𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑰𝒔 𝑶𝒖𝒓𝒔 ✓

Chapter 22

PAIN rushed through his body as he teared up once again, soft sobs escaping his mouth.

"N-No more, sir. Pl-Please." He begged in a small, shaking voice.

The men laughed as they took turns, ignoring the dark, black van moving and stopping every good, ten minutes.

"Listen, slut," the familiar man whispered, resting a hand across the boy's neck and tightening his grip, slowly choking the boy, "as soon as we stop, you're going to behave yourself and do what we tell you. I have this gun right here," he fumbled for something in the seat behind them and let it out for everyone to see. It was a long, black pistol.

The sight of the machine made Hyunjin gulp and tear his eyes away from the sight, not wanting to imagine what they might do with it.

"And I will not hesitate to use it if you disobey us," he hissed, pressing on the trigger to reload the gun. The boy gulped and sent him a shaky nod. "Right, slut?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

The man then turned to look at the other man who sat beside him and sent him a smirk.

"Do we have the stuff?"

The other man returned the smirk with an even wider, devilish grin.

"Yes, we do. It's in the back seat as well."

The boy gulped in fear at their dark tone. Terrible pain rushed through his lower body once again and he let out a loud, pathetic shriek.

What was in the back seat?

What were they talking about?

They weren't going to hurt him again, were they?

The car stumbled to a stop once again. The men took their turns to glance at the digital clock next to the stirring wheel and smirked, realizing that there were only ten minutes until the appointment.

It was eight o'clock and fifty minutes. Only ten minutes till nine.

"W-Where are we?" The boy squeaked out, glancing outside the tinted window to catch a glimpse of the scene outside the black van.

"Stop asking questions, slut!" One of the men yelled, grabbing him roughly by his soft hair to shove his head away from the window.

The boy let out a soft groan and made a frail attempt to protest. The men stared at each other with evil smirks as they watched the boy struggle in their tight grip.

"What do you say, guys?" A voice boomed above their heads. "Should we get one last turn before his slutty family shows up?"

The men nodded and let out a cackle.

❆

"I think it's time, sir."

Hyunjin's loud sobs erupted from somewhere beside them on the leather seats. The men rolled their eyes and reached for the door handle, unlocking the door with one swift move.

"Get out, slut!" Someone yelled. "And if you try to run for it, we will catch you. You won't be seeing your pathetic family any time soon either."

The boy slowly and shakily made his way out of the car, following them like a lost puppy, and stopping midway to check for any sign of life. They were standing in an area where the dark, gloomy woods stood motionlessly behind them. The boy gulped and glanced around the empty, dim-lit area.

No sign of his friends. No sign of his wife. No sign of both of his parents.

Then again, he didn't expect his parents to show up, did he?

It was his fault for expecting anyone, let alone his parents, to care about him.

And the thought itself stung.

Seconds passed by, soon followed by minutes. Five minutes, six minutes, seven minutes.

Eight...

Nine...

Ten.

It was now nine o'clock.

The boy's heart continued to beat fast in his chest. He allowed small, quiet sobs to escape his mouth, quickly followed by tears of pain and heartbreak.

Nine and five minutes.

There was no one in sight.

His heart ached, just like his body. Sweat poured down his forehead, down his smooth back, down his neck. And if he was somewhere else, he wouldn't have thought that it was agonizing that he could hear his own breath at that very moment. The long, grey sweatshirt he was wearing didn't help with the freezing weather either. His legs trembled and shook with the pain rushing through his body, and the chilly air brushing against his milky-white skin.

He could almost wish that they would go back to the van and stay there until someone showed up.

His breath hitched in anticipation. The men smirked at each other.

"You know, slut," one of them began, "your dumb family only has five minutes left, right?"

The boy covered his face with his hands, his heart pounding desperately between his ribs. He fidgeted with his fingers in an attempt to ease the nauseous sensation inside him.

Please, he begged, let someone come. Just one. That would've been enough for him.

"Alright!" The man clapped his hands together to grasp everyone's attention. "Time's over. We're going to go back and tell Boss that no one showed up for him. That means we get to take him to Russia with us."

The men automatically agreed, grins breaking through their smug faces. The boy immediately shook his head, putting his hands together to beg the men for more time.

"N-No, please, hey—five more minutes, please, please! They will show up, I p-promise!"

One man grabbed him by his wrist and began the (rather tiring) process of shoving the boy back inside the car, rolling his eyes.

"Get inside, slut! You don't want to mess with us right now!"

His eyes shimmered in the dim moonlight, tears of desperation streaming down his face.

"P-Please, sir! I promise they will come—I swear! Just five more minutes-"

"Hey!" A loud, desperate shout erupted from across the empty lawn.

The men turned around to meet the source of the sound, soon followed by Hyunjin.

"J-Jagiya..?"

The familiar, long, dark brown hair. The shiny, chocolate brown eyes. The slim, attractive hourglass figure. The sharp, merciless gaze that had everyone cower beneath. The same person whom the boy hadn't seen in over a month. The longest month of his life. His heart dropped to his stomach in disbelief as he took in the sight of the woman standing at a fair distance from them.

Mal.