Myungsoo entered backstage with a wide smirk on his face. He knew what he had to do in order to make that girl swallow her words. That proved to be harder than he expected. He didn't get the freedom to choose the costume he had to wear.

"Here" The jacket he got was sparkly. "And the pants" They were not exactly what he had in mind.

"They're ugly" The girl shrugged.

"We don't have men dancing" She smirked tauntingly. "You're not going to back down just because you don't like the clothes, are you?" She was really sly. Myungsoo glared at her before he looked at the clothes. He took a deep breath before he grabbed them and went to change.

 

On the other side, Dongwoo was having a different style of fun. The girl who got him through the back door decided to show him what a bad girl was actually like.

"I don't think this is a good idea" He noticed the utensils on the drawer and immediately got cold feet.

“Relax, customer. I'm not going to use those on you" He sighed in relief. "I'm going to use these" He raised his head and looked at her. She was swindling a pair of handcuffs around. He froze.

In no time, Dongwoo found himself half and handcuffed to the bed. The girl had a mask on so he wasn't sure how she looked. Heck, he didn't know if it was the same who got him there.

"Now, how should I call you?" She asked after she hovered over him.

"Dong-" She narrowed his eyes at him and snapped her whip. Dongwoo gulped.

"No real names in Chaussure Rouge" She leaned in and traced his lips. He watched her closely. "You are quite innocent for how confident you appear" Her eyes were entrancing. He couldn't find the right words to respond to her.

"You're intimidating" She blinked. Once she registered what he said, she started to laugh.

"You know, people like to lie to themselves. They learn to dominate when the truth is they want to be dominated" Dongwoo shook his head.

"I'd like none" She chuckled and trapped him in between her arms. She trailed her hand down his chest to his belt. He was watching everything without a word.

"You don't get to do this often" His breathing became heavy when her hand dropped south. "You're getting some great excitement out of this. You want to be dominated" Dongwoo glanced at her hand before his eyes moved to her face.

"What are you going to do?" His tone was just another proof that he was getting some expectations. She smirked.

"That depends. What makes you special?" She leaned closer to his ear. "What can you give me in exchange?" She whispered seductively. Dongwoo gulped. He wasn't getting out of there soon and he wasn't sure he had any will left.

 

While some of them were having fun or some were simply enjoying their time in the company of women, Sunggyu was like a black hole. Instead of absorbing, he was emanating darkness and annoyance.

The sole reason for that was her: Chaussure Rouge herself. The boss of that local was infuriating and selfish. He was looking for her personal gain out of absolutely anything. He knew that. That trait was inherited in her family. Her brother was pretty much the same.

"What are you doing?" Sunggyu's eyes were locked on her figure. She was talking to some man and he didn't seem to know what personal space meant.

Sungyeol raised an eyebrow and followed Sunggyu's gaze. He saw the mysterious woman again.

"You do know you're staring, right? Very passionately too" Sunggyu didn't change his view. "What's your story anyway?"

"It isn't. That's the problem. She's been running away from me from the first time I confessed" Sungyeol was drinking from his glass of liquor when he spit it out. He started to laugh and took some time to calm down.

"Did you ever think that maybe it's because she doesn't like you back?" Something made sense in Sunggyu's head. He blinked quickly for a few seconds before he got up. Sungyeol watched his leader going towards the woman he liked. She didn't seem happy to see him. Even from distance he could notice how obsessed the leader was with that woman.

"What did I miss?" Sungyeol stared at Sungjong expectantly. "What?" He had such an innocent face for someone who just spent a few hours talking to girls. More than one. Girls, the plural.

"How are you so lucky sometimes?" Sungjong was confused.

"What do you mean?" He was genuinely not getting the point. Sungyeol pointed at the direction Sungjong came from. "Oh! That. One of them was my classmate in High School. She waved at me and called me over. We talked about our lives and things like that" Sungyeol stared at the maknae dumbfounded.

"Are you serious or making fun of me?" Sungjong blinked. "You didn't talk about school memories" The maknae chuckled.

"Not only. We exchanged phone numbers" Sungyeol raised an eyebrow bemusedly. "If we want to hang out later" The maknae added quickly. Sungyeol shook his head.

"Hey. I'm back" Hoya's hair was a little disheveled. The other boys noticed it quickly. "What?" They pointed at the mess in his hair. He tried to keep it cool but he was visibly embarrassed. Sungyeol glanced at the bar and saw the girl Hoya talked to. She was glancing their way and talking to the bartender.

"This place is like a coven. They can't wait to get their hands on us and compel us to do whatever they want" Sungyeol wasn't wrong. But they weren't a coven either.

"I don't see anyone complaining about it" Hoya's statement was true, as well. "We entered willingly" Sungyeol nodded.

"I wonder where the rest are." Sungyeol was curious what exactly they were experiencing at the moment. He couldn't care less if they were alright or not. In that kind of place, it was impossible to be anything but alright.

 

Dongwoo gasped when he felt the whip down his body. Somehow, he ended up in nothing but his boxers. He expected some action but not what she had in mind.

"Now, now. Be a good boy" He whimpered. She got him on all fours.

"I didn't sign up for this" He moaned. Well, he didn't. She grabbed his chin and kissed him. It wasn't anything complicated but it aroused him. The man slipped a hand around her neck and brought her closer.

"That's enough" She whispered against his lips. She got up and traced the whip down his spine. She spanked him quite hard because he actually cried out. "Such a whiny boy?" Her tone changed really fast. "Do you want another round?" He shook his head.

"NO!" That was a pretty loud answer. The girl watched him with amusement.

"Fine. The show is about to begin and dawn is close. You can leave" Dongwoo's head quirked up.

"Really? That's all?" The girl tilted her head to the side and stared at him with those foxy eyes.

"Why? Was I too soft?" Dongwoo shook his head quickly and got up. He was ready to get out when he realized something. He turned around and saw his clothes in her hands.

While he was getting dressed he couldn't but notice her hands. She had a diamond ring on her wedding finger.

"You're married?" He didn't intend to pry into her life and make her uncomfortable. She didn't seem affected by it.

"Not yet. Hopefully never" He frowned. He didn't get to ask her more because she shoved him out.

 

Sunggyu was having issues.

"Can we talk?" She raised an eyebrow when she saw him so agitated. She nodded and they went backstage. They both noticed the weird dressed Myungsoo. She laughed but for Sunggyu, it wasn't new.

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

"Us" She stared blankly.

"I wasn't aware there was an us" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You let me in and then you shove me aside. What do you want me to understand from that?" She seemed taken aback. "I like you. What more do you expect from me?" He hissed. He was really annoyed.

"Nothing. I don't expect anything and I don't need anything" She sighed and grabbed a hand through her hair. "Look Sunggyu, I never responded to your confession because I didn't think I had to. You like me because of who I am at night. I don't remember you coming over by day. You say you know me but you've only talked to my brother about me. We've known each other for a long time but not as friends" He froze. "Tell me, when did we meet and have a normal conversation about our lives?"

"There was once- somewhere-" He trailed. She clicked her tongue and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"You don't like normal Sora. You like Chaussure Rouge; the mysterious mistress who owns this place. Me, you have no idea who I really am" She smiled sadly and left. He watched her go back to her duties speechless.

 

When Sunggyu got at the table, Dongwoo was there. The guys were making fun of his little adventure. Sunggyu didn't feel like joining in.

When Myungsoo walked on stage, everyone remained silent. He was dressed in a very bad Elvis Presley costume. The guitar in his hand wasn't helping either. He gulped and strung his guitar.

He started to sing a soft ballad. The rest of the gang was astonished. It wasn’t the song itself or his voice. It was the passion he was singing it with, in that ugly costume.

“It’s so flashy. More than Hoya’s girly purple sweater” Sungyeol’s statement was correct but it did get him a punch in the ribs; lightly, though. They were friends no matter what.

Myungsoo’s eyes traveled over every face in the crowd. At that hour, he had quite the public. Everyone stopped doing their work just so they could watch him. He was proud of his skills and he knew he could pull that costume off. He had confidence.

But that wasn’t enough. When he finished his little show, he didn’t get applauses. Firstly, he got a wave of silence. That was the moment he started to think that maybe he was too confident to begin with. Afterwards, he heard someone clap in the back. It was Sungjong. He was smiling widely and he even got up. Myungsoo gulped. More people took Sungjong’s example and some women even whistled.

In the end, he didn’t embarrass himself but he didn’t charm the ladies either. He was mediocre.

Once he got off stage, the girl was there. She took the guitar from him and placed it back against the wall.

“So?” She was surprised that he asked her that so quickly. “How was it?”

“You didn’t charm anyone” He gulped. “But it wasn’t bad. I’m impressed” His eyes widened. She just complimented him. “As a reward, I’ll tell you my name”

“Is that all?” He was astonished. He wasn’t curious what her name was. He preferred to have the guitar, truthfully. She chuckled.

“So you don’t want it? Fine” She was ready to leave when he grabbed her arm. She glanced at him over her shoulder and saw him coughing and rubbing his neck nervously.

“What’s-um-your name?” She couldn’t help but giggle to herself.

“Mina” She turned around completely and shook his hand. “I’m Mina”

“Myungsoo” He added quickly, just in case she didn’t just hear his name when he walked on stage.

“Nice to meet you, Myungsoo” She took a step closer to him. “We don’t give our real names in Chaussure Rouge” she whispered in his ear. He frowned.

“So that’s not your name?” She shrugged.

“Maybe. Maybe not. Why don’t you find out?” She smirked and left. Myungsoo remained in a state of bewilderment. He got out of it when he saw the boss coming his way.

“Congratulations. I’m quite impressed you got the guts to wear this” She pointed at his costume while emphasizing the last word. “You’re not half bad, Kim Myungsoo. I have a proposition for you”

“I’m not going to dress in ty clothes and dance cabaret” His response made the woman stare at him before she started to laugh loudly.

“Do you see men dressed like that in here?” He shook his head.

“I said it just in case” She chuckled and leaned in.

“Take that guitar with you. This place is good for relations in the music world. You should keep an eye open, just in case” she whispered. It took a little time for him to register her words.

“Wait, what?” She smiled. It was different than how he imagined her to smile. It didn’t look fishy, like Mina’s. It was sincere and maybe a little innocent. “You’re offering me a job?”

“I’m offering you a chance” She corrected. “It’s up to you if you want to take it or ignore it” She leaned back and winked before she left, as well.

 

Myungsoo changed quickly in the back and grabbed the guitar. When he arrived at the table, the gang was silent.

“Did you enjoy it?” Sunggyu was really angry for a good reason. Myungsoo nodded. “It won’t happen again”

Myungsoo was ready to combat that statement but decided not to. It was obvious from the moment they entered that Sunggyu had some issues with Chaussure Rouge. He didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.

“Where’s Woohyun?”

 

Woohyun woke up on the same bed, in the same room. No one was there anymore and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what happened. He got up and faced The Lovers. He blinked when he started to remember some words. He wasn’t sure what they were supposed to mean or who said them. He brushed it off and left the room. He stumbled down the corridor until he found the exit sign. It was weird. He was sure he didn’t get drunk yet his head was killing him.

When he got to the table, he had to lean against the table.

“Oh, the lost man comes back” Woohyun wasn’t sure who said that remark. His vision was still blurry and the faces were mixing up in front of him. “Woohyun, are you alright?” The guys noticed how their friend was barely standing on his feet.

“It’s time to go back” Woohyun wasn’t sure who said that. It sounded like Sunggyu but it could’ve been Myungsoo. He felt someone wrap a hand around him and help him walk.

“He’s wasted” That was definitely Sungyeol.

“Are you leaving?” That sounded like something the manager would ask his favorite customer. Sunggyu glared at her.

“It’s not over yet” He hissed before he nudged the others to go. She raised an eyebrow and watched the seven men leave. They were quite the guys.