Chapter Text
“Come on,” Yuta says, a wide grin plastered on his face. He is pulling Ten across the street to the café where they are headed.
Ten huffs, his cheeks rounding. He lets his friend take him to what will probably be a very awkward afternoon in a munch.
A munch is where BDSM folks gather to chat and meet. Ten would never have accepted going to something like this. But he has been bored enough to allow Yuta to persuade him. And his friend was extremely convincing.
“It’s just one afternoon!” he said. “Let’s just check it out. Nothing kinky actually happens!”
Ten doesn’t consider himself a kinky person. But he’s not inexperienced, he’s a thirty-two-year-old gay man. He has done long relationships, has done Grindr, and has bottomed, but mostly he’s a top. If anything, maybe he’s a little dominant in bed, because any guy he touches relents easily and wants to get pounded by him. So he provides. He pounds. He’s rather good at it.
Ten and Yuta cross inside and the host points them upstairs, where a section has been reserved exclusively for the munch. Ten tidies his clothes—jeans jacket and pants, white shirt, and sneakers. Very casual. They walk in and see small groups of people sitting and standing. Everyone is chatting among themselves.
“Let’s sit and order something to drink,” Yuta suggests.
Ten concurs and they get a table for four. Ten watches the people until the waitress comes.
“Mimosas,” Yuta says. “A jar.”
“Right up.”
Ten turns to his friend. They are side by side.
“Now what?”
“Now, we talk.”
“I already see you every day at work. You dragged me here to talk to you?”
Yuta laughs. “No, I mean let’s talk while we wait.”
“For what?”
“For something to happen.”
Ten rolls his eyes. He can’t believe him. The waitress brings them a jug of mimosa and two glasses. Ten fills his to the top and gulps it all in a few seconds, then pours a refill.
Yuta elbows him. “Wow. Look at the girl coming in. She’s perfect.”
Ten lifts his eyes, but he doesn’t see a girl. He sees a man.
The man.
One of the most beautiful faces he’s ever laid eyes on, maybe the most. And he’s looking right back at Ten, with dark eyes. The pink plush lips part slightly as they keep eye contact while the man walks into the space. Finally, the stranger breaks it. He greets some people. Ten finally looks at the woman that came with him, the one Yuta is gawking at with a slack jaw. Indeed, she’s beautiful, with long brown hair and bangs. But Ten looks at the gorgeous man again. He has pale ginger hair pulled back with styling products. Obviously dyed, but it fits him well as if he was natural. He’s dressed in baggy trousers that reach below his knee, a beige puffer jacket over a simple black shirt, and black Chelsea boots with black socks.
“We should talk to them,” Yuta mutters to Ten.
“W-what?”
“Yeah. I’ll call them here.”
“No, Yuta, stop!”
Ten tries to grab the sleeve but his friend escapes him very quickly. When Yuta wants something, he usually gets it. Except for the time he wanted to have sex with Ten when they had just started working together. But that was only once. Ten nibbles his bottom lip as he watches Yuta approach and interact with the couple. He points at the table and Ten looks away, pretending he wasn’t ogling them.
When Yuta returns, it’s with them. He managed to get them to join somehow. They sit at the table, the man in front of Ten and the woman in front of Yuta. Ten opens a nervous smile.
“Hi,” he says. “I’m Ten.”
“I’m Seulgi,” the woman says.
“Taeyong.” He introduces himself peering into Ten’s eyes.
“I’ll ask for another two glasses,” Yuta says, smiling widely. He waves to the server.
“So, first-time comers?” Seulgi says, placing her elbows at the desk. She’s in a sleeveless tube red dress.
“Yes,” Yuta answers for them.
Ten glances from one to the other, but when he looks at Taeyong, he’s still gazing at him with a relaxed expression. He seems so poised, secure, and won’t cut contact. So Ten does, clearing his throat.
The server brings the glasses and Taeyong pours them mimosas.
“What made you try this out?” she asks.
“I was curious. And I dragged Ten.”
Everyone laughs. Ten blushes and lowers his face.
“We don’t really know how this works, so apologies in advance if we make a mishap,” Yuta explains cheerfully. He knows how to be charming with his endearing smile.
Seulgi smiles too. “Oh, that’s fine! We were all beginners once.”
Yuta chuckles. “So... what is it that you are into? Are you a couple?”
“We’re friends,” Seulgi says. “A couple of Doms.”
She and Taeyong trade a glance and chuckle.
“What about you? Are you together?” Taeyong finally says something.
“We are friends,” Ten replies, making eye contact with him again.
Yuta and Seulgi keep chatting while Ten and Taeyong stay in that... connection.
“What does it mean?” Ten asks. “To be a Dom.”
“Dom is short for dominant. The one that takes on the dominant role in a scene or relationship,” he explains.
Ten leans forward a little. “And what does that mean? You are talking to someone who doesn’t know anything about BDSM.”
Taeyong smiles and sips his mimosa calmly.
“The one reference I have is Fifty Shades of Grey,” Ten adds for comedic effect.
And it makes Taeyong laugh. “I don’t condemn or look down on those who enjoyed it. It’s just a tiny fraction of something much more complex.”
“Tell me a little about it,” Ten says. “About what you do. What you like.”
He’s interested in Taeyong. He was from the moment he walked into this room.
Taeyong slides his thumb and index up and down the glass.
“I don’t have a traumatic childhood,” is the first thing he says, which shocks Ten. But it ties in with Christian’s motive given in the movie Ten just mentioned. “For starters. That’s not what lured me into BDSM.”
“Okay.”
“But I struggled coming out and owning my sexuality. As I grew older, I started exploring and realized I enjoyed and thrived when I was in charge. BDSM is a way for me to dive into it with others who want to submit.”
“And what does submitting imply?”
“Many things. I’ve had many personal D/s relationships through the years. A lot don’t even involve sex. I also work as Dom, but that’s a separate thing.”
“Work?”
“I train submissives for other Doms or masters,” Taeyong explains. “I also get paid by clients to be their Dom.”
Ten is fascinated. That all sounds super wild.
“But you have personal D/s relationships.”
“I’ve had, yes. None currently.”
“Without sex?”
Taeyong nods.
“And what do you do?” Ten is surprised. He thought all BDSM had to do with sex.
“Many things,” Taeyong says and smiles. “Some involve ordering my submissives, some involve pain, some involve ropes, some involve degradation. Some people pay to be my pets. To let go.”
Ten is drinking in every word he says.
“Because when you relent completely, when you give up all control, you can taste true freedom.”
“That sounds... very interesting,” Ten says. “And what do you feel?”
“I’m an empath, so I feel what my submissives are feeling,” Taeyong says. “It can be hard sometimes. I struggle with pain and degradation the most. But when I feel their satisfaction from it, it’s worth it.”
“So nothing like Christian Grey.”
Taeyong laughs, his eyes creasing. “Yes. Nothing like Christian Grey. There is something called domdrop, which is the depression the dominant feels after a scene. Hurting someone doesn’t come without remorse, even for a sadist.”
“And you aren’t a sadist?”
“No. I’m not. But I’m still a Dom. People say I’m good.” He shrugs and gulps the rest of his mimosa.
Ten drinks his too, realizing his torso was tilted forward. Yuta and Seulgi keep talking and seem entertained with each other.
“…so how does one procure such a relationship?” Yuta is asking her.
Seulgi is smiling at him. “Being a sub?”
“Being under someone's whip. Have a taste of it.”
Ten shakes his head and chuckles softly, looking back at Taeyong—who is looking at him.
“All you have to do is ask,” Seulgi says.
“Ask and you shall receive?” Yuta teases.
“Exactly. You contact the Domme or Dom of your choice and set an appointment,” she says.
“And what's your number?”
Seulgi giggles and gives Yuta her number.
“I’ll be right back,” Taeyong says, getting up and heading towards the restroom.
“What about you, Ten?” Seulgi turned to him. “Aren't you a little curious?”
“About getting spanked?”
“And other things.”
“While the prospect of pain doesn't sound appealing, it does make me curious,” he admits.
“What does?”
“Just… the dynamic of it sounds intriguing. The D/s thing. Letting someone take charge of things.”
“Some people truly have a taste for it. You should try.” She smiles. “There is no harm in that.”
Ten chuckles. “Where would I even start something like that?”
“Taeyong is good with that,” Seulgi says.
Ten’s heart lurches.
“He can be a gentle Dom to those figuring out what they like,” she says. “He has the best reputation in the city for a reason.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”
Ten says that, but will he? Can he? As much as he's curious, the idea that he'll actually reach out to anyone to do a trial as a submissive seems absurd.
Yuta and Seulgi keep talking. Taeyong doesn't come back. Ten sees him interact with other people in the munch. Ten browses social media for a while until Seulgi says her goodbyes to them.
“We should go,” Ten says. “You got what you came for. I’m craving a chicken sandwich.”
Yuta agrees and they leave. They stop to eat at a burger joint, then part ways at the subway station.
All the way home, Ten goes over his conversation with Taeyong. His words, the timbre of his voice. His plush lips, his dark eyes. He was so effortlessly attractive. He said he was a Dom, but he wasn't smug about it. He wasn’t menacing at all, or anything one might imagine a dominant person who inflicts pain on others is. He seemed trustworthy.
“He has the best reputation in the city for a reason,” Seulgi said.
When Ten crosses the door and removes his shoes, his mind is still on Taeyong. He is washing his hands in the kitchen sink when someone hugs him from behind.
“Hey, babe,” Blue greets him with a kiss behind the ear. “How was the munch?”
“It was good. Yuta had fun.”
Blue chuckles. Ten reaches for the towel to dry his hands.
“I met someone. Two people. A woman and a man.”
Ten turns and passes his arms around Blue’s neck.
“Kinky people?”
“Yes. Very kinky.”
Ten leans and captures his lips. It soon escalates to a full-blown make-out, which leads to their bedroom. They undress and fall into bed. Blue is eager for it and Ten quickly fucks him against the sheets.
Here, he’s in control. Blue relents under him every time. And Ten has loved this about their relationship so far.
But much later, as Ten lies his head on a pillow to fall asleep beside him, he wonders what it’s like to give up control.
And he sees Taeyong’s face when he shuts his eyes.