Beyond The Sun and The Moon

by Chocolates_Flavor_is_Macha

Summary:

Yok has been keeping a secret for a very long time. The only person who knows who he really is is his mother. But otherwise, no one knows. He decided a long time ago to hide himself, even from himself. But only on his birthday will he let the mask fall off, and let him return to a time far simpler than it is now.
He thought that by keeping this small chunk of his past still alive, he didn't have to face it ever again. But it appears that the past is not only returning, but it is leading a bloody path in its wake. Fear of losing his newfound family, he and his friends are stopped by a group of men calling themselves The Eclipse, but it seems that the Eclipse is hiding more than any of them knows.
Will Yok be able to save himself and his family this time, or will the past win and destroy everything he held dear once again?

Chapter 1

“R.O.L! R.O.L! R.O.L!” The crowd shouted as thousands of people, it seemed, all congregated at the town square. Yok watched, still in awe at the number of people who still attended these rallies. He and his friends had come a long way, and Yok was proud of them all. It had been a year since they had taken down Tawi and his empire. But there were still many fights to go on, and because of this, their faces and their presence were needed at a lot of these rallies. This one was one that Yok was the face of, which was disability rights and work laws. With the help of Gram, they had created a great message, along with all the facts and numbers needed to really push home to the people at this rally. 

They even convinced Namo and Eugene to perform in their own ways, too. Yok and Eugene created a beautiful mural featuring several faces that come together to form one united hand. The various colors and shapes made the mural captivating. And Eugene and her group of dancers had constructed a very nice choreography to it as well. As the crowd shouted at the top of their lungs, various people who had requested to speak at the rally took the stage. 

R.O.L. slowly left the area, letting fans and fellow freedom fighters shake their hands or touch their shoulders. Last month, during one of their rallies, someone gave Black a cute, small puppy. It was a mutt but cute as hell, and he became the mascot of their little group. Although he was technically Black’s dog, he became everyone’s dog. Which Black called Mutt, and so the name stuck.

They all reached one of the empty alleys after dodging the exuberant followers. White looked exhausted, which, to be fair, he and Gumpa were the coordinators for a lot of their rallies. Sean had confessed to Yok that he wanted to take White on a little vacation soon, since his boyfriend was overworking himself. White had rejected this idea, saying there was still too much to do. That night, he heard exactly how Sean could help his man relax in other ways. It sucked being underneath the horny pair. But he was happy that White and Sean were still very much in love. 

Gram and Eugene had survived three whole months before the two of them decided to remain friends. It looked as if Gram didn’t want to, but he loved and respected Eugene enough not to try to force his feelings. She knew how he felt, but she just didn’t feel the same. 

Unfortunately for Gram, it was the one night that Yok decided to cruise for a warm body, so he couldn’t console his close friend. But on the upside, according to White, Gram and Black had spent the entire night together. And White believed that they may have done more than just talked and chilled. Yok didn’t care for gossiping, but he knew someone who looked well fucked. And the day after that, Gram looked like he could’ve been poured into his clothes; he looked so at ease. It was even funnier because Black looked like he was desperately trying to hide how at peace he was. For those three days, Black was a lot more calmer and easier to communicate with. And Gram looked so at peace, Yok believed Gram didn’t even know who Eugene was for those few days. There was obviously something, but neither male was saying anything. Which made sense considering how closed off Black was. 

Then there was himself, and Yok would’ve been the first to say that his love life no longer consisted of “love”. After Dan had found him, they tried to give themselves another shot. And it was working, but Dan really wanted to go back to his hometown. To him, Bangkok was a reminder of the sin he committed, his cowardice, and the corruption of the city itself. All in all, it was enough to make anyone want to try somewhere else or revisit their original stomping grounds. Dan had asked Yok to come with him. The artist was tempted at first, but then flashes of his old life came to him. The life he hid from everyone, including his best friend and his Hia. The sound of waves and seagulls flying by, the smell of the ocean breeze that used to greet him every morning. He was tempted to return to that quiet life. But the moment he tried to envision himself with Dan in some place quiet and remote, another face came in and replaced Dan’s. Another face, another body type, just another person. 

A person who, no matter how many years passed, he just couldn’t forget him. No matter how many nameless people he lay with, he always compared it to the one that he had first. The name was on the tip of his tongue all the time. But the moment he tried to say it out loud, Yok’s mind realized he couldn’t do this to Dan. Dan would never be the one he wanted. He could never be him, and that was enough for Yok to put an end to their relationship. Besides, he still had a lot of work to do as a member of R.O.L. With a goodbye and a wave, Yok silently cried, wishing that he could’ve loved this man the way he loved him.

Back in the present, Yok found himself running down a dilapidated building with his friends as they reached their bikes. They had wanted to go for a ride after the rally, but they knew that if the people saw them leave and go to their bikes, it would be a lot more chaotic than they wanted. So, all at once, they all roared their engines to life, Sean looking slightly put off that White was taking his bike instead of riding pillion. 

They had all gotten nice bikes, courtesy of White and Black. Both their parents disowned them, but they both had wealthy grandparents who gave them a private account that was only in their names. Because of this, the two wanted to give something back to their community and their friends. So, with the help of Gumpa, they bought an apartment building in Gumpa’s name, and they would all be his tenants. 

It was an old building, one that wasn’t far from the Youth Center that he, White, and Gumpa frequented. As did the rest. Gumpa ran the mechanical department to help teach kids how to handle and repair bikes, cars, and other mechanical objects. White taught their computer department by volunteering his skills with computers to teach them how to code, and other fun activities with computers. It doesn’t help that on certain days, they would forgo the teaching and play games instead. But a lot of the kids liked Yok and his art department. He taught many young people how to draw and paint more effectively. He even showed the kids some murals he and his friends had made. A lot of them wanted to go, but since they were all roughly between the ages of twelve and seventeen, he didn’t want them to get in trouble with their folks or the center to get in trouble either. So, he never told them where they would do their paintings. It did not stop some of them from secretly finding out. He was lucky they were good at keeping secrets; otherwise, he’d be in a lot of shit. 

The twins had also bought the entire group nicer bikes. They were still a little rough around the edges, but new and easier to manage than some of the old ones they had. The duo could’ve easily bought the newest stuff, but they both agreed not to rely too heavily on their family’s money, even if it came from their long-dead grandparents, which Yok could respect. It was nice to have on hand in case they needed it for absolute emergencies or, worse, had to pick up and run before they got killed. 

The group looked to Gumpa, who was their leader, no matter what he said, and followed him as they all rode. Yok wasn’t like White, Gram, or Black, who looked like totally different people when they rode. The three of them took to riding like a fish in water. The most information Sean had ever shared with Yok was about how much he loved riding with White. Because it was those nights was when White was the most vocal and demanding. It took everything in him not to push Sean off his bike. But he understood that if he had someone who rode a motorcycle the way White did, he’d be just as vocal. But the six of them rode till they reached their favorite scenic route. They all hooted and shouted as they drove through the surprisingly non-traffic-jammed roads. It was probably because of their rallies, many people just walked there, so the streets were surprisingly easy to ride in. 

They rode for about an hour before they all returned to Gumpa’s shop, cheering as they rode. Night was approaching fast, and the six men had a big party lined up. Yok got off his bike, and the moment he did, Sean damn near tackled him as he slung his long arm over his neck and dragged him to their sitting area. 

“Alright! It’s time!” Sean shouted as the rest of the gang scattered, leaving Sean and Yok at their table. Yok knew what was coming the moment he heard their footsteps. 

“Happy birthday to you.” They all started to sing Happy Birthday. The artist smiled his million-dollar smile. His hair was ruffled by his best friend, who clapped his hands and cheered when the song was over. Wrapped his arms around the waist of his short lover, who smiled brightly at Yok. Black placed the cake on their pool table and cheered with the rest of them, in a Black sort of way, which was a smile and a nod. Yok made his wish and extinguished the candles. The crowd cheered and started to cut the cake while Gumpa went to the back and brought out a cooler filled with chilling beers. While Gram pulled a large bag of fried chicken. Beginning Yok’s birthday party.

~~**~~

The party was still going strong, but Yok was sitting on one of the couches watching as Sean and Black, who were both pretty inebriated, started an arm-wrestling tournament. The two men still didn’t like one another. They both loved White, and with that, they were cordial with one another. But cordial to them was not fighting with one another, that didn’t have gloves or a mat. Black especially didn’t think Sean was good enough for his little brother, and Sean didn’t think Black was a good brother to White. But both could agree on one thing: they both knew the other would die for White. That alone was the biggest reason why they respected one another. Yok watched his friends trying to one-up one another as Gumpa sat beside him with a beer in his hand.

“You enjoying yourself?” Yok smiled as he looked at his Hia and nodded.

“Drinking a beer and watching my best friend and his brother-in-law do a pissing contest is hilarious. What’s not to enjoy?” He said, sitting back, clanking his bottle to Gumpa’s. Eugene, Namo, and their mural buddies attended as well, but they came a little later. So, they were all encouraging themselves, watching Sean and Black trying to pick a fight with one another without taking a swing. All the while, White and Gram were trying hard to keep them from entering any more competitions. Gumpa chuckled and shook his head.

“Yeah, but do you wish he was here, too?” Gumpa knew how Yok felt about Dan and how the betrayal that happened between them really damaged their future. But he also knew that when Yok was with Dan, he didn’t have the wistful look of a young man deep in love. And even now, the artist didn’t look as heartbroken as someone who had deep-seated emotions towards their ex. Yok sighed, looking away from the free entertainment. 

“Hia, I couldn’t leave all this even if I wanted to. Besides, can you imagine me in a small town in the cuts? Really?” Yok spoke in his usual sarcastic tone and tried to lighten the conversation. He knew that Gumpa knew what he was trying to do, and he was grateful that the guy took pity on him and scoffed and nodded. Thinking about someone who was as into the concrete jungle lifestyle as Yok, going to some quiet town just didn’t suit the mural painter. 

“Yeah, with your slutty ass, getting a guy that far in the cuts would be damn near impossible. Unless you trick some rice paddy farmer’s son.” He teased. To which Yok damn near choked on his drink with laughter.

“Fuck you, Hia.” He said, trying to wipe the beer and saliva off his mouth. Thankfully, it didn’t come out of his nose.

“Not if your dick was the last dick on earth.” Gumpa remarked, drinking a swig of his beer. And that’s how the conversation about Dan ended, but Yok knew it wouldn’t be the last one. Gram and White were the only ones who didn’t have a negative opinion about Dan. The two understood that he was in a dilemma, choosing between a guy you knew for roughly a week versus your parents. Even if it was love at first sight, it’s hard to choose something like that. But Sean and Black were merciless when it came to Dan. To them, he deserved to be drawn and quartered. It made sense, with Sean’s father being Tawi’s drug mule, and his mother just physically and mentally giving up till it ended her. And Black’s mom abandoned him long ago, as did their father way before her. To them, parents were just as able to betray you as a stranger. The difference was, their betrayal will always hit differently. But Yok still had his mom, and he loved her very much. She was the foundation of a lot of what made him Yok. Gumpa may not have liked Dan, but he knew Yok did, which was why he brought him up. 

~~**~~

The party was still going strong when Yok vanished from the group. They were going to party all night, and he wanted to be asleep before he heard the horny drunken noises of his bestie and his boyfriend. He climbed up the three flights of stairs right below his friend’s home, and across from him was Black’s room; Gram was next door to Sean and White. 

He removed his bag and fished out his keys; the newly replaced light bulb made it easy for him to see, or else his slightly drunk ass would’ve taken all night to find it. He opened the door to his empty studio. It had furnishings, including a bed that doubled as a couch, and a set of books on a shelf that was initially meant for DVDs and games, although it served as that too. Paintings that he was proud of adorned his walls, and various bands also shared the space. 

He wasn’t a clean person, mainly because he was an artist; they were just wired to deal with chaos. There were clothes thrown about, and his bed was just as he left it last night, but there weren’t any dirty dishes or leftover food. He was dirty, not a slob. He turned on the TV, used to seeing the closed captions on the screen for his deaf mother, who still lived in her old place. And he’d visit her from time to time, but he was happy he had his own place, which made bringing men over easier. There was nothing going on with the news, just highlights of the rally that he was a part of. Taking off all his clothes for a shower, he turned on the blistering hot water and allowed himself to soak. Every year since he left his old life, he always did this. It would start off with a blistering hot shower and end with him dreaming of a long-broken dream. 

He closed his eyes and started to see the faces he left behind, the faces that looked up to him, faces that adored him, and the one face he could never remove from his mind. Once he felt truly hollowed out and open, he looked at himself in the reflection, watching the seven years of the past hitting his body. He was maybe now 24 and didn’t look it, but his eyes were the telling sign of his age. Not the bags because of sleepless nights of painting something that wouldn’t leave him. Or the nights he and his friends would go off tagging some buildings that were bought with dirty money. No, it was how hollow they looked when he saw himself. There were moments when he hated himself and wanted to crawl into a ball and cease to exist. And there were moments where he would just find someone to fuck him into oblivion in the hopes of escaping the hollowness. But birthdays, birthdays always, were the days he hated himself the most. Even now, after seven years. 

Turning off the light as he dried himself off, he went into his closet and pulled out his white button-up shirt that he used to wear for college, but he graduated last semester, and blue shorts. They were longer than the ones he wore when he was younger, but they managed to capture the illusion. Finally, he moved the various sneakers off a secret panel on the closet floor, removed the bottom, and revealed a box. His hand shook as he removed the lid, admiring the very familiar design of moon and sun, forming into an eclipse, all in a beautiful pattern on the back. There were many days he wanted to tattoo this on his body, so he made sure it would be in a spot that only those who saw him naked would see. But then, those that would see him naked would see that tattoo, and that was a level of vulnerability he was uncomfortable with anyone seeing. Let alone knowing he had on his body. So, no tattoo of the design.

He lifted the sweater and shook it out. He always washed it once a season to keep it fresh and prevent it from being eaten by moths. He was a bit taller than the sweater was used to, but he still could fit it fine enough. He shook it out and walked to his wall mirror that he kept in front of his bathroom door. He stared at himself and felt himself going back in time, roughly seven years. He closed his eyes, and he heard the familiar voices call out to him.

“Oi, A’Akk. ” Kan’s rough voice.

“Akk?” Thua’s soft voice.

“Aaakk. ” Watt’s whining voice

“Phi .” Namo’s hopeful voice.

Just as the voices of his first friends washed over him, the last voice had him opening his eyes to stare at a face he would always remember during these days.

“Akk. ” The soft voice with a mischievous note at the end. This had him staring at the manifestation of his memories. 

“Ayan.” He breathed into the illusion of the boy who loved him the most. The one he, to this day, could not forget. The one to this day, he was comparing to everyone around him too. The one who he still loved with everything in him, no matter how many years had passed. The moment he blinked, the face of the boy vanished. No longer could he see that sweet, mischievous smile that caused butterflies to form in his gut. No longer was his unbelievably soft hair present in his vision. No longer were his eyes filled with so much pain and heartache; that always looked at him with love and understanding. Yok could feel the tears prick in his vision and the signs of a deep sob about to break out of his chest. He silently turned off the lights, turned off the tv, and dropped onto his bed, covering himself with the memories of the boy who changed him for better and worse.

“Ayan.”

Chapter 2

Loud banging against his door caused Yok to snatch his gun from his pillow and aim it at the door. He had been trained by Gumpa and Black to always be alert for the littlest of sounds, but this was loud and obnoxious. The banging was uncoordinated and loud for the sake of being loud, although it did shake his damn door frame. Pissed off, he walked to the door, gun still out but lowered. He peeked out of the peephole and saw it was a very obviously drunk Gram. He sighed, then looked across at his bed, at his nightstand, where his digital clock lay, and the time read 2 in the morning. Did his friends just stop partying now? Rolling his eyes, Yok slid his gun in the back of his shorts and paused, realizing he was in his “birthday suit”. He’d be pissed if Gram puked on him, but he knew his law happy friend had a stupid good memory when he was flat on his ass drunk. But he didn’t have time to strip, so he zipped up his sweater and prayed his drunk friend wouldn’t puke on the only piece of his past he had left. He opened the door before another cacophony of loud banging graced his already frayed nerves. Gram practically painted himself onto Yok. The man wrapped his arms around Yok and plastered his head on his shoulders. Yok had to use a bit of his strength to not fall flat on the floor. Yok may be taller than Gram, but he was very lean and skinny, whereas Gram could gain weight and muscle easier, so he was a little heavier than Yok. And drunken weight was always heavier than actual weight. 

“Yok.” The man bellowed his voice loud and right near his ear, causing two things to happen to Yok. One, he was greeted by his friend’s breath, which smells like every alcohol ever made, and two, he winced at the loudness right in his ear.

“Oi, Gram, you barf on me, I’m throwing you out through my balcony.” He warned, feeling the alcohol warmth on his shoulder. Gram whined and held his friend tighter — at least attempted. Instead, his arms just flailed against his back.

“Yok, you gotta hel *hic* help me. Black is after me.” He whined, Yok tried and pried the drunken weight off of his body as Gram whined, sticking to him tighter. 

“Oi. I don’t care, it’s late, and if he wants to pound your ass, that’s your guys’ business.” He said desperately, trying to peel his friend off his body. It didn’t work.

“He might w-we haven’t done it in a while.” He confessed. I so didn’t need to know that. He thought, shaking his head, he looked up and saw an inebriated Black staring at them. Black had an unreadable look on his face; the telltale signs of him being drunk was the slight sway as he stood and the redness of his cheeks. He looked at Yok, then at Gram, and did this like five times before he staggered as he pointed at Gram and made a “gimme” motion. Yok took a deep sigh as he looked up at his ceiling.

“Gram, do you want Black to chase you?” He asked. He wasn’t just gonna send his friend off and have him get used if he wasn’t down for it. After all, both men looked drunk as hell; the odds of them doing anything tonight were slim but not zero. But still, he had to confirm with his friend that he even wanted to be taken by Black both in the normal sense and the carnal. Gram jolted up and stared at his friend, pointing at him. His retouched gray hair really did suit him. 

“Of course, I do. I’ve b-been ch-chasing him for so long. I want him so bad, but we just have sex, and I want more.” He whined, leaning against the door frame; at least he gave Yok some space. Yok wanted to do a quick inventory of his sweater but decided against it. He turned to Black, whose focus was on their drunken friend. Yok walked over and helped Gram into Black’s hands. Although Black was quite shorter than Gram, the man’s compact body was so dense that he could lift guys three times his size. He hardly moved when he grabbed his prize.

“Take him to his room and sleep, both of you.” Yok said, punctuating the ‘sleep’ and the ‘both of you’. Gram nuzzled against the back of Black’s neck as the taller man sniffed kissed the man’s cheek. Black didn’t even answer; he just nodded and helped escort the man to his room. Or at least across the way into Black’s room instead. Whatever, I said my piece. He shrugged, closing the door behind him, and heard the door across slam shut. 

Yok, unfortunately, was now wide awake. But he couldn’t risk one of his friends damaging his sweater, so he took it off and removed his makeshift old uniform. He put his sweater back in its spot, hidden from prying eyes. He grabbed one of his loose-fitting sleeveless shirts. He had a whole plethora of these shirts; he liked them because they exposed his tattoos, and they breathed very well. He didn’t bother with any pants; he just kept his boxers on and proceeded to lock up his room. He thought he heard moaning from across the hall. But decided to ignore it and pretended he heard nothing. It was 2 in the morning, and he could’ve heard anything. He had asked Gumpa if the room directly next door to his could be made into his art studio. He’d pay both the rents for both the rooms, of course. He and Gumpa arranged for a slight increase in his rent, but it was still manageable. Plus, he’d spot Yok to only pay for water and light in the room he stayed in, while he paid for the other room. It wasn’t for free; Gumpa had required that he work for him, and some of the money would be taken out of his check, but again, nothing too much. And Yok was grateful to his Hia for being so lenient. 

He opened the door to his art room and let it stay open for a while. Sometimes, the turpentine got out, and those fumes did a number on people. Walking in without closing the door, he went to the balcony window and opened it for more circulation. He was about to take out one of his cigarettes and just chill out on his balcony when he heard the moans and looked up across to where Sean and White’s room was.

“No p-people will hear me!” The moans, coming from White, made Yok groan silently.

“Yok’s dead asleep, and you love being out here.” The husky voice came from his bestie, and Yok cringed; he never wanted to hear his friend, who was more like a brother to him, ever have a voice like that. It was bad enough that he heard White’s voice occasionally; now he got to hear it. He did not want to know how kinky his damn friends were. Trying to escape quietly to the room, he heard new moans from across the hall. It appeared to Yok that neither of his friends was aware that this was supposed to be his birthday, not their anniversaries. He was annoyed that both pairs were this loud and unbothered by the fact that their friend could, in fact, hear them loud and clear. The obvious solution would be to close the window and door, but he knew that the room needed some time to air out. He was considering suffocating himself in the slightly toxic room to avoid hearing the noises from both the window and the door. Instead, he ran back to his room, where White’s noises were still loud, albeit muffled from the window and ceiling, but still loud enough to warrant his noise-canceling headphones. Sean had bought it for him last year when they all moved into these apartments together.

“ In case you hear too much.” He smiled and smacked his shoulder. These were very expensive, and they effectively blocked out a lot of the sounds he did not want to hear. He pulled out his phone, pulled out a new canvas, and started to paint. He could finally focus on something other than his friend’s sex noises. And he was beginning to feel his trancelike state he gets into whenever he paints, especially when he thought about Ayan. 

Time moved fast, and before Akk knew it, the painting was done. It was a monochromatic picture. The sky showed the solar eclipse with black birds flying away, while a set of white birds that were in front of the eclipse flew in the opposite direction. The cityscape slowly merged into the sea, which was the only colored thing in the painting. Till he reached the center of the picture, and that was him and Ayan. The painting depicted him crying out as Ayan held his face. Tears also streamed down, but the love he looked at Akk with was apparent. But whereas Akk was solid and standing, Ayan’s lower body was slowly dissolving into dust. Akk stared at the image for a bit before the sound of a door slamming shot him out of his focus. He saw that his door was still wide open, and the sun had already risen. He glanced at his phone, seeing he had only about 20% of his life left, and it was already 7:30. He hadn't slept a wink, and he had work to do. He sighed and closed the window while Black peeked inside his art room. 

“I didn’t think you’d be up.” Black spoke first.

“I didn’t sleep after you and Gram woke my ass up.” Black didn’t look the least bit apologetic; he just shrugged in dismissal. 

“It also didn’t help that Gram screams like a banshee when he’s getting fucked.” That caused Black to trip a little; he scowled at Yok. Usually, Yok would be intimidated by Black, but the fact that he slept for about three hours and painted for four caused his not-care-o-meter to run in the negatives. Black sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Sorry about that, but keep it quiet for now. Gram wants to tell the whole group.” Yok nodded, then went to his bathroom to wash his hands, and Black left while he washed. Yok glanced at the center of his room with all the paint supplies and all the canvases — pictures he had finished but didn’t like, or pictures he had no intention of finishing. Any painting he finished and liked well enough would get added to his walls, but this painting, he would bring it to his mom’s house and store it there along with all the other Ayan paintings he made over the years. Yok had to get ready; he had work at Gumpa’s shop, and he knew the first half hour would be spent cleaning up the shop after the party. Slipping on some pants and grabbing his bag, Yok took off, rushing down the stairs when he heard Sean telling him to slow down.

“You’re usually at the shop before me.” Sean said, wrapping his arm around Yok’s neck.

“I was painting last night.” Yok answered, smiling and walking with his friend.

“Really, and you stopped just now?” Sean asked.

“Nah, I’m pretty sure I stopped about an hour before Black woke me up.” The garage was within walking distance of their home.

“Cool, can I see it, or are these one of those secret pictures no one can see?” Sean teased. Yok wasn’t one of those usual artists who hated others seeing their work when it wasn’t finished. He rarely cared, but he didn't like people seeing the things about Dan and his past. And he especially did not let anyone see any of his paintings of Ayan. Those were way too personal and opened him up too much. But he knew Sean was teasing him; he knew Yok would’ve offered to let him see it the moment he said it was done. But since he didn’t, he knew him well enough to know it was going to his private collection. 

“Well, I would’ve told you to come and see it if you weren’t too busy causing White to submit to your exhibition kink.” He teased back, which caused Sean to get slightly red, and just as he was about to kick Yok’s ass, Yok high-tailed it to their shop. It was the start of a fairly typical day.

~~**~~

Three hours into the day, and everything was going smoothly. They had cleaned the shop after last night’s party. White appeared with Gram later, both typing and looking at all the paperwork needed to maintain the shop for Gumpa. Gumpa had three more clients today, while Yok was busy with Sean and Black fixing their cars and bikes. It was proving to be a normal day when Gumpa excused himself after seeing the caller ID. Their Hia had a lot of friends in law enforcement, the military, and some in the government offices. How he made these friends, no one knew. Both Sean and Yok suspect that Gumpa was a former Law Enforcer himself, but they could never prove it, and Gumpa never answered it. However, the skills and tactics the older man had in place led them to believe it was either a cop or a former military person. Whatever happened in his past transformed the older man into their boss and the originator of their vigilante ways. Whoever was calling Gumpa caused the man to whisper something to White, prompting him to rush upstairs to take the call. Not even three minutes after Gumpa left for his office, they all heard him shout.

“FUCK!” It was like a record scratch with how sudden and jarring that shout was. All the men stopped what they were doing and rushed over to check on their Hia, who was punching his fist against his desk. 

“What the hell happened, Hia?” Sean asked as both he and Black rushed to his side to stop him from breaking his hand or the desk. Gumpa was swearing up a storm and looked like he wanted to murder someone. Whoever just called him had caused the usually temperate man to lose his shit. Eventually, Black and Sean sat Gumpa down. The older man took deep, shaky breaths as he constantly ran his hand through his hair, almost to the point of pulling it. Before he stopped and slumped into his chair, exhausted, but the fury still simmered under the surface.

“One of my friends was caught. He and his family are dead.” He said, putting down a picture of three people all tied to a chair and bullets in their heads. None of the men in that room had ever seen a dead person like this, that wasn’t from a movie or a show, but this was someone that their big brother figure knew. And the visual was gruesome. White covered his face in Sean’s chest when he saw it. Gram looked a little green. Black looked pissed but didn’t recoil from the image, and Sean couldn’t stare at the picture for too long. 

All but Akk, who saw the image and the sudden image of his mother, and his father tied to a chair while he hid behind one of their walls. Watching men beat the holy hell out of his father till his face didn’t look like the kindhearted man he knew and loved. His face looked like ground beef; he could smell piss and shit all in the air as his mother was also beaten till she could hardly breathe. He couldn’t see the face, but he saw a man walk up in a very nice suit, dressed to the nines, and shot both of his parents in the head. It took everything in Akk not to make a sound; if he did, he would be next. He wept silent tears as he watched the men — all five of them leave the house before two returned with large gallons of gasoline and started to spread it all. 

Akk was starting to hyperventilate. The memories of his eighteen-year-old self burned in his mind. The crying, the beating, the laughing, and the killing. All of it, until he saw the lighter and the flames. The pounding of his blood had him shaking as the memories took him out of the room with his friends. I stomach roiled, and his body grew clammy. 

“-ok… Yok… A’Yok!” Yok was back with his friends, Gumpa staring at him with a thoughtful expression on his face. 

“You alright?” Sean seemed to have been the one who was calling out to him. Yok nodded and looked away from the picture.

“You know who did this, don’t you?” Gumpa spoke, his voice ragged and harsh. His voice felt like knives slicing down on Yok’s already frayed nerves, but he nodded anyway. He wasn’t going to lie to his friends and most certainly not his Hia.

“I don’t know his name or who he looks like, but I’ve seen this work before. All I know is his voice and that spider tattoo on his right wrist.” Yok answered, keeping his eyes closed, remembering the details of that night. Where he went from Akk to Yok, living with the woman he now called Mom. 

The memories and the emotions came back to him again, and he felt sick. He ran out of the office and into the bathroom and emptied the very little he had in his stomach. Everyone ran to Yok as he emptied his stomach; the fear, the adrenaline, the death all came down on Yok like slugs dropping down and crawling all over his body. Gumpa looked like he wanted to ask more questions, but the man saw that whatever Yok’s story was, now was not the time to ask. Instead, White and Sean both ran to Yok’s side as he cried and spat the disgusting stomach acid out of his body and into the toilet. 

“We need to be extra vigilant. Whoever did this is after us.” Gumpa said, rubbing his hand on his forehead, trying to gain some sense of where to go from here. 

“Is it likely that they went after him to get to us?” Gram asked, turning to Gumpa with a terrified expression on his face. Gumpa nodded.

“Yeah, he was the one who told me about Tawi’s warehouse.” 

“You think this might have something to do with Tawi?” Sean stood up while White still comforted Yok.

“I don’t know. As far as I was aware, Tawi worked alone and had some associates from various circles. Nothing more and nothing less. Nothing that would cause others to end up getting killed after the fact.” Gumpa slumped and leaned against one of the metal stability beams.

“If they are connected to Tawi, why now, we weren’t hiding? Our faces are plastered everywhere; it makes no sense to start a year later.” This came from Black, who looked pissed, and it was easy to see why. Both he and Sean were worried about White. White is the only one among them who was not built to handle the shit that they do. He was only brought in because Todd basically instructed him to get involved to take down Tawi, after causing Black’s attack. 

“You think Todd did it?” This came from White, his words causing the already tense atmosphere to turn suffocating. Black didn’t like talking about him. Yok thought that one of the reasons why Black couldn’t kill Todd was because they were lovers before. But Black never confirmed that the two were a thing in the past, and it didn’t look like he would today. But it was apparent to Yok. Black never held back for anyone except for White and Todd. And he wouldn’t put it past the meaner twin to have been in a secret relationship with the former crime boss. Yok also believed it was the same reason why Todd couldn’t kill Black, knowing it would’ve been easy. 

Black looked at his phone and started twiddling with it before shaking his head. Todd came out of his coma 6 months after the events with Tawi. The only thing Black told them was that Todd had moved to another country, and he hadn’t heard or seen him since then. White had confided in Yok that he knew his brother had a meeting with Todd two weeks after he vanished. As far as White knew, whatever relationship his brother and Todd had, it may have been over, but the feelings were still there.

“I don’t think so. But I can’t say for sure. I haven’t gotten a ping on him since he left.” Black confessed. Black was tasked with keeping an eye on Todd if he returned to Thailand. Mainly because if Todd’s ambition was to be brought to fruition, he would return and perhaps be even worse than Tawi. 

“Besides, if what Yok said as well as his reaction is any indication, the person who did this is not related to Todd. I know both his parents; neither of them has a tattoo that Yok described.” Black crossed his arms, keeping up his defensive position. Gram was staring at Black; perhaps the gray-haired man was curious as to what was going on with Black and Todd. And possibly wondering if there were still feelings between the two of them.

Feelings like that are hard to remove. Especially if you’ve had them for so long. Yok thought. Remembering his own feelings and how they subsequently were the biggest reason why he couldn’t be with Dan. Yok got up with White’s help, flushed the toilet, and then joined the conversation.

“For now, at least until I get some more information, no one is to go anywhere alone. It’s either a pair-up or a three-group; never go anywhere alone. If you have to go somewhere, you let the group know where. As of right now, we’re on high alert, and we’ll redo some refresher training tomorrow. Today, let’s finish up our jobs now, and we’ll turn in early for the night.” Everyone nodded and proceeded with their day as usual. 

By the end of the day, the three customers had received their bikes and cars completely repaired and even gave them a free wax. All three were thrilled that their vehicles were shiny and in good working condition. It promoted good word of mouth, which would increase their clientele. Everyone was going home, even Gumpa was leaving with them, considering he usually sleeps at the shop. He had a bed and everything, but he wasn’t kidding about the new rules. 

As they were leaving, a loud bang shot out, which caused everyone to go into full fight mode, and then the lights went out. Tear gas shot into their space, and they all scattered. The sound of gunfire was deafening in the enclosed area. Gumpa shouted for everyone to scatter and go into hiding. With an affirmative shout, they all scrambled. Yok was running with Gram, the two booking it to one of the newly made secret exits. After Tawi’s attack, Gumpa created three new secret exits that were made for escaping if there was another attack. He and Gram both took off down one of the many alleyways, hearing gunfire behind them, letting them know that they were being followed. 

“Split!” Yok shouted. And he and Gram shot out in opposite directions. They would meet up at the twins’ old residence, it was far enough and safe enough that they could return. But now it was all about running and escaping. Unfortunately for Yok, the gunman was chasing after him. He ducked and ran into one of the warehouses and took off as the gunman kept shooting at him. Keeping himself from being a sitting duck, Gumpa had taught them to run into buildings but to evaluate quickly if they were empty. He found a spot to hide and waited till he heard the obvious soft footfalls of the gunman. He knew he was still in here, meaning this guy wasn’t a common thug; he listened to the echoes carefully. Yok covered his mouth and reached for his phone. Unfortunately, again, that 20% died off long ago. So, he was stuck with a gunman, his gun at home, and he was exhausted from running. He turned his head to see if he could see the gunman when he saw the barrel of the gun pointed at his head. The man was not masked, showing his wicked smile that chilled Yok to the bone. 

The guy motioned for him to follow. He knew for a fact he was not leaving this warehouse alive. He probably had orders to bring him back to their shop and kill them there, make it look like another murder-suicide. Yok was furious; he was going to die. After all this time, he had finally gotten some information about the man with the spider tattoo. Only to die by him once again, only this time it would be a permanent death. The guy shouted for him to get on his knees. Well, so much for getting me into the shop . He looked up at the guy and saw the grin of a seasoned killer and, more specifically, one who enjoyed killing. 

As he pulled the trigger, Yok closed his eyes, preparing for his end. A loud gurgling sound erupted from the man’s mouth, causing Yok’s eyes to shoot up. He saw a knife piercing the side of the gunner’s neck and watched it slide out, causing a torrent of blood to shoot out from the large wound. Yok jumped out of the way before any of that blood could greet his body. The body fell to its knees and down, gushing out more blood until it finally stopped. The person standing in front of him was a guy dressed in all black, complete with a mask. It wasn’t a black mask or one that covered his mouth and nose like Yok’s and the rest of R.O.L had. This was a face mask, specifically one with one eye crying, and looked perfectly normal, but the other looked weird with its pupil more like a dot than a normal eye, with black veins all around the face, and a terrifying smile laced on this black and white mask. New drops of blood had splattered on the mask, too.

“Hello.” The voice was altered, sounding mechanical and deep.

“The others are waiting. You need to go back to the shop. There’s still a few out there.” He said, helping Yok up. He was shorter than Yok. Roughly the same height as White and Black, if not taller. There was nothing else he could say but that the guy was fast when he took off in the opposite direction. Yok felt that the guy was way more dangerous than Black, and it wasn’t just because he had just witnessed him kill a man. The artist decided to take a chance and returned to the Shop, luckily for him, as he walked, Gram and a wounded Gumpa appeared. Gumpa’s arm was shot, only a flesh wound, but Gram still looked worried, and so did Yok, for that matter. They both said that a mysterious guy with an angry devil mask told them that we needed to return to the shop before taking off back to the fray. The three men returned to the shop where Black, White, and Sean all appeared. Black was bloodied, but it looked like someone else’s blood with a dented-up pipe. Sean also looked like he was near a meat grinder, but the blood wasn’t his either. White’s glasses were cracked, and he had a bloody nose, but otherwise they all looked fine. 

“Seems like we all got saved.” Gumpa addressed. This was the second time they’d been saved by random people. But this time the threat was a lot more immediate. They all gave weak chuckles and snorts; then the light to the pool table lit up, exposing a man in black with his mask looking like the tragicomedy mask. The masked man waved. The gang was on high alert, staring at the man who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“Good to see no one is worse for wear. If you were, our boss would have our heads.” The man’s altered voice was high and tinny, almost annoyingly so.

“Who the hell are you?” Black asked, holding out his pipe, ready to strike if need be. The man sitting on the pool looked like he was the same height as Gram, if not slightly shorter; he laughed and waved his hands in a calm-down motion.

“I’m not your enemy, so relax.” He said, and then stood up straight before bowing like a butler would. “But you may call me Film,” he said, standing up straight again. Yok couldn’t help but feel that the man was staring at all of them with an intense stare that made him slightly unnerved.

 “My associates and I are here to help. Care to listen?” Yok could feel rather than see the sharp glint in the man’s eye as he assessed them all. Yok shivered, and so did Gram and White; the other three were intimidated, but they did not let it show. It was at this moment all six of them knew that if he wanted to, this man could’ve killed them all.

Chapter 3

A static noise shot through the air as the man called Film reached out and pulled out a radio. 

“No show, fake face, all have been disposed of. Returning to base.” An altered voice came through the speaker before Film pressed the button and responded.

“With the packages all are fine, beginning negotiations now.” With that, he turned off the communication device and turned back to the six of them, watching him with caution and distrust. 

“Oh, come now, don’t look at me like that. I can assure you, if we wanted to hurt you, we wouldn’t have shown up to help you guys.” Film raised his hands in a calm-down gesture before turning and pulling out from behind him a large manila folder. Film held it out in waiting for one of them to take. The gang looked at one another till Sean walked steadily towards Film. He took the folder before sauntering back to his friends. 

“What is this?” Gram started trying to regain some of his composure as the adrenaline left his system, but he was still ready to return at any given moment. Film slightly turned to the gray-haired man, and Yok may not have seen it, but he felt the man smiling at them.

“That right there are photos of you all. We didn’t do it, mind you, but the guys who nearly took you out did.” Sean pulled open the folder and revealed several pictures of all of them. Some of them were taken while they were working, but some were very intimate pictures, like Sean and White in the throes of passion in their room. Black looked like he wanted to both gag and throttle Sean. Both Sean and White turned red instantly and snatched that picture. Many more pictures came out, but the one that startled Yok was the one of his family. His former family. His mother, his father, himself, his friends, his Ayan. Gumpa looked at the photo, then at Yok, who snatched it quickly, his body shaking from the image. 

“How did they get this?” As far as Yok was aware, all of his old pictures were destroyed; he had no other images of his friends and family. He had to leave his old phone behind, and everything he had from his old life was engulfed in flames. The masked man looked as if he was trying to peer over and look at what he was looking at, but he didn’t move from his spot. Instead, he shrugged. 

“Probably from some cloud.” Film’s shrill mechanical voice was pissing Yok off. The others were still looking through the photos when White exclaimed. 

“Yok.” Yok turned and looked at one of the pictures White had. It was a picture of him and Dan. Luckily, not one of them when they were in bed together. But it was a picture of them on one of their dates. They were sitting at a waterway, eating some ice cream and laughing at something one of them said. From fury to dread, Yok looked at the photo, horrified. The idea that something bad could’ve happened to Dan had him popping his head up to look at the tragicomedy masked man.

“Is he in danger?” Yok still had some feelings for Dan; he knew he always would. He was the first person to get as close to him as Ayan did. If Dan or his family were to die, it would be his fault because he got Dan involved with their bullshit. If that were the case, it would be another mark of guilt and trauma on Yok’s soul. But luckily for him, Film shook his head.

“We have another branch of ours keeping an eye on him. As far as we’re aware, they don’t seem to be interested in him. For now.” The man shrugged again. Before long, they all put the pictures back except for the one that Sean and White were never going to let see the light of day again.

“What is it you wanted to talk to us about?” Gumpa stated. At this point, no one was willing to bet that he was on their side. But if he could, this would be the best time to see what this whole situation was about.

“Well, you see, we’ve been watching you guys since you took down Tawi and kept Todd from becoming the new Tawi.” The moment Film mentioned Todd, Black’s eyes flashed in shock, but bounced back to his normal pissed off expression. 

“What do you know about Todd?” Black asked before the man could continue.

“When he recovered, Boss made sure he kept his nose clean. Or at least clean enough that we could use him. He still had a lot of connections to the underground world, so we kept him alive. He’s returning to Thailand soon.” Film responded, a hissing sound coming from his mask; the man cursed before pressing something on his smartwatch. Black seemed stunned to know that Todd was returning, and he didn’t know anything about it. Just as it looked like he was about to ask, Film continued.

“Don’t worry about Todd. If he wants to see you, I’m sure he will see you,” Film stated, his mechanical voice changing from high and tinny to deeper and metallic. “Now, on to why I am here. After you six took down Tawi, you set in motion something that none of you were prepared for.” Film sat down on the pool table, scooting into the center.

“You see, Tawi was the face of a very powerful underground organization. And what we mean by ‘the face,’ he was in charge of all the public shit, as well as small minor groups that were dealing with his drug business. Tawi was one of the most important people in the organization that we call The Spiders .” He stated, before his voice fully returned to the annoying tinny voice once again.

“What a name, couldn’t think of a better one?” Gram teased. Film flipped him off and smacked the pool table.

“Hey, after saying the Underground Organization twenty times in one conversation, you’d get annoyed too. So, making a quick, easy-to-remember name like the ‘Spiders’ is better than trying to come up with something cool and dangerous.” Film crossed his arms and turned his head, obviously pouting. Gram made a noise of agreement.

“Anyway, the Spiders are a group of very dangerous people, each one specializing in and influencing one or more illegal practices. Tawi was the only one who could’ve easily gotten into the government. With his authority and their influence, they were going to really start increasing in power and corruption in our government. Tawi was a better businessman in terms of the legal side than any of the others, and they needed that. With him gone and six feet under, they are now looking to remove you guys from the census.” Film shrugged nonchalantly, as if this weren’t some terrifying news. If they hadn’t stopped Tawi when they did, things would’ve gotten uglier fast. 

“So, they want revenge because they no longer have quick access to power.” Sean specified, pissed off but worry still on his features. With this knowledge, there might’ve been way more people involved with his father’s death than he realized. Film nodded.

“Pretty much. But Boss didn’t want you guys to die. Boss has a plan, and I’m here to explain it. You guys are the faces of every protest and civil rights, and civil liberty battle in this country. So many people are rising up praising your name as the way to move forward and clean up our corruption. Which is true, you guys have been doing the hardest part of the job, starting the movement. Now that it’s rolling.” He laughed, slapping his knee, making the obvious R.O.L joke; he cackled, which made a lot of them wince at the voice. But he eventually stopped laughing when no one even cracked a smile. Again, the man crossed his arms in an obvious sign that he was pouting. Just from their brief interaction with the masked man, they knew if they didn’t give him something, he wouldn’t get on with it. So, they faked a small laugh and chuckled, well, that everyone was just Gram and White. It seems that was enough to make the masked man return to his weird, bubbly disposition.

“Getting on with it, Boss realized, with you guys as the faces for every movement ever, it would also paint a large target on your back. The thing is, Boss knows that the only way to keep making a difference is if you guys stay alive. So, we started to keep tabs on you all. And we came up with a proposition. You guys will go around doing all the protesting and pointing fingers at these people. When the knowledge of these fuckers gets exposed to the people, the people will then start their own attack. And when they are socially, economically, and legally destroyed, we finish the job.” Film leaped off the pool table. His footfalls were surprisingly light, despite all the bells and whistles on his tactical gear. All of them took in this information. After what they witnessed today and what happened to Gumpa’s friend, they knew they had an even more dangerous enemy than they had before. They still had a hit out on them, and with everything that Film had just told them, the odds of that hit being even more lucrative were too high. Gumpa and White were the two with the most astute insights in this situation. They both analyzed everything that had just been said, but it was Gram who spoke out first.

“But if what you’re saying is true, and I’m inclined to believe that it is true, it wouldn’t take a genius to notice when we take out these guys one by one that they all end up dying. We will be scrutinized by the law before we can even go on our next rally.” It was a good point, which caused Yok to think too. If they continued this route, then odds were they would be the first to get questioned. And it wouldn’t be that hard to find some evidence or fabricate it if need be. Film seemed to have been prepared for this question.

“We have a solution for that, too. We go public as monster killers. As far as the law is concerned, we have already broken a lot of laws. We kill bad guys, steal information, and have numerous connections to various illegal activities. As far as the law is concerned, we are just as bad as those damn Spiders. But our methods are strictly set so that monsters like Tawi and the Spiders remain in the ground where they belong. You guys need an opposition; an opposing group of people that are preaching the same thing you guys are. But we’re taking a more violent approach. Every time you guys win with the law, we take it away with our brand of justice.”

“That would be counterproductive. We would still be taking the law into our hands and basically teaching two different things. Radicalists will be formed, and people will be thinking it’s ok to just end people because they are bad. There’s a huge flaw in your proposal.” Yok spoke his voice surprisingly firm despite how shot his nerves were. Film seems to take this into account and thought through it carefully. 

“True, but that is where you guys rallies, and your interview comes into place. No matter what, you guys must say that there’s a right way to do things and a wrong way. You have influence and power. Way more than you realize, people come up to you with a lost lamb look in their eyes, ready to be herded along. We are a bunch of foxes hunting them down. You can herd them into the right path; besides, we cannot make a public appearance. Every time we kill, that’s another nail on our metaphorical coffins. But we won’t just kill them as soon as they have been apprehended; we have many ways of getting our kills, and we will get them in the end. This is just to remove any other potential whispers of rebellion from the new world you are trying to make. You guys are the judges, and the world is the jury while we’re just killers acting as executioners.” Film finished; he was good with words. But Yok still didn’t like it. If they did this, would they be any different from the monsters they try to put away? And by the looks of his friends, a lot of them were thinking the same way. None of them wanted to hurt or kill anyone. They just wanted to see their world change for the better, even if that meant disrupting the system. Film nodded and placed a burner phone on the table.

“Listen, I’m not expecting an answer immediately; you’re absolutely right — there are way too many variables. But it’ll be our job to fix those variables. So, I’ll leave this here so you can talk amongst yourselves and think this through. I will call you in two weeks, or if you have an answer, call me. My number is the only number there. You can keep those photos, and I’ll be out of your hair.” Film said, walking towards the exit before stopping and turning around.

“Oh, and before I forget. Even if you don’t accept it, we will keep an eye on you guys. With our biggest targets on the move, we would be fools not to use you guys as bait.” He said the telltale signs of a sly grin appeared behind the man’s masked face. Yok didn’t need to tell his friends anything; they all knew that if they were to be their bait, there was nothing they could do about it. Whoever these people were, they were above their pay grade. Yok could tell that even Black was intimidated by this man. And just like that, with another soft hiss of static, the man was gone, leaving the six of them alone with something new to think about.

They all looked at one another, reeling that there was another hell they would have to go through, and this one might actually prove fatal for one of them. Yok felt sick to his stomach. Seeing images in his mind’s eye of his new family being tied to chairs after being beaten and tortured, only to get a bullet into their brains. Removing beautiful lives from Yok’s once again. And he knew that he was willing to accept help from demons or the devil himself if it meant protecting what little family he had. Because losing them would end him, he stared down at the photo of himself with his friends and family. Touching his face and seeing the warm softness in his eyes, the peace he felt that day. And the love that was shown to him that day, and every day he was Akk. Yeah, Yok couldn’t lose his family again, never again.

~~**~~

The man in the tragicomedy mask pulled out the duffle bag that he had stationed away from the Mechanics shop, quickly removed his gear and mask, and pulled on his hat and adjusted it to shield his scared face. A car soon pulled up in front of him, and he got in quickly before he was handed a phone. Without looking, he promptly called the one number that was on that phone.

“Film. ” Todd answered. Film smiled as his team drove in silence.

“That’s me.” He held a voice alternator to the receiver. “Glad to know that my voice will always be remembered.” He chimed.

“I haven’t heard any news that may be of use to you or the others. ” Todd was likely telling the truth, but he probably wasn't looking at the right things.

“Oh, are you sure, because had me and the others not stepped in, your ex would’ve been long gone.” He knew that would cause Todd to change his tune, and he was right.

“What?!” He blurted. Film snickered, enjoying Todd’s worry.

“That’s right. So, either you’re lying to me, or you were lied to.” Film’s voice was teasing as Truth handed him a laptop. The man didn’t even look at him, just stared out the window. Film looked at the image before sending the information to Todd.

“I just sent you the location where you’ll be staying.” Film said before typing a few more strings of code, and soon he was staring at an image of Todd pacing in his home.

“Don’t look so scared, Todd. We told you before we wouldn’t hurt Black, and we meant it. He means more to us alive than he does dead. You think Boss would just allow precious pawns to be discarded so easily. But this means that you need to act as a new buyer and as a familiar face in town. I’m sure you can do that easily.” Todd looked pissed, but Film just watched with a knowing smile on his face.

“I’ll inquire about a few more things around here before I leave. Do I need to pay for my ticket, or will you pay?” Todd asked, and Film laughed.

“Of course, we’ll pay. We take good care of all our pawns. This includes you.” Film was about to hang up when Todd’s voice chimed again. 

“Black. He’s not injured, right?” Film’s smile vanished as he looked at the camera feed. Todd sat in the island chair, his knee shaking, as tension and worry poured off him, even through the camera. 

Love, it never leaves you once you get it, doesn’t it? Film’s heart lurched, and his own memories came out. He looked at Truth and then at Smoke, who were silent, but he could sense their tension. Face seemed to be lost in his own mental meanderings, not paying much attention to the conversation. If Boss were there, he would see nothing but a blank face that was only used as a façade to control his emotions. But Film was named after the thing he loved, so he would act, he would laugh, he would cry, and he would lie. But not now.

“The shorty is far stronger than you give him credit. He didn’t so much as get a scratch on him.” Film gave him. Todd visibly relaxed, and that was enough for Film to hang up. He continued to watch Todd, who looked at something on his phone, and film quickly pulled it up on screen, only to see a picture of a seminude but peacefully sleeping Black on the bed. Hair disheveled and messy from the night before. Film snorted, exiting out of Todd’s images.

“Where is Boss anyway?” He asked.

“Where do you think?” Smoke responded. Film knew they all knew. He had just seen him after all this time. If he were Boss, he would’ve needed time to himself too. Hell, Film had just been in the same room as him and talked to him. And yet it still seemed so unreal. Then again, it all felt so surreal. 

He would’ve never guessed that after all this time, he would be sitting here in the backseat with his friends after killing a horde of bad guys, and getting ready to bring in another bad guy. All to destroy a secret crime organization. Even in his own imagination and creative mind, he wouldn’t have thought of anything like this. But here he was looking out of the window, knowing that somewhere a little killer was watching his only shred of humanity. And if that wasn’t painfully lovely, Film didn’t know what was.

“He looked good.” He said to the quiet car. He could feel Truth flinch at the mention of him; Smoke grew angry as he gripped the steering wheel tightly. While Face shrank deeper into the seat.

“I’m sure he did.” Smoke bit out bitterly. 

“Boss shouldn’t have saved him.” Smoke continued before stopping at their safe house, where he quickly parked and left the car. The rage burned bright in the man. Film sighed and turned to Truth, who resumed his audition for a statue before leaving after his partner. Face opened the door and paused.

“I know I should be happy, but I’m not. Phi… I don’t think I could be, knowing that he’s fine. Call me mean, but I’m not happy that he’s alright. And I don’t know how I feel about that.” He said softly before exiting the car, too. Leaving Film alone. 

Neither do I, kid.

Notes:

I've been meaning to make this story for ages. So if there's things wrong with it, it's because it's been in my WIP for ages, and I finally decided to post it. I just wanted the first ones out and done with first. It will take time for the entier thing to be done so be prepared. Hope you enjoyed the chapters.

Chapter 4

Two hours after Film had left, the six of them went on to clean up the mess and patch up Gumpa. They tried to talk about what Film had suggested, but they were all tired and none of them had the energy to figure the shit out. When they got to their bikes, they saw several tracks from obvious cars had all vanished. They all wondered if it was those mysterious people who had removed all the cars. But again, they were all too tired to think. Instead, they all rode their bikes back to their home. There was a part of Yok that wanted to keep driving, but a lot of them were exhausted, and Gumpa needed to recover from his injury. And after tonight, there was no way in hell Gumpa was letting any of them go off on their own. Especially Yok. 

Eventually, they returned to their home, and one by one they all slugged up their stairs and into their homes. Gumpa was one floor below Yok, and he did it so that he could warn the team first if enemies appeared. The second floor had a lot of protection behind it, but he still wanted to be close to the floor to warn them. He was also the fastest out of all of them and could run up the stairs to the fifth floor with ease, and still have enough energy to parkour his way out of danger. Yok watched as Gram and Black both went inside Gram’s house again. Yok saw the slightly bewildered expressions on both Sean's and White's faces, but neither asked; instead, they trudged up the stairs together. Sean kept White close since White looked like he needed comforting. This wasn’t their first time getting close to death, but this was the closest they had ever been to actually dying. Tawi’s men didn’t even get close to killing them, but the men from tonight only failed because an even bigger menace was there to protect them.

Yok closed and locked his door. His house didn’t look disturbed, so either the hired killers didn’t come here, or they were expecting this mission to go off without a hitch. Yok took off his messenger bag and dropped it on a chair before trudging to the bathroom and snatching his towel. He looked at his face in the mirror and really felt those seven years of fighting and being Yok finally crash over him. 

He could feel Akk pressing to the surface. The boy who was programmed to behave the way Suppalo wanted him to behave, to the boy who was so alone and scared to disappoint anyone. Till he was broken down to pieces by a boy who had gone through hell and an obsession for revenge. Only for both of them to save one another, filling those cracks and pieces up with their broken pieces. He took the photo out of his pocket. And watched as tears fell onto the picture. He didn’t realize he was crying or that the tears went from a silent stream to a soul-deep wail. He realized that he had forgotten a great deal of their faces. Especially his parents’ faces. He lost so much in that fire, and now it seemed it was coming back to take more from him. He clutched the photo to his chest and fell to his knees, the narrow bathroom seeming more like a padded cell than it usually was. Feeling claustrophobic, Yok pushed the door to his bathroom open and started to gasp for air. He could feel a panic attack coming on. He crawled to his bag, his breathing coming in deep and quick; it was the beginning of hyperventilation. He tore open his bag and pulled out his meds and a paper bag. He hardly ever hyperventilated, but he was cautious enough to keep one paper bag with him, just in case he did. He opened the bag and began to take deep breaths in and out. He couldn’t close his eyes or else he’d see his parents’ lifeless bodies sitting in those disgusting chairs. Instead, he mentally started to count. Each time he reached a unit of ten, he’d think of an object or an animal until he visualized something peaceful and calming. It worked slowly, and soon the images of the past and the present stopped blurring. He was calm; eventually, sitting on his floor, leaning against his refrigerator.

He sat there for a while before walking back to the bathroom, snatching the picture, and looking down at it with a blank expression. He went to his living room and pulled out a book, and left the picture inside before returning to the bathroom. To finally shower and wash the stink of fear, blood, and sick from his body. He stood in the hot shower for a long while just letting the pain of it all wash away. Watching as the water swirled down the drain was a metaphor for his own mental health. Going down the drain and down to the sewer system. Eventually, the shower turned cold, and it was time for him to get out. He came out with only a towel and saw Sean sitting in his bed, drinking a beer, watching some random infomercial.

“Ai’ Sean. Call next time.” Yok jumped from the sight of his best friend in his bed. He wasn’t in the mood for conversation or company. But he knew that look. Yok had some explaining to do. The artist knew he was going to have to talk about it eventually, but not now. Not when his emotions are still on red. Yok sighed and proceeded to get dressed, pulled out a bottle of water from the fridge, taking two of his anxiety meds, and sat by his friend. They didn’t say anything for a while, Sean taking swigs of his beer while Yok waited for his meds to hit before he even thought about grabbing a beer himself. Instead, he opened the window and pulled out one of his cigarettes, and proceeded to take deep pulls of the addictive nicotine. After a while, Sean finally spoke.

“Is your mom not your real mom?” He asked, ripping the metaphorical band-aid. Yok sighed as smoke came out of his mouth and into the surprisingly crisp night air. He turned to his friend and nodded.

“She’s my mom’s twin sister. After a while, it got easier to call her mom till it just stuck.” Yok answered, taking another pull and drinking some of his water, wishing that it was something stronger. Sean motioned his head towards the bottle of pills on the kitchen counter without looking at it.

“Didn’t know you had anxiety medication.” Yok nodded again.

“I used to take that plus stuff for my night terrors, insomnia, and depression. I still take the depression meds, but I forget some days.” He answered, stubbing out the cigarette before leaning on one of his propped-up pillows. 

“Learning new shit about you. I thought I knew you well.” Sean said casually, all without looking at Yok. Knowing that, if Sean looked at him now, he might start yelling and demanding answers. Yok wanted to make light of the situation, but the meds were hitting him, so it was getting harder and harder to make snarky remarks and tease his friend.

“It was worse when I was younger. I can handle the majority of my illnesses, but today… Today was… hard.” Yok was having a hard time finding words to his complicated emotional state. Instead, Sean nodded, agreeing with Yok.

“And those people in that picture with you. Who were they?” Sean finally turned to look at his friend. “Who were they, Yok?” His voice was soft, but there was steel behind it. Yok was having a hard time looking at him. He had been there when Sean was going through the hardest point of his mom’s death. His burning hatred for Tawi and his hatred for Black. Yok and Sean were as close to brothers as they could get, all without a blood connection. But the expression on his brother’s face was making him feel guilty. There were tons of hidden parts of Yok that Sean never knew existed. And Yok believed he would never have to deal with that part of himself ever again until tonight. Closing his eyes and lightly hitting his head on the wall, Yok had to go back to that part of himself that he just had difficulty putting away again. But with the anxiety meds in his system, he looked at the wall that was adorned with many of his art pieces. 

“Akk. My real name is Akk. And those people were my family,” he said softly, getting a far-off look in his eyes as he spoke.

“My parents were fishermen, and we weren’t rich, but we had one another, and that was enough.” He said, smiling softly in memory of his kind-hearted parents. “My parents put me into the best school in the area, and I worked hard to become student perfect. I had two friends, their names were Wat and Kan, and I had known them since middle school. They both came from rich families, but they didn’t act like spoiled brats.” He said, recalling his two best friends at the time. The shit they confided in one another and the promises they made still brought a fond smile to Akk’s lips. 

“I made two more friends during my time there. There was Thua, who was the class president in our last year. He was always watching, always there, even when you didn’t know he was. Then there was Namo.” He chucked, thinking of his other friend with the same name. “Yeah, his name was Namo too, but compared to our Namo, it’s night and day. She’s free-spirited and for our causes, but the other Namo idolized tradition, order, and authority. When we were the acting student perfect I was tasked with investigating a guy who was said to be invoking the wrath of my school’s curse.” Yok paused, thinking about Ayan. His face turned dreamy, and the memory of how he felt when he saw Ayan for the first time hit his heart.

“He awakened my sexual preference. At the time, I believed I was bi and that I hadn’t found the right girl. But then he came, and I knew for a fact no woman was ever going to hold a candle to the feelings I had for a guy, and especially that guy.” He said, remembering his first time looking at the shorter man and thinking he could probably take on the entire world just for the hell of it. “He was like how I am now. Rebellious and wanted to destroy the school’s harsh and suffocating system. We were at odds, but he…” He paused, trying to explain his complex feelings to the boy who changed him. Closing his eyes, he took a shuddering breath, trying to recover and put back on the blank numbness he needed right now.

“He never treated me like shit. No matter what I did or what I said to him. Eventually, he got his wish. He destroyed our school’s stifling system, and he got me.” He said, shrugging his shoulders, trying to make light of how hard Ayan worked to get Akk to see he was worth fighting for. He was worth crying for. He was worth it, period. 

“I was young, but I knew I loved him. He accepted every shitty thing I did and wanted me to become a better person. He stood by my side when everything was falling apart. And even when I broke down till there was nothing of the perfect boy left, he helped me pick up the pieces to become Akk.” He said with a listless smile on his lips. 

“Then how’d you get here?” Sean asked. His small smile dissolved as quickly as it appeared.

“I didn’t know at the time that my parents had a prime location. The location was said to be a good spot for resorts, casinos, and other businesses. But it was my parents’ land, and they didn’t want to sell it. The guy that wanted it was bad news. I never saw him. I didn’t know what he looked like. But now I’m certain the guy who my parents refused to sell was the man with the spider tattoo.” He stated that he drank some of his water, recalling the weeks of hard times his family faced because of that man. “He started targeting my parents’ fishing boats and made it difficult for them to work. But they still refused him. Then one day it all stopped, and my parents thought they won… But that was stupid of them.” He said, pulling out a new cigarette and firing it up. Sean’s eyes never looked away from his friend’s impassive face. Knowing very well that it was a façade made by both the meds and by Yok’s desire to forgo certain emotions.

“I came home one day because I had a fight with Ayan. I wanted to just be with my parents that day and just take a breather before I said or did something I regretted. I just needed some space, but that need for space changed my life.” He paused as the memories came back to him, and instead of in his bed smoking a cigarette next to his brother, he was back at home walking in through the back door. “I wanted to surprise them by sneaking into the back door… only to see them tied to chairs, beaten bloody and raw. I was so scared I couldn’t move. I just cried watching them torture my parents to force them to sign, but they were stubborn and refused. Till one of them suggested finding me and making me into an example.” He sighed, his hands shaking as he recalled the memory. He pressed the cigarette to his lips, his hands shaking and ash dripping from the lit tip.

“That made them sing. They signed it, and for their troubles, they were shot by the man who more than likely was the cause of this shit. Blew their brains out in front of me, and I could only watch with tears and snot running down my face and me desperately trying not to make a fucking sound.” He started feeling both anger and sadness coiling up in his body, feeling that years-old helplessness and terror that made him furious with himself. What kind of person watches their own parents die in front of them and not do a damn thing about it? A fucking coward, that’s what.  

“They started pouring gasoline in the house to make it look like a murder suicide, and make my father look like the villain. Luckily for me, the tweakers, who were in charge of burning my life away, were too stupid, and one left the other alone. I don’t remember how or when I got the knife, all I knew was he was dead and I didn’t have a long time to do anything. So I quickly changed out of my uniform and kept only my couples sweater before burning my life to the ground. I ran far and far away before I made it to a library and requested to use their phone. I texted my auntie and told her what happened. She said she’d be there in two hours. Next thing I knew, I’m washed up in a hotel room, and I was going to live with her in Bangkok.” He said, sucking in the last bit of the cigarette before stubbing that one out too.

“The shitty part of all that was they pinned the blame of it all on me. Saying that I was a tweaker and killed my parents due to the pressures of my school and of them. It dragged my school’s name through the mud and mine. But my friends fought tooth and nail to change those stories, but it’s what that man forced them to write, and judging by the power he showed us today. Probably for the best they went with his order.” Sighing heavily, he finally looked at his friend, who was no longer looking directly at him but in his general direction. Sean was seething, his face was red, and Yok could see the man’s fist clench and unclench in weakly contained rage. Sean looked away and gripped his hair, trying to transfer the ill-kept rage. Before long, the deep breathing from Sean returned to a normal rhythm, and his friend turned to look at him again. 

“And now those bastards are back. I originally wanted to reject Film’s offer, but now I’m considering taking it. Because if guys like that really have been orchestrating all this suffering and all this shit with no regard for anyone or anything. Thinking they are superior and above all of it, then those guys should no longer exist. And if there really are three or four or however many there are, then we should consider allowing those guys to end them. Even if we are behaving no better than them.” Sean said, leaning back into the pillow, closing his eyes, and lightly bumping his head against the hard wall alongside Yok, who just smiled softly.

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing.” Yok admitted.

“Why’d you change to Yok instead of keeping Akk?” Sean asked, genuinely curious. Yok took a deep breath and looked at his friend.

“Because to me, Akk is weak. And Yok is strong. Yok would’ve fought those guys and beat them down even if he died trying to save his parents. But Akk just ran away and hid like a coward.” Yok answered, bitterness laced into his words as he spoke. Sean frowned at his friend. It looked like he wanted to contradict him, but instead, he shook his head and looked at the TV screen, watching the infomercial about this new and improved ladder.

“Can I ask you something?” Yok began after they remained silent for quite a while. Sean made an affirming noise.

“Why are you here and not with White?” Yok asked, finishing the last bit of his water.

“He’s sleeping. I had to fuck him to keep him quiet and make his mind and body so tired he’d have to sleep. He kept on saying that every time he closed his eyes, he just saw me and Black dead with a bullet through the skull. The fear of it all was too great, and even I needed reaffirmation that he was alive and in my arms. After that, I came down here to talk to you.” 

“More like interrogate.”

“Same difference.”

“So now what? Will you tell the others?” Sean asked, looking at Yok. Yok nodded.

“Not tonight, but tomorrow. Hia was going to ask me about it anyway. The only reason why he’s not here now is because we’re all too fucked up to even try talking about heavy shit. You just don’t like waiting.” Yok teased, which caused Sean to smile as he slowly got up he patted his friend on the shoulder.

“And for the record, I don’t think a 17-year-old boy is a coward for doing self-preservation. I think it would’ve been reckless to attack when the chance for revenge is way more appealing.” Sean said before walking out the door and up the stairs back to his fucked asleep lover. Yok sat there and watched the tv, not really watching anything. With the exhaustion of the day, from working and running for his life, to opening old wounds, and letting his emotional trauma completely drain him. Yok was asleep in seconds. Dreaming of oblivion, which was how he wanted it.

~~**~~

He watched Akk sleep. The boy was dead to the world, and his window was open; the sound of the slowly picking up rain tuned out the sound of the television. He wanted to turn off the tv and let the man sleep in peace, but he knew right now that the sound of something non-threatening was more relaxing than the loud monotony of the rain. He looked around at the small but cozy studio apartment. He saw the pills on the counter and looked back at Akk. He snooped around before spotting another bottle of pills hidden in his end table drawer. This one was for depression. He held the bottle in his hands, looking at the name and how many to take, before looking back down at the ethereal figure of the sleeping man. He reached down wanting to touch him, but he stopped himself, fearing the artist would wake up and shoot him with the gun he had underneath his mattress.

He left the house, closing the door silently behind him before breaking into Akk’s art studio. There, he saw all of Akk’s artwork. He looked around his gloved hands, looking through large canvases of finished and unfinished work. There was one in the middle of the room, covered with a huge tarp to protect it from both view and damage. He knew it was risky to look at it, but he was always curious. Once he did, he stared at the painting. The flying birds, the black ones flying to the future beyond, and the white ones flying past the eclipse, flying back to the past. A Cityscape morphed into the sea, and the two boys who looked at one another with so much pain and love. As one stayed solid and the other slowly vanished, caused him to stare for way longer than he should. It was already risky coming here in the first place. But the quick glimpses he got of Akk were enough to drive him up a wall with both fury and desire. He wanted the painting but feared if he took it and it was incomplete, then he would never see the finished product. But he saw Akk’s signature and knew it was done. So, without thinking twice, he put the tarp back over the picture and snatched both the tarp and the painting inside. He then opened the window and vanished into the dark, gloomy, stormy night.