Maze Of Lies| Taehyung FF

CHAPTER 25

TAEHYUNG P.O.V

After the letters I realized I was being followed whenever I left my house, those men who followed me weren't the security team hired by my father to protect me.

In only a few days I had figured out my past was catching up to me once again, coming to bite me in the ass, I knew their body language, the fire in their eyes to prove themselves, I knew that look all too well so when I went out late at night one day, I wasn't surprised that those men had followed me.

Everything went according to plan, they had cornered me and I had used the extensive training I once went through to fight them off, I had to control the red that threatened to coat my vision, red that was thirsty for blood, red that wanted to see crimson on the canvas once again but I had let them go without warning.

I hadn't expected Sae-min to follow his men, I could still hear him clapping proudly when he saw the state I had put his men in for having followed me. I wanted to attack Sae-min as well for turning me into a monster but a part of me, a part of me that I hated from the depths of my heart was still attached to him, having called him appa for years had taken a toll on my psyche something I couldn't recover from.

"I am proud of you son, I sent my best soldiers after you but it's clear...you are still my son, still the tiger I nurtured." Sae-min spoke so proudly and oddly I felt a sense of pride blooming in my chest at his appreciation.

What the fuck is wrong with me...I shouldn't...but it's not something I can control.

"Why the fuck are you back? You ruined my life...turned me into a fucking monster." I spoke through gritted teeth barely controlling the fire blazing inside me, the dark red that threatened to come out and seek blood and violence.

"I didn't turn you into a monster, Jae-son...I just showed you what you truly are...my son, my tiger." Seeing how proud Sae-min was of me was something that soothed the twisted part of me that considered him my father.

However the side of me which knew how my actions had affected everyone else wanted Sae-min to hurt as bad as I was hurting, I craved to hurt him so bad that he wouldn't be able to look in the mirror.

I wanted to traumatize him as much as he had traumatized me. This time I didn't stop the darkness from consuming me, I knew it would undo all the progress I had made in years of therapy but I didn't care, I wanted Sae-min to hurt, wanted him to burn in the same fire I was burning in everyday knowing what I did, my conscience not letting me live peacefully, at nights I couldn't sleep properly screams of my victims ringing in my head keeping me awake.

As the darkness consumed me, my body relaxed, my mind easily sliding back into the mindset of the monster I was trying to suppress, the monster that lived in me, the monster that he discovered and nurtured. As the monster took over, my conscience receded to the back of my mind, it's noteworthy how hard work to suppress the monster residing in me can be undone with just a meeting with Sae-min.

I chuckled knowing it would mess with him, my eyes taking that hard look again as I wore the mask of indifference the one I wore so often during the torture sessions, the mask that loved to see people falling apart mentally.

"I am a monster...a monster you should be afraid of. I haven't forgotten what you did to me, beating me whenever I cried for my mother, forcing me through training, making me your shadow...just because you failed in life as a father and husband." I could see a flash of insecurity in his eyes, it always hurts when people close to you give you one of the harshest low blows. I took that moment to continue before he could regain control and figure out I was fucking with his mind.

He trained me to be good at messing people up, a person doesn't die when their body gives up, they die when their soul gives up when their will to fight gives up and I wanted to bring him to that moment.

"Your son and wife died, not in an accident...your wife killed herself and your son because she didn't want to live the life of crime you did, she didn't want your son to turn into what you have turned me into...you messed up and you think that raising me to be the monster your wife was trying to prevent your son from being will make anything better?" I kept my tone light and playful, as if the words meant nothing but I knew his wife and son's death was something he was yet to recover from.

That wound of his wasn't even close to healing and I had ripped it open again. I could see the vulnerability in his eyes. I smirked and walked closer to him.

"They still haunt you, don't they? Does the face of your son still come to your dreams asking you to come play? Every night is a beautiful dream, isn't it? But deal with it... it what it will stay as...you are just as much of a monster as I am... you will die a monster..." I hissed at him, I stood face to face with him, he was shorter than me.

"How the hell do you know they didn't die in an accident? I never told anyone the truth...no one knows..." I pushed his hands away when he gripped my collars harshly. I couldn't help but chuckle as I saw the pain in his eyes, I loved it, it made me feel powerful, fueling the fire in my heart to hurt him more.

"Oh, you are the one who taught me to do my research properly....appa" I taunted him emphasizing the word appa.

I grinned when he hid his face in his hands, his body wracking with the force of his sobs only for him to remove his hands from his face to reveal that he was actually laughing.

I was taken aback by his actions.

"My gosh, I have taught you well...but you forgot son, I am your teacher don't try to use the tricks I taught you on me...I do feel a little hurt...I can see the need for my validation still in your eyes but more than that I see the hate in your eyes...you thought you could hurt me? The only thing you did was annoy me, son..."

He walked over to the men I had beaten up, taking out his gun he shot them in cold blood which made a shiver wrack up my spine the man standing in front of me was no longer the man I once called my father at one point in time, in his place stood a monster. Though not ugly in appearance, his heart surely was as black as it fucking gets. I kept my eyes on his, not breaking the eye contact as he pressed the gun against my head.

"I could end you right now after all the hate in your eyes is a clear indication that your loyalty no longer lies with me...but you remember what I taught you? A man doesn't break when he dies or when his body turns to dust, he dies when he is breathing, he can move and he can think but he becomes numb...he loses everything he loves...its time I make an example out of you."

I couldn't help but fear him a little, I was reminded once again of all the times I begged him to let me go to my mum and he had beaten me, I was nothing but a helpless little boy.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" I spat out through gritted teeth.

"Exactly what you think...slowly I will take away everything you could ever love...when the time comes...I will be there to watch your fall. I once thought of you as my son but you have proven...you don't deserve it...I will see you soon...very soon..."

As he walked away, I wanted to attack him but I couldn't move, the fear still gripping my heart. As soon as I could feel myself able to move, I ran to my car, driving straight back home to check on my parents.

My heart was beating so fast in my chest that I couldn't help but find it hard to breathe, I don't know how I managed to get back home in one piece given how rashly I was driving when I couldn't find my parents in the living room, I screamed for them in the mansion.

As soon as my mother had stepped out of the study room, I ran to her hugging her tightly, tears streamed down my cheeks as I frantically asked where dad was taking a breath of relief when she told me he was sleeping in their room.
That was the first time in years that I had cried, even after I had been rescued after the kidnapping I hadn't cried but that day I cried...I cried like a child with my head in my mother's lap.

I couldn't stop the tears, my body shook, and it was hard to breathe as I cried, hiccups making it harder for me to be able to control myself.
That was the day I realized I could live with the thought of anything happening to me but I wouldn't be able to live if something happened to my family because of me. I would break, never to be put together again.

I didn't bother going to the police, I knew Sae-min had them in his pockets, I lived that lifestyle and knew up to a certain extent how Sae-min's mind worked. I spent every day in fear, constantly thinking if the people I care for could be in danger because of me and that thought alone made me crave Sae-min's death more and more as days passed.

For years I kept delaying the topic of marriage even as my mum tried to change my mind about it but I didn't want marriage, knowing Sae-min could come for my loved ones anytime, I didn't want some innocent girl's life to be put in danger just because of my past.

But then my mother had started emotionally blackmailing me, typical parent style and I had reluctantly given in.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!END OF FLASHBACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I know that me hiding this information is wrong but you have to know I...I couldn't talk about it. It was too damn hard." I spoke softly, unable to decipher the look in Y/n's eyes.

I had tried so fucking hard to not get attached to Y/N but that phoenix had wormed her way past my walls and to my heart. When she had told me in Hawaii that someone was trying to attack her I knew Sae-min was responsible for it but I couldn't do anything about it without revealing my haunting past.

But given how she was constantly getting attacked because of me I couldn't help but want her safe and I knew it would only be possible if she left me and Sae-min thought that my beautiful phoenix didn't own my heart.

I can bear to live without her as long as I know she will be safe and happy somewhere else.