Check-Mate

5. Missing

Warm POV

"Stupid! Idiot! Airhead! "

You all must be wondering who I am calling all these names. Who else but my twin brother, Chain? Ok, fine. My cousin, Chain. I don't think I have to hide his identity from you.

I am truly pissed at him. Today, both of us were supposed to go back home for the sem break and guess what happened. That idiot didn't show up at all!

My dear cousin did have the habit of being fashionably late every time. So, I told him the time that was an hour prior to the actual time so that he wouldn't miss the flight. Yet, today not only did he miss the flight, but he made me miss mine too.

Both of us come from the Lamphun province. Since it was a sem break, my dear mom had issued the order for both of us to get back home. Truth be told my mom is a terrifying person who both me and Chain don't dare disobey.

We dutifully booked the flight tickets back to Lamphun on the very next day of the semester's end.

As an honour student, I have an extra exam to take than Chain. So he has to stay back in the capital for three more days so that we both can go back together.

But all those plans went in vain when Chain didn't show up at the airport. I don't even know how many calls and messages I send him. But none of them replied.

I had been waiting since four in the early morning. I got no news of him even when it was twelve in the afternoon. I called Yu, one of his dorm mates to check if he was in the dorm.

Unlike me, Chain was the kind that loved to party. And at parties, booze. He lived by the principle, 'drink till you drop'. I was really worried that the troublemaker had actually drunk and dropped, forgetting all about going back home.

Yu then told me that Chain hadn't returned back to the dorm for the past three days and asked to me try contacting his other friends.

So I did. I called every single person in Chain's contact list. His classmates, dorm mates,  seniors, everyone I could think of. But none of them had seen him.

All this sent me into a panic frenzy. I was scared that something happened to him.

Even though he was a bit naughty, he was an irresponsible person. He would have definitely texted me if something was up.

I spend more than eighteen hours trying to find any lead to find him. I almost informed the police and filed a missing person case when finally the great Khun Chain had the piece of mind to send me a voice message saying that he went on a spontaneous trip with his friends and would go back home by himself tomorrow.

That little chimpanzee even had the guts to ask me why I was blowing up his phone with calls and messages.

This is one of the times when that dialogue from a movie comes to my mind-  'Hold him underwater till the bubble stops.' But I literally can't because I love that asshole no matter what.

Everyone might be thinking that I am overreacting and that he is a grown-ass man who can make decisions on his own. But for context let me tell you some back story.

When we finished high school and applied for a university in Bangkok, neither of our parents was happy. It was like they never wanted to go to the capital. It took a lot of effort and persuasion to convince them to send us to Bangkok.

Chain obviously was over the moon when they agreed but I knew that there must be some reason that our parents were reluctant to send us here.

I sat down with my parents and had a talk with them and that was when they told me everything.

My aunt aka Chain's mother was murdered by a group of people. Those people had practically slaughtered every single person of my maternal family other than Chain.

My mom had left the family in her teens to study abroad and she didn't have much contact with them. It was the only reason she was spared.

Before her death, my aunt had intuitions that she might get killed and had sent Chain over to our parents with a letter requesting our parents take Chain in as their son in case something happened to her.

Two days after Chain arrived with the letter, they heard the news of the death of every member of her pack. Chain was only saved because my aunt had seen it coming and sent him over to us.

The real reason why my parents didn't want us to go to the capital was that the people who had murdered the whole pack were still lurking in the dark and searching for Chain. There is no way they would let Chain off. The moment they find his real identity, they would murder him without mercy.

This information alone was enough to make my overthinker brain go crazy. Seeing that he had gone MIA for three whole days made me so scared that... I don't know how to explain. I don't think I will be able to take it if something happens to him. I am really really relieved that everything is good and he is fine.

But I swear, this time around, I am not going to let him taste any of my food. That will be the biggest punishment for him.

Back to my story, since Chain has ditched me, I am on my own and there are no more plane tickets available for tonight. Nor are there any train tickets.

The only option left is the coach bus. If I had to travel by bus, it would take around nine hours from Bangkok to Lamphun and the journey would be so damn tiring. It doesn't matter anymore. Beggers can't be choosers.

Luckily, there is one last seat available. I quickly book the seat and hire a cab to the bus station. 

I made it on time for the bus. I was worried that I might miss the bus because of the traffic. 

This is the first time I am taking a coach bus and I am seriously nervous. The staff is friendly and helps me load my luggage into the luggage compartment and I am left with my backpack alone.

I enter the bus and find my seat. Almost all of the passengers had settled down.

But I tense up again. The bus not only had humans but also werewolves. Both alphas and betas. In fact, the guy who is sitting next to me is an alpha.

He seems like a gentleman as he helps me put the luggage up on the overhead luggage rack. I am not really that tall so having someone tall help me put my luggage up there was a relief.

I settle down in my seat. I can't actually believe that I got a window seat even after booking the ticket at the end moment. I mean, don't people normally prefer to sit on the window seat while travelling? I don't know how others feel but I find it quite odd that no one booked this seat.