Donghae felt his cheeks heat up as he walked into the building, and he had to remind himself not to grin like an idiot; it was his habit when he was embarrassed. Not that he had anything to be embarrassed about. He was only walking into an establishment called “The Dungeon” for s sake. Donghae groaned to himself and beat down the twitch pulling at the corner of his lips. The whole point of coming here was to prove he wasn’t embarrassed. He could be a badass if he wanted to be.

It was impossible to tell from the outside, since the building didn’t have any visible windows, but the establishment was aptly named. The owner had gone out of their way to stick to a dungeon theme. The walls were all dark stone, there was the sound of dripping water from somewhere, and the lighting was strategically placed so that it was dim and mysterious except in a few areas where it was obviously needed to conduct business. Despite the ominous décor, the place was reasonably busy. At least, Donghae guessed that it was reasonably busy, since he’d never been in a place like this before and therefore had no ing clue. Looking around, he avoided making eye contact with the staff, until he found one that looked safe enough to talk to.

The man had his back to Donghae, but he seemed the least intimidating of all the employees. He was wearing black skinny jeans, an oversized white button-up shirt, and he was the only one in the shop without colored hair. “Uh, excuse me?” Donghae mumbled. The man turned around and Donghae’s jaw almost hit the floor. He had made a tactical error. This man was not safe at all! Yes, he was wearing black skinny jeans, but they were ripped and torn to show more leg than they hid, and yes he was wearing an oversized white button-up shirt, which perfectly hid the fact that he was wearing a bright red collar around his neck, and yes he had black hair, but he also had smoky black eye makeup and red tint smudged on his lips! And that wasn’t all, no no no. The collar around his neck was attached to a ing metallic leash, which hung down the front of his chest and tinkled against the glass countertop, and when he pushed up the sleeves on his oversized shirt, Donghae caught a glimpse of handcuffs that the man was wearing as bracelets. And tint wasn’t the only thing gracing his lips. He also had an offset piercing on his bottom lip. The delicate steel hoops curving around his plush red lip was so hot it took Donghae some effort not to stare at it.

“Hi, my name is Hyukjae. How can I help you?”

, , . It would look weird if he ran out of the shop, right? Running away was definitely not something a badass would do, so instead, he responded with a fat grin and a nervous, slightly psychotic, chuckle. "Are you like… bait?" Another nervous habit of his was to blurt out every thought that popped into his head.

Hyukjae arched an amused eyebrow at the handsome new customer. "Bait?"

"Yeah. Are you trying to advertise that people can be as attractive as you if they get their tattoos and piercings here?"

"So, you think I'm attractive?" Hyukjae asked the straightforward brunet.

"Don't be coy. You're obviously attractive." Another nervous chuckle.

Hyukjae grinned and looked the brunet over from head to toe. If anyone could be called obviously attractive it was this guy. He had classic good looks and an expressive boyish face. He was short, but so was Hyukjae, and he obviously put in some time at the gym. His clothes were fashionable, but not flashy, which gave him an aura of confidence and further emphasized his timeless beauty. He was the textbook definition of an Adonis. "And you're stunning. Maybe you should be our bait."

"But I don't have any piercings or tattoos."

Hyukjae chuckled and shook his head at the adorably dense brunet. "Is this going to be a catch and release situation?"

"Huh?"

"If I’m the bait, then you’re the catch, right? So, what did I just catch? Did I catch someone that has business here or someone that's just admiring the bait?"

"Oh! I don't want a tattoo." Hyukjae looked at him with curiosity and confusion. The Dungeon was a tattoo parlor after all. "What I mean is, you caught someone that needs a piercing. How many piercings do you have?” Donghae asked out of curiosity.

“Only a few. I prefer tattoos.”

Donghae couldn’t see any tattoos and he only saw one piercing, the lip piercing. He couldn’t help but wonder where the rest of Hyukjae’s piercings were hiding. “Any on your ?” he blurted out. He immediately regretted the question and mentally cursed at himself and his stupid nervous habit. One side of Hyukjae’s lips turned up in a y smirk, but he didn’t say anything, making the brunet even more curious. "Sorry, that was rude. I only asked because that's why I came here."

"You came here to ask me about my ?" Hyukjae said with a grin.

"What?! No! I came to get mine pierced."

"Ahh, I see. How do you want it pierced? I can schedule an appointment for you."

"Uhh… with a needle?" As far as he knew, needles were the only way to get a piercing. Had science come up with another way to pierce a ? Were lasers an option? Would a laser be better or worse than a needle?

Hyukjae looked up from his appointment book and gave the brunet a flat stare. "Do you know anything about piercing?"

"Not really," Donghae admitted sheepishly. He could see that Hyukjae was about to give him a lecture, which the brunet rightly deserved, but it was also ironic considering the artist’s submissive attire. Donghae fully understood that it wasn’t normal for someone to have a poker shoved through their on a whim, so he quickly gave the artist an explanation. “I lost a bet, so now I need to get my dic- uh, my s pierced."

"I see… Well, there is more than one way to pierce a ," Hyukjae said with a grin. "Was the bet specific on the type of piercing?"

"Uhh… no. Just the location…"

Hyukjae nodded. He pulled out a catalog and carefully walked Donghae through the different types of piercings, the pros and cons of each one, and other relevant information.

"I didn't realize there were so many… How am I supposed to choose?"

"Most people come in knowing why they want a piercing. Whether it's for looks or function-"

"Function?"

"Yeah. For example, if you have a kink..." He flipped the page to show Donghae some examples and the brunet's face flushed a fiery red. Hyukjae grinned and flipped back to the beginning of the catalog. “You should start with something simple. A frenum piercing through the bottom of your shaft. It’s more like a pinch than a piercing, but your girlfriend will still appreciate it.”

“I’m gay.” Donghae snapped his mouth shut. Why did he say that?! Hyukjae had been so professional as they went through the catalog together that Donghae’s nervousness had completely disappeared, so he couldn’t blame his habit. It was just that they had been talking so casually about his , something that should have been personal and intimate, that he forgot there were still other boundaries he shouldn’t cross.

“Your boyfriend then,” Hyukjae said with another one of those mysterious and y smiles.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

"Hmm… Well, that's probably a good thing, since you can't have while the piercing heals." Donghae frowned at the news but didn't seem surprised by it. "You can't even e." Donghae's frown turned into a look of surprise laced with a hint of panic, which amused the artist, but he still wanted a bigger reaction. "A frenum piercing can take up to six months to heal."

"What?!" Donghae snapped.

Hyukjae grinned, pleased with the brunet's explosive reaction. “No ion or for six months.”

"That's not even possible! I don’t want a frenum piercing." Donghae started flipping through the catalog again and this time he focused on the fine print under each piercing. "Okay. I know which one I want…"

"You do?!" It was Hyukjae's turn to be surprised. It wasn't professional to tease the customers and usually he spent his time trying to reassure them, not scare them off. But Donghae didn’t seem like he actually want