Beautiful Crime || DoTae

Chapter Eleven

Monday, September 5th 2161, 10:28.

Neo City, Cheongnam, South Korea.

A shroud of bright, blinding light encompassed Taeyong, carrying him gradually back to a place of familiarity. He heard a monotonous, incessant beeping around him, following him and growing closer with every passing moment. It felt like just a moment ago that he was fighting. He didn't know what, but Taeyong knew there was a fight. He must've been on another rampage. It was strange. Around him, the air felt dense and heavy. He was wrapped in a soft, warm blanket and laying down. He couldn't hardly feel his body, and it felt as though something was missing.

His arm, perhaps?

Taeyong opened his eye. He was met by a light just as overwhelming as the one that had filled his mind, and he squinted, groaning as he pushed himself up with his left arm. A sharp pain lingered between the surface of his skin, prickling at him as he sat up, raising his right shoulder to find that he wasn't wearing his cybernetic arm.

At that moment, it hit him. Chairman Gwan was dead. He'd killed him. Taeyong looked around the room that he found himself in, and discovered he was alone. It wasn't Taeil's clinic. All of the lighting in the room seemed to be artificial, with not a single window in sight. However, if the Namjeong Clan had captured him, he would be dead. They didn't have any medical equipment that wasn't a few old bandages and over-the-counter painkillers. He must have been in Neo City.

He wasn't dead. It must have been no short of a miracle that he hadn't bled out. By the sound of what Doyoung had told him before he fell unconscious, Chief Kwon and Minhyung must have already arrived at Headquarters. If it wasn't for them, he'd have caught at least five more bullets as the rest of the Namjeong Clan grunts hanging around the area would have tried to kill him on sight. He did kill their leader, after all. It wasn't as though Chairman Gwan could tell them that he sacrificed himself for the greater good. Even if he had, Taeyong doubted that they'd believe it. They'd still blame him, and he'd still end up blasted to pieces, if not chained in the basement once again.

As he was staring into space, the door to the room opened, and Taeyong was no longer alone. He never even noticed that fact until he heard the familiar sound of Doyoung's voice. He glanced up as the younger man rushed to his side and pulled him into a tight yet careful hug, and planted a kiss on his head. Doyoung refused to let go for what felt like an eternity, but Taeyong closed his eye, melting into the former's embrace. He thought that he'd never get to see Doyoung's face ever again—and that very thought let a tear slip down his cheek. He gripped a hold of the younger man's shoulder, not wanting to let go for even a moment.

"You're so cruel to me," said Doyoung, sounding as though he struggled to let the words flow. "I thought you were gone for good. Taeil wasn't sure if you'd wake up, and I... I believed that. I thought you were going to tell me that you loved me and then leave me all alone."

"I won't go down that easily. You should know that," said Taeyong, his voice weak as the younger man parted from him and stepped back, but all he longed for was to stay in Doyoung's arms just a while longer.

"You almost died, Taeyong. I'm not exaggerating or being dramatic, your blood pressure was abnormally high and you lost more blood than you should have because of that. If you'd have gotten back here any later, your body would have shut down. I mean, we don't even know if you've suffered any more permanent damage other than the wound itself," his eyes appeared almost bloodshot with how heavy he must have been crying, forcing him to look away. "It's been five days. I've been down here for five days, waiting and wondering whether this was going to be the thing that finally took you down, all because you wouldn't ask for help and recklessly killed the leader of the largest criminal organisation in the country!"