(no subject)
government hooker (1/13)
nc-17
thanks to jonghyun, jinki meets a nineteen-year-old boy who turns his life inside out.
note! this is a chaptered version of the oneshot i posted last week. chapters 1 and 2 are extended versions of that oneshot.
jinki’s ah-ha moment came when he least expected it.
it was somewhere between jonghyun’s loud singing and the realization at the lack of privacy he really had, perched on jonghyun’s sofa since he only had one bedroom in his apartment - but even then, he didn’t expect to have such a revelation so quickly.
he needed to get out of there; he loved jonghyun, they were best friends and all, but jinki was a twenty-three year old college graduate while jonghyun was entering his fifth year and stuck in a freshman-year mentality.
he needed change.
he went about it without jonghyun knowing, using the hours the younger man spent in class to go apartment-hunting. he’d tell jonghyun that he planned on moving out when he found someplace to move to - perhaps that would soften the blow to the overly-emotional jonghyun’s ego.
he found a place not too far away from where he currently lived with jonghyun: a cramped, one bedroom-one bathroom apartment with a nice view of the brick facade of the neighboring building.
but it would do.
jinki fretted as he climbed the stairs to the fourth floor of jonghyun’s apartment building. he was never good at breaking news to people, especially not news of the potentially-friendship-ruining variety. as luck would have it, he ran right into jonghyun as the younger man returned from the laundry room, basketful of clothes in his arms. “hey, hyung!” jonghyun said cheerfully. jinki smiled crookedly and jonghyun furrowed his brow. “what’s wrong?”
jinki learned as a child that the best way to get something off his chest was to just say it, so - “i’m moving out.”
jonghyun dropped the basket and effectively spilled his freshly-washed clothes all over the dusty wood floor. “what?”
※
“hyung, if you were having problems you should have just told me,” jonghyun lamented. he smoothed out a crease in one of his pants and handed it to jinki to hang up.
“well, you’re not exactly the easiest person to talk to about stuff like that,” jinki said. “i didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
jonghyun waved him off. “i’m a softie but not that soft. i understand why you’d want to leave; gets kind of boring sleeping on someone’s couch.” he sighed and jinki eyed him.
“stop trying to make me feel bad,” jinki said.
jonghyun laughed. “i’m not! i’m serious, i’d get tired of living on your couch, too.” jinki shrugged. “so, where’s the new place?”
“a few blocks away, the complex near the hospital,” jinki replied. “it’s... tiny, and the location sucks, but it’s better than...”
“my couch?” the two of them laughed and jonghyun closed his dresser drawer, finished with his laundry. “well, that’s not far at all. at least i can visit you and sleep on your couch for a change.” jinki rolled his eyes. “kidding, kidding... so, is the rent affordable?”
“right now, yes,” jinki said. “i have enough in the bank to cover the first three months and buy groceries. i’ll just have to find part-time work to keep up with the payments.”
“aw, seems like you’re all set,” jonghyun said, patting jinki on the shoulder encouragingly.
“i sure hope so.” jinki glanced out the bedroom door at what had been his bed since he graduated college the year before. “if all goes as planned, i’ll be out of here by the end of the week.”
※
jinki went to see his real estate agent the next day. as soon as he entered the room, he got a feeling that this visit wasn’t going to go as well as he’d hoped.
and he was right - the agent told him that the landlord of the apartment had raised his rent and decided to make tenants pay to use the laundry machines. jinki did the calculations, and what he had in the bank to cover the first three months’ rent suddenly wasn’t even enough to cover a month and a half.
directly after leaving the real estate office, lease agreement in hand, jinki went job hunting: he started “big,” hitting local restaurants in hopes of open positions as a waiter or maître d’. striking gold at a few of the establishments, he decided it would also be good to go to some of the mom-and-pop stores downtown and sweet-talk some ahjummas into a job restocking shelves and keeping inventory. that was surprisingly a lot harder than he’d expected.
jonghyun was cooking dinner when jinki got home. but jinki was too tired to be hungry, and he passed out cold on the couch within minutes of laying down.
※
it was after jinki snapped his pencil in two that jonghyun realized something was wrong.
it had come as a surprise to both of them; jonghyun had been busy reading a newspaper and jinki was skimming through fine print on the lease application. he twirled the pencil between his fingers until a loud crack startled the two of them.
“shit,” jonghyun said in a low voice as one half of the pencil rolled off of the table and to the floor. “what was that about?”
jinki blinked, astonished. “i... i didn’t do that on purpose,” he said softly. he reached down to pick up the other half and helplessly pushed the two pieces together. of course, it didn’t help put his pencil back together.
“ah, i see. you’re stressed out,” jonghyun said.
“sort of,” jinki admitted. “is it that obvious?”
“no, it took a lot of investigating to realize you were under some serious stress,” jonghyun said sarcastically. “how long’s it been since you’ve gotten laid?”
jinki scoffed. “what the hell kind of question is that?”
“a good one.” jinki shook his head and turned his attention back to the application. “i’m not saying sex will solve all of your problems but it’ll release a hell of a lot of your stress.”
“i don’t have a girlfriend, though.”
“how about a boyfriend?”
jinki snapped his eyes in jonghyun’s direction, furrowing his brows. “e-excuse me? what exactly are you trying to say, here...”
“before you think i’m asking you to be my boyfriend because i am oh so into you...” he pulled out his wallet and fished around until he produced a slim, white card. “which i am not... check this out.”
jinki took the card from jonghyun and read the contents despondently. his eyes widened as the words registered in his mind and he tossed the card back at jonghyun. “you’re sick. i’m... i’m not going to a whorehouse.”
“ugh, ‘whorehouse’ makes it sound uncivilized and unclean. it’s a brothel.”
“like that’s any better,” jinki mumbled.
“i mean, i don’t go there regularly but when i do go, i have myself a hell of a time,” jonghyun said. jinki grimaced. “don’t be such a spoiled sport. i bet if you tried it out you’d thank me a million times.”
“why would i ever thank you for something like that?” jinki rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his previous work.
“because, there’s this kid there - he’s 19, goes by the name of saegjeong - who literally works magic. he’s 19! but he’s the place’s best ‘business-man.’” as jonghyun made quotes with his fingers, jinki retched. “why are you acting like that? just go and see for yourself.”
“you’re funny if you think i’m going. the kid’s name is saegjeong. no thanks.”
“go.”
“no.”
“go.” jonghyun pouted. “please. for the both of us because lord knows i can’t handle another pencil shard flying at me.”
“it fell on the floor, not you,” jinki snapped. jonghyun sighed and jinki shook his head in disbelief. “fine, i’ll go. but i’m not doing anything with him.”
“that’s what they all say,” jonghyun said with a smirk. “you’ll like it."
jinki shrugged and tried to busy himself with the lease agreement, which was due back his real estate agent at the end of the week. it didn’t help that the agreement was nearly 10 pages long and meticulous jinki made it a point to read every single word so that he didn’t miss some important detail and by now, the words were basically swimming in his eyes.
giving up, he looked back to jonghyun. “what are you doing having sex with nineteen-year-old boys?” he asked bluntly.
jonghyun opened his mouth in shock, ready to respond - but then he slowly closed it and shrugged. “i mean... i-i don’t know...”
“what is a nineteen-year-old doing working at a whorehouse, anyway?”
“brothel,” jonghyun corrected flatly.
“whatever. same thing. and i don’t even want to know how you found out about that place, honestly.”
“i have a friend that works there.”
“i said i didn’t want to know but thanks,” jinki said sarcastically.
“but look, it’s not like you can’t go at this point. i mean, you just said you would go,” jonghyun said. “go tonight so you can’t give me some lame excuse for why you didn’t go, like you forgot or something. i’ll even drive you there.”
jinki wanted to try and convince jonghyun to drop it, that it wasn’t necessary and he’d de-stress some other way.
but he had already agreed. there was really no point in arguing it because jonghyun would never let him live it down.
“alright,” jinki said. he put the application back in its folder while jonghyun silently celebrated. “i’ll go shower and get dressed... and you can take me there.”
“you won’t regret it,” jonghyun said as jinki made his way towards the bathroom. “i promise!” wordlessly, jinki slammed the door and locked it, taking a good look at his face in the mirror before disrobing for the shower.
※
the brothel looked completely different in jinki’s eyes than it did in his mind. in fact, jonghyun had pulled up in front of an upscale hotel in the heart of the city and jinki thought he might have parked there so that they wouldn’t get a ton of dirty looks from people that knew exactly where they were headed.
“no, this is it,” jonghyun said when jinki asked. “the whole situation is really hush-hush, to the point where it’s almost invitation-only unless someone refers you like i did. the owner of the hotel bought it from the previous owner for the sole purpose of running both a hotel and a brothel... money coming from two places, you know? but that’s the least of your concern, really. it’s legal.”
“how, exactly?” jinki asked apprehensively.
jonghyun sighed. “because this saegjeong kid is an adult?” he raised his eyebrows. “anyway, go in there. what you have to do is go up to the reception desk and ask for minho. minho’s this tall, model-looking guy - my friend that works there - and when he comes to meet you, just ask him about saegjeong and he’ll tell you where to go.”
“this is so incredibly seedy,” jinki said, gazing out the car’s window to the luxurious facade of the hotel. “but the location doesn’t nearly fit the seediness, honestly.”
“just go. i’ll be back in, like, an hour and a half to pick you up,” jonghyun said. “do you have money?”
jinki groaned. “and then it hits me that i’m paying for sex. i can’t... yes, i have money,” he said.
“alright. see you later.” jonghyun smiled encouragingly while jinki glared at him, forcing the car door open and stepping out without a word. he closed the door and jonghyun rolled down the window. “have a good time. keep an open mind.”
“whatever,” jinki said, turning on his heel and making his way towards the hotel entrance.
※
the receptionist was a flippant college-aged man, his hair dyed a shade of orange-y blonde and his features sharp and dangerous. he looked almost unapproachable as he pursed his lips while he jotted down inventory information on a notepad, but jinki was sure jonghyun had left already so there was no way for him to turn back. all he had to do was ask him for this minho character but jinki, who was already anxious when it came to strangers in the first place, was finding that simple task to be a complete obstacle.
as jinki approached the desk, the man - jinki read his nametag as “kibum” - looked up from his work and gave him a once-over. his face read of complete judgment, like he could tell jinki was a local and had no other use for the hotel but the brothel hidden away inside. “how may i help you today?” he asked with fake enthusiasm.
“uh, yeah... i’m looking for minho?” jinki said.
kibum looked away and raised his eyebrows knowingly. “one moment please.” he walked away and jinki heard a quiet “minho-ya” as kibum called the other man over. minho emerged from what jinki guessed was a breakroom, his eyes meeting with jinki’s momentarily before he looked at kibum.
“what?” minho asked kibum.
“you have a visitor,” kibum said snidely. he turned away from minho and with another judging look in jinki’s direction, he went back to work.
minho smiled at jinki and gestured with a jerk of his head to a more private location and jinki heeded his instructions, following him to a quiet corner of the hotel lobby.
minho really was modelesque, jinki observed as he sized him up, tall and handsome and muscley to the point that it looked right for his lean frame. he looked to be about kibum’s age as well and jinki wondered momentarily how jonghyun knew him.
“so... what’s up?” minho asked.
jinki gulped, trying to think of the least awkward way to word his request. “uh... well, we have a mutual friend. kim jonghyun,” jinki started. “he told me about... this kid saegjeong...”
minho nodded, then got closer to jinki so his whisper could be heard by just him and no one else. “alright. saegjeong charges a flat fee of five-hundred-thousand won which covers basically whatever you want to do with him. after that, he calls the shots in terms of pricing and you’ll have to pay extra fees. but that’s only if you request other things, like fetish-related stuff - “
“oh, no no no,” jinki said, shaking his head frantically.
“well, i was just saying,” minho said. “take the elevator to the twentieth floor, the penthouse floor. when you come out of the elevator, take a left and walk down the hall until you see room 2005. if there isn’t a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door, just knock and he’ll let you in.” jinki must have looked nervous because minho patted him on the shoulder encouragingly. “no one knows about what goes on upstairs but me and kibum, so no one can judge you... unless it’s kibum. and saegjeong is actually really nice once he drops the seductive-minx attitude. trust me.”
“thank you,” jinki said quietly, pulling away from minho and making his way across the lobby to the elevators. he glanced at kibum and kibum glared at him before cutting his eyes away and looking back at his notepad. with a shrug, jinki pressed the “up” button for the elevator and waited for the doors to open.
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