"I just hope all the others agree that we'd better act fast, instead of waiting for their first move." A stubborn Thai stated.
"I must suggest buying guns instead of drugs this time. Now that Mark is awake, I don't think we can finish both cousins by ourselves with just a couple of syringes." Nonnie said sarcastically.
"Nonni-"
Before Nanon could reprimand his sister, their phones started ringing at the same time.
"It's P'Chimon." Thai commented as he took his phone out of his pocket and checked the name on its screen.
"It's P'Perth." Nonnie checked her phone too.
"It's Ohm." A startled Nanon whispered, wondering why his ex would decide to call him out of the blue. Ohm had been avoiding him like the plague since he believed that the twins had temporarily made a home for themselves inside his body.
The trio eyed each other with apprehensive looks on their faces until finally one of them answered the phone.
"Phi, you're on speaker, I am at P'Non's house. Both Kirdpan siblings are here. What's going on?" Thai spoke tensely, as Nonnie and Nanon came closer to him to better listen to what Chimon had to say.
"Good thing you're all together. Perth and Ohm are with me. We need to talk, all of us. ASAP. Mark is awake. It's all over the news." A nervous Chimon said at once.
"We are aware, Phi. We can barely believe it ourselves." A shocked Nonnie commented, wondering how the news became public. "It's really unfortunate-"
"Did he or his cousin try to contact any of you?" Perth cut her off.
Before any of them could reply, another familiar voice, in a rather desperate tone, talked through the phone too. The texture of that passionate sound made Nanon miss the old him whom Ohm loved so much...
"Is Nanon okay? Let me speak to him. Thai, listen to me, brother, do not leave his side until I get there. I need you to keep an eye on him-"
"Stop it, Pawat. Can you please not lose your shit? Why would I need your brother to keep an eye on me? Do you think I am a fucking child?" Nanon sighed in frustration as Thai and his sister gave him a reproving look, but he continued. "I can look after myself. I don't want you to come here. I don't want you anywhere near me. I surely don't wanna get infected by that level of anxiety of yours. If that freak is back to the land of the living, the best thing we can do is stay away from each other, like we've been doing all this time." He added sourly. Nonnie shook his head at him, while Thai simply judged the singer with his eyes. The trio could hear Ohm cursing under his breath through the phone. Nanon caught a few offenses directed at Nannfah, but that character wasn't really there with him anymore, and he had no intention of letting his ex know that.
"I agree with Non." Perth said, but expressed his concern over the present situation. "Notwithstanding, we do need to meet up and come up with an emergency plan. We cannot ignore the fact that we can all be in danger."
"I think we should meet at your house then, Phi. My mom will be here soon, and we won't have the privacy we need to talk about this matter." Nonnie suggested.
"Alright, then. I suggest you all clear your schedules if you have one. Call in sick, do what you must. We'll be waiting." Perth said and hung up the phone.
"My car is outside. I'll drive." Thai announced hurriedly, but as soon as he did, an agitated Ning entered the house.
"My children, you won't believe what I heard-"
She paused and tried to smile at their guest once she realized Nonnie and Nanon weren't alone in the living room.
"Thailand! So good to see you, kid. Did your brother enjoy the cake I made for him?" She tried her best to sound casual, but her worried expression never left her face.
"Yes, of course! Thanks for stopping by yesterday night with Nonnie and Mr. Kunakorn. My brother was very happy to have you there. Even though our own parents couldn't show up, your presence made all the difference. You're all like his second family, after all. He loves to have you around." Thai said politely and smiled at her a bit disconcerted. He did like Nanon's mom, but her bad timing was too inconvenient at that moment.
"Well, he's like a son to me, so I guess the feeling is mutual." She said quickly and tried to make the boy leave. "I would love it if you could stay for lunch but, you see, Thai, I need to have a word with my children. Can you please stop by another time and-"
"Mom, you're being rude. We were about to go out-"
Nonnie started, but her mother silenced her.
"The two of you are staying. Go, Thai. Whatever it is that the three of you were planning for today, it can wait."
Thai couldn't help doing exactly what she asked. "Of course. No problem at all, I'll meet you guys later." He waved at the two siblings, after giving them a reassuring look, and hurried out of the house.
Nanon was puzzled at the words shared between his mother and the young Chittsawangdee.
"Were you at Ohm's yesterday? Why didn't you tell me?" Nanon asked as his eyes traveled from his mother to Nonnie.
"The boy has isolated himself for too long because of that dreary bullying issue. I know you two are not on good terms for a reason. But, just because GMM wants you two to avoid each other, it doesn't mean the rest of the Kirdpan family should do the same. He's one of us already. I'm sure that sooner or later you two will kiss and make up, like you always do." She said simply, as she walked up to her son and put a hand on his shoulder. "Non, I need you to be very calm right now, because I have some unsettling news to tell you."
"We already know. It's Mark, isn't it?" Nonnie spoke from across the room. Ning nodded her head worriedly.
"I never expected that wretched boy would wake up. But since he did, we'd better press charges."
"No." Nanon said quickly. His mother eyed him sadly.
"Darling, if he tried to do that to you, he might try it again. And God knows how many other victims-"
"He has amnesia, mom. I don't want to do anything before I make sure he remembers what he did. I haven't decided if going to the police is the best choice I have. Please, let me handle this my way." Nanon stated firmly and she finally relented.
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to pressure you, hon. But are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah." Nanon lied. "My emotional balance is much better after therapy. If I ever need to go back to it, you'll be the first one to know." He gave her a reassuring smile, and Ning simply pulled him into a hug.
"Promise me that if he tries anything, and I mean, anything, you'll tell me, okay? I won't let that boy hurt you again. I promise, son." She whispered in his ear and kissed his cheek. Nonnie knew her mother wouldn't let go of her brother so easily, so she drew Ning's attention to herself.
"Why haven't you asked me how I am handling the news, Mom?" Nonnie spoke with a tinge of bitterness in her tone. "Are your worries only focused on him? Haven't I suffered too? I loved Mark, and now I have to learn how to unlove him now that he is awake and doesn't even remember me!" Nonnie complained, and both Ning and Nanon gave her a look of shock and pity.
Ning immediately disentangled herself from Nanon and went to hug her daughter. "Of course, I care for you. I am your mother and I love both of you equally. I thought you were over Mark. I mean, after he deceived you and made a pass at your brother...You know, he doesn't deserve to be loved by you, right? You're too good for him. I'll help you through this too, okay? That boy never deserved you, my dear. You will find the right person for you, I promise you, child."
A sneaky Nonnie winked at her taken-aback brother furtively and signaled him to leave the house while their mother tried to console her. The singer swiftly understood his sister's strategy and slowly walked out of the house without drawing much attention to himself. He planned to go to Perth's, but as soon as he got into his car, he received a text from a number he hadn't contacted in a while.
"I need to see you. Come to the hospital as soon as you can. There's a lot for us to talk about."
Nanon froze on the spot. Was Mark faking that amnesia? What did he want? It took him a while to start the car and drive to the hospital, but he told himself that he wasn't going to run away anymore. He was ready to tell Mark that he wasn't the same Nanon he tortured before that coma. Now the singer was going to show his former friend that he had indeed changed him, but to a tougher and rougher version of himself, one, which Mark would have a hard time playing with.
"Where's Ananda? Where's Prom? Shouldn't they be here to help you change your diapers?" Nanon marched into the room with a hard expression on his face. Mark was not expecting him to get there so fast, but he seemed glad to see him there.
"You're funny! I saw a bunch of your interviews online. I wondered if you're like that in real life too. That's nice. Now I know why I like you." Mark snorted as he sat up on the bed. Nanon gulped but went straight to the point.
"I know that you're faking this amnesia, you asshole. Now drop the goddamn act and tell me what you want from me. Just be quick. I am a very busy man, and I can't waste my time on worthless people." The singer glared at him. The other looked almost hurt.
"You sound angry. I knew it! I screwed up, didn't I?" Mark sighed deeply and continued. "Silly me to think that I could have a normal friendship with another human being."
"Why am I here, Mark?!" Nanon demanded coldly.
"The guys from the BBS gang showed up earlier. I just managed to memorize their names after watching a few GMM videos on YouTube. They all congratulated me for my miraculous recovery. They were surprised not to find you here though. The whole main cast was in this room trying to cheer me up and assure me that my memory would be back soon. They came to see me the moment I posted that video, except for you and Ohm."
"What video?!" Nanon was instantly alarmed.
"I made a video telling my fans that I was okay but memoryless and posted it on my IG."
"Why now? Why reveal to the world that you're awake? What are you scheming this time, huh?" Nanon eyed him suspiciously. He wasn't going to let the former badminton player get into his head again.
"All this time I kept quiet about my condition because my cousin told me to, but deep down, I really wanted to reconnect with my old self. Since P'Nanda is out of town, I thought, why not? Actually, I didn't understand why you came to visit me yesterday and ran away as if you had seen a ghost. I have so many questions to ask you! And I thought the video would bring you back." He smiled in a way that almost made Nanon nostalgic. "I know I surely gave you enough reasons to believe that I am lying right now. I am not a good guy, Nanon. I know that much. I might not remember what I've been doing and who I've been messing with during the last five years, but I am aware that I wronged you somehow. And I need you to tell me-"
"Stop! I will not stand here and hear all these lies sputtering from your mouth! If you're not gonna be honest with me, I'll take my leave." Nanon spat and walked towards the door, but Mark's next words stopped him from leaving.
"Why are you trying to kill me?"
The question that slipped from Mark's lips almost made him forget how to breathe.
Nanon was petrified. He didn't turn around to face him straight away. He just tried to digest that question first. The singer had so many reasons to want him dead that he couldn't even count them on his fingers. As a matter of fact, he felt like killing Mark at that very moment, but he couldn't just openly attack the former player in broad daylight within a hospital room. Nanon felt shivers run down his spine when he heard movements behind him. He could tell Mark was getting up from that bed. The sound of the walker scrapping the floor reached his ears, and he could sense his proximity, and listen to his wobbly steps. Mark was getting too close. So Nanon turned around abruptly and faced the man of his nightmares. Mark was indeed dangerously close, and Nanon couldn't help taking a few steps away from him.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Nanon played dumb. He wasn't sure what were Mark's intentions, but he wouldn't let the man intimidate him.
"Maybe this can refresh your mind." Mark said, as he took a syringe out of the pocket of his patient gown and showed it to him. Nanon's face had panic written all over it. Mark smirked. "It fell from your pocket when you blacked out in here yesterday night."
"It's not mine. I don't even know what this is. You can't prove-"
"I know Prom is hiding stuff from me. Since you had that little chat with him, he's been weird. I know you're both withholding. If you and I were ever friends, you owe me-"
"I don't owe you anything!" A seething Nanon hissed, as he towered over him. "We've not been friends for a long time! And if you're afraid that people might be after you, you should hurry up and remember the fucked up things you did, you son of a bitch!"
Mark narrowed his eyes. "Are you talking about this?" The man reached for his phone on the bed and opened a video.
'All the time you threatened and harassed me, I just prayed I could have the sane Mark back. Why couldn't you give my friend back!? If I forgive you now, will you give him back? Is that it? Okay then, I forgive you, motherfucker. Now give my good friend Mark back! Please, give me my friend back!"
Nanon was speechless. That version of the video was clearer and had audio. That recording obviously contained the whole scene he made in that hospital on the occasion he lost his composure while Mark was in a coma.
"My cousin gave me this before he left the city. He said I should figure out by myself what happened. He said it was weak of me to forget who put me in this bed. P'Nanda told me to not let my guard down, and finish what I started at once. He told me he wouldn't babysit me for the rest of his life, so I should find the answers I needed by myself. And something tells me that you have all the answers." Mark stated, with a curious look on his face. Nanon studied him for a while.
"You really don't remember anything, do you?" The singer frowned.
"Help me remember, and the syringe is yours. No one in this hospital needs to know that my so-called best friend came here to kill me." Mark eyed him firmly.
"Fuck you! And fuck the syringe. Do whatever the hell you want with it. I'm done making deals with you and your screwed-up cousin. Go ahead and tell the hospital staff whatever you please. They will never believe you. Even if my fingerprints are all over this freakin' syringe, they will want to know why I would try to do something like that. And if I tell them, I swear to God, you're going to jail, Mark, for the rest of your shitty life. Be careful of what you do from now on, pal! Nanon added angrily. "I am not who I used to be. The gullible and vulnerable Nanon is gone. You saw to that. You changed me like you said you would."
Mark was astonished.
"Hold on! You were my current conversion project?"
"You can say that, yeah. For some reason, you just got too attached to your subject. So I guess you can figure out what went on between us." Nanon said sourly as he glared at the man.
"How come you're not afraid of me? How come I am the one who ended up in a hospital bed?"
"Who knows? Maybe you overestimated yourself. Or maybe, while you were in the process of changing me, I managed to change you too." Nanon told him and gave the man a hard push. Mark ended up on the floor, with an offended look on his face. The singer sneered at his former friend and walked out of the room.
As Nanon walked down the hospital hall, he wondered why he fainted the moment he found that Mark was awake, or ran away when the former badminton player tried to approach him the other night. He suddenly realized that he shouldn't hide from Mark or fear being manipulated by him. He wasn't going to repeat his old mistakes. He felt good for standing up for himself, and he wasn't afraid of what Mark could do now that he knew he was his enemy. Nanon was going to fight back, and his determination to protect himself and those he loved was all he needed to stay strong and get ready for battle.
"Nanon!"
The voice distracted the singer from his thoughts, making him turn around abruptly. Nanon wondered why the simple sound of Ohm calling his name still made his heart beat faster.
"What are you doing here?" Nanon asked his ex briskly.
"I should be asking you the same! We were supposed to meet at Perth's one hour ago-"
"I never agreed to meet any of you. I didn't have to go to that stupid meeting-"
"Come here!" An impatient Ohm grabbed Nanon's wrist and dragged him to the first bathroom he saw at the end of the hallway. When he pulled the singer inside it, he checked all the stalls just to make sure that they were alone there. That mere action gave Nanon a feeling of deja vu.
"How are you? Are you sure you're okay?" Ohm walked up to him again, with a concerned look on his face as he touched the singer's face with both his hands. "Nonnie told me you fainted when you saw him. Don't put on a strong front just to keep others from worrying-"
"Let go!" Nanon brushed his hands away and scowled at him. "Do you see me having a panic attack, or trembling like a leaf? I am not freaking out, Pawat, you are. I've just had a nice chat with Mark Pakin and I survived the repulsive experience of breathing the same air as him. Don't patronize me, I am not made of glass anymore."
"I am sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you in here like that." Ohm was suddenly less agitated when he realized that Nanon was still in one piece.
"Yeah, you shouldn't! You cannot manhandle me like you used to. We're not together anymore, and you have no right to-"
"I get it!" Ohm cut him off and exhaled heavily. "You're still not you, obviously."
"Does that mean that as soon as I 'return to normal' you'll start patronizing me again?" Nanon snorted dryly.
"No! I have no intention of doing so, I just-"
"You don't have to worry about me all the time. Nothing happened to me that night, Ohm! Mark didn't assault me! Prom was there and he said-"
"I know what he said. He called me before I got here. He told me everything. But even though nothing happened that night, he did harass you for months, and almost raped you when he found out that you and I were talking again-"
"Well, I can live with that! But can you live with the fact that you fucked his cousin for nothing? I know you were trying to be a goddamn romantic hero, but how does it feel now that you know that cheating was not worth it?" Nanon asked caustically.
"I don't care, my intentions were good, Non! I will not regret what I did while thinking that I was protecting your reputation. Did the whole thing disgust me? Yes, it did! Did I enjoy it? Of course not! Even though I told you I got some sort of satisfaction out of that dirty deal, I thought that you knew me well enough to figure out that I behaved that way on that boat because I didn't want your pity! I didn't want you to feel bad for me, or think that I let Ananda do to me what Mark tried to do to you. I chose to scare you instead of making you feel guilty. I'd rather let you see me as the cheating slut you refuse to marry than the boyfriend who made a few sacrifices and turned into a victim to save his relationship. I made a mortifying decision back then because I thought it was necessary. Don't expect me to cry over the spilled milk! So yeah, I surely can live with the fact that I slept with a psychopath! But you clearly don't! And therein lies the great obstacle of our relationship right now, your inability to forgive and forget. I know that I hurt you, and I am truly sorry for that. I understand it is hard for you to look at me the same way as you did before. But for the sake of our love, you need to get past what happened, just make a little effort for the two of us." A distraught Ohm snapped. Nanon was speechless for a long minute after his ex's tirade. He did feel guilty, but he couldn't get over the fact that Ohm had sex with Ananda, even though it was for a 'good cause'. Deep down, he still felt betrayed, and yeah, the older actor was right, Nanon was unable to absolve him of that 'forced infidelity'. That was their main setback. The singer really didn't know how to respond to Ohm's speech, and he would rather die than admit that the older actor was right. So he deflected.
"So that's all on me now?! Geez, Pawat, I bet you feel much better after getting all of that out of your chest, don't you? What do you expect me to do?! Accept your apologies and ask you to marry me in the middle of a Kunaanuwit crisis? Do you realize that now that Mark went against his cousin's will and announced to the world that he's okay, Ananda will probably return to Bangkok and-"
"Why are you changing the subject?!" Ohm scowled. "We're talking about Nanon and I, Naan! You said I could speak to him through you! I know you're supposed to be a cold motherfucker who doesn't believe in love, but since I need to speak to someone who does have feelings, you should get out of the way and let Nanon take over. He might be a little overdramatic sometimes, but at least he has a heart!"
"Overdramatic?! Is that what you think of me?!" Nanon was getting irritated by Ohm's inability to realize that he already was himself, perhaps, an upgraded version of the old Nanon. "Do you still think I am unable to keep my feelings in check when the situation requires me to? You believe that I am incapable of thinking clearly when my emotions threaten to overwhelm me, don't you? You do underestimate me that much, don't you?"
Ohm ran a conflicted hand through his hair and swallowed. "Who are you?! And who was there, in my backyard, on the night of my birthday? Who was the one giving me 'hope'?"
Nanon gasped, took a few steps away from him, and avoided his gaze. "We don't have time for this. Until the Kunaanuwit's issue is settled, we can't have this conversation. We don't need distractions-"
"Please, just answer my question. I'm driving myself crazy with doubts." A tortured Ohm begged, in a softer tone.
"You should be able to figure out the answer to your question by yourself. You used to say that you're able to read me by just looking into my eyes. Can't you do it now?" Nanon challenged him, as he stared back at him.
"No. I don't want to. I don't want to be wrong, and have my heart shattered all over again." Ohm cast his eyes down and chewed on his lips. Nanon swallowed.
"You used to be braver than that, Pawat." Nanon clicked his tongue and walked up to him. "You're different. We both are." He kissed his forehead, turned around, and walked to the door.
"Don't walk away from me! You can't just...What should we do? What do you want me to do? I'm running out of options here. Should I kill them in cold blood? Pay someone to carry out their murder? Nanon, I need you to work with me. I am at a loss here. I don't wanna be that reckless guy who does things behind your back and later hates himself when you look at me with disgust. Help me do the right thing. I can't, I just can't deal with them anymore without going down a darker path. I can't fix this without becoming a monster. I can't stay human around them. I wanna defeat them, but not by myself. You've gotta be the one who sheaths my wrath and keeps me sane." Ohm said desperately as he kneeled before the singer and tried to reach for his hand, but the singer didn't let him. "Please, don't leave me, babe." The older added as he tried to contain a sob.
Nanon didn't turn around to witness the messy state of his ex, but before he left Ohm crying his heart out in the bathroom, he did leave him a message. "If you just need me as a sheath, I guess we are really wrong for each other. I don't have to tell you what to do. You don't have to do anything horrible for my sake. Just follow your heart, respect your conscience, and be reasonable in your decisions. Find your own light and be yourself, above all, just be yourself."