“M-Myungsoo.” He stuttered as though he had done something wrong.

The said man smiled as he saw Sungyeol murmur sweet words to his bear only a moment ago.

“How are you?” It became a routine to be the first sentence he’d ask, whenever he greeted the latter.

He nodded, “Good.” Although it was a routine, Myungsoo was shocked. It had been the routine for him to ask and the other looking down, refusing to answer.

He let out a grin, “That’s good.” He replied, walking to the bed and sitting down.

“Let’s play a game.” He said. Sungyeol looked up in confusion.

“From now on, whenever you don’t understand something that I say or do, I want you to tug on my shirt. Just like this.” He said, tugging on the hem of Sungyeol’s shirt, “Is that okay?”

He nodded.

“That’s great!” He smiled. “Now, I have this box.” He said, pulling the large box onto the bed. He saw the other look at it with slight fear. “It contains everyday items. Tell me which ones you know, alright?”

Sungyeol nodded after a few seconds of hesitation.

He picked up the first item. “Paper.” Sungyeol whispered. Myungsoo nodded, placing it on the bed before picking up the next item.

“An apple.”

“Good job.” He smiled.

~

His master soon lifted up a strange device. It had a similar shape as what he had called a spoon, however this was wooden and much larger, and had little spikes poking out of the oval area.

“This is a brush.” His master informed.

A brush. He saw him lift the object to his head, before running it down his hair. “It’s to get rid of the knotty bits.” He said.

More and more unfamiliar and peculiar objects came out of the box. He would definitely have a difficult time remembering it all, but he was determined to remember them nonetheless.

Soon enough, his master brought out a large board. It contained many symbols. Strange symbols that he had seen everywhere, but could never understand.

“These are words. Or letters.” He says. “I’ll teach you some of them. After this, you can write and read.” He smiled.

Learning how to read and write made him excited. He had never had this privilege before. To stop his excitement from showing, he bit his lower lip and looked down.

“Thank you, Myungsoo.” He said, politely.

~

Myungsoo closed his eyes, letting out a quiet exhale. He hadn’t known how hard it was to teach someone to read. It wasn’t as though Sungyeol refused to learn, or that he was a slow learner. Not at all. The latter was enthusiastic. He tried to remember everything that was said, but having only learnt all the letters in less than an hour, it would have been difficult for anyone.

He understood that, which was why he had no right to get mad. He was just a very impatient person.

“I’m sorry.” Sungyeol muttered, obviously noticing Myungsoo’s irritation.

“No, I’m not mad. I’m just a bit tired.” He lied.

“Would you like to sleep?”

Myungsoo nodded, “I probably need some.”

“You can sleep here, if you want.” He whispered back. He sat up, placing the board filled with letters gently on the floor before shuffling over to the obviously distracted Myungsoo. He proceeded to taking off the other’s coat, making the other jerk back in shock.

“W-What are you doing?”

“I’m sorry!” He replied, after he realised what he was doing. “I thought that it would be more comfortable if you slept without a coat on.”

“O-Oh. Sorry. I thought you were going to do something else.” Myungsoo muttered.

“No. I understand how master doesn’t like it when I pleasure him.” He whispered.

It had clicked to him now, that the two of them were having a conversation. Something that they had never had before. Although it wasn’t anything interesting or important, it had thrilled Myungsoo that they were making progress to get closer to each other.

He smiled, “Hey, don’t be sad. Let’s not talk about that, alright? I’m not a huge fan of that… pleasuring stuff. I’d rather sleep or play games.”

“Games?”

Myungsoo nodded, “Maybe I’ll teach you one day. They’re fun to play.”

Sungyeol smiled softly and nodded, “Okay.”

It had been a little over 2 months since Sungyeol stayed with Myungsoo, and he was glad and proud to say that he could finally see progress and a small connection forming between the both of them.

The thought brought a smile to Myungsoo’s face as he laid peacefully on the bed he hadn’t slept on for 2 months. He had missed this bed. How soft and comfortable it was compared to his hard leather sofa. But he would never complain about it, because he refused to accidentally break the connection that was slowing building between them.

~

His master fell into a slumber beside him. He slowly lifted the whiteboard from the floor and placed it gently on his lap. He pointed to each word, whispering out the words that his master had recently taught him, before copying the of each symbol with his finger on his palm.

After completely memorising two whole lines, he smiled excitedly at his bear.

“I know this bit.” He whispered to his bear, gesturing the first two lines, “Maybe one day, when I’m as good as master, I can teach you too.” He continued.

He had been practising for a long time. He was getting better at remembering each symbols, but the more symbols he remembered, the more his mind flashed back to the life he had only 2 months ago.

2 months ago, where he knew none of this.

2 months ago, where all he knew was pleasuring.

2 months ago, where he thought that there weren’t any kind people in this world.

Everything had changed since he had met Myungsoo.

He bit his lower lip. He had grown accustomed to calling his master Myungsoo. What if they come in one day and see his carelessly calling his master by his first name? They won’t be happy.

But his master won’t be happy at him for calling him ‘Master’ either.

He just prayed that hopefully his master could protect him from the evil that lied right outside their door.

Hopefully, his master would never hurt him.

But that was just a selfish request. After all, despite his new name and identity, in the end, he was still 1-3-0-7-2-7.

In the end, he was still a slave.

Okay so this is short and i ended it off with a really depressing note... Forgive me T~T 

Hope you enjoyed nonetheless!

Till next time! Stay safe and well :)