Damage (1/1)

Chanyeol had remained all but frozen as he simply watched the normally stoic male briskly move around Amethyst’s apartment. Stuffing clothes and other essentials into a non-descript black duffel bag…where had he even procured one? Out of thin-fucking-air?He supposed it didn’t really matter. The ivory-skinned male hadn’t spared the young heir or Junmyeon as much as a passing glance as he gathered what was needed and proceeded to make haste out of the flat. Pausing in his movements for the briefest of moments;“If anything comes up, text me. Don’t go through anything personal of hers.” He reiterated, void of all emotion as he eyed Chanyeol specifically, as though he expected him to simply snoop around where he wasn’t welcomed.That rude bastard— As if sensing his wanning patience, the auburn-haired male once again spoke for Chanyeol’s behalf. Simply promising that they wouldn’t over-step the boundaries set before them. Baekhyun, albeit wary, merely nodded his head stiffly in agreement before disappearing from view as though he were truly a shadow of the night.Leaving only Chanyeol and his bodyguard to remain within the eerily silent flat. Chanyeol would have been outright lying if she didn’t claim that being within Amethyst’s safe space didn’t unsettle him…it felt like he was intruding on something that wasn’t to be witnessed.And he hated…no, loathed…that it had come to this. That he and her were nothing more then strangers that shared a piece of harrowing past that had left them heavily scarred in more ways than one. He had never enjoyed being apart of the ‘Park’ family lineage and now such emotions were festering dangerously within the pit of his stomach, lashing out violently—Clamouring to be released, into the light and exact its revenge.At that, the red-haired male breathed in sharply— his eyes screwing shut as he willed his frenzied heart to calm itself. While he had been so wrapped up in drowning within his own inner turmoil, Junmyeon had begun diligently searching through the apartment.Though he hadn’t expected to find anything overtly suspicious, it was a bit unnerving that there wasn’t anything amiss— literally nothing— with the exception of her front door having been left ajar. He continued his meticulous search, moving from room to room with practiced methodical movements.Meanwhile, though promising he wouldn’t, Chanyeol couldn’t help but allow his feet to carry him towards Amethyst’s bedroom. His dark cedar orbs straying over the pictures that framed the corridor walls. While most were simply abstract shots of landscapes or animals, he found his attention latching onto the more personal ones.Most of the people staring back at him having been her two friends, Kyungsoo and Yixing— he believed their names where. When she had first started her medical program, he vaguely recalled her mentioning those two names in particular.She had been so sure that they all would have gotten along so well…unfortunately, fate had different plans and in the end, he never got the chance to properly meet them. But perhaps it had been a blessing in disguise…with how unhinged his father could get…He wouldn’t have been surprised in the slimmest if he had decided to kill her two friends, should they have gotten involved with the Park Family in the slightest. Just the memory of all he had lost, in the blink of the eye, was enough to leave him breathless.It hurt…so damn much…that rat bastard he was supposed to call ‘father’….he had stolen everything from him…and then had expected Chanyeol to say ‘thank you’?Fuck that.Shaking his head in a poor attempt to quell his spiraling thoughts, he simply pushed onward— coming to an abrupt halt as he stood before her bedroom door. A cold sweat already in the process of beading across his forehead and hands, his skin felt achy— every nerve ending ablaze.A small voice warned him against walking into the bedroom. Advised him warily against invading her personal space. The nagging words continuing to echo like wisps of smoke through his hazed mind.Unfortunately for the small, hushed voice of reason— Chanyeol had always been one to allow emotions to lead him. Whether that was a good thing or not…and unlike Junmyeon, the young heir had never personally promised to stay out of the area.And so…with clammy, tremoring hands— he allowed his slender digits to wrap firmly around the door handle, his knuckles taking on a hue of paper-white from its unrelenting hold. With one last steadying breath, the red-haired male pushed open the door before promptly stepping inside.     ____________     Junmyeon sighed, an air of frustration beginning to shroud itself over him. It had been obvious that the assailant hadn’t wasted time upon realizing that Amethyst hadn’t been home. It was more plausible that as they had been vacating the flat, Amethyst’s neighbor had caught them in the act.And so, whether it be Min Yoonji or someone working alongside her…they hadn’t hesitated to make an example of the poor elderly neighbor. It irked him, not only getting a civilian involved but then proceeding to cause such destruction needlessly afterwards.Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done. What happened had happened. Now they needed to move forward with cautious haste and come up with a plan. The auburn-haired male, not wanting to hover around longer then was needed, decided it was best that they leave.“Chanyeol— ”Whatever words had formed, quickly died out on the tip of his tongue. A minuscule seedling of panic momentarily seizing his heart, taking note that the young heir was nowhere in sight. His anxious orbs quickly scanned the empty living area. Just as he was about to turn on his heel and head for the door, a soft scuffling noise perked his attention.At once, his gaze zeroed in down the corridor, settling on the bedroom door that had been left ajar. A mix of relief and exasperation washed over him, flooding out that small seedling of panic that mercifully hadn’t had the chance to take root.Shaking his head in some peculiar mix of dismay and disgruntlement, Junmyeon briskly made his way down the corridor and into the young surgeon’s room. Already generating a scolding on his lips for the young heir having blatantly gone against the Shadow’s warning.“Chanyeol, I thought we— ” Immediately, once again, Those same words died out at the scene that greeted him. There on the floor, beside the bed was the cedar-brown eyed male. His lanky body curled in on itself as he cradled something against his chest.Despite the younger male’s head hanging low, shielding himself from the rest of the world, Junmyeon could pick up on the near silent sniffles that emitted from him. Whatever tension had been mounting quickly seeped from his posture— his countenance instantly softening. Not looking at the younger male as the heir of the Park Family, but rather the young boy he had been assigned to protect.With only the briefest of hesitation, Junmyeon soundlessly glided towards the despondent male, crouching down on his knees once he stopped in front of him. Wordlessly he placed one of his hands atop of Chanyeol’s head, his fingers gingerly caressing his hair.“Yeollie?” He hushed out, ever so softly. “What happened?”The older male waited patiently as the words sluggishly swirled through Chanyeol’s mind. A long, still, stretch of silence passing between them before the younger male finally responded. Lifting his gaze torpidly, his words raspy as he spoke between sniffles— not even bothering to hide the shameful tears that stained his cheeks.“She…k-kept it…” He mumbled; with such a pained voice one would have assumed he had been physically shot. Finally, understanding coated Junmyeon’s features as he noticed the album tucked protectively within Chanyeol’s arms. Beside him lay a steel, black box, filled with past trinkets and memories that once bore a warmth of happiness…now having been tainted by a cruel, somberness.“All he’s ever done…has left a path of blood-soaked destruction. It was because of him mum fell ill. It was because of him that all my childhood memories have been seared with violence. It’s because of him, I lost the two most important people in my life. One of them being the love of my life…it’s astounding that Chul hasn’t found a way to snatch you away from me as well, Hyung.”Anguish. Grueling regret. Insidious rage. Such emotions having all mixed together in a dangerous mix, spreading through the distraught male like a rampant wildfire as he wailed openly. No matter how much one might have attempted to squash down such feelings, in fear of being overwhelmed and consumed…The thing about pain was…it demanded to be felt.No one could run from it, not permanently. And so, in this moment as the red-hair male’s body convulsed from the force of his strangled sobs that ruthlessly tore through every part of his being…Junmyeon merely brought him into a strong embrace, as though attempting to hold together his crumbling pieces.No other words were spoken as Junmyeon kept one hand carding through his blood-red tresses, the other arm having wrapped itself soothingly around his back. Chanyeol hadn’t bothered to keep up his façade. Allowing his mask, for the meantime, to crumble before his Hyung as he melted into his touch— holding onto him as though he was terrified that he too, would slip out from between his fingers. Crying into his shoulder like some injured child.The veil having forcibly been lifted.Junmyeon simply let him do so, murmuring soft words of reassurance that aided Chanyeol’s bleeding heart like a soothing balm. The pair sitting there in the darkened room, curled into each other on the floor, only the sounds of soul-aching sobs piercing through the otherwise mute atmosphere.He was going to destroy Park Chul, that was a fucking promise.     _______     Baekhyun’s entire commute home had been spent internally cursing everyone and everything he had ever had the devastating misfortune of coming into contact with. To say that he was seething, would have been a vast understatement. His anger currently could have rivaled that of Mount Vesuvius.Instead of Pompeii taking the brunt of his smoldering wrath, however, it’d be all of South Korea under his merciless attack. Though he hadn’t had the chance to confront her yet, he knew without a doubt that Min— fucking— Yoonji was behind the heinous murder of Amethyst’s neighbor.It was a warning. It was her haughtily taunting him— flaunting her idiotic misconstrued sense of power, and how easily she had managed to infiltrate the young surgeon’s safe haven.Unwittingly, all the older woman had managed to do was provoke the reaper. An unforgiving shadow of death that had now set its sight solely on her and anyone who dared to offer her aid. She was going to rue the day she ever came into contact with Park Chul.It wasn’t a matter of if she was going to die, it was simply a matter of how painful he was going to make it. He felt what little self-control he had over his raging darkness steadily slipping. He was unraveling from the inside out…barely managing to keep the decay of death from being unleashed for all those to bear witness.The only thing…or rather, person, keeping him from plunging over the precipice…was Amethyst. Just the though of her sweet mint-green doe eyes was enough to keep the hissing darkness at bay. Her ever so gentle heart acting as a soothing balm to his fractured, decayed one.With that in mind, the purposefully stoic male quickened his footsteps— the need to get back to his precious Bambi…to simply hold her safely within his arms, proved to be the only cure for his tumultuous thoughts, quelling the rage within.It was a simple fact, really…he needed her. He needed his precious Bambi.      __________

Mercifully, after everything that had happened, it had yet to follow Amethyst into her dreams. The moment she had crawled into Baekhyun’s bed, encased with his soothing scent of tobacco and mint, she had lulled into a dreamless slumber.Luna, ever the dutiful pup, had remained by her side. Protecting the sweet human, she had grown quite attached to. The husky pup had curled right next to the sleeping female, her head resting on the alabaster-skinned female’s hip.Every so often her ears would flick to the side, picking up on faint noises that softly broke through the silence. However, this time around it wasn’t the gentle thrum of rain against the windowpane or the howling of the wind that had garnered her rapt attention.No…something was coming towards the darkened apartment. At this, Luna’s head perked up— on high alert as she sniffed the air before promptly rising on her legs and jumping down off the bed. An almost inaudible whine emitted from the young pup as she padded towards the front foyer just as the front door mutely opened, a fatigued Baekhyun stepping through.His mind so chaotically plagued, that he failed to notice the presence of the husky pup as he wordlessly settled the belongings he had gathered beside the coatrack. Luna yipped softly, effectively gaining his attention as his hollowed gaze dropped towards her.Sighing, he shrugged out of his overcoat and toed out of his shoes before crouching down in front of the well-behaved dog. His gloved fingers gently caressing the top of her head. “You’ve been watching over Amethyst, hm? Good girl.” He murmured softly, praising the gentle bi-color eyed pup. His gaze straying once more.“You must be hungry…let’s get you set up, shall we?”Normally, he would have considered himself insane for talking to a dog, knowing the creature couldn’t verbally answer him. and yet, the notion also felt…comforting. As to why that was, he wasn’t quite sure and just didn’t have the energy to attempt to interpret such things.And so, he numbly got to work. Placing two metal bowls over a towel he had laid out over the floorboards to keep them from becoming damaged, filling one bowl with fresh water and the other with the organic dog food he had found in Mrs. Min’s apartment.He eyed her dog bed curiously, mulling over where to put it. Meanwhile the bi-color eyed pup had pranced over to her food bowls, immediately chowing down— her fluffy tail wagging languidly in the process.In the end, Baekhyun had placed her dog bed beside the black sofa in the living room. Continuing to merely glide through the motions as he took a brisk shower, attempting to sear off the stench of death that had disgustingly clung to his pores. Once he was finished— belatedly realizing he hadn’t brought a change of clothes with him— he silently made his way into his bedroom, towel hanging snuggly on his taut hips.Even within the heavy darkness of the room, he could vaguely make out the lump hidden beneath the covers of his bed, his lips absentmindedly twitching upward momentarily before he busied himself with picking out sleeping wear.His movements were mute and precise as he went about the room, not wanting to disturb Amethyst’s much needed slumber. Within moments he had slipped into his black silken pajama set before carelessly tossing his used towel into the small hamper placed within his closest.Normally he would have never allowed himself to go to bed without meticulously combing through his apartment to make sure everything had been put in order. However, nothing about this was normal. In fact, everything had been crudely torn apart and turned upside down in the process.He was spiraling and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.Despite the soul numbing weariness that had settled deep within his bones, he could still feel the irate rage simmering just beneath the surface. Ready at a moment’s notice to erupt and encapsulate everything in its path.A near inaudible sigh passed through Baekhyun’s pouty lips as he finally shuffled towards the bed, his fingers grasping the top of the thick blanket before ever so gingerly pulling it back. His heart squeezed painfully within his ribcage as his gaze settled on the alabaster-skinned female.Said female was curled around on of his pillows, hugging it to her chest even in slumber. His charcoal orbs flashed dangerously as he took notice of the tears that had stained her cheeks and it took everything within him not to go searching for Min Yoonji right then and there.Subconsciously, he allowed his free hand to ghost over the tear tracks, the feathery touch mercifully not enough to stir her from her deep slumber. The next thing he noticed, however, nearly made him choke. For a reason unknown to himself as he allowed his gaze to roam over her delicate form, clad in his black turtleneck sweater, the hem reaching just mid-thigh.As carnal as it made him sound…He enjoyed seeing her in his clothing…he found himself craving it. Like it was a not-so-subtle claim that she was his and no one else’s.She was under his protection and God help anyone who was foolish enough to go against that.Tiredly, he finally slipped into bed, slowly removing the pillow from her grasp as he settled in its place. H