Blue and Grey || Taejin

Chapter 10

The rain batted against the glass panes and the wind howled outside. Seokjin turned around to face the window but winced at the burn that seared all over his back and shoulders.He had refused to treat his wounds after the whipping he had to endure the previous day and had stubbornly just laid on the empty bathtube, allowing the cold surface to heal the strips of red lines along his back; ofcourse, that didn't work for too long. His parents had left that morning thankfully, to both his and his brother's relief.

A knock echoed through his room.

"Come in," Seokjin said, hoisting himself up into a sitting position and moaning at the pain.

V entered, in a scarlet top and dark pants with heavy makeup and an earring dangling from one of his earlobes. He looked ready for business but when his eyes settled on the pained expression painted across Seokjin's face, his eyes softened and he sat infront him with his head tilted in question.

"It's nothing," Seokjin assured falsely, blushing a little when he remembered V kissing him on the forehead after their last session.

V peered into his eyes with his eyebrows creased, as if he didn't buy it, but he didn't pry further either. Seokjin watched as V sighed almost unnoticeably before leaning forward to kiss him.

Seokjin realized that he had been yearning for V's lips on his own ever since he returned from his parents' room the previous day. He felt warmth spreading all over his body and his senses tingling as their lips moulded together, the rest of the world just becoming a distant buzz. V cupped Seokjin's cheek, and Seokjin leaned into the touch.

Seokjin was slapped back to reality when V pushed him down and locked their lips in a hungry, but all Seokjin could feel was the burning pain all over his back. He tugged at V's shirt but the latter did not seem to get the red signal as he pressed harder against Seokjin, who, unable to bear the pain, shoved at his chest roughly.

Caught off guard, V tumbled on the free side of the bed and sat up immediately with his legs folded under him and hands on his knees as if he was about to apologise. Eyes blown wide in alarm, V's nails clawed at his pants restlessly as Seokjin lifted himself up while wincing.

"Hey," Seokjin placed his hand over V's nervous one. "It's alright."

"I think..." Seokjin chewed on his bottom lip. "I think I can't- we can't um..."

V nodded, getting the message. He looked at Seokjin with an expectant look in his eyes as if he was waiting for Seokjin to say more.

"My parents..." Seokjin tried to swallow the lump that was gradually inflating inside his throat.

Finding himself unable to word it out, Seokjin unbuttoned his flannel shirt and shrugged it off. Twisting around, Seokjin displayed the several whip marks painted across his back, some of them starting to turn bluish-purple. He heard V gasp and then felt soft, cold fingertips brushing against the stripes slowly, gently.

"They're horrible," Seokjin whispered.

V placed his hands on Seokjin's shoulders and carefully pulled him back so that the latter's back was against the former's chest. He wrapped his arms around Seokjin's petite waist and rested his chin on Seokjin's shoulder.

Wheras V seemed relaxed, Seokjin, on the other hand, was blushing furiously and his heart was threatening to explode any moment. He felt so mushy, that his mouth began to work.

"My parents think someone's love life is the reason for their grades to be slipping. I mean, you torture him everyday! Burden him with all these expectations. I feel so bad for my hyung sometimes," Seokjin rambled without much thought put into his words.

V hummed and kissed his cheek; Seokjin melted into a puddle.

"And when I try to help him... this happens," Seokjin concluded with a sigh; his brother had never defended him like Seokjin had done, or even offered him any form of solace

Seokjin turned his head to look at V who seemed to bear an empathic tint in his eyes and something about the frown of his eyebrows said that he had experienced something similar.

"Are your parents like that too?" Seokjin asked.

V brows shot up and he shooked his head with his lips curved upwards.

"Must be nice..." Seokjin murmured before letting himself sink into V's warmth.

It was saddening to think that V was only being so sweet to him because he was being paid for it. Seokjin was almost confident that V showed the same endearing gestures to his other clients, much to the sour taste in his mouth. Thinking about it, Seokjin realized that V was just like all those people he had encountered, always behind his family's wealth. Well, it was his profession anyways, so it wan vain of Seokjin to even think about holding bitter feelings against the man.

Still... V had the option to leave any moment he wanted because he would still be paid the same amount since Seokjin had already agreed to a contract of taking services from that agency for some months.

"Your cock is smaller than my dildo."

Seokjin clapped a hand over his mouth, eyes turning to the sizes of saucers.

"That was not intentional," Seokjin said quickly after climbing down V's lap.

He expected V to look uncomfortable, or offended even, but the latter had his forehead pressed against his hand and his lips stretched and pursed tight, his body shaking as he tried to contain his laughter.

"Hey!" Seokjin hit his knee playfully. "Stop it, will you?"

V finally grinned, for the first time, all rectangular and vibrant with his eyes turning to crescents, and extended his arm to lift the purple locks that fell over Seokjin's eartips to reveal how impossibly red and warm they had become. Seokjin whined and shooed his hand away before huffing in embarrassment.

V moved his hands quickly, gesturing to something cylindrical and long, pointing at his pants and then pretending to hold the invisible cyclinder upright on his thigh. Seokjin blinked, trying to process the man's unspoken words. When they finally registered into his head, he flushed a shade deeper.

"You want to compare?" Seokjin asked incredulously.

V nodded with a big smile, which definitely did not match with his intentions.

"No!" Seokjin refused.

V's grin grew bigger as if he was enjoying the reactions he was extracting from Seokjin. Seokjin, on the other hand, was muttering nonsensical things under his breath while putting on his shirt. Seokjin peered up to find V's chin residing on his palm as he stared at Seokjin with a subtle smile playing on his lips and his eyes bearing a hint of interest but also exhaustion; he must had been working for a long duration.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to," Seokjin said.

V rolled his eyes to his head as if pondering on whether to stay or not. Seokjin watched the male contemplate in anticipation and secretly hoping he would stay a little longer; it had been so long since he last had company.

To Seokjin's dismay, V got up and bent down to kiss on his forehead, which caught Seokjin off guard once again, and then waltzed out of the room like nothing happened.

Seokjin wondered if his bedroom had always been so grey.