UGH! / SOPE & VMIN.

NINE, THE EDGE OF THE NIGHT.

THE EDGE OF THE NIGHT.

     IT'S LOUD INSIDE of menswear. filled to the brim with poofs, dykes and trannies, taehyung's right at home in his thigh high boots and short denim skirt, lips cherry red and kissable, eyes sparkling in the pink lights. the owner's band are playing tonight, so everyone who knows them or who knows someone who knows them is here, ready for a show, looking for drugs or sex or both.

taehyung walks through hazy skunk scented smoke to get to the bar, pushing past girls who are getting way too handsy and boys in revealing leather outfits. everyone's living on the edge of the night, the atmosphere thick like treacle with adrenaline-fueled teenage lust, no one in there over 26, everyone dolled up and a different person to who they are when the sun comes up.

'cause when the sun comes up everyone changes; like how cinderella's carriage went back to a pumpkin, the boys wearing earrings and skirts become working men in jeans and braces the next day, gobby lesbians with their hair spiked up in a mohican wearing men's trousers put on their school skirts and tie their hair into ponytails and act normal in front of ma and da the next day. the transsexual boys in their leather jackets and bandages wrapped around their chests put on lipstick and cry in the mirror, the girls in their hippy dresses from the pound shop and their bras stuffed with socks face a bloody nose from their father's hand. the daytime sucks the spirit out of these people, but the night gives them a life.

at the bar taehyung orders a rum and coke, and he turns on the worn leather stool to watch the cleared area that they vulgarly call a dancefloor. abba's gimme gimme gimme soundtracks grinding couples and tongues swapping saliva, hands sliding down sweaty bodies and getting too private for such a public display. this is what the heterosexuals fear; the pure, uncensored insane cocktail of lust and love, the head-tripping feeling of just being yourself, of safe spaces where touching your partner doesn't end with getting your head kicked in, of simply kissing someone without there being a consequence.

"oi kim, yer poof!"

taehyung's head turns at the sound of a familiar voice, and he grins at the sight of jett and her crew, the only lesbians taehyung's on name terms with ( to be fair, he knows them all because he and jett shag¹ fairly often ). he shoves his way over to their booth, wedged in between blitz and hope, and jett smiles her chipped teeth at him.

"you 'ere alone, pet?" naomi, the big northern tranny girl jett's taken a shine to asks, her shaved head somehow only emphasizing her femininity ( her dad did it when he found dresses in her wardrobe ). taehyung nods, knocking back the remnants of his rum and coke.

"well, that won't do, will it?" blitz says, pulling taehyung close, her black lipstick dangerously close to staining his cheek. "i mean, look how dolled up he is! ain't right if he doesn't leave here without some cock! blimey, if i weren't into fanny, i'd do 'im myself!"

"alright blitz, hold your horses love," jett laughs, winking at taehyung. "tits out and everything, hm tae?"

taehyung laughs. his shirt — an enormous black blouse patterned with roses — has only two buttons done up, exposing the caramel skin of his chest. he is on the look for a shag, but he didn't think the girl's would catch on that easily.

"right, look, tae," gene, the butch girl jett's been fucking, with a shaved head and a black eye, speaks up. "my mate jimin's 'ere, if you want a fuck. he's defo down for it. massive slag, he is."

taehyung raises his eyebrows, and follows the finger that gene's pointing at the dancefloor, his eyes landing on whatever the london equivalent of an adonis can be. sweat drips down the torso of a greek sculpture come to life, hair black and orange and wild, lips like peaches and red as strawberries, eyes wild. dressed in leather pants that leave nothing to the imagination ( and boy, is taehyung's mind running wild ), a short sleeved leather jacket, and a mesh shirt that displays a toned chest, he's a fuckin' wet dream and a vhs porn tape wrapped up in one.