The Motive || NeoMark x TayNew (discontinued)

one: disappearing

"Latest news, the youngest son of the Suwamas family, New Thitipoom was reported missing by his family. Two days ago, he told his family that he was staying at his friend's. Upon confirming with the friend, New was not found at his friend's house, they said he left a note saying he's 'leaving for everyone's good'. The police is still trying to find out the actual cause for his disappearing. Stay tuned for further information." New grew impatient whilst he saw the most recent headlines about him on the TV and switched it off.

"What do you plan to do now?" asked the voice of the man standing next to New as he tried to get himself seated, scooting closer towards New while placing his hand on New's lap, concern visible in his eyes. "I don't know", replied New, "I'm trying to find evidence. I had a recorded video in my phone, but it's stolen now." He said, making eye contact with the young doctor next to him, with steady uneasiness and a furrow between his brows. "Where did you lose your phone? I will try to recover it." the doctor asked back, in a soft voice, while placing his hands between New's, clearly showing that he wanted to help New and make him feel comfortable.

"I know you care about me, I know you worry about me. There would be no other reason that you left behind your job in Bangkok and took me to your hometown in Phuket to protect me." New said before drifting his hands apart from Tay's hold, breaking eye contact, as he got up to walk in the direction of the window, staring out of it. "Seriously, I don't know who to trust anymore. I just wanted to do something good, I wanted to do something for myself. Was I too bad for trying to be myself?" He said as his eyes teared up and his voice cracked. He turned around to see Tay coming towards him, with the intention of hugging him. The two hugged each other for a good time as New cried on Tay's shoulder, while constantly murmuring things.

After a long session of grievances, both of them gained stability and got seated on the sofa again, discussing about what they should do now.

New had been abused for a year, but he would never reveal it to his family or friends. The only safe zone he had was Tay, who was a physician. New used to visit his clinic to get treatment against his physical ailments all the while. However, he never revealed to Tay the source of his bruises, the person who caused them, and why that person caused them.

The day New couldn't take it anymore, he attempted suicide near the canal bank, but the same instant Tay coincidentally caught him and tried to console him, he saved his life and brought him to his hometown in Phuket and allowed him to stay there until he could figure out his next decisions. It had been three days since New was staying with Tay, and now he had decided, he decided to tell Tay everything that happened with him. He started to trust Tay and realized that apart from him, there was nobody else for him at the time, and that he was the only person that could help him get his part of justice.

"I'm ready", he said "I'll tell you all about it." he looked deep in Tay's eyes while gently grasping his hand. "I've always dreamt of becoming an actor, but my family never supported it. They wanted me to become a businessman like them, and help out in the business. They never considered my choices once which makes me hold a grudge against them." he adjusted his sitting position, then shifted his gaze from Tay's eyes to his lap."

"Last year, I found an actress that I really adored. She is a rookie, but she acts really well. I tried to get in touch with her. I met her at an event and asked her to be my guide for becoming an actor. We formed strings and she helped me, told me, taught me a lot of things." New fixed his position again, this time moving closer to Tay and fixing his gaze at Tay's eyes.

"And can you tell me what her name is?" Tay asked, with a very gentle tone in his eyes. "Her name is... well, her na-name.. S-she's.. Her name is Prim Chanikarn." New said it with a wavering movement of his eyes , he had difficulty in saying it because the girl had threatened him not to say it to anyone.

"We learnt well for a few months, and one day suddenly she called me at her house, said she wanted to teach me a new lesson. I didn't think much of it and went there." he said with shaking hands as Tay tried to stop them from moving and kept his other hand on New's shoulder, with a look in his eyes that said "tell me more".

"That day, she sexually assaulted me. She bruised me a lot. She hit me with a whip, raped me. She threatened me to not tell this to anyone. She said she would still teach me the lessons, but as a fee I had to let her do all the bad things to me." New moved his gaze that was fixed at Tay's face, back to his lap because he was scared, just by the thought of the girl. 

"I tried to get away from her but she always found me. I broke all strings with her, even blocked her, but she still somehow found me, I don't know how. No matter where I went, she always found me. It continued for a really long time, that's how I got all the bruises." New explained his story to Tay, while Tay continued to have the most gentle expression one could ever have. He brought New to face himself by lightly touching his face.

"Do you think she will find me again?" New asked Tay with concern. 

"I don't think so, even the police can't find you here. I already switched my phone off and yours was stolen, nobody knows that you know me." Tay replied. 

"I don't know, maybe she can, she always found me in Bangkok. I don't know how she found me." New said, really worried. 

"There are two ways she could know where you are, one, she found you from TV, two, she had installed a gps on your phone." Tay mentioned the only possibilities he found possible. 

"I think not, there was not much news about me on the TV because I never really indulged with the business. And about the gps, I doubt it's that. If it would be then I must have known about it." 

The two spent a long time thinking about the matter. The first step they could start with would be the tiniest detail, which here was the way Prim found New wherever he went. There had to be some connection. She cannot just guess where New would be and when. Tay thought a lot about it especially, but he could not move forward from his gps theory. He felt that there was no other way someone could know about a person's location, unless there was. Maybe Prim installed a gps app on New's phone while he wasn't noticing and she hid the app in the hidden folders, or she shared New's location with herself and New had no idea about it.

"The more I think of it, it just makes lesser and lesser sense. I believe this could be the tiniest evidence. We can't just have nothing to prove and simply make an allegation, she is from a big company and the company can sue us for an assertion they declare false." Tay said, shaking his head in frustration.

"Let us not think much of it, I don't think this matters a lot. What we should be concerned of should be my phone. I had a video of her assaulting me in it, but my phone was stolen the day you found me near the canal bank. I cannot recover the video anymore. I didn't even upload it on the cloud. The only way we can prove something is that video." New said with deep regrets and concern, and that is when a thought clicked into his head. "Why would my phone be stolen?" he asked Tay. "Because the person who stole it wanted to hide the evidence!" Tay said as he realized what New meant, as a smirk appeared on his lips.

"Now all we have to do is find the phone and the person who stole it." Tay said as New shook his head in agreement. "We cannot do anything while sitting here in Phuket. Tomorrow I will go to Bangkok, you stay here with my mom. I will search for your phone there, call me if something happens here." Tay said that to New, as the tension between them finally came to an end, with the hope that something good will soon happen.

"Can I ask someone for help there? I mean, I can't do all of it alone. I need someone's assistance." asked Tay, and New shook his head in denial. "If it's possible, can you not? Only if you need to find help desperately, you can contact my brother Neo, but please do not reveal it to anyone else. I beg you, I am afraid she will find me again." New appealed to Tay, and Tay assured New with a smile. "Sure, I won't say it to anyone, I promise, and only when I find need, I will ask for it from Neo, sounds good?" Tay responded to New's request, which brought a smile to New's face as well.

"It's settled then? Want some coffee? I'll make it for you." Tay asked New, changing the topic, as New nodded his head with the same smile. "I want black coffee!" He said, excitedly.