.”

 

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Ha Neul tried defending herself but to no avail.  She had just naturally grabbed for them to drown out her sorrows.

 

Jae Kyung crossed his arms as he settled into the plush leather cushion.  “You know you were crying last night, right?”

 

Ha Neul froze.  Had she said anything inappropriate?  “Oh really?”

 

“…Do you want to talk about it?” he asked lightly.  He didn’t know why; but there was something in this luggage girl that he wanted to protect.  She was different from the other hostesses he had seen come and go from this club.  It wasn’t her physical appearance; the hostesses had been sure to blend her in.  But the way she acted was different.  She wasn’t after just money.  It seemed like she hated the job, but she worked so hard to catch a customer’s attention.  Was she after a way to save herself?

 

My boyfriend just died no thanks to the people who run this place, she wanted to say.  But instead, Ha Neul could only manage a “I should be asking you that.”

 

He swirled the wine in his glass slowly.  “Hm…I’m just tired.”

 

And so they sat there, enjoying each other’s company, before Ha Neul was called off to the next table for a champagne call.

 

 

 

 

After a few more visits from Jae Kyung, Ha Neul realized he wasn’t much of a talker, and yet, he came so often.  If she were him, she would’ve just bought an expensive bottle of wine at the local winery and gone home to enjoy it—AND save lots of money.  He didn’t even really need her companionship.  They’d exchange the standard “how are you doing today” and fall back into silence.  She would sit uncomfortably a few feet away from him, as she watched her colleagues lie comfortably in their companion’s arms.  Truthfully, Ha Neul wasn’t even sure if he came to relax after a long day of work or just to observe the surroundings.  Sometimes she liked to imagine he was also a policeman working undercover, sitting in the club and observing the gang dealings.  She liked to imagine that he was a good person too.

 

Of course, in the end, she knew better than to let her imagination run around freely.  Just because she worked at Quiksilver’s club didn’t mean everyone was here for gang-related business.  Maybe he was just an ordinary single businessman, successful but lonely.

 

“…Can I ask you something?” Ha Neul piped up, sneaking a quick glance at Jae Kyung.

 

He was back again, for the nth time, but something was a little off this time.  Jae Kyung didn’t seem too happy today.  He stared at the back of the club before taking a sip of his Amarone: one of the more bitter Italian red wines.  Frankly, Ha Neul was quite pleased with herself; she had only been at the club for a couple of weeks, and she was already familiar with many of the drinks.  He shifted in his seat, sitting a little taller.  “In exchange I get to ask you a question, Bella.”

 

It wasn’t like there was much she could lose, so she shot him a question.  “What do you do as a living?”  So it was probably an invasive question, but sitting in silence all the time made her restless.  Sure he was one of Ha Neul’s more generous patrons, but she hardly knew him.

 

He placed the wine glass down and cleared his throat.  Well this wasn’t looking too good.  “Um…do you really want to know?”

 

Jae Kyung paused, and Ha Neul held her breath.  He couldn’t be some mafia leader, right?

 

“Well I’m actually a Harvard graduate who’s been flown in by the CIA to spy on the North Koreans, except the pilot made a mistake and landed me here in South Korea instead.”  He grinned smugly to himself.  “My turn.”

 

If she could, Ha Neul would’ve smacked the grin off his face.  Too bad she couldn’t.  “That wasn’t even a real answer!” she chided.

 

“Nah, I wouldn’t do that to you,” he teased, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.  “I’m an investor amongst other things.”   Now that made a lot more sense.  Ha Neul unconsciously heaved a sigh of relief.  He was safe.  “What’s your real name?”

 

His question had caught her off guard; Ha Neul hadn’t expected him to know she was working under an alias.  “Lee Ha Neul.  Bella was a name someone had given to me…”

 

“Hm…I think Ha Neul suits you more, as pure as the clear blue sky.”  He looked at her confused face and offered an explanation, “You don’t instinctively answer to Bella like most people would to their own names.  So I just thought it wasn’t your real one.”  Props for being observant.  Maybe he really was undercover.

 

“You can call me that, if you like,” she suggested.  “But I don’t know about the sky being pure.  It’s kind of polluted, if you know what I mean.”  Ha Neul cracked a smile.

 

“Get me a glass of champagne, will you?  In the mean time, I’m going to the men’s room.”  He stood up from his seat and headed towards the back, where the bathroom was.  He was so courageous, bravely weaving through the crowd of Quicksilver gang members.  If he were any other normal civilian, he would have been scared out of his wits.  She motioned to Joo Ri for a glass of champagne, glad he had changed his bitter Amarone for a sweeter, dryer drink.  She supposed he was feeling better.

 

Ha Neul settled comfortably in her seat, waiting for Jae Kyung to return.  Today she had made some progress in getting to know him!  She made a note to ask him about his day, but all was forgotten when she saw the new customer at the door.

 

Her jaw dropped.  “Jun Su?” Ha Neul gasped.