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Eventually Sailom calmed down enough that Kang was able to slowly pull away. He knelt beside him in the awkward silence broken only by Sailom’s occasional sniffles. It seemed neither of them knew what to say and after a while, Kang stood up, figuring he would just go home.
But as he turned towards the door, Sailom’s hand caught his wrist and stopped him.
“Don’t go.” Sailom’s eyes had full-blown panic in them again. Before Kang could even speak, the smaller boy had dived towards his feet and he clutched desperately at his shoes. “Please! Please, Kang. Don’t go.”
Kang was shocked. Sailom was finally groveling at his feet, but it tasted sour in his mouth now and seemed like the farthest thing from what he thought he wanted. He felt sick. Sailom was actually trembling in fear. Kang could already see bruises blooming on his face and tears filling his eyes.
“My brother isn’t coming home tonight and those guys will come back when they see you leave. Please…don’t…let them…”
Sailom was breathing too hard. Kang knelt down again and pulled him into his arms, desperate to hold Sailom so tight the shaking would stop. A wild desire to cage him in and protect him from absolutely everything flared up strong and sudden inside Kang. He nodded, shushing Sailom and rubbing circles on his back.
“It’s okay. I’m here. I won’t leave.”
When Sailom had calmed enough to stand, they made their way up the rickety stairs to Sailom’s small bedroom. The house was small and dingy and stifling hot with no aircon. Kang watched sadly as Sailom closed and locked the windows. Then he barred the door with a chair as well.
Kang looked at his sad mattress on the floor. He sighed. “I can sleep on the couch downstairs.”
“No!” Sailom’s yell startled him. “Stay here. Please. If you don’t want to share the bed, I’ll sleep on the floor. But just…stay here.”
And before he knew it, he was laying in the bed of his arch enemy, while the other boy settled onto the floor beside him with nothing but a thin blanket and spare pillow.
The situation finally sinking in, he shook his head. “Sailom, get on the bed. You’re beat up, you don’t need to be sleeping on the hard floor.” He moved back the blanket and pulled Sailom onto the mattress before he could refuse.
As they lay next to each other on their backs, looking at the ceiling, Kang finally asked: “Are you really ok? I mean besides physically. You seem…really shook up by all this.”
Sailom sighed. “I’ll be fine,” he said shortly.
But something was off. Kang turned to look at him. “But right now you’re not. And you weren’t before. Where’s the stupid, cocky, brave bastard who didn’t even flinch when I almost punched you in the face?”
“You’re just not that scary.”
Kang narrowed his eyes but refrained from saying anything. He sighed and laid back down. If Sailom didn’t want to tell him, he wouldn’t. For a long time, Sailom was silent; Kang thought he’d fallen asleep, but then he spoke quietly.
“This isn’t the first time this has happened to me. Or even the second. My brother and I are always at the mercy of men like that and…well…there isn’t always a white knight to come and chase them off.” Kang looked back at him and Sailom was staring at the ceiling, glassy-eyed and teary.
“The first time, they came at night, just like tonight, and—I was eleven. Just…just a little kid. My brother was there and took the worst of it. They eventually took something valuable and left. The second time…” he started shaking again and swallowed hard, visibly gathering his strength. “The second time, I was fourteen and…and they—they ganged up on me on my way home from school and there were three of them. Three huge men against one small kid, and they—they—“
Kang felt sick. He could guess enough and didn’t need to hear more. He’d never felt red hot rage in his veins like he did right then. He pulled Sailom close, crushing him against his chest. He could feel him shuddering, but he had stopped talking. Sailom’s warm tears soaked the front of his shirt, and Kang held him for hours like that until the smaller boy passed out from exhaustion. Kang himself never slept that night, fueled by a lit fire that demanded he protect Sailom, and he felt like he would burn down the whole world before he let anyone hurt him again.