Deleterious

Chapter 11

After a while it all became a blur, it was hard for Hanseo to keep up with what his body was being put through relentlessly. The continuous onslaught of pleasure and pain shattered his senses, leaving him completely open. It wasn't long before darkness clouded his sight and his consciousness drifted away into nothing.

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When he awoke, Hanseo was back home, laid bare on smooth silky bedsheets. The slightly open blinds told the night before had passed and a new day had already begun hours prior.

Did that really happen?

Hanseo closed his eyes, asking the question once, twice, three times, knowing an answer would never come. Clenching a handful of bedsheets, he dared to recount the memories—what he had seen, heard, and especially felt, washing over him as if they were brand new sensations. With his senses going haywire, the undeniable fact of where he was now left him stunned.

Was I so drunk that I imagined everything?

He pried his eyes open and scanned the room restlessly, searching for a clue, an answer to the images his mind was conjuring. There was nothing. The room was empty, with clothes from the night before strewn across the bed and floor. Everything was in place—there was nothing else, no one else.

"Ugh," he groaned as sharp pain crept up his lower back. More questions, all unanswerable, plagued his mind. Another small groan escaped his lips as he stood, taking one last look around the room before staring at the bold, neon-red numbers on his bedside clock.

"Shit..." Everything after that was on autopilot, and searching for a suitable outfit felt like an out-of-body experience. Barely a second passed before more images flashed to the forefront of his mind, causing brief pauses in his actions before he determinedly pushed forward. He paused again, the shortest one yet, as a sharp pain shot up his back while he pulled on his pants. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he moved to the bathroom.

It never happened. You got drunk, went home, stripped and went to sleep.

It seemed the world was hellbent on proving him wrong, the image in the mirror leaves no room for deniability. The unbuttoned shirt reveals bruises in the shape of a hand from the beginnings of his neck to the rem of the pants. Besides the massive hand print, bite marks, some more violently placed than others, litter the once clear expanse of skin. Yet again Hanseo shakes his head.

He quickly gathers himself, mechanically buttoning up the crisp white collared shirt and making the hair presentable, before walking to the entrance of the room. Placing his hand on the doorknob, he turns to take one last look. It's all familiar, everything is where it should be. There's hesitation when he looks forward once again, this room had become the safe zone albeit subconsciously. The problem remains untouched, frozen within the confinement of these four walls.  

Hanseo let out a breath before twisting the knob. 

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Author's note

Switched to 3rd person.