Page 16 of Love of the Egoist
With a nod Greg removed himself from Yugo’s office, closing the door.
Yugo twizzled the cigarette butt around his fingers, then crushed it in the ashtray.
“Not a virgin, you say? Yeah, right… Your body is much more honest than you are,” he muttered, satisfaction curled his lips in a sarcastic smile. He got up and left the room.
??E??
WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING HERE?Yugo wondered as he descended the basement stairs. Something itched in his chest, enticing him as he strolled aimlessly around the mansion—something similar to curiosity.
He stilled as soon as his foot touched the concrete floor, and the humidity washed over him. Revolted by the damp smell he cringed and patted his pockets, looking for a cigarette; wincing when he found none.
The buzzing noise of the tube lamps vibrated in his ears, irritating him further.
He leaned against the wall, scanning his surroundings. He hadn’t come down here for a while and now the basement looked oddly unfamiliar. The smooth floor was a few shades darker around one drain, the green hose hung on the wall, and a shiny drop bounced at the tip, threatening to fall any moment. A pair of tennis shoes lay on the floor under the staircase.
It was hot, too hot. Yugo tugged his black silk tie, loosened his collar, then glanced toward the cell.
In the far corner, a naked man lay on a thin mat curled up into a ball. Even from sixty feet away Yugo could tell Kuon was trembling.
Watching the strong, beautiful body, not long ago full of youthful energy, Yugo thought how easy it was to break a man. He knew everything about it. Kuon wasn’t his first and certainly wouldn’t be his last. He would never have become who he was if he had started thinking about the price of human life every time he had to make a choice. To be the one standing at the top of the hill, he could never hesitate. The lesson had been learned long ago. And now this cocky boy, who happened to cross paths with him, was doomed to suffer.
The provocative show the boy had put on for him surfaced in front of his eyes and Yugo chuckled. His mood lightened. He stretched his back and cracked his finger joints, anticipating the fun he would have with his new toy.
Yeah, right, not a virgin my ass…
He climbed the stairs and put his hand on a handle, intending to leave, when a soft moan reached his ears and diffused into quietness. Faint and powerless, the moan didn’t tally with Kuon’s cheeky personality. Maybe that’s why it hit Yugo the way it did.
Stricken with curiosity, he went down again, approached the cell, and opened the door. The metal screeched and echo picking up the piercing noise, dragged it around the vast space.
Tilting his head, Yugo moved closer to the curled up prisoner.
“Hey, Leiris?” he called. The young man didn’t move.
Not satisfied, Yugo kneeled beside him, his fingers snaked under Kuon’s sweat-drenched nape and rolled his head toward him.
Sunken eyes with purple circles stood out against the background of Kuon’s bluish, bloodless skin, glistening with sweat. Dried blood covered his swollen lips.
Shock?
Brushing his palm against a pallid cheek, Yugo pulled down Kuon’s lower eyelid with his fingertips. A bloody shroud clouded the white of his eye, merging with the dark brown iris.
Yugo frowned and tilted his head. Peering into the bruised face he wavered for a second, uttered a curse under his breath, then hooked his hands under Kuon’s head and knees.
“I will so rue this…” he breathed and picked up the senseless body. Trembling and hot, Kuon was lighter than he expected, giving they were approximately the same height and build. “Damn, you are burning…”
Straightening up, he mused, “Why the fuck am I even bothered with you? Should have killed you sooner…”
Despite these words, he did exactly the opposite.
He went up to his room, ignoring curious looks of his subordinates and housekeepers, and put the young man on his own bed.
What the hell am I doing?
Feeling deeply manipulated, he wanted to send for a doctor when weak fingers seized his forearm. They seared his skin with the arctic frost.
“Don’t go…” the begging, frail voice was barely audible. “Cold…”
BA-DUMP!His heart skipped a beat, leaped forward, and doubled its rate within a few seconds. He froze, unable to move, staring at the half-opened, cloudy red eyes that looked through him, then to the shaking fingers.
