Tharn immediately called Forth and dashed out of Puifai's medical ward. He ran like there was no tomorrow. Once Forth picked up the call, he blurted out, "Forth! God, fetch me at the lobby! It's fucking Lhong who planned all of this!!!" He was unconsciously shouting out.
All people he passed by along the hall were looking at him. Some recognized that he was the Prince, and some were clueless.
He crashed into some of the patients and they yelled at him. Even the nurses and the doctors had to remind him to walk. But none of that mattered right now since Type was in danger. His husband could be dead by now if he was late any second.
When he reached the lobby, Forth had just arrived as well. He pushed on the break until it screeched. Tharn hurriedly climbed on the vehicle and Forth drove the car away.
"What happened?" Forth inqueried, he hadn't heard the reason of Tharn's sudden phone call. All he knew was that his friend was in panic state.
"Type is in danger!!" Tharn answered as he pulled his hair with both of his hands. He was totally frustrated and at lost.
"He is with Lhong now???" Forth frowned. He hit the steering wheel with his palm when Tharn gave him a vigorous nods. "Fuck!" Forth cursed and threw his head to the back.
"How did you know?" Forth asked him again.
"Puifai kept pointing at the flowers Lhong bought for her and to the apples he peeled for her and she gestured slicing her own neck. That's when it hit me that it's fucking Lhong behind all of this mess. He's the master mind!" Tharn explained.
"Shit. I was just going to inform you that it's him when you called me! And now we're few minutes late!" Forth was as strained as Tharn himself.
"My men just succeeded in getting the information about the name that booked those hotel rooms as well as the brain behind the trap that was set for Puifai years ago." Forth explained to his friend while the other guy was oppressed.
Tharn gritted his teeth as he curled his fists. He wanted to kill that bastard so bad. He swore if he ever injured Type the slightest, Lhong wouldn't even see the sunrise tomorrow.
"At first, I thought the culprit was threatening you and was after the throne... I thought he used Puifai and Type to make you back off...." Forth conveyed his thought, "But seems like he isn't after the throne...." He added as he glanced at Tharn next to him.
"What do you mean....?" Tharn confusedly asked while sniffing.
"I think he's... he's after you, Tharn..." Forth had set his eyes back to the road in front of them.
"...What..?" Tharn was yet to understand.
Forth sighed before he explained his guy, "He is after you, not your throne. He wants to eliminate every lover of yours and make himself as the only one you could have..."
"What???" Tharn shivered and his eyes widened when Forth told his thought.
"I heard from my Father that he was one of the candidate to be your spouse. But he lost to Type because the King likes Type more than him. And it's weird that Puifai doesn't know about this... he should have told her when he became the candidate since they have been best friends since they were little, but I found it odd when Puifai has no slightest idea about it... This fact added more into my suspicion."
Tharn banged his knuckle to the window. He was sick thinking the most twisted story he had ever heard his entire life.
He started to sob as he realized that Lhong was going to hurt Type, "That bastard fucking brings a knife with him!!!" He wailed harder as he threw his head to the back and kicked the dashboard in aggravation.
"Shit..." Forth could only cussed in this situation. He wished he found out about Lhong sooner. And he could only hope that they were in time to save Type.
"What if... what if... he...." Tharn could not finish his sentence because he just couldn't bring himself to think that Type was badly injured. Or even death was lurking around by the corner if they were late.
"He's fine. He's gonna be fine." Forth tried to comfort his best friend when he knew those were empty words.
He then fished out his phone and placed a phone call. "Track Type's and Lhong's numbers and send me the live location of him." He didn't wait for the person at the end of the line to answer when he cut the call.
"We will get to know where they are, Tharn. Calm yourself down." Forth passed him a bottle of water but the other guy refused to consume it. It was not the time to drink or even eat anything when he couldn't even grasp Type's whereabout and his condition right now.
His head almost exploded thinking about a possibility that his husband would be injured or even died when they finally reached him.
What if... what if he never got a chance to see Type anymore. What if Type could not lead a happy life together with him anymore.
There were so many things he wanted to do with his husband they even promised to stay together. "Please be safe, Type. Don't leave me just yet... Hang in there..." Tharn muttered sorrowfully. He kept chanting those words both in his mind and verbally.
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Type blinked slowly when Lhong invited him to buy dinner out of the hospital premises. He thought they were going to buy dinner at the hospital's food court. But Lhong had a different mind.
"So?" Lhong raised his brows as he curved up his lips, waiting for Type to take his invitation. He smiled wider when the other guy agreed with him.
"What do you want to eat?" Lhong asked as he opened his car door and followed by Type.
"Anything's fine." Type answered immediately. He buckled the safety belt across his body.
"Let's go to my favorite dimsum place! It's nearby," Lhong suggested cheerfully. Type nodded in agreement.
Lhong didn't lie when he said the dimsum place was nearby the hospital. Type followed him to the table at the corner. The dimsum place was located at the side road.
"It's my usual spot whenever I come here." Lhong said without even having Type to ask him first. "Do you want to see the menu first?" He offered.
Type nodded and took the booklet consisted of the menu. "What's the most recommended dish here?" He queried.
Lhong pursed his lips as he thought, "I like hakau and chicken feet the best."
Type hummed and nodded, "Then I'll order that. You can choose the rest." He said as he closed the booklet.
Lhong smiled wider, "I'll go order to Aunty right there."
Type saw Lhong walked away and the image of Puifai's terrified face came to his mind. Something was definitely fishy. He wanted to know what happened to them since as far as he knew, Puifai and Lhong were best friends. Lhong was the one who brought him to meet Puifai.
He was still in his deep thought when Lhong came back to their table. "What are you thinking?" His question pulled Type out of his thought.
Type smiled thinly as he shook his head.
"So, you come here often?" It was Type's turn to ask Lhong.
"Mmm, I usually come here when I feel good or when something exciting is going to happen." He tittered.
"What exactly are you feeling good about?" Type couldn't help but ask.
Lhong chuckled hearing that, as if Type asked him something ridiculous, "Because Puifai and you are getting better, of course! What else?" He even added a wink at Type.
Type thought he had been thinking too much since Lhong was acting like his usual self: cheerful and funny. He tried to shake away the negative thought in his mind. Maybe he had a false accusation this time.
But Puifai's frightened face kept bugging him. Did they fight and Puifai is still angry towards him?
"Are you fighting with Puifai?" Type blurted out before he could stop himself.
Lhong raised his brows, he totally didn't expect such question, "No. Why?"
Type shrugged, "I don't know... it's just... Puifai didn't seem to be comfortable around you earlier."
Lhong chuckled, "Yeah? Did she tell you that?"
Type shook his head, "She can't speak.. remember?" He reminded the other guy before him.
"How did you know then?" Lhong asked again.
"Well, she looked terrified in my eyes when you came in with your sunflowers." Type shared his thought.
"Maybe she was shocked to see me bringing her favorite flowers..." Lhong guessed.
Type nodded since that made sense too. He fell silent when the Aunty brought the dishes they ordered. They were plentiful. He remembered he ordered two foods only, but Lhong ordered a ton.
"It's too much, don't you think? How could we finish this?" Type was aghast seeing the amount of food piling up on their table.
Lhong chuckled and winked again, "Eat as much as you want, Type... Enjoy it while you can... because this could be your last meal..."
Type stopped his movement to get the dimsum with his chopsticks hanging mid air. He slowly looked up only to see Lhong was giggling.
Lhong then laughed a little bit louder than he should, "Geez, I'm just joking, Type! Why so serious?" Lhong teased the other guy.
Type smiled thinly and stifled an awkward laugh. They started to dig in the festive food on the table.
Once they had done, Lhong went to pay the bills. Type waited until Lhong's back facing him before he pulled out his phone from his pocket and texted his best friend.
He didn't want to drag Tharn along if anything got ugly that's why he chose to text Ming instead of his husband.
And another reason was because it was pretty much Tharn whom would be the target if he came along. So Type would try to get more information about it while he could.
Lhong came to fetch him after he paid the bill, "Let's go."
"You don't buy the dinner for Tharn? I'll go buy it then..." Type was going to order ones for Tharn but Lhong stopped him.
"Tharn doesn't like dimsum." He told Type the new information regarding Tharn.
Oh, he even knows his favorite, huh? Type bitterly thought as jealousy started to kick in. Come to think of it, Type hardly knew things his husband liked and disliked. He couldn't help but felt green with envy to anyone who was closer and knew more about Tharn.
"So let's go to his favorite place!" Lhong was excited. "But it's a bit far from here."
Type sighed and nodded as he followed Lhong from behind. He didn't even forget to share his live location through a messanger app.
Lhong drove away once they had gotten into the car. They were going south. It took longer time than Type thought. The lightings was getting poor as the vehicle gliding up towards the hill.
Lhong pulled over when they were high enough. Type could see the magnificent twinkling city lights of the Capital from afar.
"Is this Tharn's favorite place? I see no restaurant here.." Type asked out of the blue.
Lhong nodded and chuckled, "Favorite place doesn't have to be the place selling food, you know. It's his favorite place, indeed... where he usually broughtPuifai before he married you."
Type's stomach churned hearing that. The green monster started to crawl back again. He shooed away the negative thought. It was not the time to feel that way.
"Too bad they broke up once Tharn has set his eyes on you." Lhong teased Type even more.
Type sensed that Lhong was not joking anymore. He was being sarcastic.
"Do you hate me?" Type couldn't stop himself from blurting that out. He was bad at communicating.
Lhong chuckled, "Where do you get that idea?"
Type shrugged, "Because I've stolen Tharn from Puifai and made them broke up?" He tried to guess.
Lhong scoffed as he shook his head, "Do you think that's the case?"
"It's not?" Type crumpled his brows in confusion.
"Nope. You're so wrong this time, Type... Wish you were smarter than this so at least this game would be more interesting." Lhong snickered as he suddenly pointed out a folding knife towards Type.
Type blinked and kept his mouth shut. He didn't even flinch when Lhong threatened him with a sharp object. He had a gut that something like this would definitely happen. That was why he didn't contact Tharn but Ming.
"I thought I just had to deal with Puifai. But you came and ruined every plan I had. You were fucking nobody and suddenly you were chosen to be wedded to the Prince!" Lhong raised his voice as the emotion started to pump his blood.
Type smirked hearing that, "You finally show your true skin, huh? So you're the one who set up a trap for me and Puifai. You even paid the men to rape us."
"Yes. And that's incomparable to the ache I've been suffering for seeing what's supposedly mine to be someone else's." Lhong seethed under his breath.
"Do you think Tharn will like someone with rotten heart like you? Not that I am saint, but Puifai and I are definitely better than you." Type snickered with his cold eyes.
"Shut up!!!" Lhong exclaimed and stepped up closer to Type with the knife in his hand.
But Type was not afraid. He would squeeze the truth and get the evidence first with his recording phone even when he was on a brink of death.
But Puifai needed justice. More than Type needed it, so he would put this bastard before him in jail even when the payment was his life.
"You are filthy asshole and a fucking coward. Tharn would never be yours! If he's not with me, then he would definitely be with Puifai! There's no way Tharn would fall for someone whose heart is as ugly as yours!!!" Type gave his final blow before Lhong swayed his knife to him.
Lhong shouted out, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!"
Type fluttered his eyes close and was ready to welcome the stab of the knife on his skin but he heard a loud scream that was not coming from his mouth, "NOOOO!!!!!"
And he never got the stab that Lhong aimed at him. It was a thick silence before he heard a piercing wail that belonged to Lhong.
"THARN!!!! No, no, no, no!!!! Tharn!!! Wake up!!!!!" Lhong screamed as he lunged out to grab a body that had been weighing on Type's.
Type opened his eyes slowly only to see Tharn had been lying on the ground with his eyes shut and a thick iron scent filled the air as Tharn's blood was streaming from his wound.
Lhong was crying mournfully while hugging Tharn in his arms.
Type was stunned seeing the sight in front of him. Tears started welling up on his eyes.
He heard heavy steps and pants coming closer and closer to where they were. And those belonged to Forth who was a few seconds late.
Type turned his head to see Forth's figure that looked like he just got stroke by lightning when he saw what Type saw. Forth dropped his gun from his loose grip. He almost lost his balance.
Before anyone could grip on the situation, Type had crawled his way to Forth's side and he took the gun.
The next thing happened was a shot had been released and its loud noise was piercing through the tranquility at the hill.
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To be continued
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A/N:
I cannot sleep before I finish this chapter.
It's 2 AM. I should get some rest because today's gonna be hectic at work...
Good night everyone :)