Taken

Chapter 5

"Have you heard about all of those guys disappearing?" Win's little brother asked, bouncing on his bed while Win got ready for work.

"What are you talking about?"

"Mom was watching the news last night. Men are being kidnapped. Even big ones like you."

Win looked over his shoulder and smiled, tossing on a t-shirt. His ruffled Mick's hair. "Aw, are you worried about me?"

Mick shoved his hand away, then grabbed onto it, his face pinched. "Yeah, I am."

Win sobered, remembering Bright saying he'd gone out one night, just like any other night, now he was having all these odd heat flashes and nerve spasms through his body. It was terrifying to think someone may have kidnapped him and done something to someone nearly the same size as him and knew how to fight. He'd watched Bright train a few times and they guy was good.

"I'll be careful," Win promised his little brother.

He couldn't stop thinking about what Mick said on his way to Bright's condo and wondered if he should start taking Muay Thai lessons. He decided to bring it up with Bright later, who thankfully hadn't gotten sick again over the past few days and was in a really good mood when he got in the car.

"What are you so happy about?" Win asked with a laugh. Bright was usually a little bit moody even on his best days. Or seemed moody with his dark brows pulled tight over his nose. Today they were doing a happy dance a little further apart than usual on his forehead.

"Our manager called me last night and told me they plan on writing a song for me to sing for the series."

Win was a little confused. "You already knew you were going to get to sing."

Bright scoffed. "Someone else's' songs, which is great, but this will be my own song. There'll be a music video and everything. It'll play on all thirteen episodes."

Win glanced at him, surprised to see Bright's eyes were a bit misty. He gripped Bright's solid shoulder and shook him a little. "Congratulations. I know it means a lot to you."

Bright gave him the widest smile he'd ever seen. "Thank you. I can't believe everything is coming together."

The joy radiating from Bright lasted the entire day and brought an entirely new vibe to their scenes. He was a lot more relaxed which made it easier for Win to immerse himself completely in his role as well. He'd never stepped out of himself so much before. It was like Tine was suddenly a living, breathing person all on his own, similar to Win, but so different.

They managed to end filming early, the cast and crew praising them for such a smooth day.

Win could tell Bright was on cloud nine and wanted to keep the feeling going.

"You want to go out to celebrate?" Win asked as they removed their makeup for the day and got ready to head out to the parking lot.

Bright looked like he wanted to say 'yes' but shook his head. "I don't want to jinx it."

Win was a little disappointed. He'd genuinely started liking the time he spent with Bright outside of work and had been looking forward to an excuse to spoil him a bit. Win loved nothing more than making his friends happy. He guessed he would just have to wait until another day, or spring it on him when he least expected it.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you if they're offering Muay Thai lessons at your gym," he said as he started his car. "My brother told me about guys being abducted. I promised him I'd watch out for myself, but I have no idea how to fight or not to panic if someone attacks me." Win was a bit jumpy in the dark, and thinking of someone creeping up on him made it worse.

Bright nodded in understanding. "You can join me and my uncle on Sunday mornings. I know you didn't really like boxing the first time I took you, but the better you get, the more you enjoy it. I promise. The Muay Thai instructor went to the country for a few weeks to visit some reletives. He'll start lessons again when he comes back."

Win mentally made a note to update his workout calendar to switch out his arm day with boxing with Bright.

"You mentioned your brother earlier," Bright said, breaking the silence. "You don't talk about your family much."

Win wasn't much for volunteering information about himself and most people didn't tend to notice. He usually spent more time listening.

"There isn't really much to say."

"How old is he?" Bright wanted to know. It was kind of hard to imagine Win as an older brother, though he'd shown how caring and considerate he could be when he didn't hesitate to help Bright when he was sick.

"Fourteen," Win said with a smile.

He could feel Bright's eyes on him, so continued.

"He's always in my room taking my stuff."

"You don't seem to mind," Bright said, observing how his eyes crinkled.

"No. It's great. I love having him around all the time. He's not the type to break your stuff like some of my friends' siblings."

Bright tried to picture having a brother or sister. He much preferred having cousins who didn't have to be in his space. He loved having time to himself without having to worry about someone interrupting it.

"I also have two older sisters. They used to tease me a lot when I was younger, but it's gotten better now that I'm older." He turned onto Bright's street and halted the car at the corner. "What are you doing on your day off tomorrow?" Win asked, changing the subject.

"Studying music with my uncle. I feel rusty. I haven't really played my guitar in two weeks." With the combination of his long filming hours and mysterious on-again off-again illness, he hadn't really felt up to it. "They're going to send over the demo for my song tomorrow too, so I need to review it." He turned to Win. "What about you?"

"I need to study for an exam." He grimaced. He wished he felt the way about studying Economics Bright did about studying music. "My grades have gotten better this year but I have to work extra hard to retain anything since it's so boring. At least my classmates are in the same boat. I might call a study group so I can stay awake."

"Well, if that doesn't help, you can come study at my place as long as you don't mind random music bouncing around your ears." He wasn't worried about Win being distracting. He played around sometimes on set, but if someone needed to focus, he wouldn't get in their way.

Win was a little surprised to be invited in for no real reason, not even to play a game, but to just hang out and do nothing. He guessed they were moving out of the realm of work friends to actual friends. Maybe seeing Bright naked dropped another barrier between them. "Sure," he said with a smile. "I might do that."