Chapter 18 - The plummeting journey to meet his maker.
The room was densely quiet, save for a musical tinkling bell that chirruped cheerily with each frisky jump. A feathery ball reduced to ripped mulch was flung haphazardly across his vision- a streaking blur of garishly dyed colours- before a swift flick of a black paw pinned the miserable toy to the ground, a single curved claw sinking menacingly into its plump side. Death, he mused, was an inevitable part of the cycle of life. It could not be avoided.
Only in exceptional cases. And they were certainly not part of the norm.
They were exceptional beings made to live in exceptional circumstances, and yet, they could carve out an existence on the sidelines. Capable of emotion and plagued by the same simplistic desires that humans shared, they lived day to day just in order to survive and times like these were to be cherished. Changmin lifted a lazy hand to curl his finger around the handle of a porcelain mug, feeling heat from the steaming coffee blush across his skin, spanning the expanse of his palm. He peered over the dog eared edges of his tattered paper book, watching through black rimmed glasses perched jauntily atop his narrow nose at the sinuous lines of two felines gambolling about on their immense four poster bed.
Good! Jump higher! A distinctive female voice sounded within the confines of his head.
Yozo sprinted across the bed sheets to whip the furry ball away from under Airi’s approving gaze, flipping a paw to toss the forlorn toy in a graceful arc through the air before it fell back into his reaching paws with a firm thud. It bounced once on the sheets, settling between two rumpled creases as Airi purred her encouragement, enticing a proud, satisfied miaow from Yozo’s hunched form, his tail tucked neatly over his folded forepaws as he concentrated his alert gaze unwaveringly upon the toy. Airi returned her attention to her raised forepaw, a small, pink tongue flicking out to dab between her rounded pads, sharp, gleaming white incisors scissoring at her sheathed claws. Changmin smirked slightly as he appreciated the bunched muscles rippling beneath Airi's inky pelt, her lithe spine uncoiling and curving around her form, her tail thumping against the sheets in languor whilst she stared at him through half lidded eyes.
Changmin cherished such moments, when everything seemed right and fit, where the world stopped in its flurried tracks, pausing once to linger upon a lazy sunset, threading its fingers slowly through the sun’s unspooling rays of burnished saffron. He held a breath as a shiver crawled down Airi's spine, ruffling her fur into raised spikes before her outline blurred and shimmered. She padded up and leapt off from the bed to land on two bare feet, an abrupt curtain of her long black hair falling past her slim shoulders to cover her breasts in modesty. She wrapped her arms around her slim waist, skipping lightly over the panelled flooring to slip behind an elaborately painted Japanese silk screen.
“What’s happening with Jaejoong now, you think? We have to act soon if he wants to save his sister. Working with the Oyabuns in Japan, I should think their methods have never really varied throughout the years. She should only have a few hours left…” Airi murmured distractedly as she fiddled with the thick sash around her waist, a firm twist of the fabric holding her loose cotton kimono shift together in place.
Changmin made a noncommittal noise at the back of his throat, lingering on the Sakura blossoms that trailed away on an invisible wind arcing through the papered canvas. Thin as onionskin, a single dim, muted glow from a candle outlined Airi's curved silhouette to shadow through the screen, tattooing the flowers to scrawl across her shifting form. “He’s still shocked about the whole news, so we should give him some privacy to think about what to do next,” Changmin murmured, returning his attention to the stained pages, their crinkled surfaces mottled in hues of faded yellow. He smoothed a thumb over the ancient vellum, squinting his eyes slightly to make out the scrawled Japanese letters. “Besides, it’s not like he’s asked for our help.” Changmin stated lightly, sipping with pursed lips at the bitter brew.
Airi huffed out through her nose, stepping out from behind the papered screens to perch herself daintily upon the upholstered sides of the loveseat, peering over his shoulder at his precious Japanese Sharebon book, Shōgi Kinuburui. “The courtesans silken sieve…” Airi rolled the syllables around her tongue, tasting their ancient dates and revered history. It was a story set within the Edo period, during Changmin's childhood in old Japan, written by the somewhat infamous Samuru Iwase. Changmin nodded gently, tapping a slim finger against the pages. “Yes, about the courtesans within the Edo period. He was widely known within their community. Lily met the man once when she had worked as Oiran, back in Akasen. She said that he was handsome, and that the girls fought constantly over him whenever he visited their townhouse.” Changmin smirked lightly, sighing out contentedly as Airi threaded her fingers through his unruly locks.
“Really? I wasn’t born then I think…” Airi murmured absentmindedly, tracing a slim finger across Changmin's cheek as he read quietly. Yozo had long forsaken the tousled fur ball to sprawl across the sheets, his eyes narrowed to slits in lazy slumber. “I wonder what life then wou- ” Airi broke off in shock as the door was abruptly flung open, revealing Lily's rigid frame silhouetted beneath the arched doorframe.
“We need you guys in the lounge,” Lily ordered tersely, fixating her stare upon the startled couple. “NOW.” Her short locks whipped lethally around her face as she disappeared in a raging storm down the hallowed hallways. Changmin exchanged a grim glance with Airi before he left the room. Airi trailed behind slowly, shooting a warning glare at Yozo who blinked sleepily from his huddled form upon the sheets. She wagged a reprimanding finger at him.
Behave, Yozo. No clawing the bed.
Yozo simply lowered his head to rest upon his forepaws, his inky pools of pitch tar tracking Airi's fading footsteps. Come back, quick… He called out after her.
***
The heavens stretched out above his hunched shoulders, an ominous rumble cracking through the roiling clouds, constant pelts of water stinging against the side of his cheeks like chilling darts. He tightened his shivering fingers upon the slick surface of his jacket, wrapping it around himself in a snug embrace. Jaejoong abruptly came to a stop beneath the newly installed streetlight that stood proudly outside a sprawling mansion- a varnished sentinel with its sleek matte surface, showering a halo over the man’s crown of locks who stood solemnly to its side.
“Who’s there!?” A guttural shout bounced across the wet paved concrete, the coarse accent jumbling the man’s words in a messy heap that lay at Jaejoong's stilled feet. A sharp bark was abruptly cut off into a whimper as a dogs leash was whipped harshly. Jaejoong frowned slightly, sending a soothing whisper to caress lightly against the animals mind, before stepping forth into the surrounding darkness and approaching the towering wrought iron gates. He felt wary curiosity emanate from the panting mutt, its short bristles soaked into a sodden pelt of mottled gray as it watched the silent man approach.
“I'm here to see your Oyabun.” Jaejoong spoke softly, barely heard over the thrushing rain hazing the air around their shared breaths with glistening crystals. The man stiffened, casting an assessing eye over Jaejoong's lithe form standing forlornly on the other side of the gate. It was late, but the master was still awake. The man mulled over the thought of disturbing his master’s quiet, but quickly reversed his train of thoughts as a thick wad of damp cash was slipped past the metal bars, to fall conveniently into his back pocket. The hulking man nodded once, jerking his head towards the immense manor that overshadowed the soggy garden, wrenching the gates open for the curious stranger to step through.
***
Pain lanced across the back of his hand, a satisfying smack echoing hauntingly throughout the large nondescript room. He panted harshly, narrowed eyes to stare down in disgust at the glistening tears that tracked down her reddened cheeks, a crimson slash seeping blood to mingle with the salty drops that snaked down one side of her face. Countless other weal’s marked her otherwise smooth silken skin, faded cuts crisscrossing across her cheeks as each slap brought his rings to break past her beautiful skin. Her whimpers had died down long ago, silent sobs heaving through her frail shoulders with each shattering hit, reduced to simply laying there- bound and hapless, given to his bouts of raging anger.
Leeteuk was, still is a ruthless man. Hard and unyielding, moulded by his way of life into an immovable wall of callousness. But he had made one single exception during the course of his life, had lowered his stout walls of defence to allow her to worm her way in. He had freed her from her life of poverty and endless regret with a single offering of his love. And what had that brought him? What had that sole moment of love gained for him in the end?
Betrayal. Heartbreak.
He now loved her with a vengeance.
She winced, turning her face away in shame as a gob of his spit slimed its way down her cheeks. “What!? Won’t scream? Won’t shout in pain? Too ashamed!?” Leeteuk roared down at her bowed figure in a corner of the room, abruptly gripping her face tightly in a crippling grip, forcing her to stare at him in the eye. Her eyes had always fascinated him, an abyss of unfathomable depth- inky pools of pitch tar bruised with a drop of crimson. But now he hated them. As beaten and weakened as she was, she still managed a defiant glare that lanced the shattered ruins of his blistered heart. Leeteuk gritted his teeth in barely restrained fury, lifting his hand in preparation to fall down in a swift arc with jarring impact, yet again. A soft knock froze his raised arm.
“Sir? I'm sorry to disturb you, but there seems a visitor has arrived. He claims to be here because of the mis-…” The man lifted his bowed head slightly to nudge his head uncomfortably in the woman’s direction at the corner. “Your prisoner, sir.” The manservant amended in haste, albeit in evident discomfort. The entire household had fallen in love with her the moment her dainty feet had stepped down upon the mansions gravel- her eyes widening in wonder as she gazed around the immaculately clean house, a breathtaking smile lifting her lips effortlessly while she bantered with the many maids milling about on a lazy mid-afternoon. It pained the aging butler to see her reduced to this, owing to a single folly. She had cheated. Betraying the master meant forfeiting your life. It had been ingrained into his being the moment he had started working for the yakuza.
Leeteuk straightened out from his crouch, nodding at the silent attendants standing unobtrusively to the side, their features smoothed into a professional mask of detachment, unfeeling and unaffected by the heinous acts committed within the room. They had to be this way. Of course they needed to be, if they wanted to be Korea’s leading mafia boss personal bodyguards. “Send him to the lounge,” Leeteuk ordered tersely, before tugging absentmindedly at his cuffs, glancing back at her miserable form leaning heavily on one side of the wall, heavy pants rattling past her bloodied lips. “Your life might be ended much sooner than I’d like… Taeyeon.”
She made no coherent reply.
***
Jaejoong fingered the edges of his teacup, wrinkling his nose in distaste at the tendrils of steam wafting forth from the green brew, huffing a nervous sigh before placing the cup resolutely back on the glass table. His tongue felt thick and sticky, an unpleasant stale taste settling at the back of his throat making it hard to swallow. He really had no logical plan after this point. He was not even sure this would work. Jaejoong felt like curling into a useless heap, letting his bitter tears fall freely past his lashes to leave silver tracks down his drawn cheeks.
Jaejoong lifted his head to sweep across the various ornaments littered about the room in stylish elegance. The lounge was coloured in warm hues of blushing sunsets and potent whisky. European statues of Greek gods adorned the nooks and corners, lending an instant feel of awe and richness- a blatant display of the master’s power. He could feel his sister’s presence in the miniature Japanese bonsai pots that sat daintily upon the polished countertops.
“Ah, I'm so sorry for the wait,” A cultured voice trailed insidiously into the cosy circle of chairs within the small room. “I was… preoccupied.” Leeteuk sauntered into the room, before settling himself languidly into an armchair, his fingers hanging loosely over the opulently gold threaded sides. Jaejoong straightened up from his formal bow, training his eyes warily upon the man’s otherwise serene countenance. Confidence and assured authority graced the man’s outline in bold streaks, his dark suit foretelling a story of fat wallets and sinister glamour. “So what can I, a mere humble man, do for you? My servant tells me that you are here concerning my wife.” Leeteuk arched an inquisitive eyebrow, complementing his tranquil mask of secrets.
Jaejoong inclined his head politely, restraining his wilful impatience to move his leaden legs to fold neatly in a cross as he sat back down on the upholstered seat. “I'm a direct and straightforward man, Mr…” Jaejoong trailed away cautiously.
“Call me Leeteuk.” The man gestured genially, a small smile gracing his lips. It did not reach his eyes. Jaejoong felt a shiver of apprehension crawl across his back.
“Alright, Leeteuk shii. Your wife’s name is Taeyeon, yes?” Jaejoong uttered urgently, wishing fervently that he would be proved wrong. Leeteuk’s smile only grew wider, stretching across his tight face into an almost ugly sneer. Jaejoong stifled a moan of dismay, tucking his chin miserably inwards, letting his sorrowful gaze trace the ruffled whorls of carpet his feet had scuffed up earlier. “I'm her brother,” Jaejoong stated softly, lifting his head to transfix the man with his eyes. “I'm here to take her. I’ll give you as much money as you want, just let her go… Please.” Jaejoong whispered desperately, his fingers curling unconsciously into agitated claws that gripped tightly at his faded jeans.
Leeteuk started visibly, his eyes narrowing in barely concealed hatred as he took in the wide orbs of dark wine, unblinking drops of obsidian ink traced lovingly with rosette petals. Those same eyes had widened in shock as he had stormed into their shared bedroom, her fingers still horridly clasped in Hongki’s tightened hands, a startled gasp betraying her treachery. Leeteuk's gracefully painted smile faded away into thinned lips drawn downwards in a grim line, his body tensing into a rigid frame as he stared vehemently at Jaejoong's frozen figure with fury.
Leeteuk gave out a short, maniacal bark. “You think you can just take away what’s mine!?”Leeteuk abruptly shouted, flinging his arm wildly at Jaejoong. “Right from under my nose!? She betrayed my trust and flung it back into my face with your eyes! And for that…” Leeteuk smiled broadly at Jaejoong in fanatical triumph, advancing ever closer to the frozen man, watching with avaricious, crazed eyes at Jaejoong's own widened orbs of fear. “You will be the first to pay for her sins.” Leeteuk uttered deathly low, breathing the last syllables in an inaudible whisper.
A pregnant pause dragged down at the air between both men, before Leeteuk abruptly closed the tangible distance to grip Jaejoong's arm with surprising force, jerking his skinny frame up like a wooden puppet to fling him out of the room into an adjacent room. A pool table dominated the centre, its mossy carpeted surface rasping roughly against Jaejoong's cheek as he was pushed callously onto the top. Jaejoong scrabbled desperately in a bid to escape, his reaching fingers grasping futilely at the edge before he was dragged backwards with a desperate scream. He flailed his legs about blindly, a hoarse cry clawing past his throat as his head was pinned to the table, his hands pulled back in a snapping jerk that shot white, hot barbs of pain to dizzy his frantic consciousness.
A firm tug chafed the wiry rope fibres against his sensitive skin, his hands bound to his immobilised form, his legs similarly tied together as he lay there, upon the pool table, hapless and completely defenceless. A sob bubbled up from his chest, sounding an ugly, despairing cry within the small, dank room, in between his gasping breaths. “You think I don’t know what you are? Don’t know who AND what you are? Didn’t know beforehand that my wife’s brother was still alive? That you and your filthy little coven of monsters,” Leeteuk sneered those last words, coming around to the head of the table to stare down at Jaejoong's desolate gaze. “are still alive after all these years? I know what you are, Mr. Kim Jaejoong… But I assure you, that you will die after I'm done with you.” Leeteuk hissed fervently, a grim smile contorting his features into a mask of revulsion before snapping agitated fingers at a solemn bodyguard standing nearby.
“You would kill me if you had the chance. But in life, I NEVER take chances…” Leeteuk whispered harshly into Jaejoong's ear, gripping roughly at Jaejoong's cheeks and forcing his mouth to open. Jaejoong cried out involuntarily, writhing his body in a futile attempt of desperation as he tried to fling himself away from the man’s cruel grasp. Jaejoong choked and gasped, tears of pain pooling at the corners of his eyes as pill after pill was shoved down his throat, acrid bitterness burning at the base of his tongue. Miasmic colours swirled at the edges of his blurred vision, leaden numbness spreading like wildfire to race up his limbs. Leeteuk released his grip to tug ruthlessly at Jaejoong's locks, jerking his head backwards in a crack, to rest his horrified gaze upon the stumbling form of his sister, thrown callously to the ground with bound limbs. She cried out his name, weeping shamelessly at Leeteuk to release her brother.
Jaejoong screamed inwardly in frustration, raging against his wooden limbs to move, just fucking move. His lips twitched in an effort to call back, to shout out her name, anything. Jaejoong died on the inside as he was thrown backwards, his face showing no recognition of his sister while she cried out his name, wailing shrieks to kill her, kill her instead. Leeteuk left him to lay there, utterly useless, to crouch before his sisters maddened gaze and stroke gently at her cheeks. “Tsk tsk tsk, now now, your pretty eyes are all smudged with tears,” Leeteuk cooed softly, a gentle smile tugging at his lips. “Don’t worry… I’ll make it last for as long as possible for him, but for you, it’ll be quick. I promise.” Leeteuk placed a chaste peck upon her trembling forehead, her eyes squeezed shut in revulsion as he smoothed a thumb across her cheeks.
Leeteuk turned resolutely away from her to approach the table with hardened eyes; glinting orbs of calculated fury alight beneath the hypnotic sway of the pool lights that threw shadows to crawl across his cadaverous visage, only illuminating a single bright halo upon Jaejoong's sprawled body, shamelessly stripped naked and bare. Overwhelming, mindless, dumb fear gripped Jaejoong in its chilling clutches, every minute detail sharpened and focused, drawing a lucid framework of memories to be engraved into his shattered consciousness. Jaejoong summoned the energy to move, to simply run away from the advancing man, but to no avail. A mere feeble whimper escaped past his lips as he felt cold hands graze fleetingly down his back.
Harsh pants echoed within the confines of the suffocating room, roiling phantoms of shadow pressing in from all sides to leer at his pale naked body that lay hapless upon the mossy green surface. Jaejoong's chest heaved involuntary- sharp, shallow gasps as he keened in agony, his eyes squeezed shut while his head was pinned to the varnished wooden edges. The dim crackle of fabric as it dropped to the floor reached his ears through the haze of carnal heat and weakness that ripped through his trembling body.
No, no, no… This can’t be happening… Yunho! Yunho! Save me…
Jaejoong raged a losing battle within himself, pitting his strength against his petrified limbs, recoiling in revulsion as he felt the cold press of leather upon his back. Jaejoong leapt at the chance, closing his eyes to drain the man of his life. He sobbed in dismay, his lids flinging open to stare unseeingly at the wallpapered walls feeling no spark of the man’s essence flow into his body. Somehow, Leeteuk had known about his nature, slipping on leather gloves before venturing forth to touch him. Leeteuk had even taken away the merest chances of a careless brush of skin which would bring him to the brink of death by feeding Jaejoong those pills. He was bound and vulnerable.
“Such beauty…” Leeteuk marvelled in a whisper, his voice gone gravelly and husky with lust with each stroke of his gloved hands on the unmarred expanse of Jaejoong's snowy back. Jaejoong choked back a whimper as a finger grazed tantalisingly along his cleft, his eyes squeezed shut with each piercing scream that shattered his consciousness, shredding his thoughts into tattered ribbons of hazed consciousness. He concentrated upon the thud-thud-thud of his erratic heartbeats and shallow, heaving breaths rasping past his parted lips. Sweat beaded across his forehead, streaming down the side of his face in rivulets with each passing pant, his splayed limbs shivering with overwhelming heat. It was all around him, a smothering delight of ecstasy coursing through his veins, dragging his pliant body down into the pits of heated desire.
Jaejoong pitted himself uselessly against the pull of the pills, shuddering with each wave of vertigo that assailed his razor thin senses. His shaft hardened and quivered in need, pearling at the head as the cool air hit his overheated skin. Jaejoong cried out involuntarily, a flash of blinding, hot-white pain dazzled his blurred vision, his head hitting against the wooden framework as slim fingers invaded his heated core in an abrupt thrust, ruthlessly scissoring and pushing each digit further past his tightened entrance. “Hnn! Nnhmm… hah, mphf!” Jaejoong panted unwillingly, giving voice to the unbearable agony thrilling through his vulnerable, naked body.
“PLEASE! STOP!” Jaejoong struggled against his bonds, turning his head resolutely away from the haunting refrain of his sister’s voice, echoing pleas for Leeteuk to stop- simply stop. He did not want to see her tears nor her prone form thrown callously to the floor, her crooked fingers dragging down at her cheeks, weeping supplicant begs for Leeteuk to kill her instead. A keening whine fell past his lips, his head flinging backwards as he arched his back in torturous agony, feeling his insides being torn apart with each brutal thrust of Leeteuk's hardened shaft that replaced his three fingers.
Coarse, halting pants whispered a discordant melody in time with each plunging thrust, rocking Jaejoong's skinny frame to bump his head against the wooden frame again and again and again. Pain ricocheted incessantly against his senseless mind, pounding splintered shards of anguish to lance through his throbbing heart, each ripping pound of Leeteuk's hardened member delving past his tightened ring of muscles to spear into his heated core. An unbidden moan crawled huskily past Jaejoong's constricted throat, an arc of lightning bolting through his quivering frame with each thrust making stars dance behind his closed lids.
Amidst the chaos playing havoc with his consciousness, a gaping chasm croaked itself wide and stared back at Jaejoong's adrift consciousness like a great, bottomless abyss. He felt himself teeter over the edge, pondering the tantalising offer of simply letting go and being enveloped in the sweetened promise of release. A cavernous, unblinking eye that whisked tendrils of saccharine bitterness to colour his tongue, tempting him with a damning promise- the promise of death. Jaejoong felt relief assail him as he took small, sure steps right to the treacherous brink.
“Yunho… s- save me…” Jaejoong whispered faintly, before flinging himself to freefall down-down-down.