One week later...

Late in the afternoon, a strange discussion was taking place in Gem and Fourth's apartment. Gem yawned loudly, glancing briefly at the small streams of water running down the window. It was raining outside, and the day was gray and gloomy, as if they had been transported to late autumn Europe.

Gemini listened to his brother's conversation with his friend, mostly out of boredom.

“Don't call me if I don't reply to your message”.

“Why wouldn't I? I like talking to you, even just on the phone”.

“Sure, cool, but remember that if I don't reply, I'm on a date”.

At that moment, Dunk's heart stopped for a moment. Date? What date? Does Phuwn have someone? Who is it? Who would be brave and crazy enough to mess with Dunk Natachai, taking away the boy he had been crushing on for a long time?

Phuwin noticed Dunk's sour expression and mercifully finished:

“If I don't reply, it means I'm on a date with my depression”.

“Wait, uno momento, are you depressed? You're always smiling, you can find a solution to every problem. I don't believe it”.

“I think you're belittling the feelings and experiences of my...” Gemini hesitated before saying that. Did he even have the right to call Phuwin his friend?  Phu, however, merely nodded with a gentle smile and went back to painting a picture that he intended to exhibit in the Non-Magic art gallery. “My friend. Depression can look different, right Phu? There are people who, despite depression, do great at work, have friends, and can laugh very loudly”.

“Well, yes...” Dunk was not in the mood to laugh at all.

He stood up from the desk where he had been practicing drawing the appropriate magical runes with a stele, walked up to Phuwin from behind and hugged him very tightly. Dunk's warmth and closeness acted on Phuwin almost like a healing balm. All his worries and concerns disappeared as if by magic.

Gemini just rolled his eyes at this sight and went back to reading the notes that Dr. Jimmy had given him. Gemini and Fourth had to be very careful now. For Nattawat's own safety, P'Off asked First and Professor Earth to cast appropriate protective spells that would protect the boys' apartment from intruders. Two additional cleverly hidden cameras were placed in the hallway, known only to P'First, who was present during their installation.

Gemini insisted that a protective rune be placed on Fourth's left forearm, which would provide a warning of danger, and another one, which would protect Fourth and the fetus.

Norawit tried to focus, but his eyes kept following the same line of text that his mind couldn't process at all. He sighed heavily and resignedly put the notebook aside. He turned 180° in the swivel chair to look at the bed.

Fourth was asleep, his chest rising steadily and calmly. It seemed that the threat had been removed, at least for the time being, but who knew what might happen in the future? He could still hear his own words in his mind: “So what if the child dies? Oh well, we'll still have a chance to have other children. I can't lose you, do you understand Nattawat? If I lose you because of this child, I'll never forgive myself! Kids we can have more but you are the only one, I can't afford losing you, you idiot!” He shouted at him, clenching his fists on his shirt. He already guessed that this choice, although painful, was the right one. He told the doctors to save Fourth in first place.

Phuwin, who had managed to wiggle out of Dunk's grip, approached Gem and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“What about him? How is he feeling?”

“I don't know, I think the worst is over. Doctor Jimmy said he had to lie down for two, three days at most before he could walk again, but there was no question of returning to classes”.

“And your child?”

“Well... He survived, that much we know for sure.  Hybrids have the advantage that their pregnancies are more difficult to terminate”.

“How did this happen?”

“He... He wanted to kill it. Fourth didn't want that child... He told Dr. WanDee that that child ruined his whole life, but I'm sure he doesn't think so. Someone must have told him something. I don't believe Fourth would want to kill an innocent creature on his own, he was never like that, he always cared about everyone, he wanted to save every life. I remember once we were in the gardens and he found a small, injured squirrel. The animal was in a near-death state, but he insisted that he help it. He told me to call a house elf, who brought us water, very gently gave it a drink, and then took it to P'Mix. The animal survived mainly thanks to him. That's why I don't believe he wanted to kill his own child on his own. He's not like that”.

“And I know you'll be a good father”.  Dunk ruffled his brother's hair with obvious relief.

“What? Father?  Me?” Gemini asked stupidly, as if it had only just dawned on him. Earlier, although he had thought about it a lot, it had seemed to him that he still had time, that he would get used to the idea. And then Fourth had pulled that awful trick on him by trying to induce a miscarriage. Only then had he realized that he had already grown attached to the idea of having his own family.

“No, because I did! Of course you did! I can see that you're really concerned, but hey, that's good, I'm not saying that I'm not. Although I always thought that since I'm older, I'd be the first to have a family”.

“You can laugh, you can laugh, one day you'll be in my situation too”. Gemini, slightly amused, shook his finger at his brother.

“Don't worry, we're not in danger, from what I know, Phuwin is an ordinary sorcerer, not a hybrid”.

Phuwin immediately jumped up to Dunk to cover his mouth with his own hand, but it was too late.  Gemini just snorted under his breath and replied in the most venomous tone he could muster:

“Go show your feelings somewhere else, I'm busy. Ugh, I'm throwing up rainbows”.

“Are you still intolerant? After everything you've done? Surely you can accept us, right? I'm your brother and Phu is your friend, isn't that right?”

“Maybe so, but that doesn't change the fact that you're both annoyingly sweet. I don't even have to add sugar to my tea with you. Go make out somewhere else, seriously. I have a pregnant man and his child to take care of, I need some peace”.

“Sure, sure, we're going. Just don't rape him while we're gone”.

Gemini threw a chinchilla-shaped mascot at his brother. Dunk caught it in mid-air and smiled mischievously.

“Thanks for the mascot! I'll take it!  Pretty!”

“Take what you want and get lost before I stop being nice!”

“Oh my, little brother, I didn't know you could be so dangerous!”

“I'm really going to strangle you! Go away!”

“Okay, I can see that my company is not welcome here. Come on Phu, my boyfriend, let's go. Let's leave this lovesick shrew alone with his prince charming”.

Phuwin and Dunk left Gem and Fourth's room, arms around each other and smiling happily. Only when the door closed behind them did Norawit breathe a sigh of relief and approach the still sleeping Fourth.

Nattawat looked peaceful and charming when he slept. His lips were slightly parted, he was lying on his right side with his left hand under his head. His short black hair contrasted strongly with the white sheets, freshly changed by the house elves.

“You're so beautiful, Fourth! Why? Why do you have to be so temptingly beautiful?”

Gemini, without thinking much, felt the urge to feel the taste of those tempting lips again. Young Norawit never cared about the feelings of others, he didn't care that his behavior could hurt someone and that it would be appropriate to at least wait until Fourth woke up and was conscious enough to understand what was happening around him. Also now Gem thoughtlessly leaned down and connected his lips with Nattawat's.

Fourth, however, was not sleeping soundly. The elixir of peaceful sleep that Dr. Jimmy had given him was still working, but it was slowly losing its power. The lack of reaction did not discourage Norawit at all, quite the opposite.

Gemini felt a wave of pleasant warmth spreading throughout his entire body. Fourth's lips were so familiar, close to him, they were like the vestibule of the house, their shared home, which only the two of them knew from the past and the present. Gem deepened the kiss, slowly sliding his free hand under his pants.

«Just a little more! Just a little! I don't want to hurt you».  He thought not very logically, giving in to a desire that was stronger than himself and which he could not and did not intend to fight.

Nattawat opened his eyelids slightly. It seemed to him that he was only dreaming, but he clearly felt Gem kissing him as if the fate of the world depended on it and he felt the fluid movements of Norawit's hand. He had not fully woken up yet, and he already felt that not only his cheeks were burning with living fire. Not very conscious, he began to return the kiss, pulling Gem closer. Mechanically, as if guided by instinct, he slid his hand under Norawit's blouse, finding some path along his body, all the way to his neck.

Norawit, with eyes dark with lust, pulled away gently and looked somewhat unconsciously at Fourth.

“Aren't you asleep?” He asked hoarsely, trying to calm his breathing, his racing heart, and the throbbing desire to do something more.

“I was asleep. You woke me up. Don't stop, that's... that's nice”.  Fourth himself couldn't believe he had just said that. It seemed to him that those words were completely out of place, and at the same time, as if he had been waiting for this very thing all along, for Norawit to stare at him with those big, almost black eyes of his.

Fourth, to drown out his own thoughts, raised himself slightly on his elbow, and then with all the strength he had at his disposal, pulled Gemini in for another kiss.

His own body seemed to be begging for more, for continuation.  As if he wanted to say, "Don't stop, because if you stop, you'll kill me."

Norawit didn't ask himself to tell him that twice. He had waited too long anyway. And Dr. Jimmy had confided in him that this type of physical activity was even advisable in Fourth's condition, just not yet. However, Gem stubbornly pushed aside the doctor's warnings about the unwanted side effects of such behavior, especially now.

“Ahem, I see we're interrupting”. Behind them, the familiar sound of the voice that Fourth feared the most rang out.

Pond Naravit was standing in the doorway with Perth and Joong. Force wasn't with them. Perth and Joong were holding down the struggling Chokun. Pond was sweeping the room with an icy gaze of blue eyes.  The three of them were dressed in black from top to bottom, Pond was wearing a black leather jacket with a large skull painted on the back, breathing fire from its jaws, two teeth missing.

Gemini moved away from Fourth as quickly as he could, straightening his Tommy Hilfiger shirt.

“What are you guys doing here?” He asked at the same time Nattawat noticed Chokun and turned to him, “Are you okay?”

Their voices blended into one noise as everyone tried to say something at the same time. Finally, Pond roared at the top of his lungs, "SILENCE!" and everyone fell silent.

“We caught that little dumbas eavesdropping on us in room 609, he's your buddy, right?” Joong explained laconically, and to show his contempt, he slapped Chokun in the face with his open hand.  To a man in the Magic world, such a touch from a rival meant an insult and a challenge to a duel. And it wasn't that Chokun didn't want to fight, because the boy was itching to fight, but Joong and Perth effectively prevented him from doing so.

“He's not our friend,” Gemini replied coldly. “I've only talked to him once. You can do whatever you want with him, I don't care about him”.

Gemini knew that if he will show that he liked Chokun or even felt a little pity for him, Perth and Joong won't have mercy for the boy.

Nattawat looked at Norawit with disbelief mixed with disappointment. He hadn't expected this. He had expected Gemini to defend the boy who had been helping them so much lately, but Gem seemed unfazed.  What's more, he used Fourth to let them know the conversation was over: Gem cupped Nattawat's face in his hands and hissed quietly through clenched teeth, "Cooperate, I'll explain later," and then kissed him so hard it seemed as if he wanted to knock the wind out of him. When he pulled away from Fourth, he turned to the intruders and, looking at them with his usual superiority, told them,

“Excuse me, boys, but I have better things to do than worry about some rat. I have to teach this idiot here what it means to be my wife, and I kindly ask that you leave us alone. This is not a children's show”.

“Okay, okay, fine.  I seriously thought that this kid was on some kind of terms with you, but since you say he wasn't...” Pond, although he looked the most menacing of the three, mainly thanks to those hellishly icy eyes that could change color even to red or blue and the sharp outline of his face, was the most willing to make concessions. Besides, Pond had a rule: he never disturbed couples in love. And Gem and Fourth gave the impression of just such a couple in love.

None of the three tormentors even thought for a moment about the strangeness of the whole situation, which was very clearly suspicious to Chokun. In fact, they were not interested. Perth, seeing that Gemini, his greatest rival, was kissing a man, felt like a winner of the Olympics. Here Gem himself gave him arguments that would definitely help him win the race for the royal crown.

Perth and the others left from Gem and Fourth's apartment with evil smiles on their faces  faces, releasing Chokun from the captivity they had taken him into for only a moment.

“Get out of here kid and it would be better if we never saw you again, you were lucky this time”.

“B-but I want... I want to be part of your gang!” Chokun exclaimed too quickly and too shrilly. Pond and Joong looked at him suspiciously.

“What are you saying? I must have misheard. You didn't say what I think you said, did you?”

“P'! I really want to be part of your gang. Please accept me. I'm not really buddies with Norawit or Nattawat. I helped them once because I had no choice, but I promise I'll be loyal to you".

“Do you want to be part of our gang?  After all, we...” Joong didn't have to finish, Chokun still remembered their last meeting perfectly, which didn't end well for him. Joong, Pond and Perth couldn't know that Chokun had come up with a plan of revenge. That he decided to get even for all the wrongs that this group had done to them, and at the same time help Fourth, whom he liked and respected very much.

“Yes, I know, P', but please, give me a chance. I won't let you down”.

Joong exchanged glances with the others. Pond just shrugged, leaving the decision to Joong and Perth. Perth nodded shortly.

“Okay, fine, but I warn you, if you start crying, we'll throw you out on your ass right away and you won't have the right to complain to anyone”. 

“I understand, P', thank you for this chance. I won't let you down, you'll see”.

“Is that why you were sitting outside our room?” Pond asked.

“Uhm, I was hoping that somehow I would manage and you would accept me. I could sit there until morning, no problem.”

Chokun seemed sincere and harmless to them. He was charming and had a nice smile. Aungpao would definitely not believe it, but Chokun was too gentle to do them any harm. Besides, he seemed like a fool. He was no threat to them.

“Okay, kid, come to the initiation.”

“For what?”

“For the initiation. We have to officially accept you into the gang. Force and Mark definitely want to get to know you better. Come, you won’t regret it.”

Chokun briefly thought that he would definitely regret it, but he couldn’t back out, it was much too late for that now.