Picture Me & You- The Perfect Two

60. Beam (Part 1)

In all that, having to make friends like Pha and Kit who did not let him die in misery and self loathe was nothing less of a blessing. Till the day he happened to hear an annoyed Kit complaining to Pha how he would not be friends with someone as irritatingly snarky as Beam if he wasn't forced into it by his mother and Pha telling Kit their families did business with the Vongviphans and they could not make Dean Vongviphan angry. One could only imagine how a fifteen years old Beam felt hearing the people who had been sort of like his rock for the past five years.

But nothing had ever hurt him as much as it hurt him to see his Kao hurting.

That night he found Kao, lifeless and floating in the pool, naked. The way his soul left his body seeing his baby brother that way. That bastard was twice his size. And there were four or five of them, he could not tell. He just knew he had to inflict pain. As much pain as he felt seeing his brother like that. He did not care even if he killed the person who hurt his Kao, even if he died doing it.

His baby Kao...

How could anyone dare to touch his brother? How dare anyone hurt his baby brother?

How could it happen at his watch? How could he let that happen? How?

If he was there...

If only he was...

But he wasn't. He was forced to attend a gathering by his so called father. He was forced to not attend Kao's match. He was forced to be away from his Kao. He'd failed to protect Kao. He'd always failed.

"Beam?"

He closed his eyes and breathed out before finally looking up to face Forth who frowned down at him with those deep eyes and he instantly looked away. Those eyes had almost always instantly made Beam feel exposed and unable to keep his guard up. Even last year, when he knew Forth was approaching him to fulfill a bet, even before that when they met for the first time. But since the day he found out the truth behind the night that has been giving him nightmares for the past year, he always found those intense eyes sucking his soul out and he felt the walls he'd built around his heart over the years to crumple.

Forth settled himself beside Beam on the bench, keeping some distance between them. "What are you doing here, at this time?" he asked and gulped at the look Beam threw him. He hurriedly raised his hands. "I didn't follow you here! I swear!"

Beam scoffed at his words and shot a pointed look towards a woman standing at some distance, patting her pregnant belly and watching the kids play. He nodded towards the woman, face dead serious.

Forth followed Beam's gaze and scoffed in amusement. "Nothing goes past you, does it? Yeah, I brought her to get some air. When she's agitated, she loves watching kids" he said.

Beam blinked. Then he stole a glance at Forth, only to find the guy staring back. Flabbergasted, he turned his head away fast. "Isn't she due anytime? What the hell are you doing moving her around?"

Forth sighed and eyed his sister in law. "I know she should be bed ridden, but she feels suffocated at that mansion, she wants to come out for a walk, have fresh air. P'Jee was busy with her in laws today so I took her here"

Beam nodded absent mindedly, looking at the woman who seemed happy as she carefully took steps here and there and watched the toddlers play around. Then his eyes traveled back to the guy sitting beside him. The cold, calculating, cruel bastard who terrorized the university since the past three years he'd known him, the guy who was the master of brawls and fights, the guy who did not have a heart to spare to anyone, the guy who didn't care or give a shit about anything, the guy who wanted anyone to just use and fuck and throw away, who went on odds with Pha to hit on his boyfriend, who bet to get Beam in bed just to boast his own ego, the guy who almost ruined his own cousin's relationship with Kao without a blink. Or this guy, the guy who cared so deeply for his pregnant sister in law, to the extent of following her around in the days nearing to her labor, clearly putting up with her mood swings and frustrations and temper, the guy who stood by Kao's side for hours, letting the unconscious boy hold his hand to feel safe, the guy who followed him to Vongviphan mansion with an injured knee, who held him in his arms and promised him love. Who was this guy exactly?