Drowning In Your Love

Is It Worth?

Surviving. Gulf wondered if he could do that anymore. If he tried hard enough, Gulf could pretend that nothing had ever happened. He did that with lots of things. He pretended they weren't happening, he ignored them hoping they would just go away but that hardly ever happens. Everyone was worried about him, he knew that and he felt guilty for making them walk on eggshell around him but he felt too drained to put on a mask. He couldn't pretend to be okay anymore, he was unraveling.

Escaping Peter and living through Penelope's death had made him afraid of life itself. Was there even any point in trying to live? Something kept going wrong no matter how hard they tried so was it even worth it? They had never hurt anyone at least not intentionally so why were they being punished like this? How cruel does fate had to be? For every step forward they were pushed three steps back. It was like they couldn't move forward regardless of their efforts. Meeting Mew after all those years was blessing and curse at once. It was like dangling food in front of the starved. Nothing would be like before yet it had somehow worked out. Somehow Mew still liked him and wanted to date him. Is this what people call miracle? Maybe.

Dating Mew was a different experience in itself. What they had before Penelope's death wasn't a relationship in any sense. It was just his unhealthy way of coping with his trauma. Now in hindsight he could see how detrimental it was for him and Mew. He still had that scar on his wrist. It was like a reminder of how broken he was even if he pretended otherwise. It's not like he hadn't healed at all, he had and most of it was-is due to Tine. That man was his life support and he refused to let go of him. Living with Tine and building the business together had made him resilient in ways that he appreciated and was thankful for.

Moreover Mew coming back to him had patched the torn part of hus soul and for a while Gulf did believe it will all be okay. Not immediately but eventually. What else could go wrong? They had already suffered enough, God surely wouldn't hurt them more than this, right? He wouldn't be that cruel, right? He definitely had been wrong. That night, he still shuddered in fear when he thought about it. He had been lounging at house when Tine had gone out to get groceries. He had been scrolling through instagram, it had been such a trivial moment, he still felt like maybe it all had not been real. There are times when people feel premonition of something bad about to happen, they just know something will go wrong.

He felt no such thing. It was another day for him. In fact he didn't know anything was wrong until he had a hand clamped over his mouth. The sheer terror that had gripped him, he could never explain it. His body froze and his mind had completely shut down. He wanted to fight back and scream but all he could do was sit there limply. The man was wearing mask, but his eyes were enough to scare Gulf. Those were eyes of a monster, a crazed person. He could feel hope leaving him, would he even survive? How would he get out of this nightmare? Would anyone come to save him? Can he save himself? Was it even worth it? He asked that question a lot to himself. Was anything even worth it anymore?

"Don't make any noise else you'll be dead." The man threatened.

Gulf didn't think he could have made any noise even if he wanted to. He stayed quiet even after the hand was removed. The man pushed him down on the couch and a moment later it dawned on Gulf that it could get worse. Was he going to get molested?

"I want you to listen to me carefully. Tine is mine."

Gulf frowned in confusion. Where had that came from?

"I have been in love with him for a very long time and I'm not going to let anyone take him away from me. I have seen how close you both are and as much as I hate seeing that, I absolutely loathe seeing Sarawat cling to my Tine."

Gulf's eyes widened in shock. Who was this man? He had been watching them for a long time if he knew their names. A stalker? It could only be Tine's fate to have a stalker after him. God doesn't want them to rest, right?

The man's eyes looked more unhinged if that was even possible, "I had already warned my beautiful Tine but poor soul keeps ignoring me. Should I teach him a lesson?"

"L-Leave him a-alone."

The man chuckled, his eyes took an icy gleam, "That I can't do. He'll be mine one way or the other. I would like it if I didn't have to hurt him but that's all in his hand. Tonight I'm here to give him a little surprise."

"He's not h-h-here."

"I know. You could be my messenger.

"Please leave him alone. Find someone else or something. He has suffered enough....."

"I must say you look cute while begging. If I wasn't loyal to my Tine, I wouldn't have minded to have a taste." He said lecherously.

Gulf felt like throwing up absolutely disgusted by the man's leer. He wanted this man gone before Tine came back. No way was he going to let the jerk get his hands on Tine. And sweet old Tine would definitely sacrifice himself to protect Gulf. No way was he going to let that happen.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Not yet at least. It's just a warning. Make sure Tine and Sarawat break up. If not, I'll get rid of that guy completely. And you better not inform the police or Tine about any of this. You won't like the consequences. It's not an empty threat. Killing you people would be child's play but I have a flare for drama. I could just kill Sarawat, but it wouldn't be that much of fun, you know. I want to see what sort tricks you would come up with to break them apart."

"What?"

"I enjoy chaos, as morbid as it may sound. Tine's best friend destroying his happy love story just to save his life and the poor soul won't even know. He may start hating you, I would like to see that. You both look so besotted with each other, it would be fun to see the hatred in his eyes and helplessness in yours."

Gulf was sure this man was absolute evil. He was doing all this just for the fun of it. Before he could have said anything, the man struck him on head, knocking him out. Waking up in hospital had been scary. He had hoped it had been just a nightmare but seeing everyone's worried face drove in the fact that it was definitely real. Horrifying but real. He had been at his wits end with everything. What should he do? Tell them? They could inform the police but would that protect them? He didn't want repeat of what had happened five years ago. They wouldn't survive that. It would kill them this time. He didn't want to see his loved ones hurt, not again. He desperately wanted to talk to someone about everything, someone he could confide in. He was completely exhausted.