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When Jisung was younger and still in high school, he had become aware of this running joke among the female population of the school. At first he hadn’t quite understood the veiled giggles and vulgar gestures the girls did to each other when they got handed their tests back.
A female friend later let him in on the joke and that’s how he came to understand. Or, somewhat, because he didn’t understand what was funny about getting back grades and joking about probably having to resort to prostitution to earn money because their academics lacked.
For most people it was a last-resort kinda thing, not something to make fun off.
Jisung would know.
After all, it was currently the only way he was able to afford his college fee while still having enough time and energy to keep his grades up. He had had other jobs, sure, but to put it bluntly; they didn’t pay a lot and they were exhausting.
He didn’t quite remember when he had started all this but he did clearly remember that one job at a bar in his second year of college and how he had worked himself to the bone, getting back his grade from his exam the following week and melting into the floor like a depressed puddle.
The inside joke from high school had wormed his way into his head as he had applied for the re-takes. Then he had eyed the peeling wallpaper, the crappy laptop, second-hand study books and he had said fuck it. Life couldn’t go much more downhill for him anyways.
’’Poor little orphan-boy turned prostitute’’
Nice title for his autobiography if he even felt the need to write one.
Jisung huffed into the cold air as he remembered slipping sloppy-made ‘business cards’ underneath dozens of doors in the dorm building. That had been a big mistake because apparently someone had reported it and the next morning everyone at college had woken up to a mail from the board, urging the student who had done so to reflect on the poor and sensitive joke and to report back to them so they could discuss the matter.
Of course he hadn’t and the whole thing had flown over. Jisung then had to revise his whole game-plan and figured that he needed to be more careful about it. After all, it was illegal.
He sniffed as the cold evening air was starting to seep into his bones and he cursed under his breath as he pulled his skirt down a bit to try and keep himself a bit warmer.
Jisung fucking hated skirts but it wasn’t the first time wearing one because someone had requested him to do so. Which also told him the person was probably a guy this time around. Also not a first.
He picked up his pace ever so slightly and hugged his arms to his body, the flimsy jacket he was wearing wasn’t doing a great job of keeping the cold out. It was when he rounded the corner that he took a quick peek at his watch and he noticed that it was already ten o’clock.
Jisung just needed to cross the bike-lane to get to the other dorm building and he hoped that the other students had decided not to hang around tonight. He didn’t need someone he knew seeing him in a short flowy skirt and sparkly pantyhose.
People knew of him, but not that it was him and he would like to keep it that way. He even went as far as to have the people who ‘booked’ him – god, he was being real pretentious – sign a makeshift contract to keep his identity hidden. Those who refused he blatantly blackmailed because he wasn’t dumb.
Technology was absolutely marvellous nowadays. Very nifty things, very handy.
He hastily creeped into dorm building C and decided that his safest route was to take the stairs because who the hell would take the stairs to get to the fifth floor?
Jisung eyed his watch again and noticed that he was running late. The person had asked him to be there at a quarter past ten, room 532 and that was the only info Jisung had been provided. Well, next to the clear instruction to wear a skirt and some make-up.
After the pretty taxing hike up the building, Jisung found himself standing in front of the dorm, checking once more just to be sure. Then he knocked softly, making sure not to make too much noise and draw the attention of that one girl all the way back in the hallway leaning against the wall as he seemingly spoke into her phone.
The door opened and Jisung was about to turn his mind and dignity off for the evening when he recognized those cat-like eyes staring at him and he almost flinched back.
‘’Jisung?,’’ the male frowned as he moved to lean against the doorframe, Jisung catching sight of a party hat on his head and a bottle of beer in his hand, ‘’What are you doing here?,’’
The younger’s breath hitched as he heard more boisterous talking coming from inside, combined with music getting turned up louder and louder.
‘’I-I…,’’ Jisung croaked out, his throat closing up on him.
Fuck.
He was screwed. So, so screwed.
Was this some sick joke? Had Minho ‘booked’ him just to make fun of him now? Pretending he didn’t know why Jisung was here?
Oh god.
Had he already know Jisung was the ‘mysterious’ boy people whispered about in the shadows?
His sudden panic only grew worse when he saw Minho’s eyes trailing up and down his body, feeling himself flush out of pure embarrassment when the older lingered on his lower body.
On any other given day and moment, Jisung would’ve felt butterflies in his stomach from having the older’s attention. Really, who didn’t have a little crush on the college’s resident dance-prodigy that was Minho? Jisung wasn’t the only one but then again, maybe he was the only one with a crush while also being friends with him.
Jisung was sure he could say goodbye to any little chance he might’ve had with the guy, conveniently forgetting about how incredibly kind the older was and how he never seemed to truly judge anyone.
‘’There he is!,’’ a guy suddenly laughed loudly as he pushed Minho aside before reaching out and grabbing Jisung’s wrist.
Then he got dragged inside and he dared to glance at Minho when he passed the guy, the latter’s expression turning more and more sour. Jisung winced and diverted his eyes, his mind a bit lost as he felt his jacket get tugged off his shoulders.
‘’Oooh look at that boys!,’’ the guy dragged him further into the dorm, making Jisung stumble over his feet, ‘’He actually wore what we asked,’’
We?
They finally came to a stop and Jisung looked up from the floor, freezing as he saw three more guys lazily sprawled over the couches and beanbag.
Why were there so many people? What the fuck was going on?
Jisung thought he recognized some of their faces. He thought that they were all in the dance department but he didn’t know any of their names. Not that he wanted to because they all looked either drunk out of their minds or high as fuck and he didn’t like their sleezy smiles and mocking laughter as they pointed out his clothes and features, throwing him some pretty degrading remarks about his lips and ass.
It wasn’t like Jisung hadn’t heard all of it before but there were just too many people. It wasn’t the very private setting he was used to and he couldn’t help but feel nauseous as the previous guy sat down on the couch, pulling Jisung down with him and on his lap.
He had made his conditions plenty clear; strictly one-on-one, no pictures or video’s and he wanted at least a little bit of respect.
Jisung was fucked.
‘’Hey Minho!,’’ one of the guys yelled, Jisung flinching at the volume and the hand creeping up his thigh, ‘’Are you going to be standing there all night or come here and accept your birthday-present?,’’
‘’W-what?,’’ Jisung squeaked out, carefully pushing the hand away from him. he heard something like a growl in his ear and he grew a bit more desperate in pushing the hand away.
This was not how things were going to go down. He wanted to leave. He wasn’t doing this.
‘’You know,’’ Jisung bravely started, ‘’I cancel this arrangement. You will receive your money back in the coming week. Now, please let go of me,’’
The room turned silent and then there was deafening laughter.
‘’Is the slut having second thoughts now?,’’ the guy on the beanbag scoffed, ‘’We already payed so shut up and make sure Minho over there has a good birthday okay?,’’
It was only then that Jisung remembered the older and he whipped his head around, finding Minho still standing near the door and staring at him with a blank look. Jisung wanted to cry. God, Felix had warned him about how dangerous this shit was. He should’ve listened to his best friend and only confidant.
‘’H-hyung?,’’ Jisung whispered out, eyes now seriously tearing up as the hand on his thigh creeped up under the hem of the skirt.
‘’Well, if you don’t want to Minho, don’t mind if we do,’’
Minho still stayed mute and Jisung snapped his head back when he harshly got handed over to another guy sitting next to them on the couch. Jisung knew he wasn’t exactly sturdy but this was ridiculous. He felt like some sort of ragdoll as he ended up in yet another guy’s lap, hands now gripping onto his waist and a pair of grossly wet lips on the back of his neck. He squeezed his eyes closed and tried to pry the fingers away from him, leaning forward to avoid the horrid mouthing at his neck.
He wanted to go home.
He didn’t want to do this anymore.
‘’Everyone out,’’ Minho suddenly spoke up, ‘’Everyone get the fuck out of my dorm! Now!,’’
The hands were gone in an instant and Jisung let out a choked sob as he got pushed off and onto the floor, burying his face in his hands as he heard disgruntled mumbling and heavy footsteps getting further and further away.
Then it was silent and Jisung realised that he needed to get home. He wanted to go home.
So he pushed himself onto his feet with shaky limbs, frantically wiping at his face. He thought he saw a glimpse of Minho moving into the kitchen and Jisung took that as his opportunity to flee. However, before he could even get to the little hallways between the living room and the door, he got pulled by the back of shirt.
He stumbled backwards but the tugging continued until he found himself silently crying in a bedroom, Minho stalking over to his closet and digging through it for a bit before pulling out some clothes.
‘’The bathroom in the door at the end of the hallway,’’ the older stated, his back still to Jisung as he closet the closet, ‘’You can use whatever. Towels are the bottom drawer,’’
Jisung was shaking like a leaf and it only worsened when Minho turned around, the latter’s eyes full of anger and sadness and disappointment.
Still, he accepted the clothes Minho held out to him and wiped at his eyes with trembling fingers in an attempt to block the tears, ‘’T-thanks,’’
Minho let out a long sigh and gave a curt nod before slipping out of the room.
Jisung wobbled his way over to where the bathroom was and softly closed the door behind him, making sure it was locked before slipping out of his clothes. He avoided looking into the mirror because he suddenly felt incredibly disgusted at himself.
Why now?
He had been selling himself for almost two years now. He had found himself in rather mentally disturbing situations before.
Why now?
Why was it only getting to him now?
He let out a shaky sigh and got himself into the shower, turning the heath up until he almost couldn’t bare it before scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing. It wasn’t doing much to make him feel better but he had learned to accept that at this point.
A lot of soap and some more crying later, Jisung found himself staring at the still locked bathroom door, nervously gnawing at his nails as he looked at the doorknob. He would have to get out at some point but he didn’t know if he was ready. Minho was definitely going to ask questions, maybe accuse him of things, probably going to be angry and disgusted.
It took him another handful of minutes before he threw the door open. It was pretty silent around except for some noise coming from the kitchen. Jisung padded over and peeked around the corner, finding Minho still frowning as he stirred some rice in a pan.
He stayed there, safely hidden away behind the wall until Minho noticed him. the frown disappeared for a second to make place for a sweet smile and Jisung dared to come out of hiding, waddling closer to Minho.
‘’What are you making?,’’ Jisung asked as he eyed the pan. He could pretty much figure out the answer by himself but he was trying to keep the topic away from what happened earlier.
‘’Kimchi fried rice,’’ replied as he turned back to the pan, stirring a bit before smiling at Jisung again, ‘’With cheese,’’
Jisung found himself smiling shyly because he knew that Minho thought cheese with kimchi was a combo made by the devil himself – something about tainting the purity of great Korean dishes – so it wasn’t all that difficult to figure out the older had added it just because Jisung liked it so much.
The rest of Minho cooking was spend in silence and before Jisung knew it, he was munching away and occasionally humming as Minho told him this random story about one of his cats back home.
‘’Can you please explain to me?,’’ Minho mumbled after the end credits stopped rolling across the screen, slumping back into the couch.
Jisung pulled up his legs to sit cross-legged before he scraped his throat and took a steady inhale, breathing out slowly after a couple of seconds.
For a little bit, he had forgotten why he was here and had let himself get lost in the superhero movie Minho had put on but now that it had ended, he figured Minho wanted his answers.
Jisung repeated his meticulous breathing a few more times before he felt okay enough to come clean, he guessed.
‘’They booked me, apparently,’’ He rushed out, cringing after admitting it.
Minho’s brow shot up as he turned to the side, pulling one leg up on the, ‘’What do you mean?,’’
Jisung let his eyes fall to his lap, finding himself fidgeting with a loose thread on the hem of the hoodie he was wearing. Minho wasn’t dumb so he had probably figured out already so he was probably asking just to make Jisung say it himself.
‘’I earn money by… b-by… you know…,’’
Jisung couldn’t get it passed his lips and he squeezed his eyes closed again, tightening his grip on the hem of the hoodie. It was silent and Jisung was already trying to prepare himself for the outburst but it never came.
Instead, he got pulled by his arms gently until he found himself pressed into Minho’s chest. He opened his eyes in surprise.
‘’What were you thinking?,’’ Minho breathed out, burying his face in the younger’s hair as he tightened his hold, ‘’What the actual fuck were you thinking?,’’
Jisung bit his lip and yet another tear escaped his eyes. He shuffled a bit until he was closer to the older, wrapping his arms around Minho’s torso.
‘’Why would you do that? Didn’t no one ever tell you that your body is precious? That you should treat yourself with respect?,’’ the older rambled, sounding distressed, ‘’I’m not here to judge your lifestyle but this isn’t you Sungie. You wouldn’t do this unless you had to so tell me why you would,’’
‘’Money,’’ Jisung mumbled out, ‘’Money, hyung,’’
There was another sigh, ‘’And how long have you been doing this?,’’
Jisung tensed up and Minho seemed to notice, pulling back to look him in the eye before reaching out and gently cupping his cheeks.
‘’I-I’m sorry hyung,’’ Jisung choked out, leaning into the touch, ‘’I’m r-really sorry,’’
‘’Oh sweetheart,’’ Minho cooed and normally Jisung would’ve hit him for that because he wasn’t a fucking baby, but he let it slide because he really needed it right now, ‘’Does anyone else know about this?,’’
Jisung nodded as Minho traced his thumbs over his cheekbones, ‘’Felix,’’
Then he got pulled into a hug again, the older whispering sweet nothings into his ear and the damn just burst.
‘’Hyung?,’’ Jisung whispered into the dark, not really sure if Minho was already asleep or not.
He got pulled closer and he snuggled into the older’s chest, letting out a relaxed sigh.
‘’What is it baby?,’’ Minho lowly mumbled, running his fingers through the younger’s hair.
Jisung was glad that the room was pitch-black before he was sure he flushed, ‘’You really aren’t mad?,’’
Minho chuckled softly, ‘’Not at you so don’t worry and just go to sleep. We will sort things out tomorrow,’’
Jisung hummed and let his eyes close.
‘’Thank you hyung. Love you,’’
‘’Any time Sungie,’’ Minho whispered, pressing a kiss to his temple, ‘’And I love you more,’’