Pain Fetish

Rolling straight down the seven or eight steps, Qi Han braced himself on the floor and swayed, cold sweat pouring from his forehead.

The rimless glasses shattered, and the metal chain snapped hard against his cheek, leaving a bloody red mark on his livid face.

It was like the lightest punishment for his atrocities.

“Xiao Ge… Xiao Ge is still waiting for me…”

He stood up, staggering, repeating these words over and over again, a trickle of blood seeping from his temple and sliding across his jaw, but he didn’t care about cleaning up, standing up and heading for a run.

The bodyguard who had just entered hurriedly helped him, “Sir, there is a man at the door—”

“Prepare the car.” Qi Han interrupted him without a glance and said hastily, “We’ll go now, I’m going to find him.”

“But sir, Young Master Gu at the door has been waiting for a long time, it seems to be—”

“Tell him to get lost!” Qi Han’s scarlet eyes glared angrily, and then his expression quickly turned into helpless pity: “I’m going to find my lover…”

The white bellflower-flavoured pheromones rushed out with his anger, and the bodyguard collapsed on the ground, trembling, dripping with cold sweat.

This was the first time he had seen President Qi, who had been in the upper echelons for a long time and had tough methods, so disoriented, like a dragon who had his treasure stolen and was sobbing, hugging its tail.

“Brother Han! Wait a minute!”

Chen Xing hurriedly chased him downstairs, panting and saying, “Man, I know you are very excited now, but calm down and think about it carefully. If all the contents of the album are true, then why did Zhongke Pharmaceuticals launch a new type of inhibitor within a month after you gave the manuscript to Fu Ge? What were they doing for the previous four years?”

He covered his face and cursed, “I don’t mean to come up with a conspiracy theory, but only you had the last formula, and only you knew it! I can’t think of any other explanation except that Fu Ge did give it to his father. Unless something else happened after you gave him the manuscript—”

He saw Qi Han’s pupils suddenly shrink, and shut up abruptly.

“Something else…” Qi Han murmured, repeating these two words, thinking of the first week after Fu Ge returned the manuscript.

His house was suddenly burgled, but the thief was caught red-handed. It was his university roommate Liu Rui. They had entered the same modelling competition, Liu Rui was afraid of losing to him, so he broke into Qi Han’s house and smashed his competition entry.

Chen Xing’s face turned pale, “Is it possible… I mean maybe…”

“He was not for smashing the model.” Qi Han raised his eyes dully and then said the second half: “This was just a cover for him to steal the manuscript…”

With a pop, the sketch book fell to the ground. Qi Han covered his face in a panic, and only one word came out of his hoarse throat: “Check.”

Half a minute later, Chen Xing got through on the phone.

“Hey, Officer Wang, it’s like this, I would like you to help me investigate a university friend, Liu Rui, who broke into a house five years ago and should have had a record, you see — ah, the record… The next day it was erased, huh?”

As these words were said, the two raised their eyes at the same time, facing each other.

Qi Han asked, “Who erased it?”

Chen Xing said, “It’s Fu Lin… Fu Zhenying’s butler…”

A few short words were like a bolt from the blue.

“He was the one who instructed Liu Rui to do it…” Qi Han’s lips twitched unnaturally, and his bloodshot eyes instantly widened and quickly narrowed, turning from disbelief to bewilderment.

He covered his chest and hunched over like a shrimp, all the blood in his body drained instantly.

I lost the manuscript myself…

The Alpha stared ahead in misery, his head filled with these words, his eyes full of tears, sad and pitiful.

“It had nothing to do with Xiao Ge, nothing to do with him at all… But I tortured him for fourteen days because of this…”

“I tortured him for fourteen days for my own mistake…”

He finally knew why, no matter how much he asked at that time, Fu Ge couldn’t tell him any details about giving the manuscript to his father, and just pulled the corner of his clothes and kept apologising.

Because Qi Han was too confident that the problem was not on him, because even Fu Ge thought he had caused the manuscript to be lost.

Fu Ge was completely disoriented at the time, his legs held open for so long that he couldn’t close them, and he cried in pain, but he didn’t shout “no” or “let go.”

Instead, he held Qi Han’s hand the entire time, pleading incoherently: “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to… Ah Han, I’m sorry…”

Knowing of his father’s crime and knowing that his lover had been wronged like that when he was a child, Fu Ge felt distressed and dazed at that moment.

But Qi Han didn’t even give him a chance to explain, pushing all the mistakes on him.

The memory of his suicide became the sharpest knife, stabbing him in the heart again and again.

Qi Han covered his face frantically, tears dripping down his fingers, “He was still apologising to me… How funny, ah…”

He looked at Chen Xing, his whole body like a shrivelled airbag, “You, don’t you think it’s funny? I tortured him to death for my own mistakes… But he still begged me for forgiveness… I wanted him to beg me for forgiveness too…”

There was a deafening bang, and the solid wood door was smashed to pieces with a kick.

Qi Han staggered over the scattered wood chips, his voice cracking to the limit: “I wanted him to beg me for forgiveness…”

Since the nightmare at the age of fourteen, he had been unable to control his rut periods, mentally disturbed, manic and out of control to the point of being irrational.

After seeing Fu Ge and Fu Zhenying together, self-righteously thinking that he knew the truth, having his suspicions confirmed by the new inhibitor launched by Zhongke Pharmaceuticals, Qi Han had been completely abnormal since that day.

Even he himself couldn’t recall all the details of those fourteen days, what he had said and done when he was out of control.

So much so that every time he dreamed about what happened five years ago, he could only see the little Beta being chained to the bed, trickles of bloody tears flowing from those eyes that no longer had any sparkle as he asked desperately: “Why did you do this to me?… What have I done wrong…”

Yes, what exactly had he done wrong…

Qi Han thought: he was wrong to meet me, he was wrong to love me unconditionally, and he was wrong to fall into a trap that he thought was a beautiful place twice.

The seventeen-year-old Qi Han and the twenty-three-year-old “sir” were the two rays of light that appeared unexpectedly in Fu Ge’s life, but without exception, they destroyed all his faith.

Qi Han didn’t know how he walked to the car.

He was clearly wearing shoes, but his feet seemed to be stepping on boiling molten lava. He was breathing smoothly, but when he was breathing, he felt as if fine needles pierced his nasal cavity.

The bloodied wounds all over his body didn’t give him any pain; only his festering heart hurt like it was going to be torn apart and crushed, making him gag and retch.

Chen Xing couldn’t rest assured and got in the car with him. Before he could close the door, a figure came running from the distance. The bodyguard said it was Young Master Gu who had been waiting at the door all day and night.

Qi Han’s face was dark and gloomy. He was silent.

Chen Xing sighed and asked, “Which Young Master Gu?”

“The Gu family’s Young Master Gu.” The bodyguard said.

“Ah!” Chen Xing suddenly realised and looked at Qi Han. “The Gu family you dealt with at the meeting yesterday, saying that they were not allowed to touch medicine for five years. Did the old man send his son to plead for mercy?”

Qi Han didn’t even look up, just tilted his head back and leaned on the back of the seat, ordering the driver, “Go.”

But seeing that the door was about to close, Gu Rin flew over and grabbed the door. His hands were squeezed in the crack, and he yelled in pain.

“Damn it! Where did this tiger come from?” Chen Xing hurriedly asked the driver to stop and cursed at the man, “Didn’t you hear me when I told you to get lost?”

Gu Rin clutched his hands, sniffled and wrinkled his face in pain. After seeing Qi Han, he knelt down immediately.

“President Qi! That incident was all my fault! It’s because I was obsessed with you climbing into the Fu family that I took photos of Fu Ge in bed. It had nothing to do with my father or the Gu family! I beg you, please don’t be so cruel to us…”

“Fu Ge’s photos in bed?”

Qi Han’s eyes narrowed, the icy pheromones sweeping over, and the Alpha’s low voice said word by word: “You took those photos?”

He jumped out of the car, grabbed Gu Rin’s collar and swung him against the car door, squeezing his neck fiercely, “The Alpha who only showed his upper body and didn’t show his face is you? Did you sleep with him? Did you drug him?”

“No… I didn’t…”

Gu Rin was choking, his eyes rolling up, his toes kicking convulsively. In his messed up head there was a thought that Qi Han didn’t even know it was him until now; but he saw that the two of them had reconciled again and hurriedly came over to admit his mistake.

“No, no drugs… We didn’t sleep together…”

He haphazardly patted Qi Han’s hand. The latter took a deep breath and let go. Gu Rin coughed violently twice before hurrying to straighten up to defend himself.

“President Qi! Brother Qi! I swear I didn’t touch him! I just didn’t like the fact that you were able to marry Fu Ge and climb into the Fu family, so I took advantage of him getting drunk in the bar and dragged him upstairs to take two photos, thinking to irritate you…”

He didn’t sleep with him… even being photographed was because of me…

Qi Han smiled bitterly as he recalled that ridiculous “two-timing”, thinking of Xiao Ge’s panicked and helpless look when he saw the photos, and his heart was stabbed into a sieve.

“Did he know at the time…”

“Of course he didn’t know! I couldn’t afford to mess with the Fu family either!” Gu Rin scratched the back of his head and muttered: “I admit that I did an unseemly thing, but I didn’t lose my conscience enough to assault him in order to irritate you, and… And I saved him when he was assaulted back then… it’s not that merits and demerits balance up—”

“What did you say?”

Qi Han raised his head abruptly, his vicious eyes cutting straight into Gu Rin’s flesh, “Xiao Ge… was assaulted?”

“Huh?” Gu Rin looked at him as if Qi Han was asking, knowing the answer. “Didn’t you do it? Did you forget it so soon?”

He rolled his eyes, afraid of Qi Han’s power and unable to suppress his anger.

“I’m no good, but you’re a fucking scumbag too! The moment the Fu family fell, you let Fu Ge come to entertain your guests. He was just eighteen at the time and still your fiance! How could you bear to— ah!”

The words were cut off by a punch. Qi Han’s eyes were red as he pinned Gu Rin to the ground, his blood vessels almost bursting, “Tell me clearly, what happened to Xiao Ge! What do you mean I let him come to entertain the guests!”

“Tell you? I’ll tell you! Like I’m afraid of you!” After two punches in a row, the long-suppressed anger in Gu Rin’s heart completely exploded.

“Your set of tricks back then was really disgusting. As soon as the Fu family fell, you dragged Fu Ge to drink with those greasy old men with big bellies. You knew that Fu Ge offended them by not drinking when toasted and you deliberately left him there. Do you know how heartbreakingly he cried when he was dragged into the alley? Do you know?”

He grabbed Qi Han’s collar and pushed him back to the ground, hitting him with all his strength, panting and roaring: “If it weren’t for me at the time… If I hadn’t been there in time, he would have been raped by those guys! He’d just turned eighteen!”

“He was the white moonlight of so many people in our school, from freshmen to seniors. I liked him for more than three years, more than three years! But why did he have to have a crush on an animal like you, Qi Han, fuck you!”

Punch after punch landed on his body, the corners of his mouth were soaked in blood, and large stains of red spread around the wounds on his shoulders.

Qi Han lay there as if all his five senses were closed off, not fighting back, not making a sound, with only Gu Rin’s low growl lingering in his ears.

In the blink of an eye, the dim night sky above his head came crashing down, a big hole was torn in the cramped space, and Qi Han saw Fu Ge in those last few days.

Fu Zhenying’s verdict came down, and the grievances of the past seemed to have come to an end. He untied the chains from the little Beta and asked him what closure he wanted. A husband and wife were a husband and wife, after all, as long as it was not difficult, he could agree to it.

Fu Ge could no longer make a sound at that time, so he wrote on the table with his finger dipped in water, “I want to see him.”

This “him”, naturally, was Fu Zhenying.

Qi Han said “yes”, but in exchange he wanted Fu Ge to accompany him to dinner. He found out that Fu Ge’s lover was going to be among the second-generation guys at this dinner. He wanted to take him there to find that man, but his words were extremely harsh: “Serve your lover well, and I will let you see your dad.”

Fu Ge was stunned for a long time, and even though he had been tortured to numbness, the look in his eyes was still desperate and bitter.

He knew that Fu Ge had mistakenly thought that he wanted him to go drinking with someone, but he deliberately didn’t explain, eager to force his lover to show up.

After three rounds of drinking, no one came. Fu Ge had just poured wine for the boss who was sitting next to him, but before he had time to pay his respects, Qi Han couldn’t stand it any longer and dragged him out the room.

But when he came back after buying a pack of cigarettes quickly, Fu Ge was gone.

The phone couldn’t get through, and no one answered when Qi Han called Fu Ge’s name. He thought Fu Ge had run away. In a rage, he called all his bodyguards to come and catch him, but five minutes later Fu Ge ran back by himself.

Qi Han still remembered that his clothes were messed up at the time, his eyes were red and full of tears and his body carried the smell of strange Alpha pheromones. He staggered into Qi Han’s arms, trembling and sobbing constantly.

But Qi Han only thought he had gone to see his lover.

He couldn’t wait to cut that unknown Alpha to pieces, so that he could no longer leave any smell on Fu Ge’s body. The constant ruts made him lose his sanity, and the hickey on Fu Ge’s neck made him completely crazy. 

Without saying a word, he dragged the little Beta back into the car.

Only today did Qi Han finally get to know why Fu Ge was crying so desperately at the time, clutching the corner of his clothes helplessly despite the hatred in his eyes.

It was because he had been brought to a gang of executioners by his own lover, but he couldn’t even cry out for help. He had done his best to escape, but Qi Han kept asking him about the details of his affair with his “lover”, making those disgusting images repeat in his mind.

That night the last glimmer of hope in Fu Ge’s eyes was annihilated. He stopped crying, stopped screaming, and became a tattered ornament.

Qi Han hugged him tenderly, but his voice was terribly cold.

He said: “The deal is null and void.”

“When your dad killed my dad, he didn’t give me a chance to look at him again. Why should I give it to you?”

Fu Ge raised his eyes dumbly and let the words pass through his ears: “You will never see him again. Fu Zhenying has been sentenced to death.”

It was also on that day that Fu Ge said the last word to him.

The young Beta yanked off the ring hanging from his neck with his teeth and cut his throat with the sharp surface of the diamond.

The warm blood splashed on his face like hot water, and Qi Han heard Fu Ge’s harsh, hoarse voice: “I will never forgive you…”

After countless punches from Gu Rin, Qi Han’s right eye was full of blood.

He got up in despair and pushed Gu Rin away. A fishy sweet warmth suddenly surged in his throat. He clutched his stomach and shuddered convulsively. He opened his mouth and spat out a large mouthful of blood that splattered all over his face like hot water.

Remorse was like maggots crawling in his bones, burrowing into every ounce of his flesh.

Never to be removed again.

Uncle Gu ‘s call came in at this moment, his voice urgent: “Sir! Young Master Fu is in a coma!”