Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kim disappeared just as he appeared in Chay’s life – suddenly, without a warning. Without a warning, Kim made his way into his life and into his heart. Of course, Porchay had always been a big fan of Wik and his music, but he never anticipated that he would be lucky enough to get to know him on a personal level. And even more than that, for a split moment he was made to believe that he and Kim were actually a thing, an item. 

It was all but an illusion. 

A lie. 

A lie that Chay had been trying to run away, to hide away. To shield his heart away from the heartbreak when Kim was trying to come back into his life again. After the war ended between the families, Kim was relentlessly trying to get back into Chay’s life, he’s been trying to apologise and Porchay knew that, but he just couldn’t do it. 

Forgiving Kim for betraying him like that was something that he just couldn’t seem to do. It was perhaps because he was acting out, for once he didn’t want people to walk all over him. Not again. Good things never happened to him, so when he thought Kim’s heart actually held the same feeling for him, Porchay was overjoyed. 

He decided to ignore all of the redflags. 

Porchay went into the relationship, his heart first and thus he got his heart broken. Mending a broken heart was something that he wasn’t used to. Not like this. A heartbreak never hurt like this, not before this. Not even when he and Porsche fought, Chay had never been put out on the spot like this. He’d never known pain like this. When he would think of happy memories with Kim, it was like the air had been punched out of his lungs.

Chay hated it.

Chay hated that he was so stupid, that he made himself believe that he could actually meet someone that could love him. Romantically. And that was why he decided to block Kim’s existence as much as he could. He blocked his number, he deleted every single text message that he sent to him in the past. He deleted every single photo that the two of them took together 

Porchay was determined to erase that he ever had feelings for Kim. It wasn’t that he hated Kim. It would be easier if he managed to hate him. It would be much, much easier. But, he couldn’t. Sure, he tried pretending that he didn’t give a damn about it, but the truth was that Kim still had his heart in his hands. No matter how much Chay tried to pretend that Kim didn’t exist, it was no use. 

Kim kept sending texts, relentlessly. Even if Chay blocked him, Kim found a new way to contact him again, but Chay deleted the texts, he deleted it all. The only thing that he didn’t delete was the song that Kim sent, their song. It was a song for him. And that was something that Chay couldn’t delete.

And then one day, the texts finally stopped. Chay thought it was supposed to make him happy – it should, shouldn’t it? The texts were gone, that meant that Kim finally got the message. That he finally decided to let Chay move on. It was hard to move on when he had Kim texting him every single day, but when the texts stopped, Kim could finally breathe.

Could he, though?

At first, yes. He was much calmer, happier that Kim stopped texting him. Then, calmness turned into anxiety, worry – Kim moved on from him? Chay was supposed to be happy, but it was worse than that. After months passed since Kim had last contacted him, Chay got worried. It wasn’t just that Kim stopped contacting him.

Others haven’t seen Kim either. Kim wasn’t the type of a person that would hang around his family too much, but he would still come when he was called. When things were serious, Kim would always come when he was called. But, when Kinn called him a few months later, Kim didn’t show up. After trying to reach out to him, it was to no avail.

It was like Kim disappeared. Every trace of him, gone.

The phone numbers that Chay had blocked?

The number you have dialled has not been recognised.

Every single one of them didn’t exist anymore.

 Kim’s apartment? Empty. 

Kinn did his very best to make sure that he would be able to find his brother, but no matter how much time and money he tried putting into tracing Kim, he couldn’t find him. No one could. Kinn even reached out to the connections their family had outside of the country, to call him immediately if any of them would be able to find any lead.

After two years of extensive searching, no one could find Kim. There were two possibilities – it was either Kim didn’t want to be found, or something happened to him. Kim had his ways, he knew people, so Kinn was pretty confident that Kim was still out there, somewhere. Perhaps he was in trouble, running away from people. Kinn worried, but there was only so much that he could do.

As much as it killed Kinn, he never stopped his search for Kim.

Chay couldn’t help but to feel that this was his fault. Kim’s been trying to get in contact with him prior to this, but he didn’t let him and when he realised that something serious could’ve happened to Kim was when he finally opened his eyes and realised the mistake that he made by pushing Kim away so much. 

Chay had wished for Kim to disappear out of his life and his wish came true.

Just what did he do?

Porsche told him not to blame himself and as time passed, Chay decided that the best thing was to ‘’move on’’. He didn’t believe in moving on from this, not like this, but at least that was how he managed to ease Porsche’s mind. After weeks of spending in his room, Porsche decided that he would wake up with a smile on his face for Porsche. That he would keep on pushing, no matter how tired he was. 

Fake it till you make it… wasn’t really working out for him in the long run, but for now… he managed to trick Porsche into believing that he was doing just fine. Living with the main family meant that he had everything that he ever wanted and yet he never felt lonelier.

Chay felt guilty for it because he knew that everyone was trying their best, but there was nothing that could fill the growing hole in his heart. The weight pressing down onto his chest, the guilt that made him wake up sobbing in the middle of the nights. Because in his mind, he was the one that caused this. 

Chay was the one who drove Kim away.

Chay had a little smile as Porsche followed him to his room, keeping his eyes on him. It’s been two years since Chay had last seen Kim in person. Two years since he had last heard from him. Two years filled with nothing but pointless days.

“Chay?” asked Porsche and Chay managed to snap himself back to reality and he quickly made sure that the smile was still there.

“Mn?”

“Everything okay?” asked Porsche and Porchay’s eyes were slightly unfocused and he slowly nodded. 

“Just a long day at uni,” said Chay. “I have a ton of work to do, professors were ruthless,” said Porchay and managed to relax when he saw that Porsche seemed to buy his lies. 

University was hectic, but Chay liked it. It helped him to think of something else rather than the mess that his mind had become. 

“Ah,” said Porsche and gently tapped his shoulder. “You’ve got this, you’re a good student. Though, still make sure that you’re not stressing out too much,” said Porsche and Chay slowly nodded.

“I know. Don’t worry, I’ve got it all covered.”

“Okay,” said Porsche. 

“I better get to it. I have two assignments until tomorrow,” said Porchay. It wasn’t a lie, but he had already finished both of them. He was just more tired than usual that day. 

Perhaps it was because he thought he saw Kim through the window, waiting by the gates of the university he attended. The look on Kim’s face was solemn, calm, and sad. Of course when he took another, closer look, there was no one standing there anymore. The chances that he really saw Kim standing there were slim, close to none. It wasn’t the first time it happened, either, so…

Perhaps he was losing his mind.

Perhaps it was his wishful thinking. He’s been missing Kim so much that he has started seeing him in other people.

After Porsche left, Porchay locked himself into his room, threw himself on his bed and took out his old phone he kept locked in his drawer. There was only one thing of value on that phone; the video he received from Kim. He didn’t dare to transfer it onto his new phone, he kept it hidden there for moments like this. When it got too hard for him, so whenever he wanted to see Kim, he…

A sad smile spread across Chay’s face when Kim appeared on the screen, pressing his lips together as he listened to Kim singing and he slowly closed his eyes, his grip around his phone tightening and he took a deep breath, pressing a hand against his mouth to even out his breathing. 

Porsche couldn’t hear him crying.

“ This is for Porchay, ” was what Kim said and the video ended, but Chay replayed it again, hiccuping and he sank his teeth into his lower lip.

“I want to see you again,” whispered Chay and angrily wiped his tears away. It didn’t matter how, he wanted to see him again. Be it a dream, if not reality. “I miss you,” he hiccuped and closed his eyes as he pressed the phone against his chest. 

“Why didn’t you stay for me?”

As always that question was left unanswered. 

Chapter Text

Porchay sighed and slowly lifted his gaze, glancing at Macau. The two of them met up on their way back home from university and decided to go grab something to eat together. Now that the war has ended, things have settled down. Things weren’t always peaceful, but it was working out, at least better than before. The two sides of the family were somehow working together.

Porchay and Macau became friends as well, which was another good change. Perhaps it was the only good change that happened in Porchay’s life and he swallowed thickly, narrowing his eyes when he saw a guy eyeing him and Macau from the corner of the cafe and he shuddered. Chay didn’t like the way he was looking at the two of them.

“What’s up with him?” grumbled Porchay and Macau lifted his gaze, laughing under his breath. “What?”

“You haven’t noticed?” asked Macau and Chay cocked his head to the side.

“Noticed what? ”

“We’re regulars here, right?” asked Macau and Chay stuffed his face with food.

“Yeah, so?”

Macau rolled his eyes – he liked his friend, but sometimes he was really, really dense.

“You really haven’t noticed that he’s been coming back ever since last month?” asked Macau with amusement in his voice and Chay shrugged. He didn’t really have the attention span to notice that and he just glanced down, sinking down his chair. Even so, what was he supposed to do with that information? Did they have a stalker?

“So what you’re telling me is that he’s a stalker,” said Chay and Macau groaned.

“No,” said Macau and started massaging his temples. “He’s been coming back here because of you. ”

“Oh, so I’ve gotten a stalker. Yay me,” said Chay sarcastically and Macau slapped himself across the forehead.

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?” asked Macau impatiently and Chay sighed.

“What in the world are you talking about?”

“He’s into you,” finally said Macau and Porchay’s eyes widened. Just to make sure, Porchay glanced over to the guy sitting in the corner of the room and he narrowed his eyes. As soon as the guy noticed that he’s been caught staring at Chay, he quickly looked away and Porchay sighed under his breath.

It didn’t really matter to him – sure, the guy was easy on the eyes and it looked like he went to their school, but none of that really mattered because Porchay just wasn’t ready to start a new relationship. Well, his first ever relationship. What he and Kim had hardly counted as one. Again spiralling, Porchay shook his head and huffed under his breath.

“I’m not interested,” mumbled Porchay and Macau pressed his lips together.

“If this is about Kim-”

“Also, how do you know he’s interested in me?” asked Porchay. “He could be coming here because of you. We’re always here together,” said Porchay and Macau chuckled.

“He asked me if I could give him your number,” said Macau and Porchay froze – if Macau gave him his number, he was never going to talk to him again. “Plus, he’s asked me several times if you’re seeing someone or not,” mumbled Macau and Porchay pressed his lips together and crossed his arms on top of his chest.

“And what did you tell him?”

“That it’s… complicated,” said Macau as he didn’t really know what to say. 

“I swear if you gave him my phone number-”

“Relax, I didn’t,” said Macau and rolled his eyes. “Ah, why are you like this? I’m your friend,” said Macau, feeling betrayed. “I wouldn’t just give your number to a stranger,” he said and Porchay slowly relaxed, apologised and sighed along, looking away when he saw that the guy was again observing him. “I mean, maybe you should give it a try?” asked Macau and Porchay glanced at him. “I don’t mean dating this guy, just… dating in general.”

“Not interested,” said Chay again. “I’ll be single. For good.”

“I know you’re still not over Kim, but it’s been two years,” whispered Macau and Porchay glared at him, dropping his gaze down and Macau pressed his lips together. Porchay didn’t really like talking about Kim. It’s been two years since Kim disappeared, no one had a clue where he could’ve been, but Macau was pretty sure that his cousin was doing just fine.

This was Kim not wanting to be found. 

“It's not about Kim,” lied Porchay and Macau gave him the look. 

“Chay,” said Macau and crossed his arms on top of his chest. “I know you refuse to talk about it, but it’s clear you’re still not over him,” said Macau and Porchay sighed, leaned back against his chair and he just shook his head. It was kind of useless trying to lie to his friend. 

“It’s my fault,” mumbled Porchay and Macau glanced at him. “That Kim’s gone. I pushed him away,” whispered Porchay and chewed on his lower lip. Porchay didn’t like talking about it because talking about it brought this horrible feeling of guilt and he forced himself to take a sharp breath, pressing his lips together. “I didn’t listen to what he had to say,” he whispered and glanced down, shrugging. 

“You were going through a break up, of course-”

“There was something that he wanted to tell me,” said Chay,staring past Macau, staring at the empty wall of the cafe and his heart continued to sink. “And I didn’t let him. All I did was push him away after he tried to explain-” he said and puffed his cheeks. “And now I don’t know where he is. No one knows,” mumbled Porchay, feeling the guilt around his heart constricting. “If something happened to him because of me-” started Porchay and Macau shook his head.

“Kim’s fine,” said Macau and Chay looked at him in disbelief.

“How do you know?”

“Trust me,” said Macau. “I know my cousin, if something happened to him, we would already hear about it,” Macau said and Porchay laughed bitterly. So Macau was saying all of this based on an assumption. Yeah, it wasn’t enough for Chay. “He just doesn’t want to be found,” he said and Porchay glanced at him again.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” asked Chay. “If he doesn’t want to be found, he could still be in trouble,” mumbled Chay and Macau opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it again because he knew that Chay had a point. Macau wished that he would have the answers that Chay was searching for for the last two years. It’s been hard. 

“Chay-”

“Forget it,” said Porchay and emptied his cup of coffee, shaking his head. Porchay was kind of frustrated and annoyed that no one really understood him. Yes, Kim hurt him, but Chay still… Everyone said that Kim was probably fine. 

Probably.

So, everyone just assumed that Kim disappearing two years ago without a freaking trace was normal. It pissed Porchay off to no end, but at the same time he felt pretty helpless about it. And that was why he felt so agitated when someone tried telling him that Kim was probably fine. Chay felt responsible for Kim’s sudden disappearance.

“Let’s talk about something else or I’ll be on my way home,” he said and Macau dropped his gaze and gave him a little nod.

Porchay was currently in the process of regretting his life decisions. He didn’t know why an evening out with his friends sounded like a good idea – it would be better if went with Macau to the movies like he first wanted to, but then he allowed his friends to change his mind. So, there he was, in the bar with his friends, bored out of his mind. He thought it would be fun to go out for a change, but all in all, he was having a crappy time.

Bored, sad and drunk – that was how Chay felt at that very moment, huffing under his breath. The more he drank, the worse he felt and in the end he decided that drinking was a bad idea. Probably. Porchay really wasn’t in the mood and he froze in place when he felt his friends grabbing his hand when he wanted to stand up and go outside. 

Chay felt sick, he needed some fresh air.

“Let me go,” whined Chay and scowled at his friend, feeling his head spin.

“Ah, where are you going? The night’s still young! I’ll order us a new round of drinks!”

“Lemme go,” said Chay, withdrawing his hand and stumbled backwards, unsteady on his  feet. “I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?” whined the other one and Chay hiccuped, swayed on his legs when he tried to remember.

“Out,” said Chay. “I feel sick.”

“Ah, got it, got it,” was what the other one said, finally getting it and Porchay rolled his eyes, slowly walking over to the exist, dragging his tired body over to it, not really paying attention where he was going which was completely his fault and he ended up bumping into someone. If that wasn’t bad enough, as he bumped into the person, he made them spill their drink all over their clothes and Porchay quickly straightened himself up.

“Oops,” was all that he said and slowly glanced up at the taller man that he bumped into.

“Watch where you're going, idiot!” grumbled the guy and Porchay didn’t know what came over him, but he just giggled.

“Sorry,” said Porchay peppily, which fueled the anger in the other one. Porchay narrowed his eyes and tried not to laugh when he observed the other one getting more and more angry with each passing second. His eyebrows were funny.

“You think this is funny?!”

“No,” said Porchay, but then the guy’s eyebrows did the thing again and Porchay started snickering. 

“You’re making fun of me,” grumbled the other one and Porchay rolled his eyes, pushing him back because he didn’t like how close he was.

“Back off,” mumbled Porchay.

“You think I’ll just let you get away with this?!” grumbled the guy and grabbed Porchay’s shoulder, pulling him back, but then Chay shoved him back, almost falling over and he just laughed again.

“Dickhead,” said Porchay, flipped the man off – which was probably wrong of him, but he couldn’t give a damn at that moment – and slowly continued his way to the exit. He was caught off guard when he felt a strong arm shoving him through the door and Porchay let out a loud yelp as he stumbled over his feet and ended up falling onto the floor, scraping his knee and his elbow quite badly as he fell, hissing out in pain and he glanced down.

Oh. His knee was bleeding.

Porchay wasn’t really given the time to process what had just happened because he was pulled up onto his legs, shoved back against the dark alley, up against the wall and he frowned, his head spinning again, his stomach dropping. Oh, he felt really, really sick. He shouldn’t have mixed so many drinks before.

“Oh. It’s you again,” grumbled Porchay and sighed. The guy that he bumped into before. “You’re stalking me, huh?”

Chay clearly hit a nerve before, not really caring. The guy said something, something that Porchay couldn’t really make out what it was as focusing was proving to be very hard and he winced out in pain when he was shoved against the wall harder. The other one kept yelling at him, but Porchay just leaned forwards, his stomach making another flop and he whined out in pain. Without a warning, Porchay threw up all over the guy’s shoes and felt better immediately.

Porchay just made the whole situation that much worse.

He could hear a new wave of cursing and suddenly he felt a grip around his neck, his eyes widening when he was shoved back against the wall yet again. Pochay opened his eyes and saw the man forming a fist with his hand. Porchay gulped, closed his eyes and waited for an impact. Instead, that never came.

Something shoved the guy backwards, releasing Chay, who stumbled over, slowly supporting himself against the wall and he looked over to the side to see what was going on. 

“Get the fuck away from him,” heard Chay, rubbing his arching neck and he took a sharp breath in.

“Stay out of things that don’t concern you.”

“Things involving him always concern me,” said the person that jumped in to help Porchay. 

Chay’s eyes were unsteady as he watched the tension growing, but it didn’t last long. The guy was shoved back, kicked into his stomach and froze up when he saw a gun being pointed at him. It didn’t take long for him to be running away and Porchay hiccuped, wiped his lips and narrowed his eyes.

Prochay needed to… thank whoever this was.

However, it seemed that whoever it was, he was in a hurry to leave. Chay’s body moved on its own, following him quickly.

“Wait,” whispered Porchay. “Let me just-”

“Stay back,” said the other one and Porchay narrowed his eyes. Ah, it was a voice that he knew. Somewhere, at the back of his mind… if only his mind wasn’t swimming in haze, he would know who it was.

“You saved me,” said Porchay and winced out in pain when he tried going closer to the other one. “Fuck, my knee,” cursed Chay out loud and that was what made the other one stop in place. When he heard Chay’s hiss of pain, he stopped in his tracks, forming loose fists with his hands. 

The alley was dark, Chay couldn’t really see all that well, but he reached forward and yanked the guy back, grabbing onto his leather jacket. 

“Don’t touch me.”

“Hah?!” asked Porchay and tugged on his jacket tighter.

“I said don’t touch me,” said the other one, wrapped his fingers around Porchay’s wrist and finally turned around. 

Time stopped.

The temperature around Chay dropped when he saw Kim standing in front of him.

Chay quickly released Kim, swallowed thickly and stared up at him, Kim’s eyes looking back at him. Chay wasn’t completely sure what was going on. But Kim was there – in flesh, standing in front of him. Right?!

Chay’s head was spinning as he tried to say something. The only sound that he could hear was the sound of his racing heart, the sound of his ragged breathing and he gritted his teeth.

How-

Chay thought-

“K-Kim?!” finally dared Porchay to ask.

Chapter Text

“Kim?”

Chay stood there, staring back at Kim, whose eyes flickered down and Porchay felt his head spinning as he was trying to say something. But thinking was hard. His mind was hazed, clouded, he couldn’t really… he wasn’t even sure if Kim was really there – he’s been seeing him everywhere lately, so perhaps- 

“Are you really here?” whispered Porchay, the rawness of his emotions clear in his voice as it cracked when Porchay tried stepping closer to Kim, who quickly moved back, taking a few steps back and he refused to look at Porchay. Chay’s breathing was ragged as he was trying to make some sense of what was happening. 

“Where,” stammered Chay, ignoring the tears in his eyes, the tears slowly drying out due to the light breeze of the night and he pressed his lips together. He needed to make sure Kim was really there, so he reached out with his hand, his hands shaking as he was trying to hold onto Kim, just to make sure that he was real again. “Where have you been?” asked Chay.

No reply.

Kim just stood there, refusing to look at him, so Porchay was starting to think that he was really just a figure of his imagination. But, then he took another step closer and he gently tugged on his sleeve, trying to pull Kim closer. Kim visibly tensed up and didn’t react for a few moments, Porchay’ eyes welling up with tears when he saw that he could really touch Kim.

Chay laughed through his tears, not really able to make rational decisions at that point as he was still heavily intoxicated, but there was only one thing on his mind that time and it was Kim. 

Kim was real.

Kim was there. He could touch him, he was in the grasp of his palm and he didn’t want this moment to end. He had so many questions and yet, he didn’t know how to ask any of them. The questions, the words were caught at the back of his throat, burning on his tongue as he didn’t know how to ask. So many questions, yet so little words.

“You’re real,” whispered Chay, sniffling and he did absolutely nothing to stop the tears from running down his cheeks, leaving trails of fresh tears staining against his skin and Kim slowly looked up at him. He seemed surprised by Chay’s words, almost awestruck.

Kim almost said something, but then he stopped himself from opening his mouth and he quickly moved his hand away again and Porchay stumbled over his feet, catching himself against the wall and he winced. He felt dizzy, but he wasn’t going to let Kim get away. He was going to follow him.

“I missed you,” said Chay, Kim ignoring his words as he was trying to walk past him. Kim was in a hurry to leave and Chay panicked, colour draining from his face and before Kim managed to walk past him, he grabbed onto his hand, fingers wrapping around Kim’s wrists and he pulled Kim closer. 

“Stay,” said Porchay.

“Chay,” finally said Kim and Chay closed his eyes. Hearing Kim’s voice calling out to him made his heart drop. Catching Chay off guard, Kim took that as the opportunity to pull his hand away.

“Don’t leave me again,” begged Porchay, too drunk out of his mind to really know what he was saying and he tried chasing after Kim. However, as he walked after him, he tripped over his own two feet and if it wasn’t for Kim, he would’ve fallen over and ended up hitting the floor.

Chay yelped, closed his eyes  and prepared for impact. Yet, instead of the cold, hard concrete floor, he found himself in a warm, soft embrace of Kim’s arms, his eyes widening as he glanced up at Kim, who grabbed his forearm and pulled him up onto his legs.

“How much did you drink?” asked Kim. Kim sounded annoyed. That was fair. Porchay was annoyed with himself as well and he whined as he was trying to stand up straight on his own, but he kept swaying on his legs and Kim pulled him up again.

“I’m not sure,” whispered Chay. Chay’s stomach made a flop and he felt sick again. “I don’t feel so good,” mumbled Porchay.

Kim pressed his lips together and Porchay could tell that Kim was torn – he didn’t know what to do. Just stay, please, stay. That was all that Chay’s mind could comprehend and after a few moments, Kim sighed along and gently pressed him back against the wall, Chay leaning against it, resting his head against the wall as well and he closed his eyes. But, that didn’t really help. 

“I need to sit down,” whined Chay. “I’m gonna throw up again,” said Porchay, wrapping his arms around his stomach and Kim looked even more annoyed than he did before. Chay started to panic because now Kim was going to run away from him because he was annoying. 

Instead of running away, Kim just grabbed onto Chay’s wrist and started dragging him out of the dark alley, Porchay trying to keep up with Kim, who was walking fast, dragging Chay behind him. Porchay swallowed thickly, trying his best to not complain, but he would have really liked it if Kim would slow down a little bit. And yet, Porchay just followed in silence, his eyes on Kim, who was now turned away from him.

Chay wanted to see him again, he wanted to make sure he saw his face properly again.

It’s been two years. He missed him so much that he could hardly put it into words, but now that Kim was there in front of him, it was hard for him to comprehend that this was real. He wasn’t dreaming, was he? Porchay swallowed thickly and almost stumbled over his feet when he was pulled to the side and Kim made him sit down onto the bench.

“K-Kim?” asked Chay, leaning back as he watched Kim pull something out of his pocket. 

A wallet.

Kim stepped over to the vending machine, which Chay noticed was there, and he waited. Kim was silent the entire time and he soon stepped closer to Porchay again and handed him something. Porchay looked up and he narrowed his eyes.

“What’s that?” asked Chay.

“Drink it,” said Kim.

“Why?” complained Chay, his stubborn side really showing when he was drunk like this and Kim sighed along.

“It’s water. You’ll feel better,” said Kim and Porchay looked up at him, his hands slowly reaching out as he held onto the water bottle, his fingers gently grazing against Kim’s and he tried to ignore it, but Kim could hear a little gasp, choosing to ignore it. For now. 

Porchay tried opening the bottle, but his fingers weren’t listening to him and he just glanced up at Kim, wearing a pout of his face and he sighed. Kim arched his brow. 

“I can’t open it. Help me, Kim,” whined Porchay and Kim clenched his jaw, looking around. Kim was in a hurry to leave and yet now he was unable to leave, slowly reaching for the bottle and he opened it for Chay, who happily smiled and made a few gulps, leaned back against the bench and he sighed along.

“Thank you, Kim,” said Porchay and Kim’s eyes flickered down again. Porchay’s stomach settled down a little bit now that he was sitting down and after a few long seconds, Kim also decided to sit down next to him, which made Chay incredibly happy. 

Kim chose to stay,

For now.

Porchay swallowed thickly and Kim could feel his eyes on him, Kim doing his best not to look back at Chay, who was now trying to say something, but there was nothing that he could really…

“W-here were you?” whispered Porchay.

Nothing.

“You’re really here, right? It’s not a dream,” mumbled Porchay. If he happened to wake up and find out that this was just a dream, then it would be a cruel joke. It would be too cruel and if this was a dream, he chose not to wake up. “If it’s a dream, I don’t wanna wake up,” said Chay, leaned closer to Kim, who visibly gasped when Chay said that.

Porchay scooted closer to Kim, who tensed up, but didn’t say anything. He just sat there, trying his best not to get swept away with the feelings. He knew Chay was drunk; things would be a lot different if he was sober. That was why Kim managed to not think too much into it, but Chay still leaned up against him and looked at him.

“I’ve missed you,” whispered Chay, his against shaking a little bit. “Finally, you’re back,” said Chay and Kim pursed his lips. “You’ll stay, right? You won’t leave again,” said Chay, feeling his eyes getting heavier with each passing minute.

Chay couldn’t help it. He was tired as hell, the alcohol in his system was making him sleepy. Because Kim was there, he felt calm. The stress was melting away and there was a little smile on his lips as he allowed himself to lean up against Kim, dropping his head on top of Kim’s shoulder as he allowed his eyes to slowly close shut, smiling happily. 

“Please… stay…. Kim, for me,” mumbled Chay and Kim dared to look at Chay, whose head was now resting on top of his shoulder. Kim formed loose fists with his fingers, bringing his fingers closer to Chay’s face. He almost touched his face, but he quickly withdrew his hand away and he cursed under his breath.
Still, when Chay moved and his head almost slipped off of Kim’s shoulder, Kim gently cupped his head and placed it back against his shoulder.

Kim allowed himself to sit there for a little longer, letting out an exasperated sigh.

“I miss you too, Chay,” whispered Kim. “More than you’ll ever know.”

Kim made sure that Porchay arrived home safely to the mansion – he made sure that one of his bodyguards took him back safely. Kim didn’t dare to set a foot close to there – he didn’t want to be seen. He didn’t want them to know that he was back. He didn’t want to exist.

There was nothing holding Kim back in the city after everything happened. Chay was refusing to speak to him, no matter how many attempts he tried making, he saw that the best thing for him to do was to let Chay move on. If he ever truly loved him, then this was what he needed to do, so that Chay could move on.

So, when his father offered him to take care of a few things abroad, Kim didn’t really have to think too much. He was trying to find a reason to stay in the city, but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Kim felt like he didn’t belong with the family – surely, they were happier when he wasn’t there. 

Chay would be happier if he left.

Everyone would be happier if he left. 

So, he left.

For two years, he was running his father’s business – whatever the old man asked him to do, he did it. It kept his mind busy, he was busy, running around, taking care of the things that Korn asked him. He never complained, Korn kept Kim’s whereabouts a secret from everyone else. 

However,

There was only so much that he could do. 

After two years, Kim was back, not for long. It got harder, it got harder to ignore the hole in his chest, that just kept on growing. He’s been trying so hard to erase Chay from his mind, yet he only managed to imprint him into it even more. Every single part of him yearned for Porchay’s love.

He couldn’t stay away.

Kim was soon going to be going out of the country again. He’s been back only for a couple of months, waiting for his father to give him orders where to go next. 

And while he was back, he promised himself that he wouldn’t make contact with Porchay. Chay didn’t need him. Yet, not even a week since coming back, he’s already been following Chay around. 

Kim couldn’t help it.

Kim couldn’t stop it.

The closer he got, the worse he would get burned. And he couldn’t give a damn.

But he didn’t intend on actually making contact with Chay.

Kim was sitting in his new flat, holding the polaroids of Chay that followed him whenever he went. He was holding a wine glass, slowly sipping his drink, his eyes on Chay in the picture. He looked so happy.

Porchay could’ve been his.

But he wasn’t

And knowing that it was his fault hurt more than anything else.

Chapter Text

“Chay, I’ll ask you again and you better tell me the truth,” said Porsche, trying his best to wrap his head around what had Chay just told him. “How did you make it back to the mansion last night?” he asked and Chay rolled his eyes because he knew it – he knew that Porsche wasn’t going to believe him. Kinn was standing in the corner, silently listening and Porchay’s annoyance was growing.

Why wouldn’t anyone believe him when he told them that he saw Kim?! That it was Kim who saved him and brought him back to the mansion. Well, he didn’t really have any recollection how he made it back to the mansion, but the only thing that he remembered was Kim.

Kim was there. And yet no one believed him. 

Porsche tried to believe him, he really did, but after checking all of the security cameras, they couldn’t really see Kim anywhere, even if Chay insisted that it was Kim who brought him back to the mansion. Kinn ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes on Chay.

Kinn wanted to believe him. God, he wanted to believe him. But it was just… Chay was very intoxicated when he came back to the mansion last night. Porchay said himself that he couldn’t really remember how he made it back, but he was convinced that it was Kim who brought him back and it was just-

“I told you,” said Porchay, feeling annoyed that Porsche wouldn’t believe him and he narrowed his eyes. Technically, he knew why Porsche didn’t believe him. It was to protect him, but Chay didn’t need protecting. He was pretty sure that he-

“That you saw Kim,” said Porsche and Porchay nodded, his heart fastening a little bit.

When Chay woke up without Kim by his side, he was heartbroken again. Devastated. But, then he decided to look at it on the bright side – Kim was back, Kim was in the city. All that he needed to do now was to find him and he was sure that they could find him if they just started looking. Kim was safe and sound and that was all that mattered.

And last night, he chose to stay with Chay.

Porchay was trying to focus on the positives, because if he dwelled onto it too much he was spiralling out of control again and that was something that he wasn’t going to let-

“Yes, exactly,” said Porchay and then he chewed on his lower lip, swallowing thickly.

Honestly, it felt like a haze. Almost like a dream that Kim was there – hell, Porsche could be even right when he saw that he maybe just imagined Kim there. With how much he had to drink, Porchay almost started doubting what he saw, but he decided not to go down that path. Chay was sure that he saw Kim and he was going to be stubborn about it, until someone believed him.

“Chay,” said Porsche. “I know that you miss him.”

Porchay looked at him and quickly shook his head.

“No, no, no, I don’t need this,” said Porchay. “You don’t believe me, so I don’t need your-”

“You were drunk when you came back home last night,” said Porsche.

“So? I know what I saw,” said Porchay and he glanced at Kinn, who was still standing there in complete and utter silence. It was almost as if he was trying to process everything and Porchay was even more annoyed.

“I know you think you saw Kim-”

“I don’t ‘’think’’, I know I saw him,” said Porchay and crossed his arms on top of his chest. “He saved me,” said Chay, pressing his lips together, his breathing getting ragged and he swallowed thickly.

That meant that Kim still cared for him, right?

“Let’s try to be logical about it,” said Porsche and placed his hands on top of Chay’s shoulders. He honestly thought that Porchay managed to move on from Kim. It’s been two years and since Chay never mentioned Kim, he thought that he really managed to move on from Kim. Apparently not. “What were the chances that he was at the same bar as you last night?”

“I don’t know,” said Porchay and shrugged. “But it is possible if he’s back in town,’’ said Porchay and he gritted his teeth, feeling helpless – Porsche refused to believe him. That was why he looked at Kinn, who was looking down. “Y-you believe me, right?” asked Porchay and stepped closer to Kinn.

Kinn didn’t know if he believed Porchay or not, but he decided to believe him. Yes, Chay was drunk, he could’ve seen someone else and confused them with Kim, but Kinn didn’t care. He’s been desperate to find his brother, so he decided to believe Chay.

“I’ll have my bodyguards take a look at security camera recordings at the bar you visited last night,” said Kinn finally and Porchay’s lower lip was shaking because finally.

Finally, someone believed him. Kinn could see the look of disbelief on Porsche’s face, shaking his head, but Kinn-

“Don’t get his hopes up,” said Porsche and Kinn gritted his teeth.

“I know you’re trying to protect Chay. If we don’t find anything, I’ll take on the whole responsibility,’’ said Kinn and took a deep breath. “But Kim’s my brother, ” whispered Kinn. “I have to look into it,” he said and Porsche slowly backed down, realising that he was being too pushy.

There was nothing essentially wrong with looking into it, right?

But if they found nothing… he was going to be there for Porchay to pick up the pieces.

“I can’t believe they decided to give up just like that,” grumbled Porchay and he sighed under his breath, leaning back against the chair. He and Macau were in their favourite coffee shop again and Porchay was ranting because it’s been a few days since he had seen Kim and after looking into security recordings around the bar and the park where Kim and him were that evening, they managed to find absolutely nothing.

Porchay was frustrated. 

Because if there was no evidence that he actually saw Kim, then he… Porchay didn’t want to doubt it. Kim was there. He saw him. He wasn’t going to doubt what he saw, no matter what. But the seed of doubt had been planted into his very core and it was slowly starting to spread out. 

Perhaps he didn’t see Kim.

Porchay shook his head and then he narrowed his eyes when he saw Macau – he wasn’t really listening, his eyes were shutting close, which was kind of funny since he was drinking on his second cup of coffee and Porchay nudged him under the table, Macau quickly flinching and he looked around.

“What?!”

“Have you been listening to me at all?” asked Porchay and Macau sighed along, yawned and crossed his legs.

“I’m sorry,” said Macau and clicked with his tongue. 

“Are you okay?”

“Well,” sighed Macau. “Between Venice being sick with the cold and crying all the time, big bro panicking and yelling at everyone for not knowing how to help him and a ton of assignments for uni, I haven’t really had the time to properly… sleep,” complained Macau and Porchay’s heart sank.

“Oh,” said Chay. “I didn’t know,” he said and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, here I am complaining about-”

“Oh, no, don't apologise. Trust me, much better than having to listen to Vegas,” he said and clicked with his tongue. “Pete and I tried telling him it’s just a cold, but,” he whined. “He just won’t listen,” whined Macau – it was nice to talk about something else.

“Oh, a cold?”

“Venice’s feeling better,” said Macau and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it,” he said and sighed. “So, you said that you saw Kim?” asked Macau and Porchay pressed his lips together. 

“Yeah. I was pretty drunk that night,” said Porchay. “Porsche says I probably imagined him, but I know what I saw. We’ve also looked into the security camera recordings, but there’s… nothing,” said Porchay and Macau placed a hand on top of his shoulder.

“Of course there isn’t,” said Macau and Porchay’s eyes widened. “I know my cousin, he’s not stupid. He made sure that he wasn’t seen or that the footage was wiped,” he said and Chay finally felt hopeful. 

Macau believed him.

Porchay grabbed onto that sliver of hope with everything that he had and he wasn’t going to let go now. 

“So, you believe me?” asked Porchay.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” asked Macau and Porchay sighed happily. “I can ask big bro for help,” said Macau and Chay started backpaddling. Vegas helping them?

Ah, he wasn’t so sure-

“You think he would agree to help me out?”

“I don’t know, but if I have to listen to him reading the books about parenting and listen to him on how every advice in there is stupid I’m going to lose it, so I’ll make him help you,” grumbled Macau and Porchay laughed softly.

“I’ll, um, think about it,” said Porchay, not too sure about it and Macau just nodded, his eyes longingly going over to Chay’s coffee and he sighed, contemplating if he should order another one or not. Probably better if not. 

“Alright,” said Macau and stood up. “I’ll go order something to eat. Want something?” he asked and Porchay shrugged.

“I’ll have what you’re having,” said Chay and Macau gave him a little nod.

As Macau left Chay alone by the table, it didn’t really take too long for the guy that was interested in Porchay to approach him and Chay rolled his eyes because even though that was the first time that he was approached by the guy, Macau had already told him that he was into him.

Without even asking, he sat down on Macau’s seat and Porchay arched his brow.

“Can I… help you?” asked Porchay and couldn’t be less interested.

“You sure can,” said the guy and Porchay sighed. “I’ve seen you around here often,” he said and Porchay narrowed his eyes.

“So?”

“You caught my attention,” he said and Porchay looked over to Macau, who was busy making his order and he clicked with his tongue. “I think you’re very cute and-”

“I’m flattered, but I’m not interested,” said Porchay, quickly shutting him down.

“Aw, why?” he asked. “Am I not your type?”

“I’m not single,” said Porchay.

“Your friend said it was ‘’complicated’’,” he said. “I can make it very simple,” he said, leaned closer and placed his hand on top of Porchay’s. “And fun.”

Chay quickly withdrew his hand and shook his head.

“Nope. Not gonna happen,” said Porchay and leaned back. “Not interested,” he said and felt put off even more by the so-called flirting and he almost laughed.

One could just not compare to Kim.

The guy didn’t take no for an answer, but he eventually left after Macau returned back, Porchay annoyed as hell. 

Chay was pretty sure that that wasn’t the last he had seen of him. Still, he decided not to worry about it because he was preoccupied with thinking about Kim.

Seeing the bastard place his hand on Porchay’s almost made Kim lose it. It was clear that he didn’t like the attention, but Kim managed to hold back, sinking down his chair so that he wouldn’t be noticed.

Pathetic, he was so pathetic.

He was again in the coffee shop, Porchay’s favourite one. Following Chay around. Was it healthy? No. Did he care? No. Because he wanted more, ever since that night, he wanted to spend time with Porchay. Not wanting to be found, he decided to do the next ‘’best’’ thing that he could think of, which was following Porchay around.

People would call it stalking , but Kim didn’t really consider it that. Because he knew his boundaries.

Did he, though?

Well, it wasn’t going to last for much longer, anyway. He was soon going to be leaving the country. It was just… unlike the last time, he wasn’t sure if he was coming back. The task that Korn had for him was impossible, but Kim really had nothing to lose.

Though, the closer he got, the more he wanted to have a reason to stay.

That night, Porchay was so happy to see him. Kim was sure it was just the alcohol speaking, but he would like to imagine that Porchay would actually be happy to see him. That he would want him to stay. 

Holding back was hard, but he waited until Macau and Porchay left the coffee shop. He was about to leave as well and go back to his flat, but then he happened to overhear the guy that was before sitting with Porchay talking on the phone with someone. 

Hearing him speak of Porchay over the phone like that was what did it for Kim. The things that he said about Porchay, the things he wanted to do… Kim wasn’t going to let it slide. The guy was a pig.

The plan was not to make any contact, not to leave any evidence, but he got sloppy that night and now… again. Kim knew he shouldn’t, but he still followed the guy into the bathroom when he saw him going there and he waited in front of the stall, locking the bathroom door, so that it was only the two of them there.

As soon as he stepped out of the stall, Kim slammed him back, trapped him between the wall and his body and grabbed onto his shirt. Startled, the guy screamed for help, but quickly stopped when he saw the look in Kim’s eyes.

“Try screaming again and we’ll see where that gets you,” growled Kim.

“Who-who are you-”

“That shouldn’t concern you,” hissed Kim and the guy gulped. “You will leave him alone, understand?” he asked and the guy was looking at him, confused, but it seemed that he managed to connect the dots.

“You’re-” he said and started to realise that he should’ve stayed in his lane. “You’re the boyfriend?! ” he asked and Kim’s face paled.

Messy, things were getting too messy.

“Doesn’t matter,” said Kim. “You will stay away from him.”

“I-”

Kim didn’t give him the chance to explain himself. He turned the guy around, grabbed onto one of his arms, twisted it back and up, pressing it against his back and he pressed him against the wall.

“Yes?” asked Kim.

It wasn’t the first time that Kim saw him observing Porchay. He had a bad feeling about it and hearing him speak of Porchay in that manner over the phone made Kim explode.

“Yes, yes!” he finally said and Kim released him. “You’re crazy!” he yelled and then yelped when Kim stepped closer. 

“You’ll stop coming to this place,” said Kim.

The guy nodded frantically.

“Y-yes.”

Fear worked. 

Even if the guy seemed compliant, Kim was going to keep his eye on him. He was about to say something else, but then his phone buzzed and he glanced at the screen. When he saw that it was a text from Korn, he stepped back, unlocked the bathroom and left in a hurry.

It wasn’t until he was back at his apartment that he decided to open up the text and read it. 

Japan, Tokyo. March 3rd. 9 am.

That was all that his father sent him in the text, but it was more than enough for him to understand. He was to leave in a month and a half, the destination was Japan.

Kim gripped onto his phone, gritted his teeth and threw it onto the couch. 

No, it was fine. That was what he wanted. 

Kim ran his fingers through his hair and took another deep breath, deciding that he needed a proper drink.

Chapter Text

“No,” said Vegas and Macau narrowed his eyes. 

“What do you mean no? ” asked Macau and Vegas glanced past his brother, his eyes now on Porchay and then he looked back at Macau. 

“It was a bad idea for you to bring him here,” said Vegas and shook his head. “And my answer is no. I want nothing to do with this,” he said, Chay’s eyes travelling down. He knew that it wasn’t going to work out .Macau was very sure that Vegas was going to agree to help them with finding Kim, but Porchay was being realistic. Why would Vegas even agree to help them in the first place?

“He is our cousin too, Vegas,” said Macau and Vegas sighed.

“Barely,” said Vegas. “It’s clear he wants nothing to do with the family. I can’t even blame him,” said Vegas and then he huffed along, pressing his lips together. He was uneasy as he was looking at Porchay. “And if he wants to stay hidden, then he must have a good reason,” said Vegas.

“You can’t just-”

“Macau, leave it,” said Chay with a small voice, shaking his head. He didn’t like being there in the first place. Being around Vegas was… unsettling. Even though the families were now working together, things were still strained sometimes. And Porchay didn’t want to do something that would make the relations between the family sides worsen again. 

“No, he can’t just walk out on us,” said Macau and crossed his arms on top of his chest. “Porchay is my best friend,” said Macau and Vegas arched his brow – was that supposed to be something that would make Vegas change his mind. 

To be honest, he almost of pitied the kid. Almost. Porchay really looked out of it since he had last seen him. There were dark circles under his eyes, he looked thinner and Vegas just huffed under his breath. He glanced at Macau, who was staring at him and he dropped his gaze. 

Vegas knew all too well what that kind of a look meant. 

“I said no,” said Vegas. “I won’t be sticking my nose into things that don’t concern me anymore,” he said and Macau rolled his eyes. He just said that because it was easy to sit there and do nothing. Macau was getting more and more annoyed and he grumbled under his breath.

Porchay was about to drag Macau to the side and tell him to let it go – he agreed with Vegas on this. It wasn’t something that he wanted to get into as well. Vegas wasn’t on the same page as the two of them, so Porchay didn’t want to push it too much. Only a fool would push Vegas into doing something that he didn’t want. But just as Porchay was about to say that, the moment got interrupted by a loud crying and Vegas sighed along. 

It didn’t take too long for Pete to step into the room, carrying the fussy baby in his arms and Porchay gave him a polite smile, stepping back, looking at Macau. Pete looked tired as well. Vegas’ cold expression quickly softened up and then he glanced at Venice, whose face was red, his little hands were squeezed into little fists and he carried on crying, Pete rocking him in his arms.

“Sorry for interrupting, but-”

“What’s wrong now?” asked Vegas and narrowed his eyes. “Why is he crying now?” whined Vegas and Macau placed his hands on top of his sides. 

“Maybe he wants to spend some time with you, big bro,” said Macau and Vegas scowled at him.

“Macau’s right, hold him,” said Pete and Vegas stood up, carefully picking up Venice and he glanced down at him. It worked like a charm. Once in Vegas’ arms, Venice settled down, hiccuping softly as Vegas was gently rubbing his back. Without even knowing it himself, there was a little smile on his face, which quickly disappeared when he heard someone clearing their throat.

“What?” snapped Vegas when he saw the little grin on Macau’s lips. 

“Nothing,” said Macau and Vegas rolled his eyes. “As you can see, I can’t help you two, I’m busy,” said Vegas, swiftly leaving the room and Pete just sighed along, shaking his head as he watched after Vegas and then he glanced at the other two. 

“Still won’t agree to help you out, huh?” asked Pete and Macau clicked with his tongue.

“Yeah!”

“It is fine, really, I don’t want to cause any problems,’’ said Porchay and Pete gave him a little smile. Chay was his best friend’s little brother, so of course Pete worried about him. Besides, the whole disappearance of Kim still bothered him to this day. It was just odd that no one knew anything. It was too suspicious. Someone had to be helping Kim with staying low. And seeing Chay in distress-

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Vegas will help you two out,” said Pete and Macau grinned all the way up to his ears.

“Thanks, you’re the best,” said Macau.

“I don’t want to cause more trouble,” said Porchay and Pete crossed his arms on top of his chest.

“You’re my best friend’s little brother, it really is no trouble,” said Pete and placed a hand on Chay’s shoulder. “We’ll find where Kim’s hiding,” promised Pete, but before he could say a few more words of encouragement, he heard Vegas yelling for him and he just sighed and pressed his lips together. “I’ll be going now,” he said and Macau laughed. Oh, the joys of fatherhood. “But we’ll find Kim,” said Pete and Chay just nodded.

“A week and still nothing,” said Porchay. 

The good news was that Pete managed to somehow talk Vegas into working with Kinn, so that they could resume their search for Kim. Well, Vegas wasn’t really working together with Kinn, but he was just looking into everything. Vegas didn’t really want to get involved into it too much, so he was keeping as much distance as he could while he made sure that some of his men looked into the whole matter. 

The bad thing was that they still didn’t manage to find anything and Chay was pretty crushed about it, but he knew that he should have expected it. 

“It’ll take some time,” said Macau. “Don’t worry about it. The good thing is that big bro is working with Kinn,” said Macau and Porchay narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah, why did he change his mind? I didn’t think-”

“The only one he will listen to is Pete,” said Macau and shook his head. “Anyway,” said Macau and smiled. “Just be patient, it will all work out,” said Macau and Porchay just shrugged. He doubted it. He looked over to the door of the coffee shop when it opened and he narrowed his eyes.

It was that guy again, the guy that was  harassing him the other day.

Honestly, Porchay wasn’t in the mood to be dealing with him. Him and Macau were sitting close to the door that day, but as soon as the other one saw Porchay and Macau, he stopped in his tracks, all of the colour draining from his face when he looked at Porchay and then he started looking around. He looked like he saw a ghost and Porchay just glanced at Macau.

“What the hell is wrong with him?” whispered Macau.

“I don’t know, you were the last one who talked to him, right?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Let’s leave. Quickly,” said the guy, his eyes on Porchay and he started walking back, his eyes looking around the coffee shop. Chay arched his brow and he looked around the coffee shop as well – it didn’t make any sense to him. 

“Why? We didn’t even order anything,” said one of his friends.

“We have to leave. Now!’’

“Dude, what the hell is your problem?!”

“He’ll get me again,” he said and Porchay’s frown deepened. He didn’t know what was going on, but this was somehow about him and Macau was just listening – just what did Porchay say to him last time? Well, whatever it was, it was good that the other one finally realised that bothering Chay was wrong and-

“Who?” asked one of his friends again.

“His boyfriend,” he said and eyed Porchay, whose eyes widened when he heard that. Boyfriend?! What the hell was going on?! “He’s fucking insane. Let’s just leave before he attacks me again,” he said and before he could explain the situation more to his friends, he was gone, his friends following him through the door and Porchay and Macau just sat there, trying to wrap their heads around what had just happened. 

“He was talking about me… wasn’t he?” whispered Porchay and Macau nodded.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t get it,” said Porchay. “Last time I just told him to leave me alone, I didn’t-” he started, but then his voice trailed off and his eyes widened when another idea popped into his mind and his heart started beating faster. 

Was he talking about Kim?!

But why would Kim…

“Weird-”

“Do you think he could be talking about Kim?” asked Porchay, his heart hammering against his ribcage and Macau narrowed his eyes as he listened. “I-I mean, I’ve told you how I’ve randomly started seeing Kim around, right?” he asked and Macau nodded, slowly realising what Porchay meant. “I thought I was just seeing him because I missed him, but-but what if it was really him all this time,” he said. “How did he just happen to know I was in that bar that night? It couldn’t be just coincidence, he-”

“You think he’s been following you around?” asked Macau and Porchay looked around the coffee shop, but nothing really seemed out of the ordinary.

”I’m not sure. Do you think it’s possible?” asked Chay.

“I mean, yeah,” said Macau. Kim following Porchay around sounded like it could be plausible and even though it should be unsettling for Porchay, it wasn’t. If Kim was following him around, then it meant that he really was there, with every step of the way. It also meant that he missed him.

What was holding him back?

Kim made contact when he thought he was in danger, but otherwise… Kim didn’t dare to make contact because of Porchay – he was the one who pushed him away. Chay pressed his lips together and he swallowed thickly.

Chay was desperate. 

But at least now he was hopeful. 

“Kim, wait up!” heard Kim, speeding up as he walked around the corner. 

Kim messed up.

Kim messed up and he knew that. He’s been getting far too close, so much that he allowed his guard to crumble down when he was around Porchay. He should have noticed that Porchay had caught on that he was following him. He should have seen all of the signals – Chay was more aware of his surroundings, he was always looking around, searching for him. And yet, Kim decided to ignore all of them.

Usually he made sure that Porchay didn’t see him, but this time around, he was too slow. He should have noticed that Chay noticed him, but pretended not to until it was already too late. Now, Kim was in a hurry to get as far as he could from Chay, who wasn’t giving up. Porchay was chasing after him and Kim cursed under his breath.

“You know, you can pretend that I didn’t see you,” said Chay. “I know it was you, so stop running around and let’s talk,” heard Kim, tensing up as he snuck into the dark alley.

It was the evening and the two of them weren’t in the safest part of the city. Still, Kim’s priority was getting the hell away from there. He hid behind the corner yet again and listened when he heard Chay’s footsteps slowing down. 

“Kim, let’s just talk,” said Porchay softly and sighed along. Kim’s heart fell to the pit of his stomach when he heard that and he closed his eyes. “Don’t be so stubborn. I know you’re around here somewhere,” said Porchay and Kim swiftly moved to the other side of the building when he heard Porchay getting closer again and he heard Chay’s groan.

Kim didn’t know how long he stood there, but he at one point he heard Chay’s footsteps slowly walking away and he closed his eyes – Kim knew that Chay wasn’t going to give up, but at least then he managed to get away and he just chewed on his lower lip, feeling guilty slowly pressing down on him and he just swallowed thickly.

Chay was better off without him. 

That was something that Kim was still sure of. Even if Porchay still wanted to have that talk with him, Kim still thought that it would be better for Porchay to stay away from him, with the rest of the main family. His father promised him protection, so… Porchay was safe if he stayed away from him. Kim brought him enough trouble, so…

Then, Kim heard a scream.

He flinched and his eyes snapped open when he heard screaming again. The one screaming was Porchay, Kim feeling sick down to his stomach because he didn’t know what was happening. The screaming came suddenly, out of nowhere.

Help.

Porchay was screaming for help.

“Who are you?”

“Let me go, let me… Kim, help me!” screamed Porchay.

Kim didn’t even have to think about to twice – as soon as he heard that Porchay was in trouble, he grabbed his gun and started running towards the screams, which were getting distant and he cursed under his breath, running faster because he could hear more voices; someone clearly got to Porchay and Chay was now in trouble. 

Kim felt sick down to his stomach because he knew… he knew that this was his fault. Somehow, it was. Instead of keeping Porchay safe, he managed to do the complete opposite. Kim gritted his teeth and his heart fell to the pit of his stomach when he managed to make it out from the dark alley, going around the corner, but Porchay was nowhere to be seen,

Shit, shit, shit.

Kim’s heart was racing, gripping onto the gun and he gritted his teeth. What happened? It happened out of nowhere. He didn’t know… was he being followed? Kim was so absorbed with being with Chay from afar, that he didn’t really notice if there was someone after him. It could be possible, someone followed him and then decided to kidnap Porchay, use him as leverage and…

“Chay!’’ yelled Kim on top of his lungs, slowly running down the street. He didn’t know where to go. Kim was usually collected, he knew how to approach things, but now that it was about Porchay, he was completely- “Chay!” he tried again, but there was still nothing.

And then he heard footsteps. There had to be at least three or four people running. Kim’s eyes darkened and he was running again, following the footsteps, his blood turning ice cold when he heard the engine of a car starting up.

Kim cursed, running towards the car, but before he managed to get there, the car was already driving away from him, with full speed and he felt his heart dropping when he saw that they got Chay. He was in the backseat, trying to break free and Kim pointed his gun at the car, firing his gun, but he couldn’t…

… the car was already speeding, driving away and Kim made a few steps back. 

There it was, his whole life crumbling apart. 

And it was all his fault again.

Because he was stupid, because he ruined everything that he touched. He got too close again. He should have stayed away, but now he… Kim swallowed thickly, leaning forwards and he had to force himself to take that deep breath in. 

Kim needed to collect himself, running his fingers through his hair.  

Kim didn’t see who took Chay away, he didn’t recognise the car, but there was one thing – he was getting Chay back, no matter what it took. His eyes darkened, his expression changing and he formed fists with his hands. 

Kim was going to bring Chay back. 

Chapter Text

“S-sir,” stammered one of the bodyguards that were standing next to Kim, unable to let him know that they got nothing. No leads on where Porchay was taken to. No nothing. It was something that never happened to Kim. He always managed to find people that he was searching for. No matter what, he always managed to find them, so for this to be the case it was… Kim couldn’t think straight. 

Kim’s head was a mess.

Usually he managed to hide his anger, but one stern gaze made the man stop talking and he just took a step back. He didn’t have to tell Kim that he didn’t know the whereabouts of Porchay; that much was clear to Kim. Kim pressed his lips together and he gritted his teeth, pressing his lips together and he clasped his hands together.

Where was Porchay?

How could he let this happen?

Why couldn’t he find him?

Why was it so hard this time?

Who would take Porchay? What was their reason?

The only thing that Kim could do at the time being was blame himself, forming fists with his hands as he took a deep breath and he closed his eyes, trying to think clearly. It’s been a couple of hours. Kim and his men were working on bringing Porchay back. Every minute that ticked away was wasted and Kim was at wit’s ends. He didn’t know what to do.

Kim blamed himself, he wasn’t there to protect Porchay.

However, there was another person that he blamed and the more that he thought about it, the angrier he got. The one that promised that Porchay would be safe while he was away. His father promised that he would keep Chay safe. His father should’ve known that Porchay was sneaking around him, trying to get close. He had to know!

Kim pressed his lips together and slammed his fist against the wall, ignoring the blood that started gathering on his knuckles and he bit the insides of his cheeks, closing his eyes and then he laughed bitterly. So much for the old man’s promise – Kim knew that it was too good to be true. His father knew how to twist the truth, he knew how to make and break promises like he pleased.

“I was a fool,” whispered Kim.

Losing Porchay meant losing everything and there was only one person who was going to help him – he was going to make Korn help him find Porchay. He didn’t give a flying fuck. Sure, he was meant to stay hidden, sure he was meant to work undercover without the others knowing that he was there, but Kim didn’t care anymore. 

Kim was going to break a promise that he made to his father as well. Because in Kim’s eyes, Korn was the one who broke the promise first. 

“Get the car ready,” said Kim, his voice low, calm, yet icy. The man on his left froze up and he cleared his throat.

“Sir?”

“I said – get the car ready,” said Kim and glared at his phone. “It’s time I pay my old man a visit,” said Kim and grabbed his gun.

“Kinn, have you seen Chay?” asked Porsche, now getting a little bit worried. He knew that his brother was going out last evening. As worried as Porsche was about Porchay, he couldn’t really make him stay at home. Chay said he was going out with friends, but as morning came and Porsche went to check up on Porchay in his room, he couldn’t find him. That was when fear slowly started setting in.

Kinn slowly glanced up and he shook his head.

“No,” said Kinn. “I thought he came home late and was still asleep,” commented Kinn and Porsche slowly shook his head and sat down next to his boyfriend, clasping his hands together. 

“I checked his room, he’s not in there,” said Porsche and Kinn’s heart fell to the pit of his stomach.

“Wait,” said Kinn. “You’re trying to tell me that he didn’t come home last night?” asked Kinn and Porsche felt his stomach twisting when he slowly started to realise the severity of the whole situation and he swallowed thickly. 

“Fuck,” said Porsche and he shook his head. “This is my fault,” said Porsche and Kinn quickly shook his head.

“It’s not your fault,” said Kinn quickly and Porsche just shook his head.

“It is my fault. He’s been spending more time outside lately because he’s searching for Kim. I knew he was going out to search him again even if there’s no leads-” stammered Porsche and ran his fingers through his hair. “I knew it and I didn’t stop him,” said Porsche and Kinn placed his hand on top of his.

“Let’s not panic,” said Kinn.

“Not panic?” asked Porsche. “Chay didn’t make it home last night,” said Porsche. “I tried calling him, but he’s not picking up,” he carried on. “And you’re telling me not to worry? He’s my brother, Kinn, he-” started Porsche, but Kinn quickly shook his head.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” said Kinn. “You know that. I worry about Porchay as well. He’s your brother, so he’s dear to me as well. I-”

“I know,” said Porsche and closed his eyes.

“I just… let’s not always assume the worst,” said Kinn and cursed under his breath, feeling guilty as well because he knew that Porchay was sneaking out, sneaking around as he was trying to find Kim. Vegas was there to help out as well, but the two of them weren’t really talking. Perhaps Vegas knew something. If not Vegas, then Macau was going to know for sure where Porchay was. The two of them were hanging out all the time and-  “I’ll call Vegas,” said Kinn.

As much as he hated that, he needed to do it and Porsche’s eyes widened when he heard Kinn.

“Vegas?” asked Porsche in sheer disbelief. He knew that even if the two of them were working together now, the relationship was still strained. There was only one reason why they were trying to work together in the first place and that reason was Pete. And Porsche. For the sake of the two of them, Vegas and Kinn decided to put their differences aside.

“Yeah,” said Kinn. “He said he would help. Maybe he knows something.”

“And Macau,” stammered Porsche and Kinn gave him a nod.

“What happened to Chay?” asked Macau when he stepped into the room. He happened to overhear the conversation between Vegas and Kinn before, he was listening outside, waiting for the phone call to be over so that he could ask Vegas what was really going on.

“We were hoping that you knew something about this,” said Pete, holding Venice in his arms and Macau cocked his head to the side and he pressed his lips together.

“What happened?” asked Macau carefully and he chewed on his lower lip. 

“Do you know where the kid is?” asked Vegas.

“No,” said Macau. “He went out yesterday. To find Kim,” said Macau and then he chewed on his lower lip. “That’s all I know,” he said and lowered his gaze. “Well, actually he had this plan,” said Macau and Vegas narrowed his eyes. 

“ Plan? ” asked Vegas. “What were the two of you scheming?”

“Nothing,” said Macau. “It was just supposed to be a trick, I swear,” said Macau. “The thing is,” said Macau. “Chay had this theory and I think he was right about it. That Kim follows him around everywhere he goes,” said Macau and Pete narrowed his eyes as well. “It’s a long story, but to make it short,” he said. “Chay believed that Kim would approach him if he was in danger and-” started Macau and Vegas shook his head. “What?”

“He didn’t make it home last night,” said Pete and Macau’s face turned white as a sheet.

“What?”

“He didn’t make it back home,” said Pete and Macau felt his stomach dropping.

“Was this part of his plan?” asked Vegas, not amused at all and Macau quickly shook his head.

“No,” said Macau immediately. He didn’t even have to think twice about it. “While he was desperate to talk to him again, he would never do something that would make Porsche so much,” said Macau and that much was true. He knew his best friend – Porchay cared a lot about Porsche. He knew how much Porsche worried about him and he wouldn’t do something stupid like this. Porchay wouldn’t go to such lengths – it wasn’t fair to Porsche nor to Kim. Chay knew the limits. Not coming back home for the sake of-

“He’s right,” said Pete. Perhaps he and Porchay weren’t that close, but he still knew him enough to know that Macau had a point. Porchay was a good kid – he would never do something that would make Porsche worry to this extent. That was why Pete knew that the situation was quite serious, so he just pressed his lips together and Vegas looked annoyed.

“No,” said Vegas and Pete sighed. “I’ve gotten too involved in the whole thing. I want nothing to do with this,” growled Vegas. It was bad enough that he was helping them with finding Kim in the first place – he wanted nothing to do with this as well. And if Korn found out… Vegas felt annoyance kicking in, but at the same time he knew that Pete was going to talk him into helping here as well.

“We have to do something. He’s family.’’

“Not my family,” said Vegas and Pete sighed along, shaking his head. 

“Don’t worry, Macau, we’ll find him,” whispered Pete and Macau felt his stomach dropping because just… where the hell was Porchay?! 

Macau tried calling him, but Chay didn’t pick up.

“They know nothing as well,” mumbled Kinn and shook his head. Porsche’s heart fell to the pit of his stomach as he tried to calm his racing heart, but there was nothing that was going to calm him down. Not like this. Not when he knew nothing about his brother’s whereabouts. It was just-

“Fuck!” yelled Porsche and was walking around in circles in the room. If that wasn’t bad enough, there was some kind of commotion going downstairs in the lobby and Kinn just gave one of his bodyguards an annoyed look when he walked in.

“What?!”

“We-we tried stopping him,” said the bodyguard and Kinn narrowed his eyes.

”What the hell are you yapping about?” snapped Kinn. He wasn’t usually like this to his staff, but now he was very worried and on the edge. He didn’t know what was going on now, but he really wasn’t in the mood to be dealing with it. Whatever it was, it could wait. 

“It’s-”

But, the bodyguard never got to explain what he was about to say because Kinn heard more shouting and he decided to see what was going on. Grabbing his gun, he hurried out of the room and Porsche followed him behind, his heart hammering against his ribcage. Perhaps he should be hopeful, perhaps it was Porchay. 

“ Out of my way, ” heard Kinn and his eyes widened, now running into the direction of yelling. Kinn’s heart was pounding against his ribcage because he could recognise the voice. He knew whose voice it was, but he couldn’t… he needed to make sure that the person was really there and not just-

To his father’s room. 

He was headed to their father’s room.

Kinn’s blood turned cold and he gripped onto his gun tighter, turning around to see if Porsche was there. Porsche was following him, following his every step.

Kim didn’t care about the bodyguards that tried to stop him from getting into the mansion. He went inside despite the pushback from the bodyguards. Honestly, he could see that the men were shocked to see him at the mansion and he decided to take this to his advantage. Even if they wouldn’t let him in, there was nothing stopping him.

Kim barged in, followed by two of his men, going up the stairs. His heart was hammering against his ribcage, he knew that he wasn’t thinking straight, but he didn’t give a flying fuck. He was furious, his mind darkened.

Even though he knew that the only person he should be blaming for not being there to keep Porchay out of harm’s way was himself, he couldn’t… Korn gave him his promise – he promised that he would keep Chay safe and he failed him. Like many times before. But this wasn’t about him, this was about Porchay. The thought of letting Porchay down like this devastated Kim to the point that he didn’t care what happened anymore.

Kim knew there was no way back after this – everyone was going to see him, but he didn’t care. Keeping Chay saw was more important than his father’s plan. 

Kim was breathing hard and unevenly when he finally reached his father’s room and he glared at the two men that stepped closer to him and he just laughed bitterly.

“Out of my way,” said Kim and the two glanced at each other.

“Mr. Korn isn’t expecting-”

“He’s my father, I can come to talk to him whenever the fuck I want,” said Kim and he pushed one of the men back, pressing his lips together and he didn’t hesitate to point his gun at the man, who quickly freezed up. He could see that Kim was not playing around and Kim then grabbed him.

“I said – out of my way,” hissed Kim, repeating himself  much louder.

“I-I can’t-”

“Out of my way!” yelled Kim and pressed the gun against the man’s throat. “I can easily end you. Right here,” hissed Kim. This was out of his character, he couldn’t control his rage anymore and then he heard footsteps coming closer to the door.

“ Let him in, ” said Korn’s voice and Kim released the man. Korn came to the door, told his men to leave him and Kim alone so that the two of them could talk in private and Kim was shaking with anger as he stepped into the room. It was the sheer fact that Korn didn’t seem really phased to see him there. His father was always hard to read, but it was just something eerie that Kim just couldn’t-

”Where is he?” asked Kim and Korn slowly turned around to see him. 

“I must say, I thought you were-”

“Where is Porchay?” asked Kim. 

“Why are you asking me?” asked Korn and Kim gritted his teeth, tightened the grip around his gun and stepped closer to Korn.

“You promised you'd keep him safe, so where is he?!” asked Kim, raising his voice. He just knew, he just knew that his father had to know something. He had to. Someone fucking had to know something. 

Kim regretted it. 

God, he was stupid.

The more that he was blaming his father, the more he was realising just how much of an idiot he was. Just how much of a fool he was for not… for not stopping when Porchay asked him to do it. He felt guilty, his heart was heavy, but he decided to take his anger out on his father. 

Porchay was asking him to stay.

Kim wished he would’ve stayed.

Kim should’ve stayed.

“Calm down and listen to me,” said Korn and Kim’s anger just worsened because he didn’t like the smug look on Korn’s face. How could he be that calm when Chay was missing?! 

Kim laughed bitterly and he shook his head.

“No, you will listen to me,” said Kim, tightening the grip around his gun once more. He almost pointed it up at Korn, when Kinn and Porsche barged into the room, both of them looking pale and Kim’s eyes flickered over to the side.

Porsche’s eyes widened when he saw Kim standing there in the room with Korn. 

Chay was telling the truth, all this time he was…

“Kim?” asked Kinn in disbelief and Kim swallowed thickly.

Chapter Text

“ Kim?!” heard Kim and he turned his head to the side, still gripping onto his gun when he saw his older brother and Porsche bursting into the room and he gritted his teeth, his eyes quickly on Korn again. Kim's heart was hammering against his ribcage, but at least on the outside, he was trying to remain calm. There was nothing calm about the whole situation and he cleared his throat. Kim lowered his gun, but he kept his eyes on Korn because he just knew. He just knew that his father had to do something with this.

“ What the hell is going on?” asked Kinn and he looked at his father, who was calmly standing by his desk and he sighed. Porsche shook his head in disbelief, feeling his heart falling to the pit of his stomach and he felt sick.

All this time, Porchay was telling him the truth. Porsche of all people should've been there for him, but he wasn't. Porsche didn't want to believe it because it was perhaps easier this way. His brother was hurt already so much by Kim and Porsche didn't want Chay to go back to how he was two years ago.

But, Porsche realised that perhaps Chay was just pretending for the sake of him and that just broke his heart because it was his fault. He should've made Porchay feel like that – that he had to hide things from him. Porsche swallowed thickly and he slowly walked closer to Kinn, whose face was pale. Kinn was shocked to see his brother, face to face.

“ Ask him,” growled Kim and looked at Korn, who just lazily straightened himself and Kim pointed his gun at Korn yet again, which made Kinn's eyes widen in shock. Kinn didn't know what was happening – why was Kim suddenly there? Why was he pointing the gun at their father of all people?! So many things didn't make sense and he just-

“ Where have you been?” asked Kinn and Kim glanced at him.

“ Doesn't matter,” said Kim.

“ It matters to me-”

“ There's no time, Kinn,” hissed Kim, holding his finger on the trigger because he was just so... His hand was shaking and Korn could see it. Kim wasn't as calm as he wanted them to believe and he just rolled his eyes.

So, even his youngest son was weak. Korn glanced at Kinn, who was standing in front of Porsche for now. Porsche was just standing there, trying to take everything in. Kim was there because of Porchay, wasn't he? He knew something – he knew that Chay was kidnapped?! But why did he think that Korn of all people had to do something with it?

Porsche was confused, his head spinning as he was trying to make some sense of it. Korn was there to offer him and his brother protection, he wouldn't... Porsche swallowed thickly and he didn't let that cloud his judgement because he knew exactly what kind of a person Korn was; he did only things that benefited him. He wouldn't-

Porsche didn't want to go against Kinn, but he already made a mistake by not believing Chay, so now that Kim claimed that Korn had to do something with Chay's disappearance, Porsche wasn't going to blindly side with Korn. He was smarter than that. He never really fully trusted him – he did it for the sake of peace between the families, but other than that, Porsche didn't really...

“ Put the gun down,” said Kinn and Kim pressed his lips together, shaking his head.

“ No.”

“ Kim, listen to your brother,” said Korn and took a step towards Kim, who didn't back down. He kept his composure and even though his hand was shaking, he didn't drop his gun. He kept it aimed at Korn for the entire time and he didn't give a flying fuck about Kinn now yelling at him. The only one that mattered was Porchay.

“ Where's Porchay?” growled Kim and Korn just shook his head, his voice dripping from sweetness. All of that turned Kim's stomach. It was pretty clear to him that Korn knew something. All of this was just to pretend to him – pretending that he was worried about him, about Porchay – Kim wasn't going to fall for it, but it seemed that Kinn was falling for it and Kim rolled his eyes.

That was pretty typical, wasn't it?

“ I don't know,” said Korn and shook his head. “How would I know? Huh?”

“ You promised you would keep him safe while I was out there doing your filthy job,” hissed Kim and closed his eyes, trying to erase the things that his father made him do. Back then he was on autopilot, he didn't really think . But it was messed up, fucked up. Kim swallowed thickly – back then he thought that it was for the best, but now... was it even worth it?!

“ Dad,” said Kinn and Korn glanced at him. “What is he talking about?” asked Kinn, tensing up when he heard Kim saying that. Even though he would usually side with Korn, he was still... Kim was still his younger brother and he took a step closer to Korn, who just sighed and shook his head.

“ We'll talk about it later,” said Korn.

“ No,” said Kim and slammed his fist against Korn's desk, kicking his chair and then he stepped over to Korn, slammed him against the wall, pointing the gun right in the middle of his eyebrows and Kinn quickly hurried over to him.

“ Kim, step away-”

“ One step closer and I'll shoot, I swear to God, Kinn!” yelled Kim because he wasn't going to have this. He wasn't going to let the others dictate how he should act or feel. He's been allowing that to happen for way too long and he was now taking the matters into his own hands, gritting his teeth as he glanced at Korn.

Such a shame, his father didn't look scared.

“ Are you really going to do that? Pull the trigger and shoot your own father?” asked Korn, pretending to be hurt. Kim laughed bitterly and he just clenched his jaw. “After everything I've done-”

“ Everything you've done for me?! ” asked Kim before Korn could finish that sentence. “Just wait till they find out the dirty business you made me-”

“ Some sacrifices are needed,” said Korn, unbothered and Kim's stomach turned, feeling sick down to his core.

“ Where's Porchay?” asked Kim, his hands shaking again and Kinn cursed under his brow. He was standing in place, still holding onto his gun. Worried, Kinn didn't dare to approach Kim – he was unpredictable now. Angry, sad, hurt, devastated – Kim was not to be messed with.

If someone kidnapped Porsche, Kinn would've felt the same.

That was why Kinn stood there and he listened to Kim. Holding the gun, but he didn't dare to point it to his brother. He understood Kim. He was worried, Chay got kidnapped and if something really happened to Chay, then Kinn was going to take the responsibility. He should've been there for him. He was Porsche's boyfriend, he should be taking better care of Porsche and Porchay. Kinn promised the two of them safety, but now he failed the both of them.

“ I don't know where he is,” said Korn. “Do you really think I would do something to hurt him?” asked Korn and Kim's eyes darkened. Yes, yes he would – if it would benefit him, Korn would do something to hurt Porchay. Without a doubt. “He and Porchay are a part of this family. I care for them, as if-”

“ Shut up,” hissed Kim and Korn stopped talking.

“ Kim-”

“ You shut up as well, Kinn!” said Kim with a low voice and Kinn stepped back. Kinn didn't know – he didn't know how to de-escalate the whole situation. Korn looked way too calm for Kim's liking and Porsche swallowed.

“ Kim!”

“ Stay out of it, Kinn!”

Porsche slowly stepped closer. Kim stiffened up, but he didn't make a comment about it. He couldn't... Porsche was Chay's older brother, he couldn't-

“ Kim,” said Porsche, his voice tense, but calm and Kim pressed his lips together, his hand shaking because he didn't want to drop the gun. But at the back of his mind, he knew that yelling at his father wasn't going to bring him back to Chay. He needed to calm down, but he couldn't. “All this time,” said Porsche and looked at Korn, who looked at him. “All this time you knew where Kim was, but you didn't tell us?” asked Porsche in sheer and complete disbelief.

Kinn's eyes widened when he heard that – Porsche was right. All this time, his father knew. After they've been searching for Kim for months, he didn't tell them anything. He was pretending to be worried, that he was looking into it as well, when in reality- Kinn took a sharp breath in and he felt sick as well.

“ It was better that way,” said Korn and Porsche laughed.

“ Better, really? For who? You?” asked Porsche and formed fists with his hands. “You know how worried Tankhun and Kinn were. They were searching for Kim everywhere!” said Porsche. “They were a mess after he suddenly went missing and you-” stammered Porsche, the anger getting the best of him.

Kim's eyes widened when he heard that – his brothers... worried about him?

“ It would've blown our cover,” said Korn. “I sent him on a mission and if I told you-”

“ Bullshit,” hissed Porsche because he had it enough. He's been playing all this time without even knowing it. Korn was horrible, Porsche loathed him at the given moment because of what he did to them. To Kinn... To Chay.

“ Why?” asked Kinn when he finally started thinking rationally. Emotions got the best of him before and now he slowly started to see the whole picture.

“ Not to mention what it did to Chay,” said Porsche and Kim's breath shook when he heard that. “I had to listen... night after night,” stammered Porsche, but then his voice trailed off when he realised he'd been saying too much. Kim was there, so he didn't want to...

Kim swallowed thickly. He almost turned around to ask what Porsche meant by that, but then he bit his tongue and decided not to. It was better not knowing, for now, it was better if he didn't know.

“ You had no right,” said Porsche.

Kim's heart was hammering against his ribcage. He didn't know what to do with all of that information. His brothers were seeking for him? His disappearance hurt Porchay? Kim's breathing was speeding up when Porsche stepped closer to him and he felt his legs almost giving out on him because he was just... he couldn't process all of that. It was almost too much.

“ How could you do that to us?” asked Kinn and Korn just rolled his eyes. “To Khun and me, to Porsche and-”

“ Stop with all of the melodrama,” said Korn and finally dropped the act, Kinn's eyes now wide when he heard his father.

“ Melodrama? ” repeated Kinn. “Melodrama?!” he raised his voice and Kim slowly dropped his gun, feeling disoriented. Everything has been a lie – his father told him that no one missed him. Back then, it didn't really hurt Kim because he thought that they just didn't care about him. That he was alone, that it was how it was supposed to be, but now-

“ Stop it, Kinn!” hissed Korn.

Kinn ignored him. Instead, he stepped over to Kim, whose face was covered by the messy hair that was falling over his eyes. Carefully, Kinn touched Kim's shoulder, who tensed up under his touch and slowly lifted his gaze, looking at Kinn. Kim didn't know what to do. He didn't even know what his plan was with coming over to the mansion, but he just...

“ Porsche, take Kim to the living room,” said Kinn. “Bring Khun, tell him... tell him what happened. He deserves to know,” stammered Kinn, shaking with anger. He couldn't even look at Korn anymore. Everything about the last two years was a fucking lie.

“ Okay,” said Porsche, but Kim didn't budge.

“ Kim-”

“ No,” said Kim. “I need to find Chay.”

“ We will find Porchay,” said Kinn. “I promise, I'll find him,” said Kinn and Kim wasn't so... so sure. He was just- “Kim, I promise.”

It took Kinn a while, but he finally convinced Kim. There was a lot that they needed to talk about, but for now it was important that Kim calmed down. Kinn didn't know who to believe anymore – he didn't know why Korn would do something to harm Chay, but at the same time Korn's been lying to them for the past two whole years and he wasn't taking a chance.

Kinn sided with Kim.

He wasn't letting Korn out of his sight.

“ Kim,” whispered Tankhun and gently touched Kim's shoulder as if he was trying to make sure that he younger brother really was there. Kim expected Tankhun to start crying, make a big deal out of it, but it seemed that Tankhun was in too much of a state of shock to actually start crying loudly and making a scene about it.

Or perhaps it was that Tankhun changed in the time that he wasn't around.

Kim swallowed thickly and he just glanced down. He didn't know what to say. He was tired – all that he wanted to do was run out of the mansion and start looking for Porchay, but he didn't know where to start looking. This time he couldn't function properly. He wasn't like his old self. He was sloppy, he couldn't focus.

Kim was a mess.

Before Porsche brought Kim to Tankhun, he sat him down and explained everything to him, slowly. Tankhun needed to first hear the truth from Porsche – he wanted to break it slow to him, but as soon as Tankhun heard that Kim was there, that they managed to find his younger brother was the moment that he stopped listening.

There was only one thing that Khun's brain managed to process and that was – his younger brother was back. He was back home. He still didn't wrap his head around the fact that their father was lying to them this whole time. That was going to take more time to sink in. For now, Tankhun was just happy to see Kim again.

“ It really is you,” said Tankhun, his voice breaking a little bit and he gently touched Kim's shoulder again. Kim finally moved and Tankhun moved back, placing his hands over his mouth. As he blinked, Kim could see tears rolling down Tankhun's cheeks.

“ Yeah,” said Kim and Tankhun looked at Porsche, who gave him a little nod.

“ Where were you?” asked Tankhun, taking things slowly. Kim looked different. Tankhun couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was just something that looked different about Kim, but not in a good way. Kim just looked so tired, exhausted. Tankhun felt his heart twisting in pain, but he swallowed back his tears.

“ Long story,” said Kim and Tankhun shook his head.

“ I don't mind listening-”

“ There's no time, we have to find Chay,” said Kim, pushing his brother away and Tankhun tensed up, his eyes again going to Porsche, who gave him a little understanding nod. Porsche understood that Kim wasn't in the mood. It made sense. Tankhun, on the other hand, was just overjoyed to be again with Kim and he just-

“ I could help,” offered Tankhun and Kim looked at him.

It was awkward. It was clear that the relationship between them hasn't been great, plus, being apart from them for two years just made things even tougher. And yet, Kim was grateful that Tankhun offered to help. Kim knew that it wasn't easy for Tankhun. He's been...

“ Thank you,” said Kim and Tankhun stepped closer.

Kim looked so thin. His complexion was pale, eyes tired. Perhaps Kim claimed that he was okay, but his eyes told a whole different story. Kim was through a lot.

“ When was the last time you ate?” asked Tankhun and Kim looked at him, shrugging. “Or had a proper rest? You look terrible,” said Tankhun. Kim wanted to snap back, but he knew that Tankhun was coming out of place of worry.

“ I'm fine,” said Kim and stiffened when Tankhun stepped closer. Kim could see that Tankhun was going in for a hug, but he just moved away and Tankhun felt his heart tightening as he glanced at Porsche, feeling discouraged. It's been two years since they've last seen each other and Kim still didn't want to...

“ It's okay, Khun,” said Porsche and gently rubbed Tankhun's back. “He just needs some time. Besides, all of us are on edge with Chay missing,” said Porsche and his voice was shaky. “And the fact that Korn's been lying to us for the past two years,” said Porsche, forming fists with his hands and he glanced down.

Porsche felt guilty for not believing Chay before, so now he was... he was going to trust his gut. And he decided to believe Kim. He wasn't going to be stupid again. Even if it was too late, they were going to find Porchay. And bring him back home. Safely.

“ I don't wanna talk about him now,” said Tankhun, his voice unlike anything that Porsche had heard before. He's known Tankhun for years now and yet this was the first time ever he heard Tankhun sounding so angry, his voice was cold, shaking with anger. It lasted only for a split second and with that Tankhun decided to not think about Korn. He was too pissed off. At the back of his mind he knew that he needed to deal with it sooner than later. But not right now.

“ Kim, we'll find Porchay,” said Tankhun. “Kinn will-”

“ It's useless,” said Kim. “Father has everything and everyone under his control here. We won't-”

“ What about Vegas?” asked Porsche and Kim's eyes travelled to him.

“ Vegas?” asked Kim, again spacing out. It was really hard for him to focus, really hard...

“ Korn doesn't control Vegas and his men. We should go ask him,” said Porsche even though he knew that working together with Vegas again was going to make Kinn angry, but he didn't care. He also knew that Vegas wasn't going to be too keen on working with them again. Things have been rough, Vegas wanted nothing to do with the main family besides the business meetings, he was staying away.

But, perhaps Vegas would be interested to hear that they would be going against Korn. Porsche didn't mean to hide it from Kinn, though. He was going to tell him. And if Kinn wasn't going to agree on getting help from Vegas, then Porsche was going to look for Chay on his own.

“ I hate to agree with Porsche on that one since the monster stole my Pete,” said Tankhun and Kim looked at him. “But, he's right. Vegas and Pete can help us,” said Tankhun and Kim's eyes travelled down and he pressed his lips together.

Working with Vegas wasn't... that bad of an idea especially since Kim was desperate now.

Kim placed his hands together, twisting on his thumb. Eventually, he nodded. Kim's been fed up, being his father's puppet for two years straight and now this – Korn failed him. He failed to keep one promise to him after everything he's done.

And what if Korn wasn't behind Porchay's disappearance?

That was something that Kim would worry about later, but it was just... his gut feeling told him that his father knew more than he was telling them. He was manipulating everyone. Kinn's been always to fall victim to it, but perhaps Kinn has finally opened his eyes now. As for Kim... he was wide awake.

“ Okay,” said Porsche and Kim grabbed his gun, ready to walk out of the mansion and go to the minor family, but Porsche's hand stopped him and he shook his head.

“ Porsche, get out of the way,” growled Kim.

“ I'll call Pete,” said Porsche. “I'll tell him-”

“ There's no time for phone calls, we have to go there and-”

“ You don't have to do this alone,” said Porsche and Kim tensed up, chewing on his lower lip.

“ I need to bring him home. It's my fault-”

“ Kim, it's not your fault!” said Tankhun, trying not to cry when he heard that. Kim was completely guilt ridden. It broke Tankhun's heart to see his brother like that. And Tankhun wasn't going to let Kim go anywhere before getting a proper meal and rest. Now, he didn't have to work alone anymore.

Kinn and Porsche were going to help him.

“ You stay here... with Khun,” said Porsche and Kim glared at him. “Kim. He's my brother,” said Porsche. “He means the world to me,” said Porsche and Kim let out a hitched breath. “I will do everything to bring him back home,” said Porsche and Kim slowly nodded. That much was true, he knew that... he knew that.

“ Alright,” said Kim reluctantly and Porsche nodded. Not wasting any time, Porsche stepped out of the room and called Pete.

In the meantime, Kim took a deep breath. It was suffocating. He couldn't breathe properly, forcing himself to take another breath and he slowly looked up, Tankhun now watching him. Kim felt useless. Kinn was dealing with Korn, Porsche was making phone calls and Kim? He had to do something. Standing still felt-

“ You're not going anywhere,” said Tankhun when he saw Kim looking towards the door.

“ I have to-”

“ I know. And you will,” said Tankhun and despite Kim not being too happy he still wrapped an arm around his shoulders and he brought him closer. “Just for a moment, stay here? I missed you. I've been... worried,” said Tankhun and Kim's eyes widened when he heard that.

Everyone kept saying they were worried about him...

“ Have something to eat,” offered Tankhun. “Please.”

Kim knew that he wasn't getting Khun off of his back until he would agree to it, so he just nodded.

“ Fine.”

“ Great,” said Tankhun and clasped his hands together. “What do you want?” asked Tankhun. “I can make you something,” said Tankhun and Kim almost smiled.

“ You... cooking?”

“ Duh,” said Tankhun.

“ The one time you tried cooking you almost burned down the mansion,” mumbled Kim and his smile widened just a little bit when he remembered Tankhun's attempt at cooking. So many decades ago and yet it was one of his fondest memories because it was genuine. It came from the heart. Tankhun was trying to bake him a birthday cake, when everyone forgot...

“ That was baking,” corrected him Tankhun. “Cooking is easier.''

“ Is it?”

“ Trust me,” said Tankhun.

“ Hmm.”

“ Ay, trust your older brother!” whined Tankhun and started dragging Kim towards the kitchen. Tankhun might have been smiling and being his usual loud self, but that was to mask the pain he felt when he looked at Kim. And Kim knew that, but he didn't dare to mention it. The smile was there to hide the tears of relief – Kim was finally back.

Kim just allowed Tankhun to do as he pleased and just for a moment or two, he managed to... calm down.

Chapter Text

Porchay didn’t know where he was. He was locked in a room, hands tied behind his back as he was trying to even out his breathing. He couldn’t find a way out – there was no way out because no matter how much he tried breaking down the door, all that he resulted in was hurting himself. His right shoulder hurt, probably bleeding and he was breathing hard and uneven. Honestly, he didn’t even know how long he was being held up in that place.

Even if he didn’t know where he was, he knew who brought him there and he was pissed off. Porchay was boiling with anger. He wasn’t a violent person, but when he found out who was the one that brought him there and why , he completely lost it. If he ever managed to escape, he was going to put a bullet into his head alone.

Porchay huffed under his breath – there was no if. He was going to get out of there. He needed to get out and tell people what kind of person Korn was. And he needed to protect Kim from the monster that his old man was. Korn was evil, he was disgusting. Porchay used to trust him and the old man really played them all horribly. 

Porchay didn’t give a flying fuck that Korn’s men were the ones that kidnapped him. He didn’t really care what happened to him, but he needed to get out of there for Kim’s sake. Because the things that Korn told him sickened him down to his stomach and he needed to make sure that he was going to make it. 

It wasn’t in Korn’s interest to kill him, not really. In his own fucked up way, Korn did care for him and Porsche. But what Korn cared more was his own ass, he always used people around him. So, the men were instructed not to hurt Porchay. Porchay was promised freedom, if he just listened to Korn – Korn tried reasoning with him. It was really messed up just how far Korn was prepared to go to keep the power in his hands.

To make sure that he was the strongest among them all. And the fact that Kim was nothing but a fucking pawn in his disgusting game sickened Chay down to his stomach, but he wasn’t going to let him get away with this. Just thinking about the things that Korn confessed to him made him…

… Porchay pressed his lips together when he recalled just everything that Korn told him.

“Let me go!” screamed Porchay as he was trying to free himself, but the men that were carrying him were far too strong for him. There were too many. Chay didn’t know where he was suddenly taken off to. The men put a bag over his head and no matter how much he tried getting free, he couldn’t.

It wasn’t until he heard a familiar voice that he completely froze up and stopped struggling, pressing his lips together because why… what in the world was happening?!

“What did I tell you?” asked the voice. “Kim wasn’t supposed to see you!”

Cold and stern, but all too familiar to Porchay. He gulped because this was Korn, wasn’t it? Porchay was completely dumbfounded because he didn’t understand what in the world was happening. Was Korn there to save him? Porchay knew how naive that sounded, but at the same time it didn’t make any sense- 

“Boss, we didn’t know. But the brat wouldn’t stop-”

“Don’t speak to him like that,” hissed Korn and Chay was keeping still, heart hammering against his ribcage as he was waiting for something to happen. At first he really thought that the man was there to save him, but he should’ve known that it was far too easy. Korn wasn’t-

“We’re sorry!”

“Useless imbeciles,” said Korn and then his slow and lazy steps went closer to Porchay, who could hear the sound of his racing heart as he tried to calm down. Korn took the bag off of his head and Porchay blinked a few times. But his eyes didn’t really need to adjust to the light because the lights in the room were dimmed.

“What is going on?” stammered Chay, Korn wearing that usual grin on his face. A grin that Porchay didn’t know what to think of anymore. The man gave him the creeps, so he just looked away and gritted his teeth.

“Please, forgive me,” said Korn. 

“Hah?!” stammered Porchay and his head was spinning – so, Korn wasn’t there to save him?! He was working with them? But… but why? Porchay glanced down and he tried to figure out what the world he had gotten himself into. He didn’t-

“You don’t have to look so scared. I’ll explain the current situation to you,” said Korn and the frown between Porchay’s eyebrows deepened. He could explain this?! “And I promise you – you will not be hurt. This isn’t my intention.”

“Excuse me?” whispered Porchay.

“I’m sure you’ll understand,” said Korn and Porchay chewed on his lower lip. He wasn’t going to understand and he already knew that. He wasn’t going to even try to understand someone that kidnapped him.

“Where am I?”

“That’s not important,” said Korn calmly.

“Why did you… why did you kidnap me?” whispered Porchay and glanced at the man, who rolled his eyes and crossed his arms on top of his chest.

“Kidnap? Really?” asked Korn and shook his head. “Let’s not get hysterical, Porchay. You’re better than this,” he said and Porchay felt sick down to his stomach because even if he knew that Korn was not to be trusted, he never actually thought that Korn was such a bastard! And for what? It made absolute zero sense to Chay. 

Zero!

“Go to hell!” said Porchay and Korn just laughed, shaking his head as he clasped his hands together behind his back and was slowly walking around the room, telling his men to get out so that he could talk in private with Porchay. Chay swallowed thickly, confused as hell and he just glanced down. It still didn’t make any sense. Why would Korn-

“Let’s have a little talk, you and I,” said Korn when they were finally alone and Porchay wasn’t listening.

“Where did you take me?”

“That’s none of your concern. You will not be hurt, I care about you and your brother,” said Korn and Porchay laughed when he heard that – he sure had a fucked up way of showing that. Porchay wanted to say something, but then he bit back those words and he swallowed thickly.

“Why are you doing this?”

“It’s for your own good,” said Korn calmly.

“What?!”

“I won’t keep you here for too long. Just a couple of weeks,” said Korn and Chay felt sick down to his stomach. “Just until Kim leaves for Japan,” said Korn and right then Porchay felt as if someone punched him right into his gut. 

KIm?! This was about Kim?! Porchay’s head was spinning, glancing down and he quickly shook his head. No, but what did that have to do with Kim and Korn? Porchay chewed on his lower lip and he glanced over to Korn, who was now wearing an angry look on his face and Chay chewed on his lower lip. The man really was unpredictable. Just what did Chay get himself into?

“I finally thought that I had someone that I could count on. Someone that didn’t get phased and would carry out my tasks without any protests,” said Korn and then he sneered. “But, I guess I was wrong. Just like everyone else, Kim is just as weak,” he said and Porchay felt his blood boiling with anger when he heard that. Kim wasn’t weak, he was strong! And-

“Kim isn’t weak,” growled Porchay, trying to keep calm, but he couldn’t. Hurting Korn was something that he knew that he couldn’t afford doing because then he and Porsche were both gonners. But at the same time – he couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. 

“So I thought,” said Korn. “For two years he did everything I asked of him,” said Korn and a devious grin spread across his face. “Oh, he was fantastic,” he said. “He did everything I told him, no questions asked and I thought that I finally had a son that I could count on, but,” he said and his eyes narrowed. “Everything changed when he came back to the city. I knew it was risky, but I thought he was better than this,” he said and Porchay’s heart was hammering against his ribcage when he was finally getting the full picture. About Kim’s whereabouts for the past two years… 

All of that was Korn’s doing?! All this time Porchay was blaming himself and he knew that there was still blame that he couldn’t really shift on someone else, but he knew that something else had to happen. At first Kim was blasting his phone with texts and missed calls and then he just went radio silence. All of his numbers were suddenly out of service – it was as if he disappeared from the face of the ground and then… all of it made sense.

Because if Kim left willingly, they would be able to find him. Porchay was sure of it. But, now it made sense – Korn was covering up the traces of Kim so that they weren’t able to find him and that was just all kinds of fucked up. Perhaps Kim wanted to leave willingly, but Korn had to use Kim. There was no other way about it because it was just… if Kim kept following him around ever since he came back home, then this told Chay that Kim still had feelings for him. And that he wanted to be in contact with him, but it was almost as if he was hiding from him because he…

Oh, Korn, that fucking bastard.

“You used him,” said Porchay and Korn glanced at him.

“Used him?” asked Korn and he laughed. “I made him into a man, finally someone I could be proud of and count on,” said Korn and Porchay gritted his teeth. “I used that pain and turned it into something that-”

“You used him,” said Porchay. “You fucking bastard. How-”

“I guess I should thank you,” said Korn and Porchay’s stomach twisted as his heart fell to the pit of his stomach. “He really did care a lot about you, if you must know, but you broke his heart,” said Korn and then he hummed along. “He was desperate to leave,” he said. “He came to me one day, begging me if I could send him away somewhere,” he said. “To keep his mind busy and, well,” said Korn, chuckling. It felt like a punch right into Porchay’s face because he… he did this. He drove Kim to do such a thing. It was- “The rest was history.”

“Don’t shift the blame on me! ”

“I’m not. I’m thanking you,” said Korn. “If it wasn’t for you, Kim would never become such an effective pawn for me to control,” said Korn and Porchay gritted his teeth, feeling completely sick yet again because Korn was despicable!

“Why did you kidnap me?!”

“It’s simple – to keep you away from Kim. It’s just for a couple of weeks until he leaves for Japan,” said Korn and then he looked at Porchay, whose eyes were wide, his face was pale and he glanced down, feeling tears welling up in his eyes because the situation was helpless. Kim was going to leave again?! For how long this time? Porchay’s lower lip was shaking, but he quickly sank teeth into his lower lip as he didn’t want to give Korn the satisfaction of seeing him break down. 

“Kim isn’t so stupid, you know?” asked Porchay and laughed in the end. “He knows I want to see him. He saw me get taken away, do you really think he’s so stupid to just let it go?!” asked Porchay and then he shook his head. “You’re underestimating him,” said Porchay and Korn shrugged along – it was almost as if he didn’t care and it made Chay wonder just what else the other had planned.

Porchay cursed and then he glared over to the door again – it’s been probably days ever since Korn had last showed up. There was confusion going around among his men as well; they didn’t know where in the world Korn was, but they just stayed low, hidden. They would come to see Chay three times a day, to bring him food, which he wouldn’t really eat as he was just so pissed off. He didn’t have much energy, but he was going on just for the spite of Korn. 

But knowing that Korn didn’t come around made him wonder – did something happen? What was he doing? Was he trying to convince Kim that he didn’t care about him anymore?! Just thinking about everything sent a new surge of energy throughout Porchay’s body and he slowly forced himself up into a standing position and he looked over to the door. No matter how much he tried to kick it down before, he couldn’t.

Still, that didn’t prevent him from trying again. 

Porchay kept kicking the door hard, then trying to take it down by shoving it with his shoulder. It was hard since his arms were tied behind his back, but he didn’t care. The only thing that was on his mind was Kim and he kept on going. He needed to be together with Kim, he needed to reach him in time and protect him from that monster. 

Porchay rolled his eyes when he heard the men that were guarding the door laughing on the other side of the door, but he didn’t care. That just made him keep on going, shoving the door with his shoulder, breathing hard and uneven as he kept on going. Porchay was stubborn, he ignored the pain in his shoulder, but at one particular moment he shoved the door far too hard and he yelped out in pain.

Porchay waited for a little bit, hoping the pain would go away, but it didn’t. Whenever he tried moving his arm, it hurt like hell, tingling sensation spreading throughout his entire arm, accompanied by numbness and he just fell down onto his knees and screamed out in pain.

“Fuck!” yelled Porchay. “That fucking hurts,” he hissed and pressed his lips together. He kept on screaming out mostly of frustration because getting injured was just going to slow him down from running away. He felt stupid for getting hurt, but all of his screaming alarmed Korn’s men. Then he remembered – they were there to make sure that Porchay wasn’t harmed. 

That was when an idea popped into Porchay’s mind and he slowly dragged his body to the side, leaned against the wall and he hissed out in pain when he moved. It hurt like hell. Porchay closed his eyes and gasped softly before he started screaming. That was sure going to make them come check up on him and that was when he was going to make a run for it. 

It wasn’t a full proof plan, but it was the only thing that he got.

“Help me!” yelled Porchay. “Help me, please, it fucking hurts, ” he kept on yelling, the commotion in front of the door getting bigger and bigger. A little grin spread across his face when he saw that they fell for the trap and he swallowed thickly, looking up when he saw three men coming into the room. 

“Stop shouting!”

“I’m in pain!” growled Porchay back and the three of them looked at each other. “I think I dislocated my shoulder or something,” he said and the trio didn’t look too happy with that.

“You little shit-”

“Fuck, boss will kill us if he finds out.”

“As if he cares. He hasn’t been here in three days,” said the third man, but one of them was too afraid of Korn to let it go, so he just stepped over to Porchay to look at his shoulder. 

Porchay’s heart was hammering against his ribcage and he pressed his lips together when the man not only came closer, but he untied his arms. Good, this was going to be much easier than he first thought.

“Are you fucking stupid?” hissed one of the men.

“I’ll just take a look at his arm. Mr. Korn will kill us if he finds out he got hurt on our watch,’’ grumbled the man and grabbed Porchay’s arm, who let out a loud hiss, feeling a jolt of pain spreading throughout his entire arm.

Porchay held back his breath and when the man leaned really close to his face, Porchay acted quickly. Without even thinking, Porchay smashed his forehead against the other’s face. Hard. Porchay hissed out in pain and he pressed his lips together – that looked way less painful than in the movies. But, it worked. He heard the man cursing and when he glanced up, he could see that the man was bleeding out of his nose.

The man dropped his gun, so Porchay quickly picked it up with his left hand and smashed the back of the gun into the back of the man’s head, making him fall onto the ground, not moving. The other two were now coming closer, kind of impressed that he managed to act out, but they were underestimating Porchay when he pointed the gun at them. Porchay had never shot anyone, but as soon as one of them dared to step too close to him, Porchay fired the gun, shooting the man’s leg, his eyes wide in shock as well.

Before the other one managed to start running after him, Porchay fired the gun again, hitting the man’s right shoulder and he cursed under his breath and quickly scrambled himself up onto his legs, the man yelling for help, but Porchay was already running out of the room.

Porchay’s heart was hammering against his ribcage as he was running down the long hallways, not knowing where to go. He was disoriented, but he kept on running as he heard people chasing him down, gunshots now being fired at him as well. Porchay gritted his teeth when he reached a dead end, but before the others managed to catch up to him, he started running down the hallway again, turning left.

Porchay didn’t even know he could run that fast, ignoring the pain in his shoulder and in his ribs now as well, feeling tired as hell, but he never stopped running. Porchay reached the stairs, so he quickly ran down, not knowing where he was going, but then he saw a door at the end of a large room. He could see sunlight peeking through the windows that have been sealed shut. Trying to open the door didn’t work and he cursed when he heard them getting closer, already running down the stairs.

“Fuck it,” hissed Porchay and kicked the door, successfully, open this time and he smiled, quickly running out. 

Porchay ran out of the abandoned building, but much to his luck he was still in the town. He was gripping onto his gun as he continued running down the road, chewing on his lower lip and he quickly jumped in front of the first car that drove past him, pointing his gun at the driver, feeling like shit for doing that, but he didn’t have the time about thinking what was moral or not.

The woman quickly stopped the car, screaming out in fear as he quickly opened the door and cursed when he heard gunshots going off again. The woman screamed again and Porchay cursed. 

“Drive!” yelled Porchay, but the woman was petrified.

“Who are you, what-”

“Just. Drive,” said Porchay and the woman didn’t have to be told again because she could see a group of four fully armed men running towards her. She quickly drove off, Porchay swallowed thickly, closing his eyes as he was slowly calming down. He managed to escape. He managed to…

… he hoped Kim was okay. 

Porchay didn’t know where to go, though. He couldn’t go to the main mansion – Korn had his eyes there, everywhere. So, he decided to go to the minor family – he was going to find safety there with Macau and Pete. Vegas wasn’t going to be too thrilled about seeing him, though.

“I can’t perform fucking miracles, Kinn!” hissed Vegas.

“Take a look at it again,” said Kinn and Vegas rolled his eyes.

Working against Korn was something that he was easily talked into even if it meant working with Kinn. At first he was skeptical, but then he came to the main mansion and when he saw that Kinn placed Korn down into the dungeon behind the bars… it was such a pleasant sight. Though, Korn with a bullet in his head would be much better, in his opinion.

Still, now that Kinn had Korn locked up – they started searching for Porchay together. Macau and Pete talked Vegas into working with Kinn. Plus, Kinn paid him quite a handsome amount of money, so he was willing to work with his cousin. But, it wasn’t really going anywhere. The search was slow. 

“You’re in my house, my rules,” hissed Vegas and Kinn narrowed his eyes.

“Fuck off.”

“Both of you, stop. This isn’t about you,” said Pete and Vegas huffed, but nodded.

Kim was there as well, trying to be somehow helpful, but the last three days went by in complete blurr. He couldn’t remember what he did, but he barely got any sleep. He was restless, barely holding on. And listening to those two fighting was just making it all worse because there wasn’t time for that. Yet, Kim just decided to step out and he swallowed thickly. When Kinn saw Kim going out, he pressed his lips and he hurried after him.

“Where are you going?” asked Kinn, concerned and Kim shook his head.

“Out. For a smoke.”

Kinn noticed Kim’s hands shaking and he just gave him a little nod and he stepped back. 

“Don’t wander off, okay?” asked Kinn and Kim gave him a little nod.

As Kim stepped out, he didn’t feel much better. It was suffocating, no matter where he was and his hands were shaking badly as he leaned against the wall, observing the cars driving by and then he slowly pulled out his lighter and cigarettes. Still, he was so nervous that he couldn’t light up the lighter, no matter how many times he tried, his fingers just weren’t listening to him and he angrily cursed.

In the end he managed to light up that cigarette, his shaky hands finally obeying him. Smoking didn’t really help and he just closed his eyes, standing like for a little while, swallowing thickly. It was just… 

Kim’s eyes snapped open when he heard the screeching sound of tires and he narrowed his eyes. A red car drove past him, clearly in a hurry and Kim almost didn’t think of it too much. He was about to go back inside to make himself useful with the search, but then the car suddenly stopped. The driver was driving recklessly. Kim could hear a woman yelling and then the door opened, someone quickly jumping out before the car drove off again.

Everything happened so quickly afterwards.

Kim’s heart was beating fast as he watched the person that jumped out of the car, gripping onto a gun and Kim lost it when the person finally turned around. The cigarette that he was holding between his fingers fell onto the ground and he blinked a few times, just to make sure that he wasn’t seeing things. Because in front of him was standing no one else than Porchay.

“Porchay,” said Kim, trying to call out to him, but those words came out as a mere whisper. 

Porchay was headed for the mansion and his eyes widened when he saw Kim standing in front of the mansion. Kim was… there?! Just like that? Porchay felt hot tears prickling in his eyes and he would have loved to run into Kim’s arms right there and then, but they couldn’t be out there like that. That was why before Kim managed to say anything, Porchay grabbed onto his hand and dragged Kim inside. Kim followed, still trying to understand that what he was seeing was real.

Porchay looked around and then he slowly nodded, still breathing fast and uneven, his shoulder hurting like hell, but he finally… he finally escaped. And Kim was there. Kim was there. Oh, God. 

“We should be safe here,” swallowed Porchay, shaking his head. He wasn’t sure if he was being followed by Korn’s men or not. With all of that being said-

“Porchay?”

Kim’s voice was shaking, breaking. Porchay stopped talking and he gasped when Kim slowly reached out to him, cupping Porchay’s face, just to make sure that Porchay really was there. Kim had so many questions… about where Porchay had been for the past few days, who took him, who dared to hurt him, but the only thing that he could think of right then was that Porchay was there. 

There.

Just within his grasp. 

And Kim had learned his lesson. He wasn’t letting go. No matter what, even if Porchay wanted him to leave again, he didn’t fucking care. He wasn’t never letting Porchay go. Porchay closed his eyes when he felt Kim’s shaky fingers touching his face and he almost smiled when he felt those fingers feeling soothing. He was slowly calming down, pressing his lips together when he opened his eyes again.

Kim looked terrible. He looked so worried, his hair was a mess, his eyes were red and puffy. Kim was a mess. It was clear that Kim had missed him, searched for him. 

“You’re here?” whispered KIm and Porchay gave him a little nod.

“I’m here,” confirmed Porchay and leaned closer when he felt Kim clinging onto him. “I really am here,” said Porchay, shaking his head. “And I’m not going anywhere,” said Porchay. When he said that, Kim smiled, tears running down his cheeks. “I don’t know what he told you, but I love you. I never stopped loving you. These two years… I didn’t move on… I couldn’t-” was blabbering Porchay as he was all over the place. But he needed Kim to understand that he-

“Chay,” whispered Kim and Porchay gulped. “My Chay,” said Kim and opened his mouth to say something. Oh, there were so many things that he wanted to say. He wanted to tell Chay just how much he loved him as well, how much his heart yearned for him and yet nothing came out. Kim gritted his teeth and he cursed under his breath. “Fuck, I can’t- ”

The words my Chay were enough for Porchay. He didn’t need more. 

Before Porchay registered what was happening next, Kim leaned in and kissed him – that was the only way that he could show him that what he felt was the same. Just how broken he was without Porchay, just how much he loved him as well. There were just so many things that he wanted to tell him, but for now having Porchay return him the kiss was more than enough.

Chapter Text

Kim’s mind stopped working when he felt Porchay returning him the kiss and he gasped loudly. When he felt Chay kiss him back, Kim snapped back to reality and he pulled himself back, his eyes wide as he found himself looking back at Chay and he swallowed thickly. Kim’s head was spinning, but then Porchay reached up with both of his hands, ignoring the stinging pain in his shoulder, hugging Kim’s face with his warm palms, making him look up and Kim’s breath was shaking when he found himself looking into Porchay’s eyes.

Kim struggled to breathe and he had so many questions. Chay was there, he was really there. Kim gulped and he shook his head, slowly reaching up with his shaky fingers as well and he touched Porchay’s cheek gently. Oh, Porchay looked like he was a mess as well. Kim shook his head. He parted his lips to say something, but it was as if there was a muzzle put on him.

So many things, yet he couldn’t say any of them.

“Finally,” said Porchay, his voice breaking and Kim’s eyes flickered up to him. At that very moment, the two of them were lost in their own little world. Nothing else mattered. Porchay had forgotten that he had been kidnapped by Korn. It was at the back of his mind, but all that he cared for at that very given moment was that he and Kim were finally reunited. 

After two years, he could finally see Kim properly. He could finally touch him. Porchay’s fingers were resting against Kim’s warm skin and he leaned closer. Chay didn’t even realise that he was shaking, how whole body was trembling, but so was Kim’s and he found himself smiling back at Kim, who was just trying to force himself to say something. He didn’t want to fuck this up. Porchay was there and yet he…

“Porchay,” whispered Kim and Chay snapped.

Hearing Kim say his name like that broke Porchay, he couldn’t hold back anymore. Two years, he’s been holding back and now he couldn’t anymore. He shook his head frantically and he leaned closer. As he wanted to press his lips against Kim’s, the other one quickly pulled back. Not because he didn’t want that kiss, but because he wanted to explain himself. He wanted to put it into words how he felt, but it was-

Yet, Chay didn’t need that. It was enough – he could hear the desperation, the longing in Kim’s voice. He didn’t need to be told all of that because he could feel Kim’s yearning. It went both ways, so before Kim managed to speak up again, Chay leaned closer and didn’t give Kim the time to pull back that time. He pressed their lips together and Kim just melted against him, wrapping his arms around Porchay’s waist as he kissed him back.

Kim was returning Porchay the desperate kisses, gasping softly as Porchay tipped his head to the side, still holding Kim’s face between his hands, ignoring the growing pain in his shoulder. He couldn’t really register it as he just kissed Kim again and again. No matter how many times he kissed him back, it was never enough. 

“I love you,” stammered Chay out between their kisses and Kim stiffened a little bit when Porchay said that and Porchay could feel something wet between his fingers, opening his eyes and he could see that Kim was crying again. Kim pulled him closer and he nodded, but still couldn’t say anything. Instead, Kim just desperately kissed him again and Porchay swallowed thickly.

Kim couldn’t seem to calm down, Chay had never seen him like that – Kim was carrying his heart on his sleeve. Kim was feeling it raw , his heart twisting in both pain and relief as he kept on chasing after Chay’s lips, trying to get as close as possible because it just wasn’t enough.

Two years of suffering alone, two years of suppressing his real feelings – it all caught up to Kim, who was now having a hard time controlling himself. He leaned back against the wall and Porchay walked with him. 

“I love you,” said Porchay again and Kim closed his eyes.

Every time that Porchay would say that, his heart felt like bursting open and bleeding out. Kim gritted his teeth, forming fists out of frustration. It was almost as if he was afraid to say how he felt as well. He was afraid that after he would speak up, that all of this would be over. That Porchay would disappear, melt away from his grasp yet again and Kim couldn’t. 

Kim took in a sharp breath and he just closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face as his legs almost gave out and Porchay quickly leaned closer, slowly holding onto Kim, who was struggling to say something and he just angrily cursed under his breath. 

“I love you, Kim,” said Porchay again because he wanted Kim to understand it. The things that Korn told him, the poisonous lies he had been feeding to Kim for two years straight now worried him. He was worried that Kim wasn’t going to believe him. He was desperate to make him believe and he gently hugged Kim’s face again and Kim forced himself to look at Porchay, who gave him a little smile.

Porchay was crying as well, smiling through his tears. Both of them were complete messes, yet neither of them cared and Kim gasped for air yet again, while Porchay was giving him the time to process everything. He needed to tell Kim everything, but for now it could wait, right? He just wanted Kim to know how much he loved him, how much he couldn’t move on from him and he was just-

“I,” stammered Kim and clutched at his chest, shaking his head.

“Shh,” whispered Porchay against his lips. “Calm down, take it slow-”

“Porchay,” said Kim, clearly in pain and Porchay’s heart twisted as he didn’t know how to help Kim. All that he could do- “Me too,” finally dared to say Kim and Porchay’s eyes flickered to him. “... love,” stammered Kim and he leaned against the wall again, his knees buckling. As Porchay was holding onto him, Kim started slowly sliding down the wall and Porchay went to the floor with him, kneeling next to him as he was waiting for Kim to finish what he was about to say.

Love…

Porchay’s heart was hammering against his ribcage.

“I’m sorry,” said Kim instead and then he bowed his head down. “I can’t,” he said and angrily gritted his teeth. 

“It’s okay,” said Porchay and gently started wiping away the tears that were still rolling down Kim’s face. Chay was in the process of breaking down as well, but for the time being, he didn’t care. Because it wasn’t him that mattered now, it was Kim. “Take a deep breath,” said Chay and Kim gently gripped onto Porchay’s forearm. Chay gently ran his fingers through Kim’s hair and smiled down at him when he saw that Kim was listening to him, taking slow, deep breaths and he was slowly calming down.

Slowly, but surely.

Kim hiccuped as he looked up at Chay and he gently cupped his face once more, bringing Chay closer and he rested their foreheads together.

“I promise,” whispered Kim and glanced down, gritting his teeth as he forced himself to continue. He needed to promise that it was going to be different this time – he wanted Chay to know that he was done running away. He wanted Porchay to understand that he was serious. Things would be different now, Kim wasn’t going to… 

“What do you promise, Kim?” whispered Porchay, his voice trembling as well as Kim made a little pause before he continued.

“I’ll stay,” said Kim and Porchay’s eyes widened a little bit. “I’m staying, I’m done running away,” promised Kim, meaning every word that was coming out of his mouth. “I want… another chance. I want to give us another chance if-”

“Oh, Kim,” said Porchay and shook his head in disbelief. Didn’t he hear what he said before? Well, Porchay didn’t mind saying it again. “There’s no if, ” said Porchay and Kim’s lost eyes found Chay’s and stayed on them. “What I mean is,” he said and made another little pause. “Yes. Of course. As many chances as you want. I’ll give everything to you. I can’t-” started Chay, but that was enough for Kim and he pulled Porchay closer, wrapping his arms around Chay tightly, who winced out in pain, but swallowed back the pain and just relaxed in Kim’s arms.

There. 

In Kim’s embrace he finally felt safe and calm.

Protected.

Things were going to be just fine. Korn could never hurt him or Kim again and Porchay was going to make sure that Kim was going to be safe from now on.

“Son of a bitch,” hissed Kinn as he was walking around in circles as he was trying to calm down. Vegas got one of his staff to take a look at Porchay’s shoulder – it was indeed dislocated, but they popped it back in place. Still, Porchay was going to be taken to the hospital just to make sure that he was going to be fine. 

Chay had told them everything – that it was Korn that was behind his kidnapping. It was just like Porsche and Kim had suspected from the whole beginning. Kinn went along with it, but he didn’t want to believe it. Sure, his father had been lying to them for the last two years, but Kinn didn’t want to admit it. He didn’t want to admit it that his father was such a bastard that would actually do something so-

“And so, Korn has fallen from grace,” said Vegas as he glanced at Kinn, who was fuming with anger. He was already pissed off with his father, but this pushed him over the edge and he cracked his knuckles. All that he wanted to do was to go back to the mansion and deal with his father personally.

For good.

It was fucked up enough that Kim was his personal pawn to do his dirty business. But to think that he was also the one that was truly behind Porchay’s disappearance just to keep the game going… it was fucked up beyond Kinn’s belief. Accepting that his father was more messed up than he first thought took a toll on Kinn and he just sat down, placed his head down and took a sharp breath in.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” asked Vegas and Kinn scowled at him.

“Now’s not the time, Vegas,” whispered Pete and placed a hand on top of Vegas’ shoulder,  shaking his head, eyeing the door. Perhaps it was better if they left the three of them alone in the room so that they could talk. 

Kim was just sitting there, holding onto Chay’s hand. When he heard what Chay told him, he was furious, of course he was but at that very given moment his body just gave out on him. He was exhausted, he was tired as hell and all that he could do was fight his body from shutting down. He was forcing himself to keep his eyes open as he was staring at Chay almost as if he was under some kind of spell.

Kim just didn’t want to look away, holding onto Chay’s hand the entire time, keeping their fingers linked together. They would still need to have another conversation, or even more than that, but for now all that Kim wanted was sleep. He couldn’t keep on going like that. But falling asleep was something that he couldn’t do.

Kim was terrified.

What if… when he woke up again, Chay would be gone and…

“Listen to Pete,” growled Kinn and Vegas rolled his eyes, but in the end he listened to Pete as he dragged him out of the room. Macau was also going to return back home any moment now, together with Porsche as the two of them were at the main mansion together. Perhaps Macau still didn’t like Porsche too much, but for the sake of finding Chay and bringing him to safety, he agreed to do everything, even work with Porsche.

So, the two of them were on their way.

“Kim, you need to take a rest,” said Kinn softly and Kim barely registered his voice in the distance, slowly gazing up and he blinked a few times and he swallowed thickly. “Porchay is safe now, why don’t you-”

As soon as Kim heard that he stiffened and he reached for Porchay's hand again. He pressed his lips together and he just shook his head. There was going to be nothing that was going to separate him away from Chay. Not now when he finally got him back and as soon as Chay felt Kim stiffening, he shook his head as well because he also didn't want to be away from Kim.

Both of them needed time to heal and rest but they were going to do that together. He curled himself around Kim and whispered into his ear.

"It's okay. I'm not going anywhere," whispered Porchay and Kim swallowed thickly, closed his eyes and tried to even out his breathing. Just the thought of Porchay walking away now almost pushed him into a panic attack and Kinn felt anger building up. He was beyond furious and he couldn't wait to deal with his father. Seeing his little brother like this killed him. Kinn didn't really know what to do to calm Kim down and he pressed his lips together and he was trying to...

"Okay," said Kinn. Since Chay also didn't want to move there really wasn't a point in separating the two of them. Besides, Porsche was also soon going to be there and Kinn just ran his fingers through his hair. Kinn couldn't calm down, he was restless and he realised one thing - he needed Porsche to be there as well. Perhaps Porsche was going to know what to do because Kinn was lost. Barely holding in there, Kinn looked at Chay and he swallowed thickly.

"Should I bring you something?" asked Kinn and Chay shook his head.

"No," mumbled Porchay and he gritted his teeth. He would love a pain killer for his shoulder but at the same time...

"At least some water?" asked Kinn as he wanted himself to feel somewhat useful.

Guilt was clawing at Kinn's chest - this was his father's doing. His father had done all of that right in front of Kinn, who was oblivious to all of it and he was now desperate to fix things. How was he supposed to fix this? Porchay had been kidnapped and Kim had been suffering for the last two years, taking care of Korn's dirty business. Was there even a possibility to fix things anymore? Kinn gritted his teeth and Chay glanced at Kim, who gave him a little nod.

“Okay,” said Chay and before Kinn left the room, he clasped his hands together and looked at the two of them, still resting on the couch together and he pressed his lips together.

“I promise my father will get what’s coming, I won’t let him get away with this,” said Kinn, his hands shaking with anger and Kim nodded because he also wasn’t going to let this go.

It finally registered – it truly was Korn who was behind Porchay’s kidnapping and even though Kim wasn’t really back yet, his mind was slowly clearing up. He needed rest, he needed to get his energy back, but once he was going to regain it, there was nothing that was going to stop him from getting that revenge.

Korn was going to be burning in hell sooner than later.

“Macau, I’m fine,” said Porchay as he finally sat down onto the couch as Macau helped him down, but Chay was feeling much better and he glanced up at Porsche, who was standing next to the two of them, wearing a grim expression on his face and Chay swallowed thickly as he looked at Macau again.

“I’ll tell Pete to cook you something to eat,” said Macau, overjoyed to have his best friend back – the last three days were a nightmare and he didn’t even want to think what Chay had been put through the last few days and he just clasped his hands together.

“You go do that,” said Chay, his voice tired and then he glanced over to Porsche yet again and Macau finally got the message – the two of them wanted to be alone. That was why he just quickly excused himself and hurried out of the room, leaving Porsche and Chay alone in the room as Chay just sighed along and glanced around the room.

They were at the main family – Porsche was sure that Chay was safe there. Just in case, he didn’t want to take Porchay back to the main family because… he didn’t know who was there working for Korn and Porsche was just paranoid, sitting down onto the edge of the bed and he swallowed thickly. He felt better knowing that Porchay would be with the minor family for now. It wasn’t like he trusted Vegas too much, but Pete was there and if there was anyone that would be able to keep Porchay safe it was Pete.

“You’ll be staying here for the next few days,” said Porsche and Chay gave him a little nod. “Pete will look after you,” stammered Porsche and chewed on his lower lip.

“Kim’s staying as well,” said Chay and Porsche looked over to him, his eyes travelling down and he slowly took a deep breath. Chay was about to ask Porsche if he had anything against Kim staying with him, but in the end, Porsche just exhaled and he placed his hand over Porchay’s and gave him a little nod. 

“Mn. Kim’s staying as well,” said Porsche and Chay smiled.

Porsche might have hated Kim in the past for what he did to Porchay – for breaking his heart, but right now he couldn’t anymore. He learned his lesson, he could see the truth now. He could see that Kim was just played by Korn; Kim’s been through hell as well and there was one thing that Porsche was sure of – Kim truly did care for his brother.

So, Porsche agreed to give Kim a new, proper chance. 

“I’ll take care of everything else in the meantime,” said Porsche and gritted his teeth. “I’ll make sure Korn will pay for what he did to you,” said Porsche and he slowly withdrew his hand. 

Porchay blinked a few times and he felt his heart dropping to the pit of his stomach – he could see just how worried Porsche was. It’s been three days since he had last seen Porsche, but it had seemed that in such a short span of time he just got older for a few years and he felt terrible. He didn’t want to get himself in trouble, he didn’t want to cause more troubles to his older brother. 

Porsche already had way too much to worry about.

“I’m sorry,” whispered Chay and Porsche gave him a look of disbelief.

“What are you sorry for?” asked Porsche and shook his head. “There’s-”

“For causing you more trouble. That’s all I seem to-”

“No,” said Porsche quickly. “I should be the one apologising,” said Porsche and closed his eyes. “I should have never made you feel like this – that you had to hide how you’ve been feeling for the past two years,” whispered Porsche. “Not to mention that I refused to believe you when you said you’ve seen Kim around,” he stammered. “I thought-” whispered Porsche and his voice shook a little bit, but he forced himself to continue. 

“It’s not your fault,” said Chay quickly.

“It is,” said Porsche. ”I was too stubborn, I didn’t want to believe you-”

“You were just worried about me,” said Porchay and shrugged. ”Really, don’t blame yourself for-”

“Chay, I’m sorry. I should’ve been there more for you,” stammered Porsche and huffed under his breath. “If I was a better older brother, none of this would have happened. I-” continued Porsche, but then his voice trailed off and instead, Chay gritted his teeth and wrapped his arms around his brother, giving Porsche a little hug and he playfully tapped his back.

“It’s okay, Porsche. You did the best you could. I know,” said Chay. “I’m fine now,” he said and just as he was about to pull away, he heard little sniffles, his eyes widening when he realised that Porsche was indeed crying.

Those were both – tears of relief and guilt. Porsche was relieved that Porchay was back, that he was finally back, but it killed him to know that he had to go through this alone, that he wasn’t there for him. These two last years…

Still, eventually Porsche managed to calm down just as there was a knock at the door and Porsche quickly started wiping his tears as he puffed his cheeks and Chay gave him a bright smile. Chay was too tired to be crying, but his heart twisted when he heard Porsche’s sobs before and he just glanced over to the door.

The door opened and Pete walked in.

“Pete!” piped Porsche, standing up and Pete smiled softly. “Everything okay?”

“Mn. I just wanted to tell you that the dinner will be ready in half an hour,” said Pete and Porchay politely nodded – he didn’t really feel hungry. He was too tired to feel anything else at that point. 

“Thank you, Pete,” said Porsche and slowly walked closer to the door.

“Kim is also wondering if he can go see Chay,” said Pete, half laughing, half sighing because Kim was standing there, leaning against the wall, but he didn’t want to be in the way. 

Porsche saw the way Chay’s eyes lit up and before he could reply, Porchay decided to speak up instead.

“Yes!” said Chay, quickly straightening himself in the bed even if he felt tired as hell. Porsche decided to give those two some privacy – he would be back by the time that the dinner would be done, so Chay and Kim were left alone in the room, pleasant silence falling between the two of them as Kim closed the door and slid closer to Chay.

Porchay truly looked tired and Kim glanced down.

“Perhaps I should let you rest. I’ll leave and-”

“No, no, stay!” said Porchay way too quickly and there was a little smile on Kim’s lips as he slowly walked closer and Chay was more than excited to move to the side and he happily tapped onto the empty spot of the bed, signing Kim to join him on the bed. “There’s more than enough space for the both of us on here,” stated Chay and Kim sat down onto the bed, but then Chay grabbed his hand and pulled him closer.

“Chay-”

“Come closer,” argued Porchay and it took a little bit of back and forth, but after five more minutes, Kim was finally listening. He laid down next to Chay, who wasted no time in snuggling up to Kim, whose eyes widened, but his arms quickly went around Porchay, who pulled covers over the two of them.

“Comfortable?” asked Kim and Chay nodded. “Your shoulder doesn’t hurt?”

“Not at all. I promise.”

Chay looked up at Kim, who gently cupped his face and his thumb was gently caressing the skin on Porchay’s face, making him feel safe and sound, his eyes getting heavier and he just sighed along as he dropped his head down, placing an arm on top of Kim’s chest as he also properly laid down next to him.

Kim knew he was tired, but suddenly it all came crashing down on him. His body felt like it weighed a ton and he couldn’t even be bothered to care what has to happen next. For now, all that mattered was that Chay was safely in his embrace, willing to be there. 

Kim scooted closer and smiled when he saw Chay yawning.

“Close your eyes, get some sleep,” said Kim and Porchay frowned.

“Don’t wanna waste time,” said Chay and Kim kissed his forehead.

“Just for a few moments, I’ll wake you up,” said Kim as he was gently combing his fingers through Porchay’s hair. Chay smiled and hummed along – truth be told, he couldn’t keep his eyes open for much longer. With another yawn, Chay closed his eyes and it didn’t take him too long to be peacefully asleep.

Kim also couldn’t fight it off anymore. As soon as noticed that Porchay had fallen asleep, he let his eyes fall closed and the two of them were soundly asleep next to each other.

When Pete came to tell them that the dinner was finally done, he just allowed the two of them to get their much needed rest – God knew that the two of them needed it. So, he just quietly left the room and left Kim and Porchay to finally heal.

Chapter Text

“Who else?” hissed Kinn as he grabbed onto one of the bodyguards that were working tightly with Korn and he pulled him closer. Vegas was standing in the corner of the room and he just pressed his lips together because he found it completely pathetic, if he was being completely honest – Kinn had always been weaker than him in his opinion. Vegas didn’t even know why he was there with Kinn if the other one didn’t allow him to join in on he torture. Kinn’s definition of torture was pathetic in his opinion and he just rolled his eyes.

Kinn managed to capture some of his father’s men, but he knew that there had to be more. Still, he was pretty sure that he would be able to crack them and make them talk. He knew that Korn would never start talking, so that was why he decided to interrogate the people that worked for his father, but it still wasn’t working. At the end of the day, it was Korn that they were scared of, not Kinn. Vegas knew that, but he just kept his mouth closed because it was kind of funny to see Kinn struggling.

It would be better if they listened to Vegas’ plan, which would first consist of killing Korn off. He was pretty much useless to them, anyway, but he knew why Kinn was keeping him alive; it was because he was too weak to kill him. Vegas didn’t mind killing him himself; it would be an act of kindness in his opinion. Vegas pressed his lips together and tried keeping quiet as he promised Pete that he would work with Kinn not against him. But, this was driving him mad – if Kinn would just start torturing these fuckers properly, they would all start talking and Vegas knew it. 

“I don’t know,” said the bodyguard that Kinn was holding onto and he punched his face a few times, which just made Vegas roll his eyes. Vegas was leaning against the door and was now more interested in cleaning his nails than this. However, Kinn was soon going to come and beg him for help – Vegas was sure of it, so he was just waiting. 

“Bullshit,” spat Kinn and then he grabbed onto his hair again, yanking his head back. The man hissed out in pain and Kinn angrily grabbed his neck, squeezing hard and the man’s eyes widened. Vegas knitted his eyebrows together and then he cocked his head to the side. So, Kinn’s brilliant plan was to kill them now? How were they going to get answers then? Vegas was tired and all that he wanted to do was to go back home, far away from his stupid cousin and his mansion. 

“You’re planning on killing him?” asked Vegas lazily as Kinn continued squeezing the man’s neck and Kinn’s eyes darkened as he looked over his shoulder, staring at Vegas and he wasn’t happy when he heard Vegas’ mocking tone of voice. Kinn was already pissed off as it was, so he didn’t need Vegas to preach him about his stupid-

“Who asked you for your opinion?” barked Kinn and Vegas just raised his hands up.

“Fine, kill him if you want,” said Vegas and then he glanced over to another man in the cell. He and the one that Kinn was currently squeezing were the only ones left alive as Kinn killed off the other three and Vegas pressed his lips together. “It’s none of my business, anyway, but how do you expect to get answers if you kill them off too soon?” asked Vegas and Kinn gritted his teeth because he hated how right Vegas was about it.

Angry, Kinn released the man that he was holding onto, loud coughing filling the room when the man finally started breathing and Vegas sighed along. Kinn angrily turned to him and walked over to Vegas, the look in his eyes dark when he heard Vegas laughing at him and he wanted to punch that annoying grin off of his face, but he just decided to contain his anger because he knew that he needed to wait.

Vegas wasn’t the problem now.

“They don’t talk, what the fuck am I supposed to do?!” barked Kinn.

“That’s because you don’t know how to make them talk,” said Vegas and glanced at the man, who flinched when he saw Vegas looking at him. Vegas laughed softly when he saw that the other one was terrified of him and not of Kinn, which was hilarious in his opinion. Kinn narrowed his eyes and he shoved Vegas back.

“Shut up,” hissed Kinn.

“It’s true, cousin dear,” said Vegas in English and then he switched back to Thai. “You know, there’s a problem – you’re too weak,” said Vegas and Kinn’s anger just got worse.

“What?!” snapped Kinn. “Take that-”

“It’s true though,” said Vegas and rolled his eyes. “You’re too weak to torture people, too hotheaded for it too as… you just kill them off, which defeats the point,” said Vegas and then he crossed his arms on top of his chest. “No wonder we haven’t gotten any answers from them,” he said and Kinn pressed his lips together, placing his hands on top of his sides.

Did Vegas have a point?

Yes.

“Damn it,” growled Kinn and then he stared at the two men that were squeezed in the corner of the cell and then he looked at Vegas again. “What do you propose we do then?” asked Kinn and Vegas smiled, because finally – just like he thought, Kinn was now coming to him for help, which was hilarious. Vegas slowly straightened himself up and then he started folding his sleeves up.

“There’s only one way they’ll talk,” said Vegas, looking forward to the torture.

“How?”

“Leave the torture to me,” said Vegas and he could already see the two trembling in the corner. “I promise I’ll make them sing like birds at the end of it. They will tell us everything,” said Vegas and cocked his head to the side and then he looked at Kinn. “That is if you-”

“Fine, do what you must,” said Kinn in the end, his face grim because he couldn’t really admit defeat, but there wasn’t the time to be arguing about this. 

In order to keep Porchay and Kim safe, they needed to find out who Korn was working. Kim already told them some names and Kim sent his men abroad to take care of his father’s men outside of the country, but there were more of them and Kinn was sure of it. He was going to make sure that they were going to tell them everything that they knew before their miserable lives would end. And then, Kinn would take care of his father, who was in the cell next to theirs and he just watched how elated Vegas looked when he grabbed onto the axe.

Kinn swallowed thickly and decided to leave the cell, allowing Vegas the time and space to do… whatever he needed to. It was hard to watch, Kinn lowering his gaze when he heard the screams filling the room. 

“I hope you don’t mind me visiting,” stressed Tankhun and he looked around the mansion. “I know that Vegas isn’t here today because I saw him with Kinn, so I decided to come and visit you,” said Tankhun and Pete gave him a little smile and he nodded. “And I’m here to see Kim. I hope he’s been okay?” he asked and Pete smiled.

“Mn. He and Chay are doing good,” said Pete as Tankhun followed him down the hallway. “It’s nice to see you,” said Pete and Tankhun sighed and happily looked at Pete, pressing his lips together.

“It’s been a while since we’ve last seen each other,” he said. “We don’t get to see each other as much since the monster stole you away from me,” said Tankhun and Pete burst out laughing when he heard that and Tankhun gave him a little smile. It was nice to smile and laugh among the whole thing that was going on, but Tankhun felt much better now that Kim was safe and okay.

Tankhun agreed with Kinn, Porsche and the rest, that it was safest for Porchay and his brother to be staying with the minor family for now. As much as he disliked Vegas, it was safer there than back at home. At least until they figured out who was working with his father and he just shuddered. He really didn’t want to think about his father. He hoped Kinn would deal with him as soon as he could and he just swallowed thickly.

“I would appreciate it if you would stop calling my boyfriend a monster,” said Pete with a little smile on his face because he knew Tankhun was joking and Khun just huffed along, but then smiled when he heard giggles coming from the room next to them. He could also hear Porchay and Kim talking and laughing as well, which brought a smile on Tankhun’s lips.

It was good to hear Kim laughing. He didn’t think-

“Can we go inside?” asked Tankhun and Pete chuckled.

“Of course,” said Pete and opened the door, smiling when he saw Kim and Porchay chilling on the couch. Next to them, Macau and Venice were keeping them company. Venice was sitting on top of Macau’s legs. Porchay was talking with Macau and Venice, keeping the boy entertained by pulling funny faces, while Kim was just sitting there and wearing a little smile on his face as he was looking at Chay the entire time, not letting go of his hand.

“Oh, look who’s here,” said Macau and lifted his gaze. His smile fell when he saw Tankhun behind Pete and he just shuddered. 

Venice smiled and reached out with his hands towards Pete, but his smile was gone as well when he saw Tankhun and he just squeezed himself against Macau, hiding his face and he shook his head.

“No!” said the boy, loud and clear.

“I agree,” grumbled Macau. “Why are you here?”

“Be nice, you two!” said Pete and Macau rolled his eyes, while Venice kept protesting silently in gibberish. Tankhun was offended.

“I do not feel welcome here, Pete!”

“Good,” said Macau and Pete pinched the bridge of his nose as he listened to the two of them, but Kim was just laughing silently as he listened to the bickering.

Kim couldn’t explain it – he’s been through hell during the last two years. Something as mundane as listening to their bickering made him smile and he just sighed, slowly straightening himself up, while Pete slowly walked closer to Venice and Macau, narrowing his eyes.

“Tankhun’s here to see Chay and Kim,” said Pete and Macau huffed. 

“Fine,” said Macau and slowly stood up, holding Venice in his arms as he stood up and the boy held onto his brother. 

“We’ll have a talk about this later, you know?” asked Pete and followed Macau, who was now in a hurry to get out of the living room. “You need to show more respect to Tankhun and the same goes for you, Venice,” said Pete.

“Let’s run away,” whispered Macau and started running, while Pete started massaging his temples and then he left the room as well, going after those two troublemakers, while he allowed Tankhun to be alone with Kim and Porchay, so that they could finally talk.

Tankhun was silent for a few moments, but then he finally spoke up. Kim looked much better now. It’s been a few days since they found Porchay, Kim looked more rested. Still tired, but he looked like he was doing much better, which made Tankhun feel relieved and he pressed his lips together as his eyes travelled to Porchay. Kim kept clinging onto him the entire time, which made Tankhun chuckle.

“How have you been?” asked Tankhun finally and Kim smiled when he felt Porchay gently rubbing his back. Porchay also wouldn’t leave his side – he was there with him always. Always by his side, making sure that Kim was doing okay and Kim just felt blessed. 

“I’m better,” said Kim in the end and Tankhun placed a hand over his chest and he nodded.

“After all of this is over, you’ll move back in with us, right?” asked Tankhun, hopeful and Kim looked at Porchay, who nodded. The two of them didn’t really discuss it yet, but it seemed like it was a good idea. After everything was over, when everyone was captured and dealt with, then perhaps… yes. Being with family was good, Kim couldn’t bear to be alone.

“Yeah,” said Kim. “I’d like that.”

“Good,” said Tankhun and smiled all the way up to his ears. “Kinn and Vegas will make sure to kill anyone that dared to hurt you and Porchay,” said Tankhun, his voice now getting colder and he cleared his throat. Honestly, he wanted to deal with Korn on his own. Tankhun quickly shook his head because he didn’t want to make Kim or Chay upset, but the two of them just nodded.

“Don’t worry, when they find everyone, I’ll make sure they’ll suffer as well,” said Kim, Chay’s hand back on his own and then he relaxed softly. “Anyway,” said Kim and wondered what to say next. He always thought he didn’t matter to the family, he always thought they didn’t care, but he was starting to see just how wrong he was. Everyone was working hard together for the sake of him and Chay. Kim felt awkward, he didn’t- “How have you been?” finally asked Kim and Tankhun clasped his hands together.

“Better now that I know you two will be okay,” said Tankhun with a small voice.

“Thank you,” said Chay. “For everything, I mean-”

“Shh. No need to thank me. After all, I’m your future brother in law, so I have the responsibility to take care of you,” said Tankhun and Porchay opened his mouth to say something. He glanced at Kim, who chuckled when he saw the growing flush on Porchay’s cheeks and Tankhun just happily smiled when he saw Kim’s broad smile.

“Embarrassed?” whispered Kim into his ear.

“No!” said Porchay in protest.

“Liar.”

“I am not.”

“Adorable.”

“Look at you two,” chirped Tankhun happily. “You two love birds,” he said and sighed happily. It warmed up his heart to see Kim talking so much, smiling and just all in all, finally calming down. “I’ve never felt so single in my entire life before,” huffed Tankhun and Kim rolled his eyes.

“Can you not?” asked Kim and chuckled.

“Shh. Can’t you see I’m happy for the two of you?” asked Tankhun with a pout. “Anyway,” he carried on and Porchay just smiled when he heard that and Kim pulled him closer. “You better treat my little brother good,” said Tankhun and pointed his finger at Porchay. “Or else.”

“I will!” said Porchay and earned himself a little kiss on the cheek from Kim.

“So?” asked Porsche impatiently when he finally saw Kinn and Vegas stepped up the stairs. Vegas was lazily wiping the blood off his hands, but he was going to need a change of clothes. Luckily, he brought some of them with him because he knew that it would probably come to this and Porsche’s eyes widened when he saw the blood staining Vegas’ shirt and trousers. 

“What?” asked Vegas.

“Nothing, just-” stammered Porsche, but then collected himself. “Did you manage to find out something?” asked Porsche and Vegas nodded.

“Yeah, we did,” said Vegas and then eyed Kinn. “No thanks to him, though,” grumbled Vegas and then he threw the paper towels to the floor, not really caring too much. Kinn pressed his lips together, but he picked the towel up and glared at Vegas. “What?” grumbled Vegas. 

“Nothing,” sighed Kinn, who was tired. Working together with Vegas was tiring, he was beyond done with him and he was pissed off, but he didn’t dare to say anything because if it wasn’t for Vegas, they wouldn’t be able to find out more information. Those two who they captured didn’t really know too much, but they gave them the information that was going to lead them to people who knew more about everything and Vegas was invested now.

This would finally bring Korn down – once and forever. 

They also told the list of the people who worked with Korn, but were pretending to be working for Kinn. Two faced fuckers, Kinn was going to take care of it. All of them were going to end up… well, it was their loss for being so stupid for choosing to trust and work with his father anyway.

“What do we do now?” asked Porsche and Vegas shrugged.

“I don’t really know for the two of you but I’m going back home because Pete’s waiting for me,” said Vegas and rubbed the back of his neck. “I suggest you first exterminate the ones that are supposed to be working for you,” said Vegas and Kinn nodded.

“On it already.”

“And then we can talk about what we’ll do next. We’ll bring Korn down once and for all,” said Vegas and snickered, rubbing his hands together. “You get to keep your brother safe and I get my revenge. Sounds perfect to me,” was all that he said before he started walking away, but then he heard someone following him and he stopped, turning around and he saw Porsche standing next to him.

“Thank you,” said Porsche. “I mean it,” he said. “For helping us.”

“I’m not doing it for you. I’m here to get my revenge-”

“Still, thank you!” said Porsche and Vegas didn’t like how sappy the moment was becoming, so he just moved away.

“Whatever,” said Vegas, but Porsche laughed and grinned as he watched Vegas leave, stepping closer to Kinn, who was glaring as Vegas disappeared behind the corner and Porsche hummed along.

“I think he’s warming up to you,” commented Porsche and Kinn gave him an unimpressed look. “We’re one step closer to bringing Korn down,” said Porsche quietly and Kinn nodded.

“Mn. Finally we know more and before he knows it, it’ll be game over for him,” said Kinn and took Porsche’s hand into his own. 

Kinn promised to keep his family safe and that was what he was doing. 

Chapter Text

“You no longer have to worry about our father,” were the words that Kim heard and he slowly turned his head to Kinn, who was standing next to him. Kinn was busy during the last couple of months; he’s been out of the country for more than half of the time, together with Porsche. Sometimes, he left with Vegas and Pete as well. Kim wished that he would go with them as well, so that he could take care of things as well, but Kinn didn’t let him.

After two years of suffering alone, Kinn didn’t let Kim near again.

At least concerning this matter, Kinn didn’t let him near because he wanted to be the one dealing with all of the fuckers that worked for their father. He wanted to personally deal with the people that hurt his little brother and Porchay and Kinn managed to hunt down every one of them. Most of them, anyway. There were still a few of them hiding like scared little rats, but Kinn had his people outside now as well, watching and monitoring. As soon as they would dare to show their pathetic heads from underground, their little lives would be ended. Kinn made sure of that.

But, he didn’t let Kim or Porchay get near this matter. Porchay didn’t really mind staying away because he had enough – being kidnapped was enough for him. All that he wanted was to heal, not think about anything else than being there for Kim. All that he wanted was for Kim to get better and things were slowly going for the better, though, Kim still had a long way to recover, but things were better and that was all that Chay wanted. For now it was enough. For not it was more than enough and he was just there with Kim all the time.

Kim, on the other hand, was kind of annoyed that Kinn didn’t let him near the bastards that were working for their father. He wanted to deal with them personally, but Kinn didn’t let him. Porsche as well didn’t allow him to get near them and he knew why. Because they were concerned for him, they were looking out for him and Porchay. They were protecting the two of them and Kim understood that. But, just sitting back and doing nothing wasn’t really what he was used to. He was used to taking care of things on his own. 

Kim was so used to being alone, that having other people around him was still a new feeling. Even after two months since he finally got back with Porchay, he was still getting used to it. But,it wasn’t like he disliked it. He was learning how to accept help and having other people around him felt nice. Not living alone was something that he liked the most. Living with the minor family was an experience, but Kim was thankful that they allowed him and Porchay to stay for the time being. No matter how chaotic it was at times, he appreciated it. Kim was grateful to everyone around him, more than he could ever put it into words. 

“What do you mean?” finally asked Kim when he realised the words that had just come out of Kinn’s mouth and his older brother just grinned back at him and he placed his hand on top of Kim’s shoulders, giving it a little tap. There was darkness in Kinn’s eyes – he was still mad. No matter what, no matter how much he made sure that Korn suffered, he still couldn’t-

“It’s over,” said Kinn and Kim knitted his eyebrows together. “He can’t hurt you anymore. He can’t hurt anyone again anymore,” said Kinn and Kim’s eyes widened when he heard that. He didn’t have to ask what that meant because it was pretty apparent what Kinn was hinting at and Kim opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed them again and then he looked down. 

“I-” stammered Kim and then he gritted his teeth. Kim knew what that meant, but he felt nothing – he felt completely empty and perhaps relieved that it was finally over. “I wish I could-” he said and then he slowly lifted his gaze up, facing Kinn. “Why didn’t you let me-”

“No,” said Kinn and gave Kim a little smile. Kinn felt free, he felt like he could finally breathe and he shuddered. No matter how messed up it sounded, he felt free. “You’ve suffered enough on your own,” he said and Kim formed loose fists with his hands. “He’s hurt you enough,” he said. “I’m your older brother and even if I wasn’t there enough for you before, I had to do this,” he said, shaking his head. “Like I said – I promised I would protect you. And I did,” he said and Kim swallowed thickly, feeling his heart falling to the pit of his stomach because he also didn’t know how to…

“When?” asked Kim after a few moments of silence and Kinn shrugged.

“Few nights ago, I think,” said Kinn and then he plopped down onto the couch. “Doesn’t really matter when, ” said Kinn and then he rubbed his hands together. “What matters is that it’s finally over,” said Kinn and Kim chewed on his lower lip, slowly going closer to Kinn and he sat down as well. “There’s still a few vermin running on the loose, but I’ve given clear instructions if they ever manage to show their pathetic lives out on the surface,” said Kinn and Kim pressed his lips together.

Kinn was tired – Kim could clearly see it on his face. Kinn has been busy, he barely had any time to rest, but he didn’t need any time to rest. What he needed to do was what he should have done a long time ago, so he was finally stepping up as the head of the family, not his father’s puppet anymore. Now that things have been finally taken care of, perhaps things could be much more calmer in the future. That went for the relations between the two sides of the family

“I,” whispered Kim and then he bowed his head down. “I don’t even know,” he stammered and ran his fingers through his hair. Kim cleared his throat and then he looked at his older brother. “Thank you,” he mumbled, his foot slowly tapping against the floor and Kinn just gave him a little smile.

“I’m just doing what I should’ve done a long time ago,” said Kinn and he shook his head. “I can’t believe how stupid I was,” he said and laughed. “I was our father’s puppet as well without even realising it,” he said and Kim gave him a little look of compassion.

“You didn’t know,” said Kim.

“Still, I should have been there more for you. Even before everything, ” said Kinn and then he leaned back against the couch. “After all, you’re my little brother,” he said and shook his head. 

“It’s not just your fault either,” said Kim and he crossed his legs. “I was the one that was too stubborn in the past. When I moved out, I barely came to visit. I thought I was better on my own, but,” said Kim and he laughed, shaking his head. “I was very wrong. It took me too long to realise that,” he said and then he leaned back against the couch, closing his eyes. “Being alone,” said Kim and slowly opened his eyes again. “Is the worst,” he said, biting into his lower lip and Kinn gave him a little nod.

“Yeah,” said Kinn and gently tapped Kim’s shoulder. 

“Luckily, I am not anymore,” said Kim with a small smile on his face and he just sighed in relief – it was finally over. Two years, two long years were finally alone. In a way, it felt almost a lifetime away. So much changed in such a short period of time. But, the scars were still there and they weren’t going to heal overnight. But, Kim knew that he was going to be okay. 

“Exactly,” said Kinn and he huffed under his breath. Kim wanted to pull back, but Kinn quickly leaned closer and gave his little brother a little hug. The hug caught Kim off guard, but he soon relaxed and gave his brother a quick hug back before Kinn pulled back first and then he cleared his throat. Hugging was still new to Kim, but he was… smiling. That was all that mattered. 

“Kim,” said Kinn and the younger one slowly looked over to his older brother and cocked his head to the side.

“Mn?’’

“Porsche and I have been thinking,” said Kinn and Kim gave him a little nod.

“Okay?” asked Kim slowly.

“Whenever you are ready,” said Kinn and Kim listened carefully. “We would love it if you and Porchay moved back in with us,” he said and he made a little pause. “Tankhun would be very happy as well,” he said and Kim pressed his lips together. “It doesn’t have to be right away. But, I just want you to know that,” he said. ”The door will be always open,” said Kinn and Kim chewed on his lower lip, feeling a little bit overwhelmed again. “You don’t have to ask, you’re always welcome,” he said and Kim smiled slowly.

“I understand,” said Kim and Kinn placed his hand on top of Kim’s shoulder. “Thank you,” whispered Kim again and Kinn ruffled his hair, which made Kim pull back and then he just laughed, huffing under his breath. He was still getting used to it, but… he was happy. Much happier. 

“Speaking about you and Porchay,” said Kinn and Kim’s eyes travelled to Kinn.

“Yeah?” asked Kim carefully. Kinn couldn’t miss the way Kim’s voice shook a little bit. He looked tense now, but Kinn just smiled widely and he glanced past Kim when he noticed Porchay standing at the door and he crossed his arms over his chest and he shook his head. 

“I am happy for the two of you,” said Kinn and Kim felt a wave of relief washing over him and he turned around when he heard someone walking closer to the two of them. “You deserve to be happy after everything you’ve been through.”

“Yes,” said Porchay and happily sat down next to Kim, whose eyes were now on Chay and Kinn just shook his head with a fond smile when he saw the way Kim looked at Porchay – as if he was his entire world, which he was. “We’ll be so happy that we’ll make the whole world jealous. Isn’t that right?” asked Porchay playfully and Kim just nodded and leaned closer to Chay.

Kinn sighed happily when he saw the look of sheer bliss and happiness on Kim’s face when he was with Porchay.

As an older brother, that was all that he could ever wish for.

Kim was about to step into the room, but then he heard Porchay and Porsche talking, so he stopped. He considered walking away, but then he heard the two of them talking about him and Kim placed his hands together. He was the only one standing in the hallway and he decided to stay there for a bit longer and just listen. Kim couldn’t help it. He knew that Porsche had every right to dislike him, so he-

“How is he doing?” heard Kim.

“Better,” said Porchay and sighed happily. “He’s starting to smile more. He still has nightmares, but they’re less frequent,” said Porchay and he chewed on his lower lip. “We’re just taking it one step at a time,” said Porchay. “He also has someone who’s helping him process everything,” said Porchay, who was the one who encouraged Kim to work properly through this and Kim listened. The same went for Chay.

“That’s good,” said Porsche and then he made a little pause. 

“We’re just healing,” said Chay and he clicked with his tongue. 

“As long as you’re doing better, that’s all I could ever ask,” said Porsche and Chay gave him a little nod. “I miss you,” said Porsche and Chay chuckled and gave his brother a little smile.

“I miss you too,” said Porchay. “We’ll be back, we just need-”

“Take as much time as you need,” said Porsche quickly.

“Yeah,” sighed Porchay and Porsche observed Porchay for a few moments in silence and it was truly telling just how happy Porchay was now compared to- Porsche swallowed thickly and huffed under his breath. Just the look on Chay’s eyes was enough to tell him how happy he was now with Kim.

“You’re really happy with him, I can see,” said Porsche.

“I am. I haven’t been happier,” said Porchay and then he placed his hands on top of his legs and he hummed along. “I love him so much,” whispered Porchay and without even knowing it himself a loud giggle escaped past his lips. Chay’s cheeks turned red as he looked around the room, but Kim wasn’t there to hear him giggling, so he just calmed down and Porsche laughed softly.

“I know,” said Porsche.

“He’s amazing,” carried on Porchay because once he started talking about how amazing Kim was, it was hard for him to stop. Macau knew how it was — he’s experienced it more than once. “He’s so sweet and kind to me. He’s always so attentive and gentle,” said Porchay and leaned back against the couch he was sitting on and grabbed one of the pillows, pressing it against his chest and he closed his eyes for a split moment as he was hugging the pillow, his fingers digging into the soft surface and then he pressed his whole face against the pillow, which caused Porsche to start laughing.

“Are you okay?” asked Porsche.

“I think so,” said Porchay. “I just can’t believe it. I’m really dating him, Porsche,” said Porchay and Porsche started laughing when he was listening to Chay’s little meltdown.

Kim peeked from around the corner and an arrow shot right through his heart when he saw Porchay hugging the pillow and he wasn’t done explaining just how amazing Kim was. He was going on and on about it, while Kim was standing around the corner, listening to everything. At one point, he thought his heart wouldn’t be able to take it – Porchay was just too adorable.

It was the next day.

Kim had just woken up, he was staring up at the ceiling and he didn’t dare to move even an inch since Porchay was still asleep. Kim’s arm was numb as Porchay was laying on it, but he didn’t care and he smiled softly when he glanced at Porchay, who was still soundly asleep. Porchay had his one arm sprawled across Kim’s chest, his eyes closed, Kim just admiring his sleeping face. 

Chay’s lips were parted a bit, some of the hair falling over his eyes and Kim carefully brushed some of the hair to the side, which caused Porchay to raise his eyebrows a little bit and he mumbled something in his sleep, but then he just squeezed himself tighter to the source of warmth, taking a deep breath as he settled down again, clinging onto Kim.

This was what heaven was like. 

Kim was sure of it.

Porchay was beautiful, the rays of sun shyly peeking through the window. Kim’s eyes travelled down to Porchay’s long eyelashes and Kim forced himself to breathe as Porchay literally took his breath away, smiling when Chay moved a bit, the sun now bothering him and Kim raised his free arm up, shielding Porchay’s face from the sunlight. Anything for Chay to get more comfort and Kim laughed when he realised how silly he was, probably. But, he didn’t care. 

The longer he spent looking down at Porchay, the more he was sure that Chay was literally an angel. That he was. Through and through. And somehow, he managed to- Kim sighed softly and lowered his hand down, gently skimming his thumb over Porchay’s cheek. Chay sighed when he felt Kim’s finger against his cheek and lazily yawned before he finally opened his eyes and looked up at Kim, who was gently caressing his cheek.

“Morning,” croaked Porchay and Kim swallowed thickly.

“I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“No,” said Porchay.

Porchay yawned again, rubbing his eyes and then he curled up closer to Kim and looked up, cutely blinking up a few times. Kim cupped Porchay’s face again and he sighed under his breath, unable to keep it in anymore. His heart was so full, to the point of bursting and he just-

“I love you,” whispered Kim, which made Porchay catapult up and he leaned up, his eyes wide when he heard Kim saying those three simple words and he leaned closer. Kim hasn’t said it, at least not until now. Porchay knew it was hard for Kim, he never pressured him into saying anything that he didn’t want to or that he wasn’t ready to do. Chay was patiently waiting and now… finally-

“W-what did you say?” asked Porchay, his voice small. Was he still dreaming? Kim chuckled and he just simply said it again – he’s been holding back for such a long time now and now that he finally said it, he wanted to keep on telling Chay how much he loved him… over and over again.

“I love you, Chay,” whispered Kim and Porchay was now sitting up, completely awake as he was staring down at Kim.

Porchay’s heart skipped a beat and he smiled all the way up to his ears. Excited, Porchay almost pounced on Kim, straddling his legs as Kim also sat up and was observing Porchay, laughing at his adorable reaction because Porchay’s cheeks were now very red, but he didn’t shy away from leaning closer and he kissed Kim, wrapping his arms around Kim’s neck and he pulled him closer, tipping his head to the side as he kissed Kim again, before he pulled back.

“I love you,” said Kim again and Porchay felt weak.

“I love you too,” said Chay shyly back. Kim was holding Porchay’s face with both of his hands, biting into his lower lip as he chuckled. “What’s funny?”

“I can fit the whole world in my hands,” said Kim and Porchay narrowed his eyes.

“What?”

“See?” asked Kim and moved his hands a little bit. Porchay finally knew what Kim meant and that he felt defeated. He wanted to say something, but Kim’s words defeated him completely, so he just leaned down and buried his face into Kim’s shoulder.

“Kim, you’re not playing fair,” said Porchay and Kim just wrapped his arms around Porchay’s waist and flipped them over, gently planting Porchay against the mattress before he laid down next to him, holding Porchay’s hand and he couldn’t help but to press another kiss on top of those pouty lips. 

“Kim, I really can’t-”

“Can’t what?” asked Kim innocently.

“Nothing,” said Porchay and scooted closer to Kim, feeling happy and lazy. What a perfect way to spend the morning. “Kim?”

“Mn?”

“What should we do today?” asked Chay and Porchay slowly glanced at him. With things slowly calming down, slowly settling down into normal life, there was one thing that Kim wanted to do. Even if he and Porchay were together for two months now, the two of them were yet to go out on a proper date.

It was work in progress, but Kim-

“Why don’t we go out on a date?” asked Kim and Chay perked up.

“A date?”

“Yeah. I wanna take you out,” said Kim and Porchay felt his cheeks heating up again, but he quickly nodded.

“I would love that,” whispered Porchay and hugged Kim tightly.

Porchay had a little smile on his face as he walked next to Kim, who was holding his hand, their fingers linked. Chay could feel Kim’s eyes on him for the entire time. 

The date was simple, yet the most wonderful thing ever. Kim took Porchay out for lunch – that was it. But it was so much more than that and Porchay felt like he was on cloud nine and he wasn’t coming down any time soon, his cheeks heating up because Kim was staring at him for the entire time and he cleared his throat.

“You’re staring,” whispered Porchay and tugged onto Kim’s hand, pulling him closer and Kim shrugged, pressing his lips together. 

“I know,” whispered Kim back and Porchay laughed softly. “Are you having fun on our first date?” asked Kim then, his voice soft and Porchay felt his heart skipping a beat.

“Yeah,” said Porchay. “Best date ever,” said Porchay and Kim sighed in relief.

“Should we go somewhere else as well?” asked Kim. 

“Yeah. I don’t want our date to end quite yet,” said Porchay happily and Kim gave him a little nod. “Where should we go, though?” asked Porchay and Kim shrugged.

“Wherever you wanna go, I’ll take you,” said Kim.

“Kim!”

“Yes?” asked Kim softly.

“You just-” stammered Porchay, but Kim understood why Porchay reacted the way he did – he was just shy, that was all. Kim was allowing Porchay to make all of the decisions, he was going to stay no matter what. He was going to follow Porchay everywhere. “Maybe we could go to the movies?” asked Porchay in the end and Kim smiled.

“I’d like that,” said Kim and Porchay huffed.

“But next time, you should pick,” whispered Chay and Kim shrugged.

“I’ll go wherever you wanna go,” said Kim and Porchay sighed. “I mean it, Chay,” said Kim and Porchay glanced at him. “I’m staying, not going anywhere. Which means – I’m going everywhere you go,” he said. Porchay’s cheeks were flushed, bright red, but he knew that Kim wanted to tell him that again. To reassure him he was staying. 

In the past, Chay wondered why Kim wouldn’t stay and now… Kim kept telling him over and over again – he was staying, for good. Never was he going to leave him again.

“I know,” said Porchay and leaned closer to Kim, kissing him softly, Kim kissing him back and he huffed happily. “I’m staying with you too. For good!” said Porchay, determined and Kim just chuckled.

“You’re adorable, Chay.”

“That wasn’t the point-”

“So, the cinema?” asked Kim playfully and started dragging Porchay, the younger one laughing silently as he allowed Kim to do as he pleased – it was just so nice to see this side of Kim, more and more lately. 

Happy, care-free and playful.

“Yes, the cinema it is!” said Porchay and followed Kim.

The two of them were still in the process of recovering after everything, but things were slowly going for the better. And things were going to be just okay in the end because both of them were staying with each other now.