Chapter 12: Protect tender happiness. Unnecessary responsibility.

Vago.

Anger and jealousy overwhelmed me, and it took about half an hour to get to the nearest safe helipad. Boonmi sat in the backseat, showing me that he didn't want to be anywhere near me.

"What's going on with him? Why is he getting angry? Is it because I wasn't restrained last night? Yes, no! Bullshit!" - In a whisper I reassured myself.

I'd definitely be able to tell the difference between faking it and pretending. Or? If it's really just lust? Did Rattana and Trey make a mistake?

Boonmi slept most of the flight back. On the one hand, I was ashamed that I, a grown man, had fallen for the boy's provocations. I could not cope with anger and was a little rude to him, but on the other hand, he liked what was happening.

And he likes me, I guess.

They say the eyes are the mirror of the soul. So here was his soul revealed to the night from every angle. Bold and open, he could immediately become a begging kitten. Or a ravenous tiger cub who'd been given a piece of meat but had had enough, but still wanted to play with it. A smile of bliss as he accepted my caresses. Eyes burning with passion as he took the initiative.

As he took over, he did things I couldn't have imagined. An insanely cute and slutty little guy. So different and beautiful at the same time.

This night he was truly mine, body and soul. Even if his mouth had said otherwise, provoking me again and again. I rejoiced at Boonmi's impulse yesterday with his last wish. It meant that he had been interested in me since the day the old man was born.

It seemed all right to agree to stay with me, I'd asked nicely. What more do you need? It's a guy, not a princess.

"Boonmi, are you hungry? Do you want anything?" - I asked the guy when we were already flying home from Moscow.

"No, I just want to sit down," he answered quietly.

"You should eat, you haven't even had breakfast. You shouldn't have eaten breakfast," he said.

I thought of Trey's words and trust, and I tensed up. Now, this meek and quiet kid didn't bode well. He looked at me with sad eyes, and my heart sank.

"Is something troubling you?" I guessed.

After a few moments of thought, he said: "May I ask you to keep what happened to-night a secret?"

"Why?"

"It's all wrong. It wasn't supposed to be like this," Boonmi said, lowering his eyes to his sneakers.

My breath caught in my throat. What's wrong with two people who like each other spending the night? I'm not going to run away. Why did he suddenly bring it up, since I made my intentions very clear.

"Boonmi. What's gotten into your head? You weren't honest with me last night? Okay, if you don't want to call me husband, fuck it," I started to clarify in the most affectionate tone I could muster, but he didn't let me finish.

"Enough!!!" he said indignantly, "Enough of these games."

"I think the only one who's playing now is you. Maybe that's the way it is nowadays, today I want it, tomorrow I'll throw it away. But I was brought up to be responsible for my words and actions. And if you're not going to tell me the truth, please, I'll find the truth myself!"

"I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings," a frightened and barely audible voice said.

"Does that mean you can hurt me?"

"We were both wrong! You shouldn't have come! I shouldn't have provoked you! Together and we shall answer, silent about it all!" - Why all his words and actions radiated despair...

"Boonmi!"

"Please, Vago. Don't tell anyone," a pleading voice and wide eyes.

"Is there a third person substituted in here? Who is the one you care so much about?"

"It doesn't matter, but she'll hate to find out. Just be a man and give me your word. You said to-night that you would do anything for me. Now, that's all I ask!"

"Okay. I won't tell anyone, but that doesn't mean I agree with you. And I'll deal with that girl."

"What?" - Boonmi asked doomfully, "Are you going to deal with your wife?"

I didn't understand anything. His phrases and requests confuse me. I'm talking about his girlfriend, he's talking about the fight with him. I guess the lack of sleep is taking its toll on both of us. We'll fly back, get some rest, and we'll talk about it.

***

Sleepy Bangkok greeted us with morning silence. The streets were still half-empty and there were few cars on the freeways. We reached my house quickly enough, where we were obviously expected. The aroma of coffee was spreading, mixed with the vanilla notes of baked goods. Boonmi put on a false smile and followed me in. His eyes, however, told me that he was uncomfortable as hell.

"Maybe he's embarrassed?" - I thought to myself.

"Finally! What took you so long?! I thought you'd arrive five hours earlier. Let's get to the table, airplane food only spoils your stomach. The girls have prepared a sumptuous breakfast."

"I'm sorry to make you worry. But I'd like to talk to Trey and go home," came Boonmi's meek voice, over-emphasizing his speech to be polite.

"Home?" - Tana and I said in chorus.

"Yes, please. Let's talk first. It's basically everyone's business, since so many people care. Can we talk here in the living room?"

"What are you up to?" - I began to worry.

"Boonmi, are you okay?" - Trey came into the room.

Apparently, the doctor had cleared him to get up. However, his left arm was still firmly fixed to his torso, but outwardly he looked quite lively.

"It's okay, sit down. It must be hard for you to stand," the boy sat on the edge of the couch, choosing a spot as far away from me as possible.

Vian and Tana sat on the couch opposite. I stayed standing. The feeling of impending fucked-upness wouldn't let me go.

"Trey... Since you're my friend, or rather I thought you were. I don't know what schemes and plans you have in your head, but I don't want to be a part of them. And as a friend, if only in remembrance of a past life, I ask that from this day forward, the Enthil be yours," he said with a confident look but a mumbling voice.

He had lost his mind...

"What are you talking about!" - Trey became indignant.

"Don't yell. I will do as you yourself said my father would have wanted. I'll assume I never saw the anthill and go on with my life. I'm sure you won't let me die, and everything will be just as you planned."

"Boonmi!" - I interrupted him: "Have you got a brain freeze or what? This is not tennis! I want, I took the board, I want, I gave it back!"

"You don't trust Trey?" - He turned his head toward me, flashing his eyes defiantly.

"I think you of all people should be most pleased. He's your assistant's hubby, he'll never go against it. All the deals are yours," Boonmi told me with an arrogant calmness, "Anyway, I've made my decision. All I want to do is forget this whole thing like a bad dream and go back to my life. I don't ask for permission, I make it a fact.

"Boone, do you realize what you're asking for right now? It's impossible, not now. By doing so, you are declaring total surrender. Chakan will not allow my control, have you spoken to him?" - Trey asked.

"So stop! Let's think soberly," Tana intervened in the conversation, "Boonmi, you're on edge. I understand your feelings, when I realized what Vago was doing, I lived all the same things! But please, you're responsible for more than just your life now, and we're all at risk."

"What do I care about you?" - Looking her in the eye the guy asked.

"What did you say?" - As if she didn't hear, she interjected.

"Khun Chaibancha, I regret that I came into your life at your hubby's behest, and you thought I would be something of a house cat in your home. But you forgot to ask my opinion," he switched to formal speech.

"Boonmi!" - Wien was indignant.

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I looked at this guy and didn't realize who was sitting in front of me.

There was silence in the living room. The boy looked at Trey defiantly, the bodyguard twiddling his thumbs, thinking about something. He looked at Boonmi carefully before asking the key question.

"If Chekan finds out, I'll be killed, you realize that, right?"

"Then make sure he doesn't know," the boy replied mundanely.

"What do you want?" - Raon asked.

"I want to go home and not remember what I've seen and who I've gotten to know over the past months. Back to the institute, back to my friends, so they won't be threatened by this Nanook. I want my old life!"

"That's impossible," Trey summarized.

"Okay. Then call me a car and I'll drive home. And on the way, I'll find some buyers for Anthill."

"Okay, you can study. Go out with your friends, with a security escort, but you'll live here. I need to know you're okay," I offered him a compromise.

"No. Why should I be okay? Am I your relative, husband, brother, matchmaker? Nothing binds us together. I'm going to walk out of this house now, and that's the end of it," the more he said, the more my eyes bled.

I crossed the room in a couple steps. I grabbed Boonmi by the scruff of the neck and headed into the study with the kicking and screaming luggage. There were no daredevils to help the boy.

"Did you lose your fear on the way home?" - I loomed over the guy as soon as the office door hit the jamb with a crunch.

"You're hurting me," he moaned, grabbing my palm on his shoulder.

"Why do you want to leave?"

"Why should I want to stay? You said yourself, I don't belong here."

"That was before."

"Nothing has changed for me. Let me go at the end of the day!" - He slapped my arm.

Pushing him into the desk chair, I leaned on the armrests, blocking him from escaping.

"So you're telling me there's nothing keeping you here?" - I moved close enough to smell the scent of his skin.

"Yes," Boonmi let out either a moan or a squeak, "Or rather, no."

"And you don't feel anything for me?" - Running my palm over my cheek, I whispered.

Boonmi was lost for a split second and nestled against my hand, but he turned his face away. I didn't think I'd notice. His confused look, the bitten inside of his lip, the rapid breathing.

"Good, so you won't mind the manifestation of my lust," I whispered, kissing him.

Like a caged mynah, he fluttered in my arms. Small hands slapped his chest as my lips savored the taste of his anger. Judging by Boonmi's attitude, and his complete denial of the situation, I knew this sweetness wouldn't be available to me for a while.

The little mouth surrendered to me. Tender lips kept up the pace of the kiss, and a nimble tongue fought for territory. Boonmi's hands rested on my shoulders, and I missed his touch so desperately. Grabbing the boy by the waist and taking his luscious ass with my other hand, I carried him over to the couch. Putting him on my lap.

Running my hands under his sweatshirt, savoring the warmth of his silky skin, I wanted to devour him. With a growl, I nestled against his neck and heard a languid moan. It was the kind of sound coming out of those lips that I was ready to listen to endlessly, not the nonsense I'd heard in the living room. But infinity was a lot shorter than I expected. In the same second, Boonmi was electrocuted. He jumped off my lap with genuine fear in his eyes.

"Baby, what are you doing?"

"Stay away from me! You lustful animal! How could you!" - He rushed toward the door, which would not yield to the exhausted child.

"What have I done?"

"I want to leave! Let me out! Now!" - Boonmi banged on the door.

"Vago! Boonmi! What's going on in there!"

"Open the door before I hate you!" - he growled.

Anger and resentment and misunderstanding overwhelmed me!

"You want to leave? Get out!" - Kicking the door, I left the office.

A startled cry from Tana and Boonmi. Raon's voice yelling at the baby. And Trey's quiet voice, calming everyone down. I didn't care what state the people behind me were in. In order to avoid accidentally killing anyone, I needed to cool down. Now! The only available release of negativity was the pool. Tearing off my clothes on the way to the backyard, kicking off my shoes, the sound of glass rattling in the door, the splash of water.

Silence! Emptiness! Loneliness!

Some time later, when I was lying on the surface of the water like a fallen leaf, tired and tortured. Through closed eyelids I saw a shadow looming over me.

"So what happened in France?" - I heard Trey's calm voice.

"If I had known," I said in his tone.

"Try to remember, I don't care about Anthill. and his uncle's reaction, I care about the friend," the man continued to insist.

"Look, I'm angry, annoyed, hurt and a 1000 more epithets and synonyms. I got smacked right after the first night. No, I wasn't! In the process! I'm not ready to discuss it."

"Vago, brother, I rarely ask you for anything, but please focus. If we can figure out what's knocked the guy out, we can make Trey's life easier and get your wife back in your clutches."

"Rayon, are you deaf? I'll say it again, it was even! He didn't mind, I didn't hold back. In the morning, it was like a switch.

"I don't know what kind of husband you are to me. On the airplane, he asked me not to tell anyone."

"Why?"

"Said he didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings. No! Fine! But what the hell are you doing hanging around in bars at night and going out alone if you care so much about your love?"

"You're confusing things. Boonmi doesn't have a girlfriend."

"He told me himself that he didn't want any trouble and that he wanted me to deal with my wife, not a girl."

"Stop," Raon interrupted me.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" - Trey looked at my friend.

"Will you shine a light on me?" - I looked at the satisfied couple.

"Tell Vago, did you talk to Boonmi?" - Trey asked.

"Something like. "We had a few words during sex. And in the morning he was like this."

"Did you say Rattana is not your wife?" - Raon asked, almost laughing.

"No. What does that have to do with it? What does that have to do with my relationship with him?"

Raon burst into loud, gleeful laughter.

"You're so smart when it comes to money. But when it comes to feelings, you're a buffalo! You go straight ahead and don't notice anything," he said through his laughter.

"I'm going to drown you!"

"Raon wants to hint to you that before getting close to Boonmi, he should have told you about the fake relationship. Because now the boy feels like a third wheel in your family idyll. And basically, your promises to be with him are being taken as an offer to be a lover," Trey explained.

"I didn't say that!"

"Of course you didn't. So you now, go shower, get dressed and go to the mansion, talk and explain. Don't push, don't scare, don't threaten! But gently and calmly persuade."

Shit, it's true! Now his words about his wife took on a new meaning. I never thought Rottana's marriage would come back to bite me in the ass. We've been friends since we were kids. Our moms are charity workers at children's hospitals together, so naturally we got to see each other a lot. We were promised a fancy wedding, a long and happy life, and a bunch of kids. But we only saw each other as brother and sister. At my parents' insistence, we got engaged, promising each other that we would stall the wedding as long as we could. First college, then my father's death. The plan worked.

In her second year at the institute, Tana met Vien. A young, smart guy, but without any prospects. Korean roots and citizenship did not give any advantages to the guy. His family invested all their efforts in the child's education, making big bets on him. After receiving his diploma, the couple got married in Korea and still hide this fact.

The parents of both families didn't want to hear anything about the "separation". So we continued our little deception. Vien got a job as my personal assistant and together with Raon they do everything that I don't manage to do.

There's never been a problem with previous partners, never even occurred to anyone to think about anyone else. That it was somehow humiliating to date me when I was engaged. And it all came crashing down on that boy. A kid who screws grown men and leaves them in agony.

A few hours later, I was at Boonmi's house. After ringing the intercom several times, no one answered the door. According to Trey, there was no point in going to the anthill either. The time in the office dragged on ungodly long. By the time the guys and I had finished all the important matters, darkness had descended on Bangkok. Heading down the memorized path, I sought to explain myself to the one who had so pinched my soul. The big house met me with dark windows. And only one ray of light was falling in the guy's workshop. After waiting for almost ten minutes, the door was opened for me after all.

"I always thought that if you didn't open the door, a person who came uninvited would realize they weren't welcome."

"Consider me a retard. I need to talk to you."

"I don't seem to have a choice. Come in."

Boonmi walked down the corridor with the look of a condemned prisoner on death row. With a click of a key, the spacious room was illuminated with light.

"No drinks, no appetizers, it's the weekend. Say what you want and get out of here."

"You're like this because of Tana, aren't you? Yes?" - I got right to the point.

The guy sighed heavily and sat down on the couch.

"Is that what you want to discuss?" - he asked, staring into the void.

"Yes. I want to tell you everything so you'll realize that there's nothing stopping us from being together."

"Are you sure I want to be with you?" - still avoiding eye contact, the interlocutor asked.

"Yes!"

"Very presumptuous. An intriguing beginning."

As I told Boonmi our story from beginning to end, I hoped he would understand me. As sarcastic and aloof as he wanted to seem, I felt that he liked me, much more than he was saying. And despite what comes out of his mouth, his body gives him away with his guts.

"Bravo. You shouldn't be in the mafia, but writing movie scripts. And if you also star in this story, it will be a sensation! Just play as well as you do, the Oscar will be yours."

"You don't believe me? Let's go to our house, they'll show you the marriage certificate."

"Vago, do you think I'm that naive? Or do you take me for a fool? With your powers, you can make any kind of document you want. Do me the favor of going home, and on the way find some agreeable man and entertain him with pictures and tales."

"Boonmi!" - I began to get angry.

"The exit is the same place as the entrance. When you leave, don't slam the door, it's got some newfangled lock that's very sensitive to aggression. Have a good day," he stood up and headed towards the bedrooms.

"Boonmi!" - I jumped up.

"Don't forget the lock! If thieves enter the house, I'll report you as an accessory to the crime."

I stood there staring at the guy's back, not knowing what to do. Despair and emptiness filled my mind. Remembering the guys' admonition not to push or yell, I had no choice but to walk away shamefully.