Crave You Forever
Chapter 29: I didn’t have a choice

Chapter 29: I didn’t have a choice

By the time he returned to the penthouse, it was nearly midnight. He stepped into the foyer, leaving a trail of dried blood as he made his way inside. The weight of the night’s events hung heavy on his shoulders, and all he could think about was scrubbing the evidence of violence from his skin.

He rushed to the bathroom, peeling off his blood-soaked clothes as he went, barely noticing the splatters that stained the walls. Turning the shower on full blast, he stepped in, letting the hot water cascade over his body, mixing with the blood and washing it away in dark, swirling streaks down the drain.

His head was tilted back, eyes closed as the water poured over him, when he heard the soft creak of the bathroom door opening. His eyes snapped open, and he slowly turned his head to see Haeun standing in the doorway, his face pale with shock.

Haeun’s eyes widened, taking in the sight of Yeongsoo—completely drenched, his skin still streaked with blood, his chest rising and falling with each heavy breath. The violent remnants of whatever he’d just done were still visible on his hands and neck, and the raw intensity in his eyes hadn’t fully dissipated.

"What... what happened to you?" Haeun’s voice was barely above a whisper, his body frozen in place. He had never seen this side of Yeongsoo before—this raw, terrifying violence.

Yeongsoo didn’t answer right away, turning his face back up toward the water, letting it rinse away the remaining blood. "It’s nothing you need to worry about."

"Nothing?" Haeun’s voice trembled, his eyes searching Yeongsoo’s face for answers. "You’re covered in blood, Yeongsoo! You—what did you do?"

A muscle in Yeongsoo’s jaw tightened as he kept his face under the stream. "It’s just business, Haeun. It’s nothing you need to know."

Haeun took a step closer, his shock turning into something more akin to anger. "Business? People don’t come home looking like this because of ’business.’" He glanced at the trail of blood leading into the bathroom, his stomach twisting at the thought of where it came from. "Who did you—"

"It doesn’t matter!" Yeongsoo snapped, his voice sharp. He stepped out from under the water, his gaze locking onto Haeun’s, his eyes dark and cold. "What matters is that it’s over. I took care of it."

Haeun’s heart pounded in his chest, but he stood his ground, refusing to back down. "Took care of what? People? Is that why you’re covered in blood? Because you killed people tonight?"

Silence filled the room as the two stared at each other. The only sound was the water from the shower, still running, splashing against the tile.

Finally, Yeongsoo exhaled, the tension in his body slowly easing as he stepped out of the shower. His wet hair clung to his face, water dripping down his bare chest. "Yes," he admitted, his voice low. "I killed them. All of them."

Haeun’s breath caught in his throat. He had known, deep down, that Yeongsoo wasn’t just some ordinary businessman. But hearing it—hearing the cold, blunt truth spoken so plainly—made his blood run cold.

"Why?" Haeun asked, his voice a hoarse whisper. "Why do you have to do this?"

"Because it’s the world I live in," Yeongsoo said, his voice hard but not unkind. He took a step toward Haeun, but Haeun flinched, instinctively stepping back. A flash of hurt flickered in Yeongsoo’s eyes, but he didn’t stop. "This is what I have to do to protect us. To protect you."

"By killing people?"

"By surviving," Yeongsoo said firmly, stepping closer, his eyes narrowing with intensity. "This is what I was born into, Haeun. I don’t get to walk away from it like you think. And I can’t let anyone come for what’s mine. For who’s mine."

Haeun’s fists clenched at his sides as his anger flared. "That doesn’t make it right, Yeongsoo! You can’t just—murder people because of some... family business."

"You don’t understand," Yeongsoo cut him off, his voice laced with frustration. He reached out, his hand trembling slightly as he grabbed Haeun’s wrist. "I had no choice. This is the other side of my life. The side I didn’t want you to ever see."

Haeun tried to pull his wrist away, but Yeongsoo tightened his grip, not painfully, but firmly enough to make him stop.

"My older brother is an omega," Yeongsoo continued, his voice dropping, filled with an edge of vulnerability that Haeun hadn’t heard before. "He’s fragile—scared for his life because of the position we’re in. The business? The actual legitimate side of it? It’s already in the hands of my eldest brother. I got this. The dirty work, to protect my brother who’s too frail to live in this dog eat dog world."

Yeongsoo’s eyes darkened as he spoke, his fingers flexing around Haeun’s wrist as if grounding himself. "And if I don’t do this, they’ll take everything. My brother, parents. I can’t let that happen. Haeun please understand my situation from my point of view."

Haeun felt a shiver run down his spine as the weight of Yeongsoo’s words settled in. He stared into Yeongsoo’s eyes, seeing the raw truth reflected in them—the burden he carried, the ruthless world he lived in, the violence he had to commit to protect those he cared about.

"But killing—"

"I didn’t want this life, Haeun!" Yeongsoo interrupted, his voice rising, frustration and desperation mingling together. "I didn’t ask for this. But this is what I’ve been given, and if it means keeping you safe—keeping my family safe—I’ll do it again and again without hesitation."

Haeun shook his head, his mind spinning. "But there has to be another way. You can’t just—"

"There is no other way!" Yeongsoo’s voice boomed through the bathroom, silencing Haeun. His breathing was ragged now, the weight of his confession heavy on his shoulders. "This world doesn’t work like that. There are no second chances, no peaceful resolutions. You either take control, or they take it from you—and they’ll kill you in the process."

Haeun’s heart hammered in his chest, his thoughts a tangled mess. He had never fully grasped the depths of Yeongsoo’s world, how far it reached, or how much it demanded of him. The blood on his hands, the violence in his life—it wasn’t just some distant part of him. It was woven into everything he did.

"I did this to protect my older brother, Haeun," Yeongsoo said, his voice quieter now, filled with pain. "He’s not like me. He wouldn’t survive a single day in this life if I didn’t handle this side of things. I do the things no one else wants to do so he can live— You think I don’t ever get scared, I’m scared they’ll take the person I love the most from me, they’ve already done it once, I didn’t want the same thing to happen to you too Haeun. That was why I wanted to distance myself not because I didn’t want the baby, I just wanted to protect you."