(Hiiii🥺💗 here another chapter, I hope that you are feeling good, love you💗)
The carriage was driving them out of the city, out of who was behind them, rolling far away to wish to escape from their hands. They saw roads, a lot of roads, forests, and in the middle of one, stood strongly a huge house. A gorgeous old house, the one making the walkers dream about some royal or important families living in it. The man leading them outside of their sight was silent. Kinn was silent, thinking hard, frowning his eyebrows, it was seen that the boy had a lot of questions for Kim. Kim who was silent too, still in a defensive attitude. His mouth was closed, his lips mostly glued together in a thin and menacing line. His eyes weren't moving but his pupils were wandering around, keeping an eye on everything he could. He looked like being in the middle of a hunt. He didn't say anything since Kinn told them to go inside, since he explained that they would meet another unknown person. It was bringing anxiety to Kim. Another human situation he didn't like. He trusted Yok easily or even Clea, they were adults but Porchay put his faith in them, and Kim followed his emotions. He thought that if the boy could believe in them, he wouldn't be this worried. But here, Porchay didn't know more than himself and it was messing with his brain.
Porchay was observing them, them in their thoughts, them thinking or just looking around and he found that familiarity of prudence in their body language. He had an intriguing impression, seeing them sit close to each other, but he couldn't put words on this, nothing could make any sense. And Star sleeping on his laps was a distraction he liked to focus on. He was often caressing the tiny cat who could stretch suddenly under this touch and it was amusing Porchay. He was staying in that cute space of this carriage, too tired to even think about the rest.
"Ken, you can stay here and take one of the free domestic rooms. Thank you for your work." Kinn said towards him who nodded in respect.
"Who told you that you could give away my place like this?" A voice made their head turn towards the entry, after some pretty white stairs. The man was leaning against his door, in a feeling superior position which didn't last long.
"Follow me." Kinn said to Kim and Porchay, before adding. "You would have told him the same. I am saving you time."
"You clever clown." Tankhun said, welcoming Kinn with a long hug. "What do we have here? You don't tell me that you come and you even have people with you?" He furrowed an eyebrow.
"Phi, this is Kim and Porchay. They are under my protection now, not our father's, and I think that this story might interest you."
—-
However, Tankhun was more interesting about Star than about their story. He was playing with him on the big sofa when Kinn sighed enough for him to listen. "Okay, okay, tell me." He said, turning towards them, sat on the other side. He felt that he wanted to run away. In the end, something was off, something was messing with his emotions and the aggressive energy from Kim was a huge explanation.
—-
"So, you're telling me that Dad locked up someone in a house we didn't even know we had, for what? We don't even know why, right?" He asked, a little perplexed about what he heard.
"From- from what I know..." Porchay quietly said, not sure that he could talk but Tankhun's attention gave him confidence. "P'Kim was learning how to kill and how to, how to..."
"Be a perfect weapon! That sounds like him now..." Tankhun completed the sentence. "It doesn't explain why we are here?"
"Dad knows that Kim escaped. I still don't know what he wants from them, I also...also beginning what you always asked him to do..."
"What? Will you finally put an end to the illegal business?" Tankhun asked loudly, bouncing on the sofa.
"I am trying...but this is even weirder than anything I ever heard...I can't just let dad do whatever he wants with them."
"It's your first step to finally emancipate from him right? You took it like this?"
"I kinda do...and we need you for hiding. You know how Dad thinks that we hate each other. He wouldn't come here."
"I hope. I don't want to see his stupid face! Okay!" He screamed standing up and surprising Star who jumped from his sleeping mood. "I am going to give you rooms, you rest a little and we think of what to do after, right?" Tankhun smiled from all of his teeth with a really strong older brother aura that made Porchay's heart sink a little more. He missed Porsche. He missed him so much.
—-
"You will use...one room?" Tankhun asked them when Porchay walked into one and Kim with Star just followed.
"Yes...Thank you so much for this." Porchay smiled brightly, sending little rays of sunshine at Tankhun who played with it, acting as if it was blinding him before smiling and closing the door.
"So...you will tell me what you already thought about?" Kinn asked Tankhun while walking in the corridors.
"You will find your room for now little bro but." He said, turning around with a mischievous smile. "I know exactly who to contact to understand what happened."
—----
Porchay observed Kim who just stayed up. He was looking at the room, a pale green color and a light blue for the sheets. It gave a fresh atmosphere but Kim didn't seem to feel it in him. Porchay let Star on the ground, giggling softly when the cat just rolled on his back, meowing, he should have been hungry.
"I am going to ask for something for him." Porchay stated, reaching the kitchen and wondering why was Kim this calm, why was he this silent? He let him a small amount of time alone, hoping that he would be more open when he would be back. But it never happened, Star was eating greedily, Kim was still standing.
"P'Kim?" He asked, walking in front of him, the boy's gaze finally turning towards something else than the void. "Are you okay?"
Another weird question. Was he okay? Whatever can be this okay, what did it mean? Was Porchay asking about what he felt, then he wasn't really sure. Or was it about what he thought about that situation? What was this? He was too exhausted to just think about anything. Kim just moved his shoulders up, trying to say that he didn't know, his voice still stuck. Stuck, what did he even want to say? It felt as if he didn't talk for so long that he lost the key to his voice.
"I see...but I am glad we are here. I was worried about you..." Porchay smiled softly.
And Kim knew. Suddenly he knew that he also had missed him, he had missed the only person he could feel comfortable with for now. He was for now always in need of an example to help him translate his desperate whines in meaningful words. He needed this support, even if it was just temporary. He needed this and with Sophia, he missed Sophia too, he had this freedom of living. She had the innocence he didn't have anymore but she had more knowledge on the world than him and they were exchanging in a really interesting way. Then, he was alone and his thoughts were struggling, now he was with other people he didn't know and he felt like not having the same safe space to be able to express himself. Kinn was also menacing, Tankhun was less but he talked a lot, rapidly, and it was hard for his brain to follow. It was going too fast, shaking him too much, but now alone iin that room with Porchay, he could get a grip on himself, just a little more.
"I..." His voice was raspy. "I...missed you..." He ended saying, Porchay had the key, he had the key for his voice.
"Can I...hug you?" Porchay asked, opening his arms.
Kim's eyes shined a little. Was it like how Star was getting attention? Could he ask for it too? "You can..."
Porchay's face was sweet. He was breathing joy towards Kim. He was relieved from everything finally. He came closer and let his arms embrace Kim's waist, his head resting against the boy's chest. He could hear his heart beating and he was sighing calmly. They were safe, for now. Kim hesitated a lot, he didn't know what to do but naturally, because kindness could be a natural reflex, he mirrored Porchay and hugged him back. The pressure of their bodies together was a feeling Kim had forgotten and he was so eager to just never be able to erase it from his mind. It was soothing, it was empowering his existence and it never had felt this quiet in his mind than now.
"Come here." Porchay said, making them sit on the bed. "Were you okay there alone?"
"I..." Kim said, trying to talk but it was still hard. "I don't really know how to...express...I don't know...know...I feel but like..."
"It's okay. There is no problem...we all express ourselves differently."
"It's normal?"
"It is. You might want to talk more, or you might not...the importance is you being able to talk when needed."
"I...see...I know that I missed you. I know this. I missed you I-"
Porchay stopped his talk by caressing his hair. "Me too, me too."
"That's...that's like Star...I like it..."
"Like Star? What do you mean?" Porchay giggled, Star looking at them after hearing his name.
"Like...you...do this..." Kim said while caressing Porchay's hair to explain his words.
"P'Kim!" Porchay screamed, laughing a little. "You're not a cat!" He emphasized on the last words.
"What...do you mean?" Kim asked, bringing his hand down, Porchay took it in his own, squeezing it.
"Remember. We have the same hands. We are humans. I am not...seeing that we are superior to Star, or that we are more important...but you can't let other humans treat you like a cat...you can't let people thinks that they are superior to you...cats and humans are equals in the respect they deserve but we are still taking care of them...I am just not taking care of you like this... we are living together, at the same level..." Porchay tried to explain, himself struggling.
"So...like...wait..."
"P'Kim, you aren't under my protection...we are protecting each other. That's the difference. I don't think that we will ever see Star start a fight against our enemy." He laughed imagining the scene. "But he is still our happiness and important..."
Kim nodded, trying to get the idea, letting the words find their home in his world pictured by new words. How easy it was for him when Porchay was around to just like being in the outside world. "I don't know what will happen now...but we better rest for now." Porchay smiled, falling on the bed. Kim took his place too, Star came to them beginning his sweet purring and they felt as if everything was back as it should be.
Porchay opened his eyes, his body stretching happily. Star yawned, walking on him and reaching his face, letting cat's kisses on his cheeks. The boy caressed him, hugging him tightly. He looked at Kim and his fondly expression came back. Kim had snuggled against him in the night, his body curled up on himself, his face peaceful. Porchay thought that his sleeping expression was the most endearing. He looked like any other human, any other man. His hair falling on his cheeks and his chest raising and going down. It was really satisfying to see for Porchay. He hadn't failed Kim, he didn't fail him like he did to Porsche. And he wouldn't.
Porchay stood up and walked downstairs, Star following him the moment before he could close the door.
"Good morning!" He greeted Kinn who was in the kitchen.
"Morning, did you rest enough?"
"Yes, thank you, and you?"
"I did." Kinn said, eating an apple. "Oh, hello." He said to Star who came to sniff him. "Is Kim sleeping?"
"He is." Porchay said, not doing anything.
"You can just get what you want." Kinn smiled.
"Thank you!" Porchay mostly jumped. He was often worried about getting what he needed in someone's house. He didn't know how to not feel like robbing when it didn't come from his own money. Even after Kinn gave him the permission, he was feeling awkward. His life giving him the hardest time to do the most natural things for a human : eating.
"Porchay...I wondered how are you doing with him?"
"What do you mean Phi?"
"Kim...he kinda looks like a child...and you're young to take care of a child."
"Well...when you need to survive there is nothing as too young for...and for P'Kim, you will be surprised...he isn't a child. More like he kept his innocence...he wasn't poisoned by bad feelings...he is like a blank board but a huge board...already an adult board...but he knows things. Phi, he smashed two men, he knows how to hunt and cook to survive alone...he lived so many years alone...he is learning so fast! You should see this and he knows by heart everything they wanted him to learn...he isn't a child but he looks like one...maybe it's the purest thing in him, to not...you know...to have the power of doing but not the intention...not at all..."
Kinn observed as Porchay told this while eating. He saw the benevolence in his eyes towards the boy, towards the one he didn't see all of this at all. Kim looked more like an unstable menace for him. He looked like someone who would bring a disaster upon his head. This perspective was new and interesting. Could he be more than the weapon he thought his father tried to create? Because Kinn, more than anyone, knew that his father was capable of it. He was and so he believed them. He had lost any trust in his dad a long time ago.
"All that you explained...didn't give any stable reason for you to have a cat..." Kinn stated, looking strangely at Star who was exploring the kitchen.
"Star was in the carriage...when we ran away."
"Star? So he's Star..."
"Yes...P'Kim named him..he mostly ate him too." He laughed too. "But... He's really an emotional support for P'Kim...for me too..."
"Why would a kitten be in that place first?" Kinn murmured like a question in the void, words no one had answers for.
"To kill him." Tankhun entered, waving at them and sitting at the table.
"To what?" Porchay asked, shocked by that possibility.
"Listen...when it was time for me to take over the business and couldn't ... .though he looks like not wanting to let it go anymore...whatever, he wanted to test me and asked to kill a puppy. I cried. He got his answer. So the explanation is that he wanted Kim to kill the cat to see how he would react to this."
"That's awful..." Porchay said, caressing Star softly.
"We aren't soft little men...what Kinn?"
"You never told me this." He said, his eyes reflecting that all the questions he had for years had found a meaning and it was now clear that his brother had the bestest idea by moving away.
"For you to just get slapped because you would have disagreed? I know you enough to know that, I shouldn't let this happen and see? You are taking your own path... I think I did the right thing."
Kim had been leaning against the door for a moment now. He had woken up. He had been worried and followed the voices. He was now a little shaken by what he saw, by what he could feel but not totally get.They knew each other for a very short time but they were naturally talking as if they had been in contact for years. This intimacy of speech he had a hard time developing with Porchay seemed to be something really usual in the outside world. Kim was eager, so eager to just do the same. He would like to understand the meaning quickly to answer at their speed. He wasn't surprised at their sentences, everything made sense. Everything and it made him feel for the first time that he made a good choice. He took Star under his protection, he didn't kill him. He didn't follow them. He wanted to eat him, It was his instinct after those years but after he had not even one time thought about hurting their cat, it was theirs, and he could appreciate that thought he could until Kinn's voice called him.
"Are you going to hide behind for the whole day Kim?"
He felt a change in that name. Something was different, as if Kinn didn't want to strangle him anymore at his every move.
"I...didn't know how to come in." Kim honestly said. He was stuck between the corridor and the kitchen full of people and conversations.
"Funny how I can believe you now." Kinn chuckled thinking of Porchay's words.
"Kinn! Let the child. Okay, you can try whatever you want." Tankhun smiled but instead of answering he turned his head to Porchay who nodded.
"Thank you."
"What a good boy!" Tankhun screamed, patting Kim's head and it gave him shivers. Great shivers. He didn't know why but those words he melted when Porchay told had a different effect here. It felt as if the proudness of Tankhun had touched the younger's heart. And that hand was different, really different than the one he already knew. More energetic, less tender but full of positive sensation too. Kim smiled, he had a really quiet and hidden smile which warmed Porchay. He would love for him to talk more to other people and to one day witness Kim being able to take a decision without looking at him, but for now he would acknowledge his needs.
"Oh!" Tankhun said, hearing the doorbell. "This is our bucket of information ! Continue your breakfast. I am going to take care of her."
"Her?" Kinn asked, impatient to know who that person was, knowing more secrets than themselves.
"You even always had a soft spot." Tankhun mocked him, his head still popping out of the door frame. "Erika has always been your favorite."