Chapter Text
Satang, Fourth, Gemini, and Phuwin sat around a small round table. A thick, soft, furry carpet served as their seat, along with the remains of the food Phuwin had consumed that still cluttered the table.
“It all started in the second semester, Gem. The four of us were already close, but … not like we are now,” Phuwin said, still lying in the air with both hands behind his head.
“Did you just said … the second semester?” Gemini frowned, unsure if he had heard correctly. But that doubt was quickly replaced by disappointment when Phuwin nodded.
“Why, Phuwin? If you had told us before everything went too far … you could’ve been saved,” Gemini said softly. Phuwin turned to him and gave a faint smile.
“And then what, Gemini? I know the three of you come from influential families, unlike me. But I also know … you’re not strong enough … to go against an Lertrakotsum.”
Gemini’s eyes widened. He immediately understood who Phuwin was referring to. His hands clenched tightly, his shoulders trembling with anger.
“That Naravit bastard ….”
Satang and Fourth exchanged glances when Gemini said that name. Even though they couldn’t hear the full conversation between Phuwin and Gemini, they could still draw conclusions.
Phuwin let out a small laugh. “Do you want to hear the full story from me, or go beat Pond up right now, Gem?”
“Continue, Phuwin.”
Phuwin nodded. “As you all know, Pond has always bothered me. He’s rough, cruel, inhumane. But … it was never as bad as it became outside school, especially when he found out … that I’m an intersex.”
“Pond … he’s obsessed with dominating people. Obsessed with having control over everyone around him.” Phuwin chuckled softly. “People like me… are easy targets, Gem.”
“But… we always tried to protect you, Phuwin,” Gemini sighed, knowing too many possibilities could arise when it involved someone like Pond Naravit Lertrakotsum.
“I know, Gem. That’s exactly why … I never told you about any of this.” Phuwin shifted into a sitting position. “Pond became even more violent because I never submitted. He also … threatened me. If I told any of you … my family and all of you would suffer the consequences.”
Gemini slammed the table hard, venting his anger. He had never felt this furious at Pond, not once in his life. Disgust, anger, disappointment, frustration, all of it mixed inside him.
“You… are you okay, Gem?” Satang asked, though he already knew the answer from his reaction. He didn’t know how bad Phuwin’s story was, but he could feel how terrible it must be for Gemini to react like this.
Gemini grabbed Phuwin’s coffee from the table and drank it in one go, even though it had already gone bland. “Continue, Phuwin. I’m ready.”
“Believe me, Gemini. You will never be ready for the rest of it,” Phuwin chuckled. “But fine, I’ll continue.”
“A few days after the promotion exams, right after we finished class meeting, Pond forced me to go with him. At first, I refused, but in the end, I had no choice. No one knew about it, not even JASP.ER.”
“JASP.ER … had no idea at all?” Gemini looked shocked.
“No one knows what happens outside school, Gem. Not Santa, not Joong, not even Aou.” Phuwin idly played with his fingers in the air. “In that old warehouse … Pond took my virginity for the first time.”
Gemini’s heart dropped. He was completely unprepared to hear that.
“That perverted bastard said he didn’t believe someone like me could exist,” Phuwin laughed lightly. “He left me there alone, dirty and miserable.”
“That … was your first pregnancy, right?”
Phuwin nodded, then laughed again. “Pond got furious when he found out I was pregnant, Gem. He slapped and kicked me brutally, even though it was clearly his fault.”
“How can you laugh while telling something like that, Phu ….”
“Of course I can. I’m already dead.”
Gemini fell silent for a moment, then nodded, admitting that Phuwin’s answer made sense in a twisted way.
“The next day, he forced me to take abortion pills. I don’t know where he got them, but I’m not surprised since he’s the infamous Pond Naravit Lertrakotsum,” Phuwin said, casually swinging his legs in the air as if he wasn’t recounting something horrific. “I hate Pond so much, Gem. But … those children did nothing wrong. I couldn’t hate them, but I couldn’t love them either … because they constantly reminded me of what their father did.”
Their father.
A phrase that should never be associated with someone like Pond Naravit Lertrakotsum, a man who raped him repeatedly, impregnated him, and ultimately killed him.
Gemini let out a heavy breath. “You’re not wrong. Not at all. Hearing you were pregnant three times … I can’t even imagine how painful that must’ve been.”
“I like children… but that doesn’t mean I wanted them like that.” Phuwin spun Gemini’s pen in the air. “Actually, Gemini … I also feel guilty toward them. That’s why … I decided to try and keep the youngest.”
“But Phuwin … that’s too much to risk. Especially for unmated omega like you,” Gemini said, and Phuwin nodded.
“I know, Gem. It’s nearly impossible. But … I wanted to run away. I was planning to leave Bangkok as far as I could with my savings. For my safety, my family’s … and yours too.” A smile formed on his lips, though sadness was clearly visible. “At the same time… I feel like I failed as a mother, Gemini.”
“Why are you so kind to that bastard, Ian?”
“You’re wrong if you think I’m kind, Gemini. I just didn’t have the strength to fight back,” Phuwin corrected with a bitter smile. “But now… I do.”
“You’re going to haunt him?” Gemini stretched his fingers. “Have you tried?”
Phuwin nodded. “Once. It didn’t do much. I just flickered the lights while he was in the bathroom, too cliché.”
“You want to kill him?” Gemini asked.
Phuwin immediately shook his head. “That’s too extreme, Gemini,” he chuckled. “Besides, I can’t kill him directly. That would break the rules of the spirit world. I’d end up wandering forever.”
“So… what’s your plan?”
A sly grin appeared on Phuwin’s face. “I need you to handle this legally… while I mess with him until he loses his sanity.”
“Handle it legally? How? We’re up against a Lertrakotsum!” Gemini exclaimed, feeling stuck.
Fourth, who had been silent, cleared his throat, drawing their attention. “Does Phuwin have evidence the police don’t know about? Considering who we’re up against … we should prepare a lawyer too, in case the police are corrupt.”
Phuwin nodded, then guided the pen in the air down to the paper and began writing.
I have a notebook. The police didn’t touch it when they came to my place that night. I watched them, it’s still hidden. I wrote Pond's name there clearly, in full.
Fourth nodded. “Then we can do this. If the forensic results come out and the case is suddenly closed without clarity, we’ll go to Phuwin’s place and find that notebook.”
“We promised Phuwin’s parents. We can’t fail them a second time,” Satang added.
Thank you… I’m really touched :”
Satang and Fourth couldn’t see Phuwin’s smile or the emotion in his eyes, but Gemini could. The boy even smiled faintly in return.
“Oh yeah, Gem?”
“Yeah?”
Phuwin’s mischievous grin returned. “You’re still going to buy my earlier order tomorrow, right?”