Chapter 19: Thank you

“If it wasn’t for you, Mangkon would only have me!”

The atmosphere was full of tension. Saming, who seemed to have lost his mind, laughed maniacally. The gun in his hand, which had been pointed at the center of the round forehead, moved position to point directly at Thian’s face. Eyes filled with rage looked back and forth between his classmate and younger comrade.

“Why, Thian? Why do I have to lose to you all the time?” Saming asked in a low voice, but every word he spoke seemed heavy and deeply painful.

The listener didn’t reply. Thian stood still staring at his friend with an unreadable look, letting the other party continue to speak. Words began to pour out as if he could no longer contain them.

“Hey, Thian. What’s so good about you? Why can’t I beat you? In work, in life, and in love too, huh?”

Since they were in school together, no matter the subject, he couldn’t compete with him. He was always the follower. Even getting promoted to inspector, he was one step behind him.

“Every time, people called your name before mine, and every time, you stood in front of me.” His voice trembled slightly, but he smirked mockingly.

“Mangkon has always chosen you, always chosen you over me!”

“What’s so good about him? Huh? Mangkon, what’s better about him than me? I taught you, I helped you all along. He’s only good at speaking cruelly and discouraging you. But why do you still always choose him?”

Finally, Mangkon, who had been sitting still for a long time, spoke up. The little man’s voice trembled slightly, but what his senior was saying wasn’t true at all.

“Senior doesn’t really know Inspector.”

Saming paused, turning to stare at the round face, as if those words had sparked anger. “What do you mean? I’ve known him even longer than you, Mangkon!”

“But Senior has never truly understood Inspector. Never understood what kind of person Inspector is.”

Flashback…

Evening in the provincial police academy, Thian walked past Mangkon in the narrow corridor near the training room. The tall figure, full of confidence and the aura of an assistant instructor, made the younger police officers standing nearby subconsciously tense slightly.

“Hey, you. Since you can defend yourself, you haven’t gotten hurt, huh?” The deep, somewhat teasing voice spoke as he raised an eyebrow.

“I have to thank the Captain.”

The round, beautiful face smiled brightly. In his head, he recalled the incident two weeks ago. He remembered it well. The day he was beaten up by a gang in a dark alley for investigating a case they were involved in. Even though he tried his best to fight, he knew he wasn’t strong enough yet.

And at that moment, when he thought he wouldn’t make it back to see his mother again, it was Captain Thian who came to help, handling those gangsters completely.

“Captain Thian…” Mangkon said softly. “What? Getting into trouble again, huh?”

“I have to thank the Captain. That day, if it wasn’t for the Captain, I’d probably…” “Really gone to the underworld.”

That joking remark with the onyx eyes scanned him from head to toe. He really didn’t understand why someone so small wanted to be a cop. His skill level still wasn’t improving. There was definitely muscular development from the first day he came in, but…

“You should train more, Mangkon. You’re a policeman, why do you punch like a kindergartener?”

“Are you looking down on me, Captain? I have my good points too, you know.”

“Looking down on you? Just stating the truth.” Thian turned to look at him with a still gaze, but full of straightforwardness.

“That day, you threw three punches and didn’t even touch them thugs.” “Then teach me, Captain!”

Because of that request, Mangkon had to stand in the training room right now. All kinds of equipment were neatly arranged, and available to choose from, but this training session was forbidden to use any equipment.

“Ready, Mr. Mangkon?” “Ready!”

Mangkon replied with a nod before beginning to teach him the basics. From the stance, posture, turning posture, punching and self-defense. Although it was basic training, it was harder than he thought it would be.

“Keep your guard up firmly. If you leave your hand like that, anyone can kick you in the face easily.” The young captain shouted as he walked around the student who was trying to follow.

“I’m trying.”

“Trying isn’t enough, you have to do it!”

Hours passed. The one intent on improving was panting and nearly unable to stand. It wasn’t fair at all. No matter how hard he punched, the captain could dodge them, and didn’t seem tired at all.

So envious. That’s what a skilled person is like. “Are you going to give up?”

“No!” The clear voice shouted back. Even though his body was tired, he felt a certain force in his heart that he never had before.

Thian smiled slightly, and at that moment, he felt that there was something interesting about this kid. Not giving in was a quality that a policeman should have.

Intense training every evening passed by. Until it came to taekwondo training. Another week passed. Some days were basic training, such as stances, movements and different postures.

But today was the first time Thian taught a throwing technique from behind. The young captain tried to explain and demonstrate in detail before telling Mangkon to try following.

When Thian grabbed Mangkon from behind to demonstrate, at the moment the taller man’s pulling force sent him forward, the younger one lost his balance because the difference in weight caused them both to fall down. The younger man fell on top of the older one immediately.

Silence covered the atmosphere…

The light brown eyes widened slightly, while the young captain looked up at the beautiful eyes up close for the first time with unexpected intimacy.

Causing a strange feeling that no one could speak out loud. The little heart of the younger man was beating fast, along with his face turning red.

“S-sorry, Captain.”

“Hm? Why apologize?”

The younger man quickly got up and moved away slightly. His slender hand raised up to rub his neck gently.

Damn it.

This captain is too good looking. “Were you staring at me?”

“No!” Mangkon denied loudly, but the shyness was shown through his red ears. And his flustered expression made it seem as if the denial had no weight.

“You did well today. You did better than ever.”

Thian spoke the truth. In just a few weeks, this little one had improved leaps and bounds. The reward for someone who did well was a thick hand raised to stroke the soft hair lightly, a thank you for training hard.

“C-Captain.”

“A reward. Take that for now.”

Someone smiled brightly. That was already very good. He felt grateful to Captain Thian from the bottom of his heart. Confidence was starting to return to him, including the previous incident where the captain had helped him overcome his fears.

“Thank you again.”

Present…

Saming started to go crazy again after hearing the story that seemed to admire Thian wholeheartedly. The jealousy and anger that had been accumulating for a long time soared out of control. He clenched his hand tightly, aiming at the person in front of him relentlessly.

“So what, Mangkon? Soon he’ll be gone from this world.” “Are you ready to say goodbye to the world, Thian?”

But before the inspector from Lampang could pull the trigger, in that split second, unknowingly, the rope that had been tied tightly to the police sergeant’s wrist had come loose. Mangkon quickly lunged forward, cutting the edge of his vision. Using his strength, he crashed into Saming’s leg with full force. The loud crashing noise caused the senior officer to lose his balance and fall. The gun in his hand flew away.

“Did the Senior forget that I am a police officer too? Inspector!” Mangkon shouted a warning, signaling the elderly men to hurry.

Thian did not let that opportunity slip away. He took advantage of the moment his subordinate was distracted, smashing his elbow into the ribs of the first subordinate before quickly snatching the gun from the other one into his hand. The sound of the gun being unlocked clicked, making everyone in the room freeze.

Saming tried to get up slowly while Thian walked closer, raising the gun to his classmate’s head with a determined look.

Damn it, I made a mistake again. I made a mistake.

“Shoot me! If you’re for real, then shoot me!” He had nothing left. Either he or it had to die.

Slowly, a taunting tone shouted challengingly. Saming took the opportunity to move backward and tried to get up.

“Because if we fought one on one, you would never win me!”

The dark eyes stared at his classmate for a moment before letting out a long sigh. And at that moment, the short pistol was thrown to the ground along with a thick hand that raised a fist to guard.

“Then come at me. You want this to end, right?” “Don’t challenge me, Thian.”

At the end of the speech, the two inspectors jumped towards each other at speed, as if no one would give way. Saming opened the innings with a punch lunging at the target. But with Thian’s skill that was more than him, he dodged immediately and countered with an elbow that slammed into the opponent’s side with full force.

“Huh, do you think I’ll let you, Thian?” “If you dare, just come get me.”

The sound of punches grew louder. The two men alternated between offense and defense. Although the Chiang Mai police inspector had an advantage in technique and speed, the Lampang police inspector’s power was enough to make the fight prolonged and violent.

At that time, Mangkon, who was watching from a distance, didn’t know what to do. Even though he would stop them, it would be useless. And his strength was almost gone at this point . Even shouting was difficult.

“I-Inspector… Senior.”

The tone was faint, as if it was carried away with the wind. But for a moment, Saming, who was starting to lose, turned back to look at Mangkon unintentionally. The eyes that were sent to him were filled with disappointment.

Disappointed, huh….

That image caused Saming to pause for a moment. The feeling of defeat in his heart began to form without knowing it. And that was enough for Thian to seize the opportunity to counter a right hook into the face of the Lampang police inspector with full force.

“Ugh, ow!”

“Enough. Let the law deal with you from now on.”

Saming lay still, the eyes that used to boast had turned into something else. He didn’t just lose this fight, but the heart of Mangkon, who he had been eyeing, was never his.

It was over, wasn’t it? It was over. He was pathetic.

Soon, the sound of sirens echoed from outside. Lieutenant Colonel Kanin’s assistant led the force into the area. Saming’s subordinates were all arrested, along with him, lying still and powerless.

Thian’s tall figure strode towards the spot where the small man was kneeling on the ground, exhausted. Without waiting, the older one knelt down in front of him, his handsome face full of concern.

“Mangkon, are you alright?”

“I-Inspector ” Mangkon’s trembling voice uttered, but before he could say more, a thick

hand raised up to touch his shoulder lightly. “You don’t have to say anything. Don’t “

“Thank you thank you for helping me again.”