Wherever I May Roam

[be_ddelusionall]

Go here to read Part 1

Part 2:

The cobbled walkway curls around small flower gardens and patches of grass all the way to the back patio of the estate house. There are multiple balconies and large picture windows, all of which had been blocked by the large stand of trees between the house and the yard. The house is so white, lights glaring on it, the walls are just straight white. Like someone had frosted it with a steady hand.

Key has to let go of Taemin when he starts up a set of stairs. He moves slowly, Key understands why, that plug moving and twisting inside him.

“How long were you in the brothel before you left?” Taemin asks.

“Two years.”

“That’s ... a long time for a child.”

Key snorts. “I wasn’t a child at that point.”

Taemin continues up to a balcony on the top floor. A sliding glass door already stands open, white curtains billowing in the small breeze.

Key is hit with a blast of cold air that has him shivering. Right, air conditioning. It’s too cold definitely.

Taemin is unperturbed and walks to the other side of a room lit only with a small lamp. He turns on an overhead light that is almost too bright, like the lights that reflect from the house. They stand on opposite sides and Key looks around.

They are in a bedroom, one that is obviously lived in. It probably is Taemin’s.

The bed is larger than Key has ever seen, with sheets that are light blue and green and pillows and a blanket a darker shade of blue. The bed is messy and there are clothes strung about the floor. There is a sitting area nearer to where Taemin stands and a couch near a large window that overlooks the back of the grounds. It’s hard to really see outside from here.

“There’s a bathroom through that door,” Taemin says and points to a door. “You can go shower and ... whatever you’d like and I’ll bring up something to eat.”

“Don’t you want to shower?” Key asks.

Taemin shrugs. “Not really. There aren’t supposed to be any servants around today, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t cameras. Please don’t leave the room.”

Key isn’t planning on it.

Taemin kind of smiles and slips out of a door.

Key stays where he is for another moment and takes in his surroundings in more details. There are tables but are no dressers or wardrobes, but he’s sure that the other door he can see will lead to a closet. On the wall are pictures of landscapes.

The most interesting thing though, are the hooks on the ceiling. They look like they held lamps at one point, but after watching Taemin kink out on his own body, he’s sure they hold a different use. Especially when he sees matching hooks protruding from the wall at the head of the bed and a series of them on the floor.

Key wonders how many times Taemin has tripped over them. And how many times he’s been tied up on them.

He wanders around the room, taking in more details of little things like a laptop, a cell phone, and a television that appears when a wall panel slides over. There are personal items strewn about the floor too. Cock rings, cock cages, dildos, vibrators, plugs, leather straps and ropes.

Taemin is a kinky little shit. Though, Key already knew that.

On the bed is a small framed picture of two people. One is Taemin when he was much younger and the other is another man, smiling widely, almost laughing, his eyes crinkled and his face soft. He’s ruggedly handsome and obviously strong, the picture shows off his biceps. It looks like it was a selfie. Taemin is staring at the man with such love in his eyes that Key’s heart hurts. There’s no way this man is still in his life. Taemin is not this happy anymore.

He puts the picture back on the bed and then enters the bathroom. It looks like the designer tried a little too hard to pull in a nautical theme. But that just means there are more hooks and more ropes and lots of places to tie up a willing victim.

Key easily imagines Taemin strapped spread eagle to the tile wall with his arms tied to what are actually towel hooks. The walls are ocean blue and everything is dark and comforting. There’s a separate water closet and a tub and shower that is almost more like a room. The pattern in the smooth counters look like ocean waves. As with the bedroom, there are sex toys scattered everywhere and there’s even a dildo stuck to the floor near the bathtub.

It has been way too long since Key last had a shower. He takes off his jacket first, and then his T-shirt. His boots, belt and then his pants. He slides the tight underwear off his body and wonders if Taemin has some place that he can clean them.

Key is not comfortable being naked, not really anymore. But he knows better than to ruin his leather harness. It’s two pieces that Key has learned to attached together to make one piece. It’s easy to take off, in case he needs to. A single buckle on the top shoulder gives him enough slack to slip it off. In this case, he removes all the buckles that keep it on. The right shoulder, the left hip, and one on his lower back. The leather is his best friend and his protector. He has used it often to keep from falling off the Wall and into the Outside.

He really hates being naked and vulnerable.

He goes to the shower first, starting the water. It falls from a single shower head in the top of the ceiling. There are more shower heads but that one is probably the best. He lets the water run while he uses the bathroom and he takes the opportunity to root around the cupboards for a toothbrush. He finds one, and he also finds more sex toys and a two drawers of lube. After brushing his teeth, he steps into the shower. The water is warm and feels so good on his skin. He just soaks under the spray for a long time. He washes himself twice, the first time to get most of the grime off his skin and the second time to enjoy it.

And he does enjoy it. Being clean. It’s the only thing he misses about living on the Wall.

The towels are so soft.

He doesn’t bother with putting his clothes back on because they’re filthy and now that he’s clean he can actually smell how much they stink.

He leaves the bathroom and stops in his tracks.

Taemin is on the bed, still naked, one leg bent at the knee and both arms thrown above his head. He isn’t doing anything, but Key can still see the blue toy in his ass.

“There’s food on the table,” Taemin says.

“You look like food.”

Taemin flashes him a smile, though it’s a little pained. “Should I put on clothes?”

“You don’t have to.”

“Good, I don’t like wearing clothes.”

“I’ve noticed. I don’t like being naked.”

“Why not?”

Key tilts his head to the side and tells the truth. “It makes me feel vulnerable, and I don’t like that.”

“It makes me feel wanted.”

“Well, I definitely want you.”

Taemin smiles, but it’s tight and he more smiles up at the ceiling than at Key. “You never told me your name.”

Key chuckles. “I didn’t, did I? Sorry. It’s Key.”

“Key ....”

“Just Key.”

“But you--”

“I may have had another name before, but now it’s just Key. The other one died as soon as they put this mark across my face.”

“That’s ... kind of selfish?” He sounds unsure but also determined.

Key doesn’t reply. He sits on the padded chair by the table and tries not to salivate over all the food. There’s no possible way he can eat all this meat, the noodles, the bread. It’s too heavy and he isn’t used to it. But he certainly tries. Starting with the meat, he needs meat more than anything else. He doesn’t get enough of it. The noodles feel heavy in this throat when he swallows the first bite, so he doesn’t eat more of those. There are vegetables that he hasn’t seen or eaten in years.

“Thanks for this,” Key says in between bites of broccoli. “I usually live on fruit or what I can steal during the night.”

“You haven’t eaten much,” Taemin says with worry.

Key smiles. “I don’t eat a lot anymore. I’ve gotten used to it. If I try to eat more, I’ll be sick.”

Silence falls and Key eats a bit more. Because there is a piece of cake. And he can’t even think of the last time he had something sweet. He hears Taemin rise from the bed and a door shut. A couple minutes later the door opens and Taemin asks, “Do you want me to wash your clothes or burn them? You can take something of mine.”

“Since you never wear them?” Key asks with a grin over his shoulder.

Taemin smiles and says, “Yeah. I seriously hate clothes. I’m in suits most of the day--”

“Sexy.”

“--and it’s just so much better to be naked.” He disappears behind the other door and reappears with a pile of black clothes. Setting them on a chair, he says, “You can take what you want.”

“Including you?” Key asks.

Taemin blushes and looks away. “I ... I ...”

Key stands up and moves through the room to him. His footsteps are even quieter on the carpet than they are on the concrete of the Wall, and when he touches Taemin’s side, he jumps and yelps.

“Fuck, I didn’t ... hear ... you. Fuck.”

Key smiles and moves close to him, into his space and Taemin stands really still, Key winds his hands around Taemin’s shoulders. He’s just a little taller than Taemin, almost a perfect height.

“I’ve made my intentions known,” Key says. “I want you. I’ve spent the last six months dreaming of all the things I could do to you and I want to do them. You’re no stranger to sex, so it’s just if you want me or not. I already forced myself on you once, I won’t again.”

Taemin shuts his eyes and says, “I ... do, it’s just that ... I haven’t had sex with another person in this room for a really long time.”

Key can tell there are emotions buried in that. Maybe because of the guy in that picture.

“We don’t have to,” Key says. “We left the blanket outside.”

“It’s okay. I like ... I like being pressed into a bed so much.”

Key shivers. “Let me press you into the bed then.”

Taemin smiles and says, “Will you wear that harness?”

“My climbing harness?”

Taemin snorts. “Is that what you use it for?”

“Yes, and it’s saved my life a few times.”

“I’d like it if you’d wear it. I bet it looks really sexy on you.”

Key shrugs. “Okay. I like it a lot.”

“I didn't notice it before. You wear it under your clothes?”

Key nods. “Yeah, over my shirt it causes weird bunching and it makes it harder to move. It’s easier to pull my shirt off when I need to use the harness. I don’t need it very often, but I like having the leather and the metal of the rings on my skin.”

“I know how that feels. The leather is a little worn.”

“I ran out of oils for it.”

“I’ll give you some.”

“Thank you.”

“Can I kiss you now?”

Key laughs. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

Taemin’s smile falters for a moment and then he cups the back of Key’s head and pulls them together for a kiss. It’s too heavy and too wet and too crazy for the kiss Key wanted. He moves his hands to Taemin’s cheeks and holds him still.

“Slow down,” he breathes into his mouth, and Taemin shivers, but obeys, kissing with lips instead of tongue, kissing soft instead of sloppy.

Taemin sags against him and put his face in Key’s neck. “You smell much better.”

Key chuckles. “Thank you.”

“I’ll be right back. Don’t sit. I want you to wear the harness.”

Key nods. “I’ll be right here.”

Taemin turns away from him and goes back into the bathroom. Key stays where he is, but glances around. Some of the things from before are cleaned up. There aren’t as many sex toys lying around, the clothes are no longer strewn about, but the most obvious is that picture. The one of Taemin and the other guy. It’s gone.

Taemin returns with the clinking pile of Key’s harness. He holds it out, but Key goes for a kiss instead and tugs at the ring on the collar. Taemin sighs into his mouth and when Key pulls away, he’s smiling. Just what he wanted.

“Go lay on the bed,” Key whispers and takes the harness.

“You don’t need help?”

Key shakes his head. “If I needed help getting it on, I’d be in trouble.”

Taemin nods and brushes by him to lay on the bed. Key watches until he’s comfortable, right in the middle with his legs spread invitingly, his upper body propped up on elbows. He definitely looks edible and Key really plans on eating him.

He turns his attention to the harness because he can already feel his cock growing under the towel. The top of the harness slides over his left arm, the straps settling in their spots over his shoulder and under his shoulder blade. At the front, the leather, falls over his muscles, but doesn't quite go low enough to hit his nipple. Key wraps the lower part around his stomach, anchoring his body at the curve of his waist with a thick layer of leather. He buckles it up tight, the metal rings along the length of it are cool on his skin warmed by his shower. On the left side, the two main pieces are already connected, but not on the right, and Key twists his arm up, the end of the buckle in his hand and shrugs into the other shoulder part of the harness. He buckles the two pieces together, leaving a strip of leather across his collarbones and one across his ribs, below his nipples, his shoulders almost encased, and a piece of leather on each side of his front that connect to the thick strip at his waist.

“Wow,” Taemin breathes. “It looks really good on you.”

Key smirks over at him. “Thank you.”

“Are you going to lose the towel?”

Key rolls his eyes. “Are you going to lose the attitude?”

“Rich, coming from you.”

“That mouth--”

“You didn’t gag me, so it’s not my fault.”

Key laughs. “I’m sure you have a gag somewhere, but I’d much rather kiss you.”

“Please,” Taemin says, eyes losing their happiness and he stretches his arms out.

Key crawls onto the bed and lets their lips touch. He can tell that Taemin is nervous that Taemin wants this but doesn’t want this and that he’s confused.

“I’m sorry before,” Key whispers and kisses his jaw and his chin, “when you told me to stop and I didn’t listen to you. I should have listened to you.”

“It’s just because I was scared and I didn’t know it was you,” Taemin assures him. “Now I know it’s you. I won’t tell you to stop.”

“You can,” Key says firmly. “If I do something you don’t want or something that--”

“There’s nothing that you can do to me that hasn’t already been done to me.”

Key cups his face and makes their eyes meet. “That doesn’t mean you want it. Tell me. Promise me. Tell me if I go too far.”

Taemin shrugs. “You won’t, but okay.”

They kiss again, and Key takes his time. He can tell by the little breaths and the way Taemin moves under him that Taemin is uncomfortable. He isn’t used to being kissed, but he likes it.

Key really likes it, so he settles on top of him, their legs tangled in a way that Key is pinning him down. One of Taemin’s hands sneaks over to his hip and he shifts, letting him pull the towel away. He doesn’t mind that at all and settles his naked lower half against Taemin’s.

“Is that toy still inside you?” Key whispers.

Taemin’s cheeks redden and he shakes his head. “I ... took it out in the bathroom.”

“Good. I was getting a little jealous of it.”

A startled laugh escapes his lips and Key just has to kiss his smile again. And Taemin is a bit more relaxed. Lets himself touch and run his hands up and down Key’s back and over his ass and thighs. He loves getting his fingers stuck on the rings of the harness. Key loves the touches. It’s been way too long since someone just touched him to touch him.

“Do you know that you’re beautiful?” Key asks.

“Do you?” Taemin shoots back with red cheeks.

Key smiles. “I’m not. But you--”

“You are.”

“I guess we’ll both agree that we’re both beautiful. Even if you’re prettier.”

Taemin pulls him down for another kiss. And he seems to be done with slow and sensual if the way his legs wrap around Key are any indication. Key doesn’t mind, not really. He especially doesn’t mind when Taemin rolls his hips in a well-trained, obvious way, and Key’s erection slides into the wet mess of his gaping asshole.

Key moans into his mouth and jerks his hips forward, burying himself completely. “Fucker,” Key gasps. “I was going to play with you.”

Taemin laughs and rocks his hips into Key’s movements, continuing to tug and pull on the harness. Key loves the feel of it on his skin, the coolness of the metal rings, the softness of the leather. It’s quiet between them, only the sound of their lips parting and the bed moving, the rustling of the sheets. There’s a moan in the kiss and Key thinks it’s from Taemin, but he can’t really tell.

And then Key huffs, eyes shut tight and his body stilling for a moment. He stays buried inside Taemin, hips only moving forward to pump out his release into Taemin’s body.

“God,” Key gasps as soon as he has the breath for talking.

Taemin trails his fingers along the edges of the harness. “Good?”

“Yeah. Feel ... feel like I got the better end of that round.”

Taemin chuckles. “Maybe, but now you can do things to me.”

Key lifts his head. “What things?”

He’s met with only a smile as an answer. And then he unlocks his ankles from Key’s back and lowers his legs. Key moans as he slips from his body.

“You can do anything to me,” Taemin says and twists up and to the side. He pushes up to his knees, head on the bed, arms spread out to his sides. His knees slide open and Key watches, transfixed, as a stream of his release pulses out of Taemin’s battered rim.

“Anything?”

Taemin shrugs. “Whatever you want.”

Key knows what he wants. At least at first. He grips both asscheeks in his hands, squeezing until Taemin whines and then spreads him apart. He leans down and licks at the mess of his body, shivering at the combined taste of come, lube and blood. He swirls his tongue around the swolled rim, easily penetrating him.

“Where ... where do you want my hands?” Taemin whispers.

Key pulls away with a dirty slurp and inserts a finger into him instead. The muscles clench but don’t clamp down. He’s too fucked open for that. “On your dick, stroking, but you aren’t allowed to come.”

Taemin moans but obeys instantly. And with boths hands, so his face is smashed into the bed with no way to hold himself up.

Key goes back to his treat, sliding a second finger in while licking around the rim. He knows that he’s a little fucked up and depraved for loving the taste of Taemin’s abused body, loving the way the blood, lube and come mix on his tongue. He’s surprised there isn’t anything else flavoring his hole, but he shouldn’t be. Taemin obviously keeps himself clean.

And shaved. There’s not a speck of hair on his ass or his balls or his legs.

Key has three fingers spinning around his body when Taemin finally begs.

“Key, please, please.”

“What do you need?” Key asks with lips against his ass.

“Full, need ... need to be full.”

“Then be patient. I'm enjoying my after dinner treat.”

Taemin moans. His body sags a little, spreading his legs open. Like a good boy, he’s still stroking himself. Whoever got to him first certainly trained him well. Key is sure that if their positions were reversed, he’d already come a few times.

Not that he’d let himself be so vulnerable. Not for someone he just met. Probably not ever.

“You have such pretty skin,” Key says with his lips against the smooth skin of his thigh. He slips in his pinky and twists his wrist to get it inside him so deep his knuckles are pushing past his rim. He likes the sound of Taemin’s moan, but wants something a little louder, so he bites down on this thigh and sucks. Hard.

Taemin cries out in surprise, jerking forward and falling away from Key and his fingers.

Key doesn’t even bother to reprimand him with words, just goes straight for his ass and starts spanking him with the hand that had almost been buried in his ass. Taemin’s hands are still under his body, probably still around his dick, and he’s moving, thrusting into them with every sharp spank that Key lands on his ass.

There seems to be a moment when he should stop, when both asscheeks are bordering on a too dark red, but his hands don’t hurt yet, and Taemin is crying, physically crying with his face mushed into the bed, and it looks so nice, he’s so pretty with his face as flushed as his ass and his abused asshole clenching for something to fill it.

Key decides not to keep him waiting and grips his bruising ass and slides his dick back inside him.

Taemin moans his name.

“Hands behind your back,” Key demands.

He’s impressed how quickly Taemin obeys. Key takes both of his hands and bends them at the elbow, pushing his hands between his shoulder blades. He holds them there in a firm grip of one hand. The other hand grips Taemin’s hip and yanks his ass a little higher. He bends under the direction, knees pressed tight to the bed, hips curled and ass in a perfect spot for Key to thrust into.

He watches his dick for a moment, going in and out of his body, pulling at his rim and then shoving it back in. The lube has almost dried up and it’s not a smooth slide anymore, but a rough drag, Key is planning on adding to the mess soon, so he doesn’t pause to add any more.

Taemin looks so good with his ass full of bright red handprints, his rim swollen and torn, and his face full of tears.

The noises from his throat sound like words. Sort of. Key thrusts faster to keep him from thinking, from talking, from breathing. His head is turned at a weird angle and his back keeps arching to try to stretch out his arms. His knees lift from the bed, almost making Key slip from him.

“No,” he says and smacks his thigh. “You hold still.”

“Can’t ... can’t ... I ... can’t.”

“You can and you will. You’re already in this position because you couldn’t hold still before. Now, hush.”

“Key, please, stop, just ...”

“Hush,” Key says again and hits his thigh even harder.

Taemin is trembling, and he worries for a moment, but really this is nothing compared to what Key has seen him do to himself. There are rope burns on his wrists for fuck’s sake.

But Taemin keeps whimpering, keeps crying, but he doesn’t say anything else.

Key shifts his body, sitting back on his knees, and he finally lets go of Taemin’s wrists to yank his ass back onto his cock.

“Move. Make me come with your slutty stretched out asshole.”

Taemin whines, but does as he is told. He tucks his elbows under his body and jerks himself back and forth, fucking himself on Key’s dick.

Key doesn't move his hips even if it’s hard to stay still, and he uses his hands to show Taemin how well he’s doing, just soft touches up and over his back and down his bright red ass.

“Good boy. So good. You’re so good, Taeminnie.”

He wails and stutters. “K-K-Key, I ... K-Key ...”

“Don’t come, Taemin. You don’t have permission.”

He shakes his head frantically. “I need ... Please. Please.”

“No, Taemin.” Key spanks his ass.

“Key!”

“No!” Key growls and reaches for the collar, gripping it tight and yanking it back, stealing Taemin’s breath. “No. Now move faster.”

Taemin’s whimpers are back to real cries, sobs with tears on his cheeks as he thrusts back faster, showing his desperation in his unrestrained movements. Glorious, glorious movements. Tamein may not be very tight, but his body is warm and slick and still pulsing and clenching around him.

Key doesn’t even tried to hold himself back and comes inside his ass again, gripping tight to the collar and a hip to still Taemin, keeping himself buried while he pulses out his release.

Taemin whimpers again, the sound mostly in relief, but also full of a begging noise that has Key’s head swimming. He stays still until he can sort of breathe again and then he pulls out, stretching Taemin’s rim with his swollen dick. Come seeps from him and Key licks his lips.

“Turn over,” Key says with a smack to his ass.

Taemin falls to his side and then slowly rolls over. His movements are jerky, but eventually he gets there.

“Grab your knees, spread your slutty hole for me.”

Taemin swallows and lifts his legs, hooking his knees at his elbows and his fingers grip the sore edges of his ass and spread himself open, his legs in the air.

Key shimmies down to the bed. He rolls his hips on the soft mattress, his dick still sensitive and shooting pleasure through his body. He starts with his tongue again, diving into the gaping entrance and sucking at the sore rim to lick at all the come and blood.

“Stop, please, stop, stop, stop, stop.”

Key doesn’t, not at first, and then, Taemin’s cries are a little louder and his voice a bit harsher when he suddenly says, “P-per-persimmon.”

And Key stops, because he knows that word intimately, and he’s even said it a few times. It’s a standard, policy-required safeword at the brothels on the Inside, and Key ended up killing a man because he hadn’t stopped when Key told him to. He has scars on the back of his thighs from the knife that Key had shoved into the man’s throat after a struggle.

Crawling up to his face, Key coos at Taemin and lets him lower his legs and sag gratefully into the bed.

“Sorry,” Taemin gasps. “I’m sorry. I’m ... I’m sorry.”

“Shh, gorgeous. Shh, there’s no reason to apologize for ever using a safeword. I should have known to ask for yours before we even started. That’s my fault. I’m really glad you knew that one.”

Key kisses him. Soft touches to his open mouth, his cheeks, his chin, until Taemin has calmed his sobs to hiccups. His skin is sweaty and his entire body is shuddering.

“Do you need me to make you come?” Key whispers. “I can suck you off?”

Taemin shakes his head. “Just ... just touch me, give me permission.”

“Are you sure?”

Taemin nods. “I ... I can come on command, usually.”

“Sexy.”

Taemin’s smile is fleeting and then lost in Key’s lips. He keeps the kiss steady and grips Taemin’s cock, stroking slowly at first and then speeding up. Taemin’s breath goes short and his body keeps shaking while trying to thrust into Key’s hand.

“You can come, beautiful. Come, Taemin-ah. You’re allowed. You can come. I want you to come.”

Taemin’s clings to him, breaks away from his mouth and cries out, his body curling up and then going flat as his cock pulses. Key strokes him a little faster, a little firmer, and then he’s coming, thick heavy strips of come, lots of them painting up and over his smooth abs and getting Key’s side all covered in it too. He keeps stroking until the last eager pulse curls over his fingers.

And then he brings his hand to his mouth and licks it clean.

“God, you taste good,” Key whispers.

Taemin’s chest hitches and he covers his face with an arm. He’s still crying and Key wipes the rest of the mess onto the bedsheets and cuddles back into him, talking nonsense to him about being safe and being okay and being so good.

“You’re so good, Taemin-ah, so good. You’re such a good boy.”

Taemin suddenly turns on his side, yanking Key to him and hugging him tightly. “I thought ... I thought ... I’m sorry.”

Key hushes him again and smacks his ass lightly. “You hush. I told you it was okay. You don’t need to apologize.”

“I ... I ...”

“Do you want a bath? We can go take a bath.”

Taemin stills and then nods carefully. “I’d like a bath.” His words stop, just cut off, like he was going to call Key something and then didn’t. Something like Master.

Who did Taemin used to call Master?

“I’ll go fill the tub, okay?”

“In ... in a moment.”

Key smiles and presses a kiss to his shoulder. He lets Taemin cling to him and uses his free hand to trace up and around his side and shoulder.

“I’ve got you,” Key whispers. “You’re okay. Everything is okay. And you’re so pretty, and so good. You obeyed me so well, darling. You’re such a good boy.”

It’s a few more minutes of Key muttering before Taemin physically relaxes and his tears stop and he just breathes against Key’s shoulder.

“Okay,” Taemin whispers. “You ... you ...”

“I’ll go fill up the tub,” Key says, understanding that Taemin is not in a place to be telling him what to do. “Stay and rest, beautiful.”

Taemin buries his face in a pillow and barely moves when Key gets out of the bed. His legs fucking ache from the position he’d been in, but he staggers his way to the bathroom and starts the water in the tub. He uses only hot water because he’s sure it’s going to take a long time to get Taemin to the tub and he wants it warm when that happens. He finds some bath bombs and tosses in one that smells like lemon and one that smells like flowers.

There are more towels in a cupboard and a set of matching aqua green robes. He hangs them on one of the hooks for after their bath.

While the bath finishes filling, Key uses a washcloth to clean the come and blood and lube off his body.

When he returns to the room, Taemin is still crying, though not sobbing, just silent tears down his cheeks. Key kneels in front of him and touches his arm and says his name.

Taemin’s eyes are full of hurt. But it’s old pain. Demons that he can’t stop from taking over his mind.

“The bath is full. Let’s go.”

Taemin struggles to stand, and Key wishes he were a bit taller and stronger so he could carry Taemin instead of making him walk. But they shuffle through the large room and into the warm air of the tub.

“Let me wipe you clean,” Key says, steading him against the counter. He presses a kiss to his shoulder before letting go to get another washcloth. Taemin’s sniffles echo in the bathroom while Key cleans him. Taemin’s fingers trace around the harness that Key totally forgot he was wearing. He reaches for the collar on his neck, and Taemin grabs his wrist and shakes his head.

“Leave ... leave it on.”

Key tilts his head and nods. He wonders if Taemin ever takes it off.

He helps Taemin into the tub, his skin pinking at the heat still lingering in the water. Taemin watches him intently as he shrugs off the harness and lets it clink to the floor. And then climbs in with him, making Taemin scoot up so he can settle behind him.

The water feels amazing. Way better than his shower earlier. He rests his head on the curled edge of the tub and smiles when Taemin relaxes against him.

“I’m sorry,” Taemin whispers again.

“Don’t be.”

“I should be. I ... I ...”

“You don’t owe me any explanations,” Key says and twists his nipple for good measure.

“But ... I do. I feel like ... I should ... I ... You asked me earlier about my life, and I didn’t answer, and I should answer, so maybe you’ll understand why I’m so fucked up and when I ask you to stay, you know that you can’t and I know you won’t.”

“Stay?”

Taemin bites his lip. “My father is in the housing sector of the government.”

“Hence the estate. Got it.”

“Yeah. I ... I’m supposed to be his heir, but I don’t ... I don’t know how to do anything. My hyung ... he was, he was next in line.”

“What happened to him?”

Taemin swallows. It takes awhile before he can say, “He died. They said he killed himself.”

“Fuck, sorry. I’m ... I’m sorry.”

Taemin shakes his head and continues in a small, broken voice. “We were best friends, the best kind of friends, and he ... he loved me. I was greedy. But he gave me what I wanted. It was my fault. It’s my fault that he died.”

“Why do you think it’s your fault?” Key asks gently.

Taemin sits up, upper body out of the tub and covers his face with his hands. “I ... we ... well, we fell in love with Jinki.”

“Your neighbor?”

Taemin nods again. “He was ... he’s perfect. I still see him, sometimes, but he wants nothing to do with me, not after ... he loved us both. He was so in love with both of us, and he caught us together one night, out in the yard, said he saw us together and he begged us, begged us to try to be with him too. He’d do anything we asked.”

“Wait. Saw you and your hyung together? Like fucking?”

Taemin winces. “We lived in this house by ourselves,” he whispers. “We ... we were always close and that closeness just went ... the wrong direction, I guess. But it never felt wrong. It was always right. But I loved him. He knows I loved him. Jinki was just different. I don’t love JInki, not anymore. But then I did, and Jonghyun let him join us even if that caused a lot of jealousy from him, but Jinki was so nice and so kind and he won Jonghyun over eventually. All three of us were lovers for more than a year.”

“Did Jinki tell someone about you and your hyung?”

“No, he still hasn’t. Not even to this day. But Jonghyun ... we forgot to turn off a camera, I guess. Or one of the staff caught us. Someone told. Someone found out. Someone told our father that Jonghyun was raping me.”

“Raping ...”

“He had videos of our sessions, of Jonghyun tying me up, whipping me, all sorts of things. My father had Jonghyun arrested, and I was sent to counseling and was told that Jonghyun manipulated me. I almost believed it. And then Jinki refused to see me. He was so heartbroken and wasn’t ... wasn’t there for me or to back up my claims that we were lovers. Father disowned Jonghyun and they were going to banish him, but they said he killed himself instead and it’s all my fault because I ...”

“Shh,” Key says and hugs him from behind, lips against his neck. “It isn’t your fault, precious, beautiful, darling. It isn’t your fault. It’s your father’s fault for not listening to you. It isn’t your fault. He took away someone you love.”

“Jonghyun ... he ... he was my Master and my lover and my brother and my ... my everything. I haven’t ... I don’t know what to do without him. Jinki won’t even look at me any more because he was so in love with Jonghyun and I think he blames me too. And I can’t ... I can’t be in business, or in school, and I can’t be here. I hate it here so much. I can’t be ... normal.”

“When did this happen?”

Taemin swallows. “Two years ago.”

“It’s okay to still be angry and sad about it,” Key whispers. “It really is. It’s not your fault.”

“I ... I thought ... I thought you were going to just ... be a lot meaner ... than you were. I thought you were going to tie me up and fuck me with my toys and then be done, but you were so nice and ... only Jonghyun has ever been that nice to me.”

“I wouldn’t let you come, spanked your ass raw and choked you and that was nice?”

Taemin chuckles. “Yes. Because you also played with me and edged me and wouldn’t let me come. That’s really, really nice. The men who fuck me at the office just fling me over a desk and do what they want.”

Key’s nostrils flare at the admission. Fuck them all. “And now you want me to stay?”

“I want anyone to stay.”

Key understands that. The poor guy is love deprived and emotionally fucked up. “I’m sorry. I can’t stay.”

“I know.”

“And it isn’t because of you,” Key says and bites at his neck to emphasize it. “It isn’t because of you, it’s because I can’t see myself in a house again, caged in by four walls, and I’m banished. I have a scar on my face. I can’t let it be seen or be seen by anyone.”

Taemin sighs and they settle back into the cooling water. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

Key smiles against his shoulder and tightens his hold around his waist. “You deserve it.”

The water is cold when they finally climb out, dry off and bundle up in the robes. Key rips the dirty sheets off the bed and they lay on the bare mattress with only the comforter over and under them. They’re rolled up in it like kimbap.

“Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?” Taemin whispers, the first words uttered between them since the bathroom.

Key nods and curls more tightly around him. “I’m going to stay and sleep if that’s okay. It’s been a long time since I was in an actual bed.”

Taemin kisses his cheek. “Good night.”

“Good night,” Key says even though the night out the windows is dimming as the sun rises.

---

Key wakes up to Taemin sliding onto his dick, a smile on his face when Key groans, but he doesn’t protest, not at all. He has no idea what time it is or where he is or what is going on except that Taemin is bouncing on his lap and his dick is sliding into a tighter, wetter, hotter body than the night before, and it’s really not fair. He grips Taemin’s hips and curses him out as his body shudders through a-barely-awake-but-wow-that-was-intense-and-now-I’m-awake orgasm.

“Hi,” Taemin says and sits flush with his body, Key still buried inside him.

Key scoffs and gasps. “Hi. Fuck.” He reaches up and tugs at the ring on the collar.

Taemin’s eyes shut, his breath flutters. “I didn’t want to wake you, but the servants are returning soon.”

Key huffs and sits up, his dick still inside Taemin. Their arms wrap around each other, and Key buries his face in Taemin’s neck. He breathes.

Key doesn’t want to leave, but how much of that is because of Taemin and how much of that is because he can smell coffee and the bed is soft and there’s probably food too?

“I really like your dick,” Taemin says and Key snorts out a laugh. “Seriously, it’s curved right at the end, and like this, it’s against my prostate and that just feels so good.”

Key pulls his head back and doesn’t stop Taemin from kissing him, from pushing him back to the bed, from riding him, touching him, and bringing them both off.

Taemin is reluctant to let him up, but eventually they shower and eat breakfast, but maybe dinner depending on the time, and Key dresses in Taemin’s clothes. The pants are tight on him and the T-shirt even more so, but he doesn’t mind, actually prefers it that way. There’s less of a chance of it getting caught on something when he’s running. Taemin wears a pair of shorts and a tanktop long enough to walk across the estate and lead Key to the Wall where he can climb up the ladder.

Shadowed at the base of Key’s life, they hold each other and Key lets him Taemin cling for a little longer. It’s not like he’s on a schedule.

“Come back?” Taemin whispers.

“I will.”

Taemin nods and then finally pulls away. Not too far. Just far enough for a short kiss. His smile is fleeting, he squeezes Key’s hands and then lets go and turns away.

Key wants to say something, about Taemin staying strong, but it’s probably too late. Taemin doesn’t have the support around him to stay strong. He just has enough to survive. Even that is debatable.

Key doesn’t say anything and heads up the ladder. When he gets to the top, he doesn’t look down. He heads for the smaller wall so he can gather up his stuff. He can’t keep going south, not enough time has passed since the brush with the police. And he definitely can’t stay here. He’ll figure something out. He always does.

--- 3 months later ---

Key finally feels safe enough to travel along the Wall again. There were too many close calls, too many cameras in front and behind him. He found a small outer building in one estate that was close enough to the Wall for him to hide in for a few weeks. He still feels shaky though as he walks slowly along the Wall, his eyes and ears open for movement or light or sirens.

But he promised Taemin he’d return, so he heads that direction, toward the place that his mind and heart never left, toward the man that he thinks of constantly. It isn’t safe because that means he’s distracted and being distracted on the Wall means death.

When Key arrives in what he knows is the right area, he’s a little confused. There are no lights, which means Taemin isn’t there, but there’s also a hint of smoke in the air.

But the most confusing is the figure sitting on the Wall with his back to the Inside, and his legs dangling into the abyss of the Outside.

Just sitting there, head lowered. Key almost doesn’t see him. And he doesn’t recognize the slump of shoulders or the curve of his leg. Not at first. He stops and just stares. He knows the other hasn’t seen him yet, and it isn’t until he tilts his head back and Key sees the shape of his face in the dark, the curve of his neck, and the obvious dark strip of leather that he realizes that it’s Taemin.

Staggering forward, he makes more noise than he meant, and Taemin looks up in surprise.

“What ...” Key doesn’t finish the question.

Taemin sort of smiles at him in the dark and then pats the wall.

Still mostly frozen, Key falls to his knees and then sits next to him. He keeps his legs folded under him, not hanging down toward death. Taemin leans against him, pressing their shoulders together. When Key doesn’t tell him to move, Taemin settles his head on Key’s shoulder.

“What are you doing up here?” Key finally asks.

His shrug says more than his words.

“Taemin, you can’t--”

Taemin snorts. “That’s what everyone always says. But I can. Obviously, I can.”

“What did you do?” Key asks, suddenly aware of the smell of fire and smoke.

“Burned. It’s gone. Burned it down.”

“You burned down your house?”

Taemin inhales. “Yes.”

“But---”

“I sent the servants out. I meant ... I meant to die in there, to just breathe it all in and hope that Jonghyun is waiting for me somewhere, but then ... I couldn’t do it. I was looking out the window and saw the Wall and thought about you and thought about ... you’re the only person I have ever met that is actually free. You’re free to do whatever the fuck you want.”

“That isn’t even close to being true. Don’t say stupid shit.”

Taemin chuckles. “It’s kind of true.”

“Okay, kind of true, but ... what ... what are you doing?”

“I don’t know. I just sat here after the fire and the fire department couldn’t stop it because I made sure it was set properly and the house is gone, but they thought I was inside, so I think they think I’m dead. No one came to check the Wall, or beyond the Wall. I stayed in your little hammock and watched them rifle through the ashes today. I told myself that if you didn’t come soon I’d either jump off or I’d try to find you. I mean, it’s the Wall, how hard can it be to find a person on the Wall?”

“The police are wondering that same question.”

It is silent for a long time, and then Key says, “Okay. Come on.” He stands up and brushes off his jeans.

“What?”

“Come on,” Key says and holds out his hand. “You want to live on the Wall. You asked me to come back. I’m asking you to come with me.”

“Really?”

Key nods. “Really. You can always jump off, but you can come with me. The first thing you have to learn is silence. Even having this conversation with you is dangerous because you never know where there are cameras. So silence and then ... well, we walk.”

Taemin stares at him for a moment and then takes his hand and lets Key help him to his feet. Key is on his ways to turn around when Taemin grips the back of his neck and presses a kiss to his lips.

Key smiles into the kiss and returns it with a hand on his waist. There’s something under his shirt and Key slides his hands under to investigate. Leather, rings, warmth. A harness, right up against his skin.

Taemin smiles as he pulls away. “I’ve been wearing it since I saw you wear yours. It’s ... comforting.”

Key nods. “Different for you though, but yes, it is. Anything else you got on or inside your body that I should be worried about?”

“No. Just in my bag. I brought some essentials.”

“So food.”

“Well, not that kind of essentials.”

“You’ll learn that food is the only kind of essentials.”

“And we’ll use my essentials to take our minds off being hungry.”

Key shakes his head. “Quiet. Silence, remember.”

“I can be quiet.”

“I can’t. Now shut up and follow me.” Key hooks his fingers into the ring on Taemin’s collar and pulls lightly as he walks away.

Taemin smiles at him and follows.

.