Taemin shut the door to the apartment behind him and groaned a little as he took his shoes off.  It had been a busy night.  He threw his coat onto a hook and walked the 5 steps to the livingroom, where he found Key on the couch with an open laptop sitting on his stretch pants-clad thighs.  There was also a camera on the table and several colored drawings and sketches laid out.

"Anyong," Key greeted distractedly, eyes still on his computer as he waved a little.

"Anyong."  Taemin went to the bedroom and changed out of his work clothes, then wandered back into the livingroom and took a seat in the papasan round chair next to the couch.

"How was work?"  Key asked around the pencil he was chewing.

"Not bad," Taemin replied, massaging his hands.  "There was some alcoholic guy there that kept me busy for awhile, ordering a drink every time I turned around, until he had to practically be carried out of there.  He tipped really well, though."

Key giggled.  "Real alcoholics are a rarity at the club; it's too expensive.  He thought you were cute, silly."

Taemin rolled his eyes and shook his head, his mouth tilting up at the corner.  "He was pretty cute, himself, but I digress.  Anyway, how was your day off?"

"Pretty good."  Key put down his pencil and stretched his arms above his head with languor.  "Got a lot done today."

"What are you doing?"  Taemin asked.  He inclined his head toward the drawings and camera.  "What is all of that?"

"They're sketches."  Key sat up and began gathering them all.  He handed them over to Taemin, who leafed through them with appreciation.  "I'm putting together clothing designs; I'd like to launch my own line someday.  I won't be a stripper forever-- I have bigger plans for myself."

Taemin nodded in admiration of both his senior and his talented sketches.  Then his brow furrowed as a question struck him and tumbled from his mouth.  "How did you end up as a stripper to begin with, anyway?"

Key arched his scarred brow.  "Hm?"

The piercing, skeptical eyes on him, Taemin blushed, looking down.  "Ch-chwesonghamnida.  It... it's none of my busin--"

"I was a dumb kid that made a lot of mistakes," Key interjected bluntly.  He sighed and reached for his mug of tea on the table.  "I was a college kid, like you, but I hated the courses I was taking.  My family wouldn't let me study anything I wanted; they made me take a bunch of business and accounting and other bull classes I didn't want to take.

"I was so bored and miserable that I started partying.  A lot.  A few missed classes turned into me skipping them all completely, and I was kicked out."

"Omo..."  Taemin's eyes were wide.  Imagining how his own parents would've reacted was a terrifying thought.  "I bet your family was so angry."

"Oh-ho, were they!"  Key couldn't help but laugh.  "I thought my father was going to clean my clock when he found out!  But they wanted to save face with the rest of the family and their socialite friends, so they offered to put me in another school.  The problem was that I still would've had to take the same courses; go for the same major.  I told them if I had to take those damn courses again, I'd use the textbook pages to wipe my ."

Taemin's eyes were nearly as big as the 'O' of his mouth when his jaw dropped.  "W-what happened next?"  He sputtered, on the edge of his seat.

Key tilted his head, brows raising and lips quirking in a facial shrug.  "There was a falling-out between us and I left home shortly thereafter.  I bounced around from friend to friend for awhile, but that well always runs dry.  I had it pretty rough for awhile.  I took a stripping job out of desperation, and worked a few different, ty places before I landed at Club MVP."

Taemin fell back into his chair, floored.  "Do your parents know what you do?"

Key nodded as he drank deeply from the cup, savoring the hot liquid.  "Yeh, they do.  They don't like it, and they disapprove of my life choices, but we still talk periodically."

"Well, that's good."

Key jerked a shoulder.  "Our conversations are a bit shallow and stiff, but it beats them completely disowning me and severing ties."

Taemin tilted his head side to side, lips puckering cutely as he silently agreed.  "So... how did they react when they found out you... liked boys?"

Key favored him with an impish smile.

"That's a story for another day."

** A/N:

Well, now we know how Key came to be a stripper in the first place. :P

Not sure what to say for now, except that I hope you enjoyed it. ^^  If you did, don't forget to comment!  **