This story started based on the song "No One Knows Who I Am" from the musical Jekyll and Hyde but quickly turned into something else. I'm still debating whether I will continue this in separate parts or leave it as it is. I'm not sure. We'll see. If you are interested in this being continued, just lmk!!! Also, there's no specific pairing in this story, but I labeled it as Hyunsung since they're the closest in this story.
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The House of Angels Gentlemen's Club was a renowned club in Seoul run by none other than Bang Chan. At this club, they had plenty of performers, most notably, Hwang Hyunjin and Han Jisung, as well as some quickly rising stars such as Lee Felix. All of which had beautiful stage names. The House of Angels was a very classy and very expensive club. Only the very wealthy were able to get in. Anyone else was turned down unless they were invited, which was very rare.
Hyunjin was in the dressing room, getting his outfit ready for his performance. It was his third and final for the night. He was finishing lacing up his blouse loosely so that it would be easier to take off during the show. He shared the dressing room with Jisung. He was going on after Hyunjin, so he was currently just sitting in his chair, watching whatever on his phone, not yet getting ready. He would start once Hyunjin was called out.
For some reason, of all nights, this night, Hyunjin was feeling some strange negativity and was in a shallow mental state. He didn't want to go out and perform to entertain hundreds of wealthy and desperate men. He wanted to be home by himself, preferably sleeping.
Felix had just started his number, so Hyunjin had time to spare. He sat down, staring at himself in the mirror, trying to console himself. He was hoping that he'd be able to get through the performance fine that night, but his mind was quick to wander to the existential side that he tried to ignore, but it came full blast, and he couldn't hold it in anymore.
He sighed loudly before looking at Jisung in the mirror. "Jisung?"
Jisung hummed in response and taking his gaze away from his phone to look at Hyunjin, who had one of the saddest looks on his face. He could immediately tell that something was wrong, so he set his phone down and walked over to the others table, sitting next to him. He wrapped an arm around his shoulder, looking at the older in the mirror.
Hyunjin quickly turned to face Jisung with a severe expression, knocking his arm off in the process and slowly scooting away from him. Jisung also turned as well, looking at Hyunjin as he began speaking. "Look at me and tell me who I am."
Jisung was confused but still answered the question. "You're Hwang Hyunjin...?"
Hyunjin shook his head, not getting the answer he was looking for. "That's not what I mean. Why am I what I am?"
The anxiety rushing through Hyunjin's system was immense, but his desperate need for answers was more important and took over. That was the only reason he wasn't stuttering over his words. He needed to be assertive in his questioning.
"Um... I don't know... You never told me why you started..." Jisung was growing even more confused with every second. The questions Hyunjin was asking had answers that he didn't know.
Hyunjin laughed with his mouth shut. It was coated in sarcasm and pain, but Jisung didn't question it in fear of what would happen if he did. "I was just seeing if you could help fix my problems. You're fine. I don't even know what I'm asking, really."
Jisung wasn't sure what to do. He hadn't ever seen this side to Hyunjin, so he wasn't sure how to console him. He was about to say something, but Hyunjin beat him to it.
"Can I vent for a little bit?"
"Of course..."
Hyunjin smiled sadly in gratitude for Jisung's support. He looked around, avoiding eye contact with the other for a little before moving a little further away and continuing. "It's just that... before I came here, there were so many possibilities that I could've taken advantage of. I had so much going for me, you know. But now, all of those dreams that I had might as well be memories. They're gone. I just wonder, is this all I'm meant to be? Is there going to be anything else for me after this? This job is so terrifying. There're some nights that I'm scared I might not even survive. But if I don't, who'll really care? No one will give a damn. I mean, it's not like I'm worth anything to anyone..."
Hyunjin paused for a second, realizing that he was spiraling and needed to calm down. He hadn't realized, but by the end of the rant, his breathing was shallow and light, and he was dizzy. Jisung could hear Hyunjin's breathing and quickly grew concerned, knowing the older wasn't okay physically or mentally. As much as he wanted to console him, he knew that Hyunjin needed to lay down and rest first. He wasn't going to be able to dance, either.
"You need to rest. Go lay down. I'll tell Chan you can't go out, okay? Get some water," Jisung spoke quickly, lifting Hyunjin from his seat before grabbing a bottle of water from the mini-fridge in the corner of the room.
Just as Jisung was about to leave the room to get Chan to explain what was going on, he happened to burst in through the door.
"Hyunjin! You're on in two minutes!" He yelled out. He was about to shut the door and leave to go back to his office, but Jisung stopped him before he could.
"Sir, I don't think Hyunjin is going to make it tonight. He can't go out."
"What do you mean?"
"Just look at him! He can barely stand. I'll go out for him if I have to and do his routine for him, but I don't want him passing out on the stage out there in front of all those people. Something might happen to him!" Jisung pleaded, pointing his hand to the small sofa that was against the wall with Hyunjin laying on top of it.
Hyunjin was lying on the sofa hearing the conversation that was taking place, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to hide his secret forever any longer. He had been doing a pretty good job of it so far, it seemed, but now, it looked like it was finally catching up to him. Especially now, as he brought his arm up when he began to cough.
The secret that he had been hiding from his coworkers and boss was that he was ill. Not with just a cold or the flu. He didn't have an official diagnosis for it, but he knew that something was wrong when he would cough on his arm and see blood splattered on his skin. He promised himself that he would see a doctor about it, but something always came up when he was going to do it. He also wasn't sure that he would be able to afford the costs to get a diagnosis and treatment if he needed it. There were a million reasons why he couldn't go.
He was sure Jisung had seen the bloody tissues in the bin by his makeup table, but he never brought them up if he did. And, assuming from how Jisung was acting in that current moment, he had no idea what was going on.
"Sir, please, he can't go. He needs to see a doctor!"
Chan looked over to Hyunjin's limp body spread along the couch, now glistening in sweat. He looked over Hyunjin's body, taking in his figure, and noticed the small red dots that had stained his skin, despite Hyunjin's best efforts to wipe himself clean.
He didn't take his eyes off of Hyunjin, who looked like he was starting to fade in and out of consciousness. Whether he was sleeping or fainting, he wasn't sure, but either way, he knew it wasn't good. "Call an ambulance."
"What?" Jisung asked, confused about the man's strangely calm tone.
"I said, 'Call an ambulance!" He barked this time, knowing that Hyunjin probably wasn't going to last if they didn't get him the help he needed immediately.
"O-okay, okay!" Jisung mumbled, running over to his side of the room, grabbing his phone off of the table, and calling an ambulance. "Yes, hello. I need an ambulance... one of the workers here looks like he's going to pass out. He's sweating really bad, and he can't walk..."
Chan turned to Jisung to tell him about the blood he saw. "He's bleeding."
Jisung didn't think twice about what he said before repeating it to the responder. "He's also bleeding..." the operator asked where he was bleeding from, so Jisung pulled the phone away from his ear to address his boss. "Where's the bleeding from?"
"When he coughs," he explained, holding Hyunjin's arm up. It was cold and clammy in his hand.
"There's blood when he's coughing," Jisung explained, not sure what to say next.
"What is his name?"
"Hwang Hyunjin."
"Where are you located, sir?" The operator asked calmly.
"House of Angels Gentlemen's Club," Jisung repeated the name of the club they worked in. It took him a second to remember the name since it wasn't the priority on his mind.
"Thank you. We are sending someone your way right now. They'll be there in about ten minutes, okay? Just stay calm and make sure that Hyunjin stays awake, okay? They're on their way. We can stay on the line until the paramedics arrive, alright?"
"Okay. Thank you so much," Jisung breathed. He began to panic about what was happening. He put his phone on speaker and answered any questions that the operator asked him.
"Is there anyone else in the room with you and Hyunjin?" She asked.
"Yes, our boss is here with us."
"That's perfect," she responded. She continued, now addressing the oldest in the room. "Please go move everyone away from the main entrance so that our paramedics can get in easily and get your worker the help he needs when they get there."
Chan didn't respond verbally but stood up from the sofa and walked out of the room to do as instructed. Jisung stayed with Hyunjin, talking to him, trying to get something out of him.
"Hyunjin, come on. Answer me, just something small, please."
He waited for a few seconds, hoping to get some response from Hyunjin, but there was nothing. He tried again but got the same result.
"He's not responding to me! What do I do?" Jisung cried into the phone. He didn't want to lose him. Hyunjin was his best friend at work.
"Just stay calm, okay? Check his pulse. Do you know how to find it?" The operator asked, still calm.
"Yes, ma'am."
Jisung placed two of his fingers on Hyunjin's cold wrist, trying to find his pulse. At first, he didn't feel anything, but after a little bit, he could feel the faint pulse of blood pumping through his veins.
"Did you find it?"
"Yes, ma'am. I did. It's very faint, though. Is he going to be okay?"
"I'm sure everything will be fine. They're almost there. Just wait a few more minutes, okay? They're rounding the block."
Jisung nodded his head, not caring that the woman couldn't see him. He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. His leg began shaking as he waited, hoping that everything would be okay.
"Sir, I need a response from you."
"Yes, I'm still here. Sorry!"
He mentally cursed himself for his idiocy. He stayed by Hyunjin's side, waiting for the paramedics to come. He could hear the sirens in the distance, getting louder as they got closer to the building. He kept trying to get something from Hyunjin, but he wasn't getting anything. There was sweat pouring down his forehead and chest, soaking the small amount of clothes that he had on.
Jisung wasn't sure if he should've tried to force a jacket on him but decided against it since his body was already burning up. He didn't want to add any more heat to it.
"The paramedics have arrived. Will you be okay if I hang up?" The operator asked.
"Yeah, I will. I hear them. Thank you," Jisung responded quietly, not paying as much attention to the woman now that he was focused on getting Hyunjin the help he needed.
The operator hung up after that, leaving Jisung alone with Hyunjin until the paramedics got up to the dressing room. He waited for them to come in and carry him out of the building on the stretcher. This event alone was going to stick with him forever. It was traumatic for him. He felt helpless in the situation.
The paramedics came in soon after the call ended. Jisung watched as they checked his best friend briefly before placing him on the stretcher and carrying him out.
He followed behind them, walking out of the building and standing outside of the ambulance. He wanted to ask if he could go with them to the hospital but remembered that he still had to perform. Just because one of the performers had to be hospitalized doesn't mean that the place was going to shut down.
He walked up to one of them anyway. "Do you know what's wrong with him?"
The man turned to face Jisung. "We're not a hundred percent sure yet. They have to run some blood tests when he gets to the hospital."
He turned away to continue to help the others to get Hyunjin into the ambulance. Jisung watched the doors shut and the truck drive away, the sirens blaring in his ears. He was frozen in place, unable to move or think.
He jumped in place when he felt a hand be placed on his shoulder. He turned to see who it belonged to, seeing his boss. He was looking at the dancer with a sympathetic look but didn't say anything. Jisung took it as a hint to go inside and get ready for his performance.
"I'm getting dressed," Jisung whispered and began to shuffle back into the building slowly, but Chan's grip tightened on his shoulder, preventing him from moving.
"You can go home or wherever you want to go. I'm not going to make you stay here tonight. I'll get Felix or someone to take over for you, okay?"
"Are you sure? I promised that I'd go on for Hyunjin..."
"Yes, I'm sure. You're not going to be able to put on a good performance with the state you're in. I don't want you to waste whatever energy you have left on dancing if you're not going to get anything in return. Be back tomorrow, though, got it?"
"Yes, sir. Thank you."