All The Colors Of You || Bang Chan

Chapter Twenty Two - Chan

Flamingo is a club located in a back alley. Hidden between a cocktail bar and a black light gym, the small entrance door looks like it leads to a shabby, rundown basement.
Instead, it leads to a dark hallway, a single light hangs from the ceiling.
"Alright," Perrie says as she turns to us, "When someone stops you, just tell them you're here with me."
Hyunjin and Seungmin exchange a look as Perrie turns back and struts towards another door.

There's the soft thumping of heavy bass and sweet melodies behind it, mixed with the growling singing-along of about a hundred people.
Perrie opens the door, the noise suddenly swelling to new highs, and reveals two men the size of Mount Everest.
Their arms are crossed in front of them and their faces are stern, the two of them twin pictures of nonchalance.
When they see Perrie, their faces light up and they bend down to hug her.
She almost disappears in their embrace, their arms twice the size of her.

"Its so good to see you," Perrie calls over the noises from behind the security men, "How's the vibe tonight? All good?"
"Sure, you know it," the one on the right answers, "Moon is on tonight."
"Oh," for a moment, Perrie hesitates. It almost seems like she's about to take a step back, her shoulders all squared and stiff. But then she clears her throat and laughs, waving her hand through the air.
"Okay!"

Then the men turn their attention towards us and hold out their arms, stopping us from
going past them.
"You'll have to put your phones into the lockers. Absolutely no cameras inside the club."
We're shown to a wall of tiny lockers and each one of us takes one, putting our phones inside. I put the key to it into my pocket.
The security men search us and our bags while explaining.
"This is a safe space. If you are in trouble or see someone that needs help, you alert the staff. There will be absolutely no harassment of other people in any way or form, or we will expel you from the premise. Are we clear?"
I look up at them, and the way they tower over all of us. We're short, but it never really occurred to me just how tall other people can be.
"Clear," I say and we're let through.

The club looks like the inside of a disco ball.
There are lights and glitter and music and and balloons and feathers.
And among it all, people.
Drag queens in colorful dresses, sequined pants, feather tops, and even wings.
Dancers of all shapes and sizes twirl on platforms across the room, which is way bigger than anyone could have had expected.
Someone jiggles past us, a boy and a girl in their arms.
I'm still busy taking it all in when Perrie turns towards us and waves us closer.

Her voice is rough over the music.
"My table is towards the back," she yells, "Let's sit and settle first and then we can go dance!"
She starts walking but Felix holds me back by my arm.
"Her table? Is she boss of a gang, or something?"
I shrug.
Her table is a booth in the back of the room, surrounded by other groups.
There's a sign on top of the table, declaring it as 'reserved' to everyone around.

Perrie puts her bag down on the cushions and a young man with neon paint all over his face and bare chest comes up from behind to hug her.
They talk for a moment, Perrie laughing and rubbing his arm. He points towards the DJ standing up at the mixing desk above all the people on the dance floor.
Again, Perrie gets that weird look on her face.
Almost apologizing, uncomfortable, and like she touched something sticky.
She shakes her head and nods towards us, and then the guy leaves.

"We're gonna go dance," Felix murmurs into my ear and nods towards Hyunjin, Changbin, and Jeongin, "You go have fun with her."
He winks at me and grins, but Hyunjin already pulls him away.
Minho sits down, looking at the menu on the table, but I don't have time to tell him I want nachos, because Perrie is there.
And she takes my hand in hers.
And she pulls me close and says into my ear, "Let's dance."
And I follow her like a lost puppy to the dance floor.

The crowd is tight.
The music is loud, fast, and gets my heartbeat pumping.
I can feel the drums of the song deep within my body, somewhere vibrating between my bones and my veins.
Perrie laughs as she watches me take in all the people - and how none of them seem to care about me.
Most of them don't even look at me.
"Doesn't it feel good," Perrie's lips next to my face, "To be just like everybody else?"
My hands find her waist and she presses herself against me.
I'm heating up.

We move together.
Perrie is no dancer, not like we are, but she knows her body. And she knows how to move it to send me into oblivion.
Our hands are always touching, even when we twirl apart, especially when we crash back together like waves that pull back from the coastline before crashing against the shore.
Back and forth, back and forth.
In and out, again and again.
Every time I pull her back, her hands land on my chest or around my neck or on my shoulders.

She twirls around me, laughing, giving me the eye over her shoulder.
And I don't see anybody else but her. She's the only person in this room, she's the middle of the world.
She's everything.

I don't know how long we dance for, but after a while I pull her close again to say into her ear, "I need a drink! It's hot in here."
She laughs and nods, leading me to the bar.
I pull out the thin sliver of a wallet from my pant's pocket and try to get the barkeeper's attention.
Before I know it, Perrie stands beside me and waves.
Immediately a barkeeper is in front of us, twirling a shot glass with swift fingers.
"Perrie," he says, "So good to see you again! The usual?"
"Yes, please," she answers and then glances at me, "And a Flirty Ginger for my friend here."

The bartender goes to work and Perrie presses her lips against my ear to overtone the boom of the music.
"Put your money away, Channie. You're with me tonight. I don't have to pay for drinks."
She winks and I put my wallet away, a slight blush on my face.
I like this side of her.
So confident, so assured of herself.
So loose and free.
We get our drinks handed to us and I take a sip.
Lemon, vodka, ginger.
A bit of sweetness right at the end.

I pull her to the booth, where Minho sits with Seungmin and Jisung, snacking on a bowl of fries.
I take a fry from the basket, bent over the bench, when someone comes up to the booth.

A slender, tall guy with long dark hair swooped over one shoulder.
He's wearing a dark pair of jeans, a sleeveless band shirt, and a ton of silver jewelry. His lip is pierced, as are both his ears.
There's eyeliner around his sharp eyes, that gives him the gaze of a predator cat.
A panther amongst its prey.

He stalks up and throws one arm around Perrie.
"Is that my little Fireball? Thought I saw you from up there. Haven't seen you around in a while, babe. I missed you."