"No Yerin, I'm not going to a strip club with you."

An overly energetic voice spilled out from the other end of the phone. Hwang Eunbi held it at arm's length away from her ear, which totally did not prevent her from hearing her best friend clearly. And this was without it being on speaker either.

"Go find Sojung or something...you do realize that if you take Yewon with you Sojung will kill you, right?"

That didn't seem to deter a certain Jung Yerin, who seemed determined to commit suicide by inviting the baby of their social circle to a strip club to celebrate its opening -- apparently Yerin was friends with the owner. Eunbi rolled her eyes. It was her funeral. The dancer had better things to do with her time...

Such as going to her favorite club for a drink and just chill out, which she was wont to do after every big job. Choreographing was hard work, especially when working with big stars for their huge comeback tour. Hwang Eunbi was not known to suffer fools while she was at work, but when those fools were paying good money she had very little choice but to grit her teeth and try not to murder anyone.

She needed a drink. Possibly several. And then definitely dance for herself, because she was sick and tired of dealing with divas.

The club was abuzz with energy when Eunbi slunk in, bypassing the queue with a wave in from the bouncer, who recognized her as a regular. That earned a number of dirty looks from the people waiting in line, but did Eunbi care? No, there was a vodka inside with her name on it. Scrubs could just wait.

The music was good as always, and Eunbi could feel her inner dancer wanting to move to the beat already. But first, a drink. She deserved it after the day she had. Drinking alone wasn't great, but sometimes Eunbi needed her space and while she loved her best friend, space was not really a thing when Yerin was drunk. The dancer hoped Yewon would be okay tonight. Yerin could be quite a handful at times.

Granted, if Sojung found out that someone had brought her precious baby sister to a strip club, all hell would break loose, and Eunbi was staying the hell out of the way for that. Hence, clubbing alone tonight. She had warned Yerin though. Best friends only went so far for each other. Eunbi actually needed her legs in one piece for work.

"Your usual?" The bartender flashed a grin as Eunbi crashed at her usual spot at the corner of the bar. The dancer nodded, tapping her fingers along to the music as her gaze swept over the crowd. There seemed to be an unusually large number of people for a Wednesday night.

"Something special tonight?" Eunbi jerked her head at the crowd milling around the stage. The bartender slipped her drink across the counter to her.

"Oh right, you haven't been in for a few weeks. Yeah, we got a new part timer coming in about a week or two ago. She should be up soon."

"Huh." Eunbi downed her drink in a gulp, filling the alcohol burn and numb the tip of her tongue. The bartender almost immediately had another ready for her. Habit was a great thing; this was why she loved coming back here. They knew her well.

The music changed. Eunbi swiped her card absently before shrugging off her jacket, tying it at her waist. She dodged someone trying to cop a feel, stomped on the nearest foot when some idiot got too close, and generally meandered her way slowly to the dance floor. The crowd whooped where she wasn't looking, and out of curiosity, she turned.

The stage wasn't empty anymore. The lights had dimmed, and the spotlights centered on a graceful form arched in a way that made Eunbi's back muscles twitch in sympathy. Long limbs and beautiful lines shifted seamlessly from form to form, mesmerizing in its fluidity. Experienced dancer eyes evaluated the symmetry and approved; but meanwhile Hwang Eunbi.exe had temporarily stopped responding, until the lack of air reminded her that breathing was a necessary function that had to be attended to.

She inhaled, and her next breath caught in as the dancer on stage bent into an elegant turn, supported only by strong thighs wrapped around the metal pole in the middle of the stage. Heavily kohled eyes met hers in a sudden, magical instant, frozen in time. Eunbi's heart skipped a beat as her higher mental functions promptly crashed. She gulped, swallowing nervously.

The cheers of the crowd were white noise all around the suddenly rigid dancer. What was coordination? Her gaze remained fixated on the impossibly beautiful pole dancer that was sending the crowd into raptures at her performance. A final flourish ended the all too short show, and the dazzling, slightly roguish grin from the dancer on stage drew wolf whistles and high pitched squeals from men and women alike.

Eunbi thought she might have been imagining it, but did the woman on stage glance her way before exiting the stage? She couldn't be sure, lack of air was making her dizzy again. She stood in the middle of the dance floor, lost in thought for a good long while. Eventually, the choreographer wandered back to the bar instead, deciding that another stiff drink was in order to put her back to rights.

That was...what was that? The bartender seemed surprised to see her back so soon, but didn't take long to respond to the grumpy gesture as she plopped back down. Eunbi glared at the counter as if it was going to provide her answers. Clearly, polished wood did not speak, and in any case she would have had to frame a question first. She almost snatched the vodka directly from the bartender before he put it down, and flung it down with her eyes closed. Hwang Eunbi did not like being confused at all.

"Oh hey Yuju, nice work out there. Juice for you, right?"

Eunbi didn't open her eyes immediately, still trying to rationalize her earlier reaction away. She always enjoyed a good dance performance, that was it. Yeah, that was totally it. She opened her eyes just in time to see a tall glass of what looked like orange juice slide down the counter to be caught deftly by slender fingers. That was when the dancer realized someone else had slid in next to her, and she followed the hand up to meet a pair of extremely familiar eyes.

"Hey, you don't mind me sitting here right?"

Hwang Eunbi sputtered again, though she covered it very neatly with a cough. "No."

She didn't care if she sounded grumpy, because her insides were twisted into knots and her automatic defense was to be prickly. Why was the dancer from earlier sitting next to her and wow she smells nice, wait, Hwang Eunbi what are you thinking. The other girl didn't seem offended, turning to her drink and chatting amiably with the bartender.

The girl seemed different off stage. The colored contacts were gone - and how did you know she was wearing them, Eunbi? - while the pinned up hair from earlier was now free of restraint, tumbling down in curly waves to exposed shoulders. The intimidating pole dancer from earlier seemed entirely replaced by what looked like a girl next door, if girls next door wore skinny jeans that hugged every curve and a tank top that showed off an athletic frame. Only the eye makeup was not entirely removed, dark brushstrokes adding an aura of mystery to shining eyes.

Hwang Eunbi was not watching this mystery girl at all, no. Her drink was very fascinating, even with the emptiness that lay within. Oh, who was she kidding? When the mystery girl excused herself to the bathroom - wow she's tall - Eunbi immediately pulled out her phone and pressed 1 on the speed dial. It didn't take quite as long as she initially expected for the call to go through.

The background on the other side was loud. Eunbi was expecting that, and the moment the slightly drunken voice of her best friend came on, the choreographer gripped her phone tightly.

"Jung Yerin, do you think I'm gay?"

A very audible pause on the other end. Then Yerin started cackling madly.

"You're asking MY gay whether YOU are gay?"

Some jostling on the other side as something dropped, coupled with some drunken swearing and a lot of shuffling before the receiver came back online with Yewon's calm, not at all rattled voice over the line.

"Sorry Eunbi, Yerin-unnie had you on speaker and I didn't think you want the whole world listening in on that."

"Thanks," Hwang Eunbi said flatly, making a mental note to murder Yerin in her sleep at the first available opportunity. Or take her skydiving, whichever came first. "How's the strip club?"

"...educational." If it was possible to blush on audio, Yewon was managing it. The younger girl cleared .

"But back to your question: if you had to ask, I think that says a lot, don't you think?"

Hwang Eunbi went silent at that. She listened to Yerin yelling something in the background while Yewon tried to run damage control, the antics of her friends allowing her space to think for a second. It was a second that didn't last long enough, because the object of her distress had already returned, flashing a quick smile at her in the process. Eunbi's grip on her phone tightened.

"Eunbi?" Yewon's voice came back over the line. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." No she wasn't. "Do you need help with Yerin?"

"I'll get a cab, don't worry. Call me if you need to talk, kay?"

Damn Yewon for being so reliable. Eunbi had never wanted an out more than right now. She mumbled her goodbyes and hung up, grumpily turning back to her still empty glass and signalling the bartender for another. Inadvertently, her gaze floated over to the girl next to her, only to freeze in place when their eyes met. The other girl had propped up her chin with one arm, her other hand taking the condensation from her glass and drawing idly on the counter. She was facing in Eunbi's direction, which had led to the eye contact. The taller girl smiled, and Eunbi thought she scowled back in response, out of sheer habit. It didn't dim the other girl's cheer in the least, unfortunately.

"I saw you watching just now."

Kill me now, Eunbi thought. She nodded curtly, feeling mildly saved by her next vodka. She downed it even faster than her previous one. The alcohol settled her nerves to some degree. She looked back up to the pursed lips of the other girl - should I ask her name? - and found herself opening before the rest of her brain caught up.

"You had nice form, but some of your transitions could use work."

Despite the criticism, the other girl's eyes lit up at Eunbi's words, even as the choreographer was internally kicking herself for being so blunt to a complete stranger. She's not one of your students Hwang Eunbi what makes you think you could just...

As a result she completely missed what the other girl was saying for a good ten seconds before her attention finally snapped back to present time, when the girl laid a hand over hers. The contact shocked her back into reality, and it was all she could do to not flinch in response. Thankfully, the alcohol had dulled her responses sufficiently for her to rein it in in time. Eunbi smiled awkwardly at the other girl's bright smile.

"Wanna show me a few moves on the dance floor?" The request was almost shy, the taller girl tucking her hair behind one ear. Eunbi shivered. The girl was cute.

The tiny devil version of Jung Yerin on her left shoulder did a war dance to egg her on, while the mini angelic Kim Yewon was also present but most definitely not helping. Eunbi didn't stand a chance. She caved, standing up and taking the other girl by the arm naturally.

"Yeah why not?"

The other girl stood with her, beaming. Eunbi most definitely did not shudder when the taller girl leaned in to whisper into her ear.

"My name's Choi Yuna, how about you?"

Well me. Eunbi didn't even remember responding, but she obviously must have, because Yuna chuckled low into her ear, almost purring.

"Dance with me then, Ms. Hwang." Another breath tickled Eunbi's already over-sensitized ear.

"Show me what you've got."

Eunbi swallowed, hard. Yerin was never going to let her live this down, was she? 

I think I'm gay after all.