Rain was falling all over Seoul. The clouds were dark, the atmosphere was gloomy and the brief lightnings in the sky made it all become a very dramatic scenario to look at. Even though it was barely 2pm, all those factors worked perfectly together to make it seem that the day was already slowly transitioning into the night. The streets were empty or had people running for cover. Yebin liked that scene.

With her hands buried into the pocket of her fancy slim suit pants, her long blonde hair held in a high ponytail, her eyes followed the movements of the droplets that fell on the huge window ahead of her. They hit the upper part of it and soon slid on the glass to later become just a smear of water. To say that she was actually paying attention to anything but that was a complete lie. As the rain kept on growing with force, her thoughts were basically everywhere.

Five minutes into staring at the water falling down 10 floors, her position now being the highest, made her wonder some pretty weird things. Yebin somehow wondered how that sensation would be. To fall from a very high place, in an absurd speed. Despair would be involved for sure, but what about the adrenaline? She somehow wished to be a droplet. To fall, but to not be hurt in the end. If it was possible, then she would do it. To feel the adrenaline. To just...Feel something.

“...Since we already know his personality, we actually need to… Yebin?”

A young man’s voice sounded out of nowhere - not really, she just wasn’t paying attention earlier - but the blonde woman stayed still.

“Yebin!”

The louder call of her name finally made her come to her senses, making her just hum in response. That made the owner of the voice leave his seat, to just stand up beside her.

“What are you doing? Are you high right now?”

That second question made Yebin scoff, leading her to look askance at him.

“Seriously? You think I’m high?”

“You’re acting weird all day, like your mind is elsewhere.”

“And the first thing to justify that is that I’m high.”

“That wouldn’t be the first time…”

The man lifting his eyebrows in front of her for sure had the said memory of her being high - while dealing with very important stuff that could cost a lot of money - lingering in his mind. Yebin finally let out a small smile, amused.

“I’m not.”

“That’s good. We need to close this deal, you know that.”

“I do.” Yebin sighed, deciding to stop acting like a melancholic depressive teenager so she could actually do something that mattered.

“You weren’t listening to what I said but I’m going to repeat the fact that matters: this man is a very very important piece for your father’s plan.” She saw him go back to his seat, and did the same, getting comfortable on that huge and soft leather chair that was designed just for her.

The black wooden table in front of her was full of papers, and now it already had cups of waters prepared for a very long and tiring meeting.

“So we need this deal. You know that disappointing your father could mean-”

“Yes.” She cut him off, her voice clearly showing signs of annoyance. “Yes, Jonghyun oppa. I know. Can you please shut up a little bit now? I’m getting a headache.”

It still baffled Jonghyun - also known as JR to a bunch of people - how that woman that happened to be his boss and friend was able to treat him politely but at the same time, very rudely.

Well, at least he was already used to. Sometimes he wished she respected him a little more, but the gratitude he had towards her family for helping his mother was enough to make his complaints live just inside his mind.

♦♦♦

If in daytime the weather was already chilly and cold, when the night began it only got worse. Now the rain stopped for a bit but that didn’t mean that people would actually get to speak without seeing puffs of white hot air coming out of their mouths, or that they could neglect their umbrellas and coats.

Yebin was happier than usual. Hell, how couldn’t she be when she managed not to strangle an old man that smelt like some terrible expired french perfume, who was a stubborn that argued with everything but somehow got persuaded by the woman’s smooth talking. It was a gift, really. In the end of the meeting, even Jonghyun - who always looked like he was holding a fart the whole time - got to smile properly.

It was a win-win situation. Her father would be happy, the man got to be happy and now, she also felt like that, for a change. However, that sensation could always get better, when in a mixture with some nice heavy alcohol and perhaps a nice touch of a well made blunt. It was a good thing that her small but very loyal group of friends thought the same.

“Where are we going?” She asked while sitting on the backseat of her black SUV, Jonghyun and Ren by her side while Dongho was beside the driver, all fidgety and excited.

“I don’t know either.” Ren shrugged.

“You guys are going to like it. It’s my favourite place on earth”.

“I was fine with just going to the usual lounge.”

“It’s honestly boring to always go there, Yebin.” Dongho looked over his shoulder to face the woman.

She rolled her eyes briefly while looking at him. “Well it belongs to me, so I can actually do whatever I want in there. Those low budget public places that you like are the worst, honestly.” The last word come out as a mock.

Dongho just giggled, also already being used to that behaviour from the younger girl. “You’ll like it, I give you my word. I swear that this is different from the others.”

“Whatever.”

That was her way to end the conversation.

♦♦♦

It took them 30 minutes and when the car came to a stop, Yebin actually had no idea where they were. Even though she was not actually “boring” as Dongho made her seem like - hell, she partied like no one else - she always stick to the same places, even though they were very awesome locations. This...This was indeed different, but from the entrance she couldn’t have any idea of what was waiting for her.

It as a well-cared building but nothing special, nothing like she used to go. It seemed like a place that a lot of people who didn’t make 10% of her money attended. Dongho guided the 3 of them, going through the simple double door that only led to a very ugly type of corridor. Yebin frowned instantly but followed anyway.  

The group of friends went through some weird turns and after more steps than she liked it, they finally got to face a door that seemed promising. There was a tall bulked up man in front of it, and from there loud muffled beats were starting to come out.

When they entered the place, going down large metal stairs, the music became louder and louder and as soon as they got to the ground, Yebin winced, both for the loud sound and for the actual scenario.

“Welcome to Inferno, guys.” Dongho said with a huge grin plastered on his lips, glancing at his 3 flabbergasted friends.

In that place there was too many things happening at once. To start, the lights were a mix of purple and red, so the atmosphere was actually dark and hot, even though the weather wasn’t. The walls were practically nonexistent. On the right side, there was a huge and not-so-bad-looking bar, women wearing very suggestive clothes smiling and pouring colored drinks to all the clients.

In front of her, there was a large space with tables placed everywhere, on the corners, cushioned seats occupied with well-dressed men and women, both genders receiving some special attention from the workers in there. However, the most shocking sight for Yebin was what was right in front of her: a big stage, with poles and actual semi- women dancing sensually to the rhythm of music, while being almost eaten alive by the eyes of hungry and - supposedly - rich men.  

It was everything Yebin wasn’t expecting but surprising even herself...She kind of loved it.

“C’mon, there’s already a table for us.” She was barely hearing what Dongho was saying before but followed anyway, Ren and Jonghyun looking as shocked as her.

The three of them received looks from the people that were close to them, glances of interest, of curiosity and such. Yebin looked around for a moment just to see that the workers there, even though they were all female, weren’t ignoring her by any chance. Waitresses wearing short crop tops that exposed their bras and mini skirts had naughty expressions on their faces, and to Yebin’s surprise, she was one of the targets.

With them now being seated on a table in the middle part, in front of the striptease stage, Yebin decided to leave her inhibitions aside, to just enjoy what that night had in store for her.

♦♦♦

The place was crowded but since it was so large, the spacing of the things gave the illusion that it wasn’t. That was one more point to Yebin’s list. Yet, as the night went by, sensual songs mixed with sounds of talking, kissing and whatever other things was happening on the sides, somehow the place seemed to get even filled. Such an interesting and secretive environment. That detail got her attention, so as soon as they stopped laughing and asked for another drink, she decided to question.

“Dongho, how did you know this place? It seems pretty secretive.”

The man with broad shoulders shrugged, getting the cigarette from between Jonghyun’s fingers to take a drag.

“I have my contacts. You liked, didn’t you?”

“It’s...Unusual.” She deadpanned, not intending to admit it at that moment.

“Of course, boss.”

“Well, I don’t know about Yebin or Jonghyun, but I’m sure not enjoying this as much.” Ren pressed his lips together while faking annoyance, which made everyone laugh. “Too heteroual for me.”

“Yeah, I failed on this point, sorry Minki.” Dongho laughed, now giving the skinny prince-like man a side hug.

The waitress that was attending them that night, going by the name of Lily - tall, red haired, big s and tiny waist, very foreign-like - showed up with their drinks, giving all of them a nice sight of her cleavage as she did so.

“Thank you, princess.” Dongho threw her a sideways look and a smirk, which she responded with a naughty wink and a ‘Anytime, bandit’.

With all three of them watching her going back to the bar - Ren was too busy now with his phone - Yebin was the first one to look away and to start the teasing.

“Seriously Dongho, do you have a special client card in this place? Are you that much of a ert?”

“No!”

“Look at him.” Jonghyun, now a lot more fun after all those colorful drinks that he had no idea of what they were made, giggled and bumped into Yebin’s shoulder. “Of course he has one. What would you expect?”

Yebin laughed along, seeing Dongho actually getting a bit flustered.

“No, I’m serious! I mean, I like this place but not because of what you guys are thinking!”

“Then what’s the reason?”

“Well there’s a lot of reasons but you know, my girl works here and-”

Before Dongho could end his sentence, the lighting of the place got even darker than the usual. The song stopped briefly, and as this happened, loud cheers around them started to emerge. Yebin, Ren and Jonghyun all had confusion on their expressions, but seeing as everyone - including their friend - was directly facing the fancy stage, they did the same.

The blonde woman in black suit was about to ask what was going on, but somehow what started to happen didn’t need any explanations. On the stage that had the format of a T, behind a huge translucid barrier, a white light gave form for three silhouettes. A familiar instrumental song began, and so did their movements.

It was visible that those three tall women were all very good dancers and had amazing bodies. Their hips swayed with grace, their hands worked as if they were throwing charm spells and on the moments they touched their own bodies, it changed the whole game.

Soon after the start of the dance, the beat changed and for some people’s surprise - including Yebin - the white barrier was destroyed and the women got revealed, appearing to be wearing lacy lingerie on their upper body and very small mini skirt with garter belts. All three of them wore different colours: black, red and white, respectively.

The cheers were even louder as a foreign song started, reaching the whole room at full blast. It was a known song: "West Coast", by Lana Del Rey. From there, Yebin’s eyes witnessed what she later described as glimpse of heaven.

The women slowly started to walk to the front, the lighting helping everyone to get a proper look mostly of their bodies. The song’s beat matched perfectly with their expressions and as soon as Yebin got to stare at each one of them, she couldn’t help but moist her lips.

They looked like goddesses. The girl on her left side had a darker shade of blonde, damn pretty, her nose and jaw so well defined that it seemed it could cut easily whoever dared to touch it. The brown haired beauty on the right had a tanned skin, sinful wide hips and small waist, just as gorgeous. However, it was the one at the center that left Yebin simply stuck in a hopeless stare. As she got closer to use the pole that was on the end of the stage, her face was properly revealed, the details almost as if personally carved out by the most talented sculptor while her long ashy grey hair fell down perfectly over her barely covered chest.

No one in that room was capable of looking elsewhere but them. The synchrony to the song, their sinful bodies sliding around the poles one in each side, their fluid movements, their expressions...Everything seemed dreamy, sultry, y and it definitely left a huge impression on Yebin’s demanding tastes.

As the music kept going, all three goddesses now worked their charms to lure everyone that dared to lay their eyes on them. Their skillful hands and bodies held strongly to the metal bar, spinning with grace as if it was the easiest thing to do. Each of them didn’t specifically look directly into a person’s eyes, but somehow it seemed that they had targets and to Yebin’s luck, the woman in red was closer to her direction.

Yebin heard her friends say something and by the corner of her eyes she could see that all of them were clearly enjoying the show, even Ren. She didn’t pay attention to what they were saying, even though it looked like they were making fun of her partially open mouth as she watched all of that without even blinking properly.

It was amazing, really. Yebin always thought poorly of girls who worked with that stuff - prejudice, of course - but to see that in real life, she started to have new thoughts of understanding. It was art, just like music. A way to express yourself, a way to work your ways with your own sensuality. It was alluring.

When the music was already coming to an end, the center girl - whom she basically stared at ever since that thing started - slowed down her moves on the pole and when she got down of it, she gave a proper look towards Yebin’s area. Her breathing was uneven, her tongue placed on the corner of her luscious lips and her eyes...Those eyes…

It was a brief moment - really brief, Yebin isn’t even sure if lasted more than 10 seconds - but when it happened, it made the blonde actually gulp to relieve the dryness of . When the woman’s predatory eyes locked on Yebin’s direction, intentionally or not, her lips turned slowly into a devilish smile and that alone made it seem that it lasted for a whole minute.

Yebin was so astonished by just that quick moment that she wasn’t even able to process how now the music ended, the woman - and the other two - were already at the center of the stage, receiving louder cheers and whistles, along with some dirty screams that she was glad not to actually understand.

Her friends went back to saying some stuff, but she only decided to listen to them when the three women were already out of the stage, going into the red curtains that covered everything. The strippers from before - which now looked just bland when compared to that - went back to the stage and restarted their work with a new beat.

“Now I see why you’re addicted to this place.” Jonghyun stumbled on his words - clearly already drunk - as