Chapter 02

“What's the problem, Harry? Why do you seem so deep in thought there, and why we're not leaving yet? We've been waiting here for almost two hours.” Elton asked him while they were in the car and outside the Vanilla nightclub. They had been waiting there for almost two hours as Harry's mind wandered. “Who exactly are we waiting for here?” he added.

“His name is familiar to me. But I don't remember where I met him.” He said that's why Elton turned to him with a look of astonishment on his face.

“Wait, who are you talking about?” He asked him.

“The owner of this nightclub, Felix Crosinciano. I seem to have heard his name for a long time, but can't remember where we met.” He replied as he tried to remember about Felix. Until he realized that he was his childhood friend and the person he had been looking for a long time. Therefore, he immediately got out of his car when he saw Felix, who had just left the nightclub.

“Felix!” when he called his name, he immediately turned to him with a look of astonishment on his face. He immediately approached him and stopped in front of him with a wide smile on his lips. “Long time no see, Felix. Why didn't I recognize you sooner.” He added as he watched him from head to toe, while Felix was still looking at him in wonder.

“What do you think you're doing? Didn't I send you out a while ago? Are you still not leaving now?” he said to him while peeking behind him where their car was parked.

“I'm looking forward to you going out.” He replied, which shocked Felix. “I'm Harry, your childhood friend. Don't you remember me? We used to be best friends, and we met at Morales national high school.” After he said that, Felix's eyes widened in shock, and then he looked at him from head to toe with a trace of amazement on his face.

“Then I'm right that you might be the Harry I know?” he said with a smile on his lips, and Harry nodded his head as he hugged his childhood friend tightly. The smile almost didn't disappear from their lips when Felix suddenly remembered what happened to them when they were in high school, where he kissed Harry on the lips for no reason so that he would know his most hidden secret. Therefore, he immediately stayed away from him with a trace of embarrassment and shame on his face.

“I've been looking for you for a long time, Felix, and I'm so happy to see you again.” After Harry said that, he slowly raised his gaze to Harry's face where they met each other's eyes. The two of them were silent for a moment as they refreshed their memories of the past when they were happy together without worrying about the problem and when Harry found out about his dark secret. But despite all that, Harry still accepted him for who and what he really is.

Felix is gay and a member of an LGBT group. However because his father was a businessman and mafia boss, he did not accept his true identity. Instead, he always hurt him and mistreated him whenever he wore women's clothes and used makeup on his face. In his father's rule that he must be a straight man and be his heir, he did everything to correct his true gender. He was immersed in a drum with full of water, tied upside down, locked in a dark room, and not fed for a week just to make him a completely strong man. Fearing that his father might kill him, he pretended to be a man and hid his true gender from him. No one else knows his true identity except Harry, and even though they haven't seen each other for a long time, Harry still feels that he is still the same Felix he once knew. But Felix thought that the time they shared could never be restored to the way they were when they were friends.

He would rather not put Harry in danger if his father found out about him, so he decided to just be cold-hearted with him and stay away.

“How are you? It's been a long time since we've seen each other and talked like this. You've changed so much that I hardly recognize you. I'd like to know, but I hope you answer me honestly, are you still my old friend Felix?” Harry asked him, but he didn't answer him right away, instead, he just looked down and put both of his hands in his pants pockets.

“You should know that all people change over time. I'm glad to see you again, Harry. But I hope this is the last time we see each other.” After he said that, he turned his back on him and was about to walk away from him, but Harry immediately stopped him and grabbed his arm which made him stop at the same time he slowly looked at the hand that was holding him.

“I missed you so much, Felix. You don't know where I went to, just to find you. I was anxious about you when you suddenly left without saying goodbye. I was so hurt in those moments while I was waiting at our old meeting place.” Harry said to him as he bowed his head. However, Felix remained cold towards him, and then he removed the hand that was holding his arm, causing Harry to look up at him.

“I'm not the Felix you once knew, Harry. I'm a mafia boss now like my father wanted me to be, and I don't regret following in his footsteps. I like who I am now.” After he said that, a black car stopped in front of him and when it lowered the windshield, he realized that it was his father. So, he didn't look back at Harry, instead, he immediately got into his father's car.

Harry didn't realize that his tears flowing in his eyes, but he couldn't allow Felix to be separated from him again, so he immediately returned to his car and let his colleagues go. Then he followed the car that Felix was riding in, which he didn't know. Until they arrived at an abandoned building where there was no one else there but them. Harry secretly stopped his car without anyone else noticing him. Then he saw Felix get out of the car with his father and some of their staff. Harry followed them carefully until he heard a scream coming from inside the abandoned building. He approached them and peeked to find out what was happening there. His eyes almost widened in shock when he saw a bloody man sitting on a chair with his hands and feet tied. In addition to that, he witnessed how men in black suits would torture and hurt him. He also noticed Felix just standing there as he watched them mistreat the bloody man.

After a while, they untied the man, and then he crawled closer to Felix where he knelt in front of him while he repeatedly begged him to help him. But suddenly, his father approached him and handed him a gun, which surprised Harry.

“You did it. Show me now that you deserve to be trusted.” His father said to him, while Felix just stared at the gun being handed to him. “What else are you doing? Shoot him.” He added at the same time he put the gun in Felix's hand, but there was a trace of fear and dread on his face at what his father was ordering him to do.

“Don't, Felix. Don't obey your father.” Harry whispered from his mind.

Felix slowly turned at the bloodied man in front of him, and then he pointed the gun he was holding at his forehead while his father stood next to him and laughed loudly.

For a few minutes, the whole area was quiet while they waited for Felix's gun to fire, but suddenly, he let go of the gun and knelt in front of his father while he begged him not to kill him.

“I can't kill him. I can't kill anyone. I'm begging you to just let him go.” He pleaded with his father, but he was completely disappointed and angry with him. So instead of listening to what his son was telling him, he kicked him hard in the face, causing him to lie on the floor and get a wound on his nose where his blood immediately started to flow.

“You're a worthless son! You still haven't changed, you're still weak, Felix. Don't tell me you still don't learn what I teach you. Do you want to be locked in your dark room again just to obey everything I ordered?” his father said to him angrily as he looked at him intently. But Felix immediately came to him and hugged his right leg to beg him not to lock him up again.

Because of that, Harry covered his mouth with one of his hands, with tears coming from the corner of his eyes.

That is not what he expected to see from his childhood friend, and he did not expect it until now he is still living under the rule of his strict father. He couldn't believe that his father was still hurting and mistreating him despite his insistence on being a real man even though it wasn't the real him.

He even witnessed how his father would torture and hurt him. That's why he couldn't stop interfering with them anymore, and he ran to Felix while he was writhing on the floor after his father hit him with his cane on different parts of his body. His eyes almost widened in shock as he noticed every bruise and wound on his arm and face. Because of that, he was forced to take out a gun, and then he pointed it at the forehead of Felix's father, which surprised them all.

“One more move and I'll make sure the bullet will hit the inside of your skull.” He threatened him, which made the old man grin. Because of that, they couldn't move from their places and were just looking at him. Harry helped Felix to stand up while he put him in his car, and then they left that place immediately.

“What are you doing there? Follow them and bring Felix back to me!” His father angrily ordered his men, and they immediately followed Harry's car.