A Vihokratana's tragedy

2. Beneath the graceful mask

"Stop scratching your shoulders, Frank, please. Please." Drake pleaded softly.

"But it's..." Frank began, voice shaky.

"It's okay, it's okay. Come on, let's go inside the car. Someone might see us," Drake said, gently guiding Frank to the passenger side before sitting in the driver's seat. "Now, tell me, did you take your pills?" Drake asked in the softest voice possible.

Frank nodded.

"Okay, let's go somewhere where you can rest. But first, relax. Stop scratching your shoulders," Drake urged, gently removing Frank's trembling hands from his shoulders and holding them in his own. It reminded Drake of that morning on the mountain with a rainbow, beautiful yet bittersweet, marking the moment he lost the lively Frank. In his place was a broken version, hiding behind a persona created to shield himself from the world he saw as monstrous. What remained was a Frank filled with fear, with hatred, burdened by trauma. Gone was the sunshine, the carefree little brother of eldest Vihokratana, the bubbly twin of the youngest Vihokratana, the Frank Drake once knew. 

"Now, take a deep breath with me. Yeah, good. Exhale. Again. Well done, Frank. See? The trembling's gone. Wow, Frank 1, trauma 0," Drake said, flashing a wide grin and doing some silly finger poses, making Frank's lips twitch into a smile. It was as though their souls had switched after that day. Drake, once cold as ice, had hidden away and let a warmer version of himself emerge for Frank, someone he could open up to.

"Okay, fighter Frank. Should we go see Uncle first or do you want to rest?"

"Neither. Thank you," Frank murmured.

Drake pouted, the only person allowed to see that expression was Frank. "But you need rest. You just took your pills. Let me decide for you. Let's go rest. Uncle won't be at the hospital anyway."

"But we can't, Drake. We have classes. It's okay to skip once, but I can't keep dragging you with me. You need to go to class. You can't be a great dentist if you keep skipping. And I came with Nanon today, so I have the keys."

"And you think you can go in front of your hulk twin looking like this? You're still sweating, Frank. Even if you stay for your brother, there's no way he won't realize something's wrong. I'm not letting you drive in this condition. Hell no. And classes aren't my priority right now. So let's find a way to return the keys to your hulk brother." 

Drake's insistence was hard to ignore, and it wasn't like he was wrong. Nanon would immediately sense something was wrong with Frank. "Hey, that's Perth, Nanon's friend, right?" Frank noticed Perth stepping out of a car nearby.

Frank nodded and sighed, straightening up. "Let's do it," he murmured, masking his discomfort with a smile.

"If you want me to pass the keys to him, I can do it," Drake offered, wiping the sweat from Frank's forehead.

Frank shook his head. "I can do it." He stepped out of the car and walked toward Perth.

....

"Excuse me, Perth."

"Oh, Frank! Hi, dude!" Perth greeted with a wide smile. "Oh, and happy birthday!"

"Thanks. Umm, I actually need a favor, if you're okay with it."

"Of course, dude. Anything."

"Could you give these keys to Nanon? We drove together, but my friends are dragging me to a party. Just tell Nanon to go on his own today. I'll text him to get them from you."

Perth tilted his head and smiled toward the car where Drake was sitting. Drake saw the smile and couldn't help but think how much Perth resembled...well, him when he smiled. Maybe genes really do work too well on some people. Drake wasn’t particularly fond of Aunt Anong's son, but as time passed, he realized that he wanted to talk to Perth more, to spend time with him. But then again, if he hadn't come to this college out of curiosity about Perth, he wouldn't have met Frank.