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Patji's POV
My eyes open.
What surrounds me is not a familiar environment. It's cold, dark, and eerie. I attempt to rub my eyes out of reflex when I realize that something is holding my arms from moving. My neck snaps up, and that's when I see it.
Handcuffs attached to a silver chain. Each metal cuff is around one of my wrists. And the chain is connected to...
A chair? No, a chair couldn't hold all of my strength back. It's more like a sofa, but it's fit for a single person.
Speaking of a person, I see two legs. Oversized grey slacks prevent any skin from showing. Crew-length black socks outline what appears to be skinny ankles. I can determine it is a male by the dress shoes, and if I had to guess, they were probably size 12 (US).
I turned my lying-down body slowly to avoid rattling the chain. Someone was sitting on the other side of the chair. It didn't look like that person was attached to anything, and I could hear viral TikTok audios playing from a cellphone.
Another small movement and I could see the outline of the left-hand corner of the room. On that side, I could make out another chain in the distance.
And another... person? Lying on the floor in the same predicament as me?
I couldn't make out anything about the corner person before a large hand grabbed my face, positioning it upward.
"I've been waiting for you to wake up." A deep, familiar voice whispered in my ear. As my eyes darted towards the speaker, I saw him.
Black hair. Small face. Smiling mischievously in my direction.
None other than Ryujin.
"R-Ryujin?" I shook my head to clear out the fog. I double-glanced, but my vision was the same. It really was him.
"Patji. Your face is softer than ever. I guess our skincare partnerships are paying off." His hand stroked both sides of my face, stopping to give a gentle pinch on each cheek.
My eyes teared up a little. "Ryujin. What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" I couldn't control the shakiness of my voice. I feel fragile, weak, and especially vulnerable.
"Teerak. You've hurt me."
Dead silence. Not a single hesitation or emotion in his voice. The sweet nickname didn't change the room's coldness.
"W-what did I do, Ryu? Why am I chained up like this?"
"Maybe ask that person in the corner." Ryujin grabbed me like a toy and forcibly propped me against the sofa chair. That's going to bruise later.
I can't focus too long on my physical pain. My gaze darts towards the corner, where Ryujin seems to be walking towards the other chained figure. It's still very dark and unclear, but I hear a loud CRACK. Movement and soft whining tell me exactly who the person is.
Fifa.
My original choice of partner in DMD Friendship 3. I hung out with him during friendship time and spent a lot of time chatting. So many people had their eyes on Fifa, which is one of the reasons I chose Ryujin instead.
Footsteps grow closer, followed by the sound of a chain dragging the floor. I can make out Ryujin's tall figure first. The grey slacks, dress shoes, and black hoodie. On one hand, he's dragging a chain. In the other, I see a long, brown belt.
The chain, however, is noticeably heavier. That's when I see Fifa, still attached to the chain, being dragged by it in the direction Ryujin walked.
"Save, connect this to the side where you're sitting. Make sure he can still crawl over to Patji."
I watched as Save, who was responsible for the cellphone TikTok audios, stood up from the other side of the chair and obeyed Ryujin's command. I never considered Save to be my friend, but I never thought he would be doing something this horrible.
I never thought that Ryujin would be capable of something this sinister, either.
They say every person has an evil side. Some are worse than others, like criminals or felons. Is he considered a criminal? I can't picture Ryujin in jail.
Not the sweet Ryu I chose to be my partner after two seasons of DMD Friendship. Not the Ryu I bonded with and told my deepest personal secrets to. Not the Ryu I kissed onscreen and offscreen these past two months after the reality show ended.
Not my P'Ryu.
Why would he do this? Is he possessed?
The loud CRACK pulls my train of thought back to the present. My vision clears to see Fifa, sitting beside me, and Ryujin... hitting him with the belt.
"RYUJIN, STOP!" I shout as more tears fill my eyes. With my arms restrained, I attempt to kick my legs at Ryujin before a pair of hands grabs a hold of them. Hands that belonged to the unrestrained Save. Is he like a sidekick or something? What kind of Batman and Robin BS is this?
"Baby," his formerly soft but now demon-like eyes met mine, "You really wanted a weakling like this to be your partner that bad?" He struck the belt once more, causing Fifa to whimper and retract into a fetal position. Again, my body is being held down, and I'm unable to save my friend.
"Is this seriously about the friendship show? P'Ryu..." I used his favorite nickname to soften the environment. "I chose you. We kissed so many times. I'll kiss you even more if you do the right thing. Take these chains off and let us get back to where we were, Teerak. Please."
Did I really want to kiss him? No. Yes?
I want him to stop acting like this. I love him.
Even if he's creating a living nightmare for my friend and me, I love him.
"N'Pat. I can't do that right now, babe. You want him so bad. He's here. Have him for now."
A couple tears stain my cheeks. "Have him? What does that mean? I have you, and he has Copper. Let me have you instead, P'Ryu."
Ryujin lifts the belt. Instead of aiming towards Fifa, he's looking right at me. "Patji. Listen to me. I went through this trouble for you. You're going to do this, not for me, for yourself. I don't want to hurt you... just do it, okay?"
His voice is obviously irritated, and I fear him striking me at any moment. "What do you want me to do?" I want to shield myself so badly and disappear.
"Kiss him."
My heart sank. Ryujin, who still has the belt ready to hit someone, now has a stern look on his face. He doesn't look heartbroken at all. He looks completely sane and insane at the same time.
I turn my head towards Fifa, whose face is entirely tear-soaked red. Faint red lines creep up from under his shirt onto his neck. I can't count how many specific marks are on his body because his skin is swelling into bruises.
"Patji..." Fifa used his remaining strength to look at my eyes, "kiss me. I can't take any more-"
CRACK. Ryujin abruptly struck Fifa on the back of his neck, causing a yelp to interrupt his pleading. "Nobody asked for you to talk."
More tears begin falling down my cheeks. I look up at Ryujin, who looked at me as if to say 'seriously' before he flinched his belt to threaten me once more.
Looking back at Fifa, it was obvious he couldn't hold on much longer. After a quick, making-sure side glance at Ryujin, I start to lean in towards my friend's face.
Our lips make contact, but our eyes stay open.
CRACK. This time, the belt beat against the floor in dissatisfaction. "What the hell was that? Do it again. I want to see how much you love him, Patji."
I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to yell that I don't love Fifa, that I only love him. I wanted him to unchain me so that I could hug him until he snapped out of it.
Save reached across my body and slapped Fifa across the face, hard. "Close your eyes when you kiss him." He then kicked my legs to make me face Fifa once more.
Leaning in again, I closed my eyes. I imagined that I was in the Domundi studio. I imagined Ryujin and me rehearsing a love scene together. Then, I imagined that I was back in P'Ryu's house, spending another night with him, doing what more-than-friends would do.
The feeling of my lips touching Fifa's does not give me the same spark as kissing Ryujin does. I don't dare open my eyes.
Clapping in the distance doesn't separate our lips. "Wow, okay. Good. Keep going. Give me more. Make it worth it, N'Pat. Make him yours."
I can taste salt from my tears entering my mouth as I open wider. I feel Fifa reciprocating my movement as we start to kiss more passionately. No chemistry or feelings for my friend make French kissing especially difficult. This would look awful on camera.
"Save, who do you think is the seme?" Ryujin sounds completely unfazed in the distance. I keep my lips locked in the kiss to avoid more pain.
"Mmm, N'Patji is definitely the seme here. Fifa is too weak for that," Save responds.
"I see. Pat, since you wanted to be his seme, show me what you would do to him. Show me what you don't get a chance to do when you're with me."
Swallowing any extra saliva, I attempt to reach my hand out when I realize it's still chained against the chair. I keep kissing, expecting someone to free my hands.
"Uh-uh. You aren't putting your hands on him. A real seme could show dominance without touch. Show me what you can't do to me, Patji."
I release myself from the kiss and angle myself at Fifa's red neck. Pressing my lips firmly on a part that the belt hasn't touched, I feel how tense my friend becomes. He hissed in stinging pain as I sucked on the piece of skin I had aimed for. I let go and aim further down towards his collarbone before biting again. Despite his wiggles and desperation, I keep biting until I know it leaves a mark.
Ryujin's hand grabs me by the back of my head and yanks me away. I'm forced to watch as Save slaps Fifa for a second time, yelling, "Are you happy with yourself?" He then shoves Fifa to the ground like a discarded product.
Releasing his grip on my neck, Ryujin sits eye-level in front of me. He places a gentle two-finger touch on my chin, angling my head in different positions, analyzing every pore on my face.
"My N'Patji... your lips are so swollen from kissing. Why did you kiss him so passionately? Do you kiss me the same way?" His eyes turn from evil to innocent as tears gloss over them. For someone so unfazed just a few minutes ago, he looks completely heartbroken. Seeing him this way makes more tears fall from my eyes to the floor.
"Ryujin. I did what you asked me to. Please, can we go back to normal now? No more weird stuff, please? Teerak?"
My begging caused two tears to fall from his eyes—exactly one from each eye.
"Baby... almost... I'm so sorry..." I'm listening to his sobs when I notice Save propping Fifa up once more to face Ryujin and me. My friend looks completely traumatized and beaten. I see where my bite marks had left prominent marks on his already-red skin.
"Pat... forgive me. Let me kiss you and make you feel right again." There was no time to intervene before Ryujin began passionately making out with me, right there on the floor where we were sitting. I saw Fifa's chin being angled directly at us by Save before I tightly closed my eyes to stay out of trouble.
But I feel it. I feel the love, the energy, and the chemistry that is all too familiar. My tear ducts are completely drained from sorrow, with only bittersweet happiness lingering.
I feel the passion as Ryujin gently lays me down on the floor. I forget the weight of my handcuffs as my partner places his large hand on my arms, pinning me even harder.
I forget the events of the last hour as I feel that familiar touch creeping up my shirt. I don't think about Save or Fifa while I'm feeling a rise in my boxers. I really don't think about them when his hand starts guiding itself under the waistband...
BANG. Bang?
A gunshot.
Completely taken out of the moment, I feel Ryujin release his hold on me and roll off towards the side. I sit up, and I see the gunman.
Copper. He's come to save Fifa, holding a pistol.
I watch as he angles the weapon first at Save. Click. BANG. Save's body, completely limp, falls away from Fifa. It doesn't register to me right away that someone died because I feel some relief that my friend isn't being held anymore.
The second shot is fired at the chains connected to Fifa's wrist. He's free, but his body is so badly beaten that he doesn't have the strength to climb off the floor just yet.
"Ryujin. I hate that I have to do this, but what you did is beyond messed up." I watch as Copper angles his gun directly at P'Ryu, and my mind completely takes over as I lean in front of him.
BANG.
That's all I heard before everything faded to black.
---------
3 days later
LED lights blind me before I open my eyes. They're so bright.
A faint sniffle on my right side boosts my confidence to crack my eyelids open, just a little bit. I move my head slightly, and it causes pain, resulting in a small whimper escaping my throat.
I feel a hand squeeze my arm. One single gasp and then I hear, "N'Pat? Did you make a noise?"
My eyes open just enough more to see the person who was at my side. It was Fifa.
I start imagining that I'm hallucinating. I can tell that I'm in a hospital room, lying in a hospital bed. But right before this, I was chained up. How did I go from there to here?
"P'Fifa? What happened?" I want to rub my eyes to clear my vision, but I can't. My arms are too weak. Fifa can tell that I'm struggling, and he hits the nurse call button repeatedly until it starts asking him to wait.
"Patji.. what's the last thing you remember?" Fifa is covered in bruises, which tells me that everything I do remember is completely real. The room, the chains, the belt... and everything else, too.
I still can't correlate how I got to the hospital. "I remember everything that happened in the room. The very last thing I remember, though..." my face grows hot as I think about it "... Ryujin and I were about to have sex in that room? And then now I'm here."
Fifa's eyes gloss over with a layer of tears, quiet but noticeable. "That was three days ago, Pat. After you and Ryujin were about to... You know what... my boyfriend Copper came in. He shot Save. He was about to shoot Ryujin, too, but then you jumped in front of him and took the fall."
All the blood drains from my body.
Not at the fact that I saved Ryujin. That felt like an obvious choice for me.
I'm angry at the thought of someone wanting to kill my P'Ryu.
"Copper tried to kill Ryu? Why tf would he do that?" I attempt to sit up in the bed, but Fifa reassuringly tells me to take it slow and easy.
"Pat... he chained us up. He beat me. He forced you to kiss me."
I should be angry at Ryujin. But somehow, those words don't mean a thing. My thoughts change from anger at Fifa to questions about what happened to my beloved.
"Where is P'Ryu? Why isn't he here right now? Did Copper actually kill him???"
"No, Pat. After Copper realized that he had hit you instead, he freaked out. He carried me out, and we called the police, who arrested Ryujin."
Knowing his whereabouts, I immediately rip out all IVs and run out of the hospital room. Fifa is chasing me down the hallway, begging me to stop. Several nurses try to barricade me to no avail.
I have no desire to return to that room knowing my P'Ryu is sitting in a jail cell.
I jump into a taxi that speeds away towards the prison. He's probably speeding, considering that I look like a mental patient escapee, but I hand him two trips' worth of baht as he pulls up to the jail.
Hopping out of the vehicle, I quickly walk into the detention center office to find a seemingly nice secretary sitting behind the desk. When she sees me in my hospital gown, she calls for an extra person, but never lets the smile leave her face when she asks me, "How can I help you?"
"My boyfriend was just sent here three days ago. I want to see how much his bond is."
"What is his name, sir?"
"Ryujin Tinnapat Tusnytraitep."
She clicks away on her keyboard before shuffling the mouse and clicking something on the screen. "Ryujin... you said he's your boyfriend, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Her face looks at me, confused. "You know what he's in for, right? The charges on his account? They're serious. Do you really want to know the bond amount?"
I shot her an evil look in return—the audacity. "Yes, I do. I need him out, and I'm willing to pay."
"Sir, it's 100,000 baht."
Without hesitation, I slip over my credit card.
"You're serious, sir?"
"Swipe my card and see how serious I am."
She reluctantly swipes it and seems surprised that it is automatically accepted. "Ok, sir... he will be out shortly. You can wait outside, and we will walk him out." I head out the automatic sliding doors and watch through the glass.
Suddenly, he appears. My Ryu. He's being escorted by two guards, who notice me standing outside and let him come towards me. Ryujin, however, takes a moment to run his eyes up and down my body, as if he were checking that I was real.
The glass doors slide open. "Patji? Teerak?" My baby's voice sounds so traumatized.
I let him come running towards me. His long arms engulf me in a warm embrace, squeezing me tightly. "I thought you might not make it, Pat. I'm so glad you're okay. I'm so glad you're here in my arms right now." I can feel Ryujin's face drip tears onto my shoulder.
"P'Ryu," I want to reassure him that it's okay, "I'm here, Teerak. I'm okay. I missed you. I'm sorry they sent you to jail. I know you."
"Pat... I hurt you."
"You didn't hurt me, baby. I know you too much to think you would hurt me. As you said, you were doing that for me. You thought I loved him. But I proved that I didn't. You're the only one I love."
We pulled away from the embrace, and I reached for his hand, interlocking our fingers. As we started walking away from the jail, I remembered something in my pockets. I pulled out a silver pair of handcuffs.
Ryujin is busy taking in the fresh air and scenery as I click one handcuff around the wrist that is holding my hand. I clicked the other one around my own hand when he finally looked down.
"Baby? What is this?" He doesn't sound angry or scared; he sounds genuinely confused. He doesn't tug on the handcuffs, either; he keeps his fingers interlocked with mine.
"I don't know if I proved it well enough in the room, but I'm yours, P'Ryu. I will never betray you. Please don't make me kiss anyone besides you, Teerak. I love you." I smile sweetly at him.
"I love you too, N'Pat. I'm yours forever."
Such a sweet moment, right?
The real treat waits for us at home. I squeeze his hand lovingly before guiding him into a taxi. I hand the driver an address scribbled on a piece of paper. "Pat, where are we going?" Ryujin kisses my cheek in the backseat.
"Just wait, baby."
We pull up to a familiar location. Not home, but we have been here recently. "Pat? Why are we here?" Ryujin recognizes the building and tugs on the handcuffs for the very first time since they wrapped around our wrists.
"Let's see how much you love me, P'Ryu."
I guide him into the cold, dark room. This time, it's my turn to sit in the chair.