Summary:
NuNew is trying to keep busy doing everything he does to keep his business running. He is trying to put aside all the hurt and focus on other things. Nat is heartbroken. Men in their life know each other. It is so confusing.
NuNew's family asked him to fill in for a family member who could not make the show. NuNew is off to Shanghai
Zee learns more about his faen and sets social media on a self-destruct with his confession of love on all of Nu's social media. He doesn't care. Love is worth all he will have to go through to bring his Nu home where he belongs—even fighting a mob of mad royals, nothing will stop it except maybe NuNew himself.
NuNew
NuNew was exhausted, but they had completed the whole checklist that Andrea had sent over. A record for them to get it all done so quickly. They had worked on the other content she requested in the past few weeks. He needed to load four data packages to the server through the FTP.
After creating a quick email listing all the content he was sending, he dialed Andrea. Nat peeked into the office and pointed upstairs, and NuNew nodded, knowing that Nat was going to their favorite place in the house when they needed emotional support.
The family room had giant recliners, almost like beds, that became their room. They quickly named it "the therapy room." Those recliners had hugged his Nat more than once when life seemed to kick him when he was down or when NuNew would feel overwhelmed, and Nat was there to support him in whatever he needed or wanted to do. They were best friends and will always be.
When NuNew shared the story of his family and who he was, it felt more like fiction than real life. The story was so surreal that NuNew and Nat had gone through three tubs of Häagen-Dazs after NuNew showed him how he gave bright, life, and light.
His Nat was never afraid to embrace him for who he was. His life made so much more sense after that night. But here they were again, both needing each other for emotional support.
Andrea finally answered after calling her twice, "Hey, NuNew, I am glad you called. I have so much we need to go over. I know you are headed to Shanghai tomorrow. Xīyáng Qi said he would send the charter plane. No need for a commercial flight. The song she chose is from a list of things you did in past shows. You already know the wire-fu or dances for the songs. Aya will add, "Now or Never, Like I'm Gonna Lose You." She said if you have any changes, send them to her ASAP."
"Those are great choices, and I am sure she will have me sing Watch Me Rise like she always does. Let her know the song choice is fine."
"On it, boss."
"Andrea, I hope you are ready. The data dump is enormous. It covers all the content you requested. We have been working on it and finished the studio work today. It should be enough for three months, but if anything is missing, I can get it done quickly now that we are ahead. Thank you for your hard work. I will have my assistant take the package of autographed pictures and mail them to you. I know you want a stamp, but my fans deserve the personal touch. I need to run. If you need anything, message me. Nat is here, and it's an ice cream event," NuNew hoped she would understand what he was implying.
"That is fine, NuNew, but I did get a strange call from someone today, but it can wait until next week after the OST. I will start going through the content and see if I can find something to release today. I love my boys! Talk to you soon."
He knew that Andrea was chomping at the bit to get into the content. NuNew looked across his desk at his picture of Hia, sighed, and flipped the picture frame face down. He turned off the lights and headed up to Nat.
Halfway up the stairs to his private quarters, he got a voice clip message from Andrea. NuNew was curious because she had never used the feature and clicked it. What happened next almost made him deaf. The scream she emitted was disturbing as she fan girl out on the new Savage Dragon cover videos.
Andrea was a huge fan, and when he was contracted to help write the remix, he ensured she was part of all the negotiations. She was hard to handle for months with all the gushing.
While he couldn't understand her message because of the screaming, another ping, and a notification that Andrea had posted the cover on YouTube, she could always make him chuckle with her fan girl moments and made his way to Nat and that ice cream.
Nat had already set up everything. He had got the snacks and set up the beds on the recliners.
This was their favorite place to sit and talk, but also they made sure to have all the comforts in case they fell asleep. NuNew settled himself to focus on Nat and his problems and maybe forget his own.
Zee
Sitting on the sofa, Zee could not help but go through everything on his faen's YouTube channel. He could not believe he was there this whole time, just outside his orbit.
He even remembered when Nu's rendition of Savage Garden's "I Knew I Loved You" came out. He played it on the loop for weeks. It was one of his favorite songs of all time. He was busy with all things DMD to go onto YouTube to watch music videos. So, he never knew.
If he had, he would have found his faen so much quicker and may not be in this situation now. Zee was logged into his YouTube channel account, and while he had many subscribers, he never subscribed to anyone non-DMD until today. He made his subscriptions public, so everyone could see he was now following his Nu.
He even set up notifications so that if Nu did anything, he would know about it. He knew this would send his social media into a frenzy, but he didn't care. He was going to follow him on every social media platform. He just wanted Nu to see he was there. He wanted to be seen.
Setting his phone on the sofa, he went to get a drink and returned with a bottle of water for Max and himself. Before he could hand one to Max, a girly squeal came out of Max's mouth. The sound was so out of character he couldn't stop staring at him.
"OMG Zee, your faen just released a new cover. It happened just now!" Max gushed.
Zee was almost positive he would get violent with Max if he didn't stop having that goofy look when he talked about his faen. He threw the water bottle on Max's lap and grabbed his phone.
"Is he like reading my mind? Does he think about me? He released my favorite song," Zee quickly went to the DMD site and checked to see if his favorite song was still listed. He was disappointed that it was not. He wondered when P'Aof changed it.
"Max, if you leave a comment before I do, I will become violent," Zee growled.
Zee composed his comment and was the first to make one.
"I love you, Nu. Come home to me. I miss you."
Zee watched YouTube explode. He then logged in to all social media, found Nu, and left him a message on each one, then a private message with his phone number. Hoping the Nu would call him, he just had to sit and wait.
If he didn't call, he would try in Shanghai, and if he failed in Shanghai, he had the OST. If he failed there, he would keep trying no matter how long it took. Nu was his future.
NuNew
"Nu, I am sorry, but I have no one other than you to talk to about this. Do you remember that guy Max I told you about? The one I met at the club and went to meet each week."
What is it with men called Max? NuNew pondered this for a few seconds before turning back to Nat.
"I remember you were talking about sleeping with him the next time you saw him. Did something go wrong? You have been so thrilled since you met him. Did you fight? It will be all right; it was probably a misunderstanding," NuNew tried to sound upbeat but knew that this might be worse than he thought.
A tear fell from Nat's eyes, and NuNew wanted to get up and hug him, but he knew if he did, Nat would fall apart, and he needed to get this all out. So NuNew did what he always did and had learned long ago. Tilt your head and wait. He had no idea why this gesture invited people to talk, but it did.
"We made love. No, we had sex. I thought he cared about me, but he THANKED ME after it was over. T H A N K E D M E can you believe it? Max said that maybe we could make it a regular Friday thing. Like I am nothing but a piece of meat. He even asked me if I needed money for a ride to get home in his sleep. He held on to me so tight I had to wait until he rolled over and let me go. Then I left. He doesn't know where I live, and I haven't answered any of his calls. We had a dancing date at the same time every week. I won't be going back," Nate looked at NuNew with hurt in his eyes.
"I thought I loved him. I thought we were working to become exclusive and in a relationship. In the end, it turned into a nightmare before it began."
NuNew wondered if Nat and Zee had the same affliction, the "Don't talk, ask later" disease. NuNew had to take a moment to collect his thoughts.
"Do you know how to find this Max? If you do, you should see him. It sounds like you have some talking to do," NuNew's mind was also turning, wondering if he should take that advice and talk to Hia.
"I do, don't hate me. He is Max Kornthas Rujeerattanavorapan. Don't tell anyone. I would die of embarrassment if a player tricked me," Nat begged.
NuNew sat there stunned. How was this possible? Wasn't Max Zee's life partner? That is what he said when he yelled at him at the condo. Something was fishy, and he needed to find out what. He decided that since Nat seemed to know about Max, he might know something about Zee too.
"Nat, isn't Max Zee Pruk Panich's faen? I thought I heard that from someone," Nu searched Nat's face for answers.
Nat laughed so hard he almost fell off the chair, which was scary because he had tears of pain streaming down his face.
"Those two? Never. They are best friends. They are not sexually involved," Nat continued to laugh.
NuNew wrung his hands and looked down, "Well, that is a good thing because I am in some kind of something with Zee."
Nat stared at Nu incredulously; his mouth was moving, but no words came out.
Zee
It was Wednesday, and Max and Zee arrived at the DMD house at seven. The whole family was there and already awake. Since Zee got hurt and had his issue, Max and Zee had missed morning breakfast, so it was nice to see his family together again.
It was only a three-hour flight to Shanghai, so they had decided to leave a little early so they could have a meal before the show that started at five in the afternoon.
The plan was to stay for all three shows and the after-party.
As they walked in, they all stared at them like they had three heads. They were all sitting around the table. P'Aof was walking behind them and telling them to get back to work.
Max and Zee walked over and looked at the signs and groaned.
P'Aof looked at them, flipped the hair out of his eyes, and gave them a smug look.
"Stupid signs for stupid faen's," P'Aof laughed and checked the next sign Mark was working on.
"If you have a better idea, I am all ears. No? Then you get to work too, both of you," P'Aof pointed a finger at the two empty chairs.
Max and Zee dragged their feet to the table of doom. They both wondered how this was all going to play out for them.
Tutor and Yim were both staring at Zee with their mouths hanging open. Zee was afraid of the looks he was getting from all of them.
Yim looked at Tutor and then at Zee and took a deep breath.
"Zee, is it true that your lifemate is NuNew Chawarin Perdpiriyawong, and is it true that you and Max screwed it up, and that is why P'Aof is making us make signs before we leave for the airport?" Yim pushed his body closer to Tutor as he waited for an answer.
It was like a vacuum hit the room; Max's head fell to the table, covering his head with his arm, groaning. Zee looked up from his sign and then looked around the table. P'Aof was smirking at him with his arms crossed.
Then he realized that every single eye of all the younger boys at the table looked at him, some in awe and some in horror. James, however, was the only one that hid and used Net as his protection.
Tommy, Mark, Jimmy, Park, and Poppy snickered behind their hands and tried to pretend that nothing was happening and that Zee was not ready to launch himself out the window.
Zee groaned and knew he had to say something, or he would get no peace.
"Yes, Nu is my lifemate. Yes, we are having a problem because Max made a mistake. We will make up, and no, we are not breaking up. Any more questions? We must leave for the airport in an hour, get to work," Zee muttered.
The younger boys all shook their heads, eager about their work now. They quietly talked about how it would be great when they made up, and they could meet Nu.
Maybe he would sign their merch. More than one was a super fan of his faen. The older ones burst out laughing, saying, "they can't," and left the room with P'Aof, leaving a fuming Zee and an embarrassed Max.
NuNew
Since he arrived in Shanghai, he has been having a great time. The show was tomorrow night, and they had tonight to spend together. His sister and brother-in-law showed them around their new home.
For the three years that Aya and Xīyáng Qi have been married, they were more in love than they were the first day he saw them at their pre-wedding ceremony on Keāa Kala. Because of their normal behavior, it was hard to believe they were the future emperor and empresses of Keāa Kala.
They were just like regular people with regular everyday problems. Aya argued that Qi put too much butter on the garlic bread, and Qi complained that he needed more salt in the rice. It was all so domestic.
He was so happy for them. Even happier that Jax was able to make it. Every year they all go back and see the grandpa he never knew he had, the current emperor of Keāa Kala, Niran Kassem Kiet Wang. Nu's parents and brother Tee live on Keāa Kala's main island Kisette.
They were working on trying to find the remaining royal family that had not been found yet. Five have been found, and seven remain. He was the only one without a lifemate at his side.
He would need to tell them he found him and why he may be the reason why all his may fail. He needed to talk to them about Zee.
When they all finished eating and went to the sitting room to have tea, Nu stood up and called for a family meeting. They all stopped. According to the prophecy, the youngest royal child, the heart of them all, called for a meeting, which he never did.
His family quickly found their seats, knowing that whatever he was going to say was important. The quietest was the deepest, the most talented, the most heartfelt. They always treated him with care.
NuNew stood and looked at the family he had never imagined existed, but they did. He loved them no matter how they came into his life.
Nu looked at Aya, Qi, Luke, Jake, Jax, Wilder, and Nate, all royal, all family. The mated pairs are so in love. Nate hasn't realized it, but Vincent, Qi's cousin, who seems to be just outside Nate's orbit all the time, like tonight, is his lifemate.
He had told Aya and Qi, and they have been trying to provide moments like tonight. NuNew had a gift to see lifemates, they are the light and bright of their family, so it made sense. He was trying to find the words to explain how he had failed the family. Failed the world.
"I found my lifemate," NuNew blurted out.
The moment's excitement had all of them standing up and rushing toward NuNew to congratulate their baby brother until they saw his face.
Aya ran to her brother and wrapped him in her arms when he started crying.
"Oh baby, no matter what has happened, it can be fixed, I promise," Aya cooed while rubbing his back.
Pulling NuNew down to the floor, she rocked him back and forth, holding him, pouring her power into him to try to soothe and comfort him.
Aya remembered when the other mothers introduced her to the tiny, beautiful NuNew. He was so gentle, so kind, and hers. A brother found. Later that night, she had another prophecy, this time about NuNew.
When the youngest Joins with his Strength to bleed
He will finally be what all the worlds need
Life to Life, heart to heart, with all his might
He will bring back the bright
To restore the light
After that, she spent as much time as possible with her little brother giving him all her love and devotion. After the rest heard the prophecy, the families, his birth, and past life family embraced him with so much love that he radiated with the light and bright.
It did not corrupt him or turn him. It was like a battery charging waiting to be unleashed, when The Dark finally appeared. He was a healer. He would heal the world.
His lifemate must be strong, faithful, steadfast, humble, and focused. She hoped that this person was all Nu would need to survive what was to come.
When NuNew began sobbing louder, the rest of the family came over to lay their hands on him, and the whole house felt warm with their love for their baby brother.
Qi said in his quiet, reassuring voice," Please tell us this is a relationship issue, not a supernatural one."
Luke and Jake held hands, and that made his heart hurt. He wanted that with Zee.
Luke saw his eyes looking at their hands, "Baby brother, who is your lifemate? Do we know him?"
Nu knew this was coming, and he would have to tell them who he was and hope for the best.
"His name is Zee Pruk Panich and...," NuNew never finished the sentence when all his siblings yelled, "WHAT?"
Jax laughed hard, "Ma is going to love that. I can't wait to call Tee and tell him. You know what? She has been in love with him for like EVER. She even told Pa that if Zee ever confessed, she would leave him for Zee. If any of us get near her Zee merch, she has threatened to take off our hand since we only need one to fight The Dark."
Nate fell to the floor, fearing Nu's Ma, and muttered, "Since I am the head of the royal guard, I am going to have to go with you to protect you from your mom."
Aya looked at Qi and raised her eyebrows at him. They knew that DMD was coming to the concert because they had the V.I.P. seating. Aya didn't know if she should warn her brother or wait to see how it played out.
She could tell her brother loved Zee; maybe they needn't mettle and let them figure it out. Just like her other brothers had to.
Zee
Everyone had just arrived at the venue where the hotel was located. This new E-Sports arena was terrific. It had shopping, restaurants, a hotel, an arena, and much more.
It was still four hours before the event, and P'Aof got a phone call five minutes after check-in and had been on it far longer than he felt comfortable.
Something may have happened at home, and he would have to travel back to take care of it. When he came in, he beckoned Zee over.
P'Aof told him that the owner of the E-Sport Arena wanted to meet him, and of course, he could not say no. He was wondering who owned this fantastic space. He should look it up.
The Shanghai Xīyáng E-Sports Center had been open for three years and was owned by the one and only Xīyáng Qi, the owner and lead team member of Game Street Gaming!
Before he could read any more, his gaming idol walked through the door. Zee was speechless. He was star-struck when Luke Lucas and Jax Legend also entered the room.
For a moment, he almost remembered something he should have, but his mind had been shut down by the star power that had just entered the room. Wai's were exchanged, and Xīyáng Qi offered a chair to Zee with a wave of his hand.
It was decided that Qi would do the talking since the other boys wanted to look over Zee. Each had their affinity to see. They needed to ensure this person was good enough for their baby brother.
"Hello Zee, I am Xīyáng Qi. I am the owner of the Shanghai Xīyáng E-Sports Center and am the majority stockholder of the franchise of Game Street Gaming.
My wife, Aya, who is getting ready and can't be with us, owns Aya's World Designs and is a partner in the International Talent Entertainment Group (ITEG). She is also one of their Artists.
Luke Lucas is the majority shareholder of International Talent Entertainment Group (ITEG). He owns 49% of Game Street Gaming, is an artist, and is a fantastic brother-in-law.
Jax Wilder owns many businesses and is a shareholder of International Talent Entertainment Group (ITEG) and one of its artists. He is also my brother-in-law.
These things can be easily found on the internet, but here is what you don't know. My wife and these men have a younger brother, and I have a brother-in-law we love very much and are very protective of. Oh, did I mention we were royal too?"
Zee looked over at the other two, who had their eyes closed. He felt weird for a few seconds then it disappeared. They opened their eyes and turned to Xīyáng Qi and nodded. Something weird is going on. He just couldn't put his finger on it.
Zee looked behind him, and a man was standing there. It scared him that he didn't hear the person come in.
"Oh, that is Nate, another brother-in-law and head of the royal guard. He is here to make sure that no one comes in and disturbs us," Luke said with a smile.
Zee looked at the men realizing this was the family P'Aof was talking about. He was sitting with royalty. When did his life go sideways? He knew it was when he met his lifemate. If he were going down the rabbit hole, he would go down swinging—all or nothing for his Nu.
Zee caught Luke and Jax giving a thumbs up to Xīyáng Qi, and he wondered whether he had read the room wrong. Intimidated and slightly scared, Zee decided that the damage had been done.
He had stolen their brother's virginity and might as well take the plunge and let the cards fall where they may.
"I am Zee Pruk Panich from Bangkok, Thailand. I am an actor in the BL industry. I am not royalty; I am just an everyday person who loves what they do for a living. I am the man in love with your brother and the man he will marry one day. I would marry him right now if he let me. I am guessing I am here because of what happened?"
Jax exhaled and looked at Zee with a severe expression that scared Zee.
"Is something wrong? Is there something wrong with Nu? Please tell me," Zee was ready to get on his knees and beg.
He could barely stand all this anymore. He just needed to hold Nu and never let him go again. He knew he messed up. He should have been with Nu when Max showed up.
It was his fault for staying up all night watching Nu sleep, only for Nu to catch him and snuggle against him, lulling him to sleep again. If he could have done things differently, he would have had those talks before they finally fell into oblivion.
He didn't want reality yet. He just wanted to savor the feeling of finding him at last. But here they were, and now he had to figure out a plan. He would have to get through these men first to get to their brother. That already seemed an insurmountable task.
All three brothers nodded in agreement, and Xīyáng Qi stood up, walked over to Zee, and patted him on the shoulder.
"Welcome to the family, new brother-in-law; now, let's figure out a way to fix what you broke."
Zee let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and smiled at them. He stood up to shake their hands; instead, they all huddled together and hugged Zee like he was their family.
"Let's catch my faen," Zee smiled at his new family.
NuNew
NuNew had no idea that his family was teaming up with Zee to set a trap. His mind had been on Zee since talking to his siblings. He felt he might go and talk to him after he calmed down a bit more.
He had his gear on under his clothes, and he was ready. He had done this performance before. It was only a matter of songs being moved around to accommodate that they had an extra person.
The one thing his sister made clear is that we would not get rid of the wire-fu. It was necessary for the show. So, when he was ready to go on stage, he took a deep breath and stepped into the light. He began singing
NuNew was always the light in this routine. The fog machines and color lights began to flash as he sang the fantastic song by Mikky Ekko's - Watch Me Rise.
It was a potent song. He would look up and reach his hands out to his siblings in a life-and-death battle with people in dark outfits. The fight would take place fifty feet in the air, and he would rise to them and sing:
Higher, higher, higher we go
Right into the fire we go
The spotlight is on him to record his ascent. Then all the lights went out in the arena except the one pointed at NuNew. Special effects would make it seems he began to combust and explode.
His siblings fall from the sky, very little light highlighting their fall until NuNew throws his hands out and pulls them back to him. The wire workers pulled with all their might to make this happen in perfect time with these hands.
Zee
Below all of DMD was watching the show incredulously. The young ones had their phones pointed at NuNew recording but forgot about their phones, stunned.
He gripped his chair arms and wondered who had dared to allow his faen to go fifty feet in the air without a safety net. Nu was beautiful, his singing masterful, but Zee felt sick that his baby put himself in danger for a show! "Did he do this all the time," he said out loud.
Tutor excited and finally got his bearings, "Yes, he does. Every concert is like a show. He goes on tour every two years and refuses to go yearly because of safety concerns. He said that he rather do a concert every two years and have no unnecessary accidents than rush."
Once his faen had placed his feet safely back on the stage, he breathed a sigh of relief. He needed to think.
When Nu and Nat were on stage doing a number and were at the edge of the stage, the moment, they were waiting to happen. All DMD stood up and put up their signs. Zee's sign said, "Zee Pruk Panich is in love with his Nu," Max's sign said he was sorry and loved Nat. It was all extraordinary until P'Aof stood between Zee and Max with a smirk and held up his sign that said <-Idiots->. The remaining DMD signs were flowers and birds they had drawn to accent the apology signs. Xīyáng Qi made sure that the big screen caught the action.
NuNew
Nu and Nat teared up and immediately did a quick turn to move to the back but kept their eyes on their respective man with hope. Neither could stop laughing and crying because the P'Aof sign was funny, but the men they loved followed them to Shanghai to declare their love. It was all so romantic and surreal.
NuNew watched Zee point at him and then wave his sign, blowing and sending kisses. Max was doing something similar, but NuNew only had eyes for Zee. Aya walked over and threw her arm around her brother.
"I see your man showed up to shower you with love bombs and make you forgive him. Why don't you go down and take your man back."
NuNew loved his sister, but the situation was not that simple. He knew if he went down there and stood in front of Zee, he would throw his arms around him, kiss him and take him back to the hotel to show him how much he loved him. He couldn't do that. They needed to talk, not make love.
"No, Sis, I will wait until the love bomb wears off. We need to have serious conversations, not sex," NuNew chewed on his bottom lip, thinking.
Aya laughed, "Why not both? They both will heal what is broken. Let's finish up, you have one last song to sing, and then you can figure out what to do then."
Zee
When NuNew went to do his final change, Aya signaled Xīyáng Qi, and he went and grabbed Zee to pull him where he would enter the stage when it was time.
"We already told Jake that he is not needed for this song, and he was fine. Don't mess this up, future brother-in-law. We don't get many chances like this," Xīyáng Qi ran back to his place to avoid suspicion.
Nu came out on the other side of the stage and began the last song, "Like I am Gonna Lose You," by Meghan Trainor.
He could see that Nu was looking for him while singing, but he did not move until it was his time to sing. When it was his turn, he walked onto the stage. Nu was expecting Jake, but Zee was Nu's, and he got all of him, no matter what. He loved this boy and would go all out, whatever it took.
Nu whipped around and saw him coming towards him. He made his way to Nu. When he was in front of him and touched his face. He leaned mere inches from his lips and sang:
So I'll kiss you longer, baby
Any chance that I get
I'll make the most of the minutes.
And love with no regrets.
Ever the professional his baby was, he sang his part perfectly while still staring at his lips and letting Zee lead his dancing. They stood in the middle of the stage, the song over, staring into the eyes of each other, tears in Nu's eyes, and the ship of ZeexNuNew was born.
When the thundering applause finally penetrated their bubble, they both turned and saw everyone going wild. The DMD family was up on their feet, clapping wildly. He saw that Max had his boy in his arms, hugging and hopefully making up.
Zee and Nu turned and saw the family behind them, and they ran to both and enveloped them in a hug.
Aya whispered to them, "Be Happy. We have so little time left."
Notes:
My new novels are colliding before I wanted them to, but I am ok with that too. I hope you enjoy the twists, turns, and revelations this chapter has given. I will return to releasing on Fridays unless we have another issue that requires my attention, and a second weekly chapter is needed. As the storyline gets more complicated, I am going to get more chapters of Amor Fati out so that you can read to see exactly what Nu is to this royal family. Please be patient. I will be starting exits on the next chapter of Amor Fati tonight. I hope to have it out soon.