[M] Part II: Wuhan (1/2)

A couple of taxi rides and an eleven pm flight later, Joonmyun finds himself in the same situation: alone in an unfamiliar city where he has no one.

Even though he is the youngest, he is the first in his family to live anywhere outside of Seoul. The Kim family business has its roots planted firmly in the city, but Joonmyun always knew that he wanted to break free. In a way, this is what he has always wanted, to do something nobody else in his family has ever done before. It’s lonely and beautiful.

Stepping into the domestic flight terminal after an hour spent in the sky, Joonmyun is struck by how quiet it is. It’s not just that the airport is emptier this late at night; even when Joonmyun was waiting for his flight in Beijing there had been bustle. But arriving in this new city is a complete change of pace. It’s peaceful, especially after the tumultuous few days that had just transpired.

Luhan had become even more reclusive after the first night Jongdae had spent at Joonmyun’s. He successfully managed to avoid Joonmyun and was even able to keep himself from taking out his frustration on Jongdae. Progress. Everybody but Joonmyun seemed to understand that Luhan’s agitation stemmed from jealousy.

“Joonmyun?” a voice calls out from the arrivals lobby. “Joonmyun?”

A man with neatly trimmed black hair and low slung pants looks from face to face, trying to figure out which passenger is his.

“Hey!” Joonmyun calls out, waving at him. “I got an email from Mr. Zhang that he would get me a ride, did he send you here?”

“I am Mr. Zhang,” the man chuckles, extending a hand. “But you can call me Yixing.”

Joonmyun freezes because this man, Zhang Yixing, is the chief executive of Huafei’s entire southeastern China division. He wields even more authority than Luhan, though he looks infinitely more gentle. And he’s currently carrying all of Joonmyun’s luggage and hauling it into a subcompact.

“Did Luhan tell you about lodging plans?” Yixing asks as he backs out of the parking space.

“No? He didn’t tell me anything. We haven’t really talked in the past few days,” Joonmyun admits.

“Oh, right. He told me about the circumstances of your dismissal. You had an affair with his assistant, right?”

“Wait, how did you...?” Heat rises to Joonmyun’s cheeks in embarrassment, and his collar is suddenly too tight.

“He and I go way back. We both signed onto the company in Beijing around the same time. I came to Wuhan because there were bigger opportunities down here, but he stayed in Beijing. But it’s good for him there. He’s lived in Beijing all his life, he needs that kind of stability.”

“Oh. Um, about the...affair. I promise it won’t interfere with-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Yixing dismisses. He wipes away Joonmyun’s apprehension with a wave of his hand. “You know why you’re here, right?”

“Are we ever really <i style="color:rgb(136,136,136);font-family:arial;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;text-align:justify;">here?” Joonmyun responds automatically.

For a moment, Yixing is silent. And then he bursts into laughter. “I like that. I was almost a philosophy major, you know. Questions like that are great fun. Anyways, I guess that Luhan didn’t tell you that you’re going to be my personal assistant. And you’ll be living with me, too.”

“But...why?” is the only question that comes to Joonmyun’s mind.

“Since you’re my assistant, I’ll be transparent with you. I don’t need an assistant. But Luhan wanted to make sure that you would have a stable, relatively easy job and that I would be able to take care of you for him.”

Again, all Joonmyun can ask is, “Why?”

“He’s very protective of you, if you hadn’t already realized that.”

“Sure doesn’t act like it,” Joonmyun mumbles.

“Yeah, he’s kind of weird about things like this. It’s difficult for him to express himself sometimes. We’re still half an hour away from my apartment, so how about you take a nap? It’s late.”

Joonmyun feels like he’s been through this before.

Yixing’s apartment is decorated in soft, earthy tones with flowing curtains that allow warm light to filter in through the window the next morning. Lining his shelves is evidence of Yixing’s travels: kitschy snow globes, wood carvings, glittering quartz stones, and elaborate sea shells. On top of one shelf is a conch shell as large as Joonmyun’s head.

A spicy aroma wafts in from the kitchen, and Yixing announces that breakfast is ready.

“Just something simple,” Yixing explains, carrying two bowls of noodles floating in vermilion broth over to the dining table. “My mom is from Szechuan, so I’ve always liked to cook things on the spicy side. But you’re Korean, so you don’t mind the heat, right?”

“Not at all!” Joonmyun affirms.

Work doesn’t feel like work. As Yixing had told him when they first met, Yixing is good enough at his job that he doesn’t need an assistant. He’s naturally independent and so scientifically efficient that Joonmyun is hard-pressed to find a way to be helpful to Yixing. Instead, he helps out with other projects around the office. His coworkers love him.

And at home, Joonmyun cohabits with Yixing more cozily than he could have hoped for. They take turns cooking, introducing each other to traditional hometown dishes. There are two bedrooms, so they both have privacy when they need it, but Joonmyun and Yixing prefer spending time together after work whenever they can. It's comfortable.

On the evenings when Yixing can't make it home until much later, Joonmyun explores Wuhan on his own. Their apartment complex is on the edge of the city, a bus ride away from the Yangtze River, so Joonmyun has taken to strolling along the river on dusty blue evenings.

By the time a month has passed, Joonmyun wonders whether or not he should invest in a bicycle to feel the wind on his face as he pedals along his favorite path, a paved stretch of gray concrete along the river. But Joonmyun has no idea how long he will stay in Wuhan. It's a pleasant enough place to live, but he finds himself missing that slice of excitement he had tasted during his brief stay in Beijing. It had lasted only a moment on his lips, and Joonmyun can't help but crave more.

"Any special plans for today?" Yixing asks casually on a Friday afternoon as they're leaving the office.

Instead of taking their usual route leading them to the outskirts of the city, Yixing continues to drive towards the heart of it.

"No, nothing that I can think of. Why?"

"Good, because we're going to do something special for your birthday."

"Wait, my birthday?"

"You couldn't have forgotten your own birthday, could you?"

"I mean, no, but how did you know it's my birthday today?"

"Does it matter?" Yixing hums, pulling into the parking lot of a swanky restaurant. “Let’s celebrate.”

Yixing picks a full-bodied red wine with a bouquet complex from age. Joonmyun balks when he peeks at the price tag of a bottle, but Yixing orders it without blinking.

He pours a glass for Joonmyun and then one for himself, proposing a toast between the two of them. Joonmyun takes a sip and feels a moment of brief bitterness on his tongue before a flash of heat warms his chest.

"This wine is way too sophisticated for me to fully appreciate," Joonmyun apologizes after his second glass. "I’m afraid you've wasted your money."

"I don't really get what the big deal about this wine is either, but let's just try to finish this bottle while we're here."

It might be a terrible idea for Joonmyun to drink any more because his skin is already flushed, and his vision is starting to get hazy. Regardless, Yixing presses on, and they finish the bottle in no time.

"Are you okay to drive?"

"This is nothing," Yixing drawls. "You need a bit of alcohol in your system before you start driving, just like your car needs gasoline."

"I don't think that's how it works."

"Relax, I'm just going to drop you off at a hotel down the road, and I'll call a taxi to take me home if it makes you feel better."

"Alright. But wait, why am I staying at the hotel by myself?"

"You won't be by yourself, not exactly. Just wait, things will make more sense in a bit."

But things still don't make sense even when Joonmyun is sitting on a hotel bed by himself, waiting. What he's waiting for, he can't even anticipate because he doesn't know what that something is. He kicks off his shoes and socks to be more comfortable, and he wiggles his toes to amuse himself until there's a knock on the door.

"Joonmyun, right?" a tall, good looking young man asks with a hopeful smile. He speaks in Korean to greet Joonmyun, who accepts his handshake with surprise.

"Hi," Joonmyun responds uncertainly. "And you are...?"

"Jongin." A shy smile draws up the corner of his mouth, and he turns back to say, "Come on in, guys. This is the room."

Joonmyun hadn't even noticed the men loitering in the hallway behind Jongin, all wearing matching white tank tops and pants. They file in as Jongin leads Joonmyun back onto the bed. One by one, they introduce themselves: Sehun, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol. Each is as attractive as the next, though Joonmyun can't take his eyes off Jongin, who appears to be the one in charge.

"Can you, um, take your clothes off?" Jongin asks bashfully.

"What?! Why? What is going on here?" Joonmyun demands. He would never say no to having a quorum of hot men in his hotel room, but there are a few questions that need to be answered first.

"Oh, nobody told you? Um, we're just going to give you a massage. So, if you could please undress in the bathroom and come back out in a towel..."

"How much do I need to take off?"

"Everything," Baekhyun calls out.

Joonmyun shoots Jongin an incredulous look, and the young masseuse smiles apologetically.

He waddles out of the bathroom with an ivory towel wrapped tightly around his hips. It's too tight, and Joonmyun can feel their gazes dropping to where the terry cloth fabric is straining against his cock. Jongin helps him into the bed, where he settles face-down, exposing his back and hiding the erection he will inevitably get from being touched by five attractive men at the same time.

He doesn't even know why all five of them are necessary.

"I got it," Jongin says and holds out his hands for Sehun to dispense a splash of massage oil. It's a fragrance Jongin designed himself, a comforting blend of vanilla, lavender, and chamomile.

He smooths his palms across the pale expanse of Joonmyun's back, and then he sets to work at the knots of tension in the muscle. While he kneads Joonmyun's lower back, Kyungsoo takes on his upper back and Sehun works on his shoulders, leaving Baekhyun and Chanyeol to rub Joonmyun's feet.

Joonmyun's eyes are closed as he relaxes and allows the men to massage the tension out of his body. He lets out involuntary moans of appreciation, oblivious to the hushed snickers exchanged above.

"Can you turn over for us, please?" Jongin requests politely.

Joonmyun abandons his better judgment because the massage feels so good that he can't say no. He allows them to roll him over onto his back, and his eyes are closing again when he feels a pair of smooth, supple hands on his pectorals.

"Ah!" Joonmyun gasps when Jongin's thumbs brush over his nipples.

"Interesting," Jongin murmurs. He gently circles Joonmyun's nipples with the pads of his thumbs, and Joonmyun bites his lower lip, trying not to squirm.

Light fingertips trace a path down Joonmyun's muscled abdomen, and that's when Joonmyun loses it.

"S-stop, no, that tickles!" he squeals out between peals of giggles.

"A light touch, huh," Chanyeol smirks.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo resume massaging his shoulders, and Sehun takes over rubbing his chest with massage oil. Jongin's fingers wander down to the thin patch of hair trickling down from Joonmyun's navel to the towel beginning to unravel from his hips.

He traces the crease between fabric and skin with his fingertips, brushes over Joonmyun's sharp hipbones, and then Jongin's fingers dip below the terry cloth to the pristine white flesh underneath.

"We're going to make you feel good, Joonmyun," Jongin tells him. "May I?"

"Ah, um, sure," Joonmyun agrees, unsure of exactly what kind of massage he has gotten himself into.

The towel falls away from his hips, and Joonmyun flushes in embarrassment because the tip of his stiff cock is already sticky with precum. Jongin folds the towel into a neat, clinical square and tells Joonmyun to "lift, please" as he slides the cushion under his tailbone.

Jongin folds Joonmyun's knees and gently nudges his legs apart. He pumps more massage oil into his palm and slides his fingers around. With all the hands on top of Joonmyun at once, he doesn't realize what Jongin is doing until he feels a slippery finger at his entrance.

"Relax," Jongin tells Joonmyun when he yelps, kissing his inner thigh in comfort. "Baekhyun, can you please help him so he's not too tense?"

Baekhyun nods and bends over and tilts Joonmyun's chip up to drag the tip of his tongue along his plush lower lip. He sucks on the pink swell, and Joonmyun parts his lips to deepen the kiss.

Meanwhile, Jongin has slipped a finger into Joonmyun’s entrance down to the third knuckle and is in the process of fitting another finger in next to it. Joonmyun swivels his hips to accommodate the squeeze and to seek friction against his cock, heavy and livid against his belly. Jongin briefly considers touching his cock, but settles on a better idea.

"Shall we see if we can make Joonmyun cum without touching him?" Jongin suggests.

Grunts of approval follow, and Joonmyun begins to add his own input, but Jongin's prodding fingers stroke up against his prostate, leaving him unable to make any noise other than a whimper.

On either side of Joonmyun, Sehun and Chanyeol each take a nipple to pinch and roll and tug between their fingers. Joonmyun’s back arches, and he wails to no one in particular, “N-no more, I can’t–”

Sehun leans in to flick his tongue against a pebbly nipple, and Joonmyun squirms, grabbing Sehun’s hair for something to hold onto. Chanyeol observes Joonmyun’s responsiveness and sucks on Joonmyun’s other nipple, leaving him writhing and moaning on the bed. Between Jongin rubbing insistently at Joonmyun’s prostate, Baekhyun sucking on his tongue, Kyungsoo leaving hickeys on his neck, and Sehun and Chanyeol overstimulating his chest, Joonmyun’s entire body is flooded with a dull, aching pleasure that leaves him limp and spent.

“We did it, guys!” Chanyeol exclaims, holding his hands up for high-fives all around.

The other guys squeeze together on Joonmyun’s bed to watch television while Jongin and Sehun carry Joonmyun to the shower. He leans against Sehun for support while Jongin washes Joonmyun’s hair with shampoo and scrubs the oil off his body. And then Jongin wedges himself into the shower stall to help Sehun jerk Joonmyun off one more time.

By the time Joonmyun returns freshly bathed and clothed in flannel pajamas, the others are sharing a pizza and soda on his bed.

“Where did you get the food?” Joonmyun asks.

“Uh...room service?” Baekhyun tells him. “There’s another pizza on its way, so just hold on a minute. Unless you want a bite of mine.”

“No thanks. But who is even paying for all this? Yixing?”

“I’m not really good with Chinese names, but I don’t think it was a Yixing,” Jongin frowns.

Joonmyun takes a shot in the dark. “Luhan?” he asks.

“That’s it!” Jongin confirms, his eyes lighting up. “I don’t know how he found us, but he hired us and made arrangements to bring us here. Luhan bought us plane tickets from Korea to Beijing, and his assistant helped us buy train tickets from Beijing to Wuhan. They were both really nice, but Jongdae complained about his boss the entire time.”

“I-is that right?” Joonmyun asks shakily. It seems that every answer he gets only brings up more questions.

Jongin invites Joonmyun to sit on the edge of the bed with him, pushing Chanyeol and Sehun away when their limbs flail in a tussle over the remote control. “Yeah. Luhan did a lot to bring us to you. Paid a lot, too. Is he your boyfriend or something?”

“No!” Joonmyun denies too quickly, his heart flipping at the thought.

“Alright,” Jongin laughs. “Whatever you say. Just wondering, since most people don’t go to such length for this kind of gift.”

“Luhan’s just really weird.”