Soul's Requiem (Chapter 17)
“Well that’s very easy to explain, my boy.”
Yunho arched his eyebrows slightly, clearly expressing his incredulous stance on the matter. Nothing had been simple since Jaejoong had been kidnapped. He was interested in learning exactly what parts had been “easy” for the Lee Organization.
“You see, I’ve run into a bit of a financial rut, so to speak, and I was having a bit of trouble getting debts paid. So what is a man to do in a situation such as that? I couldn’t simply sit back and let all of faithful employees sink underneath my debt.” Mr. Lee shrugged his shoulders slightly, narrow eyes opening wider as he regarded Yunho.
“Then I learned of Daniel Henney, who at the time was in need of a little assistance.” Wrinkled hands folded over each other on the wooden surface of the table, the slender digits reflected in the highly polished wood. “It just so happened that he was rather unhappy with his position in the Kwon Organization and was looking for a way out. I was there to give it to him.”
Yunho clenched his fists slightly, fighting off the waves of anger that he felt crashing over his body. Daniel Henney had been at the root of all of this. He had been the one that set the plans in motion, Yunho was sure of that.
“So did you ask for the crest, or did he offer it to you as a thank you gift?” Yunho had to work hard to keep the sneer in his voice to a minimum level. He figured that his guards would only allow him a small amount of disrespect.
“Oh no, that was completely his own doing. I did find it rather odd that he so willingly handed over such a valuable thing as the Kwon Crest.” Mr. Lee shrugged his shoulders slightly as if he couldn’t be bothered to look further into Daniel Henney’s motives.
“You really don’t see what he’s doing, do you?” Yunho found himself scoffing slightly, his eyes narrowed in a condescending glare. “He’s playing you like he played the rest of us.” It was so obvious what was going on, why couldn’t anyone seem to see it? “Do you want to know how I know?” He questioned, leaning forward slightly as his courage grew. Somehow, he felt that he had the upper hand in the matter now. He knew what was going to happen to the idiots that had trusted Daniel Henney.
Mr. Lee’s face tightened noticeably at Yunho’s sudden change in tone. He crossed his arms over his chest and sat back in his chair slightly, his age-hardened face showing only a miniscule amount of his anger. “How would you know? You’re nothing but a child that’s been living in your father’s shadow.”
Yunho sniffed at the other man’s obvious attempt to redirect the conversation. Mr. Lee obviously had some inkling of what Daniel Henney had done, or he wouldn’t be so eager to avoid the topic.
“You see,” Yunho began, ignoring the other man’s words, “Daniel Henney knew that if the Kwon Crest went missing, then the Jung’s would quickly go after the most likely suspects. The Kims. So while we tore each other apart, you were left thinking that you had made it without a scratch. But what you didn’t take into account was the fact that once the Jungs and the Kims have torn each other to pieces, they will eventually find out that none other than Mr, Lee himself has the crest.” Yunho sat back in his chair now, eyes dark as he watched a look of captivated horror seeping across Mr. Lee’s face. “So when they figure that out, they will ban together and call on the Kowns to help them destroy you. Do you know how big the Kwon Organization is? They have thousands of people all over the world. Even some in Italy…” Yunho trailed off and glanced around the room as if he expected there to be a member of the Kwon Organization to be lurking in the shadow-doused corners.
“They won’t figure out we’re the one’s who took it.” Mr. Lee growled in a tone that struggled to hide his own fear. “Henney assured me that there would be no possible way to trace the Crest back to us.” It was obvious that he was clinging to the last remnants of hope that Yunho had yet to shatter.
“He also pledged to protect my father with his life, and in the end he was the one who put my father’s like at risk. You’re an idiot if you think he’s a man of his word.” The moment Yunho spoke the words, he knew that he’d gone too far. Mr. Lee had risen from his chair, fire burning hot in his dark eyes.
“I will not be spoken to in such a way!” He snarled harshly, slamming his fist down on the wooden surface of the table. “You know nothing! You’re my prisoner and I’m going to kill you and the rest of your family!” He pushed away from the table, knocking his chair off it’s feet and to the floor with a crash.
“You should learn that you no longer have control over anything. Your life is mine from this moment on.” He was up in Yunho’s face now, his breath hot and smelling of fish as it ghosted over the younger male’s skin.
Despite the rather uncomfortable proximity, Yunho found nothing about Mr. Lee to be intimidating. The man was walking straight into his own downfall and he was too blind to see it. Yunho would not let himself be afraid of a moron.
“You may have the ability to take my life, but you will never own me.” He responded coolly, lifting his chin so that the other male’s rancid breath couldn’t reach his nostrils.
“Is that what you think?” Mr. Lee snarled back, fists clenching at his side as he stood fuming before Yunho.
“Do whatever you want him with him.” He snapped back at his guards, “torture him, rape him, mutilate him, I don’t care so long as you don’t kill him yet.” Mr. Lee finished in a dark voice before he brushed past Yunho and made his way to the door.
“Oh dear, it looks like you’re in for quite the night, Yunho-ah.” Sungmin smiled up at Yunho as he stood from his chair and made his way around the table.
“You can come with me, Jaejoong. I’ll take you to your cell.” He reached out and gripped Jaejoong’s slender wrist firmly, tugging lightly to indicate that the older male should stand.
“Sungmin, talk to your father.” Jaejoong started as he stood and tried to free his wrist from Sungmin’s hold. “Warn him about what’s going to happen. If a fight breaks out, your father could die.” He tried again, letting his arm loosen as if he realized the futility of trying to make Sungmin let go of him.
“What my father does is up to him.” Sungmin’s voice darkened slightly and his tugging became slightly firmer. “Now come on Jaejoong, I have other things I want to do tonight.” Sungmin pouted slightly, his left foot stomping lightly as he tugged again.
“Just go, Jaejoong.” Yunho commanded darkly, not wanting to deal with Jaejoong’s crying and pleading any longer. He knew that Sungmin worked for Henney. There was no doubt in his mind that the little blonde male and taken sides with the man that seemed to be bent on causing chaos in the South Korean gang world.
“Fuck you, Yunho.” Jaejoong snapped back as he turned a hot glare on the other male. “You may not care what happens to your family, but I certainly don’t want people I care about to come rushing in here to fight a completely pointless battle.” Tears were now building in Jaejoong’s eyes as he seemed to lose some of his will to keep fighting.
Yunho had to suck in a deep breath to keep himself from hitting Jaejoong. “If you could look past your emotions for once , you’d be able to see that appealing to the emotional side of a person isn’t going to do you any good. So just shut up and go.” Yunho wanted him to leave quickly. He didn’t want Jaejoong to see the sweat that was beginning to bead on his forehead. He had no idea what kind of pain awaited him, but he wasn’t about to let Jaejoong see his fear.
“I can’t believe you.” Jaejoong narrowed his eyes slightly before he moved to follow Sungmin, never turning to look back at Yunho.
“Who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll kill you before your family comes and starts getting slaughtered.” His last words just managed to reach Yunho before the heavy wooden door slammed shut, leaving him trapped in a room full of malicious looking men.
Yunho turned and eyed the five men who were leaning casually against the wall. All of them seemed to be waiting for Donghae to leave the room.
He figured that his chances of beating them in a right were fairly low, but it wasn’t impossible.
“Have a good evening, Yunho.” Donghae spoke into the silence, his voice sounding bored as he stood from his chair and made his way to a door in the back-left corner of the room.
He seemed utterly unbothered by what was about to happen to another human. Was that how far man had fallen? Had everyone simple retreated into themselves until all that mattered was their own selfish needs and desires?
As the door clicked shut, Yunho felt terror beginning to seep over his entire body, restricting his breathing and causing his hands to tremble slightly. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he turned and eyed the five men standing before him.
“Looks like our time has finally come, gentlemen.” One of the men crooned. He was tall and beefy, just like the other four men, with a dark scruff of beard covering the lower half of his face and neck. His skin looked dirty and unkempt, as if he hadn’t seen clean water in weeks, and his eyes were dark and malicious looking.
Overall, they were a rather generic group. The typical gangsters that can’t be bothered to shower more than once a month.
“Don’t you think it would be in your best interest to get on the side that’s going to win?” Yunho suddenly questioned, attempting to reach their greedy, self-serving sides. If he could just convince them that the Lees were going to be attacked, then he would practically have a free ticket home.
“Last I checked, we were the ones who had the Kwon Crest and the ones that managed to get the Jungs and the Kims to attack each other. From my point of view, I am on the winning side.” The same man spoke again, crossing his arms over his chest in a rather self-satisfied manner.
“Why exactly are we sitting here having this conversation?” One of the men asked as he pushed himself off the wall and moved to stand beside Yunho. “We should just take him and rough him up a bit. Just like the boss asked us to.”
“A bit?” Another one of the men came forward, a wicked smile creeping across his face, “I intend to go father than ‘a bit’.” He chuckled slightly and nudged Yunho in the ribs. “How does that sound to you?”
Yunho pursed his lips, refusing to play along with the apes surrounding him. Not that he minded them sitting there trying to act witty and intelligent. The longer they stood arguing, the further away his night of torture got. He was having trouble grasping the reality of the moment. Everything just seemed fuzzy, like it would in a nightmare. He relished the thought of being able to wake up and brush off everything that had happened to him. If this was all a bad dream, then he would get to wake-up and see Boa and talk to his father again. He would even be able to have a drink with Yoochun in the evening. However, as much as he wanted everything to just go back to normal, he knew that he was stuck there in a nightmarish reality.
“Okay everyone, that’s enough.” The man who had spoken first brought an immediate silence to the room. “I’ve got some other stuff I have to do today, so can we just get this done?” He growled as he reached out a large hand and grasped Yunho’s upper arm.
There were a few grunts of agreement before Yunho found himself jerked forward with enough forced to upset his balance. He managed to catch himself by extending his right foot, but he’d hardly regained his equanimity when he was pulled forward again as the group set off down a rather long corridor.
The walls were made of a sand-colored stone that seemed desperately out of place with the black marble of the floor. It was as if someone had attempted to put two different classes together. The smooth, classy marble and the rough, decrepit stone. What made it worse was the white doors that lined each side of the corridor.
Around the twelfth door down, the group stopped and opened one of the identical white doors on the right side. The door swung open to reveal a room of a rather disturbing nature. The walls, ceiling and floor were white, giving a feeling of dangerous sterility. It even managed to make the chains look clean from where they hung on the ceiling. Aside from the chains, there was something that looked like a long, metal table that had been stood up and had long, leather straps attached to both sides. On the left wall from the door, there was a white cabinet with doors spread wide open to reveal a collections of whips, knives, ropes, syringes and a variety of other torture devices.
The room resembled a hospital in a sense, though rather than taking away pain, it was facilitating activities that would cause it.
Yunho was thrust into the room with enough force to send him crashing to the ground, much to the delight of the five men standing behind him.
“Look at how scrawny he looks.” One of them sneered as he stepped into the room to tower over Yunho’s prostrate form. “Not exactly the mighty, future leader to the Jung Organization, now are you?”
“Aw, you gonna hurt is pride, too?” Another one questioned as he and another man entered the room.
“Jungmin, we have shit we gotta take care of.” The two remaining men addressed the tallest of the group, who simply nodded his head as if to give them permission to leave.
They returned the nod before one of them reached out and shut the door, locking Yunho within the confines of the sinister torture room.
“Now, in order to uphold some manners, we’ll introduce ourselves first.” The man who had been addressed as Jungmin began to speak as he easily hefted Yunho off the floor. “My name is Choi Jungmin, this is Kim Raewon and that is Shim Jungsu.” Each man offered a tilt of his head, as if they desired to hold to the formalities.
Yunho arched one eyebrow at the men, almost finding himself wanting to laugh at their sad attempt at manners. Those men were nothing more than dogs that had been taught to walk on two feet. Nothing but animals.
There was a brief pause in the room--the silence nearly suffocating in its entirety--before one of the men reached down and easily lifted Yunho to his feet.
They pressed him against the metal table and began to work the leather straps over his chest and thighs, securing his arms at his side and his legs to the table.
Yunho could feel the panic creeping up his throat, urging him to beg for freedom. He bit down on the desire and pursed his lips, refusing to utter one word that might indicate his true terror at the moment. Who wouldn’t be scared? It was practically the natural reaction to the thought of impending pain. Some random part of Yunho’s mind noted the presence of something that felt like small ridges along the undersides of the leather belts.
He was slightly surprised when they tilted the table backwards, leaving him facing the ceiling. He could hardly see what they were doing now, but one of them appeared to be fiddling with a metal back that was set up in the right corner of the room.
“What the hell is taking you so long, Raewon?” Jungmin barked as he leaned his left shoulder against the wall and eyed Yunho’s bound form. He had a sort of greedy pleasure swimming within the depths of his dark, angry eyes.
“Hey, it’s been awhile since I last did this, give me a second to remember how everything works again.” Raewon snapped over his shoulder before he reached into the box and flipped a red switch upwards.
Yunho was aware of a sharp hum before pain like nothing he’d ever felt came crashing down over him. It felt as if every nerve within his body was on fire, like he was being burned from the inside. He convulsed sharply on the table, his screams echoing harshly in the small room. He almost didn’t comprehend that those screams even belonged to him. He was lost in a churning ocean of fire and pain, his mind too paralyzed by pain to even comprehend the things that were happening around him.
Already it felt as if he’d spent days there, under the pain and agony. He could see no end to the torture, his mind already forgetting how it felt to be whole and normal.
Then it stopped.
His body went limp of its own accord, leaving him panting hoarsely on the table. The return to peace was so sudden, leaving his mind reeling as he tried to adjust to what had happened.
“Wow, he’s a sensitive one. Usually, we don’t get that kind of response until we’ve pumped the voltage up.” Jungsu noted as he leaned over Yunho and gave him a wicked smile. “I can’t wait to see how you react to the next setting.” He chuckled darkly before he turned and nodded to Raewon, who was still standing by the metal box in the corner.
Yunho hardly had time to begin his plea when his voice was overpowered by his hoarse scream of agony. Just like that he was back within the confines of mind-numbing pain. He lost sight of where he was, what was happening and even who he was. All he knew was the pain that shot from the tips of his toes to the roots of his hair. It felt as if acid was slowly eating away at his skin, setting fire to his entire body.
He could feel the fringes of unconsciousness tugging at his mind, telling him to simply fade away from his body so he could find peace.
Once again, just as he was about to drift off, the room went still and Yunho was left groaning on the table, his fists clenched so tightly that he could feel his nails digging into his palm.
“This is boring.” Raewon stated hotly as he turned his back on the box and faced his two companions. Why don’t we try something else?” His eyes flickered hopefully to the white cabinet, the gazes of the other two men following.
“Alright, Raewon, have a go.” Jungmin gestured towards the cabinet with a dramatic flourish of his hand, offering the other male a slight bow.
Yunho wasn’t sure if he was supposed to feel relieved or concerned about the next form of torture that would be pushed upon him.
He watched with large eyes as Raewon made his way over to the cabinet, his hands skimming over long whips and deadly knives. Yunho had to fight the urge to beginning begging. This was nothing, so he couldn’t give in yet. He couldn’t let himself be defeated like that.
Raewon turned from the cabinet, malicious smile on his face as he held up a knife that looked to be around a foot long with a blade that was curved sharply downwards at the end.
“What do you think? Should we cut off an ear, a finger?” The expression on his piggish face was nearly crazy, as if the thought of cutting off an ear or finger was something he relished.
“No, no, no cutting things off right now. It’s way too messy with all the blood and then we have to get rid of whatever we cut off. No, just carve him up a little if you really need to play with the knives, Raewon.” Jungmin commanded firmly, shaking his head to signify that he was against the cutting off of fingers and ears.
Yunho let out a long, shuddering breath of relief at Jungmin’s words, finding himself border on hysterical tears of relief.
Raewon twisted his mouth in slight distaste at Jungmin’s words, his eyes dimming slightly as he walked up to the table and eyed Yunho’s bare chest. “That takes away from the fun.” He huffed slightly as he lowered the blade of the knife and let the edge run lightly over Yunho’s heaving chest.
“You have very nice skin.” He commented absently as he stood the knife on it’s tip and twirled it slightly, gaze thoughtful. “I wonder if you scar easily.” His words were slightly drowned-out by Yunho’s yell of pain as the blade of the knife pierced past the skin on his chest.
“No resilience at all.” Raewon sighed as he pressed down on the knife and slowly starting etching a bloody trail down Yunho’s chest.
The pain wasn’t as bad as it had been. It was now a highly concentrated sting, a biting burn that spread throughout his entire chest and neck. His yells of pain echoing throughout the room, bringing a satisfied smile to Raewon’s dark face.
=----------------------------------------=
Jaejoong startled slightly as a muted yell echoed through the hallway that he and Sungmin were currently trekking down.
“What was that?” He questioned Sungmin softly, pressing his arm against the wall to support himself. He was still feeling weak and the news that Donghae had given him certainly hadn’t helped him feel any better. He’d had a brother all his life and never known about it. He’d grown up thinking that his father didn’t love him, when it wasn’t actually true. His father had chosen him over Donghae. Mr. Kim had chosen the bastard child over his true son.
“Just Yunho.” Sungmin responded absently as he continued to walk down the stone corridor.
Jaejoong was hardly paying attention to Sungmin anymore. He was simply following blindly as he tried to work out exactly what he was feeling about the newest shock in his life. Once again, he felt the weight of being worthless, of being the trash that was produced by a man’s lust for another woman. He felt as if he should have never existed. It almost seemed as it would be a blessing if he’d never been born. It would have meant that he never had to deal with this pain and torture…never met anyone that had caused him pain.
What else in his life was a illusion that had been carefully manipulated by the people around him? How much more of his past was being shadowed by lies that were supposed to “protect him”?
“Here we go.” Sungmin announced with a happy waves of his arms before he unlocked a sturdy wooden door and pushed Jaejoong inside.
Surprisingly enough, the room was a far cry above what Jaejoong had endured back in South Korea. The floor was concrete of a depressing gray shade and the walls were made of the same stone that seemed to compose the rest of the building. There were no windows and only a single light bulb to offer any sort of light in the room.
The temperature in the room was probably in the low seventies, which now felt quite warm to Jaejoong, who was used to ranging degrees of freezing cold.
“Personally, I think these are much better than the Jungs’ cells.” He stuck his head into the room and let his gaze flicker around with a slightly appreciative nod. “Enjoy your stay.” The stated cheerfully before he slammed the door shut and left Jaejoong on his own in the room.
Walking over to the corner, Jaejoong sank to the ground with a grateful sigh, his weak body rejoicing at the chance to simple rest. He knew that he probably shouldn’t have been feeling relaxed at the moment; however, from where he stood, his situation had taken a slight upturn when he’d been taken away from the grips of Daniel Henney.
Even with as much rest as he’d gotten on the plane, Jaejoong found his eyes too heavy to really stay open, and before long he’d drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
It seemed just moments later when a dull thud and a muted groan jerked Jaejoong from his sleep state. He was instantly awake and pressing back into the corner, his eyes wide and panicked as he looked for the intruder.
His eyes first flickered to the door, and then to the form laying sprawled like a neglected rag doll on the ground.
Yunho.
Jaejoong tilted his head to the side slightly, debating on his course of action. From the looks of Yunho’s shaking shoulders and slightly twitching arms, he was probably in some amount of pain. In the dim lighting of the room, Jaejoong was just able to make out the smears of blood along Yunho’s back .
“Yunho?” Jaejoong questioned as he pulled himself to his feet with some difficulty and made his way over to the huddled form. “Is there anything I can do to help?” He asked softly, extending his hand to rest lightly against Yunho’s shoulder.
The older male twitched slightly, a long groan escaping from his mouth as he rolled onto his back and turned dazed eyes on Jaejoong’s face.
His chest was covered in long, bloody. Some of them were deep and the skin looked to have been pulled back slightly, while others where short and shallow, as if it had been done with a quick swipe of a knife.
Jaejoong wondered if this was how he had looked after he’d been whipped. Yunho certainly looked worse for wear at the moment.
“I want this to be a nightmare.” Yunho finally muttered into the darkness of the cell, his eyes fluttering shut as his head lolled to the left slightly.
Jaejoong pursed his lips slightly, trying to keep himself from really feeling pity for the battered male. This was the man that had beat him into a pulp on an elevator; this was the man that had been so cruel to him and treated him as if he wasn’t even a real person. Jaejoong would not feel sorry for him.
“I’m worried about Boa.”
Yunho’s words jerked Jaejoong back to the present, his eyes widening slightly as he looked down at Yunho’s shivering form. “What?” He breathed weakly, wondering if he’d misheard Yunho.
“I’m worried that Boa is in danger.” His voice was gruff, but Jaejoong was fully able to understand him.
He was worried about Boa? He was worried that Boa was unsafe when he was the one that had been captured by a rival gang?
“I’m sure she’s okay.” The words had left his mouth before he could stop himself from offering Yunho comfort. Truthfully, he was worried about Boa as well; he was worried about Changmin and Junsu and all the other people in the Kim Organization. But it seemed odd that Yunho, the heartless bastard, would be concerned about a woman he was being forced to marry. Was it possible that Jung Yunho was capable of feeling love for someone?
Yunho arched his eyebrows slightly, clearly expressing his incredulous stance on the matter. Nothing had been simple since Jaejoong had been kidnapped. He was interested in learning exactly what parts had been “easy” for the Lee Organization.
“You see, I’ve run into a bit of a financial rut, so to speak, and I was having a bit of trouble getting debts paid. So what is a man to do in a situation such as that? I couldn’t simply sit back and let all of faithful employees sink underneath my debt.” Mr. Lee shrugged his shoulders slightly, narrow eyes opening wider as he regarded Yunho.
“Then I learned of Daniel Henney, who at the time was in need of a little assistance.” Wrinkled hands folded over each other on the wooden surface of the table, the slender digits reflected in the highly polished wood. “It just so happened that he was rather unhappy with his position in the Kwon Organization and was looking for a way out. I was there to give it to him.”
Yunho clenched his fists slightly, fighting off the waves of anger that he felt crashing over his body. Daniel Henney had been at the root of all of this. He had been the one that set the plans in motion, Yunho was sure of that.
“So did you ask for the crest, or did he offer it to you as a thank you gift?” Yunho had to work hard to keep the sneer in his voice to a minimum level. He figured that his guards would only allow him a small amount of disrespect.
“Oh no, that was completely his own doing. I did find it rather odd that he so willingly handed over such a valuable thing as the Kwon Crest.” Mr. Lee shrugged his shoulders slightly as if he couldn’t be bothered to look further into Daniel Henney’s motives.
“You really don’t see what he’s doing, do you?” Yunho found himself scoffing slightly, his eyes narrowed in a condescending glare. “He’s playing you like he played the rest of us.” It was so obvious what was going on, why couldn’t anyone seem to see it? “Do you want to know how I know?” He questioned, leaning forward slightly as his courage grew. Somehow, he felt that he had the upper hand in the matter now. He knew what was going to happen to the idiots that had trusted Daniel Henney.
Mr. Lee’s face tightened noticeably at Yunho’s sudden change in tone. He crossed his arms over his chest and sat back in his chair slightly, his age-hardened face showing only a miniscule amount of his anger. “How would you know? You’re nothing but a child that’s been living in your father’s shadow.”
Yunho sniffed at the other man’s obvious attempt to redirect the conversation. Mr. Lee obviously had some inkling of what Daniel Henney had done, or he wouldn’t be so eager to avoid the topic.
“You see,” Yunho began, ignoring the other man’s words, “Daniel Henney knew that if the Kwon Crest went missing, then the Jung’s would quickly go after the most likely suspects. The Kims. So while we tore each other apart, you were left thinking that you had made it without a scratch. But what you didn’t take into account was the fact that once the Jungs and the Kims have torn each other to pieces, they will eventually find out that none other than Mr, Lee himself has the crest.” Yunho sat back in his chair now, eyes dark as he watched a look of captivated horror seeping across Mr. Lee’s face. “So when they figure that out, they will ban together and call on the Kowns to help them destroy you. Do you know how big the Kwon Organization is? They have thousands of people all over the world. Even some in Italy…” Yunho trailed off and glanced around the room as if he expected there to be a member of the Kwon Organization to be lurking in the shadow-doused corners.
“They won’t figure out we’re the one’s who took it.” Mr. Lee growled in a tone that struggled to hide his own fear. “Henney assured me that there would be no possible way to trace the Crest back to us.” It was obvious that he was clinging to the last remnants of hope that Yunho had yet to shatter.
“He also pledged to protect my father with his life, and in the end he was the one who put my father’s like at risk. You’re an idiot if you think he’s a man of his word.” The moment Yunho spoke the words, he knew that he’d gone too far. Mr. Lee had risen from his chair, fire burning hot in his dark eyes.
“I will not be spoken to in such a way!” He snarled harshly, slamming his fist down on the wooden surface of the table. “You know nothing! You’re my prisoner and I’m going to kill you and the rest of your family!” He pushed away from the table, knocking his chair off it’s feet and to the floor with a crash.
“You should learn that you no longer have control over anything. Your life is mine from this moment on.” He was up in Yunho’s face now, his breath hot and smelling of fish as it ghosted over the younger male’s skin.
Despite the rather uncomfortable proximity, Yunho found nothing about Mr. Lee to be intimidating. The man was walking straight into his own downfall and he was too blind to see it. Yunho would not let himself be afraid of a moron.
“You may have the ability to take my life, but you will never own me.” He responded coolly, lifting his chin so that the other male’s rancid breath couldn’t reach his nostrils.
“Is that what you think?” Mr. Lee snarled back, fists clenching at his side as he stood fuming before Yunho.
“Do whatever you want him with him.” He snapped back at his guards, “torture him, rape him, mutilate him, I don’t care so long as you don’t kill him yet.” Mr. Lee finished in a dark voice before he brushed past Yunho and made his way to the door.
“Oh dear, it looks like you’re in for quite the night, Yunho-ah.” Sungmin smiled up at Yunho as he stood from his chair and made his way around the table.
“You can come with me, Jaejoong. I’ll take you to your cell.” He reached out and gripped Jaejoong’s slender wrist firmly, tugging lightly to indicate that the older male should stand.
“Sungmin, talk to your father.” Jaejoong started as he stood and tried to free his wrist from Sungmin’s hold. “Warn him about what’s going to happen. If a fight breaks out, your father could die.” He tried again, letting his arm loosen as if he realized the futility of trying to make Sungmin let go of him.
“What my father does is up to him.” Sungmin’s voice darkened slightly and his tugging became slightly firmer. “Now come on Jaejoong, I have other things I want to do tonight.” Sungmin pouted slightly, his left foot stomping lightly as he tugged again.
“Just go, Jaejoong.” Yunho commanded darkly, not wanting to deal with Jaejoong’s crying and pleading any longer. He knew that Sungmin worked for Henney. There was no doubt in his mind that the little blonde male and taken sides with the man that seemed to be bent on causing chaos in the South Korean gang world.
“Fuck you, Yunho.” Jaejoong snapped back as he turned a hot glare on the other male. “You may not care what happens to your family, but I certainly don’t want people I care about to come rushing in here to fight a completely pointless battle.” Tears were now building in Jaejoong’s eyes as he seemed to lose some of his will to keep fighting.
Yunho had to suck in a deep breath to keep himself from hitting Jaejoong. “If you could look past your emotions for once , you’d be able to see that appealing to the emotional side of a person isn’t going to do you any good. So just shut up and go.” Yunho wanted him to leave quickly. He didn’t want Jaejoong to see the sweat that was beginning to bead on his forehead. He had no idea what kind of pain awaited him, but he wasn’t about to let Jaejoong see his fear.
“I can’t believe you.” Jaejoong narrowed his eyes slightly before he moved to follow Sungmin, never turning to look back at Yunho.
“Who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll kill you before your family comes and starts getting slaughtered.” His last words just managed to reach Yunho before the heavy wooden door slammed shut, leaving him trapped in a room full of malicious looking men.
Yunho turned and eyed the five men who were leaning casually against the wall. All of them seemed to be waiting for Donghae to leave the room.
He figured that his chances of beating them in a right were fairly low, but it wasn’t impossible.
“Have a good evening, Yunho.” Donghae spoke into the silence, his voice sounding bored as he stood from his chair and made his way to a door in the back-left corner of the room.
He seemed utterly unbothered by what was about to happen to another human. Was that how far man had fallen? Had everyone simple retreated into themselves until all that mattered was their own selfish needs and desires?
As the door clicked shut, Yunho felt terror beginning to seep over his entire body, restricting his breathing and causing his hands to tremble slightly. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he turned and eyed the five men standing before him.
“Looks like our time has finally come, gentlemen.” One of the men crooned. He was tall and beefy, just like the other four men, with a dark scruff of beard covering the lower half of his face and neck. His skin looked dirty and unkempt, as if he hadn’t seen clean water in weeks, and his eyes were dark and malicious looking.
Overall, they were a rather generic group. The typical gangsters that can’t be bothered to shower more than once a month.
“Don’t you think it would be in your best interest to get on the side that’s going to win?” Yunho suddenly questioned, attempting to reach their greedy, self-serving sides. If he could just convince them that the Lees were going to be attacked, then he would practically have a free ticket home.
“Last I checked, we were the ones who had the Kwon Crest and the ones that managed to get the Jungs and the Kims to attack each other. From my point of view, I am on the winning side.” The same man spoke again, crossing his arms over his chest in a rather self-satisfied manner.
“Why exactly are we sitting here having this conversation?” One of the men asked as he pushed himself off the wall and moved to stand beside Yunho. “We should just take him and rough him up a bit. Just like the boss asked us to.”
“A bit?” Another one of the men came forward, a wicked smile creeping across his face, “I intend to go father than ‘a bit’.” He chuckled slightly and nudged Yunho in the ribs. “How does that sound to you?”
Yunho pursed his lips, refusing to play along with the apes surrounding him. Not that he minded them sitting there trying to act witty and intelligent. The longer they stood arguing, the further away his night of torture got. He was having trouble grasping the reality of the moment. Everything just seemed fuzzy, like it would in a nightmare. He relished the thought of being able to wake up and brush off everything that had happened to him. If this was all a bad dream, then he would get to wake-up and see Boa and talk to his father again. He would even be able to have a drink with Yoochun in the evening. However, as much as he wanted everything to just go back to normal, he knew that he was stuck there in a nightmarish reality.
“Okay everyone, that’s enough.” The man who had spoken first brought an immediate silence to the room. “I’ve got some other stuff I have to do today, so can we just get this done?” He growled as he reached out a large hand and grasped Yunho’s upper arm.
There were a few grunts of agreement before Yunho found himself jerked forward with enough forced to upset his balance. He managed to catch himself by extending his right foot, but he’d hardly regained his equanimity when he was pulled forward again as the group set off down a rather long corridor.
The walls were made of a sand-colored stone that seemed desperately out of place with the black marble of the floor. It was as if someone had attempted to put two different classes together. The smooth, classy marble and the rough, decrepit stone. What made it worse was the white doors that lined each side of the corridor.
Around the twelfth door down, the group stopped and opened one of the identical white doors on the right side. The door swung open to reveal a room of a rather disturbing nature. The walls, ceiling and floor were white, giving a feeling of dangerous sterility. It even managed to make the chains look clean from where they hung on the ceiling. Aside from the chains, there was something that looked like a long, metal table that had been stood up and had long, leather straps attached to both sides. On the left wall from the door, there was a white cabinet with doors spread wide open to reveal a collections of whips, knives, ropes, syringes and a variety of other torture devices.
The room resembled a hospital in a sense, though rather than taking away pain, it was facilitating activities that would cause it.
Yunho was thrust into the room with enough force to send him crashing to the ground, much to the delight of the five men standing behind him.
“Look at how scrawny he looks.” One of them sneered as he stepped into the room to tower over Yunho’s prostrate form. “Not exactly the mighty, future leader to the Jung Organization, now are you?”
“Aw, you gonna hurt is pride, too?” Another one questioned as he and another man entered the room.
“Jungmin, we have shit we gotta take care of.” The two remaining men addressed the tallest of the group, who simply nodded his head as if to give them permission to leave.
They returned the nod before one of them reached out and shut the door, locking Yunho within the confines of the sinister torture room.
“Now, in order to uphold some manners, we’ll introduce ourselves first.” The man who had been addressed as Jungmin began to speak as he easily hefted Yunho off the floor. “My name is Choi Jungmin, this is Kim Raewon and that is Shim Jungsu.” Each man offered a tilt of his head, as if they desired to hold to the formalities.
Yunho arched one eyebrow at the men, almost finding himself wanting to laugh at their sad attempt at manners. Those men were nothing more than dogs that had been taught to walk on two feet. Nothing but animals.
There was a brief pause in the room--the silence nearly suffocating in its entirety--before one of the men reached down and easily lifted Yunho to his feet.
They pressed him against the metal table and began to work the leather straps over his chest and thighs, securing his arms at his side and his legs to the table.
Yunho could feel the panic creeping up his throat, urging him to beg for freedom. He bit down on the desire and pursed his lips, refusing to utter one word that might indicate his true terror at the moment. Who wouldn’t be scared? It was practically the natural reaction to the thought of impending pain. Some random part of Yunho’s mind noted the presence of something that felt like small ridges along the undersides of the leather belts.
He was slightly surprised when they tilted the table backwards, leaving him facing the ceiling. He could hardly see what they were doing now, but one of them appeared to be fiddling with a metal back that was set up in the right corner of the room.
“What the hell is taking you so long, Raewon?” Jungmin barked as he leaned his left shoulder against the wall and eyed Yunho’s bound form. He had a sort of greedy pleasure swimming within the depths of his dark, angry eyes.
“Hey, it’s been awhile since I last did this, give me a second to remember how everything works again.” Raewon snapped over his shoulder before he reached into the box and flipped a red switch upwards.
Yunho was aware of a sharp hum before pain like nothing he’d ever felt came crashing down over him. It felt as if every nerve within his body was on fire, like he was being burned from the inside. He convulsed sharply on the table, his screams echoing harshly in the small room. He almost didn’t comprehend that those screams even belonged to him. He was lost in a churning ocean of fire and pain, his mind too paralyzed by pain to even comprehend the things that were happening around him.
Already it felt as if he’d spent days there, under the pain and agony. He could see no end to the torture, his mind already forgetting how it felt to be whole and normal.
Then it stopped.
His body went limp of its own accord, leaving him panting hoarsely on the table. The return to peace was so sudden, leaving his mind reeling as he tried to adjust to what had happened.
“Wow, he’s a sensitive one. Usually, we don’t get that kind of response until we’ve pumped the voltage up.” Jungsu noted as he leaned over Yunho and gave him a wicked smile. “I can’t wait to see how you react to the next setting.” He chuckled darkly before he turned and nodded to Raewon, who was still standing by the metal box in the corner.
Yunho hardly had time to begin his plea when his voice was overpowered by his hoarse scream of agony. Just like that he was back within the confines of mind-numbing pain. He lost sight of where he was, what was happening and even who he was. All he knew was the pain that shot from the tips of his toes to the roots of his hair. It felt as if acid was slowly eating away at his skin, setting fire to his entire body.
He could feel the fringes of unconsciousness tugging at his mind, telling him to simply fade away from his body so he could find peace.
Once again, just as he was about to drift off, the room went still and Yunho was left groaning on the table, his fists clenched so tightly that he could feel his nails digging into his palm.
“This is boring.” Raewon stated hotly as he turned his back on the box and faced his two companions. Why don’t we try something else?” His eyes flickered hopefully to the white cabinet, the gazes of the other two men following.
“Alright, Raewon, have a go.” Jungmin gestured towards the cabinet with a dramatic flourish of his hand, offering the other male a slight bow.
Yunho wasn’t sure if he was supposed to feel relieved or concerned about the next form of torture that would be pushed upon him.
He watched with large eyes as Raewon made his way over to the cabinet, his hands skimming over long whips and deadly knives. Yunho had to fight the urge to beginning begging. This was nothing, so he couldn’t give in yet. He couldn’t let himself be defeated like that.
Raewon turned from the cabinet, malicious smile on his face as he held up a knife that looked to be around a foot long with a blade that was curved sharply downwards at the end.
“What do you think? Should we cut off an ear, a finger?” The expression on his piggish face was nearly crazy, as if the thought of cutting off an ear or finger was something he relished.
“No, no, no cutting things off right now. It’s way too messy with all the blood and then we have to get rid of whatever we cut off. No, just carve him up a little if you really need to play with the knives, Raewon.” Jungmin commanded firmly, shaking his head to signify that he was against the cutting off of fingers and ears.
Yunho let out a long, shuddering breath of relief at Jungmin’s words, finding himself border on hysterical tears of relief.
Raewon twisted his mouth in slight distaste at Jungmin’s words, his eyes dimming slightly as he walked up to the table and eyed Yunho’s bare chest. “That takes away from the fun.” He huffed slightly as he lowered the blade of the knife and let the edge run lightly over Yunho’s heaving chest.
“You have very nice skin.” He commented absently as he stood the knife on it’s tip and twirled it slightly, gaze thoughtful. “I wonder if you scar easily.” His words were slightly drowned-out by Yunho’s yell of pain as the blade of the knife pierced past the skin on his chest.
“No resilience at all.” Raewon sighed as he pressed down on the knife and slowly starting etching a bloody trail down Yunho’s chest.
The pain wasn’t as bad as it had been. It was now a highly concentrated sting, a biting burn that spread throughout his entire chest and neck. His yells of pain echoing throughout the room, bringing a satisfied smile to Raewon’s dark face.
=----------------------------------------=
Jaejoong startled slightly as a muted yell echoed through the hallway that he and Sungmin were currently trekking down.
“What was that?” He questioned Sungmin softly, pressing his arm against the wall to support himself. He was still feeling weak and the news that Donghae had given him certainly hadn’t helped him feel any better. He’d had a brother all his life and never known about it. He’d grown up thinking that his father didn’t love him, when it wasn’t actually true. His father had chosen him over Donghae. Mr. Kim had chosen the bastard child over his true son.
“Just Yunho.” Sungmin responded absently as he continued to walk down the stone corridor.
Jaejoong was hardly paying attention to Sungmin anymore. He was simply following blindly as he tried to work out exactly what he was feeling about the newest shock in his life. Once again, he felt the weight of being worthless, of being the trash that was produced by a man’s lust for another woman. He felt as if he should have never existed. It almost seemed as it would be a blessing if he’d never been born. It would have meant that he never had to deal with this pain and torture…never met anyone that had caused him pain.
What else in his life was a illusion that had been carefully manipulated by the people around him? How much more of his past was being shadowed by lies that were supposed to “protect him”?
“Here we go.” Sungmin announced with a happy waves of his arms before he unlocked a sturdy wooden door and pushed Jaejoong inside.
Surprisingly enough, the room was a far cry above what Jaejoong had endured back in South Korea. The floor was concrete of a depressing gray shade and the walls were made of the same stone that seemed to compose the rest of the building. There were no windows and only a single light bulb to offer any sort of light in the room.
The temperature in the room was probably in the low seventies, which now felt quite warm to Jaejoong, who was used to ranging degrees of freezing cold.
“Personally, I think these are much better than the Jungs’ cells.” He stuck his head into the room and let his gaze flicker around with a slightly appreciative nod. “Enjoy your stay.” The stated cheerfully before he slammed the door shut and left Jaejoong on his own in the room.
Walking over to the corner, Jaejoong sank to the ground with a grateful sigh, his weak body rejoicing at the chance to simple rest. He knew that he probably shouldn’t have been feeling relaxed at the moment; however, from where he stood, his situation had taken a slight upturn when he’d been taken away from the grips of Daniel Henney.
Even with as much rest as he’d gotten on the plane, Jaejoong found his eyes too heavy to really stay open, and before long he’d drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
It seemed just moments later when a dull thud and a muted groan jerked Jaejoong from his sleep state. He was instantly awake and pressing back into the corner, his eyes wide and panicked as he looked for the intruder.
His eyes first flickered to the door, and then to the form laying sprawled like a neglected rag doll on the ground.
Yunho.
Jaejoong tilted his head to the side slightly, debating on his course of action. From the looks of Yunho’s shaking shoulders and slightly twitching arms, he was probably in some amount of pain. In the dim lighting of the room, Jaejoong was just able to make out the smears of blood along Yunho’s back .
“Yunho?” Jaejoong questioned as he pulled himself to his feet with some difficulty and made his way over to the huddled form. “Is there anything I can do to help?” He asked softly, extending his hand to rest lightly against Yunho’s shoulder.
The older male twitched slightly, a long groan escaping from his mouth as he rolled onto his back and turned dazed eyes on Jaejoong’s face.
His chest was covered in long, bloody. Some of them were deep and the skin looked to have been pulled back slightly, while others where short and shallow, as if it had been done with a quick swipe of a knife.
Jaejoong wondered if this was how he had looked after he’d been whipped. Yunho certainly looked worse for wear at the moment.
“I want this to be a nightmare.” Yunho finally muttered into the darkness of the cell, his eyes fluttering shut as his head lolled to the left slightly.
Jaejoong pursed his lips slightly, trying to keep himself from really feeling pity for the battered male. This was the man that had beat him into a pulp on an elevator; this was the man that had been so cruel to him and treated him as if he wasn’t even a real person. Jaejoong would not feel sorry for him.
“I’m worried about Boa.”
Yunho’s words jerked Jaejoong back to the present, his eyes widening slightly as he looked down at Yunho’s shivering form. “What?” He breathed weakly, wondering if he’d misheard Yunho.
“I’m worried that Boa is in danger.” His voice was gruff, but Jaejoong was fully able to understand him.
He was worried about Boa? He was worried that Boa was unsafe when he was the one that had been captured by a rival gang?
“I’m sure she’s okay.” The words had left his mouth before he could stop himself from offering Yunho comfort. Truthfully, he was worried about Boa as well; he was worried about Changmin and Junsu and all the other people in the Kim Organization. But it seemed odd that Yunho, the heartless bastard, would be concerned about a woman he was being forced to marry. Was it possible that Jung Yunho was capable of feeling love for someone?