RUTHLESS TEMPTATION || MEANIE/MINWON

Chapter Twenty-Six

Two months later

"Nice," the woman said, looking around the spacious suite appreciatively.

Mingyu shrugged, casting a disinterested glance over the room. Paris, Milan, London, now New York...There came a point when all the luxury hotels started looking the same.

Unhurriedly, he took his tie off.

"Let me," she said with a flirtatious smile, pushing his hand away and starting to unbutton his shirt.

Mingyu let his eyes follow the curves of her half-naked body, trying to muster up interest in it. He should have been more than interested. It had been a while since he'd had a woman. Almost half a year. For him it was unheard of. For him it was unheard of to stay monogamous for a week, let alone half a year. The most peculiar thing was, no one forced him to stay monogamous. Wonwoo knew better than to request it aloud, though his eyes told a different story. The boy had been increasingly affectionate and needy, greeting him with a sunny smile whenever Mingyu returned to London between his trips.

This had been the last trip he'd undertaken on Wonwoo's behalf. It had taken him almost two months to deal with the mess Jeon had left after himself, but now it was over. He had no reason to keep returning to London.

"Am I boring you?" the woman said with a playful pout, brushing her fingers against his crotch through his trousers. Her American accent seemed strange after months of hearing a British one.

"I'm not a teenager, sweetheart," Mingyu said. "I'm not going to get worked up just from seeing a half-naked woman, no matter how pretty she is." He determinedly didn't think about the fact that he had no problem getting hard just from looking at the curve of a certain English boy's lips.

A sense of unease settled in the pit of his stomach. Irritated, Mingyu dragged her close and kissed her roughly, making a conscious effort to focus on the softness of her lips and breasts. But the shape of her lips was all wrong, her mouth wasn't sweet enough, and her hair was too straight and not soft enough—

Mingyu broke the kiss and turned his back to her. "I've changed my mind. Get out." His words were clipped and tight with anger, and he wasn't surprised when she left without saying a word.

As soon as the door clicked shut after her, Mingyu shrugged his shirt off, balled it in his fist and tossed it across the room. Goddammit.

So much for his attempt to prove he wasn't fixated on Jeon Wonwoo.

He was fixated, all right.

More than fixated.

Heaving a sigh, Mingyu sat on the bed and ran a hand over his face.

He was Thirty years old. Not exactly an age to wallow in denial. Perhaps it was time to call a spade a spade, no matter how inconvenient for him the truth was.

And the truth was, he wanted only his curly-haired English boy.

He wanted to own him. He wanted to keep him. Hell, he would keep him in his pocket if he could, to have 24/7 access to him. He wanted to be able to bury his face in Wonwoo's soft curls and suck marks into his skin whenever he wished. He wanted to have the right to do it.

The question was whether he should do anything about it.

Mingyu wasn't used to denying himself anything, alcohol and drugs being the only exceptions. But wanting Wonwoo...it wasn't a simple matter of taking what he wanted. It wasn't even Wonwoo's gender that made him hesitate: Mingyu was long past that point. He didn't care that Wonwoo had a cock instead of a vagina. He was pretty much in love with the boy's nice little body and wouldn't change a thing about it.

No, the problem was more complicated than Wonwoo's sex. The boy had been hurt in the past. He was too damn vulnerable. Wonwoo wanted the type of commitment that would send most men running in the opposite direction. The boy also had an unsettling knack for making him want to be a better man than he was and to protect him from every hurt and harm. A prime example of it was when Wonwoo had asked him whether Mingyu was the one to kill his father and Mingyu answered no. While technically he hadn't lied, it wasn't the full truth: he'd certainly played a part in Jeon's death, however indirect. But he had omitted it, knowing the silly boy would be crippled with guilt, regardless of the fact that his father wasn't worth it.

All in all, Jeon Wonwoo would needlessly complicate his life. Getting involved with him would be irrational, impractical, and dangerous. Mingyu would have to make compromises and sacrifices he wouldn't make otherwise.

Sighing, Mingyu pinched the bridge of his nose.

He had to make the decision.