Chapter Text
"Mama, look at me!" Kinn cried out from the top of the playground structure, having managed to climb all the way there on his own!
His mother clapped, cheering for him from the bench she was sitting on. "You're amazing sweetie! Woohoo!"
Just then, she heard footsteps coming closer, along with a young voice singing very off-key. She thought it might have been the Totally Spies intro.
Turning around, she was met with two adults holding hands with a small boy, the culprit for this awful singing. Strangely, it brought a smile to her face, no matter how annoying it was.
"Hello." The couple stopped, effectively shutting the child's mouth as well, though he couldn't seem to stop moving as he swung his parents's hands and twisted his little body. "Are you here for the playground? We don't usually see a lot of people coming here at this hour."
The woman laughed while the man took the little boy in his arms, tickling him to make him laugh as well. "Ah well, normally we come here later but this little one was so excited for his birthday today that he woke up way too early with way too much energy, as usual."
Inthira chuckled, she understood to a level, though her two boys had never been quite so energetic. Perhaps Kim would in a few years. Speaking of children, Inthira turned back to Kinn, frowning when she did not see him anymore. "Kinn?"
Her stomach dropped as she feared the worst for her sweet boy, when suddenly she heard a whine. Sighing she excused herself and walked towards a pillar, rounding it to find Kinn hiding behind.
He was plucking small patches of grass while occasionally casting looks at the small family. "Kinn?" His mother's voice made him look up, his little lower lip wobbling. "Oh my baby, come here." Kinn did not hesitate as he rushed in his mother's arms, where he always felt the safest. "It's okay, these people are nice. They even have a child that looks about the same age as you. You could be friends?"
Kinn whined, trying to hide in his mother's body. "Mama, it's scary."
Inthira sighed, gently pulling his head away from her chest. "My sweet baby, it's okay to be scared. But I promise you'll have much more fun if you try to be friends with someone. This little boy could be the first of many. And if it gets too much for you, you come to me and we can leave."
Kinn's little teary eyes stared at his mother's, his pout softening. "You promise?"
Inthira smiled, pressing a soft kiss on her son's forehead. "I promise."
Kinn nodded, slowly going out of his hiding spot. He stopped in the middle of the playground, confused at seeing it empty. He turned to his mother to tell her they left when a head dropped next to his. "Hi."
Kinn shrieked, running back to his mother who simply laughed. What was there to laugh about? Kinn had just witnessed something terrible! "Anakinn." Oh, he liked it when mama called him that. She always said it with all the love in the world. "He just wants to be friends with you. You need to be brave, remember?"
Whining, Kinn stuck out his head from behind his mother's dress to see the boy from earlier hanging upside down from the hanging bars. "Hello!" The little boy greeted, again, with a big smile on his face. He had cuts and bruises from his numerous adventures on the playground, and his tee-shirt was already ruined. "My name's Porsche! What's yours?"
Kinn walked up timidly, sitting down next to him, wondering how the blood wasn't getting to his head. "Kinn." He muttered, intrigued by the boy. "My name is Kinn."
Porsche grinned at him, swiftly lifting himself back up and then dropping down on the ground. "That's cool! Hey, you wanna play a game?!"
Confused by the boy's energy and optimism, Kinn looked at his mother who nodded back at him. "Uhm, I guess that's okay."
"Come on!" Porsche called out to him, hand shotting out to help him up.
Kinn took it, yelping at the boy's strength before rushing with him to the slides.
Uh, this boy seemed nice.
"Mama, can we go to the playground?!" Kinn's little voice had broken the heavy tension that had been gradually envelopping the room as both Korn and Inthira broke eye contact to look at their son.
Kinn was smiling, eyes sparkling as he rocked on his heels, his excitement too big for his little body. Inthira smiled at him, quickly glancing at her husband before crouching down at eye-level. "We will, sweet boy. But right now, mama and papa need to have a serious discussion. We might postpone the playground for today, alright?"
Kinn pouted, eyes casting down at the ground. "But saturday is the only day when I can see Porsche..."
As if somehow connected, Inthira felt her husband's body stiffen, and just like that she knew another argument was going to come up. "Ah, yes of course. But you'll get to see him next saturday, alright? I'm sorry sweetie, I wouldn't do this if it wasn't important, you know that, right?"
Kinn sighed, but eventually he nodded, little feet turning around and taking him back to his room.
"Porsche, huh?" Korn asked before Kinn could leave, startling the little boy. Kinn faced his father, rubbing his thumbs to soothe his anxiety. Father always made him feel uncomfortable. "You will ceize your meetings as of now."
Kinn gasped, feeling betrayed by the man who was supposed to love him unconditionally. "Papa, you can't! He's my friend!"
Korn grunted, but before he could answer, Inthira stepped in front of Kinn, a harsh frown on her face. "He is allowed to have friends, Korn. You already control so much of his life, you will not take this away from him."
"Friends are dangerous. They could be swayed by money. Or that kid's parents, I suppose. They could be taken as hostages, demanding money against their freedom."
Kinn whimpered, not wanting to imagine his new friend hurt. The only bruises he tolerated on Porsche's body were the ones he got from playing. Inthira gritted her teeth before slamming her hands on the table, making the chess pawns fall down on the floor.
Kinn flinched at the loud sound, reaching up to cover his ears. He really hated when mama and papa fighted, especially if it was about him. He whined, trying to calm his mother down when a hand landed on his shoulder.
"Mom, pa?" Tankhun's voice was calm, steady, just his hand on Kinn's shoulder as he guided the little boy behind him. "I can take Kinn to my room, if you'd like."
Mama seemed to realise what Kinn had witnessed as he saw her eyes widening before she crouched down, pressing a kiss to his hair. "Sorry, my sweet boy. Now, you go play with your brother, huh?"
Kinn nodded, hands gripping Tankhun's jeans tighter. Inthira's smile dimmed at that, but she only sighed, standing back up to cup Tankhun's cheek. "Thank you, sweetheart. Comfort him for me, won't you?"
Tankhun nodded, moving to take Kinn's hand into his own as he guided him away from their father's room. Lately, their mother had slept in the guest room more often than not, so Kinn didn't really think it could classify as hers anymore.
They were halfway to Khun's room when the latter smiled down at Kinn. "So, you got a new friend?"
Kinn smiled back at his brother, excited to talk about Porsche to someone. His brother was always so kind as well. "Yes! He's amazing! He can hang on the bars so long, hia! And he never cries when he gets hurt, and he gets hurt all the time, hia it's true! Oh, and he also taught me a trick, look-"
Listening to Kinn's little anecdotes, Tankhun smiled while gently ruffling his hair. His little brother was the sweetest, and he hated the way their father was trying to crush that to the ground.
As they arrived in the older boy's room, Kinn immediately took a bee-line to the bed and jumped down on it, sighing at the cool mattress beneath him. "Hey, are you trying to steal my bed, you little tacker?"
Kinn only giggled, sitting up as he scouched away to let Tankhun some space. "But your bed is so big! I want one like that!"
"Ha! You'd fall off the first night. You're too little Kinny." Tankhun mocked the younger, chuckling at his outraged gasp. He cooed when Kinn pouted, arms crossed on his chest and head turned away. "Aw, come on, it was a joke!" Kinn only huffed, determined to ignore his big brother. "I see how it is."
He didn't see the tickles coming.
And as Tankhun's room filled with children laughter, Kinn suddenly forgot about the scary frown on his father's face or the loud anger oozing out of mama.
Here, in his brother's arms, he felt safer than ever.
"I think my parents don't like each other anymore." Kinn announced as he was busy making a concoction of mud, grass and flowers.
Porsche hummed, intrigued as he put the flowers he had just come back from plucking next to Kinn. "What? Why?"
Kinn only shrugged, feeling suddenly very sad. Porsche saw it and immediately drew him in a hug, making Kinn yelp. "I have mud on me!"
Porsche pulled back, still confused. He looked down at Kinn's mud-covered hands and shrugged back. "So?"
Kinn just stared at him in disbelief. "It's dirty."
Porsche's frown turned angry. "You're not dirty. You could never be dirty. You're too pretty for that."
Kinn's eyes widened as his cheeks turned a bit pink. "Oh. Thanks."
Porsche smiled, looking more like a happy puppy than a human. Kinn wondered if he had an invisible wagging tail.
They spent some time just making their own mixture, comfortable silence in between them as each were focused on their task.
"Hey, Kinn." The boy looked up, blinking at Porsche. "If you want, we can always share my parents. I don't mind."
Kinn just laughed, shaking his head at the boy who pouted. "Don't be silly. I need my mama."
"What about your papa? I never saw him." Porsche asked, brows furrowing as if only realising it now.
Kinn's expression saddened. "My papa doesn't like that I'm friends with you. He thinks it's too dangerous."
Porsche tilted his head sideways, like a puppy. "I don't understand? How can having friends be dangerous?"
Kinn thought for a moment before shrugging. "My papa is weird sometimes. I think that's why mama doesn't like him anymore. He also doesn't play the guitar for her, and she doesn't sing for him. P'Khun told me that's what they used to do before I was born. Maybe it's because of me. Maybe I'm a bad child."
Feeling tears brimming in his eyes, Kinn flinched when he felt Porsche press closer to him. "You're a great child, Kinn. I don't like your papa. He's mean."
Kinn just giggled before pressing his own body closer to Porsche's, dropping his head on the boy's shoulder. "Thanks. I think he's a bit mean too."
Later that morning, when Kinn's mom called him to go back home, Kinn felt lighter than the past few days. Porsche always seemed to have that kind of effect on him, and Kinn wondered if the tingling sensation in his belly was somehow the physical manifestation of it.