SWEET • chanbeak ✔️

2.0

He didn't let him go as he continued talking.

-I spent the next fifteen years after chasing my revenge.  I forgot about my own dreams of becoming a lawyer and became a criminal, a thug of the worst kind.  I stopped worrying about good and evil and justice.  I wanted money and power and most of all I wanted revenge and I didn't care what I had to do to get it.  I killed the men who hurt my brother years ago.  I tracked them down and murdered them in a dozen horrible ways, only to find that killing them never made the pain of losing my brother go away.  It just made it grow. 

Baekhyun's voice trembled.  -Was that why you went to prison?

"No" he laughed hatefully, "no, I went to prison for insider trading, ironically, the things that I have done; murder, kidnapping, torture, drug trafficking, arms trade, basically running the western division of the Yakuza Sumiyoshi-kai and what I got was a double deal on the stock market.  They sent me to jail for 24 months and I was fined $ 225 million.  A drop in the glass, considering I made about $50 billion from those tips.  He shook his head, frowning.

-It's ridiculous, really.  Steal an old woman from her bag at gunpoint and they'll lock you up for life.  Defrauds a hundred thousand seniors with his life savings and is slapped on the wrist.  It reminds you that it is the white collar criminals who write the laws in this country.  Chanyeol turned in his arms and calmly fixed his eyes on Baekhyun.  -And don't get confused, that's what Baekhyun did. 

-I took money from naive investors who trusted me and used it to create a massive hedge fund that I managed.  I used the use of privileged information to gain an advantage over my competition and aggressive and risky investments to obtain the best possible returns.  At my best, I made up to ten billion a year.  But I wasn't risking my own money, I was risking his.  And when the deck of cards I put together collapsed, I made sure I wasn't the one holding the empty basket. 

Baekhyun stared at him, horrified, unable to recognize Chanyeol the man he had come to love and respect.  He knew that Chanyeol was confessing things to him that he had never told another living soul.  And he knew that he was telling him the truth; that he was a thief and a liar and a murderer.  Without thinking, Baekhyun backed away uneasily before the older man.  A flash of devastation crossed Chanyeol's face.  He cleared his throat and continued anyway.

-I had reached a point in my life where I no longer cared who I hurt.  I felt that the world had taken everything from me, so I was going to take everything I could from him.  I was so full of rage and anger, and my fury only increased when I was charged and sentenced to prison.  I thought it was untouchable, a self proclaimed and self made God.  I couldn't see how much he deserved to be behind bars.  I hated the world and everyone in it.  And that's how I stayed, until the day I saw you standing in the middle of the cell block. 

-Suddenly, the world stopped and all I could see was you, so young, so beautiful and so alone.  In you, I saw my family.  I saw my brother.  I saw the little porcelain shepherd who broke and could not be repaired and I couldn't bear to see you broken... especially by my own hand.  So I couldn't convince myself to touch you.

-You needed a hero and despite my past, I wanted so badly to be with you. Even as much as I wanted it, what you needed was a friend, not a lover, and I wasn't willing to betray the trust you had in me once I'd earned it.  When I looked at you, I saw all the good things I had forgotten.  You reminded me a lot of my little brother, his smile and humor, resilience and his optimism. 

-It was as if they were giving me a second chance, and that protecting you and doing things well for you, somehow I was also doing justice for my brother.  That by saving your family, I was saving mine.  And that changed me.  He healed me in a way that no revenge in the world could have done.  I realized how devastated he would have been if he had realized the monster his death had turned me into.  Your light stalked all that darkness, gathered all the pieces of my heart and filled it with nothing but love for you.

Chanyeol looked up to meet Baekhyun's. 

-You think I saved you, but the truth is that you saved me sweet boy.  In every way that matters.  Baekhyun's lips trembled with the force of his emotions, but he did not know what to say.  Chanyeol didn't give him a chance to speak, he held out his hands, palms facing you, up. 

-You were my Royal Flush, a winning hand that gave me fate and I did not deserve.  I could have played you, used the obligation you felt towards me to compel you and tie me forever.  I would have been happy.  Nothing would make me happier than having you for myself, but would you be happy? 

- I love you, as a friend and a brother, and I also love you as a lover, more than you can imagine.  But more than all that, I want you to be happy.  You don't owe me anything, you don't belong to me.  You do not belong to anyone but yourself.  I just wanted you to know the truth about me and what I have done before getting more involved.  No matter what you choose, I will be your friend.  I will be there for you and love you in whatever capacity you leave me and I will be grateful for the opportunity.  He knelt before Baekhyun and kissed his cheek and then the palm of her hand. 

-You don't have to decide right now.  Take all the time you need.  And with that he stood up and left Baekhyun alone, his mind and stomach churning.

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dang... i know i took along tome to update but writing this was hard
still hope you like it