Bleed For Me - Taegyu/Beomhyun

Chapter 6: The Seven Of Cups

Warning: smut (explicit)

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The inside of the warehouse was extremely large and wide open, with windows lining the tops of the walls. The sunset from outside created beams in the room from all of the dust, allowing a collage of deep reds and oranges to refract around the space. Taehyun had never seen a sunset this vibrant. Under different circumstances, it would have been beautiful.

Taehyun coughed from the dust, feeling it intrude in his lungs and down his throat. It felt like someone had taken a piece of sandpaper to his insides. No one had cleaned in here for a long time, that was for sure. It smelled musty and poorly ventilated.

He suddenly became hyper aware of Beomgyu's gaze on him. It was only present for a moment, before Taehyun could sense it shift to somewhere else. Taehyun followed his stare with his own, curious as to both why Beomgyu brought him here and what was awaiting him. His brain took a second to render exactly what he was seeing. He couldn't help but let out a small gasp when he fully registered the scene splayed out in front of him.

There was a man tied to a chair in the middle of the room, covered in blood. He had obviously undergone some type of torture prior to their arrival. He looked defeated, eyes closed and traces of tear stains on his weathered cheeks. His arms and legs shone a bright, raw red where the rope connected him to the chair. It was obvious that he had struggled against the restraints. He looked pitiful and close to death. Taehyun squinted his eyes at the man, trying to make out his face. After a moment, Taehyun shivered; the blood running over the man's tanned skin had made him practically unrecognizable.

Beomgyu took Taehyun's hand into his own, enveloping Taehyun's cold palm into his warm one and snapping Taehyun back into reality. Without even a word or glance, Beomgyu began to sashay towards the site with confidence, leading Taehyun to the man in the middle of the room. Their footsteps echoed in the empty space. The man didn't look up or otherwise acknowledge their presence, so Taehyun assumed he must be unconscious...or worse. Taehyun looked away from the beaten man, instead choosing to peer up at Beomgyu. He was absolutely unfazed. Taehyun wondered when the first time he witnessed true violence was, the first time that he committed an act of brutality. It seemed like this was second nature to him by now. Was this what Taehyun would eventually become?

"Look," Beomgyu vocalized once they had approached the man, with no emotion present either in his voice or on his face. Taehyun felt paralyzed, but did as he was told, afraid of what he would find.

It was Park.

The man was Park. Taehyun fell to his knees at the sudden realization, suddenly too weak to stand on his own. The action caused his hand to fall out of Beomgyu's grip, making the emotionless mask disappear off of the other's face. Taehyun's knees hit the floor with a dull thud, softly echoing in the large space. A muddled mixture of emotions now riddled Beomgyu's features, his eyes raking over Taehyun's devastated face.

"Get up," Beomgyu commanded softly, eyes still baring into Taehyun's soul. He held out his hand again to help Taehyun up.

Taehyun couldn't think straight. What happened? Why was Park here? He felt like he was going to be ill; the dust that had invaded his airways earlier suddenly felt suffocating. Taehyun felt like he couldn't breathe. However, his better judgement and survival instincts kicked in. He knew if he pissed Beomgyu off, he could very well be the next person tied up in an abandoned warehouse. He scrambled to his feet quickly, choosing not to take Beomgyu's hand again and instead getting up on his own. The other frowned at the action, but Taehyun pretended not to notice. He instead focused on Park's face.

Park was in a sorry state. If he wasn't dead, he was close to it. He was so covered in blood that Taehyun thought he might be stained red permanently from the sheer amount of it encompassing his body. His head hung limply against the back of the chair, eyes closed. Taehyun hoped that he was at least unconscious and at peace. After he had gotten a good look at his former mentor, he turned back to Beomgyu with questioning eyes.