“Sometimes small memories cover
large part of our hearts”

A few hours later...

Finally time to take a break and eat something came. Most of the students loved this time of the day the most.

“Hey, don't you think Gem is doing all this to get Fourth's attention?”  Phuwin asked Dunk, watching from his table in the canteen as Gemini sat behind Fourth and threw paper balls at him, trying to disturb him from eating his meal peacefully.

“They hate each other, it's nothing weird, right?” Dunk didn't understand what his friend meant.

“You really can't see it?”

“What can't I see?”

“That Gemini lies to himself.  Look, look at them now!”

As soon as Phuwin had said this with so much emotion, Gemini, enraged by his prey's lack of reaction, got up from his chair, left his own food without eating even a tiny bit, approached Fourth, grabbed his hand and violently yanked him up, forcing him to stand up as well.  The spoon from his bowl fell to the floor with a loud clatter.  The commotion between them drew the attention of everyone who was eating their meals at the time.

“You're coming with me, I won't let anyone ignore me, especially a zero like you!”

Gemini ordered in a stern tone and led Fourth out of the cafeteria.  Phuwin managed to take out his phone and film it. Fourth was confused. Wasn't it Gemini, who told him the day before that he shouldn't be talking to him without special reason?

“Excellent.  Your brother himself gives me evidence to confirm my hypothesis.  I guess I have to thank him”.

“Hypothesis?  Which one?”

There was a buzz of conversation in the cafeteria again.  The remaining Knights of Light and their candidates discussed what they had just witnessed.  Most of the group felt sorry for Fourth and threatened Gem for treating someone who could become king in the future so vilely.  Prim, who had been watching everything from her comfortable table in the corner of the room where she sat with her friends Becca and June, didn't hesitate to add a scathing post to Instagram, along with a photo of a terrified Fourth, who was being dragged forward by Gem's hand.  Prim smiled with wicked satisfaction.

“I guess we should follow them,” Phuwin was really concerned.  He had known Gem long enough to know he shouldn't trust him about Fourth's safety.  Dunk just looked at him and agreed.

“Let's go”.

Dunk and Phuwin emerged into the corridor just as Gem and Fourth were already disappearing around the corner of the wall.

“I think I know where they went.  Follow me”.

They ran ahead.  Phuwin had worst-case scenarios in his head, including Gem torturing Fourth with electricity or attacking him with his fists.  He didn't expect what he saw at all.

Gemini led Fourth to an empty training room where they trained, among other things, with swords.  He pushed Nattawat so hard that the boy fell to the floor.

“Who gave you permission to ignore me?” Gemini asked in a relatively calm and composed tone, and Fourth saw a mischievous glint in his eyes.  It was clear that Norawit was planning something cruel and nasty.  Nattawat tried to mentally prepare for this, but nothing could prepare him for what followed.

Fourth didn't answer even tho he wanted to say: «You yourself, you dumb idiot but I guess you have some issues with your memory».  He looked away, stood up, dusted off his pants and headed towards the exit, once again completely ignoring Norawit's existence, which only made the young Knight of Light candidate's blood boil even more.  Gemini grabbed his elbow and yanked him so hard that Fourth fell into him and they both landed on the floor, with Fourth pinning Gem down with most of his body.  Their eyes met and Gem felt something strange.  There's a sense of dejavu, as if the same thing had happened before.  A memory flashed through his mind, so drastic and yet so terrifyingly realistic that it paralyzed him for a moment.

Fourth, on the other hand, could only stare blankly at his rival's eyes and mouth, forgetting who they were to each other and remembering what he had already seen in his dream.

Phuwin managed to take a photo of them again and then clapped his hands.

“Well done boys, you pretend to be enemies beautifully, but in reality you are secretly lovers, right?” Phuwin decided to get back at his friend.  Gem felt betrayed and humiliated by someone he trusted.  A blush of anger appeared on his cheeks.

Gemini pushed Fourth off of him, who was still in shock and acting like an android and procesing what had happened few seconds before.

“Shut up, Phu.  Consider this moment the end of our friendship.  I don't need someone as a friend who constantly tries to tell me that I'm some kind of fucking pervert.  From the beginning, you always took his side.  If you are so in love with him, then please, he is yours, take him, I don't want him”.

Gemini grabbed Fourth by the arms and pushed him towards Phuwin, who managed to spread his arms wide and grab Fourth before he fell on the floor once again.

“I'm not your toy, Norawit!  You have no right...!” Fourth screamed, suddenly wanting to punch Norawit in the face.

«Why is he making me feel all this? What's happening?!» Fourth thought a little bit worried and even more confused.

“You will make a beautiful couple.  But for me it's better because it eliminates Nattawat from the fight for the crown.  Wonderful, just what I was waiting for.  I wish you a happy marriage”. Gemini ignored Fourth's outburst in silence.

“Gem, what's wrong with you?”

“What's wrong with me?!  Phuwin, I trusted you, I treated you like my best friend, as my friend you should always stand by my side, and you do nothing but defend this stupid teacher's pet.  But thanks for eliminating it for me.  Now I have the best chance to win”.

“An asshole like you who doesn't care about other people's feelings will never win, you have no idea what it means to be a king,” Fourth dared to say.

“At least I'm not some retarded freak".  Gemini snorted with obvious reluctance, spat on Fourth's shoes and left.

Fourth, who had been valiantly holding back his tears, now fell to his knees and burst into pitiful cries that tore Phuwin's heart into tiny pieces.

“Tell me, Phu, why does he hate me so much?  What have I done to him?  I don't want to feel all this anymore, I don't want to, you hear?!  Why?  Why does he hurt me so much?  Phu, tell me, what's wrong with me?  I'm trying, I'm fighting every day, I'm giving my all.  He himself told me not to talk to him unnecessarily.  I don't understand!  What does he want from me?  And why does he say all these horrors?  Does he really care that much about hurting me?”

Phuwin crouched down next to Fourth and hugged him.

“Nong Fourth, don't cry, please, I'm not good at comforting people,” Phuwin patted him on the back somewhat awkwardly.  He really didn't know how to act.  He saw that Dunk had followed Gem and he only hoped that Dunk would explain to his brother what a mistake he had made, although the lack of change in the young man's behavior made Phu lose hope that Gem would one day turn into someone truly worth loving.  .

“It's okay, P', thank you for being here with me and I'm sorry for causing you problems.  Gemini is your friend, and I caused you to quarrel. It's my fault, so I promise I will fix it”.

Fourth bravely wiped away his tears, realizing that he shouldn't cry at all, that 'crying is so unmanly', as his adoptive mother had once told him.  He even tried to smile, but it only came out as a sad grimace as his own soul couldn't find solace in anything.  Fourth told himself to calm down and look for a logical explanation.  He remembered something he had once studied and it seemed to him that it might have some application in this case.

“Come on, nong Fourth. What happened opened my eyes.  I don't want to be his friend anymore.  Let him be alone, he didn't deserve anything better.  Maybe then he will see clearly if there is absolutely no one next to him”.

“Don't say that, P'.  I'm sure there's some dark secret behind Gemini's behavior, something that's changed him.  Something must have happened that he isn't telling anyone about”.

“Oh, now I feel guilty.  Do you really believe that Gemini isn't like that every day?”

“I think so.  I have a feeling he's like this because he wants us to pay attention to him, to see him.  He needs help, but probably doesn't know how to ask for it.  Tell me, Phu, but honestly, what was it like with his family?”

Phuwin and Fourth sat comfortably on the mattresses near the boxing ring.  With a caring, kind gesture, Phuwin moved Fourth's bangs aside to reveal his forehead.  He resisted the urge to kiss that spot, but he didn't deny himself the pleasure of wrapping his arm around Fourth's waist so that they were sitting very close next to each other.  Fourth stared into the space in front of him.

The room was large, it housed a boxing ring, a designated place for fencing training, a square where they could warm up, and quite large stands with orange seats on the right and blue on the left.  Fourth remembered that Professor Zee Pruk, who was also their melee combat trainer, was responsible for this selection of colors.

The walls were painted a pleasant aquamarine color, and all possible varieties of flowers were placed on the window sills.  Someone even went a little further and placed a pot with a quite large palm tree in the corner of the room.  Someone else put a panda mascot under the palm tree next to the flowerpot.

“I don't know much about it”.

“It doesn't matter, tell me as much as you know, all the information could be useful”.

Phuwin hesitated.  How could he just reveal his friend's secret?  Even though this friend stated that they were no longer friends, Phu believed in keeping the secret regardless.  And at the same time he looked at Fourth's cheeks, still wet with tears, at his waiting look, and there could only be one decision.

“Well, you know what they say about them at the Institute: that his mother actually ran away from them.  There are rumors that she didn't die in Europe at all, but you know what's the strangest thing?  That's what Dunk told me, but you have to promise me you'll never use this knowledge against these brothers”.

“I swear.  What is it about?”

“Well... Dunk found out that their mother had an affair before going to Europe.  With a woman from Non-Magic.  I suspect this is why Gemini hates LGBT.  Dunk says Gemini has completely repressed these memories of his mother”.

“So he hates us and doesn't know why he hates us?”

“Something like that.  Honestly, I would like to believe that Gem will one day learn to love again, but... For six years he was raised only by his older brother, and largely by the street.  Yes, Gemini is a street kid.  He knows where to buy drugs in the non-magical world and how to illegally obtain weapons, and he can race motorcycles, although he hates car racing”.

“Gem works as a model…” Fourth said quietly, remembering one important detail that hadn't stuck with him anywhere before.  “I don't think he can complain about the lack of money.  He's handsome and he takes advantage of it”.

“Yes... Do you know the price of modeling?”

Fourth looked into Phuwin's eyes, thinking for a moment.

The price of modeling?  Drugs?  No, probably not that, or at least not only that.  So what else?  Alcoholism?  Very possible, but Nattawat thought it wasn't enough.  What could be worse than drugs and alcoholism?

Suddenly it dawned on Fourth.

The price of modeling.

“P', don't say that... Gem is paying by... no, it's impossible, please, just not this...”

“Finish what you wanted to say.  I need to know if we're thinking the same thing”.

Fourth had a terrible vision in front of his eyes, which he quickly pushed away.  He didn't want to think about it, but it would explain a lot.

“Phu, was Gem... you know... was he a victim of sexual harassment?”

“The price of modeling and working with the best,” Phuwin nodded sadly.  “It started a few years ago, when he took his first job in advertising.  He was just a kid back then, no kid deserved something like that.  He didn't even tell Dunk or me about it.  I discovered it by accident myself.  That's why I was his friend, that's why I patiently endured his moods and his behavior.  Like you, I believed that Gem simply needed help, but the longer I knew him, the more it became clear to me that he seemed to like this life.  He liked being an asshole.  He probably won't change”.

“Oh shit,” Fourth put his hands over his mouth.  Suddenly he felt sorry for his enemy.  “They'll pay us for this.  I won't give up on them!  They will pay for what they did to him!”

Fourth got up from the mattress in a flash, but he had barely taken a few steps before his courage left him.  He remembered Norawit's words about how someone like him would never achieve anything and would never protect anyone.

«Gemini is right, there is nothing I can do.  I am quite powerless and hopeless.  What am I supposed to do?  I will go to them and what will I tell them?  They will laugh at me, and who knows, maybe they will do the same to me?  Gem's right, I'm not fit to be king.  What kind of king is he who cannot protect his subjects?»

Fourth wanted to do something, react somehow.  Despite how much Gemini hurt him, he wanted to believe that there is a part of good in every living being that can and should be reached. His good heart didn't allow him to just let it go. Phuwin's words seemed to confirm everything, and Fourth began to wonder if Gem would have been different if he hadn't experienced what he had?

Phuwin, on the other hand, felt remorse.

He was still sitting in the same place, kicking himself for not having the right to share this information with Fourth.  This was Gem's business and he should decide who he would tell and whether he would ever want to tell anyone about it.