Work Text:
“Strip.”
Wooyoung does nothing. Yunho’s not really a brat tamer, but sometimes he gets assigned brats when there’s shortages or people have family emergencies, because he’s a discipline dom and that can be the same thing for a session. His schedule tends to be more open than the other doms at the center, because very few subs are truly made for discipline and even fewer want it at the level Yunho demands.
So he’s used to brats. He’s also used to those brats almost never making their way back to him, because he usually goes easier on the brats than his actual discipline subs, but Yunho is unyielding in a way most subs don’t enjoy.
Which makes Wooyoung an outlier. Something out of place—and Yunho hates things being out of place. Not as much as Seonghwa, but enough that it feels like something he’s failing to fix that needs to be righted.
“I gave you an order,” Yunho says. He uses the tip of the cane he’s holding to lift Wooyoung’s head up. Wooyoung looks away, defiant. “Really? You know I don’t tolerate that, Wooyoung.”
Yunho sees the way Wooyoung’s Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. It’s a sign that Wooyoung’s about to throw a fit—the kind that Yunho privately thinks isn’t natural. Bratting is theatrics, yes, but brats don’t really think about it. Every time Yunho’s seen Wooyoung throw a fit, though, it seems like he has to steel himself to do it and it never feels... right. It feels like something someone told Wooyoung to do, rather than something he wants to be doing.
“No.” Wooyoung’s tone is nasty, ruder than Yunho thinks most brats would try for. Yunho’s brat tamer friends often say there’s a fine line between bratting and simply being fucking rude. Yunho think Wooyoung lands on the wrong side more often than not. “Fuck you.”
When Yunho raises an eyebrow, he can see Wooyoung hesitate. It’s not fear of the punishment, because that seems to be the only part of this process Wooyoung likes, but… he doesn’t know. Fear of doing it wrong, maybe? Wooyoung is a riddle that seemingly has no answer, and Yunho watches as Wooyoung looks away again, chin lifted. There’s something fragile in it, but the important thing about discipline is consistency. When Wooyoung gets like this, he gets a caning.
“Wooyoung.”
The name is a warning, a subtle do it, I dare you to try me and see what happens, and Yunho sees Wooyoung’s bratty persona wavering. He’s seen this before, in new brats who are unsure of the rhythm with doms and what works best for them, but Wooyoung isn’t a new sub and they’ve done enough sessions together that Wooyoung shouldn’t still be acting like this. He swallows and makes a run for it. Fortunately, because Wooyoung’s bratting is so practiced, Yunho’s learned the tricks by now. Yunho grabs him before he gets very far and hauls Wooyoung to his feet.
“I gave you an out,” Yunho says, as he drags Wooyoung to the bench and straps him in. Once Wooyoung’s in the bench, he goes lax, boneless. “Do you want to explain yourself?”
“What? No, I’m—you’re supposed to punish me!” Wooyoung whines, twisting to try and see Yunho. He’s kept in place by the restraints. Yunho’s privately glad that he’s positioned so Wooyoung can’t see him, because he doesn’t think his expression right now is very controlled. “It doesn’t matter why I did it!”
“It does.” Yunho puts his hand in the small of Wooyoung’s back, skin warm even through the leather of his gloves, and breathes out. “Discipline requires a strong understanding of what behavior I’m correcting from both of us. You haven’t shown improvement and you haven’t sought out a more traditional brat tamer, so we’re doing things my way now. I’m going to cane you. You just have to take it. Then, afterward, you are going to tell me where I’ve been going wrong and how I help you, Wooyoung.”
There’s a shaky inhale from Wooyoung, and then a mumbled yes, sir. Yunho pats his back and the unceremoniously yanks the sweats Wooyoung’s wearing down, hooking them under his ass. The action makes Wooyoung tense up, but Yunho doesn’t bother to try and relax him before bringing the cane down his ass.
Yunho has a variety of canes—he prefers standard rattan, if the subs he works with don’t make a choice themselves—but Wooyoung only ever wants the carbon fiber. It’s thin with no flex, absolutely vicious in the welts it leaves, and Wooyoung only begs for more. He is, first and foremost, a masochist—so much so Yunho doesn’t know why he lists himself as a brat. If he was a straightforward masochist, Yunho would have a better idea on how to handle him. He’s not a sadist, but he knows sadism. That’s easy.
Wooyoung, however, is complicated. Yunho brings down the cane a second time, just below the first strike, and Wooyoung sighs into it. He relaxes like a cat gone liquid in golden afternoon sun and it’s beautiful. When he doesn’t spend so long fighting Yunho, Wooyoung’s submission is a dream.
The third strike hits the place where the first two touch, drawing a strangled moan from Wooyoung. Yunho doesn’t think he’ll be able to sit tomorrow, but he’s gathered the lingering pain is part of the appeal for Wooyoung. So he brings down the next few hits on Wooyoung’s thighs, crossing a few of them so the welts are worse and there won’t be any way to comfortably sit in a chair. The tenth strike, across the place where his thighs meet his ass, draws a startled sob from Wooyoung. He hiccups, wet and pathetic. Yunho waits a moment to see if there’s a safeword, but instead he only gets a small sniffle. He resumes, making sure Wooyoung’s ass is a nice, even red.
For once, he doesn’t aim to draw blood or turn Wooyoung’s ass into a mess of mottled purple bruising. There are a few deeper bruises, because that’s what Wooyoung likes, but mostly Yunho focuses on making sure Wooyoung’s entire ass is on fire. When he’s satisfied with his handiwork, Yunho runs a hand over Wooyoung’s ass, indulgent, and then spank him once to signal the session is over.
Letting the cane clatter to the floor, Yunho undoes the straps on the bench and helps Wooyoung stand up to step out of his sweats. He guides Wooyoung over to the bed, letting him flop onto it face first, and grabs the arnica.
He’s halfway through working it into Wooyoung’s skin when Wooyoung finally speaks.
“I wanted you to punish me,” he says, half mumbled into the pillow. “If I don’t act up, you don’t act mean.”
Holy Mother of God, give him strength. Yunho’s going to find whoever did Wooyoung’s training and strangle them—or at least get them fired. It has to be in the files somewhere. For accountability in situations like this, there’s always a paper trail and Wooyoung is well-trained enough Yunho knows he went through proper lessons at some point.
“Wooyoung, I need you to be very honest with me.” Yunho’s thumb is rubbing absent circles in the dip of Wooyoung’s spine like he’d do to his rosary, if he was wearing it. He doesn’t at work. “Do you like acting up or do you like when I punish you?”
“Those are the same thing…?”
The way Wooyoung trails off tells Yunho it’s almost a certainty that he skipped the assessments before training. That is technically allowed if a sub has a relatively decent idea of what they want training for or if they simply want to be trained in everything, however trainers are meant to redirect a sub if something doesn’t seem like a good fit. Yunho doesn’t think bratting is a good fit for Wooyoung—not in the form it’s currently taking.
“They’re not. Today you were actively disrespectful and rude to me. I think you know that.” Yunho watches Wooyoung turn his head until his face is hidden in the pillow. “If you want that very combative dynamic, then I can refer you to an actual brat tamer or one of the doms specialized in edgeplay. I’m not a good fit for that, though.”
When Wooyoung doesn’t say anything, Yunho goes back to rubbing arnica into the welts on his thighs. They have a set aftercare routine and part of discipline is sticking to routines. He’s finishing up, just checking to see if he missed any of the balm, when Wooyoung speaks again.
“I like when you’re mean to me.” Wooyoung turns, trying to look at Yunho, and Yunho moves into his field of vision. “You can’t be mean to me for no reason, though.”
“So you want to be degraded, but it can’t be for no reason. You want to earn your punishments.”
A crease appears on Wooyoung’s brow, the heavy thought related to Yunho’s words clear on his face. Yunho waits.
“I guess? I don’t really know what that means, seonsaengnim.” The title is a nice touch, Yunho thinks. Wooyoung rarely uses it, even though they established it in their first session. If he’s being honest, Yunho’s surprised Wooyoung remembers. “Why would I earn punishments if I wasn’t being rude?”
A thousand possibilities spring to life in Yunho’s mind. It’s been a while since he had to actually train a sub. Now that he knows Wooyoung’s brattiness is a means to an end, the solutions feel clear. Exciting, even.
“By breaking rules,” Yunho says, reaching out to pet Wooyoung’s hair, “and I have so many rules I want to teach you.”