Work Text:
It was an ordinary day for Rome, until he received a notification, a message from his older brother, Thee.
Don’t panic, the first bubble said, which absolutely made Rome start to panic a little.
Mok got shot, the second one said, and that, well, that made Rome into a full-blown panic mode, because if it wasn’t that bad, he knew Mok would stop Thee from messaging Rome, which meant, if Mok didn’t stop Thee, it was either bad or very bad.
“Cancel all the meetings for a week from now, prepare the plane, I’m going to Thai,” Rome commanded quickly as he grabbed his coat.
Jack, his new bodyguard slash secretary, who had been used to his antics, bless him, obeyed without questions.
Rome barged into the VVIP ward that Thee had registered for Mok without knocking. His eyes immediately found the man he loved laid in the bed with machines beeping next to him.
“Mok!” Rome said as he forewent greeting his brother and Peach, and leaned down next to the bed.
The vitals were stable, from what Rome could see, but it didn’t change the fact that Mok, one of the strongest bodyguards Rome knew, was unconscious.
The anger came after the worry. He grabbed Thee’s collars and growled, “What happened?! I thought you promised me to keep him safe if I were to leave him here!”
“Khun Krit!” Peach came into the view and held Rome fist on Thee’s collar, “It’s not Khun Thee’s fault, it’s mine!”
“Can you calm down first, Rome?” Thee asked sternly.
At a time like this, Rome could feel why Thee was his older brother and he unclenched his fists.
“I’m sorry, P’Kian,” Rome exhaled, “I was panicking.”
“Understandable,” Thee chuckled, “now, let’s sit down and let Peach give you the whole story.”
According to Peach’s story, there was this magazine that hired him to take pictures of a young, noticeable mogul named Flank. His reputation was rising fast, not only because of his successful businesses, but also his charming personality.
“Giving idol vibes, if you ask me,” Peach added.
So this kind of man usually didn’t take no for an answer, and Peach said no to his dinner invitation. And so, this Flank sent his man to kidnap Peach.
“Kinda reminding me of the first meeting with someone I know,” Peach added again with his eyes glancing pointedly at Thee.
Thee cleared his throat, ears burning, “Can we continue the story?”
Long story short, Mok, who had been assigned to follow Peach under Thee’s order, caught in the middle. He single-handedly tried to stop those men and got shot.
“The doctor said he was lucky, if the bullet went three millimeters to the left, it would’ve gone into his heart,” Peach said.
Both Thee and Peach went silent after the story, both of them staring at Rome, whose face was expressionless.
“I’m gonna hunt this Flank down,” Rome said calmly. Too calm, actually. And as the older brother, Thee knew this Rome was more dangerous than the impulsive, screaming, panicking Rome from before.
Peach frowned, “Khun Krit, please don’t kill him.”
“Oh, I won’t,” Rome smiled sweetly, “I won’t do it fast, I mean. I’ll let him suffer a little bit before sending him to afterlife myself.”
“Khun Kri—!” Peach was stopped by Thee’s hand around his wrist.
“Go to Jan, she has all the information you’ll need about Flank,” Thee said.
“Thank you, P’Kian,” Rome said and he left through the door.
“Why didn’t you stop him?!” Peach hissed at Thee, “He’s gonna kill someone!”
Thee sighed, “I know my brother, Peach, and that Rome could never be convinced to change his mind, not even with the cost of the lives in this hospital building.” Thee paused and smiled guiltily at Peach, “There’s a reason why Rome’s more suitable to lead the Arseni clan than me even though I’m the firstborn. That’s all I can give you.”
Peach felt the chills, “Sometimes I forget you’re from a mafia family.”
Rome sat quietly, eyes not moving from the man in front of him, Flank, whose limbs were tied up to the chair. He was still unconscious, his face was a little bloody from a beating by Jack.
“His connections?” Rome asked.
“Taken care of,” Jack answered, “The news will broadcast his involvement with some stray gangs shortly, so when his body is found, it won’t be questioned.”
Rome smiled, “You did a good job.”
“Still far from your expectation if you compare me with Khun Mok, Khun Krit,” Jack held his smile.
Rome chuckled, “Well, that man is your role model, isn’t he?”
“Mine and every bodyguard of the Arseni family.”
“Now,” Rome’s eyes went back to the unconscious man in front of him, “get him some water.”
Jack nodded his head towards another bodyguard and the said man splashed a bucket of water into Flank’s face. The young businessman flailed, coughing a little. Then when he realized he was being tied, his eyes widened.
“Who are you people?!” Flank shouted.
“Those who you shouldn’t mess with,” Rome answered easily. He crossed his legs and leaned onto the backrest, “How are you feeling? Sore? Hurt all over? Terrible?”
“You shouldn’t do this,” Flank said threateningly, “you will regret this! I have connections!”
“Which have been severed,” Rome added and looked at Jack, “did it come out yet?”
Jack checked his tablet and nodded, “It’s being broadcasted.”
“Show him,” Rome commanded.
Jack showered the screen to Flank.
Rome enjoyed his time watching Flank’s eyes bugged out at the news, “Looks like your so-called connections will leave you now.”
“That’s insane! I’ve never involved myself with drugs!” Flank screamed.
“Well, now you do,” Rome shrugged, “at least the news says so.”
“You!” Flank growled, “What have you done?! I’ll make you regret this! My people will hunt you down!”
“Let them try, I’ll crush them before they can even track my name.”
Sensing the young man’s words weren’t just for a bluff, Flank gritted his teeth, “I don’t even fucking know you. What’s with talking about me messing with you?”
“Do you remember P’Peach?” Rome asked.
“Peach?” Flank looked confused. Then Rome could see when the name clicked in Flank’s head, “Peachayarat? The photographer?”
Rome nodded, “The one you were trying to kidnap.”
Flank snorted, “So this is about some kind of lowly bi—”
Before he could finish his sentence, Rome grabbed his cheeks and dug his nails there, “Watch your mouth or I’ll cut your tongue.”
There were tiny crescent marks on Flank’s cheeks when Rome finally took his hand away.
“By the way, yes, Peachayarat, P’Peach, the photographer, and my soon-to-be brother-in-law,” Rome said, “you were trying to kidnap him, yes?”
Flank huffed, “‘Kidnapping’ is such a strong word. I just wanted to have dinner with him.”
“Without his consent,” Rome added, “hence, kidnapping.”
“But it didn’t come to it, did it?!” Flank argued, “We backed away before we could bring him! He wasn’t even harmed!”
“P’Peach wasn’t, yes,” Rome nodded, “but you did harm someone.”
Flank looked confused, “Someone? The man who suddenly jumped to save Peach?”
“Ah, you remember?”
“I don’t even know him! What the fuck?!” Flank struggled, “He suddenly came in playing hero so my man shot him! What’s the whole point of this conversation?!”
“The whole point is,” Rome stood up, “you were trying to kidnap P’Peach and you shot the man I love.”
“The man you—” Flank paused and frowned, “Isn’t he a bodyguard?”
“Indeed,” Rome tilted his head with a smile.
“I don’t understand…”
Rome grabbed Flank’s neck and pressed until the man struggle, “You almost killed him, you bastard. And believe me, I’m not merciful like my brother, who let you roam free after you pulled that stunt to P’Peach. No, I’m gonna give you back the pain you caused my lover thousands of times, then I’ll kill you.”
“You—you’ll—I—I’m an im—portant person—they’ll—they’ll look for you!” Flank tried to persuade.
“Do you think killing you will be my first rodeo?” Rome laughed, “No, Flank, in fact, I could just send my men to butcher you up, but I didn’t, because what you did was very personal to me, and I wanted to deal with you myself, because no one, and I repeat, absolutely no one can mess with my family and get away unscathed.”
Flank started crying, “Wh—who th—the fu—ck are you?!”
“Me? I’m Kritdanai Rome Arseni. I’ll make you remember my name even beyond your death.”
When Mok finally came to, the first thing he felt was unbearable pain, centered around his abdomen. He made a faint groan and tried to calm his breath.
“Mok?”
Years of being a bodyguard made him aware immediately and he went into vigilant mode, holding up with the pain when he moved too quickly.
Mok squinted his eyes and finally recognized the man sitting on the edge of his bed, “Khun Kritdanai?”
Rome huffed, “Even in your pain you refuse to call me Rome.”
Mok felt confused. He looked around, realizing he was at the hospital. The memory suddenly flooded his brain, “Khun Peach!”
“Safe. Alive. P’Kian has brought him home,” Rome said, “All thanks to you.”
The bodyguard sighed in relief.
“Here, take a sip, slowly,” Rome lifted a glass of water to Mok’s lips. Usually, Mok would refuse and took the glass himself. But, now, he would bask himself a little in Rome’s attention.
He eventually finished the whole glass, then he glanced at the young man still staring at him, “Khun Krit, why are you here?”
“You still asking me that?” Rome chuckled humorlessly, “Did you know how I felt when P’Kian told me you got shot? Did you know how I felt when I saw you unconscious in this bed with a bullet wound too close to your heart?”
“I apologize,” Mok said, lowering his eyes, “I was too late to stop them that they almost took Khun Peach. It won’t happen again.”
“This is not about your job, you fool,” Rome groaned. He reached up and held Mok’s head with his hand, “I was about to kill everyone to find the bastard that shot you.”
Mok could smell a whiff of metallic from Rome. Blood.
Mok frowned, “Khun Krit, are you hurt?”
“The one hurting his my heart.”
“I’m not joking,” Mok cut and scanned Rome’s body to find any wounds, but the latter was wearing all black outfits, he couldn’t find the source of blood.
“Don’t worry, only my knuckles were hurt,” Rome finally answered and showed both hands. Mok could see patches on Rome’s knuckles, but not harmful enough to fatally hurt Rome.
“What happened?” Mok asked.
“Me killing that bastard, Flank. That happened,” Rome answered nonchalantly. And when Mok opened his mouth, he cut off, “And no, it’s not because of P’Peach. It’s because of you, because he hurt you, and he knew better than to hurt my lover.”
Mok closed his mouth, then opened it again, “I’m not your lover.”
“Not yet. But you will be, in the end, I’ll make sure of it.”
“Khun Krit—”
”I’m done with the conversation,” Rome stood up, “Now that you’re awake and safe, I’ll go back. I think P’Kian’s men are enough to guard you here.”
Mok felt mixed feelings when he watched Rome turn around and walk away.
“Rome…”
Rome stopped and turned around so fast, “What did you say?”
Mok wetted his lips and lowered his eyes back to his laps, “Thank you.”
“No, no, no, you don’t get to do that to me!” Rome went to sit back down on the edge of the bed and lifted Mok’s chin so their eyes met, “What did you call me?”
Mok stared at Rome’s hopeful eyes and sighed, “Thank you, Khun Rome.”
Rome took a sharp breath, “Now kick away the ‘Khun’.”
Mok moved his head from Rome’s fingers and said, “Please go back, Khun Krit. I’m sure you have so much work to attend to.”
“Nooooooo!” Rome groaned and dramatically buried his face to the duvet above Mok’s legs, “It was so cloooose!”
Mok looked at the crown of his boss’ brother, trying so hard not to stroke the hair.
Rome lifted his face and made a miserable expression, “Why’s it so hard to win your heart?”
“Are you giving up?” Mok asked back.
“Never,” Rome answered immediately. He took Mok’s hand and touched his cheek on Mok’s palm, “I will never give up.”
Mok let his lips bloom into a tiny smile.
“Oh, God,” Rome lamented to the ceiling, “I’m not your strongest soldier. Please give me strength so I don’t do something impulsively like kissing this beautiful man in front of me right now.”
Mok sighed exasperatedly and took his hand back, “Please go back, Khun Krit.”
“Wrong name.”
The bodyguard closed his eyes in surrender and rephrased, “Please go back, Rome, or your father will get angry at you.”
Rome made a childish squeal and pumped his fist into the air. He then cupped Mok’s cheeks gently before planting a soft kiss on Mok’s forehead.
“Rome!” Mok hissed.
“Bye, my love! I’ll see you again in a few months!” Rome ran away and left the room like a whirlwind.
Mok touched his forehead and made a small fond smile, “See you again in a few months, Rome.”