Deeper into Darkness | ChanHoMin

6

seungmin woke up with a pounding headache, feeling the pain pulsing through his temples.

he sat up on the mattress, looking around the dimly lit room, the only light source was a pathetic little light bulb hanging from the ceiling, he didn't know how long he had been sleeping for but he knew it was long enough for his bladder to be full despite not drinking anything. his natural body clock should've woken him up around the time he would be fed but he couldn't hear a thing from them. 

silence was all that greeted him much to his disappointment.

he got off the mattress and walked towards the bathroom, rubbing his eyes as he limped to his small bathroom, he used the toilet as quickly as possible, biting at his lip anxiously when the flush didn't work, he tried to turn on the tap too to drink some water but it didn't work either. the whole room was damp and humid and dusty and he hated it.

he stumbled to the corner of the room, sinking to the floor and drawing his knees up to his chest, hugging them tightly as he rested his forehead on them.

"i... i want to go home." he whispered.

realization hit him. he was home, this was the same house that felt like home, upstairs was his bed, and his bear and his other toy, his soft pillow and his comforter as well as the little blanket that was first given to him in his cell and he had taken it with him. he was in the same house that he considered to be his home, so why did he feel so lost?

the house was never his home, this house was hell, chan and minho were his home. his comfort, his safety, his salvation, they saved him and they were the only ones who would ever love him, they were his everything. he looked up at the ceiling, knowing that they were walking around above him. he wiped his cheek with the back of his hand.

"i'm sorry, you must feel so guilty for having to lock me in here, it's all my fault, if i was just a good person then you wouldn't have to do this, i'm sorry." he whispered, pulling on his hair.

—

he ended up falling asleep there in the corner, huddled in on himself for warmth and he was woken up abruptly by the sound of the locks.

he looked up at the door, his heart jumping up into his throat.

when it went silent again, he tilted his head in confusion until he noticed the plate and water on the floor next to the door. they got in and left him food before he noticed and he didn't get to see them. he genuinely felt like he had learnt his lesson so he desperately wanted to get out of the basement but he couldn't do that if they were avoiding him.

his body felt so weak he could hardly move but he managed to crawl towards the door, sitting back on his knees and looking down at the plate. a single piece of bread with nothing on it and a cup of water. he picked it up and started to eat it, struggling to swallow it because he was so dehydrated, he drank the water quickly and finished his food, pushing the plate away.

seungmin got up and limped towards the bed, climbing up on the bare mattress and curling up on it facing the wall, he rubbed his hands together, trying to warm himself up.

—

it had been a few days and seungmin was barely surviving on a small slice of bread and a small cup of water once a day, he still hadn't seen them at all and it was driving him crazy. 

he couldn't help but feel like an awful person for forcing them to do this, he felt like he deserved to be punished this way and he was hurting chan and minho by being bad enough to make them punish him, those men were his saviors, he was struggling to believe how he could've been so awful to them. these thoughts spinning around his head were putting him through so much pain. he missed them so much it was physically painful.

that pain on top of the pain from the bruises littering his body and the dried blood from his cut lip and the pain in his stomach, all of it hurt him so much.

he was sitting on his mattress, his knees drawn up in a protective position. he hadn't let himself sleep for goodness knows how long. he couldn't cope with them avoiding him anymore, he needed to see them and express how sorry he was to them.

he gasped as the locks came undone and the door opened. he clambered off his bed immediately, running to the door as minho walked in, looking shocked that seungmin was even awake. he tried to leave again but seungmin dropped to his knees at his feet, starting to cry.

"please, please."

minho glared, expecting him to just beg to be let out but he was caught off guard yet again.

"i'm sorry, i'm so sorry hyung, m' such a horrible person, i'm so sorry."

chan looked into the room too, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction to see seungmin profusely apologizing like that.

"you're sorry?"

"yes! please i'm so sorry for being so awful, p-please forgive me!" he cried, now just spewing apologies under his breath.

he bowed his head, covering his face.

"please don't leave me down here, i miss you both so much i can't take it."

chan lifted his chin, making the weak, sobbing boy look him in the eye.

"you miss us? you miss cuddling up to us? minho's bed? your toys?"

seungmin nodded, starting to cry harder just thinking about those things he loved so much.

"please take me upstairs with you, please? i learned my lesson i swear!"

"shh shh."

chan crouched down and moved seungmin's head to rest on his chest, caressing his cheek.

"hush baby, you know what you did wrong?"

seungmin cried into his shirt, nodding as he clung onto chan.

"i'm sorry, i know i'm bad." he whispered.

minho leaned down and moved seungmin's hair out of his face.

"that's a good boy, you promise you learned your lesson?"

seungmin nodded immediately, his breaths speeding up as he nuzzled chan's shirt.

"then we'll end your punishment, you can come upstairs."

seungmin felt pure relief wash over him as he looked up at them, breathing out heavily as he clutched minho's hand.

"thank you, thank you so much hyung, thank you!"

chan stood up and put seungmin's arm around his shoulder, offering very little help for him to walk into the main basement and starting to climb the stairs. seungmin could only take one step at a time, his legs and feet were sore and achy and he relied mostly on chan to get out of the basement.

they helped seungmin through the house and to the stairs, having to carry him up those before taking him to his room, they put him in his bed without washing him and minho placed a bottle of water on the nightstand, the two of them leaving without another word.

=♡=