"I saw waves in my dream
It touched me deeply in my heart
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream"
-Regular to Irregular by Nct127
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Bold is in English
Madam Ten lifts back the curtain ever so slightly revealing the faces found within the crowd. Missing were the familiar faces of our loyal regulars, only to be replaced with more intimidating facades. Tough looking men in dashing suits littered the tables and bar areas. Many were sitting down in an organized manor, but even more were standing in small groups, wondering around, probably to get a drink, or worse, harassing the waitresses.
It was at this moment that I felt somewhat relieved that Jungwoo was sent home. I couldn't even imagine how these men would treat a man in drag if this was how they treated the female workers that were not performers.
Cat calls made up most of the noise in the room, yet it seems as though it were only a small group of men seated at the main table. I looked over at the main table where the cat calls were coming from.
It was normal for us to seat astonished guests at the table closest to center stage. This way, whoever was deemed important enough to be seated there could have the best view of the performers. Also, since the stage wasn't elevated, the performers would often walk into the crowd in an attempt to raise audience participation. Sometimes it would be asking an audience member to help remove an article of clothing. Other times it could be a full-on impromptu lap dance, depending on how wild or trustworthy the audience was that particular night. Either way, audience participation was always centered around this table.
Seated at/surrounding the table were five men. They all looked to be in their early or late twenties. Although everyone else in the room seemed intimidating in the conventional "thug" way, these men were intimidating in another way.
"Handsome, aren't they?" Madam Ten cooed almost as if these men were celebrities' whose presence should be appreciated, instead of ruthless mafia members who intimidated their ways into the audience, but I couldn't disagree.
Each of the men varied greatly in image, yet to say that any of them were less that godly would be a obvious lie.
Two men were standing up at their seats trying to control their obviously drunk colleague who kept making passes at the waitresses as they walked by. The drunk one was short but still very handsome with his golden bleached blonde hair and charming laugh. It seemed as though he would have no trouble picking on women normally if not for his brazenly drunk behavior.
As a waitress went to check on their table, the blonde had slapped the poor girl's ass as he spoke to her in English.
"What do you say me and you go get out of this overpriced bar and get ourselves a real drink?" He says as he puts his other hand on her waist and pulls her closer to him. She girl lets out a small shriek.
I recognize her. She's one of the new girls on staff. Really innocent and sweet, but she normally does well with dealing with drunken costumers when they get out of line, but this time our customers are irregular compared to what she must be used to.
The girl freezes.
"Come on baby. Don't you wanna have a little fun? What's wrong?" The blonde asshole continues.
"Mark, Stop making a fool of yourself and it down." A tall brunette grabs him and plops the blonde back into his seat as if he weighed nothing. "She probably doesn't even speak English." He continues as he whispers something into the waitress's ear and hands her what appears to be four 50,000won bills. As she quickly moves away, I put two and two together and figure that he was probably asking her to forget about his friend's indiscretions.
"I wasn't even...hiccup...speaking English Johnny." The blonde drunkenly continued mumbling in English as he tried to get up to follow the girl, only to be set back down again by the third standing party.
This third stayed silent but nodded at the tall brunette previously referred to as Johnny.
Huh. It seems like maybe this guy is either the strong silent type or he doesn't speak English. Whereas the other two seem to be American like me. I think to myself noticing how the two speak English in an accent very similar to my own along with the mentioning of their English names.
"Maybe when you were working with the Dreamies in the Canadian unit, getting drunk and harassing waitresses was acceptable, but now that you're working for the big boss, you have to keep up appearances. Okay Newbie?" Johnny lectured.
I start mentally cursing myself for assuming that the two English speakers were from America, not even considering Canada, only to have my thoughts interrupted by the Madam.
"They might have used their power to influence the program of tonight's show, but I cannot tolerate any ruckus they make." Madam Ten gestures toward Mark.
Madam Ten starts walking to the doors leading to the audience, but before leaving, she glances at me and raises one ring covered index finger towards me, as if queuing me to stay put while she deals with the unruly audience member. Then without waiting for me to confirm that I understand her silent request, she approaches the three men, hips swaying ever so seductively.
Even though Madam Ten may have let the Mafia gang intimidate her into going with whatever changes to the show that were demanded by the irregular guests, I was relieved to hear that she still wouldn't tolerate disruptions within the audience.
I lift the curtain up again and watch as Madam Ten makes her way to the bar where the noisy blonde and his silent colleague had wondered off to.
"Hello boys," The Madam greets the two suited men in a strict yet still flirtatious manner.
Both men raise their eyes to meet the Madam's.
Stressing a smile, she continues. "It seems as though you are making my staff feel uncomfortable."
Madam Ten places a hand on the lapel of the third man's jacket hoping to incite a response.
"When young boys don't know how to play nicely, that's when they get placed in time out."
Mark looks up at the hand places on his hyung's chest and scoffs, further proving that the comparison of him to a toddle might not be that far of a stretch.
The third man looks at the madam with kind eyes and smiles and for a second I am relieved that the situation doesn't seem hostile. That is until the third responds with,
"Well what happens to old bats when they don't know when to shut their traps?"
I can't help but let out a gasp.
The third man had black hair with vibrant blue highlights. Despite the obvious fact that he was a member of the most ruthless gang/mafia in Seoul, had somehow been born with an innocent looking face. One could even allude his facial features to that of a baby rabbit. Yet he spit out his response like venom proving that one cannot judge a bunny by it's adorable features, but by how hard it bites.
Madam Ten's jaw drops, completely shattering her confident façade. Anger visibly erupting from her foundation covered pores. I watch her as her hand balls up into a fist, but before she can raise it even an inch, Johnny inserts himself in between the madam and his formerly silent colleague.
"Doyoung! How could you say that to such a beautiful young lady?" Although he is speaking to Doyoung, he doesn't break eye contact with the Madam for even a second.
"Don't you realize that we are guests in this lovely establishment and should be thankful that we are blessed to have such a beautiful hostess?"
Johnny grabs the Madam's hand melting away her fist as he planted a kiss on her ring covered fingers.
"Normally I like to kiss a woman's hand without being obstructed by the presence of rings." Johnny looks up at the Madam while Doyoung rolls his eyes at his colleague's over the top mannerisms.
"Do any of these rings signify that I should address you as Mrs. instead of Miss?" Johnny slightly inquires as he winks at the Madam.
Ugh Barf. There is no way that the Madam is buying this.
An annoyingly long string of giggles escape from Madam Ten's mouth.
"You can refer to me as Madam Ten, and no, there is no Mr. Ten." She responds as she wraps Johnny's arm around hers. "Instead of playing with such immature young boys, you should accompany me for some drinks in my private room before the show." Madam ten states shooting a glare toward Mark and Doyoung.
Before Johnny can even respond, the Madam starts leading him to her private quarters backstage. Realizing that he may have laid on the charm a little too strong, Johnny glancing towards his colleagues giving them a desperate "Help me out of this" look, only to be returned with a smirk from Doyoung and an empty concerned look from Mark.
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A/N: WHO ARE THE OTHER MEN AT THE TABLE????? Remember I only revealed Mark, Johnny and Doyoung.
Sorry I'm late for updating. I got a job as a pizza delivery driver, but on breaks I'm writing!
Vote you sweaties