“Wait, wait, wait, can’t you just calm down? Don’t be like that, chat, chat, don’t slide into his DMs—”
“Can’t you take him back?” I asked Pete and the others. “I’ve seriously got a headache.”
“Can’t you see he’s not going to leave?” P’Jess tried to tell me, his eyes sympathetic.
“Then take him to the next building over,” I said.
“Why?” Arm asked.
“It’s where the psych ward is!” I shouted and pulled the blanket over my head. I could still hear them laughing. Fuck!
“Khun! Shut up!” a new voice shouted through the door. I peeked out from under my blanket.
“What is it, Kim?!” Khun stopped singing to glare at his youngest brother. “I’m singing Porsche to sleep.”
“Father says you need to get your brain checked out,” Kim smirked.
“Bitch!” Tankhun threw a bunch of grapes at his brother, who caught it and began to eat one.
“Father wants us to go home. You too, Chay—Father says we should all go back together.”
Chay dawdled, like he didn’t want to leave with Kim. My eyes flickered between them, confused. Chay had seemed irritated the moment Kim walked in.
“You’re not staying?” I asked.
“Your brother has missed school for several days now. Let him get some sleep and go to school in the morning,” Pete told me. I glanced over at Chay, who was tightly holding onto the bedrail, not wanting to leave.
“Let me stay here. Please, hia,” he begged.
“Let’s go! And take your microphone with you, or else I’ll throw it away—just you wait,” Kim announced, grabbing Tankhun by the neck and pushing him toward the bodyguards.
“Try it and I’ll smash all your videogames,” Tankhun shot back, shaking Kim off and sashaying out of the room. Finally, some fucking peace and quiet.
“You can go back. I’ll be fine,” I told Chay as I patted his head.
“Come on! Behave yourself!” Kim chided Chay. I whipped around to stare at Kim as soon as he said that to my brother. When did they get close enough to speak to each other so familiarly?
“Let’s go, Chay. I’ll take you to school in the morning,” Pete said and began to help my brother gather his things. I looked at the situation unfolding before me, perplexed. How long was I lost in that forest? Why does nothing make sense?
“Hia—” Chay called for me again, but no matter how curious I was, I wanted him to go back and rest.
“Go on. You can come visit me after school tomorrow,” I told him. Chay frowned before trailing after a whistling Kim. When the door closed, I quickly asked Pete, “What’s up with my brother and Kim?”
“I dunno,” Pete answered. “I think they’ve met before. Being in the house with them these last three or four days has been a total headache. They won’t stop bickering.” He smiled.
How did Chay get to know Kim? I’ve barely ever seen his face!
“It’s nothing,” Pete assured me. “Your brother talks back just as good as you do—don’t worry about it.”
“Arm’s watching over you tonight. Tem and I are going back to finish our reports. We’ll drop by tomorrow,” Jom said, and started gathering his things.
“Thank you. All of you,” I said. “But you don’t have to visit so often. I’ll be fine.”
“How can we abandon you?! We’ll be back once classes are over. And don’t worry, we already notified the professors and kept copies of the assignments for you,” Tem reassured me. He moved the overbed table into place in front of me. “You should eat. Pete, I’ll leave him to you.”
They all filed out, leaving me and Pete together.
“When you finish eating, take your medicine and get some sleep,” Pete said, plating up my food. “I’ll go back and swap with Arm so he can watch you.”
“You don’t have to do this, you know,” I said. “I don’t want to bother you guys.”
“Hey, isn’t this what friends are for?” Pete said with a smile. Even though we hadn’t known each other for long, I sensed his sincerity—Pol’s and Arm’s, too. I had good people around me.
“Who’s watching Kinn?” I asked absentmindedly. I was still his bodyguard, after all. Naturally, I was curious who was assigned to him.
Pete huffed a laugh. “That room’s got a fierce protector spirit15 keeping watch all day and all night, refusing to share the duty with anyone,” he teased.
I frowned as I shoveled food into my mouth. “Who?” I asked, listening to Pete while I chewed.
“Big, of course. Guarding Kinn like a mother hen. So dramatic,” Pete muttered in irritation.
I relaxed, still eating. “Isn’t that good? Your boss will get better faster.”
“It’s good. But you’re gonna have to call dibs as soon as you can, or that bastard will snatch Kinn right up.”
I glared at Pete’s smirking face. “What do you mean, dibs?!” I shouted at him.
“Heh, dibs as head bodyguard, of course! What did you think I was talking about?” I glowered and turned my focus back to eating.
“Finish eating, take your meds, and go straight to sleep,” Pete instructed. I nodded in reply, finishing my plate and taking my medicine. Pete helped me over to the bathroom so I could do my business, then took his leave, promising to quickly fetch Arm to keep me company. I lay there and channel-surfed the hospital TV until early evening, when a nurse came in to remove my IV line.
“We’re taking your IV out, but the doctor would like to keep you under observation for two more days,” the nurse told me as she checked my wounds. “You still have cuts and bruising… If you have a headache or any other pain, you can press the call button at any time.” She got everything in order before leaving my room. In truth, my whole body still ached, but it was a lot better than those last few days in the forest. I had bits of gauze and bandages all over me, but it wasn’t too bad.
Before long, Arm showed up in casual clothes and sprawled across the sofa by my bed.
“Have you eaten yet?” I asked him.
“I have. Go to sleep, Porsche. Call for me if you need to go to the bathroom,” he said, tapping away at a game on his phone. I lay down and he reached to turn off the overhead lights, leaving only the bathroom light on.
I tossed and turned, unable to get to sleep. The nurse brought me another pill and told me it’d help me sleep, but I was more awake than ever…
“You think he’s asleep?” I finally decided to ask Arm, who raised his eyebrows and looked at me before going back to his phone.
“Who?” he asked.
“Kinn. You think he’s asleep yet?” I wasn’t sure why Kinn occupied my thoughts.
Arm smiled slightly and looked at the clock. “It’s nine o’clock. He’s probably asleep. Big and the others got chased out of his room already.”
“Oh, good. Can you bring me over to take a look at him?” I asked, springing up from the bed.
Arm eyed me skeptically. “I said he’s asleep. Why don’t you wait to see him after he wakes up tomorrow morning? You’re being weird.”
“Well, I don’t want to go when he’s awake. He’s too much of a headache.” I decided to tell Arm the truth: if Kinn were awake, he’d be sure to find some way to annoy me. I just wanted to make sure he was okay—partly because he saved me. I still felt guilty that he got shot because of me.
Arm pondered this. “Hmm… Sure, if Big lets us in,” he said.
I grew irritated at the thought of Big. “Why wouldn’t he? I’m Kinn’s head bodyguard!”
“Ugh, fine. I’m bored, anyway. Let’s go make some trouble for Big,” Arm said.
He helped me down from the bed. Although my legs felt a little heavy, I was still able to find my balance. I opened the door to the hallway to find Big and his gang all crowding around Kinn’s door.
“You’re surprisingly hard to kill,” one of Big’s men taunted me. I didn’t pay attention; instead, I returned Big’s furious glare.
“Where are you going?!” Big barked as soon as Arm’s hand reached for the door handle.
“To the fucking market!” Arm sneered. “We’re going into Mr. Kinn’s room, obviously.”
“Who gave you permission to enter?!” Big yelled again. I looked at him dubiously. I barely have anything to do with him anymore. Why is he always acting like he’s ready to fight me? And even though I’m the head bodyguard, I never interfere or order the other guys around.