[Choi's smile grows... pained, when Soleum says that. That's not the point, he wants to insist. He doesn't care about other people, if others will mourn him when he's gone, if they'll miss him or think about him. It's not what he was saying at all, but...]
[But isn't it just like their Grapes, to turn a selfish staement about clinging to life into something that makes Agent Choi seem better than he is? He did say he wanted to be more like him before. Is that what it is to him? Smoking, having people who respect him... That's surely not what he meant then, either, is it?]
[He drops his gaze for a moment, as if abandoning what he was going to ask. Then raises it. Still smiling, but it's still pained, too. A little uneasy, as if he's about to say something kind of embarrassing and even he recognizes it.]
Will you?
[His holds his drink between two fingers and his thumb. There's a long scar right beside his life line on his palm and he remembers making it, himself. Spilling blood to save Bronze from a monstrous beast, drawing its attention toward his scent. The anger in the other agent's eyes when he realized what he was doing. The betrayal, the fury that he would put himself at risk for his sake. But of course he would - he would do anything, at that moment, to make sure Agent Bronze came back with him. And that hand holding Soleum's beer, the one that occasionally shoots Choi a thumbs up as Soleum stares on in unenthused silence - isn't it proof they're so much the same already?]
[ Muttered to himself. His fingers drag through his ruffled hair, thinking, buying time.
It's not a set of words Soleum ever expected to hear from the agent, but it's not completely out of character; he was always a sentimental person. Someone who cares deeply for human life, and for the teammates that walk shoulder-to-shoulder with him into each disaster. Though different pockets of fans were more passionate about his relationship to certain other named characters, Soleum never participated or gave much thought to those discussions. Agent Choi was someone who cared for various people at various points of his story. That was just part of who he was and what made him so interesting.
Probably, it's just jarring for Soleum to hear, knowing that he isn't a fixture in this world. Confusion colors over the faint flush splitting his cheeks, hopefully enough to mask his fluster, or at least blame it on the beer. ]
Of course. I'm always thinking of the well-being of my seniors.
[ There was only ever going to be one correct answer to Agent Choi's questions. And it isn't the truth. ]
Um, would you like some wa…
[ The question never finishes. He's partially pushed off the couch, about to make toward the fridge, when, at last, he steals glance back at him — and somehow that worsens his awkwardness, seeing the uncertainty there in his smile amid the sheepishness. A little self-deprecating, like he knew already how Soleum was going to respond. He stumbles in that half-up, half-down position, grabbing on to the table to balance himself, a splash of his beer stickying the front of his shirt, dripping down the hand holding the can. Ah, really…
At least this he can handle. A few droplets dribble onto the table's surface as he places the can down, hurriedly sucking some of the liquid from his fingers to avoid dripping any further on the couch. But after a moment, he pauses at the futility, seeming to give up. ]
I'm sorry, sir, I… [ Ugh, where are his words right now? Soleum sighs. ] Have you ever heard… something called the 'crab-bucket effect'? It's when one person tries to grow or better themselves. But the others hanging on to them drag them back down.
[Like it's as easy as a ball of paper tossed from across the room, Soleum dodges the question. Choi's expression doesn't change, watching him, studying him - searching for the actual reply, the truth below it all. Why someone like him would put so much work into this department. This team. If someone like him who Choi has seen make reckless, selfless decisions so often would really be a cruel person. If someone who balks at a simple question about wanting to be craved could be capable of the terrible things he knows that scam of a business does.]
[He blinks out of the thoughts when the beer splashes and habitually reaches forward to help, but stills as Soleum recovers. He begins to lean to the side to fetch a pile of napkins left in the tteokbokki box but he only sets his hand on top of them when he starts giving more of a reply. Something more... Soleum-like. The kind of reply he was actually expecting, rather than the stale, bland one he first gave him.]
...What's with that - You think I'm not strong enough to pull us both out?
[He grins, looking a little smug. It's a facade, naturally, but it's fine for now.]
I've heard of that before. I don't think it works for people, though. We aren't mindless seafood, Soleum-ah, we all work together to better each other.
[He finally holds out the napkins but doesn't give them up, instead taking the chance to press them into his shirt, blotting at the spilled beer and reaching for his sticky hand next, still gleaming with the result of his own attempt to clean up.]
If I get drunk and Jaekwan-ie has to carry me home, he doesn't scold me for dragging him back into the bucket, right? You know?
[Like that's at all the same as what he's asking of Soleum. Like spending a tipsy night hanging off your junior's shoulder is the same as wanting your maknae to remember you when you're inevitably gone. Slowly he drags the napkin over his fingers, squeezing his wrist to keep him still as he speaks. If he gets up to get water or something stupid, he really might tackle him - so once his hand is dry he tosses the napkins to instead thread their fingers together. No escape now.]
Besides, what if outside the bucket is the deep fryer? [He rolls his thumb along the underside of Soleum's thumb, still looking at him with that hollow, default smirk.] You wouldn't feel bad for letting me go?
[ Everywhere is a deep fryer when you're in the Dispatch & Rescue Unit, he considers saying, but again, it'd be too obvious that he's deflecting the point. That he's trying too hard to ignore the edge of his thumbnail tracing down the sticky curve of his thumb to his palm. Their hands, interlaced with the vice of a crab's pincer. How it made the nerves underneath his wet shirt jump when the agent pressed down on his chest. He's rattled, he's sweating, and he has no idea what the agent is asking of him — if he's even asking, or just demanding it of him, at this point.
His fingers curl, putting up a weak struggle that ultimately goes nowhere, leaving their hands pressed wrist to wrist, veins against veins. This Agent Choi reminds him of the one he encountered in the Faceless Market, cornering him in a place he wasn't supposed to be. Like he's close to hitting gold after picking and wearing away at all of Soleum's locks and deadbolts.
But even back then, it hadn't been gold, he'd been after. It was something else. His dokkaebi hand rises, coming up as if to fend off the expectation in his senior's gaze. ]
If I had a bad feeling, I wouldn't let you go in blind. I'd leave everything I have to you…
[ That's how it comes out. A strained answer, at the end of his rope. ]
But you — you're not someone who changes his mind easily. If you were trying to leave to somewhere where you knew nothing about the risks, there must be a reason for it. Someone you could help. It wouldn't feel right to keep you away from that.
[ Behind his hand, Soleum body hunches into himself, his head hanging low as a frustrated sigh pushes out from him. ]
Ah, really! I-I wish you weren't so stubborn. Do you always have to go this far to push me around…?
[Up this close it's as if he can really feel every single beat of Soleum's heart.]
[It's like the nervous newbie he saw in the Faceless Market all over again. Sneaky, in a place he shouldn't be, doing things he shouldn't do. Shocked by Choi's appearance and yet all too willing to play dumb, like he had no idea what was going on. Like he had no idea what Choi wanted to do.]
You make it so easy, Soleum-ah!
[There's a laugh in there as he says it, Choi grinning a little more truthfully. He's so cute like this, flustered and dancing on eggshells. Is it really that difficult for him to tell the truth...? Is it his apparent respect for Choi or his fear of him? If he could look at it objectively he would back off and leave him to his evening activities but that's never once been his strongsuit when it comes to people like Kim Soleum.]
You're the type of person whose responses I can never predict. It makes spending time with you fun. [His fingers continue curling around him, rubbing along his knuckles, tracing his thumb over his palm lines, tilting his hand back to press it into his chest. He could be awful and give the same treatment to his other hand but for now he leaves it be.] It makes me want to see what makes you tick.
[They're really close now, thighs pressed together, Choi feeling to the vibration in his voice when he speaks. The waver to it. It's - so exciting, seeing him teetering on the edge. He can smell the remnants of cigarette smoke on his breath.]
You'd really give me everything, just because you thought you couldn't change my mind? [His voice drops to something right above a murmur, loud enough to be heard across the room but still much softer, more... obvious.] Even if you didn't understand my intention?
His mouth twitches with the silent open and close of his jaw, all the wrong words cutting ahead of the right ones, curses crowding up against the door of his self-control. The only thing that keeps his mind from spiraling out is what he's doing with his hand, both soothing him and adding to his unease with the same caressing touch. Even without the senior agent insisting their legs rub, insisting he keep his eyes on him unless he wants to risk him taking drastic measures to recapture his attention, it looks like Soleum is close to toppling over the side of their seat of his own defeated volition.
…
Okay.
It's not a precipitous shift, more akin to the progression of when the last act of a play wraps up, the lights slowly brightening over the dazed interior of a theater after the performing cast has finished their curtain call and the drapes have fully cloaked the stage. The nervous newbie in front of Agent Choi recedes back into Soleum, for a time, but not the furious blush staining his cheeks. Nor the put-off, narrowed stare that pierces from behind his glasses. People aren't seafood, apparently, but Agent Choi will gladly treat him like a fascinating curio he doesn't understand?
He could go for another cigarette. If Agent Choi really cared so much about Soleum's bad habits, he'd lead by example and put his taste for harassing his juniors to rest. ]
I don't need to understand everything you do, [ he tells him, slowly. Measured. ] I only need to know the place it comes from.
[ The declaration bears more strength than he truly feels. He said it, however, so he should stick with it. There's no way Soleum can predict his actual actions in a situation like that. Circumstances change, commands evolve, objectives clash. People promise one thing and do another. But he'll say whatever he needs to. ]
And, right now, I think you're just tired. And you want a distraction, but this… [ His throat clears, and he tries to straighten his spine back upright, the bones of his neck releasing a soft crack from the movement. ] is going a little too far, isn't it, Agent? I'm not your plaything…
[The flinching lips, the way his hand curls against his, his eyes darting mere millimeters to find a stable place to land - Choi watches every single motion, every twitch of adjustment, every small movement. He could write a dissertation on his thoughts about this behavior of Kim Soleum.]
[Like that, despite all that tension, all that anxiety and itching that flares through his junior, his voice is full of strength. Soleum straightens up and with the unamused look he still has pinned on Choi, anyone might take this for something out of a powerpoint on workplace harassment. He certainly looks the part of a leering senior. Too bad he doesn't care.]
That's where you think this comes from?
[He's teasing him. Picking at the thread he's so neatly laid out, tugging at the knots and stitches like a cat's claws in a woven sweater. He rolls his wrist to stretch out Soleum's in turn. He can feel every thump of blood through his veins, every moment his heart beats to try and cool the growing warmth. It plays in perfect echo with his own.]
I don't think I'm so cruel to use you like that, you know... [His other hand finally moves. Reaches to snag his hip and drag him upward, onto his legs. Wrapping his arm around his front to keep him locked against him, swapping heights so now Soleum is above him and Choi below - yet somehow, their lips are closer than ever. He's almost whispering when he speaks.] I told you, it's all about working together.
[ Whether he likes it or not, a gasp judders out through his one-eyed wince. The casual reversal spurs the tepid strands of easy-to-ignore interest into a seething cluster in his stomach. A dark bruise gaining traction with each damnable punch Agent Choi swings at his well-worn guard. The worst part is he's never been invulnerable to him, not even slightly; he's on his toes enough playing this role, but adding the watchfulness of Black Tortoise 1's most experienced agent — and his most favored one — to the mix has been catastrophic for his nerves. It's too much, and he's finally feeling his grip on the reins slipping into the distance.
What a mess. His lips are tingling like they've already shared a kiss, like just his breath is a bodily contact. That's how he can tell his sanity is breaking down. ]
Nn…
[ His teeth grits together. After all, he should have discarded all semblance of dignity and let himself avalanche flat off the couch. Now, the opportunity's flown by, and now he's at a loss as to how to look away from the yields of his own fatal mistake. Unsure if he wants to.
He's been drinking, a voice in the rearmost parts of Soleum's brain reminds him. They both have. A complicated gamut of emotions flashes across his face before he finally comes to some kind of decision. For an extensive second, he considers it. Passing his mouth over Agent Choi's just to see if he feels as good as he looks, eyeing his next move, anticipating it, testing Soleum's fortitude with the straddle of their clothed hips pinned together in a flush fit.
His chin sways forward — and then Soleum's dokkaebi hand, sensing its master's plight, sweeps in, clapped right over the agent's smart mouth just as his lips lower against the back of his own knuckles. The intervention seems to revive his wits, because his face retreats in an instant, gaze open wide in surprise until bleeding into a look of relief. What a close call. ]
You — so you don't even know how cruel you're being. [ He's pouting, a little annoyed at his own moment of weakness. ] Are you positive you weren't contaminated earlier, Agent Choi?
[It's like it actually happens, the way Choi feels the breath between them mixing and how the space separating them grows smaller and smaller. Soleum lets out that quiet noise and he thinks, Got him, expectations met. He leans forward just as Soleum does...]
[And blinks when a warm hand claps over his mouth.]
[He has to laugh. His eyes pinch in mirth as Soleum backs up, calls him out. Silly dokkaebi, thinking it knows what the greater body actually wants. Soleum asks if he might be contaminated and Choi doesn't pull the hand away to respond, only perks an eyebrow. Pointing out the obvious - So you're pretending you aren't being cruel, too?]
[But that's fine, isn't it? Dokkaebi are interesting when repairing bodies because they meld so finely with the original. Nerve endings, skin cells, muscle, bone. It's all linked perfectly. The palm over his mouth is no exception and even though it's done as a way to block, it's also a granting of something else in exchange. Choi presses his lips against that skin and drags them down and along it as his other hand continues to play and curl against the real, undamaged one.]
[He stares at Soleum all the while. Piercing, expectant. They both know what's going on. So his eyes finally give a different question after a moment, this one more of a request - Won't you cling to me, already?]
[ Drowned out, Agent Choi's mouth sticks against his palm, moving like he's daring him to keep stalling. Keep coming up with his reasons, keep dancing just out of harm's way of admitting something honest. He has a feeling that if he lifted his hand right now, a smarmy crescent moon of a smile would be there lying in wait for him.
He knows it before he reads the question on his senior's face: This means nothing. The food's gone cold. The metaphor is lost. He'll have to wash the stain from his shirt the second he gets back to his motel room. Agent Choi will stop massaging his knuckles and let go of him, eventually.
Soleum still wants to kiss him. ]
It's alright.
[ To the baby dokkaebi, his voice is gentle. When the body you belong to is a confusion of different directives and skewed emotions, it's scarcely its fault for making a decision based on unreliable information. To Agent Choi, the hand wrapped around his mouth lingers, tightening at his jaw like a restrained warning before acquiescing to Soleum's will, sinking lower. He avoids his scar entirely, pressing down on the sharp outline of his collarbone peeking out from his undershirt, the couch further depressing beneath his weighted form. ]
Just once.
[ He can't say he understands the desire from the other agent's end, but it's more convenient to believe there isn't anything to understand, or discern, or pick at the skin of. He remembers Agent Choi could also be that kind of person. Someone unserious, just trying to scratch an impulse or push a reaction.
If that's all this is — it's a bit of a shame, but that's just the remnant of the fanboy in him. Ultimately, he it takes the pressure off of Soleum, gives him the permission he needs to finally meet Agent Choi in the middle. The contact is chaste, held back by the reluctance he still feels, the anxiety that once again he's getting away with something he shouldn't. Probably, he should be concentrating on the heat of Agent Choi's mouth, following the practiced movements of his lips, but… it's all so odd. He should have a framework to fall back on for how this works, where to touch, how to move, but he can't remember any of it. Can't know if this is a disappointing display or just barely good enough. ]
[The gentle tone that's so at odds with how he was speaking to Choi just moments ago sends a thrum of - ah, is it affection? It's just so charming, to see him acting this sweet right in front of him. He was like this with that boy earlier, seeming so pleased with himself for doing the right thing. Seeing him off properly. It's the same way he speaks to the dokkaebi that's just trying to do what it thinks its master wants.]
[The smile below the hand isn't a smirk. It's not full, but it's not mocking or weak or wary. Nervous, maybe - that Soleum will still deny this, but he's good at hiding that fear. He waits patiently, even his hand gone still, but on that finally-granted allowance, his smile grows with honest relief.]
[Just once. What is that, he thinks about asking - One kiss, one go, one...? Their lips meet and he doesn't risk interrupting to confirm.]
[The hand grasped around Soleum's waist rises in an instant, immediately sinking into his hair as Choi leans forward into him. His hand squeezes tight around his fingers and his lips part in expectation - but he feels it almost immediately, the uncertain way he moves, the lack of experience, the slow anxiety that's building around the ever-present hesitation. Choi doesn't care. He seriously doesn't care - He tilts his head, letting his eyes close as he gratefully sinks into him and kisses him openly, greedily. There's no playing or teasing.]
Soleum - [He kisses him deeper. Grips his hair to tug him in close so he can tilt his head and plunge into his mouth with his tongue. He's waited long enough. Who cares if this looks desperate?]
[ He would have been similarly as happy tonight talking to Agent Choi for a little longer inside this room, to fool him and not think about it as fooling him. Maybe he would have even had a second drink as they traveled between harmless questions, such as, What was the team like when you were the rookie? Or, Have you made any friends with the other new hires yet? Maybe he would come away with more insight into the location of the documents Director Ho needs, maybe not, but he wouldn't have regretted the evening, whether it benefited his mission or not. And as he would get up to leave, Soleum would remember Agent Choi's first lighter in his pocket. If he decided to return it, maybe the man would laugh, tell him to keep it, and maybe he would, maybe he would keep it for as long as he could.
Agent Choi kisses like he's trying to communicate his hunger, and he's got no applicable words in the human language to play vehicle for him.
It's disorienting to keep up with how his mouth sweetly arches in when it seems Soleum might be pulling back, and when it's the opposite problem, to know the exact place the agent wants him to suckle at. Soleum's glasses aren't even situated on the bridge of his nose anymore, the lenses smeared and fogged up with their breaths; it's after the thing has bumped up into the other agent's brow the third time that he shucks them off, the sound of it clattering to the floor somewhere distant to his ears.
Right then, the hand swamped inside his curls drives him forward. He's not expecting it, shifting his weight up his body, untucking Agent Choi's shirt with the adjustment, his bent knee hitting up again his now bared hip, buzzing lips swept apart to welcome the dive of his tongue. ] Mm…! [ A soft sound seeps out between their mouths, confused by the slick sensation, but moaning through the intrusion. He can feel Agent Choi glide against his top teeth, as if counting the whole row of them, before tangling in with Soleum's much meeker tongue. He tries to imitate a skill he doesn't have, the tip of his tongue flicking out to touch points with Agent Choi's, circling the rough-textured edges of him — he can still taste the wheat of his beer, and less apparently, the rice cake sauce brushing up against his palate. But it's good. Not only good, it's addictive enough to be habit-forming. The more they kiss, the more it seems Agent Choi crawls inside of him, spinning a web so thick he can't imagining coughing him out. ]
[His glasses clatter off somewhere and Choi laughs into the kiss, not stopping for a moment. His chuckles halt on that first moan as if he's a hunter and just heard the telltale sign of his prey's footfalls - but unlike a hunter, he has no patience in this actual act. He moves quickly from there with the hand in his hair gliding down his cheek, down his jaw, tilting him this way and that as his fingers drag across skin and grip against bone. Soleum said 'just once' and Choi will take that as a threat he needs to coax him down from.]
[He can taste so much of him, from the cigarette to the beer to the gochujang to the slightly salty sweat around his lips. He finally releases his hand in favor of joining the other, both hands now cupping his jaw and fingers curling against skin to frame his face as he continues his hungry hunt.]
[When he finally pulls back to take a breath, heavy and wet, Choi opens his eyes to look at Soleum from mere centimeters away, exhaling as he licks his lips. Then he goes back in - along the seam of his lips, up his jaw as he manipulates his head to turn and open the path for him. He kisses his skin and follows a dried line of sweat down to the edge of his chin and begins to move lower still, toward his neck as one hand reaches down to tug open his collar and give him the access he wants.]
[ The trajectory of his touch is nowhere close to a query in Soleum's mind. He registers his fingertips skating across his face, being led and moved and poised to Agent Choi's liking, but beyond that he relishes in having a singular focus. A goal that isn't a wish, isn't just the call of home, a labyrinthine flight path out from near-constant fear. Like this, all he has to concentrate on is inhaling the heat generated by the collision of their lips, and it feels — it feels — ]
Wait, [ he hoarsely calls out as Agent Choi moves away, but then he's there again, and Soleum is relaxing into the second kiss like it's natural. Like he's forgotten something important. His brow furrows when he leaves again, eyes opening a sliver, watching in a lost stupor as his senior mouths a trail down to his neckline, the top buttons his shirt popping open without a hint of resistance. Wherever he touches, his skin feels too warm, like his nerves are already anticipating where he'll touch next and clustering there to maximize his sensitivity. He can't seem to catch his breath like this, can't clear the fuzziness from his head. ]
A-Agent.
[ Soleum pants out through a half-lidded gaze, his real hand pressed to Agent Choi's forehead to obstruct him from continuing. The look he gives him softens. ]
I think that's enough. [ His thumb brushes his bangs out from the blue of his eyes. ] We should get going. It's getting late.
[He sounds so good worked up, his voice rough and weak and the way his muscles weaken and settle as Choi works - and then he's got a hand on his head and he looks up, openly surprised.]
[...Huh.]
Soleum-ah...
[He moves back up, undeterred by the touch or the words. Choi sits with their lips so close again, close enough to exchange breaths as their combined warmth pushes it out faster. He thinks about that quiet Wait and very nearly can't help but close the distance and give him what he so obviously wants again, give him what they both want. Such an odd way to respond.]
You remember... my advice, don't you?
[Ahh, he can't help it. He presses his lips against his again, his hands lowering to his shoulders as his thumbs dig into his collar. Slowly, he drags kisses over his mouth and along his cheek, like he just can't hold back. Like he's doing it out of some kind of habit.]
Asking for help when you need it... [Another kiss, this one lower on his jaw, a tinge of teeth to it to feel how his skin feels along the bone. A bit deeper of a taste.] It's hard to do, right? [He can't possibly stop now. He trails his way upward along his jaw.] Mm - But... It's essential. [One hand presses closer to his neck to try and guide him to tilt his head to the side, allow him better access as he gets closer to his ear.] I want to - know what you need. [A kiss right below his lobe.] What you want.
The real thing, he can't say. His mind moves in circles around the other, though. The one trapped in this room with them like a ghost he's been trying not to acknowledge, to give power to, but what keeps Agent Choi sullying his teeth with the salt off Soleum's skin for. He observes him through the far corner of his eye, his last kiss still stinging the spot he'd laid it, spreading down his neck like a feverish rash.
At first, he merely thinks about it, but he can't maintain it. So after only a few seconds, his face turns, lips brushing the high point of the agent's cheekbone; he turns more, catching the corner of his mouth, hands groping at his hips for something to hold on to when his forehead falls into the long wind of Agent Choi's neck. ]
[This again. His voice doesn't sound like it did before - pithy, a little pitiable, evasive and meant to create guilt. Choi tilts his head back at first, then moves closer instead, nuzzling his cheek against the side of Soleum's head as he smiles.]
I wouldn't lead you down the wrong path.
[He doesn't know how to guide toward a goal like the one he's expressed because it's not one he thinks Soleum is serious about. There's something deeper he's after, and he doesn't know what it is yet, but would acquiescing right now get him to whatever it is? Would it risk Choi's wellbeing to allow him there? He doesn't know. So much about their work is dealing with the unknown and balancing it carefully against a gut feeling.]
[Right now, his gut is screaming that he wants to kiss Kim Soleum until he's drooling his own spit and can no longer ask any stupid questions.]
["Are you positive you weren't contaminated earlier?" he had asked him. Choi had considered giving a smarmy sort of reply - Yeah, probably since the moment we met.]
You're not going to fall, Soleum.
[And, greedily, he tries to start kissing his way back down, searching for an opening of skin to lead him back to his lips.]
Soleum's buried face rolls on its side, meeting his mouth as soon as he ducks in — this time, he surges at him with a hint of added eagerness to match the agent's own. Kissing him harder, graver, his desperation showing through like a lamplight, guiding him. Or like there's a ticker hidden somewhere inside his head, in his heart, maybe in the compartment of his tattoo, either way it'll blow when it'll blow, so they better get their last rites in now.
Still straddling him, still running his tongue inside his cheeks, Soleum hoists up onto his knees, the front of their belts buckle to buckle. You're not going to fall, he said, but it feels that way. Freefall. His ears are ringing, the back of his neck is sweating, there are lights dancing in his eyes — the symptoms his body exhibits when he's trapped in a darkness. When he's tired of it all. When he's scared. He doesn't have a parachute, but he has Agent Choi, right here, right now, for a small footnote of his story; he does what anyone would do in this situation, when you want someone. Seizing either side of his senior's face, Soleum bows him backward, forcing them both to collapse back into the frayed couch cushions. There isn't a world where he could seriously dream of overpowering him, so he expects some indulgence, a little cooperation on his end.
This sort of thing, a nasty romp between coworkers, it's what Agent Choi wanted from the beginning, wasn't it?
Remembering how keenly Agent Choi seemed to want to get under his collar, or perhaps he was only looking to get under his skin, his fingers tuck into the knot of his tie. He pulls, and the outer neck of it shortly unravels along with the rest. Then part of his shirt comes undone. Well, only about halfway, however, until his embarrassment catches up to him again, but it's enough to reveal a lithe strip of his chest, red splotched across his otherwise pale flesh. ]
Ah, um — sir. [ His cheek turns, breaking the kiss. ] Is this what you were trying to get to before?
[Finally, finally! he wants to yell. Finally he's getting exactly what he's been after. It's like seeing the escape route open, the door swing wide, the sight of freedom mere steps away and nothing is chasing you. Choi hums happily as Soleum meets his enthusiasm and eagerly tilts back to kiss him when he rises up.]
[Until he's lowered down, which he doesn't fight, either. His hands wrap around his back instead and roll their way up and down his spine, tracing over his white shirt as he tilts his head to wrap his tongue around his. Soleum is moving above him and he assumes with excitement that he's going to take off his shirt or something and even reaches toward the hem to help with it when he suddenly pulls back, showing his cheek which Choi continues kissing without stopping, even as he speaks.]
[...What? What was he trying to get to? Kissing his junior? His eyes travel down toward the revealed skin of his throat - and Choi's eyes widen in unconcealed delight.]
[He doesn't give him a verbal answer aside from a pleased hum as he leans upward. He sinks into his throat, kissing open, sloppy presses against his neck and down to his chest and all the while his hands start to move to wrap around to his front. He needs to get the rest of his shirt off. Actually, if he doesn't, he'll end up ripping the fabric and he's sure Soleum will be upset and break all this perfect enthusiasm despite all of them having spare uniforms, okay? Can't he be a little enthusiastic without worrying about decorum?]
Mm, Soleum - [He starts at the buttons. He nibbles gently on his skin then kisses the same spot. Not nearly hard or sharp enough to leave any lasting mark, but this is something Choi has heard of and is well acquainted with called cuteness aggression, he thinks. How badly he wants to wrap his arms around him and squeeze, chew, and bite from face to fingers. Ugh, his junior is just so cute.] That's good, right?
[ Puffs of heated air stagger past Soleum's lips like the smoking habit's caught up to him already, and he's just reaping what he sows as Agent Choi sucks, scrapes, mouths wherever he pleases. It doesn't matter how his kisses connect, the sensation drops straight to a deeper, giddier place within.
It's funny, the most he's seen him so excited has been during team dinners or when he's talking about sports betting with some of the other agents. Never quite like this, though. This, it's a lot more attention from him than he knows what to do with. But he is enjoying it, mainly because it seems to be something Agent Choi is taking full pleasure in himself. Makes him preen and grin and laugh like a teenager doing it all for the first time — if it weren't for how deftly he works at each button, how his movements never hitch or hesitate, he might have even believed that to be the case.
With a shiver, Soleum's hand smooths down the agent's side, pressing to his rib cage without really pushing or gripping him hard at all, the presence there to remind him to slow, slow it down, except perhaps the ask comes too late. ]
…Yes. [ His assent, too, comes late, waiting for the pair of footsteps in the outer hallway to finish walking past their room before he continues, his volume dropped to a hushed: ] Good. You're doing good, sir. We should probably lock the door.
[ But he doesn't get up.
When his shirt splits apart, fully opened now, his stomach pinches, as if flinching inward to avoid Agent Choi's roving gaze, face hunched down. Attempting to busy himself, a soft rustle of fabric comes from where Soleum's hands have moved to his senior's waistline; part of his shirt hem is half-pulled, anyway, so the rest comes undone easily. He pauses for a moment, thinking, before sliding the the crumpled end of his dress shirt, plus the dark undershirt beneath, up the scarred sculpt of his navel. ]
[He absolutely does not care about the door right now. No one is going to come in here since it's right at the time everyone would be going home - The night shift will take emergency calls and the departing staff will drop all notices in the mailboxes outside the door. This is what Choi tells himself as he stares openly at Soleum's exposed body when all the buttons are split apart.]
[It's probably indecent to be this captivated by the appearance of your hubae's bare chest, skinny and accented with the starts of muscle. His stomach that dips inward as if avoiding a knife. Choi wonders at it, licking his lips briefly. If he could pull him upward further and tug him all the way over his face, if he could explore every inch of his skin and figure out the exact spot that makes him wrench in pleasure, what would make him keen and whimper - But his hubae is just as busy, it seems, his hands anxiously fighting to undo his shirt, pressing it up and revealing his own stomach in turn. This one doesn't bow away.]
Ah - Yeah. Of course. [It's odd to be asked permission. Didn't he just take and take a moment ago, charting a ravenous course and planting his flag wherever he pleased on Soleum...? Choi shifts a little to allow his shirt up further and slides a hand up his own chest, grinning as it exposes more skin.] You can touch me wherever you like, hubae-nim. Wherever.
[He brushes Soleum's cheek with his other hand, rubbing a thumb over his cheeks as he comes to better see the face before him. He's not used to it - Soleum without those glasses, plain-faced, a little mussed up. He runs his fingers through his hair as if to neaten it but it sends static through the strands instead, making them float briefly as he passes through.]
I want to see you really greedy, too, okay? [And he smiles a little wider.] Show me.
[ So many questions Soleum could ask about what greed looks like to him, but for what? Agent Choi already provided a firsthand example just now; a quick glance downward shows the nibbles clustered at the delicate stroke between his pecs, goosebumped from the trails of saliva cooling across his skin. He knows from that alone that they're incredibly different. Greedy for Soleum is simpler, less extraordinary, as seen in the way his pitch-dark lashes flutter low and his head tilts toward the most insignificant of the agent's touches, like a lazy feline basking in a lance of light. Like he doesn't even feel the prick of electricity that comes with it.
It's unfortunate that he knows his senior as well as he does, because he knows he wouldn't stop here. Knows every action he commits to is one he takes as if he'll lose sleep over it, otherwise. So to be like him, Soleum has to think like an abnormal person would.
That's the reasoning he goes in with, sinking lower to Agent Choi's supple abdomen, close enough to receive an eyeful of his bellybutton. The feathery strands of hair patching the skin right below. Looking up at the agent, his cheek rests on the rise of his hipbone. ]
More scars here than I thought… [ He caresses the strong pucker of his tanned stomach, rubbing along the shadow of toned muscle. Curious, but sedate in his interest compared to his colleague's energetic exploration. Soleum's lips brush against the same lining of hip he's leaned against, his tongue sweeping at the dip in a darted movement. ] So it's not just your belongings you're careless with.
[ Face turning, he burrows his nose directly into his navel, breathing in. Here, he doesn't get as much of the city. Just sweat, just salt teasing his mouth. He kisses at his stomach again, continuing from one sizable scar to the next, teeth grazing the edge of each one, drifting nearer to the belt of his pants until his mouth has carefully settled on the warm press of Agent Choi's clothed crotch. It's more lingering than the other kisses, the flat of his tongue dragging up the zipper flap, and then he does two more times after, wetting through the material. ]
[Choi told him to be greedy but, as he's realizing, their definition of the word is quite different. Given how he had reacted to the kiss he expected more of that - wanted more of that, his lips wet and ready to continue locking with his - but as Soleum instead turns his focus down low, Choi thinks: No way, is he...?]
Haha... I wouldn't call it careless. [He always laughs when he's anxious. He sets a hand on the edge of the couch, shifting to try and adjust his legs. Like he might need to provide more space.] It's like the bike... When I can use it for a greater good, what's the harm? [In that case, investigating stuff for Baekho; In this case, giving Soleum a map to explore. He watches with a lopsided smile, lips twitching with nerves as he runs up and down a few of the marks that line his skin. He thinks to tell him something about one - Maybe that one, from a Daydreamer, he wants to comment, from a bad altercation when they got a little territorial. But his words are jumbled in his throat, his gut telling him to shut up. That he doesn't want to distract him. That cats get spooked if you try and corral them, right?]
[Soleum's teeth drag down his skin and Choi feels the hair on his neck stand tall, his eyes widening and smile growing. They clink against his belt next and keep moving down even further and then his tongue comes out, the pressure heavy right over his crotch, the wet warmth and humidity of his breath flooding through the fabric and making his foot twitch. Soleum drags his tongue over him and Choi lets out a low hum, teeth grit tight behind his lips, the desire to say something to him - tell him that feels good, to keep going, to do it again, but no, no, he can't spook him. Soleum keeps lapping against his clothed cock and Choi finally reaches down to sweep his bangs out of his eyes. He strokes his fingers through his hair as he lets out a shaky breath and dares to finally open his mouth. His nails scrape against his scalp as he speaks quietly.]
I really never know what you're going to do... [Can he be jealous of his own dick right now? How badly he wants to feel Soleum lick over his mouth right now, feel the press of his tongue and the heat of it in a more immediate way. Has he always been this impatient? Shit, how annoying.] You always have something up your sleeve, Soleum-ah, don't you?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
[But isn't it just like their Grapes, to turn a selfish staement about clinging to life into something that makes Agent Choi seem better than he is? He did say he wanted to be more like him before. Is that what it is to him? Smoking, having people who respect him... That's surely not what he meant then, either, is it?]
[He drops his gaze for a moment, as if abandoning what he was going to ask. Then raises it. Still smiling, but it's still pained, too. A little uneasy, as if he's about to say something kind of embarrassing and even he recognizes it.]
Will you?
[His holds his drink between two fingers and his thumb. There's a long scar right beside his life line on his palm and he remembers making it, himself. Spilling blood to save Bronze from a monstrous beast, drawing its attention toward his scent. The anger in the other agent's eyes when he realized what he was doing. The betrayal, the fury that he would put himself at risk for his sake. But of course he would - he would do anything, at that moment, to make sure Agent Bronze came back with him. And that hand holding Soleum's beer, the one that occasionally shoots Choi a thumbs up as Soleum stares on in unenthused silence - isn't it proof they're so much the same already?]
You'll hang onto me, too, won't you?
no subject
[ Muttered to himself. His fingers drag through his ruffled hair, thinking, buying time.
It's not a set of words Soleum ever expected to hear from the agent, but it's not completely out of character; he was always a sentimental person. Someone who cares deeply for human life, and for the teammates that walk shoulder-to-shoulder with him into each disaster. Though different pockets of fans were more passionate about his relationship to certain other named characters, Soleum never participated or gave much thought to those discussions. Agent Choi was someone who cared for various people at various points of his story. That was just part of who he was and what made him so interesting.
Probably, it's just jarring for Soleum to hear, knowing that he isn't a fixture in this world. Confusion colors over the faint flush splitting his cheeks, hopefully enough to mask his fluster, or at least blame it on the beer. ]
Of course. I'm always thinking of the well-being of my seniors.
[ There was only ever going to be one correct answer to Agent Choi's questions. And it isn't the truth. ]
Um, would you like some wa…
[ The question never finishes. He's partially pushed off the couch, about to make toward the fridge, when, at last, he steals glance back at him — and somehow that worsens his awkwardness, seeing the uncertainty there in his smile amid the sheepishness. A little self-deprecating, like he knew already how Soleum was going to respond. He stumbles in that half-up, half-down position, grabbing on to the table to balance himself, a splash of his beer stickying the front of his shirt, dripping down the hand holding the can. Ah, really…
At least this he can handle. A few droplets dribble onto the table's surface as he places the can down, hurriedly sucking some of the liquid from his fingers to avoid dripping any further on the couch. But after a moment, he pauses at the futility, seeming to give up. ]
I'm sorry, sir, I… [ Ugh, where are his words right now? Soleum sighs. ] Have you ever heard… something called the 'crab-bucket effect'? It's when one person tries to grow or better themselves. But the others hanging on to them drag them back down.
…I wouldn't want to do that to you.
no subject
[He blinks out of the thoughts when the beer splashes and habitually reaches forward to help, but stills as Soleum recovers. He begins to lean to the side to fetch a pile of napkins left in the tteokbokki box but he only sets his hand on top of them when he starts giving more of a reply. Something more... Soleum-like. The kind of reply he was actually expecting, rather than the stale, bland one he first gave him.]
...What's with that - You think I'm not strong enough to pull us both out?
[He grins, looking a little smug. It's a facade, naturally, but it's fine for now.]
I've heard of that before. I don't think it works for people, though. We aren't mindless seafood, Soleum-ah, we all work together to better each other.
[He finally holds out the napkins but doesn't give them up, instead taking the chance to press them into his shirt, blotting at the spilled beer and reaching for his sticky hand next, still gleaming with the result of his own attempt to clean up.]
If I get drunk and Jaekwan-ie has to carry me home, he doesn't scold me for dragging him back into the bucket, right? You know?
[Like that's at all the same as what he's asking of Soleum. Like spending a tipsy night hanging off your junior's shoulder is the same as wanting your maknae to remember you when you're inevitably gone. Slowly he drags the napkin over his fingers, squeezing his wrist to keep him still as he speaks. If he gets up to get water or something stupid, he really might tackle him - so once his hand is dry he tosses the napkins to instead thread their fingers together. No escape now.]
Besides, what if outside the bucket is the deep fryer? [He rolls his thumb along the underside of Soleum's thumb, still looking at him with that hollow, default smirk.] You wouldn't feel bad for letting me go?
no subject
His fingers curl, putting up a weak struggle that ultimately goes nowhere, leaving their hands pressed wrist to wrist, veins against veins. This Agent Choi reminds him of the one he encountered in the Faceless Market, cornering him in a place he wasn't supposed to be. Like he's close to hitting gold after picking and wearing away at all of Soleum's locks and deadbolts.
But even back then, it hadn't been gold, he'd been after. It was something else. His dokkaebi hand rises, coming up as if to fend off the expectation in his senior's gaze. ]
If I had a bad feeling, I wouldn't let you go in blind. I'd leave everything I have to you…
[ That's how it comes out. A strained answer, at the end of his rope. ]
But you — you're not someone who changes his mind easily. If you were trying to leave to somewhere where you knew nothing about the risks, there must be a reason for it. Someone you could help. It wouldn't feel right to keep you away from that.
[ Behind his hand, Soleum body hunches into himself, his head hanging low as a frustrated sigh pushes out from him. ]
Ah, really! I-I wish you weren't so stubborn. Do you always have to go this far to push me around…?
no subject
[It's like the nervous newbie he saw in the Faceless Market all over again. Sneaky, in a place he shouldn't be, doing things he shouldn't do. Shocked by Choi's appearance and yet all too willing to play dumb, like he had no idea what was going on. Like he had no idea what Choi wanted to do.]
You make it so easy, Soleum-ah!
[There's a laugh in there as he says it, Choi grinning a little more truthfully. He's so cute like this, flustered and dancing on eggshells. Is it really that difficult for him to tell the truth...? Is it his apparent respect for Choi or his fear of him? If he could look at it objectively he would back off and leave him to his evening activities but that's never once been his strongsuit when it comes to people like Kim Soleum.]
You're the type of person whose responses I can never predict. It makes spending time with you fun. [His fingers continue curling around him, rubbing along his knuckles, tracing his thumb over his palm lines, tilting his hand back to press it into his chest. He could be awful and give the same treatment to his other hand but for now he leaves it be.] It makes me want to see what makes you tick.
[They're really close now, thighs pressed together, Choi feeling to the vibration in his voice when he speaks. The waver to it. It's - so exciting, seeing him teetering on the edge. He can smell the remnants of cigarette smoke on his breath.]
You'd really give me everything, just because you thought you couldn't change my mind? [His voice drops to something right above a murmur, loud enough to be heard across the room but still much softer, more... obvious.] Even if you didn't understand my intention?
no subject
His mouth twitches with the silent open and close of his jaw, all the wrong words cutting ahead of the right ones, curses crowding up against the door of his self-control. The only thing that keeps his mind from spiraling out is what he's doing with his hand, both soothing him and adding to his unease with the same caressing touch. Even without the senior agent insisting their legs rub, insisting he keep his eyes on him unless he wants to risk him taking drastic measures to recapture his attention, it looks like Soleum is close to toppling over the side of their seat of his own defeated volition.
…
Okay.
It's not a precipitous shift, more akin to the progression of when the last act of a play wraps up, the lights slowly brightening over the dazed interior of a theater after the performing cast has finished their curtain call and the drapes have fully cloaked the stage. The nervous newbie in front of Agent Choi recedes back into Soleum, for a time, but not the furious blush staining his cheeks. Nor the put-off, narrowed stare that pierces from behind his glasses. People aren't seafood, apparently, but Agent Choi will gladly treat him like a fascinating curio he doesn't understand?
He could go for another cigarette. If Agent Choi really cared so much about Soleum's bad habits, he'd lead by example and put his taste for harassing his juniors to rest. ]
I don't need to understand everything you do, [ he tells him, slowly. Measured. ] I only need to know the place it comes from.
[ The declaration bears more strength than he truly feels. He said it, however, so he should stick with it. There's no way Soleum can predict his actual actions in a situation like that. Circumstances change, commands evolve, objectives clash. People promise one thing and do another. But he'll say whatever he needs to. ]
And, right now, I think you're just tired. And you want a distraction, but this… [ His throat clears, and he tries to straighten his spine back upright, the bones of his neck releasing a soft crack from the movement. ] is going a little too far, isn't it, Agent? I'm not your plaything…
no subject
[Like that, despite all that tension, all that anxiety and itching that flares through his junior, his voice is full of strength. Soleum straightens up and with the unamused look he still has pinned on Choi, anyone might take this for something out of a powerpoint on workplace harassment. He certainly looks the part of a leering senior. Too bad he doesn't care.]
That's where you think this comes from?
[He's teasing him. Picking at the thread he's so neatly laid out, tugging at the knots and stitches like a cat's claws in a woven sweater. He rolls his wrist to stretch out Soleum's in turn. He can feel every thump of blood through his veins, every moment his heart beats to try and cool the growing warmth. It plays in perfect echo with his own.]
I don't think I'm so cruel to use you like that, you know... [His other hand finally moves. Reaches to snag his hip and drag him upward, onto his legs. Wrapping his arm around his front to keep him locked against him, swapping heights so now Soleum is above him and Choi below - yet somehow, their lips are closer than ever. He's almost whispering when he speaks.] I told you, it's all about working together.
no subject
What a mess. His lips are tingling like they've already shared a kiss, like just his breath is a bodily contact. That's how he can tell his sanity is breaking down. ]
Nn…
[ His teeth grits together. After all, he should have discarded all semblance of dignity and let himself avalanche flat off the couch. Now, the opportunity's flown by, and now he's at a loss as to how to look away from the yields of his own fatal mistake. Unsure if he wants to.
He's been drinking, a voice in the rearmost parts of Soleum's brain reminds him. They both have. A complicated gamut of emotions flashes across his face before he finally comes to some kind of decision. For an extensive second, he considers it. Passing his mouth over Agent Choi's just to see if he feels as good as he looks, eyeing his next move, anticipating it, testing Soleum's fortitude with the straddle of their clothed hips pinned together in a flush fit.
His chin sways forward — and then Soleum's dokkaebi hand, sensing its master's plight, sweeps in, clapped right over the agent's smart mouth just as his lips lower against the back of his own knuckles. The intervention seems to revive his wits, because his face retreats in an instant, gaze open wide in surprise until bleeding into a look of relief. What a close call. ]
You — so you don't even know how cruel you're being. [ He's pouting, a little annoyed at his own moment of weakness. ] Are you positive you weren't contaminated earlier, Agent Choi?
no subject
[And blinks when a warm hand claps over his mouth.]
[He has to laugh. His eyes pinch in mirth as Soleum backs up, calls him out. Silly dokkaebi, thinking it knows what the greater body actually wants. Soleum asks if he might be contaminated and Choi doesn't pull the hand away to respond, only perks an eyebrow. Pointing out the obvious - So you're pretending you aren't being cruel, too?]
[But that's fine, isn't it? Dokkaebi are interesting when repairing bodies because they meld so finely with the original. Nerve endings, skin cells, muscle, bone. It's all linked perfectly. The palm over his mouth is no exception and even though it's done as a way to block, it's also a granting of something else in exchange. Choi presses his lips against that skin and drags them down and along it as his other hand continues to play and curl against the real, undamaged one.]
[He stares at Soleum all the while. Piercing, expectant. They both know what's going on. So his eyes finally give a different question after a moment, this one more of a request - Won't you cling to me, already?]
no subject
He knows it before he reads the question on his senior's face: This means nothing. The food's gone cold. The metaphor is lost. He'll have to wash the stain from his shirt the second he gets back to his motel room. Agent Choi will stop massaging his knuckles and let go of him, eventually.
Soleum still wants to kiss him. ]
It's alright.
[ To the baby dokkaebi, his voice is gentle. When the body you belong to is a confusion of different directives and skewed emotions, it's scarcely its fault for making a decision based on unreliable information. To Agent Choi, the hand wrapped around his mouth lingers, tightening at his jaw like a restrained warning before acquiescing to Soleum's will, sinking lower. He avoids his scar entirely, pressing down on the sharp outline of his collarbone peeking out from his undershirt, the couch further depressing beneath his weighted form. ]
Just once.
[ He can't say he understands the desire from the other agent's end, but it's more convenient to believe there isn't anything to understand, or discern, or pick at the skin of. He remembers Agent Choi could also be that kind of person. Someone unserious, just trying to scratch an impulse or push a reaction.
If that's all this is — it's a bit of a shame, but that's just the remnant of the fanboy in him. Ultimately, he it takes the pressure off of Soleum, gives him the permission he needs to finally meet Agent Choi in the middle. The contact is chaste, held back by the reluctance he still feels, the anxiety that once again he's getting away with something he shouldn't. Probably, he should be concentrating on the heat of Agent Choi's mouth, following the practiced movements of his lips, but… it's all so odd. He should have a framework to fall back on for how this works, where to touch, how to move, but he can't remember any of it. Can't know if this is a disappointing display or just barely good enough. ]
no subject
[The smile below the hand isn't a smirk. It's not full, but it's not mocking or weak or wary. Nervous, maybe - that Soleum will still deny this, but he's good at hiding that fear. He waits patiently, even his hand gone still, but on that finally-granted allowance, his smile grows with honest relief.]
[Just once. What is that, he thinks about asking - One kiss, one go, one...? Their lips meet and he doesn't risk interrupting to confirm.]
[The hand grasped around Soleum's waist rises in an instant, immediately sinking into his hair as Choi leans forward into him. His hand squeezes tight around his fingers and his lips part in expectation - but he feels it almost immediately, the uncertain way he moves, the lack of experience, the slow anxiety that's building around the ever-present hesitation. Choi doesn't care. He seriously doesn't care - He tilts his head, letting his eyes close as he gratefully sinks into him and kisses him openly, greedily. There's no playing or teasing.]
Soleum - [He kisses him deeper. Grips his hair to tug him in close so he can tilt his head and plunge into his mouth with his tongue. He's waited long enough. Who cares if this looks desperate?]
no subject
Agent Choi kisses like he's trying to communicate his hunger, and he's got no applicable words in the human language to play vehicle for him.
It's disorienting to keep up with how his mouth sweetly arches in when it seems Soleum might be pulling back, and when it's the opposite problem, to know the exact place the agent wants him to suckle at. Soleum's glasses aren't even situated on the bridge of his nose anymore, the lenses smeared and fogged up with their breaths; it's after the thing has bumped up into the other agent's brow the third time that he shucks them off, the sound of it clattering to the floor somewhere distant to his ears.
Right then, the hand swamped inside his curls drives him forward. He's not expecting it, shifting his weight up his body, untucking Agent Choi's shirt with the adjustment, his bent knee hitting up again his now bared hip, buzzing lips swept apart to welcome the dive of his tongue. ] Mm…! [ A soft sound seeps out between their mouths, confused by the slick sensation, but moaning through the intrusion. He can feel Agent Choi glide against his top teeth, as if counting the whole row of them, before tangling in with Soleum's much meeker tongue. He tries to imitate a skill he doesn't have, the tip of his tongue flicking out to touch points with Agent Choi's, circling the rough-textured edges of him — he can still taste the wheat of his beer, and less apparently, the rice cake sauce brushing up against his palate. But it's good. Not only good, it's addictive enough to be habit-forming. The more they kiss, the more it seems Agent Choi crawls inside of him, spinning a web so thick he can't imagining coughing him out. ]
no subject
[He can taste so much of him, from the cigarette to the beer to the gochujang to the slightly salty sweat around his lips. He finally releases his hand in favor of joining the other, both hands now cupping his jaw and fingers curling against skin to frame his face as he continues his hungry hunt.]
[When he finally pulls back to take a breath, heavy and wet, Choi opens his eyes to look at Soleum from mere centimeters away, exhaling as he licks his lips. Then he goes back in - along the seam of his lips, up his jaw as he manipulates his head to turn and open the path for him. He kisses his skin and follows a dried line of sweat down to the edge of his chin and begins to move lower still, toward his neck as one hand reaches down to tug open his collar and give him the access he wants.]
no subject
Wait, [ he hoarsely calls out as Agent Choi moves away, but then he's there again, and Soleum is relaxing into the second kiss like it's natural. Like he's forgotten something important. His brow furrows when he leaves again, eyes opening a sliver, watching in a lost stupor as his senior mouths a trail down to his neckline, the top buttons his shirt popping open without a hint of resistance. Wherever he touches, his skin feels too warm, like his nerves are already anticipating where he'll touch next and clustering there to maximize his sensitivity. He can't seem to catch his breath like this, can't clear the fuzziness from his head. ]
A-Agent.
[ Soleum pants out through a half-lidded gaze, his real hand pressed to Agent Choi's forehead to obstruct him from continuing. The look he gives him softens. ]
I think that's enough. [ His thumb brushes his bangs out from the blue of his eyes. ] We should get going. It's getting late.
no subject
[...Huh.]
Soleum-ah...
[He moves back up, undeterred by the touch or the words. Choi sits with their lips so close again, close enough to exchange breaths as their combined warmth pushes it out faster. He thinks about that quiet Wait and very nearly can't help but close the distance and give him what he so obviously wants again, give him what they both want. Such an odd way to respond.]
You remember... my advice, don't you?
[Ahh, he can't help it. He presses his lips against his again, his hands lowering to his shoulders as his thumbs dig into his collar. Slowly, he drags kisses over his mouth and along his cheek, like he just can't hold back. Like he's doing it out of some kind of habit.]
Asking for help when you need it... [Another kiss, this one lower on his jaw, a tinge of teeth to it to feel how his skin feels along the bone. A bit deeper of a taste.] It's hard to do, right? [He can't possibly stop now. He trails his way upward along his jaw.] Mm - But... It's essential. [One hand presses closer to his neck to try and guide him to tilt his head to the side, allow him better access as he gets closer to his ear.] I want to - know what you need. [A kiss right below his lobe.] What you want.
no subject
The real thing, he can't say. His mind moves in circles around the other, though. The one trapped in this room with them like a ghost he's been trying not to acknowledge, to give power to, but what keeps Agent Choi sullying his teeth with the salt off Soleum's skin for. He observes him through the far corner of his eye, his last kiss still stinging the spot he'd laid it, spreading down his neck like a feverish rash.
At first, he merely thinks about it, but he can't maintain it. So after only a few seconds, his face turns, lips brushing the high point of the agent's cheekbone; he turns more, catching the corner of his mouth, hands groping at his hips for something to hold on to when his forehead falls into the long wind of Agent Choi's neck. ]
I just want to be more like you.
[ This again. But it's not a lie. It never was. ]
If I let tonight go, will I be closer to that?
no subject
I wouldn't lead you down the wrong path.
[He doesn't know how to guide toward a goal like the one he's expressed because it's not one he thinks Soleum is serious about. There's something deeper he's after, and he doesn't know what it is yet, but would acquiescing right now get him to whatever it is? Would it risk Choi's wellbeing to allow him there? He doesn't know. So much about their work is dealing with the unknown and balancing it carefully against a gut feeling.]
[Right now, his gut is screaming that he wants to kiss Kim Soleum until he's drooling his own spit and can no longer ask any stupid questions.]
["Are you positive you weren't contaminated earlier?" he had asked him. Choi had considered giving a smarmy sort of reply - Yeah, probably since the moment we met.]
You're not going to fall, Soleum.
[And, greedily, he tries to start kissing his way back down, searching for an opening of skin to lead him back to his lips.]
no subject
Soleum's buried face rolls on its side, meeting his mouth as soon as he ducks in — this time, he surges at him with a hint of added eagerness to match the agent's own. Kissing him harder, graver, his desperation showing through like a lamplight, guiding him. Or like there's a ticker hidden somewhere inside his head, in his heart, maybe in the compartment of his tattoo, either way it'll blow when it'll blow, so they better get their last rites in now.
Still straddling him, still running his tongue inside his cheeks, Soleum hoists up onto his knees, the front of their belts buckle to buckle. You're not going to fall, he said, but it feels that way. Freefall. His ears are ringing, the back of his neck is sweating, there are lights dancing in his eyes — the symptoms his body exhibits when he's trapped in a darkness. When he's tired of it all. When he's scared. He doesn't have a parachute, but he has Agent Choi, right here, right now, for a small footnote of his story; he does what anyone would do in this situation, when you want someone. Seizing either side of his senior's face, Soleum bows him backward, forcing them both to collapse back into the frayed couch cushions. There isn't a world where he could seriously dream of overpowering him, so he expects some indulgence, a little cooperation on his end.
This sort of thing, a nasty romp between coworkers, it's what Agent Choi wanted from the beginning, wasn't it?
Remembering how keenly Agent Choi seemed to want to get under his collar, or perhaps he was only looking to get under his skin, his fingers tuck into the knot of his tie. He pulls, and the outer neck of it shortly unravels along with the rest. Then part of his shirt comes undone. Well, only about halfway, however, until his embarrassment catches up to him again, but it's enough to reveal a lithe strip of his chest, red splotched across his otherwise pale flesh. ]
Ah, um — sir. [ His cheek turns, breaking the kiss. ] Is this what you were trying to get to before?
no subject
[Until he's lowered down, which he doesn't fight, either. His hands wrap around his back instead and roll their way up and down his spine, tracing over his white shirt as he tilts his head to wrap his tongue around his. Soleum is moving above him and he assumes with excitement that he's going to take off his shirt or something and even reaches toward the hem to help with it when he suddenly pulls back, showing his cheek which Choi continues kissing without stopping, even as he speaks.]
[...What? What was he trying to get to? Kissing his junior? His eyes travel down toward the revealed skin of his throat - and Choi's eyes widen in unconcealed delight.]
[He doesn't give him a verbal answer aside from a pleased hum as he leans upward. He sinks into his throat, kissing open, sloppy presses against his neck and down to his chest and all the while his hands start to move to wrap around to his front. He needs to get the rest of his shirt off. Actually, if he doesn't, he'll end up ripping the fabric and he's sure Soleum will be upset and break all this perfect enthusiasm despite all of them having spare uniforms, okay? Can't he be a little enthusiastic without worrying about decorum?]
Mm, Soleum - [He starts at the buttons. He nibbles gently on his skin then kisses the same spot. Not nearly hard or sharp enough to leave any lasting mark, but this is something Choi has heard of and is well acquainted with called cuteness aggression, he thinks. How badly he wants to wrap his arms around him and squeeze, chew, and bite from face to fingers. Ugh, his junior is just so cute.] That's good, right?
no subject
It's funny, the most he's seen him so excited has been during team dinners or when he's talking about sports betting with some of the other agents. Never quite like this, though. This, it's a lot more attention from him than he knows what to do with. But he is enjoying it, mainly because it seems to be something Agent Choi is taking full pleasure in himself. Makes him preen and grin and laugh like a teenager doing it all for the first time — if it weren't for how deftly he works at each button, how his movements never hitch or hesitate, he might have even believed that to be the case.
With a shiver, Soleum's hand smooths down the agent's side, pressing to his rib cage without really pushing or gripping him hard at all, the presence there to remind him to slow, slow it down, except perhaps the ask comes too late. ]
…Yes. [ His assent, too, comes late, waiting for the pair of footsteps in the outer hallway to finish walking past their room before he continues, his volume dropped to a hushed: ] Good. You're doing good, sir. We should probably lock the door.
[ But he doesn't get up.
When his shirt splits apart, fully opened now, his stomach pinches, as if flinching inward to avoid Agent Choi's roving gaze, face hunched down. Attempting to busy himself, a soft rustle of fabric comes from where Soleum's hands have moved to his senior's waistline; part of his shirt hem is half-pulled, anyway, so the rest comes undone easily. He pauses for a moment, thinking, before sliding the the crumpled end of his dress shirt, plus the dark undershirt beneath, up the scarred sculpt of his navel. ]
Can I, ah… touch you here?
no subject
[It's probably indecent to be this captivated by the appearance of your hubae's bare chest, skinny and accented with the starts of muscle. His stomach that dips inward as if avoiding a knife. Choi wonders at it, licking his lips briefly. If he could pull him upward further and tug him all the way over his face, if he could explore every inch of his skin and figure out the exact spot that makes him wrench in pleasure, what would make him keen and whimper - But his hubae is just as busy, it seems, his hands anxiously fighting to undo his shirt, pressing it up and revealing his own stomach in turn. This one doesn't bow away.]
Ah - Yeah. Of course. [It's odd to be asked permission. Didn't he just take and take a moment ago, charting a ravenous course and planting his flag wherever he pleased on Soleum...? Choi shifts a little to allow his shirt up further and slides a hand up his own chest, grinning as it exposes more skin.] You can touch me wherever you like, hubae-nim. Wherever.
[He brushes Soleum's cheek with his other hand, rubbing a thumb over his cheeks as he comes to better see the face before him. He's not used to it - Soleum without those glasses, plain-faced, a little mussed up. He runs his fingers through his hair as if to neaten it but it sends static through the strands instead, making them float briefly as he passes through.]
I want to see you really greedy, too, okay? [And he smiles a little wider.] Show me.
no subject
It's unfortunate that he knows his senior as well as he does, because he knows he wouldn't stop here. Knows every action he commits to is one he takes as if he'll lose sleep over it, otherwise. So to be like him, Soleum has to think like an abnormal person would.
That's the reasoning he goes in with, sinking lower to Agent Choi's supple abdomen, close enough to receive an eyeful of his bellybutton. The feathery strands of hair patching the skin right below. Looking up at the agent, his cheek rests on the rise of his hipbone. ]
More scars here than I thought… [ He caresses the strong pucker of his tanned stomach, rubbing along the shadow of toned muscle. Curious, but sedate in his interest compared to his colleague's energetic exploration. Soleum's lips brush against the same lining of hip he's leaned against, his tongue sweeping at the dip in a darted movement. ] So it's not just your belongings you're careless with.
[ Face turning, he burrows his nose directly into his navel, breathing in. Here, he doesn't get as much of the city. Just sweat, just salt teasing his mouth. He kisses at his stomach again, continuing from one sizable scar to the next, teeth grazing the edge of each one, drifting nearer to the belt of his pants until his mouth has carefully settled on the warm press of Agent Choi's clothed crotch. It's more lingering than the other kisses, the flat of his tongue dragging up the zipper flap, and then he does two more times after, wetting through the material. ]
no subject
Haha... I wouldn't call it careless. [He always laughs when he's anxious. He sets a hand on the edge of the couch, shifting to try and adjust his legs. Like he might need to provide more space.] It's like the bike... When I can use it for a greater good, what's the harm? [In that case, investigating stuff for Baekho; In this case, giving Soleum a map to explore. He watches with a lopsided smile, lips twitching with nerves as he runs up and down a few of the marks that line his skin. He thinks to tell him something about one - Maybe that one, from a Daydreamer, he wants to comment, from a bad altercation when they got a little territorial. But his words are jumbled in his throat, his gut telling him to shut up. That he doesn't want to distract him. That cats get spooked if you try and corral them, right?]
[Soleum's teeth drag down his skin and Choi feels the hair on his neck stand tall, his eyes widening and smile growing. They clink against his belt next and keep moving down even further and then his tongue comes out, the pressure heavy right over his crotch, the wet warmth and humidity of his breath flooding through the fabric and making his foot twitch. Soleum drags his tongue over him and Choi lets out a low hum, teeth grit tight behind his lips, the desire to say something to him - tell him that feels good, to keep going, to do it again, but no, no, he can't spook him. Soleum keeps lapping against his clothed cock and Choi finally reaches down to sweep his bangs out of his eyes. He strokes his fingers through his hair as he lets out a shaky breath and dares to finally open his mouth. His nails scrape against his scalp as he speaks quietly.]
I really never know what you're going to do... [Can he be jealous of his own dick right now? How badly he wants to feel Soleum lick over his mouth right now, feel the press of his tongue and the heat of it in a more immediate way. Has he always been this impatient? Shit, how annoying.] You always have something up your sleeve, Soleum-ah, don't you?