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The atmosphere inside the control room, with its many monitors, was so heavy that anyone could barely swallow. Every gaze was fixed on one screen which displayed the image of the young man whom everyone had seen just how important the master considered him yesterday, before turning back to look at the person with the most power on this island. The person was clutching the telephone so tightly his knuckles were white. His sharp eyes gleamed as if he would crush the person who did this to pieces with his bare hands.
“What do you want?”
[Heh heh, when it comes to this youth, when it comes to this youth, he can always make you anxious, can't he?]
"Get your hands off my baby!"
Pakin knew he should not show how much he cared about the other youth. But just seeing the driver's hand reach into the edge of the screen and stroke the cheek of the person who was still sleeping with a pale, pallid face, his deep voice roared out, angry enough to make the blood rush to his face. This elicited a loud, ringing laugh from the other end of the line that echoed through his nerves.
He was taking pleasure in seeing him dance.
[Now, now, do not forget that you must be polite to me.]
"What do you want!" The person who had to be polite asked in a gruff voice. His sharp eyes continued to sweep over the young man's face and body. Even though there were no scratches, he grew even more anxious.
His condition looked worse than in the evening.
Even though Graph was sound asleep, the chest that rose and fell forcefully indicated that the fever was more severe than before. His face was pale and pallid, but his mouth was dry and cracked. He did not need to touch him to know his body must be burning up. Therefore, he had to get him back as quickly as possible!
[You know better than I that I have about 15 minutes before I cross the finish line. But no, I am giving you 10 minutes to make a decision.]
The listener remained silent, to show he was listening, until the other end of the line, its voice echoing throughout the race car, spoke with a superior and confident tone, sure that it held the winning card.
[I want you to accept my proposal in exchange for this youth's life.]
"Let me tell you, you are wasting your time. Whether I accept or not, there is no way you can escape from this island." The island owner said in a strong voice, trying to negotiate back.
If he wanted a peaceful life after doing this despicable deed, he would have to accept the proposal to release Graph as well. However... the other party just laughed.
The sound of laughter crashed into Pakin's ears, until his large hand clenched the telephone tightly.
[Do not be so confident, Khun Pakin. Do not forget that you have not yet caught the bomber. That means you cannot catch me either.]
The listener was not surprised that they were in cahoots. But he was furious that he had let them strike twice, and this time right under his nose. His silence made the other even more confident.
[Even if you use a helicopter to shine a light on me, once I get what I want, I will escape from the island. In a way that a person like you cannot even grab the hem of my shirt.]
Pakin realized immediately that they were not just the person who acted. If they were this confident, it meant there must be a mole within his island, and they must have prepared an escape route. But right now he could not figure out how they would get away, when every camera was fixed on this race car. However, the young man turned and nodded to his close aide.
Panchai, receiving the signal from his master, turned and left immediately. He had less than ten minutes to find out what trick they planned to use to escape from the island.
[Alright, let us get to our business, Khun Pakin. Do you know what speed I am using right now?]
His sharp eyes darted to another direction where his man nodded, showing the race car's speed on the screen. It was a speed where a single mistake meant death. Even though this race had that purpose, it must not involve that stubborn youth!
"Yes, I know."
[Good, so we do not need to talk much... Then, think about what would happen if this handsome youth were thrown from the car at this speed.]
This time Pakin did not retort, even though in his heart he was cursing and swearing to himself that even if he escaped, he would hunt him down and kill him in the most ruthless manner, to teach him not to dare reach out and touch this youth. Meanwhile, an image flashed into his head.
He should not think of the worst-case scenario. But Pakin was seeing an image of the weak young man being pushed out of the high-speed car. Even if he was lucky and his head did not hit the ground, he saw no way that an unconscious youth could survive such hellish speed.
And he probably knew what he was thinking, because he was demonstrating.
Screech!
Suddenly, the driver's side door opened, letting the outside wind blow in and hit the young man's body, making his hair whip around. Pakin almost lunged into the screen in front of him, but stopped himself by gripping the leather chair back tightly.
"Do not think for a moment that you will get away with this!"
However, this threat seemed to displease him.
Crash!!!
"Graph!!!"
At that moment, a loud crashing sound cut through all other noises when the driver swerved the car to the side of the road. The open door slammed hard into equipment installed at the road's edge, sending a vibration that made the young man, held only by a seatbelt to keep him from falling onto the road, shake violently.
The force of the impact caused part of the side door to shatter and fall onto the road, though it did not come off completely. Some fragments flew in and scraped Graph's cheek, drawing blood.
The fresh, bright liquid flowing down stained the white cheek a vivid red, until the person watching stared wide-eyed, his heart almost stopping, along with an anger hotter than hellfire, hotter than any heat on this earth, all surging into his heart.
I will kill you! I will hunt you until you die before my eyes!!!
Pakin roared inwardly, even as his deep voice asked in a tone that said... he was ready to negotiate.
"State what you want."
[Well decided.]
The whistling wind could not drown out the villain's voice, and he was stating a proposal that made everyone in the control room freeze in place.
[Cancel your entire racing event and send the guests home!]
This negotiation point made everyone afraid to breathe, all looking towards the person with the power to decide... the person who had dedicated himself to this event for years, and the person who had declared that no matter what happened, this event must go on. But the hostage being exchanged was this young man. They truly did not know what their master would decide.
[Let us make an exchange. The moment you announce the cancellation of the race, I will return this youth to you.]
If this were a race on city streets, Pakin would not hesitate to order a full cancellation, even though many high rollers had come to the event. But this was not just a street-level race. The people attending all had power in both hands. The moment he announced a cancellation and sent everyone home, it meant total ruin.
If he displeased the guests here, he would never again set foot in a position like this.
If this event failed, it also meant the end of his life as he knew it.
Pakin was surprising himself. Even though this matter should be easier to decide than ordering a car, why could he not speak?
One person's life versus the work he had dedicated his whole life to.
Just a few months ago, he would have decided without hesitation to choose the power he held in his hands. The life of one annoying youth who kept running after him was not as important as everything he had invested. But at this moment, his body was frozen, his lips were parched, and he had no voice to utter.
He only knew that he could not lose him.
He was just a troublemaker who stayed by his side every night.
He was just a lonely youth who had no one and needed warmth.
He was just a stubborn, annoying youth who did not even know how to coax someone to ask for attention.
He was just a youth who had always made his work less smooth, but whose smile gave him the strength to continue.
Phîi Pakin, Phîi Pakin, Phîi Pakin, please listen. Today I played with that Ruthless one.
The happy smile upon seeing that he was willing to listen to his stories, the cheerful voice saying he was not lonely and sad like before, or even the warm body that moved to snuggle its face on his lap... that-brat was not important. No, not at all.
Really? If he is not important, then why do you not refuse?
Pakin could not deceive himself. He could not deceive his heart, which was about to shatter at this moment, by saying that youth was not important. He was important. He was more important than anything.
"Sir, look at that!"
However, in this minute of decision, a subordinate's voice rang out, causing the young man to snap out of his trance and look up immediately. Then he saw... the youth who had been sleeping with his neck bent limply was opening his eyes.
His eyes, hazy with clear droplets, were staring straight at the camera. And because the driver was so smug that this youth was unconscious, he did not pay attention for a single second. Only the people in the control room saw that Graph had regained consciousness and was listening to everything.
[Well? I am giving you another 3 minutes.]
No! No!!!
Pakin whispered to himself, as his premonition started working when he saw the young man glance sideways at the road. The image of the day he took him driving around the island flashed into his mind. He remembered well that he had said someone would probably crash and die on this curve.
That curve was approaching. And before anyone could decide, the young man's lips moved.
Gulp.
"No! Graph, stop!!!!"
[Three]
"I accept! I accept everything! Stop!!! Stop the car! Stop the car right now! I agree to cancel the event!!!!" Pakin no longer saw Graph's face. He only saw a torso twisting towards the driver's seat with all its might, accompanied by the villain's loud, ringing shout. But his agreement came too late. It was far too late compared to the decisive action of the youth in that car.
"No! No! No!!!" Pakin roared loudly when another screen showed race car number three making an extreme turn until it could no longer be controlled. Then...
"Graph!!!"
Crash!!!
It was a solid mass ready to crush everything that fell. The entire car plunged down into the mountain below, which was not a crash cushion, but it...
In that second, the image inside the car cut out abruptly, just like Pakin's legs giving way.
"This cannot be..." The young man fell to his knees on the floor, watching the car plunge down the mountain until the wreckage was out of sight, while hearing the sentence Graph spoke as his last words.
...I will not allow myself to be the nuisance in your life...
Graph might be a youth who got sick easily, but this youth who got sick easily hated taking medicine. If he had a fever, he would use a cooling gel. If he had chills, he would rest to regain strength. If he had heatstroke, he would bury himself only in an air-conditioned room. He was willing to do anything to avoid taking more medicine than he did as a youth.
Similarly... Today Graph had not taken his medicine.
Even though the doctor had prescribed several types of medicine, what Krittitee did was secretly hide them under the pillow when no one was looking. But because he was sick, he fell asleep easily, and would have remained so until morning, or until he felt better.
Furthermore, Graph was a heavy sleeper. Once asleep, even if someone carried him away, he would not know. Therefore, throughout the time he was taken from the room and strapped into the car, the young man was completely unaware, until a violent impact along with a burning pain on his cheek woke Graph to face reality.
The reality that he was not sleeping in his room.
The reality that someone was negotiating with Phîi Pakin.
And the reality that... he was once again the nuisance destroying Phîi Pakin's life.
How many times had Graph made what that man dedicated himself to become worthless? This time was no different.
The second he learned what they were negotiating for, the person suffering from fever saw the image of the night he snuggled against his chest, while the heartless-person told him about a dream from many years ago.
He remembered well. The expression, the look, and the tone of that man were filled with the determination to make this race event a reality. It was the first time Phîi Pakin had willingly opened his heart to let him in to understand, making the flesh in his chest leap with happiness. Moreover... yesterday he had experienced it.
He had stepped onto this island filled with that man's dedication, and Graph swore he would not allow himself to be the cause of its ruin!
Looking at the familiar road, the young man saw a small camera aimed at his face. But he was glancing sideways.
Phîi Pakin had brought him here yesterday. He had seen every point of the race track from the passenger seat. And this was the very spot where someone had accelerated until his heart raced, speeding upwards.
Because he remembered, Graph decided in that second what he would do next.
Graph did not flatter himself that Phîi Pakin would cancel the event for him. He would be the one to stop it for Phîi Pakin.
The young man was about to act, but before doing that, he was telling the camera... telling the person who was watching...
No matter how stubborn and obtuse this youth was, he would not let anyone say he was the nuisance in Phîi Pakin's life.
Graph used the last ounce of strength remaining in his body to lunge forward and grab the driver's steering wheel. Because he was caught off guard, the young man could turn it to the extreme, amid a loud, screeching shout that pierced his head and an impact that tried to force him back into his seat. But Graph ignored it. The only thing he held onto was the steering wheel, turned to its limit.
If he died, if he died... everything would end.
In that second, Graph saw only the face of the man who had been in his heart for ten years.
The man who saw him as an ill-mannered youth.
The man who threw him out of the house time and again.
The man who once left him crying in the street.
That man who hugged and comforted him on his loneliest and most isolated day.
That man who said no with his mouth, but bought the dog he wanted most and gave it to him.
That man. The man who kissed his lips and told him to be a good youth and wait.
Was he a good youth now? He was not just a stubborn, willful youth anymore, was he?
"I... will be a good youth... for you..."
Graph whispered into the air, hoping it would reach the person far away, as the impact roared, his vision blurred, drops of blood flowed into his eyes, and his body felt shattered without even the strength to lift itself. But the last thing he wanted to see.... he wanted to see the face of the person who said he would come back if he were a good youth.
"...G...Graph...Graph!!!"
Phîi Pakin really came. You never break a promise, not even once.
The young man heard a voice from very, very far away, and the face of someone moving closer with extreme fear. But he was no longer aware of anything. The last thing he saw before his consciousness faded was the flame rising into the sky.
He was dead, then.
"Make way, please! Make way!"
A patient gurney was being pushed along the corridor to get to the emergency room in time, accompanied by both male nurses and nurses monitoring his condition. Not far away, a man whose suit was torn, his shirt stained dark with soaked blood, was running after it. His sharp eyes fixed only on the form that was breathing faintly, its body so smeared with blood it seemed unlikely to still be alive.
"You must wait here!"
"Help him! I will pay any amount of money, just help him!!"
When they reached the emergency room doors, the nurses worked together to push the large figure back, preventing him from entering. The person, who seemed about to rush in, begged loudly. Even if he had to pay all the money he had ever earned, he would pay it if it could prolong the young man's breath a little longer.
"Do not let him die! Do not let the person I love die!!!"
Pakin shouted after the closing door, just like his heart being sealed shut. His legs, which had been supporting him, dropped onto a chair weakly. Both hands clutched handfuls of his hair tightly, as if to tear it out.
The image of that young man was still etched in his eyes.
The second he saw the blood-soaked body through the shattered car door, his heart almost stopped. His legs rushed straight towards it without regard for anything else. He did not care that his people were shouting that the car was about to explode. He needed to pull this youth out, whether the body was still breathing or lifeless.
The effort ignored the fuel tank erupting, ignored the flames about to spread and consume him. Both hands pulled the body, drenched in dark fluid, out just a fraction of a second before the entire car exploded boom, sending flames shooting out in all directions. But he did not care. Pakin only cared that...
He is not dead! Graph is not dead! Prepare the helicopter now!!!!
His people ran to check the condition, trying to help with the available equipment, then loaded him onto the helicopter to get him to the doctors with the most complete tools in time. And now Graph was in the emergency room. But without anyone whispering in his ear, Pakin knew how slim the chance of survival was.
His own two hands had touched that body. His fingertips had felt the warmth of the flowing blood. Even his eyes had memorized every image until it was etched in his mind.
"Kin."
Pakin did not care that his relative was approaching. He did not know that Win was crying until his body shook. He only knew that his own tears were flowing through his palms, with a voice that was almost inaudible.
"Because of me. Because of me alone. I made Graph like this. Because of me!"
This entire matter was because of him. If he had not stepped into this youth's life, Graph would never have encountered danger. If he had not met that seven-year-old youth, everything would not be like this!
The youth who dared to order him around until he had to teach him a lesson that not everyone would follow orders.
The youth who after that ran after him like a shadow.
Phîi Pakin, Phîi Pakin..... Phîi Pakin
The little youth who grew up into a young man who tried every way to make him accept him.
That youth who should have lived a peaceful life on a path of gold, born on piles of money, and met a good woman, not have to encounter things like this and a person like him.
What had he done for Graph throughout these ten years? And why did that youth decide to sacrifice his life for a person like him?
Pakin realized in that second that vast wealth or power could not buy a person's life.
He realized too late that the most important thing for him was the smile of a lonely youth and the embrace that tried to hold onto him.
Graph was the person he loved. He was the person more important than anything else.
But now, what could he use to exchange? What could he use to make that youth smile again?
He did not know at all. He truly did not know.
"Do not die, Graph. Please... do not die."
"Kin..."
The image of a man who had everything in his grasp, but could not save the person he loved most, was reflected in everyone's eyes. Meanwhile, Phawit could only move to sit beside him, putting an arm around his Phîi's shoulder while sobbing with all his might.
"Graph... will be safe... Graph must be safe... that stubborn youth must be okay."
Right now, they could only hope that youth's stubbornness would be stubborn enough to keep living.
***
"Damned-animal! In the end, he managed to ruin it after all!"
The speedboat had just reached the shore when Nop learned from his contact on the island that the plan his close subordinate had so cunningly laid was a complete failure. He cursed out of frustration, not feeling the slightest regret for the subordinate who had died buried in a pile of flames, because he could replace a person like that anytime.
However, the venomous fox did not think he would encounter this group of people.
"Well, Khun Nop. You look like you've lost, quite a sight."
"You!"
Nop could only look up and find a group of people standing on the pier, turning their gun muzzles towards him, with Phanupong standing at the very front. The old man was looking at him with a ruthlessness that belied his age, and his voice was so cold it could cut the listener's skin.
"I heard you left the event in a hurry. Where are you rushing off to, Khun Nop?" the elder said in an even tone, looking at the man who was still wide-eyed in shock, not expecting to see him here.
He surely was not foolish enough to think a helicopter would be slower than a boat.
"Ho...How surprising to see you here." Nop still pretended to know nothing, because this was all Gun's doing. There was no evidence linking it to him, and besides, he himself was already dead in the car.
"I have come to hunt and catch a rat, Khun Nop. Have you seen any? I was thinking of shooting one or two."
"Then you must be wasting your time. There is not a single rat around here."
Phanupong looked at the other's face silently, and then... laughed.
The laughter was not pleasant at all. It made the atmosphere even more tense than before.
"Good! It is good there are no rats here. Then, I will ask you to tell that rat for me instead..." Suddenly, the speaker stopped laughing and stared with the eyes of a predator ready to pounce on its prey.
"If anyone dares to lay a hand on that youth a second time, it will not just be my son who will hunt them to the ends of the earth. I myself will skin them alive to make a doormat, and throw their head into the sea as fish food! Do you understand, Khun Nop?" The old man gave a smile, the end of his sentence deliberately aimed at the person in front of him, not meant for some unknown person.
The two pairs of eyes met silently, and it was the older man who could no longer withstand this gaze.
"I will take your message, then."
This acceptance agreed not to lay a hand on Graph again.
The listener smiled slightly, turned, and was about to walk away. Nop himself almost sighed with relief, if not for...
...towards the boat's gunwale, and then... Phanupong raised his hand once as a signal. The gun muzzles aimed at the people on the boat shifted.
Bang! Bang! Bang!!!
"Hey!!!"
Thud!
A hail of bullets intentionally hit the beautiful boat, until the people on board fled for their lives, jumping into the water amid the creepy laughter of the real Thai mafia boss, indicating this was just a warning. But if his daughter-in-law had so much as a scratch on his fingernail, it would not be the gunwale, but the middle of his skull!
Right now, he only hoped that youth would be safe, because he understood his son's feelings well.
The men of this house might seem to play around, not settling down with anyone, but once they gave their heart to someone, they would be with that person for life. Because even now, this old man's heart was still filled only with the image of his true Mia, occupying every chamber of his heart.
"Do not let your heart slip away, you son of mine."
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