Chapter Text
12:30 AM.
the club roared, 2000’s music blaring so loudly it lingered outside for any passerby to hear. saturday night and a y2k themed event had club pentagon much louder than it would usually be. i mean, saturdays were always busy. most people didn’t have work yet buzzed with energy, but even those that rarely came in couldn’t resist the most generic theme for a party that could ever be hosted. something about hot pink and feeling like regina george drew people in.
this was the brightest club pentagon had ever looked. the walls were decked out in streamers, the lights glowed a hot pink, britney spears was somehow the loudest voice in the club even when half the people didn’t understand her, and the other promoters that had decorated it earlier in the morning thought that the tackiest animal print – zebra – would be the best choice to contrast against every bright pink decoration. in short, the club looked like a toddler came around and ‘fixed it’.
even the black couches had hot pink pillows with tassles thrown on them, yet nam-gyu managed to blend in easy enough. he sat lazily, not having done much to get him paid this busy night, silently willing his eardrums not to bust. as of late, nam-gyu hadn’t been much help. they’ve been having an influx of events too, yet none of which were to his liking. he figured that since he hadn’t come up with any of them nor agree on them that there was no reason for him to put his time into shit he didn’t like. if you really look at it though, nam-gyu’s been working at this shithole for nearly two and a half years. unfortunately it got real boring real quick. despite that though, the innocent and naive nam-gyu who so badly needed a job – because he was five seconds away from winding up as a discord moderator and anime reviewer for the rest of his life – worked his ass off at this job to the point that in a matter of a couple months he knew everyone who came by. he knew the owner down to the people that came in regularly and what time they would come by. nowadays, though, all he has to do is make people alcoholics and shove pills down peoples throats and he was paid at the end of the week. that shows how crappy this place truly is, so it only makes sense that he gets to take it the easy way. there’s nothing wrong with a little break. especially not for nam-gyu.
he hummed contentedly, boredly even, too simple for the chaos going around him. there was nothing better for him to do honestly, the other promoters were doing all the work for him. it was easy for nam-gyu to sit still and look pretty because he does that everyday. i mean, nothing about this really interested him, which is why he didn’t come up with it. the theme was generic and overused. there’s probably another club having the same event right now. don’t get it twisted though, nam-gyu can get lit if he wanted to, but his own job would be the last place that he’d be doing that at. if sitting on couches and feeding pill desperate bitches or walking around talking highly about the shittiest kinds of alcohol was all it took for him to get paid then that’s all he’d do. no need to make this place look better than it was. after all, club pentagon was just some trashy nightclub in a stupidly rural part of korea.
nam-gyu had been so lost in thought and slacking off that a simple touch to his shoulder caused him to nearly jump out of his seat. to his luck, though, it wasn’t any drunken person crawling back for more. it was just one of the managers looking down at him with this light in her eyes that he knew he was supposed to follow. a woman named min-jee, seemingly about a couple years younger than nam-gyu if not the same age. she’d been here since he got hired and has been the kindest manager, or, really, person, that he’d ever met in this town. too kind, too creative, and too hardworking to be stuck at some shoddy nightclub like club pentagon. often he wonders how she even ended up here and not some high quality job that pays well or anything to do with art. was this shithole really her dream job?
she looked at him with this hopeful expression, motioning for him to follow her to one of the rooms in the back. if min-jee’s expression was anything other than a scowl then he knew the conversation wasn’t gonna be anything about his laziness or getting on his ass about how she’d been watching him sit in the corner practically the whole night. he closed the door behind himself, tucking the front pieces of his hair behind his ears.
“hey, nam-gyu.” she grinned, “you like music and stuff, right? i mean, like, you’re the one that’s super involved in it and stuff, right?” she pulled her phone out of her pocket, still grinning up at him. whatever this was about, min-jee seemed to really be looking forward to it. after scrolling for a little bit, she flips her phone around, showing nam-gyu the instagram profile of a guy named ‘thanos’. “new rapper guy, he wants to come perform at the club for one of his first shows. do you think you’d be interested in setting this up?”
nam-gyu had heard of the guy. his music wasn’t all that bad, but he was still desperately stuck in the early 2000’s. nothing like what you’d expect to hear today. he’d dropped a single recently and nam-gyu wasn’t sure if he should tell this guy what year it was or how to make an instrumental correctly first. thanos was just some rip off of the marvel character that decided to stop using superpowers and became a rapper instead. honestly, nam-gyu is pretty fucking surprised that a new person would want to come here first. this guy looked like a nepo baby. does he really want to ruin his reputation this quickly? his hopes and dreams must be quitting and giving up instead of rapping.
nam-gyu grinned, raising up his eyebrows, “i mean sure, if the whole get a scandal right off the bat thing is what he’s going for. is he really coming here first, min-jee?” if his whole job was making club pentagon seem like a nutjob’s workplace not only would he be rich but he’d also be correct. okay, well, it’s not that bad, but it’s certainly not the first place you’d want to hit up when you look like you live and breathe seoul.
min-jee frowned, elbow bumping nam-gyu, “yes, dude. this place isn’t that bad. you act like we have you guys working for a dollar an hour. are you taking this offer or not?”
he hums, looking up like he was contemplating, but he just shrugs his shoulders and nods, “i don’t see why not. it’d finally give me something to do.”
her eyes light up again, clapping gently with this wide grin on her face. it was really starting to seem like she was asking more for the benefit of herself then for the club. maybe she was a fan of this thanos guy, no shade, he just doesn’t really seem like all that. “thank you, nam-gyu!” she beamed, “okay, he’s coming next saturday. he’s gonna come at 10:00 and actually perform at 11:00, so make sure you have everything ready before then. i’m really counting on you, nam-gyu.”
“no worries, min-jee.” nam-gyu bowed slightly, turning to leave.
“and you better get to working, ah? i didn’t pay you to sit around all night and that’s all i’ve been watching you do.”
nam-gyu groaned, leaving the room with no proper response, assuming he was excused. at least he was leaving with something to finally do. those other promoters could really suck it now because they can’t complain anymore as if they really faired any better than him. they worked at this place just as much as he did. he walked back out into the main area, his eyes zeroing in on the couch he was just told to not go sit back down on. screw min-jee, the others have it handled. but just as he was about to get comfortable, his eyes drifted down below it, there sat some girl throwing up right in front of it and not a single bitch ass coworker of his was doing anything about it. great.
3:00 AM.
nam-gyu swung the back door open like it was heaven’s gates. he felt so crappy even after a fair share of shots. his hands were clammy, the front pieces of his hair that weren’t pulled into his ponytail clung to his face, his stomach was doubled knotted, and he’d never regretted wearing a fully black outfit to a wild club event more. the cold breeze that rushed against his face had never felt better. he stepped outside, pushing the shades he decided to wear up to rest on his head, letting the cold wind embrace him unusually tightly. this was the most refreshing thing he’s ever felt in a while that didn’t include foreign types of drugs. he felt calm, simple, lighter than usual, until something pricked his face. multiple times, a stupid amount of wet pricks hit his face, rolling down his cheeks like they were sweat. it was raining. fuck, of course it was raining. of course it was raining now of all times.
he sighed, unlucky enough for the leather jacket that hung heavy on his shoulders to not have a hood and for him to have walked the whole way here. it’s not a long walk from his apartment, but his feet felt like they had weights on them. he couldn’t tell if the warmth in his stomach was a telltale sign that he was about to spew or if it was just indigestion. honestly, nam-gyu wasn’t even sure why he felt like this. he couldn’t have had that many drinks, right? it was like a sworn promise of his for him to never get wasted at his own job so it couldn’t have been the drinks. he sat there, desperately trying to rack his brain of how many drinks he had. one.. two.. three, fuck he knew it was more than three but he didn’t know how much more. maybe he broke his promise, but he felt too shitty now to feel embarrassed. it’ll just be one of those things he’ll wake up remembering tomorrow morning and thinking about for the rest of the day.
so he trudged down the rear lot, barely picking up his feet to the point that he had nearly fallen multiple times before even getting away from the club. carlights blinded him and every crosswalk felt unimaginable, like it was all far away. honestly, he knew he should’ve just gotten a taxi or a ride from his coworkers before he made it this far, but he still felt a little embarrassed knowing he was this wasted. he’d probably done it before, undeniably, but now that he wasn’t the desperate guy he was before, modesty was a bit bigger of a thing for him. even the thought of being a twenty-seven year old man and acting a fool at his own job had him flushing.
before nam-gyu knew it, he was staring at his apartment door like he didn’t know how to get inside. he successfully made it home without losing any clothes or breaking something or getting hit by a car which is surprising for his state. he was sopping wet though, his clothes engulfing him more than his sweat did. it was undeniably uncomfortable but it was cold and after sitting in a crammed club for god knows how many hours it was worth not complaining about for once. nam-gyu reached into his pocket, pulling out his key like it was worth millions of won and shoving it into the keyhole. he struggled for a minute too long, too long for his ego, but finally shoved the door open once he got it like it pulled him instead.
the ceiling lights were blinding, the buzzing sound they usually make ten times louder in his ear, and his house felt stupidly hot. before he even shut the front door all the way, he was slamming the key down onto a nearside table and stripping himself of unbearably sticky clothes until he was only in his boxers. he left his clothes right by the door, not caring enough to act like a normal person. honestly, he almost left his shoes on, that’s how out of it he was. he cranked the air conditioning as high as he could until the cold started feeling like it was in his bones and then stumbled into his bedroom. he was greeted by his cat, momo, sleeping in his bed like it was hers. it was enough to make him smile before he slammed himself into his bed, making momo jump up in surprise.
“ah, momo, i’m sorry.” nam-gyu hummed, crawling up to her. “did i scare you?” he grinned, petting along her creamish fur. momo meowed, looking down at nam-gyu emotionless, just simple soft yellow eyes staring like there was nothing else to life. it was enough to calm nam-gyu, bring him back to that serene and floaty state from when he first opened the door of the club. sometimes he wishes he was a cat. his cats seem to have it so easy, they’re fed and pet and cherished with his love, it was almost enough to make him jealous. there should be some human companion always by his side to feed and nurture him and all he had to do was sleep.
speaking of which, he was really fucking tired. nothing else seemed to matter except for his bed and his cat and getting rid of the awful fucking feeling in his stomach. good thing he didn’t have work tomorrow, he wouldn’t be able to show up looking like a real person if he felt this crappy and cold now. nam-gyu flipped onto his side, one hand behind him desperately tugging at the rubber tie holding his ponytail. once he ripped it out, one too many ‘ow’s being let out in the process, he hurled momo next to him and rested his chin between her ears. hopefully he won’t wake up remembering too much tomorrow.