Chapter 31: First meeting (2)

The bodyguard led Yohan to a table where three men and two women sat, drinking alcohol and laughing vulgarly. Yohan had been through this ordeal several times before and knew better than to try anything foolish, he simply chose to stay put, waiting for the scumbags to make their move.

"I've brought him." the bodyguard announced before retreating to the back of the room, leaving Yohan alone with the group.

The men laughed in amazement as they sized up Yohan. The one with blonde hair dressed in tacky clothes looked at him from head-to-toe.

"So you're the infamous Yohan?"

"Yes, he's always 'accidentally' looking for trouble and wants to be punished even though people have hit him or made him kneel down multiple times" another tacky man answered while taking a swig from his drink.

"So, because you're mentally ill, you intentionally soiled my limited edition coat? Are you that masochistic, so eager to be punished?" The man with dark and dull eyes looked angry, slamming his coat on the floor.

Yohan looked into the angry man's eyes and thought to himself, 'Ah, indeed his eyes are like dead fish' before almost choking back laughter. Unfortunately for him, Sean could see that Yohan was trying to hold back a laugh and became even angrier.

"Is something funny? Is seeing me amusing to you?" Sean's voice was laced with venom as he approached Yohan menacingly. "A mentally ill person like you should go to the hospital instead of wasting your parents' money living like this! Maybe they can finally heal your twisted mind!"

Yohan looked at Sean, who approached him with a flat expression. In his heart, he sneered at Sean - wasn't someone who liked to pull out other people's nails just because they were annoyed also mentally ill? Although Yohan agreed that Sean's words were very fitting for Yoh, who had always seemed mentally unwell from a young age.

Sean stood in front of Yohan and grabbed his hair, forcing him to look up at his face. Yohan bit down on his lip, trying to hold back the pain.

"I've heard rumors that your family is backed by some powerful person, which is why those who have punished you thus far haven't hurt you too badly for fear of retribution." Sean whispered into Yohan's ear. "But I don't care about that... Why should I be afraid of mere rumors when I don't even know if they're true?"

Sean's eyes gleamed with a fierce intensity as he tightened his grip on Yohan's hair, causing him to gasp in pain. Yohan bit his lip tightly, trying to hold back the fear that was starting to creep up on him.

Was Sean going to pull out all of his toenails and fingernails? Wasn't this too much? Yohan knew that there were bodyguards lurking in the shadows to protect him, but could they have prevented what was about to happen?

This time, Yohan wasn't dealing with a spoiled young master who could be easily satisfied, he was facing a crazy psychopath who enjoyed torturing others!

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have done that... you can hit me all you want..." Yohan stammered, trying desperately to placate Sean.

But Sean only laughed coldly in response. "Hit you? Of course not. Where's the fun in that?" He paused, considering his options before continuing with a twisted smile. "How about something new? Like pulling out two or three of your teeth?"

Yohan felt like he was going to be sick. This wasn't just bullying anymore, it was pure sadism and torture. Since his childhood, Yohan had been subject to beatings and insults from his uncle's family.

Even his earliest memory was being slapped by his aunt at the age of four, for simply trying to eat dinner with them. For him, resignation and acceptance of the abuse was better than fighting back, which would only prolong the torture.

But Sean's intentions were far beyond anything Yohan could tolerate - wanting to pull out his teeth. It crossed a line even for him. His pupils shrank in terror as he began to panic, although he tried hard not to show it. Sean seemed pleased with how scared he looked, before finally releasing his grip on Yohan's hair, and then nodding towards one of his bodyguards who pulled out a pair of pliers from under their coat.

Sean laughed loudly, while everyone else who had gathered around them for what they hoped would be an interesting spectacle, now paled with discomfort upon realizing just how cruel Sean's intentions were. But for Sean, it was all a game, he enjoyed the power trip and seeing Yohan squirming in fear.

"That's your fault." he taunted Yohan with a cold stare. "You should have targeted someone else instead of me. But you're happy now, right? You always look for people to hit you, so what I'm about to do might be considered a reward for you?"

Yohan could feel not just fear but also anger rising within him, something that rarely ever happened. It was all directed at Yoh and his twisted games. He still couldn't comprehend why Yoh hated him so much.

It seemed like his sole purpose in life was to destroy Yohan, slowly but surely. Not content with the years of persecution from his family, Yoh had even given up his own reputation just to ensure that outsiders would also bully and humiliate him.

It was as if nothing satisfied Yoh more than seeing Yohan suffer. If Yohan didn't suffer, then there was no such thing as word happiness in his dictionary. In contrast, Sean at least only tortured those who did wrong to him, whereas Yoh did it without reason or provocation. And despite never doing anything wrong to Yoh,Yohan continued to suffer under his cruelty.

Yohan bit his lip hard until it almost bled, should he let this happen? Should he continue living under the shadow of someone who treated him like less than human?

As Sean's bodyguard placed a pair of pliers into Sean's hand, the word 'resignation' was lost in Yohan's mind for the first time. Instead, he felt a burning desire to fight back and escape this madness.

Yoh had always warned him not to fight back against the young masters, but those words held no weight now. The thought of enduring torture from his uncle's family seemed like a far better option than having two or three teeth yanked out by this crazed psychopath. With determination etched on his face, Yohan made up his mind.

*

*

Meanwhile, in the midst of the commotion caused by Sean and Yohan, a group of four men were sitting not far from them, anxiously awaited the arrival of someone who would determine their betting winnings.

Kane had already resigned himself to the fact that his brother might not come, until he spotted a tall figure with a cold face enter the bar. He was stunned for quite some time as Kian approached their table.

"Brother, you... Why did you come here? Don't you hate places like this?" Kane asked in disbelief.

Kian simply looked at his brother before turning towards the man sitting beside Kane.

"Why don't you ask him? He sent me a message promising me the project I want if I came here." Kian replied coolly as he sat down and crossed his legs elegantly.

Axel gave them an impish grin while flashing a peace sign with his fingers. "There's no rule that says we can't contact Kian, right?" he said, defending himself.

"You're willing to risk losing your project just for a shot at winning this bet? What's gotten into you, Axel?" Kane couldn't help but express his disbelief.

"I've never seen you this competitive before." He continued as he shook his head in confusion.

Tao chimed in with a pout, clearly still upset about excluded from the bet. "Yeah! That's weird! And even if Axel wins, you'll be the one who gets to enjoy the reward of getting close to that cute guy! So really, whether you win or lose, you have nothing to lose!"

Axel and Gio shared a grin, nodding in agreement with Tao's teasing. Kane simply chuckled hopelessly at Tao's words.

"Why do you all make it sound like I'm lucky to have gotten close to him? We don't even know each other, he could have easily rejected me," Kane pointed out.

Tao laughed heartily. "Please! It's obvious you're smitten with him. You didn't even let me get in on the bet."

Before Kane could respond, Kian interjected with a cold, questioning look directed towards his brother.

"What exactly was this bet about? And who is this man that you are all referring to?"

Gio quickly answered Kian's question before things got awkward. "It was just a small bet between Axel and Kane. If Kane loses, he has to confess his feelings to that beautiful man over there."

As Gio pointed towards Yohan, all five pairs of eyes looked over in unison, only to see a chaotic scene surrounding him. They were too focused on their own conversation and the bet to notice what was happening around them.

"Hey, what's going on over there?" Tao asked curiously as he looked at the crowd gathered around Yohan.

Without wasting a second, Axel jumped up from his seat and suggested that they take a quick peek over there. They wasted no time in pushing through the throngs of people, eager to get a closer look at what was happening. When they almost reached Yohan's side, they were stunned by what was happening before them.