The Escort

"I Can't Dance."

The taxi took Y/N to her newly purchased apartment building, where she rode the elevator to the penthouse on the top floor. She collapsed on the couch in her living room, eyeing the picture above the mantle. It was a new up-and-coming artist in Seoul. She had a thing for current works of art here.

Her thoughts spun and she felt like she had a crushing weight on her chest.

She needed to stop trying. She just....she would never be the type of person who belonged in those types of places. It was time to accept that. She made others uncomfortable and herself miserable.

And in a moment of self-hatred, she let her thoughts go even further.

She shouldn't think about being able to do things other women did with guys. She wouldn't be able to, ever, so why bother thinking she could. Her heart smarted but she knew it was true. The relationship side of things, traditional methods of male and female courtship....she was so inexperienced and out of her comfort zone that it was time to accept that it would never happen to her.

So Y/N admitted it and as much as it hurt, she laid it to rest. Or at least.....she tried.

-

Jimin wrinkled his nose in disgust as he wiped himself off and then stepped back into the bedroom to wipe his client off. She laid on the bed, blissed out expression on her face. He tossed the rag in the hamper and leaned down to give her a quick peck on the lips before quickly gathering his clothes, and the cash she had left on the nightstand, and stepping back into the bathroom to dress.

He hated clients like this. Yes, he provided a service but....they always had ways of reminding him that they were above him. That he was beneath them. That he serviced them.

Maybe his attitude had just been getting more sour lately but he was tired of it.

He'd debated so many times getting out of this business, it wasn't like he lived lavishly, he was pretty frugal outside of work expenses. His friends had even offered him positions at their companies.

But he also loved the thrill of being able to set his own hours, of having people desire him. They wanted his services but they also....on some level....wanted him. Or at least the person he projected. He didn't want to be tied down, working a 9-5.

But sometimes he wondered, every time he felt another part of his heart cave in on itself, if this was worth his freedom. If it was worth the nights he spent alone, in his cheap apartment, wondering if anybody could love him for who he was and look past what he did. The answer thus far had been no. And as time went on his heart began to accept that it would probably always be....no.

-

"How was last night?" Jin was way too jovial for Y/N's liking as he strode into her office, tablet in hand, ready to go over a few things with her. And, of course, he asked her the first question she'd been hoping he wouldn't ask.

She'd made a mistake, let her guard down, mentioned how nervous she was about the upcoming night. He couldn't understand exactly why with her vague responses, but he had tried to provide what reassurance he could.

He had mostly been surprised she'd opened up. They'd worked together for over a year now and Y/N could be an enthusiastic chatterer about many topics but she didn't volunteer much about her personal life. She didn't even talk about the pictures that rotated on her electronic picture frame in her office, pictures that he'd stared at sometimes as they worked.

Y/N kept her eyes firmly planted on her computer screen.

"My friend got laid, which was my goal for the night." Jin sat down in front of her desk.

"Yeah, but what about you." As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted them, because Y/N stiffened up so fast his muscles hurt watching her.

"I was fine." She got like this when she was uncomfortable, completely shut down, and normally he respected that. She hadn't hired him to have a friend, she'd hired him because she'd thought he'd make a good Chief Financial Officer for her baby business, at the time. But yesterday she'd volunteered that and he was pretty open about his personal life so....he kind of got the feeling she needed to vent and that she didn't have anyone to do it with.

"Were you really?" His tone was so soft it took Y/N by surprise and she looked over at him, momentarily speechless. "I mean...." Jin didn't want to overstep his bounds. "You don't have to tell me but....I don't mind listening. You don't seem like....you don't seem like someone who has lots of friends you can talk about it to."

"How do you figure that?"

"How were you supposed to maintain friendships with the amount of crazy hours you've been working?" He had a point. Y/N had friends here but certain parts of her life she didn't talk about with anyone and everyone was just used to her flitting in and out of the group.

Because she made them uncomfortable.

Those accusing words rang in her head over and over.

Jin didn't know what she was thinking but he saw her lips tighten and the depressing heaviness that settled over her features as she thought.

"I shouldn't have been there." Her voice sounded really small, like the words were getting dragged from her throat. Jin's brow furrowed.

"How come?"

"I make..." She cleared her throat. "I make people uncomfortable."

"Um....why...?"

"It's not my thing...it's just....I'm different." I mean...she was. But Jin was having difficulty understanding how this attractive and vivacious woman in front of him could feel like people wouldn't want her at a club. People like her brought more people in. If a club was known to be frequented by her, she was the kind of person who would be an inadvertent advertisement.

"I'm sure every guy there was wishing he could be your partner." Jin tried to say teasingly to make her feel better. She finally looked up at him with such sad eyes and shook her head. "Sure they were. You're an attractive, young woman with money. Men at clubs are always on the hunt for..." His voice trailed off as she clenched her fist. "No one even asked you to dance?" He said hesitatingly.

"There was one guy...." She shuddered. But then a ghost of a smile touched her lips. "You've seen me when people don't take no for an answer." Jin groaned.

"Oh, god. I feel sorry for him. At least tell me he was attractive."

"Not in the least."

"What the hell is wrong with people...why would people not approach you...." He muttered, mostly to himself. "Did you go out and dance by yourself then?" Y/N gave him such an alarmed look he knew the answer was no. He felt that this was where his advice could come in handy.

"Some guys really like a woman who doesn't care if she's with someone or not. It's a huge turn on. Maybe try that next time." She didn't say anything, just looked back down at the desk.

The silence that followed after his words was long. And awkward. And he didn't know what he said. And then finally....

"I can't dance."