Chapter Text
Vegas couldn’t quite believe that even on vacation he somehow had to compete with Kinn. Of course, staying at the resort wasn’t as so much a vacation as it was about making business deals. But normally, there always had been some time to relax as well – especially since Kinn hadn’t accompanied them on this trip for years.
However, this year everything had changed because his uncle had decided to retire and now, Kinn was here as the perfect heir of the empire which ruined Vegas’ mood from the get-go. He has supposed to be home and read a book or spend time with Macau but instead, he had to stomp through the night after Kinn.
This felt like playing hide & seek as children all over again – although Vegas had rarely been the one who had to seek for his cousins because this had been the one thing he always had been better at. Now, his talent to hide away helped him because his dad had told him to keep an eye on his cousin in case they could find some dirt on Kinn that they could use against him.
Vegas had to roll his eyes when his cousin just strutted past the staff only sign on his way – of course, Kinn wouldn’t be stopped by a sign like that. Nonetheless, it surprised him to see the other man literally talk to one of the employees. Vegas was aware that Kinn always treated his subordinates with respect but this seemed a bit weird. From where he was standing he also really couldn’t get a good look at the person Kinn was talking to.
Before he could properly follow them up a large case of stairs his phone started vibrating. When Vegas read his brother’s name on the display, he didn’t have it in him to decline the call.
“What is it, Macau?”, he asked not as annoyed as he should be and with fondness in his voice.
“Where are you? You promised we would play Mario Kart this evening.”
Macau wasn’t pouting yet but Vegas knew it would be over for him as soon as his brother would get to that stage.
“I know. I am sorry . Dad needed me to take care of something.”
Vegas could hear Macau sigh at the other end of the line and he hated this whole assignment even more. These three to four weeks at the resort were normally the few weeks of the year he could spend the most time with Macau – of course, Kinn also had to ruin that for him.
“What does he have you do that late at night?”
It was needless to say that Vegas would never tell his little brother what this was all about. Ever since their mother had died it had become Vegas’ job to take care of the younger one – which also meant to protect him from their father’s ambitions. Vegas was glad he could shelter his little brother and that Macau was a very regular teenager despite everything that was happening in their family.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about, okay?”
Macau huffed a Yes at that like only a seventeen-year-old could – Vegas had to grin at that.
“But promise, you will make it up to me!”, his little brother commanded.
“I promise”, Vegas replied with a small smile on his lips.
After Vegas had ended the talk on the phone Kinn and the resort employee had completely left his sight. Luckily, there was only one logical route they could have taken. Vegas’ conclusion was confirmed when he approached a fairly large building that was seemingly vibrating from loud music.
Hesitantly, Vegas climbed the veranda because he really didn’t know how his plan would continue from here. If he just blindly entered the building chances were high he would accidentally run into Kinn – how would he explain that he also had ended up in the staff only area? That was definitely not an option but just standing outside here brooding wouldn’t help him either.
“Can I help you?”, a soft voice cut through his thoughts.
Vegas quickly turned his head to see who had asked him that. His eyes found a handsome guy around his own age who was leaning against the wall with a pack of cigarettes in his hands.
“Uhm, I am just looking for my cousin Kinn”, Vegas responded truthfully and wanted to smack himself the next second.
Interestingly enough, the other man’s eyes lit up in recognition at hearing that name. In the meantime, he had gotten one cigarette between his fingers.
“He is inside.”
Afterwards, the other one got out a pack of matches to light his cigarette with. However, his box seemed to be empty and Vegas could see the disappointment clear on his pretty face.
“I guess I will need fire anyway – so I can get him for you…”
Now, the stranger was already turning towards the entrance but that was the last thing Vegas wanted at the moment. To stop him he blurted out: “You can use mine.”
Quickly, Vegas got out the lighter he was always carrying with him although he himself rarely smoked. He held it out to the man who automatically stepped closer to him with the cigarette in his mouth and his hand cupping the flame.
“Thank you”, the stranger puffed out the smoke while still eyeing Vegas attentively, “I am Pete by the way.”
“I am Vegas”, he replied which was for some reason met by a slight chuckle of the other one.
“I know. I carried your luggage like two days ago.”
Vegas felt instant embarrassment washing over him like a wave. However, even a closer look at Pete didn’t spark his memory at all – which was a shame because the other man really wasn’t bad to look at. To be fair, Vegas had been so concerned with his cousin’s arrival over the last few days that he hadn’t paid much mind to anything else surrounding him.
“Sorry”, Vegas said weakly.
He was really not on his best performance this evening and he could only hope that that wouldn’t lead to his father lashing out at him today or tomorrow. Nervously, Vegas played with the lighter he still held in his hand. His thumb rubbed over the familiar engraving on the side and he tried to focus on the pattern of the letters.
“That’s a nice lighter.”
Pete pointed at the gold-plated thing that even under the more dull light of the stars sparkled with a nice warmness. Vegas couldn’t hold back the crooked smile on his lips that was a result of his fading memories connected to the object.
“It belonged to my mother”, he stated without any implications.
Nevertheless, Pete somehow did connect the dots immediately: “Oh, I am sorry. I lost my mum, too.”
Their eyes crossed and they looked at each other in recognition of their shared pain. Unfortunately, Vegas was unbelievably bad at dealing with situations like that. His father had never really given him the space to come to terms with his grief and so he had just kept on pushing it down until it had somehow felt like it wasn’t that important. However, Pete’s face seemed to show a different story – a different sad story for that matter.
“At least, you got a lighter out of it. All I got are these lousy abandonment issues”, Pete stated rather matter-of-factly before his face fell in disbelief.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be insensitive…”, he stopped his attempt at an explanation when Vegas didn’t bite back his grin.
Vegas himself couldn’t quite understand why he reacted like that. Somehow, Pete’s way of addressing this issue was so refreshingly different from anything Vegas was used to that his body couldn’t come up with a better reaction. He was used to people walking on eggshells around this topic or just ignoring it completely – joking about it seemed almost revolutionary.
“It’s okay. No worries”, Vegas tried to pull himself together – to pull himself back into his shell.
But he couldn’t manage that and so he added: “Also, I got those too – the abandonment issues. You are not special.”
“Ah, so you got a package deal, huh?”
Pete’s teasing smile seemed about to be fainting on his lips before Vegas barked out a loud laugh that nearly made him bend over because it hit him out of nowhere. Nonetheless, he was very glad when Pete chimed in and they laughed together. They both needed a solid minute to calm down again.
Afterwards, their eyes met and without having to talk about it, they acknowledged that they now had formed a bond of some type that allowed a more informal exchange. Vegas’ heart twisted at that realization because he normally wasn’t the one going around making friends – normally, he was the one living in the shadows all by himself.
“Would you like a beer?”, Pete asked without much ado.
For a second, Vegas was tempted to say yes mostly because he didn’t want to say no to this intriguing new person. But then he remembered that he would have had to go home to face his father after this and that he would have had to explain that he hadn’t found out anything about Kinn. Smelling like alcohol would probably only worsen the scolding he was in for anyway.
“No, thank you.”
Pete squinted his eyes at that response and Vegas couldn’t help but notice how adorable that looked.
“Is that like a rich people thing? Do you guys don’t drink beer?”
Although this seemed like a weirdly specific question Vegas was too hung up on the urge to explain himself than to question why Pete would phrase it like that.
“No, no, I do drink beer. I just…it’s complicated”, Vegas’ words failed him yet again on this evening – at least, Pete didn’t seem to mind.
“You don’t owe me an explanation you know.”
That sentence sounded so alien to Vegas who was used to having to justify everything and anything he did all the time. It felt uncomfortable to let the thought sink in that it maybe didn’t have to be like that – frankly, it actually felt a bit dangerous.
The attractive dancer Kinn had stared at the dancing hall actually saved Vegas from having to reply something to Pete’s kind words when he stepped out on the veranda to demand a cigarette from Pete. Without paying it much mind, Vegas held out the lighter for him as well which he accepted with a puzzled look.
“And who is he now?”, the other man asked Pete while apparently ignoring Vegas, “another guest?”
Pete didn’t even have to answer this question verbally – his facial expression said enough.
“You are lucky the other one already left. I don’t think we should have more than one of them at our staff-only party.”
The other guy's tone of voice very much implied that there actually shouldn’t be anyone here that wasn’t part of the staff in the first place. However, Vegas should probably be more concerned about the other part of this statement – Kinn had already left the building. On the one hand, that meant that Vegas should leave too because there wasn’t actually anything left to do for him here. On the other hand, he now had to worry if his cousin had seen him standing here on his way out.
“I guess I should leave.”
Vegas tried to ignore Pete’s faint “No, you don’t have to.” as he turned away from the two employees to disappear into the night without saying his goodbyes – he only dared to turn back at the bottom of the stairs.
As expected his father was waiting for him back at the house. Before Vegas entered the room he tried to get rid of anything in his appearance that could be considered a flaw – although he always tried that he almost never succeeded.
“So you are back.”
His father didn’t even bother to look up from the papers he was reviewing at the moment. Nevertheless, Vegas automatically corrected his posture to straighten his back a little more. Following that, he waited for his father’s attention and instruction.
“Go ahead. Tell me what did Kinn do.”
On his way to the house, Vegas had thought long and hard about what exactly he should tell his father. Ideally, he wouldn’t have to say the truth – that he failed – without straight up lying to the other man.
“I followed him to the staff-only area”, now his father’s eyes were finally focussing on him with interest.
“But he just hung out with the employees. That’s unconventional but not illegal.”
“That’s all?”, his father’s voice was drenched in disappointment.
After Vegas had nodded, the other one got up from his desk to saunter over to him. Vegas was 70% sure that this father wouldn’t hit him. He normally tried to avoid that when they were staying at the resort – too many witnesses for Vegas’ bruises and all. But his father also knew that he didn’t have to actually hit Vegas to make him afraid. Therefore, Gun Theerapanyakul was now cracking his knuckles while he was standing directly in front of his son.
“You will have to work harder or do you want them to look down on us forever?”
Out of nowhere, his father grabbed his neck roughly which was definitely meant as a threat and Vegas avoided making eye contact. Deep down, he wanted to protest this treatment but he was aware that his father was in the right – Vegas had disappointed him yet again. He could never be a perfect son like Kinn.
“You can go now. I don’t know why I expected something better from you. Is it too much to ask of you to do something right for once?”
Of course, his father had completely forgotten how Vegas had already locked down two important business deals in their short time here. However, his father was always better at taunting him for his mistakes than praising him for his achievements and Vegas probably deserved that.
“I will try to do better tomorrow, father. Good night.”
Vegas couldn’t afford to run out of the room although he wanted to so badly – showing weakness would certainly get him punished. Only when he felt the closed door against his back was he able to breathe properly again. Maybe he would need a drink before bed after all.
However, when Vegas finally reached his room he was met by another surprise: Macau was lounging on his bed while he played around on his phone. His little brother immediately looked up to meet his gaze as Vegas opened the door.
“I was already contemplating sending a search party after you”, Macau declared with a shit-eating grin on his lips.
“No need to be overdramatic”, Vegas replied cooly but he couldn’t hold back a grin either.
In favour of his little brother, he quickly packed up all the bad feelings his father had triggered and pressed them to the back of his mind. Vegas liked being the good big brother better than being the disappointing son anyway.
“Will you tell me now what you have been up to?”
Lately, Vegas had actually started to talk to Macau about business stuff sometimes – of course, always in a sanitized version that never included their father being an absolute asshole. He sat down next to his brother while taking off his jewellery.
“I met a guy”, he replied which wasn’t technically a lie.
“Oh, a guy ?”, Macau echoed in a suggestive way as he leaned in closer.
Vegas softly pushed his head the other way and rolled his eyes at this teasing behaviour.
“Not like that. Get your head out of the gutter.”
But somehow, that exchange sparked the question for Vegas if Pete could be a guy like that – he instantly had to stop that thought before it got out of hand. He really didn’t have time for a summer fling even if Pete was funny and sweet and pretty. It didn’t make sense to waste thoughts on something that wasn’t meant to be – that couldn’t be.