Turn Up The Bright Lights

Baekhyun Is Up To Something

"I have some errands I need to run," Baekhyun said, pausing in the doorway. Suho waved him off negligently, but Chanyeol turned around to look at him. "I probably won't be back for a while," Baekhyun continued, shifting his weight from side to side.
Chanyeol eyed him suspiciously. "Where are you going? Shopping? Do you need any help?"
For some reason, this made Baekhyun laugh. "No, thank you. I don't need help. It's not shopping, it's just a few things I need to do," he hedged. Chanyeol watched with narrowed eyes as he slipped out the door, shutting it quietly behind him. The other members had already turned their attention back to the movie.
"Where do you think he goes?" Chanyeol asked in an undertone. To his left, Sehun shrugged.
On his right, Kai mirrored the movement, and added, "Who knows? Why don't you follow him next time, if you're so curious?"
Chanyeol sat back and considered this. "Maybe I will," he said. Suho shushed him and threw a piece of popcorn at his head to make sure the message went home. Chanyeol rescued the popcorn kernel and ate it, a thoughtful expression on his face. The mystery of Baekhyun's disappearances had been weighing on him for some time. Gradually, he became absorbed in the movie and it went out of his head.

The next morning, Baekhyun shuffled out of his room like a zombie, bleary-eyed, wearing a peaceful, half-dreamy smile on his face. Chanyeol's suspicions went through the roof at light speed.
"Did your errands go alright?"
Baekhyun started at the sound of his voice, and then shrugged, zeroing in on the coffee pot. "I suppose so," he said. As he stretched out to pick up the carafe, Chanyeol noticed him wince slightly. There seemed to be no reason for it, and it caught his attention. "Fairly routine," Baekhyun added, and poured himself a cup of the coffee. He wrapped both hands around the mug when he was done and inhaled deeply with a sensual expression on his face.
Without coming out and demanding that Baekhyun explain himself better, Chanyeol had to give up the chase. But he knew it wouldn't be his only opportunity. Nearly three weeks later, it came again. Chanyeol realised it was always right before or right after a performance that Baekhyun vanished mysteriously. With another performance coming the next night, he watched his band-mate closely for signs of what he might be doing.
Sehun called him out on it, cornering him alone in the hallway. "You're actually starting to creep us out," the maknae informed him. "Is there any reason you can't just let it go?"
"It's weird," Chanyeol insisted. "I just want to know what he's doing."
"Why?"
"He goes out every time we have a performance. Or a TV appearance. Or anything to do with Exo at all. That means it's got to do with Exo business, which makes it our business to know what he's doing."
Sehun shook his head, but didn't argue. "I guess Kai had the right idea. Follow him, but stop dragging the rest of us into it. Kyungsoo said the other day that he's probably just going for a massage or something. He always comes back looking relaxed, and god only knows that it's stressful enough without some people adding to it." As if his tone wasn't enough, he glared at Chanyeol to get his point across.
"Heard, understood, acknowledged," Chanyeol said flippantly. "Maybe I will follow him. He's probably going out tonight. I'm going after him."
Sehun rolled his eyes in response.

Chanyeol lurked near the entrance, mostly out of sight. As expected, Baekhyun announced that he had some errands he was going to take care of, and slipped out. Chanyeol followed silently behind him. Why this was so important, he didn't know. But it had been driving him crazy for months now, and he was determined to see the mystery solved. Whatever he'd been expecting, it wasn't a twenty minute walk to an abandoned part of town. He followed some distance behind, and watched Baekhyun take a turn down what appeared to be an alley, and jogged to catch up. He turned the corner just in time to see Baekhyun knock on a door and speak to someone before vanishing into one of the buildings. Chanyeol waited five minutes, and then approached the door.
With no idea what to expect, a beautiful man wearing eyeliner and leather straps and not much else wasn't even within the realm of possibility.
"Ah! A newbie!" The man beamed. "How did you find us?"
Chanyeol stared. "Excuse me?"
With a conspiratorial wink, the man leaned forward. "Not many people find this place on accident," he confided quietly.
"I was following Bae- er, my friend. He came in just before me."
"Starling," the man said knowingly. Chanyeol stared, bewildered. "He's a regular. Even calls ahead to make appointments. So, you don't know what we do here. Were you worried?"
He was about to deny it, but then when he considered it, realised that worry truly was at the heart of his curiousity. He was worried Baekhyun was mixed up in something dangerous, and if this man was anything to go by, perhaps he'd been right to be concerned. "I was," Chanyeol said. "I am."
"Well, he'll come to no unwanted harm here," the bouncer assured him. Much to no one's surprise, it wasn't very comforting.
"What is this place, anyway?"
"You've truly no idea?" The bouncer looked gleeful. "Welcome, then, to SiyahSarang!"
"Shee-yah... love?"
"Black love. Named for its founders, the Lady Siyah and my lord Sarang."
Chanyeol stared at the bouncer. The bouncer stared back.
It was quite anticlimactic. "Should there be fireworks or something?"
The bouncer chuckled. "No, you may find those within if you've a mind. If you'd like to enter, I'll need some form of identification." After checking the card Chanyeol presented to him, he handed it back and nodded. "You'll probably want a code-name - no one within goes by their true name. It's very hush-hush. And I'm sure you realise that whatever you see in here is to be kept utterly silent."
"I'm not sure what you're getting at," Chanyeol said. "Why?"
"It's based upon trust. I believe you, and I think you're cute. You seem like you're about to walk the gangplank of a pirate ship right now, and I'm going to let you, because you're worried about your friend. If you never come back, I don't think you'll tell anyone. If you do... well, you still won't tell anyone. You'll understand."
Chanyeol made a hopeless noise in the back of his throat. The bouncer gave a cheeky grin.
"You can call me Siberian. We have a few questions to get through before I can let you in. Now, are you a dom or a sub?"
"A what or a what?"
"You really have no idea. You're so cute. Do you go for men or women?"
"Er, I'm not sure...?"
"Come on, new kid, you've got to give me something to work with here."
Chanyeol shrugged. "Both, I guess. I've slept with women, it was okay." The words just slipped out. Not even the rest of Exo knew and here he was, spilling his deepest secrets to a total stranger. "I never got that far with a guy but..."
"You'd like to." The bouncer nodded sagely. "I understand. It's easier with men; they know what to do."
"I guess. Um."
"So, bisexual, or at least bi-curious. Got it." He marked something down on a piece of paper.
"Why the twenty questions? I just want to know what my friend is doing."
The bouncer wagged the pen at him. "If you want to get in, we have to go through this. I'm not even supposed to tell you what this is. Our patron's privacy is of the utmost importance here. And also, with you being brand new to the scene, we want to make sure you are neither harmed, nor that you cause harm to others. Thus, the twenty questions." He looked down at the paper again, and murmured as he wrote. "Undecided as to dom or sub."
"What even is that?"
Siberian looked up at him again. "You're just so cute!" he squealed, and his hands shook. "Alright. Do you know the word, bdsm?"
"Ah?"
This time Siberian looked downcast. "Oh my gawd, boy, sit down, for the love of god. You're putting a crick in my neck." He pushed the door open wider and invited Chanyeol inside. Purple lights lined the hallway, which was otherwise bare. At the far end of it Chanyeol could see a doorway. Faint music filtered through it, the bass throbbing. Siberian took him into a small office just inside the door, with a desk and two chairs, and a filing cabinet. A laptop computer screen displayed pictures of men and women tied with ropes and bound to beds, hoisted into the air and spread across wooden devices. They all looked as though they were in pain. Chanyeol felt his mouth go dry. What has he gotten involved in?