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Hi!" Kenan greeted, his lips developing a faint smile.
"Kenan Pradita, long time no see." Farrel was the first to greet him, the man quickly approached and...
The sound of "bruk" clearly entered the ears of the four men in the room, including Kenan. Farrel had cornered his body rather roughly against the door after it was closed.
Kenan's calm gesture was not enough to cover up the soft sniffle that had escaped his lips. Raising one eyebrow, Kenan looked back at the cold-faced man with facial lines that could be said to be similar to his secret lover. Correct the word secret, because the three men in the room already knew it.
"What a wonderful surprise to have you back with us," Farrell said, his right hand reaching out to touch Kenan's black mane. However, before the man could touch a single strand, Kenan quickly caught Farrel's wrist and gripped it tightly. Kenan knew that the man would immediately pull his hair.
Kenan's quick reaction was beyond Farrel's expectations, he squinted at Kenan's actions just now. The man gave him a look of displeasure in return.
For a brief moment, silence joined them before Felix exclaimed, "Don't do anything futile, Farrel!"
For an instant, the corner of Farrel's eye glanced at the tall man before looking back at Kenan and saying, "Let go of my hand!"
The corner of Kenan's lips twitched - he looked like he was about to make a lopsided smile but decided against it. His neutrals looked alternately at the rest of the people in the room, and stopped at Austin's bead which held a hint of anxiety despite his face being as flat as ever. Meanwhile, Felix was just being casual, and Brandon looked apathetic.
Eleven years have passed since that day. And this is how Kenan met his old friends. Think again. Is it appropriate to call them friends? Is the word friend so cheap if Kenan considers them friends after what they did to him eleven years ago?
Forget the past for a moment. Kenan finally released his grip on Farrel's wrist. While the other man stroked his wrist. Kenan walked over to the pool table and sat down on it.
"How are you?" Kenan asked Felix.
"That's my question," Felix replied. The man seemed neutral, taking no sides.
"Fine." Kenan shrugged, a bitter smile on his face. In the end, he asked the question, he answered it.
"Glad to see you're okay." Felix landed a pat on Kenan's right shoulder. The man immediately felt a sense of dejavu. His mind briefly replayed a few seconds of memory eleven years ago; when his body was pushed after being force-fed alcohol, then pressed to the floor and abused. Kenan remembered how Felix had taken part in the immoral act.
Was he okay?
As the seconds of the clock on the wall in the room faintly sounded, Kenan's breathing quickened with a thump in his chest. He didn't understand, his body suddenly felt stiff. There was a feeling of fear rising from the bottom of his heart. Also, his mind was frantic, unable to control his confusion.
Kenan gasped as he was pulled out of the thoughts that were slowly sucking themselves away from common sense-by a hand intertwined with his fingers. Warmth spread from there. It muffled the pounding in his chest, broke the fear and cleared his mind. Austin realized Kenan's turmoil, the man then tried to calm him down, and it worked...
Austin smiled. Through that smile, he slowly released his grip on Kenan's fingers. Unbeknownst to them, there was a pair of cold beads staring at them dislikingly, full of envy and jealousy with both hands clenched at their sides.
Brandon, who had been silent, got up from the sofa. He called out to someone who was a waiter at the private room bar to ask for something.
"Bring me a shot of anything hard."
It wasn't long before the waiter brought what Brandon had asked for. A stainless steel cup with five clear glass cups. The man enthusiastically mixed his drink, took one of the glasses and sipped it with relish.
As usual, every time they get together Brandon is always an impromptu bartender for his friends. Don't ask him how his drinks tasted. Austin once said that the quality of the flavor exceeded the bartender's concoction.
"Are you going to drink everything?" Austin asked sarcastically, looking at Brandon who immediately gulped down the high-alcohol liquid.
"Of course not, I ordered it for all of us." His neutrals glanced at Kenan. He had deliberately concocted the high-alcohol drink specifically to welcome the return of their old friend.
The five of them sat on the sofa with Brandon sitting on one side first. Facing each other was a gray-black glass table.
Farrel sat next to Felix, and Austin sat to Kenan's right, while Brandon sat between them.
After receiving a glass from Brandon, Farrell held his glass in front of Kenan, waiting for him to accept. "Drink up!" he pleaded forcefully. Kenan didn't answer, just looked at him flatly. Remembering that Kenan couldn't drink, Farrell pulled back his glass. "I forgot, you can't drink-"
"I can," Kenan finally answered
Suddenly the three men stared at him. Austin, on the other hand, preferred to take a sip of his slushy. He wasn't surprised that Kenan happily joined in, because during his vacation in Bandung he had asked for the most expensive wine he had ever ordered.
"You've changed a lot, Kenan," Felix commented after Kenan placed the empty glass on the pool table once it was empty.
"You too," Kenan replied, looking up at the tall man with a faint smile. "...Attorney Felix"
"Just call me Felix," he added.
"So you're an alcoholic now?" Farrell asked, while his hand swirled the less than half-filled glass. After taking the last sip, Kenan replied, "Sometimes."
"Have you ever tried cocaine too?" Farrell asked again, starting to joke a little.
"Do you have a stash of cocaine?" Kenan turned his head, one eyebrow raised in curiosity. Suddenly he was getting serious looks from four pairs of eyes for his question.
Hey, drugs are illegal, right?
The room was only dominated by three seconds of silence before it was broken by Kenan's sarcastic laughter. "I forgot, Prosecutor Felix is here, anyway... the cocaine thing was a joke."
"That's okay, it's none of my business. Farrel tried it once too," Felix said.
Not liking that he was being called a drug user even though he wasn't directly, Farrell quickly argued, "I was smoked that time."
And Felix didn't buy his former junior's defense, so he shot back, "Who knew you had become an addict in secret." His mind flashed back to the time when he had found a smoking device in the man's apartment, "Like Brandon who had Kenan hooked up with alcohol."
"You remind me of that day." Brandon smiled meaningfully at Kenan. He was trying to control his mind from reminiscing about the past.
"Kenan!" Felix called out. The owner of the name turned his head. "Sorry for that day," he regretted flatly. However, Kenan caught the regret in it.
Was Felix really sorry now? Did he mean his apology? Or was it just an act to improve his image in Kenan's eyes as a young prosecutor with a bright career ahead of him.
Kenan didn't say anything. Not even the slightest sound of a mosquito buzzing could be heard. Only his face looked down with a bland smile.
"Old problems, no need to bring them up again!" said Farrell. After the issue of drug use became a topic of discussion, he also said that the 'old problem' should not be brought up again, let it all be buried in the lap of time.
No need to bring it up?
Old problems?
True.
But he was the only victim of that 'old problem', eleven years ago. They don't know how frustrated he was back then. All his hopes dashed, his pride, everything, again had to be buried by despair. Depression, the urge to kill himself constantly echoed in his head.
"Forget it," Kenan added. Just like Farrel, apparently bringing up old problems put him in a bad mood.
Austin looked at him, trying to analyze-had Kenan really not thought about the incident? Or had he really forgiven them long ago?
Realizing he was being stared at, Kenan stared back at him. "What?"
"Forget it." Austin smiled before turning back around and taking a sip of his sloke.
"By the way..." Felix looked alternately at Austin and Kenan, "You two are getting along better than ever."
"Of course, right, Austin is already his foster brother's lover," Brandon said sarcastically.
"What an asshole!" Farrell clapped his hands, "I thought you'd be faithful after marriage, but you're way out of line."
"So you guys figured it out?" Austin asked without looking at his three friends. While Kenan didn't want to explain anything, he was busy massaging his forehead with his right hand.
"Brandon told us," Felix said, pointing at the bearer of the news with his thumb.
"Wow, it's easy for you to gossip about me behind my back as an asshole. You guys wait and see. Brandon will follow in my footsteps," Austin taunted with a laugh.
"Not gonna happen." Brandon retorted, "My marriage to Shofie, it's not going to-"
"That's good," Kenan interrupted, glaring at Brandon despite the smile on his lips. "I hope so too, because Ms. Shofie doesn't deserve an asshole like you as her husband."
"What's this? I just got a reprimand from an asshole man's mistress," Brandon sneered. Kenan's inner fury sparked. His eyes squinted fiercely at Brandon who was staring at him scornfully.
He wanted to make an excuse. But he couldn't. The fact that he was an asshole's mistress was true. Austin is a real asshole. Ignoring his pregnant wife, and instead copulating with his adopted sister in his and Helena's bed.
"At least I'm providing for her," Austin defended, "after all, I'm not the only one here who likes to stab her in the back." Austin looked at Farrell and then at the other two men.
"Oh yeah, Austin. I've always wanted to ask you this." Felix paused to wait for Austin to look at him, "Have you also been stabbed in the back?"
Not answering right away, Austin looked at Kenan first. "I have," Brandon guessed with a grin.
"Of course not." Austin argued firmly, "I've always been a true dominant, haven't I Kenan?" His grin was seductive.
"Fuck!" While the one asked just chuckled while rolling his round eyes.
"Even the guy you met at the club?" asked Brandon.
Suddenly Austin got a probing look from Kenan after his previous apathetic expression.
Instead of answering Brandon's question, Austin explained it to Kenan. "The matter of me meeting a young man at the club was a long time ago. Even before you came back."
"Hey, asshole! I'm not asking you for an explanation," Kenan replied with a lopsided smile, his eyes slightly droopy.
Drunk eoh?
"An alibi to cover up jealousy," Felix said sarcastically.
"Are you jealous?" Austin asked.
Kenan snorted. "Who's jealous? It's none of my business anyway."
"I think I made the slipper too hard." Brandon added to Kenan who was staring intensely at Austin."
He waved his hand at the man. "I'm not drunk," he argued.
Looking at the slightly drunk Kenan, Farrell grinned and said, "I still doubt that you and Kenan have ever changed positions even once."
Understanding what he meant, Austin looked at him seriously. "You want proof?" he asked with a lopsided smile. Farrell waited for Austin's response.
"You're going to prove it?" asked Brandon with a chuckle.
Austin didn't respond, he looked at Kenan who was massaging his temples. The man's vision blurred slightly due to the dizziness he felt. Not long after, Austin unceremoniously pushed him down on the sofa and laid on top of him.
"Engh!" Kenan moaned when he felt a rubbery object caress his lips wildly. He tried to think clearly about what was happening, but all he felt was a heavy weight restricting his body's movement. Also, one hand locked both of his wrists at the sides of his head.