Loud beats reverberated in the club, the sound pounding in their ears as they tried to make out what their supervisor was saying. The man was pale and there were weird bruises on his neck but for someone who did not look very healthy, he had a surprisingly loud voice.

“I have no idea why Madame recruited so many men for our hostess club…” he commented as he rubbed his neck.

“We will not have men serving the soldiers and so…the both of you,” he pointed at Lu Han and Baekhyun.

“will be bartenders whereas for you two,” he gestured at Chanyeol and Lay.

“odd jobs.”

“As for you,” he looked at Hae Ri lecherously.

“you will be a waitress.”

Hae Ri smiled serenely but all she wanted to do was gouge the man’s eyes out.

“Alright, we’ll open in half an hour’s time. Get to your places, you can learn the ropes from the people there!” he announced and clapped his hands to shoo them away.

Chanyeol gave Hae Ri a little wink before he headed to the back with the rest of the guys. Hae Ri was about to walk away when she suddenly felt a hand at her tailbone. A warm breath hit her bare neck and Hae Ri’s body jerked.

“I’ll take you to where you’re supposed to go,” the supervisor murmured into her ear.

He pushed her slightly to get her to walk. The flower vases on the tables vibrated as Hae Ri tried to control her emotions. It took every ounce of her willpower to not kill him right there and then.

As the club was not opened yet, the hostesses were still loitering around. Their job only begins when the soldiers arrive after all. Hae Ri could feel their condescending gazes piercing through her like arrows as the supervisor brought her past them. Some smirked at her in a malicious way while others snorted at her. The power structure in a hostess club was obvious. The hostesses were way on top of the hierarchy whereas a waitress is down below. Their responsibilities were vastly different and in such a place, the amount of money you can earn for the club equates to the amount of power you have.

Hae Ri tightened her fists. She hated being looked down upon. Back at the NSA academy, her childhood was stained with her inferiority complex. She was one of the only few female students there and since there was no separate training for the females, they had to do whatever the boys had to do. As time went by, the rest of the female students dropped out but Hae Ri did not, or specifically could not. She would have nowhere to go and thus, she endured all the disdainful looks she would often receive from the rest of the students and slowly made her way up. However, the experience had detrimentally impacted her self esteem and caused her to close herself up. At times like this, her defence mechanism automatically starts up.

Hae Ri carried the tray of drinks slowly towards a table of soldiers, remembering to sway her hips as she did so. She had been scolded long and harsh enough when she had served her first few tables as emotionless and rigidly as a robot. As she walked towards the table, she could catch snippets of the soldiers’ conversation.

“Bah! Those vampires are so weak, I could crush them with my little finger!”

“We are obviously winning the war! Those things hardly even come out anymore!”

“This war is going to end soon. I give it another few more weeks!”

Hae Ri was surprised by what she was hearing. There was no way the Bloodsuckers could be depleted so easily, no freaking way. It did not sound like the soldiers were mindlessly boasting to the hostesses as well. They sounded sober. Something was off, there was only one way this war could end and it was when they reversed the Unlocking Blood Ritual.

“I wonder how much things have changed since we last saw civilisation…We need to acquire the last clue fast.” Hae Ri thought quietly to herself as she placed the tray down on the table.

She courteously placed each drink of alcohol before each soldier, remembering to keep a small smile on at all times. When she took the last drink off the tray, a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed hers. Hae Ri froze. The soldier laughed at her reaction and he took the drink with his other hand while he kept her hand in his. The other soldiers were interested in seeing a new face as well and they kept their licentious eyes on Hae Ri.

“Why is a girl like you serving us drinks instead of sitting with us?” the soldier asked huskily as he tried to pull Hae Ri closer.

Hae Ri resisted. Though she was lean, she was strong and could have twisted the soldier’s wrist if she wanted to. But that would just land her in trouble. She used her other hand to pull the soldier’s grip off her and hurriedly got to her feet and bowed before walking away. The soldiers were not satisfied with her response and were about to express their unhappiness but the hostesses tried to appease them with drinks and some sweet talking. These soldiers were their clients after all and they would not let any other girls take them.

Hae Ri needed to take a breather and the only place that came to mind was the washroom. She quickened her steps to her destination as she rubbed her hands nervously. It was downright derogatory. She had been a secret agent for so long and had taken up so many different kinds of undercover missions but this was the first role that had taken so much of her willpower to carry out. She felt tainted but the worst thing was this was the only mission that she could not afford to fail. There was no giving up. They had to find that tattoo.

A loud shattering sound brought Hae Ri back to reality.

It was late morning when the club was void of customers. Presumably, the soldiers had gone back to their duties. There was only so much time for entertainment. Madame had decided to throw a welcome party for the new employees and so, even though the club was closed, loud music and noise filled the place. The newbies were uncomfortable with the idea but they had no say anyway. The hostesses were throwing themselves at the new good-looking men. Somehow or another Lu Han, Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Lay were surrounded by the hostesses, with man-eating eyes, on the couches. The hostesses kept trying to get the guys to drink but the men were very awkward with the attention and could only stay still. Lu Han was sending a telepathy of distress to Baekhyun and Chanyeol whereas the latter two were looking around for Hae Ri.

Hae Ri walked away from the crowded area and headed towards the section where the waitresses were sitting amongst themselves. She could feel the supervisor’s eyes on her but she blocked him out. There were more urgent issues for her to settle. A time when everyone could sit around and talk was the best time for information gathering. When Hae Ri was nearing the group of waitresses, they looked up at her with guarded eyes. It was clear that they were an exclusive group and it would not be easy to simply join their circle. Hae Ri walked away from them to join a lone waitress who was sitting by herself. She was the one that was slapped by Madame just now.

“Hey,” Hae Ri casually greeted as she sat down beside her.

The waitress looked up from the drink that she was examining way too closely and the shock in her eyes was evident. She shyly bowed her head and gave Hae Ri a small smile. Maybe it was because of the way she reacted, Hae Ri instantly felt some sympathy for her. Hae Ri put on her most welcoming smile and stuck out her hand,

“Nice to meet you, I’m Hae Ri.”

The girl stared at Hae Ri’s hand for a moment and then gingerly shook it. She replied in a small voice,

“My name is Mari.”

The girl before her was probably about her age. Mari had a big pair of black old-fashioned spectacles on and with her bangs, she looked very much like a school-girl. She did not look like someone who should belong here. Regardless, there was something very endearing about the way her eyes darted between Hae Ri and the drink in her hands as she contemplated about how to break the awkward silence.

“Ar-are you guys…refugees?” Mari finally managed to say.

Hae Ri nodded and used the story that the group had decided on.

“We came from Seoul. The shelter that we were at was invaded by vampires and we were lucky to be able to escape. Since then, we have been moving around so as to stay alive but we had run out of food and water. This place seemed safe, with all the military personnel around, so we just decided to stay put for the time being,” Hae Ri rattled on naturally.

“I see…” Mari said in response.

Some silence ensued between the both of them.

“I thought that we had arrived at Donghae…But it seems like many things have changed…” Hae Ri began, hoping that Mari would respond to her uncertainty.

Mari gave her a small smile and explained,

“Yes, this place used to be Hongdae. I have lived here ever since I was a little child but when the war began, due to its location, the military had taken over the area and reformed it to what it is now – Soldier Town. This is a typical army entertainment region during times of war.”

“I see…” Hae Ri replied.

“So we are at the right place after all…” Hae Ri mentally added.

“It must have been difficult, wandering around from Seoul all the way here…especially being the only girl in the group,” Mari commented.

Hae Ri chuckled.

“It was tough…But being the only girl was not a problem. I grew up surrounded with boys anyway,” Hae Ri said.

Mari’s eyes widened and Hae Ri could see what the issue was.

“I could never imagine that…I-I’m not very good around them…” Mari bashfully admitted.

“With boys?” Hae Ri asked.

Mari carefully nodded.

“Maybe I can help you with that,” Hae Ri assured while patting Mari lightly on the shoulder.

Madame sashayed up to Chanyeol and crooned,

“Want to have a drink with me?”

She batted her eyelashes and pursed her lips. Chanyeol felt goosebumps all over and was about to carefully reject her offer when he remembered what they had discussed during their break.

“Since the tattoo that we have to find is the exact replica of the one we saw on the tree, the red lotus on Madame’s back seems to be the correct one. Let’s find out more about her,” Lu Han had suggested.

“No worries,” Baekhyun had added.

“Mr Park had said that we would be able to identify the tattoo when we see it and considering how we found the previous one, I think that it would be very natural. We can do this.”

Chanyeol nodded his head and followed Madame to a secluded part in the club. She gestured for Chanyeol to sit at a small table while she went to get the drinks. When she came back, she placed a bottle of alcohol before Chanyeol and herself before settling in a seat opposite him. She bent forward so that her cleavage was in full view. As the table was very small, by leaning forward, she placed her face just a few inches away from Chanyeol’s. Chanyeol maintained his eye contact with Madame and not once did his gaze falter. She felt a little miffed that her charms were not working on him but his scent made up for it.

“A human Keeper’s blood is indeed of a much higher grade. I can’t wait to sink my fangs into his neck…” she thought.

“So…why is a vampire like you doing here?” Chanyeol asked straightforwardly and leaned back into his chair. He was feeling very uncomfortable with a woman, other than Hae Ri, placing her face so close to his. The fact that it was Madame made it even worse. He did not like the look in her eye.

Madame giggled at his bold question.

“Well, it’s all thanks to you guys isn’t it?” she replied sassily.

Chanyeol frowned.

“What you guys have done at Hong Seong had spread far and wide to all the other vampires. We are now no longer afraid to show ourselves before the military. We know that the soldiers would not mistake us for those Bloodsuckers and exterminate us. We can live our lives as normal humans,” Madame explained.

“How do you know who we are?” Chanyeol demanded. How could she have known?

“Why do you think that I am the Madame of this hostess club?” she purred in response while rubbing the side of her shin against Chanyeol’s leg.

Lay kept his eyes on her. He could not help it. He had found her to be enigmatically attractive the first time he had saw her and since then, she had always been on his mind. He noticed her every movement, her every action. He saw her playful expression turn to one of disappointment when Chanyeol stood up and left. His heart sank. Why was he feeling this way?

Madame noticed his gaze and a seductive smile spread across her lips as she focused her attention on him. She crossed her legs such that the slit of her dress rode up to her upper-thigh. Lay gulped. She pointed a finger at him and wiggled it, gesturing for him to come. Lay quickly got to his feet and went to her.

A much longer update as promised~

Ok, this chapter had quite a number of suggestive descriptions but I hope that yall will be able to understand it's because of the nature of the work + the place that they're at that the characters are acting like that ><

Anyway thank you to squeakumz for subscribing <3

ok, 1 hour and 45 mins more before I officially turn 19 hahaha