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taemin-here-blog · 7 years ago

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hellfire. [flashback]

Sleek.

It was the only English word he could think of to describe it when he first entered.

He’d never been in one of these places before. And if he was being completely honest, he would’ve never guessed he’d end up in one. Stripping wasn’t really all that sexy. And how much actual talent did it take to stand on a stage and grind to a rhythm?

None, he thought to himself.

Taemin was a classically trained ballet dancer with roots in contemporary dance. Stripping required no such training and was even less respected than the ballerinas who quit on their failing career and end up performing in the scenery of a music video, not even a backup dancer to the main artist.

But yet he was here. And there he stood, head held high and eyes sweeping his surroundings, scrutinizing every little detail as his placid expression stood firm.

He knew he shouldn’t have come. In fact, logic told him he didn’t have to be here. While his job at the local gallery’s reception desk hardly paid all the bills, he had money in his saving’s account. All the money he was supposed to spend at NYU was still there, untouched. He could live off of that for months while he planned a strategy to end up at ABT. While he easily could’ve withdrawn his living expenses out of it, Taemin always turned down the idea. What his parents gave him before he left was money he felt wasn’t really his. Already accustomed to living frugally, he wasn’t trying to live an ostentatious life. He was merely trying to find himself and prove how that pre-planned life his parents wanted for him wasn’t any better for him than following his heart and dreams. That money served as a rainy day fund.

So when he was approached while shopping in East Village, Taemin was only trying to be polite when he agreed to take the woman’s card. Yet, the more he thought about what she said, the type of money he could make, the less the nearly eighteen-year-old boy could leave it be.

“Are you lost gorgeous?”

The feminine voice made Taemin freeze for a moment. He refrained from jumping or showing just how rattled his nerves were being in a strip club of all places.

“No.”

“No?”

“No.”

It was awkward. Officially so in Taemin’s honest opinion. But the woman seated at the bar didn’t seem the least bit awkward. In fact, he could argue she looked comfortable and content despite their current exchange.

Licking at her red lipstick-lined lips, she rose out of her spot at the bar. “Let me reframe the question then,” she said.

Her green eyes were scary. They seemed to glow back at him, something he knew wasn’t possible. Her long black hair fell in inky ringlets around her face, cascading down her back and over her shoulders. With an olive skin tone, she looked like a dream, even if a bit intimidating under the current lighting. But it was the charisma dripping from her mouth and coating the air around the vicinity that made him take a medium step backward. As her gaze burned like a lit cigarette into his skin, he stood there, immobile.

“What brings a pretty thing like you to a place like this?”

Taemin blinked a couple of times before he felt his hand dig into his pocket and he fished out the coffee-stained business card. “I’m here to see Cleo.”

A perfectly manicured eyebrow arched up in surprise. “You’re here to see Cleo?” she asked, the disbelief very evident in her voice. “About what exactly?”

“About what she said a couple weeks back. Is she in by chance?”

The young boy wasn’t sure if he wanted Cleo to be available to meet with him or not. He just wasn’t sold on the idea of stripping. Even standing in this glossy palace, obviously not yet open to the public, he couldn’t be sure if he saw himself fitting in here. After all, he was a real dancer, a ballet dancer, and this was a departure from his training. Not to mention how much the atmosphere scared him. And didn’t all of the dancers have an aura like this woman’s? He wasn’t enticing nor was he someone with a personality so large it could be felt feet away.

He was just Taemin, that one Korean kid who never said anything and went about his business.

His hazel eyes shined back at the woman as she eyed him carefully. It was obvious she was sizing him up and hoping to extract something from the young face in front of her. But what Taemin lacked in charisma, he made up in being cagey and shut-off. He was virtually unreadable.

Pursing her lips slightly, she looked somewhere behind him before sighing. “She’s in. She’ll be in the changing rooms right about now,” the woman said. “But I’ll warn you: there’s nothing but naked women back there. Doors open in half an hour so everyone’s still getting ready for the night.”

After giving him directions to the dressing room, the woman took her spot at the bar once again and grinned. “You’ll definitely be what she’s looking for.”

“Excuse me?”

“Handsome, yet innocent. It’s just what she’s looking for,” she said. “Besides, there’s a rich smell to you. She’ll be pleased.”

A single nod was the only response Taemin offered before he started toward the dressing rooms. He was a mess of nerves now, more so than earlier. He was going deeper into this establishment and part of him wondered if he’d make it out of the club at this rate. The deeper he went, the more the idea of stripping became something he could toss about in his mind more easily than before.

By the time his feet led him to a dark corridor, one labeled simply for employees but thankfully was allowed passage because he held up a tiny piece of hard paper with Cleo’s name on it, he could smell all kinds of things. The scent of a strong chemical cleaner, mingling obnoxiously with the smell of alcohol and nicotine. And then there was the distinctive notes of weed mixing toxic with sweat.

In this dark hallway, the only visible light that kept him from bumbling into walls and flailing about was a single light at the very end of it. From that single light at the end of the hall, he could hear chatter, loud laughter and someone trying to sing along to a Beyonce song and failing to even halfway match the pitch. The closer he got, the louder the room became and it seemed no matter how much his brain told him to leave and forget talking to Cleo, his feet carried him forward.

Taking two deep breaths, he braced himself as he rounded the doorway and entered the dressing room. Fabrics of varying sizes, cuts, styles and colors were strewn everywhere. Bodies bustled from left to right and front to back as he stood there in the doorway. They were all women, not a single person a male, like him. Some of the women were completely naked as they carefully applied makeup or argued over where to find more hairspray. Had he not been gay, this might’ve been the sight any man would kill for. Dancers of varying body types crossed the room and congregated to roast one of the dancers as she tried out a new way to do her eyeliner.

It was akin to what Taemin assumed an NFL team’s locker room would look like before any given game. Everyone chatting and preparing to step out and give the audience a show they won’t soon forget. The familiarity could be felt between each dancer, even if they didn’t like each other. The comfort they must’ve felt between one another as they sat, half or fully naked.

And that’s when he was brought out of his mind.

“Are you lost?” one dancer asked.

Her dark skin shined like onyx and he smiled at her. “Uh, no.”

“Ah, you must be here to see your mama,” she said, Taemin suddenly picking up her strong Carribbean accent. But before Taemin could refute her claim, she turned around and called out to one of the dancers. “Asami, your boy is here!”

An older woman stood, confused and looking in the direction of the woman who just addressed Taemin. She was Asian, that much the young boy could work out. She was gorgeous. Her black hair was short and framed her face well, showing off sharp cheekbones. Her dark stare zeroed in on him. “Rita, how many times do I gotta say that just because someone is Asian, does not mean I gave birth to them or we’re related?”

“How many times I gotta prove to you that Andra Day and Rihanna are two separate people?”

“Bullshit.”

Soon he was forgotten by the two women as they argued about the two singers. But he wasn’t off the hook. He was noticed by a familiar face toward the back of the room. A wide grin fixed across her face, she waved the young guy over, turning around to take a seat in front of the lit mirror.

Taemin slowly weaved his way through the crowded dressing room, apologizing to the few women he accidentally bumped because he couldn’t squeeze between them.

Thankfully the corner of the dressing room Cleo occupied was quiet. The air around her seemed so calm, and cool and collected. Nothing like the mayhem ensuing just twenty feet away.

The way her blonde hair was slicked into a high ponytail reminded him of the very day she approached him. She was gorgeous and her posture as straight as a razor even when she was seated. Her blue eyes glanced at him through the mirror before she moved her head to the right.

“Go ahead, sit.”

Not waiting another second, Taemin swiftly moved into the seat to the right of Cleo and smiled politely. Bowing the way he was taught in the Kim household, he thanked her.

She laughed, the sound light and bubbly. He could sense she must’ve been a popular act among the numerous women crowded into this dressing room. She mirrored the attitude of the raven-haired woman he met in the main section of the club, oozing sex appeal and giving off a visceral reaction to anyone near them. Perhaps it was why he was seated here in front of this vanity mirror instead of going into his stupid gallery receptionist job like he was supposed to. Because he would’ve never walked through these front doors of his own accord. He wasn’t even straight or sexually attracted to women.

“I have to admit,” Cleo began, turning slightly in her seat so she could face Taemin, “I didn’t expect you to show up after our conversation.”

Nodding in understanding, the younger man sighed deeply, “I didn’t think I would either.”

“And if it’s even possible, you look more innocent than the last time.”

He only laughed, combing his fingers through his black locks. “Hardly.”

The knowing glance Cleo gave him was all he needed to shut up.

“I assume you’re here about what we talked about.”

There was a slight nod as Taemin sifted through his mind. How did he go about this? How did he admit that the money sounded attractive, even if he wasn’t desperate for cash at the moment? How did he explain how thirsty he was for praise and laude without sounding needy and pathetic?

Everything that left his mouth would be scrutinized and he wanted to be sure it all painted a favorable picture of himself.

As he looked up at the beautiful woman seated beside him, he nodded more confidently. “You said that a great dancer can be a legend if they worked hard enough,” he said lightly. “But in your line of work dancers become legends overnight. What did you mean by that?”

Cleo beamed at the younger male. “Just what I said,” she replied. “All it takes is one dance and your cemented in someone’s mind for a lifetime. You look like a boy who stick in someone’s mind long after that one dance.”

The look she gave him made him shrink back internally, but externally he stared back at her. Eyebrows furrowed, he shook his head. “I’m not the guy that gets noticed.”

“Don’t lie to me,” she guffawed, shaking her head. “A pretty face like that, a dancer body like yours? I’m sure you capture enough attention just walking out your front door.”

“But I don’t. No one approaches me.”

“Being noticed and being approached are two very different concepts.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Just because someone sees you and notices you doesn’t mean they’ll actually come up and say something,” she said, as if it was common knowledge. “And with your overall look, you probably intimidate people.”

“Intimidate?”

“You don’t smile much do you?”

“Well I didn’t find anything funny...”

He trailed off when she snickered at his comment. His confidence was waning and he wasn’t sure if this was his interview for a job. Was this more of a rejection? It was so hard to tell at this point.

His thick, pink lips pressed together as he stared at Cleo, waiting for her to say something. A silence grew between them and Taemin sat there while Cleo seemed content to stare at him. He could feel her eyes as they traveled over his face, between his shoulders, over his chest--her eyes were everywhere. As his eyes glimpsed at the other side of the room, the women almost fully dressed and ready for opening, something hit him. It should’ve been obvious the moment he walked into the dressing room and perhaps when the woman warned him of all the naked women that would meet him there, but it was just now settling into his consciousness.

Why did she seek him out for possible employment when this club obviously didn’t employ male dancers?

“Um, I don’t mean to be really rude when I ask this, but I’m confused,” he began, his eyes lingering on the scene before him before they slowly dragged back to Cleo who seemingly hadn’t moved even an inch from the last time he looked at her. “I don’t understand why I’m here.”

Cleo laughed. “I thought we were both figuring that out before you went silent on me.”

“No, that’s not what I was--I don’t get why you approached me. I’m not a woman.”

Slowly the woman began to piece together what the young boy was hinting at. As her eyes fluttered to the other ladies in the room, she gave an airy laugh before she shook her head. “Oh, I wasn’t seeking you out to dance here,” she corrected, looking in no hurry to explain herself. “We’ll soon be expanding this club. A sister--or brother depending on how you see it--club will be opening very soon. I’m calling it The Hellfire Club. It’s far more...upscale than this. I’ll be in charge of it and I’m scouting dancers.”

So it would be another club. Taemin gave a confused expression, his hazel eyes narrowing as he computed each nugget of information.

“It’ll be a progressive type of gentleman’s club. I need dancers like you.”

“Will it be for males in the LGBT community then?”

“It will have aspects that will cater to them yes,” she explained. “I’ll have male and female clientele and male and female dancers to fulfill as many of the clients’ needs as possible. The club is invitation only and based on a strict membership process.”

None of this meant much of anything to Taemin if he was being honest. He didn’t even know if he was actually going to take a position as a stripper. He only showed up for this to see if he would actually go through with it and to possibly hear more about what the job could offer for him.

“You don’t look convinced,” she stated plainly, heaving a sigh as she let her spine touch the back of the chair.

Giving a tight-lipped, apologetic smile, the short dancer shook his head. “It’s not that the business doesn’t sound intriguing. I just have no idea what any of that means,” he cordially explained. “Besides, I don’t know if I’m stripper material.”

“What’s that? Stripper material?”

He shrugged. “I’m not...I don’t think my dancing style will match.”

“Honey, I’ve been where you are,” Cleo said, flicking her blue eyes over his entire outfit before staring in the mirror. “I was a trained contemporary and lyrical dancer with dreams of making it here in Manhattan, but money is king in the city that never sleeps. I’m sure you’ve realized that or else you wouldn’t have trekked all the way to West Village to meet with me.”

Taemin didn’t refute, merely stared at her in reverent silence as she began to put away all the makeup products she used.

“I was someone’s nightingale at one time but what good was it if I couldn’t keep an apartment or barely eat a single meal in a day? So I was recruited by a mutual friend at a ballet company to dance here.” There was something so distant in her voice as she reminisced her entrance into stripping. “I thought there was no way my style would ever match the style of those women up on that stage. But nearly ten years later and I can say I’m debt-free, living comfortably on the Upper West Side.”

The young male chewed the inside of his cheek. “I don’t need the money though.”

“Then what is it you need?”

There was a moment where pure panic shook his entire body. He could feel it tightening his muscles and cutting straight through tendons and ligaments. “I don’t know,” he whispered out, his voice breaking. He was becoming scared that he wouldn’t be able to finish his thought. He wanted to cry, but he wouldn’t. He wanted to explain how needy for attention he was, but he couldn’t. But he could at least try. “All I know is that I’m lost without dancing. And ever since I showed up in Manhattan I’ve felt...empty. I need to be on a stage again, I need to...I need to--”

“Fly.”

He blinked a few times as he stared at Cleo. Was that the sensation he’d been missing since he arrived in New York? The feeling of flying? Perhaps it was. It was the only thing that could explain the feeling of his feet carrying him across a stage, the way his body moved and arched with each strum and pluck on the strings of a violin or cello.

Unable to trust his voice to reply, Taemin simply nodded.

“This job will give that back to you,” she said thoughtfully. “I’m not saying this is an easy work environment and the physical exhaustion you’ll feel in the beginning will make you question the worthiness of a job like--”

“There was a period of two years where every day I woke up in excruciating pain due to shin splint that I let go for months that turned into a stress fracture,” he explained, unintentionally cutting Cleo off. “Pain can be ignored.”

Cleo’s smile stretched, almost wolfish as she nodded her head in approval. “There was something about you,” she said, her index finger jabbing at the air as she pointed at Taemin. “You were special the moment I laid eyes on you. You’ll do just fine in a business like this.”

“So what do I do now?”

“There’s a step between this and me hiring you. You’ll have to dance for one of my financiers,” Cleo stated plainly, her body turning to check her makeup in the mirror before returning her gaze to Taemin. “He wants to know I’m hiring acceptable male dancers. Are you free Friday evening?”

“Yes,” he jumped in, not even thinking for a moment if he was actually free or not. It didn’t matter because he would make the time for something like this. Even though there was a shred of doubt that stripping could bring him the same feeling ballet could, he was willing to give it a shot. It was better than answering phones all day.

“Good, meet me back by the private lounges on the second floor, Friday at midnight,” she said. “I’ll guide you to the room where he’ll be waiting.”

He gave a short nod as he stood up. Eyes traveling back to the nearly empty dressing room, clothes still strewn all across the floor and counter tops, he gave a small smile. This didn’t seem all that different from the dressing rooms he remembered from all those years in ballet. Just less tulle and no soft pastels to speak of.

As he headed toward the door, he heard Cleo call his name. He turned around to face her as she began to pull off her oversized button-down shirt and reveal a short, tight-fitting, black dress beneath.

“Yes?”

“You will sparkle, even under the dim lights of a strip club, I can promise you that.”

#[taemin inspo-past]#[self para]#[self para: hellfire]#[i got carried away omg]#[loolll so if anyone would be interested in learning how taemin got into stripping and eventually krovs....this would be the start]

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kaisooficrec · 4 years ago

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Hello! First time asker but longtime follower from 2014 ❤️ I love hurt/comfort so I would like to request fics where Jongin or Soo get jealous! The whole plot can revolve around it or it can just be a scene or chapter in a bigger plot/fic. Thank you!

OMG hello lovely anons!! Since 2014, that is such an honour!! We have soooo many jealous kaisoo fics, we hope this will make up for waiting so long /cries

jealous kyungsoo:

Sucker - continuation to Tempo/Heaven jgjfj bad boy soo and soft nini >>>> anything else tbh (this series has both of them jealous!!!)

Can You Handle My Cue? - Canon compliant, Smut, Fluff, Humor. THE AMOUNT OF PUNS, my lord. TaeKai went on a very platonic pool date and Kyungsoo is not having it. Until Jongin shows him just how fun pool can be and how loved he is.

is that jealousy, i see? - PWP, non AU. Kyungsoo finds a KaiStal picture on Twitter and Jongin finds his jealous boyfriend incredibly sexy.

Say my Name - Single Dad!AU, FLUFF. This one is just self-indulgent because Kyungsoo is jealous of Jongin being the first one to be called by his own little daughter. Beautiful domestic sweetness.

Confession - Fluff, College!AU. Kyungsoo receives an unexpected confession from THE Kim Jongin and enjoys getting to know him and spending time with him. Until Sehun shows up and expresses a bit too much affection for the younger. EXO OT9 so their squads are toptier.

Hearts & Empires - The Selection!AU, Modern Royalty!AU, Fluff, Angst, 26 chapters and counting. Do Kyungsoo was one of the Selected by mistake. It was against his will. He hated being in the palace and he hated the crown prince. But will he say the same when he has found himself getting jealous whenever the crown prince spends his time with the other Selected?

Secret Love Story - they’re roommates and even tho they’re bfs, ksooo doesn’t open us easily due to his past and jongin is still very patient with him. ksoo also gets jealous of jongin’s friend luhan

(Won’t You) Build Me Up - engineer!jongin and architect!soo were once best friends since childhood and then boyfriends but they broke up and then meet again when they’re older and become neighbours. kyungsoo has a project and works on a new house for jongin

Imprint - kyungsoo works in a library and sees a guy spacing out with his headphones on and then they talk. he thinks jongin has a gf who always comes with him and kyungsoo is jealous

jealous jongin:

Jongin Watches 100 Days My Prince - kgdjj inspo by soo’s drama….jealous nini and soo dressing up as a prince ;))))))

Your scent - Jongin gets jealous watching Kyungsoo kiss someone on set(Abo Au)

No one liked the green-eyed monster - Jongin is upset about kyungsoos drama and they have a bit of a falling out( there seems to be a theme with the jealous Jongin fics)

flip the switch - ABO Mechanics, smut, fluff. Kyungsoo just has a lot of affectionate friends but his alpha boyfriend does not like it.

is this how i die?(probably not) - Fluff, forced ChanSoo. Nothing new, just Jongin not understanding why he can’t be partnered with his favourite hyung in photoshoots.

Jealousy - Smut, Fuckbuddies!AU. It doesn’t matter if they argue (among other things) every time they meet, Kyungsoo is Jongin’s, and only Jongin’s.

Little Green Monster - Humor, Fluff. Jongin shouldn’t have tried to sabotage Chanyeol’s lunch for snuggling Kyungsoo to sleep, and payback didn’t have to go that hard on him.

Traces - Smut. Another one where Chanyeol annoys Jongin and awakes his territorial instincts. Kyungsoo just enjoys. *wink wink*

Yours - Married!AU, Fluff. Kyungsoo is happy to rebuild his awkward friendship with his ex-boyfriend Hyunsik but when Jongin knows, it takes even more effort.

0.4 - Married!AU, Light Angst, Oneshot. Kyungsoo doesn’t mind Jongin’s “strict” love but one day, he snaps. Whew, it escalated quickly and not in the freaky way.

When Jealousy Hits Jongin - Established RelationshipAU, Fluff, Humor, OT12. Jongin gets jealous watching *his* Kyungsoo’s interactions with the boys. I am no softie but at this point, Tao is my child.

Write Me Into Your Fiction, Hyung - Fluff, Humor, Chaptered. Jongin just wants Kyungsoo to notice him instead of obsessing over EXO M, but he’s too busy writing fanfiction. BaekSoo as bestfriends>>>

and they were rommates - Friends-to-lovers, Romance, Oneshot. Kyungsoo is set on confessing to his roommate and bestfriend Jongin after his return from a trip. What he doesn’t expect is said Jongin to have a boyfriend and him suddenly getting irrtated whenever Sehun came over for help or support.

Insidious - Non AU, Psychological Horror, side!KrisYeol. Jongin’s attraction to Kyungsoo has nothing to do with the superficiality of Kai’s fanservice with D.O. When he realizes that and discovers Kyungsoo’s crush on Chanyeol, the young boy resorts to extreme methods. Damn, that was an intense fic. Please proceed with caution.

I Am Happy When I Am With You - ABO Mechanics, Smut, Fluff. Alpha!Jongin always felt possessive towards his friend Kyungsoo but never worked up the courage to confess. It only gets worse when Omega!Kyungsoo offers to share his first heat with him. Cute idiots in love.

Off screen - jongin is jelly jelly because kyungsoo had a kiss on screen with his co-star actress :))

Can’t Stand it Babe (Gotta Have You) - office au, co-workers and friends flirt with ksoo and jongin is having none of that

have a fake bf/gf to make the other jealous:

The Friend Zone - HunHan are tired of how dense Kyungsoo is with his bestfriend!Jongin and hire Taemin to make his realize that the Eternal Friendzoned boy actually friendzoned his bestie. Humor and super gay Luhan.

To Steal You with a Kiss - Humor, Smut, side!Chanbaek. Kyungsoo and Kai are only friends with benefits but Kyungsoo wouldn’t mind feeling a little more loved. And what’s better than making Jongin jealous and fake dating his friend Ren. This is the first fic I read with a NU’EST member (Choi Minki).

both are jealous:

Miss Me - Smut, Romance. All of South Korea knows Actor!Kyungsoo for being husband material and CEO!Jongin for being one of the hottest bachelors in the country. What they don’t know is that they only have eyes for each other. (both are jealous here)

A Heart at Peace - top top! this is a good drama ad pining in one where they’re jealous without realizing that. jongin is junmyeon’s younger brother and a friend, or so kyungsoo thinks but jongin has stronger feelings towards kyungsoo than just being friends

like glass - roommates kaisoo / housemates. first they just lived together and ksoo took care of jongin very well even if jongin had a gf at that time then jongin realizes that ksoo is the best person he could ever ask for

Happy reading ~ Admin Cookie & Admin J

#kaisoo #kadi #dika #fic request #exo #r:possessive kai #r:possessive soo #j #admin cookie

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