"Oh, there you are," Kim greets Porchay when he enters Kim's room at the compound. Kim has been busy the last few days, going over the floor plans and receipts of his father's house with Chan and then reporting back to Kinn. While Kinn had been busy with some messes in the company's legal department regarding the new reward system for their hotels, Porsche had taken to running with Porchay and working out with him in the gym, thus limiting the time Kim had to teach Porchay. They'd had a defence lesson, usually in the morning, but today Porchay was here for something else.
"You said two. It is two," Porchay shrugs, not hiding his curiosity as he looks around Kim's rooms, which he hasn't been to yet. In the living room, Kim sits at his desk in front of his laptop. To the right of him is the kitchen, and to the left is the bedroom, from which you can access the en-suite bathroom. For him, Kinn and Khun, it's the general layout of all their apartments in the complex.
"Tell me what you see," Kim requests.
"Huh?"
"I see you looking around my room. I want to know what you are seeing and what you're deducing from it. Think of it as an exercise."
"With you, everything is," Porchay grumbles, but begins to walk around the room. "It's clean, very tidy, so either you're obsessed with cleaning or you're hardly in here. No decorations except what some interior decorator must have put up, no posters, no family picture, not even a picture of you like the one in your apartment. You said it was your childhood room, but there's no sign of it, no stuffed animals, no toys. That guitar over there isn't one you usually play, so either it's new or it's just always been here. The only place that's messy is your desk, which means you've spent most of your time on it while you've been here."
"Not bad," Kim nods in agreement.
"What did I miss?" Porchay asks curiously, tugging at the shirt he is wearing. Kim doesn't need to get any closer to know it's Valentino. The design and the fact that it's silk give it away, and Kim thinks he has to thank Khun for the addition to Porchay's wardrobe. It may be the first time he's seen him in anything other than T-shirts, shorts and tracksuit bottoms. To be fair, they usually meet at the gym.
"Not much. Just this," Kim replies, picking up some papers spread out on the table to his right and showing Porchay the gun hidden underneath.
"Damn," Porchay curses, losing the game of "Where's the gun" once again. He's lost every time Kim has asked him to tell him what he sees.
"You'll learn." Kim puts the gun back under the pile of papers and stands up. "But today I'm going to teach you something else: how to spot bugs and cameras." Kim walks over so he's standing next to Porchay. It's then that he smells the faint scent of cologne, shampoo and something else. Something he remembers from when they used to hug or cuddle. Kim has never found out what it is, a lotion or just Chay, but it is a distraction.
"P'Kim?!" Porchay pulls him out of his embarrassing sniffing of the air like a bloodhound.
"Ah, yes," he stutters. He tries to shake himself out of it by moving away from Porchay. During training, he has to stay focused so he doesn't get hurt again. But as soon as the two of them are anywhere near each other without a task, Kim finds it harder and harder not to lose himself in the moment and just enjoy breathing the same air and sharing the same space with the one he likes so much it should be illegal. And it's only been a week...
"What do you know about bugs or cameras that can be hidden?" Kim brings his mind back to the task at hand.
"I've seen James Bond and a few spy movies, but that's about it. Unlike you, Khun Kim, I used to play with Lego, building blocks and stuffed animals." Porchay still has his moments when he gets snippy, but Kim is used to it by now and just ignores the tone of voice.
"Kim or P'Kim is enough. No need to be formal," he says. He hasn't officially given Porchay the OK to drop the 'Khun' in front of his name, as he outranks him. But now he has.
"I also liked Lego. I was obsessed with the SpongeBob and Avatar sets they had. I either ran around dressed in yellow from head to toe or wanted to wear trousers like Aang."
Porchay giggles. "I can't see that here."
"Neither could my father. He fired my nanny when I shaved my head with one of Khun's razors to look like Aang. Then he banned all Legos and toys from the compound, saying I was too old for them anyway."
"How old were you?"
"About five or six? I'd just started school. I remember because I had to wear a hat for the class picture." Kim tells Porchay, leaving out the part where his father also beat him with a stick and he couldn't sit properly for a week. It wasn't the worst beating he ever got from him, so it doesn't really matter.
"But back to the bugs and hidden cameras. Where would you put them if I gave you some to plant in here?"
"In the movies they are always in lamps or smoke detectors."
"Yes, true. Why?"
"I don't know. Because it's easy to get them in there?" Porchay speculates.
"That's also true, but it's really about the power supply. Depending on the type of device, it needs to be connected to a power source, and both lamps and smoke alarms have them. They're also both infrequently moved, so it's harder to detect the bugs in them, and you don't necessarily look at them like you do with a TV," Kim tells Porchay. Kim tells Porchay. "There are also some that come with a battery, but they don't last very long and the transmission can be a mess because of the low power going through them. If you're in a rural area or somewhere with fortified walls, the low-power ones probably won't get a signal.
"Is it normal to use bugs in the mafia?"
"Not normal, but it happens. My father loved them, though."
"Is that why people used to come into my room every few days with strange machines?"
"Your brother had your room swept, yes. And he was right, because when my father was alive, no conversation was safe in here. He went one step further and had software installed on all the phones that recorded every call and text message. It's easy to manipulate people and pretend to be wise as a god when you're just spying on everyone.
Kim walks over to the cupboard where he has already prepared things for today's lesson. "These are audio scramblers or jammers, you may have seen them if you have ever been in a meeting. Since my father knew how to spy on everyone, he was particularly paranoid about being spied on himself and had them installed in the meeting rooms. Even so, these remote ones were always used just to be on the safe side, which he must have hated because it was the only time he couldn't listen in." Kim hands Porchay one of the small devices. "Once you activate it, all anyone gets on a microphone is white noise. Just press this button, put it close to whoever's talking and you're good to go."
Porchay turns the device over with a pensive look on his face. "Did you... did you bug my house... back then?" He asks without taking his eyes off the device.
"No. It wasn't necessary. I knew you weren't involved in any evil plans since our first conversation in the studio when you told me about your brother. I knew you were telling the truth."
"How? Did you hook me up to a lie detector?" Porchay is angry again, and Kim prefers that to the sad and dejected look of before.
"Lie detectors are easy to fool. I'll never understand why some law enforcement agencies still insist on using them. But no, you were just being truthful, I could tell by the way you talked about your brother."
Kim thinks back to that moment and Porchay's happy smile. He'd been so excited to tell his idol about his other idol, his older brother. Oh, how they both let Porchay down. "I'm good at lies. Both telling them and discovering them," Kim adds, because it's true.
Porchay just huffs because he knows it is the truth.
"However, jammers don't work against cameras, so it's important to know how to find bugs and cameras on your own, even without equipment such as RF detectors. These devices detect the radio frequencies used by bugs and cameras to transmit, but they can be confused if there are other transmitters nearby".
"Ok," Porchay nods his head, confirming that he's still listening as Kim pauses.
"Apart from the power supply, what you also need to look out for are electrical wires that don't seem to go anywhere or start anywhere. Look for decorations that seem out of place. If you're not sure but suspect something, take a picture of the room when you leave and check that everything is in the same place when you get back. Although I have to say that most people aren't that sloppy and use the same method to make sure everything is in the same place when they leave".
"You mafia people are really creepy," Porchay actually shudders when he hears all this.
"Hey, the police use the same tactics!" Kim defends his gangster honour. "For cameras, you look by turning off all the lights and holding up a flash light or the light from your mobile phone. If something reflects the light where there shouldn't be a reflection, you're looking at a camera lens. You can check two-way mirrors in the same way. Hold the light up to it. If you see another room where there should only be a mirror, you know what's going on.
"And when a red laser light hits me, I duck?" Porchay sasses. Kim has discovered that this is what he does when he is overwhelmed. Either he gets angry and lashes out, or he gets cheeky and lashes out.
"How about seeing what you can find in here? I've put back the bugs and cameras that were here when I came a week ago. Try and find them."
"Kinn bugged your room?" Porchay's eyes almost fall out of his head, they are so big.
"No, that was still my father. I haven't been in this room for years. At least not for anything other than a quick change of clothes when we had a family event I had to be at." Kim is tired of talking about his deranged dead father. "So, off you go. Keep the criteria in mind and let me know if you find anything." Kim puts the jammer back in the drawer and sits down at his desk, but Porchay still stares at him.
"You want me to search your room?"
"Yes,"
"But it's... your room."
"Yes. So?"
"You live here."
"Not really." Kim has no idea what Porchay's problem is.
"It's private! What if I find something strange, like... your underwear?"
Porchay's panic makes Kim smile. He is so cute that Kim wants to squeeze him and never let go. "My underwear, as far as I know, doesn't meet any of the criteria I just mentioned: no power supply, no decoration, not static. But hey, the idea is good. If you manage to develop a bug that goes undetected in underwear, you've hit the jackpot." Kim keeps smiling at Porchay, who turns several shades of red before pouting.
"Don't tease me." With that, he wanders off to look for the bugs and cameras that Kim has hidden for him in his own room. Kim finds it hard to get back to his laptop when all he wants to do is watch Porchay putter around his room.
It only takes Porchay about twenty minutes to find everything Kim has hidden, and Kim is actually impressed.
"Good job!" He praises him as Porchay hands him the bugs and cameras.
"How long did it take you to find them?" Porchay asks knowingly.
"I don't know," he shrugs. "Probably a couple of minutes." Probably less, but he doesn't say. "If you find some in a real setting, though, you might not want to take them out right away."
"Why? Can they explode or something?"
"Most people who want to spy on you have no immediate inclination to blow you up, but it's possible," Kim answers after thinking about the question. "It's just that sometimes it's better to leave them in and use your knowledge to influence the other party or find them. Once the signal is cut, it's hard to track them, especially since they know you know."
"Okay. Now what?" Porchay wants to know and shifts from one foot to the other, reminding Kim that Porchay isn't here because he wants to be in his presence or because they're anything like friends. Porchay is here because he thinks he has to be here, he's being forced to be here, and so he wants to leave as soon as possible. It's a reminder of reality that Kim needs to shake off his jovial mood and concentrate on Porchay's training.
"There's one more thing I wanted to go over with you today. It's about the security rooms in the compound and the different code words and threat levels." Kim leans back in his chair as Porchay's perfume teases him again, clouding his senses, his judgement and his ability to concentrate."Has Porsche talked to you about any of this?" Kim wants to make sure he's not boring Porchay, although he doubts that Porsche has said anything to his little brother for fear of tarnishing him with the mafia life.
"No. I didn't even know such a thing really existed."
Kim motions for Porchay to sit down, then opens a general floor plan of the compound on his computer, turning the monitor so that Porchay can see. "There are security rooms on all three upper floors, Kinn's, yours, Khun's and mine. Usually they're called panic rooms, but we don't have any of those phone booths around here. We have whole rooms and apartments that can be locked from the inside so they can't be accessed from the outside. Khun's whole apartment can be locked in a matter of seconds. In your case and mine, it's just the bedroom with the ensuite. That's why they always put food, snacks, drinks and all kinds of medical supplies in your wardrobe.
"And I thought they just knew I liked snacks," Porchay mumbles endearingly.
"Sorry to disappoint you," Kim smiles at him. "If anything ever happens, like an attack on the compound or whatever, you can activate the panic room mode from your bedroom by punching a code into your AC control panel. The doors will be secured, the room will be cut off from the central air conditioning system, the windows will be closed and an alarm will be sent to the head bodyguard and all the family members. If one of the panic codes is activated, the compound will automatically go into lockdown, which is why you don't want to 'try' or use it, so we'll all leave you alone. Lockdown is the highest form of security here. No one in, no one out. All forces will arm themselves and sweep the compound looking for the threat. If a threat is spotted, it's annihilated, no questions asked. The last time the compound was locked down was years ago. There are drills at least once a year, so you'll be run through the protocols at some point."
"What about the attempted takeover? Why wasn't the compound on lockdown then?"
"Because we somehow knew it was coming and it was only a matter of time. A lockdown would only have delayed it. Besides, my father wanted the fight to happen, so he didn't activate it. Chan was sent out to talk to my uncle, he was shot and then they tried to shoot their way through the compound and kill Kinn, possibly Khun if they got him. They had no interest in finding me, and I haven't asked Vegas what their master plan was for me. But I wasn't here anyway."
"Where were you?" Porchay interrupts him. Kim looks at him and feels the truth on the tip of his tongue. It would be so easy to tell Porchay where he was that day and what he was doing. He meets Porchay's eyes, wide and waiting for an answer. It looks a little like trust, and Kim knows he can't tell him. Right now, Porchay trusts him enough to let him teach him, to train him, to keep him safe. If he opens the can of worms about what he did that night, how he killed for Porchay, they are back to square one; Kim's lies, his betrayal and his feelings.
"I had something else to do," Kim says, breaking the intense eye contact. For a second he thinks Porchay looks disappointed, but when he looks at him to check, he can only find a neutral expression, waiting for the next things he needs to know.
"I'll talk to Kinn and see when the next lock-down training is scheduled, maybe we can include it into your training. The passcode to activate your security mode can only be generated and given to you by the head of security, which is Arm. I've spoken to him and he'll give you your code tonight. Arm will tell you, I'm sure, but..: Don't copy it, don't photograph it, don't write it down anywhere. Memorise it and burn the paper. Because it's not just for activation, it's also for deactivation. In the wrong hands, the code will render this security measure useless. Got it?"
"Got it," Porchay nods, his fluffy hair bouncing cutely on his head.
"There are three levels of threat assessment: Green, Orange and Red."
"Okay, even I understand that."
Kim rolls his eyes. "There are code words to indicate a possible security threat, to let someone know you're in danger, and to advise raising an alarm."
"Why? Why not just say 'this guy wants to kill you'?"
"Say Kinn is in a meeting. I come in with some information that he doesn't know yet, which indicates that the guy he's meeting with is going to try and shoot him later. If I say that, he'll shoot immediately. If I use the phrase, Kinn and his guards will know, but the other guy won't. He'll be caught before he can even reach for his weapon."
"So what are the super secret code words?" Porchay says with a straight face, but then starts to giggle. "I'm sorry, but this is all so ridiculous. I feel like I just woke up in an over-the-top spy film."
"Glad you find it funny now." Kim raises both eyebrows. "You won't when you get shot at for not using those words."
"Still funny," Porchay continues to giggle after trying and failing to keep a straight face, and Kim understands that Porchay has reached the limit of what he can process for the day.
"Ok, we're done for today. I'll give you the code words another time and go over the list with you. For now, memorise the code for the security in your room. Listen to Arm tonight and I'll see you at the gym tomorrow, okay?"
"Ok," Porchay nods and stands up slowly. He lingers by his chair for a moment, looking at Kim, then turns and walks away. Kim gets the impression that Porchay had something to say or ask, but in the end he remains silent again, reminding Kim that he may never see the happy chatterbox that was Porchay again.
As the door closes behind Porchay, Kim closes his laptop and gets up to change. He has a meeting with Kinn later, and having Porchay around makes him nervous. He needs to get rid of this strange energy under his skin, so he'll go to the gym and work out until he's exhausted enough to meet his brother and not lose his cool too quickly.
Kim is late for the meeting with his brother, but he has texted him that he needs a shower after training. He lost himself in the kicks and punches, tiring himself out and after two hours he reached a state where his mind was blank and all he thought about was the punching bag in front of him, which was nice.
Kim's mind has been busy all the time since Chan visited him almost two weeks ago and while being heartbroken was exhausting, being heartbroken and constantly around the person you love but can't be with is worse. Especially as Kim is now constantly worried that Porchay is still unable to defend himself properly if something happens. It's a good thing he didn't know how unprotected Porchay was before he took over, otherwise he wouldn't have slept for months.
Kinn texted him to take his time and meet him in his private office. When he knocks and enters, Kinn is waiting for him in the sitting area, coffee and fruit on the table.
"I thought you might be hungry and tired from the gym. You've been at it for hours," Kinn knows, probably informed by his guards where Kim is and what he's doing. At least he doesn't hide that he knows.
"Had to work off some frustration," Kim nods and sits down. He picks up one of the large glasses of coffee and sips, moaning in surprise. "What's this?"
"Good, eh? It's called Sparkling Coffee Orange. Porsche found it because he usually sucks at making coffee, but he's amazing at making cocktails. So he found this recipe and I liked it," Kinn shrugs with a happy, shy smile that clearly shows how much he loves his boyfriend. Kinn always looks softer when he's around Porsche, even when he's talking or thinking about him. Kim hopes that Kinn has this under control in front of people who aren't family or friends.
"Mmh," he nods and takes another sip, letting his eyes wander around the room. It's not the usual security check he does whenever he enters a room, this is to pick up on things that have nothing to do with security and everything to do with his brother and who he is as a person.
There's an espresso machine in the room and lots of booze, no surprise there. Glasses are sitting on top of papers on the desk, so maybe Kinn still doesn't like his glasses, but apparently he needs them again. Kim knows his brother had Lasik surgery a few years ago because Khun had sent him picture after picture of Kinn looking like a pirate, but it doesn't seem to be working any more. There's a framed picture on the desk, a picture of both Kinn and Porsche. A blanket hangs from the arm of the sofa Kinn is sitting on, so he must either take a nap or fall asleep on it from time to time. A picture of Kinn, Khun and himself hangs on the wall behind the desk. And on the wall to their right is the only other picture, a painting of the library in his father's house, where Nampheung is currently imprisoned.
"Why did you have a painting done of this room?" Kim asks, nodding towards the black and white painting.
"I didn't," Kinn shakes his head and walks over to the painting with him. "Namphueng painted this and gave it to Porsche a month or two ago. We didn't know where to put it, so we put it in here. I don't really want a painting of this room in the bedroom.
"It's actually a great painting, just the motif is off-putting," Kim muses.
"If you want it, I'm sure I can persuade Porsche to let you have it," Kinn replies. Kim takes another look at the painting, shakes his head and returns to the sofa and his drink.
"Have you spoken to him about the house?" That's why he's here, after all.
"I did. At first he was completely against his mother leaving the rooms, because the therapists are so against it. Every time they tried to get her to go out into the hallway or even the balcony, she panicked." That's news to Kim.
"Do you think she's really been in there for 16 years?"
"It looks like it. There's a bathroom on the right when you come in and then there's a hallway opposite the balcony with a staircase leading up to the attic. There's a whole apartment up there, full of paintings, a bedroom and a kitchen. She even has two pet fish."
"It may not be a cell, but it's still a prison," Kim feels the need to point out.
"I know. Porsche is relieved that I have finally come to this conclusion. So relieved that he might write you a love letter or kiss you the next time he sees you. He said, 'Your brother is amazing for finally letting you see your father for who he was."
"The last time we spoke he called me 'a massive idiot', I think it was. And a big fat no to the kissing."
"And he might do it again, but he's still impressed. It's not easy to change my mind about something or someone. But now I feel like someone has opened my eyes."
"And the light hurts?"
"It is," Kinn admits, nodding and taking a sip of his drink, "I knew he was difficult and not easy, but I believed he loved us and always wanted what was best for his sons. Now I question everything he ever told me or taught me."
"He always wanted the best for the organisation. If it helps, you can continue to believe what he taught you about that."
"Not really."
Kim mirrors the pained smile Kinn gives him, and for a moment they just sip their drinks, lost in thought.
"So, Porsche? What's the plan, apart from confessing his undying love for me?" Kim breaks the silence.
"We think we should start from the ground floor up. The technical crew should sweep the floor first. That will give Porsche time to prepare his mother for moving out, even if it's only temporarily. Porsche is having quarters prepared here and on the minor family's compound, and he is also working with the doctors to have rooms ready in the medical facility downstairs in case she needs to be sedated to make it out. I know that you, Arm and Chan are going over the layout of the house and comparing it with the receipts for reconstruction and security measures. How's that going?"
"Slowly and painstakingly. We literally have to trace every wire that was ever bought, so that when we go in we can cross-reference and see which wires and devices didn't show up anywhere. You know that could take months, right? Unless we strike gold and find Pa's books and plans.
"Porsche is convinced we'll be done in a week or two."
"Idiot, I knew it," Kim rolls his eyes.
"Yes, a bit over-excited. He's been wanting to get his mum out for months and he's impatient for it to happen. I think he thinks that once she's out she'll miraculously get better."
"I really don't think she's as damaged as the doctors think. I know you don't believe me, but she nodded when I asked for her help."
"I guess time will tell how aware she is of her surroundings. Every time I've seen her, she stares blankly ahead, not reacting to anything, just painting one picture after another."
"More libraries?"
"Mostly birds."
"Birds?" Kim repeats. That's unusual.
"Apparently she's always loved birds. As a child she called Porsche 'her phoenix' and Chay 'her tweety bird'. She also painted a phoenix that Porsche has tattooed on his shoulder. It was his nickname in the underground fighting he did to earn money and pay off his uncle's debts before he came to work here."
Kim is a little surprised that his brother would tell him these things, but also that Kinn would be so intimate with someone that they would tell him stories from their childhood. Kim never told him anything about his childhood that Kinn hadn't experienced himself, and that wasn't much.
"You mean until he was forced to work here."
"You know what I mean," Kinn groans and Kim laughs. Teasing his brother is really fun. "How long do you think it will take until we can go in?"
"If we start on the ground floor, about two or three weeks? That's a lot of stuff to go through, even with Chan's help." Kim answers after calculating the piles of files and data they haven't even touched yet.
Kinn suddenly looks curious and open as he leans back in his seat and pulls his leg up so that his ankle rests against the thigh of his other leg.
"I didn't know you and Chan were so close."
"We're not close... Per se," Kim begins, wondering how much he should tell his brother. "Before he became Pa's right-hand man, he was the one who had to babysit me most of the time. He didn't agree with Pa's ideas about disciplining a child and he kept a lot of things from him so he wouldn't beat me."
"Pa beat you?" Kinn looks stunned.
"He didn't spank you?"
"No, never. He never raised a hand against Khun either."
"Well, I must have been a particularly horrible child," Kim shrugs, locking away his true feelings about this painful newly discovered fact somewhere in his chest. "Although he always said I looked too much like Ma, so maybe that had something to do with it."
"Pa loved her a lot."
"Pa had her killed. I just know it. I was there, I saw it. I found out later, when I was a bit older, that it was an inside job."
"I don't..." Kinn starts, then stops, and Kim is grateful. "You do look like her, though. At least from what I remember. I always hated that Pa took all the pictures of her. Sometimes I'm afraid that one day I'll forget what she looked like, just like I've forgotten what she smelled like or what her voice sounded like." Kinn still sits in the same way, but his shoulders are now slumped and his eyes are sad instead of teasing. "If we find any pictures or paintings of her in his house, I want them to be put back where they belong."
"I stole one. One of the photographs. When he took it from my room he put it in his desk drawer and I knew how to get in there. Of course he found out and tried to find out where I'd hidden it, but I didn't tell him. When he came to question me again the next day, Chan pretended I was sick with a fever and had me admitted to hospital. When I got home, my cat, Mr Doodles, was lying dead in my room, but he still hadn't found the photo." Kim tells the story with some pride, having won that round against his father, but when he meets Kinn's eyes he looks horrified.
"How old were you?" Kinn asks tonelessly.
"He took the photos a year or two after Ma was killed, so five, almost six?"
"And you still have the photo?"
"I have enough copies of that photo to cover every wall in this compound," Kim tells him. "He took the original from me again years later, but he must have known by then that I had copies." Kim grins. "I'll give you one tomorrow."
"Thanks," Kinn says, still looking shaken by what Kim has told him.
Suddenly the door flies open behind them, making them both jump as it hits the wall. "What the hell is going on here? A brother hang-out and I am not invited?" Tankhun marches in, dressed in pink pyjamas, green crocodile slippers and holding what looks like a stuffed animal in the shape of a Quokka.
"We're just talking, Khun," Kinn tells him gently as he stands there staring at them, pouting.
"Without me," Khun stomps his foot.
"Come sit down, I'll make you a sparkling coffee orange too," Kinn pats the empty seat next to him on the sofa.
"I can't drink coffee at night. You'd know if you talked to me once in a while," Khun whines.
"Khun! Sit with us or you'll miss the rest of our conversation," Kim tells him and finally Khun sluggishly walks over and sits down between them, next to Kinn.
"What are we talking about?" He wants to know, hugging his cuddly toy to his chest.
"The good old days and me stealing things," Kim replies with a grin.
"You were always a little thief. Sneaky and nosy like no other."
"I learned from the best."
"Right you are! I taught you everything!" Khun claims, puffing out his chest in pride, making his brothers chuckle. "Kinn, where is my drink? I want what he has!" He asks out of the blue.
"You said you didn't want..." Kinn realises that there is no point in arguing with Tankhun, so he just stands up and makes him the same coffee drink they have. Tankhun coos at his stuffed animal while Kim watches the madness in silence.
"This is nice. Us brothers together again, having a drink and cuddling on the couch," Tankhun says dreamily as he sips his drink, trying to hide his grimace, because everyone knows Khun hates coffee. "Kim, I said cuddling on the couch! Why are you still over there?!"
Kim sighs and gets up to join his brothers on the sofa, knowing protest is only going to end in a pointless discussion. "Happy?"
"Very," Tankhun nods and Kinn and Kim exchange glances over the backrest. "Kinn, how come I've never been here before?"
"I usually just work here," Kinn replies.
"So? As your older and favourite brother, shouldn't I know what your office looks like? It's horrible! The decor is horrible!" Tankhun shouts and stands up, causing his two brothers to almost bump into each other as he leaves his seat between them. "This sofa hurts my eyes, the desk is too brown, the plants need water.... And why do you have this painting here?" Tankhun points to the painting he and Kim were talking about earlier.
"It's a gift from Namphueng to Porsche. She painted it," Kinn repeats.
"Oh, it's beautiful," Tankhun suddenly changes his tune and Kim and Kinn stand up, exchanging eye rolls. "It's Pa's library, I recognise it from years ago," Khun knows, then wrinkles his forehead and reaches for the painting.
"Khun, don't touch it! Porsche will shoot you if you destroy the painting. It's the first present he's got from his mother since he found her again." Kinn tries to catch Khun's hand, but their older brother is quicker and runs his fingers over the painting. "What are you doing?!" Kinn cries, worried about the painting.
"How strange," Tankhun comments as he continues to stare at the painting.
Kim feels in his gut that Tankhun has just found something important.
"What?" He asks him.
"There's..." he stops. "Don't you remember anything? Ma always said that art should be explored with all the senses. And even though I don't want to lick this painting, it's strange that it feels like a relief when you run your fingers over it."
Before Kinn can react, Kim has his fingers on the painting. "It's the books on the shelves... some statutes, one of the ladders..." Kim reports as he touches the painting. In his mind's eye, he can see the spots that light up in red on the painting.
"If the artist could speak, we could ask about her intentions," Tankhun nods.
"Kinn... this is it! This is what we need!" Kim vibrates with excitement.
"Kim, please don't talk in riddles."
"I've asked her to help, and she's already handed over the key to the Porsche. I'm sure this is Namphueng's way of letting us know where in the room Pa's traps are".
His two older brothers just stare at him like he's lost it, but Kim knows he is right.
TBC