Gemini picked up a large, rainbow LGBT+ pride flag lying on the stage, walked over to Fourth and put it on both of their shoulders. Colorful spotlights danced around them. Fourth held one end of the flag in his hand and Gemini held the other. The music had not yet stopped when Gem, completely unexpected to the audience, but very much to the expectations of his companions on stage (mainly Phuwin and Khaotung), hugged Fourth tightly and spoke as loudly as he could, and his voice was amplified by a microphone and powerful speakers.
“I love you, Fourth. Love is love. Love wins, always!”
Fourth repeated after him:
“Love always wins!”
And then the others joined them.
P'First entered the stage, wearing the overalls of a Formula 1 driver driving for Scuderia Ferrari, whose left sleeve was not red, like the team's colors, but pink, yellow and blue, these were the colors of the Pansexual Pride flag and referred to the fact that what First felt inside. First led Dr. Khaotung by the hand, wearing a doctor's coat and a stethoscope around his neck.
Later, others gradually appeared: Pond with Phuwin, Cooheart as a special guest wearing a beautiful white wedding dress, P'Singto in a police uniform with an Ally LGBT flag in his hand, Gun Atthaphan and Off Jumpol in suits with shiny sequins, Joong and Dunk in costumes of players from opposing teams (Dunk wore the colors of FC Barcelona, while Joong chose the red of Manchester United) and many other people representing different social groups, joined together in one dance.
The music started again.
Each of the couples who slowly took their places on stage wore a different LGBT+ flag and each represented something that was very important to them. Gemini and Fourth stood in the center, casting brief glances at each other every now and then.
As the music stopped again, Gemini took a deep breath, looked deeply into Fourth's eyes, then turned to face the audience and began to speak. He knew the text by heart and practiced it many times at home, and it was additionally displayed on large, though well-disguised screens placed on the floor of the stage. In fact, he didn't have to read it at all, the same words flowed from his heart and his inner convictions. Only he knew how afraid he was to say it, only he knew his own fear, but that was his boundless courage: he was willing to stand alone for what he believed in, what seemed right to him.
And yet he was not alone.
His friends were with him, who understood and supported him. There were fans who accepted him. And there was his mother, sitting in the front row with pride and light in her eyes, waving a little rainbow flag. Gemini spoke in English to make it understandable for everyone, especially for their interfans.
“Our country has made a great step forward by accepting same-sex marriage, but we know that there are still many countries in the world where such a pure and beautiful feeling is not widely accepted. That's why we all stand here together, people from the LGBT community and their allies. All together in the name of acceptance and love for all, in the name of the same rights for all, to show the whole world that love is beautiful, love is multi-colored, love is for everyone,” Gemini said, and his voice trembled with the last sentence.
Everyone who was on stage with them approached them. The screens behind the backs of the performers, on the other hand, showed recordings from their private archives and about everyone. They also included a recording provided to them by Professor Zee Pruk, who stood slightly to the side of the stage, smiling sadly. Only he and NuNew were not happy about what was happening around them.
Zee looked in silent despair. Gemini only recently found out why: Professor Zee, or rather Lieutenant Zee Pruk Panich, working under this cover, in order to obtain information about NuNew's criminal activities and discover his connections with the mafia, entered into a very risky affair with a young artist. NuNew could be so charming and cute that Zee soon fell head over heels in love with him. Rumors about their relationship have been circulating in the entertainment industry for a long time, but until today Gemini didn't believe them, remembering that social media is not just the truth and the whole truth. What was visible on the Internet was often a tactical move, a neat maneuver by PR specialists.
Just as P'Singto had predicted, NuNew was overcome with an uncontrollable frenzy of rage.
NuNew walked up to Gemini, giving him an evil, hateful glare. Everyone knew that Gem was responsible for the recordings shown on stage. He was the one who collected them from everyone. NuNew handed him a completely different video, not the one in which Zee was lying on the bed almost naked, tied to a metal frame with strong ropes, with a clearly terrified look on his face. You could almost read the words on his lips: "What are you doing? What you want to do?!" Zee was clearly scared and all what was happening, happened against his own will. Gemini knew how much it costed P'Zee to gave them this recording.
Fans started screaming when they saw this. Other artists looked shocked and terrified. Only Gem was calm.
“Where did you get this recording?”
“Oh, P'New! I got them from you, don't you remember?” Gemini became an actor again, playing the role of a goofy, not very intelligent and forgetful artist with too much self-confidence. He did quite well, judging by the furious reaction of NuNew, who pulled him by the arm and then started pulling him towards the exit from the stage.
“Where are you going? I'm coming with you,” Fourth offered, seemingly carelessly.
“If you really love this idiot, you'll wait here nicely. Unless you want me to pulp him? Or would you rather have a police pathologist scrape his brain off the wall? You can be sure everyone will think you killed him. I will personally make sure they think so. You want it? I'll gladly do to you what I did to Heart and Gun”.
This was the confession P'Singto wanted. Gem could hardly keep from smiling triumphantly. In this state, NuNew became so sure of himself that he didn't allow himself to think that someone could outsmart him. Meanwhile, Gem knew that P'Singto's subordinates were listening to a live feed from a wireless microphone placed under his shiny white shirt.
Fourth tried to suppress the urge to slam NuNew into the ironically smiling face of a criminal who pretended to be a charming and lovable musician every day. In vain. His hand shot forward on some impulse, striking NuNew in the jaw. NuNew released Gem and prepared to attack Fourth. Gemini didn't have time to react. NuNew hit Fourth so hard that the boy staggered. Suddenly, Gem received a powerful blow to the head that he could not have expected. The last thing he remembered was Professor Zee's sad voice.
“I'm sorry Gemini, it's for your own good. I'll explain to you later”.
And then everything was covered with darkness.
* * *
A few hours later, Gemini, fully conscious, locked in an empty basement with only a tiny window, stinking of cat feces and damp, wondered whether he had not exaggerated his provocation.
Everything went perfectly, but...
But Gem didn't foresee another betrayal.
What was Professor Zee talking about? Which side was he really on? Why was he the one who hit Gem, knocking him unconscious? What about Fourth? Is he safe? Or maybe he was kidnapped too? And where were they?
Gemini was allowed enough freedom to wander around the low, small and gloomy room. He searched his pockets, but to no avail. He didn't even have a phone. There was no way to notify anyone of what had happened. But Gemini didn't give in to dark thoughts. He believed in his friends, but most of all he believed in his boyfriend's intelligence and cunning. He knew he could always count on Fourth. That comforted him.
He found abandoned cans of spray paint in the corner, two pink, one yellow, three black and one red. He took a red one in his hand and simply out of boredom started drawing a big heart.
“If I die, at least I have the opportunity to tell my Fourth one last time how much I love him and how glad I am that he is in my life”.
The empty, gray walls were perfect for graffiti. Gemini turned a pink paint can and used it to write their nicknames in an ornate font: "Gemini+Fourth," and then re-edited the words with yellow spray paint. He took a few steps back to admire his handiwork. For years he had seen those street doodles that sometimes they were real works of art, he dreamed of trying it himself. Now his dream has come true, but in such cruel circumstances!
There was still something missing there. Against the background of a red heart, he added the inscription: "Love Always Win, Choose Love".
Apart from the paints, there were only bottles of water in the room, but Gemini didn't even intend to go near them. He suspected that they might contain something that would knock him off his feet, knocking him unconscious again or even ending his miserable life as an artist. The smell of the spray paint seemed to do a good job of neutralizing the previous stench of damp and mold. Gemini didn't try to scream. He didn't want to piss NuNew off even more. He was sure that the bastard had somehow bribed or blackmailed Professor Zee at the last minute, and now the two of them were somewhere close, making fun of the kids' stupidity and naivety.
Gemini wasn't worried anymore. He had come to terms with what was to come. He knew how clever NuNew was and he had a feeling that it was he himself, Gemini, who had been fooled like a small, unknowing child. He was the one who was framed. He lost.
But that didn't matter, he still had P'Singto and P'First in reserve. There were also other policemen. Someone will surely come to his aid and find him soon.
However, as the minutes and then hours passed, it became noticeably cooler in the basement. Gemini, who had almost melted during the day from the overwhelming heat, was now starting to shiver from the cold. Suddenly he began to wish that NuNew would take pity on him and bring him even the flimsiest blanket to cover himself and keep warm.
His stomach growled with hunger. He was also thirsty, but he was still afraid to touch the bottles of water standing in the corner of the room. With each passing hour he grew weaker and weaker, and as his strength faded, so did his hope that someone would find him. He was trapped, but only before dawn did he realize the hopelessness of his situation.
Sometime around midnight, NuNew came into the basement, bringing him a long suede coat of an indeterminate color, while Zee followed obediently behind him with a tray filled with food. However, when Zee placed it on the floor in front of Gemini, Norawit was disappointed to discover that all the dishes were just artificial imitations made of plastic and something else.
“What? You didn't think we'd bring you real food, did you? You damn dog servant! You wanted to betray us, right? Did you think I was some naive kid who could be easily fooled? Sorry for the disappointment, but no one has beaten me yet. But if you want to know, yes, you were right. I'm Annabelle and Annabelle is the one who will put you to sleep tonight”.
NuNew laughed, a sinister, dark, mirthless laugh.
“You stupid little star, did you really think someone like you could beat someone as brilliant as me? You had no chance against me from the very beginning. I can't believe you were so dense!”
“Okay, if you say so, at least explain to me what we all did to you? What did I do to you? And Heart with LiMing, what have they done to you?”
NuNew placed his hand on Gem's shoulder, bringing his face dangerously close to Gem's. Norawit wanted to move away, but he had nowhere to run, his back was almost against the icy cold wall of the basement.
“Don't you know?”
“No I don't know. How would I know?”
“And I thought you conducted a thorough investigation into this matter. Apparently I was wrong. Well, you're going to die soon anyway, so there's no risk of you blabbing anyone. Which means I can actually tell you. Sit down!” NuNew ordered, pushing Gem brutally to the floor. Zee had left for a moment and now came back, offering a large, comfortable, pink and black pillow, on which NuNew sat down.
Both Zee and NuNew were dressed in warm, comfortable tracksuits and jackets. Gemini, feeling the cold seep into his bones, pushed aside the last of his pride and accepted the cloak offered to him, putting it on. He immediately felt a little better, but he was still hungry.
“Gun was… well, he was my boyfriend, but he cheated on me. Are you surprised? Oh yes, your Fourth's twin was with me. He made me fall in love with him, and then he left me for some bimbo. We were together for half a year, I gave him everything, including my position in our gang, in which I'm still the boss. And then, as if nothing had happened, he announced that we had to break up because he would soon become a father. This kid is a father?! After all, he was only just over nineteen at the time, what did he know about being a father at that age? In his naivety, he told me everything. I suspect their whole family is just as fucked up. I found out that he was pretending to be someone nicknamed LiMing to that girl. I asked who he was. Gun replied that he was the third one because they were born as triplets, but their mother took LiMing to live with her. I followed them. I found out that LiMing had a deaf boyfriend with whom he went abroad. I plotted the best revenge in the world: I forced Gun to tell Heart that LiMing had betrayed him. But that damned Heart wasn't so stupid after all. He didn't believe it. He claimed that he knew his boyfriend and trusted him. This really pissed me off, but you see, Gemini, I'm a really gracious person, so I decided to give them another chance. I brought this girl with me. It was hard because she had just given birth some time earlier. Did you know that this weird girl also thought LiMing was the father of her child? When she saw him, she admitted it was him. I wish you could see their faces! Simply beautiful! Oh, how pathetic they were! I wanted Gun to suffer with guilt for the death of his brother and his boyfriend for the rest of his life. I called him to their apartment and told him to choose: either shoot his child or shoot LiMing. Apparently LiMing meant much less to him because he chose to kill him. I guess you know the rest of the story”.
“Okay, but what does my Fourth have to do with this? He hasn't done anything wrong?”
“Oh well? He just reminds me of Gun, so I have to get rid of him too. You're going to die soon anyway, so don't worry, you won't see your loved one again. If I were you, I would be happy, because at least you don't have to watch a brother kill a brother in the name of something as stupid and incomprehensible as fatherly love”.