dogshitjay

80: Ghost

They broke up the next day. Well, not so much broke up as Inho just left. Ran away. Ghosted was probably the right word, he mused. Was he the ghost? He felt like one: brittle and hollow, dead inside, like he might blow away in a gust of wind. His rambling thoughts were interrupted by the crackle of an airport loudspeaker, “Flight 683 to Seoul is now boarding all passengers, please proceed to the gate.”

With a sigh, he hefted his duffle bag onto his shoulder– the same one he’d br...

79: Love?

Stephen was coming to get him. Inho’s legs bounced with nervous energy, and he was sweating slightly in his sweater. The call had been brief; Stephen had simply asked where he was and told him to wait inside. Did that mean he was going to come into the cafe? That was good, Inho didn’t want their reunion to be in the car. God, it had been so good to hear his voice. He chewed his lower lip in anticipation.

There weren’t a lot of other people in the cafe, just two staff members clean...

78: Coffee Shop Woes

Inho left the lecture hall feeling wrung dry. Despite being stressed and upset, the test had gone fine. Not because he’d studied well (though he had) but because he’d learned English as a child and despite his accent, he spoke it near perfectly.

If he hadn’t just gotten in a fight with Jasmine, the test would have gone better, but the entrance standards for this school weren’t that high anyway. Tired and lacking any sense of accomplishment, he slogged to the campus cafe to try a...

77: Cheaters Gonna Cheat

Inho paused from singing to catch his breath. Jasmine grinned at him, still belting along with the music. They were speeding down the highway, 20km over the speed limit, shouting along with an angry pop song. Inho took a sip of his too sweet too creamy coffee, and the song ended. Jasmine turned the volume down.

“Feeling better?”

Inho blew air into his cheeks, then out, “I was fine already.”

“Yeah right, and that’s why I’m the one driving you instead of your fan...

76: Clear Headed

Stephen sagged, sighing and reaching for the chair he’d knocked over, “You’re such an asshole.”

“I know,” Chris chirped, “We made each other this way. But hey, I’ll still cheer for you. Maybe you’ve changed.” When Stephen quirked a skeptical eyebrow, he continued, “Indulge my curiosity though, what it is it about this guy? That’s got you railing at the world, wasted on a work night?”

Stephen pushed a hand through his wet hair, scattering droplets on his s...

75: What You've Sown

“Fuuuuuck,” Stephen dragged his palms over his face, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Chris was lying on the bed next to him, face propped on his fist, smiling from ear to ear.

“Honey, is that how you’re going to talk to me after last night?”

Stephen froze, “What happened last night?”

Chris dragged his teeth over his lower lip, “It was just like old times.”

Stephen rolled to grab his phone, it was 6AM. He wasn’t late, he had hours befor...

74: Dead Leaves

Inho plucked a dead leaf from the vine that hung beside his bed. It was struggling lately, and he wasn’t sure why. It had grown several feet since he’d got it, why was it suddenly dying? He considered another yellowing leaf, then snapped it off with regret. He’d have to google it. Was it just the changing of the seasons? What made a perfectly happy plant give up?

Stop being so existential, he thought and sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. Over the last two days...

73: Helplessness

In the backseat of his car, still hard inside his lover, Stephen began to panic. Inho’s terrible sobs seemed impossibly loud – gut-wrenching and hopeless. This was not a normal sub drop reaction. Events reoriented in Stephen’s mind: Inho’s recklessness, his aggression. Nothing about this encounter had been normal. A fear he could not yet attribute gripped his chest, cold fingers squeezing his heart.

He pulled Inho’s hands away from his face, cupping his wet cheeks, “No, no b...

72: Raw

Content Warning: This chapter includes unsafe BDSM practices that should not be replicated in any way. NSFW 18+

“Here?” Stephen’s voice was low and husky in Inho’s ear, holding all the desperation of love masquerading as lust. They were in the back seat of the car, pressed together, their urgent hands and mouths busy already.

“Here,” Inho confirmed, already unbuckling his jeans. He needed this so much – the skin to skin connection and the in...

71: Midnight Picnic

This chapter contains sexual content. NSFW 18+ readers please.

Inho peered out of the rain-spattered window. There were no streetlamps here, but he could see trees and shapes that looked like boats in the dark. “Where are we?”

“A picnic spot.”

“What?”

Stephen got out of the car and was fussing with something in the backseat, so Inho got out and joined him. It was cold, but it had stopped raining.

Stephen emerged with a large basket and a blan...

70: Drive

Stephen deftly navigated them out of the downtown core. The streets were quiet, as if all the city’s denizens were hiding from the rain on a cold Monday night.

Inho sat silently and picked at a hangnail. He’d be damned if he was starting the conversation after all that.

Stephen was uncharacteristically fidgety and scraped his teeth against his lower lip, holding in the words he’d fought so hard to share.

Inho’s patience ran out. “Well?” He turned to Stephen, “A...

69: Get Hit?

Inho sat on the edge of a booth and leaned his head against the leather. He’d popped by the restaurant to tell Nathan he could start work again next week, but it was really just an excuse to hang out with Jasmine. Inho was lonely.

Not responding to Stephen’s texts meant spending Sunday and most of Monday alone, and by evening, he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Well?” Jasmine asked, lifting a chair onto a table to sweep underneath, “What happened with the boy?”

“U...

68: Talk Shit

By noon, Inho still hadn’t replied, so Stephen agreed to get brunch with Chris and Blaire to take his mind off it. The hangover persisted, and when he and Connor joined the others at a packed brunch spot, the clink of cutlery and cheerful patron chatter pounded in Stephen’s skull. Connor insisted on wearing sunglasses indoors to hide his puffy eyes from the night before.

“How do you have a hangover, aren’t you like twelve?” Chris demanded jovially, jostling Connor’s arm as h...

67: Hungover

Stephen blinked awake to a hand resting on his cheek. He expected Inho – it wasn’t. Connor was sprawled next to him, somehow taking up 75% of the bed despite being about five inches and 40lbs smaller than him. He plucked the sleeping youth’s hand off his face and crawled off the end of the bed to avoid waking him.

It was late morning, and he was still wearing the same rumpled clothes from the night before. Drunk-Stephen had just dumped Connor on the bed and crawled in to pass out ...

66: A Secret

Adrenaline coursed through him on the ride down the elevator – a hot nauseous wave of frustrated energy. Inho needed to get out of there before he did or said something he’d regret.

He didn’t feel remorse over what he’d already said exactly, but he might tomorrow when he was sober. He wasn't that drunk yet, but his joints had that loose dopey feeling forewarning that it hadn’t fully hit him yet. Why did everything go so wrong? He felt so foolish for looking forward to tonight....

65: Boiling Over

Stephen dropped the hem of Inho’s sweater and returned his stare, “Why are you being so rude?” he demanded, shocked.

Inho didn’t answer, just slapped his hand away, and stormed back to the dinner table.

“He seems nice,” Alanna said around a sip of wine.

“Shut up, Alanna,” Stephen shot back and followed Inho back to the table.

He sat next to Inho, who was studiously looking at his phone. Stephen checked the screen. Inho was just scrolling through his app...

64: Drunk

In the kitchen, Stephen was opening and closing cupboard doors as if the wine were hiding somewhere mysterious and not sitting plainly on the granite countertop.

Inho picked it up and started picking at the foil around the cap, “I’ve got it, you just keep me company, ‘kay drunky?”

Stephen laughed and glued himself to Inho’s back, making figuring out the bottle opener even harder, “I’m not drunk!” he announced and buried his face in Inho’s neck.

The lighting...

63: Your Mom

At dinner, Stephen held Inho’s hand under the table while he talked to his friends, and squeezed it frequently accompanied by small secret smiles. He was drinking a lot of wine at Chris’ persuasion, and Inho couldn’t help but adore this softer version of him.

He was so used to Stephen being perfectly composed. Except for that one time when they’d yelled their way into a relationship, Stephen showed his feelings through actions and tenderness, but he never spoke them. He was a ve...