Behind the Sex - Chapter 21
Title: Behind the Sex
Fandom(s) : U-KISS
Pairing(s): KeMaru
Rating: NC-17
Genre: AU, Romance
Warnings: Awful!English
Author's Notes: My second NaNoWriMo, and a rather bold decision, if I might say :)! Hopefully doesn't contain too much inaccuracies, and if it does, please ignore it? >_>?
Prologue :: Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7
Chapter 8 :: Chapter 9 :: Chapter 10 :: Chapter 11 :: Chapter 12 :: Chapter 13 :: Chapter 14 :: Chapter 15
Chapter 16 :: Chapter 17 :: Chapter 18 :: Chapter 19 :: Chapter 20
“Where are we going today?” Kevin asked happily, buckling his seatbelt and then looking at Kibum in anticipation. Kibum had said they were going out, and that made the younger man all excited for the whole day. Somehow, going out with Kibum was always relaxing, and it always felt like he was going out with a friend.
Well, Kibum was a special friend.
His first and only friend, so that’s rather special. Kevin giggled at the supposed depressing thought, a small smile forming on his face. Ever since he decided Kibum was a friend, he didn’t mind that there was only one of Kibum. At least there was one friend in his life, and besides, if he could only have one friend and the one friend cared for him like how best friends would, then Kevin would happily live with the one friend - Kibum.
They should be rather close, Kevin pondered a little, nodding to the words. Throwing away the thoughts of their countless sex, Kibum had taken care of him and even bathed him. Kevin blushed, willing himself to throw those sexual thoughts away. The way that hand roamed his body, those ghostly touches-
“What are you thinking of?” Kibum amusedly laughed at Kevin’s ever-changing expression. The younger started off giggling, then making a serious thinking expression with a series of nods, before biting his lower lip as if embarrassed. He ended up burying his head in his hands, cheeks turning into a rather deep shade of red. “You’re like those face-changing performing people, you should join the circus.”
Kevin pouted, slapping Kibum’s shoulder before taking in a deep breath. He probably did look like an idiot, but it doesn’t mean Kibum should so nonchalantly point it out!
“W-Where are we going?” Kevin repeated his question, using earnest eyes to stare at Kibum as if willing him to forget whatever silly things the younger had done. Kibum stared at his expression, debating with himself to tease the younger or not. Seeing the crowd of cars before him and that he had to concentrate on the road, the older man decided against it.
“There is a movie that received quite a large number of good reviews showing. We will get dinner, watch that at eight fifty, and then eat supper.” Kibum stated, looking at Kevin process the information while mumbling things like “dinner”, “popcorn”, “ice-cream”. The younger then grinned widely, nodding in agreement. “That’s a yes?”
“Do you eat salted popcorn? I like sweet ones though.” Kevin pressed his lips together, continuing to mutter random things under his breath. “I wonder if there would be any waffles…”
“Not in the cinema, but probably in the desserts shop we would be visiting after the movie.” Kibum shook his head with a defeated smile, as if unable to deal with Kevin’s many plans. His subconscious was telling him how Kevin would never act this way with anyone else, anyone that paid him. It was safe to conclude, no longer having guesses, that Kevin was comfortable with him. That if Kibum said something offensive, Kevin would just wave it away with that heart stopping smile he had fallen for.
“Oh, yay!” Kevin beamed, throwing his hands up to touch the ceiling of the car. He drew some circles against the clothed ceiling, liking the texture and then continuing to draw random shapes above his head. Kevin then wrote his English name in Korean characters, wanting to write more names and realising he had only one name to play with. “Kim Kibum.”
“Hm?” Kibum replied instantly, unsure of what Kevin was doing that was making scratching noises.
“Just writing your name.” Kevin shook his head, silently also implying that it wasn’t important. Smiling at the Korean words that only he could see, Kevin then thought the older man’s name was rather cute. “Your name is squarish.”
“Squarish?” Kibum chuckled. That had been the first time anyone had said something like this about his name. It was just a name, afterall, and other than it being common, there weren’t any other complaints about it. How was anyone’s name actually squarish, in the first place?
“Mm.” Kevin seriously nodded, writing Kibum’s name once more even though Kibum couldn’t look up. “It touches the corners, forming a rather squarish look. Kevin too, but my name’s square would be slightly lopsided because the characters aren’t as nice as yours.”
“Sunghyun would form a circle look, then?” Kibum mindlessly said, feeling the younger stiffen at the name. He still hasn’t figured out why Kevin would have such a reaction to his name, although understanding the reason behind it. Maybe he just didn’t want a name that gave him bad memories every time he thought about it. “Sorry.”
“I-It’s okay.” Kevin smiled nervously, unconsciously writing his real name on the ceiling. “It’s…rather circlish.”
Kibum grabbed Kevin’s right hand and sighed, pulling it down towards himself. The younger’s enthusiasm seemed to have dramatically fallen, although Kibum knew this was all his doings. Kevin then quietly watched Kibum drive into the car park, tickling Kibum’s fingers to ease the atmosphere when Kibum didn’t speak anymore.
“The reason why I get so uptight over the name…” Kevin started off, intertwining his fingers with Kibum’s as some sort of comfort for himself. “Is because I want to believe that Woo Sunghyun died with his parents on the same night. My parents always said I would turn out to be a son they would be proud of, and I’d rather die than to let them know I became such a person. So, Sunghyun had died with his parents, and Kevin is the man who sleeps with anyone who has too much money to spare. It makes it a lot easier for me to think of them with a smile.”
“Kevin, you didn’t have to tell me that.” Kibum sighed inaudibly, parking the car with the one hand Kevin wasn’t holding onto. The car stopped, engine still running, as Kibum continued with his words. “I wouldn’t have minded. I just didn’t know what to say so I kept silent.”
“I want to tell you.” Kevin smiled softly. “I want to let you know what I never dared tell anyone else because I was too damn ashamed of myself to do so. That I was using such a childish way so I could feel better, to ease my conscience biting me and telling me that I’m such an unfilial son for becoming someone that anyone could use money to humiliate.”
Kibum angrily slapped the younger man, grabbing his collar and watching the tears in the younger’s eyes redden his eyes. Swinging the younger’s body onto his lap, Kibum then embraced the younger, furiously shaking his head. “Kevin, you’re not what you said!”
“I am! I should just face the facts that I’m Woo Sunghyun, I didn’t die with my parents and to survive, I’ll have sex with any man even if he was seventy and on the verge of dying!” Kevin screamed, hugging Kibum tightly, trembling in the older man’s embrace. Kibum couldn’t bear to watch Kevin so fragile, shoulders shaking so violently with tears staining his pale face. “This body that had been touched by people since I was six, and could you believe I actually cost only a pathetic 500,000 won then? It’s like the cost of ten shirts bought off the streets, I was that worthless!”
“Then blame that man who made you this way! Take revenge on the man who raped you and made you this way! Whatever you do, you’re nowhere near worthless!” Kibum yelled, grabbing onto Kevin’s face and forcing the younger’s eyes to meet his. “Your parents would have never let you say that of yourself. You would have never ended up this way if it wasn’t for that damned man that raped you!”
Kevin couldn’t reply, choking on his own tears, throat blocked by the overwhelmed emotions he hadn’t let loose since he was six. He couldn’t even realise he had never told Kibum he was raped, only hugging Kibum tighter, the only comfort he could find in his life right then.
“You’re precious.” Kibum whispered, pressing his own wet eyes against Kevin’s shoulders. “Don’t speak of yourself this way, you’re not hurting only yourself with those words.”
-
Kevin coughed embarrassedly, trying to hide his red and swollen eyes from people’s sight as they made their way to the restaurant. Clinging behind Kibum, Kevin was relieved when Kibum requested for a corner seat.
“Better?” Kibum asked softly, fingering the sides of Kevin’s eyes. Finger trailing down to the cheek, the older man gently stroke the area, worriedly checking if there were any red marks left behind by his hand. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Kevin smiled, holding onto Kibum’s hand while leaning in to the touch. “I’m glad I told you. I feel a lot better after telling someone.”
Kibum bit his lower lip, knowing he did see Kevin’s bottled up emotions explode earlier. Kevin would definitely feel better, right? That probably wasn’t a lie, and Kibum could probably believe the younger was smiling sincerely. In fact, Kibum too, accidentally let out the fact that he knew Kevin’s past on his part. Somehow, it felt comfortable that there was one less thing he was hiding from Kevin.
“That’s good.” Kibum nodded, pointing at the menu while cocking his head to a side. “Let’s order?”
Kevin agreed, choosing an omelette and a bowl of buttered broccoli, before getting the waiter to recommend some of the other popular dishes. Kibum shook his head when the younger asked if he had anything he wanted, then politely sending the waiter off to the kitchen to relay their order.
“I think I should apologise.” Kevin broke the silence, holding onto Kibum’s both hands as if to prevent him from flaring up. “Listen, and until I’m done, you’re not allowed to talk.”
Kibum sighed, nodding.
“I was driven by grief previously, so I guess my words were kind of harsh. You might not think it was much, but I’m sorry for labelling you with my usual customers. I didn’t mean you used money to humiliate me before nor did I mean that you have too much money to spare or anything, it’s just what I said without thinking.” Kevin finished off, wondering if he left anything out.
“It’s-”
“Shh.” Kevin pressed a finger to Kibum’s lips. “I’m not done yet. You might think, why not? You are one of those people who pay to have sex with me anyway. But…Kibum, you’re different to me. If one day, you would ever stop coming to me for sex, I hope we could be friends.”
Kibum blinked, to which Kevin retrieved his finger from Kibum’s lips and his other hand from holding Kibum’s, awkwardly scratching his head.
“I-”
“Kevin.” Kibum smiled dumbly, holding the younger’s hands. “Thank you. I’m not sure what I did right, but thank you for whatever this is.”
Kevin returned the smile, liking the way Kibum’s warm hands covered his own pair.
“But…you’re not going to do this forever either, right?” Kibum asked, explaining that he was referring to Kevin’s job when the other shot him a questioning look. Kibum couldn’t imagine what sort of contract they were made to sign, and prayed that Kevin wasn’t made to do it till his death bed.
People would get tired of their own jobs, but as someone with his body being sold, Kevin didn’t seem like he would have a choice to refuse.
“No, I plan to quit one or two years from now.” Kevin corrected, smiling prettily to thank the waiter as he placed the dishes on the table. The waiter blushed instantly, jerking backwards and almost colliding into the customers who were exiting behind him. Kevin turned to the food though, careless about the waiter’s reaction.
Kibum had watched this scene too many times to laugh, glad he was no longer on the receiving end of such treatment. Kevin was still cruel to those he needn’t spare a smile to, afterall.
“Then what do you plan to do?”
“I have my savings, you see.” Kevin smiled, gesturing at the food so they could start eating without minding the formalities, although they had long gotten used to such an easy-going way of eating. “They’re about enough to last me more than ten years, then I’d probably die from some sex disease and whatever I have left could be given to charity. If I don’t have anything left then, well, too bad.”
“Sounds like a whole lot of planning went on.” Kibum smiled, easily seeing through the nonchalant words. The thing about Kevin was that his words sounds really blunt and mindless, but the younger could sometimes even think faster than Kibum himself. Maybe the years of experience with people had caused Kevin to know the way people work better than a psychology student Kibum himself.
Kevin nodded mildly, chewing onto his food and then raising his hands. Deciding against speaking while eating, the younger lowered his hands once more, swallowing before raising them. Kibum laughed heartily at the cute actions, while Kevin went on to take a sip of water before speaking. “I have one point five billion won in the bank right now, and after taking about a quarter billion to buy a small house, I’ll probably still have enough to buy home furniture, daily necessities, have transport fees and food, and that might last me about six to eight years. Working another one or two more years would make sure I don’t have to come back to work, just living till I die. Maybe I would have extra to travel around a bit, too.”
Kibum nodded along, noting down how intelligent Kevin was, and the hint that he had been checking out on market prices. Kevin could probably survive out there with a brain like that, even without selling his body. It was just an ill fate right from the start.
“But they’d just let you go?” Kibum raised an eyebrow, taking this chance to learn yet another fact. Was the industry this loose, listening to Kevin’s wishes so easily?
“I’ve been planning this all the while. Told them about it three years ago and they said it’s fine. Anyhow, they’ve been taking ninety percent of my earnings. And I’ll probably be of little use when I get past twenty five. They have new prostitutes to sell, afterall.” Kevin shrugged, picking out some prawns for Kibum. “Eat, eat, don’t just keep talking.”
“Ninety percent?” Kibum somewhat blankly nodded at Kevin’s words for him to tuck in, bewildered at the big shares of income the brothel took. This was like daylight robbery, except that the victim was forced to agree. “If you earn five thousand, they take away four thousand five hundred? They’re basically exploiting-”
“Not really. They pay for the rent, my basic necessities, the car, the petrol. I just have to feed myself, and sometimes the customers feed me too. My clothes, shoes, whatever are bought by me too, but language courses, business courses have all been paid by them.” Kevin cut in, grinning at Kibum’s protective attitude that was appearing. “New prostitutes are bought by the money I earn too, so I’m just contributing to the cycle. When I was young, I didn’t earn much since no one really dared to have sex with a child. And I started at five hundred thousand won, earning one thousand won more after ever sex. They then covered the cost of feeding me and all, and now that I’m old, I probably paid those debts off. I don’t know, they never told me about the money issues, but since I’ve been working for over fourteen years, it’s probably enough to pay them back.”
“Probably more than enough.” Kibum frowned, tone filled with rage. They don’t even do a thing, only managing the schedules and money, while Kevin was going through all sorts of nonsense like three bastards taking advantage of him being alone and weak.
“It’s okay. They have been nice to me anyway, and thinking about it, I do actually have a lot of money. I earn over seven hundred dollars a day right now, and mind you, that’s only if I have one customer per day. Sometimes I have two, and that makes it over a thousand. I work every day, so I earn more than anyone you can name. It helps that I started early, it seems.” Kevin continued mildly telling his life story, urging the older man to eat. “Stop frowning, you’ll get indigestion.”
“I just…” Kibum sighed, shaking his head as if to chase those thoughts away, returning to silently eating.
I just want to get you out of this.
-
“In conclusion, yes! The movie was good.” Kevin giggled, unconsciously being led into a humble desserts shop. “Oh? Where are we?”
“The shop that sells waffles.” Kibum pulled out a chair, smiling while helping Kevin into his seat. He waved to the shopkeeper that seemed to recognise him, then settling down opposite the younger man. “You can get your waffles, but I’ll order some other things for you to try, all right?”
“All right! As long as I’m not paying!” Kevin said jokingly, scanning the menu to check their ice-cream flavour.
“A bowl of mango ice, waffle with vanilla ice-cream….two scoops, red bean soup and the classic shaved ice. Auntie, please give a warm bowl of red bean soup, otherwise we might get a stomach ache.” Kibum smiled warmly, bowing when the shopkeeper gave an “ok” signal.
“You know her?” Kevin inquisitively popped the question, drumming his fingers against the table as they waited for the desserts. He doesn’t usually see Kibum with anyone else other than himself, and the only other time he had seen Kibum interact with someone was his father. That didn’t give off the best impression, but the current Kibum was quite endearing.
“I frequent here a lot. You’ll be shock at the tastiness of the desserts here.” Kibum chuckled, the desserts coming soon enough. The shopkeeper gave his shoulder a small nudge, laughing happily, thanking him for the compliments. “Thank you, we’ll eat well.”
“We’ll eat well!” Kevin repeated politely, impatient to get his hands on the waffles.
They ate to the very last drop of each bowl, stomach too full for them to walk to the car and get home. Kevin commented that the waffle wasn’t all that wonderful when placed with the desserts Kibum recommended, pouting when Kibum rubbed it in. Laughing and chatting while waiting for the bloated feeling in their stomach to subside, the two mutually agreed that it was, ultimately, a good day.
-
OMG GUYS I'M SOOOOO SORRY.
I forgot Monday was Monday, again. ;~~~;
Fandom(s) : U-KISS
Pairing(s): KeMaru
Rating: NC-17
Genre: AU, Romance
Warnings: Awful!English
Author's Notes: My second NaNoWriMo, and a rather bold decision, if I might say :)! Hopefully doesn't contain too much inaccuracies, and if it does, please ignore it? >_>?
Prologue :: Chapter 1 :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6 :: Chapter 7
Chapter 8 :: Chapter 9 :: Chapter 10 :: Chapter 11 :: Chapter 12 :: Chapter 13 :: Chapter 14 :: Chapter 15
Chapter 16 :: Chapter 17 :: Chapter 18 :: Chapter 19 :: Chapter 20
“Where are we going today?” Kevin asked happily, buckling his seatbelt and then looking at Kibum in anticipation. Kibum had said they were going out, and that made the younger man all excited for the whole day. Somehow, going out with Kibum was always relaxing, and it always felt like he was going out with a friend.
Well, Kibum was a special friend.
His first and only friend, so that’s rather special. Kevin giggled at the supposed depressing thought, a small smile forming on his face. Ever since he decided Kibum was a friend, he didn’t mind that there was only one of Kibum. At least there was one friend in his life, and besides, if he could only have one friend and the one friend cared for him like how best friends would, then Kevin would happily live with the one friend - Kibum.
They should be rather close, Kevin pondered a little, nodding to the words. Throwing away the thoughts of their countless sex, Kibum had taken care of him and even bathed him. Kevin blushed, willing himself to throw those sexual thoughts away. The way that hand roamed his body, those ghostly touches-
“What are you thinking of?” Kibum amusedly laughed at Kevin’s ever-changing expression. The younger started off giggling, then making a serious thinking expression with a series of nods, before biting his lower lip as if embarrassed. He ended up burying his head in his hands, cheeks turning into a rather deep shade of red. “You’re like those face-changing performing people, you should join the circus.”
Kevin pouted, slapping Kibum’s shoulder before taking in a deep breath. He probably did look like an idiot, but it doesn’t mean Kibum should so nonchalantly point it out!
“W-Where are we going?” Kevin repeated his question, using earnest eyes to stare at Kibum as if willing him to forget whatever silly things the younger had done. Kibum stared at his expression, debating with himself to tease the younger or not. Seeing the crowd of cars before him and that he had to concentrate on the road, the older man decided against it.
“There is a movie that received quite a large number of good reviews showing. We will get dinner, watch that at eight fifty, and then eat supper.” Kibum stated, looking at Kevin process the information while mumbling things like “dinner”, “popcorn”, “ice-cream”. The younger then grinned widely, nodding in agreement. “That’s a yes?”
“Do you eat salted popcorn? I like sweet ones though.” Kevin pressed his lips together, continuing to mutter random things under his breath. “I wonder if there would be any waffles…”
“Not in the cinema, but probably in the desserts shop we would be visiting after the movie.” Kibum shook his head with a defeated smile, as if unable to deal with Kevin’s many plans. His subconscious was telling him how Kevin would never act this way with anyone else, anyone that paid him. It was safe to conclude, no longer having guesses, that Kevin was comfortable with him. That if Kibum said something offensive, Kevin would just wave it away with that heart stopping smile he had fallen for.
“Oh, yay!” Kevin beamed, throwing his hands up to touch the ceiling of the car. He drew some circles against the clothed ceiling, liking the texture and then continuing to draw random shapes above his head. Kevin then wrote his English name in Korean characters, wanting to write more names and realising he had only one name to play with. “Kim Kibum.”
“Hm?” Kibum replied instantly, unsure of what Kevin was doing that was making scratching noises.
“Just writing your name.” Kevin shook his head, silently also implying that it wasn’t important. Smiling at the Korean words that only he could see, Kevin then thought the older man’s name was rather cute. “Your name is squarish.”
“Squarish?” Kibum chuckled. That had been the first time anyone had said something like this about his name. It was just a name, afterall, and other than it being common, there weren’t any other complaints about it. How was anyone’s name actually squarish, in the first place?
“Mm.” Kevin seriously nodded, writing Kibum’s name once more even though Kibum couldn’t look up. “It touches the corners, forming a rather squarish look. Kevin too, but my name’s square would be slightly lopsided because the characters aren’t as nice as yours.”
“Sunghyun would form a circle look, then?” Kibum mindlessly said, feeling the younger stiffen at the name. He still hasn’t figured out why Kevin would have such a reaction to his name, although understanding the reason behind it. Maybe he just didn’t want a name that gave him bad memories every time he thought about it. “Sorry.”
“I-It’s okay.” Kevin smiled nervously, unconsciously writing his real name on the ceiling. “It’s…rather circlish.”
Kibum grabbed Kevin’s right hand and sighed, pulling it down towards himself. The younger’s enthusiasm seemed to have dramatically fallen, although Kibum knew this was all his doings. Kevin then quietly watched Kibum drive into the car park, tickling Kibum’s fingers to ease the atmosphere when Kibum didn’t speak anymore.
“The reason why I get so uptight over the name…” Kevin started off, intertwining his fingers with Kibum’s as some sort of comfort for himself. “Is because I want to believe that Woo Sunghyun died with his parents on the same night. My parents always said I would turn out to be a son they would be proud of, and I’d rather die than to let them know I became such a person. So, Sunghyun had died with his parents, and Kevin is the man who sleeps with anyone who has too much money to spare. It makes it a lot easier for me to think of them with a smile.”
“Kevin, you didn’t have to tell me that.” Kibum sighed inaudibly, parking the car with the one hand Kevin wasn’t holding onto. The car stopped, engine still running, as Kibum continued with his words. “I wouldn’t have minded. I just didn’t know what to say so I kept silent.”
“I want to tell you.” Kevin smiled softly. “I want to let you know what I never dared tell anyone else because I was too damn ashamed of myself to do so. That I was using such a childish way so I could feel better, to ease my conscience biting me and telling me that I’m such an unfilial son for becoming someone that anyone could use money to humiliate.”
Kibum angrily slapped the younger man, grabbing his collar and watching the tears in the younger’s eyes redden his eyes. Swinging the younger’s body onto his lap, Kibum then embraced the younger, furiously shaking his head. “Kevin, you’re not what you said!”
“I am! I should just face the facts that I’m Woo Sunghyun, I didn’t die with my parents and to survive, I’ll have sex with any man even if he was seventy and on the verge of dying!” Kevin screamed, hugging Kibum tightly, trembling in the older man’s embrace. Kibum couldn’t bear to watch Kevin so fragile, shoulders shaking so violently with tears staining his pale face. “This body that had been touched by people since I was six, and could you believe I actually cost only a pathetic 500,000 won then? It’s like the cost of ten shirts bought off the streets, I was that worthless!”
“Then blame that man who made you this way! Take revenge on the man who raped you and made you this way! Whatever you do, you’re nowhere near worthless!” Kibum yelled, grabbing onto Kevin’s face and forcing the younger’s eyes to meet his. “Your parents would have never let you say that of yourself. You would have never ended up this way if it wasn’t for that damned man that raped you!”
Kevin couldn’t reply, choking on his own tears, throat blocked by the overwhelmed emotions he hadn’t let loose since he was six. He couldn’t even realise he had never told Kibum he was raped, only hugging Kibum tighter, the only comfort he could find in his life right then.
“You’re precious.” Kibum whispered, pressing his own wet eyes against Kevin’s shoulders. “Don’t speak of yourself this way, you’re not hurting only yourself with those words.”
-
Kevin coughed embarrassedly, trying to hide his red and swollen eyes from people’s sight as they made their way to the restaurant. Clinging behind Kibum, Kevin was relieved when Kibum requested for a corner seat.
“Better?” Kibum asked softly, fingering the sides of Kevin’s eyes. Finger trailing down to the cheek, the older man gently stroke the area, worriedly checking if there were any red marks left behind by his hand. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Kevin smiled, holding onto Kibum’s hand while leaning in to the touch. “I’m glad I told you. I feel a lot better after telling someone.”
Kibum bit his lower lip, knowing he did see Kevin’s bottled up emotions explode earlier. Kevin would definitely feel better, right? That probably wasn’t a lie, and Kibum could probably believe the younger was smiling sincerely. In fact, Kibum too, accidentally let out the fact that he knew Kevin’s past on his part. Somehow, it felt comfortable that there was one less thing he was hiding from Kevin.
“That’s good.” Kibum nodded, pointing at the menu while cocking his head to a side. “Let’s order?”
Kevin agreed, choosing an omelette and a bowl of buttered broccoli, before getting the waiter to recommend some of the other popular dishes. Kibum shook his head when the younger asked if he had anything he wanted, then politely sending the waiter off to the kitchen to relay their order.
“I think I should apologise.” Kevin broke the silence, holding onto Kibum’s both hands as if to prevent him from flaring up. “Listen, and until I’m done, you’re not allowed to talk.”
Kibum sighed, nodding.
“I was driven by grief previously, so I guess my words were kind of harsh. You might not think it was much, but I’m sorry for labelling you with my usual customers. I didn’t mean you used money to humiliate me before nor did I mean that you have too much money to spare or anything, it’s just what I said without thinking.” Kevin finished off, wondering if he left anything out.
“It’s-”
“Shh.” Kevin pressed a finger to Kibum’s lips. “I’m not done yet. You might think, why not? You are one of those people who pay to have sex with me anyway. But…Kibum, you’re different to me. If one day, you would ever stop coming to me for sex, I hope we could be friends.”
Kibum blinked, to which Kevin retrieved his finger from Kibum’s lips and his other hand from holding Kibum’s, awkwardly scratching his head.
“I-”
“Kevin.” Kibum smiled dumbly, holding the younger’s hands. “Thank you. I’m not sure what I did right, but thank you for whatever this is.”
Kevin returned the smile, liking the way Kibum’s warm hands covered his own pair.
“But…you’re not going to do this forever either, right?” Kibum asked, explaining that he was referring to Kevin’s job when the other shot him a questioning look. Kibum couldn’t imagine what sort of contract they were made to sign, and prayed that Kevin wasn’t made to do it till his death bed.
People would get tired of their own jobs, but as someone with his body being sold, Kevin didn’t seem like he would have a choice to refuse.
“No, I plan to quit one or two years from now.” Kevin corrected, smiling prettily to thank the waiter as he placed the dishes on the table. The waiter blushed instantly, jerking backwards and almost colliding into the customers who were exiting behind him. Kevin turned to the food though, careless about the waiter’s reaction.
Kibum had watched this scene too many times to laugh, glad he was no longer on the receiving end of such treatment. Kevin was still cruel to those he needn’t spare a smile to, afterall.
“Then what do you plan to do?”
“I have my savings, you see.” Kevin smiled, gesturing at the food so they could start eating without minding the formalities, although they had long gotten used to such an easy-going way of eating. “They’re about enough to last me more than ten years, then I’d probably die from some sex disease and whatever I have left could be given to charity. If I don’t have anything left then, well, too bad.”
“Sounds like a whole lot of planning went on.” Kibum smiled, easily seeing through the nonchalant words. The thing about Kevin was that his words sounds really blunt and mindless, but the younger could sometimes even think faster than Kibum himself. Maybe the years of experience with people had caused Kevin to know the way people work better than a psychology student Kibum himself.
Kevin nodded mildly, chewing onto his food and then raising his hands. Deciding against speaking while eating, the younger lowered his hands once more, swallowing before raising them. Kibum laughed heartily at the cute actions, while Kevin went on to take a sip of water before speaking. “I have one point five billion won in the bank right now, and after taking about a quarter billion to buy a small house, I’ll probably still have enough to buy home furniture, daily necessities, have transport fees and food, and that might last me about six to eight years. Working another one or two more years would make sure I don’t have to come back to work, just living till I die. Maybe I would have extra to travel around a bit, too.”
Kibum nodded along, noting down how intelligent Kevin was, and the hint that he had been checking out on market prices. Kevin could probably survive out there with a brain like that, even without selling his body. It was just an ill fate right from the start.
“But they’d just let you go?” Kibum raised an eyebrow, taking this chance to learn yet another fact. Was the industry this loose, listening to Kevin’s wishes so easily?
“I’ve been planning this all the while. Told them about it three years ago and they said it’s fine. Anyhow, they’ve been taking ninety percent of my earnings. And I’ll probably be of little use when I get past twenty five. They have new prostitutes to sell, afterall.” Kevin shrugged, picking out some prawns for Kibum. “Eat, eat, don’t just keep talking.”
“Ninety percent?” Kibum somewhat blankly nodded at Kevin’s words for him to tuck in, bewildered at the big shares of income the brothel took. This was like daylight robbery, except that the victim was forced to agree. “If you earn five thousand, they take away four thousand five hundred? They’re basically exploiting-”
“Not really. They pay for the rent, my basic necessities, the car, the petrol. I just have to feed myself, and sometimes the customers feed me too. My clothes, shoes, whatever are bought by me too, but language courses, business courses have all been paid by them.” Kevin cut in, grinning at Kibum’s protective attitude that was appearing. “New prostitutes are bought by the money I earn too, so I’m just contributing to the cycle. When I was young, I didn’t earn much since no one really dared to have sex with a child. And I started at five hundred thousand won, earning one thousand won more after ever sex. They then covered the cost of feeding me and all, and now that I’m old, I probably paid those debts off. I don’t know, they never told me about the money issues, but since I’ve been working for over fourteen years, it’s probably enough to pay them back.”
“Probably more than enough.” Kibum frowned, tone filled with rage. They don’t even do a thing, only managing the schedules and money, while Kevin was going through all sorts of nonsense like three bastards taking advantage of him being alone and weak.
“It’s okay. They have been nice to me anyway, and thinking about it, I do actually have a lot of money. I earn over seven hundred dollars a day right now, and mind you, that’s only if I have one customer per day. Sometimes I have two, and that makes it over a thousand. I work every day, so I earn more than anyone you can name. It helps that I started early, it seems.” Kevin continued mildly telling his life story, urging the older man to eat. “Stop frowning, you’ll get indigestion.”
“I just…” Kibum sighed, shaking his head as if to chase those thoughts away, returning to silently eating.
I just want to get you out of this.
-
“In conclusion, yes! The movie was good.” Kevin giggled, unconsciously being led into a humble desserts shop. “Oh? Where are we?”
“The shop that sells waffles.” Kibum pulled out a chair, smiling while helping Kevin into his seat. He waved to the shopkeeper that seemed to recognise him, then settling down opposite the younger man. “You can get your waffles, but I’ll order some other things for you to try, all right?”
“All right! As long as I’m not paying!” Kevin said jokingly, scanning the menu to check their ice-cream flavour.
“A bowl of mango ice, waffle with vanilla ice-cream….two scoops, red bean soup and the classic shaved ice. Auntie, please give a warm bowl of red bean soup, otherwise we might get a stomach ache.” Kibum smiled warmly, bowing when the shopkeeper gave an “ok” signal.
“You know her?” Kevin inquisitively popped the question, drumming his fingers against the table as they waited for the desserts. He doesn’t usually see Kibum with anyone else other than himself, and the only other time he had seen Kibum interact with someone was his father. That didn’t give off the best impression, but the current Kibum was quite endearing.
“I frequent here a lot. You’ll be shock at the tastiness of the desserts here.” Kibum chuckled, the desserts coming soon enough. The shopkeeper gave his shoulder a small nudge, laughing happily, thanking him for the compliments. “Thank you, we’ll eat well.”
“We’ll eat well!” Kevin repeated politely, impatient to get his hands on the waffles.
They ate to the very last drop of each bowl, stomach too full for them to walk to the car and get home. Kevin commented that the waffle wasn’t all that wonderful when placed with the desserts Kibum recommended, pouting when Kibum rubbed it in. Laughing and chatting while waiting for the bloated feeling in their stomach to subside, the two mutually agreed that it was, ultimately, a good day.
-
OMG GUYS I'M SOOOOO SORRY.
I forgot Monday was Monday, again. ;~~~;