Messages

M: He has a kid.
1:43 am

Kongpob stares at the message and an overwhelming grief casts over him. A child has been left fatherless. His grip on the edge of the sink tightens. He remembers how hard it was for him to suddenly lose his idol, his hero, his father. It was so sudden. One week they were golfing, and the next he was mourning. He didn't have a chance to say a proper goodbye. He was never prepared for that day. The day that his world came crashing down and everything ceased to matter because his solid rock, his pillar, the light to his guiding star had stopped shining. The only thing he thought that was absolutely certain in his life was gone. His father who always promised to be there for him was suddenly gone.

And now, this tragedy is happening all over again. But this time it's happening to another innocent child. Another child's world has been turned upside down. And all for what? If it weren't for those greedy people none of this would've happened. He doesn't care that everyone says it could have happened to anyone. The fact is that it happened to someone that wasn't given proper training and protection. He was overconfident and too naive, thinking everyone was playing by the rules. It happened right under his nose. He had let something this tragic and inconceivable happen. How can anyone let someone that knew nothing about working above ground level work on the 29th floor? He can't even fathom how those people can sleep at night knowing people's lives are at risk while they make a few extra measly dollars.

Kongpob runs a frustrated hand through his hair. It's too late right now to do anything with this information. He'll have to wait to get more information tomorrow morning. He had offered to make a contribution to the victim's family. So hopefully he can find out more to see what else he can do for them.

Kongpob climbs into bed after his quick shower and pulls Arthit close to him. He's careful not to jostle Arthit too much and wake the latter up. He notices that Arthit has been sleeping topless the past few nights and a part of him knows it's because Arthit misses their skin to skin contact. Kongpob misses Arthit too, but he's just too exhausted at the end of the day. For now, just holding Arthit against his chest is enough. He plants a gentle kiss on Arthit's head and then closes his eyes hoping to shut off his mind.

"Did you eat?" Arthit's raspy sleepy voice broke the silence. He pulls Kongpob's hand from his waist up to his chest where he bends slightly to kiss the latter's palm. He really misses his boyfriend and he wants him to stop this self-blaming torture but he also knows his boyfriend well enough to know he's stubborn in his own way. He can only promise to be there to catch him when he falls. Just like how Kongpob never forced him to feel one way or another about anything. He needs to let Kongpob go through his emotions the same. He can only hope Kongpob doesn't hurt himself in the process.

"I did. Thank you. Now, go back to sleep."

"Mmm." Arthit slowly drifts back to sleep appeased knowing at least his boyfriend is not going to sleep hungry.

Kongpob goes in and out of sleep for the next few hours. His mind keeps thinking about what he should do next. How should he approach the victim's family and the poor child? How old is the child? Is it a boy or a girl? He keeps falling asleep only to jerk and wake up a few minutes later. Vivid dreams of a crying little girl pointing an accusing finger at him one minute and then an angry teenage boy spitting venomous words at him the next. When five o'clock finally comes around, Kongpob feels like he hasn't slept at all. He sluggishly removes himself from Arthit and gets ready for another day.

He drops a kiss on Arthit's slightly parted lips before he tiptoes out of their bedroom. Popeye quickly gets up from his doggie bed to follow Kongpob into the kitchen and wait by his bowl. Kongpob brews some coffee and carefully makes a cup in a thermal for Arthit before leaving. He grabs a slice of plain white bread and stuffs it into his mouth and washes it down with more coffee. He smiles and pours a few dog treats into Popeye's bowl to distract him while he leaves. Otherwise, Popeye will whine and cry by the door, making it hard for him to say goodbye.

"Be good. Let Arthit sleep a bit longer. Okay?" He pets Popeye's head a few times before he heads for the door.

Kongpob meets Thak outside the house. Since he's been leaving earlier lately, Luke has been assigned to take Arthit to work separately. Sachi really hates him right now for sure. He had asked if Thak would rather switch with Luke, but Thak insisted that it's fine.

"M, do you have any more information on the child?"

M pulls his phone away from his face to check the time. It's not even six yet. What the fuck! "What the fuck! Why are you up already?"

"I couldn't sleep." Kongpob rolls his eyes. Must they do this every morning?

"That doesn't mean I can't. Why didn't you bother your boyfriend instead?" M reluctantly gets out of bed knowing his inhumane boss cum best friend won't let him get back to sleep no matter what. Why can't Kongpob just spend his morning fucking Arthit instead? The man obviously needs to release some pent-up stress. Please spare him and Alexa for just a day.

"He looked so peaceful and beautiful sleeping. Also, he stayed up late to cook for me. So he's too tired."

"You know what? I look really peaceful and beautiful sleeping too. I'll send you a video when you let me sleep. You damn biased asshole." M puts Kongpob on speaker while he takes a piss.

"Hey! I'm your boss, you know."

"Not until eight, you aren't. You're just an annoying asshole until then." M flushes the toilet and strips himself for a quick shower. He needs to wash his sleepiness away in order to face another long day. Kongpob hasn't been this way since the first year his father passed away. He was a young boy forced to become a man fighting against the world. Well, at least he's not a crying bitch this time. M can only sigh. Despite their banter M has always been there for his best friend and always will.

"Meet me in the office. I'll be there in twenty."

"Yeah yeah. Whatever." M ends the call and quickly gets ready.
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"Good. You're finally here." Kongpob turns away from his computer to face M who strolls into his office with an imperturbable look on his face.

"Here. Eat this!" M tosses a small clear bag holding two siopaos (steamed buns) that's still hot based on the steamy look of the bag.

"I'm not hungry. I ate already. Let's go meet the victim's family." Kongpob gets up from his chair.

"I'm not going anywhere with you until you eat these. There's still another hour before you can order me around." M points to the bag with a bored look.

Kongpob huffs a deep breath and picks up the damn siopaos. Glaring at his annoying best friend, he grouchily scarfs the two buns down. "There! Are you happy now?" Kongpob tosses the now empty bag in the trash bin. What is with everyone's obsession with him eating?
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"So how do you know that this is really the victim's child?" Kongpob asks as he walks between M and Thak into a narrow, dusty, and unpaved walkway.

"We can ask for a DNA test if we need to. But the woman sounded honest. She didn't want any reward even when I offered. She also said to come this early because it's the safest during these hours." M says as he carefully steps around a rather suspicious looking yellow puddle.

Kongpob has never been this deep into this part of town. The smell of stagnant water and rotting trash from around the corner filled the air. Despite being early in the morning, there's barely any light making it into these narrow paths between all these tin-roofed shacks. An ominous feeling permeates the air and it's hard to tell what or who's lurking around and hidden in the shadows. They make a right at the corner and it's just another grey shack like all the other ones they've passed.

Raising a balled fist, Thak turns to look at Kongpob and M before knocking, and M nods to assure him that this is the correct location. Thak raps on the blue tin door and the three men waits patiently for an answer.

"Who is it?" A woman shouts from the inside.

"Hello, I called earlier. I'm here to speak with Paweenut regarding Sinchai's child." M speaks loudly.

Then a series of chains and hooks clanking against the tin metal sheet of a door on the other side can be heard. Looking from one another, the three men waits with bated breath.

The door finally creaks open with a painfully high pitched squeak, and then a blue checkered nylon bag is tossed out from inside landing at Kongpob's feet. The door quickly shuts and the three men are left standing there more confused than ever. Thak raises his hand to knock again but the door opens again before he gets the chance, and then a little boy is shoved out the door. The whole time all three men saw no more than one hand of the woman shouting from the other side.

"That's Sinchai's son, Kamron. You can take him or leave him at an orphanage. I don't care." Paweenut says through the door.

"What about his family? Are there others? Can we talk properly?" Kongpob asks while looking at the little boy standing in front of him. Then it hits him like a brick. This little boy is practically a baby and his father is gone. It's his fault that he didn't prevent this tragedy, and now this little boy is fatherless because of him.

"He has no family. His mother died four years ago giving birth and now his father died too. Maybe the child is cursed. I can't keep feeding him now that his father isn't paying me. Just take him away." Paweenut starts locking up her door and quickly walks away. She ignores the men knocking and hollering on the other side.

She had done what she could for Sinchai already. She had gone to his shared shack before everyone took his belongings and salvaged anything she could for little Kamron. She has shared what little scrapes she had with him for the past month already. If Kamron doesn't leave this place now, he might not make it. There are predators lurking at every corner in this place from human traffickers, to drug addicts, and gang bangers. There's no future here. Paweenut had seen Kongpob speak of contributing to Sinchai's family on TV, and within twenty-four hours there were already people knocking at her door. Telling her they should scheme together for some money using Kamron.

Paweenut may not be the most honorable person around, after all she also has to survive these slums but she would never do such a thing to Sinchai and poor little Kamron. She can only hope for the best for little Kamron. Even the orphanage is better than here, but hopefully the man from TV can do better than that. Kamron is almost school age but with no documents, he can't go to public school. The only reason Sinchai even took that dangerous job was because of a slightly higher pay so he can start saving to send Kamron to private school next year. Poor little Kamron deserves better than a life here. Paweenut has given up on believing in God and Buddha or whatnot after being raped and left to die four times in her life. She is almost grateful for the fourth time that left her an ugly scar across her face. Now she can walk around without being bothered. While people around here tattoo to hide their scars, she wants everyone to see hers. Make those fuckers go away.

"Hey! Hey! We're not done talking to you! Hey!" M raps harder and louder even though his knuckles hurt.

"Stop M. She's not going to answer." Kongpob squats down with a heavy heart looking at Kamron who hasn't said a single word. The little boy didn't even look up once from his feet since being shoved through the door. Based on what Paweenut said, Kamron is about four years old. He looks cute despite his rather ill fitted clothes and worn out shoes.

"Hi. I'm Kongpob. Can you tell me your name and age?" Kongpob tries to smile. He doesn't have much experience with children.

The child steals a look at Kongpob but quickly averts his eyes back to his feet. His baba told him not to speak to any strangers.

"Mr. Suthilak, I think we should get moving. It's not safe here. The team says they will have to move in if we stay any longer." Thak spots a few people looking out of their shacks due to the loud commotions. They stand out like a sore thumb and drawing any attention around here can lead to trouble.

Kongpob nods. He looks at little Kamron, "we have to leave now. Can I carry you?"

Kamron doesn't reply but nods his head. He promised Auntie Paweenut that he would listen to the man on TV. So with a gentle smile, Kongpob picks up the child. M picks up the nylon bag and they quickly make their exit.
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"Kongpob, what do you want me to do?" Sonya looks at the poor little boy eating his third sandwich in the garden.

Sonya has been begging for Kongpob to come by to see her for the past month but Kongpob has been too busy with the SuSus incident. So she was ecstatic when Kongpob called to tell her he was dropping by. However, she didn't expect him to drop a bomb on her.

"Mom, this is the victim's child. So if it weren't for me, this little boy would still have a father and he wouldn't be an orphan. So I need to help him."

"Kongpob, how many times do I have to tell you that it's not your fault? Stop blaming yourself. There's nothing wrong with trying to help this child but don't do it out of unjustified guilt."

Kongpob nods instead of arguing with his mom and everybody else for that matter. But the truth remains that if he had been more careful then none of this would have happened. This poor little boy wouldn't be an orphan today. So it is his fault.

"Mom, I don't know what to do with him. Can you watch him for me? You mostly work from home nowadays. I'm too busy and I have no experience with children. I just need a little time to figure things out. He has no documents so Bie is going to need some time to figure that part out too." Kongpob gives his mother his puppy eyes.

"Stop looking at me like that. Look how skinny you've gotten. Arthit hasn't been eating properly because of you too." Sonya caresses Kongpob's cheek and shakes her head.

"Pleeeeease." Kongpob tries again.

"Fine. But only temporarily. Also, you and Arthit need to come home for dinner this Sunday. I mean it."

"Deal!"

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AN: Sweets, I should be writing my other stories, but I was feeling this one. So here's another update.

Do you guys like the little backstory I've given little Kamron and Paweenut?

Curtsy,
Lana ❤️