#palm vein SCAN* wow yeah they were not doing surgery on me

[llycaons]

oh wait the weirdest thing this morning was. okay the exam was at 8 but we had to be there 30 minutes early, I got there at 7:15 or whatever and checked in and the guy told me to go down the hallway and wait with the others. so we’re sitting there talking for a while until we hear what sounds like shouting echoing down the hallway like someone’s calling and we’re all looking at each other like ????? and eventually I walk back to the desk and he’s there like “I”M HOLDING THE ELEVATORS!!! COME HERE!!!” and we’re all like ‘oh shit’ so we all grab our stuff and hastily run on over. like??? he didn’t give us any other instruction upon coming in, how were we supposed to know? who just opens an elevator and assumes we’ll know to come down? who just shouts down a hallway?? dude??

[thearcaneescape]

Chapter 3

Waking up to the smell of bacon and the barking of dogs was both reassuring and haunting. He shot up from the bed, hair flopping all around, but a quick scan of his surroundings made him calm down.

“What time is it?” He groaned his way out of bed, dragging his feet to the boxes to pull on a pair of pajama trousers and a new shirt. A knock to the door made him jump slightly.

“Are you decent?” Jin’s voice was a little muffled by the door, but still melodious as all hell. A shrill bark accompanied the question, followed by a hushed reprimand from Jin. “Breakfast is ready.”

Hoseok groaned once more, stretching in such a way that his back cracked in one fell swoop before opening the door with a sleepy smile. “Mornin’.”

Jin’s smile was bright and wide awake, and a small grey ball of fluff was jumping up at Hoseok, tongue out and tail wagging. “Good morning. This is Odeng, and Eomuk is with Joon in the kitchen.” Hoseok followed Jin to the kitchen, blinking rapidly at the relatively bright sunshine, trying to get his eyes accustomed to the light. When he finally got his eyes to focus, he saw Joon sitting at the table. Joon was dressed in soft pastels, hair tied back in a simple braid, unlike yesterday’s French, pierced ears boasting bigger and thinner hoops and chains, more feminine than the ones yesterday. The open-front pink jumper was draped over a black shirt the Hoseok had seen employees use at FOPP with a nametag on the front saying My name is Joon, with a little washable marker addendum (she/her).

“Good morning! You out-slept all of us.” Joon said, a beaming smile on her face. Another pomeranian was sitting at her stockinged feet, white kneesocks matching the pale cream skirt she was wearing, and the pom was the same grey as Odeng.

“I was kinda tired.” Hoseok mumbled, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to clear them of sleep. “I’m a pretty deep sleeper, too, so I didn’t hear anything.”

“Good, because Joon snores really loudly.” Jin had walked to the stove during Hoseok and Joon’s interaction, a low chuckle escaping the man. “It’s one of the things we have a separate savings account for, surgery for Joon’s bridge.”

Hoseok winced, sitting down in front of Joon. The makeup she was wearing was minimal, lipgloss and a swipe of soft pink on her eyelids, very unlike Jin’s makeup in the club.

“It hasn’t gotten any worse, but it’s annoying.” She shrugged and checked her watch, sighing. “Speaking of annoying, I have to go to work.” With a final drink from the coffee cup in front of her, Joon stood up and walked to Jin, giving him a kiss on the cheek and waving goodbye to Hoseok, who waved back. “I’ll see you at the bar, Jinnie.”

“I’ll bring your uniform.”

The door clicked closed and Hoseok looked at Jin plating a generous but smaller portion of scrambled eggs on toast, bringing it to Hoseok alongside a cup of coffee.

“Do you want to come to the bar again tonight? Have a cute time with the brats? I’m pretty sure Jimin wants to do your face.” Jin chuckled, sitting down across from Hoseok.

“Oh, wow. You know, I’d let him. And, yeah, that’d be nice.” He took a sip from his coffee, licking his teeth. “I’m actually surprised that I’d never really heard about the club until yesterday.”

Jin let out a deep sigh, rubbing his chin slowly. “It’s not the biggest club in Soho, and to be honest it barely is a club, it’s more like a speakeasy. We’re in absolutely desperate need of exposure and staff. Kook is our only bartender.”

Hoseok choked on the mouthful of honestly absolutely delicious scrambled eggs. Only one bartender? Were they that desperate, and with such good ideas? “Wait, seriously?”

Jin nodded, fiddling around with the cup that Joon had left behind. It was heavily chipped and small cracks could be seen on the surface. “Yeah, we’ve lost some of the girls and even with Tae and Jimin still here, they bring in a good crowd, Sugar is barely scraping by with this club. The burlesque makes good money, but whenever we try to diversify with a more relaxed evening, it just doesn’t work that well.”

Hoseok swallowed his mouthful with difficulty, an unusual feeling of worry settling into his belly. Something about Jin’s solemn and melancholy expression was heartwrenching. From what he’d told Hoseok last night, Sugar’s bar was his home, and everyone there was family. Losing it would mean losing passion and some extra money to put into Joon’s surgery and money to be able to keep the dogs well-fed.

“I’ve been looking for an extra job. I was a waiter during Uni, Jungkook could teach me how to bartend.” Hoseok rasped out, nervous energy thrumming through his veins.

Jin’s eyes widened, and he let out a soft sound, of what, Hoseok wasn’t sure. “Oh, you don’t have to do that-”

“But I want to. I need more money anyway, and if I’m staying here indefinitely I should help with the rent, at least until I can get back on my feet, and the bar is such a welcoming environment.” Hoseok was hovering a couple of centimeters from his seat, hands pressed against the wooden tabletop. He fell back into the chair, some of the energy leaving him after the outburst. Jin let out a soft laugh, and he ran a hand through his hair.

“Oh, alright. Sugar is gonna be at the bar, he always is. He gets ready with us.” Jin swirled around his coffee in the cup, a soft smile on his pink lips. “Who knows, maybe he’d even rope you in to performing with us.”

---

Walking into the bar before it even opened was a new experience. House lights were on, and now Hoseok could see how run-down the place actually looked. There were cracks in the ceiling and the bar was irreparably stained.

“Woah.”

Jin looked at him and sighed, pulling the duffel bag with his and Joon’s clothes for tonight higher up on his shoulder. “Oh, yeah. It’s a bit worse for wear, but, it’s home.”

“Ain’t that true!”

Hoseok whirled around to give Jimin a wide smile, making the younger smile even wider than he already was, eyes turning into slits.

“Did Jin tell you I want to do your face?”

Hoseok nodded, rubbing the back of his neck slowly. “Ah, yeah, he did.” He tried to avoid looking into the big, wide puppy-dog eyes that Jimin was giving him, but the power they held was palpable and he caved almost immediately. “Alright, sure. Do the whole shebang.”

Jimin squealed and grabbed Hoseok’s hand, dragging him and a duffel bag bigger than himself to the dressing rooms, where Taehyung was already half-painted.

“Judging by how my boyfriend is quite literally vibrating in excitement, you agreed to letting him paint your face?” Taehyung turned to look at them, hair pushed back with a hairband and lines of unblended and half-blended, black and white contour and highlight on his face, eyes already made up with glittering silver eyeshadow and a modest cat eye. The dress on the mannequin behind him was even more extravagant than yesterday’s, silver satin cinched tight around the mannequin, the dropped waist turning into a short train at the back. The mannequin head sported a pinned silver-grey wig that matched Taehyung’s natural hair.

“He said “the whole shebang”, which is awesome, because I already have the perfect outfit for him!” Jimin pushed Hoseok to sit down before rummaging around in the gigantic duffel and pulling out his own outfit for the night. It was a cream-colored strapless bustier bra with a matching corset with various fake flowers on the edge of it to make a tutu of various colours. The bra and the corset had gold ribbing criss-crossing them, adding to the fantasy. The outfit that was pulled out next was a more direct homage to Victor/Victoria, with a sprinkling of Dita Von Teese. The mannequin next to Taehyung’s was immediately dressed up, white sleeveless button-up under a black bolero-cut swallow-tail tux jacket, and a high-waisted swing skirt that would fall to the knees.

“The lingerie comes after!”

Hoseok had his hands pressed on his cheeks, excitement running through his body. He’d actually let an artist friend of his do him up for Halloween, and even then the clothes had been very ill-fitting. Jimin stood next to him, makeup bag placed on the table in front of Hoseok, and a big shining smile on his face.

“Are you ready?”

Hoseok nodded, and settled into the seat, helping Jimin put a headband on his hairline to keep his overgrown bangs out of his face. Immediately after that, the door crashed open and a very tall someone made their way into the room.

“Oh, hi, Sugar!” Taehyung crowed, not even looking over at who Hoseok now knew was Sugar. Hoseok, on the other hand, turned his head to look at the man. He was tall, taller than even Joon, with a sharp jaw and nose, high cheekbones and black hair cut into an undercut not unlike Joon’s. He was imposing and intimidating, having shrugged off his jacket to reveal a low-cut black tank top and multiple colourful tattoos that went all the way to his fingertips, multiple scrapes and bruises on his face and knuckles. There was even some blood dripping from his palms

“Who’s the new guy?” Sugar’s voice was rough and sleepy, like he’d smoked ten packs of cigarettes before he’d walked into the bar.

“This is Hoseok! He’s letting me make him up for tonight.” Jimin aimed one of his signature smiles at the sleepy-and-disgruntled-looking Sugar, making the taller man smile.

“Is that the outfit you’re putting him in? What colors are you going for with the face?” Sugar sat down languidly on the chair next to Hoseok, his own makeup bag being thrown on the table.

“I was thinking of a red eye and lip with black liner? Keep it simple.” Jimin had tugged his own hair back into a half-pony. Sugar nodded, reaching out slowly with an impeccably manicured hand, fake acrylic nails sharp black with silver studs.

“May I?”

When Hoseok nodded, Sugar cradled his face gently, turning it side to side curiously before humming softly. “You have great bone structure there, mate. Jimin’ll have a blast doing your face.” He said, a soft smile on his face before he turned to look at his own mirror.

There was a moment of silence while Jimin prepped Hoseok’s face, gently massaging his skin with moisturiser. The door opened once more and Jin walked in, a tired and splotchy-faced Joon behind him.

“Heya, Sugar.” Jin’s voice was barely a whisper, and that made the taller Sugar stand up. He outstretched his arms towards Joon, who was very visibly shaken, and she fell into his arms with a shudder.

“Come on. Let’s go to my office.”

The silence that followed was more tense than ever, with Jimin chewing his lower lip nervously and Taehyung standing up to hug his boyfriend.

“What was that?”

Jimin sighed heavily, shaking his head. “We get some people who harrass Joonie. Before, Joonie wouldn’t tell us it was happening, but Sugar saw it happening once and that was one of the worst days we’ve ever had here.”

“Yeah, he walked in completely bloodied up and we had to close the bar for the evening.” Taehyung said, a frown on his face as he recounted that evening. “Joon was fine, but Sugar was out of commision for almost 5 months, and with how the bar’s been doing, he and his partner had to pay out of pocket for the surgery and the recovery.”

Hoseok swallowed with difficulty, pain settling behind his sternum. It was ludicrous, what he was hearing. This was Soho, for crying out loud. Wouldn’t there be more solidarity for people like Joon? Apparently not. Jimin patted Taehyung’s shoulder, prompting him to go back to finishing up, clearing his throat as he picked up the bottle of foundation from his makeup bag.

“I think we’re going to need a new waiter. Joon is a bit out of it tonight, she needs an isolated space.” Sugar had walked back into the dressing room, running a hand through his hair. “We need new staff in general.” He muttered, looking up at the three pairs of wide eyes looking at him. His dark eyes landed on Hoseok’s face, and he raised an eyebrow. “Do you have any experience as a waiter?”

Hoseok nodded, and something in him knew that today wouldn’t be the only day he’d see blood in the dressing room.