"Do we have food?"

Rain shakes his head. His mom hasn't given him the money to restock the food at home. She has been busy with work and currently in another town for the said work.

"Ok," Porchay nods and opens the door a little bit. Kim gives him a furrowed forehead. "That's not polite, Kitt," he scolds, maybe with a little edge in his voice. But Porchay doesn't care. "You can put the food on the handle, please."

"No, take them yourself!" He doesn't raise his voice, but the command is clear. Porchay huffs but then he drags Rain in front of Kim. "Take them, Rainy," he says to his startled friend who takes the plastic bags from Kim's hand automatically. Their hands touch each other and Rain can hear the growl coming from Phayu's way. The door opens a little bit more and Phayu comes into view. He is visibly upset. Rain gulps nervously.

Phayu offers him a smile to ease his apparent nerves. That smile does things to Rain's lower stomach. Phayu moves closer to Rain, who interestingly for Chay, doesn't back out. "I buy your favorites," he says. Rain murmurs his thank you. His whole face is as red as a tomato.

Porchay snatches the bags and roams. "But there are none of my favorites," he says teasingly and comically pouts. But Kim is quick to react. "What do you want?"

"Sandwich."

"What kind?"

"Amuse me."

Porchay hasn't realized yet that Kim is not the kind to be challenged. He looks Porchay from his toes to his hair again like that night with that damn little non-apparent smile. Porchay fights the goosebumps from coming and loses the battle, but he is still able to keep his straight face. So that's a good thing.

Kim's eyes linger on Porchay's face, looking the younger right between the eyes before he whips his phone out. "Any particular store?"

"Seven-Eleven sandwiches are killers."

Kim nods and starts typing.

Rain looks like Porchay has two heads but his best friend just looks oddly calm and collected. Porchay never accepts any offering from an alpha, let alone goats them about it.

"The coffee ..." Phayu starts to say to rain, but Porchay cuts it. "We don't drink coffee in the morning."

"Then what do you drink, baby?" Phayu clearly ignores Porchay, talking to red-faced Rain while looking at him straight in the eyes.

"Rain drinks tea or milk or milk tea. I drink water or orange juice. Not that you ask my preference, of course."

Phayu gives a hike brow to Kim who just slightly nods with an amused face.

"Do you know who we are, Porchay?" he asks. His stand changes, and Porchay notices that. Why, though? Is he that amusing?

"Sure, I do, Khun Venice Theerapanyakul."

That stand changes again. Now he sees him as a ... threat. But Porchay just watches, because Kim's stand changes to, leaning more to him by the door.

"Made a contact to your brother, then?" Phayu says.

"I've been independent for a while, Khun."

"Then how do you know?"

"I'll be foolish if I tell you my source, wouldn't I?"

Phayu is now squinting his eyes, trying to figure it out. "Should we 'talk' in another way?"

Porchay sighs with a sarcastic smile. "You must've dug me far enough to know about my father, Khun," he directs the conversation to Kim. "Then by now you must've known my father didn't raise no weakling. What I lack physically, I make it up with my brain. So don't even fucking try to muscle or threaten me and Rain in any way known to man. If you bite, I'll bite back harder. You will regret greatly."

He looks at Phayu again with hard eyes. He never does well with threats. "Now that we're openly threatening each other, good day, Khun," he says as he closes the door on Kim's face with a bang.

Kim pats Phayu's back on the way to the car. "You make a wrong move there, friend," he says.

The sandwiches of every kind there are in the world and the drinks, make an appearance thirty minutes later. A man who delivers it screams mafia silently with his appearance but he bows politely to Porchay and Rain.

Rain is baffled and overwhelmed. Chay? Chay laughs his head off after saying his thanks.

***

It's nighttime when he receives a message.

I'm coming home. We need to talk.

Porchay hikes his bows. Whose home?

No need to come to my home. I'll meet you at whatever place you pick.

The reply comes three minutes late. Porsche's probably seething at his reply.

K.

Oh, he is pissed. Porsche only replies short and curt in that state. Good.

Then comes another text with the address of a fancy bar. Porchay purposely doesn't change his clothes and grabs his second-hand Nike jacket before hopping onto his second-hand Matic bike. The bike is old but reliable. Porchay loves it very much, thank you.

When he arrives, the guard is looking him up and down condescendingly. Must be because his outfit doesn't really go in places like this. He just shows him the message without making a fuss about the blatant disrespect. He is used to it.

The inside of the bar is more heavily guarded than the front for some reason. A show of power? To him? Give him a break! Porchay laughs in amusement. It makes the surrounding guard dogs look at him in a reverse effect.

There are only two people and they are sitting at the center of the bar. The lighter-skinned man drapes his arm on the back of the fluffy seat, crowding the other one. He smiles to Porchay, to which he doesn't return.

"Porchay, welcome. Please sit down," he gestures to the seat in front of them.

"Thanks but no thanks, Khun Kinn. I rather be somewhere else to be frankly. I have a job to attend to." He turns his attention to the other man, his brother. "So let's hurry this up, shall we? What's this all about?"

He is sighing like he has the world's weight on his shoulder. What the fuck is he sighing about? Clearly, it's not Porchay. Like he said to Phayu, he has been independent for a while now.

"Why work this hard, Chay? Why didn't you use the money I sent you?"

"I borrow your money. I fully intended to pay you back every single penny I used. It'll be foolish to spend it leisurely."

"I gave it to you," Porsche says through gritted teeth. "You don't have to pay me back."

Porchay shrugs. "I'm not comfortable with it. So... That's all you want to talk about? Why do I work? I don't know if you care about me. Why suddenly put an interest in my life, Hia?" he says the last word in a mocking tone. Kinn shoots one of his brows, certainly not taking it well someone mocks his mate. But fuck him.

"Oh," he hammers his palm with his other hand. "Is it because Khun Kim made a visit to me?"

"So it's true then?"

Porchay nods. "True, indeed. But I'm sure you knew that being your people is around."

Porsche curses. "Stay away from him, Chay!"

"You should told him that, not to me. I'm just a helpless little civilian. I don't know shit about your world." He mocks again. Porsche is openly angry now. "Chay, I swear to God ..."

But he doesn't get to continue because there is a commotion at the entrance of the bar. Porchay merely glances at the figure who comes and sits with grace and elegance in the seat in front of Porsche and Kinn.

Kimhan.

"You're not sitting down, Ter?"

Whatever objection that Chay has, he is glad he can hold it back in time because Porsche does it for him.

"Ter?" Porsche shrieks. "What kind of fucking pill you fucking take, Kimhan, that makes you fucking delusional enough to think my brother is your beloved?"

Porchay has the same thoughts and sentiments.

Kim shrugs. "I'm very much sober, thank you. And brother?" he points. "I don't know you're a hypocrite, Porsche."

Porsche slams the table with enough force that it makes a cracking sound. It's not a cheap table, mind you. But Porsche never has that much control in him. So Porchay is not surprised.

Kim takes a muse in egging Porsche it seems. Porchay regrets he can't see his expression while doing it.

"He's still my responsibility."

"No, I'm not," Porchay interrupts. "I'm old enough to take care of myself and I've been doing it just fine for the past year."

"What he said," Kim notes. "Good job, Ter." Chay darts knives at Kim's back silently. It seems the other notice as he gives Chay his side eye from where he sits.

"The fuck you're not!" Porsche shouts. "And I'm not leaving you with him," he points to Kim. 'I don't want to be left with him either', Porchay says inside his head. "Over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged."

"Kimhan," now Kinn has a say. His eyes are pure fury when he directs them to Kim. Porchay doesn't think Kimhan is affected.

"I don't need anyone to take care of me. So thank you very much, Khun Kim," Porchay pointedly says.

Kim now turns his back to look at him. "Now that's not a nice thing to say to your beloved, isn't Porchay?"

There goes the goosebumps again. Fuck, what is with this guy that makes him riled up so easily?

But Porchay doesn't grace him with an answer. He thinks he knows what Kim is playing at. But he's going to help the man in front of Porsche just this once. In return for the breakfast, he states inside himself again.

Annakinn now looks at him with an odd gaze. So he sweetly says, "I'm sorry," pause, "Ter."

There is a glint that he doesn't like appears in Kim's eyes. He's going to regret this, isn't he?

He looks at the watch on his wrist. "Oops, I should go now. Don't want to be late for work," he says. His nonchalant attitude annoys Porsche. "So. Goodbye, Khun. May we never have to see each other again."

He can hear Porshe's swearing as he turns his back. He never gets to the door because Kim drags him on his back jacket to a room.

"What are you doing here, Kitt?" he asks. His arms are entwined in front of his chest.

"Porsche wanted to see me."

"And you decided to be obedient now?"

Porchay shrugs like it's not a big deal. "Just want to know what he had to say."

"Did you know that he was about to drag you to the compound if I didn't show up?"

That's a possibility, yes. But Porchay was never going to go without a fight and he could put up one hell of a fight. "Really? Thanks, then."

Kim shakes his head. His lips smile again. It seems he's been doing it a lot lately.

"Look, I know you're doing this," he points back and forth to himself and Kim, "To rile up Porsche. I know that you think I'm an easy casualty in your 'war' with your brother. But I'm not your pawn, Khun Kim. Like I said, if you bite, I'll bite back twice as hard. So whatever games you think you want to play with me, think again. Ok, Ter?" he asks sarcastically.

He makes a mistake in stepping closer to Kim because it's too late to notice the change in Kim. He is now crowding Porchay with his body with no way out without touching.

"Before we talk about games between you and me, Kitt, let me make sure about one thing," he says. Porchay's heart is pounding heart in his ribcage.

'Please don't do what I think you're about to do', Porchay prays.

But it's not fulfilled, as Kim places his hand on Chay's cheek. The electric jolts with fireworks sparks suddenly happen to both of them along with the burst of scents, his and Kim's. They mingled in the air, drawing Porchay to the older side.

Kim smiles. "There you are, Ter. I've been looking so long for you."

***