Joon Hyunk was gently stroking Yeo Jun's hair with his hand, his thumb brushing back the strands falling on Yeo Jun's forehead. At that moment, both of them were looking deep into each other's eyes. The surprising thing was that Yeo Jun, who couldn't even bear standing close to anyone and would panic if touched even slightly, felt completely calm when touched by Joon Hyunk. This was because whenever Joon Hyunk touched Yeo Jun, there was a softness and a sense of ownership in his touch. Unlike others, Joon Hyunk's hands never burned Yeo Jun.
Looking into Joon Hyunk's eyes, Yeo Jun forgot his terrifying past. He kept staring at Joon Hyunk without blinking. Looking straight into Yeo Jun's eyes, Joon Hyunk said, "I am here, Yeo Jun. Not your past."
Whenever Joon Hyunk spoke to him like this, Yeo Jun would always get lost in his words.
Suddenly, Yeo Jun felt Joon Hyunk's hand on his waist. As soon as he felt the touch, his throat went dry. Joon Hyunk grabbed Yeo Jun's waist, pulled him closer, and brought his face near Yeo Jun's lips. At this, joon hyunk could feel fear creeping back into his eyes. Joon Hyunk wanted to kiss him, but he knew that if he did now, Yeo Jun would surely faint from fear. So, controlling himself, Joon Hyunk left him like that, smiled at him, and walked away.
He was hung upside down, screaming loudly. One of his eyes had been burned with a cigarette, and now Joon Hyunk was burning his other eye with the smoldering cigarette. He was screaming in pain, and with every scream, Joon Hyunk felt a strange calmness inside.
"I told you, if you scream now, you will be punished," Joon Hyunk said, his expression like a father scolding his son.
Moments later, That man's tongue was in Joon Hyunk's hand, and he was cutting it. The man violently shook his head, trying hard to free himself, but Joon Hyunk's grip was strong. In a few moments, Joon Hyunk cut off his tongue and threw it away.
Min jae had been with Joon Hyunk for many years, but every time Joon Hyunk showed this side of himself, it was enough to make his skin crawl. At first, he would often vomit just by seeing the blood and filth.
In the next moments, Joon Hyunk started pouring petrol on the man and set him on fire. He burned him so badly that no one could recognize him afterward.Joon Hyunk had caught one of their men connected to the dark web, but all the information he provided turned out to be false. And the price for wasting the Beast's time was something he had to pay. The task of disposing of the body was left to his bodyguards, while Joon Hyunk took Min Jae and left the place.
Joon Hyunk owned many houses and properties, which at that time were being used as safe houses for those he rescued from the slavery of the underworld—people whose own families refused to accept them back. They lived in these safe houses and worked for Joon Hyunk.
Now, Joon Hyunk had to meet someone, but the smell of burnt flesh was still on his clothes. So he told Min Jae to go home while he himself went to Kian's house, which was very close to that place.
As soon as Joon Hyunk entered Kian's house, Kian greeted him with a smile and said, "Ah, hmm, how come I'm suddenly on your mind today?"
He stepped forward and hugged Joon Hyunk but quickly pulled back a little because of the burning smell coming from his clothes. Still, with the same smile but double-meaning words, Kian said, "Looks like the lion just came back from hunting. I think you should go and take a bath first."
Joon Hyunk ignored him and walked toward his room. He took off his clothes and started changing.
As soon as he came downstairs wearing fresh clothes, Kian was telling his cook to quickly prepare food.
Seeing Joon Hyunk, Kian asked eagerly, "It'll only take a little time for the food to be ready. You're going to have dinner with me before you go, right?"
"Not today, Kian. I'll definitely have dinner with you another time," Joon Hyunk replied.
Hearing this, Kian grew sad and said, "When will you finally give me your attention? What's my fault that I'm distant from everyone, that I have no other relationship? And the only one I have is you. Don't you even have time to have dinner with me?"
There was tears in Kian's eyes.
Kian never openly expressed his feelings like this in front of Joon Hyunk. If he was doing so today, it definitely meant he was deeply hurt. But when Joon Hyunk stared at him, Kian lowered his gaze because, like everyone else in his life,For Kian as well, he had a place in his life only up to a certain limit.
With his eyes downcast and sadness in his voice, Kian said, "Forgive me, I just felt so lonely."
When Joon Hyunk told him to come closer, Kian immediately went to him and hugged him. Joon Hyunk returned the hug and gently stroked him, showing the tenderness and care he felt.
"Everything is fine, Kian. If I weren't busy, I would definitely come to see you. You don't have to worry, okay?"
At Joon Hyunk's words, Kian only managed a quiet "hmm."
Joon Hyunk was everything to Kian. Kian's family, his home, every relationship started and ended with Joon Hyunk. And Joon Hyunk cared for him deeply too.
After holding him close for a while, Joon Hyunk said, "Alright, now go have your dinner. I have to go too."
Separating himself gently, Joon Hyunk started to walk away towards the door. But just as he was about to leave, Kian called him again, "When will you introduce me to that beautiful busy life of yours?"
At this, Joon Hyunk paused.
Kian replied, "I went to your house, but your boyfriend's guard didn't let me inside."
Kian was trying to appear strong, but he was clearly upset that despite being so close to Joon Hyunk, Joon Hyunk wouldn't let him stay at his home —While that stranger boy was living in his house quite comfortably, Joon Hyunk had no problem with him at all.
When Kian spoke like that, Joon Hyunk replied, "Don't worry, I'll tell the guard that next time he sees you from afar, he should shoot you immediately, okay?" In his usual blunt style, he said just that much and walked away. Behind him, Kian stood with a frown of anger—he always got silenced by Joon Hyunk's quick-witted comebacks.
Joon Hyunk was now at the club; he had a meeting with someone today. For a person like Joon Hyunk, this place was perfect for such business. After the meeting ended, he watched a man dancing on the stage in front of him. That man was behaving very strangely with the girls dancing alongside him, trying to touch them inappropriately. Like the girls dancing with him, he was also drunk. Joon Hyunk watched all this for quite some time, then got up and walked outside.
He called Min Jae, who immediately picked up the call.
"What's wrong, Joon Hyunk?" "There's a problem."
"Of course, there is.
Your brother has been dancing here drunk for so long. Instead of business, you should start a dancing school for him." Saying this, joon hyunk hung up and got into his car, while on the other side, Min Jae started his car, cursing Tae.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Yeo Jun was sitting on his bed in his room, still thinking about Joon Hyunk's words. Joon Hyunk had taken control of every corner of his mind. Tired of his memories, Yeo Jun opened his MacBook, logged into the university site, downloaded some lectures, and started working on his classes. Besides that, he had searched a lot, but math was a subject that always went right over his head. He couldn't understand anything in math.
Yeo Jun couldn't understand anything, but now it had become his goal . He had decided that he would definitely get his degree to prove his father wrong—that he was not someone who could never become anything in life. Thinking this way, no matter how difficult the subject was, he would complete it. Until now, Yeo Jun had been working on it continuously and didn't even realize when it became 10 at night. Joon Hyunk had also returned home by then.
Yeo Jun said to himself, "Oh God, this subject isn't that difficult, but a very tough lecture is waiting for me downstairs." Just thinking about spending two hours again with Joon Hyunk made him tense.