Snores echoed through the room. One guy had his leg flung over the other, mouth wide open, mumbling nonsense in his sleep.
"Aii, Mark!"
Josh groaned, twisting under the weight. "Get off me, idiot."
He shoved Mark's leg off and sat up fast, squinting at the clock on the wall.
"Shit!"
He shot out of bed and dashed into the bathroom.
Late. Again.
First lesson as a rookie investigator, being late wasn't an option. You were supposed to show up before your seniors, act invisible, and keep your head down. But with Mark as a best friend-slash-roommate? Good luck with that.
Josh struggled to brush his teeth and zip his pants at the same time. His shirt was halfway on, socks mismatched, and he still couldn't find his ID card.
He slipped and hit the floor with a loud grunt.
Mark, still half-asleep, chuckled from the bed. "One day you're gonna break your ass for real."
"Shut up," Josh muttered, crawling to grab his phone charger , belt and trying to clean up his mess, for one thing Josh hated being disorganised.
"You know," Mark yawned, "you could always organize later."
Josh shot him a glare. "I'm not like you."
Mark tossed a pillow at him, but Josh was already halfway out the door.
"Pick that up!" Josh shouted from outside.
Mark sighed into the mattress. "So cold….
How am I even friends with that guy?
—--------—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(CITY CRIME UNIT)
JOSH KATHIWAP , he was called into the seniors office.
Josh stood stiffly in front of his senior detective's desk.
"You're late," Detective Sarah snapped without even looking up from her file.
He didn't argue.
Didn't flinch.
Just stood there, jaw clenched and eyes blank, while a storm of curses toward Mark played quietly in his mind ,....he was mentally strangling him.
Late again in his second week — thanks to him and unplugging alarm clocks as a habit.
"You want to be taken seriously here, Kathiwap?" Pailin's voice cut through his thoughts. Sharp. Cold. "Then act like it."
"Yes, ma'am," Josh replied.
He didn't say anything else.
Responding only gave Sarah more to work with, and the last thing he needed was another lecture
Short. Empty.
She finally looked up at him. Cold eyes scanned his face like a file that needed sorting. Then, she moved on, flipping the pages of a book like he wasn't worth a second.
Josh exhaled slowly.
Second lesson of surviving this job: take it all and say nothing
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(DEVA CLUB)
The music hit like a heartbeat.
Lights flashed. Bodies moved. Some grinding, some high out of their minds. Laughter mixed with low moans. It reeked of sex, drugs, and trouble.
Tai stood alone near the VIP rail, untouched. Watching.
A woman in a red dress slid up beside him. "Tai," she purred. "You've been standing there for ten minutes. Don't you wanna have some fun?"
"I don't do fun," he said flatly. "I came for something. I'm leaving after."
She laughed, brushing her hand along his arm. "I always preferred you over Rin. He's a snake. You… you're colder."
Tai didn't even blink. "Hands off."
She huffed. "At least have a drink, Mr. Sukhum. The night's still young."
Tai turned his head, eyes already drifting elsewhere.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Josh, come onnnn," Mark whined, dragging Josh down the alley outside the club. "You said we'd go. You swore."
"I said I'd consider," Josh muttered. "I just got chewed out by my senior detective. Because of you."
"I'm horny and miserable ,man."
Josh stared at him like he'd just confessed murder. "And that's my business how?"
Mark pouted. "Come on dude, you owe me! You made me fix the busted heater. Also, I'll stop screwing with your Alarm clock.... if you come with me.
Josh stopped walking.
"Never ever," Mark repeated with both hands raised. "No more sabotage"
Josh sighed. "Thirty minutes."
.
.
.
.
.
Inside the club, Mark vanished within seconds to hunt for dick.
Josh went straight to the bar, ignoring every hand that tried to graze him.
"Three shots," he told the bartender.
No questions asked.
He grabbed the first and gulped it down.
"Whoa," someone said beside him. "Trying to forget or explode?"
Josh glanced sideways. The man was sleek. Pale. Eyes sharp and unreadable. Rings on his fingers. Dressed like wealth and trouble.
"Is what I'm drinking your problem?" Josh replied dryly.
"You've got some mouth."
Josh ignores him reaching for his second shot and tipped it down fast.
He wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
That's when Tai really looked at him.
The boy's jaw was sharp but soft, lips slightly parted from the burn of alcohol. There was something careless about the way he drank …. like he didn't care what anyone thought. Like he didn't know someone was watching.
He took his third shot.
Tai tilted his head, eyes dragging from Josh's messy collar to the way his throat moved when he swallowed.
Cute.
Reckless.
Exactly his type.
Josh didn't look at him again, but Tai couldn't stop watching. The way his fingers tapped the glass. The slight furrow in his brow. The heat rose to his cheeks. He looked….
Like someone I want beneath me, begging.
Tai licked the inside of his cheek and stepped forward.
But just as he opened his mouth….
"POLICE! GET DOWN!"