"How many, sir?"
"One hundred."
John’s brows shot up, disbelief flashing across his face as he stared at Seokmin.
"Sir, that’s a bit too much. That many people around a single house will scare him, and others will notice too..." John began, his voice trailing off when he caught the look in Seokmin's eyes.
They were void, cold, and almost lifeless, as if he was peering into a bottomless pit.
"Do I look like I give a damn?" Seokmin’s voice was low, almost a growl, sending a shiver down John's spine. The words were delivered with a weight that made John's insides twist.
This was insanity. Pure, unfiltered madness. One hundred bodyguards stationed outside a single house—it was overkill. Even Joshua, unaware of the looming shadows, would be petrified by the sight. It was too much.
"Sir, if I may," John tried again, his voice laced with a careful edge, "it might frighten Mr. Hong too..." John’s voice wavered slightly, but he knew he had to press on.
Seokmin's Achilles' heel had always been Joshua. He could be manipulated, reasoned with, if Joshua’s name was brought into the conversation. John thought it was worth the risk.
Seokmin's eyes snapped up, locking onto John’s with an intensity that made his blood run cold. "Say another word, and I'll put a bullet through your skull," Seokmin said, his tone dangerously calm.
John felt the blood drain from his face. His heart hammered in his chest, but he swallowed his fear and pushed forward.
"I’m just stating the truth, sir. If you scare him, he might... he might run. Is that what you want? To see him terrified, driven away by your own hand?" John dared to suggest, his voice barely a whisper.
Seokmin’s body stiffened, a flash of something unnameable flickering in his eyes. His jaw clenched as he moved around the office, every step deliberate, controlled.
The silence was suffocating, like the calm before a storm, as his eyes narrowed, locking with John's again. The room felt colder, the air heavy with unspoken threats.
Seokmin’s fingers drummed against the mahogany desk, each tap like a countdown to a volatile explosion.
John stood frozen, his breath shallow, watching Seokmin’s every move with the caution of a man teetering on the edge of a cliff.
“Run?” Seokmin echoed, his voice eerily soft, more dangerous than any shout. “Where would he go, John? Away from me?” He let out a low, humorless laugh, the sound filling the room with a chill that seeped into John’s bones.
“Joshua can’t run. He belongs to me. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
John swallowed, the weight of Seokmin’s words pressing down on him. It was not merely obsession he heard in his employer's voice but a terrifying certainty, a conviction that brooked no argument.
John felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face, and he fought to keep his composure.
“Sir, with all due respect, you know how delicate he is,” John said, choosing his words carefully, like stepping through a minefield. “Joshua is not used to this... intensity. If you push too hard, he might shatter.”
Seokmin’s gaze snapped to John, a flash of something wild and dark flaring in his eyes. “Shatter?” he murmured, his tone almost curious.
“You think I care about fragility, John? About delicacy?” He moved closer, the space between them suffocatingly tight.
YOU ARE READING
Arrange Devotion | SS
FanfictionBOOK #2 They say love heals scars, but Seokmin's scars were lessons-bitter reminders that twisted him into a creature of darkness. His life was a series of brutal lessons that shaped him into someone who burns with an unquenchable fire. Protecting...
