Chapter Text
“Let’s do it, Doyoung.” Ten looked into his eyes with determination. Despite his tears and his fear, there still was strength in him. “Let’s run away together, let’s do it. Right now.”
With shaking hands, Doyoung lit up a candle. What greeted him were Ten’s disorbitated eyes staring back at him.
“Listen to me. We… can sneak out through the orchard. I have everything planned! We have to cross the kitchen, yes, but the maids aren’t up yet for breakfast so we still have a couple of hours! And… and I have money! There’s an old client? He’s kind of in love with me and he’s been paying me personally. We… we have to change our clothes, of course, we can’t go out into the city in this ridiculous robes! But I think I — ”
“Wait, Ten, wait!” Doyoung touched Ten’s arm to make him stop. He was speaking so fast he couldn’t understand anything. Everything was happening so, so fast. “We need to be smart about this.”
“Smart?” Ten grabbed Doyoung by the shoulders. “Did you hear what I just said? I have hours left, Doyoung! I don’t have time to be smart!”
“Fuck… fuck!”
Ten opened Doyoung’s closet and began looking through his clothes. “Where’s your training uniform? Ah, never mind I found it.” he tossed it to Doyoung, who clumsily caught it. It was a simple pair of linen pants and a long sleeved shirt who was given to him when he was still in training and he had to help in the kitchen or was put in cleaning duties. Every boy in the house had one. “Do you have any money?”
“You know I don’t.” Doyoung replied softly. He walked towards Ten and took his face between his hands, trying to calm him down. “Baby. Tell me what happened, please… I need to understand, I need to know what the situation is before we risk our lives. Because you know I will, for you, but I need to understand.”
Ten closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“It was… strange. The man who was waiting for me in the red room treated me as a… product. He made me strip and then he looked at every part of my body, checking if I had scars or visible marks.”
“Did he touch you?”
“All over. He was so derogatory, Doie. He said his boss wouldn’t mind if he fucked me since so many men had done it before. And he got off on the idea of hitting me and bruising me if he had the chance... but I guess he couldn’t damage the goods. It was disgusting.”
Doyoung hugged him close. He knew exactly how that felt. “I’m so sorry.”
“When he was done and I got up to leave, Madame Red was waiting for me outside.” Ten sighed deeply. “I was petrified. She started talking about… this being some sort of promotion, of her being so proud of me that she was letting me go to satisfy a powerful client permanently. She said something about this person ‘collecting’ beautiful boys and that I had to leave right away.”
“Jesus...”
“I convinced her to let that man spend the night here so we could leave after the sun is up. Madame Red will probably have him over breakfast but after that...”
Doyoung cupped Ten’s face between his hands and pressed their foreheads together. It was too much, too much information, too many questions, way too much fear. “I have a headache.”
“Just… let’s keep packing, okay? I’m gonna go to my room and I’ll be back in fifteen minutes, okay?”
After a quick peck on the lips, Ten walked to the entrance but when he was just a few steps from leaving, there was a knock on the door.
And time stopped.
No one moved or said anything for several seconds.
“Hide in my closet.” Doyoung whispered without moving a muscle.
Ten was petrified in front of him. Just mere centimeters from the door. If it was Madame Red and she found him there with adrenaline all over his features, it would be over.
“Ten, please.” Doyoung whispered again.
Ten slowly came over his shock and very, very slowly took a step back and then another, until he was at a safe distance from the door.
Doyoung shook his head and tried to neutralize his expression before placing a hand on the knob. With a final deep breath he opened the door.
***
“Doyoung, hey, Doyoung”
Doyoung lifted his eyes from the vegetables he was chopping. All the boys in the house had chores and this time, it was Doyoung’s turn to help in the kitchen. He liked it a lot, even if all the cooking he used to do with his kids was just chopping a few potatoes into a pot of boiling water, he loved being able to manipulate so many ingredients and smell the way dinner or lunch slowly came together thanks to him. It was even more satisfying for him to see everybody eat deliciously and vigorously the food he had prepared. He guessed it was just his nature, to take care of others. A mental image of his boys eating happily all this delicious food came quickly into his mind, but he shoved it away quickly.
“Yes?” he replied to the person talking to him. It was Taeyong, one of his new housemates and the owner of one of the most beautiful and peculiar faces Doyoung had ever seen. He was soft spoken and nice, and he had been a great support for him since he came into the house. Doyoung considered him a friend.
Taeyong handed him a small package under the table, wrapped in a white cloth. “Shh, don’t tell anyone.” he whispered.
Doyoung nodded and gave him a small smile, hiding the package between his robes.
Later in the afternoon, once Doyoung found himself alone in his room while the other boys were working — he wasn’t allowed to attend any customers, yet — he carefully unwrapped the mysterious thing Taeyong had handed him. Inside, he found a small box with dried persimmons inside. He carefully took one out and tried it, and he almost teared up at how delicious it was. Doyoung had never tasted something so sweet, soft and magnificent as this. It even smelled delicious, and Doyoung felt infinitely grateful to Taeyong for gifting him such a precious candy.
He felt undeserving.
Doyoung was interrupted by a visitor. It was Taeyong.
“Hello,” he smiled. “Did you like my present?”
“Yes, very much. Thank you, really. I never had something like this before.” Taeyong came into the room and closed the door behind him. He had done this a couple of times before, if he didn’t have anymore clients he would come and hang out in Doyoung’s room.
“Really? This were pretty common where I grew up but ever since I came into the house it’s been so hard to find them! Luckily, Madame Red let me go to the market the other day and I bought them without anyone noticing.”
“She lets you go out?!” Doyoung exclaimed surprised. He had never seen any of the boys going out before.
“Not on my own, obviously! I went with auntie Myunghee. But yeah, sometimes she lets me. She knows I don’t have anywhere else to go and I won’t try to run away, so.”
Doyoung stared at the floor, remembering his punishment. “Ah…”
“You might think it’s a good thing and you might be jealous of me, but I’m actually more jealous of you. I wish I had somewhere I wanted to run away to.”
Doyoung offered a sweet to Taeyong, who gladly took one and they ate in silence.
“I heard your debut is in two nights.” Taeyong said softly. “Are you nervous?”
“Yes.” Doyoung didn’t need to pretend with his friend. He was petrified at the mere thought of his first night with a client. He had never done anything as intimate as that with anyone at all, and the prospect of being in such a vulnerable position with a stranger made his legs shake. The preparations for it hadn’t been really pleasant either. Madame Red handed him oil and a wooden toy, just a bit thicker than a finger, and ordered him to try to put it in a little every night. Doyoung had tried it once and quit almost immediately. He had also been shaved everywhere — armpits, legs, and of course, genitals and butt — which had been one of the most painful experiences Doyoung had gone through.
“If it helps, most of us didn’t lose our virginities with our first clients, you know?”
Doyoung gave him a side glance. “Are you mocking how inexperienced I am?”
“No, silly! We lost it with each other!” he clarified. Doyoung just waited for him to explain. “Nobody knows, obviously. But we have a little agreement, every new boy that comes into the house can choose whoever they want to lose it before their debut night, and the person he chooses can’t refuse. You can pick whoever, maybe someone you’re interested in? Or the one you find the cutest? I lost it with Taeil, Taeil lost it with Jongin, Ten lost it with me — ”
“What? Really?”
“Yes! That way you won’t be as nervous and it won’t hurt as much.”
Doyoung thought about it. He obviously prefered to take Taeyong’s offer to at least know what he was facing and what he was supposed to do, and not completely embarrass himself and Madame Red for being, well, a virgin with no experience whatsoever.
“Are the others… aware…?”
“Oh, of course! They know it’s coming and to be honest they’re all kinda wishing to be chosen! You’re pretty cute, you know?”
Doyoung tried to control his smile to no avail. “Shut up.”
“It’s true! Ten even asked me if you had made your choice.”
“ Ten ?”
“Yeah! I don’t know why you think he doesn’t like you.”
Doyoung could think one too many reasons he thought Ten didn’t like him. For once, he was always making fun of him, always picking every little thing Doyoung did or didn’t do to make his friends laugh. Calling him names like bunny, mocking the way he chew… Did he want to take Doyoung’s virginity to mock him about it too?
Doyoung’s eyes suddenly fell on the dried sweets lying innocently on his lap. Just now Doyoung was noticing how nice the box they were in actually was. It was cardboard but with a little red ribbon around.
“Is this… is this you courting me?” he asked, looking at Taeyong straight in the eyes.
“Maybe.” Taeyong stared back, holding his gaze the entire time. “Yes.”
Doyoung carefully closed the box and placed it on his nightstand so he could fully face Taeyong. His friend was looking calmly at him, a soft smile on his pretty face made his sharp jawline and sometimes hard expression look sweet and tender, very much like his personality. Doyoung had nothing to think about, Taeyong was the person he trusted the most, even if they had known each other for a few weeks.
“Then… I’m saying yes too.”
***
Doyoung opened the door.
A sleepy Taeyong made his way into the room immediately.
“What’s all the fuss about?”
Ten jumped out of the closet, relieved to see his friend instead of Madame Red. He was so relieved he even hugged him. “Taeyong. Something terrible has happened.”
Taeyong’s expression sobered up immediately. He looked between them, taking in their state. “What’s going on?”
“I think… I think you should sit down.”
And so, Ten and Doyoung told him everything. Taeyong listened to every detail attently, deep in thought as Ten went further into the events of the night. He was sitting on Doyoung’s boudoir, with his legs crossed and a hand holding his head, a deep frown on his face.
After the story was over, he stayed in silence for a long time. “I’m really sorry, Ten.” he whispered sincerely. “So what are you going to do?”
Doyoung stood firmly next to Ten, and interlocking their fingers together he said: “We’re going to run away together.”
Ten looked up at Doyoung, surprised at his decisive tone.
“Okay." Taeyong stood up from his seat. "I will help you.” he declared it as if the couple had asked for his help in the first place. “How were you thinking of getting out? Through the kitchen?” Before any of them could reply, Taeyong kept talking. “There’s only one way to safely get out of here and I’m the only one who knows about it. It will probably get locked forever once Madame Red finds out you guys ran away but… I am willing to make that sacrifice.”
“You go out?” Ten asked, unbelieving.
“Yes. Not that often, obviously, but enough. Remember those dried persimmons, Doyoung?”
“You told me Madame Red—”
Taeyong laughed. “And you’re still as innocent as the day you walked in here. Anyways. You probably thought in going out through the kitchen and crossing the orchard, right? Well, you will never make it out, then. You’ll scare the animals and Madame Red wakes up the second she hears them. What you have to do is go down into the pantry inside the kitchen. There’s a window there and you have to jump out, it’s a scary jump but you won’t break anything. That’s the only window in the house that leads to a land that doesn’t belong to Madame Red. Then, you have to walk through the woods for twenty minutes or so and you’ll reach the town and after that it’s easy.”
Doyoung and Ten were listening to every word Taeyong said, recreating the route in their heads and memorizing it. Doyoung felt Ten’s hand squeezing his own, sweat forming between them just out of anxiety and fear.
“There’s a catch, though.” Taeyong kept going. “The pantry’s floor is really loud, so you guys can’t go together right now in the middle of the night. Ten will have to go first and tomorrow during breakfast, once everybody realizes Ten is not there and things get crazy, Doyoung will follow.”
The couple shared a look.
“Can you do it?” Doyoung asked, scared about Ten going out on his own, walking through the woods alone at night.
“I can.” Ten replied without any trace of hesitation in his voice. “I can do it, I’ll hide and wait for you. I promise I’ll be fine.”
Doyoung took Ten’s hands between his own and kissed his knuckles. His face crumpled in worry, anxiety, fear, hope . His entire body was just a turmoil of emotions, twisting his stomach into a knot. “I will come, I promise.”
Ten took Doyoung’s face between his hands. Doyoung’s gripped Ten’s wrists firmly. “I’ll see you on the other side, my love.”
With a last kiss and a way too short hug for the both of them, they parted ways. Ten went to find his things and Taeyong went with him, leaving Doyoung alone in his room to wait for the morning to come.
Unable to get any sleep, Doyoung looked outside of his window. He went through the escape route over and over in his head, calculating where Ten could be at the moment. He probably had reached town if everything went smoothly. Was he cold? Was he in danger? Ten was strong and smart, but Doyoung had lived on the streets and he knew how evil people could be.
Suddenly, a memory of his boys came into his mind. It was summer and the boys were swimming in the river, playing and laughing like the kids they were. He remembered staying in the shore, looking at them with a smile on his face and one of the boys staying back with him. Jeno. He smiled and asked him if it was tiring, taking care of them. He also said that he understood. Jeno was just a ten year old boy back then, but he never seized to surprise Doyoung how mature he was. Doyoung had replied that yes, it was hard and tiring, but that he wouldn’t change it for the world.
Looking at the stars filling the sky, Doyoung wondered how his kids were doing. After he escaped they wouldn’t get any more money and Madame Red would probably look for him wherever they were immediately after she realized he was gone. By escaping, he was putting his boys in danger, but he was determined to find them before Madame Red did.
After what it felt like an eternity later, the sun began to brighten the sky.
The house was waking up little by little. First the helpers in the kitchen, then whoever was on cleaning duty that morning (always an unpleasant job due to the kind of activities performed in the house every night), and lastly the last customers leaving before their wives found empty beds.
Like every morning, auntie Myunghee who was in charge of the kitchen walked through the corridors ringing a bell to wake up the boys, calling them down for breakfast.
Doyoung wore his training uniform under his most modest robe, and under that, he tied to his body a pouch with the little possessions he owned. He had to sneak out during breakfast but still look normal enough so no one would suspect a thing. He looked at his reflection on the mirror for one last time, training his smile to make it look like he was relaxed, like he had actually slept during the night. There were dark circles under his eyes that gave him away, but there was nothing a little bit of makeup couldn't hide. He pinched his cheeks to make them pink and practiced his 'good morning' until he was satisfied.
As soon as he heard the bell, Doyoung counted to one hundred before he left his room. He didn’t want to look too eager.
Doyoung felt his heart beating a mile per hour. He was so close, so close to what he had dreamt of since the day he had agreed to be in this place that he couldn’t, for the life of everything he loved, fail. Ten was waiting for him, his kids were waiting for him, and before he could notice they would be together again. But first he had to do this.
When he was a few meters away from the dining room where breakfast was served everyday, he felt a little commotion going on. Did they find out Ten was gone? Doyoung was so nervous he felt he could throw up. It didn't make any sense if Ten had been caught, it was too soon. But if Madame Red or any of the helpers found the window, it would be over for him. He didn't have a plan b.
Doyoung almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a pair of hands circle his waist from behind.
“Oops, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you, Dons!” Taeil smiled. “Did you hear the good news?”
Doyoung tried to sound as calm as possible. “Taeil. No, what good news?”
“There’s a new boy in the house! He arrived last night!”
As soon as Taeil said that, they reached the dining room and there, sitting at the head of the table with two pairs of boys on each side and wearing the same training uniform Doyoung had under his robes… was Jeno.
To Doyoung, everything happened in slow motion.
He locked eyes with Jeno for what it felt like a million years. But then, he felt another distressed pair of eyes looking at him in anguish. It was Taeyong, screaming at him with no words thar this was it , the moment to go into the kitchen was now. Doyoung's eyes fell on the kitchen door, unsupervised, and then back to Jeno and then back to Taeyong, who had already realized something was wrong.
But right then, everything else was interrupted by Madame Red stomping into the room and screaming bloody murder.
“Ten is gone!" she yelled, "He’s gone! Look everywhere, everybody! Now!”
Madame Red immediately left to the kitchen followed by two maids.
There was chaos all around him, and Doyoung…
Doyoung was frozen.