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Chapter Text

“Venice, I would really appreciate it if you stopped laughing at me,” whined Paris because Venice wasn't taking her seriously at all. All that she wanted to do was to tell Venice what happened the other day when she was following the guy and Venice was just laughing at her, which was rude. It was very rude of him to be laughing at her like this!

Paris really didn't know what happened back there in the alley. It pissed her off now that she didn't chase after the other teen, she didn't know what possessed her back then to just kind of freeze to stare at her. Well, deep down she kind of got the hint, but she wasn't going to entertain the idea that she fancied her. No, no, no, there had to be another explanation for what happened back there.

Paris just didn't know what else it could be, but she was hoping that perhaps Venice could help her out. He was the person that everyone turned to when they needed help, he was the person with amazing advice – usually – but right now he was being a pain in the ass!

“Venice,” whined Paris and Venice quickly stopped laughing, at least he tried to, but to him all of this was hilarious. He could see what had happened and it was funny that Paris was claiming that she didn't understand it. Something told Venice that Paris knew all too well what was happening, but she was in denial.

Paris really didn't want to be fancying the person that she was supposed to hate.

Yes, Paris was supposed to hate the other one; wasn't it her fault that she lost the guy she was following? In the end, Vegas and Pete managed to capture him and get the money that he owed to them, but it was different. This was about the principle that the other one butted in and ruined her plans.

Paris knew how to hold a grudge against people that she didn't like, so she wasn't going to just forgive and forget what happened. Oh, no, Paris was going to track her down and make her apologise to her.

Paris really didn't know why she was making such a big deal out of it, her cheeks a little bit red and she cleared her throat because it was just stupid. This whole thing was stupid, but she wasn't going to admit that out loud. Stupid or not, she wasn't in the wrong. She was in the right!

Right?!

“What?” asked Venice and grinned all the way up to his ears.

“Stop laughing!”

“I wasn't,” said Venice and Paris rolled her eyes.

“Will you help me or not?”

“With what? ”

“Like I said – we need to track her down and punish her for what she's done,” said Paris determinately and Venice was now laughing under his breath because it was just hilarious. Paris was known to hold grudges against people, that wasn't new, but still- It was funny to see just how much this bothered Paris.

“Why?” asked Venice and Paris' jaw dropped. “Papa and dad already have the guy and he paid them back the money,” said Venice with amusement clear in his voice. Paris gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes.

“That's not the point,” argued Paris.

“It's not?” asked Venice, trying to act surprised, but he really wasn't. He could see it right through Paris and he just crossed his legs, tipping his head to the side and he hummed along.

“No,” said Paris. “She must know that she can't just mess with us, Theerapanyakuls,” said Paris and Venice slowly nodded.

“Ah, yes,” said Venice and Paris could tell that he was being awfully sarcastic at the given moment. ”That's the only reason why you want to find her, right?” asked Venice and waggled his eyebrows, Paris rolling her eyes and then she scowled at her older brother.

“Duh,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the whole universe. “Why else?” she asked and Venice just shook his head, sighed along and then he placed his hands together. “What?” snapped Paris again and Venice shook his head.

“Nothing,” said Venice.

“So, will you help me or not?” asked Paris and Venice sighed along.

“Sure, but how will we find her?” asked Venice and rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't mind searching for Paris to find her... (not) crush, but he needed a description, at least. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, biting into his lower lip. “You must describe her to me,” he said and Paris nodded quickly.

“Okay, yes,” said Paris because that made sense. Venice needed to know how she looked if they wanted to find her. The only thing was that when Paris thought about how she looked, it made her feel... a certain way.

Paris' cheeks reddened when she remembered how the other teen looked and she cursed under her breath because it was kind of hard to focus. Venice was amused when he noticed the reaction and he shook his head – it was so obvious that Paris had a thing for this girl. It was just funny and Venice wondered how papa and dad would feel if they found out that Paris was again crushing on someone.

Venice had his guard up, though. Sure, he found it funny and hilarious that Paris was crushing on someone, but that didn't change the fact that the other teen attacked Paris. Well, Paris was the one who attacked her first, so it was just self-defence from the other one, but Venice didn't really care. Venice was always going to be overprotective of Paris, that was never going to change.

And he was kind of interested to see who this person was as well. Like Paris said, she was probably in the mafia, so it was kind of interesting. Interesting, but perhaps even a little bit dangerous. Whatever the case was – she left quite the impression on Paris.

“R-right!” said Paris and then she took a deep breath. She needed to be as objective as possible. Yes, she could do this. “She has shorter red hair,” she started and Venice slowly nodded.

“Okay,” said Venice.

“Tattoos,” said Paris and tried to keep her voice as calm as possible.

“Alright,” said Venice. “Do you remember what kind of tattoos? If you do that would really help us narrow it down when we start looking,” said Venice and Paris gulped, closed his eyes and tried to remember. It was really dark in the alley, so she didn't really remember all of them.

The only one that she remembered was the snake that went around her neck. She could see it as clear as day when the other one pinned her down against the floor and- Paris shook her head and cleared her throat, her heart hammering against her ribcage yet again as she noticed that she was again getting off the trail and she took a deep breath in.

“I-I can't really, um, it was dark,” said Paris and Venice hummed along. “But I remember that she has a snake that goes around her neck. The tattoo, I mean,” stammered Paris and Venice grinned, giving her a little nod.

“Alright, that's good,” said Venice and rubbed the back of his neck.

“She's taller than me,” said Paris.

“Okay,” noted Venice. So far so good, that was a good start.

“Also, she has a lot of piercings,” carried Paris on and Venice nodded – it seemed that Paris really remembered every single little detail about her, didn't she? That was again hilarious and he just hummed along. Paris was totally crushing on her and the way it all happened really was so on brand with Paris.

A badass woman that managed to outrun Paris – it really seemed like it was fated, Venice holding back his laughter and he sighed along.

“Her eyes,” said Paris and Venice knitted his eyebrows together. “They were shining,” said Paris, now spacing out yet again and Venice was cracking up.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, they were pretty, shiny,” said Paris.

Venice whistled and Paris quickly snapped out of it, grabbed the pillow of the couch and threw it towards Venice because she wasn't amused at all. Venice shouldn't be making fun of her, he should be helping her!

“Shiny eyes,” said Venice.

“The make up!” said Paris hastily. “She was wearing eyeshadow, it had glitter. That's what I mean!” snapped Paris and Venice was just laughing, being a little shit about it, but he just couldn't help it.

Paris gritted her teeth and took a deep breath in.

Still, she remained calm about it because; he was going to help her, if he liked it or not! He promised, so Paris decided to be patient. Still, that didn't change the fact that she was pissed off, now not only with the girl that managed to ruin her plans, but with Venice as well!

“Ugh, if I could just punch her right into her annoying face,” groaned Paris out in frustration as she was training down in the gym, Pete watching her with a little smile on his face and he crossed his arms on top of his chest. Pete would still train Paris even if she didn’t really need any more training as it was, but it was still their special bonding time, so Pete was happy that Paris didn’t think that she was too old to be needing his help in the gym.

Pete chuckled softly and he shook his head – there it was again, though. The only thing that Paris has been talking about for the past week or so was about this mysterious girl that she ended up running into. No matter how much she wanted to forget, she just couldn’t, huh? Pete found it adorable, even if he was quite worried about who this person could be.

Paris’ description didn’t really match anyone that Pete and Vegas knew – so, whoever this was, she wasn’t working for the family. And even if she was after the same guy, it didn’t really mean that they were on the same side. Pete knew all of that and he was keeping his guard up. 

Hell, perhaps this girl was working for an enemy, but Paris said that she didn’t seem to know who she was. It could be all just a trap, but at the same time, it could also be the truth. If it was the truth and the other one really didn’t know who Paris was, then it really made the whole thing even more mysterious – who was this girl? 

Who was she working for?

Vegas didn’t really care for the answers as he was already set on the idea that they weren’t trusting this person, no matter who they were. In his mind, they weren’t anyone that they should trust, anyway. Much to Vegas’ knowledge, she attacked Paris, so she really wasn’t to be trusted. If Vegas happened to run into her, he really wouldn’t go easy on her.

At least that was what Vegas claimed that he’d do, but Pete knew that Vegas was just being Vegas, in his overprotective bubble and Pete just smiled, shaking his head and he leaned against the wall as he observed Paris, who was still angrily punching the bag and he chuckled.

“Why don’t you take a little rest?” asked Pete after a little while when he noticed that Paris was getting too tired and Paris snapped out of it, pressed her lips together and ran her fingers through her messy hair, trying to calm down a little bit.

“Um,” stammered Paris. “Yeah, uh, sure,” said Paris and Pete gave her a little smile, stepped closer to her and handed her the water bottle that was waiting for Paris on the bench.

Paris thanked and took the water bottle, took a few sips of the water and felt much better already; refreshed! Pete sat down next to her and hummed along.

 “Better?” asked Pete and Paris gave him a little nod and a smile.

“Mn,” said Paris and Pete hummed along.

“So,” said Pete and Paris knitted her eyebrows together as she waited for Pete to strike up the conversation with her. She kind of had an idea what he was going to ask her, but she still pretended that she didn't- “What's been on your mind lately?” asked Pete even if he already knew. “You've been kind of distracted,” commented Pete with a little smile and Paris shrugged.

“Uh, nothing really,” mumbled the teen, but Pete didn't really buy it and Paris knew that. That was why she nibbled on her lower lip and huffed under her breath. “It's just that girl, ” whined Paris and Pete grinned a little bit.

“Hmm?”

“It's annoying,” grumbled Paris. “I can't believe I allowed her to get away with it, that's why it's bothering me so much,” she said and huffed under her breath. “I'll track her down and make her apologise for looking down on me and making me fail on my mission,” grumbled Paris, crossing her arms on top of her chest.

“Ah,” said Pete and chuckled. Paris pressed her lips together and ignored the smile on his lips. Everyone was smiling so much when she was talking about her and it was annoying. “Yeah, she's been the only thing you've been talking about lately,” commented Pete and Paris' cheeks reddened.

“That's not true!” argued Paris. “It's just annoying. We have to find her, I have a bad feeling about her,” she said and shook her head. “I mean she's obviously part of the mafia, we just have to figure out who she's working for,” commented Paris and Pete hummed along yet again.

“M-hmm,” said Pete and Paris narrowed her eyes when she realised that he wasn't going to be much help. “You should be careful though. We still don't know who she's working for, so there's that,” said Pete and Paris sighed along.

“I know, papa,” said Paris and made a little pause. “I won't do anything reckless, I promise,” said Paris and meant to keep her promise. Still, it was bugging her so much. It was bugging her not knowing who this person was and why she- Paris took a deep breath in yet again because her cheeks reddened again.

“Good,” said Pete and then he crossed his legs.

“She said that we were on the same side!” said Paris, again kind of exploding because just thinking about that pissed her off. “She just assumed without even knowing who I was!” said Paris, outraged and Pete chuckled under his breath because it was so obvious why this was all bothering Paris so much. It was because she fancied the other one and Pete found it adorable.

“Yeah, that's kind of uncalled for,” said Pete and Paris nodded.

“And how could she not know who I am!” said Paris, rolling her eyes. “You and dad are the most famous leaders around, she should know us!” said Paris and Pete chuckled.

“Maybe she's not from around her?”

“Nonsense, she's just stupid,” said Paris.

“Ah.”

“Yes,” said Paris and then she crossed her arms on top of her chest. “But don't worry, papa, when I find her, I will make sure she knows who us Theerapanyakuls are!” said Paris and Pete smiled softly, ruffling her hair and he just shook her head.

“Again, just don't do anything reckless,” said Pete and Paris gave him a promise that she wasn't going to do anything stupid.

“No, that's not her either,” whined Paris as she pushed the picture back to Vegas. The two of them were working together now to uncover the identity of the mysterious girl that Paris just couldn't seem to get out of her head.

Vegas was more than happy to help out – he needed to find out who this girl was as well. It was ridiculous that she didn't know who Paris was and Vegas needed to make sure the other one understood that there were consequences if she messed with his daughter. She attacked Paris, so Vegas took all of this personally.

Vegas didn't really listen to Pete, who was trying to hint to him that Paris had a crush on the girl. Something like that wasn't really possible, at least not Vegas, who was still trying to pretend that Paris was after the girl only because she crossed her plans that day.

It was easier that way, even if deep down he knew that Paris was talking too much about this person. That she was too bothered by the whole thing; it just wasn't like Paris. Still, it was easier to pretend not to know what was going on. Vegas was again in denial – just like he was before Venice started dating.

It was hard to accept that the kids were getting older and older. Vegas was trying his best to keep up and just when he thought he had everything under control and that he was cool with how fast the time was passing, something happened which made him realise just how not okay he was with that.

“Don't worry, we just got started,” said Vegas and Paris gave him a little nod. “We will track her down and then she will finally answer some questions,” said Vegas and rubbed his palms together.

“I'll make her talk,” said Paris and Vegas grinned.

“I can help you out,” said Vegas and Paris shook her head. Vegas’ smile soon faltered and was replaced by a frown. “Why not?” asked Vegas suspiciously and Paris choked on her breath a little bit, taking a deep breath in.

“I-I just have to do this on my own,” said Paris and Vegas squinted his eyes. “You know, she ruined my plans. I want to take care of it on my own. I already promised papa that I’ll be careful. I won’t get in trouble,” said Paris and even if she said all of that it still bothered Vegas. Because deep down he knew. Still, he decided to ignore it because there was no way. Paris was still too young to be interested in dating.

Right?!

“Alright, makes sense,” was all that Vegas said, but there was a lot on his mind as he leaned back against his seat, but snapped himself out of it as he decided to help Paris out with seeking out this mysterious girl.

“So a Theerapanyakul after all,” said a low voice and a little chuckle could be heard in the dark room. “I should have known,” she carried on and a little smirk appeared on her face as she leaned back in her seat, holding a picture of Paris in her hands, observing it with interest on her face.

There was a little smirk on her face, her red hair falling over her eyes as she took a deep breath in and hummed along. She sat there for much longer, just observing Paris’ picture as her smile was getting wider, her eyes flickering over to the pictures of Vegas and Pete, snickering under her breath, crossing her legs as she exhaled softly.

“Paris Theerapanyakul,” mumbled the teen, placing the picture down, tapping with her nails against the desk and she lazily looked up when the door opened and she tipped her head to the side, narrowing her eyes when she saw one of her men stepping into the room. As soon as the other one stepped inside, the expression on her face changed.

No longer did she look amused, but the look on her face was cold and dark, the bodyguard flinching when he saw that he just made a big mistake – stepping into the room without knocking. He quickly bowed his head down, but the other one didn’t seem to care too much.

“What do you want?” she asked, her voice colder than ice.

“Boss,” he said and the other one rolled her eyes. “I didn’t realise you were in there-”

“Why didn’t you just knock?” she asked, her voice playful, but the other one knew that she wasn’t playing around. The man flinched and started sweating, bowing down yet again. 

“I wasn’t thinking, please forgive me,” he mumbled and the teen tipped her head to the side as her smile grew a little bit. He was scared of her, which was good.

“Since I feel generous, I won’t punish you today,” she said and the other one sighed in relief.

“Thank you, miss, I’m so-”

“ Boss, ” snapped the other one and the bodyguard flinched. “Don’t forget your manners,” she said and the other one quickly bowed his head yet again, nodding along and he gulped.

“I’m-”

“Go away,” she said and the other one flinched. “I’m busy, can’t you tell?!”

“Y-yes, I’ll be on my way,” stammered the man and quickly left the premise of the room, the teen sighing along and she hummed, her eyes wandering over to the picture of Paris yet again, her smile widening and she chuckled. 

“We’ll meet again very soon, Paris Theerapanyakul.”

Chapter Text

Paris was on her way to Sarai; she was near the main family's mansion. Sarai had called her that she was on her way, so Paris was already waiting for her; the two of them were going to go to the mall to do some shopping. Paris didn't really like shopping, but Sarai kept on begging her on and on about it, so she finally decided to listen because she knew that that was the only way that she was getting Sarai to shut up about it.

Usually Sarai went shopping with Tankhun and Alina, but this time around, the two of them were busy. Not only the two of them, but Wang as well; they were all dealing with Alina's mother, talking about the future and all of that. That was why they couldn't make it to the mall with Sarai, but she was understanding about it – at least to them.

To Paris, she was whiny.

Anyway, Paris was there, walking towards the mansion. Usually one of the drivers would drop Paris by the mansion, but this time around, she decided to walk. The weather was nice. Besides, Paris wanted to feel more independent. She knew that bodyguards were probably following her after all – it wasn't like papa and dad would let her go without them.

Paris knew that they worried because they cared but still as she was getting older she wished that she could be more independent.

With all of that being said, Paris was kind of looking forward to spending the day with Sarai. The only thing that she's been doing lately was trying to find out the identity of that girl but she didn't really manage to find anything. It was really strange because given the connections they had as the family she would have thought that they would manage to find something by now. But no… There was still nothing. No matter how much she and Vegas tried, it was to no avail.

It was almost as if…

Paris shook her head and puffed her cheeks because she was again thinking about her, which went against the point that she was trying to prove to Venice - which was that the other teen wasn't living in her head rent free (which she totally was).

Paris also felt frustrated because the search didn't bring anything. Paris was a person that wanted results right away so she wasn't the most patient person out there. She wanted to track down the girl and make her properly pay for ruining her plans the other day. Sitting at home and staring at pictures of random teens wasn't really productive and it was annoying her to such an extent that she agreed to go out with Sarai to the mall quite willingly. Not that she would admit that out loud - she still pretended like she wasn't happy to go out, but something told Paris that Sarai didn't quite buy her lies.

Paris was just about to approach the mansion when she thought she heard something. At first she thought that her mind was only playing tricks on her, narrowing her eyes as she stopped in her tracks and she huffed under her breath. It sounded almost like a whistle? Paris turned around, but there was no one behind her, shaking her head. Perhaps it was just the wind or?

But then it happened again – again, there was a whistle, now coming from behind her again and she quickly turned around, trying to be quick, but again, there was no one behind her and she gritted her teeth. Was someone playing a prank on her? If this was Sarai, then she wasn't going to be amused.

Why would Sarai play pranks on her?

Well, Venice decided that it was smart to tell Sarai all about this teen that she was after; Sarai didn't really ask her too many questions, but Paris had a feeling-

There was a little giggle and Paris quickly snapped back to reality, turning around and she realised that the giggles were coming from around the corner, biting into her lower lip and she rolled her eyes. It could be just some kids playing on the street, but there was still something telling Paris that she needed to check it out.

If it was someone really playing a prank on her, she was going to haunt their ass until beating them up and-

“This isn't funny!” grumbled Paris and instead of going towards the main family's mansion, she decided to check out what was happening around the corner, narrowing her eyes. She ran because she didn't want to waste too much of her time if it was indeed something stupid, but she stopped in her tracks when she looked around the corner and saw-

Paris saw someone running away from her. She couldn't see their faces, but she also didn't have to. Tattoos, red hair, heels, running away from her and she-

“Hey!” yelled Paris on top of her lungs because she could recognise the person. It was her, it was her again and Paris narrowed her eyes, cursing under her breath because she didn't have her gun on her. She wasn't completely unarmed though, she had her knives with her.

Two of them, at least. They were her second favourite weapon; a birthday gift from her uncle Kim; Pete wasn't too happy about it, but eventually, he agreed that Paris should carry them with her for safety reasons. She was old enough, so-

There was no time really for Paris to think and she didn't. She promised she wouldn't do anything reckless, she gave that promise to both Vegas and Pete, yet she still decided that mindlessly running after the other one was a good idea.

Paris wasn't thinking and she knew it would come to bite her in the ass, but right then and there, she didn't care as she quickly started running after her. How couldn't she?! In Paris' mind, this was her only chance to find out who this person was, gritting her teeth as she started running.

“Wait up!” yelled Paris, running faster, but the other one just started running faster. It seemed like a plan; a trap, to get Paris somewhere. It was as clear as day, but Paris was still too focused on finding out her identity, that she didn't really stop and think what could have happened if she really got-

As Paris ran, the other one ran faster and Paris cursed under her breath. Her heart was hammering against her ribcage and she followed the other teen around the corner, going further away from the mansion and she gulped, getting a bad feeling about this, chewing on her lower lip, but she couldn't stop, remembering the promise she gave to papa and dad.

They were going to be mad and disappointed with her yet again, weren't they?

Paris didn't know where she was going, she just knew that she needed to run faster , but the other one was really fast on her feet. And in those heels too, damn. Paris shook her head, trying to tell herself that this wasn't something that she should be impressed about.

Paris didn't really know how long the other one kept leading her away, but by the time the other one slowed down, Paris was completely out of her breath, in an area that she wasn't really too familiar with. She's been there before, but still – she was out of her comfort zone, cursing under her breath, but at least she finally caught up with her and-

Did she, though?

Because as Paris took a double take, the other one was missing. Just like that, disappeared into thin air?! No, that really couldn't be it because Paris could see a dead end, which could only mean-

Behind her.

Paris turned around, grabbed the knife with the sharpest blade and pulled it out of her pocket, taking a step back when the other one was indeed standing behind her. How did she do that? And when?! Paris' heart was hammering against her ribcage and she licked her lower lip, feeling her throat getting dry because-

The last time she saw her, it was in the middle of the night, but right now it was day, she could clearly see her and she- Paris forced a deep breath in, trying to focus on the right thing, which was taking her down. The other one had a little smirk on her face, again wearing a crop top, paired with a mini skirt this time around and Paris noticed just how long her legs were.

Damn...

Paris gritted her teeth and then she cleared her throat. Now wasn't really the time to get flustered over this!

“You-”

Paris stopped talking as the other one suddenly started lazily clapping and Paris gritted her teeth, now lowering her knife, trying to see if the other one had a gun on her. Paris couldn't see, but still-

“Finally, you caught me,” said the other one and grinned all the way up to her ears.

“What the hell are you playing at?!” growled Paris.

“Throwing you a little bone, little girl,” said the other one, tipping her head to the side. “I mean, isn't this practically what you've been wishing for? For the past week?” she asked and Paris almost choked on her breath because how the hell did she know?! Paris gritted her teeth.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” lied Paris.

“You're not a good liar,” said the other one and hummed along. “I mean it's kind of cute, if you think about it,” she said and stepped a little bit closer. “You really can't forget about me, huh? I made that much of an impression?” she asked and Paris' cheeks reddened. “I'm flattered!”

“Shut up, shut up!” yelled Paris. “You have no idea what the fuck you're talking about, so just shut up,” said Paris and the other one laughed softly.

“So, you're gonna now tell me that you haven't been searching for me?”

“How can you possibly know-”

“I have my ways,” she said and winked.

“You're full of shit,” said Paris and the other one whistled.

“Such a dirty mouth for such a little girl,” she commented and Paris was even more pissed off. She hated it, she hated being called a little girl. This one was the same age as her, just a year older! So why the fuck-

“I have a fucking name!” hissed Paris.

“Oh, I know,” she said and giggled. “Paris Theerapanyakul, isn't that right?” she asked and Paris grinned, nodding.

“That's right,” said Paris. “So you do know who I am,” said Paris and the other one nodded.

“I've done my homework,” said the other and Paris rolled her eyes. Was she supposed to be impressed now? Because Paris wasn't. Paris just wanted to punch her face; she had a very punchable face, so she would love to make her into her own personal punching bag.

“Fuck off,” said Paris.

“I'm hurt, I can't say you've done the same as well,” she said and Paris rolled her eyes yet again.

“I don't have the time to be obsessing over you, idiot,” said Paris and she flushed as he said that because she knew it was a lie and so could the other one. “So what if I don't know what your name is, I don't give a damn,” she said and then she reminded herself that she still had the knife in her hand. “I'm just here because you need to pay.”

“What did I do?”

“Ruined my plans the other day!” said Paris.

“Ah, right... right. It's still all about that,” she said and Paris nodded.

“Yes,” hissed Paris.

“You really don't need the knife, I'm not armed,” she said.

“Yeah, right, like I'll believe you,” said Paris and rolled her eyes. “I'm not that stupid.”

“I don't need a gun around you. Or a knife,” she said. “Look, if you don't believe me, you can see for yourself,” she said and lifted her hands up. “Wanna do a body-search?” she asked with a little smirk and Paris' cheeks reddened again.

“Shut up!”

“Aw, it could be fun.”

“Shut up!”

“But it's true, you don't need the gun. We're on the same side. Like I've already told you,” she said. “We are not enemies,” she said and tipped her head to the side, Paris unsure what to do, but there was something that she wasn't going to do and that was to believe a word that was coming out of her mouth.

Lies, it was just all lies.

“Tell me who you are then!” said Paris and the other one laughed.

“That would be too easy,” she said and pouted. “I'd like to see you try on your own. It's fun.”

“You fucker-”

“I can help you out a little bit,” she said and shrugged. “My name's Chaiya,” she said and Paris narrowed her eyes as if that name was supposed to ring a bell or something like that. Even if she knew the name of the person now , it didn't really help at all. The name Chaiya never popped up when Paris was doing her ''research'', so she really didn't know-

“So?!” snapped Paris, pressing her lips together. Chaiya . It was an interesting name, chewing on her lower lip as she was glancing at the other one, who wore a little grin on her face and she tipped her head to the side.

“Thought you might wanna know,” she said and winked, blowing Paris a little kiss. Paris knitted her eyebrows together and then she crossed her arms on top of her chest.

“Not really,” said Paris and Chaiya snorted because she could see right through her lie and she rolled her eyes.

“Don't pretend like you're not excited to finally know my name,” said Chaiya and Paris shook her head.

“Why would I be, hm?!” asked Paris and then she gritted her teeth. 

“Well, you've just been obsessively searching for me for the past week,” said Chaiya and hummed along.

“I wasn't!” argued Paris back and Chaiya grinned all the way up to her ears, finding it hilarious the way that Paris was trying to pretend that she wasn't searching for her. Chaiya knew all about it, placing her hands together.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” said Chaiya and then she stepped a little bit closer. “Anyway,” said Chaiya. “I would love to hang around for a little bit longer, but I really need to get going,” she said and Paris stepped closer to get, hurrying after her.

“Not until I-”

“Hush, little girl,” said Chaiya and Paris' face turned a little bit red when she heard the nickname again. Little girl. It wasn't even a nickname, but a stupid name that Chaiya decided to call her. It was annoying, Paris hated her and she hated the nickname. She hated everyone and-

“I told you to not call me like that!” growled Paris.

“Sure,” said Chaiya. “So – now you have two clues of going off with,” said Chaiya. “You know we're on the same side and now you know my name,” she said, winking at Paris yet again, which made her roll her eyes, but she would be lying if she said that she wasn't interested in trying to dig out more about her.

“I don't trust you,” hissed Paris. “So, don’t pretend to be so smug!”

Paris wanted to say something else, but then she heard the sound of footsteps coming closer to her. She could also hear voices talking to each other; there were two men and she could easily recognise their voices – they were Vegas' and Pete's bodyguards, pressing her lips together and she rolled her eyes.

Great, they were going to interrupt just as she was about to take her down!

“Seems like you have company,” said Chaiya and Paris stepped closer to her, but the other one already stepped back and gave her another wink. “Don't let me be in the way,” she said and Paris gritted her teeth as the other one ran away. Paris attempted running after her, but she stopped herself in her tracks when the two bodyguards stepped from around the corner and she cursed under her breath.

Paris closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she turned around and then she pressed her lips together when she saw the other two suddenly running from around the corner. Paris pressed her lips together and then slowly turned around to face the bodyguards, who looked worried, but as soon as they saw that Paris was safe and sound, they finally relaxed.

Yes, they were worried about her well-being, but there was something even scarier – and that was dealing with Vegas and Pete if they happened to lose Paris out of their sight. Paris sighed under her breath and then she put on a little smile as she walked closer to the two of them.

Chaiya was no longer to be seen and Paris decided not to tell the two of them what had happened; if they told Vegas and Pete about it, then her parents would again be worried, so it was better if she just kept this from them. Nothing happened, she didn't even get herself in trouble. It was just...

Stupid. It was stupid.

This was all just some stupid and twisted game to Chaiya – she was dropping little hints about her identity to Paris and it was just... making Paris frustrated. She wasn't sure if it was in a good or bad way, but she was just... She wanted to learn more. Chaiya dropped just enough hints for Paris to want to chase her more. It was really frustrating and Paris rolled her eyes.

“Miss Paris!” said one of them and Paris gave him a little smile.

“There you are, you had us worried,” said the other one and Paris gritted her teeth, but she still kept a smile on her face. She didn't want them to think that something was wrong. Not that it was, anyway, but still-

“I'm fine, sorry for making you worry,” said Paris, wanting to say something else, but she decided to keep her opinion to herself about the whole thing. They were just-

“What happened?”

“Why did you run away-”

“I didn't,” said Paris and then she stopped herself because she could see that they didn't really buy her. “I did, but it was... nothing. I thought I saw something,” she said and made a little pause. “But there was nothing,” she said and laughed bitterly. “Anyway, I need to get going. Sarai's already waiting for me,” said Paris and before the other two managed to say anything else, she walked past the two of them, having even more questions than before.

Who was this Chaiya?

Why did she know so much about Paris?

She had to be somehow working with their family, right?

She knew too much.

Or was there someone working for her in their family? That didn't sit right with Paris and she knew that she needed to do more digging around to find out more about her.

Paris was going to find out her real identity and what she wanted from her!

Chapter Text

“Chaiya?” asked Venice and Paris nodded. “Doesn’t ring any bells, how about you?” he asked and looked over to Pichai, who was also thinking. Chaiya, the name sounded a little bit familiar, but honestly, he didn’t know where to place it. Even if it sounded familiar to him, he wasn’t completely sure.

“I’ve heard it before,” commented Pichai and Paris’ eyes doubled in size.

“You have?” she asked and Pichai slowly nodded. “Where?” she carried on by asking and Pichai rubbed the back of his neck, trying to figure out where he had heard that name before, closing his eyes as he was trying to call it into his mind.

Chaiya… Chaiya.

It was a name that he didn’t hear in a very long time. It was a name of a person that everyone thought was long gone. Pichai was thinking for a little bit longer, when he finally remembered where he heard that name before and his eyes widened, pressing his lips together because that just couldn’t be it. Just like he thought before, it belonged to a person that was no longer alive.

At least that was what Pichai thought. 

It was the name of a girl that was a few years younger than Pichai, if he remembered correctly. His father had many friends and one of them had a daughter called Chaiya. But… that was such a long time before and what happened to the family was indeed a tragedy.

Chaiya and her father lived alone, but just like Pichai’s father, Chaiya’s father had also gotten into a lot of debt. He went looking for money at the wrong people – just like Pichai’s father. Pichai’s father and Chaiya’s father used to be quite good friends. Well, perhaps business partners, but Pichai remembered seeing Chaiya a few times.

Since the two of them were quite apart in ages, they didn’t really talk much. Pichai wasn’t really interested in making new friends with the girl since she was much younger than him, so… he never really got to know her that well. But, he knew of the name.

It’s been years since he had last heard the name. Chaiya and her father were supposedly both dead. They were visited by the same people that took his father’s life. That was why Picahi remembered that name so vividly, but he didn’t think… Maybe it was just a coincidence? Perhaps this was another person with the same name, but what were the odds? Pichai rubbed the back of his neck and then he took a deep breath in.

“Listen,” said Pichai and Paris looked at him. “I’m not completely sure if I’m even right about this, but,” he said and Paris chewed on her lower lip, nodding because that was the only lead that they had so far.

Pichai knew something and that was all that Paris needed for now. Excited, Paris clasped her hands together and took a deep breath in.

“Tell me what you know,” said Paris and the other one gave her a little nod.

“Okay,” said Pichai and made a little pause. “I’ve heard that name before, though maybe it’s just a coincidence,” he said and Paris narrowed her eyes because she didn’t really believe in such coincidences.

“It can’t be,” said Paris.

“I’m not so sure,” said Pichai and made a little pause. “Chaiya I used to know,” he said and made a little pause. “She shouldn’t be alive now,” he said and Paris narrowed her eyes. “Her body was never found, but it’s safe to say that she’s not among the living anymore,” stammered Pichai and Venice chewed on his lower lip, looking at Paris.

“What do you mean?” asked Paris.

“It’s a long story, but the point is that this can’t be the same person that I remember from my childhood,” whispered Pichai.

“You two were friends?” asked Venice and Pichai shook his head.

“Not exactly,” said Pichai. “My and her fathers used to be business partners in the past,” said Pichai and Paris slowly nodded along. “Both of them got into the same kind of trouble – gambling. Both of them loved the adiction way too much and got with the wrong people,” said Pichai and Paris looked down.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine, really,” said Pichai and then he huffed under his breath. “What I mean is – it’s highly unlikely that it’s the same person,” said Pichai and Paris tipped her head to the side.

Perhaps. Perhaps not. If it was really that hard for Paris to track her down, to see who she really was, then perhaps it truly was here. If the rest of the world thought that she was supposed to be really dead then… it would make sense that she couldn’t find her anywhere. No matter how much she tried to find her, then…

It would also make sense why she claimed that the two of them were on the same side. They weren’t really on the same side, but they also weren’t enemies.

So, that also was something that would-

Paris really didn’t know and she took a deep breath in as she tried to do her best to focus because it was just… Yes, she needed to think things through.

“Do you maybe have a picture of her?” asked Paris and glanced at Pichai, who shook his head.

“No,” said Pichai and made a little pause. “After everything, there wasn’t really much left of their things,” he said and Paris’ eyes widened when Pichai told her what happened. There was a fire at their mansion and no one came out alive, at least according to the stories.

Paris gulped and then she shuddered a little bit. 

“I don’t know what to say,” whispered Paris and glanced down, closing her eyes. Just thinking what Chaiya was put through shook her down to the core, biting into her lower lip and she took a deep breath. “I, um,” said Paris and looked at Pichai.

Pichai kept telling her that he didn’t know if this was the same person or not, but Paris decided to go along with it because it couldn’t be just a coincidence, so she chose to believe that this was truly the Chaiya that Pichai told her about. It had to be.

“Can you tell me more about her?” asked Paris.

“I really don’t know much,” whispered Pichai.

“Anything that you can remember,” she said and Pichai took a deep breath in. “Please,” she added and Venice smiled a little bit because hearing Paris beg like this was truly an experience. She was quite desperate to figure out the true identity of this girl, wasn’t she?

Paris was again going against the rules. But, in her defence, she was really close to finding out the truth. Really close, it would be a shame to give up now!

As Paris did more of her research, she finally managed to track down Chaiya – it was a lot of work and perhaps she paid more money than she intended to at first for the information, but again, she was desperate. Pichai gave her enough information for her to go off of that and she was… confident. She was confident that this was the same Chaiya that Pichai told her about.

Paris’ heart was hammering against her ribcage as she stepped down the alley and she bit into her lower lip. It was late, but she didn’t care. She was sneaking out and Vegas and Pete were going to be so pissed, but today was the perfect timing for her to slip out. Vegas and Pete were out on a mission, Venice returned back to the apartment and with the bodyguards running around, Paris managed to sneak out.

It was still pretty early, though, so if she timed it all correctly, she would be back before Vegas and Pete found out and that was going to be great. They weren’t going to even know! Paris took a deep breath in, promising that this was the last time that she was lying to her parents. Though, something told her that they would be able to find out anyway. Paris really couldn’t lie to the two of them, but she was ready to accept the consequences. 

Paris was gripping onto her gun as she made it to the apartment building that looked abandoned on the outside. Paris huffed under her breath – thai was the correct address though, feeling her annoyance kicking in because she was going to scalp the two men if they dared to lie to her about this information, biting into her lower lip and she shook her head.

Chaiya was hiding, wasn’t she? At least from the other people. Paris took a deep breath in and gulped, deciding not to overthink as she made it closer to the front door of the building and she tipped her head to the side.

It really looked so abandoned. But, it would be also a great way to keep low and be completely unseen from the others. It looked like Chaiya didn’t really want to be found by anyone else but Paris. She was dropping far too many hints for Paris to finally catch up to her.

That was why Paris finally decided to stop worrying about it so much and she stepped over to the door, gripping onto the gun as she pressed down onto the doorknob, rolling her eyes when she saw that it was locked. Paris huffed and kicked the door open, smirking a little bit as she stepped inside. 

Ah, so she was in the correct place, anyway.

The building looked completely abandoned on the outside, but on the inside, it wasn’t. It looked like someone lived there and Paris froze up, looking around as she expected someone to jump her, but there was no one. Still, Paris could feel that she wasn’t completely alone. 

She couldn’t explain it, but Paris knew well enough to know when she was being watched, like she was being right now. Paris waited for a little bit and she narrowed her eyes when she realised that no one was coming towards her – was it a set up? Maybe the men that she bought information off of, told Chaiya that she was coming.

Why wasn’t Chaiya waiting for her with her bodyguards to take her down?!

Again, they were on the same side…

Paris shook her head. No, if this wasn’t some sort of a trap, then there would be bodyguards coming her way to protect Chaiya. Or was Chaiya working completely alone? Not according to the two men, she wasn’t working alone. She had men working for her, but they were… She was their boss.

Chaiya was a leader, which made Paris even more interested, biting into her lower lip as she shook her head. If Chaiya really had people working for her then… Yes, she was definitely expecting her to come. Chaiya was always two steps ahead of her, huh?! Paris didn’t even know why it bothered her so much, rolling her eyes as she slowly stepped down the long hallway and she took a deep breath.

“I know you’re in here,” said Paris, but she got no response. Paris rolled her eyes and slowly started walking down the long hallway, pressing her lips together and she hummed along because she was definitely in the right place.

On the paintings there were many paintings of Chaiya from when she looked much younger and… happier. Next to her, there was always a man standing, which was probably her father. All of the dots were slowly falling into place and she came to the conclusion that this was indeed the same person that Pichai was talking about.

Paris sighed along and slowly continued walking, coming to a stairs and she narrowed her eyes when she could hear something coming from the stairs and she narrowed her eyes. Again, there was no one coming her way, but she could see that the place was warmer with security cameras, so… it was safe to assume that Chaiya was watching.

Paris’ cheeks reddened a little bit and she huffed under her breath, shaking his head. No, this wasn’t the time to be getting flustered about this. It was stupid and silly, Paris didn’t get flustered in the first place! 

Paris cleared her throat and huffed under her breath, slowly going up the stairs, biting into her lower lip. The only thing that she could hear was the sound of her own heart hammering against her ribcage and she gritted her teeth, slowly reaching up the stairs and she glanced around, going to the door where she could hear something.

It sounded like laughter , and it didn’t really take her too long to see to whom it belonged. Paris gripped tightly onto her gun and kicked the door open, only to find in there sitting Chaiya indeed, surrounded by many screens – security cameras. Chaiya had a playful smile on her face as she slowly stood up and started clapping lazily, Paris tensing up.

“You’ve finally found me,” said Chaiya and then she pouted a little bit. “Though, I think I will have to send a bill for the door you broke to the Theerapanyakul mansion,” said Chaiya and Paris rolled her eyes.

“Cut this out-”

“Or you can make it up to me by agreeing on a little drink with me,” commented Chaiya and Paris completely ignored what had just happened. Yes, Chaiya asked her out, but Paris was ignoring that because she was still convinced that Chaiya was just playing around with her.

There had to be something that she wanted from her. And Paris still needed to make her pay for ruining her plans. It was such a long time ago, but it was easier to pretend that that was the only reason why she wanted to see Chaiya. 

“You’re crazy,” said Paris.

“Well, it was worth giving it a shot,” said Chaiya and grinned when she saw the look on Paris’ face. Paris looked pissed off. “You’re kinda cute when you’re pissed, little girl,” commented Chaiya and Paris rolled her eyes.

“You were expecting me,” commented Paris and Chaiya shrugged.

“What gave it away?”

“This was a trap!” said Paris and Chaiya stepped closer to her. Paris shuddered, but she ignored the feeling to run away. “I mean, there’s no way that you’re working alone,” stammered Paris and Chaiya hummed along. “So-so, there’s no men surrounding the area and-”

“Mn, you’re right,” said Chaiya. “I sent them away. I didn’t want them to interrupt us,” she said and winked.

“You probably even told one of your men to give me the information about you, right?” hissed Paris and Chaiya giggled, humming along as she slowly walked behind Paris, who tensed up and turned around, pointing her gun at Chaiya, who rolled her eyes. 

“It was quite a big amount as well,” said Chaiya and winked. “We appreciate it,” she said and Paris gritted her teeth, her cheeks turning red with anger now because she wasn’t impressed. So, even if she thought that she managed to uncover something on her own, this was still Chaiya’s game – she found out more information about her because Chaiya wanted her to know. That was all.

Paris felt defeated.

“Aw, don’t pout now. You’ve done a good job with tracking me,” said Chaiya and Paris rolled her eyes. “How’s Pichai, by the way? It’s been ages since the two of us managed to see each other. Not that he ever wanted to be my friend, but you know-”

“Stop playing these games and tell me whose side you’re on!” demanded Paris and now she watched how Chaiya’s face changed. She wasn’t smiling anymore, but she looked annoyed.

“Side?” she asked and tipped her head to the side. “Do I have to pick a side?” she asked and then she rolled her eyes. “I’m on my side,” said Chaiya and Paris scoffed.

“That doesn’t really mean much to me,” growled Paris back.

“We’re not enemies,” said Chaiya. “I thought Pichai told you all about that,” said Chaiya and Paris shrugged.

“You were supposed to be dead,” said Paris and Chaiya narrowed her eyes.

“Well. Surprise,” said Chaiya dryly. 

“You want something from me. Otherwise you wouldn’t be stalking me,” said Paris even if she was aware that she was also the one who was stalking Chaiya. But Chaiya was more obsessed with her than the other way around so-

“Stalking you?” asked Chaiya. “Nah. I just like to find things out about people I’m interested in,” said Chaiya and Paris rolled her eyes.

“And you’re interested in me?” deadpanned Paris.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Do I need a reason?” asked Chaiya and Paris nodded.

“Yes,” said Paris. “I’m not interesting, but you clearly want something from me, so spill. What do you want from me?”

“Having a Theerapanyakul on my side is always a good sign,” said Chaiya. “Especially when you’re trying to carry out a revenge against the people who hurt your family,” said Chaiya and there it was, finally. Clear as day why Chaiya was trying to get close to Paris.

Paris scoffed.

“Really? You really think I’d help you carry out some stupid revenge and risk putting my family in danger? Yeah, you can dream about it,” said Paris and Chaiya narrowed her eyes. She didn’t seem too upset about Paris’ proposal, which meant that she kind of expected this to unfold.

“I have information,” said Chaiya. “That your father might want to have as well-”

“No. I’m not stupid. I’m not making any deals with you!” said Paris.

“We’ll see about that,” said Chaiya and chuckled.

“Forget it,” said Paris and groaned because she was getting annoyed. “This was waste of my time and money, ugh,” said Paris and stepped away. 

“Leaving already?” asked Chaiya, not hiding her disappointment and Paris just flipped her off as she walked out and Chaiya grinned as she sighed along. “We’ll meet again soon enough, little girl,” was all she said before Paris disappeared out of her sight.