Curling up in pain won’t help anything!”
The lyrics spewing from the singer felt like a punch in the gut. At the same time, Kinn emerged from the restroom. He spared me a quick glance before going to join his friends.
“All this pain, let’s celebrate it.
Cheers to love because it’s shitty.
Cheers to life, ’cause life’s a pity.
Let’s drink to all the shit for once,
Drink to the disappointments!”
That singer and Khun kept yelling into my ears. Yeah, keep it coming. Thanks for reminding me that my life is shitty. Fuck!
The song hit too close to home. I reached back for a drink from the table and chugged it down, hoping it would wash away some of my fucked-up feelings.
I inched closer to Khun and yelled in his ear, “Mr. Tankhun, I’m leaving!”
Tankhun turned to me, annoyed and bratty. “No! If you try to leave, I’ll trash this place!”
On the outside, I looked at him calmly, but inside, I hated his guts. I wanted to kill his entire fucking family. Make them go extinct. Both of these brothers were the bane of my existence!
“Boss, I’m sick,” I insisted.
“No, no, no, no, no!” Tankhun yelled, turning to mix me another drink and shoving it into my hand. I held the glass, completely fed up with him. Watch it, Tankhun, or one day I’ll feed you rat poison. I was gonna kill this entire family. The younger brother just violated me in the bathroom, and now the older one was forcing me to get wasted. My heart was going to burst from all the rage I was suppressing.
I heard a new voice over the loud music. “Hello, P’Kinn. Oh, P’Khun, you’re here too? What a coincidence!”
Everyone at the desk turned around to see Vegas standing there with a drink in his hand. He was smiling at his cousin Kinn, who smiled back.
“Oh, Vegas, are you here with someone?” Kinn asked.
“I’m here with my friends over there,” he gestured. “P’Khun is drunk already?” He shifted his gaze toward Tankhun, who looked furious as he glared at Vegas aggressively. Vegas looked past Khun and broke into an even bigger smile when he saw me. I nodded at him to say hi.
“Vegas! What the fuck are you doing here?!” Tankhun screamed loudly.
“Well, it’s a bar. I think I’m here to do laundry, maybe?” Vegas smirked. This just made Tankhun angrier. He readied himself to lunge at Vegas, who stood there smiling calmly. I quickly held Tankhun back by his arms.
“Why are you stopping me, huh?! I’ll make you fucking bleed, Vegas!” Tankhun yapped like a mad dog, his arms flapping in an attempt to shake me off. I managed to hold my grip on him until Pete and the other bodyguards got up to stop their boss.
“Oh, P’Khun, still good with your fists, I see. Why don’t you try using your brain for once? Maybe things will work out better,” Vegas said playfully. He seemed harmless, but that mouth was a piece of work.
“Vegas, you little shit! You’re a dead man!” Khun went berserk, forcing his arms and legs free from our hold. He picked up an ice bucket, preparing to dump it on Vegas.
“Khun! Don’t!” Kinn yelled for his brother to stop, but it was too late…
Slam! Crash!
Khun dumped the ice bucket on Vegas. Luckily, Vegas dodged it and only a little of the water splashed his clothes. The music stopped abruptly, every pair of eyes in the bar moving to glare at us. The owner ran out to check on the situation.
“What’s going on, Kinn?” the owner asked.
“It’s all right, P’Nueng. Just an accident,” Kinn said. Nueng didn’t seem convinced.
Kinn ordered us bodyguards to separate Tankhun and Vegas. Actually, it was more like prying Tankhun away from Vegas, because Khun wasn’t done throwing his temper tantrum. He was acting like a madman.
Once I saw that Vegas and Khun had gone their separate ways and everything was back to normal, I escaped the chaotic bar and went to have a smoke outside. What a fucking day this was. I pushed my hand through my hair in frustration.
“Fuck, could this get any worse?!” I cursed.
“Are you all right?” came a friendly voice. Vegas walked up to me with a pack of cigarettes in hand. He picked one out and lit it up, joining me for a smoke.
“Oh…yeah,” I said. Holding the cigarette between my fingers, I took a drag and blew out the smoke. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes before asking, “Are you all right?”
“Oh, got some water on me, but it’s fine,” Vegas said with no discernable trace of anger. He was so chill about it—he couldn’t be more different from Tankhun, who likely wasn’t done throwing a fit.
“You’re here to guard my cousins today?” Vegas said with a smile.
“No, I just ran into them,” I said truthfully.
“You like to go out drinking?” he asked. I nodded in reply.
“And are you drunk yet?” Vegas continued.
“Nah, I haven’t had that much,” I answered.
“Hey, Porsche! I thought you left. Here you are!” Tem said as he walked up to me. I offered him a cigarette, which he took from me and lit.
“Hi, Tem.”
“Hi, Vegas… How was your shower?” Tem joked, looking Vegas up and down.
“Not too bad.”
“What’s the deal with you guys?” Tem asked, curious. “You almost traded punches.”
“Traded? That was all him. I didn’t do anything,” Vegas said with an amused smile. Tem nodded in agreement.
“Tem, I’m leaving,” I told my friend.
Tem hesitated. “You don’t want to stay a little longer? I don’t think Jom will leave so easily.”
“You can stay here with Jom. I’ll take a cab,” I said. I didn’t want to ruin my friends’ night out. I’d gotten here in Tem’s car, so I figured he thought it was his responsibility to drive me home.
“How about this. I’ll give you a ride home first, then I’ll come back for Jom.”
“It’s fine. I’ll make it home by myself,” I said, serious. I didn’t want to be anyone’s burden, and Tem seemed like he wanted to stay.
“Porsche, where do you live?” Vegas asked.
“Oh, down that way,” I replied politely.
“That’s in the direction I’m heading. Let me drop you off, so it’s not a hassle for Tem,” Vegas said with a smile. I didn’t know why Vegas was always so happy. Ever since I’d met him, all he did was smile, smile, and smile some more. Did he feel anything aside from happiness?
“It’s okay, Vegas. Please, stay and have fun. I’ll be fine,” I politely declined. Even though we’d met several times now, I didn’t feel close enough to him to ask for a ride.
“I’m leaving anyway. My clothes are wet, so I don’t think I’ll be having any fun if I stay,” Vegas said, gesturing at his outfit.
I gave it some thought. “Well, if you don’t mind me being a nuisance,” I said. It may have been my imagination, but I think I saw a strange glint in his eyes. It surprised me, but I tried not to think too much about it. He probably just wanted to make friends.
“Then we should go get our things,” Vegas said before going back into the bar. I threw my cigarette butt away and followed him inside.
When I got back to the table this time, I decided not to tell anyone that I was leaving. I tried to be inconspicuous as I grabbed my stuff. I saw Tankhun in front of the stage, jumping up and down with one of Kinn’s friends, so I felt he was distracted enough that I could easily leave. I grabbed my phone and my wallet and left the club, ignoring Kinn’s piercing gaze. I didn’t want to look at him—I pretended he wasn’t even there.
I marched out of the bar once I’d retrieved my things. Tem followed me outside one more time to see me off. Meanwhile, Jom was absolutely plastered, rolling around on a sofa.