After receiving the information, Saint gave the documents to Sung, who asked him to come to his house the next day to analyze the situation, with Ken also with him. The other bodyguards are outside the house, Saint and Ken were the ones closest to Sung. Sung's house was a reflection of his double life: a refuge for a movie star but also a place full of secrets, designed with hidden features that recall his past as a secret agent.

"Do you think we can find something useful with this information?" Ken asks Sung.

"We'll find out right now." Sung opens the envelope with all the documents, with photos of the victims attached.

The three of them start flipping through the different sheets and realize that most of the victims are all ordinary citizens. There was a farmer, an office worker, a couple of cashiers, and even a female forensic doctor who catches Saint's attention for a moment.

"This doctor has the same last name as the doctor who took care of my father's body when he died." he says.

"What last name?" Sung asks.

"Anupong. The doctor who took care of my father's autopsy and who contacted me personally is called Rit Anupong." Saint continues.

"Well, for now we're giving special consideration to this victim." Sung adds, continuing to leaf through.

Ken and Saint nod and continue as well. When Saint picks up another sheet of paper, he is instantly petrified when he reads the name of another of the 35 victims. Sung and Ken notice and ask him what's wrong, but he doesn't answer, he can't get a word out. His eyes get a little watery and after a few moments he replies: "She's the mother of a close friend of mine."

"What? Are you serious?" Ken asks him.

"Yes. I had no idea that she was one of the victims, after all, he and I haven't spoken in years, and the information about the other victims has remained confidential until now. I can't believe it." Saint is incredulous.

Sung and Ken pat him on the shoulder to console him. Anya had always been his second mother. Since his mother died, Anya has always treated him like her third son, even though she had done it before. All the times he helped her cook lunch because Shin was bad at cooking, all those times he and Shin made her angry for being naughty and playing pranks on her that she said were in bad taste. It's like a part of his childhood and life that goes away with him. And it's right in that moment that he thinks about the pain that Shin and Chingching must have had to endure, alone, without anyone by their side. He could have been there but he had decided to ruin everything and be selfish, without caring about their feelings. At that moment, Saint felt terribly guilty for not having been by their side during that time. He too had lost his father and had undoubtedly suffered a lot, but he knew how close Shin was to his mother, how sensitive and fragile he was when it came to his family.

"Do you feel like continuing?" Sung asks him.

Saint nods, and they continue reading the information about the other victims, even though his mind was wandering elsewhere at that moment, he was thinking about Shin, he was thinking about how he might be feeling at that moment. He slightly lifts the sleeve of the gray sweatshirt he's wearing and looks at the red string he has as a bracelet on his wrist.

It's late at night outside, it's November and Shin's birthday is finally upon us. Saint had just gone to his best friend's house, to stay over and watch him blow out the candles on the usual raspberry cake that Anya, his mother, had baked. He had just turned sixteen, and it's so strange to Saint to think that they've known each other since elementary school. Their friendship has lasted so long and Saint is really proud of it.

He goes up to Shin's room once he gets to his house and tells him to close his eyes and go downstairs. It was always like this for his birthday now, Saint asking Shin to close his eyes, go downstairs, open his eyes and see his mother with a cake in her hand and singing him the song. Even though Shin knew this would happen on every birthday, he played along because he wanted to see his mother happy.

"Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You!" Anya starts singing him the song while Shin has just come down the ladder. Saint no longer has his hands on his eyes because he trusts him and knows that he won't open them. Speaking of which, he picks up Chingching and continues singing the song as well. Shin claps his hands with a smile and blows out the candles. His mother then takes the cake into the kitchen to cut it and invites Saint and Shin to follow them. Chingching also enjoys his slice of cake and after chatting animatedly for a while, the two best friends go upstairs.

"Did you like the cake?" Saint asks as they sit on the bed.

"Aren't you tired of asking me the same question every year?" Shin asks him, chuckling.

"When it comes to your birthday, I never get tired." Saint replies, giving him a smile.

Shin shakes his head, every time Saint says something cheesy he thinks "why doesn't this guy stop?"

"But let's talk about important things, where is my gift?" Shin asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Isn't my presence in your life a gift already?" Saint brags jokingly.

Shin then tells him to stop and slaps him on the back of the head. In response, Saint says, "If you don't stop, I won't give you any gifts at all."

Shin then raises his hands and apologizes with a smile, at which point Saint gets up and takes a small box from his backpack. He hands it to him and when his best friend opens it, he looks at him a little confused. Saint had given him a bracelet made of red thread.

"I have one too." Saint shows him his wrist.

"What does that mean?" Shin asks even more confused.

"The red string will keep us together and we will be best friends forever." Saint replies giving him a sweet smile.

"Stop being so sappy, I have shivers." Shin chuckles.

Then, Saint takes his wrist and ties the red bracelet on him. He puts their hands close together and looks at them before saying, "now you'll never get rid of me again." he teases.

Shin pushes him onto the bed and tells him to stop and then starts tickling him. Saint starts laughing and so does Shin. They were carefree and happy, and they didn't know it. Suddenly Saint decides to give up, so he tells Shin and as he goes to pull away their foreheads collide.

"You're an idiot." Shin tells him, rubbing his forehead and standing on his side of the bed.

"Are you saying it's my fault?" Saint asks, pointing to his forehead.

"It's always your fault." Shin slaps him on the arm and Saint bursts out laughing.

At that point they settle down in bed and cover themselves, about to fall asleep. They both lie on their backs and look at the ceiling for a few moments. Then, at the same time they turn their heads and look at each other, smiling.

"Good night Saint." Shin tells him.

"Good night Shin." Saint replies to him, then sees him close his eyes.

Saint stays for a while looking at the white ceiling, and when he is sure that Shin has fallen asleep, he turns to look at him. He realizes that he has an arm out of the blanket, so he takes it gently to warm it. Actually, more than the arm he takes his hand. He looks at it for a while and smiles when he sees that it is smaller compared to his. He touches the fingers of his hands delicately and almost imperceptibly. He smiles sweetly and puts it under the covers. He turns to his side and before he could realize it a tear runs down his cheek.

Saint comes back to reality and continues reading the various information about the victims of the explosion. Ken breaks the silence: "one of the victims was the secretary of the foreign minister of South Korea, quite unusual, right?"

"Let's take her into consideration too." comments Sung.

In Saint's hands a sheet of paper different from the others, it was almost empty. "On this sheet there is only one name, evidently the informant was unable to find anything else about this person."

"What is his name?" Sung asks him.

"Phuripat Jitsaku." pronounces Saint.

"I'll try to look something up on the internet." suggests Ken, who had a computer in front of him just in case.

No items match your search criteria.

"That's weird. It seems like this person never existed." Ken turns the computer to Sung and Saint.

All three decide to give special consideration to the victim whose name they know, the secretary, and the doctor.

Saint says goodbye to them and goes back to his house, since he has to be on guard the next afternoon. However, before going back to his house he decides to pass by Shin's house even though it was far away. He wanted to see him, even if only for a moment, and try to understand if everything was okay. When he arrives on his scooter, he hides behind the trees nearby and just at that moment he sees Shin come out and go to throw away a garbage bag. He looks at him in the distance and smiles a little melancholy, then goes back home and sleeps there.

The next day, Saint wakes up with the idea of ​​having a hearty breakfast at a pastry shop he often went to when he was in high school, and which he had also visited with Shin.

The bakery, called Supalai Sweets, is located in a quiet corner of a Bangkok side street, nestled between tall tamarind trees and small shops. The sign above the door, made of carved wood with golden Thai characters, is surrounded by strings of white lights that create a cozy atmosphere both day and night. The large windows display neat rows of traditional Thai sweets, cakes and desserts, perfectly arranged on glass stands and plates decorated with fresh flowers. The interior of the bakery is decorated with a mix of modern and traditional: dark wood floors, white painted walls and small round marble tables with wrought iron chairs. Decorations such as black and white photographs of Bangkok from the 1960s and shelves with jars of cookies and sweets add a nostalgic touch. A small area in the corner is reserved for plants and orchids, which help create a relaxing atmosphere. A sweet, slightly toasted scent permeates the air, a mix of coconut, pandan and palm sugar, typical of Thai sweets. Behind the counter, the staff smiles cordially, dressed in beige uniforms with small embroidered aprons.

Saint feels as if he has gone back in time as soon as he enters. As he looks at the delicacies in front of him, out of the corner of his eye he notices that Shin and Chingching are there. He tries not to be noticed but ChingChing notices him and waves at him, immersed in a smile. He wasn't expecting it but Shin's little sister, now sixteen, comes towards him with the intention of hugging him. Saint thinks to himself that maybe Shin didn't tell her about their fight.

"P'Saint!" she calls and hugs him.

Saint smiles back and says, "Chingching, you've really grown a lot, you look great."

The girl nods with a smile.

It doesn't take long before Shin notices him and immediately rushes to his sister, who he grabs by the wrist and says, "Come on, don't talk to this guy." Shin looks him up and down with an angry look.
Saint asks the clerk if he can take his breakfast away.
Meanwhile, Shin heads to Chingching's school, in the car neither of them speaks, but his sister, who was now grown up, decides to speak up.

"Are you and P'Saint no longer friends?" she asks.

Shin half expected to get that question after dragging her away from Saint.

"I'll tell you everything one day, but for now, stay away from Saint. You don't have to trust him, okay?" Shin says.

"Why aren't you friends anymore?" she asks stubbornly.

And Shin really wanted to give her a sensible answer, but he couldn't find one either. Saint woke up one day and told him to hate him and disappear from his life, why? He didn't understand. He would like to understand, he would like Saint to tell him without him asking. More than being angry with him, he is disappointed by his behavior.
Even if he wants to act tough and pretend that he doesn't care, in reality, he does. He cares because he would like to understand why he said such mean, harsh and aggressive words to him.
Shin wasn't angry with Saint because he left, Shin was angry with Saint because he did it without giving him an explanation.
And that was definitely the worst thing he could have done.

Shin doesn't answer his sister's question, he leaves her hanging, and once he's dropped her off at school, he says goodbye with a smile and goes on his way.
At one point, he sees someone on a scooter following him in the mirror.
He rolls his eyes because he's already figured it out, so he heads off with his car towards a more isolated road, and suddenly he slams on the brakes, turns off the car and gets out, walking quickly towards Saint who was taking off his helmet.
Shin grabs him by the collar and asks: "can I know why the fuck are you following me?"

"I wanted to talk to you." Saint replies.

"You and I have nothing to talk about." Shin adds, starting to leave.

"I found out that your mother was involved in the explosion five years ago." After that answer, Shin, who had already turned and was heading for the car, stops and turns back to him. He grabs him by the jacket he was wearing with both hands and asks him, raising his voice a little: "What the fuck are you? A stalker?"

Saint places his hands on both of Shin's wrists, covered by a dark blue hoodie, and replies: "I'm just worried about you."

Shin looks down at Saint's hands gripping his wrists and notices something he didn't want to see, the red string bracelet.
He sees it for just a moment and then looks up at him again, and struggles to free himself from his grip.

"Don't touch me." he yells at him, pushing him away from him.

"Shin-" Saint tries to talk to him but the other interrupts him.

"Stay away from me and my sister." he says with wide, angry eyes, pointing his index finger at him.

At that point, Shin leaves Saint there, without giving him a chance to respond, and gets back into his car, continuing on his way.
As he starts the car and drives away, he sees Saint in the mirror, who was still there.
He focuses on looking at the road in front of him, and before he could realize it, a tear falls from his right eye and runs down his cheek, hurting more than a boulder.

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Here I am with the second chapter, I hope you like the story! Leave a star and comment with your opinion🫶🏻