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It was late in the afternoon, a few months before AMPRULE’s debut, and young master Dongha was studying as diligently as always. Chungsung made sure, one last time, that Dongha’s reading room was well-lit, before excusing himself. He closed the door quietly behind himself and immediately opened the calendar app on his phone to plan out the next few days. Young master Dongha had been quite meticulous as of late, some would even say hard to please. Just over the course of the past ten days, the young master had, in chronological order: fired a maid after finding a single speck of dust on his piano; fired his private tutor for Japanese after she was unable to help Dongha make sense of a recently-coined slang phrase in a hip-hop song; fired the piano teacher, after judging him unfit for teaching contemporary music; and finally, fired the chef, after Dongha ordered him to prepare a healthy dish recommended by young master Hajun in a recent interview, only to later complain about its bland taste. Between recruiting new help, writing reports on Dongha’s growth and progress for his parents, and running errands to the tailors and shoemakers to see how the custom-made pieces for Dongha were coming along, Chungsung’s schedule was looking quite busy.
Chungsung took the liberty of sitting on a couch as he went through each of his many commitments one last time, making sure that, no matter how busy each day, he would never be one minute late driving Dongha to school and back, or delivering his specially-made meal around lunchtime.
He was so absorbed in his thoughts, that he was completely caught off-guard by the sudden vibrations through his skull, produced by the butt of a pencil striking the heart shape in the middle of the barbell that went through his industrial ear piercing. Instinctively, he turned to his right, to find young master Dongha standing there.
“Dongha-bocchama…?” Chungsung instantly put his phone away, to let Dongha know he had his undivided attention.
“Hajun has a piercing just like this one,” Dongha’s eyes darkened as he spoke, and he fiddled around with the butt of the pencil to see if it could fit inside that heart shape. If it did, maybe he could even try to yank the barbell away. It didn’t really fit, though. But maybe the writing end would.
“Ah yes, indeed! Hajun-bocchama’s is on his left ear, though. This is called an industrial piercing.” Chungsung didn’t really mind Dongha prodding and yanking at his many piercings – he had done so many times in the past, regaling him shivers of pleasure with each painful pull. This time, however, felt a little different. Dongha’s face hovered close to his ear, almost as if he studying him. Was he… genuinely curious about his piercings?
“Hmph. You really know a lot about piercings, aren’t you?”
“It may sound immodest of me, but… I believe I do.” By now, Chungsung had lost count of how many times he had had his body pierced, each time getting a kick out of the lasting pain.
Dongha grabbed Chungsung by his shoulders, forcing him to stare directly at his face. “Chungsung. What piercings do you believe would fit me? Ear piercings, specifically.” Dongha quickly shifted his head left and right to show Chungsung each of his ears, in a movement, that, much to Chungsung’s surprise and delight, was not without some degree of coyness and brought an adorable flush of redness to Dongha’s pale cheeks.
However, Chungsung had never considered that his young master could share this specific interest of his. To Chungsung, Dongha’s pristine ears looked like perfect, newly blossomed white flowers, and he could never imagine anything tainting them, much less if it would cause Dongha any degree of pain.
“Dongha-bocchama… Perhaps it would be best to delay this conversation until you have reached full physical maturity. Besides, I doubt that your school’s dress code would allow it…”
“I could not care less about either of those things. I have decided I want ear piercings, and I want them now.” Dongha briefly turned his gaze away from Chungsung to stare through the nearest window instead. “Now that I have managed to secure Phantometals from my parents, I intend to debut as a hip hop artist. But no one will take me seriously if my ears aren’t pierced!”
“If… if you insist, bocchama… You could start with a standard lobe piercing in one ear…” Chungsung’s voice trembled at the thought of Dongha’s soft, white flesh being defiled.
“That’s LAME! So basic, predictable, and lame! Even some of my classmates at school have those. They’re so small and hard to notice, they’ve never gotten in trouble for them, even with the dress code.” Suddenly, Dongha grabbed Chungsung by the front of his shirt, pulling the unresisting man towards his much smaller body. “What I need is something daring! Something distinctive, to let others know that I’m all about choosing my own path in life! Something… something like this!” Dongha’s hand landed on one of Chungsung’s ears, but this time, when his fingers brushed through the array of jewels on Chungsung’s helix, it was with a sort of reverence and respect – something that Chungsung was not used to receiving from his master, especially recently.
Chungsung made one last effort to try and be as helpful to his master as he could, without letting himself be overcome. “If you intend to experiment with the concept… there are some jewel options that can imitate the look of a helix piercing until you’re ready to get a real one…”
Dongha grabbed Chungsung’s clothes again, shaking him. “YOU FOOL! Do you think I’d settle for a FAKE? We’re going to be moving around a lot on that stage, while being photographed and filmed! I need REAL ones, that look good from EVERY angle!”
We…? Dongha had only been revealing his vision for his hip-hop debut to Chungsung little by little, but… to think that he planned to include Chungsung in it…! “Bocchama… Do you mean you plan to include this Chungsung in your performances? I am undeserving of such an honor…”
“Hmph. You have no choice in the matter. I’ve already made up my mind. And I’ve made up my mind about the piercings, too. If you’re not going to help me, I’ll just figure it out myself.”
Dongha stood up from the couch and made to retreat back into the reading room.
“Please, I beg you, Bocchama… do keep consulting with me about your plans to get your ears pierced…” The warmth flushing to Chungsung’s face and around his eyes was, by now, impossible to control.
“I will. Just not now.” Dongha opened the door to the reading room. “At least wipe your tears. You look pathetic,” Dongha said, before he disappeared inside the room, closing the door behind himself as loudly as he could.
It was then that Chungsung realized he had been crying.
***
Some very busy days passed. New staff was found for the open positions, with Chungsung personally testing their competence and resilience in ways too mysterious to be discussed. Dongha’s new shoes and outfits were coming together wonderfully, and all of Dongha’s last-minute requests were accommodated. All the while, the idea of Dongha getting ear piercings, cartilage ear piercings at that, kept bouncing around Chungsung’s head. And the butler started getting used to it, accepting of it, even. After all, Dongha was in the midst of developing his own personal style, embellishing his outfits with jewel-encrusted pins, usually mounted in gold, and other accessories like gold bracelets and necklaces, all complementing the gold of his hair. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to elevate his looks with even more gold jewels, even more so if the gold was just the right shade to make Dongha’s perfectly white skin stand out…
Chungsung’s hands trembled when, one day, he finally typed into his calendar app that one Friday, late in the afternoon, he would be taking Dongha to the most upscale piercing parlor he knew for a helix piercing.
And Chungsung’s whole being was trembling as he held the door for Dongha to step inside the piercing parlor. His ill-concealed nervousness did not go unnoticed by Dongha. “Just go back to the car and wait for me,” his master huffed. “It’ll be quick, anyway. I’m only getting one, after all.”
For once, Chungsung was hesitant to carry out his master’s order. Even after he had been dismissed, he lingered outside the parlor’s glass door, trying to catch a glimpse of his young master inside. He knew for a fact that his master was in good hands – he had researched this facility thoroughly, had even used its services a few times himself. And yet… the thought of his master’s porcelain skin and tender flesh being pierced through and reshaped according to the piercer’s own will made Chungsung feel incredibly uneasy. He found himself unable to walk back to the limousine. His master was probably going to scold him for that, but it was a risk worth taking. Besides, while he had not parked the limo very far from the shop, he was familiar with how often Dongha would lose his bearings when deprived of his guidance.
Chungsung kept looking at the time. This was taking way longer than he thought it would. Perhaps Dongha was asking the piercer a series of questions about the healing process. Or maybe he was unsure about the exact placement he wanted…? Should Chungsung go back in to offer help?
Finally, Dongha walked out of the piercing parlor, and Chungsung was able to feast his eyes on the jewel now temporarily adorning his left ear while the fresh piercing healed, a single silver post. No, wait. Two. Three. …Four?
“Dongha-bocchama… I thought we had gone over this. Getting more than one helix piercing done during a single session is simply not ideal…!”
“Yeah, they told me that. But I still got four. ‘Cause it’s what I wanted. And you did not go back to the car as I told you. I’m going to punish you later.” Dongha spoke much faster, in short, quick breaths and in a much lower voice than his usual, his features contorted in a grimace, and Chungsung had to come to terms with the fact that his master was in pain.
Wordlessly, Dongha buried his face in Chungsung’s jacket, careful not to brush the aching, swollen helix of his left ear against anything. He already knew Chungsung would have great stage presence for Phantom lives – he believed it was simply impossible for anyone to fail to be captivated by his butler’s voice, and by the contrast between Chungsung’s edgy looks and his graceful movements. Dongha simply had to step up his style game to offer a similar level of uniqueness and charm. He had just wanted to look as badass as his butler had always looked to him… but at what cost! And now, Dongha did not want Chungsung to see his face distorted in pain, after he had disregarded both his butler’s advice and the piercer’s in order to take the fast lane to completing his vision for his Phantom live debut.
With a level of physical strength that he would never display during those times he lovingly accepted his master’s assaults, Chungsung lifted Dongha off the ground to carry him in his arms. He, too, was incredibly careful not to touch Dongha’s left ear. As he carried Dongha back to the limo, he could feel Dongha’s warm tears against his neck.
“Chungsung…” Dongha said between quiet sobs. “After I fall asleep tonight… Can you come into my bedroom to check that I’m sleeping on my right side?” Dongha was so distressed, he forgot to phrase his request as an order.
“I absolutely will, Dongha-bocchama,” Chungsung cooed, nuzzling Dongha’s right cheek and remembering his young master’s childhood days, when a sweet moment like this between them would have been the norm, but at the same time reminding himself that this was now a rarity to be treasured.
With every passing day, young master Dongha’s eagerness to debut in Phantom lives was growing. And wherever his master’s desires would take him, Chungsung would follow.