In a private rural side of the city, an obscure building could be made out, surrounded by abandoned broken cars, and decayed trees.
Inside the depths of an abandoned warehouse, was a basement, a metal door tightly shut to mute all noises from the inside.
Metal walls enclosed a room, the thick stench of blood and mold mixed permeated the air. Under the dim flickering light hung on the ceiling, a man restrained in a chair could be made out, blood-splattered underneath him.
His neck, waist, and four limbs were restrained by metal cuffs, while his eyes were blindfolded by a white rag. The limbs cuffed showed evident traces of black and purple bruising, drops of blood seeping from his ankles in wrists revealing his struggles.
Blood and snot streamed down his nose, tears leaking from the corners of his covered eyes – clearly, the man was in excruciating pain.
"So, do you still not want to tell me?" A man's gentle voice asked casually.
"C-Crazy bastard! I told you, I don't know what you're talking about, so let me go!"
A man dressed in a black tailored black suit and tie stood with his back ramrod-straight, stared at the seated man. His right fist was wrapped around a spiked heavy metal glove, blood dripping onto the cold floor.
"There's no need for name-calling," The well-dressed man's voice softly chuckled. "Besides, what's the use of lying when I know everything already?"
A sudden chill ran down the tied man's spine, "I-I don't know what you're talking about…"
"Oh?" The suited man arched a brow, his eyes dimming slowly. "Then it wasn't you, President Gu, who slandered and scammed companies into bankruptcy?"
The bound President Gu: "….."
The man continued speaking, his tone innocent and playful, "Ah, and wasn't it you who also forced your stepson into stupidity by forcing your maid to inject him with drugs at night and abuse him?"
The bound man broke out into a cold sweat.
Fuck! If he knew everything then why was he torturing him like this?!
As if reading his thoughts, the man laughed, "All I ask is for a confession. Don't you want to be let go? If you just confess to the deeds you've committed, then I'll set you free."
The seated man sank into silence. His expression became even more hesitant, seemingly thinking about whether or not he should confess.
Though bound and tortured until he was at his last breath, he still had the slightest bit of rationality. A spark of realization and anxiousness flashed across his covered eyes.
If he confessed to all his misdeeds, it most certainly would be broadcasted to the entire world! Why else would his capturer ask for him to confess his secrets despite knowing everything already?
If that were the case then…his life would be ruined!
The bound man could only grit his teeth and lower his head in defiance. He could only endure and hope his men would find his location quickly. Noting his appearance, the suited man's face remained calm, a devilish smile spread across his lips.
"Going to act brave and stubborn, huh?" He sighed.
If the bound man wasn't blinded folded, he would have immediately shriveled at the bright, satisfying glow in the man's eyes. Suddenly, his melodious yet chilling laughter engulfed the room. The bound President Gu listened to his laughter and felt his whole body shake.
The man's eyes narrowed up slightly and the smile at the corner of his lips grew icier. "More fun for me then!"
…
One hour passed before the suited man left the basement, the stench of blood and sweat radiating off of him. While walking down the hall, the faint sound of a keyboard tapping and clicking echoed from a room.
Heeding this, his expression gradually changed from sinister to reminiscent and gentle. With a silly grin on his attractive face, his footsteps quickened until he stopped in front of a lounge room.
Inside the lounge, a teenage girl stared fixedly at the computer on her lap, the contents of the bright screen flitting across her purple eyes.
Behind her was a few windows, the warm sunshine shone across her snow-white skin, glowing like porcelain. Two loose locks of her neck length silk hair framed her rosy face that bore a focused expression.
At seventeen, her usual innocent and childish features turned more exquisite and enchanting. The teasing little girl was no more, but now a growing young girl.
"I'm so filthy, look at me! I'm covered in blood!" The man fussed and lifted his bloodied fists. "Hey, Mimi do you want to be a doll and wipe my hands clean?"
The girl on the couch didn't even glance up while coldly saying, "There are wipes in the drawer."
Not at all affected by her cold tone, the man smiled openly, "Haha, how heartless of you."
Mimi was too lazy to respond to his teasing asked, "Did he confess?"
"Not yet."
She frowned, "Do I need to reconsider partnering with you, Shen Jue?"
Shen Jue chuckled and looked at the girl with amused eyes.
"It's fine, it's fine!" He laughed and waved his hand in dismissal. "I still have a few tricks I want to try, so there's no problem!"
Mimi sounded an 'en' and proceeded to focus her attention on the bright screen. Raising a brow, Shen Jue walks over and tilted his tall body gently over toward the girl on the couch.
"Hm, what are you looking at?"
Mimi, who was sitting lazily on the couch stiffened and frowned in displeasure, her body leaning away from his. He smelled of blood and sweat.
"Schoolwork."
Shen Jue looked at her with interest and narrowed his eyes, "Oh? Since when did you become such a diligent little student?"
Mimi grew silent and her lips pursed. Truthfully, she never really cared for school. With her high IQ, the school work she received was considered to be at a preschooler level and unworthy of her attention.
However, this didn't sit well for a certain stone-faced man…
After he saw her grades and lack of school work completed, he displayed a rare expression of disappointment and prompted her to pay attention to her studies.
Recalling the scene of a certain good-looking man scolding her for her negligence toward school, her expression darkened further.
"I just got bored and decided to work on it, that's all," Mimi muttered.
Shen Jue observed her expression from the beginning with half narrowed eyes, a dark shadow covering them.
"So it's like that, huh?" He whispered under his breath.
Shen Jue leaned his forehead on his palm and stared at her with intense, quiet eyes. Feeling his stare, Mimi's brows twitched involuntarily.
She tilted her head and glanced at him, "Don't you have something you should be doing right now?"
"Nah, scum like him can wait. Right now I want to focus all my attention on the little one before me."
Mimi's expression turned uglier by the second and just as she was about to retort a snarky comment, her phone buzzed.
Looking down at the phone, Mimi's eyes brightened. Moving her fingers across the screen to type something, she swiftly put her phone away and stood up from the couch.
Watching her pack her laptop in her bag, the smile at the corners of Shen Jue's lips faded a little and his deep eyes stared at the girl's figure.
"Eh, leaving already? Don't you want to stay and play with me for a bit? I got some new tools we could try out." He blinked his eyes innocently as if he was a child talking about toys.
Mimi tossed her backpack over her shoulders and glanced at Shen Jue, an unreadable smirk on her lips.
"As fun as that sounds, I'll pass. Besides, I'm sure you can handle things without me."
Mimi turned and walked toward the door, but paused upon hearing Shen Jue mutter something under his breath.
"What did you say?"
Shen Jue raised his head with a smile. "Mm, nothing."
Not bothering to question him any further, she waved her hand and left the building. Shen Jue watched her parting back and the light in his eyes gradually dimmed. Standing up, he walks down the hall and back toward the metal door.
President Gu who had long fainted from the pain woke up startled at the familiar sound of the metal door opening. His body shivered when he heard the man's footsteps.
"I-I'll confess, I'll confess! P-Please just don't…"
Before he could carry out his sentence a cloth was shoved into his bruised mouth. Shen Jue watched him squirm and finally showed a pleased expression.
"All right, I'll let you confess. But not after a little more fun, okay?"
President Gu squirmed desperately and fought against his restraints, his shouts and pleases muffled from the cloth. Observing his desperate movements, Shen Jue's smiles grew.