For a few days after Hongjoong uncovered the dark secret Seonghwa hid from him, he struggled with himself greatly. He kept trying to put his thoughts in order, whether what he was doing was right or wrong. Morally, he knew it was sick and twisted, but no one else saw Seonghwa in the same light that he did.

Seonghwa put Hongjoong on a pedestal, high out of reach from anything and everyone else, and Seonghwa wouldn't let anything change that, no matter what it took. Never having experienced something like this before, it was very confusing for the red-haired male. The more he tore himself between the means of right and wrong, the more he could feel himself on the brink of snapping.

One day, Seonghwa had requested for Hongjoong to follow this guy by the name of San Choi, the eldest son of a rival crime family. Seonghwa wanted to know the man's patterns throughout the day since San Choi was known for keeping a rather regular daily schedule, and of course, Hongjoong did just as he was instructed.

Hongjoong decided to begin his stake-out at a local cafe beside a large skyscraper. The building had belonged to San Choi's father, it was a large transport corporation located in June. San Choi was supposed to be leaving after a meeting was held with his father.

Sitting at a white metal table shaded with a black umbrella outside the cafe, Hongjoong pretended to read a magazine as he waited for San Choi.

About 30 minutes has passed, and he caught sight of a dark-haired male that fit the exact description that Hongjoong was given. 

There he is... It's time to figure out where this guy is headed next. Hongjoong thought to himself, closing the magazine as he stood up slowly.

San Choi looked up and down the street for a moment, then proceeded to walk his way down the sidewalk, heading away from Hongjoong. Hongjoong let him get some distance away before he began following behind him, he tried to be as careful as he could so he wouldn't blow his cover.

After walking about 5 blocks or so, Hongjoong noticed the dark-haired male suddenly dip inside an alleyway. Hongjoong frowned slightly, picking up his pace a bit so he could catch up. He couldn't lose sight of this man, he still didn't know anything about his daily schedule other than the meeting.

Hongjoong turned down the alleyway but didn't see a thing as he continued to walk, looking all over the place to see if he could figure out where he'd disappeared to. As he began to turn another corner, he was suddenly knocked to the ground hard after something metal connected with his head. It almost knocked him out cold, groaning as his vision faded in and out of darkness on the ground. Hongjoong felt a gentle stream of warm liquid run down the side of his head. He could make out an outline of a male standing over him, but he couldn't quite see who it was.

"Who the hell are you and why have you been following me?" A low voice demanded.

"I..." Hongjoong tried to say something but he was so disoriented.

Hongjoong was then suddenly lifted up by his collar roughly, then slammed against the wall so hard it took his breath away. He cried out in pain as he winced, coughing as he tried to get his breath back.

"I will not ask you again. Who the hell sent you? Who are you?" The man growled as he had Hongjoong pinned against the brick of the building.

Once Hongjoong's vision came back, he recognized that it was San Choi. His heart dropped to his feet after realizing he was caught.

"I-I'm nobody..." Hongjoong muttered, swallowing dryly. "I won't tell you anything.

This response didn't settle well with the dark-haired male. San reared his arm back before connecting a balled fist against the red-haired male's cheek, hitting him so hard that he collapsed to the ground onto his hands and knees.

Hongjoong coughed once again, spitting out a mouth full of blood and a single molar onto the concrete beneath him. He began to breathe deeply as anger began to flood through every nerve of his body, shaking softly as he tried to contain himself.

"TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!" San shouted angrily, rearing back a foot as he kicked Hongjoong in the side roughly.

Hongjoong fell to the ground completely, gasping for air and crying out in pain. This was the last straw, something in his head completely snapped, he was no longer in control of his own body. Even though he was in immense pain, the adrenaline was already coursing through his body as he tried to stand up. Once on his feet and gripping his side, he had a crazy look in his eye as he looked at San Choi.

The dark-haired male attempted to throw another right hook, but Hongjoong somehow how managed to catch the fist mid-air. Hongjoong grit his teeth as he shoved the other male back, making San fall back onto the ground pretty hard. Hongjoong didn't waste any time crawling on top of the dark-haired male, throwing fist after fist into each side of his face. 

Once he finally snapped out of it, he stopped wailing on the male before him. Hongjoong was shaking, beginning to hyperventilate as he realized the gravity of the situation before him. He looked down at his trembling hands, seeing they were basically dripping in the blood of the other male. He cried out as he immediately scrambled off of him, backing against the wall frantically. The man on the ground wasn't moving, not even an inch. He was beaten so badly that the face was barely recognizable at this point.

Hongjoong immediately pulled his phone out of his pocket, smearing blood all over the screen as he called Seonghwa in a panic.

While working on some paperwork, Seonghwa felt his cell phone begin to vibrate in is pocket, the pulled it out as he read Hongjoong's name on the screen. He smiled a bit as he answered.

"Yah... How's the-" Seonghwa fell silent when he heard frantic sobs on the other end of the line.

"I-I... I-I... Seonghwa... He's dead... I-I k-killed him... Please, help me..." 

Seonghwa froze briefly, blinking in shock. "You... You what? Hongjoong, where are you?" He questioned as he leaped from his desk, sprinting out of his room.

"I-I... I-I don't know... I-I followed h-him into a-an a-alley off of G-Grand... Seonghwa, please help me." Hongjoong sobbed, trembling profusely.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. I promise." Seonghwa reassured. "Stay there, I'll find you."

Seonghwa hung up the phone, getting one of his men to bring the big Cadillac around. He had the other man drive because if he did, he would get into an accident from driving recklessly to find Hongjoong.

What would've originally been an hour's drive ended up only being half an hour. Seonghwa had his driver drop him off along Grand street, and he began to search every alleyway for Hongjoong frantically, he had to find him before anyone else did.

Finally, as he ran down one of the alleyways, he turned a corner and came to a sudden halt as he saw a bloodied body laying on the ground. He saw Hongjoong huddled against the wall, covered in blood, staring at the ground blankly and trembling.

"Hongjoong..."Seonghwa sighed out, running over to the smaller male, and getting on his knees in front of him. "Hongjoong I'm here."

Seonghwa reached out for him, but the smaller male suddenly began crying out as he got close. He frowned at the male's sudden outburst but was quick to notice that there was a small wound on Hongjoong's forehead, a bloodied busted lip, and a bruised face. It was clear that Hongjoong had received a beating before this all happened. The smaller male was absolutely traumatized.

"Hongjoong, stop. It's me, calm down." Seonghwa said before pulling Hongjoong into his arms securely.

Hongjoong sobbed as he resisted in Seonghwa's arms, trying desperately to escape from his grasp. 

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" Hongjoong cried out.

The red-haired male continued to fight for a while before he finally gave up, sobbing violently into the taller male's chest. Seonghwa held the sobbing male protectively, burying his face into Hongjoong's soft hair.

"You're okay... I'm here, I won't let anyone else hurt you. I'll fix all of this... I promise." Seonghwa soothed softly, trying to get him to calm down.

Seonghwa used a free hand to pull out his phone, calling his driver to come to pick them up at the opposite end of the alley. He also made a call to someone else to come to clean the mess up before authorities found out.

"I'll take care of you, you know I will," Seonghwa said as he stood up, lifting the smaller male in his arms as he began walking quickly down the alley. "You'll be okay..."

As soon as they came out of the alleyway, the black Cadillac pulled to a screeching halt in front of them on the side of the street. Seonghwa was quick to climb into the back of the car, still holding Hongjoong against his chest as they drove off.

"I-I... I killed him, S-Seonghwa... I killed h-him..." Hongjoong kept repeating the same thing over and over as he continued to sob.

"Shh... I know. You'll be okay, I promise. We'll be okay." Seonghwa said as he nuzzled his face into the smaller male's neck. "I shouldn't have sent you to do this... I'm so sorry."

Once they arrived back at Seonghwa's estate, Seonghwa didn't hesitate to carry Hongjoong inside. He quickly made his way back to the bedroom, taking him back to the bathroom. He sat Hongjoong on the side of the tub gently, grabbing at the bottom of the smaller male's shirt, but Hongjoong stopped him.

"Please... Please don't." Hongjoong said in a small voice, shaking his head.

"I'm not going to hurt you. You know I would never hurt you... Just let me clean you up." Seonghwa said before placing loving kisses on his forehead. "I'll be gentle."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Hongjoong let go of Seonghwa as he nodded slightly. Seonghwa sighed out then proceeded to gently lift the smaller male's shirt off. He saw a large bruise that was formed on Hongjoongs side, reaching out a hand as he felt it. Hongjoong yelped in pain, but Seonghwa had to check if any ribs were broken. Thankfully, his ribs were fine, so there was nothing to worry about.

Seonghwa turned on the water to the tub, making sure the temperature was cold instead of warm to soothe the bruise on Hongjoong's side. He proceeded to strip Hongjoong down to nothing, then helped him down into the water.

Hongjoong let out a hiss as he felt the cold water touch his skin. "I-It's cold..."

"Yes, I know. You'll adjust to it." Seonghwa said as he left his side briefly.

Seonghwa grabbed a washcloth, along with the first aid kit, before returning back to the smaller male in the tub. He got the washcloth wet, beginning to wipe Hongjoong's skin free of blood.

"Hongjoong... What happened back there?" Seonghwa questioned curiously. Hongjoong was the last person he'd ever see as capable of taking someone's life. "Please tell me."

Hongjoong dropped his head as he still trembled softly. "I-I don't... remember. H-He caught me... D-Demanded who sent me... B-Beat... Beat me... I-I... Blacked out... Then... W-When I c-came to... I-I was covered in b-blood on top o-of him." Hongjoong explained, quickly starting to sob again. "I killed him."

The state of his lover was heartbreaking, he had completely broken, and that was all his fault. Seonghwa felt guilt consume his chest as he continued with tend to Hongjoong's injuries carefully.

"This is all my fault... I shouldn't have sent you out unprotected. I vowed to never hurt you." Seonghwa said as he choked up, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. "Because of me, this happened to you... I'm so sorry."

Hongjoong didn't even have a reply to what Seonghwa was saying to him, he just continued to sob pathetically as the whole event replayed in his head over and over again. Every time he closed his eyes, he could feel the pain of being beat all over again, he could see blood flying all over the place.

Once Seonghwa was finished cleaning up the smaller male, he pulled the plug from the drain to let out the water. He then grabbed a towel from the rack beside the tub, grabbing ahold of the hysterical male in the tub as he lifted him up. Seonghwa wrapped the towel around him, holding Hongjoong close as he carried him out to the bedroom. He proceeded to sit on the edge of his bed with Hongjoong cradled in his lap.

"I'm so sorry... I'll never put you in harm's way again. You're done from now on..." Seonghwa buried his face into Hongjoong's damp hair as tears continued to fall from his eyes. "You're done. You're never leaving my side, and you're never doing this kind of work again."

Hongjoong closed his eyes as his cries became weaker. He was so emotionally ruined, he didn't even have the energy to cry anymore. He felt so disconnected from the rest of the world, all he could feel was pain and emptiness.

(A/N: I'm sorry this chapter was so violent and heartwrenching. It hurt to write this out :((( )

****THE STORY WILL CONTINUE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. THANK YOU FOR READING****