Until Whenever

Chapter Two

Ji Yong had plenty of time to think about what he was going to do as he slept in the couch and woke up with a slight chill to his bones. He sneezed all through the morning until he got himself a hot shower, and dressed in warm fashionable clothes as he got ready for work. Today his sister would be waiting for him to discuss his new idea for the new clothes line, as well as have the meeting for his presentation.

Like normal, Ji Yong stressed to himself as he got himself a quick breakfast of rice, vegetable, meat and rushed out the door with coffee in hand. Only to join the honest lot of morning traffic.

 Like Normal. He grudgingly reminded himself as he glared at the slow car moving in front of him, hoping that his hard core gaze would burn it to a crisp so he could get to where he needed to be faster. He blamed the traffic on Young Bae.  

When he had been living the club life, getting out of the house early in the morning was never an issue. His day didn’t start until eight in the evening- but that was because the club had to be open by Nine for party people and when Teddy owned it getting there when he wanted wasn’t an issue. The club was also usually filled with people late into the night, and early morning hours of three and four.

Now Ji Yong reflected on how he added to the morning traffic, following rows of what were people trying to get to work for a candid day of pay. Even with the coffee he found himself yawning several times until he made it to his work building, and yawning even more as he met up with his older sister who giggled at him and immediately handed him another cup of coffee, while trying to comb his messy hair with her fingers.

“Good morning, Ji Yong-ah,” His sister, Dami gently greeted.

Ji Yong swallowed the coffee in his mouth and nodded his head, “Morning noona,”  

“Ready to pitch your new idea?” Dami asked him, placing both her hands on her hips. Ji Yong nodded his head swallowing more coffee, before handing it over to his sister once more. He reached into his bag and pulled out a white presentation folder. Dami immediately snatched it from him and scanned through the new clothing design. “Omo, how did you come up with this line?” she asked, amazed by the drawings and styles.

“I just thought about what I would want to wear,” Ji Yong murmured, taking his coffee back. His mind was always rushing with ideas. It wasn’t hard to place together a few clothing. It was the question if others would like them or if they would pass the president’s standards that really made it difficult.

“I think the board is going to love these” Dami smiled, confidently.

“They had better,” Ji Yong muttered darkly. After all, in his mind, he didn’t get up early for anyone to put up with their bull . Ji Yong had started to walk in the direction of his office, when Dami pulled his arm, and dragged him to the other direction, towards the meeting room.

“The meeting is now little brother,” she said, opening the door. There were several old men and women already sitting around- as well as the president. They seemed to be discussing things about last night’s presentation. Ji Yong nearly glared daggers at president Yang, but took his seat at the end, and tried hard to keep himself from burying his head into his hands. He couldn’t help but to think that the meetings, and all the pre planning that went for every line was so boring.

This is like normal, Ji Yong reminded himself a third time.

“Where is Young Bae?” President Yang asked when he saw that Ji Yong had entered alone. To the president only seeing one in the meeting was strange.

Ji Yong was about to make a witty remark when the door opened, and Young Bae rushed inside, glaring daggers towards Ji Yong. The pink haired male threw him a flirty smirk, before leaning back into his chair, self smug and satisfied to see his mowhawked ex lover so frazzled.

Oh yes, he completely and deliberately forgot Young Bae this morning.

No doubt that Young Bae had to call up one of their friends, from the club that he so wanted to leave behind, to give him a ride. Yes, there was no doubt that he would get one. But seeing that he could potentially be late, and miss this meeting, Young Bae had had to panic. “Sorry,” Young Bae apologized, bowing to the president. The president waved him off, and then continued to look around the room before deciding to start the meeting. Once a meeting was started, there was no one else that was allowed to enter the room.

Young Bae walked to his seat, and nearly jabbed his elbow into Ji Yong’s pretty face, but the pink haired man was quick to stop his arm- like he had always been quick enough to always read his moves. Young Bae sat down, and felt his heart stop when Ji Yong leaned close to him, and his hot breath ghosted over his neck. “Payback is a , don’t expect me to go around making you any favors,” Ji Yong whispered to him, his eyes narrowed in a way that reminded Young Bae that this man was as sadistic as they came. “I’ll make sure to pay you back in full for what you’ve done,” and then Ji Yong was looking towards the president.

As if nothing had just happened.

As innocent as the angel he pretended to be.

Young Bae remembered to breathe again, and glanced at the president who was talking about certain issues. He wanted to concentrate, really, but his mind wouldn’t leave the pink haired man.  He had forgotten that Ji Yong owned such a side. Lately all Ji Yong had been was a weeping and apologizing sulk ball that he could nearly label as pathetic. To see the dangerous glint in Ji Yong’s eyes once again, made a cold shiver run down his spine- one of dread because- curse him but he was weak for that side.

He couldn’t allow Ji Yong to get to him.

“With the success of both clothing line, I expect that you have come up with something completely new, Ji Yong,” Yang turned his head to the pink haired male. “Come up here,” Ji Yong stood up, his Presentation folder in hand. Young Bae’s mouth went dry as Ji Yong walked with the confidence of a pure feline, one of fine caliber and deadly.

He tried to keep himself from panting like a in heat, and clenched his teeth. His hands became fists as his eyes flicked to what was going on in front. President Yang took the folder from Ji Yong, and looked through it until a pleased look went over his face.

Young Bae bit into his lower lip as his gaze shifted to the folder, feeling nervous. He and Ji Yong hadn’t had much time to actually finish much of the designs. He already had a feeling that they were going to be badly chewed out.

“These are incredible,” President Yang suddenly said, making Young Bae’s eyes widen a bit.

“Thank you sir,” Ji Yong said, smiling as he pointed to what was in the folder “for this fall I was going for a black and white style and keeping it simple but not to be too brash on just colors. I had to make sure it was cool. The lion patterns seem to add flare,” Ji Yong pointed to another one of his designs. Yang hung on his every word, before showing the drawing off to the rest of the people in the meeting.

Young Bae clenched his teeth when one of the designs made it towards him.

That was not one of their designs. What was going on? He turned to Ji Yong but the man was once more explaining another design “I would call this my One Of A Kind, line.” Ji Yong proudly said. There were claps and approvals going all around. He felt completely out of place as everyone started to say ideas about what else Ji Yong could add to his new designs. What else could be improved on, and how the style could be even more unique. Ji Yong didn’t usually like when they tried to change what he had in mind, but this time he didn’t even argue- and right on the spot incorporated every idea until he had something new without his other designs being touched.

Everyone was satisfied at the end of the meeting, but Young Bae was not.

When everyone left, Young Bae grabbed Ji Yong’s arm to keep him back. Dami called to Ji Yong, but the he told her that he would catch up with her later. She obviously took it as if he had something important to discuss with Young Bae in private. The pink haired man yawned, and raised an eyebrow at Young Bae as soon as his sister was gone; he had been expecting this after all. “What?” he asked.

“What was that all about? This is none of the designs that we came up with,” Young Bae shook the white presentation folder, clearly showing his frustration.

Ji Yong sighed, shrugging his shoulders, “I left the Solar project in your room, I think you and I need to split our work for a while.” Ji Yong said, pulling his arm back.

“But we were nearly done with that project; we just needed a few little things!” Young Bae argued.

“You’re not finished, I took the designs that I had contributed. You are on your own for this one,” Ji Yong looked at him with a dead serious face.

“Ji Yong,” Young Bae looked crushed. Ji Yong held his feelings tight, and shrugged. He didn’t care. “That project was-”

“I’m going to take up Dong Wook’s offer, and save the club. Once that is done, and have you completely written off as part owner, then maybe we can work together again- but not now” Ji Yong rushed through, cutting Young Bae in anything that he had to say. Frankly, Ji Yong didn’t want to hear anything that Young Bae would have to say.

Young Bae gaped, before he sneered, “Dong Wook made you an offer? And what makes you think that anyone would allow you to be a master again?” he hissed, “Face it Ji Yong, your reputation was tarnished. Why can’t you accept a normal life?”

“In case you haven’t noticed there was nothing like that going on anymore. We had left the underground world. There was no need for me to be a master. Now you’re the one that placed me right back in the middle of it!” Ji Yong snapped at him, “I was, and have been leading a normal life! What’s not normal about owning a regular club” Ji Yong glared at Young Bae.  

“I just wanted to see if you had grown past it.” Young Bae defended. “I’m not stupid, I could see that you were still addicted to that kind of life. I feared that you might end up caving in and going back to it. I had to make you let go of it completely!”

“By betting off my club without my knowing” Ji Yong snapped, before he shook head. He needed to lower his voice. Someone could be eavesdropping. But he was so mad at Young Bae. Wasn’t the crushing guilt that he carried in his heart enough already- now this- “Look, I won’t argue with you on this issue anymore, after all, you are right. This is my problem. I won’t drag you back into something that hurt you, because I do care about you despite you not believing in my feelings,” Ji Yong seriously said.

“Ji Yong,” Young Bae whispered, feeling a bit guilty. “I still care about you as well. Why can’t you let the club go? I’m trying to get you to let go of that- we can live without having to remember such a disgusting past.”

“Teddy was a friend, he trusted his club to me. I can’t let him down, even if he is dead,” Ji Yong whispered in return, shaking his head. Why couldn’t Young Bae at least understand that! He then got to his feet, “Think whatever you ing want, I won’t let it end like this.” Ji Yong hastily grabbed his things, intending to leave.  

Young Bae got to his feet as well, following Ji Yong, reaching him before he made it to the door and grasping his arm, “What do you have planned! You will be humiliated…you…you did the unthinkable!”

Ji Yong harshly snapped his arm back, “that’s none of your concern,” he hissed, and opened the door. “ off Bae; I don’t want to see you right now,”

Young Bae was about to reach for Ji Yong once more, but the door was slammed to his face before he could. “Damn,” Young Bae hissed, kicking the carpet underneath him. “,” he knew that it was none of his business, but still.

He worried over his ex lover, his friend- Kwon Ji Yong…

---

Dong Wook was annoyed.

He had been trying to reach his younger brother for the past two hours, and he had yet to get an answer. Glancing out of his office to the club, he could see the staff having everything deeply cleaned, as well as the remodeling getting into process. Teddy had designed the club as a dual. An innocent club at the front to keep image, and at the back, in the private VIP area, was something else darker and sinful.

The structure of the club was simple. A two faced placed where the front club was nothing but a cover up. The stage had been moved from the other level, the one that was hidden underneath the club. The ground level was wide, and none reported to federal laws of land. There was an underground club, where the stage, as well as several seats, nearly theatrical, but soft, for pleasures, and pillows, throws, and blankets everywhere.

In the secluded area, where beside the bathroom, there were four in the upper level, beside a staircase that led to the underground level. These rooms were used to take a momentary break, or have a private moment with someone, nothing to graphic. Then there were ten other rooms in the underground, that anyone could rent with pleasure ‘slaves’ or just to get off with their own girlfriends or boyfriends. Whichever way you swung, in that place it didn’t matter.

That is what was known as the underground.

 The anticipation was thick in the air though, and Dong Wook could nearly feel his own body shiver with it.

Others would think that this was sick. But theirs was not the only club that owned a dual face like this. There were several others- and each of them were going to be in the competition that was soon going to be taking place.

Four months from now, such a short time, Dong Wook thought to himself, when suddenly his phone rang, and brought him back to it. “Finally,” he said as he answered, and grinned to himself when a deep voice huffed on the other end. He could already hear the pout in that voice that he adored. “Baby brother, I have a favor to ask of you,” he said, cutting off anything that his complaint that said brother would have about receiving a call from him, of all people.

After all, in the end, Dong Wook could only tell his brother to consider this.

But the rest would be up to Ji Yong, if he could persuade him and seal the deal.

“What is it?” The voice in the other end asked, “I was in the middle of a good dream,”

“I see your preference for sleeping, besides having have not change,” Dong Wook joked.

“Sleep is a given thing, you can never have too much of it,” the other end replied. “Did you just call to wake me up?”

“Huh, no, I called for a favor actually.” Dong Wook pursed his lips when his brother grunted in response to that, “Do you remember Kwon Ji Yong?” he asked. The other end fell silent. Did he hang up? “Seung Hyun?”

“…Yeah. What about him?”

Dong Wook knew his brother would remember the young dragon. Even if they were never friends, and only saw each other every now and then, Dong Wook had the hunch that Seung Hyun did remember him. “Well, his club has been set in a bet, and entered into the club games. I was wondering if you would take him as your pet or something and see if you could compete with him. I’m sure you heard about his reputation.”

“I don’t care.”

“I didn’t think you would, but…”

“This has got nothing to do with me. I will not participate in club games,”

“Seung Hyun, I know that you are happy with just working as a training master, but please, as a favor…”

“I owe no one anything. Besides, I don’t know Kwon Ji Yong that well,”

 “Let me have him come down and talk to you,” Dong Wook asked. “I’m pretty sure that he can persuade you,”

“Dong Wook I…”

“I know that you rather not involve yourself even deeper than you already have. I know that when it comes to a full crowd, and judges that you feel self conscious about what you are doing. But you are great…” Dong Wook took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince of what here anymore. “Let Ji Yong come and speak to you,”

“He can come, but my answer will not change,” Seung Hyun sternly said.

“Got it,” Dong Wook said. At least he was getting his baby brother to consider it.

“I’ll be at Red Sunset later tonight, have him come then. Bye.” Seung Hyun hung up before Dong Wook could say anything else, but at least he could count this as his foot in the door. All Ji Yong had to do now as work his charm.

Speaking of the dragon, Ji Yong suddenly walked into the club, looking at the new construction that was rapidly going on. The club was going to be closed for tonight, but tomorrow, it would be open full swing. Many already knew what was happening and the anticipation was also thick where it counted. “Hey Ji Yong,” he greeted, patting the pink haired man on the back.

“I…heard you talking to Seung Hyun,” Ji Yong blushed a bit. He knew next to nothing about Seung Hyun other than he was Dong Wook’s little brother and that he was and has always been handsome. Ji Yong didn’t know what Seung Hyun was doing anymore; he had not seen him since they were thirteen years old. Back then Seung Hyun had been going to a different school and would simply come around every now and then, seeing as he had no other place to go and his only family was Dong Wook.

Their parents lived in a different place in Korea, but Seung Hyun with his bad grades had been forced to move away with his older brother. Dong Wook had been freshly eighteen at the time, happily starting University life, and living high on Teddy-hyung’s dreams. Teddy, Hong Jun, was a year older than Dong Wook, but they had gone to the same high school. Ji Yong had already grown up with considering Hong Jun like an older brother, seeing as Dami would tutor Hong Jun and bring him along. Often times they met in a restaurant, where Hong Jun would sweet talk Dami and buy her a meal. Dong Wook met up with them there as well, and along with him always came Seung Hyun- the brooding teenager that Ji Yong was always too shy to talk to.

But he learned that Seung Hyun was sweet, even if he was silent and reserved, because that one time when he fell, Seung Hyun was there to make things better. It made him stop seeing him as someone that was mean and cold, and more human…

Then Ji Yong turned sixteen. At that time he was best friends with Young Bae, and the both of them were inseparable. Well, in their route to Hong Jun’s home, where they were hoping to get a ride to a concert, both of them stumbled in on both Teddy and Dong Wook kissing, and groping each other. Both he and Young Bae hid, they didn’t know why they did that, why they watched, why they felt aroused, guilt- and all of that.

Noting their quiet behavior for a week, Dami became worried and Hong Jun talked with them out of courtesy of her. Of course, both boys folded and admitted everything. That was when Hong Jun started to pull them into his world, and brought them into a world of and games- lights and pleasure.

Maybe it was because they trusted and admired Hong Jun that they took so easily to his world and allowed themselves to be immersed in it. The fact that they had lost their ity to a man and continued to have and crave more of it didn’t seem to matter. At least, gender never seemed to factor so long as they got their ends meet. It was a side of each of them that was brought out in such a way that neither could understand, but somehow accepted from the beginning.

At that point though, Ji Yong no longer saw Seung Hyun. In fact, he had not thought about him until Dong Wook mentioned him again. Funny, how easy it was to forget about him. Funny how life had changed for him ever since he turned sixteen…

“Yeah, but he doesn’t seem willing to help. I told him that you would go in person and talk to him,”

“He doesn’t have to help if he doesn’t want to,” Ji Yong sadly said.

“Ji Yong, I know my brother. Even if he says no right now, he could say yes. And you know what anyone else would say and do,” Dong Wook reminded.

Ji Yong nodded his head. “I know where I stand,” he took a deep breath. “Alright then, what would it take for me to get Seung Hyun to say yes?” he asked.

Dong Wook didn’t have a clue.

---

Choi Seung Hyun sighed as he got out of bed, no longer being able to fall asleep. It was still too early for him to be awake, but the phone call from his brother bothered him. Now there was a name that he didn’t think that he would ever hear again, Kwon Ji Yong.

Back when he had first met the boy, he had thought that he might be a girl. Ji Yong had pink hair, and very bright brown eyes. He was so beautiful, that Seung Hyun felt intimidated by his looks. There was just no way someone like Ji Yong would ever want to be friends with someone like him. Back then, that was what he thought.

Now though, he had no idea what Ji Yong looked like. Maybe he was different now. Maybe his looks had changed in a different direction. Although he could never imagine Ji Yong being ugly, his mind not for one moment could even imagine how much more beautiful the boy had become. Beautiful or not, after all, in the end, only his personality would matter. And even then, if he took him on as Dong Wook had requested, he doubted that it would work out.

Seung Hyun didn’t much care for club games. The only reason that he was even involved in this mess was because Dong Wook had encouraged him to come into this kind of world. Back then it had been about making money so they could get through the University. Now really, it was more about being hooked than anything else.

Seung Hyun had a degree in Psychology, and yes, he should probably be doing something with that degree. The thing was that he was making money, and he was getting , and he worked in the convenient time of night. He didn’t really need to use his degree or anything that he had learned in school.

He trained new pets, and graduated them to either new masters or let them become masters. He didn’t have to see anyone. He didn’t have to get attached. He live comfortably in his large villa. He had anything he could ever ask for- then why was his mind spinning at the sudden mention of Kwon Ji Yong. Why couldn’t he go back to sleep without feeling oddly frustrated?

Damn his brother.

Seung Hyun went to his bathroom, and decided to take a shower. As soon as he was done with that, he headed into the kitchen and decided to have something to eat. He glanced at the clock a few times, noting that it was already six in the afternoon, and yet, in his mind he was groaning over the fact that there was still two hours that he had to sleep. Or at least he should be asleep.

When he finished eating he sat down to watch some television.

From there Seung Hyun managed to doze off, finally managing to distract his mind, before his cell phone’s alarm went off, and grudgingly Seung Hyun pulled on his shoes, looking that he was properly dressed. Leather hot pants, and a black sleeveless shirt. Seung Hyun pulled his pastel colorful hoodie that looked large on him, and snatched his knew before walking out the door to his car.

He was ready to face another night of work.

And Kwon Ji Yong