Nayeon and Jihyo were as opposite as twins could be, one wouldn’t even think them to be sisters, had they not had the same last name. Even then, it could have been just a coincidence. They loved each other dearly, wouldn’t hesitate to spring into action whenever the other needed help, no matter what they had to do. The Parks were a family of scholars, and the girls followed their parents’ steps too, Jihyo went off to pharmaceuticals, it was the family business and she didn’t really think to do anything else, whilst Nayeon, despite being older by two hours, preferred psychology. 

 

Not that Mr and Mrs Park weren’t unhappy with their eldest’s choice for studies, they were furious about her career, but couldn’t say anything after her business thrived and she got back into the wealthy world on her own. Nayeon never really resented her parents, she understood their motivations and how they were desperate for her to return to the path they had defined for her, but that was their plan, not hers and certainly not Sana’s.

 

Minatozaki Sana, an enticing japanese beauty Nayeon met back in college, damn psychology and its need for interaction, and hail psychology for its need for interaction. Both women hit it off pretty easily, they had similar interests and found they enjoyed discussing with each other, almost as much as they loved each others’ company. Jihyo had been over the moon when her sister told her there was someone who interested her, she was about to be married and had never even heard her sister talk about being interested in anyone during their twenty six years of life.

 

Jihyo, in turn, had met Chaeyoung back in her first year of college, the smaller woman had been brainstorming by herself in one of the group study rooms on their campus library, which happened to be the one Jihyo had reserved. When she entered, Chaeyoung got the scare of her life and started apologising for losing track of time, Jihyo just assured her it was alright and they got talking, at first, discussing the seemingly nonsensical equations on the board, then about themselves, and ended up exchanging numbers and never separated since.

 

The engagement was a whole social event, Nayeon wanted to host it, but Jihyo sent Chaeyoung to explain why it wouldn’t be a good idea, the eldest couldn’t resist the puppy dog eyes and the cute face, but demanded to, at least, provide the drinks, saying she would send her best bartenders and was accepting no refusal. To say the couple had been worried was an understatement, only to be slapped across the face when they arrived and Nayeon’s bartenders were criminally good looking, all wearing the cliché suits every mafia movie bartender wore and served the drinks flawlessly. 

 

It had been a statement, as Nayeon would confess later, she would never allow anything but the best for her little sister, but the looks, the clothes and all the show the bartenders were putting on was to rub on their parents’ faces that she was still the refined and high standard woman she grew up to be, and her chosen line of work was not something to diminish anyone. Chaeyoung had just laughed and hugged her, Jihyo knew better and saw the satisfaction the woman was having in shutting their parents up about her business. It was a beautiful bar show anyways.

 

The engagement took place just when Nayeon was starting her doctors, so Sana was still just the japanese vixxen who charmed the older Park, but Jihyo was already invested, and demanded to meet the woman soon, especially now that the engagement obligations were over with. So, here we have Nayeon, completely socially inept with asking pretty women out, no matter how much of a social butterfly she was herself. But this was Jihyo, and Nayeon would do anything for Jihyo, the younger didn’t even need to bat her eyelashes at her like she did, because now the older was calculating her escape routes, despite finding none.

 

So, with a huff and all the confidence she didn’t have, our panicking, lovely mess of a bunny made her way to one of the most sought after bachelorettes on their campus, she was part of said group too, but this was different, she was asking someone out. The girls were beautiful, there was no doubt about that, each translated their beauty differently, though. 

 

Nayeon felt innocent, to the point one would back off instinctively when their advances were faced with simple and pure friendship, Chaeyoung (tall Chae) looked innocent at a distance, but she was really just bubbly, moves made at her could succeed if one played their cards right. Sana was honest, her eyes felt like they were seeing your soul and she had no problems in being honest and straight to the point, Joohyun, in turn, was honest but there was a hint of cruelty in her that never spared anyone she deemed undeserving.

 

They were nice people, if you didn’t try to bul them, that is. The women met by chance one day, Nayeon and Sana were having dinner at the campus cafeteria when Joohyun came to their table and asked to sit with them, it was fairly full and they loved meeting new people, the three decided to start eating together from then on, about a month later Chaeyoung came to them in the same predicament and their group was formed. The mystery was, Nayeon and Sana never really went out with anyone, never accepted any confessions, never even mentioned crushes, it wasn’t weird, but very uncommon, given the amount of people the four of them had asking them out on a regular basis.

 

And it was during one of these dinners that Nayeon swore revenge on her sister-in-law, Chaeyoung (small Chae) sauntered into the cafeteria with a mission, she was going to settle this meeting with the mysterious Minatozaki and there was nothing anyone could do to stop her. In reality she was tired of Jihyo complaining and wanted Nayeon to show up with her own date to their wedding, she wanted the older Park to find somebody to love too. It was easy to spot the group, she just had to ask a random student if they knew Park Nayeon and was pointed in the right direction easily.

 

“Oh, so this is what smart people do when they have to come to campus.” Chaeyoung said to herself while skipping through the cafeteria.

 

“Excuse me, Park Nayeon-ssi?” The group stops and turns to see a small woman, looking like a freshman, sophomore tops, looking sheepish while standing behind the woman she just called.

 

The other three wrote it off as another brave soul trying to ask one of them out, not that they were scary or shut everyone out, it was just intimidating and they knew it. But Nayeon could never mistake that voice, it was her lovely but oftentimes annoying sister-in-law, who she thought of as a real little sister. She sighed and decided it was better to play along, Chaeyoung wouldn’t stop until her jokes came to the expected conclusion anyways.

 

“Park Chaeyoung-ssi.” She started, turning to her caller.

 

“But I’m not the one who called you?” Tall Chaeyoung answered puzzled.

 

“Not you, Chae.” Nayeon explains. “The midget who just called me.”

 

“I’m going to let that one go, just because I love you.” The small woman says, dropping herself over Nayeon.

 

Both laughed heartily, while the rest of the group looked on puzzled, maybe an explanation would come soon.

 

“No, you are letting it go because you are about to be naughty. Don’t think I don’t see you, Park Chaeyoung.”

 

“Okay, first, it’s Son Chaeyoung.”

 

“We’ll see.” Nayeon interrupts.

 

“SECOND! I may or may not have something up my sleeve, yes.”

 

“I know you are up to no good, that glint on your eyes is never a good sign. And I’m almost always the one paying for it.”

 

“Introduce me to your friends.” The smaller woman diverts the subject, giving the other a kiss on her cheek and taking a seat.

 

“Right. Chae, these are Park Chaeyoung, Bae Joohyun and Minatozaki Sana.” Nayeon introduces while motioning to each in turn. “Girls, this is the devil who is marrying my sister, Son Chaeyoung.”

 

“I thought you said Park?” Tall Chae asks.

 

“She is under the impression I’m the one changing my last name when I marry her sister.” Small Chae offers. “Little does she know, Jihyo is the one who insisted on being a Son.”

 

“I’m not giving up on getting her to see the error of her ways.” Nayeon huffs.

 

“Right…” Sana chirps, more interested in the new arrival. “Tell us Nayeonnie’s dirtiest secrets, Chaeyoung-ssi.”

 

“Oh, no need to be formal, unnie. I’ll tell you everything.”

 

“Uhuh, I’m interested.” Joohyun perks up.

 

“This is so not happening, nuh-uh. I’m not allowing any of you hear another word coming from this gremlin.” Nayeon objects, covering Chaeyoung’s mouth in a futile attempt to silence her.

 

“Oh, c’mon, Nayeonnie.” Sana makes her best begging face and bats her eyelashes, something older Park can’t seem to resist.

 

“You spill anything, I’m taking my revenge.” She threatens under her breath while getting up. “I’m getting another burger, this headache over here made me hungry again.”

 

Ant then she leaves. Chaeyoung shouts to bring her something too, and she knows Nayeon heard and will bring her whatever she’s having. There was the thing with Park Nayeon, she tried to look badass and cold hearted, but she was made of marshmallows, sunshine and hugs. The older women just looked on highly amused, they had never seen Nayeon so flustered and being so loving to anyone before, not to mention, that small ball of energy seemed to know their enigmatic friend really well.

 

“Should I introduce myself properly?” Chaeyoung wonders aloud, but turns to the group to do it regardless. “I’m Son Chaeyoung, Jihyo’s fiance. Jihyo is Nayeon’s little sister, I don’t know if she mentioned her.”

 

“Oh, she mentioned both of you for sure.” Joohyun says with a fond smile. 

 

“Do tell.”

 

“She loves you two a lot, you know.” Tall Chaeyoung adds. “It’s really the only people we have ever heard her talk about.”

 

“I’ll make sure to torture her for that later. And it’s good to finally meet you all too. She talked about you all, and Jihyo has been getting impatient wanting to meet you. But Yeonnie is refusing to set a meet up, so I’m here.”

 

“We’d love to!” Joohyun beams. “Just, here.” She passes Chaeyoung a card. “That’s my personal number, just message me and we’ll make this happen.”

 

“Great, because I know Yeonnie will fight to keep us apart.” The newcomer adds comicaly, seeing their conversation topic approaching.

 

“I seriously hope none of you exchanged numbers, but I know you did, so please don’t spill my secrets.” Nayeon pleads, sitting down and passing Chaeyoung a burger set.

 

The group makes light conversation after that, the women getting to know Chaeyoung and, by default, Nayeon as well, and the sister-in-law learning a little about the people in the woman’s life who were there for her when neither herself nor Jihyo could. They were all very nice indeed, and she even got to witness Sana being asked out and turning the boy down, the others said something on the lines of another one, which piqued her interest but got stored away for another time.

 

They say their goodbyes with the promise of making the get together happen soon, much to Nayeon’s dismay. Speaking of which, Sana and her walked Chaeyoung to the car, and went towards Sana’s car once the small woman was gone. Both lived about five minutes from each other and started carpooling ever since they found out about it, each would be the week’s driver and then switch. It gave them a chance to know each other better, and helped them get close. Both would spend a lot of time in each other’s places in their free time, coincidently, their work hours were very similar, none had disclosed their activities, though. 

 

Both got close enough and felt so strongly about each other that they had each other’s home keys well, codes, but you get the idea. Sana loved Zaki, Nayeon’s shiba, and Nayeon loved Snowball, Sana’s bunny, both animals came to their homes after the women met, but nobody was willing to point that out. Plus, both animals seemed to love each other a lot, and would be in one house or another, instead of separated with their respective owners. It was cute, but neither woman wanted their friends to find out, reason why Nayeon had been visiting her sister, and coming up with ridiculous excuses whenever Jihyo said she wanted to drop by.

 

The excuses, though, stopped working the night Chaeyoung got Joohyun’s number, and herself and Jihyo started a group chat with tall Chaeyoung and Joohyun, trading secrets and learning a lot more about what Nayeon and Sana were up to than they would on their own. And that’s how we have a determined Jihyo and an excited Chaeyoung at Nayeon’s doorstep, not even stopping to consider anything else, she punched the code in and barged forward, it was time to get her sister to start talking.

 

The couple hit the jackpot, as soon as they entered, Zaki ran to them, sniffing around before running back inside, which already raised some eyebrows, when did Nayeon get a dog, and why didn’t she say anything. Then a rabbit came down the hallway, from the bathroom, and entered the living room, without sparing them a glance, a dog alright, but a rabbit?! When they do reach the living room, Jihyo almost has a and Chaeyoung might have burst a vein. Nayeon and Sana were cuddled on the obnoxiously big and fluffy couch, watching a movie and giggling to each other. Since when did Nayeon giggle??????

 

“Alright, are you two going to stand there all night, or are you going to sit down?” Nayeon asks, too calm, looking at them like they were crazy.

 

“Is this Jihyo?” Sana asks enthusiastically, getting a nod in response. “Jihyo, I finally met you! Nayeon talks a lot about you, but I think she’s ashamed of me.” 

 

Sana jumps up and skips to the still frozen woman, enveloping her in one of the warmest hugs Jihyo has ever gotten in her lifetime, only behind Nayeon and Chaeyoung, in that order. Chaeyoung seems to have come back, and hugs Sana as well, pulling her, still out of it, fiance to sit down. There were a lot of questions going around, but first things first, recovering from the shock came before anything else.

 

“I’ll get us some drinks, what do you two want?” Nayeon asks, back hugging Sana like it was the most normal thing ever.

 

“I think water will do for now, Nayeonnie.” Sana giggles and detaches herself, returning to the couch.

 

“Okay, this is totally not what I was expecting to find when I came here.” Jihyo mumbles when her sister is off.

 

“What part of it?” Sana asks, genuinely trying to help.

 

“Any of it. I’m glad to have come, though. She’s been avoiding this for long enough.” Young Park huffs.

 

“Well, I was trying to get Zaki used to his new environment first, before starting to introduce him to new faces.” Nayeon had returned, passing a glass of water to each woman, after setting the tray with the pitcher down.

 

“Sana is here, though?” Chaeyoung counters, a little offended.

 

“She is.” Nayeon confirms. “And she is also the one who found him and brought me to the shelter to adopt him. Oh, and then she drove us all to the petshop to get supplies.” 

 

“So you two are a couple now?” The smallest continues. “When did it happen, I need to know if I won the bet.”

 

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Sana wonders aloud. “Say, want to date me, Nayeonnie?” She turns to the older woman.

 

“Please say yes.” Chae says. “If you do it today I win.”

 

“Only if you take the two of us out for dinner.” Nayeon answers. “I know you all bet big, Hyoonie never goes small in these things.”

 

“Realy, Nayeonie? You are attaching dating me to a dinner?” Sana tries to pretend to be hurt.

 

“You want part of that bet money too, and we all know it.” She counters. “Plus, saying yes would ruin my plans for an over-the-top request I was working on.”

 

“Wait, you were considering asking her?” Jihyo is really mad now. “And I didn’t hear a thing about it? Wow, talk about sisterhood.”

 

“Alright, first, Sana and I are friends. Second, don’t think I don’t know about your ‘secret’ group chat to spy on us. Also, I didn’t tell you yet because I was meaning to have you and Chae over tomorrow for dinner and introduce you to Zaki.” Nayeon also gets angry. “And I told Sana earlier today that I wanted her to meet my sister during dinner tomorrow.”

 

“Oh.” 

“Sorry.”

 

“Yeah.” Sana adds purely for the drama.

 

Is all that Jihyo and Chaeyoung say, they felt a little bad about just barging in like that now, and Sana was trying to calm Nayeon down a little, she knew how frustrated the woman got whenever she planned something special and it got spoiled. So, she just hugged her from the back, crossing her legs on her waist, making sure Nayeon was held down and placed her chin on the older woman’s shoulder. It was cute, how the eldest would always go out of her way to do special things for her and complained like a five-year-old when anything didn’t go as planned, it showed how much Nayeon cared about her and wanted to treat her like a queen, not that she ever felt like anything less when they were together.

 

“Sacchan?” Nayeon asks in a small voice. There is just a humm as an answer. “Can I still be your girlfriend?”

 

“Of course you can, Nayeonnie!” Sana beams. “Now go hug Jihyo and Chaengie and make up.”

 

Nayeon complains her way to her sister, all knowing she didn’t mean a single word and was aching to hug her sister, and just stands there. Sana had been close with her for long enough to know this by now.

 

“Now say you are sorry for screaming at her and hug it out.” Sana eggs her on.

 

“I’m sorry I shouted.” Nayeon complies, looking smaller by the minute.

 

Jihyo and Chaeyoung are very surprised, they knew the older woman was a big child, but never thought anyone other than Jihyo herself could bring it out that easily. The two wasted no time and jumped the older woman with warm hugs and loving kisses. Sana watched on fondly and made a mental note to coo at how cute Nayeon was, but later right now she really wanted them to be alone again. Nothing against Jihyo or Chaeyoung, but they had things to talk about and it had to be tonight, before Nayeon decided to go on with the relationship.

 

“Okay, we are going to head home and everyone pretends we never came. Call me tomorrow morning about dinner and then we’ll talk properly.” Jihyo declares when they break the hug. “Loved meeting you, Sana. See you two tomorrow.”

 

Then they leave, as stormy as they had arrived, Sana knew Chaeyoung was tempestuous, but Jihyo was a whole storm herself. And that just made her more interested in the duo. That was also stored for later, now there were things that needed to be said and had to be said right away.

 

“Nayeonnie?” Sana calls softly.

 

“I think we should talk a little, yes?” The older one understood what was to happen.

 

“We do, and I think I should start with the hardest part, then go from there if you still want to date me after.”

 

“I wouldn’t worry too much, there are very few things you could say that could make me not want you.”

 

“Even if I said I’m a artisan?” Sana asks shyly, even ashamed a little.

 

“Cool, so that’s what you do! I had been wondering about that.” Nayeon tries to ease her.

 

“What I mean is that I craft specific items, for specific clients.”

 

“Imma need you to explain better. If you could be direct, that would be great.”

 

“I make equipment, Nayeon.” Sana blurts out with a huff.

 

“Oh, nice.” That gets her a doubtful and questioning look in return. “I get to have personalized items as surprise gifts. Do you know how much I can boast about this?”

 

“You are a very strange one, Nayeonnie.”

 

“So I’ve been told. But it’s alright, I should say I own a club, then.”

 

“Uuhh, a club owner.” Sana teases.

 

“A strip club, Sana.” Nayeon deadpans. “I own a strip club.”

 

“Wait, you what?!”

 

“Yup, I own a strip club.”

 

“This is getting weirder and weirder. But that’s nice. At least you understand how the job works.”

 

“I do. And I make sure my girls only have the best I can offer. There were a lot of incidents in the beginning, but I think I got a great team and managed to take care of things better.”

 

“I get it, when I first started things were rough. But I’m in a great place now, and I get to work safely.”

 

“Can I ask why you started?” Nayeon was honestly just curious.

 

“I went to a bachelorette party once, just when I first started college, and it was in a strip club.” She gets a weird look. “She was a lesbian, we weren’t about to hit a boy strip club.” An understanding nod. “When I got there, I saw those beautiful women, dancing on stage and commanding the room with just one look. But their bodies were wrapped in the most beautiful works I had seen.”

 

“So, you like the power trip.” The older laughs.

 

“Absolutely!” Sana chirps. “I love seeing all those people happy to relinquish power to their partners and I’m the one they come to to build their cages.”

 

“That’s the best part. Seeing how your work unlocks the innermost parts of a person.” Nayeon contributes excitedly.

 

“Do you dance, though? I’d love to see it.”

 

“Very rarely. Being an owner is much more paperwork and police talk than one would imagine.”

 

“I forget how much boring stuff goes on behind the scenes. I just build the gear and get to watch people play with it.”

 

“If that was all I had to handle, things would be great. But I must say, I could really do without the police paperwork, it’s such a headache to have to deal with them. Too much useless bureaucracy.”

 

“Do you even have to call them that often?”

 

“Believe it or not, at least three times per night. People get reckless when they think the rules don’t apply to them. I have great security, so things don’t really get dangerous for my girls anymore, but I still have to report the incidents, give them the tapes and handle all of the aftermath.”

 

“Ouch. And how do you get so much free time, then?” Sana is puzzled. “Not that I’m complaining at all, but if you have so much to do, how do you manage to take care of all that and then spend so much time with me?”

 

“Well, I have Seungwannie to take care of administration, Vivi to take care of the bar and suppliers and Matthew in security, all I really have to do is revise and sign off the paperwork they do. But I do insist on taking care of police and city hall business myself.”

 

“You know, this went very differently than I’d imagined.”

 

“You thought I would back out.” Nayeon chuckles, bringing Sana closer to her.

 

“I really did.” Sana humms contently. “Say, can we go to your club?”

 

“Scouting the competition?” 

 

“Absolutely. If I’m lucky I’ll get to see the competition on stage.” 

 

“Let’s see if you are lucky, then. You want to go by your apartment for anything?”

 

“Not really, I have everything I need.”

 

“Then we should get out of these pajamas and get going.” Nayeon tries to get up.

 

“Can’t we just go like this? I mean, you are the boss.”

 

“Exactly, I’m the boss. Can’t let them know I wear baby yellow bunny pajamas and pink crocs.”

 

“I think you look cute, though.” Sana, finally, lets the other woman go.

 

Both proceed to Nayeon’s room, it was already looking like their room, but let’s not jump steps here, and start getting ready. Sana had to admit, Nayeon worked that leather corset like magic and she had to step up her game, so Nayeon’s tight leather pants and her own red shirt had to do the trick. Truth be told, they did turn all the heads on their way to Vesuvius, the hottest, most expensive and high class strip club in town, how does a strip club get that much recognition? Nayeon worked her off both locally and with the city hall to get everything squeaky clean while still providing the best service. Believe it or not, it was much harder to be clean in this line of work than not.

 

Getting to the club was fast, having Nayeon park her cheap , mass produced KIA beside the huge and ridiculously expensive cars her patrons owned was the best part. Her parking spot was reserved, and she was really a simple woman, which Sana loved her for, and it was hilarious looking at the faces people in line were making. It went from disgust to admiration, with numerous variations of irritation mixed in. When they strode from the car to the front door, however, now that was something worth witnessing. Obviously, the people queuing complained a lot, but there always has to be that one person who will step up trying to be everyone’s hero.

 

“Hey Matt, it’s one of those nights, huh?! Hey Chris, Jinnie!” Nayeon greets the bouncers at the door.

 

“Nay, I thought you were having a date night tonight and weren’t coming.” Matt answers cheerfully.

 

“I am, this is Sana, my girlfriend.” She introduces, and is met with teasing ‘ooh’s from the three men. “Can we save this for later, she just said yes and I’m still trying to look cool.”

 

“We were watching Zootopia and she was wearing her bunny pajamas, don’t listen to her.” Sana intervenes, and there is another wave of teasing.

 

They are about to go in when a burly man steps out of line with his equally unappealing friends and heads to the door. Their demeanor indicated a group that would never really get in anyways, Matt was the head of security, yes, and Nayeon met him in college, they were in the same class and he specialized in body language and behavioural studies. Her entire security team was handpicked by him and were trained to send troublemakers away at the door on first glance, when they could be identified. Sadly, not every idiot looks like it.

 

“Hey, pretty girls. If you want some company, my friends and I can let you join us.” Burly man says, his companions laugh with him.

 

“Matt, you want to take care of that?” Nayeon asks, completely unbothered, Sana is already between the three guards while she is standing beside them.

 

“C’mon, pretty girl, take us in with you and we’ll show you a good time.” He insists, apparently not reading the room correctly. “We’ve been waiting all night, and you just arrived and he is letting you in.”

 

“I think I want to see you in action today.” Matt says, it had been a while since they’d seen big boss Nayeon.

 

“Alright, I’ll handle this, just take care of Sana.” The owner steps forward.

 

“Oh, you interested?” Minion #2 decides to speak, yes, that’s how she is naming them.

 

“Look, you guys might want to go and try another club.”

 

“Don’t be so heartless, sweetie.” Minion #3 comes closer, disgustingly chewing gum. At least they hope it’s gum.

 

“Right, you see, even if you try to get back in line, I don’t think the others are willing to let you in where you were. And I’m sure you don’t really remember where you were.” Nayeon hears Sana and the boys snickering.

 

“You are taking us with you, why would we need to get back in line?” Burly man spoke up again, his breath was worse than she imagined.

 

“I’m definitely not taking any of you anywhere. Again, I advise you to go look for another place, I don’t think any of you are really welcome here.”

 

“I think we are staying right here, and you and your friend over there are taking us in with you.” Minion #1 seems to be feeling brave.

 

Nayeon just smiles and heads to the entrance, not sparing the men another glance. They seem to take that as agreement, as they start following, simply to be stopped by security once they reach the entrance. Sana finds herself being conducted by the waist, like she is a prize being displayed and is loving this little play her girlfriend is putting on. Nayeon turns them to face the men who are looking confused and very angry.

 

“Hey, tell them we are with you!” Burly man shouts.

 

“Matt, they aren’t welcome here, if they insist you know to call the police office down the street. They are always delighted to deal with these kinds.” Nayeon spits in disgust.

 

“What are you talking about?! Who are you to say these things?! Let us in!” Another shout.

 

“Boy, that woman owns everything in this lot, the building included. Why don’t you just walk away with the rest of the dignity you think you have and we’ll pretend we don’t know you.” Chris suggests, having already fallen into formation with his other two teammates.

 

Nayeon looks over with the smuggest demeanor ever, then just turns around and enters the club, taking a highly entertained Sana with her, who is giggling uncontrollably. It was very funny if you knew Nayeon personally, the woman had been anything but the powerful and commanding presence she had just witnessed. But, they had entered the club and the very first thing Sana wanted to do was hop on that stage and try to out-dance all those marvelous women she saw up there.

 

“I’ll take that as you liking what you see.” Nayeon whispered, hot breath on Sana’s ear.

 

“Where should I send my application?” Sana gulps, this club was so much more than she could ever have imagined.

 

“That would be with Vivi, come, I’ll introduce you.” They make their way to the bar.

 

The entire thing was very high class and evoked a sense of poise and finesse, Sana never thought a strip club could feel like those expensive and very exclusive bars in gangnam, but here she was. It became clearer and clearer how Nayeon got where she was and how she attracted as many clients as she did. The bar staff was as obnoxious as you’d expect, all incredibly good looking, their uniform a classic and not one thread out of place. A woman, tall, red haired, all curves and no bull stance made her way to them as soon as she saw Nayeon. 

 

“Yeonnie!” The woman greets and Sana starts feeling slightly intimidated.

 

“Vivi!” Nayeon hugs her, never letting go of Sana’s hand. “This is my girlfriend, Sana. Sacchan, this is ms Velvet Velour.”

 

“Please, call me Vivi. Anyone who can stand this weirdo enough to date her is my hero.”

 

“Hey!”

“It’s a pleasure. And Nayeonnie isn’t that weird.”

 

“Oh no, she deceived you already.” Vivi says, attempting to pretend shock. “Don’t let the flashy lights and fancy drinks cloud your vision.”

 

“It’s my first time seeing the flashy lights, though.”

 

“Oh, Vivi, is there an opening on stage tonight?” Nayeon remembers and decides to ask.

 

“You dancing? If you are, the stage is yours anytime, none of the girls will ever mind stepping down.” 

 

“I thought I could give Sacchan a show. You know, make sure she isn’t about to leave me just after she agreed to go out with me.”

 

“Then the stage is yours. What theme do you want?”

 

“I’m bringing the house down, what do you mean what theme?! This is my girl we are talking about.” Nayeon deadpans. “I’ll get her to my booth, it should be safer there. Make sure the kids check in on her.”

 

“I’ll take care of her myself, don’t worry. Go get changed and I’ll give Wannie the heads up.” Vivi shoos them away.

 

“Thanks Vivi.”

 

And so the couple walks away, Sana was intrigued, but figured it would be better to ask once they reached Nayeon’s booth then talking over the music and screams of the excited patrons. They arrive in what seemed to be the VIP area, but Nayeon’s private booth touched the stage, all were located to the left of the club, Nayeon’s was the closest to the stage, the others placed away from it, towards the wall, almost half circling the dancefloor. It was a very smart design, and Sana was sure it was built that way so the ones who could afford the booths wouldn’t even consider getting funny with the dancers.

 

“Woonie!” Nayeon greets the man standing guard by her booth. “This is Sana, my girl.”

 

“Nice to meet you, miss Sana.” The man greets, warm but extremely polite.

 

“This is Dowoon, he is great. Really funny if you like dad humor.”

 

“Don’t mind her.” Sana dismisses, when she sees another banther was about to happen. “Nice to meet you Dowoon.”

 

“Right, so I’m hitting the stage. Make sure Sana is safe and sound.” Nayeon asks, getting a nod and proceeding into her booth.

 

It was the typical club booth, a circular sofa, maroon with golden embroidery, with a table and a glass separating them from the other ones. Sana noted the golden details were only present there, and the thick glass was also something exclusive, she thought there might have been a lot of issues for it to be placed.

 

“The glass is for those who think they can try to hop over after they are told this booth isn’t available.” The older woman explains, seemingly having read her girlfriend’s thoughts.

 

“Figured. Some people don’t understand a ‘no’.” Sana agrees. “Say, two questions.”

 

“Shoot.”

 

“Are you that much of a hotshot here that your own staff gets excited when you dance? And is that the mayor I’m seeing two booths away?”

 

“Well, I gots to impress the kids to make them want to stay.” Nayeon smirks.

 

“Don’t let her fool you, we stay because we know she can’t live without us.” Dowoon cut in, he was just beside them, afterall.

 

“Oh, I know. She loves playing the mysterious woman, though. I think it’s cute, so I just play along with it.”

 

Both laugh, Nayeon pouts a little but can’t stay mad at Sana at all, and she loves her kids too much to let their playfulness get to her. Sure, most of her employees were older than herself, but she would always see them as her kids, and that was one of the reasons they would go to hell and back for her, never hesitating and never asking why. Deep down, they were all kindred spirits who found each other and now play at being badases.

 

“And, yes, that’s mayor Kim alright. The woman getting a is the first lady, before you ask. Now, let me entertain you.” Nayeon completes, giving Sana a kiss on the cheek and sauntering off backstage to get ready.

 

“Are you really serious about her?” Vivi asks, having timed her drink delivery with Nayeon leaving. Her and Dowoon were watching Sana carefully.

 

“You all love her a lot, don’t you?!” Sana asks, instead of answering. “I love her too, we’ve been a couple for a few weeks now, just unofficial, known each other for years, just never felt the need to make anything official.”

 

“Oh, let me call Wannie and we’ll talk.” Vivi puts the drinks on the table and runs off somewhere.”

 

“Don’t worry, I’m very serious about her. I’ve been thinking about us dating for a while, now. Jihyo just made her jump the gun before I could ask.” Sana clarifies, Dowoon had been watching her ever since Nayeon left.

 

“We are going to believe you and let you two do your thing, but do remember the security team knows how to hide a body.” He says, lightly but the message was clear.

 

“I’ll keep that in mind. But should I be afraid of the angry lady Vivi is bringing over?”

 

“Oh, definitely.” The man smiles mischievously. “I’ll be a few steps away, so I can save myself if things go south.”

 

He does, indeed, step aside, close enough to still be guarding Sana, as Nayeon clearly told him to, but far enough to be safe if a fight were to break out, or to claim he didn’t witness anything and make it believable. Vivi arrived with a small woman in tow, said small woman was looking very angry and Sana felt highly intimidated, but stood her ground regardless.

 

“So, I hear you are the one who charmed Yeonnie.” Small, scary lady says. “I’m Son Seungwan, her administrative manager. And the one who knows how to clean a murder weapon spotless.”

 

“Are all of you going to remind me of my impending death if I mess up with Nayeonnie?” Sana was starting to get a little frustrated at this point.

 

“Oh, you bet we are. She is too much of a softie to stand up for herself, no matter how much she wants to pretend she’s a badass. And we aren’t about to just let her stand on her own, just like she did for us.” Seungwan starts her speech, yes, it was a speech she had been rehearsing for a long time. “Nayeon is a pure soul with a generous heart, and we are the lucky bastards who got to be graced by her holy kindness….

 

Everyone listening tunes out at this point, not that Seungwan seemed to notice. Vivi takes the opportunity to slide into the seat beside Sana, so they could talk a little, Dowoon looked like he tuned out as well, and got busy with some guys trying to make their way to the booth. Well, looks like people really do try to sneak their way into places they shouldn’t, even with security right there.

 

“How serious are you about this?” Vivi asks lowly, careful not to disrupt Seungwan.

 

“Very serious. I mean, we already do couple things, have each other’s house keys, and got pets together. We just didn’t call each other girlfriends yet.”

 

“Get what together now?” The bartender is stunned.

 

“Zaki and Snowball, her dog and my rabbit. I took her to the shelter to get Zaki and she brought snowball home one day saying she found her on campus and just couldn’t leave her there all alone.”

 

“What you are describing is being married but not living together yet. And how come she got a dog and didn’t tell anybody?” Vivi seems to have given up on letting her small friend finish her speech. “Wannie, I just discovered high treason here!”

 

“And are commiting one as well, I’m giving out my ‘Nayeon is an angel that we’ll protect with our lives’ speech. You know I’ve been waiting years for this.” 

 

“Great, you summarized it. Now, listen.” Vivi waves her off. “Nayeon got a dog.”

 

Seungwan pauses, it was a sight, really. The woman went from loving and contemplative to absolute betrayal, Sana couldn’t really understand what was with people in Nayeon’s life and their thing with Zaki not having been announced. Sure, her girlfriend could have told people about the dog, but it wasn’t that huge of a deal, was it?

 

“How dare she?!” Seungwan was angry for sure.

 

“Can I ask what it is with everyone and Nayeon getting Zaki?” Sana decided to ask, might as well, right?!

 

“Oh, of course she didn’t tell you.” Seungwan complains. “I doubt she even remembers.”

 

“Can I be told now, then?” 

 

“You see, Nayeon has this thing where she has always idealized how her relationship would be.” Vivi begins, getting an eager nod in return. “One of the things she had always dreamed of doing with her future wife was adopting a dog, she always said a small one, but I’m doubting this Zaki is small.”

 

“It’s a shiba.”

 

“Oh.” Both women say and tilt their heads a little. “OH!”

 

“What?” Sana got confused now.

 

“Nothing, we just had an epiphany, just don’t mind us.” Seungwan seems to have forgotten she was angry.

 

“Wait, you guys said future wife there.” 

 

“Well, Yeonnie is very different. We figured that’s why she never really dated anyone, or got past the first date for that matter. And some candidates we just got rid of behind the scenes because they were just after her money.” Vivi explains. “But you, ms Sana, we’ve heard a lot about you, never that you two were together, though.”

 

“To be fair, they weren’t together, together.” Seungwan tries to help. “We are still salty about her not telling us about the dog, though.”

 

“Now I get why Jihyo and Chae were so upset.” 

 

“Oh, so you met the in-laws already.” Dowoon had made his way back at some point.

 

“I met Chae a few weeks ago, she showed up at the campus, and I’m sure Jihyo was the one who sent her to spy on Nayeonnie. Then today we were hanging out and they came by. We’re having dinner tomorrow.”

 

“Uhhh, hope you have the ring ready.” He taunts.

 

“I do, actually.” Sana doesn’t miss a beat, though she had no ring. “But that is for later, I don’t want to scare her away.”

 

“If you are here and she is dancing for you, there is no scaring her away.” Vivi asures.

 

“Speaking of which, I would love to check out your stage costumes.”

 

“You mean for dancing?”

 

“I’m an artisan. Long story and for another time. But, since I’m planning on marrying into money, might as well put in some work here too, right?!”

 

“Oh, a bonafide gold digger, I see.” Vivi jokes. “We can talk later, just drop by whenever you have the time and we’ll talk business. Now, I should get back to work.”

 

“Yeah, I should get going too.” Seungwan agrees. “Your girl must be showing up soon.”

 

With that, both women were gone, and Sana is left with a lot of food, a few colorful drinks that look sweet, this kind of reception is what she’s all about. She had just gotten into her chicken bites (which were heavenly, if you ask Sana) when the mood for the entire club changed, it was upbeat and light, but in just a few seconds it became sensual, intimate and everyone’s attention was drawn to the center of the stage, where a goddess stood waiting for her music to come on.

 

Nayeon was stunning in her usual clothes, she was powerful and imposing in the clothes she chose to wear for her show, clearly making a statement to her patrons. In college she looked like the smart chaebol she is, but Nayeon on stage was something else entirely. This version of the woman, Sana could never have imagined possible, it was a goddess, all mighty, knowing the power she holds and not afraid of using it to its fullest. Each and every person inside the club could just stare in awe, enchanted by the powerful and precise moves, the appeal oozing out of her, the indifferent gaze that told everyone she knew she owned them.

 

Sana didn’t know exactly what happened, her trance was broken by Dowoon clearing his throat, she shoots him a look but the man gestures to the stage with his head, and that’s when she notices Nayeon’s focus had turned to her, and the woman was making her way to the booth, well, as close as the stage would allow. Sana didn’t know when she got close to the edge of the stage, nor how, but it wasn’t important, all she knew was that she was under Nayeon’s spell and didn’t mind it one bit. When the woman finished her dance, she gestured for her girlfriend to come closer, then pecked her cheek and left. Just like that, Sana knew she would be going out to buy an engagement ring the following morning.