He couldn’t believe the written content was true. If he believed that Ido wrote this, at that moment his mind would burst into a thousand pieces.
His trembling fingers turned the notebook back, back, one page at a time. Each time a page flipped quickly, water dropped one drop at a time from Wookyung’s eyes where bright red blood vessels were tangled in disorder. The thought that he wanted to gouge out his eyes seeing this again rose to his throat. The content written in the notebook was something that a ‘human being’ with minimum self-respect could never write in their right mind.
[I’m sorry for hitting the precious customer’s cheek despite being just a brothel whore.]
[I should have sucked your cock until the customer was satisfied and satisfied your cock with my vulgar hole, but I’m sorry for not doing so. I’ll do well from now on.]
“…Fuck… this dog-like bastard…”
A grinding sound came from between Wookyung’s teeth.
What did Ido think while writing down these crude words degrading himself in front of the man? How much did Ido’s heart crumble while being treated worse than a dog? While receiving such treatment, how much… how much did Ido tremble in fear and anxiety in this place, begging only for the child’s safety?
Wookyung slowly raised his murderous eyes to glare at the man passed out before him. The impulse to kill this man who treated Ido as less than human in the most painful way in the world explosively surged from within.
At that moment, a voice like a foreign object flowed from the man’s mouth. The pronunciation was indistinctly mangled.
“So it was… Ido. Your name. Hehehehe…”
Hyunjin, who had been unconscious, slowly opened his bright red burst eyes while lying down. Even though he wasn’t in a state where he could keep his eyes open, as if some kind of madness was dominating the man, his gaze gave off a bizarre atmosphere.
The man laughed with his face pressed to the floor, giggling. His expression, smiling with his teeth all broken and bloody gums covered in blood, was like a demon in the middle of hell. Ido, whose eyes met his, flinched greatly and trembled in Wookyung’s arms. However, Wookyung squeezed Ido’s hand firmly with warm hands as if to reassure him.
“A name… you never taught me even once.”
With all his front teeth broken, Hyunjin’s pronunciation was slurred.
“Wookyung-ssi, so you were that kid’s father. A kept man. Right?”
Wookyung glared at him with eyes like pale blue flames and slowly unfastened the dog collar around Ido’s neck. Each time Wookyung approached Hyunjin, a cheap bell sound rang from the collar Wookyung held.
“But what to do. If I’d been an alpha, I probably would have… kuk, shoved it in enough times that Dokyung would have had a younger sibling…”
Hyunjin’s sneering words could only end there. Wookyung trampled Hyunjin’s chest with his shoe while fastening the collar around Hyunjin’s neck, now a bloody mess. After wrapping the long strap around his fist several times to leave less than 20cm remaining, he pulled it up mercilessly with unforgiving force.
“Kuk! Kuk!”
He’d pulled so hard that the man’s upper body was yanked up in an instant. Dragging the strangled Hyunjin who could no longer speak to the kitchen, Wookyung threw Hyunjin in front of the dog bowl. The man fell with a thud. Watching the man experiencing exactly what he’d just done to someone else, Ido held his breath without making a sound.
“Keheuk, heuk, uk…”
“Eat it. You eat it exactly the same way.”
Grinding out the words in a voice like a cold wind, Wookyung grabbed Hyunjin’s hair and shoved his head into the bowl. With “eop, pup” sounds, the man writhed in revulsion, but Wookyung’s veined hand only pressed the man’s head harder into the bowl. Each time the man struggled, lettuce and olive pieces splattered messily beside the bowl.
“Puhak! Up, uk!”
“Can’t eat it?”
Speaking in a voice dripping with frost, Wookyung grabbed the man’s hair and turned him toward himself. The food in the bowl had already turned bright red from the blood flowing from the man’s nose and mouth. However, Wookyung didn’t care and with emotionless hands grabbed a handful of lettuce covered with the man’s semen. With his other hand, he grabbed the man’s jaw and forced his mouth open. Lettuce was forcibly shoved into the man’s open mouth.
“Uuk! Uweeek!”
Unable to endure the food blocking his airway, the man desperately struggled. As if he didn’t even remember having just ordered Ido to do the same thing.
The man resisted using his whole body as if having a seizure, refusing the lettuce being fed to him. Then Wookyung’s fist once again hit the man’s teeth with a thud. As the man’s jaw that had been trying to bite Wookyung’s hand to refuse opened, tooth fragments scattered among the lettuce.
The man under Wookyung couldn’t even scream. Even though the man had reached a state where he couldn’t resist, furious Wookyung’s punches didn’t know how to stop. Thud, thud, each time his fist struck down on the face, blood splattered into the air. Before long, all of Wookyung’s subordinates who had been hovering outside following Wookyung rushed in and clung to Wookyung’s shoulders.
“Hyung, snap out of it! Hyung! Stop, please!”
“Executive Director! He’ll die at this rate.”
“Move, you fuckers!”
Murderous intent flowed from his eyes. The dominant alpha’s pheromones flowed out like a river, powerfully dominating the air. Wookyung’s subordinates, who were also alphas, grimaced in pain and collapsed.
Wookyung’s attack turned toward the man again. Each time he punched, blood splattered all over Wookyung’s white shirt. Hyunjin could no longer endure and completely lost consciousness. His facial features were so horribly destroyed that his face couldn’t even be recognized. Under Wookyung’s resentful fists, the organs attached to the man’s face gradually lost their function.
Having completely lost his reason, Wookyung roughly shook off the three or four men trying to pull him away again. The subordinates pushed by Wookyung’s grip tumbled to the floor. It was the moment he raised his blood-covered fist upward again toward the man trapped under his waist.
Like a robot’s power being cut off after overheating, Wookyung, who had been raging like a beast in his excitement, suddenly froze in place.
“…Ido-ya…”
The maddened behavior that even Jangol’s men couldn’t stop finally ceased. It was the moment Ido’s thin fingers touched Wookyung’s shoulder. The trembling touch was clearly stopping Wookyung.
“……”
Wookyung’s head slowly turned back. The fingers resting on his shoulder were trembling enough to be visible to the naked eye. The thin blood-stained fingers had turned white and were lightly gripping Wookyung’s clothes.
Wookyung’s gaze slowly traveled along Ido’s arm to his face. The gaunt, blood-stained cheeks already had paths carved by countless tears. With those large eyes, Ido was looking at Wookyung as if frightened. And when their eyes met, he shook his head.
As if under a spell, Wookyung slowly released the man’s collar he’d been gripping. The face of the man already crushed under his waist had turned to mush. Bright red blood had splattered all over his shirt, staining it into a mess. Wookyung exhaled roughly and quietly stared at Ido’s face stopping him.
For a moment, there were no words between the two. Wookyung read the fear and confusion in Ido’s eyes. However, it wasn’t out of worry for the man in such a miserable state beneath him. Not even a trace of sympathy for him could be found in Ido’s eyes. Rather, it seemed he felt confusion and fear at the fact that Wookyung could harm someone this much.
This isn’t the problem right now.
The moment he quickly reached that thought, Wookyung abruptly raised his massive body. Looking with painful eyes at Ido who had unconsciously pulled his body back one step from him, Wookyung ground out lowly.
“…Send this bastard to the hospital.”
“Yes, yes, Executive Director.”
Minho and the men who had been just staring at Wookyung as if stunned hurriedly got up. Soon after, the men carried out the limp Hyunjin.
Wookyung slowly approached Ido. His lowered gaze couldn’t even look at Ido’s eyes and pointed toward his chest. He saw the naked body clearly exposed without anything to cover it.
On the thin collarbone, traces of past hardships were evident. Countless round brown marks dotted all over. Six near the right collarbone alone, two on the left chest. These were marks from being used as an ashtray by men. There were even more countless marks where he’d been obviously bitten and sucked. The red marks appeared to be recent.
The hand that hadn’t had a single moment of hesitation when beating the doctor trembled violently. The thick fingers touching the wounds trembled as if touching thorns on a rose, looking more painful than the owner of the wounds. Ido’s body, bearing clear traces of abuse by men, was in itself reproaching Wookyung for his absence over the past years.
When hot hands traced his collarbone, Ido grabbed Wookyung’s hand with his head lowered. And removed it from himself.
“…Ido-ya…”
However, Wookyung, whose touch had been rejected, could do nothing but call out Ido’s name pitifully like a fool.
“Let’s go to the hospital. Okay? Let’s… go to the hospital.”
Watching Ido, who stubbornly kept his head down without any indication of his intentions, Wookyung bit his lip. There was nothing more he could do. Whether he got slapped or cursed at would come later. Having made his decision, Wookyung slipped his hands behind Ido’s knees and shoulders and lifted him up in one swift motion.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for forcing you like this. Later… I’ll accept your resentment. For now, please listen to me.”
From the way he’d been rejecting him until now, Wookyung had expected him to struggle and throw a fit. However, Ido was unexpectedly docile, nestled in his arms without any resistance. Silently following Wookyung’s lead, Ido even wrapped his arms around his neck—he truly looked exhausted. Like someone whose soul had completely drained away, barely clinging to life.
“…Get some sleep. I’ll… I’ll take care of everything.”
As he spoke that last sentence, something hot surged up from within.
“I’ll… from now on, I’ll take care of everything. I’ll make everything okay, Ido-ya…”
“……”
“So… so… now, in my arms, rest comfortably…”
He stammered out the words that sat like burning coals in his throat, as if making a vow to himself. Ido still showed no reaction. He simply let his tear-stained face droop limply against Wookyung’s shoulder. Wookyung’s heart sank at the burning hot forehead. Though the body in his arms was clearly that of a man, it was far too light, which pierced his heart painfully once more.
