Chapter Text
This time last week, Suguru was seated at a café table covered with books and miscellaneous pages from his working thesis. He’d cut a striking figure; glasses askew, hair a mess, sweatshirt complete with pit stains. Now, he stood at the edge of a party with music bumping and not a single person dancing. He wore a shirt Manami had given him which was more like the memory of one from the way he felt cool air across his midriff and how thin the fabric was.
“It’s supposed to end there,” Manami had said as she looked at him like an artist would their crowning work. “When you’re at the party, do not pull on the shirt. It’ll be a dead giveaway that you’re not supposed to be there.”
The party sat atop a skyscraper deep in the city. It had taken him a bus ride and two trains to get here. Where everyone else was bright eyed and happy, Suguru could only feel an aching fatigue in his bones.
As Suguru tugged at the hem of his shirt, glancing around at all the pretty, petty people, he knew yet again how little he was “supposed to be there.” Every party goer had their own phone out to snap pictures of themselves, capture videos of the sweet treats on display, or to live stream the “vibe.” Scattered voices overlapped and the music made Suguru’s head throb. He’d been up for almost nineteen hours now and he felt it in every breath he took.
“Oh, gorgeous! Absolutely stunning!” A beautiful woman squealed, noticing Suguru’s lurking form at the edge of the room. He remembered Manami’s words and smiled for the woman approaching. He also remembered the influencers Manami had drilled into his head. With her thick rimmed glasses and pretty smile, Suguru was sure he vaguely recognized her. This woman was gorgeous, and her outfit was an indecipherable mess of layers and patterns Suguru never would have thought went together. But what did he know? Manami had only just made an Instagram account for him that weekend. He was still learning.
“What’s your name, beautiful?” A man beside the pretty woman asked brightly. He was lovely, too. More layers and patterns assaulted Suguru’s eyes.
“Geto,” he grunted.
“Is that your handle?” The woman asked, already beginning a search on her phone. Suguru wasn’t sure what she meant but didn’t ask. Instead, he motioned vaguely in the direction of the opposite side of the party. And before either person could say anything else, Suguru slipped away.
Manami said he would get attention. She had really undersold just how much, though. Other than the atrociously short tank top, Manami had managed to get her hands on some pants that were so tight, Suguru figured they had to be illegal in some countries. She’d also wrangled his hair into a very loose and effortlessly messy braid down his back. Before leaving his apartment he shared with Manami, Suguru had stood in front of her tall mirror frowning at himself. His exposed midriff showed whisps of hair from his navel down, his pants cramped enough to not leave anything to the imagination, and the tank top Manami had made him wear was essentially made of fishnet.
“I better not have to dress like this all the time, or this thing isn’t happening,” he’d said, meeting Manami’s eyes in the mirror.
“It’s really up to Gojo isn’t it?” Manami had teased. She was lounging on her bed, scrolling through the aforementioned man’s Instagram page. “All the people he hangs out with dress like this.”
Suguru pulled at his shirt. “This is a bad idea.”
“It could be the best idea, Sugu-chan. We need money, and you agreed, it’s your turn to do the outrageous.”
The outrageous thing Manami had done was get a job.
Suguru already had one, but there was only so much his graduate school stipend could give him. These were not the same rent and food prices grad students had faced twenty years ago.
It was a curse, but Suguru was a man of his word. As he walked across the spacious living room, he felt an almost hungry sort of attention on him. His eyes burned both from the incessantly pulsating lights and lack of sleep, but he just had to meet the man of the hour. The one Manami said would be their godsend.
Gojo Satoru. Or TheHonoredOne89. He made videos, he had popular accounts on Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms Suguru didn’t know of. Manami told him Gojo even had a middling podcast he was still trying to get off the ground. The man was wealth and power wrapped up in a pretty exterior. Light scandals followed the guy across the social media-sphere. For all intents and purposes, he should have been unreachable, but fate had intervened. The sister of a cousin of one of Manami’s friends had an in with Gojo’s assistant; some nervous guy named Ijichi and secured an invite to this exclusive party. There was a rumor going around that Gojo had broken up with his girlfriend and was on the prowl for someone new. And as rumors are wont to do, they spun and twisted across the internet until something distorted and maybe not wholly true had been agreed upon.
Gojo Satoru was single and looking for a sugar baby.
It was like it was open season for the desperate. Some wanted financial assistance, some wanted clout. But they all needed him. Suguru was only doing this because Manami was too busy with her job to do it herself. And he had a thing for guys with pretty smiles. It was clear from the people in attendance that Suguru may have had some competition.
He wasn’t too intimidated by the skinny thing posing by the back door, holding up a branded water bottle and waxing poetic about how deliciously clean the water tasted. Suguru also couldn’t be bothered when he saw the clutch of women dressed in bright summer dresses while looking around urgently for the party’s main attraction. It helped that Suguru didn’t care too strongly how this all panned out. At most, he’d get a sugar daddy out of it, and at worst, he’d have a funny story to share at dinner parties.
The glass windows this side of the penthouse were doors that opened to a broad balcony. Suguru slipped out into the warm night. At the far right side of the balcony, there was a pair of younger people whispering amongst themselves. Suguru kept to the left edge and pulled a cigarette out.
His text to Manami was short and sweet.
Haven’t seen the “Honored One,” yet.
Her response was fast, like she had been waiting with bated breath for an update.
He just posted something from a pool. Go there.
Suguru sighed. He hadn’t seen sign of a pool. Was he at the wrong party?
As he was weighing the pros and cons of just skipping out on this party, Suguru lit his cigarette. Maybe he should have been thinking more about tracking down said pool, but Suguru found his thoughts back where they had been for the last month and a half. He’d started his final year of school with his thesis clear and set in stone. Years of work, and nearly his entire twenties had led to this. Money, relationships, energy; he’d burned them all in the pursuit of this. And here he was, 28 years old, sucking at a cigarette for dear life, and wasting his finite time on earth at some influencer’s party. He wasn’t ashamed, he was only tired.
The door to the balcony opened and with it, the sounds of conversation and sweet smells of expensive perfumes and colognes issued out into the night. Suguru didn’t turn, just assuming the other people on the balcony had gone back inside.
“You shouldn’t smoke here,” someone said. The speaker was a man and he only sounded mildly annoyed.
“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t smoke at all,” Suguru replied evenly. He tapped the cigarette and watched the ashes get caught up in the wind that cut across the balcony.
He heard the speaker approach; the soft tapping of slippers on concrete got louder as he neared. “I mean, the owner doesn’t allow smoking.” The voice held a lightness that made Suguru turn. Maybe it was his fatigue, or from enjoying a rare bit of luck, but Suguru could only smirk when he found Gojo Satoru standing beside him. Seeming to notice Suguru’s look in the relative darkness of the balcony, Gojo visibly relaxed. “I agree. You should stop smoking, too. It’s not healthy.”
“Didn’t realize I was speaking with the owner himself,” Suguru murmured. He brought the cigarette back to his lips to take another drag.
Gojo turned to rest his back against the railing. His elbows were set up on the metal bar. “I’m renting.” Suguru cut his gaze toward him again. Gojo looked like he was fighting to keep back a grin.
“If you’re renting, there’s no hope for any of us.”
Even though he had scolded Suguru, Gojo didn’t say anything more about the cigarette. He was looking back toward the party on the other side of the glass through narrowed eyes. Suguru took advantage of his averted gaze to take in the look of him. Gojo Satoru was various shades of long. Long arms, longer legs, and a wide smile he wielded with the precision of a trained killer. His hair was dark in the shadows of the balcony and wet from the mystery pool. Trunks clung to muscled thighs Suguru appreciated and the thin shirt he wore hinted at abs likely lurking beneath. When Suguru’s eyes got to Gojo’s face, he wasn’t too surprised to find the pretty boy grinning down at him.
“I like your outfit,” Gojo said. Suguru couldn’t tell if he was mocking him or being genuine, and he found that he didn’t care either way.
“At least someone does,”
“What’s your name?” The smile on his face probably worked on most people. It was lovely, crinkling the corners of his eyes just enough to make Suguru think it might be just for him.
“Geto. But if you want to know my handle, I’ll have to check.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket again and opened Instagram.
Gojo’s smile faltered for an instant, but Suguru missed that. “If you’re looking for a follow, I’ll give you one for being so cute.”
“You think I’m cute?” Suguru asked with an arched brow. He was a lot of things. Sometimes an asshole, other times polite, beautiful to some, but cute was new. Gojo snickered and shrugged. He leaned forward to peer at Suguru’s phone.
“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a follower count that small before,” he sneered.
“I don’t even know how to check that.”
Gojo stared at him like he was looking at a mythical creature. Suguru pulled on his cigarette again. He felt Gojo’s eyes on his mouth. The door opened to the balcony again, and remained open. Suguru couldn’t read the complicated expression on Gojo’s face.
“We’ve been looking for you everywhere,” a hassled voice called. Suguru glanced back over his shoulder to see a scrawny looking guy in a full suit and glasses. He looked like he belonged at a business meeting, not a party of influencers. His urgent tone was directed at Gojo. “People are looking for you up at the pool.”
Gojo’s smile looked strained, and Suguru saw a fatigue in his body that mirrored his own. “He was just giving me a personal welcome to the party. Don’t get too mad at him.” Suguru said this as he extinguished his cigarette. He gave Gojo a friendly smile.
“Geto’s going to join me up at the pool, Ijichi. Find him a suit,” Gojo said, setting his hand on Suguru’s bare arm. His touch was a cool contrast to the early summer evening. Gojo’s yes-man nodded after a small hesitation and stepped back into the party. The door closed behind him.
“Sure you’ll have anything in my size?” Suguru asked with a casual smirk.
Gojo chuckled, his fingers digging in just a touch to the muscle of Suguru’s bicep. “I hope not.”
Suguru had dealt with forward men and women before.m. He wasn’t ever looking for anything more than a quick fuck or heavy petting in the bathroom. Suguru didn’t claim to be a romantic.
“Will you help me?” Gojo asked. The lilt in his voice pulled Suguru’s attention, and the proud look he found waiting for him told Suguru this was a man who seldom didn’t get what he wanted.
Even though Suguru had the inclination to deny him, he nodded slowly. “Depends.”
“I’m not sure why, but people seem to think I’m looking for a sugar baby,” Gojo began, a knowing curl tugging at the corner of his lips that Suguru saw instantly. “Want to help me find one? Could be fun.”
Gojo pulled his hand back from Suguru’s arm. He looked smug, as though he didn’t even need to ask because he knew Suguru would agree. Suguru had the very sudden and very heated desire to humble this man. To have him bent over and begging only to be refused time and time again.
Suguru tilted his head thoughtfully. “What are you looking for exactly?”
“I’ll know it when I see it,” Gojo was quick to say, his eyes bright with playfulness.
Nodding slowly, Suguru stepped closer to Gojo, not stopping until the other man was back against the railing again. The smile, the fake one for his online followers, vanished as Gojo stared down into Suguru’s eyes.
“I’ll help you. But if you don’t find what you want. You’ll take me instead.” It was not a request. Gojo didn’t get a chance to say anything because Ijichi was back. Suguru didn’t want to return inside, but he had competition to shoot down. “Save me a spot at the pool.” He did not look back toward Gojo as he followed Ijichi into the penthouse.
The working stiff had a nervous smile for Suguru as he guided him through the crowd. Influencers and content creators watched and whispered as he followed Ijichi up a set of stairs to the next level.
“You can change in here,” Ijichi said in a wary, shaking breath, motioning toward an empty guest bedroom. Suguru nodded slowly before his face split with a yawn. “After you change, follow this hallway and the pool is beyond the door at the end.”
“Are you…okay?” Suguru asked haltingly, noticing how dark the bags under his eyes were.
Ijichi smiled weakly. “I’m fine. Bless you for asking.” He then made himself scarce, and Suguru watched him disappear down the stairs. If that was the future in store for him while under Gojo’s employ, Suguru wondered if he should just leave now. He shrugged it off and stepped into the guest room.
Behind the closed door, he could hear the muffled sounds of the party downstairs. The bed in here was wide and looked more comfortable than the old double mattress Suguru had shoved into the corner of his room. There were a couple pairs of swim trunks set out on the bed for him to choose from. They ranged from laughably bright and garish to too skimpy to even consider.
He opted for a pair of pale blue swim trunks that came down mid-way along his thigh. Suguru smirked to himself because Gojo would be getting his wish. The fit was too small.
Along with having a massive penthouse seemingly all to himself, Gojo had a large enough pool on the roof that could fit nearly half a dozen people. Similar to the oddly dead party downstairs, the pool party was eerily quiet. Some of the most beautiful people Suguru had ever seen were dressed in barely-there swimwear, but no one was swimming or playing in the water. Suguru had left on the netted tank top, much to the appreciation of greedy-eyed watchers. Across the pool, Suguru caught a glimpse of Gojo surrounded by models and beaming influencer-types. Their teeth glowed brightly, and their outfits were dry as though they hadn’t yet touched the water.
Suguru wondered what Gojo’s type might be. He was an attractive man, likely in his late twenties or early thirties. There were a handful of younger party goers, but Suguru couldn’t picture Gojo with someone much younger than him. He didn’t know anything about the man, but Suguru would feel it in his bones that Gojo needed a firm hand. Someone to temper him, to be a steadying influence. And no one under twenty-six could likely do that. But that could have all just been projection on his part.
He’d never sugared before, that was Manami’s area of expertise. When he was younger, Suguru had thought the whole business of being a sugar baby was a silly concept. But as he had learned in intimate detail from Manami, it was serious work. Suguru was here half as a joke, and half as a passing interest to see where it could lead. He’d watched Manami go from borderline destitution to rolling in so much money and so many gifts that he thought she was dabbling in the illegal.
Someone was running her hands along Gojo’s arm, and Suguru wasn’t sure he liked that too much. With confidence and more energy than he felt, Suguru sauntered around the pool toward Gojo with his cluster of fans. As he walked, Suguru felt Gojo’s eyes. He was laughing at something the woman clutching his arm was saying, but his attention was already on Suguru.
“Geto!” Gojo shouted enthusiastically, squeezing between the people around him to rush Suguru’s way. His shirt was gone, showing the well-maintained chest and abdomen Suguru had been expecting. His body was lean, skin smooth and with a thin layer of softness over his stomach that made Suguru smile unconsciously. He liked his men with at least a bit of something to grab onto. As he got closer, Gojo’s eyes ate up the well-fitted trunks Suguru wore. “Comfortable?”
Suguru snorted. “A bit tight, but comfortable enough. Find your sugar baby yet?”
“Hm,” Gojo looked him up and down slowly, the wry grin Suguru liked a bit too much firmly fixed in place. “Not quite yet.”
Suguru met his gaze. “Do you have your phone on you?” Gojo looked surprised for a moment before shaking his head. “Good.” Suguru grinned before setting his hand on Gojo’s stomach. Like his hands before, Gojo’s skin was pleasantly cool under Suguru’s warm touch. Gojo looked like he was about to say something, but Suguru didn’t let him. He gave a gentle but deliberate shove and Gojo tumbled backwards into the pool. As he fell, Gojo let out an unbecoming shriek. The splash was big, sending water everywhere. Suguru crouched beside the pool, chuckling to himself as people shied away from the water. They acted as though they were made of sugar.
Gojo shot up out of the water, whipping his white hair back dramatically. He pressed the water out of his eyes before looking around. His blue irises seemed to glow hovering over the water. Gojo swam toward the edge of the pool, his fingers gripping the rim as he glared up out of the water into Suguru’s teasing face.
“You’re not gonna cry, are you?” Suguru asked mockingly.
Gojo hoisted himself up just enough to dig his fingers into the gaps of the netting making up Suguru’s ridiculous shirt. Suguru didn’t resist as he yanked him forward. Their bodies were a tangle of limbs in the warm pool. Suguru’s hand found Gojo’s hip under the water, while Gojo didn’t loosen his fingers from the tank top.
“You didn’t ask if I had my phone,” Suguru pointed out once they were back above water.
Gojo laughed. His free hand slid down to run along the pockets on Suguru’s upper thigh and on his ass. His touch was quick, almost polite if not for the hungry gleam in his eyes. “I would have bought you a new phone if you needed one.” He winked as he said this before pushing himself away in the water. Suguru followed after him, biting back a grin. He’d come to this party, borderline dead on his feet from exhaustion and now he was flirting in a pool with the man who might be his key to a financially stable future.
At the far side of the pool, Suguru took a seat on the step under the water beside Gojo. He pulled out the hair-tie at the end of his braid.
“You asked what I was looking for,” Gojo said leadingly.
Suguru humored him. “I did. Go on.”
“Someone attentive and loyal,” Gojo stated. He had that light, nonchalant expression on his face, as though he didn’t have a care in the world. Suguru wondered if the other rumors he’d heard—the ones about Gojo’s girlfriend cheating on him—were true.
He looked around at the people loitering near the pool. Now that Gojo was in the water, some looked brave enough to consider getting in as well.
“Do you have a preference for looks?” Suguru asked as he ran his fingers through his hair to pull the strands free of Manami’s fixed plait.
“I’m not vain about that sort of thing,” Gojo sniffed. Suguru let slip a derisive snort. “Don’t believe me?” Gojo sounded affronted, and when Suguru glanced his way, he saw a pouted bottom lip and watery eyes.
Suguru shrugged before pulling his hair up into a bun out of the water. “I don’t know you, Gojo. You could be the least vain person to have ever lived, and I’d have no idea.” They both knew it wasn’t true of course from the way Gojo’s eyes openly worshipped the shape of Suguru’s arms and chest in his tank. It was because he was trying to be Gojo’s sugar baby, that was the reason Suguru didn’t hate the attention, he told himself. He also didn’t hate as Gojo’s skin slipped against his under the water where their thighs touched.
“Looks don’t mean anything to me,” Gojo said boldly, tearing his eyes off Suguru’s body with some visible effort.
“Is that why you’re a beauty influencer?”
Gojo instantly stared back at him, his mouth turned tight with a grimace. “I’m not a beauty influencer!”
“Okay,” Suguru mumbled. He didn’t care too much what Gojo was. At the end of the day, how the man got his money mattered little. “What are you, then?”
Before Gojo could speak, the water shifted. They had been too busy chatting to notice others had slipped into the water. Suguru was surprised that not only had he failed to notice the others in the pool, but he’d been too taken by Gojo to see that someone was approaching.
“Gojo transcends the need to for categorization,” the new arrival said in an almost rapturous gasp. He was a tall, beautiful man with sculpted abs and a face so stunning it looked as though carved from marble. Pettily, Suguru wondered how much he’d paid for the work done. “He’s multi-faceted and trying to force him into one group stifles his inspiration.” Even Gojo seemed a bit weirded out by the praise, but he was quick to smile in thanks.
Suguru leaned into Gojo to murmur softly in his ear, “this one seems attentive. Think he could be what you’re looking for?”
It took a lot not to touch Gojo. His mere whisper had made the man shiver despite the warm pool they sat in.
“I’m not sure…” Gojo replied quietly. He was looking toward the tall man standing meters away. His expression was pleasant enough, though Suguru saw boredom in his eyes.
“You can go,” Suguru said, setting an arm up over the lip of the pool. He didn’t touch Gojo, but the movement was territorial enough that the hot guy got the hint. Suguru watched the man wade away dejectedly with a bit more satisfaction than he had anticipated.
Across the water, two women were splashing each other playfully. It was restrained, camera ready since there was another woman with her phone lifted to film them both. Suguru had thought Manami was addicted to capturing every part of her life, but she had nothing on these people. It made him exhausted, the thought of constantly needing to be “on” to continuously be generating “content.”
“I want him to also be assertive about what he wants.” Gojo’s words pulled Suguru’s attention. His blue eyes were bright and wicked, making Suguru’s stomach tighten with a thrill.
“So, you’ve decided you want a man? That’s a step,” Suguru teased. They were dancing around this now. Gojo could cut off the foreplay and make his offer, but it was clear he was having too much fun at this point.
The women playing in the water were squealing now for their video. Fatigue hit Suguru like a truck again and he couldn’t stop himself from yawning.
“How did you get into this party, Geto?” Gojo asked, pushing himself off the underwater step. While Suguru was moments away from passing out, Gojo’s energy seemed limitless. “There’s a bit of a threshold for follower-count to be here.” He was teasing, but he didn’t sound malicious.
“I came here to see you,” Suguru said.
“Most people are,”
There wasn’t a touch of humility in how he said it. It was simply fact and Suguru couldn’t fault him for it.
“What do you want from me?” Gojo had pushed himself further into the pool, into the deeper water. Again, he didn’t need to ask because Suguru followed him unquestioningly. Suguru was not an influencer or content creator or podcaster, he was just a tired guy here for a sugar daddy. If Gojo was going to play the fool, Suguru would say what needed to be said. Gojo let Suguru corner him into a quiet part the pool where no other guests had gathered.
“You know what I want. A friend of a friend got me an invite, so I came here to get what I wanted.” Gojo had sunk deeper into the water with only his head and shoulders clearly visible. He looked up toward Suguru, an intrigued curl on his lips. “Is it true you want a sugar baby, or is that just a rumor?”
Gojo looked momentarily stunned, as though he hadn’t expected Suguru to just come out and say it. A faint blush darkened his cheeks.
“It really was a rumor,”
“Was?”
Gojo reached up to push his hair out of his face, scowling down at the water for a moment. The darkened white strands flopped back down onto his forehead immediately. “My team has been fanning the flames of the rumor. It’s funny, get it? Me, a sugar daddy. Ha. Ha. And funny gets engagements. And engagement means money.” Gojo wouldn’t look at Suguru, those blue eyes of his looking dark and dejected. Suguru didn’t like that at all. “So, they set up this party with the promise to other creators that they could get in on all this shit. And the party’s done what it’s supposed to. I’m trending.” Suguru thought that was supposed to be a good thing. But Gojo looked pitifully sad.
It was because he was grasping at straws in hopes of not letting this sugar daddy dream die, no other reason, that had Suguru shifting in even closer to him. Water lapped at Gojo’s bare chest. Suguru wanted him to look up, he wanted those eyes on him.
“I don’t think it’s funny,” Suguru said softly. He meant it. Not just because of what he could get out of that sort of arrangement, but a small, minor, unimportant part of him wondered what he could give Gojo. He struck Suguru as lonely, and even if they were just fucking around or going on dates or whatever weird shit Gojo wanted, he wouldn’t mind.
Gojo scoffed. “I’ve never done it before. I won’t live up to your expectations.”
That was a bit of a surprise, but Suguru didn’t care about that. So he said as much. “I don’t care if you’re a virgin.”
“Wha-what?!” Gojo sputtered, his light blush bursting into a full face of bright red. “I’m not a virgin!”
Suguru shrugged. “Okay. Either way, who cares? It could be fun.”
He considered telling Gojo he’d never been a sugar baby before, but he figured Gojo might not take that well. Not to mention, Suguru was a hell of a good bluffer.
“I like fun.” Gojo finally looked up. The blush had vanished. Instead, a cocky smirk was on his lips, his eyes were back to their eerie brightness from before. It was just a moment of weakness, Suguru was sure he was meant to believe. Something he wasn’t supposed to see or think of. Gojo’s fingers played with the strands of his tank top under the water. “Leave your information with Ijichi when you go.”
The dismissal stung, but Suguru didn’t show it. If he was going to be a plaything of Gojo Satoru’s, he couldn’t get bothered when he was treated like it. Suguru kept an easy smile on his face as he floated some distance away from him. Before he could get too far however, Gojo’s hand shot out to wrap around his wrist under the water.
“I’m sure you’ll be worth every cent.”
Suguru rumbled a laugh. He would be worth every cent, and every gift, and every touch. Suguru would ruin this man for anyone else, and he’d get rich doing it.