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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐅𝐈𝐀 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 - 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

╚═════════･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ════════╝

It hurts, was the first thought in his half-conscious mind.

He wanted to keep his eyes shut tightly and never open them ever again. He wanted to close himself off from the world, be forgotten. He wanted to curl up on the floor and never move again — maybe even stab himself in the process. 

It couldn't possibly hurt more than the way his heart was trying to tear itself out of his chest.

But the power of churning emotions were more than enough to make his heavy eyelids snap open. Betrayal, sadness, heartbreak, anger — it all whirled inside him and he suppressed the sudden urge to throw up. As he had guessed, the stinging and smarting feeling cutting into the soft skin of his wrists was indeed a rope tying him to a chair.

His head was throbbing like there was a sledgehammer whacking into it. Even through his emotion-induced haze, he made out that his surroundings were dark. There was the smell of old books and dust around him. 

In the time it took for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, he made out the fact that he was not alone.

He stayed silent, motionless, waiting for the other person or people in the room to speak or make a sound. Minutes passed (or was it hours?) before there was finally a click of a switch and lights too bright for the old smell of the room flashed on, making spots dance in front of his eyes.

The man blinked, shaking his head and squinted. He looked up and caught his breath.

A pair of icy blue eyes met with his charcoal ones. His jaw clenched, so hard that his teeth hurt. However much he wanted to scream, let out the betrayal churning in his stomach, to throw himself at the man and attack in every way possible with his limbs tied, he forced on a poker face. Cocking his head in a blasé manner, he waited for the other to speak.

"Jeongguk," the male said in a low voice, his voice cracking as he spoke the name.

The blue eyes that once sparkled with the light of a million stars that Jeon Jeongguk knew so well, were now saliently vacant. There were dark circles under the sunken eyes. The tan face once carved like that of a Greek God, that Jeongguk had run his fingers over with a feather-like touch so many times, was now almost frighteningly pale and gaunt. The neatly styled hair that Jeongguk used to mess up on purpose just to enjoy the boy's indignance at it was now completely dishevelled.

The emotions swimming in his void-like eyes made Jeongguk's stomach turn.

Jeongguk hated that he still cared. 

He wanted to lean in and brush their noses together, because it always comforted him. He wanted to cup his face and soothe over the bags under his eyes.

But that would never happen again.

"Jeongguk —," he repeated in a hoarse voice. Jeongguk's dark eyes flashed. 

The barely restrained rage swam up in him. "Don't say my name, you sick bastard," Jeongguk spat at him. 

He was never any good at controlling his anger issues. 

When he got furious, he had a terrible habit of unleashing destruction around him. Jeongguk wouldn't stop until his surroundings were bloody and everyone around him was lying either dead or barely clinging to life. No one had ever been able to calm him down when he was that livid.

At least no one except him. 

The man who had sauntered into his life and turned it upside down. The man who had one of the most powerful mafia leaders in the world in his palm. The man who could make the Jeon Jeongguk laugh and reduce the him to a flushing mess in a snap of his fingers.

The man who had betrayed and stabbed his back.

"Why did you do it?" he asked, trying to sound furious but failing when his voice trembled. "Jeongguk I didn't — I'm sorry. I'll explain everything, baby please just —"

"Don't FUCKING call me that," Jeongguk roared, wild eyes running all over Taehyung's face, but still failing to find anything but grief and torment. "Keep your apologies to yourself. I trusted you, Kim. I TRUSTED YOU!" his dry words ended in a roar, "why didn't you just kill me?" he said in a quiet voice.

"Jeongguk," Taehyung pleaded again. He swayed, as if stopping himself from rushing forward to hold him. Thankfully, he didn't. Jeongguk himself didn't know what he would do to him, even with his hands tied.

"It's because you can't," he continued, spitting the words hatefully.

"You can't kill me Taehyung, and it's not because you love me. Because if I die, your precious little secret is out. And you would much rather expose your two-faced asshole self than let that happen."

Taehyung winced with every word, his teeth digging into his bottom lip.

"And because I'm not a lying piece of shit like you, here's how I feel. Fuck you, Kim Taehyung, and I wish I'd never met you."

Both their hearts clenched at the bitter words which escaped Jeongguk.

Taehyung looked up again and stared at him with a pained expression. His eyelids fluttered, holding back any tears threatening to emerge. He raised a hand hesitantly and cupped Jeongguk's face, brushing the apple of his cheek with the pad of his thumb. 

Jeongguk hated it. 

He hated how he didn't fight back. How his heart still skipped a beat at the feeling.

"I'm sorry," was the last thing Taehyung whispered before he stood up and turned, striding away, his sleeves rising to his face and wiping it roughly.

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A.N. It's out! I have quite the expectations for this book and I think it'll hopefully not be a failure. I'm not sure when it'll officially begin because I'm really, really bad at focusing on more than one book at a time, but I've got it all planned out.

In the meantime, thank you for reading! I hope you'll enjoy this book!

~ Lesley ❤