"They... th-they d-did... s-s-something t-to m-me…"Yeo Jun tried once again to speak the truth that had been rotting inside him, clawing its way out from his chest.
But before the words could fully leave his mouth, he was cut off—again.
"I told you already—it was just a car accident," Mr. Hyunwoo snapped coldly. "Nothing happened to you. No one did anything to you. And you are not going to speak of this to anyone. Understood? The elections are close. I do not want to have some pathetic drama ruin everything I've worked for."
Then came the words that shattered what little was left of him:
"Just like you were the reason your mother died... now you want to be the reason my career is destroyed too?"
"You have any idea how much I've lost—just because of you? Just because you had to walk down that damn road?"
"If you hadn't been there, they wouldn't have taken you, and I wouldn't have had to pay them to keep their mouths shut. You've always been nothing but bad luck for me."
"You're my only son, but all you've ever done is humiliate me in front of the world. Is that what you want again? You want the whole world to know? You want them to drag my name through the mud?"
His voice thundered like a slap to the face, each word not just soaked in rage—but in desperate guilt he refused to admit.
But for Yeo Jun, those words didn't just cut.They ripped through him.
He had only wanted to be heard.To speak.To finally say it.But this was the response?
This blame? These broken accusations?
He snapped.
With a violent jolt, he sat up from the bed.The IV needle tore out of his skin, blood trailing down his wrist.But he didn't feel that pain—his soul was already screaming.
His breath hitched. His lips trembled uncontrollably.
"N-n-n-n-n-n-no... N-n-n-no... th-th-th-this... th-this i-i-isn't... i-isn't t-t-tr-tr-true!"
"Y-y-you... y-y-you're... y-y-you're n-n-not... l-l-li-listening… W-w-why... w-w-won't y-you l-l-lis-listen t-t-to m-m-me...?"
His voice cracked and collapsed into hysterical sobs.He clutched at his own shirt, choking on the breath he couldn't control.
"I-I-I-I d-didn't... I-I-I-I s-swear... th-th-they— th-they—!"
But his father wasn't moved.
Furious, Mr. Hyunwoo grabbed both his arms tightly and shook him.
"Snap out of it, Yeo Jun! I said enough! Stop behaving like a lunatic, or I swear to God, I'll have you thrown into a psychiatric ward! Do you understand me?!"
His grip was like fire.And in that harsh, shaking touch… there was no warmth.No care.No father.
Yeo Jun felt it clearly—like being burned alive by someone who was supposed to love him.
His body began to tremble violently, overtaken by a panic so deep it felt like drowning.
Mr. Hyunwoo leaned closer and hissed again, "I said—it was just an accident. Got it?! JUST. AN. ACCIDENT. Nothing else happened!"
"You're not allowed to tell anyone about this!"
Mr. Hyunwoo's voice rang in the room like a commandment.
But Yeo Jun was far beyond control now.
As he looked up at his father, something in his mind snapped.The face he saw wasn't just his father's anymore.It had started to blur—merge—with that man's face.Those black, soulless eyes.The ones that haunted his dreams, that had taken everything from him.
Darkness began to flood every corner of his vision.His breath came in broken gasps.His surroundings dissolved into shadows.
He was spiraling.
There was no room.No time.No logic.Only fear—laced with madness.
And when his silence didn't come...When even now he refused to "calm down" as ordered...Mr. Hyunwoo's patience snapped too.
In a fit of frustrated rage, he raised his hand—SLAP.
The sound cracked through the air like a whip.
Yeo Jun stumbled back from the force of it, unable to keep his balance.His body hit the floor hard.The side of his face throbbed from the slap—And the stitches along his cheek ripped open on impact, spilling blood onto the cold tiles.
But in that moment—he didn't feel it.He didn't feel anything.
Only screams.
"N-n-n-n-n-nooooo... N-n-n-nooooooo! P-p-please—d-don't! D-d-don't... d-d-don't h-hurt m-m-me a-a-again...!"
His hands clutched his head, nails digging into his scalp.His legs curled into himself as he sobbed uncontrollably.
"S-s-s-stay a-a-a-away! G-g-get a-a-a-away f-f-from m-m-me!"
Seeing his son fall into such a terrifying state, Mr. Hyunwoo stood frozen for a moment.Something flickered in his eyes—confusion, maybe even regret—But he didn't come closer.He stepped back slowly… a few paces…And then just stood there in silence.Powerless.
He didn't know how to fix this.
Moments later, the door burst open.Doctors and nurses rushed in.
The sight before them was harrowing.
Yeo Jun lay on the floor—bloodied, trembling, screaming like a trapped animal.They moved quickly to help him.But the moment anyone tried to touch him—
"N-n-n-no! N-n-no, d-d-don't t-t-touch m-m-me! P-p-please!"
Every touch burned like acid.He jerked away violently, flinching, fighting—His screams becoming louder, higher, more raw.
The nurses exchanged grim looks.One of them nodded and swiftly prepped a mild sedative.
A few moments later, the injection slid into his vein.His body shuddered once… twice…Then slowly, painfully, began to still.His screams quieted into whimpers.And eventually—silence.
He had passed out again.
When Yeo Jun woke up next, the lights were softer.His head felt heavy.
A nurse stood in the room.But this time… she kept her distance.Far.Almost like he was something fragile… or dangerous.
She didn't move toward him.Didn't offer comfort.Didn't even meet his eyes.
Maybe someone had warned her:
"Patient enters extreme distress with physical contact. Keep distance."
Yeo Jun lay there, breathing slow, but shallow.His body was calm, but his soul?
Shattered.
Everything came back in pieces.The accusations.The slap.The rejection.
His father's words sliced through his mind again and again—
"Your fault.""You've always brought me shame.""You ruined everything."
Each phrase like a nail being hammered into his chest.
And somewhere in the quiet hum of machines…Yeo Jun realized:
He was completely…utterly…alone.
There was no one... no one to ask how he was doing.No one he could share his pain with.No one who would say: "I'm listening to you. I believe what you're saying."
He felt completely hollow inside.And with that hollow heart, and a sea of unshed tears in his eyes, all he knew now... was to lie silently, unmoving, unheard.
That same evening, the police came to take his statement.But Yeo Jun only said one thing:
"Mm-m-my... c-c-c-car... a-acc-accid-d-dent... i-it h-happ-happened... th-th-that's a-a-all..."
The police officers closed their files, nodded, and left.The next day, headlines ran across every media channel:
"Famous Politician Mr. Hyunwoo's Son in Fatal Car Crash – Now Out of Danger."
People began calling Mr. Hyunwoo, offering sympathy, sending prayers — and all media attention shifted to him.The same pain that had destroyed Yeo Jun's world... gave his father the public sympathy he needed.With all the support and media spotlight… Mr. Hyunwoo won the election once again.
A few days later, Yeo Jun was discharged from the hospital.But he was no longer the same Yeo Jun.
He hadn't been much of a talker before either — but now, he had gone into complete silence.Every sound, every hand, every face — frightened him.He'd flinch at the smallest of things, sometimes hide, sometimes shut his eyes tight — as if behind every smile, there was terror lurking.
At night, Mr. Hyunwoo's mansion echoed with the screams of Yeo Jun.His panic attacks, the way he broke down in the dark, had become a daily routine.Often, he'd curl up in the corner of his bed, wrapping the blanket tightly around him, shaking and crying in silence.
Many times… when the darkness became too overwhelming,and sleep refused to come,he would gather all the pillows and cushions in his room and place them around himself —just so he could feel like someone was there. for him he is not alone .
He was handling his fear all alone…lost…and broken.