The sun was sinking fast. Jeongguk had only a few moments of light remaining and he had to use it to find his way back to the path that led to the cabin. He had followed the doe for so long that he had become discombobulated. He could hear the running stream in the distance, the same stream where he had skipped the rocks. But each time he walked in the direction of the sound, he found himself further away from it. This was a real problem. Under no circumstances was he capable of spending the night in the freezing cold alone in a forest. 

“SHIT!” He swore again, panicked. 

He was paralyzed with indecision. Each step he took seemed like the wrong one. The moon was out and the stars were brightly shining overhead. If only he knew how to use them as a compass. The noises around him transformed from the peaceful sounds of nature to the threatening sounds of predators. He was almost certain that he heard growling in the distance. Not knowing what could potentially be out there stalking him was a blessing because if he had known, he would have been even more afraid. He was freezing. With no jacket, no gloves and no hat or scarf, he was definitely not prepared for the quickly turning weather. Once again he swore at himself. He had been so frazzled by his encounter with Jimin that nothing in his brain seemed to work right. He had sealed his own fate. Regardless of the right direction, he had to move. Standing there only made him a sitting target for whatever predator might be looming in the darkness. 

All at once he heard someone call his name, followed by a concentrated cone of light that pierced through the hazy darkness. 

“Jeongguk! Jeongguk are you out here?” Jimin called.

“Jimin! Jimin, is that you?” I’m over here! Over here!” Jeongguk ran towards the light that cut through the dark row of trees. He ran quickly towards Jimin’s voice. He had never been so relieved to hear someone call his name.

Jimin ran to Jeongguk and embraced him in a tight hug. “For fuck sake, where have you been? You’ve been gone all day. I almost called the police. I called and called and called and only got your voicemail.”

“My phone is dead…I got lost…I,” Jeongguk tried to explain.

Jimin didn’t want to hear it. He was solely focused on getting them out of there. He was already looking back towards the direction he came trying to plot their way back.. 

“Lucky I decided to come out here to try to find you myself before sounding the alarm. I’ve been searching for over an hour. Thank God. Oh thank God I found you.” Accordingly, as only Jimin would, he also had Jeongguk’s coat and gloves. “I really panicked when I saw that you hadn’t taken your coat. Take this and put it on. You’ll freeze to death out here in the elements. What were you even thinking, leaving the house without saying a word?” Jimin was truly rattled by Jeongguk’s little stunt, “We have a long walk back to the cabin. We need to move quickly. There are hyenas in these mountains. Some wild boar too… and bears. Just not a good place to hang out and party.” Jimin laughed as he held Jeongguk’s hand and led him down a hill that emptied out into a clearing. 

“I have never been so fucking happy to see someone in my life.” Jeongguk breathed heavily as he followed a spry Jimin through the bushes. “Jimin, I was lost. Really lost. And confused. I thought I was going to have to spend the night out here. I wasted half of my phone battery taking pictures of fucking deer and then when I realized that I needed help and tried to call out, my phone was dead. Fuck-what a mess.”

Jimin laughed loudly at Jeongguk’s turmoil, “You city boys.”

“That’s right. You grew up on the mountain side, didn’t you?”

“Yes, which is why I sensed you were in trouble. I know the basics of how to survive and general tracking which is how I found you. No one who knows anything about the forest would venture out so far and stay until dusk. Surely, you had no idea how much danger you were in.”

“And I would rather not know. Just help me get home,” Jeongguk pleaded with a chuckle.

Whatever confused feelings he had for Jimin before, they were only amplified by him literally saving his life. They continued to walk for another forty five minutes, climbing over rocks and ducking under fallen trees. 

“Did I really wander off this far?”

“Yes, you did. I’m leading you through a shortcut to get back home. Don’t ever do this again, ok?” Jimin scolded. 

“Yea, never,” Jeongguk agreed.

“Look, whatever I did or said to set you off and upset you…I’m sorry. The shit that happened in the kitchen…will never happen again. I lost control. I should have stopped it. I should have handled it differently,” Jimin said as they made their way back to the main path. 

“Don’t you dare take responsibility for that. It was both of us, mostly me that crossed the line. And Jimin…you didn’t “set me off”.  I wasn’t running from you. I just needed time to clear my head. To think. And the sooner you can get me out of these woods and keep the wild boars from eating my face, the sooner I can tell you what I was thinking about.”

Jimin laughed. “Look straight ahead. You are mere feet from safety.”

Jeongguk could see the faint lights of the cabin in front of them. He took a deep frosty breath at the sight of it. “Dear God. I would have never figured out how to get back if it weren’t for you. I put both of us in danger by being vapid. I’m so incredibly sorry.”

“I’m just glad that I found you. This is how every fucking horror movie begins.”

As they climbed the steps to the beautiful white house, Jimin rushed Jeongguk inside. 

“I’m so cold,” Jeongguk’s teeth chattered as he walked towards the burning fire. “But we need to talk, it’s important.”

“I’m sure it is. But you’ve been exposed to the elements for a very long time with no coat.” He examined Jeongguk’s fingers and the inside of his hands, “No frost bite. But you do need to warm up. Go take a nice hot shower and then meet me here for a glass of whiskey. Let’s get you warmed up first and then we can talk,” Jimin said with finality. It was total soft Dom behavior. And the fact that Jeongguk saw it as such, was even more problematic.

By the time Jeongguk emerged from the shower, Jimin was already sitting on the couch. His hair was wet and his skin glistened; a sign that he had showered as well. He was shirtless and wearing his signature pair of baggy sweats. The faint markings from the tangled apron could still be seen on his skin. Two large glasses, both filled to the brim with whiskey, sat on the table in front of him.

 Jeongguk laughed, “Do you expect me to drink all of that?”

“Yup. But you’re not alone. I’m going down the rabbit hole with you. Drink,” Jimin said again somewhat authoritatively. 

“Later. I need to talk to you while my head is clear.”

“Is it that serious?” Jimin asked sadly.

“Yea, it is,” Jeongguk confirmed. 

Jimin could feel some type of morally sanctioned, overly pious rejection coming, even though they had never officially crossed any boundaries. He took a large, fiery gulp of whiskey. Jeongguk wanted to be sober when he delivered the news, but Jimin wanted to be drunk when he heard it.

Jeongguk held no punches. He began with his most honest truth, despite how embarrassing it was to say aloud,“The night that I found you trapped in the handcuffs…I was so turned on that I leaned over my bed and fucked myself with my dildo. There I said it.”

Jimin immediately slammed his hand on the table and grabbed his large glass of whiskey. He downed it in one felonious gulp. He had so many questions, but first the shock of Jeongguk’s honesty had to wear off.

“The reason that I’m telling you this is to expose a serious issue that I’ve been dealing with since we opened that fucking box of sin. I don’t know what it is Jimin but I’ve been off the rails horney, thinking about fucking, bondage and handcuffs and feathers. It is the most ridiculous situation I’ve ever found myself in. And sadly, it’s caused fantasies that all revolve around you.”

“I mean…,” Jimin was not ready. He was not prepared for the dildo tea that Jeongguk spilled. He couldn’t hear anything else the man was trying to say, “...I knew you were doing something because I could hear it. I thought you were just jerking yourself off like regular people. I had no idea that large toys were involved.”

Jeongguk laughed, “So yea…I’m a freak. Let’s just get that part out of the way. I like to have things stuffed up my ass occasionally.”

“So I gathered from your soliloquy the other night about large pumpkins.” Jimin looked around for the bottle of whiskey. He needed more. “Continue.”

Jeongguk continued, “You, your body, your mind - you do it for me in every way. I don’t want to make love to you…I want to fuck you. Or watch you fuck me. Every part of me wants to just forget about the risk and succumb to you, beg you to take me hard and fast and raw.”

“HOLY SHIT!” Jimin looked around, “Where is the fucking whiskey?” He began to pace around the fireplace. Never had anyone spoken such sexually volatile words to him before. He needed a drink, another really strong drink if he was going to survive Jeongguk’s honesty.

Jeongguk was deadly serious and he wasn’t finished, “That’s the salacious part. The more emotional and reverent part is what I’m about to say next. While I was out walking today, I realized something that frightened me. I can’t lose you Jimin. It would be so easy to give in to temptation and just let this all happen. But it's too risky because we don’t know how introducing sex into our relationship will affect us. We’ve known each other for a while now. But it’s the last few months that have shown me who you really are. You’re an incredible person with a beautiful heart. You’ve been here for me at my lowest point. You’ve changed my perspective and helped me climb out of my dungeon of self-pity. I realized today…that you mean more to me than a simple fuck ever will. And that’s why I think we should cut the trip short and go back home. There’s just too much temptation here, too many opportunities to do the wrong thing.”

Jimin finally found the whiskey. After a few more sips, he stabilized himself. “I thought you said you weren’t trying to run from me Jeongguk.”

“I’m not….I…,”

“...cutting this trip short so that we can go our separate ways, is running from me. And not only are you running from me, you’re running from yourself.”

“That’s ridic…,”

“...let me speak,” Jimin’s tone was definitely Dom coded, “you had your chance to speak and now it’s mine. You don’t get to make these decisions in a silo. I’m happy that you came to me to talk about this. Honestly I was going to have this same conversation with you, but with a slightly different perspective. I think you need to hear my side before you make a decision on how we should proceed. Now may I…speak?”

“You may,” Jeongguk finally decided to attack his glass of whiskey.

“I’ve been going out of my mind since we got here. Everything you said was correct. Let’s be honest here, there’s been an attraction between us for a long time. The bondage stuff…well I think the stars just aligned for us to stumble upon a kink that was hidden inside of us. The moment you slapped those cuffs on your wrists, I was gone. I haven’t been able to think of anything else since it happened. We’re both a bit sexually frustrated and there is definitely an attraction between us.” Jimin swirled the whiskey in his glass, rolling it over the chunks of ice before it settled to the bottom. “But Jeongguk, I’m not Yu-jon. Can’t you see that it’s different between us? I’m not suggesting that we just fuck at the expense of everything else. But at the same time, I don’t want to put up guardrails that could keep us from exploring something new…something beautiful. I think about you alot, almost every night, even before we arrived here. The truth is, I’ve had a crush on you since the day you delivered me from that pile of vomit.  The only thing that kept me from making a move…was you. I didn’t want to be rejected by you if you didn’t feel the same way. But now I know, it’s not just me who feels this way.”

Jeongguk rubbed his temples. He and Jimin were definitely not on the same page. But he was starting to really like Jimin’s argument. “So what do you propose we do?”

“Definitely not run. Besides this place is paid for. We can’t leave early and go back home.”

“You still didn’t answer. What do you propose we do?”

“Give in to me,” Jimin said simply.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, we have five more days left on this little vacation of ours. All I am asking you for is twenty-four hours. We’ll make a vow right here, right now that we won’t allow anything we do to affect our jobs, or our friendship. I can’t lose you either, but the difference between us is that I trust you enough to realize that we can withstand anything…even this.”

“Friends with benefits?” Jeongguk asked.

“The key word being friends. Forever. I’ll never turn my back on you and nothing that happens here will change that,” Jimin walked over to the couch where Jeongguk was sitting. 

He leaned dangerously close as if he were going to kiss him, but instead he reached behind him and pulled the fluffy pink cuffs from underneath the cushion. With a couple of quick snaps, he locked himself in the handcuffs and then walked back towards the fireplace. 

Jeongguk glanced down at Jimin’s small sturdy feet as they gingerly stepped over the carpet. He moved like a dancer, quiet, graceful and light. 

Jimin held the cuffs in front of him, allowing the fire to warm them. The chain rattled as he snapped it hard. “My God these feel so good. There’s so much we could explore.” 

“Fuck,” Jeongguk focused his eyes. Watching Jimin jingle the cuffs about with the pink fuzz tickling his number 13 tattoo was the stuff that fantasies were made of. Carrying the pink heart shaped key, he walked over to him. Like an angry father, he unlocked the cuffs and allowed them to fall to the floor. He said nothing.

Jimin grinned. He wasn’t sure if he’d made his point, but he’d said everything he needed to say so he was content. “You don’t have to give me an answer today. Like I said, we have plenty of time because all I need is twenty-four hours. Think about it. No is a perfectly acceptable answer, but I do hope you say yes.” Jimin retrieved the cuffs that had fallen to the ground and gently removed the key from Jeongguk’s hand. “Well, I’ll leave you to your thoughts. I have a few more papers to grade and then I want to get started on that certification they assigned us last month. I haven’t even opened the study guide.” Just like that, Jimin transitioned out of the moment. He gave Jeongguk another smile and then gently caressed his cheek before leaving the room. 

***

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Chapter Links | Posting Schedule

Chapter 1 - Odor of Mendacity - 3/1/25

Chapter 2 - The Audacity - 3/1/25

Chapter 3 - The Complexity - 3/2/25

Chapter 4 - The Tenacity - 3/2/25

Chapter 5 - The Intensity - 3/7/25

Chapter 6 - The Sensitivity - 3/8/25

Chapter 7 - The Atrocity - 3/9/25