Turn Up The Bright Lights

Kiss Him Senseless

Weeks passed, and Baekhyun's twenty-third birthday came and went with due celebration. Suho's was approaching, and Chanyeol was at the club again, explaining to Sarang why he couldn't make the appointment for that day.
True to his word, Sarang had stopped demanding Chanyeol be his sub, and had begun training him in the arts of dominance. And there was, he realised, an art to it. One had to maintain absolute control and awareness at all times. He had to be aware of the sub's pleasure, pain, tolerance, and limits, and listen for the safe-words just in case things were too much. It reminded him that he'd never used the safe-words, but Sarang admitted that he'd never pushed harder than he thought Chanyeol could bear.
"Starling has stopped me a few times," he admitted when pressed. "Part of the relationship between a dom and a sub is building the trust up in the sub that you, as the dom, will respect their use of the safe-words when used. It's no good to push a new sub so far that they feel compelled to use the words before you've built up the trust between you. If you had continued as mine, we would soon have graduated to me pushing your limits."
"I'm not sure if that would have been okay. I liked being a sub," Chanyeol confided in return. "But I love being a dom."
He did. The power, the control. The knowledge that he was the one taking these people apart with a mix of pleasure and pain so keen that it would split hairs. The fantastic daydreams of a day when it might be Baekhyun beneath his hand, begging for his permission.
Angelique poured another drink for them both - soda this time, as neither wanted their senses blunted - and retreated to the far end of the bar to leave them to their private conversation.
"You'll have to give me some kind of an explanation about why you can't make the twenty-second, or the twenty-third," Sarang said. Chanyeol fidgeted.
"It's actually for a birthday party," he said. "There is absolutely no way on Earth - short of death or dismemberment - that I can miss it. It's just too important to - me." He nearly said "the company and the fans" but caught himself just in time. Supposedly, Sarang still had no idea who he truly was and what he did when he wasn't a sub or dom-in-training. Outside of the club, they maintained their personal lives; inside it, obscurity and privacy reigned supreme. One woman swaggered past wearing a beautifully painted mask with wispy peacock feathers, and not much else, lending credence to his private thoughts. "I'm sure you know Starling won't be coming that day either."
They'd avoided a repeat of the double-date, as Chanyeol referred to those two nights when they'd both appeared at the club as Sarang's subs. To avoid suspicion inside Exo, they staggered the nights when they went to the club at all, but Baekhyun still had no idea that Chanyeol wasn't Sarang's sub, or that Chanyeol was basically plotting to steal him away from Sarang altogether, with Sarang's full cooperation and support.
"Speaking of birthdays, wasn't Starling's just a few weeks ago?"
Chanyeol laughed. "Yes. He hated it, did he tell you? They actually put twenty three little candles on his cake. Su-uh-someone joked that we were going to have to call the fire department to put it out."
"He told me it ended with him as the butt of many jokes," Sarang said. "I suppose that if you have another such birthday party to attend, I cannot demand your presence here. Although I admit, it makes my palm itch to allow you this disobedience."
Chanyeol glanced at his hands, and then up into his face. "Ah?"
Fingers curled through his hair. "I still think of you as my sub, Liebe," Sarang murmured into his ear, and then excused himself. Chanyeol closed his eyes and tried to collect himself. It was the first time Sarang had touched him since he'd 'graduated' and because Baekhyun was being skittish as a newborn colt, it was the first time he'd been touched intimately in weeks. With Sarang gone, Chanyeol pushed the glass of soda back at Angelique.
"Just one shot," he begged. "I have to go home to a cold bed and a serious case of blue-balls because of Starling, and I think I'm going to need it."
Angelique obliged, leaning across the counter to talk to him. "What's he done this time?"
"We talked about... well, this is going to sound ridiculous and childish. But we talked about becoming lovers. Boyfriends. Anything. Outside of the club. But that was weeks ago, and he keeps putting me off. 'Can't talk about it here, the others will catch us. I still don't know what we should do, don't you think it might be awkward?' It's gotten to the point where I can't even be in the same room with him anymore without wanting to either strangle him or kiss him senseless."
Angelique patted his arm. "Honey, if you want my advice, kiss him senseless. Less legal trouble that way."
Chanyeol mock-glared at her. "You're a lot of help."
She just laughed.