Chapter Text
This wasn’t supposed to happen. But then, what had he expected?
They were in a secluded settlement, formerly under Arseni, far from the main town. If anything about his dislikes hadn’t changed over the years it was that he still hated the cold, and yet he found himself accompanying Rome to the Russian tundra, much to the latter’s annoyance. Partly because it was what the Master wanted. As for the other part, he’d rather keep it in his heart.
After landing in Hong Kong, for all those “I miss yous” exchanged between them, the first thing that happened was an argument with Rome. They had to split into two teams—one that would coordinate the intel between Hong Kong and Russia, and keep track of locations; the other that would accompany Rome and re-establish contact with whatever was left of their team in Russia. Rome adamantly opposed it when his father appointed P’Alof to lead the intel team from Hong Kong and him to lead the team accompanying the younger Arseni.
He didn’t doubt for a second why Rome did it. P’Alof had been a mentor to all three of them ever since they first held guns, so he was undoubtedly more experienced. However, a more stubborn part of him—the one he always avoided—knew that the biggest reason for Rome to act like this was what the young heir held dear in his heart.
The decision of which team to lead landed in his own lap. Rome looked at him with hopeful eyes begging him to stay back in Hong Kong, and he saw that hope dimming with every word that came out of his mouth, until Rome stormed out of the room. He knew he had hurt the younger. He knew he could trust P’Alof to put Rome’s life before his own. But he also knew that if the intel transmission consisted of something happening to Rome while he was still alive, that would be his end.
They took off for Russia as soon as the plan was finalized. They didn’t take a large team as it could alert the enemies. Based on the last obscure transmission a week ago, all they knew was that their base was ambushed, and number of enemies was still unknown. During the whole discussion, he couldn’t not notice how the young mafia avoided looking in his direction.
As soon as they reached their former base, the deadly silence that greeted them was enough of a danger alarm. Not more than a few minutes later, were they attacked. However, just as he had planned, their team got the upper hand soon, with only a few minor injuries and damages here and there. The only thing left to do now was to look for any surviving members of their previous Russian team and send the intel back to Hong Kong. However, he noticed that the signals on their communication devices, including their phones, were lost. He was sure it must be a strong signal jammer. Somehow, it seemed to bother Rome less than his closeness that the younger was avoiding like the plague. Or maybe it was just him who was hyper-focused on the distance between them since they left the Arseni mansion.
He didn’t have the time to ponder, as one of their men inspecting the area shouted that there was a box full of aligned time bombs in the back, seconds away from exploding. What they were not sure of before was exactly what took them by surprise—they were dealing with more than just one enemy. He glanced at Rome, who was looking back at him, an ingrained understanding passing between the two before they ran out. He covered Rome while their men covered the two of them. As soon as they were out, the building behind them exploded, leaving only debris scattered around. The silence after the explosion was soon filled by the sound of open firing. He saw that the ones helping their Russian enemies were their supposedly friends from the South-Eastern shipment front.
He knew then that it was bigger than they had initially thought. This new revelation meant that their team in Hong Kong was in potential danger, but he had no way to alert them, nor did he have the time. Their prime focus now was to get Rome to safety. He took both his guns out from his chest holster and saw Rome doing the same. After that, it was just guns and men falling down for the next few minutes. He could see that their last line of defense—the Arseni men surrounding them—was crumbling fast and they were far outnumbered.
He got distracted for a second when he heard a particular hiss and the sound of a gun falling down, and that distraction got him shot in the upper arm. He shot the man with his other hand while the now-bleeding arm still tightly held the gun. He shifted his focus back to the source of the hiss he had heard and saw Rome slightly bent to the left, one hand clutching his thigh while the other fired nonstop. Run! his instincts had screamed, and so he did exactly that.
His bloodied hand gripped Rome’s coat from behind and pulled him towards himself. Rome got the hint. The only opening they had was through the last few of their men who were still fighting. At the first chance they got, he signaled Rome to run, who hurried to follow despite the obvious pain in his left leg. He wasn't sure if it was just a graze or an actual bullet wound, but that was a problem for after getting away from here. He knew Rome could handle whatever it was for a while.
He heard two gunshots in their direction. One probably missed them entirely, but the other missed his head by only millimeters and grazed the rim of his glasses instead. His glasses fell to the ground on impact, but he couldn't stop to pick them up. He now regretted not listening to Thee's advice to use contact lenses instead of glasses. He was so used to fixing his glasses every few minutes that the idea of not having them there and accidentally poking his eyes had seemed more dreadful than the tantrums of his dramatic best friend.
He didn't need to look back to know that he and Rome were the only ones alive among the Arseni men who came on this mission. He stopped running only when he was sure that they were far from the base. They weren't safe yet, but they could catch their breath before moving forward. Only now did he feel that Rome’s grip on his arm had tightened significantly. He turned towards him, only to find the younger staring wide-eyed at his other arm. The concern was etched on his face like a bone-deep tattoo. He followed Rome’s line of sight to find him staring at the bullet wound on his arm. He had almost forgotten about it in the face of getting Rome to safety.
"Mok..." Rome’s voice came out trembling. Since he came back from Thailand, this was the first time Rome had called his name outside of an argument, and as if fate wanted to mock him for it, he didn't like how it sounded.
He looked away before his heart could push him to do something stupid to reassure the young man. "Let's move," he said, placing a hand over the wound to find that the bleeding had slowed down. "You should worry about yourself," he continued reluctantly. The thought of Rome worrying about him when he was hurt himself was too much to bear. He heard the other mumbling something and pretended he didn't hear it.
Let me worry about you for a change, Mok.
A thought suddenly crossed his mind, and he took out his phone and switched it off. It would completely cut off their contact with P'Alof's team in Hong Kong, but if their enemies had planted a jammer and a bomb back at the base, it was also possible that they could be tracking their locations. He couldn't risk it. He turned towards Rome, who was still panting a little. "Switch off your phone," he said.
Rome looked like he wanted to question it, but realization seemed to dawn upon him first, as he just nodded. Maybe the rush of adrenaline had just subsided, for the younger sat down on his knees on the snow-covered ground only now. He felt a sudden urge to put something on the ground so Rome wouldn’t feel cold. Maybe it was his own projection, because the other had literally grown up with snow.
The sound of Rome’s wince pulled him out of his thoughts. Before he could think of anything else, he was already beside Rome on the ground. He saw Rome bring his palm back to the front, from where he had placed it on the lower left side of his back, now covered with blood. The sound of two gunshots echoed in his mind. The first bullet hadn't missed; it had indeed hit its target.
Rome hadn't even registered the hit until now, and his brain unnecessarily supplied that the first thing Rome noticed when they had stopped was the wound on his arm. He wrapped an arm around the younger's back to support him and did a quick assessment, finding that the bullet was still inside. He could only hope it hadn’t hit any vital organs; otherwise, that would be an even bigger issue.
While he was thinking of a way to stop the situation from worsening, Rome pushed a blood-soiled phone into his hand. He looked at it quizzically, as if the phone itself might answer what he was supposed to do with it. Something about his expression must have been really funny, because Rome smiled at him, almost amused. Ah, yes, he needed to switch it off! After turning off the device, he put it in his pocket and started looking around for something to put pressure on the wound and stop the bleeding while still supporting the younger. His own wounded arm was starting to feel numb.
He heard Rome chuckle weakly. "I remember that you hate the cold," Rome said, looking down to where he was holding the younger’s forearm. "I remember that you like red because it feels warm." Rome’s voice was what felt the warmest to him; he wanted to let him know someday, but Rome needed to stay alive for that first. "Seems like... I got a red coat to put on you... freshly dyed..." Rome continued, pointing to the bloodied coat he had on. "It's a shame, though... that it got ripped and dirty. I can't put it on you now." Rome chuckled once again, but this time it came out pained. Rome had to be pretentious at the most difficult times, and Mok couldn't even find it in himself to be mad at him about it.
Rome’s dreams, however, gave him an idea he desperately needed. He took out the balisong knife he always kept hidden near his ankle and tore Rome’s coat into long strips with it. Rome was leaning onto him slightly, and seemed only partly aware of it. He took one of the strips, folded it into a thick pad, and put it directly over the open wound. He saw Rome clench his teeth in pain, but he couldn't do anything about it. He took another strip and wrapped it tightly around Rome’s lower back, over the pad he had put on the wound, and secured it with two knots. He picked up another strip and tied it around the graze wound on Rome’s left thigh. When he was sure there were no more open wounds left uncovered, he picked up his knife to put it back. Rome caught his hand. Picking up the last strip, Rome handed it to him. "Wrap your wound."
If he saw a pleading look in Rome’s eyes, he could blame it on the fact that he didn't have his glasses. He took the strip from Rome’s hands and tied it around his own wound with one hand and his teeth. Rome seemed satisfied. Somehow, it meant more to him than the strip he had just tied. However, he couldn't indulge either of them. They still needed to get somewhere safe, hopefully somewhere with medical supplies.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. But then, what had he expected?
__________
“Seriously, P’Po?” he whined, dragging out the words more than necessary.
Po sighed for the umpteenth time but couldn’t help the fond smile that made its way to his kiss-swollen lips. It was enough to erase the pout from his own saliva-glazed lips. He had been trying to distract Po from his work ever since they reached the hotel. On any other occasion, he’d feel bad for doing so, especially since the elder was very dedicated to his job, but right now he couldn’t find it in himself to feel even an ounce of regret for pouncing upon his boyfriend at every chance he got.
They say passionate love boils down to a calm over time. The passionate part, however, seemed everlasting for him. The permanent blush on Po’s cheeks, due to the cold weather of Russia wasn’t helping either. MARS had just finished their latest world tour, which had kept them busy for months. Po was also well occupied with his freelance creative directing job. It left them with almost no time for each other. So when MARS had decided to go on a vacation, he dragged Po and his recent work to relax with him.
“Thame…” Po began gently, and he already knew where Po was going with this. It wasn’t like he didn’t know Po would continue his work even on the trip—Po had insisted he go alone with MARS for this specific reason—but it was his own stubborn self that wanted to be close to him during this vacation before MARS got busy again. As a result, they hadn’t stepped out of the hotel room since they entered it two days ago. He was going to be teased to death by his friends for this later, but anything was worth spending one more moment close to Po.
As if jinxed by the mere thought, he heard his friends knock at their hotel room door. “Ai’Thame! We’re on this trip as well, if you haven’t forgotten it already!” It was Jun, and he could hear Pepper and Nano snickering in the background. Po gave him one last pitiful glance before standing up to go and open the door. He already started preparing himself for the loads of comments that were going to be thrown at him. He wasn’t even the only one dating, yet everyone in MARS seemed to follow this ritual by heart.
Pepper and P’Gam got married last year. It didn’t come as a surprise when Pepper proposed to P’Gam on her birthday. They had been dating for six years. They got married on their dating anniversary two months later. Po had managed the venue decoration and edited their wedding video himself, a short clip of which was played during their world tour as well. She couldn’t join Pepper on the vacation for the same reason as Po: work. But unlike Po, who could carry his work with him anywhere, it was more difficult for her to just take leave as the CEO.
Nano was dating their managing director, a young man who had proved himself by managing everything for MARS soon after they decided to go independent. They were always joined at the hip. Po and Nano’s now-boyfriend had become friends pretty quickly over their shared goal of keeping the group going strong and together. It was a hilarious coincidence that Po was the first to find out about their relationship. He was looking for Nano to discuss the choreography in the MV and walked in on them making out in the practice room, which Nano would later claim was just their talking stage.
Jun and Dylan were the last to date. Even though they had known each other since their trainee days, the fear of dating a band mate was backed up by the risk of tearing the group apart if things didn’t work out between the two someday. Having come this close to losing their band once already, it had seemed too big a risk. That same fear caused friction between the two because they could neither name their feelings openly nor deny them outright.
It brought the group to an almost breaking point once more before Po sat the two down to have a one-on-one conversation. He reassured them and asked them to have faith both in their feelings for each other and in their love for MARS. Lots of tears were shed that day, but everything came to a nice conclusion when the two agreed to date.
They were still the same, always at each other’s necks, bickering and teasing. The only difference was that the previously rough edges, due to restraint were, now softened by love, and the others just had to deal with some inappropriate noises every once in a while when MARS gathered at the new group house.
He understood in a way why the ritual was to tease only him. Po was everyone’s friend in MARS before he officially became his boyfriend. Po was their friend in their love lives—a friend who once gave his everything to keep MARS together and twice prevented it from breaking apart. Initially as an outsider and then as his boyfriend, Po could always find a middle ground for them when the group seemed to lack one. Having stayed the longest with MARS, Po managed to become quite a cushion MARS could fall upon as a group, even after everyone started dating.
He understood why Po was loved and respected while he was teased. Dating someone who was a little everyone’s in the group came with its own who-was-favored and who-was-teased. Po was obviously the favored one. He wouldn’t change it for anything, though, because it was once a dream fading before his eyes. Now, it was the reality he lived in every day. He knew there was a Po who was only his, and so he let the ritual continue.
Po came back, with the rest of MARS following him in closely. “Oho, Ai’Thame! If you aren’t going to come out of the room, you might as well go back to Bangkok.” Here it comes. He knew he could always trust Jun to say the most obnoxious shit ever. This time, though, he really would consider his idea if not for Po getting sad and thinking that he couldn’t enjoy the trip because of the elder. He knew Po understood him, better than himself sometimes, but right now the only thing about the trip that interested him was Po.
He sighed once. “So, what do you want to do?” He tried to keep the irritation out of his voice, but looking at the shit-eating grin on Jun’s face, he knew he was failing spectacularly.
Nano answered enthusiastically, “P’Dylan and I have decided to go shopping. P’Per is going to meet one of P’Gam’s cousins, who is also here for a trip.”
He nodded along before asking, “And Jun? What’s he doing?”
This time it was Po who spoke up, his eyes mischievously fixed on Jun, “What else will he do besides following his owner like a loyal dog?” Jun threw a paper ball at Po, which Po caught, but didn’t deny Po’s words.
It was a side of Po he got to see only when Po was with P’Baifern or Jun. After getting to know P'Baifern a little better, he realized that it was another coincidence that both Po and he had ended up with best friends who cared deeply but wouldn’t miss a chance to throw them under the bus just for fun. Whenever P’Baifern met up with their group, she and Jun would turn things upside down to poke fun at him and Po. However, it was Po’s response, which was sarcastic more often than not, to the two of them that made him want to jump his boyfriend’s bones—which was normally what he did after getting home.
Becoming painfully aware that his thoughts refused to behave, he shook his head slightly to get rid of them, but that smile on Po’s face let him know he wasn’t doing a very good job at keeping his face neutral. In his defense, he could manage it for work, but it wasn’t his specialty, not to mention that his boyfriend could always read him like an open book. He diverted his attention back to the topic at hand and asked, “How’re you guys planning to do it?”
Pepper, who had seemed engrossed in his phone until now, answered, “We have decided to split up for our respective plans and meet at the clock tower in the evening.”
He knew, without being told that he was going to be on his own. Now, he didn’t want to go out even more than before. Maybe he could try to get an out? “Uh…” he began, “Why don’t you guys go ahead, and I’ll follow you later?”
“P’Thaaaaaame…!” It was Nano, and before he could say anything, Jun and Nano were dragging him towards the closet. He sent a pleading look to Po, who only shook his head before coming closer with a fond smile. While Jun and Nano looked for a change of clothes for him, Po scooped him in a warm embrace. He wanted to melt and stick to Po like skin, forever.
Po pulled back and whispered in his ear, low enough that only the two of them could hear it, “Just go out and enjoy. I’ll prepare a surprise for you.”
Po’s words eased his ache a little. He nodded. As much as he didn’t let it show, with how little time they had gotten to be together over the past few months, he couldn’t help feeling disappointed. He knew that if he told Po, the older would tell him that it was just a phase and he would agree. But it didn’t stop him from wanting more. More with Po. Why couldn’t they just…?
He felt selfish for thinking like this. But then, what had he expected?