SADISM

3

The brothers don’t meet for a week. Hanseok wakes to the sound of his seven-a.m. alarm. He wipes his face gently with his palm; careful not to aggravate the healing bruises on his face. His eyes and lips received the worst of Hanseo’s fists; and he still feels the pain lingering after a week. He can’t see his face; Vincenzo has removed all mirrors, and glasses, or anything that could reflect. But he knows by the pain that his face is or was unrecognizable once Hanseo was done beating him to a pulp.
The swelling is down. Hanseok pats his cheeks gently – which is good. He sits up, and sighs heavily. He looks at the camera on the wall and wrinkles his forehead. Hanseok throws the duvet off his body and swings his legs of the bed. His vision is better than it was a few days ago – he can see the floor. The day after Hanseo left him on the bed bleeding – he woke up almost blind. There was a doctor next to him, and Vincenzo who was discussing Hanseok’s well-being. And from what Hanseok
hear the doctor say – he was lucky he didn’t lose his vision permanently. Hanseok swallows the thought of going blind. It is something he isn’t prepared for.
He manages to go to the bathroom and lock himself in. His clothes from yesterday are still in the bathroom, and Hanseok decides to wear them again today. Except the shirt, he must change the shirt because there is blood on it. Last week, after Hanseo climbed over him and started throwing fists – somewhere around the line,
Hanseok had passed out. He didn’t know what happened or who stopped his crazy brother.
He freshens up and takes a warm shower. He cleans the wounds on his face with a clean cloth and taps ointment carefully. Again, there are no mirrors for Hanseok to reflect through. He does it by the throbbing pain guiding him to his bruises. Anything that could be made into a weapon is removed from Hanseok’s apartment. Anything sharp, any metals, or anything Hanseok could break and turn into a weapon was confiscated.
Vincenzo being suspicious of Hanseok; the sink hole and bathtub drainage covers were removed to prevent water from pooling. If Hanseok were to guess; it was to prevent him from drowning himself and committing suicide. Something Vincenzo was very certain of.
But not now. Now. It was different. Now Hanseo was back – and Hanseok was thinking of using the young man to his advantage.Hanseok sniffs as the pain sting over his face. Before – Hanseok had hidden a knife successfully and saved it for later use. It was to end his life – but he had failed miserably. He was too scared by the idea of not existing that he hesitated to do anything with the weapon hidden in the bathroom. He was too scared to use it on himself – and he was more scared of using it on Vincenzo or his men. It was still discovered one day – during a sweep of the apartment. Vincenzo had lost control and
punished Hanseok shamelessly.
Vincenzo had put an electric dog collar around his neck. Stripped him naked and forced him to
walk around the house on his hands and knees – all while the cctv captured everything. It was
humiliating all around. From Vincenzo watching him, to Vincenzo’s men walking in and seeing him. Maybe he should have used the knife. Cut his wrists and put an end to his misery. It’s thoughts like
those that stressed Hanseok over days and nights. Still, he was in his apartment. He was safer now than he was during his stay at the warehouse. He wasn’t being tortured so ruthlessly anymore. He wasn’t being hung by his arms and swung bats at
anymore. He wasn’t being electrocuted any more. He could take the humiliation of being turned into a dog for a month.
Hanseok inhales a shaky breath as the memories of his torture takes over his mind. The thought of being in that warehouse shakes him to his core. He puts back the ointment in the sink cabinet and slides down the bathroom door. Bringing his
knees to his chest and wrapping arms around them. He sits there quietly, and stares at the white tiles of the bathroom – it reminds him of his bedroom at the warehouse. A place where the lights never went out. Was it morning or night; it didn’t matter. Hanseok blinks rapidly as a tear falls down his cheek. His body trembles at the memory and he pushes back from remembering more. A shooting migraine has made its presence early, and Hanseo massages the back of his ear for relief – it’s of no comfort. Hanseok has been so stressed that the migraines are becoming a daily occurrence. He has always been susceptible to migraines – since his teenage years, he was diagnosed with chronic migraines – but over the past year and a half, it has become worse. One major point was Vincenzo – who kept
his medicine away from him.
“Fuck you, Vincenzo.” Hanseok mutters. Not only is Vincenzo the problem. He has turned Hanseo into a problem as well. What did Vincenzo do to Hanseo? How did Hanseo become such a maniac?
What in the world happened after the shooting? Hanseok didn’t even know his brother was alive. A few months back, Vincenzo had come in and
told him. Hanseok didn’t believe him, he was sure Vincenzo was just messing with him. But day
by day passed, and Vincenzo’s presence become minimal. After a while – Hanseok barely saw him and only spoke to him over the phone. It was then, Hanseok thought maybe the mafia boss was speaking the truth. It still bothered him, but the important factor was – Hanseok stopped thinking about killing himself – completely. His thoughts started working overtime on how he could manipulate his brother and get him under his control. It won’t be that hard – he mused at the time. But now – Now Hanseok was curious. Has his brother really changed, or was he putting a fake front? Hanseo’s strength though, that was real. That can’t be faked. The younger brother used to be weak and feeble. The sight of Hanseok used to make him cower – face down and shoulders slumped. Not
even eye contact without permission. Last week – Hanseo had walked in a different man. Of his own power and intentions.
Did Hanseo really become stronger, or did the past year and a half make Hanseok that much
weaker? So weak, he couldn’t even fight off his brother?
Being tortured in the warehouse for almost six months and being imprisoned in the apartment for a year could do that. It would break someone. But Hanseok didn’t accept himself to be broken. He was still intact, and he could still process.
Hanseok thinks – the migraine isn’t helping but he pushes though it. He has a chance now – he could escape. If he plays his cards right with his brother, there is a chance he could get out of imprisonment. He bites the back of his index finger and sucks in his breath. Fights happen all the time. They were
brothers – fighting came with it.
Lost in his thoughts and out of present mind – Hanseok shakes violently at the sound of the front
door opening. His heart jumps and his face freezes over. It takes him ten seconds to muster up the
courage to stand up and realize it’s almost breakfast time. His food is always delivered. The kitchen is an empty space now, without running appliances and
groceries. It is another one of Vincenzo’s forms to control him. If he did anything that pissed
Vincenzo off – like waking up five minutes late or going to sleep a second too late – it would give Vincenzo a reason to punish him. If the house was dirty, or if he didn’t do something Vincenzo
asked – he would be starved. But. It stopped a few months ago when Vincenzo announced Hanseo was alive. Hanseok didn’t know why, but he was glad it did. Sometimes, Vincenzo would starve him for days and make him stand for hours out of petty reason. He opens the door faintly and waits for Vincenzo’s men to leave. He can hear two men talking, and once the entrance door slams shut; Hanseok steps out and grabs the bag from the kitchen Island. There is also a cup of coffee, and he takes it with him into the bedroom.

The End