♠︎ fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

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♠︎ YOU

"You having some problems there?" 

You glared at Jimin, who was smirking back at you as he walked on ahead. Huffing breathlessly, you tried to ignore the patch of sore skin on your ass, which twinged painfully with every step you took into the lush dense forest.

"I'm fine," you shot back, as if you hadn't just been wincing at the pain a moment earlier. Your calves were also now beginning to burn, as the four of you moved to the steeper part of the hike. It was cooler today, thankfully, and the canopy cover gave you respite from the sun, but still you felt as though every part of you was warm.

You cursed yourself for even suggesting this hike. It had been Namjoon who had backed it enthusiastically, and he wasn't even here! He and Yoongi had flown some producer in at the last minute for a meeting, so the two of them and Hoseok had remained in the house while you set off.

As soon as you did, Taehyung, Jin and Jungkook had shot off ahead on their longer legs, chatting happily about something, leaving you and Jimin to bring up the rear.

Literally.

Dragging your ass up this mountain was proving to be much harder than anticipated.

"I take it things got rough last night?" Jimin continued now, yet again seeming to have barely broken a sweat.

"I can handle it," you shot back grumpily. "Why - is it bringing back memories?"

"He was literally never rough with me," Jimin shrugged. "I mean - he'd order me around and stuff, but I just did whatever he wanted, usually. So, no."

"Weird," you muttered. If Jungkook wasn't like that with Jimin, did that mean he'd never done that before?

And if that was the case, why was he so fucking good at it?

Honestly, you really hadn't expected that from him yesterday. Sure, you had been winding him up constantly for days, and it's not that you hadn't expected him to snap sooner or later - it was the fact that he seemed to know exactly what he was doing in that moment that surprised you. For someone who claimed to have so little experience, he was controlled and desirous at the same time, knowing all the right words to say.

And the feeling of being spread out across that counter, his hardness pressed against your thigh as he'd brought his palm down again and again in a perfect mixture of pleasure and pain...

Yeah. It was no surprise to find yourself wet and throbbing with arousal after that. You'd been so worked up, in fact, that you'd had to excuse yourself for a little alone time in your room before dinner.

And that was worrying, because you two hadn't even had sex yet.

The thought that perhaps you'd bitten off a little more than you could chew here crossed your mind, but you dismissed it. So little Kookie was feeling more cocky than usual. And what? It was nothing you couldn't handle.

You saw Taehyung, Jungkook and Jin paused on a small crag a few yards ahead of you, waiting for you to catch up. By the time you reached them, you were visibly out of breath, and it wasn't helping that Jungkook was beaming down at you with a shit-eating grin you suspected he'd been wearing since yesterday afternoon. He held out a water bottle, and for a moment you considered pulling the same stunt as you did with the other one - but honestly, you didn't have the energy for another spanking today.

In a strange way, you had learned your lesson.

"I'll keep the patient company from here, Jimin, thanks," Jungkook said smugly as you sipped the water, sending Jin, Taehyung and Jimin on. "You guys go ahead."

Before you could protest at being left alone with him, they were gone.

"Patient?" you heard Taehyung ask Jimin as they set off ahead of you. "Is something wrong with her?"

If only he knew. 

"You're slow on the insults this morning," Jungkook remarked as you began to walk, a couple paces behind the other three. "Normally you're right out the gate with something sassy."

"Yeah, well, I'm currently more focused on climbing this bitch-ass mountain, Kookie, if you don't mind," you huffed. As if fate itself were intervening, your foot took that exact moment to lose grip and you stumbled a little, wincing at the pain that shot through the tender patch of skin on your butt.

Jungkook just laughed as you rubbed it.

"Aw, are you sore?" he cooed teasingly, eyes shining at you through raven curls that had escaped the rest of his waves. "Or just a sore loser?"

"If I kill someone up here, I wonder how long it would take them to find the body," you muttered to yourself, loud enough for him to hear it.

"Oh come on," Jungkook laughed easily, nudging your arm. "Let's just forget it, huh? I thought we were friends."

"Friends don't spank each other, Kookie," you rolled your eyes at him.

"No," he conceded, "but can't we just put that aside for a minute? We don't need to let that complicate things, do we?"

"Sex complicates everything," you told him, a twinge in your heart as you said it. "Trust me."

From the side of your eye, you saw Jungkook's mouth open with a question, but it lingered there, unasked. 

You knew what it would have been. 

"Well, okay then," Jungkook changed tack now as you continued your slow progress up the mountain. "Let's do something friends and fuck buddies would do. Let's... talk about something sexy!"

You snorted at him, at the way he said this like an excited child. "Like what?"

"To be honest I was hoping you would figure that bit out," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, his raven hair tousling in front of his face. Only four days into this holiday, it was already growing unruly, and you resisted the urge to reach out and brush it behind his ear.

"Okay..." you began slowly, shaking off the thought. "Well, now would actually be a great time to talk about boundaries. Safe words, and stuff. Before we actually do anything too hardcore."

"Safe words?" he stammered a little over the words, and you realised something.

"Have you not used one before?" you asked. He shook his head, a little bashfully.

You could barely believe the change in him. Only yesterday he'd had you bent over that counter, held under his grip and powerless, and now he was making doe eyes at you like a clueless toddler.

"That's cool," you brushed off, not wanting to shame him for being inexperienced. "We just have a word that either of us can use when things are getting a bit... much. Or if we wanna stop for whatever reason. Normally it's something that both of us can remember easily."

"Right," Jungkook nodded adorably, like a good student, glancing around at the trees. "I mean... how about maple?"

"Sure. Maple it is," you grinned. "Now tell me this, bunny - if you haven't used a safe word before, I take it you haven't explored any kinks."

"I mean... maybe, without intentionally meaning to, but not really," he rubbed the back of his neck again. You were learning this to be his telltale sign of feeling insecure. 

"Hey - don't worry, it's cool. I'm only asking you this to make sure you're comfortable with everything we're gonna do. I'm not judging you," you reassured him.

He gave you a grateful grin, and again you felt your heart warming a little at how cute it was.

"You don't have any kinks, then?" you clarified. He tilted his head to the side, worrying the lip ring between his teeth as he thought about it. 

"I have one," he admitted.

"Out with it, junior."

Jungkook sighed, knowing you wouldn't give up til he told you. "I like being called daddy," he muttered, looking away shyly at the end. 

You snorted. "As cute as that is, I will literally never, ever fucking call you that."

"Why not?" he whined, almost like a stroppy teenager. "Jimin does it! What's the matter, you don't like it?"

"I didn't say that," you clarified. In fact, you did like it. A lot.

But any good brat knows that you don't aim to please from the very beginning. That would be far too easy.

Jungkook seemed to catch on to what you were thinking, clenching his jaw a little, which you knew now he did whenever he was annoyed and aroused at the same time. "I'll have you screaming it eventually, just you wait."

The change in him nearly gave you whiplash. 

How did he go from some clueless vanilla bean to a sex-crazed demon in a matter of seconds?

And why did it turn you on so much all the damn time?

"So, now you know mine," Jungkook coughed a little, as if he too was struggling with how heated the conversation was becoming. "What's yours?"

"Oh no, I'm not telling you what turns me on," you grinned easily at him. "That would basically be giving you the cheat codes for beating me. You'll have to figure them out for yourself."

Jungkook blinked disappointedly, wide eyes rounding, but you patted his arm soothingly, chuckling.

"Don't worry, bunny boy," you said. "You're doing better than you think. You've worked one out already."

He looked confused for a moment, until he realised you were referring to his punishment yesterday. A triumphant sparkle glinted in his eye, and you suspected he had known all along that you had been enjoying it too.

"Okay," Jungkook replied. "Well... is there anything you don't wanna do, then? I mean.. besides the obvious no-nos. I'm not gonna, like, get out a knife or pee on you or anything like that."

"Thank you, oh benevolent one, for your kindness," you rolled your eyes at him.

"Fuck off. You know what I mean."

You smirked. "Well, I'm not really into like, the sex slave stuff. Or anything involving consensual non-consent - y'know, where one of us pretends to not be into it."

"Me neither," he agreed, but he was flushing red now. You knew he wasn't used to this - I mean, for god's sake, his only kink was being called daddy - but it was kind of cute, how inexperienced he was, and how embarrassing he was finding this whole thing.

"I don't think I'd be down for you putting anything in my butt until we've fucked at least a few times," you continued calmly, as if reciting a grocery list, seeing Jungkook nearly choke on his spit as you said it. "But... other than that, I'm down for anything."

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow, as though he couldn't believe it. "That's it?"

"Wait - there's one more," you remembered. "No kissing."

Jungkook's jaw dropped. "No kissing? You'll take it up the ass but you won't kiss me? Are you for real?"

You shrugged. "It's too intimate."

"But," Jungkook protested, "that's crazy. How are supposed to have sex without kissing?"

Truthfully, you weren't sure why you were imposing this rule. You'd never had this as a rule with any of your partners before, and actually, you rather enjoyed kissing. It was like an appetiser, before the main course.

The problem was, as you'd glanced at him sideways just now, in a black vest that showcased his tattoos beautifully, his wide doe eyes focused on you, his silver lip rings glinting on that handsome bunny grin... you were a tiny bit afraid. Afraid that kissing him would be too good, and you would become too attached.

And that really wasn't a place you wanted find yourself back in again so soon. 

"Look," Jungkook was saying now. "How about a deal? I'll kiss you once, and you can tell me if you don't wanna do it again."

You sighed in defeat, knowing Jungkook wasn't going to concede a defeat here. "Fine. One time."

His face lit up in that adorable bunny-grin once more. "You just wait. You won't even see it coming. It'll knock your socks off."

You gave him a patronising pat on the back. "Sure it will, junior."

As you kept moving up the mountain by his side, you had to admit, it was actually kinda nice to just talk to him like this without worrying about getting a one-up over him. Jungkook had always been easy to get along with despite his initial shyness, since you met him back when you were interviewing them years ago. And yes - he was right, you were friends, but this little truce was as far as your friendship would go.

He was probably doing this to impress someone, after all. And you were here to do a job. A job that would end in a little over five weeks, when you went back to Daegu and he went to Seoul. 

So for his sake and for yours, you didn't want to become close friends. Because it would hurt all the more to lose him afterwards.

"You're quiet all of a sudden," he observed, but you brushed him off.

"It's nothing," you lied. "I was just thinking about your daddy kink."

"Oh?" he waggled an eyebrow. "You coming round to it already?"

"I'd rather die," you informed him nonchalantly. "But I was thinking - does Jimin call you that?"

"Yeah," Jungkook sounded as if he were reminiscing fondly. "Back in the days when people just did what I said when I asked them to."

You smirked. "Where's the fun in that? Besides, if you ask me, Jimin's letting his inner brat out lately too."

"Fuck yeah," Jungkook chuckled. "Yoongi-hyung is gonna destroy him if he's not careful."

"Yeah," you agreed, smiling. "I don't think I'll be the only one limping around with a sore ass, put it that way."

Both of you burst out laughing at that.

The sound carried to fifty yards ahead of you and Jungkook, where Jimin and Taehyung were walking synchronously, Jin on the phone to his girlfriend a couple feet in front of them. Tinkling laughter echoed in their ears and they turned, observing you and Jungkook giggling, shoulders pressed together beneath the dense canopy of trees.

Taehyung's brow furrowed. "I didn't know they were such good friends."

Jimin snorted. "Oh yeah. They're friends, alright."

The words made Taehyung's stomach jolt in apprehension.

"What do you mean by that?" he pressed his friend, but Jimin just rolled his eyes.

"Nothing," Jimin shook it off. "It was a joke, TaeTae. Lighten up."

But Taehyung had known Jimin for a long time. Since high school. He'd shared rooms with him, seen every single emotion pass across his delicate features, and had learned to identify each of them in turn. He knew what the gentle downturn at the corner of his lips meant, the twitch in the crease of his eyelid.

Jimin was lying. 

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