Yoon Bum x Reader: Mindfuckery

Chapter 16: Red

Perhaps it was an act of repentance for the night he threatened you, or maybe he was genuinely starting to believe your charade of emotional abjection. Either way, Bum had finally caved and brought you back upstairs. The bags under his eyes were much more notable today than usual when he returned from work.

"Why do you keep me around, Bum? I only upset you..." Those words you spoke last night echoed off the walls of his mind over and over, rendering him sleepless. "I bet you'd be happier if I wasn't around anymore..."

Yoon Bum was troubled. Had he somehow inadvertently convinced you that you weren't his entire world? Was that really how his behavior was coming across to you? How could he have allowed that to happen, even by accident?! Even your scorning presence was leagues above his life without you, empty and barren. 'How could she not know that?'  Bum noticed that your humor had turned dour as of late too. You would make jokes about your own death and suffering and then chuckle darkly afterward. Something was definitely wrong. 'Have I become cruel like him? Am I hurting her more than I realize?' A terrifying image of your blood spilling out on the kitchen floor grazed the edge of his mind and he shook it away with a violent thrash of his head. 'That would never happen. I would never abuse her to that extent.'

He recalled having joyless times during his relationship with Sangwoo, and the way Sangwoo would fix it was by going out of his way to make him feel appreciated. 'That will make it all better. I'll just be especially nice to her. That'll make her remember how much I love her.'

'What I did yesterday must have really gotten to him.'  You noted when he knelt to your level and gave you a loaded uneasy smile. 'He's even looking at me differently.'

"I have a surprise for you." Bum cradled your chin in his palm extra-delicately; it was as if he thought you fragile, made of porcelain. "See?" From behind his back he pulled a gift basket filled with various luxurious scented products, most notably shampoos and lotions. The size and high-end quality of the contents made it clear that he spared no expense on it. He blushed when you found the small hand towel embroidered with a personalized message of love. "Uhm... I just wanted to do something for you because... you're so special to me." With that he left an affectionate kiss on your forehead.

"But... I haven't done anything to deserve a present." As you recalled, lately all you'd done is disobey him. "Why are you giving me this?"

"It's just... you seem... down a lot recently... I was reading online and I saw that one of the things that can help with depression is treating yourself." You blinked at his statement. It was rather fascinating that he never once thought to use those techniques on himself, only on you. It was such a Bum thing to do, and you couldn't fight back that same endearing smirk he never failed to draw out from you.

"It's so nice." It was impossible not to smile at him, and Bum lit up like a Roman candle when you did. Try as you might, you couldn't remain heartless forever. Even you wanted the fighting and misery to stop; to return to your original progress with Bum, before that rotten uncle of his showed up and spoiled it all. 'Speaking of which...'  It was now that you noticed the body's absence from the hallway.

"You really like it?"

"I'm gonna use one of these right now." You pulled out a bath bomb.

"I'll go run the tub!" Yoon Bum beamed and sprinted past you to the bathroom. How earnest he was, so excited about making even the tiniest fleck of headway with you. You paused in the doorway, eying the empty hall-space where a slain man had lay last time you were up here.

'Was it there yesterday? I was so busy putting on a show that I didn't notice. How did Bum move someone that size? And where-'

"Are you okay?" Bum had taken a break from attentively monitoring the water temperature to check on you.