Counting Stars ✓

twenty-two

"I don't want to trouble her," King insisted. He wanted out of the engagement as much as the others in the room. But at the same time, he couldn't help worry about how it would affect his sister who was making plans against his mother.

If he were to act against her now, Kaew would have the security on her increase, and her freedom would be near gone.

Hence why it would be foolish to act now of all times. So it wasn't just the matter of troubling Khun Rain, but also the matter of how it would affect his blood sister - who finally wanted them to be family -, that made him keen on not wanting to rebel any further.

Baifern took a deep and frustrated breath at her ex-boyfriend's answer. The frustrating situation reminded her so much of what they went through when they dated.

She could still remember the vivid feeling of crying for him when he showed up to one of their dates, all bruised up with his eyes puffy from crying - tired of the life he was living. It broke her heart to see someone she loved - and continued to love - so desperate to leave the world.

Though she knew from the bottom of her heart, he wasn't going to force himself out of the world, there was not a single day where she didn't go without making sure he was okay and happy.

Even after they broke up, and she angered King to the point where he no longer wanted to be friends either, she never stopped worrying over his whereabouts. Luckily Khun Rain never stopped updating her with King's information - reassuring her he was still well enough to keep going despite no longer having her, or Rose in his life.

Something told Rune King was hiding something from them. And as much as he wanted to know what it was, he didn't want to force the answer out of him. "Alright," he said, though the words were against his liking. "We won't do anything."

His statement made everyone surprised. Fah gaped, flinging her arms around once more. "Rune," she whined. "I'm engaged to your fucking boyfriend. Do you not love him-"

Fang slapped his hand over his sister's foul mouth, making her tumble back a little. She yelped, regaining her balance and slapping her brother's arm. He rolled his eyes at her actions, not finding her slaps to be the slightest bit painful, and nodded at Rune, "We'll trust your decision."

"Are you sure?" Baifern stressed, scrunching her brows. If King asked for help now, she could at least do something to help him. But if not, she would be out of the country and hard to reach pretty soon. She had a world tour that would take up most of her energy and the time zones would create conflict in their schedule.

Rune made eye contact with King, and smiled a little. "Yeah," he said. "It's only an engagement right now."

"Fine!" Fah yelled, stomping over to the kitchen when she saw a tray of chocolate chip cookies. "But y'all better help us get out of it when the time comes where they force my beautiful ass into a wedding dress."

Despite the heavy atmosphere, her statement made King chuckle slightly in amusement. Rune blanched in disgust as Fah started to scarf down the cookies King had specifically baked for him, not caring to show any manner whatsoever. Fang walked over to her, grabbing her by the back of her collar, "Then we'll take our leave."

They watched as the twins left - though not without Fah putting up a slight fight to grab the rest of the cookies. Baifern took out her phone, finding numerous messages from her manager. "I've got to go, too," she said, "seems something came up and my manager wants to meet me now."

King stepped forward, pulling her into a hug. "Stay safe, and thank you for coming here today," he said. She bit back the urge to cry, and to say she was still in love with him. She would always have regrets about letting her jealousy towards Rose break them apart, but hopefully she would find someone who could help her move on one day.

"Stay happy," she patted his back. He smiled at her words, pulling away. She looked at Rune and moved forward to give him a hug. Waving them goodbye, she left the apartment in a haste to get to her manager.

Only Rune and King were left - both drained and still trying to process how quick the conversation and meeting took place. They both agreed to go on a short walk in the park to help them ease up a little.

~

"Rune," Khun Rain greeted, sitting down in front of the boy. She was pleasantly surprised when her grandson contacted her out of the blue.

She knew how much he wanted to be independent and hated relying on her, or anyone one else. Yet, he called her so late in the night to ask if she could meet up and offer him a hand with a situation he and King was caught up in.

It surely made her happy to see her grandson fulfill her wishes and befriended the boy without her forcing him to. And it made her even more happy he was finally reaching out for help when he knew he needed it.

She had a feeling she knew what the topic would be about. Recently, a maid she planted in King's household a few years back, informed her about the outburst the poor boy's mother had after he tried to deny an engagement she set up for him.

It enraged her greatly so to hear about the beating he had to endure, but she also felt a bit of pride to hear he tried to stand up for himself.

The time was finally nearing where she could help the boy leave the household and have his mother arrested for the years of emotional and physical damage she instilled onto him. There was plenty of evidence she had gathered up, but she would never make a move without the boy's consent.

His whole life had been about the control another person had over him, and she wasn't going to be the same - stripping the boy of his freedom to make his own decisions.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

Rune pursed his lips, turning to look at his grandmother with a determined look. "I need your help," he said. "King recently had an engagement set for him and..."

"You want to help him get out?" she finished the sentence. He nodded in confirmation.

She sighed, crossing her legs. "I must ask first, what are your feelings regarding King? Are you stringing him along, pretending to be his friend because you pity him, or because he knows about you being my grandson?"

He froze at her question. She felt her curiosity grow at the way her grandson awkwardly rubbed the nape of his neck. "I'm actually pursuing him," Rune answered. "We both like each other, I mean. But we aren't officially dating."

She felt quite surprised by his answer. Out of all the replies she expected to get, she certainly didn't expect it to be regarding her grandson's blooming relationship with King. Not that she minded. "Whatever happened to your precious Cherry?"

He cringed at the mention of his ex. "We broke up a couple of months ago already, grandma."

She nodded and laughed, "Alright. Then in case of the engagement, it would be quite complicated. I don't know how much you're aware, but his mother isn't an easy one."

"So I've heard," he grumbled. "Well, what do you suggest we do?"

"Why, you gave me the perfect idea with your earlier statement."

Rune shuddered at the look on his grandmother's face. He watched as she took out her phone and made a call.