Not Broken. Jaehyun Mafia Au

Heartbreaker

"You're so wishy-washy,
I can't figure you out
I study you all day but it's hard
I like you then I hate you
Hundreds of times a day,
You're like a rollercoaster
It's weird,
I'm nervous but I don't wanna lose you
It hurts but I like it, as if I'm used to it
I gave my all to you"
-Heartbreaker by NCT

♠️♥️♣️♦️♠️♥️♣️♦️♠️♥️♣️♦️♠️♥️♣️♦️

Madam Ten stood up from her seat and walked towards the curtains. Since the stage was on the same level as the rest of the room, she didn't have to walk up any steps. Grabbing a microphone off a podium that was just a little bit too tall for her, the Madam made her way towards the canter of the stage.

The way the stage was set up, we never actually opened the curtains during performances. Excluding times when acts started on stage, performers would often begin their acts off stage and then walk through the curtains making their entrances in a spectacularly dramatic fashion.

This way, performers could have plenty of room behind the curtain to do any last-minute practice or preparations for their performances throughout the show.

Right now, a few of our girls were setting up the chairs we often use for chair burlesque while I was just going through my routine. I was working on a particularly hard move when I heard the Madam's voice.

"Welcome one and all to our playground here at Paradise Theater! Tonight, I implore you all to have a fun time at what I'm sure for most of you is your first, but hopefully not your last performance by the Heartbreakers."

Applause filled the room and a few of the girls and I walked towards the side of the curtain.

We couldn't really look out without being spotted now that the audience was focused on the stage, so we just listened in.

I looked around at who else was backstage.

Yuri, Sunny, and Yoonoh were in the corner working on their chair routines.

Wendy was flirting with one of the stagehands as per usual.

Amber was adjusting her wig, which made me sigh. Normally Amber had an androgynous style, even when preforming, but with the request that tonight be all about traditional femininity, the Madam must have made her change up her usual appearance.

I looked back towards the curtain as Madam Ten continued her introduction.

"Now before your mind can be blown by the angels that will be preforming for you tonight, we need to go over a few rules."

I rolled my eyes. Madam Ten never skipped a chance to insert the names of past acts into her introduction speeches. Blow my mind, Angel, My first and last, All names of past acts.

"I bet all the money I make tonight that she does that thing where she tells the audience they'll be Dripping with love for the dancers."

I turn to see Wendy mocking the Madam's exaggerative hand motions as she quotes one of her cringier pieces of wordplay.

"You know I would, but I'd rather be able to pay my rent this month." I replied playfully.

Wendy was one of the OG performers and one of the only Americans in the group. She had been living in Seoul for a lot longer than I had so she was much better adjusted. We were close despite our slight age gap, due to our similar cultural backgrounds. She was the first friend I made within the Heartbreakers.

Jungwoo wasn't the best at English so he didn't approach me until he learned that I could speak Korean pretty well. Although I was closer to Jungwoo, I would often have more serious conversations with Wendy, mostly due to the fact that my Korean wasn't exactly at the level of discussing philosophical theories yet. Wendy was like my big sister.