Mr Ma heard what his son said and he immediately made his way to Kong Da's room, Mr Wang had been tucked into bed and showed no signs of waking up anytime soon. The door to the room was already open and he walked in to see Ma Tian and Kong Da slumped against the bed, sitting on the floor with whatever alcohol had been in the mini fridge. Ma Tian didn't look up as he muttered to his Dad.

"They're gone. With that amount of money they could go anywhere."

"But they wouldn't last long son."

Kong Da wasn't really drinking and he handed another bottle to Ma Tian while Mr Ma sat against the wall opposite them. The room was quiet except for the noise made from Ma Tian drinking. The sight made Mr Ma rubb his tired face before he looked across the room.

"Why is there a hole in the wall?"

"I did it, If i didn't throw my phone, I would've done something stupid."

All three men sat in silence again, Mr Ma didn't know what to do as he looked at his defeated sons. The three sat together for an hour, drinking their sorrows away. When Mr Ma finished his own bottle of spirits, his phone rang loudly in the quiet room.

"Who is it?"

"Mr Ma it's the captain, I heard from a worker of mine that the boys boarded the ferry a couple hours ago, it should've reached the port 30 minutes ago."

The phone had been put on speaker so everyone heard. Now that they had a lead, Mr Ma regained some confidence and he made calls to the phuket airport security, telling them to hold the two boys in a private room if they were to come through. After sending a picture of the two boys, he got up from the floor in better spirits than before.

"Sober up now, we leave tonight. I don't think I'll be able to hide this from my darling so we'll meet in the lobby after I call you two."

Mr Ma left the room while Kong Da stood up, he walked back to the kitchenette and brought back a few bottles of water to help sober Ma Tian but when he returned, he knew water wouldn't solve their problems. Ma Tian was laughing at himself again but tears were prickling his eyes, turning them red.

"Do you think he only saw me as easy money?"

"Look at me and tell me you really think Xiao Chen is that type of person."

Ma Tian got up from the floor, his tolerance was like Kong Da's so he didn't stumble or look drunk, however, the stench from his body could tell someone standing in the hallway that he was wasted. He slowly made his way to stand in front of his brother and stared at him with dead eyes.

"Maybe I have my father's luck, I don't want to believe it but there's a small part of me that thinks that all I was to him was an easy escape from a shitty life."

"Then what about Xiao Li, do you believe he would do the same thing?"

The only reply was Ma Tian shrugging his shoulders as he wandered back to where the alcohol was on the floor, Kong Da pushed past him and picked up whatever bottles still had liquid in them, taking them to the lounge before coming back, Ma Tian didn't put up a fight when his arms were firmly grasped and instead let Kong Da tuck him into bed.

"Have a nap and sober up, I'll pack your room."

"Don't even bother with his shit, if he wants anything he can use my money to buy him some more."

Kong Da only sighed as he drew the curtains and closed the door, heavy snores could be heard before he left the suite. In Ma Tian's room, Kong Da packed both his broken hearted friends bags as well as Xu Chen's. In Mr Ma's suite, Mr Wang was waking up and he found his husband staring at him with a saddened look in his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Mr Ma didn't want to tell his beloved the news of his sons but with how things were going, he couldn't withhold this information like he had hoped. Mr Wang became anxious once he got no reply and his heart raced. The words that his husband told him in the next few seconds stopped the rapid beating completely.

"My darling, the two boys... have. Well they've gone missing."

The words felt like ice and Mr Wang couldn't comprehend what was going on, Mr Ma had hoped that his wife would scream and cry or even breakdown into a crazed babble because then he could comfort him, but he watched as his wife processed what he said and slowly the life could be seen fading from his eyes. Mr Ma became scared seeing his darling so dull and he quickly pulled the frail man into his chest, turning into a rambling mess himself.

"We know they took a ferry and I've already informed the airport security in Phuket. My darling I'll find them okay? Darling?"

Mr Wang didn't speak or respond and only held a blank stare, it was as if he was a shell of himself. Mr Ma kissed his wife all over his face as he said comforting words but nothing broke Mr Wang's blank eyes. Mr Ma laid his wife back into the bed and tucked him in.

"We'll be leaving very shortly, you rest my love and I'll take care of everything."

There was no response as Mr Ma walked to the door then closed it. As soon as Mr Ma was out of the room, he quickly called the airport security again to see if the boys had turned u,p but there had been no sign of them. Mr Ma couldn't believe this as it had already been over an hour since the ferry had docked. After ending the call, he made another to the train station then the bus terminal. Nothing. Running out of options, Mr Ma called back to the captain.

"Eh, they haven't gone to the airport?"

"No, I also called the trains and bus stations but nothing."

There was silence over the phone while the captain thought of other ways the boys could get around.

"Mr Ma I'll call you back, I have some friends who work in Krabi on the docks and I'll see if they got off there."

Kong Da had quickly packed up the first room and moved the large bags to his own room so he could pack his and Wang Li things. Ma Tian was still snoring loudly while he packed quickly. By the time he finished, Mr Ma was banging on his door, a dazed Mr Wang standing behind him.

"They're already on a flight back home."

Mr Ma barged into the room while holding his wife's cold hand tightly, he didn't bother dragging his bags in since they would be leaving in a few minutes. Kong Da quickly woke Ma TIan up before returned to the living room, talking as he walked.

"I thought you called the airport, how could they get through security?"

"They took a ferry to Krabi then took the next flight back home, they were lucky since the next flight was only 15 minutes ago, if they arrived any later then they would need to wait another hour for the next flight."

Ma Tian came into the room slowly, looking more drunk than when he went to sleep, he didn't bother with what everyone was talking about and raided the food left in Kong Da's fridge. He tried to sneak a bottle from the counter but it was confiscated before the cap could be removed. Mr Ma looked between his son and his darling, the pain in his heart growing.

In the lobby, Kong Da was tasked with babysitting the distraught Mr Wang and his agitated brother. Mr Ma stressfully stood at the reception, signing whatever he had to sign and paying whatever he had to pay for the hole his son had created in the very expensive room. They didn't bother with the ferry and the captain picked them up in the speed boat, taking them to Krabi since they had the earliest flight back home.

By the time they had boarded the plane, the sky was pitch black. Mr Wang fell asleep once his husband squeezed into his small cabin and Kong Da secretly pulled the air hostess to the side, telling them to not give Ma Tian any alcohol, even if he paid them.

Everyone was exhausted by the time the plane landed and Mr A called Mr Ma, he had found information on both Mr Wang's situation and where the two boys were headed. The call was postponed though since they were driving and Mr Ma drove everyone back to his apartment. At home he settled Mr Wang into bed once more, returning to the living room where Kong Da and Ma TIan were waiting. Once seated, Mr Ma connected the call to Mr A and placed the phone on the coffee table, the loud speaker filling the room with an aged voice.

"The situation involving Mr Wang is as follows."

Mrs and Mr Xu felt threatened after hearing Ma Tian over the phone, this man didn't sound like a person their son would enjoy being around, let alone sharing a bed with. After the phone call, they looked into Mr Wang more and found that he was also a homosexual; a worker under Mr Wang discussed with them privately that his boss the year before would have secret lunches with Mr Ma, and that he would even receive gifts and flowers daily.

Not many people knew about the relationship since Mr Wang tried to keep it as secret as possible. This then led to the Xu's to follow Mr Wang's trail, they found that he was taking time off of work for a vacation the same time Mr Ma would be taking leave, and the destination would be the same. Luckily for them they knew people who would be travelling to Phi Phi and asked them to keep a look out for Mr Wang.

It was on the day that Mr Ma and Mr Wang were having their romantic picnic that Mrs Xu's friend spotted the couple and quickly called to inform her. After confirming Mr Wang definitely had a gay lover, and that the same lover's son was the man she spoke to on the phone, that was the straw to break Mrs Xu back.

With the new information, she came up with the assumption that Mr Wang was the one to force the gay lifestyle onto her son, there was no other explanation in her mind. She thought that her son's gayness was because of brainwashing Mr Wang had performed and if Mr Wang was taken away, her son would see the light and become his normal self again.

As soon as Mr A finished his explanation, Mr Ma spoke openly.

"What sort of bullshittery is that?"

Mr Ma was at a loss after hearing how this woman's mind worked. Kong Da was also baffled at the woman's crazed thinking while Ma Tian had gone to his Dad's bar, taking a large bottle of whiskey from the shelf. While opening th eexpensive bottle, Mr A's voice rang through the phone clearly.

"Mr Ma, this is the information about the boys."

Mr Ma had left the two boys in Kong Da's room and told them to wait while he went back to his room. The boys sat in the room and ordered food like usual. During the humble meal, Xu Chen's phone rang and it was an unknown number. Usually he wouldn't answer calls from unknown numbers, but Wang Li told him to answer and they could simply hang up if it were a weirdo.

On the phone was Xu Chen's Mum, like when Mr Wang had answered, screamed over the phone. Through the unclear shouts, Xu Chen heard the words brainwashed and Mr Wang will pay for what he did. The phone call played on and once Mrs Xu's anger had subsided, Xu Chen started talking.

"Mum, you're misunderstanding. Mr Wang is a good man and has done nothing bad to me or Xiao Li."

"Silly boy, that's the brainwashing talking! Come back home and we'll find a doctor to help make your brain right again."

The phone was instantly put on speaker and Wang Li listened to the deranged talkings from Mrs Xu, her son becoming more flustered as he stammered out.

"N-No, I'm gay! That's not changing and if you can't accept that then we'll have to cut it here."

"YOU DARE THREATEN ME?! THAT MR WANG IS GOING TO JAIL FOR WHAT HE DID TO YOU AND XIAO LI."

The mother and son duo went back and forth for what felt like a lifetime, Xu Chen had started crying as did Wang Li after hearing his Dad being threatened with jail. It wasn't long before Mrs Xu started screaming again, causing Xu Chen to break down. He screamed with all his might at the phone screen.

"I'LL PAY YOU, I'LL PAY YOU. Just don't take Mr Wang to jail."

Wang Li didn't know but Xu Chen knew about the spare credit card Ma Tian had, he even knew the pin since Ma Tian kept trying to give him a card as a safety net. Xu Chen tried to calmly explain that he would give his mother twenty thousand RMB if she promised to forget about him and Mr Wang for good. After some more arguing and shouting, Mrs Xu finally relented and promised to act as if she never had a son if she was paid in full.

"Fine, I'll take you off our family register."

Both Wang Li and Xu Chen were sobbing as they hung up the phone but they forced themselves to calm down since they didn't know when Mr Ma would be back, Wang Li packed his bag first then washed his face. In the bathroom he looked at his poor looking reflection, before he walked out, he mustered up a brave face for his friend.

Next they went to Xu Chen's room, Wang Li watched as Xu Chen unlocked the safe and took both his passport and Ma Tian's card. The tremble in his hand was obvious and Wang Li held onto the hand hanging by his side.

"We'll pay him back. Both of us."

Without any other hesitation the two boys left the hotel, Xu Chen withdrew everything from the card at an ATM close by. Luckily Wang Li had money saved and he paid for the ferry tickets then their plane tickets, in order for them to hand over the full amount of 20,000 RMB like they had been told. The whole way back to their home country, the two boys second guessed if they were doing the right thing and if they should go back.

After their long journey they found themselves in front of Xu Chen's childhood home. The whole way Wang Li had held Xu Chen's hand, hoping to ease his heartache but also to help calm his own heart. Once a few deep breaths were taken, they made their way through the aged front gate and walked to the door.