Soul's Requiem (Chapter 19 Part 2)
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Yunho was pulled from the wonderful haze of unconsciousness, his body throbbing painfully as he began to wake up.
He slowly became aware of a gentle presence stroking through his hair in a soothing manner. His first thought was of his mother, but as his slowly regained his consciousness, he realized that would be impossible. He was in Italy with Jaejoong and the rest of the Lee Organization. So that meant that either Jungmin was currently stroking his hair, or it was Jaejoong.
Yunho’s eyes slowly fluttered open, a soft groan pushing from his lips as the full brunt of his pain returned. His head was rested against Jaejoong’s chest, the sound of the other male’s steady heart beat giving Yunho a sort of simplistic comfort. He wasn’t alone anymore. Jaejoong was here with him now.
He could feel his own arms thrown loosely around Jaejoong’s body, like a child would cling to a mother for comfort.
Jaejoong, upon feeling Yunho shifting slightly, pulled back a little to look down into the other male’s eyes. They didn’t say anything to each other, as if that would somehow break the almost comfortable silence that had fallen across the room.
Truthfully, Yunho was slightly thrown by the fact that he didn’t mind being in Jaejoong’s arms…in fact, he actually wanted to stay there. It was odd that, in the end, he would seek comfort from the man he had treated so brutally for his weakness.
He hadn’t understood when he’d first met Jaejoong. Yunho just hadn’t understood the kind of shattered feeling that came with being a tortured and raped. It made him feel almost non-human, as if he didn’t matter at all.
He felt the sting of tears in his eyes, his arms clenching around Jaejoong slightly as he fought to keep his composure.
“What’s wrong?” Jaejoong breathe softly, his hand stilling in Yunho’s hair as he felt the other male become suddenly tense.
“I’m sorry.” Yunho muttered towards Jaejoong’s neck, finding himself unable to meet the other male’s gaze. He felt terrible for the things he had done or condoned in Jaejoong’s case. They’d known that Jaejoong was innocent, yet they’d taken him without a second thought about what this would do to his future.
“Oh…um…” Jaejoong trailed off, his face looking slightly confused, as if he hadn’t expected the words to come from Yunho’s mouth. “Why are you apologizing now?” He questioned, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as if to show that he didn’t trust Yunho’s words.\
Yunho could feel Jaejoong’s arms loosening slightly, a sign that the older male was about to move away. “I didn’t understand what it was like.” He muttered the words as he tightened his grip around Jaejoong in a silent plea for the him to remain close.
It was unlike Yunho to cuddle, but he didn’t want to feel the emotions that were screaming at the gates of his mind. It was all too much for him to process. He’d been raped and tortured in such a short span…he felt like he’d been submerged in a pool of ice-cold water, unable to breath and chilled to the bone.
“Doesn’t really change much, does it?” Jaejoong sighed, his attempts to free himself stopping as soon as Yunho’s arms tightened around him.
“Do you think your father will be looking for you?” He added in a near whisper, his eyes slightly clouded as he absently pushed his fingers through Yunho’s hair.
“Once they get word that I never showed up in America, I’m sure he’ll start making an effort to search for me.” Yunho responded as he let his eyes close and his head rest lightly against Jaejoong’s chest. It was comfortable, even with the concrete making for a rather hard bed. Yunho couldn’t remember the last time he’d been held by someone else. Sure, there were the times when he’d embraced Boa, but that was him giving the comfort…not receiving it.
“What are you doing, Yunho?” Jaejoong sighed as he moved back slightly, his eyes clouded with a slightly troubled look, as if Yunho’s actions threw him off track.
“I…” Yunho trailed off as he looked up to meet Jaejoong’s gaze. Those large, dark eyes were mesmerizing, even when they were full of that questioning doubt. Jaejoong’s face as beautiful, even when slightly pale and drawn from lack of proper food and rest.
Yunho didn’t know what compelled him to do it, but he found himself leaning in towards Jaejoong’s lips, their eyes locked from a moment before Yunho finished closing the distance and planted his lips lightly against Jaejoong’s.
There was a moment of silence, both men simply connected at the lips in a shabby example of a kiss.
hen Jaejoong shivered and slowly pulled away, his eyes guarded as he detangled himself from Yunho’s grip and silently went to sit in the corner, his face blank of emotions as he stared at the wall opposite him.
What had just happened? Was that rejection? Shock? Yunho wondered what had Jaejoong looking so…lost. “I’m sorry.”
Jaejoong’s eyes snapped towards Yunho, his expression suddenly venomous. “You know what? I’m sick and tired of people taking advantage of me.” He snapped hotly as he curled his knees up to his chest, as if to protect himself. “What the fuck was that, Yunho? You go on and on about how weak and stupid I am, and then you get raped once --once--- and you think you understand what I went through. Do you think you know what it’s like to come to the verge of insanity and know that one more push will be enough to send you over? Huh? Do you even know what it’s like to sit in some dark cell and have your hopes crushed again and again? You don’t even know the half of it, Yunho, and you don’t deserve my pity yet. When you get to the point where life seems to be turning against you, then we can talk.” Jaejoong finished hotly, easily holding Yunho’s befuddled gaze.
“I really am sorry, Jaejoong. I know that I hardly understand half of what you went through, but that doesn’t mean I can’t feel remorse for what I’ve done to you.” Yunho tried to placate the younger male, fighting back his own feelings of indignation and pain. He wanted to snap back at the other male, to let him feel the sting of harsh words on his unprotected heart.
“What does it matter?” Jaejoong responded, his eyes narrowing slightly as he responded to Yunho. “You’re gonna die anyway. You’ll be all alone when you die, you don’t need my forgiveness.”
“Please don’t tell me that, Jaejoong.” Yunho bit his bottom lip slightly, fighting back the waves of emotions that were pushing at his constraints. He was reliving everything in his mind, the moments when he’d felt that violation of his body, the moments when he’d been humiliated and broken. He was angry and sad and too hurt to even make the move to pick the shattered remnants of himself back up.
“I can’t stop myself from replying it over and over again in my head. I keep seeing their faces and hearing their voices like some kind of sadistic broken record.” Yunho moaned as he clutched at his hair with his left hand.
Jaejoong blinked slightly as he saw Yunho’s clear emotional display, his face flicking between a look of resistance and one of concern.
“Talk to me about Junsu.” He stated suddenly, hoping to shock Yunho out of running towards an emotional breakdown.
It worked.
Yunho pulled a slightly confused face as his brain switched tracks. Junsu? Why Junsu? Why always Junsu? Junsu was Yunho’s enigma, something confused him and left him feeling odd. Truthfully, he could never look at Junsu without clearly seeing his mother’s face. It was the reason he’d always treated Junsu as if he didn’t exist. It was painful to look at the younger male and see what his mother had done, to see the kind of person that she had given birth to. He didn’t like claiming relation to Junsu, because he was both disgusted by Junsu and concerned for him as well. He was just so confused on the subject in general. “Why don’t we talk about something else?” Yunho suggested, not wanting to get into a conversation about his half-brother.
Jaejoong’s face twisted in a slight look of annoyance before his pursed his lips and lifted his eyebrows slightly. “How about Boa?” He questioned after a moment, his voice carrying a slightly annoyed edge.
“What about her?” Yunho questioned, not minding this conversation topic as much as the last one.
“Do you love her?”
“No.”
Jaejoong blinked in slight shock, his brow twitching forward slightly as he processed Yunho’s simple answer. “But…why did you let her stay? You could have easily sent her on her way if you didn’t want to get married to her.”
Yunho pulled in a deep breath, his eyes closing slightly as he remembered the time when he’d met Boa. “I gave her the choice to leave and find a happy life somewhere else. I told her that she wasn’t tied to me and that there was no obligation for us to get married. Truthfully, I was hoping that she would leave. I didn’t want to get married, especially not to someone I didn’t love.” Yunho trailed off, observing the look of slight shock on Jaejoong’s face. Did the other male really think him incapable of feeling love or having standards?
“Anyway, she ended up saying that she wanted to stay with me and get married. It was my obligation to marry her at that point, so I did what she wanted.” Yunho would have shrugged his shoulders at that point had he not been lying on the ground.
“Did you tell her that you loved her?” Jaejoong found himself nearly whispering as he inched slightly closer to Yunho.
“Yes. I told her I loved her to make sure that she didn’t feel abandoned or that she was forcing me to stay with her. I wanted her to be happy.” It was the truth. He’d always wanted her to be happy, even if he didn’t love her in the sense of a husband to a wife.
“Did you cheat on her?”
Instant annoyance flared in Yunho’s body at the subtle accusation that was hidden beneath Jaejoong’s simple question. “No, I never cheated on her. As far as I was concerned, our engagement was real, no matter if I loved her or not. I don’t cheat.” He added the last part with a slight glare, as if to make his point abundantly clear.
Just as Jaejoong was about to respond, the cell day clicked and swung inwards, admitting a man into the room who had Jaejoong sitting in complete and utter terror.
In through the door walked Daniel Henney, still god-like in appearance and manner. He took the few steps needed to reach Jaejoong, his body falling into a crouch as he got on eyelevel with the smaller male. “It’s been far too long, Jaejoong.” He purred darkly with a slight smirk to accompany his words.
Yunho could see Jaejoong nearly hyperventilating as he was held transfixed in the other male’s gaze. He could see clearly the terror written across Jaejoong’s face. It was enough to make Yunho feel slightly scared himself.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Henney?” He snapped as he pushed away his pain and forced himself to sit up. It felt as if every muscle in his body was screaming its protest, but he refused to be seen as weak in the eyes of his enemy.
“Me?” Daniel chuckled slightly as he lazily turned his gaze towards Yunho. “I’m watching as the entire gang population of Korea is shattered because of a simple misunderstanding.” A smirk played across his lips again, his eyebrows lifting smoothly as he watched Yunho’s stormy face.
“Why?” Yunho could only manage to growl that simple word, his body to tense with anger and pain to get anything more eloquent out.
“Oh…no reason. Just wanted to see if I could do it. Apparently I can.” He added the last part as he reached out and gently stroked his fingers across Jaejoong’s pale cheek.
No reason? Daniel Henney had sought to destroy so many peoples’ lives just for the sake of seeing if he could do it? Yunho wondered what kind of sick animal did that kind of thing, and was about to ask before Henney began speaking again.
“But enough about that. You two are going to come with me.” He straightened his lean form and snapped his fingers, the signal that brought in Jungsu and Raewon. Both men looked thoroughly subdued in the presence of Henney, their eyes pinned to the ground and their stances showing forth submission to the more powerful male.
“Bring them both to the main cell.” He stated in an offhanded manner before he turned on his heel and strode form the room, leaving a trembling Jaejoong and a fuming Yunho in his wake.
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Jaejoong was still trembling as he was led down a hallway and into a cell that was about three times lager than the one they were being held in. It looked to be some sort of malicious observation room, with the way there were chairs scattered about the room to form a sort of half-circle.
All the chairs were occupied by an assortment of people. Jaejoong only recognized Mr. Lee, Sungmin, Donghae, Henney and the blonde from the plane. He still looked just as sickly as ever, though the grin on his face made Jaejoong slightly nervous.
“Good evening, gentlemen.” Mr. Lee began, his hands folded neatly in his lap as observed the two men standing before him. “I trust that your stay here has been a pleasant one?” The degrading civility in his voice made Jaejoong want to ram the man’s ugly face into the wall.
“Appa, can we just skip the boring stuff?” Sungmin pouted, drawing a slightly annoyed glance from his father. “Hey, Joongie!” He added with a delighted wiggle of his fingers in Jaejoong’s direction. Jaejoong pointedly ignored him.
“Right, well then I supposed I’ll tell you why you’ve been brought here today. You see, I wanted to play a game, but I couldn’t seem to find any appropriate players for the things I had in mind. Then I remembered the two of you who were sitting in your cell, doing nothing productive. So I thought you might like to play.”
The look in the man’s eyes reminded Jaejoong strongly of the rather manic look he’d always seen in Junsu’s eyes. Did this type of insanity run throughout the entire gang world, or were Sungmin and Mr. Lee a special exception?
“Anyhow, the game is rather simple…” Mr. Lee trailed off and turned a dark smile on Jaejoong, “You either give me three of your fingers, or he dies.” He finished with a slight arch of his eyebrows, his gaze flickering towards Yunho to show exactly who would be killed should Jaejoong not play along.
Jaejoong sat in disbelieving shock, as if he were waiting from someone to jump in and say, “just joking!” He couldn’t be serious. What kind of sick monster would make someone cut off three fingers to save another person’s life.
Jaejoong glanced at Yunho from the corner of his left eye, only to see Yunho with the barrel of a gun pressed against his head.
He started to panic. He couldn’t do this! Why in the world should he even sacrifice himself for Yunho? It was simple…all he had to do was let Yunho die. He would be safe and Yunho wouldn’t have to worry about what was going to happen in the future.
Jaejoong shifted slightly and pinned his entire gaze on Yunho, a sick feeling twisting his gut when he saw the pleading look in Yunho’s eyes. Was Yunho actually telling me to do it?
Jaejoong lifted his eyebrows slightly, his fear expressed clearly in his gaze as he turned and fought to keep his breathing even.
He didn’t have to do this, he could easily let Yunho die. Suddenly, a picture of Boa flashed through is mind. What would she think if she learned that Jaejoong had been able to keep Yunho alive but had chosen not to? What about the rest of Yunho’s family? What would they do if they learned that Jaejoong had refused to help Yunho like that?
“What’s your answer, boy?”
Mr. Lee’s voice sounded far off as Jaejoong began to sink into a suffocating moment of panic. He had no choice, either way he would lose something.
“Make up your mind now, or I’ll kill you both!”
Jaejoong jumped slightly before opening his mouth and saying the first thing that came to mind.
“I’ll do it.”
The room seemed to still completely, as if everyone were too shocked by Jaejoong’s answer to make a proper reaction.
“Marvelous!” Mr. Lee suddenly clapped his hands together, looking akin to a child on Christmas morning. “Such a sacrifice for someone that treated you so cruelly. Maybe the human race isn’t so hopeless…” He sunk into thought for a moment before easily snapping is finger and motion from Jungmin and Jungsu to come forward. “Now one of you hold his hand here,” he motioned towards the floor, “while the other cuts off his fingers.” He sounded so gleeful, as if this was the moment he’d been waiting for all his life.
The moment that he was forced to the floor was the time when Jaejoong began to seriously reconsider his decision. What the fuck was he doing? He was about to let them cut of his fingers to keep Yunho alive!
“No, don’t!” He jerked uselessly in an attempt to get out of Jungmin’s hold, his eyes large as he watched Jungsu lift the machete into the air. “I changed my mind!” He screamed, thrashing violently in some sad attempt to get away from the fate that he’d stepped into.
The machete fell and Jaejoong had hardly a split second to watch it before it had cut cleanly through three of his fingers, leaving on his pinky and thumb attached.
The pain was like nothing he’d ever felt. The whipping didn’t even come close to the pure torture that was washing through his body. He was hardly aware of his screams of pure agony, his entire mind focused purely on the pain that was ripping through every part of his body.
He felt Jungmin’s grip vanish and he automatically curled onto his side, gripping his nearly fingerless hand as it sent blood gushing onto the concrete floor of the cell.
At that moment there was nothing Jaejoong wanted more than to simply die. He wanted to stop existing in a world that seemed set on making him miserable.
Death was what he longed for.
Yunho was pulled from the wonderful haze of unconsciousness, his body throbbing painfully as he began to wake up.
He slowly became aware of a gentle presence stroking through his hair in a soothing manner. His first thought was of his mother, but as his slowly regained his consciousness, he realized that would be impossible. He was in Italy with Jaejoong and the rest of the Lee Organization. So that meant that either Jungmin was currently stroking his hair, or it was Jaejoong.
Yunho’s eyes slowly fluttered open, a soft groan pushing from his lips as the full brunt of his pain returned. His head was rested against Jaejoong’s chest, the sound of the other male’s steady heart beat giving Yunho a sort of simplistic comfort. He wasn’t alone anymore. Jaejoong was here with him now.
He could feel his own arms thrown loosely around Jaejoong’s body, like a child would cling to a mother for comfort.
Jaejoong, upon feeling Yunho shifting slightly, pulled back a little to look down into the other male’s eyes. They didn’t say anything to each other, as if that would somehow break the almost comfortable silence that had fallen across the room.
Truthfully, Yunho was slightly thrown by the fact that he didn’t mind being in Jaejoong’s arms…in fact, he actually wanted to stay there. It was odd that, in the end, he would seek comfort from the man he had treated so brutally for his weakness.
He hadn’t understood when he’d first met Jaejoong. Yunho just hadn’t understood the kind of shattered feeling that came with being a tortured and raped. It made him feel almost non-human, as if he didn’t matter at all.
He felt the sting of tears in his eyes, his arms clenching around Jaejoong slightly as he fought to keep his composure.
“What’s wrong?” Jaejoong breathe softly, his hand stilling in Yunho’s hair as he felt the other male become suddenly tense.
“I’m sorry.” Yunho muttered towards Jaejoong’s neck, finding himself unable to meet the other male’s gaze. He felt terrible for the things he had done or condoned in Jaejoong’s case. They’d known that Jaejoong was innocent, yet they’d taken him without a second thought about what this would do to his future.
“Oh…um…” Jaejoong trailed off, his face looking slightly confused, as if he hadn’t expected the words to come from Yunho’s mouth. “Why are you apologizing now?” He questioned, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as if to show that he didn’t trust Yunho’s words.\
Yunho could feel Jaejoong’s arms loosening slightly, a sign that the older male was about to move away. “I didn’t understand what it was like.” He muttered the words as he tightened his grip around Jaejoong in a silent plea for the him to remain close.
It was unlike Yunho to cuddle, but he didn’t want to feel the emotions that were screaming at the gates of his mind. It was all too much for him to process. He’d been raped and tortured in such a short span…he felt like he’d been submerged in a pool of ice-cold water, unable to breath and chilled to the bone.
“Doesn’t really change much, does it?” Jaejoong sighed, his attempts to free himself stopping as soon as Yunho’s arms tightened around him.
“Do you think your father will be looking for you?” He added in a near whisper, his eyes slightly clouded as he absently pushed his fingers through Yunho’s hair.
“Once they get word that I never showed up in America, I’m sure he’ll start making an effort to search for me.” Yunho responded as he let his eyes close and his head rest lightly against Jaejoong’s chest. It was comfortable, even with the concrete making for a rather hard bed. Yunho couldn’t remember the last time he’d been held by someone else. Sure, there were the times when he’d embraced Boa, but that was him giving the comfort…not receiving it.
“What are you doing, Yunho?” Jaejoong sighed as he moved back slightly, his eyes clouded with a slightly troubled look, as if Yunho’s actions threw him off track.
“I…” Yunho trailed off as he looked up to meet Jaejoong’s gaze. Those large, dark eyes were mesmerizing, even when they were full of that questioning doubt. Jaejoong’s face as beautiful, even when slightly pale and drawn from lack of proper food and rest.
Yunho didn’t know what compelled him to do it, but he found himself leaning in towards Jaejoong’s lips, their eyes locked from a moment before Yunho finished closing the distance and planted his lips lightly against Jaejoong’s.
There was a moment of silence, both men simply connected at the lips in a shabby example of a kiss.
hen Jaejoong shivered and slowly pulled away, his eyes guarded as he detangled himself from Yunho’s grip and silently went to sit in the corner, his face blank of emotions as he stared at the wall opposite him.
What had just happened? Was that rejection? Shock? Yunho wondered what had Jaejoong looking so…lost. “I’m sorry.”
Jaejoong’s eyes snapped towards Yunho, his expression suddenly venomous. “You know what? I’m sick and tired of people taking advantage of me.” He snapped hotly as he curled his knees up to his chest, as if to protect himself. “What the fuck was that, Yunho? You go on and on about how weak and stupid I am, and then you get raped once --once--- and you think you understand what I went through. Do you think you know what it’s like to come to the verge of insanity and know that one more push will be enough to send you over? Huh? Do you even know what it’s like to sit in some dark cell and have your hopes crushed again and again? You don’t even know the half of it, Yunho, and you don’t deserve my pity yet. When you get to the point where life seems to be turning against you, then we can talk.” Jaejoong finished hotly, easily holding Yunho’s befuddled gaze.
“I really am sorry, Jaejoong. I know that I hardly understand half of what you went through, but that doesn’t mean I can’t feel remorse for what I’ve done to you.” Yunho tried to placate the younger male, fighting back his own feelings of indignation and pain. He wanted to snap back at the other male, to let him feel the sting of harsh words on his unprotected heart.
“What does it matter?” Jaejoong responded, his eyes narrowing slightly as he responded to Yunho. “You’re gonna die anyway. You’ll be all alone when you die, you don’t need my forgiveness.”
“Please don’t tell me that, Jaejoong.” Yunho bit his bottom lip slightly, fighting back the waves of emotions that were pushing at his constraints. He was reliving everything in his mind, the moments when he’d felt that violation of his body, the moments when he’d been humiliated and broken. He was angry and sad and too hurt to even make the move to pick the shattered remnants of himself back up.
“I can’t stop myself from replying it over and over again in my head. I keep seeing their faces and hearing their voices like some kind of sadistic broken record.” Yunho moaned as he clutched at his hair with his left hand.
Jaejoong blinked slightly as he saw Yunho’s clear emotional display, his face flicking between a look of resistance and one of concern.
“Talk to me about Junsu.” He stated suddenly, hoping to shock Yunho out of running towards an emotional breakdown.
It worked.
Yunho pulled a slightly confused face as his brain switched tracks. Junsu? Why Junsu? Why always Junsu? Junsu was Yunho’s enigma, something confused him and left him feeling odd. Truthfully, he could never look at Junsu without clearly seeing his mother’s face. It was the reason he’d always treated Junsu as if he didn’t exist. It was painful to look at the younger male and see what his mother had done, to see the kind of person that she had given birth to. He didn’t like claiming relation to Junsu, because he was both disgusted by Junsu and concerned for him as well. He was just so confused on the subject in general. “Why don’t we talk about something else?” Yunho suggested, not wanting to get into a conversation about his half-brother.
Jaejoong’s face twisted in a slight look of annoyance before his pursed his lips and lifted his eyebrows slightly. “How about Boa?” He questioned after a moment, his voice carrying a slightly annoyed edge.
“What about her?” Yunho questioned, not minding this conversation topic as much as the last one.
“Do you love her?”
“No.”
Jaejoong blinked in slight shock, his brow twitching forward slightly as he processed Yunho’s simple answer. “But…why did you let her stay? You could have easily sent her on her way if you didn’t want to get married to her.”
Yunho pulled in a deep breath, his eyes closing slightly as he remembered the time when he’d met Boa. “I gave her the choice to leave and find a happy life somewhere else. I told her that she wasn’t tied to me and that there was no obligation for us to get married. Truthfully, I was hoping that she would leave. I didn’t want to get married, especially not to someone I didn’t love.” Yunho trailed off, observing the look of slight shock on Jaejoong’s face. Did the other male really think him incapable of feeling love or having standards?
“Anyway, she ended up saying that she wanted to stay with me and get married. It was my obligation to marry her at that point, so I did what she wanted.” Yunho would have shrugged his shoulders at that point had he not been lying on the ground.
“Did you tell her that you loved her?” Jaejoong found himself nearly whispering as he inched slightly closer to Yunho.
“Yes. I told her I loved her to make sure that she didn’t feel abandoned or that she was forcing me to stay with her. I wanted her to be happy.” It was the truth. He’d always wanted her to be happy, even if he didn’t love her in the sense of a husband to a wife.
“Did you cheat on her?”
Instant annoyance flared in Yunho’s body at the subtle accusation that was hidden beneath Jaejoong’s simple question. “No, I never cheated on her. As far as I was concerned, our engagement was real, no matter if I loved her or not. I don’t cheat.” He added the last part with a slight glare, as if to make his point abundantly clear.
Just as Jaejoong was about to respond, the cell day clicked and swung inwards, admitting a man into the room who had Jaejoong sitting in complete and utter terror.
In through the door walked Daniel Henney, still god-like in appearance and manner. He took the few steps needed to reach Jaejoong, his body falling into a crouch as he got on eyelevel with the smaller male. “It’s been far too long, Jaejoong.” He purred darkly with a slight smirk to accompany his words.
Yunho could see Jaejoong nearly hyperventilating as he was held transfixed in the other male’s gaze. He could see clearly the terror written across Jaejoong’s face. It was enough to make Yunho feel slightly scared himself.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Henney?” He snapped as he pushed away his pain and forced himself to sit up. It felt as if every muscle in his body was screaming its protest, but he refused to be seen as weak in the eyes of his enemy.
“Me?” Daniel chuckled slightly as he lazily turned his gaze towards Yunho. “I’m watching as the entire gang population of Korea is shattered because of a simple misunderstanding.” A smirk played across his lips again, his eyebrows lifting smoothly as he watched Yunho’s stormy face.
“Why?” Yunho could only manage to growl that simple word, his body to tense with anger and pain to get anything more eloquent out.
“Oh…no reason. Just wanted to see if I could do it. Apparently I can.” He added the last part as he reached out and gently stroked his fingers across Jaejoong’s pale cheek.
No reason? Daniel Henney had sought to destroy so many peoples’ lives just for the sake of seeing if he could do it? Yunho wondered what kind of sick animal did that kind of thing, and was about to ask before Henney began speaking again.
“But enough about that. You two are going to come with me.” He straightened his lean form and snapped his fingers, the signal that brought in Jungsu and Raewon. Both men looked thoroughly subdued in the presence of Henney, their eyes pinned to the ground and their stances showing forth submission to the more powerful male.
“Bring them both to the main cell.” He stated in an offhanded manner before he turned on his heel and strode form the room, leaving a trembling Jaejoong and a fuming Yunho in his wake.
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Jaejoong was still trembling as he was led down a hallway and into a cell that was about three times lager than the one they were being held in. It looked to be some sort of malicious observation room, with the way there were chairs scattered about the room to form a sort of half-circle.
All the chairs were occupied by an assortment of people. Jaejoong only recognized Mr. Lee, Sungmin, Donghae, Henney and the blonde from the plane. He still looked just as sickly as ever, though the grin on his face made Jaejoong slightly nervous.
“Good evening, gentlemen.” Mr. Lee began, his hands folded neatly in his lap as observed the two men standing before him. “I trust that your stay here has been a pleasant one?” The degrading civility in his voice made Jaejoong want to ram the man’s ugly face into the wall.
“Appa, can we just skip the boring stuff?” Sungmin pouted, drawing a slightly annoyed glance from his father. “Hey, Joongie!” He added with a delighted wiggle of his fingers in Jaejoong’s direction. Jaejoong pointedly ignored him.
“Right, well then I supposed I’ll tell you why you’ve been brought here today. You see, I wanted to play a game, but I couldn’t seem to find any appropriate players for the things I had in mind. Then I remembered the two of you who were sitting in your cell, doing nothing productive. So I thought you might like to play.”
The look in the man’s eyes reminded Jaejoong strongly of the rather manic look he’d always seen in Junsu’s eyes. Did this type of insanity run throughout the entire gang world, or were Sungmin and Mr. Lee a special exception?
“Anyhow, the game is rather simple…” Mr. Lee trailed off and turned a dark smile on Jaejoong, “You either give me three of your fingers, or he dies.” He finished with a slight arch of his eyebrows, his gaze flickering towards Yunho to show exactly who would be killed should Jaejoong not play along.
Jaejoong sat in disbelieving shock, as if he were waiting from someone to jump in and say, “just joking!” He couldn’t be serious. What kind of sick monster would make someone cut off three fingers to save another person’s life.
Jaejoong glanced at Yunho from the corner of his left eye, only to see Yunho with the barrel of a gun pressed against his head.
He started to panic. He couldn’t do this! Why in the world should he even sacrifice himself for Yunho? It was simple…all he had to do was let Yunho die. He would be safe and Yunho wouldn’t have to worry about what was going to happen in the future.
Jaejoong shifted slightly and pinned his entire gaze on Yunho, a sick feeling twisting his gut when he saw the pleading look in Yunho’s eyes. Was Yunho actually telling me to do it?
Jaejoong lifted his eyebrows slightly, his fear expressed clearly in his gaze as he turned and fought to keep his breathing even.
He didn’t have to do this, he could easily let Yunho die. Suddenly, a picture of Boa flashed through is mind. What would she think if she learned that Jaejoong had been able to keep Yunho alive but had chosen not to? What about the rest of Yunho’s family? What would they do if they learned that Jaejoong had refused to help Yunho like that?
“What’s your answer, boy?”
Mr. Lee’s voice sounded far off as Jaejoong began to sink into a suffocating moment of panic. He had no choice, either way he would lose something.
“Make up your mind now, or I’ll kill you both!”
Jaejoong jumped slightly before opening his mouth and saying the first thing that came to mind.
“I’ll do it.”
The room seemed to still completely, as if everyone were too shocked by Jaejoong’s answer to make a proper reaction.
“Marvelous!” Mr. Lee suddenly clapped his hands together, looking akin to a child on Christmas morning. “Such a sacrifice for someone that treated you so cruelly. Maybe the human race isn’t so hopeless…” He sunk into thought for a moment before easily snapping is finger and motion from Jungmin and Jungsu to come forward. “Now one of you hold his hand here,” he motioned towards the floor, “while the other cuts off his fingers.” He sounded so gleeful, as if this was the moment he’d been waiting for all his life.
The moment that he was forced to the floor was the time when Jaejoong began to seriously reconsider his decision. What the fuck was he doing? He was about to let them cut of his fingers to keep Yunho alive!
“No, don’t!” He jerked uselessly in an attempt to get out of Jungmin’s hold, his eyes large as he watched Jungsu lift the machete into the air. “I changed my mind!” He screamed, thrashing violently in some sad attempt to get away from the fate that he’d stepped into.
The machete fell and Jaejoong had hardly a split second to watch it before it had cut cleanly through three of his fingers, leaving on his pinky and thumb attached.
The pain was like nothing he’d ever felt. The whipping didn’t even come close to the pure torture that was washing through his body. He was hardly aware of his screams of pure agony, his entire mind focused purely on the pain that was ripping through every part of his body.
He felt Jungmin’s grip vanish and he automatically curled onto his side, gripping his nearly fingerless hand as it sent blood gushing onto the concrete floor of the cell.
At that moment there was nothing Jaejoong wanted more than to simply die. He wanted to stop existing in a world that seemed set on making him miserable.
Death was what he longed for.