1 -- SHINee Lost Boys

The darkness was terrifying. The thuds grew louder and louder. A scream wanted to escape her mouth, but she didn't dare. She wanted to run away, yet it was impossible. All she could do was shiver and wait for the light to shine once again. That, and pray. Those footsteps grew closer, and her fears heightened. What danger awaited for her this time? The footsteps were loud, thunderous through her horror-struck mind. Would she ever live long enough to feel her face smile again? The door creaked open. 'No, please no! Please don't find me! PLEASE-'

A sudden ringing brought the lady back to the real world. She had been having reoccurring bad dreams lately, and she was happy to see she was back in her comfortable, fluffy bed. Pushing back her damp hair, she picked up her phone, which was currently playing "Can't Nobody" by 2NE1.

"Yah! Marilyn, I need you to get in to work early this evening!" a loud Korean voice woke the girl up earlier than necessary through her pink cell phone. Because of her late night hours, Marilyn's schedule was a bit different from others. Seven to however late necessary was her usual work time period. Therefore, it wasn't until eleven or so until she officially woke up.

"Mm? Awh, why?" her high pitched voice asked back in the same language, breaths slowing down from their previously rapid rate.

"An unexpected event has been presented to our establishment and we're a little short on help this evening. I need you to come in at three today to help us get ready."

This made her jolt out of bed, but unfortunately, she didn't land on her feet. "Three?! Will I get to go home later?"

"Most likely, no."

"Excuse me for a second, please," Marilyn replied, before covering the mouthpiece with her palm. Taking in a deep breath, she let out a rather loud groan of exhaustion. Three?! Dear God, she'd be dead the next day... Of course, after that dream, she wasn't sure if she could get any more sleep if she tried.

"I heard that, Miss Loren."

'Oops...' she thought, wincing as pink tinted her cream skin. "I'm sorry, Boss."

The man sighed on the other phone. "I know I'm asking a bit from you, Marilyn. But this is gonna help our club like none other has before."

That's what she liked about working at the nightclub. The co-boss there was extremely nice. In fact, both he and his wife were one of the nicest couples she'd met in a long time. The atmosphere at the nightclub between the staff was almost always calming and happy. Unfortunately, with the head boss, that was a different story. He was the stricter man of the two in charge, and everything was always tense when he was around. The staff "lovingly" calls him "Soyuja Lucifer" [or devil owner] behind his back.  

"Okay, I give in. What's the occasion?"

"SM Entertainment is having a celebratory party! All exclusive. Only the best of the best are going to be invited. We need to pull out everything we have for this. If we impress them enough, hopefully our residence will be their permanent preference!"

Marilyn's jaw dropped. They had a nice enough establishment where the occasional party would be held at their place. Idols would drop by here and there... but this was huge. Not just three or four idols, but a whole building full, plus the people behind the music.

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serus," He joked back in slightly poor English. Back in Korean, he continued, "And of course you'll be getting free food."

She giggled. "You drive a hard bargain, buuut if it's for the good of our future careers, yes. I'll be there."





Americans didn't get many good job opportunities in Seoul. Of course, there weren't too many Americans in South Korea, either... The biggest sought for jobs usually belonged to teachers to teach just that... English. The opportunities would be even less had she not known Korean. Luckily, Korean had been her second language of choice over the last few years. Having a best friend who had grown up in South Korea for half of her life definitely helped her independent studies. Her friend's family were also thrilled in their daughter's American friend's new found interest in their culture and happily helped out whenever they could.

After a rather traumatic experience in her life, she had been given the option to move to Korea with her "Sangdungi", Mina, into Seoul. Mina came from a wealthy family that despite being eighteen [or nineteen in Korean years], continued to help her financially even from across the seas. Because Mina's family welcomed her friend with open arms as one of their own and the two lived together, Marilyn was also safe financially while away from America. It didn't mean that they could go by without working, though. The help from Mina's family kept them living in expensive Seoul, but they still needed money to continue to survive and have some fun.

With all of these factors taken in account, Marilyn finally found a job at a local nightclub. To be honest, the bar life there sometimes scared her. Foreigners tended to intrigue the locals, especially when they had such bright blonde hair as hers. Drunks loved talking to the lady, which sometimes was a nice change in pace. The locals in Korea tended to speak rather quickly, and sometimes she didn't always quite catch what they said. Drunks, on the other hand, have a slower way of speaking. Calming, but scary at the same time. Sometimes she just pretended to not understand what they were saying to save her from a rather awkward conversation.

The place was one of the nicer nightclubs in Seoul. Not only was the building large, but very chic. Each of the three levels were different. The very top were for the VIPs [wealthy, famous, popular] that sometimes stopped by. It had it's own mini dance floor, but was also accessible to the large, public dance floor that resided on the second floor. The first floor was more of a lounge. It still played music and had lights, but the large bar was there and food was usually eaten on that level. Purple and red hues seemed to tint the whole nightclub, as well as the other flashing lights that scattered the building.

"Hey, Marilee," a sulking voice exclaimed as Marilyn walked in.

"Sangdungi!" Marilyn responded with a smile. "Hi! You kinda disappeared earlier. So this is where you went! Um... So! Why are you here?"

Her taller, dark haired friend gazed behind her shoulder quickly. Suddenly, the girl sprinted out the door, a small sob escaping her lips.

"Wait! Mina!" Surprise was all over Marilyn's face. Looking over where Mina had once gazed, she saw a handsome individual wearing the same colors she wore for her work uniform. Seung looked back, wide eyed, and gave a guilty looking smile and small wave. Her eyes narrowed, putting the pieces together. His smile faltered. The force of her gaze made him look away and busy himself with the glasses behind the bar.

Marilyn took off after Mina. Heartbreak always was a horrible thing, but this would be Mina's first. At first, Marilyn thought that Mina's constant visits to her workplace were to cheer on her friend at her job. Instead, it was to gaze at the ever handsome Seung, the main bartender. He started catching on when he realized she was still under-aged to drink. Nonetheless, she always hung out at the bar instead of the dance floor. It didn't take long for the two of them to get together. Their relationship was slow, but Marilyn always thought the two of them looked great together. Now...

Mina was always the calm one of the two. It broke her heart to see her level headed friend crying. As calmly as possible, Marilyn snuck beside her friend on the nearby staircase and sat down. Her arms wrapped around her best friend and she leaned her head on Mina's shoulder. "Hey there, pretty girl," she exclaimed after a couple minutes. "I know this sucks..."

"It's horrible."

"It's insane!" Marilyn exclaimed a little loudly, her cheeks puffed out. Mina cracked a small smile. "I mean, look at what he's ignoring! You're awesome, and he has absolutely no taste. Rawr! I should go in there and smack him up side the head."

Mina finally laughed, just a tad. "You know you wouldn't do that. You're too kind."

"What? Are you questioning my faith in these muscles here?" For effect, Marilyn put up her thin arms, and flexed her nonexistent arm muscles.

"Those twigs? What damage are you going to do with those?"

Marilyn pouted. "Hey, I'm a girl on a mission. If my friend is hurting, all I can do is avenge them! You'd be surprised what adrenaline can do, all morals aside."

"You're such a kid, Marilee. But... thanks." Mina's small smile started to falter once again. "I mean, I don't know what even happened. I thought we were happy? I even brought him some food today..."

"Wait, wait, stop. You... cooked?" Marilyn winced. This was the same girl that burned macaroni back in the States... This is why Marilyn is the cook of the apartment. Things sometimes go hazardous when her Korean friend tries to prepare meals.

"No! I mean... I tried... but I didn't bring it. It was kind of destroyed."

"Ohh Sangdungi."

"I bought him some food, though! And I wrapped it in this," she showed off the pink cloth bag.

Marilyn pouted once more and sniffed the aroma coming from the packaged food. "I haven't eaten yet today, ya know. Why don't you bring me food?"

"Oh!" Mina's eyes widened and she looked down at the bundle. Smiling, she handed it over, "See? You like pink! I had you in mind all along! Ah... happy birthday?"

Sticking her tongue out, the blonde finally accepted the food. She grinned as she opened it, looking down at the small picnic. Rice, vegetables, shrimp... a mini buffet in a container. As Marilee picked up her chopsticks and began to eat, Mina continued with her story.

"So I bought him this, right? And I even went out and got this new skirt because I thought he'd think it was pretty. But then I went inside and do you know what he says? No smiles, no hellos, just a 'we need to talk'," Mina mimicked the last bit in a deep, mock-man voice. "Then he told me that he liked someone else."

"You don't need him. He's a meany."

Mina laughed. "He's not that bad of a guy... but-"

Marilyn stuffed a heap of food from her chopsticks into her friend's mouth. "Shhh... You don't need to stand up for him. Chew, think about what you just said, and just say how you really feel."

After awhile of getting over the initial shock of the food attack and chewing, Mina finally looked over at Marilyn calmly and exclaimed in English, "He's an ass."

Marilee giggled. "There you go! Let him have it."

"So do I get to share with you?"

"Gimme a big smile."

"I just got my heart broken and you want me to smile?"

"Yeeees~!"

Success. The girl showed off her pearly whites and despite being late for work, the two finished off the food. Oh well, Seung's loss. The food was the tastiest thing they had ever eaten... kind of. But they wouldn't tell Seung that last bit.





"Marilyn, you're late. Why? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Lee Lee. Make us some food! That's the least you can do for us working."

"Yeah, Lee Lee! Food!"

Marilyn was bombarded with male voices, the first one belonging to the same boss that woke her up earlier. She smiled at her co-workers. Like mentioned, they were all more of a family than anything. Only one other girl named Sooyoung, who was considered the mom of the group, worked at the nightclub. Unfortunately, after getting married and with a baby on the way, she only worked once in awhile these days. Marilyn was considered everyone's baby sister and for the pregnant woman, was like an unofficial daughter.

"I already ate. Someone didn't want their food that someone so nicely brought them." With that, Marilyn looked pointedly over at the second speaker, her normally full lips tightened into a line. She wouldn't bring it up to the others, even though she knew they'd all get down on him just as much as he deserved... A "twin" of Marilyn's would always be welcomed into the family. They accepted Mina wholeheartedly and had also thought she and Seung made a good pair.

As Seung received confused looks from the other guys in the room, Marilee went up to her boss and bowed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I had a little something I needed to take care of before coming in. I mean, I already came in, but I had to leave and-! Ehm, I wouldn't have been able to do my job properly tonight had I not dealt with it. It won't happen again!"

The manager slowly nodded his head. Trying to conceal his small smile and act official, he replied, "Well, be sure you don't let it happen again and get to work. They'll set up the rest if you'll get started on some cooking prep."

"Aye, sir!" she replied in English with a salute and skipped to the back of the nightclub.





Since she worked more at the front area than the back once people came, none of their customers had any idea just how good of a cook Marilyn could be. They knew her as an interesting face and a tiny, helpful person... not as a chef. However, most of the small food items that came out of the kitchens were originally her handiwork.

"Lee Lee, make me food~!" one of the boys, the edgy Hyun-Ki, exclaimed.

"Me too! We're starving! They're working us like dogs! You have no idea!" another walked in: Kwan, the shaggy haired, youngest male of the group, complained with a pout.

"Do you think they'd like cupcakes?" she asked, not paying attention to the two boys that wondered in.

"Ahh! Yes! Cupcakes! Lee Lee, we want!" Kwan cheered in English.

"Yes! You cupcakes very good, very good! Make for us, please!" Hyun-Ki backed Kwan up with his deep voice, also in English.

Marilyn stuck her tongue out. "Not for you, for the guests. And we have to have another English lesson, huh?"

"Whaaaat?! Our English is good!" Hyun-Ki looked shocked.

"Yeah! We're fluent English speakers."

"Mm," she replied absentmindedly, pouring the batter into cupcake holders.

Kwan stood behind Marilyn, attempting to dip his finger into the batter. Marilyn grinned, before spinning around and smearing flour on his face, making him step back a few feet. "Ah! Fine, fine! Don't make us cupcakes. Men want real food, anyway."

"Yes, make us something good. We deserve it!"

Popping the cakes into the oven, she hid a smile and let out a long sigh. "Gah, fine! I'll make you something if-!"

"If?" they both chimed.

"You clean the dishes! Yeah, that sounds like a great deal."

The two looked at each other. "Oooh, well would you like at the time!"

"Mmmhm. Just get out of the kitchen and let me cook, guys. As entertaining as you are, I gotta finish all the food up in time."

"Wait, wait, wait! We have a question."

"Why is Seung acting more suspicious than usual?"

Marilyn's lips turned into a thin line once more. She was trying to forget about that man. That way she could refrain from turning her twiggy arms into machine guns with all of her angry adrenaline.

"Uh ho. What did that idiot do?" Hyun-Ki asked.

She trusted these two more than the other staff. At first, she wasn't going to mention anything... but she needed to vent, too. "A certain idiot dumped a certain twin."

Both of their eyes widened. Every time they ever saw Mina and Seung together, they were laughing, poking fun at each other, or resting up against one another. Marilyn guessed that everyone would be just as shocked as she originally was.

Kwan was the first to respond with a, "WHAT?! Why? Mina's a good match for him."

"I have no idea... She said that he was pretty cold to her, though. And that he had found someone else..."

"That idiot..." Hyun-Ki sighed.

"Do you guys know why he would dump her?"

"No! Awh man, what a waste of a relationship. She's pretty." Kwan exclaimed.

Hyun-Ki looked a little uncomfortable. At first, it looked like he was going to say something. Instead, he sighed and grabbed the back of Kwan's shirt. "Come on, hyung. Let's go do our job. We don't have very much time left to get ready."