The Kingpin's Possession

27: Better Left Unknown

Kit:Right as the bell rang for class, both Kit and Earth all but jumped out of their seats, but had to wait until the teacher left before they could hurry over to Ben’s table.

“We need to talk.” Kit told him urgently. “Let’s go to the terrace, so we can talk in private before Prem gets here.”

Ben closed his textbook on a sigh. “Did you guys have breakfast? I’m hungry.”

It was only then that he realized that not only Kit himself, but all three of them had skipped breakfast.

“Let’s text Prem to get us lunch from the cafeteria on his way here.” Kit suggested. “It’ll be better if he comes in late. It’ll buy us more time to talk.”

“I agree with him.” Earth sighed, looking at Ben. “Let’s get to the terrace first?”

“Alright,” Kit took out his new phone. “Does anyone have his number memorized? I…think we all lost our phones yesterday.”

Much to their surprise, Ben took out a brand new phone himself before he texted Prem and let him know about the change of plans.

“What…?” Kit eyes the phone in Ben’s hand before he put it away. “How did you get that?”

“Same way you got your new phone.” Ben told him. “Let’s get out of here first.”

Everyone nodded and with their backpacks slung over their shoulders, headed straight for the stairs before climbing up to the terrace.

It was all but empty, which was pretty normal considering the Thailand heat. People usually avoided getting baked in the sun by coming up here, which was why this place was their favourite hangout spot. It provided the peace and quiet needed to have a proper conversation, no matter the weather.

Even though the sun was high up in the sky at this time of the day, and the sweat began pouring out almost instantly, none of them seemed to care as they went to the very end and sat down on the ground with Ben in the middle and Earth and Kit on either side.

“Are you alright?” Kit asked his friend, his brows furrowed as he took in the black eye once again. “What did he do to you? How did you get out?”

“Your boyfriend bailed me out this morning.” Ben smirked without humor. “He came in early and got me out.”

“P’Kim went to P’First?” Kit was more than a little surprised at the confession. “W-when?”

“I don’t even remember,” Ben sighed, leaning back against the wall. “It was barely sunrise. I don’t know what happened between the two of them, but P’First walked in with a bleeding lip and decided to give me a black eye in return.”

“Walk in? Walked in where, Ben?” Earth sounded almost frustrated having to repeat the question. “Will you fucking tell us what that bastard did to you? Were you…tortured?”

“Some things are better left unknown.” Ben sighed, closing his eyes. “I just want to go to sleep.”

“Why did you even come to class if you’re hurt?” Kit asked. “You could’ve just told us or notified the class President…”

“But then the two of you idiots would’ve probably gone off thinking I had died and would’ve gone to visit my mom and scared her to death as well.” Ben shook his head at his friends. “It’s good that I’m here in person. It’ll be easy for you guys to see for yourself that I’m okay.”

“Seriously, Ben…what happened?” Kit couldn’t help but ask. He highly doubted that the meeting between P’Kim and P’First had been a calm or civilized conversation. If P’First had a busted lip, then he didn’t even want to know what state P’Kim was in.

But Ben’s night at the hands of the Channarong family was a mystery that Kit needed answers to. He had a feeling that nothing was as simple as P’First just letting him go with a simple black eye.

“Kit…it’s okay. I’m okay and I’m back here, aren’t I?” Ben told his friend, knowing from the expression on his face that Kit was blaming himself for the entire situation. “It’s not your fault. I chose to stay back there. I chose to save you.”

“But why did you have to do that?” Kit finally asked. “You shouldn’t have had to go through all this because of me. Both you and Earth…I’m really so, so sorry for everything. I got you into this mess…”

“No,” Earth shook his head. “I was being a jerk when I said that. It wasn’t your fault Kit. You got kidnapped by that psycho as well. You got hurt as well. I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you.”

“Glad we got that sorted. I just heard you guys were fighting publicly a few moments back.” Ben smirked at his friend, before giving Earth a push on his shoulders. “Let’s just…forget the how’s and the why’s, shall we? What matters is that I’m back here, with you guys and I just want to forget all this mafia stuff for now.”

“You and me both,” Earth sighed, placing a hand on Kit’s shoulders. “Unfortunately, Kit here won’t be able to. Because the Don just made him his bitch.”

“Ai sat“Oh, you want me to repeat that?” Earth stood up with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Sure…”

“Fuck! No! Earth!” Kit got up as well, trying to stop Earth from executing his evil plan as he began chasing him around the terrace. “Come back here!”

“Everyone!” Earth shouted as he ran. “Kit just got…omgh!”

Earth’s mouth was covered by Kit’s hands before he could finish his sentence, and soon enough, the friends were back to laughing and teasing each other like nothing had ever happened.

Ben watched the interaction with a small smile on his face. He knew his little lie had just saved his friend’s the heartbreak and the guilt. And he would prefer it if everything stayed that way.

After everything he had been through last night…he needed their friendship and their support. But most of all, he needed some things in his life to remain normal.

After all, he hadn't been lying when he said that some things were better left unknown.

“Oh? You guys are back on good terms again?” Prem said as he entered the terrace with bags of rice and other delicious smelling condiments. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing much, just Kit here covering his hicki…OW!” Earth placed his hands on top of his head when Kit slapped him. “You idiot! Do you want my intelligence to fly away? I’m barely passing calculus!”

“If you don’t shut up soon, you’ll be the one flying off of this building!” Kit hissed at his friend.

“Alright, enough!” Ben called out to them. “Just get the food here already, I’m hungry.”

“Chai, KhabEveryone came back to sit surrounding Ben once again and the meal packets were evenly distributed. Prem had made a good choice by buying everyone their favorite meals.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Kit quickly took the boxes out of his backpack that he had earlier tossed aside. “P’Kim gave these to me before leaving this morning. They’re for you guys.”

“Oh? The latest phones?” Earth’s eyes gleamed as he snatched his favorite color out of Kit’s hands before Prem could.

“Since we lost our phones yesterday, P’Kim told me to hand this to you…but I guess Ben won’t be needing one.” Kit finished awkwardly when he saw Prem looking at them with a clueless expression.

“Is that what you guys were fighting about?” He raised his eyebrows at the three of them. “You guys losing your cell?”

“Kinda.” Ben answered quickly before anyone else could. “We just…went to this shady gaming café and someone stole our backpacks.”

He looked at both Kit and Earth and they both nodded, agreeing to play along.

“Is that where you got the black eye?” Prem asked. “Here, I got some chilled soda. Why don’t you hold it to your eye for comfort?”

“Thanks.” Ben took the can gladly before holding it to his eyes.

“Yeah,” Kit told his friend; agreeing to his question earlier. “Something like that. But we’ve learned our lesson. And we’ve made up already.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Prem smiled. “But it’s fine. I don’t need a new phone.”

“Ohhh…” Earth cooed. “Did your boyfriend give you one already?”

“No…because I won’t be staying here much longer.”

“Huh?”