SLAP!!
"Speak normally I say!" the man growled, "Speak like the other kids your age!"
The small kid only sobbed and hiccuped more. His tears never stopped, his eyes kept pleading his father to stop but the heartless man did not. All he wanted was a disciplined kid. If he only knew that stuttering wasn't a disciplinary issue.
"Hm-h-h-dad..." before the kid could complete, another tight slap shut him up, kid held his slapped cheek instantly.
"Normally I said!" another tight slap.
The kid now cried louder and was beaten worse than before, and from the doorway, was his twin, watching everything with horror. It seemed like he could feel each slap, each blow on his skin.
"h-h-h..." the kid struggled and tugged at his arm that was in the strong clutch of his father. The man pulled the sobbing and crying kid and dragged him down the hallway.
"Dad, please..." his twin finally voiced his plead but went quiet when his dad glared at him. Soon he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder, he turned to see his mother crouching down next to him.
"Mom, please ask dad to stop it. Please, mom," the kid sobbed, hoping his mother would save his twin.
With a sad smile on her face, the woman only hugged the kid closer, trying to soothe the traumatised kid, the kid she considered her son.
The man was infuriated. His son was not even able to introduce himself at the dinner table due to his stuttering and it was humiliating. He threw the kid in the chicken coop and shut the door.
The twin kept crying in his mother's embrace while other twin's scream from the wooden coop were ignored.
Present time
He kept shivering gently, tears raced down his cheeks but he was still trying to maintain his composure. He was beyond scared but he did not allow himself to show it. Hugging his knees closer, he remained bolted to the ground, too petrified to move even an inch.
His body slightly writhed at intervals by the impact of low growls from the beastly creatures towering him.
Yunlan watched, his posture pompous as he sat on the single-seater sofa like a king, right in front of a muted Shen Wei who was surrounded by the dogs.
He enjoyed the sight, a smirk on his face, "So, Shen Wei, how do you like your new friends?"
Wei's jaws tensed in response as his gaze remained lowered. He could feel his heart throbbing within his chest. All the while the dogs towering him kept growling and snarling at him as if they would attack anytime.
"Maybe I should give you some time alone with them, Shen Wei?"
His words scared Wei. He finally looked at the face, pleading with teary eyes, "mh-h-h-Yunlan, please..."
But he jumped and a gasp left his mouth when one of the dogs barked. Yunlan chuckled.
"Meet you..." Yunlan looked at his wristwatch, "In about an hour? An hour should be enough for them to chew you to bones?"
"Yunlan, no... mh-h-h-please," more tears left Wei's eyes as he shook his head pleading to Yunlan to not leave him alone, his voice hoarse, "no..."
The countenance was broken. Shen Wei was ready to fall at Yunlan's feet. Sadly, Yunlan no more had the heart to care enough.
Wei's heart rate picked up when he saw Yunlan walking out after giving him a smirk, closing the door behind him. Shen Wei hugged his knees closer now, trying to become as small as possible. He let the tears fall now, sobbed with his face buried in his knees.
Yunlan took a puff of his cigarette while he waited for Shen Wei to yell or maybe a scream for help. He was anticipating a lot of fun today.
The dogs were still growling and snarling, and Shen Wei kept sobbing voicelessly. He watched the dogs from the corner of his eys at intervals and the sight of the sharp canines scared him more.
Amidst all of it, he started experiencing slight pain in his chest region, he rubbed his palm against his chest. And then he could feel a shortage of breath. He tapped his pocket for his inhaler. His moist eyes swelled to realise that he did not have his inhaler on him. The pain was gradually becoming sharp while breathing through nose seemed to be not enough. He started breathing from his mouth which wasn't helping at all. The room felt stuffy. Soon he was wheezing, breathing from his mouth.
The dogs barked more now but Shen Wei could only flinch and wince as a reaction. His head started numbing with the shortage of air. He looked around and the world around him had started dissolving in a blur.
Yunlan smoked his second cigarette. It was already an hour and Shen Wei hadn't screamed yet. He decided to get back in, he was sure Shen Wei would never get over today's incident.
He was right. Neither Shen Wei was going to get over this point in his life nor would Yunlan.
He opened the door, ready to meet a crying and begging Shen Wei but his smile vanished when he saw Shen Wei unconscious on the floor amidst the three dogs who looked like three innocent puppies now.
He paced towards him and rolled eyes to see Shen Wei again passed out. He walked towards his bag, took out his inhaler and walked back to Shen Wei. He crouched down, grabbed Shen Wei's face harshly and shoved the nozzle of the spray into his mouth.
His eyebrows creased when nothing happened. He lightly tapped Shen Wei's cheek but got no response. He looked at the spray and repeated the process with two more puffs. Nothing happened.
Yunlan sighed in frustration. He was getting annoyed, "Hey, enough of this bullshit." He growled.
Now a certain level of worry nudged at Yunlan when he got no response. He lowered his face close to Shen Wei's face, his eyes swelled to realise that Shen Wei was not breathing. He quickly grasped his wrist, his pulse was not there.
Yunlan fell on his butt, his eyes big in horror. He rubbed his forehead with his palm. Without losing another moment, he picked him and ran to his car.
After securing his limp body with the seatbelt, Yunlan quickly ran towards the driver's seat.
Shen Wei was sweating profusely and so was Yunlan.
"Please don't die?!" words left his mouth. Yunlan turned his head towards an unconscious Wei and all he could see was Ye Zun.
He slapped the steering wheel, "ARGH! Ye Zun I hate you!" he was sobbing by the end of his sentence.
Shen Wei was instantly taken into the ER. Though Yunlan breathed in relief to know that Shen Wei was not dead but he kept smoking out of nervousness. He never meant to actually kill Shen Wei.
"You happy now?"
Yunlan turned but quickly looked away.
"Tell me, Yunlan. Aren't you happy now? You almost killed him."
"Shut up, Lin Jing!" Yunlan snapped, still not able to meet his friend's eyes, "How does it matter to you. He belongs to me. I can do whatever I want to do to him."
"He is a human being, not some Goddamn expensive watch," Lin Jing snapped back, "He does not belong to you."
"He does. The day he got married to me, he gave me all the ownership rights."
Lin Jing scoffed, "You disgust me, Yunlan. You are pathetic."
Shen Wei was declared fine. Yunlan felt both at ease and annoyance by it. He entered the room. Shen Wei laid unconscious wearing an oxygen mask.
With slow and wandering steps, Yunlan walked closer to the bed. He watched the face and he could already feel his temper rising. He grabbed a nearby chair and dragged it close to the bed.
"Why can't I just let you die like your brother left me to die," Yunlan's voice was small as he watched his wrist that bore the memory of his failed attempt at killing himself.
He took a shaky breath, "You are the pain that Ye Zun gave me, Wei, I can't stop hating you. As much as I loved Ye Zun, I hate your face, Wei."
There were no responses, just the faint sound of Shen Wei's shallow breathing. There was so much inside Yunlan and he had practically no one to tell it to. He wiped the tears and left the room.
Shen Wei slowly opened his eyes when he was sure Yunlan had left the room. He took a deep breath, Yunlan's confession did hurt him but he had felt much more worse in the past. Another person hating him wasn't going to make much difference.
Shen Wei was kept in the hospital for a few days before declared fit to leave.
"If anyone asks..."
"Mh-h-I won't tell anyone h-h-anything," Shen Wei spoke while packing his bags, his eyes on his bag.
Yunlan was taken aback, "Umm... Yeah. Don't you dare tell..."
"H-h-h-I would not tell anything to h-h-h-anyone, Zhao Yun-n-lan." Shen Wei finally turned towards his husband, a small smile on his face.
Suddenly, he was not scared of Yunlan anymore. In Yunlan, Shen Wei could only see a broken man, a man too weak to accept that he was broken.
Yunlan was again taken aback. He nodded, "I'm waiting in the parking."
"Let it go, Zhao Yunlan."
Yunlan was about to leave the room when his feet froze. He could not believe his ears, he turned. His eyes small in disbelief, "What... what did you just say?"
"Let it go. Let Ye Zun go." Wei stood firm on his words.
Yunlan frowned, "You..." he pointed his index finger at Wei but then realised it was not the right place to start.
He gritted his teeth and stormed out of the room. The drive was quiet but Yunlan's mind was brewing storms.
A storm that was about to blow things out of proportion.
Yunlan drank relentlessly.
One glass.
Let it go.
Two glasses.
Let Ye Zun go
Three glasses.
Shen Wei's face. Ye Zun's face.
Four glasses.
Ye Zun kissing him. Shen Wei smiling.
Five glasses.
The memories of past and reality of his present life kept slapping him in the face and kept drinking until he could no more feel anything. Zhao Yunlan was good with alcohol but he was swaying today, he was swaying his way to Shen Wei's room.
Shen Wei was packing his stuff. He had decided to leave this life behind.
"Going somewhere, Ye Zun?"
Hello All.
So, I actually wrote a bit more so that this chapter does not end with a cliff hanger but it was becoming too lengthy. I will publish the next part soon.
But in a couple of chapters, the life of Shen Wei's life is about to take a 180-degree turn.