Subtle Differences | Junhao oneshots

Secret (bonus chapter 2)

Blood.

The metallic liquid was leaking through his lips. Minghao awoke with a gasp. He spat out a mouthful of blood onto the floor, where a puddle had been forming. The aftertaste continued to linger.

Shaking his head, he waited a long while for his vision to clear. It focused on ropes binding him to a wooden chair, hands and legs tied securely. 

"Ah, you are awake!" Minghao glanced up, spotting Chen making his way over. He surveyed his surroundings, but everything else was pitched black. He couldn't see a single thing, much less an exit. 

"Let's make this easy yes? Tell me who you work for." Chen said. He was chewing through some sort of sweet. The noise was jarring. 

"No." Minghao whispered. Chen frowned. 

Leaning closer, Chen asked again, "What did you say?" 

Minghao hissed in both pain and fueled hatred, "I said, is this the best you've got?

The male had barely any time to comprehend before a stung bloomed across his cheek. The impact of the slap threw his head to the right. He panted, the wind knocked out of his lungs.

Chen grinned. His laugh was maniacal. "When you act like a bitch, you're treated like a bitch."

Minghao steeled himself. He couldn't go down like this. No, he couldn't.

"Now, my dear Minghao." Chen said coldly. The younger male flinched at the sound of his name. "I don't want to hurt you." 

Bullshit, Minghao murmured, which earned him another tight slap.

"I know you have a boyfriend, yes?" Minghao gritted his teeth at the mention of Junhui. If Chen did anything to him...

"Don't you want to go home to him? So just tell me what I need to know. Then you can go home all pretty and sexy and fuckable." 

Minghao spat more blood on the floor. He was ready to keel over from the excruciating pain across his face and body. The look in his eyes was of pure anger. From behind him, Chen let out a deep sigh. 

"We'll try again tomorrow. If you cooperate, maybe you can have a chance with my son. God knows he needs someone to play with." Chen scoffed, walking off into the darkness. 

Minghao slinked back as far as he was able to in his chair. It was beyond uncomfortable, but things could be worse. 

It must have been at least hours before Minghao heard the door opening. He sat up, preparing himself for another round of Chen's torture. To his surprise, it was a much younger man, almost the same age as him. 

The young man with square features and a long nose reminded Minghao of someone. He just couldn't place a finger on who. The Chinese male flinched as the man lifted some bread and water to his face. 

"Get away from me." Minghao said. His voice was absolutely crushed, much like his insides. 

"Just drink some water, I'm trying to help-" The man's words were cut off by Minghao kicking out. It took him a few moments to calm down. 

Ever so gently, Minghao allowed the man to pour some water into his mouth. "I'm Henry, Chen's son." The moment the words left Henry's mouth, Minghao jumped back. His face of gratitude put up its guard once more. 

"Hey, don't worry. I just want to help. Why else would I be here?" Henry reassured. He tore off a piece of bread and fed it to the other. 

Minghao chewed through the stale food with some difficulty. He swallowed heavily. "Why?" 

A small smile spread Henry's lips apart. Minghao could see through it though. Despite its outward appearance, the smile harboured decades-old pain. "Have you seen my father? Do you think he's won any awards for Father of the Year?" Henry definitely intended it to be humourous, but it only sounded even more sad that it ever had. 

"Besides," Henry continued, standing up to dust the crumbs off of the other, "I have a boyfriend. His name's Aaron. He's the best person I could ever wish for. Maybe one day when my father's caught for whatever stupid thing he's done again, I'll run off and be with him. What's your boyfriend called?" 

Minghao closed his eyes softly. Behind the pitch black, he conjured up an image of Junhui, his towering frame and beautiful features, remembered the way his voice deepened three tones first thing in the morning. That blissful feeling of being in his embrace. "Jun. He's lovely too." Minghao whispered. His voice cracked near the end of the sentence. He didn't want to, but Henry's comforting presence made him want to break down and weep about the whole ordeal. How could he, when the kind-hearted person in front of him has gone through so much trauma in his life and still managed to keep on going?

Henry pulled out a small pocket knife from his jeans. Minghao only saw a glint of it when Henry dragged it slowly across his palm. 

"Oh my god, what are you doing?" Minghao exclaimed. He cringed at the squelch and utterly disgusting scene. 

"I'm sorry, my father will kill me if I don't get your ransom pictures sent. The fake email I created contains code for the address of this place, so if there's anyone good under whoever you're working for, they'll be here in no time." Henry winced, rubbing his palm over Minghao's face to get his own blood on the latter. Minghao froze. Why was Henry doing this for him? 

"Ok, smile." Henry said in a cheerful voice. "Oh, no uh... don't actually smile. Just look like you're in pain, which you totally are, and look away." 

Minghao tilted his head in confusion. "Away?"

"Yeah. Our eyes are the weakest part of us."