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Kinn stared at the tabletop, resting his chin on top of his folded hands.
Kim sat across from him; head thrown back as he stared at the ceiling.
The youngest Theerapanyakun brothers faced the most horrid dilemma known to man.
An upset lover.
Chay was mad at Kim, thanks to Kim lying to him for the majority of their relationship, platonic or otherwise, (they still hadn't had the conversation, they still hadn't pulled themselves out of the strange gray area where they'd get viciously jealous of anyone getting close to the other, while still being 'just friends'), while Porsche was mad at Kinn thanks to his treatment of Vegas.
Now, thanks to their lack of understanding of the real world, neither of the brothers saw either of these things as issues.
For Kim, lying was second nature, that's what he always did. He deceived Chay at first in order to protect his own brother, guard him from another heartbreak. Kim hadn't been living in the main house at the time, but he knew what Tawan had done to his older brother. Kinn had been broken in a way he'd never been before and that was... Scary.
Kinn had always been the strongest person that Kim knew, so seeing him so destroyed, practically torn apart, merely because of love... Kim had vowed to himself that day, when he saw Kinn nearly catatonic after the betrayal he'd suffered, that he would never fall in love.
And then... Chay.
Chay changed everything for Kim, with his soft, sweet smiles, his quiet, gentle care. He didn't know the things Kim had done, didn't know about the blood that stained his palms, which is probably why he loved Kim so wholly.
Or, so Kim had thought.
As it turned out, Chay knew the entire time, and, in his own tearful words, had told Kim he was just waiting, waiting for Kim to own up and tell him the truth.
Chay had screamed at him, that night after he dropped Chay off at home, had screamed that he had known from the very beginning, but he was waiting, hoping that Kim would just tell the truth. That it was like a knife twisting in his chest, every day that went by that Kim didn't tell him but he couldn't bring himself to leave because he just loved Kim too damn much.
Kim wanted to shout in delight because Chay had told him he loved him, but Chay kicked him out immediately after, leaving him to stew over his own mistakes.
Kinn was in trouble for, as it turns out, being mean to Vegas of all people.
Porsche and Vegas had bonded after that party they met at; they had become incredibly close. Kinn preened at the fact that even he was close with Vegas, Porsche would always choose to spend time with him over Vegas.
But still, there was something ugly in the back of Kinn's head that screamed that Porsche as just like Tawan, which wasn't true, they weren't even together, and Porsche was so good, too good for someone like Kinn, that he could never turn out like Tawan. He was just... Scared, that this would be over and ruined before it even began.
After Porsche had snapped at him for what he had said about Vegas, they hadn't talked at all. Porsche would give him short, one-word responses, or if necessary, the bare basics of mission reports.
Kinn supposed it was a testament to just how much Porsche meant to him, that he was stressing over it this much, on the verge of a breakdown, trying to figure out how to get Porsche to just talk to him. Tell him what was wrong, just something.
He had never truly been allowed to care about others, even his brothers, which was something he would always regret, but the power that came with being the head of the family came with an equal amount of pressure.
It was like a scale.
On one hand was feeling, living, being a normal human, and on the other side was work, responsibility, being a leader. If measured in stones, he had about a million on the side of pressure, and any one stone on the side of feeling weighed about the same as two million stones. It was crushing, but for one moment, just for one small moment, he wanted to toss off the scale, curl against Porsche's side and hide from the rest of the world.
But first, he had to win Porsche back.
He and Kim looked up at the same time and made eye contact.
"What do we do?" They said, in perfect sync.
At that, Kinn couldn't help but laugh, which made Kim furrow his brow, but then, he, too, laughed at the open, joyous expression on Kinn's face.
For once, they were open about their feelings, free with their laughter and delight.
Later, they would both be crushed by reality once more, and pure unadulterated terror about losing the people they love, but for now, they were happy.
They were brothers.