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Once, We were beautiful

Chapter 20: Lesson in Ruin

Summary:

TW: This chapter contains graphic description of rape. Please be cautious.
Zhenya teaches Taekjoo the real cost of betrayal. Strapped to a chair in the lab, with nowhere to hide, Taekjoo learns what happens when you try to destroy someone like him. Some lessons can only be learned through pain. Taekjoo will find that out the hard way.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The cold metal of the shears pressed flat against Taekjoo's skin, just above the waistband of his briefs. The sensation sent a violent shiver down his spine. Goosebumps erupted across his skin, a futile biological protest against the man looking down at him with such predatory interest.

A strangled snarl of pure hatred tore from his throat. It was the last animal noise left in him.

“Get your fucking hands off me. You Psycho!!!”

Zhenya didn’t flinch, The shears stayed still in his hand. He let out a soft, thoughtful hum.

“Hmmm… There it is,” Zhenya murmured. “The fire. I was beginning to think I had smothered it for good with fear.” He leaned in, his breath a ghost against Taekjoo’s temple. “But no. It’s still there. Fueled by what, I wonder? Pride? Outrage?” He paused. “No… , " he drawled. “It’s arrogance, Taekjoo.”

He said the word like he was diagnosing a fatal flaw.

“Your greatest weakness. The arrogance that made you believe you could sit at my terminal, in my house, using my lab and sabotage my work. That you could fool me. That you could betray me and simply walk away unharmed.”

Taekjoo’s chest heaved, sweat trickled down his body in droplets, he thrashed against the restraints but it was futile. “You stole my work first! You don’t get to call me a betrayer!”Taekjoo shouted furiously

. In the soulless silence of the lab, it sounded desperate, childish even.

"Stole?" Zhenya finally repeated, tasting the word like it was foreign on his tongue.

 A chilling smile touched Zhenya’s lips that didn’t reach his eyes. 

“Ah,” he said softly. “The righteousness of the martyr. How predictable.”

Zhenya straightened his posture, looking down at the screen where Taekjoo’s vitals were screaming.

“Tell me, Taekjoo. How exactly does one steal what already belongs to them? hmm?” His voice was calm and conversational. “I provided the hardware. These server racks, the cooling systems, the very lab;it was all paid for by my accounts. I provided the data. Every string of raw intelligence you used to build those algorithms was harvested by my hands.”

He gestured vaguely to the sprawling, high end equipment surrounding them with his empty hand. This project wasn’t a solo endeavor.. It was a partnership. Our partnership.”

Zhenya’s eyes darkened, the amusement turning into a hard edge.

“So how is it yours only, Taekjoo? How did I steal something that was mine? That was ours?” 

Taekjoo's mouth opened but nothing came out.

Then in a move so casual it was terrifying,Zhenya lifted the shears away from Taekjoo’s skin.With deliberate slowness, he placed them back on the steel trolley. The click of metal on metal was deafening. He watched Taekjoo’s chest flutter with a shallow breath of relief. The fragile hope that the immediate threat had passed.Zhenya saw it. 

“You aren’t a victim of theft. You’re a thief who got caught trying to rob his own home.” 

Before Taekjoo could even process the false reprieve, Zhenya’s hand shot out.

 He gripped Taekjoo’s jaw, his thumb and fingers digging into the skin with brutal pressure, forcing his head up and locking their eyes together.

“You are not the first person to betray me,” Zhenya said, his low conversational voice was more dangerous than any shout. “And you will not be the last. Betrayal is the natural byproduct of dealing with lesser minds. It is a variable I calculate for.”

He increased the pressure on Taekjoo’s jaw, a warning of bone deep pain to come. Taekjoo met his eyes dead on despite the pain.

“But you…” Zhenya’s gaze bored into him, stripped of all amusement now, leaving only a stark truth. “…you are the only one I ever trusted with the foundations. The only one I saw as more than a tool. And for that, you will learn a different lesson.”He released his jaw with a push of a hand.

 His fingers hooked into the thin cotton. He pulled.The fabric ripped with a sick, sharp sound. Threads hung loose and dangled pathetically. The cold air of the lab hit newly exposed skin. Zhenya held the torn fabric in his fist for a moment before letting it drop to the floor.

On the monitor, Taekjoo’s heart rate flatlined for one terrifying second with a sheer, vertical drop before exploding into a frantic, screaming rhythm.

He leaned in again, his shadow swallowing Taekjoo’s trembling form.

“The lesson,” he whispered, “is that I don’t need tools to take you apart.”

“What the fuck are you doing, you bastard!” Taekjoo’s voice cracked into a shout as the fabric of his briefs was torn away, leaving him entirely exposed and helpless. A dangerous premonition clawed at his chest.

Zhenya’s lips curved into a slow, sinister smile as he looked down at his handiwork. The air in the room seemed to drop several degrees, matching the absolute chill in his gaze.

“Relax,” Zhenya murmured, his voice a low, dark purr that sent shivers down Taekjoo’s spine. “I’m not trying to do anything… yet.”

 Zhenya’s hand moved lower, his fingers tracing the exposed skin with a deliberate slowness. He ghosted over the most sensitive areas without quite touching, a psychological torment that felt more unsettling than a blow.

As Zhenya leaned in, his shadow swallowed Taekjoo’s trembling form. The black eagle tattoo on Zhenya’s chest stood out in stark, jagged lines against his own pale skin where his shirt had opened.

Zhenya's fingers worked the ankle buckles. One by one, they came undone.Taekjoo's legs were free. For one stupid heartbeat, he thought,’maybe he's letting me go—’

Then Zhenya's hands closed around his thighs with a grip strong enough to bruise.Then he pushed.Taekjoo's legs were forced apart, spread wide, pinned open. The vulnerability was absolute. His bound arms couldn't reach, couldn't cover or protect. He was displayed completely exposed.

"That's better," Zhenya murmured,

“... Stop it.”

"Shhh," Zhenya hushed, the sound more terrifying for its deceptive softness. "I told you to save your breath. You'll need it later".

The tension in the lab has reached a breaking point, shifting from a technical interrogation to a physical demonstration of Zhenya’s control. Taekjoo’s eyes tracked every movement with frantic desperation as Zhenya reached for the stainless steel trolley. When his fingers closed around a bottle of lubricant, the air seemed to vanish from the room.

"No... no way," Taekjoo choked out, his voice cracking with raw, jagged panic. The sight of the clear gel was the final thread snapping; it couldn't be real. It couldn't be happening to him; not like this. He shook his head in denial. Zhenya’s smile remained sardonic and unhurried as he unscrewed the cap. The sharp click of the plastic mechanism was more final than the locking of the elevator doors.

Taekjoo's breath came in short, sharp gasps. His eyes were locked on the bottle in Zhenya's hand, on the clear gel that caught the harsh overhead light. His mind couldn't process it. Wouldn't process it.

"No." The word came out small. Useless. Zhenya tilted the bottle, letting a small amount coat his fingers. The gesture was casual, almost clinical. Like a doctor preparing for a routine procedure. That was somehow worse than any look of eagerness and lust.

"You have two choices," Zhenya said, his voice calm, conversational. "You can fight. Strain against the restraints. Make this as difficult and painful as possible." He paused, spreading the gel across his fingers with slow, deliberate movements. "Or you can be still. Breathe and Accept what's happening."

He leaned closer, his face inches from Taekjoo's.

"Either way, it happens. The only variable is how much you suffer." He licked Taekjoo's bruised cheek with his moist tongue . It was a feather light touch that belied his words.

Taekjoo's whole body trembled. The ECG monitor screamed its frantic rhythm. He couldn't speak or think straight. He could only watch those slick fingers approach.

"Look at me," Zhenya whispered.

Taekjoo's wild eyes met his.

"That's it," Zhenya murmured. "Don't hide. I want you here for every second."

His hand moved lower. Without warning, he poured the gel directly onto Taekjoo’s inner thighs. The shock of the cold,wet substance was so jarring after the bruising heat of Zhenya’s earlier grip.The gel was slick, almost obscene in its slipperiness. It made his skin feel raw and exposed in a way that went beyond the physical.

"Nngh..." A strangled sound escaped Taekjoo’s throat, immediately swallowed by the hum of the server racks. His body was an enemy now—muscles spasming and breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps that echoed off the polished concrete walls. 

Zhenya watched this reaction with the focused intensity of a scientist observing a particularly interesting specimen. His fingers, still gripping Taekjoo's thighs, began to slide lower, tracing the gel slicked skin with deliberate slowness. 

Taekjoo thrashed against the restraints. "Stop—just stop—"

"You want me to stop?" Zhenya's voice is calm, almost curious. He pauses, tilting his head. "Fine. I'll call the police right now. Tell them you broke into my system. Tried to destroy intellectual property. Corporate espionage is a serious crime, Taekjoo. You would be deported within a month or worse, you will spend the rest of your pathetic life in jail."

Taekjoo froze.

"No?" Zhenya asked mockingly. "Didn't think so. Because we both know what happens if the police get involved. Your scholarship vanishes. Your mother finds out her brilliant son is a criminal. The bullies you're so desperate to prove wrong get to watch you fall."

He leans in.

"So stop pretending you have options. You don't. The only choice you have is how much you fight me. And fighting me..." His hand moves lower. "...just makes this take longer."

“Untie me!” Taekjoo’s voice was a jagged rasp, echoing off the cold, white walls. He strained against the leather, the restraints creaking as he fought to pull his wrists free. “Untie me and I’ll kill you. I’ll rip your throat out, I swear—”

He turned, his icy blue eyes sweeping over Taekjoo’s struggling form.

“You’re mistaken, Taekjoo,” Zhenya murmured, his voice smooth and devoid of any heat. He stepped closer, the heels of his boots clicking rhythmically on the polished floor.

He leaned in, his shadow swallowing Taekjoo’s face.

“These restraints aren't for my safety,” Zhenya whispered, a small, dark smile touching his lips. “They’re for yours. I would hate for you to hurt yourself while you’re providing the answers I need.”

He patted Taekjoo’s cheek. “Now, be quiet." Zhenya said, his voice dropping to a final, deadly register. "I think you’ve talked enough.”

With showy, terrifying finality, Zhenya coated his latex-gloved fingers in a generous amount of lubricant. His hand glistened under the harsh lab lights, the clear gel gleaming with an obscene clarity. Taekjoo instinctively tried to clamp his knees together, a futile attempt to shield his most private self from the man he had once called his partner.

Zhenya didn't hesitate. He reached out and grabbed Taekjoo’s ankles with a single hand, folding his body upward until Taekjoo's knees were pinned against his own chest. The position was absolute, stripping away the last of his dignity and exposing the tight, vulnerable heat that had already been slicked with the cold gel.

With mock gentleness, Zhenya began to circle the rim with his thumb. The touch was methodical, almost surgical in its precision, yet the psychological weight of it caused Taekjoo’s entire body to erupt in violent tremors. Goosebumps bloomed across his skin.

Zhenya watched the reaction with that same malicious interest, his glistening fingers poised at the entrance, ready to invade the foundation he intended to break.

"Mmm, so tight,relax if you don't want to hurt yourself… or dont." he whispered, his breath hot against Taekjoo's exposed flesh. Zhenya's thumb pressed deeper, sliding halfway into Taekjoo's tight entrance with a slow, deliberate push. The lube made the initial penetration easier but there was no mistaking the body's resistance.He could feel every involuntary spasm, every desperate attempt by Taekjoo's body to reject him. The sight of Taekjoo's flushed face red with humiliation, eyes squeezed shut, teeth gritted only intensified Zhenya's dark satisfaction. This was exactly what he wanted, to break through every barrier, every defense.Zhenya's other hand moved to Taekjoo's hip, gripping the soft flesh hard enough to bruise. His fingers dug in, holding Taekjoo in place as his thumb pushed deeper.

His thumb moved in slow, deliberate circles, stretching the tight ring of muscle with each motion. The sensation was sharp, invasive, designed to overwhelm and humiliate.

Zhenya withdrew his thumb with deliberate slowness before sliding two fingers into Taekjoo's stretched entrance. The lube made the penetration easier but he didn't stop there. He curled his fingers, driving them deeper into the tight warmth, his knuckles pressing against Taekjoo's inner walls.

"Ahhh... Nghhh..." The strangled sound escaped Taekjoo's lips before he could stop it.

"Good boy," Zhenya purred, his voice a low rumble as he began to move his fingers in slow, deliberate circles. The motion was calculated to reach the most sensitive spots, to make Taekjoo feel every invasive touch. His fingers scraped against the inner walls with each stroke, the sensation both pleasurable and humiliating.

He increased the pace slightly, his fingers moving faster now, stretching Taekjoo further with each thrust. The sight of Taekjoo's body;bound, exposed and trembling was intoxicating.

Zhenya's expression shifted into something darker, more possessive as he added a third finger to the two already buried deep inside Taekjoo. The stretch was exquisite. Taekjoo's inner walls clenching around his fingers, the body's desperate attempt to accommodate the intrusion.

"Unghh..." The strangled sound was music to Zhenya's ears.

He didn't stop.Instead, he pressed deeper, his three gloved fingers now fully buried in Taekjoo's tight heat.

“Stop,” Taekjoo pleaded, his voice hoarse and jagged with a desperation he could no longer hide. “Argghhh... it hurts...”

Zhenya withdrew his fingers with agonizing slowness. The wet, slick sound of the extraction was obscene in the suffocating silence of the lab. But the reprieve was a lie.

Before Taekjoo could even catch his breath, Zhenya’s hand, which was still glistening with lubricant and the heat of Taekjoo’s body,came down with a violet motion.

SLAP! The sound cracked through the room like a gunshot, echoing off the stainless steel equipment. The force of the strike made the flesh ripple and jiggle, the impact vibrating through Taekjoo's entire lower body.

“Ahh!” Taekjoo cried out in a raw shocked voice. His body convulsed against the leather straps, muscles clenching and unclenching involuntarily as the sting radiated through the soft tissue. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, fueled by a searing mixture of physical pain and the absolute degradation of his position.

Zhenya's icy blue eyes gleamed with dark satisfaction as he watched the frantic rhythm of the ECG monitor spike once more.The pulse oximeter glowed red. The neuralink feed displayed every misfiring synapse, every spike of pain and humiliation translated into clean, digital lines.He would compare this later. Run it through Harpe's analysis protocols. See how close the prediction came to reality. The data was almost as beautiful as the damage.

"Mmm, that's it," Zhenya murmured, his voice a low purr. "Show me how much it hurts.”

He raised his hand again, fingers still glistening with evidence of his violation. .Zhenya's hand hovered in the air, fingers tensed and ready to strike again. He could see Taekjoo's body tensing in anticipation, muscles contracting reflexively, eyes squeezed shut in a futile attempt to escape the reality of his situation.

But something stopped him. It wasnt mercy or pity. Zhenya didn't possess either of those things. It was the position. The way Taekjoo was curled into himself on the narrow chair, arms pinned at his sides, spine curved protectively like a defensive ball. A creature trying to make itself small. Violence for violence's sake was inefficient.He lowered his hand. Taekjoo's breath hitched, confused. Waiting for the blow that hadn't landed. 

Instead , Zhenya's hand moved to the lever of the medical chair, pulling it downward with a mechanical click. The lower section fell, Zhenya's hands closed around Taekjoo's hips and pulled.

The sudden motion dragged Taekjoo down the slick surface of the chair, his bound arms straining against the restraints as his shoulders wrenched forward. A sharp cry escaped his throat. The position changed completely. His spine curved, his head fell back, and suddenly his throat was arched and bare, offered up to the cold lab air.

Zhenya's fingers moved with practiced efficiency, undoing the restraints on Taekjoo's ankles. He immediately pulled the legs apart, Zhenya stepped closer, settling between Taekjoo's spread legs. One hand left his hip and came up to trace along the exposed line of his neck, feeling the pulse hammering beneath the skin.

"There," Zhenya murmured. "That's better."

Zhenya's breathing had grown heavy, his muscular frame tense with barely contained desire.His hand moved to adjust his expensive trousers, the fabric tented slightly as evidence of his arousal. He unbuckled his belt ,the leather creaked. The teeth of zip ripped with a sharp sound.

Zhenya pulled out his cock.He stroked it languidly showing takejoo full length and girth.He leaned down, his face inches from Taekjoo's, his breath hot against his lips. 

His massive thick, veiny length was already glistening with pre cum. Zhenya stroked it slowly, deliberately, ensuring Taekjoo got a full view of what was coming for him.

During their first time, Taekjoo had been lost in a haze of alcohol, the memories blurred and soft at the edges. But now, pinned to the chair and stripped of his dignity, he was sober. He was awake. He was forced to face the reality of the man standing between his legs.. Zhenya flashed a sharp, knowing grin, reading the terror in Taekjoo’s eyes like he was reading a line of code.

He positioned himself at Taekjoo's entrance, the thick head of his cock pressing against the tight ring of muscle. His other hand gripped Taekjoo's hip, holding him in place.Just as glans touched the hole ,precum leaked making the entrance wet and slippery. Then, he pushed.

He moved slowly and steadily, letting his massive length stretch Taekjoo open inch by agonizing inch. The lubricant helped the slide but it couldn't completely prepare a body for the size of Zhenya's cock.

"Ahhh," Taekjoo gasped, his body convulsing as Zhenya's thick shaft breached his entrance. The burning stretch was overwhelming. Zhenya's eyes darkened with satisfaction, his breathing growing heavier as he sank deeper.

Zhenya pulled back slightly before driving forward with brutal force. The motion was swift, powerful. His hips snapping forward as his massive cock thrust deep in one fluid motion.

Taekjoo's scream tore from his throat, a raw, agonized sound that echoed through the sterile lab. His body bucked and twitched, muscles spasming as Zhenya's entire length of thick, hard flesh seated itself balls deep inside him.

The pain was blinding, a fire that consumed his every thought. Taekjoo's inner walls spasmed desperately around the invading cock but it was futile. Zhenya's size was too much, stretching him to the point of tears.

"Arghhh!" Taekjoo cried out again, his voice breaking, his body trembling violently. Tears streamed down his flushed cheeks, mixing with the sweat that dripped from his forehead.Zhenya's eyes gleamed with dark satisfaction as he watched Taekjoo's reaction.

 "Feel that? That's what betrayal costs.", Zhenya murmured,never stopping his pace, his voice a low growl of pleasure.

 Each thrust was designed to maximize the friction between pleasure and pain, a brutal reminder of Taekjoo’s new reality.

He wasn't a partner anymore. He was the subject.

The wet, obscene sounds of their bodies connecting filled the lab, mingling with Taekjoo's choked whimpers and gasps. Zhenya's breathing grew ragged, his powerful frame tensing with building pleasure. 

Zhenya’s eyes flickered downward, fixating on Taekjoo’s exposed chest. A hungry, dark smile curved his lips as he reached out, his large hands gripping both sensitive nipples. He flattened the small peaks with his thumbs before, with deliberate cruelty, twisting them simultaneously.

"Ahhh!" Taekjoo cried out, his body jerking with the sharp, unexpected pain. But even as the pain registered, something else stirred deep within him;a confusing, unwanted heat that bloomed in his core. The twisted sensation in his nipples sent strange signals racing through his nerves, directly to the point where Zhenya's massive cock was still buried deep inside him.

His inner walls fluttered around Zhenya in a desperate, involuntary grip, squeezing him. 

Taekjoo's body had gone rigid, his breathing hitching, a telltale sign of pleasure despite the pain, despite the humiliation..

“Fuck— “ he tilted his head to side in shame knowing zhenya felt the shift aswell.Zhenya twisted the nipples harder, his fingers sinking deeper into the flesh until the skin began to flush pink from the rough handling. "Your body knows what it wants, even if your mind doesn't."

Zhenya's other hand moved to Taekjoo's throat, not choking him, but simply holding the delicate skin of his neck in a firm grip. Each stroke was punctuated by the twisting of Taekjoo's nipples, the combination of sensations overwhelming his senses.The sensation was maddening. The biting pain in his chest acted as a catalyst, amplifying the deep, stretching fullness of the invasion below. Taekjoo’s mind fractured; he was a battleground of conflicting signals.

 The pleasure was building to an unbearable peak, threatening to shatter him completely.He bit down hard on his lower lip until he tasted blood, his teeth sinking into the soft flesh, desperately trying to stifle the desperate moans clawing their way up his throat. But it was useless. His body betrayed him with soft, helpless whimpers that escaped around his teeth.

Zhenya's breath was a searing heat against Taekjoo’s neck. His lips found the sensitive cord of muscle there, sucking with a possessive intensity before his teeth grazed the skin. But as he pressed closer, Zhenya felt a rhythmic, pulsing heat against his own abdomen.

Despite the agony, the terror and the absolute hatred burning in his chest, Taekjoo’s body had reached a physiological breaking point. His cock was hard, flushed a deep, desperate red, leaking pre cum that pooled against his skin in a silent admission of defeat.

“Mmm,” Zhenya hummed against Taekjoo’s skin, his voice vibrating with dark, cruel amusement. He didn't need to say a word, the irony was loud enough to fill the room.Zhenya’s hand moved down, his large palm wrapping around the sensitive, throbbing length. He began to stroke it with a slow, agonizingly firm grip.

As Zhenya’s thumb swiped over the weeping tip, a broken, high pitched whimper tore from Taekjoo’s throat; it was a sound of pure, unadulterated pleasure that felt like a hot blade through his dignity. His hips bucked instinctively into Zhenya’s hand aching for more pleasure, a traitorous moan escaping his lips before he could bite it back.

Zhenya’s hand stopped its rhythmic torture just as Taekjoo’s breath hitched, his hips bucking in a desperate, mindless plea for the end.

“No,” Zhenya whispered. “You don’t get to feel good, Taekjoo. You don't get the mercy of a release.”

He reached for the trolley, his fingers closing around a heavy, solid circle of polished surgical steel. It was freezing to the touch, a stark contrast to the feverish heat of the lab. Without ceremony, he pushed it past Taekjoo's lips. The metal was cold, shocking against his tongue. Taekjoo gagged instinctively but Zhenya held it there, letting saliva pool and run down the sides of his mouth, coating the surface in a warm, wet sheen.

Taekjoo's eyes watered. The sensation was overwhelming;the taste of metal and latex, the stretch of his jaw.The humiliation of being used like this, like an object, like a tool for someone else's preparation. His tongue pressed against the ring, useless and desperate, while spit dripped down his chin.Zhenya watched, expression unchanged then slowly pulled it out. The ring gleamed wet in the lab light.

"Good," he said quietly. "You can still be useful."

Taekjoo’s eyes widened as he saw the small, unforgiving diameter of the metal. "No... please..."

Zhenya ignored the plea. He grabbed the head of Taekjoo’s engorged, pulsing length with a firm, black-gloved grip. With the clinical indifference of a man threading a needle, he pressed the cold steel against the sensitive, flushed tip. The shock of the cold caused the tissue to flinch, a momentary contraction that gave Zhenya the opening he needed. He didn't hesitate. With a brutal, steady pressure, he forced the solid ring over the widest part of the head.

"ARGH! FUCK! " Taekjoo’s back slammed against the chair, his scream muffled by his own gritted teeth as the steel bit into him.He shook his head from overwhelming pain. The ring was a fraction too small, necessitating a slow, agonizing squeeze that forced the blood backward before it finally popped over the ridge and slid down to the base.The effect was instantaneous and terrifying.

The steel didn't stretch, It sat tight against the pelvic bone, acting as a permanent dam that trapped the blood in the shaft. Taekjoo’s cock turned a dark, purple-red, forced into a state of permanent, throbbing tension that felt like it was on the verge of bursting.

Zhenya leaned down, his eyes scanning the monitors as the Neuralink recorded the specific, high frequency noise of sustained, unrelieved arousal and pain.

"There," Zhenya murmured, patting Taekjoo’s sweating thigh. "Now you’ll stay exactly like this—on the verge of a breakdown, but never allowed to fall. “

"Now," Zhenya said, his voice dropping to a low growl as he resumed his earlier ministrations. Zhenya's hips began to move again, pulling back before slamming forward with brutal force. Each thrust sent jolts of pleasure-pain through Taekjoo's entire being.

Taekjoo’s breath hitched into a sob. The firm, rhythmic glide of Zhenya’s hand was maddening, a physical bliss that felt like a violation of his very soul. He was being mapped, calibrated, and used and his own body was providing the ink for the blueprint.The ring created a constant, firm pressure around Taekjoo's shaft, preventing blood from flowing too freely to the tip. Every stroke of Zhenya's hand sent sharp jolts of pleasure through the bound flesh but it was pleasure without release.

"Unghh! Aghhh, ahhh ahhh" Taekjoo cried out, his voice breaking as the sensations built and built with no possibility of relief. His hips bucked involuntarily, seeking more friction, more pressure, even as his mind screamed at the injustice of it.

He increased his pace, his hand stroking faster along the ringed shaft.. The combination of sensations was driving Taekjoo to the brink of insanity. It was a pleasure so intense it was almost agony, with no end in sight.

Zhenya's own pleasure was building as well, his cock throbbing deep inside Taekjoo's tight heat. He could feel Taekjoo's inner walls clenching around him, desperate and needy. Taekjoo's defiance had evaporated, leaving behind only raw, desperate need. His glassy eyes stared up at the ceiling, unfocused, his mind unable to process anything beyond the overwhelming sensations coursing through his body. The hatred, the anger, the pride, all of it had been burned away by the relentless, torturous pleasure that Zhenya was inflicting upon him.

His body was betraying him in the most humiliating way possible. He didn't want this.He didn't want to feel this good, didn't want to need the release that Zhenya was denying him but his body didn't care about his pride. There was no dignity left. There was only the overwhelming, maddening pleasure that was driving him crazy, making him yearn for a release he didn't want but desperately needed.

"Ahhh... ahhh..Zhen...ya…." 

Soft, desperate moans escaped his lips, his voice breaking with every sound. He couldn't hold back the noises anymore, couldn't maintain the silence he had tried so hard to keep. His body was screaming for relief, and the screams came out as pathetic, needy whimpers.\The world was narrowing down to a single, blinding point of white heat. The friction of the ring, the biting sting on his chest, and the deep, invasive stretch of Zhenya’s cock were too much. It was a tidal wave of data that Taekjoo’s mind could no longer translate.

Zhenya felt the shift, the exact moment Taekjoo’s nervous system began to redline. The sight of the other man’s total, broken surrender pushed Zhenya over the edge. His pace became frantic, a brutal force that sought to claim every remaining inch of Taekjoo’s interior. With a low, animalistic growl that sounded more like a predator’s roar than a man’s voice, Zhenya stiffened. He buried himself to the hilt, his hips locking against Taekjoo’s . Zhenya's cock pulsed , spilling thick ropes of cum deep within the tight heat. The sheer intensity of Zhenya’s release, coupled with the unrelenting pressure of the cock ring and the lack of oxygen, was the final blow.

Taekjoo tried to draw one more breath but his lungs felt heavy, useless.His breath was coming in short, useless hitches, his lungs burning as he struggled to find air. On the monitor, the ECG line became a blur of static. Taekjoo’s eyes rolled back, his eyelids fluttering as the sterile lab lights began to dim into a fuzzy haze.

The last thing he felt wasn't the release he craved but a terrifying lightness. His head fell back against the headrest, his body going limp against the restraints even as the steel ring kept him obscenely, painfully hard.

Zhenya felt the change immediately, the sudden loss of resistance, the way the moans died down.. He stopped, his eyes fixed on the monitors as the Neuralink feed plummeted from a storm of activity into the flat hum of unconsciousness.

 He reached out, brushing a damp strand of hair from Taekjoo’s pale, slack face.his touch almost tender in contrast to the brutal torture he had just inflicted. The moment Taekjoo’s body went limp, the hungry, mocking smile vanished, leaving Zhenya's face a cold, unreadable mask of stone.

The performance was over.

-----------------

Notes:

I've never explained the title of this fic before. I think this is the right chapter for it.

Once We Were Beautiful comes from a Urdu poem—کبھی ہم خوبصورت تھے. It roughly translates to this:

~~~~~

We were beautiful once
We were beautiful once

Like a fragrance nestled in books
Breath was still
With so many unspoken words
We would paint pictures
Writing verse on the wings of birds
We would recite them
To the people living in distant lakes
Who were far from us
Yet remained with us

When the journey of the new day
Would descend into the courtyard
Along with the ray of light
We would say
"Kiss us on the forehead
For we must go to the land of fireflies
And butterflies
The fireflies of colors
The butterflies of light are calling us"

The journey of the new day
Drenched in color
Beckons from the window
Kiss us on the forehead
Kiss us on the forehead
Kiss us on the forehead

~~~~~~
This poem holds innocence, ambition, hope and shared dreams. Things these characters once had. Things they've lost.
This chapter shows the version of them that exists after all of that. The tragedy isn't just the darkness. It's that there was once something worth losing. That's the "before and after" I've been writing all along.
When I finished the draft of story months ago, I remembered the Taekjoo from chapter 1. I remembered how brilliant, confident and beautiful he was. How different everything felt. That's when I knew what I wanna name this fic.

This chapter is why the title is 'Once'.
Also as someone who enjoys reading dark themes it's somehow hard for me to write them. So, this chapter pushed me out of my comfort zone. I originally had more planned for this chapter but my dad is currently in the hospital and I couldn't bring myself to write more .So I'm gonna upload this part as it is and I think it still works. Thank you for reading 💖. Remember me in your prayers.