Secondhand embarrassment

Macau's POV

"Arm, you need to help me with something really important."

I can't believe I'm actually going to ask him this.

Arm puts a hand on my head and looks me in the eyes tenderly.

"I know what you're going to ask."

"You know? Are you sure?"

Weird...I don't think he knows. But he nods his head with great certainty.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. But I felt embarrassed."

"You were?"

Wow! Mind-blowing. I smile at him shyly.

"I don't know how long I can hold it." Arm smiled awkwardly.

OMG! Do you want this that much too? Looking intently, Arm is visibly in need.

"Now that the boat is stationary, it becomes easier."

"Ow...yes! yes!...true...I hadn't thought of that..."

However, I wish the boat hadn't stopped... because I'd rather do that many times in my lifetime. And not just once before dying dehydrated in the middle of the sea. It's so ironic to die of thirst surrounded by water...death is a bitch.

"You can turn around."

"Turn?"

Just because I'm younger and smaller do I have to turn? Shouldn't we discuss this further?

"I think you'll feel better this way."

"...oh...okay...sorry, I've never done this before...I'm a little nervous."

Not even a kiss first?

"Don't be shy, Macau, trust me."

"Okay..."

I was starting to turn around...my heart was pounding so hard, it almost popped out of my chest. Butterflies were like crazy inside my stomach.

"You can go over there. I will not look, don't worry! You go first, then I'll go."

"WHAT?" I turn my head back to him.

"You can pee first. I can hold it a little bit longer."

"Pee...?"

"Mhmn...take your time in case you have to do other things...I'll wait.

All this time were you talking about pee or poo with me?

"It is not what..."

I can't keep looking at him. My other self is feeling secondhand embarrassment of me. My face is burning.

"Ow...don't feel shy about this, Macau! I know you are not used to do it any place. It's human body physiology though. Nothing to be ashamed of." Arm smiled at me. And I felt like punching him so hard! Such a mood breaker! It was not pee or poo that I though it was going to be out of me today! Physiologically speaking, smartass!

"Right" I gave him a faint smile and turned around to pee.

"By the way, I realized there's a gallon of spare fuel down here. We can manage to get to the next island."

"Great" I answered dryly while I was peeing.

Maybe I should get to this island and dig a hole to bury myself...or make a favor to my brother and bury Arm. I still have his gun.

...

Pete's POV

"Get up!" Some bodyguards came to pick us up from the boat's hold. On deck there was no sign of Mr. Park. We were anchored on an island.

I know the southern islands well...but I don't remember knowing this one...I have the impression that we are quite far away...almost in international waters...on some kind of private island with a considerable extension.

When we get off the boat, it immediately undocks, leaving us behind with 6 bodyguards holding us tightly. Our hands are tied behind our backs.

The bodyguards follow a path inside the dense forest. We've been walking for a while. We are going over a wooden bridge over a rapid. Khun Sanya and I looked at each other. I'm afraid he's not prepared enough for what I imagine doing, but by the look in his eyes I understand that he agrees with me. Soon after, we both make a sudden movement on the fragile bridge, making it swing. The bodyguards lose their balance. We took the opportunity to free ourselves from the guards using our bodies and kicks. I turn my body, back to back with one of the bodyguards, managing to grab a knife at his waist.

I could release my fists first in the water and then try to save him, but I was afraid that with the force of the current, we would be too far from each other for me to reach him. I can probably manage better in the water than he can. That's why I pass the knife immediately to the hands of Khun Sanya, before we both jump off the wooden bridge into the water. It all happened very fast.

As my body immerses into the water, I immediately feel the current pushing me down. I was raised in the water. I have considerable breath, but the hands tied behind my back make it difficult for me to stay on the surface. It probably rained heavily, so the rapids were agitated. Even so, I can see Khun Sanya. When I manage to get close to him, both of us submerged, Khun Sanya holds me with his legs to gain stability to cut the ropes that hold my hands. The strong current makes the knife slip out of his hands before he can cut the rope completely. Our bodies separate with the force of the current. I strain my wrists until I feel my skin tear, but I manage to break the rope and free my hands. I can get back to the surface. Even with free hands, I see Khun Sanya practically being swallowed by the turbulent waters. I try to reach him again. The current throws our bodies under, but I try to help him keeping his head above the surface as much as I can. I do this a couple of times, with difficulty, trying to beat the current. Even though I'm almost out of breath, I try to gather all the energy I have left to push us to the riverbank so we can get stuck in some bushes.

We are both exhausted.

Khun Sanya manages to vomit the water he swallowed. We stayed for a few seconds on the bank of the river, clinging to the bushes, trying to catch our breath to get out of there.

"Thank you...Pe...te." He tries to say, panting.

"No problem..." I'm panting too. "We gotta go."

The point is...where to?

We help each other out of the river. The bushes rip our clothes and leave scratches on our arms, torsos, legs.

"Fuck!"

I turn back.

"What happened?" Khun Sanya got a deep cut on his leg. I rip a piece of fabric from my shirt and bandage his leg. "Can you walk? I'll help you"

"What will we do now, Pete?"

I felt proud of myself as the head bodyguard of old times. After all, the main heir of an important mafia family was asking me what to do. Khun Sanya is used to leading in the concrete forest. But this environment I know well. I will keep us alive.

"Those bodyguards are definitely looking for us, but they don't seem used to this kind of place. We can use this to our advantage...we must stay in the forest, not in the beach. We must hide until our families find us."

"But if Yim and the others don't find us? We are somewhere in the ocean...in the middle of the jungle..."

"They will find us." The most handsome and fierce face comes to my mind to comfort and give me strength. "Vegas will never give up on me."

"Do you have that much faith in him?"

"I have." I smiled widely. "Don't worry, Khun Sanya. I will take care of us."

"If you hadn't tried to keep me from being kidnapped, you wouldn't be hurt...you wouldn't be here."

"Do not think about it. I did what I had to do. And I'll do my best to get us out of here alive."

I make Khun Sanya lean on my shoulder, so we start walking.

"Hey, Pete..."

"Yes..."

"You are a good person..."

"Mhmm..." I smile at him shyly at the compliment.

That's exactly what Vegas once told me when he held me captive.

Khun Sanya smiles back.

"I have faith in you. Vegas is a very lucky boy."

"Well...thank you for the trust. "I get shy again.

"What was it? Don't you feel confortable being praised? haha...I'm sorry..."

"No!It's good to feel appreciated! It's just that..."

"What? You can tell me, Pete."

"It's nice to hear someone like you think well of me. To consider that someone like me is worthy of someone like Vegas."

"But I didn't say that."

"Ow..." I look down, feeling stupid.

"I said Nong Vegas is lucky to have YOU, not the other way around."

"Really?"

"Yeah! You should value yourself more. And what do you mean about someone LIKE ME?"

"Well...Khun Sanya is like Khun Kinn...Vegas...you are from the same social class. Created with the best and for the best. Rich, intelligent, handsome young men, being groomed from birth to take over their families' businesses. It is only natural that you are surrounded by people with the same background . ...and people like that don't believe I'm up to it."

"Hmn..I bet you've heard some shit from people LIKE THAT, am I right?"

"..."

"I'm not like other people, Pete. Those same people have wanted to kidnap or kill me since I was a child, like Tankhun."

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean that."

"And I do value someone like you."

...

Vegas' POV

"Nothing yet?"

I punch the bedroom wall feeling frustration. That crack hadn't opened for a while. Only when I used to vent my anger when my deceased father used to beat me.

"Before leaving for the mission, Arm told me that he was using this device to track the location of a computer that had received data from your computer, Khun Vegas"

"Did he say what the images were?" I ask Pol apprehensively.

"No, Khun Vegas".

I feel relieved.

"All these events must be related." Tankhun speaks.

"That's what I think too. I'm sure everything is connected. There are no coincidences in this life."

"Along with the laptop, using these wires Nop found in the dungeon and in the bodyguard might help us to find the location of the data's destination. Unfortunately, we were unable to recover the device that was implanted in the nanny. This will take a while, Khun Vegas. There are many layers of encryption. Arm had commented on this."

"Khun Vegas, search teams were formed to identify possible escape routes from the port. Besides, Mr. Park is also being searched everywhere. Kun Kinn and Nong Yim sent men to help" Nop reported to me.

Although I refuse to consider this possibility, I had to ask.

"And among the bodies in the harbor?"

"Nothing, sir"

I run my fingers through my hair. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"And Venice?"

"Aunt Erika is babysitting Venice in the main family mansion, Khun Vegas."

Despite all those actions, I still feel helpless. I can't stop thinking about Pete and Macau. I need to do more to find them. The wait is killing me.

"What is it?" Tankhun asks abruptly.

"What? Have you found the location?" I feel anxious.

"Not yet...what is this folder?... Pete? Tankhun asks, pointing at Pol to open the file.

"DON'T!" (in English)

I hurry to stop Pol from opening the file.

The three men jolt, looking at each other and then to me suspiciously.

"It's private."

"I'm sorry, Khun Vegas. This is the source folder." Pol explains.

"I know. But it is not necessary to open it."

Tankhun narrows his gaze at me.

"...Hmm...does Pete know about this?... I bet the next funeral I attend will be yours...you will be so dead." Tankhun starts laughing uncontrollably.

Pol and Nop look at each other, confused.

If I didn't need him...

"Well, there are some things couples who love each other do, you know? Oops...sorry...maybe you don't..." I smirk to Tankhun.

"Humph...you sick ..." Tankhun pouts.

Idiot.

"Ow, I think I got something!" Pol said excitedly

"Show me!!" (in English)