Two weeks later:
Kongpob brushed the hair off his face, he was currently bent over Officer Tee's belongings. P'Ran had stuck him with desk duty, not convinced of his health being well enough to be in the field. He had to sort through Tee's things for his family.
He smiled at the pictures Tee had kept stuffed in his drawer, pictures of his family. He clutched at his chest, often feeling sore and out of breath. As he rummaged further into the desk, he retrieved a wooden chest. Surprisingly, it was locked, Kongpob looked around for a key. When he was unable to retrieve one, he twisted one end of a paperclip in the lock.
A wad of bunched up receipts fell out. He peered carefully at the numbers, they seemed to all be coming from a single bank account. It was probably an invasion of privacy, but his curiousity propelled him to run the account number in the database.
Kongpob stared at the screen, not quite able to believe what he was seeing. He ran a hand over his face, it didn't make sense. Tee had been receiving regular payments from Somchai, the payments stopped around the time Somchai had been arrested. What had Tee been doing for Somchai?
Kongpob had been sitting in silence for such a long time, that he was taken aback when P'Ran dropped by.
"How's desk duty going, Kong?"
"Take a look at this, P'Ran."
P'Ran leaned over to look at his PC, he stared at Kongpob in astonishment.
"What does this mean, Kong?"
"It means, we've found the mole. Tee was the one leaking information to Somchai. But, I think, he stopped after Somchai was arrested."
"Why would he stop if he was getting rewarded handsomely?"
Kongpob sighed, his brows were furrowed.
"The one person who could have told us, is sadly, no more. I just don't understand why? Why did Tee have to do that?"
Niran inhaled sharply, he patted Kongpob on the back.
"We all have our shades of grey, Kong. Obviously, Tee was wrestling with his own demons."
"Perhaps, you're right."
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Arthit closed his laptop with an air of finality. He had done it, he had finally managed to solve the evasive structural issue they had been facing. Tew was lurking nearby, hoping to chat with Arthit, but not knowing how to broach the topic.
"P'Arthit?"
"Oh, N'Tew. What is it?"
"I wondered if Kong told you, about - well - about what I told him -"
Arthit knew of course. After Kongpob had been discharged, they had spent an entire week together. Kongpob had told him about Tew's dilemma then.
"Yes, he did."
Tew looked relieved that he wouldn't have to rehash everything, and could just cut to the chase.
"Maprang and I have decided to raise our child together, we're not getting married, but I think it's better, that way."
Arthit realised Tew was looking to him for some reassurance that he was doing the right thing. He patted Tew on the back.
"You're going to be fine. We're around if you need anything."
Arthit was taken aback by the fierce hug Tew sprung on him. He heard Tew mumble something into his neck.
"P', I'm scared. I don't know how to tell my parents, or Maprang's parents for that matter. They're going to insist that we get married."
"When you're old enough to father a child, you're old enough to face your parents. It's going to be alright, and if it isn't, and everything goes to shit, know this, you have Kong and me. It will be okay, you'll see -"
Arthit comforted a hyperventilating Tew, all the while thinking, that Kongpob would have been better equipped to handle this situation. He had the uncanny ability of knowing just the right thing to say.
"Thank you, P'Arthit."
"Anytime, N'Tew."
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Kongpob was helping Arthit pack up his things. Arthit had finally decided to leave his old apartment, considering he spent all his days and nights in Kongpob's apartment anyway. It had been seamless, the decision. While having dinner one day, Kongpob had asked him rather nonchalantly.
"P'Arthit, have you realised something? You haven't been to your apartment in over a month now."
Arthit bristled, was Kongpob suggesting he had overstayed his welcome. Not one to succumb to his pride, he had snapped.
"If I'm coming underfoot, just say the word, and I'll be out of your hair."
"Of course not, P'Arthit. You should know, that's not what I meant. Not at all -"
Kongpob looped his arms around his neck, moving into his space, till they were separated by the finest of distances.
"This is me asking you to move in with me, P'Arthit. So, will you do it?"
It wasn't even up for debate, Arthit knew he would never be able to refuse particularly when Kongpob looked at him like that. Like, he was the most precious thing in the world.
"Yes."
Which had led to this moment, where Kongpob was elbow deep in Arthit's old correspondence.
"Should I throw this out, P'?"
Arthit would look over his shoulder and tell him then. This continued for a while, before Kongpob struck upon an envelope with his name on the front. He pulled the sheet of paper from inside. It was Arthit's handwriting.
'It's been said that you don't ever truly realise how certain people can affect your life. I find truth in that somewhere. It's also been said that you don't quite realise what you have till it's gone. And I find truth in that, in every aspect, when it comes to you. Because, you see, time is a tricky thing.
You don't realise that either till a moment has passed and disappeared. Like when you had an opportunity and chose not to embrace it. When you should have said something, but let the fear swallow your words. When you could have loved someone ...and you did. You just didn't realise it at the time. And now it's too late.
You didn't look. You didn't try. And you thought you would be able to figure it out because that person would always be around. Time to think. Time to decide. Time to learn. But you were wrong. And that's the other thing about time. It waits for no one.
I met you a year ago, and back then, I could have never anticipated how much you'd come to mean to me. And now it's too late to tell you or act on it. Time changed. You changed. Everything changed. But you should know that I'll always be eternally grateful for meeting you. Thank you for becoming the greatest twelve months of my life.'
Kongpob didn't know what the letter meant and why Arthit had written it to him, but never sent it. Before, he could contemplate further, it was snatched out of his hand by an angry Arthit.
"Who told you to open that?"
"Oh, but P', it had my name on it. Why didn't you ever give me this letter?"
Arthit couldn't meet his eyes. He spoke so softly that Kongpob had to crane his ears to hear him.
"I never meant to send you this letter. I wrote it after you changed to economics. I wrote it to remind myself, of what I had lost, that day, on the Rama VIII bridge."
"Don't be sad, P'Arthit. You have me now, I'm all yours for the rest of our lives."
Arthit looked off into the distance, allowing himself to be swept into Kongpob's awaiting arms. He whispered in Kongpob's ear.
"Does it make me a terrible person, if I say, I'm glad everything happened, if only to ensure, you came back in my life? To give me a second chance at love."
Kongpob looked at him seriously for a brief moment.
"No, it doesn't, because if it does, then I'm a terrible person too."
Arthit pulled Kongpob towards him, and kissed him gently. They would have disagreements, they wouldn't be Arthit and Kongpob without them. Sometimes silly, sometimes more of the serious kind. But through it all, they would prevail, because amor vincit omnia. Love conquers all.
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A/N: There you go, that's the end of 'The Second Chance'. Thank you all for staying with me through this story which spanned over a few months, now. I hope to meet you all in another story, in the future.
Till then, this is where I say my goodbye. I'm going to miss you all.
-spectral
PS : The mystery was the mole within the police department feeding information to Somchai the first time around.