NICHOLAS:I woke up to a sneezing Greg. He is snuggled to me and wrapped in the blanket. The weather had gone colder in the middle of the night and left his trachea blocked and frozen.“Hey.” He opened his eyes to my call, coughed and hummed on my chest. “You caught a cold. I will make you some tea.”I rose from the sofa and fetched my clothes from the floor. I went into my track pants, hung the polo on my shoulder, and marched to the kitchen.Greg didn’t stop coughing. I feared he would become worse and require medical attention. So, I opted for ginger and garlic tea to save us any urgency.“Greg, can you sit up?”He sat up, secured his bare trunk in the blanket and took the teacup. He lifted it to his nose, smelt the liquid and frowned.“Take some sips.”Only a few young people enjoy herbal tea. But he needs it. It will aid his cold. “No.” He returned the cup to me, collected the tissue box I brought with the tea, took a few and sneezed.“You must.”“I…” He was interrupted by coughs

GREG: ‘Relax…’ The word invaded the fragile part of my heart, pierced and shattered it to pieces. He aimed to serialise my tensed body. Nicholas urged me to relax to mellow my density. Except it worsened it. Hearing the word brought me fear. I wasn’t afraid of Nicholas. I wasn’t sure what ignited the fear. I was merely taken back to the day of my abduction — the stranger taking my innocence, his whispers and making me feel pleasured most painfully. “I can have my gift another time,” Nicholas said. He was thoughtful to consider my sudden withdrawal, but I wanted him. I wanted to have him in me. I was prepared and consented to what he craves. “I want this.” “Me too, Sweedy. But you must take a rest.” “There is no better pill.” “Right,” he smiled. He found it funny. “Don’t smile." “You are tired.” I was not! Driving that distance and roaming in the storm did not affect me. And please! That was not about strength. “Nick…” “Lie still, I will make the fire.” I couldn’t get hi

NICHOLAS:“He enjoyed it like you did…”Chills flushed into my system as Park repeated Vain’s exact words. They kept seeing and saying the possibility of that. What if they are right? Would that make Greg comfortable with a shitty guy who r*ped him, and watched by his ex-boyfriend? Would he not think I did that to as many boys as possible?“You won’t know a thing by overthinking and hiding,” Wendy read my thoughts. “You have to speak to him.”“Either way, I will lose him. I have lost him.”Yeah, I should keep these words with me to avoid expectations and disappointment. I will speak to him, but I must prepare only to be grateful if he keeps the cops rather than expecting a reformation in our relationship.“You must trust in the love you both shared.” Park encouraged. “If not you, don’t ridicule Greg’s feelings.” I shouldn’t. For a move, I listened to Wendy and Park analyzing ways to approach Greg and make the confession; a home call, school call, phone call, texting, or dinner date.

GREG:I tried to look happy and at my best. I covered my pains and laughed aloud to avoid anyone pining on my sadness and turning against Nicholas.Stupid as it may seem, I held onto the tiniest hope that Nicholas would come around. He would wake up and say he didn’t mean to abandon me.It never happened. Nicholas didn’t call or text. He shut down his cell phone to keep me from reaching him as well, and it hurt as hell.It hurts unimaginably that every night I cry my balls out; and end up running out of the house at the early rise of the morning to school to avoid questions from the household.“I am here if you want to talk about anything.” Mr. Ben kept saying.I couldn’t avoid him. Mr. Ben met me groggy and flattened every morning. Although he saw it, he knows not to ask questions and I didn’t tell him either. I didn’t tell anyone Nicholas broke up with me. I could confide in Mr. Ben and he won’t tell anyone if I asked him not to, he is loyal and attentive to whatever I request of hi

GREG: I took my car keys and walked into everyone in the living room.Granny stood with a glass of milk, aiming to bring me breakfast. Rose in her uniform, combines her meal with creating social media reels. Dad is out to his office and Mum, looking nowhere ready for work, sits with her tablet, scrolling through and fro.“Greg?” Granny announced my presence and everyone nimbled to scan me.“Good morning.” I made a general greeting and took the glass cup from Granny. “Thank you.”Mr. Nazit and his nearby subordinates looked so pleased to see me and so were the few housekeepers at reach.It has been days of dwelling in my room. My sudden appearance had them treating me like the Lazarus. It is not very pleasant to see that reaction, but I appreciate they missed me.Although no one bothered to knock me out of my room during that time, Granny didn’t fail to widen my door on every meal of the day in fear I starve in solidarity.“You are quite dressed,” Mum couldn’t hide her joy. “Come, sit