THIRD-PERSON POV
It was supposed to be a peaceful and sunny holiday, but now it had turned into a cloudy day of suffering. The only son in the family was sitting on bed and holding his boyfriend. Pete buried his face in the other person's shoulder, he let his tears drip on the other person's clothes without even saying a word. The other party placed both hands on Pete's back and stroked him gently. He then moved his hand and stroked his head. He was giving Pete his endless care and comfort.
"Ae..."
When the quarrel downstairs stopped, Pete shakily called out for him, and Ae carefully listened.
"My father will try to separate us."
"What did you say?!?!"
Ae heard his words and quickly pushed the other party away. His eyes were filled with anxiety and worriedness. He looked at the other party who had just said those words in disbelief. Pete pressed his lips together tightly and said.
"He... He will not stop... I know my father... If he has already known about us... He will try to find a way to separate us."
"But I will never break up with you!"
Having said this sentence, Ae hugged the other person again, while using both hands to clench the other person's shoulders and emphasized...
"No matter what your father wants to do, I will not separate from you!"
These words turned on the switch of Pete's tear glands, and his tears burst out again in an instant, they were rolling down on his cheeks continuously.
"You won't break up with me... You really mean it...? No matter what... My father... says... Please don't... Don't leave me..."
"I will never break up with you! Regardless of what happens, I won't break up with you... Don't even think about it!"
The young man said in a firm and fierce tone, he then held the other party tighter. After a while, he adjusted his emotions and continued to tell his boyfriend what he wanted to hear the most in a gentle tone.
"I love you so much... How can I bear to be separated from you?"
Pete heard his words, his hands clenched the other person's clothes tightly and made it become crumpled. When Pete buried his face in the other person's shoulder, he recalled what the other person said to him before... If you already have a boyfriend, why do you need to bury your head in your knees. Your boyfriend's shoulders are always here for you... Pete had never forgotten what the other person said to him, and for the rest of his life, this shoulder would also be his utmost support.
This shoulder was smeared with his tears and became wet in a large circle, but also gave him the reason to be brave.
"I don't want to break up... don't want to..."
"No one can separate us!"
The door was opened, and the two people who were embracing looked at the direction of the sound, then saw the elder who was standing in front of the door with a serious expression on her face.
Putch had only argued with her ex-husband for a few minutes, but she already looked so exhausted that she looked like she had just become a few years older. This also made Ae understand that his lover's mother also felt exhausted because of the situation, but when he saw her determined eyes, his respect for Putch became even greater.
"Mom... Father, he..."
"Your father has left, Pete."
When Putch finished, she approached her son and sat down. She wiped away the tears for her son, but she herself was already teary.
"Mom is sorry, I let you witness these kind of things again..."
"I think I should go out first."
Ae saw that they were crying and quickly asked to leave. He knew that he should not stay and listen to their family affairs, but Putch slowly shook her head.
"No, Ae. You are also a member of our family. It has already been like this, you should also know everything."
After that, Putch turned around to look at her son.
"It's okay."
"Mom, are you okay? What do you want to say? What did he do to you?"
Pete sat closer to his mother while looking at her from head to toe to see if she was injured anywhere. Putch formed a weak smile and blinked her eyes to try to hold back the tears that was about to fall down.
She only had one son in her life, so she would do everything she could to protect him.
"Your father doesn't dare to do anything to me, I know that this man only talks the talk."
Putch said as if this was just a joke, she gently touched her son's head and said.
"No one will be separated from anyone. Pete, you and Ae don't have to break up."
"But grandma..."
Pete suddenly mentioned this because although he was still worried about his father, he also didn't want his grandmother to know about this at the same time. She was already quite old, no one could guarantee what bad things might happen to her when she knew about her grandson's sexual orientation. Putch had no choice but sigh.
"Your father won't tell her."
"Why are you so sure, mom?"
My father will not make use of this opportunity to hurt my mother?
Putch sighed after hearing what he said.
"Not long ago, your grandmother's medical examination report came out. The result was not very good. In fact, I think this time your father didn't come back to see you. It was more like he came back to see your grandmother. I told him if he wanted to kill his own mother, then he was more than welcome to tell her about this... Your father probably won't dare to do it. Pete, the fact that he still stays here in Thailand is all because of your grandmother, he does not dare to take the risk as he may cause your grandmother to have a heart attack when he tells her."
After listening to these reasons, Ae was even more certain that this father was really rotten to the core.
He was not concerned about his wife or his children or even his mother. He only cared about himself.
"So, you can rest assured. This will not reach your grandmother's ears, but..."
Putch sighed and turned her head to look at her son's boyfriend with a worried look on her face.
"Ae... You have to be careful during this time. I don't know what that man will do to you. He can't do anything to me or Pete, so he will probably try to deal with you."
Ae calmly listened to what Putch said, and his boyfriend looked at him with a worried expression on his face, but Ae smiled.
"Don't worry, I will be careful. Also, no matter what happens, I will not break up with Pete."
Ae said firmly and smiled at the two. He wanted to make them rest assured. He was more than ready to deal with that man anytime.
No matter what happens, I won't break up with Pete!
Ae firmly said this to himself.
Ever since he heard about the evil deeds of this devil, Ae had the feeling that he would have to face this man alone soon. But he did not expect that as he just stepped out of his boyfriend's house, it would happen. When he was on his way to the bus station, a car slowly approached him and stopped next to him, he still continued walking ahead...
The driver side window was lowered and the figure of the person who had just insulted his son caught his eyes. Ae was extremely surprised but then quickly formed a wai at the other person.
"Sawasdee krab."
"So it's you who cling onto my son."
His first sentence caught Ae off guard. He clenched his hands, but his mind told him to stay calm. After all, the other party is an elder. If he accidentally slipped his mouth and cussed at him, then everything would be over for him. The other party would have the right to say that Pete had no taste and just blindly picked up an uneducated person from the side of the road. When he thought about it, Ae had no choice but to talk to him in a polite manner.
"If what you meant was that we were together, then yes, I am in a relationship with Pete."
His gaze was determined and certain, and there was no trace of anxiety and uneasiness. He used this kind of gaze to look at the rich elder in front of him, and Pum started to show displeasure on his face.
This arrogant brat!! I'll show you how ignorant you are!!!
"How much did Pete give you?"
The insulting words were coming him again. Ae held off breathing after hearing his sentence. His instinct told him to give the other person a punch in the face, but in the end, he took a deep breath.
"We are lovers, not transactionally sexual partners."
"So you do it for free then."
Asshole! That was how you said about your own child?!?! Such a scumbag!
Although in his mind, he was cursing this man, but on the surface, he still stayed calm, but his hands already clenched so tightly to the extent that his knuckles turned white. He didn't want to act impulsively, he didn't want to give the other party the excuse to make things more difficult for Pete. At this point, the other party sneered at him, then picked up a checkbook and a pen and started to write something on it.
"Here is 300,000... Break up with him."
"I don't need money!"
"Oh? You think it's too little then?"
Although Ae told the other person in a firm tone, but he just shrugged. He tore off the previous check and wrote another one.
"How about 3,000,000... Take the money and get the hell out of my son's life... I will never let him do what he's doing now and destroy the reputation of our family!!!"
A check was handed from the car window, and the arrogant voice also came from the other person, as if he was evaluating how much his son's happiness was worth. This made Ae cannot stand anymore.
"Take it, just consider that I'm doing some charitable work."
Ae looked at the check with an indifferent expression on his face, then looked up at the man who thought that money could buy everything. He was still holding the check in midair. In the end, Ae reached out his hand to take the check.
"Oh? You're smarter than my stupid son after all..."
<Rip>
"!!!"
Ae tore the check to pieces as if it was some sort of used paper, then raised his hand up in front of the other party, pieces of paper were falling down like snowflakes. Then Ae lowered his expressionless face, leaned closer to the car window, and said to the other person in a tone full of righteousness.
"Take your stinky money to the orphanage for charity, many people over there need money... So when you die, you won't go to hell because of all bad things you have done to your wife and your son... I'm leaving."
In the end, after nearly a minute of staring at the other party, Ae once again formed a wai at the other party and said goodbye.
And then, the young man who had just 'educated' the elder turned around and left, leaving behind the other party who was sitting in the car and watching Ae's back with his penetrating eyes.
"Stupid brat, do you know who I am?!?!"
Ae didn't care at all. His feet still quickly brought him far away from the scene, because he was worried if he stayed there any longer, he couldn't guarantee that he would not commit a battery.
Pete's father stayed at the same place, clenched his fists and got extremely angry.
"It's just like what Deli said, it's you who lead my son to walk on this absurd road of no return! I don't have a gay son! Remember that!!"
In the end, he was not worried about how his son would be treated in this society, he was just worried about how other people would look at him if they knew his eldest son was gay.
****
"Ae... Do you know... that your brother have made it!!!"
"Hm?"
"Hahaha!! It's the bidding for the home improvement project that I told you. Our bid submission is in line with the budget plan of the home appliance group! When we win, we can get a big order."
"OK."
"When we already have the money, how about our whole family traveling abroad? I want to see N'Yim wearing a sweater."
"OK."
After coming back home from his lover's house, Ae was having a lot on his mind, but his brother did not notice at all, he still immersed in his own fantasy. He thought that his brother would be just as happy as other members in the family, but then he realized that even though he said a lot, the other person only replied with one word. P'Oh frowned.
"What happened to him, Nut?"
He waited until his brother went upstairs to his room. The older brother turned around and looked at his wife who was holding his child.
"Why do you ask me? N'Yim, do you know what happened to your uncle Ae?"
The little girl, who was just three years old, giggled and shook her head.
"I don't know what happened to uncle Ae, but I know what happened to mom!"
"Hm?"
After the father heard what she said, he turned his head to stare at his wife with a puzzled look on his face. He didn't know what happened to his wife. The little girl put her little hand on her mother's stomach.
"Hubby, you have good news... I also have good news..."
"Don't tell me..."
Oh opened his eyes widely and looked down at his wife's stomach, then glanced at his wife's face in disbelief. Then he heard his daughter say straightforwardly.
"I am going to have a younger brother or sister, daddy~~~"
"Yes! Yes! My effort was not in vain!!!"
"Oh! Be quiet! Do you want to let the whole street know?!?!"
The father and daughter were thunderstruck by this good news that made them forget everything, and the pregnant woman quickly told them to speak in a lower volume. When the husband with his daughter ran towards her and picked her up, Nut almost shouted out loud. Oh gave his wife a several kisses on her face before letting go of her.
"I will be back soon."
<Thump Thump Thump>
"Dad!! Mom!! I'm gonna be a father!!!"
After that, the man who looked serious (like his brother) hurriedly walked along the railing to the restaurant next door. His shout startled the customers who were eating at the restaurant. Everyone turned their heads and stared at him. And the woman who would be a grandmother soon was holding a spatula and stir-frying some veggies. She replied in a lively tone.
"We already know! You are the last one to know."
"Oh! How can this be? No, no! There was no way that Ae knew... Ae, have you heard it? You are going to be an uncle!"
As soon as he heard what his mother said, the excited father rushed to the door of the restaurant, lifted his head up and shouted at the younger brother who was upstairs.
Ae stuck his head out of the window, he raised his hand to make a gesture to show that he already knew it, and then disappeared from the eyesight again. The older brother stood there alone with a happy look on his face.
After Ae stepped back from the window, he squeezed his joints of hands on both sides and threw himself on the bed.
Although he did feel happy that his brother won the bid and expected the second child, there was only one thing in his heart and mind... Pete.
To be honest, he didn't know what the other party's father would do.
He was not sure if what he said today would anger him, and then he would do something harmful to Pete or aunt Putch.
"No matter what happens, I will never break up with you!"
In the end, Ae repeated this sentence to himself, then put his hand on his left chest.
Even he couldn't believe that he had become such a person... that he himself from two years ago couldn't imagine.
The person who always scolded his friends for their 'dates before mates' behaviors had gone. From now on, there was only this Ae, who couldn't survive if he left a man named Pitchaya.
"I love you. I love you so much that I can't afford to lose you."
Pete's last kidnapping made him understand that if Pete was no longer in his life, then he was simply just a body without a soul.
A week had passed, and Ae and Pete carried on their normal lives in peace. Everything was so calm... too calm for a man who clearly expressed his dislike for his son.
He did not go to see him.
He did not call to insult him.
There was no accident happened at all.
Everything was so calm, but Pete, the son, started to feel a little worried.
"It's good that nothing happens, you don't need to think about it too much."
"I can't help it, Ae. My father won't accept his defeat easily... In the past, he was dragging the matter with my mother for months... So I'm afraid that when he appears again, he will cause even a bigger trouble."
Ae asked himself after listening to the other party, although a week had passed, he never told his boyfriend about the fact that his father wanted to bribe him with money, because he thought it was not important. The point was... he never had the intention to receive even a single penny from the other party. Therefore, the reason why the other person's father didn't show up was probably because he knew that he could not buy him with money.
"If anything happens to you, you have to tell me."
Pete repeated it over and over again, which made Ae grin.
"Okay, if something serious happens, I will tell you."
Only if it is serious...
Ae said to himself the last sentence, because he didn't want the other person to worry about him. Ae was talking on the phone while carrying a bag and made a turn into the alley where his house was, because today was the weekend, he had to go home. During this time, Pete and he also agreed not to go to the each other's houses, because they did not want to become someone's target.
"By the way, can you send my congratulation to P'Oh, he's gonna be a father soon... Should we buy some gifts for him?"
"Haha, it's still pregnant period, my sister-in-law has the baby just recently, no need to buy any gift. It's still not too late to wait until she gives birth and give her some presents."
Pete was laughing like a happy little bunny, when he knew that Ae would have a nephew or a niece soon, he felt even happier than the uncle. Pete even asked the other party if he knew what the child's gender was. How could he know, the child was only two months old, if he knew then he was really something else.
"You are teasing me again."
"I'm not... Alright... I'll hang up now, I'll call you later tonight."
Ae hung up the phone, then walked towards the front door, then he frowned, because he saw the roller shutter of his mother's restaurant being pulled down. Every Saturday was their busy day, there was no way his mother would choose today to have a rest. When he saw the hardware store of his brother was also closed, he felt even weirder.
"Don't tell me..."
Ae opened his eyes widely. He quickly lifted the roller shutter up and then crouched inside the house. When he went up to the living room on the second floor...
"What happened?"
He asked anxiously when he saw the whole family sitting around in silence, only his niece was missing. Then his brother, who was so happy a week ago, looked up at him and told him.
"Nothing, just go upstairs."
"What do you mean by nothing, P? Your younger brother is no longer a child. If something happened, you have to tell me!"
Ae immediately realized that something was wrong, because everyone in the family seemed to want to tell him, but in the end they did not say anything. But the way they acted confirmed Ae's guess... Something serious had happened... and it must be really serious!
The whole family was looking at one another.
"Just tell your brother, after all he is no longer a kid."
"But he is still in uni, dad. Someone who is as hot-headed as him will definitely be unable to control himself."
The older brother pointed at Ae, but the younger brother sat down on the sofa, indicating that 'I'm not going anywhere until you tell me'. His older brother sighed helplessly and then sat down again.
"What happened after all?"
Ae asked again, and Nut sighed.
"It's about the contract."
Ae didn't understand at all, his brother was still so excited about this matter a week ago and even said told the whole family to prepare to apply for the passports.
"Here's the thing. We sent them the catalogue of the first batch of our products. Then we were informed that it was not the batch that we agreed upon at the time of the bidding. They also said that our products did not meet the standard. The other party said that we were at fault, so they terminated all the contracts that they have signed with us."
"But we did not make any mistake."
Ae firmly believed that his family would not make them poorly, and his brother would not be so careless that he would send the customers the wrong products.
"Yes, we sent the right one, but the other party said that it was not the model that they wanted, all our products also do not meet the standard. They also said that they wanted to use products of another party and returned all our products. But the point is, I have already invested a lot of money on this batch of goods."
This time, it was P'Oh who explained to his brother. His current gloomy face formed a stark contrast with his previous joyful face. Ae could totally see it.
"It's obvious that they are messing with us."
"Yes, but we can't do anything."
Brother responded with concern and continued to explain.
"I have contacted my friend who is a lawyer. He said that we can sue them because we are not at fault. But the court needs time to judge, and it usually takes a long time before the judgment comes out ... but I have already mortgaged our house to secure a loan from the bank... and also borrowed some money from the loan shark."
Ae was so shocked that he couldn't even say anything, he looked at his brother in front of him who was recklessly ruffling his hair with his hands. In his eyes, his brother was always a thoughtful person.
"You also know that those loan sharks charge extremely high rates of interest..."
"Because I was very confident that the profit we could make from this project would be a lot. I just borrowed them some money as liquidity for the first batch. When I got the first payment, I would have the money to pay off the loan shark, and would also have the money to make the second batch!! How could I know that things would become like this!!!"
His older brother shouted at him as if he had lost his mind. Nut quickly pulled her husband's arm.
"Oh, calm down."
Hearing the reminder from his wife, Oh quickly formed a wai to apologize.
"I'm sorry, Ae. I am just...*sigh* ...forget it."
The younger brother rubbed his hands against each other and asked.
"How much is the debt?"
"It's three million now, the house mortgage has taken two million, and I borrowed from the loan shark one million."
Isn't it such a coincidence? This amount was the exact amount that someone suggested to give him.
"Uncle Ae~~~"
"Why do you come here, sweetie?"
Just as everyone was upset because of this problem, a little girl walked in while rubbing her eyes, her mother quickly approached her.
"It was too noisy, so I woke up, uncle Ae is back already, I want to play with my uncle Ae."
N'Yim said with an innocent childlike voice. Her grandfather quickly said.
"Ae, play with N'Yim a little bit. Leave it to the adults to discuss about it."
Ae didn't want to do as his father said, but he also knew that in their eyes he was still just a kid. Even if he continued to stay here, he couldn't do anything to help... So he had to reach out one hand and held his little niece's hand, then took her upstairs. And his other hand was clenching into a fist and making this crackle sound.
It was that man who did it! He deliberately forced my family into this situation!
Although Ae said that nothing happened and told him not to think too much, but Pete knew his father, he would definitely carry out some schemes.
His father would never be willing to give up. When he thought about this... he started to feel worried.
Something must have happened to Ae, his father must have done something, but... what exactly had he done?
<Ring... Ring>
At this point, the phone rang, Pete turned around to have a look. As soon as he saw the caller ID, he became extremely nervous. The hand that was stretching out to grab the mobile phone also started shaking...
"Hello, father."
"You really think that he would willingly give up a large amount of money just to stay with you, Pete?"
"Father... What do you mean?"
Pete asked cautiously, the other party laughed after hearing what he said.
"I will teach you now, in this world, money can buy anything. If you were with Deli, this would not happen to you!"
"What did you do, father? What did you do? Tell me!"
"You should ask that brat yourself!"
"Father!!!"
Pete hadn't gotten the answer yet, and the other party had already hung up. He shouted out loud, and the hand holding the phone was shaking. He had the feeling that... his father must have done something to Ae, Pete then turned around to look at the wall clock... it was already past 10 pm.
Pete did not think of anything, he grabbed his wallet and his mobile phone, then ran downstairs to get the car key and drove to the Nonthaburi.
He didn't know what his father had done, he just wanted to see if Ae was still safe or not.
"What else can I do?!"
The hour hand on the clock pointed at the number 12, but it seemed that the whole family was not in the mood to go to sleep. At the same time, even though the light in Ae's room was off, he was staring at the ceiling with his eyes wide open while putting his hand on his forehead. He didn't know what to do next.
Yes, he felt deeply guilty for bringing trouble to his family, but did he really have to accept Pete's father's money so shamelessly just like that?
"Sorry, P, I can't do it."
The family-loving man muttered, he rubbed his hair, and then sat up.
In fact, Ae wanted to tell his brother who was the one stood behind all of this. But he was afraid that his family would not accept Pete, afraid that his family would not accept their relationship. This concern made this fearless person afraid to tell them everything.
If his family wanted them to break up, he probably might run away with Pete.
"What should I do to make things better... What should I do?"
Ae sighed and looked at the night sky outside the window...
When his eyes glanced pass the street light on the side of the road, he saw a person standing next to the expensive car, he quickly leaned his face closer to the window.
"Pete!"
Ae hurriedly opened the window and called out his name. At this time, Pete was holding the phone. When he heard his shout, he quickly looked up. His handsome face looked like he was about to cry, and Ae hurriedly shouted again.
"Stay right there! I am coming down in a minute!"
Then Ae ran down the stairs, the whole family was startled by his steps. They quickly rushed outside and turned on the light, then they saw... two boys hugging each other in front of the door.
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Man... My head is spinning and I'm seeing stars because of those business and financial terms...