The Bound Collision

Chapter 45

Despite the tension Fourth had been feeling, things eventually settled into place more smoothly than he expected.

After their talk, Gemini surprisingly agreed with him without much resistance, and together they arranged for Ace to return to school, starting the following week—which was now nearly three weeks ago. Since then, Ace had been going to school every day, accompanied by two bodyguards.

Fourth even adjusted his class schedule to match Ace's, making sure everything aligned. Most mornings, Gemini drove them, first dropping off Ace, then taking Fourth to the university. It was a comfortable routine that had settled in, and surprisingly, Gemini seemed perfectly content with this new arrangement.

The one thing that hadn't fallen into place was Arthit's relentless phone calls. At first, Fourth tried ignoring them, figuring Arthit would eventually give up, but then the texts started, growing more threatening. Arthit insisted he'd "force" Fourth to "come back" to him if he didn't agree—something Fourth found both baffling and infuriating. 

Come back? 

When was he ever with him to start with?

When the calls and texts escalated, Fourth finally blocked him, wondering why he hadn't done so sooner. He already had enough on his plate, he didn't have time to deal with some creepy, childish obsession. Why Arthit was so fixated on him was a mystery—before the whole contract, they'd only crossed paths a handful of times at Galas and formal events, where their interactions were barely more than polite greetings.

And no, Fourth didn't trouble Gemini with any of this nonsense. There was no point in bringing up Arthit's obsessive behavior and risking setting Gemini off unnecessarily. Sure, Fourth would never deny that an angry Gemini was real damn attractive—*ahem*—but still, he preferred not to stir Gemini's anger without reason.

Meanwhile, Mr. Asawasuebsakul had been away in South Korea when everything transpired, managing several international alliances. As a familiar face to the foreign associates, he'd taken it upon himself to handle matters personally. When he returned and heard what had happened, he was a bit disappointed that Fourth and his son hadn't kept him in the loop, but he ultimately praised the way they'd handled it all.

Mr. Asawasuebsakul further clarified that Fourth's father did not sign the contract intentionally it was a kind of a term going on for quite a few years, so he had signed it too but he had no intentions of forcing Fourth to marry any random stranger

And speaking of his Uncle Aun, Fourth had noticed something interesting—not so much about him, but more about Ford and P'Phu. When Fourth finally told them about Gemini and him, shortly after Gemini asked him to be his boyfriend, there was no shock, no surprise whatsoever! 

Instead, they met him with a chorus of "Knew it," and "Took you long enough."

Even introducing Gemini to his Uncle Aun made Fourth feel like he was a 15-year-old kid bringing his first-ever boyfriend to meet his very protective father. Uncle Aun might have thrown a few not-so-subtle threats Gemini's way, but, in the end, he was genuinely happy for them.

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Fourth stirred awake, blinking against the morning light filtering through the curtains. Instinctively, he lifted his right hand to rub his eyes, only to realize he couldn't move much at all. Something heavy weighed him down. He squinted, his half-lidded eyes traveling downward.

Ah-

Right.

Gemini-

Gemini's arm was wrapped possessively around his waist, anchoring him firmly in place. Fourth couldn't even turn his head because Gemini had nestled his face into the crook of his neck, his breath warm and steady against Fourth's skin.