"You want to work for me?!"
Da Hye's sleepy voice suddenly became unexpectedly loud as she almost yelled that sentence into the phone. After losing all her savings, Se Ah thought long and hard about her options and came to the conclusion that there was no way she would spend God-knows-how-many-more years earning the money that was stolen from her. She could no longer afford to waste time, and Kang Da Hye was her fast track to achieving her now unrealistic material goals.
"You said before that you would let me work in the "Red Velvet" as a dominatrix, does your offer still stand?"
"Well, of course, it does, but why a sudden change of heart? Did something happen? Do you need more money for the apartment?"
Da Hye's concerned voice pulled the wrong strings in Se Ah's heart and she felt a dry lump forming inside her throat. She had to make an effort to suppress the unnecessary emotions and answered with a fake, slightly trembling voice,
"Nothing happened... I just thought that extra money would never hurt. You know, better be safe..."
"... Alright, if you say so. When do you want to start? The shifts usually start at 9 PM but you can obviously choose the time that fits you best. You can either work every day or just the weekends, but I need to remind you that your payment depends on the number of clients you receive per night."
"Geez, Da Hye, you sound like a pimp."
A short but somewhat satisfied laugh rang on the other end of the line.
"In that case, Yoon Se Ah, I'm the most generous pimp you'll ever meet! Anyway, think it over and send me your thoughts over a text later, I'll talk to my people and let you know what I can offer you."
"Alright, thank you, Da Hye."
"No problem."
Both of them paused but neither was yet ready to hang up. Finally, after several seconds of silence, Da Hye let out a loud sigh, and tried again,
"Are you sure nothing happened? I can just lend you the money, you know."
Se Ah knew but she hated to be indebted, and it absolutely did not matter to whom.
"Thank you but it's fine. I'll talk to you later."
She put the phone on the kitchen table and leaned over it with her hands stretched outwards. After sleeping late in Yang Min Seok's room, dealing with the bank account paperwork, and resolving her mother's hospital bill issue, her Monday off was almost over and she had practically no strength to even think, even though she promised Mr. Shin that she would try and wrap up some of her tasks from home because Lee Min Hyun was not in the office as well.
"Why in the world did Min Hyun take a day off? Is he sick again?"
Se Ah swiftly straightened her body back up and shook her head as if trying to shake off useless emotions and free up some space for more important ones.
"This is no time to think about others, Yoon Se Ah, your well-being comes first."
There was no use mulling the decision over, it was obvious what she had to do - with her current financial situation, she had no choice but to go to Red Velvet every night and hope to receive at least one customer per shift. She knew that Da Hye would probably still pay her more because of their friendship, however, this time, it was important that she had actual work to do.
"Alright, then. I guess my mind is all made up. Let's do it, Yoon Se Ah."
***
Red Velvet, despite being a rather niche, partially exclusive bar, was booming with life, thanks to Kang Da Hye's numerous connections. People were using it as their hideout, an intimate place to escape from their daily lives and dive into a familiar, more comfortable world where people accepted them for who they were; to meet new partners and friends, and last but not least, to receive the necessary service without making a lot of rather exhausting effort. Seeing how the bar was almost filled to the brim, Se Ah could not help but be fascinated by the number of people who had unconventional needs and wanted to satisfy them by all means necessary.
"Yoon Se Ah! You're here!"
The woman turned around as she heard a familiar voice and smiled. Oh Ma Ri was waving her hand as she was walking towards her with a wide, bright smile on her pretty face.
"Hi, Ma Ri, long time no see."
"You bet! When Kang Da Hye told me you will be working here from now on, I had to practically beg her to let me change my shifts just so that I could help you out! I'm so glad you decided to do this."
Ma Ri's chipper voice and surprisingly happy behavior got Se Ah all wired up and even confused. Sure, the two of them were long-time acquaintances but they were hardly as close as to be so friendly with one another, but Ma Ri, just like Da Hye, was always chummy by nature, so Se Ah decided to let it slide, there was no use being all tense about it anyway.
Ma Ri took her by the hand and lead her away from the crowd in the direction of the "playrooms" while explaining the bar rules and her responsibilities.
"Basically, there is really nothing special about that, you are already familiar with everything, you just need to consider it as your regular play. The only exception is that they cannot have sex with you, everything else is permitted, if they want it."
Ma Ri opened the door to the changing room and smiled.
"You can change in here, once you use a certain set of clothes or lingerie, put them into the bin in the closet, it will be washed or disposed of afterwards, depending on the outcome... Do you have any questions so far?"
Se Ah shook her head and looked around the room. Ma Ri was right, there was nothing new to that, she was familiar with everything and yet, somehow, she was still feeling rather anxious. As if having read her mind, Ma Ri patted her on the shoulder and smiled.
"It's weird when you do it as a job at first, I know, but you will get used to it pretty fast."
Ma Ri was about to leave the room when she paused abruptly and turned her head around.
"Oh, your first client is waiting for you in the third playroom. Good luck!"