𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 | VMINKOOK

The Lion's Den

I flipped up the collar of my coat against November's frosty evening wind. It was close to midnight when my chauffeur dropped me off in the middle of the city, where it was dark and desolate like the haunting setting of an Algernon Blackwood novel.

No one knew where I was, or where I was going, and even though it was all a little daunting, I wouldn't have wished it any other way.

After dinner, I told the servants that I was extremely tired and bid them all goodnight, but shot my butler Taehyung a wink, giving him the smallest of hints that I would be visiting the Jolly Corner tonight.

I for once finally felt like an adult. Like the world was an open field for me to run through and explore without limit. There was no leash around my neck. No cage in sight.

I hurried through the narrow streets in search of the Jolly Corner's address, which I'd been able to find by making some phone calls, but of course I wouldn't be going there as Park Jimin.

I was wise enough to know that at a place like this, the rich son of a banker wouldn't be welcomed with open arms, so just for tonight, my name was Jimmy, and I was a twenty-year old footman.

I stopped in front of a house near the edge of town, which looked old, forgotten, and scary. The windows were so dark they looked like they'd been painted black, and only if I listened closely, could I hear a faint melody escape through the thin cracks of the structure.

This had to be it.

I knocked against the door, wondering for a moment what my father would do if I ended up dead at a gay club. I pursed my lips, knowing he would probably end up making it his life-goal to exterminate every homosexual in the country.

Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all...

The door opened, and a middle-aged man three times my size looked down on me with furrowed brows. His stomach was gigantic, and my eyes widened with the fear that I had been given the wrong address after all.

"Password?"

I gulped. "P-password?" I hadn't been told anything about a password.

"Max? Is it Hobi and his new boy? Did they come out to play after all?"

The large man I assumed to be Max shook his head. "Nope. It's a new face. A very nice new face."

I tensed up, realizing that the man in front of me could pick me up and snap me in two with one hand if it pleased him so. This was a mistake. A big, big mistake. "Oh, I'm awfully sorry, I think I've got the wrong house," I murmured, turning around on my heels only to be dragged right back by the collar of my coat.

"Not so fast kid," The giant called Max said, and I was caught like a defenseless baby bird with no chance of escaping. "Who are you? I've never seen you around."

"I... I would very much appreciate being let go of, thank you very much," I said, trying my best to pry the stranger's fat fingers from my expensive coat. "I'm new in town. I work at... the Park Manor."

The hefty man's face brightened up with a broad smile. "Park Manor? Well, why didn't you say so, you little sod? All the gays from Park Manor are welcome here."

I was not allowed my freedom back, and the man called Max pulled me into the house before I could even attempt to refuse the invitation. He gave my back a few friendly slaps which nearly swept me off my balance, and went on to drag me with him through the house.

"So is you new there or what?" Max asked, leading me down the hallway and toward a couple of stairs. "Them other blokes from Park Manor never mentioned a youngster like you."