| Poison | 🔞 |

Chapter 23 [Final Chapter]

[continuation of chapter 22]

When Hongjoong had headed down the hall to Seonghwa's bedroom, he could make out the faint cries of pain coming from the room in the basement. He drew a sharp breath, trying not to pay attention to it.

He made his way into the bathroom, peeling off the shirt he was wearing and throwing it to the floor. Hongjoong walked over to the bathtub, reaching out and twisting the handles of the faucet to turn on the water.

In the back of his mind, he knew that what was happening was well deserved, but at the same time, he couldn't help but place some of the blame on himself still. If he'd refused to see Yeosang in the beginning, things wouldn't have fallen into place like this. He could've prevented it all with just a simple "no."

Hongjoong tried to do what Seonghwa said and just relax, but he found that almost impossible. He was more than aware of what was happening below him in the basement, yet there was nothing he could do about it.

With a sigh, he shut off the water once the tub was filled up enough, proceeding to slip off his pants along with his boxers and kicking them to the side. Hongjoong stepped into the water, then slowly lowered himself into the steaming water. He leaned back against the porcelain of the tub, lowering down a bit into the water as he closed his eyes.

Even though he tried his hardest to relax, still, the faint sounds of cries could be heard in the deafening silence. Hongjoong's brows furrowed slightly, and the only way he was able to drown out the sounds was sinking lower into the water, allowing the water to cover his ears with his face still above the water.

After staying in the bath like that for what seemed like hours, Hongjoong finally decided to get out since his nerves had calmed down. Sitting up from the water, he reached down to the drain and pulled it, gurgling sounds of water going down the drain as the water was let out.

Hongjoong pulled himself to his feet, stepping out of the tub onto the bathmat beside it. He leaned over to the small rack beside the tub and grabbed one of the towels to dry himself off.

As he was drying off, he could hear the sounds of pounding footsteps coming up the basement steps. Out of curiosity, Hongjoong wanted to know what had happened, after all, the screams had ceased. He just tied the towel around his hips, jogging out of the bathroom. He made his way to the bedroom door, opening it slightly just as he saw a male stumble to the floor in the hallway.

Hongjoong felt his chest sink when he realized that it was Yeosang. The blonde-haired male was gasping and wheezing for air, his hair and clothes were painted in what was probably his own blood. Hongjoong blinked in shock as Yeosang slowly pulled himself to his feet with a grunt, all he could do was stare.

Yeosang slowly looked over to the side, meeting eye contact with Hongjoong, displaying the swollen bruises and bloodied wounds on his face.

"I-I... I... I'm sorry..." Yeosang coughed out before Seonghwa suddenly came up behind him and shoved him forward.

"Get moving... You don't talk to him, you don't come near him ever again, understand?" Seonghwa barked in an aggressive manner.

Seonghwa's knuckles showed signs of bruising beneath all of the blood on his hands. It was evident that he'd used more of his own hands than the "toys" he had in the room downstairs.

"Boys! Get him out of here!" Seonghwa demanded when two of his men had started coming up behind him. They immediately did as he said, grabbing ahold of the blonde-haired male to take him off of the property.

Hongjoong was just staring in utter shock, he didn't know what to feel at that moment. This was the first time Seonghwa had even let someone live after dealing with them. Yeosang suffered great injuries, but he would definitely live to see another day. This was different for Seonghwa, as brutal as it was, it showed some sort of growth for him. Instead of taking a life, he just taught a very thorough lesson not to cross a line with him.