𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 || 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐄/𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐖𝐎𝐍

Chapter Nine

Mingyu was up to something; Wonwoo was sure of it. He was playing some game, the purpose of which wasn't entirely clear to Wonwoo yet.

He hadn't known what to expect from the other man after last night. Heck, he hadn't known what to expect from himself after last night. He wasn't sure how to act around Mingyu anymore. His half-baked plan to pretend to be a clueless, vulnerable kid to make Mingyu drop his guard around him seemed so laughable now. He didn't need to pretend. He felt terribly self-conscious and vulnerable after revealing to Kim Mingyu, of all people, his most embarrassing kink: that he got off on being forced, used, demeaned and called derogatory words. None of his former boyfriends had known about that particular kink. Wonwoo had always been too ashamed to tell them, feeling like a freak for getting off on something like that. Why couldn't he be normal?

"I don't want to talk about it," Wonwoo said, keeping his eyes firmly on the tray of food and resisting the urge to move away from the man next to him. The bed seemed so small with Mingyu's long, wide-shouldered body stretched out casually on it. Did he have to sit on Wonwoo's bed? There was a perfectly good chair in the room.

"Why?" Mingyu said.

"I don't know about you, but sex is kind of a private matter for me," Wonwoo said as calmly as he could, cutting a piece off an apple with his knife and sticking it in his mouth. He would wonder why Mingyu allowed him to have a knife if he had any delusions about his ability to take him on in a physical fight. It was obvious Mingyu's muscles weren't the result of workouts and diet. Mingyu moved with the fluidity and confidence of a man who knew how to use his body as a weapon.

The question was: Why was this dangerous—and likely very busy—man wasting his time watching Wonwoo eat and asking about things Wonwoo had no desire to discuss?

It was all very bewildering, especially after last night—after Mingyu fucked his mouth, kissed him until his toes literally curled, and then went to his bedroom to fuck some woman whose moans Wonwoo could hear even through the two doors separating their rooms.

Wonwoo pursed his lips.

"You weren't such a prudish little thing last night," Mingyu said.

"Last night was a mistake," Wonwoo said stiffly, looking at the leftovers on his plate and fighting a blush. "I'm not—I'm not like that."

"Like what? Gay?"

"No, obviously I'm gay." Wonwoo lifted his eyes to Mingyu. He tried not to look at skin from under Mingyu's halfway unbuttoned shirt. "Look, you got the wrong impression. I'm not into that kind of thing—not really. I've had four boyfriends and I didn't do anything like that with any of them."

A faint smile curled Mingyu's lips. "I'm flattered."

When Wonwoo glared at him, Mingyu's smile widened, becoming amused. The smile actually touched his cold eyes, and, for the first time, Wonwoo realized how attractive and charming this man could be if he wanted to. The thought unsettled him. He didn't want to notice it.

"It doesn't say much about your relationships if you couldn't tell your partners what you were into," Mingyu said, studying him through his hooded eyes.

Sweeping his gaze around the room, Wonwoo said, "It's not—it really isn't a big deal. A relationship is more important to me than some weird kinks." Wonwoo tucked a stray curl behind his ear. "It's not like I'm that into it. I'm not a freak."

Mingyu's assessing stare was starting to get on his nerves.

"What?" Wonwoo said uncomfortably.

"Your parents divorced when you were eight," Mingyu said.