You Belong to Me

Chapter 15

(DON"T play the song yet, I'll tell you when)

~an hour before the incident~

Kongpop leaned backward on his chair and sighed. He was so exhausted from all the work and things going on right now. He'd just returned from the meeting with his direct underlings. Namtan and Knot were too but he didn't get a chance to talk to them in private. They discussed their proceeding and next steps with the Yellow Scorpion as well as the incident with Tum and failed mission.

Since all of their informants and infiltrators cut off all the contact, they were left in a blind spots with no leads or clues to help them. Thus, nothing major was decided and the meeting was postponed to a time when more information is available.

None of this was, in fact, concerning Kongpop as much as Arthit. He had barely any news about him and wondered if he's doing okay. There were cameras everywhere in the shared space and accessible to view everyone, but Kong just didn't have time to check them.

I cannot even meet him... Kongpop frowned and reached to his pocket to take out headphones. He wasn't listening to music often, but when he did, he never wanted to be disturbed. He quickly signed to his bodyguards and they left the room, guarding the door from the outside only.

Just this one. Kong decided and clicked on the play button. His mind was restless from the moment Arthit joined his group.

(Play the song.)

The piano started playing in the background and Kongpop lost himself in his thoughts.

Was it really a good idea to bring him here? He asked himself the nth time in the past months.

"What if I told you, who I really was? What if I let you in on my charade?" The soft voice of the singer sang the first verses of the song. This song spoke to Kong more than anything else, he could relate to every word. He really wanted to tell Arthit everything, but couldn't do so just yet. The reasoning behind his behavior, the situation with Arthit's father, why he labeled Arthit as "his."

"There so much I want to say, but I'm so scared to give away, every little secret that I hide behind." It was still too dangerous and Kongpop was scared he will put Arthit into even greater risk than he was now.

"I wonder what it would be like... if I told you." What if Arthit knew that they met in the past? What if he knew that Kongpop was his junior Arthit had never noticed?  That Kong saw all the bullying done to Arthit but despite his effort, he came too late?

Flashback:

"It's him again, oh my god. How can he still go to school like this? Isn't he ashamed?"

"I totally pity his family, having a son like this must be really horrible."

"I heard he tried to forcefully kiss someone from our year, can you believe it? He doesn't know what shame is."

The small group of third-year high-school students chatted in the hallway. First-year junior Kongpop at that time only angrily smashed the door of his locker that temporarily shut them up. He received hateful glances for it but he couldn't care less.

He had his eyes on Arthit since he first saw him, which was only less than a month, since the school started. He quickly found out about his sexual orientation, as it was the most popular rumor circulating around. Kong had never admired anyone as much as him for coming out and trying to stand against all the hate he was receiving. Kongpop had never seen him cry nor complaining.

Of course, he must have had weak moments but he always walked straight with his head up like the situation wasn't even about him. Kongpop had never heard him beg the bullies to stop, no matter what horrible things were done to him. The bullying must have been going on for a long time, even the year before Kongpop became junior, yet he never asked a teacher for help.