Feeling nervous, Minho started walking back and forth a little. This wasn't like him. Normally he had nerves of steel. But it was very cold outside, the 7th of December and over the last few days it had snowed significantly. He should have worn his winter hat, but he was having an exceptionally good hair day, and he hadn't wanted to ruin it, which now felt stupid. But at least he was wearing his scarf and his leather gloves, and his very warm winter coat.

“Sorry!”

Minho turned around, following the sound of the sweet voice. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Jinki hurrying to him, wearing the same cute hat and mittens as seven days ago. Minho remembered them perfectly.

“Sorry I'm late, the bus was a bit...”

“Don't worry, it's fine.”

“So... the... uhm... event is over there, a five minute walk. But I was thinking, maybe we should grab a beer first?”

“Sure.” Honestly, Minho was kind of relieved. Although he was excited to go, it would be nice to start the evening slowly.

They entered a nearby bar that Jinki seemed to know well. It was quite crowded, even though it was early, probably everyone was relaxing after shopping for Christmas presents. They still managed to get a small booth by the window, and soon there were two big cans of beer in front of them. Minho took a sip, and looked out the window. It had started snowing again.

“I'm happy you came.” Jinki said sweetly.

Minho looked at him and smiled.

“I... Like I said, this one is a bit more hard core than the other one, so I thought sitting down and explaining things was probably better.”

“Mmh.” Minho took a sip of his beer and looked around. When he was sure that nobody was listening in, he added quietly: “In your text messages you mentioned... .”

“Yeah.” Jinki answered sheepishly. “Most of tonight is , , these kinds of things. But there weren't any softer events this weekend.”

Minho nodded. He was not into at all, but he still preferred going to an event tonight instead of waiting another week.

“It's not that bad, but it's a bit more... aggressive than the other one. Still, I was hoping just watching might be fun for you? And then you could do more... if you feel like it. We can always leave early if you don't like it.”

Minho just nodded. He did, however, notice how Jinki had said 'we can leave', instead of 'you can leave', like they were a package deal. It made him feel nice, warm.

Slowly, Jinki took a sip of his beer. “Do you... know anything about ? ?”

Minho shook his head, then he added sheepishly, “I know what it means... roughly, but... not really, anything else.” He took a sip of his beer. “I... tried to... read a bit about it... during the week.” He cleared his throat, not mentioning that it hadn't been only reading, he had also tried some . But it had been very weird and he hadn't particularly liked it. “It seemed rather... complicated... lots of rules... lots of... equipment.” He took another sip of his beer, to try and hide how weird all of this felt.

“I guess it would seem that way.” Jinki smiled softly. “But in principle it's simple. It's all about consent. The submissive party typically sets the boundary, and the dominating person operates within those constraints. Depending on how tight those boundaries are, the submissive party has more or less control. But yes, then it's just a matter of trying out different things to figure out what feels good.”

“Have you... tried anything like this before?” Even though Minho was pretty sure he knew the answer, he wanted to hear it.”

“Yes.”

“And... do you like it?”

“Yes.”

“Which part do you play? Submissive or dominant?”

“Depends.”

“Both?” The answer surprised him. A sweet guy like that, Minho would have expected him to always be submissive.

“Yeah.”

“What do you like about it?” Automatically, Minho leaned over the table, feeling very curious.

“Depends...” He looked down at his beer. “It changes, depending on who your partner is. And different people like different things about it.”

Minho held his breath, hoping he would go into more details and this time he was lucky.

“But more generally speaking... when you submit... it can be a bit scary, so it gives you an adrenaline rush, which feels good. But when you're with someone you trust completely... it's freedom.”

“Freedom? Being tied up?” That sounded very contradictory.

“Mmh, you're free from your thoughts, your worries, free from having to make decisions, and free from your own ego. Your past and future don't matter, and you only exist in the moment. It is very liberating.”

Minho wasn't sure how to respond to that, and not really sure he believed him, but it still was very interesting to hear. “And the other... being the dominating one?”

“First of all it's very good for your ego.” Jinki laughed and his eyes disappeared, in a very attractive way. “It feels empowering, somebody trusting you this much. Somebody doing everything you ask.” He swallowed, his prominent Adam's apple moving down his neck, and then up again. “It's a good feeling being in charge of somebody else's pleasure.”

For a while, neither of them said anything, drinking their beers while listening to the American Christmas charols sounding from the small speakers hanging on the wall behind them.

“Are you... okay with this?” Jinki asked gently, his voice was always so gentle. “If it's too much, we can always just wait for another event, there might be one next weekend?”

“I don't want to wait.” He blurted out.

Jinki smirked a little, which made Minho's ears warm up.

“I... to tell you the truth, I'm not so sure I'm into this... ... thing.” He cleared his throat. “But there's no harm in checking it out.” Looking down at his beer, he muttered: “I also didn't think I would like the last event so...”

“But you liked it?”

Looking up, Minho noticed that Jinki was staring at him pleadingly, so he nodded. Instantly the nervousness was replaced by a big warm smile, and Minho found himself smiling too.

“I liked it too.” He said sweetly with his soft voice. “More than I expected.”

“Hey. Why did you expect me to be so horrible?” Minho asked back, both offended and flattered.

To his surprise, Jinki laughed, his laughter deep and melodic. A bit of wrinkles formed by his eyes and it was surprisingly attractive.

“Sorry. I didn't mean it like that.” He sighed apologetically. “It's just when guys are new they tend to be a bit nervous... It's still good and they're cute, but it's normal that it takes them some time to find their element, but you...” He tilted his head, and looked at him questioningly.

Minho blushed, even though he was not the blushing type, but he was trying out a lot of new things these days.

“So you've slept with a lot of 'new' guys, huh?” Minho wasn't sure why, but he didn't like it so much.

“Mmh... I've slept with... some, but also more experienced guys.”

“Oh.” Minho cleared his throat. “Do you... have a boyfriend?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I... I'm not really looking for one.”

“Oh.” He took a sip of his beer. Although he had kind of already figured this out, hearing him say it still felt weird.

Clearing his throat, Minho figured he should change the subject, this was getting too personal. “So... is there often such a... event?”

“Yeah, maybe once a month, with some exceptions.”

“Do you go to all of them?”

“Most.”

“Do you usually get... tied up?”

“Sometimes.”

“For how long?” Somehow Minho could picture it, Jinki on his back on a bed, spread out, completely unable to move.

“Depends, shortest maybe fifteen minutes, up to a couple of hours.”

“Hours?” Minho's eyes opened up wide.

“Yeah, sometimes.”

“And someone... has with you... the entire time?”

“More or less.”

It was easy to imagine Jinki being defenseless for hours, perhaps many guys would him, one after the other, filling him up with their . Then Minho would take over. The thought sent a bolt to his crotch, making him harder.

“Sometimes I also tie other guys up.” Jinki bit his lip a little. “These events are good for some light play, and to find partners, but if you want something more intense, sometimes it's better to meet somewhere more quiet.”

More intense? Minho couldn't imagine anything more intense than what they were already discussing.

“So... do you think you would maybe want to... participate?”

“I don't know.” He answered truthfully.

Jinki nodded. “You can also just participate lightly, be a fluffer, or...”

“Fluffer?”

“Help making the dom hard, or offer up a that the dom can make his sub .” He cleared his throat. “So it doesn't have to be too extreme. You can decide what you're comfortable with.” His gaze dropped down before looking up again. “If you see a guy you like... I can help you get him, it shouldn't be very hard since you're...”

“What? New?” Minho was starting to think they were all some predators praying on new guys.

“No. Because you are very attractive.” He answered matter-of-factly.

“Oh.” Suddenly, Minho's mouth felt dry.

“Or if you want to try something, I could also...”

“Y-You would do that for me?”

“Sure. Like I said. You're very attractive.”

Minho wasn't sure why that made his stomach turn upside down but it did.

“But don't feel pressured, either way is fine by me, I just want you to enjoy yourself.”

Honestly, Minho wasn't sure how to feel about any of this. He did like that Jinki found him attractive, but at the same time it felt a bit cold, clinical almost, like he didn't even care one way or another. The event hadn't even started and he was a complete mess, and he had no idea if he was ready to do anything or not. Even just watching felt like a lot.

So when Jinki asked him:

“Should we maybe get going?”

All Minho could do was nod, and finish the last of his beer in one big sip.