Blood Dipped~
A deep red of lust, typically centers around the heart and then spirals downward around the body. Holds a deep satisfaction for bodily pleasures and fleeting physical joys.
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Arms up, arms down.
Push the weight up to the sky. Then slowly lower it, but make sure to squeeze your back, hamstrings, and glutes, or else Kan will get you for bad form. Make sure to keep your chest straight up, the perfect, flawless posture of a ballerina with the tough build of a wrestler. Then hop back up, but keep your chin raised! A poignant chin signifies confidence, passion...if the judges don't see the chin up, then you'll get docked for worrying, for being incompetent in the area of self-efficacy. The judges will destroy you through deductions, the crowd will halt their cheering, and Coach Kan will shake his head violently from the sidelines and stomp his feet in the middle of the Olympic Games. The watching world will throw their remote at the universal TV, breaking the screen to rid if of the disturbing image of the stupid, fat Korean gymnast that keeps struggling to perform well. Oh, and jump again! Because constantly moving is necessary to stay in shape, to stay thin for your coach, to prove to everyone that even the worst habits can be worked through with enough elbow grease, eating disorders included. Now don't think about eating food when you squat down again, Jungkook. Kan can read your worries like an open book, and he'll understand that you're thinking about the competition. No, you have to maintain a straight face. No daydreaming, no dallying in the imagination, no thoughts about anything other than the sport of gymnastics. Gymnastics only, the sport of sacrifice and perfection and pressure and...lift the weight some more! He's watching! He'll yell at you if he thinks you're distracted! How can you NOT be distracted though? Leo keeps running through your mind over and over like stumbling gymnasts falling over staircases of titled, sharpened podiums. You'll never be enough if you get second, you'll be rendered worthless if you get third! Your value is determined by that spot on the podium, don't forget it! Don't forget that you need to lose your self-worth, to get second, in order to help Leo! But don't think about Leo, think about conditioning. Now wipe your sweat off, there's nothing worse for Kan than seeing his mentee get all sweaty, disheveled, and messy! It's a sign of weakness, so wipe off that sweat with a straight face and continue to lift the weight using the little energy that you have. Try to tap into the solid determination surrounding you that should be yours but isn't yours...(was it ever yours? was it Kan's?)...so you can be done with conditioning soon and so that you can lay on the floor of your dorm room without food, without company, without anything to dwell on other than the idea of Leonardo Costa's safety and hoping that someone else in this miserable camp is making an effort to help him out-
"Jungkook!"
Oh, there it is. He caught me thinking too heavily about certain things. Things I'm not supposed to be imagining, but their presence is undeniable, like lurking chalk plumes after a rancid bar routine. I can't get Leo away from my cycling mind! I can't!
"Yes, Coach?" I squat down once more, lifting the weight above my head. My legs tremble with exertion, failing to keep up with the rapid pace of the order Kan has made for my conditioning today. One hundred jump squats with a fifty pound weight. One hundred tears locked in my chest aching to pour out for Leo, my poor Leo-
"What are you doing?"
I focus on myself in the mirror. What AM I doing?
"I'm conditioning. I'm on my 85th squat. Almost to one hundred-"
"No, I don't mean that. I mean, you don't have your water bottle with you." Kan motions to the empty ground at my ankle. My water bottle is no where to be seen. No wonder I've been so dizzy, I've been dehydrating for the last half hour. But I've been too distracted to sense it.
"Oh...I must have forgotten it in my room. I can just use the water dispensers here. After I'm done with this rep, I'll go grab some."
Kan stares hard at me. I do my best to ignore that deep evaluation of my person. If I could personify the glare that I'm receiving, I'd say that the glare was pulling me apart with its prying hands, laying bare all of my mind with an overcurious scalpel and accompanying magnifying glass. The imagery is so vivid that I flinch, startling Kan's brown aura.
"What's the matter now? Are you dehydrated? Ah, shit. I'll grab some water...actually, I might as well go to the apartment to grab yours. I have to grab your routine sheets so you can study the elements of your difficulty after conditioning, anyway. Yeah, I'll make a trip to the apartment."
I dip my head in a dizzy, lopsided nod before squatting again. "Oh...thanks. Could you also grab my roll-on menthol in the locker room? My ankle is bothering me..."
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Kan exits the room swiftly, carrying his entitled body through the doorway with the empowerment of his mission. The door swallows the Korean coach, closing with a gentle thump. As the door closes, something else falls too.
Jungkook releases the weight, collapsing on fatigued and shaky legs. His exhausted back crumples on the mat in a heap of numb heartbeats and heavy panting. His vision drifts to and fro, bouncing from one fluorescent ceiling light to the other. Studying them takes too much energy for his mind to muster, so he's left with zoning out on the strip of lights. Sweat drips down his brow into his eyes, but he's too distracted to feel the burning sting of salt hitting his pupils.
"How much time do I have?"
A weak question drifts into the air from his parched lips. Coach Kan surely won't be gone for long. It only takes a few minutes to get from the upper floor aerobic studio to the apartment complex. Then it might take him a few more minutes to go to the locker room for the menthol roller...
Jungkook figures ten minutes, max.
"Ten...minutes..." The time period of freedom nearly brings tears to his eyes, that's how tired he is. At the fifth banquet last night he almost cried too.
It was the only banquet so far that he and Kan sat at a separate, isolated table from the rest of the gymnasts. In their position near the front of the stage, Jungkook couldn't see Leo. He could only face Mr. Garcia up on the stage who repeated over and over to stay healthy and get excited for the upcoming Olympics.
"Every gymnast here has one week left before the big event! You should feel proud of yourselves for making it this far. You've all trained for hard and long hours, not to mention I'm sure there were obstacles in getting acclimated to the new gym. But you've all done it! You're all almost Olympians! I feel honored to face your bright, lively faces. I can tell you're all ready to go to London!"
"I'm not r-ready." Jungkook whispers, throwing his arms over his eyes. Sweat and tears mingle in pools under his eyes. This is a horrible time to break down, but it was inevitably going to happen at some point. And this day stressed him out like no other. The whole day he spent worrying about Leo and worrying about what Trainer Snowden did with the information he provided.
Is Leo okay? Did Leo's father get in trouble? Where is Leo?
Jungkook rolls onto his side, still breathing heavily. All the energy has been sapped from leg conditioning, and he just wants to sleep.
Sleep and forget about gymnastics, if only for a little.
Before long, he reaches the point between dozing in a blurry gray reality and dreaming, tied to consciousness by a frayed string. For how long he stays in that limbo area of wakefulness and slumber, he doesn't know. He only knows that when everything is dark, he doesn't have to worry about his coach ripping on him.
"Jungkook."
Anxiety spills into Jungkook as the door to the aerobic studio opens. He's just been caught sleeping in the middle of conditioning, when he should be pushing his muscles past their limit to become stronger. Now Kan is going to denounce his behavior as lazy, call him a slacker, and add extra reps to the caboose of his training regimen. Jungkook wipes the bleary slumber off his eyes and stumbles to his feet.
"I'm sor-"
Jungkook's mouth freezes on the word. Standing there is not Coach Kan with his water bottle and menthol roll.
It's Leonardo Costa wearing a melancholy smile.
"Leo! What are you doing here?"
Revitalized with the physical presence of the Brazilian, Jungkook runs forward into the expectant arms awaiting him. Upon contact, Jungkook is captured in vermillion warmth, floods of relief, and another beating heart tied to his own. Leo is here, here with him. Standing here and hugging him and smelling of light soap and Brazilian snacks.
"I saw your coach leave down the stairwell...I snuck up here to see you." Leo holds Jungkook pressed against him, as if letting go will steal the Korean from him all over again.
"You snuck up here?" Jungkook pulls his head off Leo's shoulder.
At this new distance, he really takes a look at the Brazilian's face, studying his features carefully. The discoloration on Leo's cheek has tapered down slightly since the video was shot, but a dull yellow still lingers underneath his jawline. Delicate fingertips trace the abrasion, leaving a path of healing in their wake. Jungkook keeps tracing his finger along a protruding chin, solid nose, stubbly jaw, and finally, parted lips.
"Yes. I snuck up here." Leo whispers, breath fanning against Jungkook's frozen fingertips. He seems equally as infatuated with Jungkook as Jungkook is with him. Lazily, his hands run along Jungkook's back, feeling and squeezing and holding on for dear life. Leo's dark red aura envelops the area surrounding them, pulsing a deep, bloody maroon.
"Please kiss me."
Leo doesn't hesitate to attach his lips to Jungkook's. Instantly, the duo embark in a needy adventure, a kiss that is as violent as it is passionate, as sweet as it is spicy. Leo recaptures his lips over and over, holding him close. Desperately, their lips crash like opposing waves, meeting for a high spraying tidal wave of passion. Leo's warmth melts Jungkook, and Jungkook's eager hands excite Leo. They've only been separated for a week, yet their time apart felt like an agonizing eternity.
"Mmm..." Jungkook groans as Leo tips him back, pressing kisses to his jaw and throat. The red beating of Leo's strong heart is a reassuring thump to Jungkook's tired body, a reminder that he should keep going, should exert himself if only for nature's most beautiful physical creation, Leonardo Costa.
A gasp billows out of Jungkook as Leo places a knee between Jungkook's legs. He instantly shakes his head, meeting Leo's dark eye contact and curving his lip up as Leo applies more pressure. Now is not the time for this, not when they're at risk for being caught again, or when the clock is ticking down before Coach Kan will return.
"Leo—ohhh...I don't h-have...time, we can't...mmm..."
Leo continues his assault on Jungkook's sanity, pressing his knee harsher between Jungkook's legs, kissing him deeper than ever, yet holding him as delicately as a glass vase. Now full of energy, Jungkook forces himself to push Leo away. No matter how much he wants to be with Leo, he's in the middle of conditioning. Kan would kill him and Leo if he found out about their secret romance.
"Sorry, Leo..." Jungkook wipes his mouth, heartbeat tapping out wildly. "I can't...I want to really badly but we can't—oh! What are you, where are we going! I have conditioning, I can't just leave! What will Kan think?"
Mid-speech, Leo has taken Jungkook's wrist in a death grip and dragged him from the aerobic studio. They travel at jogging pace, with Leo leading the charge down a hallway. Jungkook gives up trying to tug himself out of Leo's hold once he realizes where they're going. Sure, Kan could get mad at Jungkook for leaving in the middle of conditioning, but he can't be angry at his mentee for using the bathroom.
Leo leads them to the family bathroom, checking in it before pushing Jungkook inside and slamming the door shut. Thankfully, the upstairs training areas are relatively quiet, so no peeping eyes have spotted the two gymnasts entering the bathroom.
"Lock the door." Leo orders, his voice husky. Jungkook obliges, flustered beyond all sane thoughts. He just ditched conditioning to "use" the bathroom with Leo, and he couldn't be more excited.
Finally, finally he's here, physically and emotionally spending time with someone he's been missing, investing his energy into something that isn't gymnastics. Finally, he's getting his release, getting an opportunity to express his heart, soul, and body with someone who cares for him back. Finally, he can kiss the lips he's been dying to, smell the musk he's been craving all week, be in the arms of Leo and tell him—wait.
Jungkook never told Leo about...
"Come here." Leo motions for Jungkook to come forward from the door. His aura speaks of need, whispering Jungkook's name repeatedly into the spacious bathroom that doesn't look as if it's ever been used. A wide black bench leans against the wall of a side dressing room, and Leo motions to it. "Let's see how quickly I can make you forget about gymnastics."
Before long, Jungkook is panting, shaking, and barely mindful of the present. Hands roam his flushed skin, and snaking pleasure rolls into his stomach as Leo's hand wriggles his leotard completely off his body. Leo is merciless in his ministrations, starting off at a monstrous pace on Jungkook's unprepared body.
His back arches as Leo's touch brings him sensations that make his toes curl, leaving him sweaty and writhing on the black bench. Leo's mouth is set with determination, his vulnerable eyes revealing how much he's enjoying watching Jungkook thrust his hips up with lidded eyes.
"Leo...mmgh....so...good..." Jungkook breathes out, unable to stop himself from falling victim to Leo's warm hands and eager lips biting and licking him like a deeply satisfying dessert. He really shouldn't be doing this right now, especially in a family restroom, but he has no other choice. There's no other time to see Leo than now. "Agh..."
"Remember this." Leo whispers lowly into Jungkook's ear, rapidly increasing his pace. "Remember how good I make you feel whenever you get tired or down on yourself."
"O-okay...mmm..."
"And remember how much you mean to me. You should take care of yourself." Leo presses kisses on the slope of Jungkook's ribs, nibbling lightly on the skin there. His hand continues a vicious march for Jungkook's high, moving between Jungkook's thighs faster than his feet sprint down the runway for vault. "You should do it for me, Jungkook."
Jungkook nods, moaning without reserve. He hopes nobody is walking past the bathroom, wondering what kind of horrible bathroom episode is proceeding behind the door.
"I...will...for you." Jungkook arches his back up, burying his mouth against Leo's. Within seconds, he's twitching, gasping into Leo's mouth as his body makes a permanent imprint of the memory in his mind.
His body surges forward with pleasure, pushing past the confines of his mind into a foggy area. The area is so untraveled, a freshly awakened gem in his mind generated by his orgasm. His lips move on their own, planning to utter something that he never expected he would say in a million years to his toughest competitor.
"Leo...oh, Leo!" Jungkook wraps his arms around the Brazilian's hot neck, feeling the thrum of an excited pulse against the inside of his elbow. Leo hums, allowing himself to be pulled against Jungkook's naked, panting body.
"Tell me, Jungkook." Somehow, Leo is aware that Jungkook has something important to say. And they don't have much time to share. Jungkook sucks in a deep breath, closing his eyes against Leo's cheek.
"I...I think I..."
"Jeon? Jeon, where are you?"
Jungkook lips freeze, startled against Leo's skin. Leo's eyes widen, an expansion of sheer fear. Coach Kan's voice carries down the hallway, reverberating into the bathroom. The circumstances remind Jungkook of the time when him and Leo got caught in the shower with Kan waiting outside the door. This time though, Leo won't get caught. He'll make sure of it.
"Leo...help me clean up. Ignore him."
Leo dips his head in understanding, starting to clean Jungkook off and fix his leotard into place. Jungkook hurries him along, helping yank the straps up over his shoulders and adjust his shorts. Leo is still flushed through with the excitement of the moment, his cheeks red and eyes unfocused.
"What were you going to tell me?" Leo speaks in a hushed voice while Kan's repeated questions fall into an abandoned hallway.
"Leo..." Jungkook falters under the pressure, withholding what he originally wanted to say. "You...know."
"I know?"
"Yes. You know, Leo." He pauses, studying Leo's active aura. "I can see that you do."
Jungkook stands, quickly fixing himself up in the mirror. His hair gets slicked over by a sweaty hand, but he doesn't look too bad. He was already disheveled from conditioning before, so his continued messiness isn't unexpected.
"I know...?" Leo stands dumbstruck on the sidelines, very clearly aroused and concurrently disappointed. But his stance tells a different story, one that suggests he does know what Jungkook wanted to say.
"I have to go, Leo. Thank you for this." Jungkook jogs over and presses a kiss to Leo's lips. "Stay strong for me. I promise I'll visit you sometime before the Olympics...somehow."
"You promise?" Leo's eyes sparkle with anticipation. It gives him a more youthful appearance, one that contrasts starkly with the dull throb of pain and suffering in his aura.
"Yes." Jungkook opens the door, preparing himself to face his crabby coach with a tough-to-explain departure. "I promise, we'll meet again before the Olympics."
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note from authAURA~
greetings fellow heart-beaters,
now, this is where i run into a conundrum. blood dipped isn't necessarily a color to avoid, since it entails lust and expression, but it is something to be enjoyed in moderation. too much of a good thing is never good, and pleasurable circumstances can grow amok with addictive tendencies.
be choosy in your passions, in other words. don't let your passions control you, or scandal might follow in your lusty footsteps.
disengage author's note, and perpetually prosper!
izzzzzzzzzy.
once more, a pommel horse routine! personally, pommel horse scares me the most to watch since i'm always afraid the gymnasts are going to crotch the damn handles. it's like the men's equivalent of women's balance beam--one slip and it's goodnight where the sun don't shine. oww...i've crotched the beam one too many times, to the point where i've questioned my lasting fertility. deadass. was that tmi? eh, even if so. it happens.
anyway, gooooo LEONARDO~!