Present

15| "Not the boy anymore." 

"Last time I'm asking, where the fuck is she?!" Taehyung's furious growl roared, seeping at the wall of the garage, clanging the ear of the black-suited guards whose eyes were rooting at the floor.

Taehyung spat the saliva on his side, calmly he tapped the baseball bat on the floor, impatiently waiting for the male to answer back. Taehyung's tolerance was skidding through the crack of his senses and he wasn't appreciating that, he didn't like the idea of getting worked up to waste his energy. The thick veins around his arms were prominent at the fine layer of his skin, his forehead was glistening with the layer of sweat.

"Come on Gyeol, you are tired already. I thought we could play like old times, I think you can survive some broken ribs." Taehyung snarled, a vicious gleam lashing his gruff voice. Taehyung didn't bother to wipe the sweat trickling down the side of his face, he didn't care about anything, not even the white ache pounding on his temple. The anger, the frustration was remarkably violent, he could feel it swirling in the tip of his tongue.

"A-and I told you. I don't know where she is." Gyeol was a man in his 40s. He puffed out in distress, his voice was guttural and thick like a wounded animal though he resembled one. 

Taehyung slanted his head sideways as his curls dipped on his arrogant brows, a sadistic grin setting in the corner of his reddish mouth. Those golden pairs of eyes were bottomless and lifeless, cramming with a bizarre satisfaction on seeing his prey whimpering and groaning in pain, as Taehyung examined the male's busted appearance. 

The man's left arm was broken, the skin around his cheekbone was bloody and cracked, his one eye was ballooned shut. The thick lines of blood were dripping from his cheekbones and split lips by Taehyung's ceaseless, galling punches. 

The wrecked man was plunged to the dirt, not having the courage to even move under Taehyung's hawk-like gaze. He couldn't dare, he was downright horrified by the wicked man's heinousness. 

Taehyung wasn't the guy that Gyeol knew, not the fourteen years old boy, who was intimidated, petrified and damaged, always hiding in some corner. No, he wasn't the same boy anymore, not externally. Kim Taehyung was a man whose viciousness had no boundaries, he had a threatening aura, a damned inferno. 

"Lie, so many lies." Taehyung grunted and squatted down in front of the male who squirmed back with broadened eyes.

For Gyeol, Taehyung was a devil who was waiting for a chance to unsheathe his claws, pierce it in Gyeol's throat to drag him to the darkest chamber of hell. 

"I always wanted to see this fear in your eyes, dearest Gyeol." Taehyung chirped, shattering into a fit of laughter, the sound of his voice was alone so uncanny, exactly the malicious golden hue of his eyes. 

"You were always a little rascal, weren't you?" Taehyung darted the tip of his tongue on his lower lip and pulled the ruddy flesh between his white set of teeth. 

For the world he was a seducer, an aristocracy and untouchable, his one sight could leave anyone drops on their knees to worship his grace. But the fact was, it wasn't his reality. Not everything that glitters is gold. In his private darkness, Taehyung was a charmless monster, who inhabited crude and dirty tricks hidden under his sleeves to get his craving fulfilled. And no one was aware of the ugly side of his, not even his red-haired princess. 

"I told you, I don't know where your sister is!" Gyeol screeched out, a ring of begging in his hoarse voice, his ears heated with the force of terror as he clenched his fist to steady himself and not wobble and collapsed on the ground by the fit of terror striking his nerves. 

"You took their responsibility, didn't you?" Taehyung sneered, his teeth clenched and the uncomfortable sound pierced Gyeol ears to form a tight bundle of panic in his stomach, his heart was impending to burst out of his bones. Taehyung grabbed a big chunk of his hair and yank it at the left side harshly, causing Gyeol to cry out like a toddler by the pain around his scalp, he was sure some grey strands had broken under Taehyung's fist.

"She ran away, I don't know where she is!" The intensity of his voice increased with Taehyung's clutch. Gyeol's wailing proved greatly boring for Taehyung, he just wanted to get over with this frenzied drama so he could go and meet his red-haired princess, who he didn't know if she was awake or not. 

"I'm not lying Taehyung." The male begged, tears streaming down to his face, mixing in his blood. Taehyung cut-throat glare shivered his soul from the core, as Taehyung clicked his tongue.  Freeing his fingers around his hair, he yanked his hand back, a disgusting expression cloaking his face as Taehyung peered at his hand.

"Than having you in front of my eyes is fucking pointless and I sincerely distaste your sight. You are a pathetic shit anyways." Taehyung declared, passing the bat to one of his guards. His eyes were narrowed into thick slits, a fiendish gleam churning in them as he wiped his hands in the handkerchief. 

"Let me go." 

"Of course, but I've another question. Answer me quickly, not for mine but your own sake. Why did she run away?" The eerie silence greeted Taehyung, jostling the bestial part within him. It wasn't a good thing for Gyeol's sake. Taehyung discerned the new anger bubbling in the back of his throat. "Normally, I'm a very good-hearted person, immoral all the time but still good-hearted though I've got a tiny issue. I easily lost my temper and too bad, your fuckery is scratching my temper."

"I was drunk…"

"And?"

"I didn't mean to hit her." Taehyung blinked, a blank expression shadowing his face. She was a kid, a scared one and so fragile, Taehyung remembered everything and a twinge penetrated every inch of his heart. 

The silence from Taehyung was smothering Gyeol. And for Taehyung, his self-restraint was staggering between the gap of his fingers, it was difficult for him to smash his outrage down somewhere within himself so it could not detonate out of him, he controlled the strong urge to slam the bat on Gyeol head to split his head open. 

The devious thirst to watch the male drenching in his blood, writhing while taking his last breaths. Taehyung felt exciting tingles in his body, he craved to watch him die, the urge was explosive. 

No, the inkling was tempting but wrong. So, wrong. Taehyung reminded himself, he had to. He wasn't a murderer, he could be anything but not that. But it wouldn't be an issue for him, if he committed this sin, Taehyung would easily get away from it, he was untouchable after all. 

Taehyung wasn't a good guy, he didn't do justice and kind things. For the world, he could be the kindest, a beautiful dream but certainty it was all a facade. No matter how ruthless he could be, he had some rules and he had to keep his sanity checked.

" You disappointed me Gyeol, but I'm not surprised. I thought for a mere second that I could show you a tiny piece of sympathy but fuck it, you proved me wrong." Taehyung shook his head, feigning a sad look just to taunt Gyeol.

"Boys, break every bone in his body, keep hitting the fuck out of him until he passes out and after that toss him at some trash to rot." Taehyung coolly strolled out of his garage, whistling a tune that benefited him to avoid Gyeol's heart-wrenching beggings. A smirk crushed into his lips upon hearing the screams, it was like a harmony for his ears. 

Taehyung entered the living area, yanking his sleeves to his elbows he walked upstairs to reach a particular room, the sound of his footsteps vibrated the hollow walls, as he shoved his hands inside his jeans pockets.

"Is my Princess awake?" Taehyung asked in a high pitched voice, he unlocked the door and his mighty figure trickled in ease. 

The sheer silence tickled a chuckle in his tongue, which he chose to swallow since he didn't want to offend the woman who was already planning to rip his throat open. 

"Are you okay Wang?" He flicked his gaze at the red-haired woman who was glaring at the wall as if she could dig a hole in it just by her eyes. 

She snapped her head and flared at the nostril, like an angry tigress. A low growl ripped out of her as Nina hastily clambered out of the bed and stood in front of him.

"Mhm, mhm." Nina glared at Taehyung whose eyebrows jumped to his forehead in hilarity yet he pulled the act of being clueless. 

"Aw, what happened? Why are you not being mouthy?" Taehyung taunted her, his index finger tapped her nose as Nina shook her head away from his touch, she growled at him.

"Feral, I see." Taehyung shamelessly commented, quelling his brashy laughter. Nina flashed him a 'are you serious?' look, her shoulders limply slouched down. 

"What are you saying Red?" Taehyung jutted his lower lip out, an innocent look on his face as all Nina wanted to tackle the male on the ground to throttle him. 

"Because of this duct tape you asshole." Nina wanted to sneer her words out, but only a furious mhmmmmmmm came out through the tape.

Taehyung shut the door behind him, the sound wavered over the walls as he took the sturdy steps toward her with a smug grin, he appeared like a tiger, hungry and calm and he would pounce. Her instinct kicked as Nina stepped back, her lashes began flickering hard due to the nervousness. She gasped, a minor tremble surpassed her chest and her back 

met the wall. Taehyung felt a strong stream of jolt slithering under his chest when her skittish, doe-like eyes hesitantly struck to his golden ones. 

"When you blink like this." Taehyung's lips broke into a smile, that boyish one, adding the charisma in his unbelievable magnificence and Nina hated to admit that but he looked so dang good doing that.  

"It's absolutely annoying." He snickered, the outlines of his face were smooth, the curve of his cheekbones deepened and the light creases around his eyes bestowed him a soft touch, obstructing the malice in his persona. 

Everything in Kim Taehyung was perfect, to his talk from his walk. The more she stared at him, the more she realized he had no flaws, outwardly at least.  

Nina gasped when he clapped in front of her face, the loud sound halted the pace of her blinking. And in one motion he removed the duct tape from her face, Nina hissed by the sting. 

"Ouch!" Nina groaned, her eyes went slightly teary by the sting as she shoved his chest with her tied up hands. "Free my hands too. It's hurting." She grumbled, avoiding his eyes lingering on her face as the sudden heat spread around her nape and trickled down to her spine. 

His eyes always had this cunning, shrewd spark, as if he knew what people's dirtiest secrets were as if he could read them. And in front of those witching sets of eyes, Nina always found herself bare, with lots of butterflies quarrelling under her rib cage. Stupid butterflies and his stupid eyes.

Nina hated his beauty that easily clenched her heart, loathed his eyes that ignited her insides and that freakish power that surrounded him, it sucked her in. 

"You hurt me too, this sting nothing." Taehyung mumbled under his breath, his eyes dulling for a second then he smoothed his expression with a lazy smirk, his fingers idly unfastening the ropes. 

"You kidnapper." Taehyung snappily rolled his eyes, here we go. How could he expect that Nina would not react to his wretched action? She was furious and he could tell by the way her voice sharply tumbled out. 

"Why does everyone always kidnap me?" A devastating look on her face as she gaped at Taehyung whose body strengthened in the onslaught of panic, he dropped the ropes on the floor and tenderly took her wrists under his palm, thumb rubbing over the faintly reddish marks. 

"Who kidnapped you?" Nina didn't notice that Taehyung's voice dropped into a dangerous whisper, a grimy swirl in his eyes as he flickered a blank stare at her. Nina's brows were knitted. It was Talia, but Taehyung didn't need to know that and she wasn't in the mood to go into details, she just had to get out of there.

"None of your business." Nina sneered at him, her cheeks redding by the annoyance searing beneath the fragile layer of skin. 

"Let me go, you dimwit. You don't know who you are messing with, I'll poison you, I'll explode your car and you inside it. You think you can keep me here forever, oh no, no, no! You can't." Nina jabbed his finger on his chest as Taehyung stepped back when she took threatening steps toward him. An amusement glinting in his broad eyes, he resisted an urge to burst into a fit of laughter, Nina was trying to intimidate him with her big eyes and naturally pouty lips— but failing— Taehyung didn't want her to know that and she looked damn adorable, he was enjoying the view.

"I'll kill you, this is the aim of my life. I'm a woman with a mission." Nina tipped her chin up, squinted her eyes at him and folded her arms across her chest, sensing her heart racing like the wind. "Let me go, my cats are waiting for me, they are alone." She chided, trying her best to suppress the aching need within her and that aching need proved terrifying for her. 

"So it's decided, you wanna kill me?" Taehyung uttered, his eyes sweeping up and down at her. That mere stare was enough to slam her breath into the wall of her lungs. His gaze was lashed in sensuality, moving over her body like molten lava, slowly, fiercely— it was pure torture, shoving her between resisting and submitting.  

"Yes." She cleared her throat, wiping the tenacious fog shrouding her brain.

"Red, I've a better suggestion." Taehyung drawled, he pressed his teeth on his lower lip and dauntlessly inched closer to her until his chest brushed hers, she felt her heart beating in the tip of her nipple. Nina swallowed the wavering and didn't step back, she decided to hold her ground and not let him overwhelm her emotions, not let those lewd thoughts and ideas stain her clear senses. 

"How about you kill me with no mercy when my cock would be buried inside you." A wanton smirking glint in his eyes and those audacious words sketched an obscene image in the wall of her skull. The ravishing memory of that sensual night struck her pulse.

"Damn. Now, I remember how good it felt when you intentionally squeezed my dick—" He thoughtfully said, the expression that he pulled was serious as a heart attack. 

"Taehyung, you better shut up." She hit his chest, as the muscles of his stomach flickered when the complacent laugh shredded out of him.

"With your wet pus—" The crinkles around his eyes thickened, his voice muffled and cut off when Nina covered his foul mouth with her palm, her eyes doubling from their size. 

"You got a dirty mouth, dirty mind and a dirty he—" Nina paused, a smug look curved her face as she tossed a mocking look. "Wait, do you even have a heart?" Her inky eyes were laughing at him, yeah she was enjoying him, she expected a snarky remark but all he did was laugh.  

"You know this better than me, Red. You know it, don't you?" The risqué gleam vanished from his eyes, every muscle of his face went frigid, leaving a nippy sensation in her bones.  

Suddenly, she couldn't look at his face. Because, she was able to see every bit of obsession, lust and madness for her. Especially that stark desire, that starvation that he wasn't wording loudly yet expressed through his eyes— those eyes were Nina's demise. 

And for Taehyung, Nina was an angel, no filthy hands or thoughts or stares should have stained her but the luck wasn't kinder to her. Kim Taehyung had fixed his eyes on her when he had no idea, she became his drug when he himself didn't know what addiction felt like. She was the only woman who could provoke him yet ease him, she was the only one that he could not let go of— only one that he hated to want this much at the point where he couldn't see anything but her. 

"I don't know about my heart, but I'm aware of my imagination for you and they are so dirty that if I voiced it out—" Taehyung cupped the back of her head, softly hauling her closer. "You'll start to shy away from me." His sharp eyes dropped to her parted lips, they were rosy and inviting and he wasn't going to resist, the temptation was delicious. 

One Taehyung knew very well, he craved her and he would claim her. If having her means destroying everything and eating the world raw? That's right. He would do it. Their bond was rare, a bond that they both couldn't abandon or break because their solitary hearts seem to have some serious issues. 

"Tae—" Nina braced her palm on his chest to push him, but she couldn't gather the strength to do that. She felt fragile against him, wrecked and coiled. His hot breath glossed her lips, prickling her heart. It was always her heart, that nutty heart.

"Shhh." Taehyung shushed her by wiping the distance between each other and before he could engulf her lush mouth in his, the knock on his door disturbed their moment. Nina stumbled back, sensing all the air rumbling out of her lungs as Taehyung snapped his head at the door and hastily went to open it.

"What?!" Taehyung barked, Nina winched by the annoyance radiating from his gruff voice. Nina didn't know how desperate he was to savour her bitter words and sugary lips.

"Mr Kim is here. He wants to see you, sir." Upon hearing that, Taehyung's lips twisted into a devious smirk. 

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