Trouble in paradise (official)

Chapter 68 "Reassures."

The deserted warehouse loomed in the darkness, a pervasive emptiness enveloped the space, heightened by a bone-chilling stillness. The air was thick with an unsettling silence, only occasionally disrupted by the haunting echoes of water droplets falling from old, rusted leaking pipes on the ceiling.

Rindou cautiously stepped into the desolate space, the feeble light barely revealing the vast emptiness around him. The creaking echoes of his footsteps bounced off the decaying walls, creating an unsettling soundtrack to the abandoned tomb.

"Couldn't we have chosen a damn restaurant or something?" he mutters irritably while lighting up a cigarette. As the lighter finds its way back into his pocket, he halts abruptly, repulsed when a rat darts across his feet. "This place is so fucking disgusting! I swear, I'm choosing the location next." Stepping cautiously around the nasty ass rodent, he exhales his smoke, catching the sound of laughter emanating from the distant end of the hallway.

As he ventured deeper, the faint illumination unveiled a haunting sight – a lone man suspended from the ceiling, bound by his ankles. His arms were tightly tied behind his back, the unforgiving chains cutting into his wrists, intensifying the struggle as he desperately sought freedom.

"Ooo, guess I must have gotten here too late?" Rindou gazes up at the man, a languid stream of smoke escaping his lips, indifference carved across his face as he watches the man pathetically thrash above him. The hazy glow highlighted the desperation etched on the man's face as he swung from side to side, his pleas for release echoing through the cavernous emptiness. Sanzu, with a smile stood below him, observing his unsteady sway. The warehouse felt heavy and gloomy, amplifying the prevailing sense of despair that lingered around.

"Nah," Shion sneaks up behind Rindou, securing a dark blindfold over his eyes. "Not at all, you've graced us with perfect timing buddy! We're just getting started."

Rindou sighs, his cigarette falling from his mouth as he steps onto it snuffing it out."What is this shit?"

"You didn't know? Today's your birthday."

"No it isn't."

"Rinnie! You made it just in time for the piñata!" Sanzu, wearing a sinister smile, leisurely approaches with a metal pipe in hand, its chilling resonance adding a sinister note to the air.

"P—-please!" Spare me! I—-I don't know where he is, I swear!" The suspended man pleads, blood tracing a morbid pattern from his nostrils to the floor beneath. Forming a sticky pool at Shion's feet.

Sanzu gleefully smiles, tossing the pipe over his shoulder. "You ready to see what's inside?"

"A piñata? "I ain't smacked one of those hoes in a minute." Rindou grins, as Sanzu discreetly hands him the pipe, returning to the chain hoisting the man upside down. "How fun. Alright, let's do this."

"No, no, no, please!"

"Shut the fuck up bitch. Nobody wants to hear all that shit," he snaps, raising him higher. "I'm curious about the goodies in this one," he chuckles, jolting the chain, causing the man to descend slightly.

"HELPPPPP! PLEASE! PLEASE PUT ME DOWN!"

Rindou takes a few swings. "Y'all better have my candy bag ready for when I bust this shit open."

"Shut up and knock his ass out before I do. He's getting on my nerves with that endless crying."

"Alright, no peeking," Shion teases, gripping Rindou on the shoulders as he spins him in circles. "1,2,3,4,5,6,7..... " his voice trailing off.

"Childish as hell," Takeomi sighs, taking a seat beside Ran as they observe the antics of the younger executives. He looks over to nudge Ran when he hears him shout, "Rindou! I didn't know it was your fucking birthday!"