Incarnadine | Prequel to "Viridescence"

31

Hongjoong takes careful steps towards Seonghwa and places a hand on the other's shoulder, stopping a punch in mid air. "He'll die at this rate," Hongjoong whispers to his friend. Seonghwa finally snaps out of his moment of rage and takes a step back. He flinches at the sight of blood staining the sack a deep ruby colour. "Let's work on him more when we bring him back. Jaehyun said that we can do whatever we want with him so we don't need to worry," he soothes.

Seonghwa gulps and stares at the bruises on his knuckles. He didn't even realise what he was doing, everything just happened in the blink of an eye. He feels like this fact should make him concerned, yet he only feels relief in this moment. Maybe he's already gone beyond the point of fixing.

"He was nearly as tough to capture as his friend that we took earlier!" Hongjoong exclaims as the small group bring Hoseok back to their van. As soon as these words leave Hongjoong, Hoseok freezes. "Is... is Hyunwoo okay?" Hoseok croaks out in a weak voice.

"It seems like we took someone that was important to you. Hey Seonghwa, doesn't that remind you of another incident from five years ago?" Hongjoong hums. Seonghwa's fists tighten, once again reminded of the pain from losing his last family members. He no longer feels any remorse, and especially not towards Hoseok.

"Your friend may be okay for now, but who knows? Maybe we'll take inspiration from what you did to my uncle and aunt," Seonghwa threatens in a low voice. He shoves Hoseok to keep moving and doesn't lose his focus for even a second. This is the day he's been working towards for years, all he wants to do right now is to see the man suffer.

A quiet journey in the van later, the group arrive at a worn out warehouse. The boys decided to borrow it from a friend to avoid getting caught and that's when they learned the true importance of connections.

The other SS members tie Hoseok to a chair, who is currently very weakened after the beating he took from the angered Seonghwa. Hongjoong and Seonghwa go to the other end of the warehouse, where another individual is tied to a chair too. This one got his own beating already and is sitting with his head slumped, most likely asleep after being locked here for hours with a sack over his head.

The boys lift this man's chair and carry him over to Hoseok, placing him two metres directly in front of the Hoseok.

Hongjoong positions himself behind Hoseok and Seonghwa walks to the other man. "Three, two, one!" Hongjoong counts down before the two boys lift the sacks off the men's faces at the same time.

Hoseok's eyes adjust to the change in light and his heart drops. The other man also opens his eyes slowly and flinches at the pain radiating from his face. But soon enough, his eyes focus on Hoseok and he also gasps.

"Hyunwoo, how much did they hurt you?" Hoseok asks, his voice cracking. Hyunwoo starts sobbing at the sight of the other MX member, also growing emotional. "Forget that, how could you let anyone kidnap you? You're supposed to be too strong for this," he cries.

Hoseok bites the inside of his cheek and stares daggers into Hongjoong, not caring that he has tears in his eyes in that moment. He feels a sense of hatred too strong. "You're going too far, I'm going to make sure each and every member from your pathetic gang ends up dead," he growls.

Hongjoong mockingly pretends to wipe a tear. "Aw boo hoo, I'd worry about your friend right now instead if I were you," he whines jokingly. Hoseok's head whips back to face Hyunwoo and his stomach lurches at the sight of Seonghwa holding a gun to the back of his friend's head.

"No! Face my gang head on, stop doing childish things like this!" he shrieks. Hongjoong can't help but giggle. "But Hoseok dear, we're only doing what you have taught us! You were kind enough to teach Hwa about the feeling of losing the only people he held dear to himself, so I thought we'd return the kindness!" he explains.

"Don't call me that in front of other people, it's embarrassing," Seonghwa mumbles sheepishly with gritted teeth as his fingers tighten around his gun.

"Don't you dare," Hoseok tries once more. "Hoseok, it's alright. I'll see you in our next life," Hyunwoo smiles with his eyes glued to his friend's.

Hoseok's heart starts beating faster and faster.

But it's too late.

Seonghwa's finger pulls the trigger, blasting a bullet straight into Hyunwoo's skull. Bright red blood sprays out of the wound straight onto the stunned Hoseok's face. He doesn't even blink as the warm remains of his friend drip down his face. Hyunwoo's body goes limp and tears on his cheeks dry slowly.

"Seonghwa, should we leave Hyunwoo's body here with Hoseok for a few more days or should we clean this place up?" Hongjoong questions. Seonghwa stares down at Hoseok's blanked eyes and feels cruelty flowing through him.

"We'll clean their bodies at the same time later," he coldly states, causing more colour to drain from Hoseok's face. Hongjoong simply shrugs and stretches his arms. He hurries to a trolley at the corner of the room and rolls it over, the metal instruments clinking with each other.

"The honour is yours," he chirps as he parks the trolley beside his friend. Seonghwa's anger doesn't simmer down at all as his arm reaches out to the side and his fingers wrap around the handle of a dagger.

He steps over to Hoseok and leans down until he can smell the strong stench of fresh blood.

"Did you have any say in sending Harin to us?" he whispers first while dragging the sharp blade along Hoseok's thigh. It's sharp enough to make a shallow cut with blood seeping through his jeans. "Just kill me straight away, things like this doesn't suit a soft child like you," Hoseok replies before hissing from the pain. For the first time, there is defeat in his eyes. Hyunwoo's death affected him deeply.

But those same dead eyes shoot wide open when Seonghwa's dagger stops at one place on Hoseok's thigh and suddenly plunges right down through his flesh. A scream escapes from him and he begins to squirm around in his chair.

"You're the one who changed that soft child. And now, I just want to make you suffer," he hisses as he begins to twist and turn the blade. At this point Hoseok's screaming is deafening and his tears dropping onto his thigh only makes the sound louder.

Hongjoong watches from the side and flinches when some blood drips out of Hoseok's thigh onto Seonghwa's clothes. That won't be fun to clean. More cuts are made, and more blood makes its way onto Seonghwa. His friend's anger gets the better of him as he loses control over his actions. His breathing is so heavy now, Hongjoong can tell that he has lost all sense of morality in the moment.

When Seonghwa reaches over to the trolley again and pulls back a carton full of extremely diluted acid, Hongjoong considers finding earplugs for what's to come.

Just as he suspected, it's loud. Seonghwa begins to slowly pour the liquid all over Hoseok, over all the deep cuts as well as the shallow ones. Once Seonghwa douses Hoseok with the acid from his head, the screams are at a volume he's never heard before.

Hongjoong steps in, drags Hyunwoo's chair closer to Hoseok and brushes his hands off his trousers. "I guess he will barely last two more days?" he wonders. Seonghwa doesn't utter another word and storms out of the warehouse with Hoseok's pained screeches filling up the silence.

Hongjoong scurries after him. "Do you feel any better after that?"

Seonghwa lets out a small smile. "A little. I'll feel much better once they're all dead."

A/N
Bye bye Hoseok <3