[M] Exhibition (1/1)

It was only four days later that out of the corner of his eye, Ravi saw Hongbin's shadow slip by him. He had been working all day in an air conditioned environment, and so found the freezing night air that turned his breath to tiny grey clouds refreshing. Yet he plunged without hesitation into the clothes store he'd seen Hongbin walking through, and came once more into a stiflingly warm building. The brightness of the place slowed the first steps of his hunt and by the time his pupils had adjusted to the white light the bulbs shone out, the brunette was no where to be seen. He hadn't left as the doorway was too small for him to pass unnoticed, and the racks of clothes were in no position to hide a man, so Ravi followed the arrows to the changing rooms, blindly grabbing a men's shirt, a jacket, a pair of jeans and another shirt as he went. There were only two stalls occupied in this back section of the store. One in the far corner, and one only a couple of open doors away. He briefly dropped his gaze to check the shoes under the gap of the thin, wooden door. They were the same black, high laced boots that he'd seen Hongbin wearing tonight and a time before. He took a silver ₩100 coin from his pocket and inserted it into the little slit just below the red plastic sign, turned it to switch to green, opened the door, stepped inside and locked it again, shoving the clothes in a jumble on the hooks to the right, so quickly that Hongbin had no time to turn and react before the white haired male was nearly upon him. “Yah, what the hell?! Wai- mmh! Ravi had already pounced. Backing the other up with the force of his kiss, he tugging the shirt Hongbin had just taken off from his clutched fist, and threw it on top of the other clothes hanging up in the stall. God, had he always been this reckless, this crazy? What on earth had gone wrong with him? When had he become so utterly enslaved by this lust? Whatever. Wasn't this how they did things any way? There would be no point in questioning it all now. “Ravi,” Hongbin breathed when the other had parted their lips to pull off his own coat and shirt, as much as he could be bothered to. He had been going to say more when the elder shut him up with a look that said,'We need to fuck'. Hongbin smirked his accent, just as thrilled as he usually was when they got away with having such sinful pleasure, illegally in public, and started work on getting the elder's jeans off. They hadn't much time or freedom tonight- the regular 9-6 stores were closing one by one and this wasn't the place to raise their voices, but it was too late. In the state they'd worked each other up into, they physically couldn't leave until they'd sated their appetites. They settled for being in a state of half-undress- Ravi's shirt was open but not off and their jeans were only down to just below their knees- to save time. They were panting with a desperate kind of restrain when Ravi made the move to take Hongbin down but the latter protested in a whisper after glancing down at the slightly dusty, label plastered ground;“Don't, it's dirty.”“What difference will that make when we're through?!” But Hongbin brought him round to his view by taking hold of Ravi's hardening length and stroking it just the way he liked it, running his thumb over the slit and keeping his grip nice and tight. As Ravi softly groaned his arousal into Hongbin's love-marked neck, the younger took the Vaseline he kept in his pocket and changed hands to slick the other up. Ravi swiped some to prepare Hongbin, tonight was not a night to try and take him raw, and worked one, two fingers into him. The brunette's gasp and quiet mewl of want were so satisfying, he wanted to press on to hear them again, but the pair were becoming unsteady on their feet. They needed a surface. So Ravi pushed Hongbin into the left side of the stall. He pushed just a little too hard, and Hongbin's back slammed against the wall with a noticeable thump and rattle while Ravi's fingers went too deep for him to take and he cried out. A clomp of high heels climbing to a slow crescendo kept them frozen for a moment, but Ravi was too impatient to wait, his dick was throbbing and he longed to shove straight into Hongbin's perfect ass. He kicked the heavily weighted full length mirror aside to manoeuvre the younger to stand in its place against the solid wall at the back of the stall. The footsteps had reached them now,“Is everything all right in there, customer?” “Yes. I just-” Hongbin flashed a wide eyed glance at Ravi before the right excuse came to mind, “hit my elbow on the wall.” A short, as short as the younger could make it, conversation followed until the men had held off for longer than their lust would allow. Before the sound of her heels died away, their lips had joined again to swallow the effects of their hips grinding together. In the next second, Ravi aligned himself and pushed in past the first few tight rings of that perfect ass. When the elder opened his eyes, he saw Hongbin was clenching his jaw, biting down on his molars, his chest was heaving with the effort of containing the give-aways he would have let out in another location. They had enough time to take it just a little slower, so Ravi rolled his body close, and sucked on the edge of Hongbin's strong jaw, leaving butterfly kisses there until the other felt in control enough to relax. Soon enough, a quiet little whine, and the slightest arching of his lower back lead Ravi on to rock his hips into the brunette in shallow, slow building thrusts. “Feels good,” “Uhh, Ravi...” “More...more! Ah, God,” Hongbin had been whispering erotic phrases of encouragement, but he suddenly stopped short and gave a sharp intake of breath. He stretched out a hand but the white haired male grabbed it and pinned it to the wall he pressed Hongbin's lean body against, interlacing their fingers to keep it there. Ravi had also noticed that they'd moved to just where they could see themselves, a hot mess, reflected in the mirror. Seeing Hongbin like this at another angle was unbearably arousing. “Ah, ah, ah,” he tutted by the other's ear, “Watch.” The brunette felt Ravi push in farther and saw him smirk against his burning skin, looking like a demon in the mirror. Yet when he sighed his name it was a gentle sound.“Hongbin-ah...” Though his big, dark eyes now threatened to close from the pleasure, Hongbin couldn't stop his line of vision following those glimpses of Ravi's muscles through his clothes. From his white head to his calves, he kept the other's gaze on him. The elder, however, subtly alternated between glancing at Hongbin's expressions and the reactions of his body, almost wishing he could have this on film to keep to for another time. God, was he fucking sex personified! In the heat they'd wrapped themselves up in, they'd not heard the only other person there leave, though in a breath of silence, they now heard a door close as someone new took a stall close to theirs. In an sudden impulse, Ravi pulled out and turned Hongbin's front to the wall, slamming back in so hard, and at just the right angle that the brunette couldn't contain a half stifled moan from deep in the back of his throat. “Shh,” Ravi murmured into the soft skin of the other's neck. The white haired male picked up the pace, steadily breaking Hongbin down. The younger's dick was trapped and stroked against the cold wall over and over as his body was jerked by Ravi's thrusts, and he could feel himself tense as the other thickened inside of him. “Mm- a-ahhh,” Ravi had been dragging his nails up Hongbin's thighs and waist, knowing he liked the spice of a little pain, but he was close and wanted to cum watching the ecstasy on the brunette's face. So he turned Hongbin back to him as quickly as he'd turned him away and lifted him up by the back of the thighs, pressing against and into him. Hongbin choked back a scream and clutched at the elder's arms to keep himself from falling though he knew Ravi held him fast. His head lay back and as his eyes half closed, he caught sight of Ravi's image in the mirror. Dishevelled and stripped, sweating and panting and thrusting into him like an animal- it sent him over the edge. Raising his head just in time, he let the other swallow his love-call in a kiss. The white haired male kept their mouths pressed together, and rocked Hongbin with deep, hard hits. Watching all of Hongbin climax through the full length mirror, he finally came a moment later. The sound of high heels started up once more as they both came down from their highs- dizzy in mind, exhausted in body- so they separated.   ~~~   Even after the rush of the clear up, redressing and appearing in front of the store assistant in a respectable manner, leaving all the collected clothes to make a quick escape, after stepping outside where the sweat and warmth of their bodies dissipated with just one chilling rip of the winter wind, both men had wanted a quick heat source and so stepped into the nearest coffee shop just before it shut. Hongbin got a crinkle ridged paper cup of black coffee, while Ravi chose a green tea. The elder had not brought gloves out with him, so he held the drink cupped close in his hands. The pair walked a little way together, purely because both were heading in the same direction. They walked side by side amongst the quickly thinning crowd, like strangers and said nothing until Ravi was about the change direction. “I guess I'll see y-” But he was cut short in his farewells by a gasp of surprise from the other. Hongbin staring wide-eyed through the glass window of a small shop, full of artwork. It was the front pieces that had Hongbin's attention. Ravi took a step closer and saw that the brunette was looking at a series of portraits. Beside these pieces were a marble carving of a hare sniffing the air just above his twitching nose, a rich oil painting of the city scape of Seoul, and then the portraits. They began with a woman's profile, ever so softly sketched in built up lines, criss-crosses and swipes of graphite. As she turned her head, she showed a part of the other side of her face had been torn away, and the white bone gleamed beneath it. The woman would have looked angelically child-like, but for the horror of her deformation. Her eyes were deep and sad. And she was crying. It was a beautiful set of artwork. Beautiful and melancholy and frightening. It could make you shiver or feel alone, and it was no wonder that they stood, entranced in front of the set of portraits, for some time. “'What have you seen?'” Ravi murmured the title of the work, still unblinking from its mesmeric effect. The white haired male stood there for a moment more, taking a sip of his tea now that it had cooled to a few degrees under 'scorching'. Then he switched his gaze to rest on a living piece of artwork and said;“I gotta' go.” “Okay.”“Night.” “Night.” Hongbin replied and Ravi turned and walked away. Ravi was reaching the supermarket, scanning through the mental list he'd created for the essentials needed when he heard a noise. Like the rest of the people around him, he turned to find the source of the sound out of human curiosity. But once they'd seen, they resumed their walks. Ravi remained still. Hongbin was gone from the place he'd been standing. The elder might have thought he'd just left had it not been for Hongbin's paper cup fallen on the ground in front of the art shop, the coffee pooling from it, spreading out to fill the cracks in the pavement. He heard an indistinct shout of protest and he saw a tall, blond man dragging Hongbin by the forearm. The brunette was being tugged along so fast by this man, who had no regard for the other people in the street and pushed them aside from his path, that he was tripping and stumbling, almost walking backwards, he was so eager to be free. He slipped from the man's grasp and turned to run, but the tall man gave him a sharp kick to the back of his knees and took hold of his upper arm instead, striding on down the street despite Hongbin's pitiful struggles. After the paralytic shock had passed, Ravi started into action. Meanwhile, the man had flung Hongbin into a fairly empty parking lot and held both his arms tight enough to bruise the skin. He glowered and spat out his words. “You did this to me, and you thought you could just leave like that?”“Let go!-”“Shut up!” He shook Hongbin violently in his grasp, then his voice lowered, “You're not running and hiding any more. We're finishing this, right now.” The brunette seemed to wilt in the man's grasp.“Dao, please don't-” “You little fucking tease. You already know I decided if I can't get off to girls any more, I'd take you instead. Makes sense- you're in my league- keep still! I'll take you home and fuck you the faggot way, and I'll fuck you so good you'll do what I want, and you'll stay and listen this time, good and quiet-.” Hongbin wrenched his body from the other's poison, nearly frantic now in his need to escape, but Dao struck him across his smooth cheek, painfully hard but not directed to disfigure him. He was to be a worthy trophy, after all. Dao wouldn't want to damage stolen goods. Hongbin's wrists were quickly snatched up by the force of the other's furore while his own icy terror weakened him, and he was defeated. “If you just did what I said from the start, none of this would have to happen.” He smiled when the smaller turned his dark eyes, full of consuming hatred, on him. “Never thought I'd say this to a guy, but damn. You're even hotter when you're mad. And I guess you remembered I like a fighter.” He made to pull Hongbin away, “Come on.” But in an instant, Dao's face was doused with hot green tea, then black coffee and he had flung his hands up to his blinded eyes. There was a sharp 'thud' and he stood doubled over, letting go of the brunette to clutch his stomach. Hongbin staggered a step back in time to see Ravi, without any warning or mercy, jab an elbow into the back of Dao's bent neck and kick in his lower legs until he fell to the ground. Ravi took Hongbin by the hand and began to run. Hongbin ran with him, leaving the furiously screaming, swearing man behind them. A couple of minutes in, the younger let go of Ravi's hand and took the lead in where they were going. They were half way across town when they finally stopped and the pair waited at a lamp-lit bus shelter for a ride back the way they came. When it did, they paid their fair and sat down at the back. They were quietly overcoming the strain of the run together when Ravi spoke;“I'll be walking your way...do you mind?” Hongbin shook his head without looking at the white haired male. But he was grateful. And Ravi was grateful too- he couldn't help but feel a little special knowing he'd be allowed to visit Hongbin's place- it was a rare peep into the younger's life. Again, Ravi broke the silence, though this time he was only muttering to himself,“Well, he was a waste of my fucking tea.” He was surprised to hear the smallest of snickers from beside him. He smiled. Though Hongbin was still shaking, he'd managed to make him laugh. Ravi waited out of common courtesy before tackling the problem in the forefront of his, and no doubt Hongbin's mind. “Listen. I know this is kind of breaking protocol, but you know it's important. So...can we talk about it?” The younger let out a shaky sigh.“Just this once.” “Does he know where you live, or how to get to you?”“Not any more.”“Who is he?” Haltingly, with so many pauses and stops, Ravi wondered if he'd be able to continue on speaking, Hongbin recounted a little from his history. “He used to be a real player. A different girl a day. We worked together and barely spoke but he claims he saw me one night at bar, or something and- changed. Said if he can't play the game 'normally', then he'll have the hottest guy to make up for it. It's a pride issue for him. He sought me out because of that, and because of...some kind of revenge he wants on me- he thinks his change in sexual preference is my fault, so I should pay the price, I guess. And at first, he fooled me like an fucking idiot, pretending to be a friend. But there was no way he was going to leave it at that, not since I'd- humiliated him. One day, he invited me over to his house. The truth came out. He locked me in and trie-...But, in the end I...managed to escape.” “Did he hurt you?” The brunette dropped his gaze. “That-!..Didn't you go to th-”“No. Though I had sufficient evidence. I didn't- I don't- want to see him again, let alone be dragged through police and court systems with him.” “A-and you've avoided him so far?”“Mm.” The conversation fizzled as the elder didn't know what to say. He watched the jewel-like drops, or coloured stripes of the night life in Seoul race by.“Do you think...” he said, half to himself, “that maybe if someone were with you, in the places he might appear, you'd be safer?” Hongbin pretended not to hear, but in his mind, thought the solitary word,Maybe.   ~~~~   Hongbin's place was one of the many newly renovated flats in a brown building of medium height, surrounded by many other buildings of a similar appearance on the outskirts of town. Hongbin entered a code at the front door and they took the lift up to the fifth floor, stopping in front of number 42. Inside, it might have been somewhat cramped, but was made to feel large and spacious by the stacks of packaging boxes lining the farthest wall from the door, replacing most furniture, or just stuff and mess. Some were ripped open, revealing books and DVDs, or folded clothes but the rest were taped up. It smelt of paint and wood shavings in the bed-sit, and lemon scented washing up liquid in the tiled kitchen. Round the corner, was a tucked away bathroom, a shining new shower taking up most of the space. Hongbin's bed sheets were carelessly thrown back and the door to a built in wardrobe was ajar. A coat and scarf hung on hooks on the back of the door and packets of cereal, apples, and tea and coffee could be seen peeking out from a kitchen cupboard above the sink. The apartment was in the process of becoming a home, so there wasn't much Ravi could gauge from it's owner by the contents or state of his rooms. Was this why he'd never been to Hongbin's before? Who knows. The white haired male had been looking around at all this while Hongbin had filled the kettle and started unpacking another box on the kitchen floor with still trembling hands. Ravi took a seat on one of the tall swivel chairs by the counter, a space away from the younger and secretly watched Hongbin, as Hongbin paid him no attention. The kettle boiled and switched itself off. The details of the brunette's actions were now indeterminable as he had his back to Ravi, but he didn't think much of it, or the silence that enveloped them. He was busy waiting for a signal to leave, thinking Hongbin wouldn't want him for anything else tonight, when the younger turned to him and placed the a traditional Japanese cup on the counter before him. “Here.” It was a cup of green tea. Ravi blinked in surprise and and smiled at him.“A replacement?” Hongbin opened his mouth, but changed his mind and turned around to sort out the pots and pans he'd dumped onto the side. “Sure.” He said. They were a form of unspoken thanks, these gestures. It would have been hard to admit he needed help, needed saving an hour ago, back in the street. To say 'thank you', would have been too relive it, to realise the danger, to remember the first time he'd been cornered in that way. And to maybe get a step closer to Ravi because of the debt and the gratitude. He had answered the elder's questions, let him into his flat from the cold, and given him what he'd had to waste because of him. Hongbin met Ravi's subtly alert gaze. He was holding the cup, but had not drank from it yet. The younger gave a small sigh of annoyance and put down the pot of chopsticks in his hands.“I'm gonna' take a shower.” “You sure?” Ravi raised his voice to be heard as Hongbin had already walked out of sight, “With that name you gave me, there's no telling I won't follow you in!” “I got it covered,” Hongbin's almost shouted reply came over the sound of the jet stream he'd started. The white haired male heard a definite, metallic click, “The door's locked!” Ravi smirked to himself but it was quickly lost to absent-minded contemplation. It wasn't long before Hongbin returned, dressed in loose p-jay bottoms and a t-shirt covered by a hooded jacket. He was still drying his black locks with a towel when he came to lean against the sink opposite Ravi. They seemed both stuck to stare at the other, searchingly and came close to making a move towards each other, but then Hongbin spoke, abrupt and disjointedly. “Will you-” he paused, again changing his mind in the middle of speech, “Will you be able to find your way here again?” The elder stood slowly, downing the rest of his tea as if it were a shot of something much stronger.He walked to Hongbin's front door, aware of a second shadow at a little distance from him, and spoke into the wood, rather than to the other;“Yeah. I will.” He shut the door silently behind him. On both sides of the barricade, the pair dithered a while in the places they had come to a stand still. But it was only for a while before they went their own ways- as they always had.