Yesteryear

Choi Jongho

"Wooyoung, help me?"

Wooyoung set down the book on San's drawer before even registering what San needed him for. The man perched at his desk and had bowed his head to fiddle with the ties of a suit vest he rarely wore in his nape. It was his fanciest one that matched the occasion most, and he needed help to adjust the bindings.

When Wooyoung stood, San closed his shirt buttons that still allowed his necklace to dangle through the front. Pleased, Wooyoung watched the pendant disappear under his clothes as he stepped behind San to wrap the bindings to the corset around his fingers. Once San was ready, he sat up straight and pushed out his chest to adjust the form the vest was supposed to hug his frame.

Wooyoung pulled on the strings and watched pleasedly how they tightened in their holdings. From the top and the bottom, the vest closed at the same time to cradle San's body. The dark red velvety brocade matched his black shirt and dark hair. As Wooyoung tied up the strings, his fingers appreciatively brushed San's waist that looked even smaller in this getup.

San stood to shake out his sleeves and closed the buttons at his wrist once they were done. Awed, Wooyoung watched him while his fingers mindlessly fixed his own collar.

As always, San was too gorgeous for Wooyoung to endure. At the same time, he couldn't take his gaze off the man.

Once San had thrown his coat over his arm and slicked back his hair, they were ready to go. San thankfully had two walking canes and could lend Wooyoung one since he hadn't brought his own. He took the one with the silver brass top, while he gave Wooyoung the golden one that matched his jacket.

Since this evening had to be a perfect masquerade, Wooyoung left his hair pearl at home. He put it in San's drawer and adjusted his tight jacket over the remote strapped to his stomach one last time to make sure it didn't dent out his clothes before he accompanied San to the door. The other man helped him with his boots once more and held the door for Wooyoung on their way out.

The carriage that would bring them to the building they would meet Jongho at already waited outside. San had sent for it earlier and the black wood with matching black horses carried the same air of nobility as the couple.

Not that this masquerade of class wasn't foreign to Wooyoung as usual. San, by his side, made it easier for him to play his role.

They sat opposite of each other in the carriage. Wooyoung got to stare at San's regal form, that effortlessly slipped into an elegant pose. He looked taller with his heels and the cane.

"So these are gaming activities among the young heirs? Is opium at play? I heard that England at this time had quite the infatuation with it and I wouldn't want a repetition of Rome's events."

San smiled. The twinkle in his eyes gave away that he had no issues with repetition.

"Why not? You certainly were having fun."

When Wooyoung blushed in the faint light of the lantern by their side, San's grin broadened. The evening outside cast them in privacy that had Wooyoung wanting to reach out to pull San in for a kiss already.

"I did, but opium usage is frowned upon in my line of work. If I can avoid it, I shouldn't get involved with it. I would also like to point out that we were drunk strangers back then. As my lover, you need a good excuse why we would get involved in intimate games with strangers in a public setting," Wooyoung said.

San giggled into his gloved hand. He enjoyed playing this game just as much as Wooyoung. The period-typical push and pull of flirtations barely applied to them since they were already this close, but Wooyoung liked this banter. It put them on a more similar plane of wit than they had experienced so far.