That day, even before they started working together, their company was abuzz with gossip. Someone met First Kanaphan in the company of a mysterious boy at the back of their agency building and took a photo of them, immediately posting it on X(Twitter). Gemini didn't expect this at all. He entered the building, calmly finishing his sandwich. He was a bit late, and he blamed it on Fourth, with whom he had spent too long a chat on the cameras the day before. They discussed the scenes they would shoot the next day. Gem smiled happily at the memory, and Fourth's amused voice still rang in his ears.
“Have you read this scene yet?” Fourth asked excitedly the night before, setting a cup of milk in front of him, which he planned to drink before bed. Gem made a funny face. He didn't like milk. He even preferred his coffee black. Fourth laughed at him for aging himself too much by drinking black coffee.
“Yes, I read it,” Gemini replied casually, as if it didn't impress him at all. His face was unreadable, but Fourth could barely sit still.
“And?! You will not say anything?!”
“Why are you screaming? Scene after scene, I've played different scenes before, it's not a big deal”. Gem was having a great time without abandoning his casual, slightly bored tone, and to emphasize how ordinary this was for him, he yawned widely.
“Eeeey! But you probably haven't read it at all.”
“I read it, of course I did, why do you think I didn't read it?”
“Because... Because there's... There's a kissing scene!”
Gemini had a hard time keeping himself from bursting into laughter. Fourth, unable to bear the tension, got up from the chair in front of the desk.
“Gem, are you not excited at all?”
“Oh honey, you already know what turns me on”. Gemini answered him cheekily, giving him a telling smile.
“Idiot!”
“Stop! You're talking about your work partner! You're talking about your imaginary boyfriend! I won't let you call me that”.
“Idiot,” Fourth repeated even more emphatically, puffing out his cheeks and crossing his arms over his chest.
“Oh come on, I'm sorry Fifi! Don't be angry. I'll give you a kiss hello tomorrow. Naaaaaaa?”
Fourth was too weak of heart to withstand such a charming Gem for long. He gave him a long look. For some reason, Gem felt the urge to pinch Fourth's funny, wonderful cheeks, or to make Fourth laugh by showing off his adorable dimples. But Fourth, still a little offended, wasn't about to show him his dimples or laugh. He turned his back to the camera on his tablet and only then allowed himself to smile.
“GemGem, how can you be so cruel to my weak heart? The more you act like this, the more I want you to be mine, and I can't let you do that... You don't know who my fathers are, you don't know what they did in their lives and what they could force you to do. I can't put you at risk like this, so please stop being so cute..." Fourth thought, and this time he became really sad.
“Fifi? Fourth?” Gemini sensed a disturbing change in his friend's behavior. Recently, Fourth had come to him, even though Gem was afraid he wouldn't, and now Gemini was willing to go out in his red robe and his pajamas and walk to Fourth's house to cheer him up and comfort him, but Fourth wasn't like that. He, when he suffered or was sad, preferred to be alone, not believing that anyone could understand him or help him. “Fourth? Earth to Fourth. What are you thinking about?”
“I... I'm sorry, Gem. Can we not talk about it? It doesn't matter anyway”.
He was retreating again.
Gemini felt touched and hurt. It pained him that Fourth, despite all the time they had spent together, still didn't trust him 100%. He gritted his teeth so as not to say what was on his lips and closed his eyes for a minute to calm down. He kept telling himself that he had to be patient. From his observations, Fourth looked like a victim of violence. Quietly, without the boy's knowledge, he asked Dunk and Phuwin to find detailed information about Nattawat. He wanted to know everything, to know his past, to find out why he was the way he was today and whether Heart's ghost was really responsible for his strange behavior.
The news his brothers delivered to him shocked him. Gemini, waiting for himself to cool down a bit, looked at the white A4 envelope which contained all the information about Nattawat Jirochtikul, called Fourth or Si. Fourth, like Gun and First, was the biological son of Mile Phakphum and was raised by Mile and his life partner, Apo Nattawin. After further investigation by Phuwin and Dunk, it turned out that Mile and Apo were also conducting other activities under the guise of a legal business. The brothers didn't find out exactly what it was about, but all three of them had their suspicions.
“What have you gotten yourself into, Gem? He's a mafia kid,” Phuwin looked at his brother with pity. There was no good way out of this situation.
“But I'm telling you, he's not like that! I know him, he's a good man, he doesn't belong in the mafia!”
“What about his fathers? Mile and Apo? How do you know if your Fourth didn't do all this on purpose to get closer to you and then destroy you?”
Gemini didn't want to believe it.
Nope. After all, he knew him, it was his Fourth, his funny, clumsy, sometimes stupid Fifi, his Fighter, not a mafioso. Gem could believe anything but that Nattawat was evil, and yet the doubts his brothers had planted in his heart persisted.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Fourth himself, jumping on his back and singing a Bruno Mars song straight into his ear.
“It's a beautiful night, we're looking for something dumb to do.
Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you!
Is it the look in your eyes or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares, baby, I think I wanna marry you!"
Gem knew Fourth was joking about wanting to marry him, but it was hard not to smile when Fourth gave him a loud peck on the cheek. P'Off, who was already waiting for them in the room into which they not only entered, but even rushed in together (Fourth was still on Gem's back, holding on to him tightly like a little koala bear), muttered something unpleasant under his breath when he saw them. P'Erin smiled.
“Hi boys! I see you're in a good mood. Good, because we have some important shots to record today, P'Aof will pick you up in person in half an hour, and in the meantime we need to discuss the plan for next week”.
Plan for the next week? Well, as usual. It's as if P'Off and P'Erin thought that Gem and Fourth had too much free time and needed to use it productively. For Gem, one day could be equally productive, devoted entirely to sleeping, eating and playing the new game that Pond praised so much.
For the rest of the day, both boys felt the watchful eyes of other employees of their company, heard whispers around them, but could not deduce anything from them. Only a message from Dr. Khaotung put them on the right track.
Dr. Khao: Congratulations nong Gemini! I know First Kanaphan is your idol, so I'm sure you're happy to have him in your family.
Gemini replied immediately.
Gemini: wait P', I think I don't understand something... You mean that First is Fourth's brother? Then I must disappoint you, P'. Fourth isn't interested in me like that, we just work together.
"We just work together..." - Why was writing this sentence so difficult? Why did Gem feel like someone had poured some acid on a bleeding and festering wound?
Dr. Khao: Oh no, nong Gemini! I meant your brother and First. They are devilishly sweet and show off their relationship on Instagram 😡 As if there was anything else to brag about! Well, my congratulations nong Gemini! He's your favorite F1 driver, after all. You will probably be family soon.
And Khaotung sent Gemini a screenshot from Igstories of First, in which he boasted about spending time at the gym with Dunk. After a while, Gem received another screenshot, which showed First putting his arm around Dunk and kissing him on the cheek. For poor Gem it was a sight beyond his strength.
"And how do they know each other?! After all, it was Phu who went to Singapore, not Dunk! And why do I feel like the doctor is mad at me for something?"
Gemini read twice more all the messages he had exchanged with Dr. Khaotung over the past week. It wasn't much, they both had a lot of work, and Khaotung had kept quite a distance since returning from Singapore and almost never spoke first. It was as if he wanted to cut Gem and his family and friends out of his life. Gemini felt that something had gone wrong, but he didn't know what, and Phu, Pond, Joong, and Khaotung didn't want to tell him anything. Now he began to wonder if all the mysterious whispers and glances thrown at him and Fourth by others were not caused by his brother's unexpected closeness to Fourth's brother.
As luck would have it, Fourth had just returned from the bathroom at that moment, and Gem, taking advantage of the fact that they still had a 10-minute break, immediately pulled Nattawat aside and showed him the doctor's messages.
“Did you know that? Is your brother with my brother now?”
“Eeeee, I guess not?”. Fourth's tone of voice was as uncertain as Gem himself felt.
“ So what? Does it mean that First and Dunk are a couple now?”
Fourth widened his eyes at him and abruptly snatched the phone from him to take a closer look at the photo Dr. Khaotung had sent.
“And you know what I think?”
„Nope. Let me remind you that I cannot read minds, unlike a certain familiar ghost.”
“Oh, you don't have to be sarcastic, I'm telling you! I thought about how our doctor sounds jealous”.
“Hey! YOU! YOU'RE RIGHT!” Gem screamed loudly, and Fourth looked around in fear. Fortunately, at that time everyone was on a break and there were only the two of them on the stairs and a lot of equipment set up here, such as cameras, spotlights and microphones, because it was in this place, in LiMing's house from the series, that they were recording subsequent scenes.
“Quiet!” Fourth put his index finger to Gem's mouth. Gem looked into his eyes and they both froze.
Gemini and Fourth could only stare into each other's eyes, as if they wanted to learn to read each other's minds. Fourth looked a little lower, at his finger against the boy's lips across from him. Only now did he notice how dangerously close they stood to each other. The tension between them became very palpable. Gem felt as if sparks of electricity suddenly appeared around them. Their breathing became shallower, faster and louder, their hearts fluttering in their chests like the wings of butterflies trapped in jars. Gem couldn't control himself anymore, he leaned down slightly and kissed Fourth without thinking. This desire had been inside him for weeks, growing, swelling, until it finally became uncontrollable.
What surprised him most was that Fourth didn't defend himself, didn't push him away, but responded fully to the kiss. His lips were soft, gentle and possessive all at the same time. Gem felt like he didn't understand anything anymore. Nothing existed for them. It was just the two of them and the entire universe just for them. Gem ran his hand into Fourth's hair, and Fourth wrapped his arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.
When they broke apart to catch their breath, they both realized that something had just changed between them, something had ended. They had crossed an invisible line beyond which there was no return, but Gem didn't want to go back at all, he wanted to keep going. He didn't care about the consequences. Whatever is meant to be will be, and they can't escape it anyway.
Fourth kept his heated gaze on him, causing Gem to feel shy and look down, turning his face slightly to the side. Fourth lifted Gem's chin with his hand, forcing him to look at him again, and this time he was the one to kiss him.
Gem was over the moon. Never before had he felt so light, so happy, so full of hope and good energy.
"That was my first kiss," Fourth said, blushing furiously.
"Thank you," Gemini replied, ruffling his hair, but Fourth broke free and ran away. His heart almost exploded in his chest. Gem had experience, he didn't, and that's why he needed time to cool down. He hid in the bathroom, closing his eyes, leaning against the cool wall and reliving the last few minutes. It was so sudden, so unexpected, and so unobvious, and yet so wonderful, that even if it was just a dream, neither of them wanted to wake up from it.
😉☺️❤️❤️☺️😉❤️☺️😉❤️☺️😉
From the author:
This is my little pay-back for Fourth laughing about being Gem's first kiss. You've got it, Fifi! In this story, you are the less experienced one! Bye bye! 🤪
(It's a good thing Gem and Fifi will never read it [although with the English version, you never know], because they would probably kill me!)
I'm sad that the Polish version has so few views and likes, but thank you for your support in the English version! I love you Ski Jumping Little Faces! (JUMPING FACES is the name I once used to call my Ski Jumping Family Readers)
Have a nice day, My Magical Treasures!
Stay warm!
Don't forget to drink water, eat something delicious and do at least one thing just for yourself!
Love you!
~Annie