Chapter Text
Chay didn’t know how long they drove. Time was all relative in the back of a small van with, who was once the love of your life curled up beside you, his head flopped on your shoulder, like a cuddly koala rather that the deadly predator he actually was. In fact, who was Chay kidding! Kim still was the love of Chay’s life, probably always would be………..the problem was that Chay wasn’t the love of Kim’s, had never even gained entrance to his heart! In the dim light of the van Chay could see the outline of Kim’s face, how peaceful he looked sleeping, and his heart impossibly broke even more. Kim sleeping like this reminded Chay of that morning he had woken up in Kim’s arms on the sofa in his family home, back when he had felt like the luckiest human alive to have such a boyfriend. Back before everything in his life had turned to hell!
Chay didn’t know if he dozed off, or simply sent himself into a daze by allowing his mind to wonder so far into hurtful thoughts, but he nearly jumped when the van came to a halt, the engine sound beginning to wind down in the background. Wherever they were going it looked like they were there. Chay reached up to touch Kim’s cheek, hesitating for a second as he debated if he should wake the other or not. In the end Chay decided that him waking Kim was better than one of the men outside storming in and grabbing a still groggy Kim, who would most likely attack if not fully aware of his surroundings, and get himself in even more trouble than he already was.
‘Kim!’ Chay spoke gently, trying to wake Kim up slowly, again remembering how easily Kim had woken the one and only time they had spent the night together.
Kim simply snuggled closer, rolling his head so that his nose and mouth was almost fully enveloped by Chay’s overlarge jumper. Chay wanted to chuckle, Kim looked so cute like this, Chay wanted to pat that soft long hair that Kim always kept so carefully styled, but knowing it wouldn’t be welcome.
‘Kim!’ Chay said a little louder, as he heard the doors at the front of the van open, knowing the men would be coming for them soon. This time there was a cutely muffled ‘mmmm’ from Chay’s neck and Chay had to stop himself from automatically tensing at the feeling of Kim’s lips vibrating so close to his skin. ‘Kim…..we stopped!’ Chay managed to choke out over the butterflies suddenly doing summersaults through his body at the strange sensation.
Kim’s eyes shot open, his head lifted and his back straightened. Gone was the cuddly Kim from seconds ago, and in its place was the Kim Chay hadn’t seen for the longest time. The Kim that was the mafia heir, the Kim that fought, the Kim that killed! For some reason though, even though this Kim was staring at the back of the van with eyes hard enough to cut through steel, Chay felt no fear whatsoever towards him. Annoyance, yes, but fear no! Kim was his protector, the man might lie to him in order to try and protect him, but he would never harm him on purpose.
Wow when had that realisation hit home?
Chay wasn’t quite ready to think about any repercussions of his newfound awareness, there were far too many pressing things on his mind right now. One of them was the way Kim shot to his feet, only his heightened awareness skills preventing him from smacking his head on the roof of the van as van as he pushed Chay, almost roughly, behind him. Chay nearly grumbled to himself about over reaction, but made sure it was all under his breath, after all he didn’t want Kim to think he hurt him. Seconds later the doors swung open and the face of the man Chay recognised as Toh appeared in the small gap.
‘Lord Theerpanyakul, if you please!’ He said mockingly, even presenting a half assed attempt at a bow, which made Chay want to grab hold of Kim tightly before he did anything stupid.
Amazingly though, Kim acted as if the other man didn’t exist, he simply held his hand out to Chay as if the two were going to walk into a ballroom or something. When Chay took it, Kim led them both down the step and onto some small, pothole filled, lane. Kim whirled around when he felt, rather than heard, Chay squeak and jump closer to him. Toh was stood directly behind Chay, and with the smug look on the bastards face it didn’t take much brain power to work out what he had been doing. Without thinking Kim’s left hook connected with the man’s nose, sending a small fountain of blood across his jacket as the man crumpled to the floor once more. As if on cue the announcer chose this moment to scurry from the front of the vehicle, and upon seeing Toh once again on the floor, gave Kim a glare.
Kim had long ago become immune from glares from such idiotic nobodies who thought they could challenge him!
‘Do you even understand that you are supposed to be a prisoner right now?’ The man asked in obvious annoyed astonishment.
‘Do you understand that I could knock all your men out in 30 seconds flat and be out of here, if you didn’t have Chay? So, I suggest you remind your dogs that this agreement ends the next time anyone lays so much as finger on him!’ Kim replied, his voice seeming all the more deadly for how composed it was.
The announcer took one look at Chay, who was now gripping Kim’s hand for dear life while trying to hide behind his back as much as possible, then took a deep breath before walking over to Toh. Instead of helping the man up, or even asking about the state of his obviously broken nose, the announcer simply smacked the injured man around the head.
‘What have I told you? Don’t touch the boy! From now on Dino is in charge of the boy and you can deal with the little lord here. If you want the boy so damn bad you can wait until he loses like everyone else.’ The announcer turned back to Kim, walking back so he was close enough that his greater size was apparent. Kim had never been overly tall, even Chay was getting larger than him now, but Kim’s aura, his simple presence in a room, had always made up for his physical stature. If the announcer had been meaning to use his height as a way to try and intimidate Kim, then he had miscalculated, as he now found himself nearly craning his neck downwards in order to meet the eyes of the shorter man who steadfastly refused to look up! ‘You will lose at some point little lord; I will make sure of that! But when you do, maybe I won’t get your opponent to kill you right away. Maybe it will be worth it to let you see just how much fun my men have with your boy because of your failure, before we end your privileged, entitled, pathetic, life!’
Chay could feel the atmosphere getting more and more heated, more and more dangerous by the second. He could only hold on to Kim’s arm, trying to keep the man grounded, as he tried not to shake at the implications of the words coming out of the announcer’s mouth.
‘Kim…..breathe’ Chay said as strongly as he could make himself manage under the circumstances.
Kim turned, the hard eyes which looked like they consisted of sharp shards of granite, suddenly softening once again to the soft ones Chay was used to.
‘It’s alright. Their shit relies on one erroneous assumption.’ Kim said gently before turning back to the announcer, his voice suddenly filled with the lethalness of finality. ‘I won’t lose!’
The announcer visibly swallowed before collecting himself and instructing the two men, Dino and Toh, to escort Kim and Chay inside a small building off to one side. Kim had to give these assholes credit, they had obviously planned this, and had been working under the nose of his family for a long time. All these hideaways were small, but still large enough to do business. They were all fitted with the bare minimum equipment and staff for purpose, but at the same time had enough security and state of the art technology not to allow the fighters in the ring to disobey the organisers. If the crowd wanted a fight to the death, they would get one, and the fighters wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing about it. It was a smart set up!
When they got to the end of a small, downward, tunnel, Kim found himself pushed to one side while Chay was escorted to the other. That had been exactly what had happened the first time, and as the asshole pervert was with him, Kim didn’t feel too worried about what would happen to Chay in the short time they would be apart.
As last time there was a small gate in front of him leading to a large space, empty except for a weapons rack and the perimeter rods. It hadn’t taken much thought of Kim’s part to figure out what the rods had been last time either. When you had two fighters who were there by force, and a live audience merely a few feet away, then any idiot knew you needed to keep the fighters contained. If you couldn’t do that with a physical fence then you did it with an immaterial one, in other words something electronic that was easily put up and dismantled but would hurt like hell if anyone touched it. There was one slight problem with that type of fencing though, although Kim had to bide his time and figure out when to put his knowledge into practice. He couldn’t do so until his brother found him, and he was no longer the only person keeping Chay safe.
When that happened………well, when that happened this band of idiots would see just how well he could fight.
Until then he would play the game.
The leader of the gang, the man who played the announcer on these things, dressed just like he was the first time, in a god-awful outfit that even Khun would have balked at wearing. After a few minutes of talking shit about Kim and the whole Theerpanyakul family, the man almost ran from the area like a coward, seconds before a flicker of light became the only clue that the fence had been turned on. The gate in front of him opened, it seemed it his turn to be introduced first. He could play with that! Kim walked into the open space, eying up the weapons on the rack, all substandard quality, but they would do the job they were designed for. The flooring was basic sand under his boots, nothing special there. Instead of walking straight into the middle of the arena like he was sure he was supposed to, Kim instead wondered over to where one of the poles stood. As he got closer, he could almost feel the pulse being emitted from the thing, the energy got more intense once he closed his eyes, almost strumming through his veins like music did. Kim took another step forward, pausing to embed the feeling into his memory before taking another, then another. He stopped, opening his eyes just in front of the pole, within a finger’s breadth of it, but not quite touching. Giving the crowd, who were watching him with a mix of hatred and awe, his signature smirk, Kim wondered over to where the announcer was huddled safely on the other side of the fence.
Again, barely stopping before reaching the deadly probe, Kim carried on smiling as he leisurely removed his jacket and folded it before placing it just in front, but tauntingly out of reach of the other man.
‘Look after that for me, will you? I will need it back in a few minutes.’ Kim said as if he was just having a regular conversation with a friend, before slowly meandering back into the centre of the arena.
These people used physical threat without thinking. It was obviously their natural way of accomplishing things, and for most people it worked, most people would be swayed by the high-handed bullying tactics they displayed, and Kim would be a hypocrite if he said they didn’t have their place and that he had never used then himself. But Kim preferred the mental, the psychological form of doing things. That way people hardly ever knew you were coming for them until it was already too late.
The gate opposite opened, and Kim looked at his unfortunate opponent. He could already tell that this man was more capable than the last. This one knew how to hold himself, wasn’t playing up to the audience like the last one. This one was only keeping his eyes on Kim……..sensing Kim’s abilities and not underestimating him because of his size. For a second Kim thought he would be sorry to kill someone who really looked at him as a capable opponent.
But only for a second!
The announcer signalled for the battle to begin and Kim’s senses about the man soon came true. The man was smart enough to not try and take him head on while empty handed, but rather ran straight for the weapons rack, retrieving a nasty looking sword which would give him longer range. It soon became obvious that the man was also quite adept at using the weapon, as Kim needed to use all his flexibility to dodge blows which could have done some serious damage to his arms. Only managing to avoid one particularly vicious swipe, by knocking out the fighter’s legs from underneath him and sending him sprawling to the floor. With his weapon gone, and Kim not feeling like allowing him to regain it, the fight became more of the fist fight which suited Kim’s style. Unlike the last fight though this man was smaller and lithe, a little like Kim himself and the two fighters were more evenly matched in that respect. However, after a while it soon became clear that Kim’s knowledge and skill were superior, and he was gaining the ascendancy.
Kim could see in his opponents eyes the moment they both knew the fight was finished, but the man didn’t quit, didn’t stop fighting despite the end being a forgone conclusion. When Kim dodged the man’s punch and took advantage of him being off balance to deliver a roundhouse kick straight to the man’s jaw, he felt a slight hint of anger. The man had been brave, unlike the cowards watching. With the opponent unconscious, Kim knelt almost reverently behind him, lifting his head to his knee and placing his arms either side of the man’s neck. The noise of the audience flooded back to Kim’s senses as he clenched his teeth against the fury. He had been taught to kill………but only those who deserved it and certainly not for the enjoyment of spineless cowards. The man beneath his hands slowly stopped breathing, all life slipping away as the crowd cheered.
Kim pointedly ignored them as he walked away. He needed to get back to wherever they were keeping Chay, not only to make sure his boy was safe but in order to remind himself what all this was for.
No not his boy…….he reminded himself……….his own stupidity had robbed him of any chance he had to call Chay that!
Chay bolted upright in the cage he had been placed in. Even smaller than the room last time, this one was open at one side and enclosed by some kind of tarpaulin on the other three and the top. Chay had squashed himself in the corner farthest away from the door. For some reason a cage with one whole open wall didn’t seem as safe as the suffocating closeness as the windowless room. Chay knew neither of them were safe, well without Kim with him anyway. He had spent the time alone, when he assumed everyone else was at the fights………the same fights Kim would be taking part in………trying to get his head to follow instructions and actually focus on the realisation he had gained earlier.
The fact that Kim might lie to him in order to protect him, but never hurt him on purpose!
Is that what Kim had been doing all this time? Some twisted way of trying to protect him? And if so from what? It’s not like Chay’s life could magically return to normal if Kim wasn’t in it! His Hia sharing body fluids with Kim’s had put pay to that! So what could Kim possibly be worried about? Unless, Chay was wrong………unless Kim hadn’t lied to him, what if Kim really didn’t feel anything for him at all, had only seen him as a way to get information on his brother! In which case what was with acting jealous that night at the bar, and the public love song dedicated to him. Chay had been trying to avoid such thoughts ever since that song got released, trying to stop himself thinking around in circles, which is exactly what he found himself doing! Unable to find anything that made any sense concerning Kim’s actions. One thing had changed though! At the time Chay had been determined that he would never see Kim again, that he would grow up and move on until one day he looked back and saw Kim as his first crush. Now he was literally stuck in close quarters with the man who still haunted his dreams, and not only that but Kim was risking his life to keep him safe!
The whole damn thing was giving him a migraine! Why couldn’t he have come to this conclusion once he was out of here and safely away from the cause of all this stress?
The cage door opened and Chay barely bit down on a groan. Talk about causes of stress, here he came now, but Kim didn’t deserve to have Chay moan at him, not when he had just been through another fight. This time, as soon as Kim was inside and the cage door closed, Chay looked over at Kim who had the distinct signs of sweat on his brow. The fight was obviously harder than the last one.
‘Are you ok?’ Chay found himself asking with honest concern.
He might still be confused as to what the hell was going on inside his own head, let alone Kim’s, but that didn’t mean he wanted Kim hurt.
‘Fine.’ Shrugged a little too nonchalantly for Chay’s liking.
Without realising what he was doing, Chay was already reaching for Kim’s jacket, and had half pulled it down off his shoulders, baring the skin beneath the sleeves of his t-shirt, before an amused laugh snapped both their heads back towards the door.
‘It seems your boy really does like to please you, Theerpanyakul. How about I cover the cage completely so you can have your fun in peace? Huh?’ an unknown man spoke as he leered down.
Kim, who by the sheer size of the cage was already huddled close to Chay’s side, simply looked up at the man with a glare.
‘I’m sure you didn’t come by to see if I was enjoying myself! What do you want?’
The idiot stuttered and Chay hid his face in face in Kim’s jacket to hide the grin. Kim might be forced to fight in life and death matches, booed by an audience and locked in a cage………..but he still had that natural aura that made everyone else shut the hell up! A clank and then a wiff of something made Chay lift his eyes up again. The idiot had obviously bought some food before leaving, the problem was that, looking at the amount in the bowl. It was only enough for one person. Chay’s stomach began grumbling at the smell of food, he couldn’t remember when he had last eaten. The only thing they had given him since he was captured was enough water to make sure he didn’t die of dehydration. Kim simply smiled and held up a spoonful of what seemed like rice and egg, which Chay cheerfully devoured. Kim held up a second spoonful, and a third, each time Chay feeling like at last the aching chasm was beginning to fill up inside him. Then Kim held up the fourth spoonful and Chay managed to stop himself just before taking it in his mouth.
‘You have it!’ Chay said, trying to hide his reluctance.
‘Chay you are acting like you have been starved……….you need it.’ Kim responded, nearly shoving the spoon in Chay’s mouth.
Pushing it backwards, gently, as to not spill of the contents, Chay shook his head determinedly.
‘I’m just sitting around Kim, you are the one fighting, you are the one using your energy……..you need it more than I do……..’
‘I made you a promise I would look after you!’ Kim tried, but sensibly dropped the spoon back in the bowl rather than risk it in the game of push and shove they were having.
‘I know…….’ Chay sighed before catching himself…… ‘You made your promise because you feel responsible for getting me in this mess. But you can’t help me if you faint now, can you?’
Kim looked at Chay, confusion painted clearly on his face. Once again Chay’s temper had completely shifted as soon as Kim had mentioned his promise. Kim had thought that Chay seeing him wanting to keep a promise would be a good thing……….but maybe it simply reminded the younger man of all the promises Kim had already broken. Kim felt his stomach drop, it seemed like he had really fucked up too much with Chay to ever be forgiven his past transgressions. Picking up the spoon, he piled the chicken and rice combo onto it before placing it in his mouth. It tasted like ash against his tongue, but it would keep him alert for as long as he needed. After a second spoonful he again offered the spoon to Chay who looked at him sideways.
‘One for me and one for you……….deal!’ Kim said with a smug smile.
Chay just smacked him on the arm, and glared for a moment, before opening his mouth and letting Kim feed him. Well, if nothing else came out being in this hellhole, at least he got to spend time with Chay again.