19
I shoved him into the car and tore toward the city like a madman.
He didn't resist or say a word. He just leaned his head to one side and watched the night blur past outside the window.
When we got back to my place, I hauled him upstairs and dumped him on the sofa.
“For the next few days, you're not going anywhere. Sit tight here!”
Lục Phong leaned back and glanced at me.
“Keeping me under house arrest, Brother Niên?”
I ground out:
“I'm saving your worthless hide!”
“If Tam gia investigates, do you really think you can hide what you've done?!”
Lục Phong sneered.
“Then let him investigate.”
“At worst, we both go down.”
“You son of a—” I grabbed him by the collar, almost ready to punch him. “Is your life really worth that little?!”
“Huh? Is it worth it?!”
His gaze darkened.
“Eight years—the best years of my life—I left them behind in that dog cage.”
“And what am I now that I'm out? Still just a dog. Call me and I come; kick me out and I go.”
“Hạng Niên, I've swallowed this anger for eight years. I've swallowed enough.”
His voice wasn't loud, but every word seemed to hook into my ear and tug.
I let go, exhaustion washing over me.
“Throwing your life away over that useless bastard, over this whole damn mess—it's not worth it.”
He smiled—a smile both bitter and cold—then reached out and touched my face.
His fingers were ice-cold.
“Then... what about you? Would it be worth it for you?”
I didn't answer.
I couldn't.
My phone rang. It was Tam gia.
I looked at him, then went out to the balcony to take the call.
“A Niên, where are you?”
“Out taking care of something.”
“Come to my place. Now.”
The call ended.
I went back into the living room.
Lục Phong was playing with his butterfly knife, its cold steel flashing as it spun between his fingers.
“The old man call?”
“Yeah.”
“Go.” He didn't look up. “Don't worry, I'm not running. I'll sit right here and wait for you to come back and ‘deal with’ me.”
I looked at him for a second, then turned and headed for the door.
As soon as the door shut, I faintly heard a quiet laugh behind me.
20
Tam gia had asked me to meet him at a private teahouse.
When I arrived, he was leisurely preparing tea.
“Sit down.”
I sat down.
“The hospital situation's been taken care of.” Tam gia slid a teacup in front of me. “That kid's pretty much useless now. He's a burden from here on out.”
I didn't touch the tea.
“Tam gia... I'm sorry for your loss.”
“Sorry for my loss?” Tam gia laughed. “What have I got to be sorry about? Useless trash. Better if they're all dead.”
My heart sank.
“It's just that the person who did it wasn't very discreet.” He set down his teacup and looked me straight in the eye. “A Niên, what do you think we should do about it?”
My hands began to sweat.
“Have you investigated thoroughly? Maybe it was an accident...”
“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow. “You think it was an accident?”
I fell silent.
The only sound in the teahouse was the water bubbling as it boiled.
After a while, Tam gia sighed softly.
“A Niên, you've been with me for seven years. I've always trusted you.”
“But this time, you've disappointed me.”
He took out an envelope and pushed it toward me.
I opened it. Inside were several photographs.
Lục Phong and me in the auto shop, fighting. In the alley behind the nightclub, standing back to back. The last one—by the river last night—I was grabbing his hand, our pose... unmistakably intimate.
“That Lục Phong came looking for you, didn't he?” Tam gia's voice turned icy. “I've had people dig into what happened eight years ago.”
I gripped the photos tightly, my fingertips turning numb with cold.
“Tam gia...”
“It's good for a young man to care deeply.” He cut me off. “But you need to know what you can touch and what you can't. Understand?”
He poured more tea into my cup, its faint aroma rising with the scalding steam.
“There are two ways this can go.”
“One: you deal with him yourself. I'll let everything that happened before slide.”
“Two: you choose to protect him. Then you both get out of my territory. Whatever happens to you, that's your problem.”
The rising steam blurred his face.
I stared at the teacup. It was filled to the brim with scalding tea, but no matter how long I looked... I couldn't see the bottom.
21
I don't know how I left the teahouse.
I'd been driving for a long time before I realized I was going the wrong way.
My mind was a mess.
Tam gia's words, the photographs, Lục Phong's eyes... kept flashing through my mind.
If I protected him, I'd be betraying Tam gia.
Seven years of building my place in the world, all washed away.
And I'd have to drag a ticking time bomb along with me, living in hiding for the rest of my life.
If I didn't protect him, I'd have to kill Lục Phong with my own hands.
My stomach clenched.
I pulled over and bent down, dry heaving, but nothing came up.
My phone rang. It was the man I'd assigned to watch Lục Phong.
“Brother Niên! Brother Phong... he's gone!”
Something exploded in my head.
“Didn't I tell you to keep a close eye on him?!”
“I... I only stepped away to use the bathroom for a second. When I got back, he was gone! He left a note, too...”
“What did it say?!”
The kid's voice wavered.
“It said... ‘Brother, don't look for me. I'll clean up the mess I made myself.’”
I slammed my fist against the steering wheel.
The horn blared, sharp and long.
Clean it up himself?
How the hell was he supposed to clean it up?! Was he planning to go find Tam gia and fight to the death?!
I started the car at once and tore around the city like a madman.
I knew where he would go.
The villa in the suburbs—the place Tam gia often visited.
That was the only place he could go.
I floored it, the scenery outside the window smearing like a watercolor painting.
My heart felt ready to burst out of my chest.
Eight years.
I'd already lost him once.
Could I really lose him again?
Suddenly, I realized I already knew the answer to the question Lục Phong had once forced me to answer.
22
I left my car hidden far away, then crept toward the villa through the darkness.
Only the light in the study was on.
I crept up to the window and quietly watched what was happening inside.
Lục Phong stood there with his back to me.
Tam gia sat behind the desk, a gun in his hand, aimed straight at him.
Several trusted men stood nearby, glaring and ready to shoot at any moment.
Tam gia's voice rang out, ice-cold.
“You've got some nerve.”
“Coming here to find me all by yourself?”
Lục Phong answered calmly, with a hint of mockery.
“What else? Bring Brother Niên along? Put him in a difficult position?”
Tam gia gave a cold laugh.
“So you do know how to think of him.”
“Too bad. He's already made his choice.”
My heart clenched.
I knew what he was going to say, but hearing it with my own ears still felt like a blade ripping through my chest.
“He chose to let you die.”
Lục Phong's back stiffened for a moment.
Though I'd guessed as much, hearing Tam gia confirm it himself still hurt like a knife in the heart.
“I see...” His voice dropped. “That's good, then.”
“Any last words?”
Lục Phong was silent for a few seconds.
“Nothing. Shoot.”
Tam gia raised his gun.
My body reacted before I could even think—I kicked the door open and rushed straight inside.
“Tam gia!”
I rushed in front of Lục Phong, shielding him from the muzzle of the gun with my own body.
Tam gia remained where he was, his icy gaze shooting straight at me.
“A Niên, you really picked the worst possible option.”
Behind me, Lục Phong panted, furious.
“Hạng Niên! For fuck’s sake, move! Who told you to stick your nose into this?”
I didn’t turn around. I just stared at Tam gia.
“Tam gia, for the past seven years, I’ve risked my life for you. I’ve shed plenty of blood, too… all for the sake of this one time.”
“For him?” Tam gia hadn’t lowered his gun. “Why should I?”
I forced my voice to stay calm.
“Because this life of mine is yours. It still belongs to you.”
“I’ll take him away and never come back. I don’t want your money or your power. I’m only asking you to let him go this once.”
The room fell silent.
All that remained was the sound of everyone’s heavy breathing.
At last, the gun lowered, pointing at the floor.
Tam gia looked at me for a long time, then sighed softly—as if he’d aged several years in a single breath.
“Take him and get the hell out of here.”
“Don’t ever let me see either of you again.”
23
I pulled Lục Phong backward step by step, out of the study and out of the villa.
No one stopped us.
Even after we were back in the car and the engine roared to life as we drove away, my hands were still shaking.
Lục Phong sat in the passenger seat without saying a word.
The window was open, and the night wind swept in, cold as ice piercing my skin.
I drove on without knowing where I was going, until the sky in the distance began to lighten.
I pulled over on a deserted stretch of highway and turned off the engine.
The silence stretched on, seemingly without end.
At last, Lục Phong broke the silence.
“Why?” His voice was hoarse.
I didn’t look at him, keeping my eyes fixed on the road ahead.
“I don’t know.”
“Was it worth it?” he asked. “Seven years to save a pain in the ass like me.”
“Shut up.”
He chuckled bitterly.
“Hạng Niên, I really do owe you.”
“I owed you once seven years ago, and now I owe you again… I probably couldn’t repay you in this lifetime.”
The taut thread inside me, stretched tight all night, finally snapped.
I suddenly lunged at him, grabbed him by the collar, and kissed him hard.
Rough, and without a shred of finesse.
Like I was venting, and yet like I needed to make sure.
To make sure… he was still alive.
To make sure… he was right here, within my reach.
Lục Phong froze for a moment, then immediately kissed me back—with even greater force.
Our teeth knocked together, the strong metallic taste of blood filling my mouth.
But neither of us wanted to let go.
24
When the kiss ended, we pulled apart, gasping for breath, our foreheads resting against each other.
Lục Phong lightly licked the split on his lip, his gaze burning hot.
“What was that? A consolation prize?”
I looked at him, my chest heaving.
“Call it interest on what you owe me.”
He laughed, his breath warm against my face.
“Then what about the principal? How are you going to pay that back?”
“I’ll spend the rest of my life paying it back. Little by little.”
With that, I let him go and started the car.
“Shit…”
Lục Phong cursed under his breath, but the corners of his mouth couldn’t help lifting.
“Hạng Niên, you finally stopped pretending.”
The car merged into the increasingly heavy traffic on the highway and drove toward the unknown.
He asked, “Where are we going?”
I answered, “I don’t know.”
Lục Phong relaxed against his seat and closed his eyes.
“Then whatever. As long as you stop pretending you don’t know me, I’ll follow you wherever you go.”
The early morning sunlight streamed through the window and fell across his face.
He suddenly opened his eyes and looked over at me.
“Hey, big brother.”
“Yeah?”
“Want to try?”
“Try what?”
“Try seeing… if you can support me.”
I looked at the long road ahead, and at last the corners of my mouth lifted in a small, relieved smile.
“Let’s try.”
— THE END —