Take You To Heaven

Nina Nesbitt

I've been flying through the clouds alone
Looking for somebody to hold

I wanna take you to heaven
I'm gonna make sure you never think you're here alone

I'm here, I'm here

And I'm not going
'Til you say that you're ready to go
 

Cos I don't ever want to be alone

I wanna show you heaven
So take a deep breath and I'll take you all the way
Just look at me now
Look at me and say
 

---

 

Byulyi’s office was frigid, as it had been since the heater blew out weeks ago. She’d try to get it fixed several times, but their one-man HR department and office manager just scoffed and told her to wear more layers.

 

Since she was a child, and even as she moved through school, she’d expected architecture to be a glamorous job. Open spaces, rows of shiny only-the-best technology. Not these grey, once-beige-and-yellow concrete walls, slightly sticky drafting tables, and second-hand computers. At least it got things done. Besides, there was something charming about it all. Probably.

 

Usually, it didn’t matter much to Byulyi—she rarely noticed any of these things when she worked. The long hours and unwavering enthusiasm for the job blurred it all together. Dingy office or Hollywood movie set—it was all the same to a woman who loved her job as much as Byulyi did.

 

Her job was everything she needed. At least, that’s what she’d been telling herself for the last two years. After strings of bad dates in the neverending search for a real relationship, she chose to commit to her job instead. It wasn’t so bad.

 

She learned to like the routine. Every day was the same.

 

And today—her birthday—was no exception. With the deadline for her draft looming ahead, she had declined all of her friends’ invitations and sequestered herself in the office, scribbling away.

 

“It’s always deadlines with you,” her friends had sighed.

 

Byulyi crumpled a piece of paper into a ball, crushing it with perhaps more strength than necessary, and threw it onto the growing pile that poured out of her wastebasket like black and white lava.

 

Deadlines were important. Sacred. Predictable. She didn’t expect them to understand.

 

Deep in thought, she absentmindedly poked the bobble-head hamster on her desk with the back of her pen. It was going to be a late night, she knew. Her mind drifted in momentary reprieve from work: maybe she would have time to do the laundry tomorrow morning.

 

She hugged her peacoat closer. It always got so much colder in here at night.

 

Her eyes drifted to the cracks beyond her blinds that looked out at the rest of the office. It was dim. Unsurprisingly, everyone else had gone home.

 

It was Friday night, after all.

 

A regular Friday night.

 

At least, it was supposed to be a regular Friday night.

 

Until the bass-heavy music suddenly filled her office jolted her from her thoughts. Her pen fell out of her hands, but she barely had time to react when a woman suddenly sauntered through her office door, clad only in the shortest pair of dark jean shorts and a white top.

 

“Uh—” Byulyi gawped, whatever half-formed thought she had immediately melting until this woman’s intense gaze.

 

What is—

 

Byulyi felt her chair roll, then a warm presence far too close for comfort. A knee nudged her own, then a weight settled into her lap. The jean shorts grinded down to the rhythm of a song that sounded vaguely familiar, brazenly stealing the air from the architect’s lungs.

 

Then, the white top disappeared and Byulyi’s eyes widened. For a long, long moment, she drank in the curves of this woman’s body—the flat stomach, the swell of perfect s ensconced in black lace, the curve of her neck. Wow.

 

Did she just die and go to heaven?

 

By the time she caught herself staring, it was far, far too late. The woman smirked. Byulyi blushed and looked away—this could only be Hyejin’s doing, she thought.

 

Slender fingers gripped her chin.

 

“Eyes on me,” the woman purred.

 

Byulyi’s face was on fire. “W-who are you?” She murmured in an attempt to not pass out.

 

“Your birthday present,” she answered with a wink. “Now sit back and relax.”

 

How was she supposed to relax when the room was suddenly a hundred degrees and—oh, god the room, Byulyi realized in horror. She suddenly shot out of her chair, pushing off and startling the other woman, who fell backward with a yelp, landing on her .

 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Byulyi murmured, reflexively offering a hand.

 

The woman scowled and ignored it, rubbing her and ego as she dusted herself off. She picked up her phone from the floor, hidden beside the speaker near the doorway, and turned the music off. When it was quiet again, the woman whipped around and marched over to jab a finger into Byulyi’s shoulder. “If you weren’t into it, you could’ve just said so.”

 

This woman was quick to anger, she noted glumly.

 

“S-sorry,” Byulyi replied sheepishly, raising her hands in defense. “It’s not that. I-i mean, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just suddenly realized something.” She quickly peeled her coat off and stepped in to drape the coat on the other woman. “My office is way too cold to be dancing in just a bra. Even if it’s your job or something, you’ll catch a cold.”

 

Byulyi then shivered, partly from the sudden chill of the room seeping through her collared shirt, and partly from the incredulous expression on the woman’s face that made her wonder if she looked like an idiot.

 

“Did you just...stop a because you thought I would be...cold?”

 

Byulyi smiled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. “Is that weird?”

 

The woman chuckled, her expression as amused as it was confused. “I don’t know. I’ve never met anyone who would end a striptease with extra clothes, so you tell me.”

 

Still, now that the music was gone and the emotions have simmered, she noticed the woman tugging her jacket closer.

 

She apologized again, out of awful habit. “The heater’s broken,” she explained. “And, um, listen...I’m not sure who put you up to this—actually, no, I know exactly who put you up for this. But, uh, you don’t need to do this. I’m not very much fun, and it’s just...I don’t know. It’s just...yeah...do you, uh, want a tip?” Byulyi snatched her wallet up from the desk and pulled out a couple of the largest notes she had. “You can just say you did it,” she added with a small smile as she extended the money.

 

The woman raised one elegantly groomed brow. “I didn’t do anything. I don’t need your pity, you know,” she said stiffly.

 

At this, Byulyi flushed even redder from embarrassment. Awkwardly, she retracted her arm. “S-Sorry, I guess I...don’t know what to say.”

 

“You apologize a lot, huh?”

 

Byulyi smiled a little. “Force of habit.”

 

The woman softened. “It’s fine,” she sighed. “If anything, I’m just annoyed that you found me so repulsive that you had to cover me up.”

 

The slow smile gave way to a playful glint in the woman’s eyes, but still Byulyi heard herself blurting, “No! You’re beautiful!”

 

Neither said a word while Byulyi’s face continued to burn, stronger than ever.

 

The woman crossed her arm, eyes darting back and forth. She cleared . “Well, um, your friend paid for the hour, so what do you want to do? Do you...want to finish the dance? I could work with this jacket if you’re into that.”

 

“No, no,” Byulyi replied a little too quickly, “that’s...enough for me.”

 

The woman pursed her lips, examining her carefully with round eyes. Byulyi could not help but notice how soft her features were. From her eyes to her cheeks, she was the very opposite of all of Byulyi’s angles. Suddenly, her ears burned and her fingers twitched with a desire to touch that she quickly wrangled into submission. Byulyi took a deep breath and looked away. But she must be so soft, her brain whispered mutinously. She chanced another glance at the woman’s face, her red lips now curled in a small smile.

 

“You’re a weird one, you know that?”

 

Realizing she’d been staring at her lips for way too long, she tore her gaze away to meet her eyes. The knowing glint in them sent a shiver down her spy. Would it be a terribly weird, she thought, if I leap out the closest window right now? “H-how so?” she croaked instead.

 

“You act like a knight in shining armour...you're refusing my services...,” she said slowly, “yet you’re looking at me like you want to eat me alive.”

 

“That’s not…” Byulyi deflated—it sounded hollow before she reached the end of the sentence.

 

“It’s fine,” the woman replied.

 

“Look, I...um, you’re really very pretty, but I...I don’t know. This is all very weird for me. Do you want to just...hang out?”

 

The woman shrugged, though her face reddened at the compliment, as if the magic of her job and persona was beginning to wear off. Byulyi motioned her toward the chair on the other side of her desk. As they sat down, both suddenly hyper-conscious of every part of their body, the air in the room felt thick. And cold. The awkward silence stretched out, and the woman began shifting in her seat, avoiding her eyes, looking every bit as anxious as Byulyi felt.

 

“Do you, um, want some candy?” Byulyi asked, pulling out her drawer to pull up an unopened bag of bear-shaped marshmallows.”

 

The dancer blinked. “You just...have marshmallows in your desk?”

 

Byulyi chuckled nervously. “Why? Is it weird? I spend a lot of time in my office.” She ripped open the package and offered it to the woman, who pulled out a little pink bear. “And these are cute.”

 

“Is this strawberry?” she asked.

 

“Not sure. They all taste the same to me.”

 

With a shrug, the woman popped the marshmallow into . Byulyi looked away.

 

She cleared . “What’s your name?” she asked.

 

“Kim Yongsun,” the woman replied, reaching for the bag. “These are good.” She held up a white bear this time. “What’s yours?”

 

“Hyejin didn’t tell you?”

 

Yongsun thought for a moment. “She probably did, but I never remember. I’m terrible with names...the one weakness I have in this line of work. Then again—It’s not often a client just wants to throw a jacket on me, make me sit down and feed me marshmallows. Usually, I do my thing and I go and it all becomes a bit of a blur. Sometimes, they look like they’re about to pass out, so between that and the loud music, there isn’t a lot of opportunity to use names,” she added with a grin. “It’s quite flattering. Nothing more empowering, really.”

 

Byulyi nodded. “Yeah, I’m not surprised,” she said absentmindedly. Catching Yongsun’s expression of interest, she began to stammer. “Uh, that it’s flattering. Or something. Not that they pass out. I mean, I guess that’s also not surprising because you’re so…uh, I mean I relate. To them. But not in a weird way. Like I have eyes, and it’s obvious. You are, uh...it’s possible. I guess. I’ll just stop talking.”

 

Yongsun laughed. “You’re cute.” She blushed and covered , as if she hadn’t meant to say it out loud. With a sheepish smile, she cleared . “Um, you still haven’t told me your name.”

 

“It’s Moon Byulyi,” she replied with a smile.

 

“Pretty name for a pretty girl,” Yongsun said, cringing slightly at her own line.

 

“T-thanks,” Byulyi chuckled, rubbing her arms a little. “You’re very kind. I bet people say that to you a lot. I-I mean...you must get a lot of admirers. Hopefully more eloquent than me,” she added with a wry smile.

 

Yongsun shrugged. “Depends on what you mean by admirer. Mostly people are pretty nice, but it’s hard, I think, for people to see me as...something other than my job. So it’s not exactly the kind of job where you can make a lot of friends.”

 

Byulyi nodded slowly.

 

“You should’ve seen your face when I took off my shirt,” Yongsun added with a grin. Just to further, she opened her peacoat just a bit as a reminder. “I highly doubt conversation and marshmallows were on your mind.”

 

Every time Byulyi finally managed to cool down, this woman would somehow find a way to set her on fire again. She stared hard at her hands in her lap. “S-Sorry,” she mumbled for what felt like the thousandth time today. She peered up from beneath her bangs. “Does it bother you? That people admire you for...those reasons?”

 

Yongsun hummed. “It’s alright. I work hard on my body, and it makes me happy that people enjoy it as much as I do.”

 

“Is it hard for your boyfriend?”

 

The question raised two pairs of brows. Byulyi wanted to slap herself. No subtlety at all.

 

“I don’t have a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend,” she added shyly. Byulyi perked up at that tidbit, and bit her lip to suppress a smile. “Even if I did, they would just have to be okay with it.”

 

“Ah, right. For the record,” Byulyi said, picking at a stray thread on her pants, “You seem nice. So, um, you deserve that. I-if you want it...or whatever…”

 

Yongsun laughed. “You’re awfully sweet, aren’t you? People must fall over themselves to be with you. I’m sure your girlfriend or boyfriend must get jealous,” she added, leaning in slightly with anticipation.

 

Byulyi laughed a little too loudly. “If I had one of those, Hyejin wouldn’t hire a stripper for my birthday.”

 

“No?” Yongsun pointed a finger at herself. “I do a lot of birthday parties. Often with their significant other there. I think you’d be surprised.”

 

“Oh.” Byulyi reclined back in her chair and heaved a sigh. “I guess I wouldn’t know. I don’t...do a lot outside of work.”

 

Yongsun looked around the sparse, grey office with a few slow nods. “That explains a lot.” The absent-minded comment sent a pang through her heart. She looked down, ashamed of something she couldn’t put her finger on. Her insecurities, perhaps? All reasons why she had never been able to hold down a relationship for more than a month? Even now, she felt so pathetic in the presence of this too-good-to-be-true woman. No, why would she want to spend any time with her? She shouldn’t have to be stuck here with her for a couple of extra bucks.

 

Suddenly, Byulyi just wanted to be alone.

 

“Byulyi? Are you alright? I just meant that...I-I meant the fact that you’re still here. Working away. Well, when I’m not distracting you, I guess,” Yongsun added quickly. “I hope I didn’t offend you.”

 

Byulyi shook her head and mustered her best smile, though she couldn’t quite meet Yongsun’s eyes as she looked up past her at the bleak walls. “Yeah, I guess I should get back to it?”

 

Yongsun peered over the desk to look at the clock on Byulyi’s computer screen. “You still have, um, half an hour.”

 

There was something soft in her voice that simultaneously stirred something good and something bad in the pit of Byulyi’s stomach. 

 

“It’s fine,” she said, ten degrees colder than she’d intended as she balled up her fists against her pants. “You might just think I’m some awkward, lonely nerd, but I’m not desperate enough yet to buy your friendship. I don’t want to trap you here. For a girl like you, I don’t have much else to offer.”

 

She’d meant to be self-deprecating—it was a habit she’d spent years trying to shake; it was a habit she found comfort in—but she hadn’t expected the other woman to slowly lengthen out of her chair, eyes ablaze.

 

All shyness dissipated, replaced by the confident dancer who strode into the room and had all but crushed Byulyi beneath her heel half an hour ago.

 

“A girl like me?” The words dripped through her teeth like acid. “And what kind of girl is that supposed to be?”

 

Confused, Byulyi stood too. Of course, she’d it all up. “I just—”

 

“Actually, you know what? Save it.” Yongsun ripped out of the warm jacket and tossed it at its owner. Byulyi caught the garment, stunned for a moment at the sight of perfect s pushed into black lace, but she quickly shook her head—this wasn’t the time. There’s never a good time to look at a woman like that! Byulyi chastised. Especially not a beautiful woman threatening to combust with rage. “You act like you’re so above this, the way you disguise your prejudice by being oh-so-kind,” she said, putting her hand on her hip, “but you’re no better than anyone else who thinks I’m just some dumb .”

 

“Uh—”

 

“Not that I owe you an explanation, but dancing isn’t exactly my career.”

 

“H-hold on, I—”

 

“Even if I wasn’t dancing to pay my way through med school, there are tons of amazing career dancers who work hard every day, and we deserve to be respected just like everyone else! So you can take your money and—”

 

“W-wait, that’s not—” Byulyi practically launched herself across her desk in an attempt to get around it, knocking over piles of papers and pens. She grabbed her wrist just as she turned away, but the glare she received repelled her touch like hot coals. Yongsun pulled her white shirt back on and stormed toward the door, only to be stopped by a flushed Byulyi with hands and legs spread out to block her way. “I...let me explain,” she quietly pleaded.

 

Yongsun crossed her arms. Byulyi didn’t miss the slight shiver as the cold seeped into her skin, flushing it with the barest shades of pink. She didn’t comment—the dangerous glint in Yongsun’s eyes a ticking time bomb on its last seconds.

 

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Byulyi said. “I mean, I didn’t phrase it very well, but I would never think you’re a....” She cringed. “N-not unless you want to be, of course,” she added, quickly recalling one of Hyejin’s many tirades about that very word.

 

Still, Yongsun’s eyes were cold, and Byulyi found herself desperately missing the shy woman behind the mask. “Explain,” Yongsun demanded. Well, maybe there was something attractive about this side of her too. Byulyi gave herself a mental slap—not the time.

 

Byulyi took a deep breath. She didn’t want Yongsun to leave, but if she passed out now, she’d definitely never see her again. She tried to disentangle the garbled words in her mind as best as she could.

 

“What I meant was that I am...so bad with words, and I’m, boring? I guess? I don’t have a lot to offer a girl as beautiful and charming and intelligent as you. Even if I pay you...I feel like I’m just...wasting your time. That’s all.”

 

Yongsun didn’t speak. Byulyi flushed—she was not a fan of all this vulnerability.

 

Finally, she clicked her tongue. “You’re pretty hard on yourself,” Yongsun observed. Her voice was still firm, but without the sharpness that had unknowingly cut into Byulyi so deeply. “You’re probably not so bad.”

 

“Probably?” Byulyi offered a sheepish smile.

 

“Sure. Unless you’re just toying around with this clueless, adorable act of yours,” she said, jabbing Byulyi in the shoulder.

 

“W-what?”

 

Yongsun ran her fingers from her shoulder to her collarbone. Byulyi’s breath hitched. “Unless you have something...sinister hidden beneath this elaborate facade,” Yongsun murmured. She was close now. So close that Byulyi hadn’t noticed she’d backed herself flush against the wall with nowhere left to run.

 

Yongsun the collar of her shirt, cold hands brushing briefly against flushed skin. “Your package includes a kiss, Miss Moon. What do you think?”

 

Above the noise of her rocketing blood pressure and machine-gun heart, Moon Byulyi was thinking three things: one, what the hell was happening? Two, Yongsun was lovely up close—the details were exquisite—and three, Yongsun was way too close. Were her teeth chattering?

 

 Yongsun’s question barely registered.

 

“Well?” Yongsun purred. “Won’t you kiss me?”

 

This time, it was loud and clear.

 

Yes—a part of Byulyi could not think of wanting anything else in the world as badly as this for the rest of her life. But—it didn’t feel right. She didn’t want to pay for something she didn’t deserve. No, no—her wide eyes must’ve betrayed her panic—this woman deserved more than this, Byulyi decided.

 

Instead of pushing her away, however, Byulyi wrapped her arms around the smaller woman. She held her there for several seconds, Yongsun’s body tense. Once Yongsun registered what was happening, she tried to peel away, fighting back against Byulyi’s arms like a grumpy cat. “What the hell are you doing?” she cried.

 

Honestly, Byulyi didn’t have a clue, but this was nice. Somehow, it felt like Yongsun needed this hug as much as she did—it’d been a long time since anybody has shown her any physical affection. She could allow herself to be selfish just this once, right? “You’re cold,” she responded simply.

 

“I’m not!” Yongsun cried. Her body told a different story.

 

Byulyi tightened her grip, burying her face in Yongsun’s hair. “Just so it’s clear, I do want to kiss you. But not because Hyejin paid for it.” Finally, she let go. Yongsun stumbled back, her arms hanging limply beside her before hugging herself against the cold, cold room. Byulyi smiled sadly, loneliness eating away at her as she met the eyes of a woman she’ll never feel good enough for. She exhaled. “Maybe you should go.”

 

Yongsun’s pink cheeks grew several shades pinker, her mask slipping once more. “I don’t...get you. You’re so confusing,” she confessed. “And kind of annoying.”

 

Byulyi laughed. “I didn’t expect a compliment after all this but there’s no need to be harsh. I did say you can go.”

 

“You’re dismissing me?” Yongsun said, biting her lips.

 

Byulyi turned toward the door with a small—defeated—shrug. “That sounds kind of rude,” she said with a sheepish smile. “I just mean you can—”

 

“Okay. I’m not working anymore.”

 

Byulyi rubbed the back of her neck, unsure how many times she could rephrase it. “Uh, yeah, you can—”

 

Suddenly, Byulyi felt herself being tugged forward by the collar. There was half a millisecond where she fell forward, soaring as her legs felt were swept right out from under her. Suddenly, all semblance of coherency disappeared when she felt the very same pair of red lips she’d been fantasizing about all night pressed on her own. Her eyes fluttered closed with a sigh.

 

There was just enough heat in the kiss to keep her wanting, but the perfect sensation disappeared as suddenly as it came. When she opened her eyes again, she was washed over by sudden vertigo, managing to somehow stumble while standing perfectly still.

 

Yongsun giggled. “It’s not my style to be moving so quickly...I just...I’d wanted to do that all night, but you were being annoying.”

 

Byulyi’s fingers subconsciously touched her own lips. “Wow,” she whispered. “You...really held back tonight, didn’t you?”

 

Yongsun quirked her brow, her smile playful on her lips. Her lipstick, Byulyi thought, her mind still floating in a haze, must be amazing. “You have no idea,” she said with a wink. Cringing a little at herself once more, Yongsun blushed.

 

Byulyi’s heartbeat hadn’t slowed for the what felt like hours. This woman—was there no limit? The way she bounced so carelessly between unbearably cute and searingly hot—it was simply too much. The difference between her personal and private personas, the woman and the craft—she wanted to know everything about her. And though she knew she would be obsessed since the moment Yongsun had sauntered into the room, she never could have predicted this level of...whatever this swelling feeling in her chest was. This could be very, very bad.

 

Yongsun tucked her hair back behind her right ear, looking up at her shyly. Expectantly. Byulyi felt warm all over in spite of the frigid room.

 

Or this could be very, very good.

 

“Byulyi,” Yongsun said quietly, “um, do you...are you, um, busy right now?”

 

Byulyi blinked. Her mind briefly flashed to the work she’d neglected for the past forty-five minutes. She shook her head with the gusto of an overeager child. Embarrassed by her own overexcitement for whatever Yongsun had to say, she cleared . “No,” she said, as coolly as possible, “I’m not busy.”

 

It seemed, however, that her reputation was unsalvageable when Yongsun laughed. “Alright then”—she flashed a grin—“do you want to get dinner with me? My treat.”

 

“R-really?”

 

Yongsun nodded. “On one condition.” She stepped forward and touched the edge of Byulyi’s cuff, so gently she was barely there, her brown eyes boring into Byulyi’s own. Byulyi tilted her head. “When you’re with me,” Yongsun said slowly, “I don’t want to hear you make those kinds of comments about yourself, okay? Nobody should make those kinds of comments about themselves. We may not know each other very well, but I think you’re beautiful and smart, and even though you’re clumsy and annoying in your own way, you’re earnest and kind, and I like that very much about you. Okay?”

 

Byulyi nodded, embarrassment spreading right through her.

 

Yongsun held up her hand and hooked her pinky around Byulyi’s. “That’s a promise. I’m going to be very upset if you make fun of something I like, so I won’t stand for it. Believe it or not, you haven’t even begun to see what I’m like when I’m mad.”

 

“O-oh.” Emboldened by what seemed like affection in Yongsun’s eyes, Byulyi disentangled their pinkies, but wasted no time slipping her fingers through Yongsun’s. With a grin, she held their intertwined hands up to her lips and kissed the back of Yongsun’s hand, relishing in the deep pink that seemed to be a permanent fixture on both their cheeks. “I’ll try my best,” she said, “but only if you do the same. You’re amazing to me, Yongsun.  I want to know everything about you. So, don’t...don’t listen to the toxic stuff. Especially the stuff you tell yourself too.”

 

Yongsun withdrew her hand from Byulyi just long enough to give her a quick peck on the cheek. “God, we haven’t even gone on a real date yet, and this already feels too cheesy,” she said. Despite that, her smile was bigger than ever.

 

“Well, I guess...even if the date goes poorly, I just wanted you to know what I was thinking.”

 

Yongsun smirked. “Pretty sure that wasn’t what you were thinking when you were pretending not to watch me eat a marshmallow.”

 

Byulyi’s ears instantly felt red-hot with embarrassment.

 

“I’m just kidding,” Yongsun said, swinging their intertwined hands. “Let’s go eat.”

 

“You’re going to be the death of me, Kim Yongsun,” Byulyi groaned, tugging her over.

 

Their hands broke apart, the missing warmth more than palpable in the chilly air. Even the time it took to turn off her computer, and grab her coat and wallet off her desk felt too long to be apart from this woman. Get a grip, Byulyi told herself, you’re obsessed and you barely know her.

 

But that could be a wonderful thing.

 

She turned to Yongsun with a smile. Like clockwork, she smiled back, though she was now visibly shivering in her shorts.

 

“Here, take my coat, or the cold is going to be the death of you,” Byulyi said. Her own shirt was nowhere near warm enough, but she would rather freeze to death than see Yongsun shiver.

 

Is it crazy to care so much for someone you’ve literally just met?

 

“You should really get your heater fixed,” Yongsun said, pulling the warm pjacket on gratefully. She inhaled. “Your coat smells really nice though.”

 

“Yeah, I’ll get it fixed just in case more random strippers barge in here to ambush me after hours,” Byulyi said, flicking off the light switch.

 

“If you’re expecting other dancers, then I’m taking your coat and you’re never seeing either of us again.”

 

Byulyi locked up her office, then reached for Yongsun’s hand again as if it were the most natural gesture in the world.

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

Halfway to the elevator, Yongsun stopped. “Oh!” she exclaimed, “I just remembered.”

 

Byulyi turned, just in time to catch Yongsun’s lips once more.

 

“Happy birthday.”

 

Byulyi’s heart swelled. She could never have imagined a better present than a new beginning. It was only dinner, only a first date, but for the first time in a long time, she had a very, very good feeling about this one.

 

She’ll have to remember to thank Hyejin tomorrow.
 

---

Notes: Wow, I'm back so much earlier than I'd anticipated. It's been a busy week, but hey, gotta take some time off for hobbies, right? 

This story was based partly on this song, but the story came first. I needed a title, and it was between Take You To Heaven and Movement by Hozier. Movement is the ier, song, but the title doesn't make as much sense, haha. The whole stripper idea actually came from a novel I rediscovered two days ago, Thirteen Hours by Meghan O'Brien. It's good ol' fashion a, but also SO much plot. The characters in the novel hated each other for about 25% of the story, and I wasn't about to write 300 pages of stripper-yong, so I wanted a light-hearted version. 

The other inspiration was from my own laying-awake-at-night thought of, "Do strippers ever get cold?" 

Oh, and even though I've been away from the fandom, I went on Twitter for half a second to see if I could find inspiration for Yongsun's outfit, and BAM that video of her freaking ripping her shirt off like a damn y Hulk. Sometimes, living and breathing on the same plane of existence as these women is such a blessing. 

Deep thoughts only here, folks. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story. I confess I don't know very much about the world of adult entertainment. I've watched a couple of documentaries, read a few articles, etc. It's not much. I tried to be sensitive toward those hardworking girls, but everyone's experience is different. There seems to be all kinds of services and people involved, and honestly, it's kind of a travesty that this kind of stuff isn't more openly discussed, eh? If you have any insight, I'd be happy to hear it!

As usual, if you enjoyed this, please support with a quick vote, sub, or comments (those are my favs)!