Sound of Winter || Taegyu

Chapter Fifteen

The air is heavy and stifling, causing the hair on Beomgyu's arms to stand on end. The fluorescent light flickers, buzzing with a broken rhythm and casting intermittent illumination throughout the damp, cold space.

Desperation seizes his heart and he tries to scream, but his voice fails to escape his trembling lips. The sound, drowning in the depths of his fear, is swallowed by the haunting silence that permeates the basement he's grown all too familiar with. The walls feel like they're closing in on him, pressing against and trapping him in a claustrophobic embrace reminiscent of his captivity. The more that he struggles, the stronger the force of confinement becomes, as if taunting him for the sweet freedom that he had tasted, only to be cruelly snatched away.

Chains hold him captive, their metallic links glinting in the pale light that seeps under the wooden door at the top of the stairs. The chains, cruel and unyielding, bound his wrists and cut into his flesh mercilessly. He feels the searing pain jolt through his body, the sensation of being trapped flooding his senses.

Tears stream silently down his pale cheeks, leaving salty trails on his dirt streaked face. Stifled sobs escape his quivering lips, but the sound fizzles into the suffocating stillness of the room.

"Seiji!" He screams, his voice echoing off the damp, cold walls. It reverberates like a desperate plea, cutting through the silence like a blade. The sound hitches in his throat, a voice wild with desperation and an urgency that surges from the depths of his being. With every scream that tears through his vocal cords, the pain in his wrists intensify. "Seiji! I'm sorry!" he wails, vocal cords raw and voice quivering as his screams pierce through the heavy air.

As his voice carries on in a thunderous lament, the basement door creaks open and Seiji descends the stairs with heavy footsteps, anger radiating from his every pore. The fluorescent light dances upon the sharp edges of a knife, casting an ominous glimmer across the blade.

With a cold, calculated motion, he seizes Beomgyu's hair and forces their eyes to meet. "I loved you," Seiji seethes, his voice a mix of fury and hurt. "I loved you so deeply, but you just couldn't do the same, could you? You couldn't see how we were meant to be together."

"Please," Beomgyu whispers, voice barely audible amidst the chaos of their emotions. "Please, I didn't mean to hurt you. It won't happen again."

"You don't understand," he hisses through gritted teeth, the tip of the knife pressed against Beomgyu's stomach. "Without you, my life has no meaning. If I can have you, no one else can."

Beomgyu jolts awake, gasping for air as his heart pounds fiercely against his chest, beads of cold sweat coating his brow. Seiji's voice lingers in his mind, refusing to release its gnarled grip on his fragile psyche. Panting heavily, he finds himself tangled in sheets that had transformed into prison bars in his dreams. His heart races, feeling as though it could burst from his chest as he tries to rip the sheets from his frail body.

Taehyun rustles on the couch, awakened by the urgency in Beomgyu's breaths. A hand on Beomgyu's trembling shoulder causes him to jerk back suddenly, eyes wide with terror, confusing the current moment with the haunting memories.

"Beomgyu," Taehyun's voice soothes. "It's okay, Gyu. You're safe."

Taehyun's voice has become a beacon of solace amidst the storm raging in his mind over the past few days, but the grip of fear refuses to relinquish its hold on him. He struggles to take in a breath, his mind still twisted in the treacherous twists and turns of his nightmare.