The Black Prince & The White Prince

Black Torture

Baekho's jaw hurt from both the slap and kick. He couldn't bring himself to make a noise because of the pain itself. The king leaned lower and grabbed hold of the watch. Baekho stiffened, face turned into dread. He could see the front of the watch was caved in in the shape of a sword's tip. It really did save him.

"He must've have given you this since he had one on him too. Or was it the other way around? Well, doesn't matter." The king twirled it in his hand before ripping it off his neck.

"N-no," he said through the pain. "Give it back." He tried to stand up and do something, anything only to receive another kick to the side of his body. He couldn't even block it. He staggered and dropped to one knee, trying to steel himself. He glared at the male before him who had walked over to a table that had tools neatly arranged on them. He placed the watch down and glanced at Baekho.

"There's nothing you can do but obey now," the king said and wore gloves. "Of course, I won't kill you that fast. So tell me... what exactly was your relationship with my son?"

Baekho frowned and let his other leg fall too since it seemed to be a more stable position to take any hits. He wasn't going to tell the other the truth. How he had spent time as a 'prisoner' here actually. "We... are lovers." It wasn't a lie. The king raised his brows and strutted over to a bucket filled to the brim with water, dragging it over to the front of Baekho.

"Ah... how tragic it must have been then. Like Romeo and Juliet, neither of you left alive," he said, grabbing hold of the back of Baekho's head. He winced at the pull.

"That's not true," he whined. The king just let out a chuckle before pushing his head down into the water. Baekho had managed to hold his breath in but it wasn't enough to last him. His head was dragged up again and he breathed in as much as he could.

"Alas, it is true. You felt him. Held him as he died in your arms, didn't you?" He didn't give Baekho a chance to reply as his head went plunging downwards again into the water. He struggled against the iron like grip but it was to no avail. The king was much stronger than he was. He could never win against him, that was a known fact. Even though he held his breath, a sudden punch to his abdomen was enough to send all the air dispersing. He gasped, breathing in water and started choking on it. He didn't want to die like this. Stop breathing. He was pulled up again and was panting like crazy to replenish his oxygen. He didn't even feel like saying anything to the other, just feeling the burn in his chest and throat was enough. "I can't believe my son would fall for someone as weak as you."

"You have no right to talk about him like you know him," Baekho snapped, feeling a surge of anger again despite the pain. 

"And you do?" Baekho was forced to bend his neck upwards to look at the king. He groaned and found it difficult to fight back. The elder male's strength was crazy.

"Better than you," he hissed. The king frowned and let him go. His head bounced back like a bobbing head doll.

"Well, doesn't matter now that he's gone," the king said as he removed the gloves, tossing it into the bin and picking up a long bull whip. Baekho could feel his body shaking out of fear. He knew how a simple nine tailed whip could hurt so seeing the length and thickness of the whip in the other's hand made his old wounds sting especially knowing the king probably wouldn't let him off easy.

The king walked to his back, out of his sight. Baekho felt his body stiffened, bracing for the impact. He shut his eyes and just kept thinking of Minhyun, hoping and hoping everything they said weren't true. The first crack of the whip sent a crazy wave of nerves all over. He clenched his fists, not caring if his nails were digging into his palm. The fresh throbbing pain on his back were no match to just a couple of scratches. He could handle this, he hoped. The second one almost made him blank out from the impact itself. He let out a cry and the chains were pulled taut. He wheezed, breathing through his gritted teeth. All his nerves were on fire and he was sweating which didn't help when they slid down into his fresh wounds.

Soft whines escaped his throat as he tried to hold back his voice. The king didn't stop there, swinging again and again, all aimed at different parts of his back but each swing made his body muscles contract at the pain. His mind was starting to bleep in and out as though someone was flicking a television on and off without a break. The king knew the boy's consciousness wouldn't be able to hold out any longer if this kept going so he paused and walked to the front to take a look at Baekho's helpless expression. 

"Still awake. It seems that you have a better pain endurance than I thought," he said. Baekho's breathing was irregular and raspy. Sweat trickled down his face. Eyes hazy from both sweat and pain. "That's a nice expression you've got there. But this is just the beginning. Let's see how long you can hold out, shall we?"

Baekho didn't even have the energy to try to see what the other was up to but at the sight of the bucket of water in front of him being lifted out, he could only pray the other wasn't going to do what he thought he was. Unfortunately, his hunch was right.

The water was splashed down onto him, crashing into his wounds. He screamed. And cursed. And blacked out from the pain.