Aeipathy | Ryu Shi-Oh and Tsetseg

Chapter 22

Ryu Shi-Oh

The next day...

Shi-Oh always wondered, why people despised traitors so much, why betrayals were considered the worst. Now, he knew why, he got the taste of it from the person that he least expected. Agonizing, was an understatement for the pain that he felt when he found out that Tsetseg was Gang Nam soon. He couldn't believe it. He almost didn't believe it.

Why did it have to be her? The only person he had trusted so much. Whom he had showed everything to, yet he was being deceived in such a way. He still couldn't forget her tear stained face and remorseful eyes, her broken voice. But was it even real? How could he let himself believe her so easily, just because his heart could not bear her tears?

He didn't get a wink of sleep the whole night, too drowned in his idiocy and self-pity. Even when he tried to restrain his emotions to an extent, the tears of torment were unchained. Red rimmed eyes and a bleeding heart, everything surrounding him felt like an illusion. But somehow his eyes kept staring at the black panther keychain...

At first, he had wanted to throw it away, or destroy it completely. Just so it would stop reminding him of her, but he soon realised that nothing could erase her presence from his mind...or heart. Even if she betrayed him for a thousand times more, he could not manage to hate her. He tried his best to delve into hatred, but for her he found none in his heart.

How pathetic you are...He chuckled without humour, mocking himself.

All of his life, he was consumed by darkness, be it Pavel or his miserable life in the orphanage. But he still survived, with the feeling of revenge burning him up for years. He had a goal, which was to destroy the people who had destroyed him. And he was ready to lay his life on the line for this one mission, afterall embracing death would not be his first time.

He worked hard all those years, ranking up in the highest of the recruits that were trained. Making a name for himself in the mafia organisation, just to look for a perfect opportunity to manipulate. That's how he became the CEO of Doogo, that's how he acquired the power and influence. And he was ready to die in the war that he had planned to wage.

But then she arrived like a little ray of light. Luchik. And he was mesmerized since the first look of her, all the following encounters just fuelled his unknown feelings for her. Before he was aware, she had became someone immensely important for him. His affections were obvious and bare since the beginning, and he did not expect anything from her.

Just when he thought, that he had found a confidant, a friend and a partner in her. It all turned out to be a dream, a dream that was too good to be true. Instead it turned into a nightmare that would haunt his conscious without rest. What was there to do now? What could he do?

“I want you to choose, Shi-Oh. You have a choice. And you're the one who'll make the descision...” her voice rang inside his mind like a mantra.

He leaned back on his office chair, eyes staring into the distance with a hollowed look, before he whispered,“Choice?”

His mind couldn't help but wonder the purpose of this choice that had been laid before him. Now, he had rebelled against Pavel, diminishing any connection with them. And soon enough, they will start hunting for him like a wild animal, whereas the police had suspected him of being drug dealer. There was no one by his side. No one on his side.

“Please...let me stay by your side, and be by my side...”

And Shi-Oh realised, he realised how much he desired for her to be by his side. No matter what, she must be on his side. He couldn't let her go, not when she chose to stay even after seeing all the scars he beared. He chuckled in amusement, becasuse he did not have anything to lose now.