GIRLS' NIGHT — Gaeul, Liz, Rei

Ive’s Revive promotions were done, and the group was performing well, seeing good numbers on charts and plenty of sales during the first week. The girls finally took their well-deserved break. Wonyoung was finally able to go to her laptop and browse through the new lines of luxury clothing, while Yujin had to binge Hyewon’s drama that she had promised to watch but never had the time for. 

Three of the members, however, did not have such relaxing plans this evening. They had been planning this for weeks. It all started with Gaeul’s comment when they gave her that silly white crop top with stamped in bold letters ‘professional thirst trapper’ right on her chest: “Doesn’t this look like a club outfit?” 

And sure it did. The way the cotton/polyester grabbed her torso just tightly enough to show the cute shape of her breasts; the flashy, big glittered shorts they paired the top with; and not to mention the white transparent stockings under the fur boots, all those signs pointed to one place.

Gaeul wasn’t the only one. 

The brilliant stylists had given similar outfits to the other girls, too, which would bring us to the second perpetrator: Rei.

Rei had a matching grey hoodie and cheetah-print sweatpants. Those types of clothes had been trending for a couple of years now, and she had been waiting for the right occasion to try them. The way the pants fit her ass was perfect.

The last girl was Liz. She had gone through a major transformation, rediscovering her style and preferences. With the help of the artists, she had acquired very sharp eyes and lines that were in tune with her straighter body lines, trailing down to her incredibly small waist. 

She chose a small denim skirt with a matching jacket. No stockings under her fur boots, she liked her skin bare.

“Have you girls gone to a club before?” Rei asked them.

The trio discussed it, and they found out that all of them hadn’t been in one for a long time, and the memories, although very vague, seemed to be positive. It wasn’t the music that they missed. That, they could hear each time they performed, with much better audio systems. What they missed was the energy, the people, the freedom. They were always at the dorm, always masked up… they wanted to live.

The virus had settled inside their brains, and it would not leave until the very end of the promotions.

The girls were ready. It took them a couple of hours to replicate the music video’s makeup. Liz took the longest. After all, it was an intricate makeup, but all of them put a lot of effort into preparing for the night. With that, they had another reason to stick with the plan, as backing out now would be a waste of time.

Getting the outfits had been easier than expected: they just asked the stylists.

Now, Liz sat on the edge of an unmade bed, forcing the boot into her foot. Across the room, Rei leaned over the small desk mirror to apply the eyeliner. Gaeul sat on a chair in the corner of her room, checking her phone for possible inconveniences.

They greeted the other half of the group and left the building.

Outside, the air was cold, but they were fine. They had developed a bit of an immunity to such temperatures, having to perform in overly short outfits all the time. They huddled tightly together in Liz’s car and set off. 

The windows quickly fogged over. They talked about a few things, some rumors, and some random thoughts. The venue was a bit far away, but not too far. They knew they had arrived when they heard the sound of the bass coming from the club.

The transition from the quiet street to the inside of the club was brutal. Once past the heavy, soundproofed doors, the heat hit them instantly. The air was warm and thick, smelling of spilled alcohol and vapes. 

Linking hands, Rei pulled Gaeul, Gaeul pulling Liz, they cut a path through the dense, sweating crowd until they found a small pocket of space near the center of the room.

They were having the time of their lives.

It was, however, a terrible idea.

Wonyoung and Yujin didn’t really care, or were too tired to. Leeseo, on the contrary, was reasonably terrified. She tried to trust her members. If her unnies didn’t see anything wrong with it, then it probably was fine. 

She had heard multiple stories now of her colleagues getting away with even worse stuff, so this was fine. That’s what she tried to tell herself, but she couldn’t shake away that feeling in her chest.

The married couple didn’t seem to take it seriously, so she called the only other person who could have listened to her: you, their manager.

You had been asleep for a long time when your phone rang. At first, you thought it was your alarm, but then you recognized the sound. You laid still on your best for a few seconds, wondering if it was a jokester. You got up and lazily adjusted your eyes to the brightness of the screen and read the name.

Leeseo.

You also checked the time.

2 AM.

That was concerning. Very concerning.

You picked up the phone and answered, “Leeseo, what is it?”

“Manager-nim the unnies… uhm… they went out?”

“Huh?” you mumbled. “Out where?”

“They went to a club.”

“A club?!” You screamed. A sudden panic conquered your body. “Like an actual club? With people?”

“Yes!”

“Is it all the others, all five?”

“No, it was just Jiwon, Gaeul, and Rei.”

“Fuck, and they went to which club?” you asked.

“The one near the bridge.”

“Oh, that one. Thank you, Leeseo. I’ll have to get them. Thank you for telling me.”

“Thank you, manager, goodbye!”

You put the phone down and rubbed your eyes. You couldn’t imagine what went through their heads. You just couldn’t believe it. This was a crazy idea, and it wouldn’t take a genius to understand that it was extremely dangerous. 

You darted to the bathroom to freshen up a little before grabbing some clothes and storming out of the house to retrieve those rascals.

In the club, two guys crept up to their area, moving casually with half dance moves through the other people. One of them, wearing a dark shirt, went into Rei’s space, leaning down to shout something over the loud music. His friend was already stepping in, subtly trying to wedge his shoulder between Liz and Rei.

Rei leaned into the first guy’s ear. With a smirk, she yelled something back, which made him laugh and immediately gesture toward the bartender to get their attention.

Liz caught Gaeul’s eyes, with a smile, they instantly understood each other: free drinks. Liz shifted her weight and showed some interest towards the second guy as he started talking to her, hovering his hands around, closing around her lower back. She laughed at whatever he said, indulging his ego trip without giving him too much rope.

They smiled at the right moments, tilted their heads, and used those ending fairy eyes to perfectly enchant them. The right drinks came in, and they started sipping while the two guys kept spitting their game.

Truthfully, none of them had the intention of going out with these guys. For one thing, these guys reeked of cologne. They probably put fourteen sprays thinking it would act like pheromones. Then, they were so brute and dumb. They could tell they didn’t pay attention for a single second in class.

You were driving as fast as you could. Each second you were away from them, the worse they could have done. Your phone vibrated in the cup holder. You couldn’t really see the message but from the shape and color of the notifications, you knew it was a photo sent from one of your colleagues. You knew perfectly well what it was. Someone had already recognized them.

Your head started to race.