Turn Up The Bright Lights

Do You Wished To Be Trained?

The next morning, Chanyeol wandered, bleary-eyed and wrung-out, into the kitchen. Baekhyun was already there, nursing a mug of coffee at the table. Chanyeol froze when he saw him, and wondered if they'd have their aborted confrontation right then and there. Baekhyun ignored him, inhaling the coffee-fumes with a grateful sigh.
"Good morning, Chanyeol," he said pleasantly. As if he hadn't been caught last night at a sex club.
"Good morning," Chanyeol murmured, and fled the kitchen. Afterward, face down on his bed, he wondered why he'd done it. Way to not stay under the radar with this, he berated himself. If you want to know, just ask him! But when Baekhyun ambled in some time later, Chanyeol watched him beneath half-closed eyes and said nothing. He watched the singer catch sight of him and stop, then shake his head and smile.
"Still sleeping," he murmured affectionately. Chanyeol stayed where he was, preferring to see what Baekhyun would do. Not much, as it turned out. The singer collected some clothes from the closet and stripped his pyjamas off. Chanyeol's breath caught when he saw the red welts that striped Baekhyun's entire back - as though someone had literally whipped him. Baekhyun moved slowly, but they didn't seem to pain him as he dressed. Chanyeol shut his eyes totally as Baekhyun came closer and didn't see him until the bed bounced. "Wake up, sleepyhead!"
It was no different than any other morning Chanyeol slept in. The only thing that had changed was his awareness of the other singer and his knowledge of what lay beneath his clothes. To disguise the unease he felt, Chanyeol threw one of his pillows, striking a laughing Baekhyun in the head. It sparked a pillow fight that dispelled the lingering awkwardness Chanyeol was feeling. Baekhyun had been doing this for months, he reasoned. Months. That they were even aware of. There was no reason anything had to change. With the previous night's experiences relegated to the back of his mind, Chanyeol made his bed and dressed, feeling like nothing had changed.

Two days later, he went back to the club. Siberian was on door-duty again, and Chanyeol guessed that that was his job. To his surprise, he was greeted warmly.
"New kid! Welcome back!" Siberian opened the door wide and admitted him. "Still need a bracelet?"
Chanyeol nodded, wide-eyed. "I still don't know what I'm doing here. I'm just going to watch tonight. Maybe talk to Sarang."
Siberian dug through the drawers again, searching for a pink bracelet. With a triumphant shout, he brandished one and attached it to Chanyeol's wrist. "Sarang's not here yet," he said. "Lady Siyah is, however, if you'd like to talk to her."
Chanyeol considered it. "I may," he said. But Sarang was the one Baekhyun went to, and so Sarang was the one he wanted to talk to. He didn't say that, however. This time the music was quieter. Less people drifted around the club; after a moment's thought, Chanyeol realised the reason was the date; probably not many people were free on a Monday night to attend clubs such as this one. Angelique was behind the bar, and waved cheerfully when she saw Chanyeol.
"Have you decided on a name yet?" she asked him, pouring a drink for them both. "Just soda again, unless you want something stronger?"
"No, I'm here to watch. I don't want to get drunk." He leaned back and considered. "Liebe will do," he said finally. "Is that okay?"
Angelique looked thoughtful. "Is that German? No one's claimed that name yet; it may as well go to you." She grinned. "So, Liebe. What brings you back? Starling's not here."
"No, I know. I wanted to see... when I wasn't distracted. And Siberian said Sarang's not here, but if he shows up, I think I'd like to talk to him." The thoughtful look returned to Angelique's face as she considered his words.
"You're thinking of joining?"
"More like a trial period," Chanyeol said. "I just want to know what... what..."
"What they get out of it." She nodded. "I get it. I did the same thing, not long after they hired me to bartend." She brightened. "Speak of the devil, Liebe, because here's Sarang."
An attractive man not much older than Chanyeol stepped up to the bar, nodding to Angelique. "I hear you're a friend of Starling's," he said. His voice was fluid and melodious, and Chanyeol was entranced.
"I am," he said. "I was worried at first, so I followed him."
"And now you stay for curiousity's sake." Sarang's eyes flickered up and down his body, and for a moment Chanyeol felt stripped bare beneath his impersonal gaze. "Well, you're not bad to look at. Why don't we find one of the private rooms and see about a contract."
With no idea what to expect, Chanyeol threw down some won for the soda and followed the older man. There was an unmistakable air of command that surrounded him; subs and other doms alike deferred to him, bowing as he passed and murmuring, "Sarang," in his wake, respectfully. Chanyeol, by dint of following him, was accorded the same deferential nods. He couldn't even imagine what they thought of him - dressed in a teeshirt and jeans, following after Sarang like a - like a sub. Chanyeol scowled, and looked each and every one of them in the face. Some were shocked by his brazenness. Others smirked, and the look on their faces made Chanyeol feel like a piece of meat strung up at a butcher's shop. The thought of Baekhyun wandering practically-naked around these people left him with a proprietary anger surging through his veins, and that, more than anything else, surprised him into dropping his tough-guy act and turn inwards.
There was nothing - nothing at all - between Baekhyun and himself. He'd idly considered it before, usually while jerking off and picturing Baekhyun in bed with him; how not, when Baekhyun was one of the most beautiful people he'd ever met? But there was something about this club and its atmosphere that made him want to take Baekhyun away and hide him from their lewd staring.
Sarang led him agilely through the thin crowd to a door nestled between two empty stages. It opened upon a bedroom - or what at first glance appeared to be a bedroom. It contained a bed, at least, but that's where the resemblance ended. The bed was covered with satiny black sheets, and all manner of ropes and scarves and other, less identifiable things. There were restraints on the walls, on the floors and hanging from the ceiling. A wide, padded sawhorse like the one he'd seen on the floor the other night occupied one corner. A wooden 'X' with restraints at each end took up another. One wall was given to mirrors, and a bureau beside the bed gave a hint of verisimilitude to the room. Chanyeol caught sight of his reflection, staring around gape-mouthed, and clamped his teeth together with an audible click.
"What is this place?"
Sarang shut the door behind them. "A playroom. Starling's room, actually; I've forbidden the others to use it."
His jaw dropped again as he suddenly pictured Baekhyun on the bed, on the floor, on the sawhorse...
Chanyeol swallowed around a suddenly dry mouth. "I don't understand why you do the things you do and call it pleasure," he said, with more nerve than he felt. "I don't understand what... Starling... gets from you that he can't get anywhere else."
Sarang reclined on the bed, smiling indulgently. "Acceptance, for one," he said. "Are you condemning his choices?"
Half afraid to touch anything, Chanyeol sat on the floor, well away from anything incriminating. "If that was the case, I wouldn't be here talking to you, I'd be at home yelling at him."
Sarang sat up and eyed him. "You're curious," he said. "Angelique and Siberian both told me about you at length. Starling himself was unsettled when he returned from getting my drink Friday night."
Chanyeol stared back as long as he could, but the aura of power and dominance that surrounded the other man was palpable. Chanyeol looked away first.
"It was because he recognised you," Sarang said softly. "From your shoes. He's a good boy, my Starling." The tone was fond; if it had been anything else, Chanyeol might not have stayed to hear him out. "He was terribly afraid to go home that night. That's when I asked Angelique about you. She told me you were here out of concern alone, and that curiousity would bring you back. And here you are."
"Here I am. I don't know anything about this. Siberian had to explain the meaning of 'BDSM' to me before he'd let me in."
Sarang stared at him benignly. "Do you love Starling?"
For some reason, the words took Chanyeol by surprise. "Of course I do! He's my best friend."
"Are you in love with him?"
A split-hair distinction. "I could be," Chanyeol said, deciding to answer as honestly as he could. "I could fall for him. We're perfectly matched in every way I can think of. Not," he added, "if he's going to continue lying to me."
"How is he lying?"
"His 'errands.' When he goes 'out.' He still hasn't told me himself. I saw him here, yes and you said he recognised me. But he never said anything."
"He was afraid. He was afraid you would condemn him, would laugh at him. Worse, spread rumours among your friends and... co-workers."
"You know what his job is?"
"And yours." Sarang shrugged. "Privacy is of the utmost importance here."
The words rang a bell in Chanyeol's memory. "That's what Siberian said, too."
"If I have a motto, that's probably it, at least as far as my club is concerned. This is a place people come to escape from their lives. Thus the need for code-names and some of our patron's wear masks to protect their identity. I know all, only because I conduct background checks on everyone who steps foot through that front door."
"Why?"
"If privacy is our first concern, safety is a close second," Sarang said. "I don't want to accept anyone convicted of rape, molestation, assault. Anything that may harm others. We screen our clients very carefully. Anyone who returns more than three times must submit to testing for venereal diseases and other communicable viruses."
Chanyeol considered this, too. "So this is more than just a lark for you. For a lot of these people."
"For many of our patrons, it is a way of life. Starling does not wish to live the life of a sub, and I, particularly, could not indulge him were he so inclined. Some do. Some are unable to function outside the dom/sub relationship. But no, this is not just a 'lark,' as you so charmingly express it." He lapsed into a thoughtful silence. Chanyeol looked around again, but was unable to banish the image of Baekhyun in this very room.
After some time had passed, Sarang stirred again. "So, we've talked. Why did you come here tonight?"
The question was so out of the blue, Chanyeol didn't stop to think about his answer. "I want to learn," he said, startled into honesty. His face heated up, and he looked away, focusing his attention on the large 'X' restraint.
"Would you take my place in Starling's life?"
This time, he considered his words before he spoke them. "Only if he wanted me to," Chanyeol said. "More than that, I want to ... understand. This..." he waved a hand to encompass the whole room. "It's... interesting. I never even knew any of this stuff existed, to be interested in it before. But now that I know..."
Sarang gave a warm smile. "I am glad you came here to learn. Not all clubs are as dedicated as mine. There are worse clubs, worse parties, where subs are treated like cattle or slaves; animals. Cruel doms who beat their subs for their own pleasure and cause harm. And, too, it's better for you to come here and learn than it is for you to strike out on your own and do harm unwitting to someone else."
"Just one more question, for now," Chanyeol said. "Where do I start?"
Sarang looked over him languidly. "Begin at the beginning, of course. When Siberian took your application, you had no knowledge of subs or doms or 'any of this stuff,'" he quoted. "If you would learn, come here three nights from now, and I will train you as a sub. When you have learned what it is to be on that side, then we will begin training you to dominance. You have it in your personality, I think," Sarang said, amused. "The expression on your face tells me you find subbing distasteful, but it is necessary. All of our doms begin thusly. Tell me now, and truthfully: is this your wish, to be trained?"
Chanyeol was silent for a long time, considering it. When he'd reached his decision, he looked up and met Sarang's eyes. "It is," he said formally. Sarang bounced off the bed and bowed to him.
"Three nights from now. That's Thursday; are you free?"
"I should be."
"I will see you then, at six in the evening."