The Right One...

-6-

"Please, Thanit...Please do this for me." Man begged desperately. He had been doing that ever since they came home from meeting Paing and Bright. He even followed Thanit to his house just because he wanted Thanit to make another arrangement to have Bright as his model again. He also offered to pay Bright from his own pocket money just to have Bright at the agency for him to meet that young man for a certain mission.

"My answer is still no, Man. Don't you think his brother won't be suspicious of my intention of hiring Bright again? And how am I suppose to do that when there is no job offer for him through the agency? I don't want to lie. His brother will kill me if he knows I lie." Thanit refused to comply. He was scared of Paing, yet  at the same time, even it was hard to admit, he was indeed attracted to that man.

"But I need to see Bright. I need to ask him if his brother was telling the truth." Man gave his reason. He wanted confirmation. He wanted to reassure himself that Bright did have that feeling.

"You can just call Bright for it. I have his number." Thanit fished out his phone and began to scroll the list of contacts in his phone.

"That won't do. I need to talk to him face to face." Man shook his head.

"Well, call him and make an arrangement to meet him." Thanit suggested. "Why do you need to involve me?"

"He won't see me because of his brother. That's why I need you to make this arrangement, so, I can meet him like it is just a coincidence." Man said, hoping that Thanit would agree.

Thanit let out a heavy sigh.

"Please help me, Thanit. I do know you want to talk to Paing too. Why don't you use this opportunity to have a conversation with the brother?"

"Excuse me? Hell no! I do not want to talk to him!" Thanit denied. He might have the desire to meet Paing again, but that wouldn't happen so soon. He had to have a valid excuse to speak to Paing again or that man might know, that he was attracted to him.

"Don't lie, Thanit. I know you for years. I can read you so easily."

"Man, if you are truly my best friend, please don't put me on the spot like this? You want to meet Bright, fine, I'll help you. But not right now. Give it some time, enough for us to avoid any kind of suspicion from the brother. But if you're not willing to wait, I don't think I can help." Thanit stated his condition if Man still wanted him to make that arrangement. "What do you say? Are you willing to wait?"

*****

"Look...I only broke a few fingers, not all of them even though he deserved the punishment. He messed with my brother, which also meant, he was messing with me. So, he needed to be punished severely, in order for him to remember, not to have his hands on you ever again." Paing explained his reason for hurting the person from Bright's previous blind date, while driving back to their home.

"What if he sues you?" Bright piped out his concern.

"He wouldn't dare. Besides, he doesn't have any evidence to use against me." Paing stated firmly. He already confirmed it after the deed, in order to make sure that the victim couldn't retaliate. He had gone through this kind of situation for so many times. He already knew what should be done to avoid from getting sued. He had learned through experience and how to make use of it for his benefit. He was doing it to warn the other party that they should never mess with him and his brother, threatened them that things might get ugly if they continued to get him and Bright into trouble.

"Sometimes I do wonder, Phi. Are you a gang leader or perhaps a member of mafia?" Asked Bright curiously.

Paing laughed. "Where did that come from?"

"From you, yourself, of course. You're too cruel and violent when it comes to getting revenge. And as your brother, I am not fond of it." Bright relayed his opinion. He knew, Paing meant well. He was doing it to protect him, but, he was scared one of these days, whatever Paing did, might get backfired if he wasn't careful enough.

"I know, Bright. It's just that, sometimes you simply have to do what you need to do, to get their attention, so they know, we're not fooling around. Or they won't get the message and keep doing it without feeling remorse at all."

"But still...that doesn't give you the right to spill out about my crush towards Phi Man." Said Bright with a pout. "He did not harm me in any way. He didn't know that I have a crush on him until you told him."

Paing raised his brows and smirked. "Did you intend to keep it a secret from him?"

Bright nodded.

"Then, what's the point of having a crush if it will remain as a secret forever? Won't that be a waste of time?"

Bright said nothing in return but looked out of the window as his response.

"I was just doing you a favor, Bright."

"A favor?" Bright simpered. "By spilling out the beans? That's not a favor, Phi. Instead, you were embarrassing me in front of Phi Man who doesn't even like me."

"That's where you are wrong, Bright. He likes you. I know. It was there in his every little gestures towards you. But, somehow, I got this feeling like something is reprimanding him from moving forward. So, I took the initiative to trigger him, hoping that he would chase after you for the right reason."

Bright scrunched up his face as his gaze was focused on his brother. "Phi...He doesn't like me. And even if he does, after listening to your threat, I don't think he would even dare to come closer to me."

"Wanna bet?" Paing wiggled his brows. "Let's see who is right between us. But from my experience and my never failed hunch, he will come after you, Bright. I mean...if he is not a coward."

"He won't come." Bright said firmly.

"Not right away, but he will eventually."