Jinah’s jaw dropped at the building. “What the hell…?”

          Baekhyun wrinkled his nose in disgust. “It looks like a bar, to be honest. Are you sure this is the right place?”

          Lay rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. It says ‘4MINUTE & SISTAR’, right? They’re famous. We’re getting fixed up here too. Clearly Chanyeol’s sick of the other place, right?” Chanyeol nodded so hard Jinah thought his head was going to fall off. “So if this place is good, we might switch to this one. And um…maybe it’s better inside?”

          But it wasn’t. It was dim with quiet but coherent music. There were young men sitting around drinking and women lining up for whatever. There were round tables and couches. The whole place stank of alcohol, perfume, and something not very innocent. Lay cleared his throat. “Hyuna? It’s us, Wolf.”

People turned their heads and conversations stopped at their gang name. Jinah was surpassed at the effect that one word had. Was being a Top gang this noticeable? The females whispered and smirked at the sight of twelve young boys. And soon, a thin and gorgeous, rouge-lipped girl with cat-style eyeliner walked out. She smiled when she saw them and her pearls glistened. “Oh, hello! I’m Hyuna, but you know that already. I didn’t know you’d ever come to a place like this! Our specialty is prepping girls up, after all. You haven’t had a Prix since –”

          “Twenty-two years,” Lay cut her off. Jinah frowned a bit. Lay was one of the most polite people. Sure, she didn’t know him for long, but she was sure he wasn’t the type to interrupt people like that, unless you were Chanyeol or someone… “We were hoping if you could fix Jinah up for the Rave tonight? Thirty minutes?”

          Hyuna nodded, and her eyes fell on Jinah. “Oh my god! She’s so pretty! Sweetie, how much makeup are you wearing right now? Goodness, that’s a lovely face to work with!”

          Jinah tried not to squirm so much. “I’m not wearing any makeup…”

          Hyuna gasped and then giggled. “Well you’ll be that much ier in about half an hour. Well, come on! You have a cold-looking face, it’ll just add to your charisma. Wow, you could work here with that face of yours! Love that dress. It’d be better if it was shorter and maybe a lower cut…but! That’s okay.” She wrapped her skinny arms around Jinah’s shoulder and led her across the room. She glanced back at the gang, “Enjoy yourselves with whatever you need!” and then she whispered in Jinah’s ear, “You’re going to have lots of fun tonight.”

          Jinah mentally groaned. She was going to have anything but fun tonight, and she knew that. The last thing Jinah heard before the door closed was Suho’s exhaling and how hot he thought Hyuna was.

          Hyuna pushed Jinah down on a black cushion chair. Hyuna ruffled through Jinah’s hair, combed it, and carefully inspected it from different angles. Hyuna was incredibly skinny. She was probably half of Jinah’s size. Hyuna sighed. “You’re so pretty you’d look good with almost every look…I can’t choose! Hm…oh! Jihyun! Where is that girl? Jihyun!”

          A girl scurried in. She was fair-skinned and pretty. “Jihyun’s taking care of Wolf. What do you need?”

          Hyuna sighed. “I figured. Jihyun’s always fond of…this type of guys. Hey, Dasom, what look do you think fit Jinah best? Oh goodness, bring the rest. Soyu! Bora! Can you guys come over here for a sec?”

          Two more girls came in. They were all very pretty and skinny. Was every Prix this pretty and skinny? “Oh wow, she looks like an Ice Princess,” one commented. She had blonde-brown hair that was slightly wavy.

          “Oh Soyu, be nice. What do you guys think? This is Jinah and her fresh face by the way. What should we do with her? I can’t think of a concept for her.” Hyuna kept playing with Jinah’s hair, keeping her eyes on the three girls.

          The other girl, Jinah guessed to be Bora, thoughtfully tapped her chin. She had very long and slender legs. “Well, her jaw is really sharp. Did she get it fixed?”

          Hyuna massaged Jinah’s jaw and chin. “Nope it’s natural.”

          “How about her nose?” Dasom asked.

          Hyuna pinched Jinah’s nose, who scowled. “Natural.”

          Bora leaned in. “Her eyes look cold and a bit lacking. They’re not very big or small. So...eyeliner. Definitely eyeliner. Dark and sharp – sharp and pull it out. Her lashes aren’t too long, so mascara too – even and fair. I think we can go for an enticing and cold look, since she already looks cold. How much time do we have?”

          “Thirty minutes,” Hyuna answered.

          Soyu breathed in through her teeth as she crossed her arms. “Tight schedule. But I agree with Bora. For her hair, we can’t do much. A bun would be too sophisticated for ‘enticing’. We don’t have time to dye it, and it already seems dyed…how about a classic board straight?”

          Dasom snorted. “What is she, twenty something? She’s seventeen…right?” Jinah nodded. “So young. Anyways, how about a slight wave? Wavy brown hair’s always fetch.”

          Fetch. Dwelling slang. Jinah noticed it. So they didn’t let gang slang take over them. They hated their gang so they escaped. Other than the fact that they killed their gang, it was sort of admirable how these girls were ambitious and they pursued their goal. They seemed a bit sane. A bit. They killed people yet they don’t look guilty. Maybe not very sane, but still they weren’t empty-headed like Yooni.

          Hyuna nodded. “Sounds good enough. Soyu, can you curl her hair? Dasom, get the makeup case. Bora, prepare to apply whatever you think is right. I think I should go check on Jihyun, make sure she’s…safe. Are you hungry?”

          The sudden question directed to her surprised Jinah, but she shook her head. “Not particularly.”

           Hyuna nodded and smiled. “Okay! Well, see you in half an hour!” she made a kissy face with her red lips and bent a knee before she strode out of the room.

          “Are you nervous for the Rave?” Soyu asked Jinah, plugging the curler in.

          “No.”

          “It’s really no big deal,” Soyu said, turning the curler on and hitting it against her palm, testing if it’s working. “Just a lot of dancing and alcohol. Loud music. Too many people. It’s not that bad. Oh, and, if you meet a gang called Fang, punch them in the face for me…stealthily.”

          Bora laughed. “You can’t punch someone in the face stealthily, Soyu.”

          Soyu shrugged. “Or openly. I just figured it they find out Wolf’s Prix punched one of them, they’d go after Wolf and that would be trouble for Wolf and Jinah.”

          “Couldn’t you do it yourself? You seem to be going to the Rave too,” Jinah said as Soyu tousled her hair, preparing to curl it. Soyu was in a gold glitter dress with heels. She looked like she was about to go to a party. But apparently not. Bora and Soyu laughed.

          Soyu smiled a tight one. “We can’t. No gang, no admission band, no Rave. We work here.”

          So they really did kill their gang.

          Dasom came back with the makeup case. She put it on the table. Bora opened it and rummaged through it, muttering ‘eyeliner’ over and over again. A bell rang and Dasom straightened up and fixed her blue dress. “Well, work’s calling for me. Bye guys! Enjoy your stay, Jinah.” and she left.

          Soyu started curling Jinah’s hair. “I kind of miss going to Raves. They were fun.”

          “But the aftermath?” Bora shivered. “Disgusting. Close your eyes, Jinah!” Jinah obeyed with a small sigh. She felt Bora line her eyes. Then Bora sighed. “I…miss Hyorin. A lot.”

          Soyu’s face fell. “If anyone deserves an escape, it’s her. Why did she even want to –” Soyu bit her glossed, shiny pink lips. She shook her head as she released the piece of hair and moved onto another. “ing Fang. ing DE.”

          Jinah couldn’t quite comprehend the situation, but she could tell Soyu didn't like this gang called Fang very much. Wait, Fang…thirteen Prixes? “Don’t they have ten million Prixes?” Jinah questioned.

          Soyu let out a bitter laugh. “Yeah. They’re a perfect example of how girls are supposed to be. Objects. Toys. Meant to be broken, meant to be used. Fang’s just perfect.”

          “Were you…Fang’s Prix?” Jinah said cautiously.

          Soyu nodded. “Bora and Dasom too. And Hyorin. Hyorin’s still with them still, but…yeah. Crud, what the hell,” Soyu wiped a tear away with back of her free hand.

          “But Fang’s alive?” Jinah asked as she looked up so Bora could apply mascara. “Didn’t you kill your gang for independence or something?” it wasn’t like Jinah to be nosy, but when granted an opportunity for knowledge, Jinah took it.

          “That’s 4MINUTE. Hyuna and her group. They killed their gang. We ran away,” Bora said. “If you leave your gang and remain undiscovered by them for three days, you’re free. We succeeded. We couldn’t have done it without Hyorin. Gosh, why her…” Bora let out a bitter laugh in attempt to hide her sadness. Jinah had her eyes closed because Bora was now applying blush and the powder would make Jinah’s eyes sting. But still, Jinah could tell by how Bora’s voice wavered – she was close to tears. “I’m glad we made it out though. Fang’s terrible with how they treat girls. It’s not even funny.”

          Soyu chuckled. “Why are we even talking about this again? It’s already been years. We’re so stupid…”

          When Jinah felt the soft raccoon-fur brush leave her face and she heard the shuffling with makeup products, she opened her eyes. Neither of them were crying. They truly were strong. Fang and the girl Hyorin – they seemed to be sensitive spots for the two. “Well, I’ll make sure I punch Fang in the face,” Jinah said suddenly. It’s been awhile since she felt pity and sympathy, and even longer for the strong, burning urge to avenge. Did she ever feel this way in the first place? “And really, I don’t need to hide it. They deserve it if they think they can treat girls like .”

          Bora froze. She looked quite shocked. Soyu laughed as she finished the last strand of Jinah’s hair. Other girls would cower in fear under gangs. Not a single girl out there would ever think about offending a Top gang. It was dangerous and terrifying. Yet Jinah was willing to punch one for someone she just met. Jinah was either extremely noble and brave or extremely reckless and stupid. She looked in the mirror and met eyes with Jinah there. “You’re really something, Jinah. What’s your full name?”

          “Shin Jinah.”

          “Shin Jinah of Wolf.” Soyu cracked a small smile. “I won’t forget you.”

          Jinah let the ends of her lips curl up a bit. Bora’s eyes were clearly watery now. Then Bora smiled. It was such a pained smile, but her eyes were hopeful. “Punch them hard,” Bora said. Her voice cracked on the last word.

          Jinah grinned. “That’s my specialty.”

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Okay, so the prepping up is almost donee. Thanks for subscribing, upvoting, and commenting! ^^ I'm glad that you guys are enjoying this story even at the slow pace, and that you find the plot original and unique instead of boring and overly complicated. c:

-Seohee