One week before the engagement gala...
The atmosphere in the penthouse bedroom tonight was drastically different from every night prior.
No barbaric violence. No forced submission. No agonizing cries of pain.
Only the warm, amber glow of the bedside lamp casting dim shadows, and the soft, classic jazz playing in the background. It created a deeply relaxing ambiance that completely contradicted our reality.
Ren was straddling me. But this time, his touch was terrifyingly gentle.
His long fingers brushed a sweat-dampened lock of hair from my forehead.
His sharp eyes, usually blazing with feral wrath, were now glazed with a sickeningly sweet warmth. Deep as a poisoned honey well. He stared into my eyes as if searching for whatever fragments of my soul remained.
"Yurin..."
He whispered my name, his voice raspy. He lowered his head and pressed his lips against mine.
Lightly... Slowly...
No aggressive invasion. Only a profound tenderness, taking his time to savor the sweetness.
I inadvertently kissed him back. My body betrayed my mind once again. Both of my arms wrapped around his strong, muscular neck, pulling him closer until our chests were flush together.
Why...? Why was he suddenly being so kind?
Did he know how impossibly hard this made it for me to let go? Confusion swelled in my chest. The love I had tried so desperately to bury was being reawakened by this single kiss.
"Mnn..."
A soft, sweet moan slipped past my lips as Ren trailed his scorching kisses down to my neck.
He didn't bite. He didn't leave teeth marks like before. He merely showered my sensitive skin with kisses, sucking gently.
As if he were worshiping an invaluable treasure.
"You smell so sweet today."
He whispered against my ear. His hot breath sent a violent shiver down my spine.
"So sweet... I never want to let you go. I want to lock you up and keep your scent all to myself. Forever."
His large hand slid beneath my silk pajamas, trailing slowly up my spine. The touch was overflowing with such intense affection and possessiveness that my confusion deepened.
Was this the same man who had locked me in that dark room? The same demon who threatened to skin me alive?
He undressed me with extreme care. Every action was agonizingly slow... and attentive.
He pressed kisses against the fading scars he had inflicted on himself. As if trying to heal them with the very lips that caused them.
"Good boy..."
The soft praise slipped from his mouth, making my heart lurch.
"So good. My good boy."
He claimed me with a breathtaking slowness. Bridging the final distance between us with a gradual, agonizing gentleness, giving me time to adjust.
There was no pain whatsoever: Only an overwhelming sense of completion and a searing heat fusing us.
"Ah... Ren..."
I looked at him through a veil of tears. Not from pain, but because it felt so terrifyingly good. So good that I feared I would surrender to this sickeningly sweet cage.
The rhythm of our lovemaking was slow, yet breathtakingly intense. We moved in perfect synchronization with the jazz playing in the background.
Our eyes remained locked. Neither willing to look away. In this fleeting second, the world consisted only of us. No engagement. No Zen. No escape plan... Only me and the man I... l-
Even in my own thoughts, the word hitched. I wasn't entirely sure I could say it anymore.
"Haa... Good... So good," Ren groaned, a low vibration in his chest. He leaned down, gently kissing away a tear from the corner of my eye.
The euphoria steadily climbed until it crested. We clung to each other, so tightly we were practically one entity, releasing our pent-up emotions simultaneously. Our bodies seized.
We panted heavily against each other's necks before collapsing into a blissful slumber.
...
After the emotional storm subsided.
Ren lay on his side, pulling me flush against his chest, burying me in his strong embrace. His large hand stroked my hair gently. Like comforting a child.
This warmth... it was pure poison.
It seeped deeply into my core, eating away at my resolve. Making me want to abandon the escape plan. Making me want to freeze time right here. If only I could have him like this.
I looked up at his sculpted jawline. The agonizing doubts and suffocating questions that had accumulated for so long finally clogged my throat.
I needed confirmation...
Confirmation whether what he was doing right now was love, or merely ownership.
"Ren..."
"Hmm?" He answered without opening his eyes, his fingers still playing with my hair.
"Can... can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
I drew in a deep breath, mustering every ounce of courage I possessed.
"What I am doing every day... is it enough to repay you?"
Ren's eyes snapped open.
His fingers stopped. The tender atmosphere shattered in an instant. Replaced by a freezing chill radiating from his core.
"How much longer do I have to live like this?" I continued, my voice trembling.
"How much longer do I have to hurt, to repay you, before it ends?"
"What do I have to do for you to let me go?"
I asked with a desperate sliver of hope. Hoping that his recent gentleness was a sign of forgiveness. Hoping he would say 'It's almost over' or 'It's enough.'
Ren sat up, leaning against the headboard.
The tender gaze from moments ago vanished as if it had never existed. Leaving only a dark, terrifying abyss.
He grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. His thumb pressed bruisingly hard against my lips.
"Do you really want to know?"
He smiled. A twisted smile that chilled me to the bone.
"Forever."
A single word that struck like a thunderbolt to the heart.
"You will repay me until your final breath leaves your body."
"Even if you die, your soul belongs to me."
"You have no right to leave. No right to live a life of your own."
He leaned down and pressed a hard kiss to my forehead. Like branding a slave.
"Stop dreaming of freedom, Yurin."
"Because this cage... will never open."
With that, he lay back down, turning his back to me and pulling the blanket up. Coldly severing the conversation.
Leaving me paralyzed in a silence that stabbed directly into my heart. Tears of absolute despair fell silently. The gentleness was nothing more than an illusion. He didn't love me. He only loved owning me.
His answer was crystal clear.
No way out. No end... If I didn't escape, I would die a living death right here.
My hands clenched tightly over my stomach.
Every shred of hesitation and doubt evaporated completely.
Thank you, Ren. Thank you for ensuring I have absolutely no doubts that running away from you is the right thing to do.