★★★ Joong POV ★★★

There always has to come to that point when you have to explain everything. The moment, when hiding it longer kills you inside and you feel that if you won't say it, it will keep haunting and hurting you over and over, again and again.

There was a moment of realization. When I saw everything clearly and wanted to escape this sick circle. But I knew I couldn't just retire from the gang. You never retire from the Squirrel Squad, you either get killed or have to kill yourself on their commad. They never forgive or forget. They try to forsee everything to be prepared. If I just said that I want to come out of gang, they would kill me. You can't leave the group if you know as much as I did.

That day I was sitting at one of Perth's gang meetings and listened with fear about their plans. I had to put on a mask of indifference so as not to reveal how much it scared me. After all, if they found out that I was also a hybrid, they could treat me as a traitor, and I wasn't it back then. This opened my eyes and made me regret everything I had done before.

Since then, I've been looking for an opportunity to find an ally among you. The circumstances were not very favorable. Perth, with a wide smile on his face, sipping whiskey and smoking a cigar, told us about the perfect plan.

“Listen, I know how to defeat them, we will win for sure”. He said and ordered Ohm Pawat to pour each of us a glass of alcohol.

We gathered as usual in one of the two places we considered ours. This time it was the area of some abandoned ruin, I suspected it was a bank or possibly a school. We had conjured up comfortable chairs, armchairs and couches. We had adapted one of the largest rooms for our purposes. Someone had even taken care to place various plants there.

The location was protected from curious non-magical people by many spells.

Pond sat next to me and only he knew my secret, just as only I knew something he couldn't expose. We looked at each other, expecting the worst. Our bad premonitions were not deceiving us.

"Great! So what's your idea?" Win Metawin joined the conversation. Formally, he wasn't in charge of our gang, that was Perth's role, but in reality he was the one giving orders, throwing ideas, simply not wanting to reveal himself ahead of time. We knew why. He was one of the Forsaken, those who had been cast outside the pale of the Knights of Light community. For what? We didn't know, and he never answered any questions. Only Prim could approach him. Even that afternoon she was sitting on the couch right next to him, holding his hand.

"You know that kid Fourth Nattawat is a hybrid, right?"

Some of our group laughed, as if being a hybrid was something to be ashamed of and very bad. I felt my ears burn. Pond noticed my unease and moved closer to hug me in a comforting gesture. Affection was not something that was normal for our group, so Pond had to pretend that the alcohol was already taking effect. We didn't want to arouse anyone's suspicions.

"Yeah, that works in our favor. They wouldn't choose him if they found out," Prim added in a cocky tone.

"I'm afraid that might not be enough. You see, as long as Fourth assures his subjects that he's getting married, this fact may not matter at all," Perth was as cunning and sly as a fox. It was obvious that he had thought everything through and analyzed it thoroughly. I waited in suspense for what he had come up with.

"You dare say I'm wrong?" Prim was not happy that Perth had questioned her opinion in Win's presence. Win grabbed her hand before she could stand up.

"Easy, little one, nothing's happening. Let's hear Perth out, I think he has something very important for us."

And indeed it was.

A few minutes later, the situation became clear. And it didn't look good for any of us, and it looked downright tragic for you. Pond and I were walking back to the Institute together, gloomy as night, sullen and worried.

"What's going to happen to us?" I asked unnecessarily. Pond shook his head in complete ignorance.

"We have to stick together. And if this is true about Fourth, then we have to warn him. Imagine if someone planned something like this for you. Something that should have been your own conscious decision..."

He didn't have to finish. I understood perfectly well and imagined how Fourth would feel when it dawned on him what had happened. Unfortunately, Perth hadn't told us the details of his plan, probably because he didn't trust most of his people. Because of that, we didn't know when and how the plan would be executed. We didn't guess that Perth would use that Japanese racing guy.

"We have to tell them. There's no other way, only they can help us and it's the only way they can protect themselves," I agreed with Pond. We wanted to find Fourth. I was afraid that Gem might overreact and ruin everything, but we had to be careful.

Back at the Institute, Pond learned that you had both gone to meet a French Formula One driver. We were momentarily relieved, believing you were safe. We couldn't have been more wrong.

I tried to talk to you, Gem, but you didn't believe me either, did you?

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***
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Joong stopped talking, waiting for Gemini's reaction. Gem squeezed Fourth's hand tighter and replied completely calmly.

"You're right, I didn't trust you. After all, you were in Perth's gang."

"Yeah, but wasn't I still your friend?"

"You my friend? After all, we were constantly arguing!"

"Because you did total stupid things and acted like you really hated magical people like me! You were real dumb ass at that time, did you forget already?"

For a moment, it seemed that Gemini would get up, get offended, stomp his foot and leave the room with the face of an offended child. He himself actually considered it briefly, but abandoned the idea, instead just smiling mockingly.

"How was I supposed to know you were the same as Fourth? If you had told me, maybe all this wouldn't have happened, Fourth wouldn't be pregnant, and you wouldn't have to fear for your life."

"So you regret Fourth being pregnant?" Pond's question hung in the air, and Gemini didn't bother to answer. He simply placed his hand on his beloved's belly, and when he felt the baby move, he smiled.

"I only regret the way it happened, but the fact that I'll have a real family is wonderful and amazing."

Dunk threw one of the stuffed animals that now filled every empty space in the room at Gem.

"You talk like I'm not your real family," Dunk sneered.

"You don't understand. It's my child, my own, from my own blood."

"I'd rather say Fourth's blood," Phuwin couldn't help but point out that small difference to his friend.

Gemini got up from the bed he was sitting on half-lying with Fourth, walked over to Phuwin and started to pretend to strangle him, grabbing his neck with both hands. Slightly worried, Pond rushed to his partner's aid and pushed Gemini away rather brutally, making him fall to the floor.

"Ouch, that hurt!" Gemini complained, rubbing his slightly sore butt.

Pond, Phuwin, Dunk, Joong and Fourth burst out laughing. Fourth additionally saw fit to record Gem with his phone and immediately post it on Instagram for their fans from the Non-Magic world. After all, it looked very cute.

"Stop laughing immediately. I remind you that you are laughing at the future king!" Gemini ordered them in a threatening tone, but he was not able to scare them, they knew him too well.

"You mean we're laughing at the future king's husband," Phuwin corrected him again.

Gemini, feeling helpless, only showed him the middle finger, then returned to the bed next to Fourth.

"For something like that, none of you will become the godfather of our little one," He promised them.

"Theoretically, technically, and biologically, I'm already his uncle, so I don't care about being a godfather," Dunk approached Nattawat. "I see my nephew has a lot of energy today. Can I touch him?"

Fourth smiled. He was grateful to Dunk for asking that question. Lately, he often had to push away overly intrusive and curious friends who wanted to know what it was like to be a man and pregnant at the same time. Many people didn't respect his boundaries or the fact that Nattawat simply felt uncomfortable when they touched his belly without asking or permission.

"Okieeey, you're his uncle, I can make an exception."

"Or her uncle, it could be a girl, right? From what Gem told me, you didn't want to know the baby's gender before it was born," Phuwin reminded them, watching Dunk very gently and almost fearfully touch Fourth's stomach.

"Yes, we'd rather have a surprise," Gemini agreed. "But maybe it's better if Joong goes back to his story?"

"Good idea."

Joong continued telling the story with Pond and Dunk's help from time to time.

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***
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Gemini didn't believe me, and I started to lose hope. Then Pond had a new idea. It's impossible to talk to Gem or Fourth, so it had to be done differently.

"Who's closest to Gemini?" Pond asked me the next day, barely dawning. He must have been thinking about it all night and probably didn't sleep a minute because he looked awful, but it seemed like we made some progress.

"I don't know, but I think Phuwin and Gem's brother, Dunk maybe? Or the new ones, Poon and Pahn."

"Then we need to talk to those two, to Dunk and Phuwin, they should be wiser".

"I don't know... I doubt they'll trust us". I had my doubts, which turned out to be right. I didn't have a chance to talk to Phuwin or Dunk until a few days later. At that time, we didn't know that what we were trying to warn you about had already happened. We weren't at the gang meetings because Perth, as if sensing something, had come up with new missions for us.

I met Phuwin alone during classes at the Non-Magic University. As luck would have it, I happened to go there to visit another friend of mine. When I saw Phuwin coming down the stairs alone, I grabbed him by the elbow and led him out of sight of the other students to the square at the back of the building, which I knew very well.

"What do you want, Archen?" he asked me sharply then, trying to get out of my grip. Out of necessity, I hugged him close and said as calmly as I could.

"Fourth is in serious danger. I know about Perth's plan to harm him and force him to withdraw from the king election."

Of course, Phuwin didn't believe me right away. He pushed me away and looked at me with such disgust that it hurt me. Once again I realized my mistake with taking sides. I should've always choose Fourth's side.

"Yes? What kind of danger do you think he's in?"

"Perth wants to do something really bad and cruel to him."

"Oh, and you're telling me this because you're worried about him?" He mocked me. Apparently, he only knew me from the stories of others, and their opinions about me were not favorable. "Okay, Archen, no bullshit, tell me what you want, but really."

"I want to protect Fourth." Even I myself thought that coming from my mouth it sounded quite untrustworthy. "Okay, I'll tell you something, but promise me that you won't tell anyone without my permission."

This must have intrigued him, because he swore to me that he would keep his mouth shut.

"I am the same as Fourth, and what Perth is planning could destroy any of us, not just Fourth, but me as well and many other hybrids too."

"Oh, so this is about you after all," Phuwin nodded, and then suddenly screamed so unexpectedly that I jumped in place. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?! YOU, JOONG ARCHEN AYDIN ARE... A HYBRID?!"

I had to silence him by covering his mouth with my hand.

"Shush, don't scream. I told you I didn't want any publicity."

I slowly pulled my hand away, allowing him to speak.

"Sorry, Archen, I didn't expect such a macho man to be a hybrid. Are you serious?"

"Do you see that I'm joking?"

Phuwin looked me up and down. I felt like some pedigree dog at a dog show. It wasn't pleasant, but the fear of what our unpredictable gang leader might do next won out. I was ready for any sacrifice and any mockery to save us all.

"Okay, tell me what you know and I'll decide whether I believe you or not".

I told him. It wasn't easy at all. I never thought before that I will have to tell this to anyone. I hoped to keep it secret till the day I die about me being hybrid. And I told him all I knew about Perth's sick plan.

"Perth plans to give Fourth a fertility elixir and Gem a passion elixir or lust potion or something like that. He wants to force them to sleep together and make Fourth pregnant, what in my opinion is clearly sick but shows perfectly how cruel he is. He won't spare anyone. Perth believes that this will eliminate the two most dangerous rivals in the fight for the throne. Please, you have to warn them. Even if you don't believe me, well, too bad, but please tell them what I told you, let them keep their eyes and ears wide open from now on and be careful what they drink".

I noticed Phuwin's face darken.

"It's all well and good, just a little too late."

"Eee... What?"

"It's already happened, Archen. We suspect that Fourth is already pregnant, and the father is either Gemini or... Well, it doesn't matter. Either way, you're telling me this way too late."

I felt like someone had hit me in the stomach with a hammer. I couldn't believe it. I started pulling at my own hair in desperation.

"Fourth... is pregnant?"

"Yes, Archen, it looks like it. You're too late."

"Shit! All the more reason we have to do something. Don't you see that this is only going to get worse? Perth is making some grand claims about how he'll rid the Magic world of beings like us. If it's as you say, then his plan has already begun to work. Let me help you, let me fix all the bad things I've done."

Convincing him wasn't easy at all, but I finally did, and Dunk was a big help. Dunk wasn't as skeptical or suspicious as Phuwin. From then on, I became a double agent. I pretended to still be on Perth's side, and I passed on whatever I learned to Dunk as much as I could. In the meantime, I realized my own feelings about Natachai. I shared this observation with Pond, and he in turn confided in me that he had liked Phuwin for a long time, but had never had the courage to approach him because he had heard that Dunk was Phuwin's boyfriend.

You know the rest of the story.

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***
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Gemini thought about this story for a long time afterward. It sounded incredible. Someone they had thought was an enemy had turned out to be a friend, an ally. And it was he who had contacted the real Pierre Gasly to come up with a plan to outwit Perth and his gang. The only problem was time. Perth seemed to always be one step ahead of them. It wasn't until Gemini went to Las Vegas that they managed to solve all the problems and come up with an ambush that Gemini had no way of knowing about. It was Dunk, who knew his brother like the back of his hand, who feared that if the boy knew their plan, he could ruin everything.

Gemini barely slept a wink that night. He kept reassuring himself that Fourth was really right next to him, that he was breathing evenly, sleeping peacefully, and that nothing was threatening them anymore.