"It was you... The one I fell in love with. This entire time, it was you."
***
It all started with the end.
Han Jisung─an orphan whose only goal for the future is to build a better life for himself and his sister─and Lee Minho─also known as...
Listen to "Dealer" by Lana Del Rey for this chapter.
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When Jisung woke up stiff, sore and tied up in a room he didn't recognize, fear unlike anything he'd ever known filled his heaving chest and all he did was cry and scream.
"Liar!" he screamed instead of calling for help. "You're a liar!" he screamed until he couldn't anymore.
There was no way Minho hadn't lied about the purpose of the contract, which meant Jisung gave up his physical rights. Now staying alive didn't sound so great, because he knew what was coming his way and that it would have him traumatized and emotionally murdered.
He knew about the stories of The Vipers' repulsive human trafficking business. He knew that they were dangerous. Why couldn't he prevent this? Why? Why? Why?
He rested his head against the wall behind him and wept, "Sir, I know you can hear me... This is not fair."
No matter how loud he was, there was no reply.
He tried again, "Sir, this is seriously the second time you're kidnapping me. What do you want from me?"
When the door finally creaked open behind Jisung, his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. He tried to look at the newcomer's face, but the position he was in wouldn't allow it. He only saw a brown coat and shiny shoes.
"Does your throat not hurt already?"
The voice was Minho's.
Jisung didn't know how to react; he gasped and frantically turned his head left and right. "You're a liar," he repeated in a breathless whisper.
He heard the rattle of plates on a tray, then footsteps. "I'm aware," Minho said. "I told you not to trust me. What were you expecting?"
He crouched in front of Jisung so suddenly he startled him again. Jisung didn't want Minho to laugh at his red and swollen eyes, so he looked down. Yet there was no hint of playfulness or amusement on Minho's face.
Something was wrong with him. I mean, everything was wrong with Lee Minho. But he was different ─ he didn't look like someone who'd ever get a joke, let alone make one; he looked dead serious.
"You lied to me."
Minho stared down at Jisung. "And you made it easy for me. Thanks to you being a coward, I finished this job without having to kill. I don't know for how much longer I could've pretended to be an angsty teenager with a sad past."
It was those words that made Minho's reputation clear to Jisung once and for all.
Minho wanting that lap dance, paying for his food, giving him a ride home, accepting to kiss him and flirt with him... it was all part of his sick plan. And the moment Jisung let his guard down, Venom attacked like the filthy viper he was. "He's the most respected man in that gang for a good reason." He was the ideal Mafia leader ─ merciless and terrifying ─ that was the reason.
