Chapter Text
Choi Yeonjun had been Choi Soobin’s enemy seemingly since the day they were born. Had they known each other that long? Not even close. But Soobin could’ve sworn he had hated Yeonjun since the very beginning of his existence.
Yeonjun didn’t feel as strongly as Soobin did, but that was only because he didn’t feel as strongly about things in general. Yeonjun was laid back. Soobin was controlling and irrational. If you asked Yeonjun, Soobin just had a massive stick up his ass.
However, if you asked Soobin, Yeonjun was nothing but a troublemaker. Constantly bending and breaking the rules to his convenience. It enraged Soobin beyond belief how persistent Yeonjun was with his beliefs.
Soobin, subsequently, thought he was the laid back one. If there was something he didn’t agree with, he could simply compromise or come to a different conclusion.
Which was what made them such an odd pair as co-presidents of their student council.
Yeonjun, who always fought for what he thought was right, and Soobin, who was ready and willing to make peace in any situation. It just didn’t seem to make sense to either of them why they were put together.
To the student council professor representative, it made perfect sense. They might not have realized it yet, but anyone else with eyes could see it. Their contrasting personalities perfectly blended together into a powerful duo. Infuriating for other student council members? Possibly, but they always got shit done.
Once they stopped bickering and started actually working together, they were unstoppable. Plenty of people liked to gossip behind their backs about their stupid rivalry, but they were too caught up in their own affairs to notice.
Their rivalry did expand past the student council room, however. They were also cursed—according to them—to always be put in the same classes together. Which, of course, meant war. Constantly fighting for the top position in class.
Soobin always had the top grades, but he could never grow close to the students or teachers. He considered himself on top.
Yeonjun might be a few points away from Soobin, but he was always the teachers favorite, and the students loved him. He considered himself on top.
They were just too different to ever get along. That’s what they both believed, until a small incident brought them closer.
One day, Soobin and Yeonjun had to stay longer than the original student council meeting was planned to take place. They were tasked with picking a final theme for homecoming week. Alone, of course. The professor trusted them to lock up as always.
“For the last time, I don’t care how many students voted for this theme, you know we can’t do it, the staff already said-“
Yeonjun cut Soobin off with a smirk. “You’ve always been such a pushover.”
Soobin was flustered immediately, turning red with anger. “Can you not insult me for once?” he whined, with those pouty lips Yeonjun hated so much.
Yeonjun shrugged his shoulders, deciding to push it. “Can you not be a total pushover?”
Soobin wished violence was appropriate sometimes. “Why do I even bother trying to have a decent conversation with you? There’s really nothing going on in that head of yours,” Soobin spat angrily.
Yeonjun pulled the laptop that was previously in front of Soobin in front of himself. “Look, eighty percent of voters wanted a sexy halloween day. How can we just ignore that? Barely five percent of votes wanted a tiktok theme and it still gets a whole day? Bull shit,” Yeonjun pushed the laptop back in front of Soobin’s face to further prove his point.
Soobin just sighed and shook his head. Before he could utter a word, Yeonjun beat him to it. “It’s not like university students follow a dress code. And, you can dress sexy without showing too much skin, I don’t see a problem. You’re just scared by a little word.”
Soobin nodded his head to this. He was starting to lose his ground. “I guess you might be right. But can’t we reword it?”
“Sexy!!” Yeonjun suddenly screamed into Soobin’s ear. Soobin nearly flew out of his seat in shock.
“What the hell was that for, Yeonjun?” He yelled back. If looks could kill, Soobin’s glare would have him locked away in prison for manslaughter.
“I told you. You’re just afraid of a little word. And a couple of teachers, apparently,” Yeonjun explained, looking incredibly smug. “And here I was, under the impression that you never cursed.”
Soobin was fuming. He knew he needed to calm down, but Yeonjun was just too infuriating. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand it, but he was reaching his limit. It felt like dealing with a hyper toddler.
Soobin had untucked his turtleneck a while ago, but he hadn’t given it much thought. He just wanted a little more comfort. When he stood up and stretched his arms above his head, he was suddenly reminded.
Soobin immediately reached to pull the sweater back down, but it was too late. Yeonjun nearly yelled again.
Across Soobin’s back were bright red marks. Quite large red marks, if Yeonjun was seeing correctly. They almost looked like burns. He tried to reach out to lift it back up, but Soobin swatted his hand away.
“Soobin, what was that?” Yeonjun asked. Soobin hadn’t really heard Yeonjun ever speak in such a serious tone before. Not directed towards himself, at least.
“You never know when to mind your own business, do you?” Soobin retorted, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks. If Yeonjun found out his secret… Well, he would rather die.
“Why the hell do you have burn marks across your back? Dude, are you like, okay?”
Burn marks. Well, that was good enough.
“Uh, yeah, I’m perfectly fine. Accidents happen, Yeonjun,” Soobin replied. His tone was awfully calm for someone with such a large injury.
Yeonjun stood up, and in an act of selfishness, tried to lift the taller’s sweater again. Soobin struggled and struggled, but then Yeonjun decided to play dirty.
He crowded Soobin’s personal space until he was cornered with his back facing Yeonjun. He was finally able to lift his turtleneck. Higher this time.
Soobin froze. He knew it was too late.
Dancing in intricate patterns across Soobin’s back were various burn marks. But they definitely weren’t from a fire or some accident like Yeonjun had assumed. They were rope burns.
“Well, well, well-“
Soobin cut Yeonjun off. His hands were shaking and his voice was very quiet. More so than normal. “Yeonjun, let go of me.”
Yeonjun stepped back and held his arms up in surrender. He was definitely shocked, but his face was void of any disgust or anger like Soobin had expected. Still, Soobin felt like fleeing was the only answer.
Soobin immediately went to grab his backpack, but Yeonjun stopped him with a hand over the bag. “Aren’t we going to talk about this?” he asked.
“I don’t have anything to say to you,” Soobin responded, yanking the backpack away, “and you better not say anything.”
Yeonjun nodded his head, as if to say of course. “I’m not going to tell anyone if that’s what you’re so afraid of. How could I judge you for something like that? I mean…”
Soobin actually turned to look at Yeonjun, wondering what he was getting at.
“I honestly thought you were the most boring person on earth- but this! This is just,” Yeonjun, like a cat, quickly reached up to pull the collar of Soobin’s turtleneck down, just out of curiosity. “Holy shit, Soobin, you’re a menace!”
Soobin flushed even more and pulled his collar back up. He was wearing it for a reason, of course Yeonjun would figure that out.
“So you liked being tied up, huh?” Yeonjun teased, raising his brows at him with that shit eating grin taking up his stupid face.
Soobin whined, unable to stand the embarrassment. “Please, Yeonjun, just drop it already.”
But obviously that was not possible for Yeonjun.
“So you’re really telling me the shy, insufferable, Choi Soobin landed a girl who is into bdsm? Unbelievable.”
Soobin quickly looked away from Yeonjun’s gaze. He wasn’t going to admit that-
“Oh my god. There is no girl, is there?”
Soobin clenched his jaw, feeling his whole body run tense. “God, why do you care so much?”
“So you did that to yourself?” Yeonjun asked, ignoring all of Soobin’s protests and pleading. He was genuinely interested and a little confused. He didn’t really know anything about bondage, but he really wasn’t judging Soobin. He was just curious.
Soobin suddenly remembered that he had legs and decided to make another run for it. With his backpack on now, he made a dash for the door.
“Wait, wait, Soobin! We haven’t finished with the meeting yet. We still need to settle this, come on, don’t be stupid,” Yeonjun explained in a hurry. He sat back down in his seat at the table, pointing at the laptop that was still open.
Soobin groaned, but he wasn’t very good at saying no. Especially not to anything school related. So, reluctantly, he sat back down in the seat next to Yeonjun.
Yeonjun stared at him, openly, for about a solid minute. He had this stupid grin on his face that was frustrating Soobin beyond belief.
“Are you going to keep staring, or can we please finish this up now?” Soobin begged, leaning against the table in front of them. He felt exhausted.
“Sorry,” Yeonjun mumbled, but he was still grinning and he really didn’t look that sorry at all. “Why don’t we just go with the theme you suggested? I think that one sounds good,” he supplied happily.
Soobin glanced at Yeonjun in confusion, only to realize he was still staring. “What do you mean-“
“So what kind of rope do you use? Does it always leave marks like that?” Yeonjun suddenly asked.
Soobin slammed his head down onto the table, completely giving up. He wanted to strangle Yeonjun. “God, help me,” he muttered pitifully to himself. He wanted to crawl into a hole and never return.
“So you’re a sub?” Soobin tilted his head to the side at that, peeking at Yeonjun. Soobin was honestly surprised he even knew what that meant. But Yeonjun didn’t stop there. “You know, I’ve been told I can be pretty dominant in bed, actually.”
Soobin sat up straight like a board, confusion written all over his face. “You’re not suggesting that…,” Soobin stopped, waiting for Yeonjun to interject. When he didn’t, Soobin continued. “Oh my god, you’re being serious.”
Soobin hid his face behind his hands. Yeonjun grabbed his wrist to pull one away. He was slowly growing accustomed to the pink tint on Soobin’s cheeks and ears.
Yeonjun cleared his throat, trying to sound serious. “All I’m saying is, I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing you all tied up. Honestly, that sounds pretty hot. Really hot actually,” he confessed.
Soobin tried to cover his face again, nearly squirming out of his seat in embarrassment. This could not be real. None of it.
“We’re supposed to be enemies. Rivals, Yeonjun. I don’t know why you’re even doing this right now,” Soobin tried to explain, dropping his hands by his sides.
Yeonjun just laughed at that. “You’ve been too busy despising me to realize I don’t even hate you at all. Sure, I can be competitive, but that’s all really,” he leaned back in his chair, giving Soobin some space, “look, if you’re really not attracted to me, I’ll leave you alone. But don’t reject me over some stupid academic dispute.”
Soobin was a little surprised by this sudden confession, but he still couldn’t believe Yeonjun’s offer. He wasn’t attracted to Yeonjun as far as he knew, but he also hadn’t ever really considered that option. It was Choi Yeonjun after all, the biggest pain in his ass.
“I don’t know,” Soobin mumbled, casting his eyes towards the ground. Soobin was naturally pretty shy, and now was no different. He could hardly make eye contact with Yeonjun. “I don’t even want a relationship.”
“Neither do I,” Yeonjun supplied, “it doesn’t have to be a relationship. Not the romantic kind, at least. Think of it as a sort of… arrangement.”
“Arrangement?” Soobin echoed, looking up hesitantly.
Cute, Yeonjun’s mind supplied.
“All you have to do is sit there and let me tie you up all pretty. We can do more if you want, but only if you want. It’s pretty simple,” Yeonjun carefully explained. He wanted Soobin to feel at least safe with him.
But Soobin still couldn’t wrap his mind around it all. The thought of Yeonjun tying him up brought heat to his body, however. He was overwhelmed really, and didn’t know what to think.
“I-I need time,” Soobin stuttered out, “like, to think about it all. This is all new to me.”
Yeonjun offered a warm smile. “Of course. You can take all the time you need, even if you end up turning me down,” he glanced down.
Soobin’s eyes followed only to realize he was hard in his jeans. He pulled his sweater down immediately to cover it.
“I can’t say I won’t be disappointed if you do though. Just let me know when you’re ready, I’ll be waiting,” Yeonjun said with a wink.
And with that, Yeonjun gathered his things and left a very flustered Soobin to lock up on his own.
-
Needless to say, the next few student council meetings were painfully awkward for Soobin.