Chapter 14

That late-night conversation seemed to open a new door between Tee and Nunew. From the outside, nothing appeared to have changed. Tee remained the ever-attentive older brother, and Nunew was still the same sensitive, clingy younger brother. However, only they knew that the bond between them was no longer that simple.

​Nunew grew increasingly fond of sitting in the living room as the twilight glow spilled through the window. Tee, in turn, became a regular at the pastry shop on his way home from the hospital. The nightmares that had haunted Nunew's mind through the long nights began to fade with every kiss Tee placed on his eyes as a goodnight blessing. The lingering anxiety deep within Tee's heart also dissolved into the warmth of Nunew's hand entwined with his.

​Nunew no longer thought about death as he once had. He no longer dreamed of towering rooftops or the liberating sky he once yearned to fly toward. Nor did he harbor the intent to consume enough pills to muster the courage to leave this world. After all, there was someone in this world who wanted to explore the future with him.

​Nunew caught a glimpse of Tee washing dishes in the kitchen and quickly snatched the last spoonful of Tiramisu cake to finish it off. He tossed the plastic container away and stopped by Tee's side to 'borrow' some space to wash his hands. After shaking off the excess water, he took advantage of Tee's busy hands to press his wet palms firmly onto the back of Tee's shirt before bolting away. Tee started slightly, but realizing it was him, he could only offer a helpless smile.

​"My stubborn kid is being mischievous again."

​Nunew stuck his tongue out as if to confirm it. If he was stubborn and mischievous, wasn't it all because of Tee?

​Left with no choice, Tee shook his head resignedly and returned to the pile of dishes in the sink. Nunew stopped playing and sat obediently at the dining table, resting his chin on his hands as he quietly observed Tee's back.

​The kitchen was filled with a harmonious silence, punctuated only by the sound of running water and the soft clinking of porcelain. Nunew thought that if every day for the rest of his life could be like this, it wouldn't be so bad.

​"P'Tee..." he spoke up suddenly, forcing Tee to turn toward him.

​Nunew simply gave a sweet smile.

"Give me a little more time, okay?"

​Nunew still couldn't truly love Tee the way Tee loved him. He had too many scars that needed fading, and too many lingering attachments he had yet to shake off.

​Nunew understood Tee well enough. He knew their current relationship was everything Tee had dreamed of for years. Even now, if Nunew were to say he only saw Tee as a brother, Tee would likely calmly wish for him to find someone who could make him happy. After all, Tee had gathered enough memories to chew on for the rest of his life.

​But that wasn't what Nunew wanted to see.

​Nunew wanted to give Tee a heart that was healed, free of any entanglements. He wanted Tee to know that although he had lost faith in love...

​If there was someone who could help him open his heart once more, he hoped it would be him.

​The water clicked off, and Tee silently dried his hands. Before Nunew realized it, Tee was crouching in front of him, looking up at his every expression. His hand lightly touched Nunew's small hand, with a tenderness that bordered on cautious.

​"My stubborn kid..." Tee sighed.

"If you keep being like this, what am I supposed to do with you?"

​Nunew giggled, letting Tee caress his hand.

​"How about this," Tee thought for a moment before speaking slowly.

"After all of this is over..."

​When Kannika was behind bars. When the false accusations on Nu's back were cleared. And when malice and illness no longer plagued their lives.

​"You'll go back to college, right?"

​Nunew nodded silently, letting Tee continue.

​"If by the time you graduate, you still haven't fallen for anyone else..."

​Tee gently pressed a kiss to the back of Nunew's pale hand.

​"I will confess my love to you."

​Nunew only smiled, offering no objection.

​Let the future be decided by the future.

​Nunew would never know how much Tee longed for his graduation day. Tee was ready to accompany him for a lifetime, yet he was also mentally prepared to yield the spot by Nunew's side to someone else. As long as Nunew could smile again, and those who hurt him paid for what they did, Tee didn't care about anything else.

​Tutor continued to report the progress of the investigation into Kannika to Tee regularly. He and Yim never stopped eavesdropping on news about her or digging into the dark corners of the injustice Nunew had to bear. Most of what Tutor reported was gathered through Net and Zee. Overall, Tee could only say the accuracy of the source was acceptable, and this woman-Kannika-was not as simple as he had thought.

​Beyond framing Nunew, Kannika had a long history of dark secrets in the entertainment industry and from her school days. School violence, buying grades, rigging awards, stealing boyfriends, suppressing new artists... Even her current status as a singer was built on someone else's voice. Kannika had reached her current position only because she had a powerful family backing her, and she knew exactly how to exploit that support.

​Tee couldn't understand why that Zee fellow would turn his back on Nunew for a venomous snake like Kannika. Excluding the possibility that Kannika was a master of psychological manipulation, there were only two feasible answers: either he was crazy, or he was blind.

​However, as Tee tried to recall the events of two years ago, Zee wasn't the only one who chose to side with Kannika. He still remembered the crisis he felt when scrolling through the comments on an online article about his brother. Few people spoke rationally amidst tens of thousands of indiscriminate insults. Even Net and Nat, who were supposed to be Nunew's friends, had stepped up to speak in favor of Kannika back then.

​Tee had been furious at the injustice of the world. Why was Nunew, who was innocent, never heard or trusted by anyone? Why could Kannika still roam free after committing so many crimes?

​Only much later did Tee understand a certain truth.

​People only hear what they want to hear and believe what they want to believe.

​Unluckily, his good Nunew was just one of the victims abandoned in a world obsessed with fame and profit.
​Net and Nat couldn't side with Nunew because stepping out would mean completely severing the business ties between their families and Kannika's. Aoftion and Zee had repeatedly pressured Nunew to apologize to Kannika because they didn't want to see the company collapse just to protect Nunew alone. Zee chose to reject Nunew, perhaps because Kannika was too good an actress, or perhaps because it was the only way he could protect Nunew at the time.

​Or simply because he had never truly understood or trusted Tee's stubborn kid.

​Sometimes, Tee wondered: if there were no Kannika, would everything have been different? His brother could have become a professional artist, singing his own exclusive songs or acting in scripts he'd never tried before. Perhaps his stubborn kid would be a couple with Zee, immersed in the happiness called love. Or if not, he would at least have the right to choose the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

​No need to carry a stigma for something he didn't do. No need to listen to senseless curses. No need to wake up crying in the middle of the night from nightmares. No need to swallow sleeping pills in despair.

​Regrettably, there is no 'what if' in this world.

​Tee had just kissed Nunew goodnight and immediately returned to his room, flopping down at his desk.

​In the latest message Tutor sent him, he mentioned that Net and Zee were preparing to close the net. Those two had collected significant evidence of various crimes committed by Kannika that her family had previously covered up with money. The only thing missing was evidence regarding Nunew's case, as the incident occurred in a dressing room without security cameras. Not to mention, Kannika had chosen a moment when no one was around, making it easy to frame Nunew.

​However, personally, Tutor was certain someone must have witnessed the incident. About five or ten minutes before it happened, Tutor and Yim had happened to see a female staff member looking for Kannika. It was just that now, neither Tutor nor Yim could remember her face to find her and get the truth.
​Tee finished reading and typed back a few words.

​"Narrow the search to Kannika's own team."

​If that staff member had truly witnessed it but stayed silent, there were two possibilities. One, she didn't want to get involved for fear of Kannika's grudge. Or worse, two, she had been discovered by Kannika and brought under her wing for close supervision. Based on Tee's experience and understanding of suspicious people like Kannika, the first possibility was unlikely to last.

​Tee thought for a moment and finally forwarded that short message to one person.

​"Just consider it a way to preserve one of the few good memories my stubborn kid has of his first love."

​He muttered to himself, his eyes drifting to the clear night sky and the faint starlight outside the window.

​The clouds will part, and the sun will eventually rise.