The Fall of Lee Minho
Pairing: None, Minho-centric
Warnings: Heavy Angst, Violence, Alternate Reality, Mature Audiences only, Depression, Mental health issues, Mental Health Awareness, Kidnapping, Trafficking??, Abandonment Issues, Suspected Abandonment, etc.
Chapter 2/? WC: 2.7k
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When Minho awoke, the scent of disinfectant was heavy in the room. His head was pounding and his eyelids were heavy. His neck and spine were stiff and painful, shocks of electricity shooting down the column of his spine and throughout his never endings. He hadn’t opened his eyes yet but he could tell he’d slept sitting up instead of lying down and he was cold. Clearly he wasn’t at home but, where could he have slept other than at his house? He didn’t remember ending his shift or clocking out or even leaving so what had happened?
His head hurt the more he tried to think but he pushed through the ringing in his head and the way he could feel his brain thrumming against his own skull. Oh yeah, that one customer was the last thing he remembered. His gruff voice, heavily tattooed arms and neck, and the… gun. That’s right, he was held at gunpoint before getting pistol whipped and passing out.
Finally, he willed his eyelids to open before forcing them shut again. The bright white fluorescent lighting caused blinding, white hot pain to shoot straight to his head. He took a few deep breaths through the pain that twisted his stomach into a fit of nausea. He couldn’t throw up, he didn’t remember when he’d eaten last and was unsure of exactly how long he’s been passed out so there was likely very little to throw up anyways.
Once most of the pain subsided he decided to slowly open his eyes, one at a time to give his brain ample time to adjust to the pain. Once his eyes were open, he did his best to blink away the foggy blur that coated his eyes from sleeping with his contacts in. He scanned the space he was in, chipped concrete floors, rusty metal walls, and stereotypical horror movie fluorescent light bars that flickered out of sync. The room was mostly empty aside from a metal table that was screwed into the cement flooring and a prison cot attached to the wall.
A shiver ran through his body from the chill air of the A/C pouring into the small room and clinging to his skin. He looked down to see all his work clothes missing and the only things he wore were a thin white tank top that was almost see through and a pair of white boxers. Neither article of clothing belonged to him, meaning whoever took him had stripped him of all his personal belongings when he’d arrived.
He also noticed the heavy metal cuffs around his wrists that connected him to the floor by a short and heavy matching metal chain. His ankles were also cuffed and attached to the floor but the chain was longer so he could straighten out his legs or cross them. It seemed like the universe needed to humble him a bit and prove that his life could, in fact, get worse after failing at his dream. Now he was kidnapped and probably going to be tortured to death.
He leaned his head back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, noticing a small red light in the corner, a camera. He was being watched… great. Apparently whoever was on the other side of the camera had watched him wake up and decided to pay him a visit since it didn’t take long for the large metal door to his cell to swing open, colliding with the wall and causing a loud ringing bang to pierce his ears, causing him to hiss and wince as the sound ricocheted against his skull.
“Good morning sleeping beauty~” the unfamiliar man sang out in a condescending tone. He threw something down on the table and crouched in front of Minho. Minho looked the man over quickly before settling his gaze. They were a deep emerald green, thin and red rimmed from exhaustion. He wasn’t as big as the one who had kidnapped him and he didn’t seem to be as heavily tatted either. There was a tiny sliver of a tattoo on his collarbone, peeking out from the collar of his white bottom up. He wore black slacks and had a few tattoos on his hands and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to show his muscular forearms and a few tattoos scattered across the tan skin.
“How’d you sleep?” the man quipped, snapping Minho out of his analysis of the other man. “I’m chained to sit up against a wall, what do you think?” Minho spit out. He was in too much pain to hold his tongue and in a flash the other man had a bruising grip on his jaw, craning his head back and up, the back of his head hitting the wall from the unnecessary amount of force he used, causing minho to wince again and stare downwards at the man through his pained expression. “Don’t get snappy with me Lee Minho. Need I remind you who has all the power here?” the other man’s voice was unusually cheerful and as if to further prove his point, his grip tightened, fingertips digging into minho's lower molars painfully.
They remained locked in a silent stare down for a few beats longer before Minho's jaw was released and the other man grinned wide, the smile not meeting his eyes making his smile look creepy and threatening. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m the boss of this little operation. You and all the other candidates can call me Zero.” his voice didn’t match the fake joy painted in his expression, causing chills to travel across Minho's skin, this time not just from how cold he was.
“Candidates?” Minho asked, opting to keep his sentences as short as possible to not anger the man further. “Yes, allow me to explain.” The man stood and took a small number of steps to reach the table, grabbing what he’d thrown down earlier before crouching back down in front of Minho. It was a plate of food, the smell hitting Minho's nose and his stomach growling loudly in response. It was Steak and Potatoes, the smell was heavenly and really helped Minho realize just how starving he truly was.
“Behave and I'll allow you to have your meal.” the man said and placed the plate on the floor between the two of them, just out of Minho's reach to keep him in temptation to behave. Minho met the other man’s gaze and waited for him to continue, doing his best to ignore the food.
“Now, Lee Minho, this is your temporary personal cell. This is where all new candidates are held when they arrive. You’re being held at xxx xxxxxx st. in Daegu. You’re a candidate to join our mafia's underground fight ring. Our mafia being the most powerful and dangerous in all of Korea, the one and only Wolfgang Pa.” the man’s face twisted up into a crooked smirk that caused Minho's breath to catch in his throat along with just the mention of the name Wolfgang Pa. How did he end up kidnapped by them of all people?
Minho's reaction, although small and barely noticeable, seemed to satisfy Zero so he continued. “Now, you have two options. Move forward here with Wolfgang Pa and participate in your 3 round test fight or…” Zero paused to reach into his waistband at the back of his pants, pulling out a gun and placing it against Minho's forehead. He pulled back the hammer, causing the gun to click as the bullet lined up with the barrel and Zeros finger resting on the trigger. “...I can kill you right now.” he hissed, that wicked smirk only growing into an equally twisted grin.
Minho didn’t even flinch as the gun was pulled out and now pushed firmly into his forehead, maintaining steady eye contact with Zero, an empty expression on his features. His breathing remained steady as he waited to see if Zero would continue before deciding to speak.
“What do these fights entail?” Minho's voice was low and steady as if he was simply talking about the weather with a colleague instead of discussing his life that was being played with by the hands of the Mafia Boss of Wolfgang Pa. Minho’s stoicism seemed to at least mildly impress Zero as he answered Minho’s Question.
“You’ll have 15 minutes total, 3 rounds of 5 minutes each. You’ll go up against three other contenders varying in suspected difficulty. You’ll start with someone who’s stature best fits your own, then your opponents will increase in muscle mass, height, and weight. You will either end up winning by killing all 3 of your opponents or die trying. If you are capable of winning all the battles and come out with your heart still beating, you’ll be taken to the medical wing no matter the severity of your wounds.”
“After you’ve recovered, you’ll be brought to a permanent cell. You’ll be given fresh clean clothing provided by us and an official member of the fighting team, one of my men, will sit down with you to further walk you through what’s to come. But again, that’s IF you live through all three fights and kill all three of your opponents. If you lose, and end up dying during one of these fights, your body will be handled properly. You will be cremated and your ashes will be sent to your mother at your home with a letter stating that those are in fact her son's ashes so she won’t be looking for you anymore.”
“Anymore?” Minho asked, still clueless on how long he’d been here. Zero let out a small sinister chuckle, keeping the gun steady against Minho's forehead. “I apologize, I should probably inform you on what’s happened since you were collected by my men. You’ve been unconscious for a week, more specifically 8 days and 13 hours. It is currently 6:58pm on Sunday, April 16th of 2018. You were Collected at 3:27am on Friday, April 6th of 2018. Your Mother, Lee Hana, Age 43 reported you Missing with the Gangnam-daero Police Department on April 8th at 4:00am following the mandatory 24 hour rule. She Also reported you Missing on the same date with the Seongnam, YangJae, and Bundang Police departments.”
“She’s also made multiple posts across her social media accounts including Band, Instagram, Facebook, KakaoStory, and Twitter. Each of her posts have been shared more than 1.6k times. There have also been various hashtags created towards the search for you and each one has been trending all 8 days you’ve been missing. There are also Search parties formed towards these efforts of finding you that take place every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday from 6pm to midnight on Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 6am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays.”
Zero's words hit Minho like a load of bricks and it starts to feel like he’s breathing through a coffee straw. He has people out there spending so much of their time looking for him, someone as useless as him. Minho squeezes his eyes shut to ward off the tears that threaten to fall, stinging his waterline. His neck feels weak and unable to hold his head up, causing him to lean forward, against the gun still pinned to his forehead. This action seems to catch Zero off guard and he has to quickly remove his finger from the trigger and grip the gun tighter to hold Minho's head up. Luckily he keeps the tears from falling and Zero doesn’t say anything as he keeps Minho's head up.
Zero didn’t understand why he was keeping Minho's head up or why he took his finger off the trigger. He normally did not show any form of kindness or sympathy to his toys, so this was odd for him. For some reason, he wanted to help this kid, wanted him to win, and was silently rooting for him. Maybe it was how dejected and empty he seemed, like he’d already given up on not only himself but any future he had. Maybe it was the small burn marks that littered his thighs, clearly self inflicted by the angles. It’s been a long time since he’d seen anyone come in looking so broken and lost. The last one that was this broken, he’d gotten a little attached to before he had decided to throw his last fight and basically committed suicide with an assist from another competitor. He’d given up on his last fight, the final one he had to win in order to be released, he just needed to defeat the previous reigning champion and he’d get the freedom he’d earned, only having to come back to defend his title.
Zero snapped himself out of his thoughts, feeling those insufferable emotions begin to well up in the back of throat. Zero let out a sigh before speaking. “C’mon kid.” he spoke softly now, more empathy in his voice and he didn’t really care enough to hide it as he moved closer to Minho. He was sitting at Minho's right side now, placing his gun back into the waistband of his pants and moving the plate with him. He pulled Minho's head to his chest, finally hearing the small sniffles and feeling him shaking. Zero could tell that Minho was trying his best to not show his weakness, to hide it all away and put on that Stoic Persona he’d fronted with earlier. It reminded him of himself when he was younger, fresh meat for Wolfgang Pa.
“You can eat whenever you're ready, kid. You earned it. I’ll be back tomorrow morning for your answer.” Zero patted Minho on the shoulder before pushing himself up from the floor. He straightened out his shirt before his hand met the door, gripping the knob tightly and twisting it. He looked back at the defeated man, still using every ounce of his strength to hold himself together before stepping out and pulling the door shut with a click.
Zero stood against the door for a few moments, collecting himself and returning to his Scary Boss Persona. It didn’t take long for Minho's muffled crying to reach his ears and man, did Minho sound broken, beyond broken really. How did his own men end up fucking up this bad? After the last one, he makes it painfully clear to NEVER choose broken men. Only strong fighters under the guise of needing men who won’t die in the first few seconds of a match because it doesn’t bring in any money if the fights aren’t entertaining. No one will bet on a man who is obviously going to lose.
He didn’t want to relive what happened with Hongjoong all those years ago but clearly he doesn’t have a choice now that Minho was here. Minho who was basically Hongjoong reborn. He walked away from Minho's cell, anger bubbling under his skin, making his way to his office. On the way, he stopped to speak to Six, his closest subordinate. “Bring Twenty to my office. He brought me a second Hongjoong.” was all Zero said before walking away. “Oh fuck…” was heard from Six as Zero disappeared into his office, waiting to teach Twenty a lesson.
Minho cried into his hand, doubled over himself as he allowed himself to break. He didn’t even care about the cameras, who could be watching, who could hear him. He had been trying so hard to hold himself together the whole time Zero was in his room and he’d done so well until he realized that even when he wasn’t around, he burdened those in his life. He only disappointed and hurt people, hell, he couldn’t even work his minimum wage, graveyard shift, job without pissing off someone. That someone just so happened to be a member of Wolfgang Pa. Not only that but he seemed to somehow upset the Boss. Zero, The Boss of Wolfgang Pa was and is known as the most ruthless killer of them all and he’d upset him.
“What’s the fucking point? Maybe I should just let him kill me. Maybe then I won’t hurt anyone else, everyone can move on and live their lives just like my brothers are. I’ll be forgotten in no time.”
Minho didn’t eat that night.
