"Have you guys seen the OhmNanon BTS sky train?" A grinning Ohm asked proudly, as he sat beside his lover at IceDea, a popular ice cream shop in Bangkok. Although they were both wearing masks, caps and sunglasses, Nanon was still uneasy about that double date. Being recognized by an observant fan was not the only reason for his despair. He also hated being in the presence of the blackmailer who had been giving him grief. The criminal who had supposedly made a video and taken inappropriate pictures of him while he was unconscious just pretended to be one of his best buddies in front of his boyfriend and sister. The singer didn't like the idea of interacting with the former player on a Saturday morning, but Nonnie had to make things difficult for him, as always. Mark and the girl were sitting across from Ohm and him enjoying a Durian ice cream.
"I read about something like that on social media. It's a symbolic way of celebrating the 1st anniversary of the Bad Buddy the Series' debut. I just think that the faces of all actors and actresses who took part in the project should be plastered on that train too." Mark smirked.
"Aww, are you feeling left out?" A humorous Nonnie said in a baby voice, and gave him a pat on his shoulder. If Nanon wasn't wearing sunglasses, everyone would notice that he was glaring at his sister. Sometimes, the fact that he and Nonnie had the same habit of being too sociable and quite open to skinship bothered him to no end. Maybe it was just the way they were raised, maybe that playful consoling hand on Mark's shoulder was just a manner of displaying her friendliness, but Nanon was far from being okay with his sister touching that obnoxious excuse for a human being.
"Not at all. I'm just glad for my two greatest friends here. People are travelling to Bangkok just to ride that train, can you believe that? Guys, you're making history in this industry." Mark spoke light-heartedly. Nanon counted to ten, and then to one hundred. He couldn't bear the man's cynicism.
"And I'm so proud of my dear brother and his best buddy!" Nonnie commented cheerfully and pinched one of Nanon's cheeks.
"Stop, you're going to ruin my mask!" The singer complained and pushed her hand away from his face. The girl just stuck her tongue out at him and giggled.
"You have no idea of how your support is important to us, Nonnie." Ohm confessed. "I was almost certain that Non would leave me if you were against our relationship." He smiled and winked at the girl. "Thank you."
"I wouldn't break up with you even if Nonnie didn't give us her blessing, but I will leave your ass if you don't stop smiling at my sister like that." Nanon protested, giving him a harmless punch on his arm. He didn't know how cute that little gesture looked, but everyone at the table thought it was adorable and were unable to hide their grins. Ohm wanted to pull him in his arms but he didn't dare to do that in there.
"I heard from P'Kwang that you guys will have a packed schedule next month. By the way, I can't wait to see my brother performing on a big stage! Nanon Korapat the singer is so much charming than Nanon Korapat the actor!" Nonnie kept hyping her brother up and Nanon couldn't help eyeing her with amusement. Sometimes she acted like her number one fan.
"How come you know about my monthly schedule before I do?" The singer snorted.
"Mom always gets a copy of it from your manager, and I often memorize it. In October, your fans will get tired of seeing your faces. There is the Lazada 9.9 Live Event you guys will also have to attend together. There is also another Milo event with team OhmNanon in it, and that Galaxy Z Flip 4-"
"Can we not talk about work for now? Like you said, this is a date, right? Let's enjoy some peace while we can." Nanon complained, and Nonnie just made a face at him.
"Working with your lover can't be so bad." Mark grinned at the pair. Nanon chewed on his lip and endeavoured to ignore the man's presence.
"For Nanon, work is always work, and whenever the cameras are on him he's not Nanon the boyfriend. He's the Nanon co-worker and entertainer. He doesn't mix business and pleasure." Ohm commented without thinking.
"You're damn right. If I did, we wouldn't have survived this far." Nanon sounded slightly annoyed, but Ohm was used to his tsundere nature, so he just smirked at his comment.
"Non, you can sit closer to me, you know. The shop is not so crowded today." Ohm pointed out, since his boyfriend seemed to purposefully leave an empty space between them.
"We don't have to be glued to each other all the time, do we? We're not conjoined twins. Besides, we're not even in Japan anymore, the two of us are much more recognizable here. Some fans can even tell who we are by just spotting the back of our heads. We'd better keep a low profile. I'm counting on your common sense." Nanon said without even turning his head to look at his lover. He had his arms crossed in a defensive manner and his mood clearly wasn't as animated as the others at the table. Ohm wondered if it was really a good idea to get him out of the house in the first place. His boyfriend was only that cold to him when something he did succeeded to piss him off. Nonnie gave them a slightly worried look, but said nothing.
"Hey, Non, go easy on your boy here. Geez, I thought that now that you two are a couple you would get softer on him." Mark commented and gave Ohm a supportive glance. "If what you fear is being spotted by any Ronan, don't worry. You guys can be lovey-dovey all you want. I promise to take care of any inconvenient fan who tries to spoil our double date." He added as his arm circled Nonnie's shoulder in a very carefree way. Nanon furrowed his brows, extremely vexed by the former player's behavior around his sister. However, neither Nonnie nor Ohm saw anything wrong with his gesture.
"You stay away from my fans! And will you please remove your arm from my sister's shoulder?" Nanon blurted out suddenly, and even before Mark could react to his request, he leaned forward aggressively and tried to push the man's limb away from the girl, but Ohm stopped him.
"What's with you? That's how you're supposed to keep a low profile?" Ohm grabbed his wrist and brought his hand to rest on the arm of his seat. He swiftly scanned the place with his eyes and sighed in relief when he realized that no one had seen his lover almost jump on the former player. Mark did remove his arm from the girl's shoulder, but she didn't like that.
"Phi, it's okay. Your arm is not that heavy. Ignore my overly possessive sibling." Nonnie gave Mark an apologetic look and put his arm back on her shoulder. Nanon fumed and she quickly censured her brother. "Why are you so mad? Come on, it' P'Mark, he's harmless. It's not like he's making a pass at me or doing anything disrespectful." She seemed clearly taken aback by her brother's actions. Mark just pretended not to understand why the singer was so worked up, and Ohm just kept an attentive eye on his lover. He wondered if he should drag him out of the shop to get some air.
"Why did you tell him he could join us? I texted you this morning! You weren't supposed to let him inside the house in the first place. Why the hell you never listen to me? Can't you do what I tell you to do for once in your life?" Nanon retorted, and this time his voice raised a bit, drawing the attention of a few other customers in the place.
"That's it, you're coming with me." Ohm said in a low but firm tone, as he wrapped his fingers around his boyfriend's arm and made him stand up with him. But Mark also stood up and gave the pair a fake sad stare.
"You guys don't have to go anywhere, I can just leave. If my presence bothers him so much, I'll spare him from seeing my face for now." The former badminton player said, sounding almost hurt by Nanon's outburst. Nanon scoffed. Ohm was beyond shocked.
"You finally got the message. Goodbye, Pakin." Nanon said in a lower tone and sat back on his chair. Nonnie wished she could say anything to stop Mark from leaving, but she was afraid of her brother's reaction. Nanon wasn't being careful there. Making a scene in the middle of an ice cream shop was not something her prudent brother would do. Something was really wrong with that picture, and she had to find out what. Neither she nor Ohm made any attempt to keep Mark at the table. If Nanon wanted him gone, he needed to go. So Mark just nodded his head in a dejected way, said his goodbyes, and walked away. Only after he was out of the shop, Nonnie spoke again.
"Okay, what was that about? You're not that rude to people, especially not a friend. That means he fucked up real bad, didn't he? Look, I am your sister and I'm always on your side. Give me a reason to never speak to him again and I'll do it. Whatever he did to mess with you, tell me right now and I'll kick his ass. Whatever you say, I'll believe you." She said in a rather straightforward tone as she reached for her brother's hand on the table.
Nonnie's words made something snap in Ohm. Was he being too blind all that time? Why didn't he believe his boyfriend when he told him that he wasn't taking drugs? Why didn't he believe Chimon when he told him that Nanon was not a junkie? Why did Mark take Nanon out of that club without telling the other actors drinking at his table? Why did he himself believe that all Mark said was true? Maybe he shouldn't be pressuring Nanon to open up to him. Maybe he should just go after Mark and squeeze answers out of him.
"Look, I'm gonna get us some more ice-cream. You guys stay here, I'll be back soon." Ohm announced and left their table without looking back. Nonnie frowned at that, and so did Nanon. But the siblings stayed put.
Are you going to tell me what's up?" Nonnie insisted, tightening the hold on her brother's hand. Nanon didn't know what has gotten into him at that moment. He didn't know if it was the comforting look his little sister was giving him, or his vulnerable state of mind that made him crack. But he felt like he could tell her anything at that moment.
"Mark's been harassing me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"When exactly did Nanon tell you that he was doing drugs because he was feeling a lot of pressure from work?" Ohm asked the former player directly. After the excuse he had given the two inside the shop, he dashed outside and was able to stop Mark before he got in his car. The man was surprised to see him, but didn't refuse to answer his questions when Ohm started to interrogate him.
"A while ago. Right after the filming of BBS was over. The company was throwing thousands of events in his schedule and he wasn't even able to finish his album. He could barely keep track of the days of the week because he couldn't get much sleep." The former player said, with a saddened look in his eyes. Ohm swallowed, still hoping to catch him in a lie. All that story was too absurd, but Mark sounded too sincere, and Ohm still wasn't able to find out a reason for him to lie.
"How did you find out?" Ohm demanded.
"I was in his house a few months ago and I saw him taking a pill in his room." Mark replied promptly.
"How could you tell it wasn't an ordinary pill?" Ohm was relentless. He wasn't gonna let the former player go without clearing that whole thing once and for all.
"Oh, I asked him for one and he gave it to me. It was the 'crazy medicine', man. Yaba pills are normally brightly colored reddish-orange or green. They usually bear different logos, with letters "R" and "WY". I know that because I have an acquaintance who's unfortunately quite familiar with this stuff and I showed him the pill." Mark said without hesitance. It seemed that he had rehearsed that whole conversation a hundred times before it actually happened. He had all the answers to Ohm's questions on the tip of his tongue.
"It was inside a little plastic bag he put in the top drawer of his dresser. One of the drawers has a lock and key, that's where he hides his stash. You can check it, but you won't be able to tell how often he uses it. I guess he just takes it as a stimulant when his workdays are too hectic. Honestly, if I didn't catch him doing it, we probably would never know about it." Mark replied with confidence. Ohm suddenly wished he hadn't gone after him. Especially when Mark didn't stop talking.
"He has a lot of reasons to be mad at me. Not only because I told you about the drugs. He probably feels guilty about what he did the night I took him out of that club and brought him to my house. I'm sure he's afraid of what you'll think of him if I open my mouth." Mark acted a bit disconcerted now, and Ohm couldn't help gritting his teeth.
"What did he do? What are you trying to tell me?" Ohm asked impatiently. Mark took a deep breath, and eyed his 'friend' with pity, even though, deep inside he was laughing at him.
"Non was so out of it that he thought I was you, man. And..." Mark gasped and looked away. "Shit...I don't know how to say that. I feel like a terrible friend right now."
"For fuck's sake, don't do that! My own boyfriend has been keeping me in the dark for too long. You're my friend too, right?! Just fucking tell me!" Ohm said harshly, as he glared at the man. The latter sighed in frustration, but didn't hold back his venom any longer.
"Just promise me you won't tell him any of this. You've gotta pretend that you don't know anything, and wait until he's ready to tell you-"
"Alright! I promise! Just fucking tell me!" Ohm pressed briskly.
"Just don't get mad at me-"
"Why would I get mad at you? Did you do anything you shouldn't have?" Ohm cut him off and towered over the former player. Mark inhaled and nodded to him.
"He took one of his pills out of his pocket and gave it to me...I-I should've said no, but I was slightly drunk too, and I just swallowed it without thinking. I put him to bed, then he threw up on himself, so I took off his clothes." Mark paused, as if he was studying the effect his words were having on Ohm. The latter looked quite intimidating, but he kept going. "Look, first he kissed me on the cheek and I thought nothing of it. I mean, he's quite affectionate, and he's always kissing people on the neck, so I just thought he was just horsing around. But when he started calling me 'Pat' and his hands reached the front of my pants I tried to push him away, you know."
"Come again? He called you what?!" A clearly pissed Ohm grabbed Mark by the arm and pulled him to an alley next to the ice-cream shop. His whole body language screamed menace. It crossed Mark's mind that his friend intended to murder him there, but he didn't protest nor resist Ohm. His heart raced when he saw the actor throw his facemask, cap and sunglasses on the floor and marched in his direction. Mark ignored his fear, and reminded himself that even if he got killed there, something good would come out of his death. He was convinced that that OhmNanon freak show would be over once and for all.
"I knew you would get like this. He warned me. That's why he begged me to keep my mouth shut. He said you could forgive almost everything, but not a betrayal." Mark uttered, as Ohm pushed him against a dirty wall and brought a hand to his neck. He didn't dare to move.
"I wanna hear you say it! What happened between you two?" Ohm hissed at his face. Mark took a deep breath. He was convinced that one would be his last.
"He kissed me on the mouth and then...he gave me head." Mark said at last and closed his eyes. Ready to hear his neck bones crack. But to his surprise, Ohm's grip on him was gone. When he opened his eyes he saw the actor lean on the opposite wall of the alley and crouch on the floor with both his hands on his face. He looked like a man who had received dreadful news about a close friend's death. Mark smiled a little. He thought Ohm looked beautiful like that, so desperately broken.
"Tell me you're lying. This is your last chance. Tell me that it's not true. And you tell me right now, because if I find out later that you lied, I am going to kill you." Ohm rubbed his face a few times and looked up to him. He stared hard at Mark, and even in that ruined state of his, a violent flame still burned in his eyes.
"I am not." Mark stated and Ohm grimaced.
"Are you gay?"
"No!" Mark huffed. "I was wasted, man."
"Straight guys, even when they are drunk, or high do not let his friends give him head!" Ohm shouted this time and stood up quickly just to tower over the other.
"You can break all of my fingers, Ohm. I get it, if I were in your shoes I would be mad too. But nothing will change the fact that your boyfriend was the one who initiated the whole thing. Nanon came on to me while I was vulnerable and out of my mind-"
"Stop talking!" An enraged Ohm ordered, as he stepped away from the former player and started pacing around the alley. But now Mark was enjoying that scene too much, and he couldn't contain his own mouth.
"My drugged mind wasn't thinking that I was being pleasured my friend's lover! It was too occupied thinking about how nicely my cock was being sucked." Mark blurted out, and Ohm completely lost it. He pushed him to the floor, pounced on him, and punched his face a few times before shouting at his face.
"You let it happen! You're the one who took advantage of him! Not the other way around it, you piece of shit! You're older than him! You saw his state! You could've rejected the fucking pill and pushed him away, but you didn't! Non would never-"
"The next morning he asked me to keep it a secret from you, and he also told me that if I did what he asked, he would blow me again, whenever I wanted. Of course I said no. I was feeling too ashamed and regretful. I hated myself for letting it happen. I was weak and irresponsible. And I felt bad for you. The truth is, nothing will change the fact that he was fantasizing about a character you used to play, instead of you." Mark delivered his last counterattack, and his words hit Ohm like a bullet to his chest. The former player was bleeding on the mouth and he was quite sure he would be in pain for a few days, but he was also certain that Ohm was haemorrhaging on the inside, and that kind of ache wouldn't heal any soon. Mark silently praised himself for winning that match. Ohm had lost.
"Stay away from us. Avoid talking to him or me. If you do it, I'll make you regret the day you were born." A distressed Ohm warned him as he climbed off the man and went to pick up his accessories from the ground.
"I still wanna be friends." Mark said in a low voice. Ohm eyed him as if he was insane.
"No way, you prick! If I hear you tried to contact him, Nonnie, or their family, there will be hell to pay!" Ohm's eyes watered as he turned away from the man and decided to go back to the shop.
"Remember, top drawer of his dresser! Get a key to it, and you'll realize I'm telling you the truth. He will deny it and say that I was the one who gave it to him. Your heart will want to believe him, but deep down you'll know Ohm, you'll know he'll only try to fool you all over again." Mark shouted still on the ground. He shouted loud enough in order to make Ohm hear him loud and clear. The actor's steps hesitated for a second, but he still exited that alley, leaving the former player behind.
Ohm took a few breaths before he entered the shop again. He saw Nonnie and her brother hugging, but he was unable to approach them. He couldn't hide his wrath from his boyfriend, and he couldn't pretend that nothing happened either. Therefore, he left. He went to the only place he thought that his anger could be eased. He went to Nanon's condo. He thought that if he went there and found nothing inside that drawer, he could ignore all the other lies Mark said about his boyfriend. He had Nanon's key house in his pocket since the singer had given it to him as soon as they left the house, so now he wouldn't have trouble getting in.
He got a cab without telling the siblings he was leaving the shop and hoped that the Nanon Mark described to him was not real.
When he arrived at the place, he went straight to Nanon's room. He tried to force the drawer open, but it was indeed locked. He had no idea of where the key was, so he tried looking for it. He turned his boyfriend's bedroom upside down, but was unable to find it. Out of frustration, he tried to kick the drawer open, but no matter how much strength he put on those kicks, the drawer wouldn't open. He knew where Nanon kept a toolbox in the garage though. Then he went there, found the box and took a sledgehammer out of it. As soon as he got to Nanon's bedroom, he wracked the piece of furniture mercilessly, and this time he got what he wanted. He opened a hole in the drawer, and quickly shoved his hand inside it, in order to make sure that there was no plastic bag there that could incriminate his lover, nor mutilate the version of a Nanon he loved and trusted. Ohm still had hope, he still had doubts. And once he was able to prove to himself that Pakin was lying, everything was going to be alright. He and Nanon would be fine. Neither drugs nor infidelities could be in their way. It would be just the two of them again.
His hope and remaining soundness dissipated in a swiftly second. His doubts went out the window, as he took a plastic full of red pills out of the wrecked dresser. The sledgehammer in one of his hands tragically hit the floor and almost smashed his foot during its fall. His big toe nail couldn't be saved though. The handle of the heavy tool landed on it, and crushed it. However, Ohm wasn't bothered about the blood staining the floor. He kept his eyes trained on the bag in his hand. No amount of pain could force him to look anywhere else. He could afford losing a toenail, all his toes, and even his whole foot, but he could not afford losing his own heart.
Ohm took his phone out of the pocket and texted his boyfriend, telling him to come home as fast as he could. He sat on the bed and waited.