"Of course, I'm in! We aren't killing anyone right?"
"No! God, no. I would have never agreed to help if we were." Khao said, and I was relieved but I waited for Gemini to answer.
"I hope it won't come to that."
"Gem!"
"It's naive to go into this without being prepared to kill. Once I make myself known, we are all a target. You forget someone in that damned family still wants me dead."
"OK. So worst case scenario, but not the original plan. I can deal with that. I'm still with you, but I'm not trained like either of you. Explain everything, and tell me what my part in all this is."
I listened to their explanation, and I knew what I had to do. They gave me a small part. It wasn't as complicated as I thought, but would require a lot of work. Gemini had it most difficult, because the entire plan goes to shit if he is wrong about one key person.
"Gem, if this doesn't go the way you want-."
"Then we start over. Me and Khao have been working on something for the past few years now. I have enough dirt on them to send their entire reputation to shit. Billionaires aren't easy to affect with bad publicity alone. With the information, I can at least damage the family unit, make them lose shares, and the trust of their company's partners."
"Their PR team won't be able to keep up with me either. I'll force them into a corner. They won't have any choice but to sell their stock and hopefully lose companies. He went from centimillionaire to billionaire in his prime, and had high expectations for his children. However, the chairman's sons have royally fucked up over the years. Especially his second son. Bad real estate investments, tax evasion, connection to mafia in Italy, Romania, Spain and parts of the Americas. Questionable sexual relations. His first son showed more promise, but is currently in bad relation with his father. His wife's company is close to bankruptcy, and he's holding onto his CEO position by a mere thread." Khaotung continues, as I nod for him to go on.
"Both sons are living off their father's assets, but if the trend continues the Group's value will continue to dwindle. It's going to be an ugly feud when it's time for him to pick a successor. If my sources are correct, the one who becomes the next successor gets full control of his accounts, bonds, properties, basically everything." Khao rambled on, and showed me his tablet with some of the documents they managed to gather.
"My uncle will be furious if we were to leak all the information we gathered, so let's pray the original plan works. Or that the information will only be used as a feasible threat." Khao said.
"Why would he be furious?" I asked.
"Because he will be a target once they trace back to me, I am good at covering my tracks. But even the best can make a mistake, and they will have the government back them up. I am family so he will protect me, but Gemini is taking the risk."
"Would he kill you?"
"Maybe, but I doubt it. I'll have to officially join the gang if I screw up." Gemini said, and his phone rang. He answered. "I'll be right down."
He left without saying anything.
"Meen is here." Khao said, looking down at his phone. "Come on. Let's get some sleep. It's been a long night."
I felt a variety of emotions tonight.
I thought about everything my friend went through without my knowledge. Gemini is reserved and doesn't do anything without a purpose.
I used to question whether he considered us his friends, or if he just put up with us since we latched onto him. Gemini kept us at a distance. He has scars on his body that he doesn't like to talk about. Always covering up his torso. He never lets either affect his routine, but irritably helps when I beg him to come by.
He always acts like he hates the world, but there is something in him that also strives to conquer it. I've seen his ambition and strength. He excels in everything he puts his time into.
However, there is little to no joy or love in his eyes. He never rests, never goes out, and now I know why I felt he had his guard up.
After he achieves his goals, what is left of my friend?
Will Gemini be satisfied with his end result?
I laid on the bed next to Khaotung and listened to the night. Trying to calm my overbearing thoughts. There are so many uncertainties now for the future, and I don't know what tomorrow will bring.
There is one thing that hasn't left my mind since I heard it come from Gemini's mouth earlier.
"Khao? Are you awake?"
"Yea."
We both laid still, as I continued to look at the ceiling.
"Can I ask you one more thing?"
"Hum?"
"Gemini said you didn't tell me anything, to protect me. That you-."
Khao turned his body the opposite direction, and faced away from my view. "You are my friend. Of course I prioritize your safety. Don't overthink what he said."
"He loves you too much..." Gem said.
That isn't possible. I would know.
He's my best friend since forever.
He wouldn't keep that a secret.
What am I talking about? He's about as reserved as Gemini, and they both have been keeping secrets from me.
And there is something I've kept from him over the past couple of months.
Khaotung and I have been so close for so long. Since the day he walked into my first grade classroom and was seated beside me. He was timid, and didn't smile much. It made me want to be the one to bring him happiness and fun. I refused to leave his side, and made sure his small world had me right beside him.
We both are comfortable just being together. It never bothered me that we were so different in both personalities and interests. He was always there, even when I caused him trouble.
I never thought of him as more than my best friend. That was until we fought over my ex boyfriend.
I didn't want to believe in Khaotung. I was in complete denial and blinded by my infatuation.
Gawin was my third boyfriend. My first boyfriend, P'Min, was an older teen I met in middle school. I would sneak out of class to see him at his part time job at a local convenience store. We'd make out during his breaks, but the relationship only lasted about two weeks. He was no longer working at the store or answering my calls. Completely ghosted me.
My second boyfriend was a classmate of mine freshman year, Time. I should have suspected it wouldn't end well when he wanted to keep our relationship a secret. He didn't even bother telling me we were no longer together anymore after a month, and he began to publicly date Milk, a popular girl in school. I confronted him about it and he told me to fuck off.
As my record stands, I have bad taste in men. It wasn't as bad as the one that came my senior year of high school.
Gawin treated me so much better than the ones before. I thought I finally got it right.
Gawin had made me feel wanted when I was with him. I used to have a large crush on him when we were in art club together. We shared interests and humor. When he asked me out I was ecstatic. We went on fun dates, and he brought me to the city and the beach. I let him have his way with me on our first trip. He took a lot of my firsts'.
I ignored all the warning signs, and red flags that were obvious to those around me.
He said things that made me feel uncomfortable at times, but I brushed it off. He didn't like my friends and they shared the sentiment. He was always messaging college friends while we were together or taking phone calls outside late in the evening.
But Gawin was everything I wanted, so who was I to complain.
Until he wasn't.
Khatung had showed me an Instagram post of one of the guys Gawin was also dating, or fucking, I'm not certain even now. Their faces were close, and the caption was suspiciously similar to that of a couple.
Hearing Khaotong say all my fears out loud didn't just make me upset. It made me irrationally livid. How was it possibly true? How could he cheat on me? When we were so happy, and I had given so much.
I didn't believe it could be real, and I thought maybe Khao did something to fool me. He never liked Gawin, and told me time and again that he didn't trust him. I was always suspicious of Khao and Gemini hiding something from me. It didn't help his case.
I was beside myself. We got into a large argument. Yelling. Crying. I took my anger and frustration out on Khaotung who was crying himself. I said so many mean things that I couldn't take back, and stormed out after telling him we shouldn't meet up for a while. It was the worst fight we ever had, and it lasted weeks.
When I finally found out the truth it crushed me.
I went to visit Gawin's place over my school break. The gut feeling that maybe I should put my own trust in him to the test, and didn't inform him of my arrival. I found him with another guy in his lap, in his apartment. The guy was different from the one in the photo, and was a small pretty boy who looked shocked of my presence.
The breakup was ugly.
Really fucking ugly.
It ended with me driving all the way back home from Bangkok in the rain. Bruised face and red tear stained eyes.
I came to Khaotung heartbroken, bartered, and crying late in the early morning hours. He took one look at me and grabbed me by the wrist to pull me inside. Took me a shower, put cream on my wound, got me changed out of the wet clothes. He brought me to sleep next to him.
I waited to hear his scolding. I thought he'd be furious and tell me 'I told you so'. I thought he wouldn't talk to me again. I thought I lost him and Gemini, who actually decided to get involved instead of ignoring my relationships like usual. (He also sided with Khaotung.)
He just held me that night. Smoothing out my hair, and face against his chest. It wasn't something normal for us. To cuddle like we did. Khao never held me in this manner. It was exactly what my exhausted body needed, so I delved into his embrace without hesitance.
He didn't ask for questions, but I heard him mutter sometime in the morning that he was going to "kill the fucking bastard."
As he held me in his arms, and as I was drifting away to sleep I thought to myself:
If only I fell in love with you.
~~~~
Next Chapter: First
A little break from main storyline for the next two chapters, then we will be back on track. 😉❤️
Please comment and vote. Till next time. 🙏