Just The 2 Of Us

Chapter 46: Just Challenging

"Welcome back to Bangkok, Nong." The familiar voice said in a mocking tone. Nanon wondered how the man knew he was out of the city that weekend. A fearful possibility crossed his mind.

"Are you stalking me now? I pay you to stay away from my boyfriend and I. How the hell do you know we..." Nanon took a deep breath as realization struck him. "You're the one who photographed us at the beach, aren't you?"

"Bingo!"

"Fuck! So, blackmailing me wasn't enough, so you went to my boss!? Are you trying to lose your monthly allowance? If I lose my job, there will be no more money for you-"

"Chill, Nong. I knew your CEO wouldn't be dumb enough to sack you and your lover right away. You two are the golden gooses of the company. Don't you know anything about business?"

"Why are you calling me? You signed some sort of silent deal, didn't you? You can't spread those photos everywhere. You can get in trouble with-"

"I didn't sign anything, kid. I gave the photos to a journalist, and he was the one who signed that stupid paper. Afterwards, we split the money GMMTV was willing to pay us for those treasures and we parted ways."

"What is it now? Do you want more money? Why are you following us?" Nanon was suddenly confused. Was Ananda bored? All this time that monthly allowance kept the man from bothering him. He wondered what had changed.

"Mark is not getting better."

Nanon felt an immense relief after hearing that.

"Ananda, there's nothing I or Ohm can do to change that."

"Next week is going to be our anniversary. The anniversary of the day I changed him in that basement."

"Good for him then. I bet that if we had a chance to ask him, he would rather be in a coma instead of celebrating it with you."

"In a coma? I'm starting to believe he's dead to me." Ananda chuckled dryly. "But I didn't call you to talk about my relationship with my cousin. I have a list of challenges for you, Nong."

"A what?" The singer ran an agitated hand through his hair and started pacing around his room.

"I'm pretty high right now, so you'd better do as I say."

"Screw you!"

"If you think I am going to allow you and your boyfriend to enjoy sexy honeymoons at a beach while I suffer because of what he did to my cousin, think again! You guys have a debt with me, and no amount of money can cover the damage-"

"What the hell do you want?! Just fucking tell me." Nanon shouted at the phone exasperatedly.

"I saw this thing on the Internet. It's an old hot topic. The blackout challenge. I want you to do it. Get a plastic bag, cover your head with it. Then you're going to cut off your air supply until you pass out. You will need to turn on your camera. I want to watch you do it."

"The blackout what?! What's the use of this? Why do you want me to do something so stupid-"

"Just because."

"Are you for real? This shit is dangerous. People can die from it."

"That's right." The man chuckled manically. "Make sure you don't die then."

Grabbing a plastic bag to harm himself was a horrific thing to do. However, Nanon wasn't sure of what could happen if he didn't follow the man's instructions. The singer could tell that Ananda sounded unusually on the edge, and he couldn't just ignore his command. Nanon considered his options. Ananda was high, and unpredictable, but he was pretty good actor. He could easily fool the man into thinking that he was indeed asphyxiating to the point of losing consciousness in front of a camera. He had that advantage over him, at last. Pretending was what he did best. He made a life out of it.