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This isn’t the first time that Venice has joined his parents to visit the Jopok, but it is since they’ve announced the birth of the heir. Just eight months prior, there had been news that the current head of the Jopok had finally been blessed with an heir of their own, one that had been prayed for and whose welcome was overjoyed.
As such, the Theerapanyakun family had been invited to meet the new heir and celebrate the birth.
At four years old, there isn’t much that Venice wants to do less than travel, but with promises of treats and playdates with Prapai, he allows his parents to put him through the motions of getting ready for such a big trip. The long journey was worth the wait, apparently, as Venice not only got to play with Rome and Prapai, but also got to indulge in new foods he normally didn’t get. And while that may have been the main pluses of their visit(in Venice’s eyes, at least), seeing the new heir was also a highlight.
“We present to the Park Jopok a gift of our support and prayers for many blessings with this new heir,” Papa says, bowing respectfully to the head of the Jopok, Park Hajun was an intimidating man to Venice, with his quiet nature and imposing demeanor. “Our sons, Venice and Rome Theerapanyakun, would like to present the new heirs gift.”
Bowing, Venice holds onto Rome like a lifeline before they walk up to the crib. Looking down to see the sleeping baby, there isn’t much that Venice can identify about the baby besides the fact that it is, in fact, a baby.
Reaching down, Venice places a small pendant on the baby’s chest, which has a small swan carved into it, signifying the Park Jopok’s family crest.
Unbeknownst to Venice, both of his parents and Hajun look at each other before realizing the perfect alliance that could happen between the Theerapanyakun and Park families- an arranged marriage between the heir to one half of the Theerapanyakun empire and the heir to the Park empire. Oh, not only would it be a match made in heaven, it'd also be a way for each family to have ties to their others’ respective countries. It was almost too good to be true!
However, lurking in the shadows was a very dangerous man, someone whose name had been washed away by the shadows of the families in the room, but he was still there. Gun, a man many people thought was a myth, sneered at the scene before him. He would be the one to marry the heir to the Jopok, and he would use any and all power he had before him in order to make that happen. He just needed to find a way to destroy the Theerapanyakuns once and for all, so that he could rule the remaining family and marry into the Jopok.
Slinking out of the room with a smirk, Gun knows he has plans to make.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
On the day before the first monsoon of the season, it is announced that Rain will be joining them from July to October, in order to fully immerse himself in learning about the neighboring friendly families. Due to this, a newly 9 year old Venice finds himself awake way too early, dressed in a stuffy suit, in order to meet the prince of the Korean Jopok.
Prapai has already teased him relentlessly about this, saying that at least he doesn’t have to be in an arranged marriage with someone, which caused Venice to throw a punch, which landed him glued to his parents’ sides for the rest of the day.
When the Park family car does arrive, Venice and Rome stand up straight, just like their papas taught them, and bow when Hajun steps out of the vehicle. Holding his hand out, a smaller one grasps it and steps out of the car.
Rain is... plain looking. With a round face, long nose and round eyes, Venice doesn’t know if he’s seen anyone more plain.
Bowing, Rain bends at a full 90 degrees before shooting back up, keeping his eyes locked on Venice.
Rolling his eyes, Venice wais politely back, only to see Rain buck at him, showing his teeth. Rome begins cackling behind him, causing Venice to take a step back in shock.
“ He looks like a jerk, what a total bummer ,” Rain mumbles in Korean, causing Venice to snap back to attention.
“ If I get lucky I’ll get the plague ,” Venice mumbles back, causing Rain to look at him with wide eyes, clearly not expecting him to fluently speak his native language.
“So happy you could come,” Venice says, this time in Thai, trying to make it seem like they hadn’t just traded insults.
“So happy to be here,” Rain replies, clearly trying to not make it obvious, either.
They both walk into the Theerapanyakun estate, trying to stay fifteen feet apart.
Later, when they’re both bored, they will wrestle and play sword fighting, with Rain outsmarting Venice at every turn, causing Rome to laugh at his twin’s misery.
Rain plays dirty, kicking and scratching and biting, seemingly oblivious(or joyful) to Venice’s suffering. Rome, the traitor, refuses to join in, stating that he’s “just there in case someone starts bleeding”.
Eventually their scuffling takes them to the garden, where they are held apart from their parents to keep them from hurting each other anymore.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
As the years go by, this trend continues. Venice, now 14, sees no merit in continuing to meet Rain, even as his parents begrudge him to play nice.
“They’ll be arriving soon, Venice,” his Pa states as he walks into Venice’s room, noticing how Venice is currently practicing his dart throws on a hand-drawn picture of Rain, courtesy of Prapai. “Is this how you show respect?”
“If you make me bow again, I swear I’m going to be sick,” he snarks back, continuing with the current task at hand.
When they meet at the front of the estate again, Rome uses a new water gun he’d gotten the previous year for his birthday to shoot Rain with homemade lemonade that would be impossible to get out without taking a full-body shower.
Sighing, Rain crosses his arms at Venice and Rome.
Later, while trying to outrun Rain, they slide down the banister on the main floor and run out into the backyard, where Venice and Rome had built a new treehouse, and flinging the ladder up before Rain got a chance to climb up.
“This really isn’t fair!” Rain snaps, putting his hands on his hips.
“We really couldn’t care,” Venice snaps back, pulling out a homemade sign that says “THERRAPANYAKULS ONLY”.
Looking around, Rain shakes his head before kicking at one of the long pieces of wood holding the treehouse up, causing it to fall and collapse onto him, Venice and Rome included.
That fall, Rain goes home in a cast while Venice and Rome sport bruises and limps for several weeks after.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
By the time Venice is 19, he is completely done with the idea of marrying Rain. Rain, who is stubborn and loud-mouthed and hostile. Rain, who still looks plain but has slowly grown into his features, losing the baby fat and slimming out into having sharp cheekbones and eyes just as sharp. Rain, who still bickers and kicks and bites Venice whenever he and Rome try to ditch him. Rain, who has started to call Venice “Phayu” and Rome “Saifah” due to gossiping with the family guards and maids and discovering their childhood nicknames.
Despite trying to plead with his Papas to call off the wedding, they have remained steadfast in their resolve to see this clearly terrible match go through.
“Rain’s always flirting with the family guards,” Phayu complains, watching as Rain wais cutely at a guard whilst asking him questions about his job.
“I think you really sort of like him, fess up,” Saifah teases, jabbing Phayu in the side with a smirk.
“I’d like him better if he’d lose at cards,” Phayu replies, thinking of how just an hour ago, even with Saifah cheating to help him win, he’d lost.
“Four sevens and a ten,” he’d confidently stated, as he’d laid his cards out in front of him on the table and smirked at Rain.
“I think I’ve won again,” Rain had replied, cool as ever, laying down four aces and a two whilst he smirked back at Phayu. “This is my idea of fun.” He’d said as Phayu had groaned and slammed his head on the table, whining.
“This isn’t my idea of fun,” Phayu’d groaned.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
At 25, Venice has become utterly infuriated with the visits. The second that one of his Papas comes to knock on the door, Venice rushes to lock and lean against it, refusing to open it.
“For as long as I remember, we’ve been told we’d someday wed. Every July until October, all your pushing and annoying hints,” he whines, throwing his head back and wishing he could just not have to do this for one year.
That’s all he’s ever wanted- to be given the freedom to choose his own partner in life, to not be weighed down by the expectations of two families. Saifah, as much as he’d deny it, was clearly the favorite because he’s allowed to pick whoever he wanted to date, love, fuck, whatever. Prapai may be a spoiled brat, but at least he is free to do whomever he wants, whenever he wants.
Even as Phayu gets dressed in his nicest clothes and allows himself to be poked and prodded everytime Rain comes to visit, he still desperately wishes that he could be allowed to be free. Maybe then he wouldn’t sneak out to run the races Uncle Kim had started all those years ago.
It’s a new love for Phayu, but it’s one he cherishes deeply. With the wind in his hair as he drives his motorcycle through the busy streets of Bangkok, he knows that he is truly, utterly free.
But now, as he is being pushed into the main room to see Rain again, he desperately wishes to have that feeling come back to him.
“I can do much better, I’m sure,” he mumbles as the doors behind him slam and he turns around, facing them so he doesn’t have to look at Rain for longer than necessary.
“He’s so immature,” he hears Rain protest from behind him.
Turning, Phayu is met with possibly the most beautiful being he has ever been lucky enough to come into contact with. With his golden hair, defined jawline and striking eyes, it’s like everything that Phayu had once disliked fades away.
Smiling, Phayu slowly steps towards Rain, holding one of his hands out. He started out as such an ugly duckling, and somehow suddenly became a swan , Phayu thinks, meeting Rain in the middle of the room.
“So happy to be here,” Rain says while bowing.
“Until now I never knew, it’s you I’ve been dreaming of,” Phayu responds, bowing back.
They take in each other, smiling and joining hands, unable to say anything else.
The world melts around them, and neither notice the other people filing into the room as they begin to slowly sway with the music playing.
“This is my idea of love,” they both whisper, before coming together in a searing kiss, a promise, and refusing to part afterwards.
“Arrange the marriage!” Phayu exclaims once they come up for air and turn to face the room, delighting in the cheers around him. He has finally found the one for him, and Rain’s been in front of him this entire time.
“Wait,” Rain says, putting a sudden stop to the festivities.
“What?” Phayu asks, turning to fully face Rain again. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted, you’re beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Rain says, looking down. “But what else?”
“What else?” Phayu asks, incredulous.
“Is beauty all that matters to you? Is there anything else about me that you are drawn to?” Rain asks, ignoring the pointed cough from his father.
“Venice,” his Pa states, standing at his full height. “What else?’
“I...uh..” Phayu begins, stuttering. Raising an eyebrow, he looks down at Rain. “What else is there?”
He hears the gasps around the room, and pointedly ignores Saifah’s “ bzzt ” noise, but it’s not until Rain drops his hands and fully turns, crystal tears falling down his cheeks, does he realize that he has truly, without a doubt, fucked up.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
As the Park family begins to leave, Phayu’s gaze stays glued to his feet. He knows he’s messed up, and knows that his Papas are extremely disappointed in him, but he doesn’t know how to make things better.
Maybe he could find a minor Jopok family member and marry them instead? Even if it wasn’t Rain? He didn’t know if that would please his Papas, but he definitely wanted to make everything better.
“We tried, Vegas,” Hajun says as Rain silently walks by his side. “No one can say we didn’t try,”
Rain, who looks like he’s been crying all night, stays silent, even as Hajun gives him a slight push. “Say goodbye, Rain.”
Rain meekly looks up at Phayu, nodding at his father, before- “Goodbye,”
“Goodbye..?” Hajun prompts, giving his son a look.
“Goodbye, P’Venice,” Rain whispers, his voice trembling like he’s about to start crying again.
And if that isn’t a knife to the gut. Hajun seems to recognize the seriousness of how Rain feels if he is only referring to Phayu by his given name.
Nudging him, Pa looks pointedly at Rain. “Pa,” he says, crossing his arms.
“Venice!” Papa admonishes, clearly embarrassed by his sons’ current attitude and actions.
“Goodbye... Nong Rain,” Phayu mumbles, refusing to meet his eyes.
They stay at the entrance until the last car has disappeared off the horizon, and Phayu yearns to be able to rewind the clock back and say what Rain wanted to hear. It would’ve been easy, convincing Rain that, no, honey, you’re brave and charismatic and loyal . But Phayu had to open his big fat mouth.
“All these years of planning, wasted !” Papa says, throwing his hands up in frustration.
Later, due to a severe monsoon coming in, everyone retreats inside for the night, Phayu still finds himself distracted by Rain. His actions feel like knives to his throat for how badly he’s fucked everything up.
“I just don’t understand, Ro’,” he sighs, pacing back and forth as he and Prapai play a game of chess.
Their grandfather had taught them when they were little, and so sometimes they would play together to blow off steam or sharpen their skills before a big meeting. But for now, they play due to the power being out and the backup generators only working for lights and heat and securing the compound, they play with nothing better to do.
“‘What else is there?’” Saifah rants, pacing along with Phayu. “He says, ‘is beauty all that matters? Is there anything else about me that you’re drawn to?’, and you say ‘what else is there’?!” Throwing his hands in the air, Saifah seems completely bewildered with the turn of events his idiot brother has gotten himself into.
“It was dumb, I know, okay? I didn’t know what else to say!” Phayu protests, refusing to meet Saifah’s eyes.
“You know, you should write a book: ‘How to Offend Someone in Five Syllables or Less’,” he says, pretending to write down the title. “And not only that, but you gave him a look that could only translate to ‘are you an idiot?’. You might as well have called him an idiot for asking the question!” Saifah rants.
Laughing at Phayu’s obvious misery, Prapai gestures to the chess board, which is conveniently missing his queen. “Your turn, Phayu,”
“There’s obviously so much more to Rain than his beauty, but I just didn’t know what else to say at the moment!” Phayu cries, rubbing his face.
Phayu turns towards the board and moves one of his pawns, which causes Prapai to chuckle more; “You lost your queen, Phayu!” He says gleefully.
“That’s twice now!” Phayu whines, throwing his head back. “Twice in one day!”
“Think!” Saifah cries, clearly fed up with the situation. “You must see something other than Rain’s beauty! What about his smarts? Or his courage?”
“Oh, of course I do, Saifah!” Phayu squawks. “He’s just... and you know, his smile is... yeah, you get it!”
Judging by the unimpressed glare Saifah throws his way, he does, in fact, not get it. Even Prapai throws him a scalding look. Ouch.
“I just don’t know how else to say it- I see these traits, but they don’t come out in words! I’ll prove it to him, I swear it. I’ll prove my love to Rain! Checkmate!” Phayu says, moving his knight to corner Prapai’s king, unknowing that elsewhere, trouble brews for the one he has claimed his loyalty to.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
The rain comes down hard against the window, not unlike tiny bullets, with the booming thunder and blinding lightning making everything worse. Despite his namesake, Rain hates the monsoon season in Thailand. Everytime they come to do these God-awful visits, it’s raining and gross and Rain is forced to stay inside with Phayu, despite his objections every time.
Rain has no agency regarding his life, apparently, and that’s a fact that makes his blood boil and cements his wish to curse whoever came up with this shit idea of a match.
Clearly, Phayu only cares about the way Rain would look as arm candy, but not about anything else regarding Rain’s personality, or wants, or desires.
If that’s how he felt after taking Rain’s first kiss, then he could burn in hell for all Rain cares. Even now, as they drive to the chateau they’ll be staying at until the monsoon calms down enough to be able to fly home, Rain has to listen to his Appa question his decisions.
“I-I just don’t understand, my Rainbow, what else did you want him to say?”
Rain feels his anger ebb away slightly at the nickname. Rain knew that while he was the first baby to be born after many losses experienced by his mother and father, he also knows that due to the strain of the pregnancy, his mother had passed after giving birth, due to a doctor not realizing she had torn the wall of her uterus and begun to hemorrhage, eventually bleeding out on the table.
From what he’s heard from the maids at home, the doctor was forced to relive that same trauma for daring to be so careless with the Jopok’s queen. So, growing up, Appa had ensured that all his attention when he wasn’t working was on Rain and Rain only. The prince of the Jopok was not one to be messed with, and even as a child, Rain knew how much power he held on the tips of his fingers.
Despite the environment he grew up in, Rain considers himself an innocent soul, one that refuses to be tainted by the darkness of their world. But if Venice couldn’t see that and could only see his beauty, then Rain wants nothing more to do with him.
“I need to know that he loves me for me , Appa, not just my looks or how I’d look on his arm-”
Suddenly, the car swerves, causing Rain to fly into the door of the car and scream.
“What’s going on?!” Appa demands, grasping Rain’s hand in his own, something he’s done since Rain was little.
“Sir! Sir! There’s-” The voice cuts out as gunshots ring through the air. Trembling, Rain covers his head and curls into a ball, just as he was taught. A bright light, not quite like lightning but something brighter and louder, cuts through the air and the car abruptly is hit by something and flips through the air, more gunshots ringing out.
“Appa!” Rain screams, terrified tears flowing down his face freely. This wasn’t supposed to happen! “What’s going on?!”
“It’s okay, Rainbow, it’s okay-” another gunshot rings out, and Rain’s suddenly hit with warm rain. Wailing, he waits for the car to halt before trying to unbuckle his seatbelt, his hands slippery with the warm rain. It’s pitch black out, and all he can hear is the ringing in his ears and the sounds of gunshots.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, he’s able to be released from the seatbelt, and slowly crawls through the broken window, before looking around to get his bearings.
His hands, he realizes, are not covered in warm rain but blood, and he starts breathing faster and faster.
He scrubs his hands, trying desperately- and failing- to get the blood off. Whose blood is it, though? Whose blood is he covered in?
Taking in his surroundings, Rain is greeted with chaos; several of the guards' cars are in a similar state to theirs, or they’ve been shot into, the glass stained red with their occupants’ blood. A few of the cars are on fire, and all Rain can see is the orange around him and the lightning as it strikes down.
He keeps army crawling, trying to ignore the glass shards that poke and prod against his skin, scratching and causing blood to drip down his arms as well. When he’s finally able to make it to a clear area, he slowly lifts himself up onto his hands and knees. The rain is still pouring, making everything harder to see. He slips as he tries to get up, landing back down on his trunk, a sob bubbling up in his chest.
He notices his guards are running in circles, as if they don’t know where he or Appa are but everything's so blurry with the weather and his tears that he can’t read any signs telling him where he is.
“Appa?” He croaks, looking back at the car.
Staring at him is his father, holding onto his chest as it blooms red, red, red. Slowly, he attempts to follow Rain, crawling out of the vehicle, when he is stopped by something that Rain can’t see. His face turns white, and he looks at Rain with a pleading look.
“Just look at me Rain, okay? Focus on me,” Appa says, stopping his movements as more blood starts to seep through his shirt.
“Appa, come with me, please, what’s going on?” Rain begs, feeling himself start to panic again.
“Run, Rainbow,” Appa pleads hoarsely, seemingly finding it painful to breathe. “I love you so much, but you need to run, okay?”
All of a sudden, a rain of bullets comes down, causing Rain to yelp and cover his head again, shaking like a leaf. Looking over, he sees someone walk over to Appa and shoot him again and again and again , right in his chest.
As quietly as he can, Rain stands up on shaky legs before trying to make a run for it, but he hears more gunshots behind him and collapses to the ground as he slips on oil from one of the cars.
Before Rain can attempt to stand again, he feels something sharp hit the back of his head and it all goes dark.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
“Another round?” Prapai teases, clearly trying to break the tie streak that he and Phayu have going for them.
“Yeah, sure,” Phayu responds listlessly, all the emotions from the day beginning to crash. “One more and then I’ll probably call it, because I’m exhausted.”
“ You’re exhausted?” Saifah teases, raising an eyebrow at his twin.
“You know what I mean,” Phayu snarks back, rolling his eyes.
Suddenly, the door bursts open, causing all three men to stand, weapons drawn.
Hwan, one of Hajun’s personal guards, leans against the doorway, covered in blood. Phayu screams for his Papas before running to Hwan’s side.
“Oh my God, Hwan, what happened?” Phayu asks, gently holding the man up.
“W-We were attacked, all of the other guards were killed, and Rain, t-they took-” Hwan stutters, before the realization hits Phayu.
“Rain!” He exclaims, standing up and running towards the garage.
“Phayu, wait!” He hears behind him, but nothing stops him.
Throwing himself onto his bike, he speeds through the night; only one thought on his mind.
Rain, Rain, Rain .
Once he gets to the accident, it’s an absolute bloodbath. Guards, left and right, are in multiple different aspects of disembowelment, with some having been slaughtered before they could get out of the car.
Once he notices the main Jopok vehicle, all he can think about is Rain, the boy who has managed to completely entrap the famous Venice Theerapanyakun in his clutches, without even having to lift a finger. Without thinking, he dead sprints to it before trying to open the door, but to no avail. As he steps away from the wreckage, he feels his foot land on something. Looking down, he sees the pendant; the very one that he had given Rain, all those years ago when Rain was a baby and Phayu was four.
Gently, ever so gently, he picks up the pendant, holding it close to his chest. Suddenly, he hears a hoarse gasping from behind him. Turning, fearing the worst, he sees-
“Khun Hajun?!”
“ Venice ,” Hajun mutters in Korean, holding his chest firmly as his once-red shirt is now the color of blood; his blood , Phayu thinks sadly.
“ What happened? Who did this to you? ” Switching languages was easy for Phayu, especially if it gave Hajun comfort in his dying moments.
“ I-It happened so quickly, a-a great beast ,” Hajun murmurs, his life slipping away.
“ Where’s Rain? Let us help you, you’ll be alright, ” Phayu pleads, trying not to let Hajun see him cry.
“ L-Listen to me, Venice. I’m beyond saving. But you must find my Rainbow. A new crime family has emerged underneath us all ,” Hajun weakly says, struggling to get the words out.
“ What do you mean new crime family? Where is Rain?! ” Phayu cries, shaking in fear.
“ R-Rain is... Rain is gone, ” Hajun finally gets out, as his body succumbs to his wounds and he goes limp in Phayu’s arms.
Phayu hears, rather than sees the rest of the motorcade pull up behind him, but he knows that they see him fall fully to his knees while crying out for Rain. He feels Papa fall to his knees besides him, cradling him close like he did when Venice was a child.
“My baby, it’ll be okay,” Papa mutters, crying as well. “We have to go though, okay? We have to go now.”
“No, Pa, t-they took him! They took Rain!” Phayu pleads, still holding onto Hajun’s body.
“I know, baby, I know. But it’s not safe here, okay? So we need to go,” Papa protests, gently dragging Phayu away.
“ Rain! ” Venice screams, agonized at the pain in his chest.
As they continue to try to pull Venice away from the carnage, he feels a rage he’s never felt before slowly start to take over, silently killing the Phayu that everyone once knew. This is now fully Venice Theerapanyakun, son of Vegas and Pete Theerapanyakun, taking the reins.
And God have mercy to whoever dared to touch Rain.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
When Rain finally opens his eyes, he feels a pain he’s never felt before. Slowly bringing himself up to his knees, he notices a man, standing above him. Looking around, he notices that he’s next to a lake of some kind, hidden within an old temple’s garden, with its Khmer-influenced architecture and epic religious scenes carved into the walls, it’s a perfect place for evil people to hide out in.
The stone corbel arches, while worn down to a dirt brown color, still hold the beauty they had like they were carved yesterday. It’s a beautiful place, too bad Rain has forcefully been taken here, and not of his own free-will.
“Oh, you’re awake,” a voice says, causing Rain to snap to attention. From the shadows, another man appears, looking as slimy as the first one sounds. “I’m Gun, and this is my associate, Stop.”
Shakily bringing himself to stand, Rain levels a glare at the two men.
“You’ll have to kill me to respect you,” Rain grits out, glaring.
“Oooh, aren’t you scary? Well, here’s the thing, Raindrop,” Gun says, slowly slinking over to his prize.
Rain shudders at the bastardization of the nickname his father used in reference to how much he adored him.
“I don’t want to kill you, I want to marry you! Just say yes, and I’ll end your suffering, promise!” Gun says, smiling wickedly at Rain.
Stepping back, Rain feels himself walk backwards into the water, shaking his head.
“I’d rather die than marry scum like you,” He snarls, spitting at Gun.
He receives a backhand for his indiscretion, causing him to fall butt-first into the water. He feels, then tastes the coppery blood running from his nose.
“I was hoping you’d say that, as this will be much more fun!” Stop screeches, laughing as Gun takes another step towards Rain.
With a booming voice, Gun begins chanting in a voice that makes Rain tremble. Pain blooms throughout his body, causing Rain to gasp and reach for his neck, the pain choking him.
In a flourish of reds and yellows, Rain feels every bone breaking, every muscle tearing, and this is it, this is the end, he knows it, when-
It stops. The pain stops. Looking around, Rain feels a lot shorter than he once was, he feels no pain, but his belly does feel wet; why does it feel wet ?
He’s scared to look down, and refuses to do so, but he knows it's necessary.
Once Rain finally gets the courage and looks down at the water, he sees-
A swan, with a golden head, orange beak, and black eyeliner stares back at him. Honking, Rain feels his body react without his permission; flapping wings and splashing water.
“Now, now, don’t let my little spell make you sad, Rain. It doesn’t even last a full day! As soon as the moon comes up...” Gun says as he trails off, pointing to the moon in the sky.
Rain feels a radiating warmth spread through him. Unlike his first transformation, this one comes like a breath of air, no pain or agony required. The moon’s reflection on the water begins to bubble slightly, then small bursts of light begin to fire off from the water. Slowly, ever so slowly, within bursts of blue and purple and pink, the water rises, covering Rain’s small swan body, completely engulfing him before-
Looking down, Rain sees his legs and hands again, and relief courses through him. It’s short-lived however, once he realizes what just happened.
“And that’s how it works, my dear Raindrop. You have to be on the lake, of course, and when the moonlight touches your wings... well, look, Rain,” Gun says, sporting a fake pout.
Ignoring him, Rain steps out of the lake to turn away, hiding his fear from Gun.
“You see, this type of thing doesn’t give me any pleasure,” Gun begins, his voice dripping with false saccharine, causing Rain to feel a headache come on. “Well, maybe a little bit.”
At his disgusting smirk, Rain crosses his arms and turns back towards the lake, contemplating if he should just drown himself to end this madness.
“Now what I really want is, well, not only the Korean Jopok, but also Thailand too,”
Twisting around to meet Gun’s eyes, Rain feels the full force of hatred slip into his voice as he snaps, “Then take it. You clearly have enough power to do so.”
“Ah, but you see, why would I do that when instead,” Gun schemes, reaching out to touch Rain’s face without his permission. “ We could wed, since you’re the only heir to the Jopok throne, and when your pathetic excuse for an ex-fiance comes to take you back, I’d be able to wage war on him and then the entirety of Thailand’s crime syndicate would be mine .”
Horror fills Rain as he realizes what exactly Gun is proposing.
“Never! Fuck you!” Rain snaps, turning and running off, away from Gun, away from the lake.
“Where are you going , Raindrop? As soon as the moonlight leaves the lake, you’ll turn back into a swan,” Gun cackles, clearly taking pleasure in Rain’s torment. “Oh, didn’t I say ? No matter where you may be, you’ll still become my beautiful swan prince.”
As the gravity of the situation, the stress of the entire past two days, and the pain of losing everyone he’s ever loved sinks in, Rain feels a sob burst past his lips and he keeps walking, trying to at least find some way away from Gun before he does anything else to him, to his family, to his future.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
The smell of gunpowder lingers in the air as Venice continues to shoot the targets, one by one by one, refusing to stop until he empties the clip before reloading it and continuing what he was doing.
“Well, the maids will surely love you getting gunpowder all over your nice, new clothes, my son,” Prapai says from behind him, startling Venice.
“I know, but I have to practice, Prapai,” Venice says. “When this new crime family comes to the scene, we need to be prepared.”
Prapai shakes his head, looking down at the table with the guns all laid down, ready to be used.
“You can’t seriously still believe that Rain is still alive, we’ve looked everywhere, expended all our resources, Venice. You need to accept that he isn’t coming back.”
“When I find this new family, I will find Rain, Prapai,” Venice asserts, shaking his head before loading his guns again.
“Hmm,” Prapai hums, clearly thinking. “How are your espionage skills? I know that Uncle Kim was wondering how we both were doing, if you want to practice.”
Setting his gun down, Venice smirks at his cousin before pulling off his earmuffs and safety goggles.
“Well, we’d better go ask him, hmm? Race you,” Phayu teases, running off before Prapai has a chance to respond.
“Hey! Phayu!” Prapai calls after him, laughing. They race together, on their way to meet up with Kim and learn all there is to espionage work.
Once they get there, Kim smirks at the looks on each of the boys’ faces, acknowledging the pain that has set onto Phayu’s features, and the pure torture that Phayu feels every night.
They all pretend like Hajun’s death wasn’t as jarring as it was, but the truth is that his death has caused so much strife for the criminal underworld that Kim wouldn’t blame the boys for feeling the weight on their shoulders.
“Alright, we’ll start with knife throwing, because when you’re out of ammo, a knife can kill just as quickly as a bullet,” Kim says, making sure to make eye contact with each of the boys.
“Sorry I’m late! Sorry, I was helping Pa with something,” Saifah says, bursting into the room. “Where were we?”
Unimpressed, Kim shrugs before turning back to the knives on the table, and handing one to each of the boys.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
“Are you okay?”
Flinching, Rain turns to see a boy, much skinnier and paler than he is, looking down at him with wide, scared eyes.
“W-Who are you? Are you with Gun? Here to make me suffer some more?” Rain demands, standing from where he was sitting, rage filling his head.
“N-No! I mean, well, yes, but...” the boy trails off, looking down at the ground.
“I knew it, you’re just here to bring me pain and suffering, more than I’m already feeling!” Rain shouts, angry tears falling down his face, pushing an angry finger into the boy’s chest.
“N-No, you don’t understand. Gun forced me to be here- he cursed me like you, but he keeps me locked up here, just to sate his twisted desires,” the boy says, nearing tears himself. “Please, I’m sorry, I didn’t know he’d go this far.”
Relaxing slightly, Rain feels as if he’s lost a part of himself by succumbing to his emotions like that.
“No, I’m sorry. It wasn’t fair of me to come after you like that. Forgive me,” Rain says, wai’ing towards the boy. “What’s your name?”
“Sky,” the boy, no, Sky, replies, curling into himself.
“I’m Rain,” Rain replies, smiling at Sky. “So what were you cursed for?”
“Gun made me give a part of myself to him, one that I’m trying to get back, but haven’t had much luck with,” Sky says, kicking a rock into the lake.
“Hey, maybe we can help each other!” Rain says, smiling. “If you help me get out of here and find P’Phayu, I’ll help you get back what was taken from you!”
Sky shrugs, clearly thinking it over before he nods, a small smile on his face.
“Deal,” he says. “I’m not too sure where exactly we are, but I know that Gun has maps in his room, I could steal one and I might be able to get a message through, since Gun forces me to stay here, too. Every time I’ve tried to leave, he’ll find me and drag me back. He calls me his little canary, because my ‘cries are so beautiful to him’,” Sky says sadly, looking down at his hands.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry, Sky. We’ll get you out of here, I promise,” Rain says, reaching out to hold Sky’s hands in his.
“I believe you, Rain,” Sky says, a small, but genuine, smile slowly appearing on his face. “Why are you here, anyways? Gun didn't tell me.”
“He wants to marry me and take over my family’s power as the Korean Jopok, but he wants to go farther and wage war on the main family of Thailand, too,” Rain says sadly, his eyes filling with tears.
“The main family?! The Theerapanyakun family?!” Sky gasps, his eyes becoming saucers with how wide they are.
Nodding sadly, Rain continues to look at his hands. “Venice, who is one of the heirs, we’ve known each other since we were little, and I truly believe he is the one for me, and he was going to marry me, he even asked, but I had to turn him down,”
“Why? Clearly you love him a lot,” Sky probes, tilting his head.
“Because when he called me beautiful, he didn’t say anything else! I asked what else there was about me that he liked, and he couldn’t think of anything! He looked me in the eyes and said ‘what else is there?’. He looked at me like I was an idiot for asking, and I just couldn’t justify marrying someone who only saw my superficial features,” Rain explains, shaking his head and trembling slightly.
Before Sky can respond, a familiar voice cuts through the night.
“ Raindrop~ ” a greasy voice sings out from the distance, causing both boys to flinch.
“Oh no,” Sky whispers, before he gently pushes Rain off of him to hide in the bushes behind him, away from Gun’s sight. “He can’t know that I was here.”
Nodding, Rain turns away from the bushes to face Gun as he walks through the clearing.
“Your prince charming has arrived, my sweet Raindrop,” Gun says, his voice dripping in faux sweetness. “All it takes is one little word, and I’ll free you from your sorrow. Don’t you trust me?”
“Ugh,” Rain groans, rolling his eyes. He feels his rage bubbling over again. “Every night you ask me the same goddamn question, and every night I tell you the same fucking thing! No!”
Gun’s face hardens, the smile dropping from it faster than it had been there to begin with.
“God, you are stubborn. One of these days, Raindrop, I’ll lose my patience with you. You’ve started to really get to me, you know?”
Raising an eyebrow, Rain looks into Gun’s eyes with nothing but hatred. “You should be used to it by now, you bastard. I’d rather die than marry you,”
“Oh, one of these days I’ll stop being so generous to you, Raindrop, and then you’ll really regret it,” Gun snarls, stepping closer to Rain, looking ready to strike him.
Tears fill Rain’s eyes without permission, and he feels the world closing in on him. Turning away from Gun, he allows the tears to fall as Gun begins to cackle, taking pure, unadulterated joy in all the pain and suffering that he’s causing Rain.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
At the races, Prapai is sure he’s beaten everyone here at least once, and is now bored. Maybe he could find someone to take home, at least enough to distract him from the nightmares that plague Phayu.
Speaking of Phayu, he’s been skipping the races lately, seemingly looking for something . The last time he even appeared at the races was before... well, before Rain.
Rain’s presumed death was a shadow upon the Theerapanyakun family, as it has caused ripples throughout the entire Asian crime scene. With Hajun gone, the Jopok has been thrown into a power vacuum, causing even the most minor of potential heirs to be fighting for the throne, so to speak.
Even with their seemingly endless resources, the Theerapanyakun family was seemingly unable to find any evidence that Rain was even alive anymore, save for the fact that there was no body.
Phayu was always the tough, stern one of all the heirs, but this has truly shook him to his core. Peeking around the races, Phayu truly is nowhere to be found, but that’s not going to deter Prapai.
Finally, after peeking through several trailers, he finds Phayu in the mechanics trailer, methodically fixing a bike. He stops as Prapai approaches.
“Find anything yet?” Prapai inquires, tilting his head playfully.
“No,” Phayu grumbles, turning back to his work. “But what if we’re thinking of this the wrong way? Hajun said a new crime family was here, one that was under our feet; but what if it wasn’t one that originated in Korea, but Thailand?”
That makes Prapai pause, thinking. If there was a new crime family, they most likely wouldn’t be in Korea, where the main power vacuum would be- because there’s a possibility that Rain is still alive, and then-
“Oh shit,” Prapai says, coming to the same realization that Phayu has. “We need to call a family meeting if that’s the case, but where would we start looking?”
Phayu seems to think it over for a moment, before nodding towards the race tracks.
“Well, maybe someone who is here would know, if we knew what to ask?” He suggests.
Smirking, Prapai nods, before turning to the race track. Behind him, he feels Phayu join him on his right, a subtle signifier to their true power.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
Sky hates the races. Everytime Gun forces him to go, he can feel another part of himself being torn off and left to die. This wasn’t living, and the fact that every single time Sky was back here, he felt himself shut down, and that was the true definition of someone who has given up, huh?
Wrapping his arms around himself, Sky tries to let everything wash off of him, if only to give himself a little comfort.
He goes over the plan that he and Rain had gone through the night before.
“If you’re going to the races, you might want to see if you can find P’Phayu and his cousin, P’Pai. P’Saifah might be there, too, but that’s not a guarantee, as he’s mostly taken over the more... imagery parts of the family,”
Nodding, Sky commits these names to memory.
“And when I see them? What should I do?” He asks, trying to tamp down his growing anxiety at the plan unfolding.
“Try to bring them here, if you can. They’ll be finishing up as the sun sets, so timing is key. Get them as close as you can to the lake without alerting Stop or Gun, and we might be able to pull this off. Just make sure you get P’Phayu to follow you. Call for him by his birth name, ‘Venice’, and you’ll get his attention- to everyone but the family, he is simply just P’Phayu,” Rain explains.
Nodding, Sky commits the name to the memory before taking a deep breath.
He could do this. He knew he could,
Looking around, he sees a very handsome man walking around with an even handsome man, both of whom are seemingly prowling around the races, intentions clear; they mean to find someone.
Sneaking around the train yard, Sky tries his best to get as close to the two men as humanly possible, without tipping them off before he’s ready for them to know he’s there.
He’s been trained to be quiet, after all.
He’s about to reach them, when-
“Hey! Who let you in here?!” A voice shouts, startling Sky and alerting the two men to his unfortunate location.
Locking eyes with the one he assumes to be Phayu, he turns and runs as fast as he can without losing him. He hears them take off after him, their shoes kicking up gravel as they follow him, refusing to let him out of their sights.
As he runs, he hears a familiar honk above him, and he smiles for the first time tonight, knowing that Rain is following close behind.
“A swan?!” He hears one of the men say, bewilderedly. “What the fuck is a swan doing here?”
Sprinting, Sky makes it his mission to get to the lake as soon as he can, so that Rain could have at least enough time to explain everything to Phayu before Gun arrives and tries anything.
Finally, Sky as they near the lake, Sky trips over a tree branch and goes tumbling to the ground, where the two men catch up to him. Breathing heavy, he turns to them.
“Venice,” Sky gasps, catching the one on the right’s attention. “L-Look.”
Pointing towards the lake, Sky sees Venice look up to see Rain fly down to the water as the moon hits it, causing the water to surround him.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
As Rain steps out of the water, he’s confronted with an anxiety he hasn’t felt since before he faced Phayu. He tries to let go of his panic as he steps towards Phayu, who meets him in the middle and pulls him into his arms, twirling.
“P’Phayu!” Rain squeaks, giggling as they twirl. As Phayu stops twirling, he pulls Rain into him and their lips connect, fireworks blooming in his stomach as he feels Phayu pull him closer, clearly trying to savor the moment.
This is confusing to Rain, as Phayu had only originally wanted him for his beauty, but with how Phayu is currently holding him, all Rain can feel is the love that he has felt for Phayu being reflected back at him.
As they pull apart, Rain gently holds Phayu’s face, staring into his eyes.
“P’Phayu, I’m so glad that you’re here, I didn’t know if you’d ever be able to find me,” Rain gasps, refusing to let go of his lover.
“The family, they thought you were dead, Rain, but I never could believe it. No one believed me, but I knew you were alive,” Phayu assures, tears glittering in his eyes. “We need to get you back to the compound-”
“No,” Rain interrupts, shaking his head. “I can’t leave here. I can only turn back into a human if I’m in the moonlight on this lake. When the light leaves, I’ll turn back into a swan.”
Giving a shaky sigh, Phayu shakes his head.
“No, please, I just got you back, you can’t expect me to just leave -”
“ Raindrop! Come here! ” A voice shouts behind them, causing Rain to flinch harshly in Phayu’s arms.
“P’Phayu, you need to leave, now, please. He can’t know you were here. You need to break the curse he’s put on me!” Rain exclaims, feeling tears wash down his cheeks. “Please, just believe me!”
“ Raindrop! Where are you?! Come out now! ” Gun shouts, sounding like he was running out of patience.
“How do I save you? How do I end your suffering?” Phayu asks, gently holding Rain’s hand, refusing to part from him.
“I don’t know, he never said! Maybe you need to declare your love to me?” Rain guesses, starting to become hysterical. “He sometimes goes on about never letting me go because no one would declare their love for me, and see through their vow.”
Rain sees the range of emotions flourish over Phayu’s face, before settling on determined.
“I’ll do anything for you, my Rain, I promise. There’s a diamond auction tomorrow- Pa and Papa will be there, along with Uncle Kinn and Uncle Vegas. I’ll tell everyone then about my love for you, I swear on my life,” Phayu declares, before pulling Rain into one last kiss before running off.
“ Rain! ” Gun screams, finally losing his patience.
“I’m right here!” Rain says, turning to face Gun, whose face is stormy with the poorly hidden anger that is clearly about to bubble over the surface.
“I gave you a chance, Raindrop, and you didn’t take it,” Gun says, quietly, as he snatches Rain’s hand, quick as a viper, and twisting it. Rain cries out in pain, but Gun doesn’t seem to care.
“You refused, and now, you’ve brought your ‘ lover ’ here,” Gun sneers, reeling his hand back and slapping Rain. “You slut, you’ve forced me to do this.”
Rain begins crying in earnest now, desperately pulling at the death grip that Gun has on his wrist. He pulls and pulls, but clearly, Gun’s not giving up without a fight, and he backhands Rain again, and he collapses to his knees by the force of it.
“Stop it, please! I’ll do anything, please!” Rain begs, letting himself go dead weight on the ground, making Gun angrier.
“No, you little whore, you’ve had your chance. But because you just had to try and escape, you’ll feel the death you should’ve had with your father!” Gun shouts, hitting Rain again, and again, and again, until Rain’s world tilts and goes dark.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
As Phayu approaches the compound, he senses himself feeling lighter than he has in the recent past. From thinking that Rain was dead and gone, to finding Rain, alive and somewhat well, and now all he had to do was proclaim his love for the one person he’s only ever wanted?
If that’s all it took to get Rain back, then Phayu would marry him on the spot when Rain arrived at the auction tomorrow.
He felt like he was dancing in the way that he walked up the steps, determined to find his Papas so that they could hear the good news.
As he enters, he hears a bustling crowd, and looks around, seeing the many servants and guards running around, clearly getting everything ready for the auction.
In the mess, he finds both his parents, clearly enjoying the controlled chaos of the room.
“Pa, Papa,” He says, hugging each of them. “May I ask if we can change the colors for tonight?”
“And why is that?” Pa inquires, looking his son up and down. “According to Rome, you haven’t taken any interest in the auction, but all of a sudden you’re excited and wanting to make changes.”
“Vegas,” Papa scolds, giving Pa a look. “If Venice is interested in the auction, then we should let him help with ensuring it comes together smoothly. Besides, we haven’t seen Venice this happy in a long time, not since... the incident.”
They all know what he means, but for once, Phayu doesn’t feel anger or depression. He just feels... happy.
Rain was a good influence for him like that.
“You’re right,” Pa says, nodding. “I’m sorry Venice, I overstepped. What would you like to change?”
Phayu has always loved the way his parents handle conflict; always ensuring to apologize for being in the wrong, and handling arguments or disagreements with grace and love. Phayu’s never been able to hold a grudge against his parents for this reason.
“I was thinking that maybe we can change from red to white? Like a swan?” He pleads, feeling himself smile softly.
“A swan?” Saifah says from behind him, clearly confused. “Why the sudden interest in swans?”
“They’re just beautiful and graceful, okay?” Phayu says, feeling himself give in to the rage bait that Saifah is clearly dangling in front of him. “Where have you been, anyways?”
“Getting things ready for tonight, something you clearly can’t do,” Saifah bickers back, sticking his tongue out.
Phayu rolls his eyes, sticking his tongue back out in response. Both of them stop at the sharp “ boys ” given to them by Papa.
“A-And the music, too?” Phayu requests, pleading with his Papas for one more change. “Could we change it to be more graceful, too? Like a swan?”
“What’s with the obsession with swans, my love?” Papa asks, reaching over to comb his fingers through Venice’s hair. “Inspired by them?”
“Something like that,” Phayu says, leaning into the touch. “By the way, has anyone seen Prapai?”
“No, we thought he was with you,” Pa says, narrowing his eyes at Venice.
“Hmm, I’ll go look for him, then!” Phayu says, giving both of his Papas a quick hug before running off into the compound.
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
“You know it hurts me to hurt you, Sky, but you have to learn to share ,” Gun says, shoving Sky into the dungeon with Rain, who lays unconscious in swan form. Sky glares, refusing to say anything.
“As such, I’m leaving a babysitter for you, and to ensure that neither of you leave,” Gun sneers, before turning around. “Oh, and tell Raindrop to not worry about getting to the auction, as I have someone going in his place.”
From the shadows, Stop steps out from the shadows, looking like...
“ Rain? ” Sky gasps, feeling tears come to his eyes.
“I’ll make sure that bitch dies a slow, lonely death while I take his lover for myself,” Stop says, laughing evilly.
“No, you can’t do this! Let me out!” Sky shouts suddenly, standing and going for the bars. He’s stopped by a quick slap to the face, which sends him to the ground, holding his cheek.
“Shut up, pet. You’ll learn your lesson soon enough,” Gun sneers, before he and Stop disappear into the night.
Looking around, Sky sees a handsome man laying in the corner of the room, the one from before. He seems unconscious before slowly waking, making Sky flinch.
“What happened?” The man mumbles, rubbing his head.
“Gun captured you, probably,” Sky whispers, curling into himself. “You’re here with us until either Rain d-dies, or,” Sky trails off, his emotions getting the better of him. He presses the palms of his hands into his eyes.
“What?! Rain’s alive?!” The man asks, standing up quickly. Rain stirs at his name, honking at the man. “Rain? Am I high or are you a swan?”
Rain honks again, sadly this time.
“Oh, I see,” the man says, seemingly understanding Rain with a 100% accuracy to swan. “I’m Prapai, by the way.” He introduces, turning to Sky this time.
“Sky,” Sky mumbles, still wary of the man. “Rain, we need to get you out of here.”
Prapai nods with Sky, before turning to the dungeon gates.
“Stand back,” he commands, pulling a gun out from somewhere to shoot at the lock, which gives way, allowing them to escape.
As they run through the halls, Sky begins to formulate a plan with Prapai, holding Rain close to his chest.
“We need to get him to the auction before Gun and Stop get there, but I don’t think we have time to get him to the lake to transform him, unless you have a trick up your sleeve,” he says.
“Maybe we don’t have to,” Prapai proposes, looking at Sky. “I can send an alert to pause the auction before everything starts, and as long as we can get Phayu to my location, he could transform back?”
“No, that won’t work,” Sky argues, shaking his head. “He needs to be on the lake physically to change. Rain, why don’t you fly ahead, and we’ll see if we can get somewhere safe so that we’ll be ready for when Gun and Stop get back.”
Nodding, Rain flies off into the night, praying to anyone that will listen that he gets to the auction in time.
As he flies, he can’t help but think about the sheer possibility that Phayu sees Stop and just... falls for their lies. He knows that he’ll die if that happens, and while he’s scared, he’s also at peace with the decision.
Faster, faster, he thinks, nearly dizzy with how hard he’s pushing himself. His wings feel like they’re about to fall off, but he can’t stop.
When he finally, finally gets to the auction, he looks through the glass and sees it; his worst nightmare.
There, standing next to Phayu, is him, but it isn’t. This poor imitation of himself looks meaner and doesn’t quite get it right, but Phayu has fallen into the trap anyways.
“I am announcing my engagement to Rain Park of the Park Jopok of South Korea!” Phayu announces happily, and Rain feels his heart shatter.
He stays to watch Phayu drone on about how much he loves ‘Rain’ before they kiss, and Rain feels himself weaken. He turns to leave, and flies off to get to the lake as fast as possible before he falls out of the sky.
He misses the disgust in Phayu’s face as Stop shows his face, smirking at him. He misses the dread that Phayu feels as it all comes crashing down, and the utter terror that runs through him as the realization hits- he’s just killed Rain, and there’s no one to blame but himself.
Shoving Stop off of him, he turns to see Gun in the doorway, smirking as well.
“No matter,” Gun says maniacally. “The true heir to the Jopok will die soon, and once he does, I’ll be able to claim my throne.”
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
“There he is!” Sky shouts, waving down a barely flying Rain.
“Did he make it in time?” Prapai asks, squinting, clearly trying to make out the scene in front of him.
As Rain makes his way to the lake, he crashes into the water, too weak to land gracefully. the water splashes, before forming a bubble and transforming Rain back into the human he’s supposed to be. He gently crawls out of the water, his strength leaving him bit by bit.
Sky rushes to his side, holding him close as they both leave the lake, and gently leading him to the shore.
Rain looks worse for wear, dual tear tracks down his cheeks, while the color of his skin seems to turn ashy.
“Rain? Are you okay?” Sky asks, petting Rain’s hair from his forehead. He doesn’t get an answer, just a small groan. Rain weakly reaches towards his chest, clearly in pain, and Sky feels his stomach drop.
Phayu clearly hadn’t made it in time.
“Rain?! Rain, where are you?!” Phayu screams from the distance, clearly distraught.
“Over here!” Sky yells, getting Phayu’s attention.
“Oh no, Rain!” Phayu says as he emerges from the darkness, finally finding them. As he sees Rain, he falls to his knees. “Oh, my Rain, please.”
Tears begin to fall down Phayu’s face, grief overtaking him.
“Rain, I’m so sorry. I failed you, and I’m so sorry. I love you, Rain, your beauty, your courage, your refusal to back down from a fight. Please don’t do this, please, please come back to me,” Phayu pleads, holding Rain close.
“P’Phayu?” Rain gasps weakly. “I-I love you too. Don’t leave me. Just stay until I see Appa again.”
“I won’t Rain, I won’t,” Venice promises, kissing Rain gently on the forehead. He pours all his love into the kiss itself, not wanting to let Rain go.
“Well, isn’t this nice?” Gun cackles from behind them. “The little whore got what he deserved, didn’t he?”
Phayu grits his teeth together, rage filling his entire body. Turning towards Gun, all of his rage begins to materialize. He gently sets Rain down, breaking yet another promise to his love.
“ You ,” he growls, standing up and walking towards Gun. “You took everything from me.”
“Not everything,” Gun shrugs, the very face of indifference. “You still have your family, your money, your power. But not for long. Stop, if you could kindly put the prince out of his misery.”
From the sidelines, Phayu is tackled to the ground by Stop, who laughs as he tries to land attacks on Venice, via clawing or punching or kicking or biting. Venice tries his best to block the attacks, but he starts to lose focus with the amount of attacks coming his way.
He feels his strength begin to wean, the past few weeks and night taking its toll on him, all the pain and stress he’s felt since Rain’s disappearance, finding Rain again, to now his death. He knows this could very well be the end of him, but he can’t find himself to care, because at least then he’ll be with Rain again.
Stop manages to land a solid punch to Phayu’s sternum, causing him to begin coughing in pain and his arms, which had been blocking the attacks, to grasp at his chest. Stop grins smarmily, pulling his hand back to land another punch.
Right as Phayu begins to feel all is hopeless-
BANG!
Blood splatters onto Venice’s face, causing him to cough and splutter before he opens his eyes again to see that Stop has a hole where his right eye used to be. Stop slumps to the side, and Venice looks up in shock to see Prapai standing above him, gun in hand.
“Prapai?! How the hell did you get here?!” Venice asks incredulously. He accepts Prapai’s outstretched hand, pulling himself up to a standing position.
“ NO! ” Gun shouts, seemingly growing ten feet tall. “ I WILL HAVE THE THEERAPANYAKUN EMPIRE, AND NOTHING CAN STOP ME !”
Both Prapai and Venice feel the ground shake as Gun’s body seems to contort, bones snapping and tendons stretching, Gun becoming something greater than man.
As he takes on his new form, Prapai and Venice grab onto each other’s wrists, a silent promise to get each other out of this safely. It’s a promise they’ve made countless times, but even this time, Phayu is nervous that they won’t make it out alive.
“I’ll distract him, and you take the shot,” Prapai says, pressing his gun into Venice’s hands. With that, he pushes Venice from him, and begins to shout to get Gun’s attention.
His heart pounding, Venice runs through the trees, trying to get a good angle as Gun tries- and mostly fails- to hit Prapai.
Once Venice gets the angle, he takes a deep, deep breath, letting the oxygen fully absorb into his lungs before he lets himself pull the trigger, just as he was taught.
In a burst of light, Gun explodes into bright colors and fireworks, and Phayu feels a weight lifted off of his chest.
He runs back to where Rain is, and falls to his knees as he takes the scene in.
Rain is gone, and it’s all his fault.
Slowly reaching for Rain’s body, he gently pulls him into his arms and holds him, sobbing quietly, his head nestled in Rain’s neck.
He’s about to let everything go, let everything fall around him and end it all when he feels a hand comb through his hair on the back of his head. Pulling away from Rain, he looks down to see Rain, alive , and smiling brightly at him.
“ Rain ,” Venice breathes, shock coloring his words. “You’re alive?”
“You made a vow of love and saw it through,” Rain says, smiling softly.
Phayu helps Rain to his feet as Prapai and Sky come out of the bushes, Prapai looking a little worse for wear.
“Pai? You alright?” Phayu inquires, worry clouding his features.
“I’ll be fine, Ven,” Prapai confirms, nodding as he leans against Sky. “Let’s go home.”
౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹🦢⊹₊ ⋆୨ৎ
3 Months Later
The bustling of the compound is what wakes Rain up from his slumber. Today may be the day that he is to be married, but he’s been ready for this day for what feels like forever. He loves Phayu, and he knows Phayu loves him as well.
In the past three months, everyone’s been so busy that the wedding just kept getting pushed off and off and off.
Until now.
From him having to leave Thailand to reclaim his title as Head of the Korean Jopok, to being formally proposed to by Phayu, he’s never felt so loved before.
So now here he is, waking up the day of his wedding, feeling a calm he hasn’t felt in such a long time.
Today, now, marrying the love of his life, this is something that Rain doesn’t second-guess. He doesn’t have to, either. Even after Phayu had saved him, he’d known that he couldn’t spend the rest of his life without the other by his side.
As he gets out of bed and rings for tea, he washes his face and gets dressed. Looking out the window, he feels two familiar arms snake their way around his waist.
“Sleep good, Rain?” Phayu murmurs, pressing his head into Rain’s hair and rocking them both back and forth.
“I did,” Rain confirms. “What about you?”
Phayu nods into Rain’s hair, and they both let the silence settle over them.
A knock on the door comes from behind them, and while neither wants to break the moment, but they both know that they have to face the music eventually.
However, they’re both content to let the calm wash over them, even if it is for just a second or two more.
“I love you,” Rain says, voice barely loud enough to hear.
“I love you, too, Rain,” Phayu says, humming a song he’d heard days before.
Another knock on the door.
“Ready?” Phayu asks, pulling away from Rain.
“Ready,” Rain says.
He can’t wait to start the rest of his life with the love of his life.