Goddess Bless You From Death

 C54 - Special Case 5.

"Boss, we haven't found the suspect yet."

"I'll go around to the back."

"Understood." The young police officer watched the superintendent's back with admiration. It was rare to see someone at this rank actively participating in the field, especially in a drug bust.

Singha moved stealthily along the corrugated metal building until he reached the back. Holding his gun in the standard position, he stopped as he heard footsteps approaching. As soon as he saw the suspect appear around the corner of the building, Singha swiftly kicked the black gun away from him. The suspect threw a punch, but Singha managed to block it. He landed a blow to the suspect's face and reached for his handcuffs.

"You have the right to-"

Thunk!!

Before he could finish his sentence, the suspect swung his arm and landed a solid punch to Singha's right cheek. The numbness and metallic taste of blood in his mouth didn't scare the young officer. He simply spat out the blood and looked up at the terrified drug dealer.

"You bastard!" Normally, he would need to recite the rights before arrest, but if the suspect was completely unconscious, it might not be necessary.

Singha kicked the suspect in the chest, causing him to fall. He then proceeded to kick him in the ribs again. But just as he was about to lean down to grab the collar, the suspect managed to get hold of a gun...

Bang!!!

"P'Singh!!!" Thup jolted awake, drenched in sweat.

He had just returned from dealing with the paintings at his agency's studio. After that, he started doing house chores and accidentally fell asleep on the couch. The dream had made Thup's heart race as if it were about to burst. He grabbed his phone and dialled the first number on his contact list, but there was no answer, which only increased Thup's worry.

"P'Singh, please pick up. Pick up!" The young man paced anxiously. Today was their seventh anniversary, and Thup didn't want to think about any superstitions or old tales on this day. 

The seven-year curse of love is something many believe to be a turning point for couples who have been in a smooth, long-term relationship. Even without any warning signs, when the time comes, smooth love can suddenly become troubled. Some fall out of love, some break up, some leave, and some... leave permanently.

Thup decided to call Darin instead since his big brother wasn't answering. He recalled that Singha had said he would return in the evening after handling the drug case. The thought of these words made Thup even more anxious. It felt like everything in the dream was coming true. The last time he had such a dream, and it came tru,e was when he went into the forest and encountered a murder case.

[What's up, Thup?]

"P'Rin, is P'Singh with you? Is he at the station?" [Singh is out on a case. He should be done by now.]

"I can't reach P'Singh."

[I'll ask the lieutenants for you.]

Thup waited anxiously on the line, glancing at the gift and the large bouquet of white roses on the table he had prepared for tonight. His eyes began to well up with tears. What if something happens to P'Singh...?

[Hello, Thup, are you still there?]

"Yes."

[Well. Sing is in the hospital.]

The phone slipped from Thup's hand as he felt his legs give way. He struggled to breathe, feeling as if something was stuck in his throat. Tears streamed down his pale cheeks.

Gathering his strength, Thup managed to get himself together. He grabbed his wallet and walked out to call for a taxi at the entrance of the neighbourhood. He knew that if he tried to drive himself, he wouldn't make it far. Throughout the ride, he stared at his clenched fists, which had begun to bleed. He questioned why this was happening, why it was happening to him, and how he would cop with it. These negative thoughts consumed him, and he didn't even realise when the taxi had arrived at the hospital.

The young man ran into the hospital, tears streaming down his face. He ran aimlessly, unsure of who to ask or whether he could handle the truth if he discovered it. As he ran in confusion, a voice from behind halted him.

"Thup!!" Thup froze, unable to turn around. If he turned and found out it wasn't really Singha, he didn't know what he would do. "What are you doing here? And are you barefoot?"

"P'Singh.." Thup turned around, tears streaming down his face, leaving Singha shocked. Singha rushed over to him. "P'Singh, h-hic.."

"What's wrong?! Are you hurt? What's wrong, Thup?!" Singha's warm hands cupped Thup's face. Thup cried out loudly and collapsed to his knees. "Thup!!"

"It's you, P'Singh! It's you! Sob, y-you're still warm... sob!"

"I'm here. Don't cry, my good boy."

Singha had no idea what was wrong with the young man in front of him. Seeing Thup run by with a panicked expression, Singha called out to him. The sight of Thup's distress and tears made Singha even more concerned. He embraced his partner tightly, stroking his soft hair and back to comfort him, oblivious to the curious glances of those around them.

After nearly half an hour, Thup began to calm down and fell asleep from exhaustion. Singha sat in the hospital waiting room outside the operating room, as it was relatively empty. He waited for the doctor to come out and provide an update on the suspect's condition. His large hand still held Thup's delicate one, and his shoulder served as a pillow for Thup.

"Singh, pant w-where's Thup?" Darin ran in, breathless and almost incoherent. Behind her, a beautiful female lawyer with jet-black hair and a sharp, slightly haughty face in a suit followed. Her tall and elegant demeanour matched her appearance. She gently patted Darin's back before offering her a drink.

"He's asleep. I don't know what's wrong with him."

"Thup, huff, Thup called me."

"Drink some water first, Rin. Take your time to speak," said the calm yet concerned voice as they gently nudged Darin to sit in the chair next to Singha.

"But I told you I was in a hurry," Darin snapped at her girlfriend.

"I know, I know. Stop shouting and drink some water," replied Thacha, a highly sought-after attorney, as she gently rubbed Darin's back. After meeting in a case in which Darin had to testify as a medical witness, the two began talking and eventually developed a relationship no one had expected.

"Here's the thing, Singha. Earlier, Thup called me to ask where you were. But his voice was trembling and sounded worried. When I told him you were at the hospital, the call just cut off. I thought he must have misunderstood."

"Yeah, probably. I saw him running around everywhere without shoes and crying."

"I'm really sorry. I didn't think he'd be that upset. I just wanted to let him know that you brought the suspect to the hospital, but I didn't get the chance."

"Yeah, well, it's good that there's no real issue. So where were you?"

"I was waiting for Thacha at the station. We were planning to go out for dinner."

"Alright, go ahead. I'll stay here and come back once Thup wakes up."

"What about the suspect?"

"Singh," a voice interrupted their conversation, causing all three to turn around.

"Oh, Mek. What are you doing here at the hospital?"

"Filing a report about encountering some foul-mouthed people, maybe."

"You're the one with the foul mouth!" Darin responded, causing Mek to chuckle.

"I'm here to question witnesses in the case. What are you guys doing here?"

"Singha brought the suspect in to get the bullet removed. Look, the doctor's coming out now." Darin pointed to the doctor walking out the door.

"Oh, P'Singh. P'Darin. Hello."

"What about me?" Mek protested when the kid in front of him didn't acknowledge him.

"Someone unimportant?"

"Charn, stop whining."

"It's you who's whining. Why didn't you come back to the room last night?"

"Because you wanted to lure me?"

Singha rolled his eyes at the two in front of him, who never seemed to conclude this matter.

"You're still arguing about this?" The new arrival made Singha want to whisk the sleeping kid away right then and there. "I already told you to switch off."

"Hell no! Why should I give in?" Mek responded, narrowing his eyes at Charn, who was raising his eyebrow. "What are you doing here, Sei?"

"Here to collect the body for an autopsy."

"Isn't Blue coming too?" Mek asked, swatting Charn's hand away from his waist.

"He'll be here soon. He stopped to buy snacks up front. So, what are you all doing here in such numbers?"

"Come on, I'll summarise." Darin volunteered, standing up and taking a deep breath. 

"Singha brought the suspect here for treatment, and the doctor handling the case is Chan. Mek is here for case documents. Cha and I are here because of Thup, and Thup is here because of Singha. That's it."

"Chaotic," Sei responded briefly after listening.

"Very," Singha added.

"Hmm!" The voice of someone who had just woken up made everyone fall silent immediately.

"Hey, you little pup."

"P'Singh."

"Here," Singha tightened his grip on the hand he was holding.

"How's the guy inside, Doctor?"

"The condition has passed the critical stage. We've removed the bullet, and now he's been moved to the ICU for recovery."

"The police will come to guard him."

"Have your subordinates contact me. And you, come with me. Do you know how many hours I waited for you to come home last night?" Charn pulled Mek out of the area by the collar of his shirt.

"Ouch, ouch! This little rascal!"

"Then let's go. It's almost time for the reservation," Thatcha said, standing up and wrapping her arms around Darin's waist.

"Okay, okay. Singha, Sei, I'm leaving now. Please apologise to Thup for me."

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Go, take your kid home. It'd be good to check his foot injury too," Sei reminded, noticing Thup's bare feet.

"P'Sei, I brought coffee," said the kid who had just walked in, handing a coffee to the red-haired man. "Good evening, Superintendent."

"Alright, I'll take Thup home, and you take care of things here."

"Sure."

Singha led the silent kid to the car and drove straight home. The entire drive was unusually quiet, but he chose not to ask any questions until they arrived home. After settling Thup onto the sofa, Singha went to the bathroom and came back with a basin of water and a clean cloth. He knelt in front of Thup and carefully placed his feet into the water, gently rubbing them to clean them. He soon noticed blood seeping from the soles of Thup's feet.

"P'Singh.."

"Why did you go out without shoes? You got hurt."

"I had a dream..." Thup pulled his gaze back from the void and looked at Singha, recounting everything he had seen: the dream, the curse, and his worries.

Singha attended to the wounds while listening. He then dropped everything in his hands to embrace Thup, who had thrown himself into Singha's arms. Singha could only hold him close, offering comfort without speaking. Everything Thup had described matched perfectly, except that the person who had been shot wasn't Singha but a different person. In the moment when the criminal had aimed a gun at him, Singha had managed to dodge, and in the ensuing struggle, he had broken the criminal's wrist, causing the gun to fire another shot into the criminal's own stomach.

"Stop crying, okay? You'll get a headache."

"If something happened to you, what would I do?"

"Look at me, Thup. I'm here, right in front of you. We're together right now. No one is going anywhere, understand?" Singha gently pushed Thup back, holding his flawless face in his hands. He didn't know what Thup had dreamed or how frightening it had been, but seeing the fear in those eyes made him unable to pull away. "See?"

"Mm." Thup nodded, tears still flowing, and then hugged Singha again.

After about half an hour, Singha sent Thup to shower and wash his face. Meanwhile, Singha walked around, examining the various items laid out on the dining table. His serious expression from the morning gradually softened into a rare smile as he took in the sight of the cake that had melted to reveal the bread inside, the white gift box, and the bouquet of flowers, all adorned with sticky notes bearing familiar handwriting:

'You don't like sweets, so I ordered this with fresh cream. It's not too sweet.'

'You'll definitely find this gift useful. I can't wait to see you use it.'

'Do you like the white roses? I arranged them myself at the shop!' Singha read each note carefully. It wasn't that he hadn't considered the possibility of something happening during his missions, but it was unavoidable when working in this field. He had already spoken with Thup about this, and the young man understood. But this time, Thup was genuinely shaken because he had experienced a bad dream that had come true before.

"P'Singh," Thup's hoarse voice, the tight hug, and the chin resting on his shoulder made Singha turn to look. He buried his nose into Thup's smooth cheek, noticing that Thup's nose and under-eyes were reddened, which made him look endearing. 

"Are you hungry? I can go make something for you to eat." 

"I’ve already ordered food. Let's have something from outside today."

"I'm sorry for scaring you, and also sorry for... messing up our anniversary."

"Let's make up for it next year."

"I had to rush out, so I didn't put the cake in the fridge." Thup tightened his embrace around Singha's waist and sighed.

"I'll just eat you as dessert," Singha turned around to face Thup, clearly seeing his downcast expression. "Did your foot get wet?"

"No, it didn't."

"Does your head hurt?"

"No, it doesn't."

"And are you hungry yet?"

"No, I'm not."

"Want me instead?"

"No-" Thup stopped abruptly, causing Singha to burst into laughter.

"You little pervert."

"Are you tired? Tired of me?"

"Yes, I am."

"Sorry-"

"Tired of you hurting yourself. Tired of you apologising even when you haven't done anything wrong." Singha wrapped his arms around Thup's neck and gazed seriously into his light brown eyes. "I love you so much, Thup. No matter if it's a seven-year, ten-year, or a hundred-year curse, I don't care. If you love me, you need to love yourself more because I don't like seeing you get hurt. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I understand. I love you very much, too. And I understand that your job is dangerous. I know everyone was born to grow old, get sick, and die, but I want to be here with you. I want to hug you, kiss you, and hold your warm body, not a cold one or a body I can't touch."

"Then do it. Do everything you want to do...together." Their noses gently rubbed against each other with affectionate love. "Do everything well while we still have the chance. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

Their lips met in a kiss, pressing together until there was no space between them. Their mouths savoured each other's sweetness with familiar intimacy, each offering trust, love, and well-wishes to the other...

"Happy anniversary, P'Singh."

"Happy anniversary to you, too, Thup." ..forever after.