Chapter Text
The artificial scent of the fabric softener hits Changkyun’s nose the second his body hits the cheap mattress. At least the sheets are clean.
In all honesty, Changkyun assumed they’d go to a cheap motel so the fact that CEO Lee led him to a hotel was pretty surprising.
He looms over Changkyun, standing at the foot of the bed with his arms crossed against his broad chest looking down at Changkyun with annoyance and something akin to disgust. Changkyun’s stomach churns. Never in a million years did he imagine this day to end like this. The day he’d been longing for since he was 17.
“Having second thoughts?” the older asks, voice raspy and eyes dark. He has a brow arched up, watching Changkyun expectantly, daring him to back out.
Changkyun huffs his breath out through his nose. “No.”
Hoseok doesn’t smile, or even nod. The only sign of acknowledgment Changkyun gets is a low hum by him before loosening his navy silk tie and crawling on top of Changkyun on the bed. His bigger frame covers Changkyun’s lanky one completely. When his face is level with Changkyun he starts scanning his face.
“Fake glasses, makeup, styled hair, and nice clothes but couldn’t make it to your audition on time?” Hoseok hums tilting his head. Changkyun knows better than to answer. He’s already tried to explain but the man didn’t seem to care. A hand comes to grab Changkyun’s chin and for a brief second Changkyun thinks Hoseok is going to kiss him but instead Hoseok pushes his face to one side and attaches his teeth – not lips – to the soft skin right under Changkyun’s jawline.
With the man being this close, Changkyun can very easily pick up the scent of his expensive cologne. It’s spicy and woody with a hint of vanilla. It suits the man oddly well, Changkyun thinks momentarily before getting distracted by Hoseok’s tongue pressing against the bruise he’s been sucking on his neck.
Blood rushes south despite the fact that nothing about this situation should be enjoyable for Changkyun. His dick is swelling in his skinny jeans concerningly fast and the more Changkyun tries to slow it down the worse it gets. He keeps his fisted hands at his side stiffly, not daring to touch the older man on top of him.
The man nips and sucks at the skin of Changkyun’s neck without much remorse. Changkyun can smell the alcohol on his breath but doubts it has anything to do with how roughly he’s being treated. He brought this on himself and if this is the price he has to pay for a second chance he knows he deserves, then so be it. In all honesty, Changkyun doesn’t care much about being treated roughly. If his one last shot at gaining the CEO’s favor wasn’t at stake, he’d just lay back and enjoy this. After all, this is the Lee Hoseok Changkyun has had a crush on since he was a teenager.
The buttons on Changkyun’s shirt are undone one by one by Hoseok’s surprisingly steady hand leaving his chest exposed under the harsh yellow ceiling light. The older man makes his way down Changkyun’s chest, one hand going to cup and squeeze Changkyun’s pecs as his teeth continued to abuse the pale skin of his collar bone.
Changkyun’s breath hitches at the unexpected touch on his chest. Hoseok’s palm and fingers are rough and calloused from years of lifting heavy weights for bodybuilding, and they shouldn’t feel so good against Changkyun’s sensitive nipples, but they do. What is more surprising to Changkyun isn’t that he’s enjoying the older man’s touch, but the fact that this feels like foreplay, however cold and rough.
When hot lips wrap around his nipple Changkyuns back arches off the bed no matter how hard he tries to keep his composure. The older man looks up with a crude smile and a glint in his eyes that sends shivers down Changkyun’s spine before dipping his head back down to continue his ministrations. At least he looks like he’s enjoying it. That’s good for Changkyun. Maybe if he’s satisfied he will give Changkyun a second chance.
After a few more minutes of Hoseok abusing Changkyun’s nipples, he sits up and looks at his handy work. Changkyun’s chest is flushed and adored with a dozen red marks stretching from his neck to his pecs. Hoseok pulls at his tie until it’s loose enough to pull it over his head and throws it behind before beginning to undo the buttons on his dress shirt. Changkyun’s eyes follow the movement of Hoseok’s fingers hungrily as they undo each button from top to bottom, too caught up in the moment to control himself and suppress the small moan that escapes his lips.
The man looks up with an arched brow. His open shirt only shows a small sliver of his skin as he sits still. Changkyun opens his mouth to speak, maybe ask if something’s wrong but Hoseok beats him to it.
“Take off your clothes and lay on your stomach.”
Changkyun blinks in confusion. “W-what?”
Hoseok’s cold eyes darken. “I said take your clothes off and turn around before my patience runs out,” he growls with a deep frown.
“O..okay.” Changkyun nods and starts undoing his belt with shaky fingers, watching through the corner of his eyes as Hoseok walks away towards the bathroom.
He lies on his stomach in the center of the bed like Hoseok told him to, feeling small and pathetic. The sheets feel cold against his skin and Changkyun feels disgusting for still not going soft.
Changkyun can’t see Hoseok when he walks out of the bathroom but he guesses he went to fetch lube and condom from the small cabinet above the sink as the reception girl informed them. The sound of his steps are much more muffled so Changkyun assumes he’s taken his shoes off but he doesn’t dare turn his head around to see if he’s fully undressed.
“Lift your ass up, on your knees.”
Changkyun complies without a word, trying to hide his flaming hot face between his arms. He can’t remember the last time he felt this exposed and vulnerable. Among the handful of people he’s slept with, only two or three of them topped and they all did it face to face. Not that it matters but none of them were any good either. Changkyun only remembers being sore afterward for days. This time probably won’t be any different either…
That morning was supposed to be the start of the best day for Changkyun, the day he had been waiting for for years, busting his ass off working on his rap and writing and producing and saving up to record demos at a real studio so he could have something to show off his talent and hopefully get signed with CBM.
Changkyun has been a huge fan of 4LUV since he was a teenager. He grew up with their songs and dancing to their choreographies (even though he’s always been shit at dancing) and admiring them for being the amazing performers they were, capturing the hearts of millions with their songs and charismatic stage presence. It was around the same time that Changkyun realized he wanted to be an artist too, and that he wasn’t into girls. He also eventually realized that he liked to do rap and R&B as opposed to pop music unlike his idols.
When the group announced its disbandment seven years ago Changkyun was heartbroken and didn’t write any lyrics or compose for months, until news came out that Lee Hoseok -Wonho- was starting his own music entertainment company with his other three groupmates joining him. It took around a year until the company was up and running and Changkyun knew then that he wanted to work for them.
The day finally came and it seemed like everything that could go wrong was going wrong. CBM Entertainment held an audition once a year and only hired one person each year. They’re a small company and according to Lee Hoseok himself, they want to keep it that way and not expand, so competition was already tough.
Changkyun signed up for the audition online and purposely picked the latest spot to audition to make an impression. It would also give Changkyun more than enough time to get to Seoul from Gwangju. Or so Changkyun thought.
First, the train was half an hour late, and with Changkyun’s luck, it just happened that a major creep was on the same trip stalking and harassing a girl. Changkyun knew helping the girl would get him into trouble but he wasn’t going to turn a blind eye and let some piece of shit harass a girl on his watch. His parents raised him better than that. So he stood up to the guy and almost got punched and then dragged the bastard’s sorry ass to the station at the next stop thinking it would all be over with, but he was wrong. They kept him there at the station for 2 hours to get his and the girl’s report, making sure it wasn’t a false claim and that their stories checked out. They wouldn’t let Changkyun leave, no matter how many times he told him that he had an audition.
When they finally let him go, Changkyun missed the train and had to wait another 15 minutes for the next one and arrived in Seoul at the worst possible time: rush hour. Ditching his cab that hadn’t moved more than half a block for the past 40 minutes, he ran the remaining 6 blocks to CBM but missed his audition time anyway. The girl at the reception desk looked at him with pity as she told him the judges have already left. Changkyun almost dropped to his knees and sobbed right then and there when the girl told him he could try next year. She didn’t understand… Changkyun sacrificed everything to be here today.
So he did the next best thing he could think of – he begged the reception girl to take his mixtape and give it to the judges but she refused. They weren’t allowed to accept music without having a contract with the owner. Something about copyright laws and lawsuits. Changkyun was too upset to understand properly. So he left with his tail between his legs.
He wandered through the streets around the company aimlessly. His audition was supposed to be at 7:15 PM and now it was almost 8. He thought he’d be on his way home with good news by now but even the thought of going home made him sick. He couldn’t look his parents in the eye and tell them he just missed his opportunity to make his dream come true because he decided to play knight in shining armor that day.
Four years. Changkyun spent four years preparing for this day from the second he managed to convince his father to give him his college tuition money so he could invest on his dream. He promised his dad -a renowned lawyer- he would make him proud. But if he goes home empty-handed tonight he will never hear the end of it. All his father has ever wanted was to have a son he could brag about to his friends and eventually marry him to one of their daughters.
His mom was always the more supportive one. Sure, she wasn’t thrilled to hear that Changkyun wanted to pursue music instead of going to college but after hearing a few demos Changkyun had recorded on his phone with a bunch of shitty free apps she got around. If it weren’t for her, his dad would never let him give up college at all.
One time Changkyun heard them fight and his dad said he would sign him up for the military if Changkyun couldn’t get into a company by the time he promised he would. So going home was not an option.
Changkyun didn’t even know where he was going but at some point he found himself outside a bar and decided to go in. Maybe a few drinks could help numb the pain in his chest.
Lee Hoseok was the last person Changkyun expected to see at the bar but that was exactly who he saw sitting alone at the bar, drinking what looked like whiskey. Changkyun was frozen to the spot for a few minutes, just staring at the man’s back until a waiter walking by nearly ran into him.
“Hey, if you’re a fan, now is not a good time. He’s not in a good mood tonight.”
Changkyun blinked and looked at the younger waiter in confusion. “What? No, I’m… not? I mean, I am his fan but I’m not here for that.”
“Then what are you here for?”
The waiter got called to a table before Changkyun could answer, not that he was going to. He was too busy thinking about what to say to Lee Hoseok himself to convince him to let him audition again. Or listen to his mixtape. What was the worst thing that could happen? Changkyun has already been rejected anyway. At least he could try…
Gathering all his determination, Changkyun approached the bar, cleared his throat and started speaking.
“H-hello Wonho-ssi, do you have a minute?” Changkyun stuttered. Lee Hoseok was literally sitting a few feet away and Changkyun couldn’t help his heart racing.
It’s the bartender who speaks first, trying to shoo Changkyun away. “Sir, I think you should leave–” but is interrupted by Hoseok. “It’s okay Dae.”
The man turned around on his stool with a smile, clearly assuming that Changkyun was a fan who wants a picture or an autograph. Changkyun can tell this is Hoseok’s ‘business smile’.
“Hey there!”
“I’m… really sorry to bother you here, sir. I’m Im Changkyun and I just wanted to-
Hoseok’s brows tightened and his smile faded. “Im Changkyun… the no-show auditionee?”
Shit…
“I– yes, I’m really sorry I didn’t mean to miss my audition but–” Changkyun tried to explain despite his mouth going dry and his knees shaking.
Hoseok turned back to the bar and took a sip of his whiskey. “Save it. You’ll have to try again next year.” he raises a brow and looks at Changkyun from the side. “That is if I don’t blacklist you. So I’d suggest you get out of my sight now.”
Changkyun felt like ice water was being poured down on him. No, no… this couldn’t be happening…
“Bu-but it wasn’t my fault, I– the train was late and- and there was a creep–”
“I don’t care.” Hoseok intoned and finished his drink and when he looked up to find the bartender gone he got even more pissed. “You think you’re the only one who’s having a bad day?” he clicked his tongue. “Sorry to tell you this but you’re not that special.”
“Wonho-ssi, sir, please… If you could just give me another chance, I could show you that I’m worth it!” Changkyun begged, swallowing his pride along with the lump in his throat.
“Get out of here, kid. You've already wasted my time once today.” Hoseok said in annoyance, looking around for the bartender to fill up his drink again.
Changkyun had defeatedly hung his head low. “I’m really… truly sorry for wasting your time and bothering you, sir.”
Hoseok's shoulder had slumped like he thought Changkyun was finally going to leave him alone.
“–But if you could at least just take my mixtape and listen to it I promise you won’t regret it.”
Hoseok ran his hand down his face and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I’ll do anything. Please … all I need is a chance to prove myself to you…” he pleaded, ready to do a formal bow if Hoseok turned to look at him.
But he didn’t. He chuckled and quirked an eyebrow. “ Anything ?”
“Anything.”
Hoseok tilted his head and took a look at Changkyun, top to bottom. “You don’t look like you’ve got anything but your body to offer.”
Changkyun’s heart skipped a beat before it started beating erratically. Was Wonho suggesting…?
“I–”
“What? Too scared? I thought you were willing to do anything," he said mockingly and turned back.
But Changkyun hadn’t come all the way here just to give up now. He doesn’t have any pride left anyway.
“No. I’ll do it.”
It caught the man off guard despite him trying to hide it. He stands up and leans over the counter, grabs a bottle and pours himself a drink. “How do you know you’re my type?”
Changkyun blurts out the first thing that comes to mind without thinking. “You just told me.”
The older arches a brow and gives him another overall look. He grabs his wallet from his breast pocket and grabs a handful of cash on the counter. Changkyun assumes it's at least twice the amount he owed.
“Follow me.”