"Call an ambulance!"
"It was from that building!"
"Ahhhhh!"
"Calm down khun!"
"Kao! Are you okay?!"
Numerous voices can be heard in the café. Everyone was in a mess.
Because of the sudden incident, the customers of the café started panicking. Everyone is running out of the café.
"Call for backup!"
"Chase after the shooter!"
'She is dead?' Upp was still in Kao's embrace. He cannot hear any other voice except his inner thought.
'She died?' Since Kao is hugging him securely, Upp was not able to move. 'Just like that?' he continued thinking.
"Upp! Hey Up! Get ahold of yourself!" Suddenly, he heard Kao's voice calling for him.
Upp raised his head and saw Kao's face looking directly at him.
'Kao...' he thought, then lowered his head again and tried to look at where Jennie's body was.
Feeling that Upp was still shaking, Kao hugged him tighter.
"She is dead" Upp finally said a word. His voice was trembling.
Kao continued hugging but did not reply to Upp's statement.
"Can you move?" He asked and tried to pull Upp up. Right now, all he need to do is move Upp away from this place and take him to safety.
When Kao pulled him up, Upp just followed along and let Kao drag him. He feels like his knees are so weak right now.
"Upp! Get a hold of yourself. You need to go somewhere safe!" Kao continued carrying Upp and dragged him to the other side of the counter. He can feel that Upp's knees are shaking, 'damn it. Get ahold of yourself Upp!' he thought then looked around.
"Upp! Hey up!" he shook Upp. Upp was still dazing off. Looking at Upp like this, Kao shook his head internally. "Upp, stay here!" he said seriously then walked back to where Jennie was and looked at her dead body.
'Damn it!' he shouted internally then looked outside.
Seeing that Upp was at the body, Park immediately walked inside the café again and asked him. "Kao! Are you okay?" he looked at the dead body and shook his head. "Damn it! The higher up didn't think that she would be assassinated. Just what kind of organization did she got herself into"
Kao did not answer and continued looking at the body.
After a while, he looked at Park. "Sir, did we capture the killer?" there was a serious tone in his voice.
Park turned to Kao and shook his head, "No. The killer ran away. From the looks of it, the killer is a hired professional" after he said that, he looked behind the counter, "how was your friend?"
'He is not my friend' Kao thought then turned to where he left Upp, "He just recovered from a stabbed wound. Now, his date is dead" he shook his head and looked at where Upp was with pity.
Park also showed a pitiful look. "What an unlucky man" he shook his head then turned to Upp, "can you handle the situation here? I will check in the station and see if we can find out who the killer is"
Kao looked at Park and nodded, "Yes, sir"
Park tapped Kao's shoulder and nodded, then walked out of the café.
Just as Kao left to go to Upp, a few police officers entered the scene and started preparing the crime scene. At the same time, the ambulance also arrived and the medical practitioners immediately started tending to witnesses of the scene.
While this was happening, Kao reached Upp.
Now, Upp was still shaking but it looks like he is not in dazed and confused anymore.
"Upp" Kao called gently. There was a hint of pity in his voice.
Upp raised his head and looked at Kao. "I am okay" he said with a shaky and dry voice as he tried to stand up; but the moment did, his feet wobbled and he got out of balance.
Because of his fast reflexes, Kao was able to catch Upp immediately, "Don't force yourself" he gripped Upp's arm and sUpported him with the rest if his body. Feeling that Upp is still trembling, Kao looked at a medical practitioner "Khun, can you please tend to him first" he placed Upp to a chair and asked him to sit down.
Upp followed and sat down. 'Shia! Calm down, Upp!' Upp closed his eyes for a second then looked at his trembling hands. He doesn't know if he is afraid or was still in shock of what happened. His hands are cold right now.
After being called by Kao, a medical practitioner immediately walked to Upp and covered him with a blanket.
"Khun, can you help me wrap this around him? This will help with the trauma. I just need to get that guy fixed first then come back immediately" the medical practitioner wrapped the blanket to Upp then asked Kao to secure the blanket on Upp's body
Kao nodded then wrapped his arms around Upp again. "Upp, try to match my breathing" Kao said as he kept hugging Upp.
As a police officer, as well as a special agent, he has training on how to handle situations like this.
Based on what he knows, he needs to compress the body of the person who was in shock to calm him down. This is the reason why he decided to give Upp a hug again.
Haering Kao's voice, Upp immediately looked at him and nodded.
Since Kao is so close to him, Upp can hear his breathing and feel the warmth coming from him.
"Okay. Inhale" Kao started inhaling and Upp followed.
"Exhale" the two exhaled in sync.
After a couple more breathing, Upp's body stopped trembling. After another exhale, Upp looked at Kao. "Thanks" he said in a shaky voice.
Kao did not say any reply and just smiled warmly. 'This is all I can do' he thought and felt pity again after remembering the incidents that have happened to Upp lately. 'I'll do my best to find who did this' he said to himself. For Kao, this is all he can do to give Up justice.
After a few more seconds, the paramedic came back to Upp and gave Kao a thank you and started tending to Upp.
"He just had an abdominal operation 2 months ago" Kao said after seeing that the paramedic was checking for Upp's injury. He did not know if it was important, but he still told the paramedic to be sure.
"Okay, krap. Thank you" the paramedic nodded then asked for people to put Upp on a wheeled stretcher.
"Thank you" Upp looked at Kao again and showed appreciation as people carried him to a stretcher.
Kao nodded, "I'll call Tommy and tell him what happened"
Upp nodded then the paramedic carried him in the ambulance.
After a while, the ambulance left.
Kao looked at the ambulance one last time then walked to where the crime happened.
'Just who are the people involved in this' he thought with a frown as he looked at the chalk outline of where Jennie's body used to be.
---
"What happened?" Tommy stormed into Upp's private room in the hospital.
Upp looked at Tommy and smiled.
"Very unlucky" he shook his head and remembered Jennie's face and immediately felt sad.
Right now, he is sitting on the bed and a couple of tests were just done to him to check if the surgery from a couple of months is still okay.
Tommy walked to Upp with concern. "Just what is happening? Why did you suddenly become unlucky?" Since he is Upp's best friend, he knows about Jennie. He also knew that they would be having their first date today.
"I don't know! I was just about to have a girlfriend!" since he and Jennie were just talking for a couple of weeks, it is safe to say that their feelings for each other were just blooming. Even though it is like this, Upp still feels sad that he noticed Jennie die right next to him.
"Can you move forward?" Tommy sat next to him and asked in concern.
Upp understood what Tommy was asking so he nodded, "Yeah. It is not like she is my wife or something. No offense, Jennie," he pressed his hands together and looked up, "I mean, aside from our exchange of messages, today was just the first time we met. We don't even know each other too well for me to not be able to move on. I don't even know her birthday or any other details" Upp did not notice that there was a hint of sadness in his eyes and voice when he said this.
"At most, we are just acquaintances who just have something in common, nothing more" he turned to Tommy and smiled sadly.
Tommy felt sad seeing his friend like this. He did not know how he would comfort Upp. After all, he did not know Jennie at all so he just nodded.
"So, when are you going out?" Tommy changed the topic.
Upp looked at his watch, "In a while. The nurse might be back in a few minutes." He smiled at Tommy.
Tommy nodded, then started chatting with Upp casually to remove his mind from the incident.
After a few minutes, Upp was discharged from the hospital and Tommy sent him home.
"Just message me if you need anything okay?" Tommy placed his hand on Upp's shoulder and smiled.
Right now, they are already in front of Upp's condo.
Upp smiled and nodded, "Thanks" then he turned around and walked inside.
Tommy watched Upp enter. When he saw that Upp did not turn around to look at him anymore, he walked back to his car and drove home.
"sigh" Upp walked inside his condo and sat on the couch.
Today was a really tiring day for him. His sUpposed good start, suddenly turned worse.
He closed his eyes and remembered Jennie's face and smile. 'sigh'. He doesn't really know what to feel right now. He is feeling really weird because even though he is not that close to Jennie. He felt like they had some sort of connection.
After thinking about what happened, he shook his head slowly and decided to take a bath, 'Just forget about it. Calm down and continue with your life' he told himself then walked to the bathroom.
After taking a bath, Upp sat down on his couch and started browsing his social media. After a few minutes scanning, Upp heard his phone rang.
He picked it up and saw that it was Kao
'Kao?' he thought then answered
"Hello, Kao. Why are you calling?" he immediately asked
"Just checking on you. How do you know?" Kao sounded casual
'Oh, I know why this guy is calling' Upp thought
"I am good. You are calling because you want my statement right?" he smiled when he said this. He knew that Kao was only calling because he needed his statement since he was the last one the victim talked to.
"Am I that obvious? Yeah. I kind of need your statement. Can you swing by the station tomorrow after your work?" There was not a hint of embarrassment in Kao's voice. It looks like he was just doing his job.
"Okay. I'll go to your station tomorrow. See you" Upp answered casually
"Okay. Thanks. See you"
After that, Upp ended the call and just resumed browsing online.
The next day.
Upp woke up feeling normal. He did not feel lost or something.
'Am I okay?' he looked at his phone and thought if he was feeling depressed or anything. As weird as it is, he is not feeling anything off right now.
Shaking his head, he headed to the bathroom to take a bath.
After he finished taking a shower, he grabbed his phone and saw Tommy's message.
T: Hey. How are you?
U: Is it weird that I am not feeling like I lost something?
T: I don't know.
T: are you still traumatized
U: How do you know if you are traumatized?
T: I don't know. Are you shaking?
U: No
T: Did you have nightmares?
Upp paused for a while and thought of his dream.
U: No. I think I did not have any dream last night.
T: Uhmmmm.
T: Do you still think of her?
U: I don't. Is that bad?
T: I don't really know man.
T: Do you want to go to an expert?
'Is that necessary?' Upp shook his head
U: no need. I'll message you if something comes up. Thanks
T: Okay. Just call me or message me. I'll ask Tommy to check on you later.
U: Okay. Thank you. Talk to you later
T: [kissing emoji]
U: [kissing emoji]
After ending the conversation with Tommy, Upp saw that Kao also messaged him
K: Please come to the station for your statement, later. Thanks
U: I'll be there at five
Upp immediately replied then prepared for his work.
During lunch, Upp was now eating lunch with Jimmy.
Jimmy went all the way to the communications building just to check on Upp.
"You didn't have to go here" Upp looked at Jimmy with a smile
Jimmy was now eating his food and was sitting in front of Upp. "I need to P. P Tommy asked me to check on you" he smiled back to Up. "How are you now, P? P Tommy told me you witnessed a loved one murdered in front of you" Jimmy showed a concerned and scared look.
Seeing Jimmy's reaction. Upp now understood why Jimmy was here, comforting him. 'That asshole totally exaggerated things' he smiled at Jimmy.
"Tommy exaggerated. It was not a loved one. It was my date. And I did not see her get killed. It happened when I was not looking. I was just at the scene. More or less, I was not really involved" there was a heavy feeling when he said the last sentence.
'I was not involved' he thought. 'Maybe that is why I don't feel anything. Because I was not involved. I was just a passerby' he lowered his head and looked at his plate full of food. He has not touched it since the start.
In front of him, Jimmy got nervous when he saw Upp suddenly becoming quiet. 'Shia! What is happening to P, Upp?!' he got scared because he felt like this is one of those parts of the movie where the actor suddenly becomes depressed and suicidal.
Immediately, he took out his phone and took a picture of Upp and sent it to Tommy.
J: P! P Upp SUDDENLY GOT QUIET! I AM SCARED! WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENS?!
Then he sent the picture.
After just a few seconds after Jimmy sent the message, Upp heard his phone rang.
Upp woke up from his thoughts and answered Tommy.
"Upp! Calm down! Do you need me to pick you up right now?! Let's head to a professional and get you checked" Upp can hear that there was a hint of nervousness and concern in Tommy's voice.
"What?" he answered in confusion. He did not know what happened for Tommy to act like this.
He looked at Jimmy and saw him looking at him with concern.
Seeing Jimmy's look, Upp understood already that Jimmy told Tommy something, for him to act like this.
He pulled the phone away from his face and covered it.
"What did you tell Tommy? Why is he sounding like this?" Upp was frowning right now.
Jimmy continued looking at Upp with concern, "I was just worried P. You suddenly got quiet" then he showed the picture he sent Tommy.
Looking at the picture, Upp saw himself looking gloomy. Because of the angle where Jimmy took the photo, it looks like he is looking at the fork in front of him. 'Shia! Why do I look like I am about to do something bad?!'
Upp looked at Jimmy again 'You can be a horror movie photographer you know?' he thought then started talking to Tommy
"Hey, Tommy! You are the one who should calm down! I just did not talk for a few seconds! Your boyfriend also took a very eerie photo! Even I got scared!'' Then he turned the call to a video call to make Tommy assured that he is okay.
"See? I am still as handsome as ever right?" When Tommy accepted the video call, Upp started posing for him. "And that is your boyfriend" he pointed the camera to Jimmy. "You two are really a pain in the ass, you know? One exaggerates the story and the other provides scary photos" He shook his head and sighed helplessly.
"Are you really okay?" Tommy still looked concerned.
"Yeah!" Upp smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry too much about me. I am very okay. And you know me, if I don't feel anything good, I will immediately call you" he gave a wink to Tommy.
Jimmy in front just smiled. The way he sees things, there was really nothing wrong about Upp and he acts normal. 'Maybe P Tommy was just really being too concerned' he thought then continued eating.
"Anyway. I'll just call you later. I have not started eating yet, and the time is almost done already. Talk to you later." Without waiting for Tommy to reply, Up ended the call then looked at Jimmy as he started eating.
"Tell your boyfriend not to worry too much! I feel like he is much more involved in the accident compared to me!" he chuckled then started chatting with Jimmy casually.
Later in the afternoon, in the police station.
Upp walked in and went to the front desk, "Sawadee Krap, is Kao inside?"
The police at the front desk looked at Upp, "Who are you?" he asked with a frown.
"I was asked to give a statement for yesterday's incident," he explained.
"The café?" The police seemed to understand it already
Upp nodded then the police asked someone to call for Kao.
Shortly after, Kao came out of a room and smiled at Upp.
"Upp, how are you?" he waved at Upp indicating for him to follow.
Upp smiled and followed after Kao. "Still good. How are you?" he walked to Kao's table and sat down on the chair in front of it.
Kao pointed at the papers on the table, "I have paper works for days" he laughed then walked behind the table and sat down.
"I will not take much of your time already. I will just ask you a couple of questions, then you will answer me honestly. After that, you will just tell me what happened inside the café" he faced his laptop and started asking questions.
After everything in the police station was done, Upp went to his car at the café and drove home directly.
When he got home, he took a nap on the couch and woke up at 9 PM.
Looking at his phone, he saw multiple messages from Tommy. Immediately, he replied to him and told him that he just woke up and is now really hungry.
T: We have food here. Do you want to come over?
U: Nah. I'll just go eat outside.
U: Alone
U: like always
U: huhuhuhuhu. Hahahahah
T: Do you want me to come with you so you will not feel alone?
U: No need. I am already used to it.
T: hey! You are making me worried. [Sad emoji]
U: Don't think about it too much. Do you want me to video call you while I am eating at the restaurant? 55555
T: yes.
U: okay. Okay.
He ended the conversation and changed his clothes then headed to a restaurant.
"Table for one please" Upp walked to the staff outside the restaurant and asked for a table.
The staff ushered him to a table and Upp immediately video called Tommy.
"See, I am not alone" Upp placed the phone in front of the tissue holder and smiled. He appreciated Tommy's efforts.
Right now, Tommy is with Gulf and Jimmy—watching him eat his dinner.
After eating dinner, and reassuring Tommy that he is okay. Upp walked out of the restaurant and headed to a party district.
Right now, he suddenly felt like partying. After all that has happened, he wants to loosen up and relax a little bit.
'It has been a long time since I went to a club' he smiled then entered the club that has the longest line.
Inside, Upp stood on the side and watched the people party. Since he has not been in a club for a while, he plans to just watch the people first, then join the fun later.
After an hour, Upp walked to the bar (counter) and ordered a drink and started partying.
Few more minutes had passed and it can be seen that Upp was really enjoying it here now.
On the dance floor, it can be seen that Upp was grinding his body to a girl and started dancing with her flirtatiously.
Time ticks fast. After drinking a few more beers, Upp felt that he was getting a little drunk already, and his bladder started filling.
After excusing himself, he headed to the toilet and took a piss.
After that, just as he was about to leave, he bumped into a man who suddenly grabbed his crotch.
Upp was surprised by this so he pushed the man away from him, "what are you doing?" he frowned at the man.
"Sorry. I didn't mean it" the man smiled apologetically and moved closer to him and touched his shoulder.
"You are big huh. Do you want me to dry it up for you?" the man whispered to his ears.
Maybe it was because of the alcohol or the situation, but the moment he imagined being sucked, Upp felt his body get hot.
He looked at the man one more time then looked around to see if there were people there.
After seeing that no one was there, Upp looked at the man again. He felt adventurous right now. 'Shia! This will be my first blowjob experience in a bar! In public! With a man!' he felt weird
"Where" he asked nervously to the man
The man smiled. "I am Dee" he introduced.
"No need for introductions. Where?" Upp answered casually.
Dee looked around then walked to a cubicle.
Upp also looked around for the second time then followed.
In the toilet, Dee got on his knees already. "Your first time?" he raised his head and looked at Up with a smile. At the same time, there was a phone call that can be heard from Dee's pocket.
Upp frowned. "Just do it" he is getting annoyed already at how talkative this dee is.
Dee continued smiling and started touching Upp's crotch.
After a few minutes, Upp felt that he was getting aroused already. He is starting to imagine that instead of a man, the one who is touching him right now is a woman.
Just as he was in the mood, he heard another phone call from dee's pocket. Because of this, his imagination got interrupted. He felt annoyed
"I think you should just answer that" he pulled dee's hands away from his pants and walked out of the toilet.
'What an interruption. We will get caught because of you' Upp thought as he walked out of the toilet.
Seeing that Upp was already annoyed because of the call, Dee grumbled and answered the phone.
Before he even spoke, a female voice was heard, "Dim! You better come back here already! You faggot! I know you are in the club again wasting money just to suck men! You already have a family! I am the only one working! I need to sleep already! Come back here fag! Take care of your child!" without waiting for Dim to reply, the woman on the other line ended the call.
"Bitch!" Dim shouted then walked out of the toilet.
Feeling that his supposed to be a happy night was interrupted, Upp went to the counter again and started drinking
Shortly after he got to the counter, a girl walked to him.
"Do you want to get out of this place?"
Upp turned around and saw that it was the same woman he was grinding up earlier.
Drinking the drink he just ordered in one shot, Up leaned forward to the woman and gave her a kiss on the lips. After that, he dragged her out of the club.
Since the party district was in the middle of a busy place in Bangkok, after just a block, there was already a motel.
Walking here, Upp booked a room immediately.
When they got to the elevator, because of Upp's drunkenness and interrupted sexual encounter, he immediately started making out with the woman.
When they got to the floor, Up continued making out with the woman as they walked to the room he booked.
In the room, without speaking, Upp immediately took off his and the woman's clothes. The woman showed a surprised expression at how fast Upp moves.
From the bar to here, Upp did not say a thing and just went to action immediately.
After a few more make out sessions, Upp and the woman were already naked.
After carrying the woman to the bed, Upp immediately took action and started having sex with the woman.
All throughout the activity, Upp was quiet. He was a little rough in bed but all in all, the woman still felt great.
After they finished having sex, without saying a word, Upp immediately went to the bathroom and took a shower.
The woman was really confused right now. She was wondering what was happening.
After Upp got out of the bathroom, the woman asked him, "Hey, am I not that good in bed?" there was a hint of annoyance in her voice
Upp looked at the woman, then showed a sad expression. "No" after he said that, he put on his clothes and left the woman in the room confused.
Upp walked out of the motel with a sad look.
Earlier, after he had sex with the woman, he suddenly remembered Jennie's face, making him really uncomfortable.
Just as he took a couple of steps from the hotel, he suddenly felt dizzy so he went to a corner and vomited. Maybe this is because of the alcohol and the feeling of remembering Jennie, but as he vomited, he suddenly felt disgusted.
Right now, he remembered Jennie's dead body lying on the floor.
"Bleurgh!" Upp made a retching noise as he continued vomiting.
"Go on. Continue vomiting" out of nowhere, Upp felt a hand rub his back.
Raising his head a little, he saw a familiar face.
"Ka—"before he even said Kao's name, he vomited again.
Kao looked at Upp with pity. Right now, he was already in his civilian clothes and was holding a bottle of water.
After a few more vomit, Upp finally stopped.
When Upp stopped, Kao immediately offered him the water, "Hydrate yourself" he passed the water to Upp and sUpported him to a café not far from where they are right now.
Sitting outside the café, Upp drank the water. "Thanks" he turned to Kao and tried to smile.
Kao nodded, "Wait here for a bit. Let me buy you a coffee" Without waiting for Upp to reply, Kao went inside the café and bought two cups of coffee.
After a few minutes, Kao walked back out and offered Up the coffee.
Upp accepted the coffee then stared at Kao with a stiff smile.
"I think I now realized why I am not that affected about Jennie's death yesterday" Out of nowhere Upp suddenly started speaking. There was a sad look in his eyes.
"Why?" Kao sat in front of him and looked at him with concern. If you will look at it closely, this look has the same feeling when Kao was talking to Jennie a couple of days back
Seeing Kao's look, Upp did not hesitate anymore and started speaking more "Because I was not involved in the story. I did not see her die. I was not near her— Like really close to her. I just happened to be in the same room as her. More or less, in a picture, I am just another witness. And she was just the victim." He smiled helplessly then looked at the coffee he was holding.
All of a sudden, he recalled Jennie's smile and their small talk in the café. Out of nowhere, he felt a pain in his heart.
Now, Upp woke up from the shock. 'She died. Just like that' tears started flowing out of his eyes.
He did not know that all this time, he was still in shock; and the reason why he is not feeling anything until now was because his mind kept on blocking the part where he already felt comfortable with her and was actually falling for her.
"She died" Upp muttered and lowered his head. Tears continued flowing out of his eyes.
Looking at Upp like this, Kao sighed helplessly, 'What a pitiful man' he thought and stood up and sat next to Upp and comforted him.
Feeling Kao's familiar warmth, Upp did not speak anymore and continued crying. Right now, he is already starting to accept the facts. Jennie is dead. He is alive.
After a few minutes of crying, Upp pushed Kao away, "Sorry about that" he said as he wiped his tears
"It is okay" Kao showed an understanding smile as he placed his hand on Upp's back. "People come and go" he said with a meaningful tone
Hearing this from Kao, Upp felt that Kao understood his feelings.
After composing himself. He looked at Kao again and with a serious face asked, "Kao, can you do me a favor?"
Kao took back his hand and looked at Upp seriously. "No"
Upp was surprised by Kao's answer. He did not think that Kao would reject him just like that.
'Maybe because we are not friends?' he thought
Understanding Upp's look, Kao immediately explained. "I already know what favor you will be asking. You want to be involved in the case right? You want to know who the killer is." Kao took a sip from his coffee.