Chapter 25: Chapter 24: A meaningless apology

“I'll bring you something to eat,” was the last sentence Singha said to him before walking out the door.

When they arrived at the house, each one went separately. One went up to take a shower, while the other decided to clean the house, to not think about everything that had happened that day. When the oldest came down the stairs, he was wearing a tight black t-shirt and matching jeans.

Once August left the house, Thup, who didn't know what to do, ended up taking his drawing equipment that he had brought from his condo, and placed it on the guest table. He had only seen three different ghosts. One was the one who looked older, with bright white eyes, and his lips torn from ear to ear. The other was a girl without eyes, with the same appearance as the one who met Darin.

And the third was a girl with red threads in her eyes and mouth, similar to the ghost girl he saw in his childhood. Although he felt a little scared when he saw her, he never did anything violent to her.

Because?

…

August had just finished parking in front of King's condo. He got out of the car, leaned against it, and took out a cigarette. He turned it on and let the nicotine fill his lungs. His sharp eyes looked at the entrance of the building. He took his phone and called.

"I arrived."

[Goes up. I left you a key card on the counter.]

After finishing speaking, he hung up the call. He dropped the cigarette to the ground before using his foot to crush it.

A few minutes later, he reached the front of the young detective's room, knocking on the door three times, before it opened with a tall young man in a white bathrobe, answering it.

“Whatever you want to talk about, just talk.”

"Enters." King said, stepping aside to let him pass.

August walked in and immediately said, “Hurry up. “I want to return home soon.” He then threw himself onto the couch before lifting his feet and placing his arms on the backrest.

“I'm going to take a shower first.” King replied, as he pressed a can of beer against August's cheek, which he took and opened.

"Do not be late." He said drinking calmly.

“You act like you did when we were together.”

“Why remember stories from the past?”

"You do not remember?"

August's chin lifted until he saw the person standing behind the couch. “Should I refresh your memory?”

"You dare?"

“Why wouldn't I dare?”

The two stared at each other without giving up. King's face slowly lowered until the distance between them became shorter. As soon as the tips of the two noses collided, Singha warned him in a deep voice.

“I'm asking you, do you dare?”

“I miss you,” King said softly, before gently stroking August's chin.

“So what do you want me to do about it?”

“Let's get back together.”

Singha laughed deep in his throat before using his hand to push King's face out of his sight.

“We weren't even together. Why are you excited?”

“But you like me. And you know how I feel, August.”

“What makes you think like that?” Singha took the beer in his hand and drank it with a disgusted expression. He looked out the glass window that stretched from left to right.

“Are you saying that in the past our relationship was just sex?” King walked and stopped in front of Singha, who looked at him and asked in a cold voice.

“And it wasn't like that?”

"Then let's do it today." King rushed forward and pressed August onto the couch, his disappointed eyes staring at his former lover unblinkingly.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Um.”

“You're annoying, you know that?”

“And isn't that kid more annoying? He walks everywhere with you.”

King leaned down and ran his lips along her neck, trying to please his former lover, and hoping that the person beneath his body would also play along like before.

“How long do you plan to keep him around you?” He reached under the shirt, beginning to caress the beautiful, rippling muscles in a familiar way.

“Tell me why you care. “It’s my business.” Singha took out the cigarette and lighter from his pants pocket, not caring that the other person on top of him was kissing his neck non-stop.

“My father told me that he would offer me a new position in the Special Investigation Department.” White smoke rose into the air. The pitch black eyes became darker until they lost their shine.

"In exchange of…?"

“This case is a big ongoing case. “If we arrest the culprit, it will be a good result.”

"For whom? For you or for your father?” King left a mark of love on the back of his neck, then descended to Singha's abdomen.

“It will be beneficial for everyone. “Let me take care of this matter.”

“This is all your doing, right, King?”

“You look as beautiful as ever,” King said, admiring Singha's muscles.

“So, do you want it?” The young police officer injected nicotine into his lungs for the last time, and threw the rest of the cigarette on the ground. A pair of piercing eyes looked at the person who had stood up, whose soft eyes conveyed no emotion.

"Take it off."

“What I’m saying is… you want my feet?!!” The sole of his foot slammed into King's chest hard, throwing his body backwards off the couch and onto the floor as he lost his balance. But before he could get up, Singha grabbed him by the collar of his bathrobe, and gave him a strong blow. The punch hit him on the left cheek, until he went numb. King could barely even look at him. How many times had she attacked him?

“Singha stop!!” When he found a gap that was enough to escape his attack, King kicked him in the crook of his leg, before pushing him to the ground and counterattacking. The punch hit the right cheek with full force.

“It's just your nature. “Once you find some benefit, you don’t give a shit anymore.” Singha hit back causing King to fall to the side. "You want to know why? Apologies to this day are useless.”

Singha straddled King's body before landing punches without hesitation. Her hand and cheekbone were as injured as his. Blood began to flow from his lips, so August stopped and lowered his hands.

“Because that day, you didn't think to apologize to me at all.” He let go, and stood up to look with his full height at the person lying on the ground, with eyes colder than ever.

As August was about to walk past King's body, he was restrained by his ankles.

“If I had apologized that day… wouldn't I have lost you?” Singha didn't answer the question, he simply lifted his foot and walked towards the door without turning around or looking at him anymore.

The sound of the door closing made him slowly close his eyes. He knew very well what kind of person he was. The events of the past returned, causing him to only laugh at himself. Maybe, if he had apologized that day, today, I would still be by his side.

[Flashback]

“King, just tell them I didn't do it!!!” August was handcuffed to a table because he had just made a big fuss, after finding out that the wrong suspect had been arrested, and that the real criminal escaped.

“Damn King!!”

And what about the shooting against the officers?

Yes, I had made a mistake. King avoided the gaze of the person in front of him, who looked at him, not with anger or resentment, but with eyes of disappointment.

Since that day, his relationship, and the things he wanted, had been broken so that he could no longer think about it.

…

Thup stopped drawing for a moment. She went to prepare a simple dinner and sat down to eat in front of the television, but she didn't even pay attention to the screen, which was playing a variety show, because her beautiful eyes kept looking at the clock again and again. Now, the short hand points to the number nine, but there is still no sign of the eldest returning.

“Should I call and ask?” Thup muttered quietly to himself. Almost twenty minutes had passed. As she stood washing the dishes, the sound of a car in front of the house made her heart beat faster. Thup hurriedly dried his hands with a towel, before running towards the door of the house, but when the door opened, the smile that used to be there disappeared.

“Phi, what happened to you?”

“Why haven't you fallen asleep yet?”

“How did you get that injury?” Thup subconsciously raised his hand to hold Singha's face. There was a wound on the right corner of his mouth, and a bruise, over which he gently ran his thumb.

“I had a little matter.” Singha gently pushed Thup's hand away, before walking towards the stairs, without saying anything else.

Just as he was about to take off his shirt and put on his pajamas, the bedroom door opened and the boy stuck his head out.

“Phi, I’m going in.”

“Umm ,” Singha took off his shirt and took a towel to wrap around his waist to change his pants. “What do you bring there?”

“I brought some medication to apply.” Thup stood in the doorway.

Her eyes looked towards the bed until August finished changing. He still wasn't used to seeing the older man's upper body without any clothes. “Why don't you let me apply it to your wound?” When he looked at the owner of the house, he saw that he had sat down on the bed. Then, he walked towards him, and sat on the floor in front of the young inspector.

“It's just a wound.” He said, as he watched Thup squeeze the medicine onto his finger to apply it. Then, he saw a faint red mark on the older man's neck, and although his face lit up slightly, his eyes went dark, as did his mind. “I guess you talked to Khun, couldn't you understand each other?”

“Yes,” August replied casually before letting the boy in front of him apply the medicine to the corner of his mouth. He himself took his glasses and the document that was next to the bed and continued reading.

"I would like to help you."

"What can you do to help? You should help yourself first.” Singha looked up before rolling up the paper in his hand and gently tapping Thup's head.

“Please train me. You can help?"

"Train yourself? You are all lazy and weak.” Thup was sitting cross-legged on the floor, massaging his legs as he spoke.

“I used to exercise. “I’m not lazy at all.”

“Wouldn't you rather spend your time fighting ghosts?”

Thup quickly shook his head. "That is not possible."

“Then just focus on helping me.”

“Although I can't help you much, I still want to be useful to you. If I could at least break a door I might be of help,” Thup said quietly, looking at the person sitting on the bed. He hugged the older man's legs, and rested his chin on Singha's knees, over his black sweatpants.

"Do you want to help?"

"Yeah."

“Then come up and give me a good massage. I'm going to bed now." August took off his glasses and left everything he had in his hand on the table before lying down on the bed. Today he used the power of his entire brain, and his body had become too lazy to do anything.

“I am very good at giving massages. “Grandpa used to tell me.” Thup hurried over and sat next to him as he told the elder about his own qualities, in an excited tone.

"Oh yeah?"

“Please allow me,” the young man said, his eyes shining. His heart was beating so much that he had to raise his hand to hold it as he took a deep breath. As his heart calmed, he placed his hand on the beautiful tanned skin of Singha's back, and began to apply gentle pressure along the muscle.

“A little more strength.” Thup exerted more force as the person desired. He looked at the wounds dotting the creature's body before gently caressing it.

“When you feel tired, you can tell me.”

“Continue with the massage.”

“Phi Sing.”

"MMM."

“Why did you become a police officer?”

"For my mother."

“Your mother, did she want you to be?”

“No, I just wanted to help her.”

Thup did not ask further, because he knew that the older man was answering honestly and he did not want to risk upsetting him.

“So, your job is difficult? What do you usually do?"

“As you can see, every day revolves around the case. Whether it is difficult or easy depends on the season. Oh, there make it louder.”

Thup looked at the part he was massaging, and the pair of beautiful eyes blinked quickly, before turning to look at the wall of the room, because Phi Sing's waist is very beautiful.

“So, do you have time to relax like this? “I see you are still working.”

“When can I relax? Every day has different stories.”

"You must be really tired."

“Ummm.”

"Just relax." Thup stopped talking to allow the older man to relax as he should, and continued massaging for almost another hour, until he heard the steady breathing of the person lying face down. When he was sure that Singha was asleep, Thup stopped his hands.

He covered him with the sheet, and said in his ear: “Sweet dreams, Phi Sing.”

The boy went downstairs to clean up some more before taking a shower. He turned off the lights and got ready to go to sleep. Seeing that the older man was sleeping soundly, the corners of his mouth curled up letting out a smile. He had seen August work daily, and he never complained about being tired. But when he realized that his massage was loosening his muscles, he knew he was finally relaxing.

Thup walked over, lay down on the bed and turned his head to look at the older man with a gleam in his eyes. Even though he always cared and even if he sometimes got angry with him, or seemed like he didn't care, still, this person brought him to live with him. And when he discovered his history with ghosts, he decided to take a chance. Although he is often fierce, he never ignored his fear. A slender hand reached out to his face, and very carefully, he removed the black hair from August's sharp face.

“I will try harder on my part so that you don't get more tired than this.”

Thup placed his hand on the back of Singha's hand and slowly closed his eyes to fall asleep. "I promise."

After twenty minutes, the pair of piercing eyes that were once closed suddenly opened. Singha looked at Thup's bright, clear face. He noted her shaped eyebrows, long eyelashes, high nose bridge, and small, plump lips. No matter how he looked at it, this child looked like a mongrel. Whether on the father or mother side. It was a shame he didn't know more about his story. Singha looked at the hand resting on his, and slid it away, without waking the child in front of him. He rolled over and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling for almost ten minutes. What this boy said, he heard it all and, strangely, it stuck in his head.

August decided to get out of bed and go out to the balcony. He took a cigarette and held it in his hand before lighting it. He also took out his phone, to call his close friend, “Did I wake you up?”

[Something like that.]

"Where are you?"

[In the laboratory, are you calling for me to come pick up King's body?]

“I only hit him a little, I didn't kill him.”

[Give me the summary, why did I want to talk?]

“He will take this case as his own.” Singha exhaled white smoke into the sky “To please his father.”

[Huh, why is he trying to take it away from you?! You already have enough ghosts with you / Say I told you not to talk!!!] Darin's voice shouted down the line making Singha laugh in his throat.

“Won't Darin come home?”

[He says he will never be alone again, so now he became a burden to me // Do you want to try the ghost?]

"Be careful."

[So where are you?]

"At home."

[Wow, you're stuck at home. But I don't know if you're really trapped in the house or if you're trapping 'someone' in your house.]

“You're looking for me to kick you. Please put Darin on.” There was a sound of arguing between the two. Those two people have always been with August, since time immemorial things have always been like this.

[What do you need, inspector?]

“Do you know any sacred object stores?”

[Don't tell me you're afraid of ghosts. What's going on? I told you that, even if you don't believe me, you should respect.]

“It's not for me, it's for Thup.”

[Why do you want to give it to your Nong? Does being close to you help him not see ghosts?]

“I can't always be around. Today he was attacked.”

[As? What happened?] August began to tell today's story, which was listened to attentively by Say and Darin. After finishing, Singha put out his cigarette in a glass ashtray next to him.

"Don't know." Singha sighed, and then turned to look at the boy lying on the bed. “Thup once told me that there was a female ghost following him, who seemed to want something from him.”

[Do you think that ghost now wants a human life?]

“Tuesday…Wednesday,” August muttered to himself.

[What do you mean?]

“Thup was born on a Saturday.”

[AND?]

“So, have the remaining days been chosen yet? Or are they already dead?”

[What are you talking about? You make my skin crawl.]

“Darin, go ask the children in the infirmary what day those two were born.”

[Now?]

“Well, I just understood something… Let me know by message what I asked you, and I'll explain later.”

[Ai Say, come with me.]

After hanging up the phone, August re-entered the room. He stood next to the bed and brushed a strand of hair from Thup's forehead.

“Troublesome bastard.”

The phone in hand caught his attention, he picked it up and opened the message. Singha had to sigh when he saw the information he received.

[DARÍN: The boy named Bomb was born on a Friday. The girl Dear was born on a Monday, and Jump on Tuesday.]

[SINGHA: And the one who already went home?]

[DARIN: Two. He was born on Sunday.]

[SINGHA: Tell the lieutenant commander to contact him, to confirm that he is at home.]

Sunday - Two.

Monday - Dear

Tuesday - Jump

Wednesday - Darin

Friday - Bomb

Saturday - Thup

There is only one day left: Thursday. If this is a new election, it means that the killer practically already had all of his victims. All that remains is to act, or perhaps you have already begun to do so.