Damaged Goods (8/?) Part Two
Title: Damaged Goods (8/?) Part Two
Pairing(s): DooSeob (Some JunSeob, JunSeung & HyunSeob)
Rating: NC-17 (In later chapters)
Word Count: 3053
Summary: AU. Yoseob came from nothing to having anything he could ever desire. He and his very good friend Hyunseung sold themselves into the escorting business, one operated by one of the most powerful men in that part of town. Yoseob did not see his life going anywhere, and he did not mind if it didn't, but a fateful, nightly encounter with a man at the intersection of 13th street North and 14th street South would change all of that.
Previous: Damaged Goods (8/?) Part One
It was the most miserable two weeks of Hyunseung’s short existence.
Day was night and night was day. The streets looked the same. The money was the same. The men looked the same. After a while, they appeared faceless to Hyunseung. He had grown so intent on earning the money, personal preferences were eliminated. Anyone would do.
He was inhuman. He was selling himself on poor hourly wages, earning measly thousands at a time.
He was lower than trash. He looked sucked of everything that held essence. He was a desperate thing. Desperate, desperate. Rash and desperate and dry… a standing, starved stalk with pointy edges. He rarely ate. He did not have the time, and food cost money, something he didn’t want to tap into.
Hyunseung needed every little bit. Anything they wanted, he did. No complaints. No exceptions. Just compliance. Obedience.
No condoms? He could deal with no condoms. Most preferred no condoms. Most just emptied themselves inside of Hyunseung and never paid the extra fee. Hyunseung cared the first four times it happened. He learned not to care when he hassled a man for the extra 50,000 (typically 100,000) and was paid with a strike to the abdomen. He didn’t care after that. He was lucky to be getting money at all. Some men told him that to his face. Hyunseung believed them wholeheartedly. He wasn’t much to be desired. Not anymore.
In a total of fourteen hellish days and nights on unfamiliar streets, Hyunseung scraped together a grand total of roughly five million won. He had a week remaining to earn thirty million won and over.
It was over.
Hyunseung concluded and came to peace with the imminent fact that he would never be seeing Yoseob, or Dongwoon again. He earned himself five million in two weeks. How was he supposed to earn over thirty in a week?
Hyunseung shed oceans in an alley. He proved only one thing: He was a failure. There was none and could be none lower than him. He uncleansable filth. There was nothing that he could do right and everything he could do wrong.
He coughed and coughed throughout the final week of his escapade.
He thought nothing of it.
It was time to go home.
But before that time came, he wanted to make one final visit to one of the men he would not mind seeing.
♥
The seventh floor…
Hyunseung had never been to the seventh floor of Wheesung’s concrete castle. Mind you, he’s only been there a single time, but anyhow…
Hyunseung was not alone in that elevator. About a step before him stiffly stood two of Wheesung’s escorts-“Suits”. They were with him when Hyunseung waited at the lot. They escorted him into the building. Now, they waited to hit the seventh floor to deliver Hyunseung to Wheesung’s door in one compact piece.
There was a bing. The doors sank into the walls-out of sight-and a hall was laid before Hyunseung. There were multiple doors to this hall… and unlike the previous time, there were men filing in and out of those rooms like work ants. All of them had their shoulders pressing phones up to their ears. Low murmurs tickled Hyunseung’s ears as he watched all of this commotion unfold. He really had to maneuver around some of the men in order to reach his destination, which was not the door at the very end of the hall. It was the last door-the fifth one-to his left.
One Suit knocked: Two quick knocks, then a pause, then three paced strikes to the rich wood. A code.
“Come in.”
The suit that knocked opened the door for Hyunseung.
“Thanks.” Hyunseung stepped into this room-the door shutting-and honed in on the sole man occupying the space.
Wheesung, sporting boldly-framed eyeglasses and laidback threads-departed from his desk area and beamed endearingly to the redhead. “Hyunseung,” he grasped his hand mindfully, “I’m thrilled to finally see you again.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Wheesung invited Hyunseung to sit in a chair opposite of is desk. The latter did a little visual scope of the room… It appeared to be a workspace of sorts. Wheesung’s private workspace. Blemishing the surface of his large desk were cakes of papers and books, paperback as well as hardcover, of matters that involved math. That’s what the covers led him to thinking. Four calculators differing in complexity were present as well. A single lamp lit the premises. His walls were bare. There were only books. Books, books, books.
“If I knew you were going to be making a visit, I would’ve scheduled something for us to do together. It’s rather late, but I’m certain there are some places-”
“-No, no! I’m sorry that’s so last minute… I… I just wanted to see you.” One last time.
Wheesung’s lips curled warmly.
“I’m flattered that you would come to see me at such an hour. I’ve truly been worried about you when we stopped communicating. I wasn’t sure if something had happened to you, or if you were ill…” Wheesung made a superficial observation of the other with his eyes, “How have you been holding up? Why were you unresponsive for so long?”
Wheesung had been texting him along with Yoseob. He was never contacted back.
“It’s… It’s a…” the worst of the fourteen days lapsed in his brain in short, stinging sequences, “…it’s something that I really, really don’t want to talk about.”
“Again, I will respect your decision. Well, may I ask if you are feeling well? I’m sensing something is troubling you. You don’t look… rested.”
That’s because he wasn’t.
“I’ve been working hard.”
“I see. Really hard, I assume. It’s always important to get rest. I know the life as an escort is demanding, but, taking care of your health is critical, also.”
Hyunseung massaged his lips together. No matter where he ran off to, Yoseob’s words would always echo to him from somewhere. He thought about his friend until it hurt.
“How have you been, Wheesung?” Hyunseung asked, executing the skill of diversion.
“Oh, me? Busy as usual.”
“You’ve got lots of papers over there.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Working on something?”
“I am,” Wheesung stood and moved over to his desk, ruffling miscellaneous papers, “Recording numbers and figures and expenses. Record keeping… a necessary evil. I hate it, but it’s something that’s got to be done.”
“What are you keeping record of?”
“Money that I receive from various sectors of my businesses.”
“Sectors like…?”
“The clubs I own, the stores I own, certain streets... It’s a lot to keep up with.”
“Why don’t you get other people to do it, then?”
Wheesung turned around and smiled genuinely to Hyunseung, “Because I only trust myself.”
“Oh. Well that’s a good reason-”
“-Are you hungry? It just occurred to me that I didn’t even ask you if you wanted anything to eat.”
Hyunseung blinked stupidly. “Food?”
“Yes. Can I get you anything?”
Hyunseung blinked some more… He was hungry. Recalling what he last ate took twenty long seconds. He didn’t want to go eating up Wheesung’s food, though…
“Um…”
“It’s alright, Hyunseung. You can have anything you want when you’re here. I don’t mind.”
“………Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Wheesung clapped his hands once. A Suit leaned into the room.
“Three courses.”
The Suit nodded in understanding and left the pair to themselves to deliver the order. Hyunseung’s mouth dropped.
“Wheesung. I don’t need three courses…! A simple snack would’ve been just fine…”
“Well to me, it looks like you’ve hardly eaten very much,” stated Wheesung, very seriously. Hyunseung peered away. He was right.
Wheesung touched his knee, “You should stay for the night.”
“What?”
“Stay for the night. I’ve been meaning to ask if you would if there wasn’t a problem… It’s alright if you don’t have anything for an overnight stay. Everything you need is here. Dinner, breakfast, clothes, everything. Let me take care of you, Hyunseung. At least, just this once. I would really love to spend time with you…”
Hyunseung stared and stared at Wheesung’s hand before flicking his pupils up into his.
“I…”
“If there is an issue, do I have to contact your provider? Is there a fee? I will pay it.”
And by “provider”, he meant Junhyung. His gracious keeper.
“Actually, I’ve been outside of this town doing some work of my own for two weeks. Appa knew I would be gone for that long, and today is my final day. He expects me back tomorrow evening…”
A grand smile came over Wheesung.
“That’s perfect. I’ll personally drop you off at the lot tomorrow. Everything will run smoothly.”
“……And this is fine with you?”
“Yes, Hyunseung. I will cover every little thing… You’re far too polite.”
“Heh, Seob would tell you otherwise.”
“Ah, so a friskier Hyunseung exists?” Wheesung inquired with a comical quirk of his left eyebrow.
“He certainly does.”
“Well I would love to meet him.”
“And why would you want that?”
“So I can see what you’re really like,” Wheesung tapped Hyunseung’s kneecap with his palm, “I apologize for doing this, but I must finish my work here. I’m almost done recording. I should be finished once your meals get here, neither would take more than ten minutes.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting like this. Like I said, if I knew-”
“-You’re too polite, Wheesung,” Hyunseung licked back. It made Wheesung smile.
Wheesung clearly knew how to treat his guests.
Hyunseung didn’t have to lift a finger. Whatever he wanted or needed was given unto him in excess. He had plenty of food to eat when his three separate meals arrived to Wheesung’s workspace: A hot bowl of stew, a dish of nice meats and vegetables, and a baked dessert. Wheesung anxiously watched him eat. In the middle of his recordkeeping, he persistently asked if everything tasted exceptional. Hyunseung thought it was funny; he ate every single thing on his trays. His stomach was a bottomless thing, but he did not allow his great ravenousness to get in the way of good etiquette. After all, he wanted to give good impressions.
After the food, Hyunseung didn’t really want to do very much. Sleeping sounded ideal; he’d been on his feet days and days at a time. Wheesung seemed to pick up on his desire.
Hyunseung was escorted by Wheesung himself to an excluded room. Eyes followed, but not uncomfortably. Wheesung’s surrounding men appeared delightfully surprised.
The odd pair arrived to the suite.
Wheesung twisted the knob and pulled the door back, “This should give you plenty of space.”
A gasp tore from Hyunseung.
His suite was fully furnished, and with the most beautiful furniture… Hyunseung had a grand bed, dresser, his own shower and bath, a television, a desktop, refrigerator…
“Wow…”
“This is good?” Wheesung asked.
“This is more than ‘good’…” Hyunseung said, his doe eyes taking in every bit and piece of his new yet temporary dwelling place.
“Great…”
Hyunseung about-faced, smiled in Wheesung’s view, “Thank you for all of this…” and awkwardly pat his shoulder as thanks. But as mentioned, it was indeed awkward, so Hyunseung settled a light, appreciative peck on Wheesung’s left cheek. A grin like none other took over his lips in response. He definitely liked the kiss better than the awkward shoulder pat.
“You’re very welcome. Everything should be easy to find. If not, or if there’s something you need, call for me.”
Hyunseung gave a small nod.
“Alright, since that seems to be all, good night. I hope you rest well…”
“I will.”
♥
(The next day, evening…)
For fourteen days, Yoseob desired only food and rest.
His demeanor was different. With Hyunseung gone, the blonde’s entire character morphed into something unlike himself. He didn’t care for much anymore, not even company with his dongsaeng, who in turn, felt puzzled and disturbed by Yoseob’s thwarting behavior. His hyung would go to his corner, do business for however long, consult Appa, go back to his room, eat, and settle into bed. Yoseob was a lost soul.
He serviced his clients with a notable peak of aggression -- which was a plus for those men, in special cases. This aggression spawned from the unshared frustrations bottled inside of Yoseob, and roughened sex relieved him of that poison, temporarily, of course. Yoseob wanted to be numb. Yoseob did not want to feel or think. He functioned solely because of his brain.
The unfailing functioning of his brain successfully brought him to the doorstep of his room. He opened the door.
Hyunseung was inside. Hyunseung was at the table, eating the dinner that was delivered before Yoseob came. The blonde took in the scene with bated breath. He had forgotten his friend would be home… Two weeks had gone by that quickly; he was finished with his two week “stroll”.
“Hyunseung?” Yoseob gasped in disbelief. He stepped nearer…
Hyunseung looked away from his plate for a moment to acknowledge the being at the door.
“Hey, Seob.”
Yoseob blinked as if those words were a mallet and knocked all of his teeth out of his skull. “…‘Hey, Seob’? That’s… That’s all you have to say for yourself?”
Hyunseung emitted the sigh of an annoyed person. “Here we go.”
“Yeah. Yeah, you got it right. ‘Here we go’ is exactly correct,” Yoseob dropped his turtle and sewed his body into the chair next to the redhead with the hardest “no nonsense” expression on his countenance, “Mind telling me what the fuck you’ve been up to, Hyunseung? Do you mind telling me why you just up and left me here with absolutely no explanation?”
“So you could worry me to death?”
“Is me worrying about you all that you care about!?”
“Yoseob, please stop yelling.”
“STOP YELLING? ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS? YOU’VE BEEN GONE FOR FOURTEEN DAYS DOING GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT. YOU DON’T EVEN TELL ME WHERE OR WHAT YOU’RE DOING, YOU DON’T ANSWER MY CALLS, YOU DON’T ANSWER MY TEXTS, YOU HAVE ME WORRYING LIKE A FUCKING HEADLESS CHICKEN, AND YOU DIDN’T TAKE YOUR MEDICINE WITH YOU. THAT IS FOURTEEN DAYS WORTH OF PILLS YOU DIDN’T TAKE, AND I BET YOU DIDN’T ALWAYS USE CONDOMS WITH THOSE MEN. YOU DIDN’T, DIDN’T YOU?”
Hyunseung had his hands clipped over his ears as he chewed with his eyes gently closed. It angered the hype one further. Yoseob interpreted his silence to be a “yes”. He was obviously correct.
“HYUNSEUNG. YOU HEARD WHAT DOOJOON SAID. YOU MUST TAKE THEM EVERY DAY. YOU COULD’VE WORSENED THE VIRUS.”
“I feel fine,” shot the redhead in a loud, dragging groan, still with his hands guarding his ears from Yoseob’s pitchy screaming.
“FUCK FEELING ‘FINE’, HYUNSEUNG! YOU COULD BE SICK AND NOT EVEN KNOW IT.”
Hyunseung continued eating, and it severely pissed the blonde off. He waited, internally boiling in his seat at Hyunseung’s cold unresponsiveness, until he popped.
Yoseob slammed his fists onto the tabletop. Hyunseung quite literally jumped.
“I FUCKING CARE ABOUT YOU! DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND!? I DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO HAPPEN TO YOU--!”
“JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, YOSEOB. LEAVE. ME. ALONE. PLEASE. I HAVE FAR TOO MANY THINGS TO DEAL WITH RIGHT NOW AND YOUR YELLING ISN’T ONE OF THEM.”
Hyunseung and Yoseob had a long staring match with widened eyes… Yoseob lost that match, ultimately. He wandered away from the table, away from Hyunseung… because he just wasn’t getting it. They were on two separate wavelengths.
“I always think that one day, I’m gonna stop caring so much… Maybe I’ll have peace, I tell myself. Maybe I’ll start thinking of myself and only myself. Maybe that way, I won’t worry about you, who obviously doesn’t want to be worried about. I won’t care at all. At fucking all. But that won’t ever happen, because I love you,” Yoseob swallowed down a burning coal, “and I will never stop caring because of that.”
♥
Yoseob’s sanctuary was the night air. He crawled away to a quiet, dim area of the street, nervously staring down at his glowing phone. He did not know how to successfully walk while looking at something in his hand, yet, since he bumped into several fellow prostitutes. He muttered “excuse me”s along the way, but he did not remove his eyes from his cell’s screen.
He was looking determinedly at Doojoon’s contact information, specifically, his number.
Yoseob wanted someone to talk to. To vent to. But it was very early in the morning-almost 2 A.M.-and he didn’t want to disturb him if he was busy. Or surprisingly asleep.
…Okay. This is what he was going to do. If Doojoon was awake, Yoseob planned to only murmur a couple sentences and call it a night. If he was asleep, or if he didn’t answer, he would stop trying and simply blow his clouds of steam at the side of the street. He just wanted to hear Doojoon’s voice. He’d give anything to hear that man.
Their date that Saturday was marvelous. Doojoon thoughtfully created shrimp dumplings of his own with several spices that Yoseob’s tongue could tolerate. But that was not, at all, the best part of the whole night. Doojoon’s eyes were the sweetest of browns. Every word he uttered melted and slid straight into Yoseob’s heart. Yoseob couldn’t remember a time he nervously laughed so much… Why did Doojoon make him feel these cluster of emotions? Recalling such only made the blonde want to talk to him ever the more…
♥
Hyunseung hated fighting with Yoseob. He always felt like the bad guy in the end. He was the one who always felt like shit in the end. He already had to leave Yoseob the day he had to report to Appa his last earnings. He didn’t want them to be like this.
The very thought sent tears stinging the hell out of his eyes.
He didn’t want to leave Seobie and his dongsaeng… It wasn’t fair… It wasn’t fair.
They had their verbal argument the second Yoseob returned from his shift, and the latter up and left the room for… wherever. Hell if Hyunseung knew.
He didn’t even get the chance to tell the blonde how much he had earned.
He didn’t even get the chance to tell the blonde what he learned practically overnight about “prince charming”.
It nearly stopped his heart.
I know I've skipped around a lot... a lot... but I'm trying to move things faster because if I dilly dally here and there for too long this thing would never end, AND I WANT IT TO END.
Thank you very much for reading. <333333333 Sorry it took eleven billion yearsso long. I will strive to be more consistent in updating. -_- I hope I can make it only twelve chapters. It's too much... too much...
Next: Damaged Goods (9/?) Part One