C5 Chapter 5

Midas was in his room, lying down beneath his blanket with his laptop close to his face, saying to his friend, “You know I can’t come along with you guys.” He was on the phone with Aiden who had invited him to a party.

“Midas, do you know that you have been so different ever since you came out to your dad? I’m sure you realized that you weren’t paying attention in class yesterday. Is he still mad at you?” Aiden asked hesitantly.

“He won’t talk to me,” The words were spoken with a regretful sigh. “Even when I greet him,, he does not respond. I think he’s disappointed at me, or what do you think? I envy you a lot, your mum…. she supported you when you came out to her,” Midas sighed deeply. “And then there’s my dad, I assumed he’d be like your mom, which is why I came out to him, but it didn’t turn out that way, that’s why I’m not going to complicate matters right now because if he finds out I went to a club party, not just any party but a queer party, he’ll be mad for the rest of my life, and I can’t risk that,” Midas said softly.

“Are you aware that you always put others before yourself?” Aiden confronted him. “Your happiness should come first. You’re not in a good mood, and you’re still thinking about how to make others feel better first. That’s not how it’s done, Midas. You must put yourself first, learn to love yourself, and stop blaming yourself for who you are. You should be proud of yourself. Also, I checked your YouTube channel and noticed that you haven’t uploaded anything in a few days. You can see why I’m inviting you to that club: you need to clear your head beforehand. We’re going, you need a moment to release your stress, and if you’re wondering how you’re going to get past the guards, just leave that to me,” Aidan assured. “Besides, guess who’s going to be there?”

“Who?” He smiled softly.

“Jason.”

After a brief pause, Midas sat up in his bed, placing a pillow behind him to support his back. He picked another pillow and placed it on his lap, placing his laptop on it. “Are you sure he’s going to be there?”

Aiden rolled his eyes in response to Midas’ question. “I may make a lot of jokes, but I’m not going to play a prank on you with your first crush. Believe me, I heard he’ll be there.”

“Why should I go when he has no idea who I am? It’s not like I’ll just walk up to him and confess my feelings for him. When he sees me there, he won’t care because he doesn’t know what’s going on. So, why bother?” Midas tried to talk himself out of it, saying, “I’ve been keeping it all to myself for four years, and furthermore, he’s going to graduate before me.”

“Why do I have the feeling that your heart is asking you to go but your body won’t let you?”

“My heart isn’t saying anything to me, Aiden I just don’t want to go,” Midas whispered.

“Fine, he had no idea you had a crush on him, and it’s all because you two had never met before, or maybe never sat down and had a serious conversation, but now is the time for you to meet. I’m sure he’ll notice you tonight, even if it’s just a hello from him, I know it’ll cheer you up, so please let’s go.”

Midas was silent as he stared at his friend through the screen, his mind racing.

.

For all of the students, a seminar was held in the school’s biggest hall. After it was over, the students began gathering their things, preparing to leave.

Aiden approached Midas, who was seated beside Diamond.

“Let’s go!” Aiden said to Midas, who was still putting his things in his backpack.

“Wait, what?” Midas was surprised, but Diamond immediately took over, helping him to pack up his things. She also snatched his phone away from him.

Midas protested, “That’s my phone.”

“She’ll put it in your backpack and keep it in your locker,” Aidan reassured him. “There are a lot of students here right now, and we need to get out of here before your bodyguards arrive. My driver is waiting for us on the other side. You can’t have your phone on you because they will track you. Please, Diamond, take care of his things,” Aiden shouted to her as he dragged Midas and led him out through the other side of the lecture room, away from Midas’ bodyguards.

Diamond immediately took his backpack, which contained his phone, and rushed out of the hall, putting it in Midas’ locker and locking it. She stepped outside and into the car, where her driver was waiting.

Aiden’s driver was waiting for them, and as soon as he saw them approaching, he started the car and drove off as soon as they got in.

Aiden let out a excited shout and turned on some music, singing along loudly. Midas couldn’t help but giggle at his friend, whose enthusiasm was starting to rub off on him.

.

Midas‘s bodyguards were searching the school for him when one of the guards received a phone call from Mr. Fredrick. They had already notified him that Midas was missing from the school.

“Have you seen him?” His voice came in on the other end of the line.

The bodyguard replied, “No, sir.”

“I don’t care if you use magic, all I want is that you bring him to this house. If Mr. Smith finds out about this, I’m sure you know what will happen. This isn’t Byron we’re looking for, it’s Midas, and you have no idea if he’s covered up properly. I’m not sure we’ll get it out alive since Mr. Smith isn’t going to spare us. He’s in a meeting right now, but there had better be good news by the time I call back.” He added, “I’ll send you more guards to make it faster,” and then hung up the phone.

.

Midas and Aiden stepped out of the car, both of them holding hands as they entered into the club. Everyone was dancing to the music, creating an electric atmosphere.

Midas’ attention was drawn to two guys making out in a corner, and he smiled softly as he followed Aiden to take a seat at the bar. Aiden ordered a drink, while Midas decided to go without. They both sat down, observing everyone in the club, and that’s when Midas’s eyes fell on a man dressed in a white top, black leather jacket, white trousers, and black matching shoes.

Jason was without a doubt everyone’s dream, and both genders were always eager to be with him. He was seated with a group of friends, having a conversation.

“It’s Jason!” Aiden said, openly pointing openly at Jason.

“Aiden stop point…” Midas’ words faded off as he saw Jason looking in their direction.

.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?” Inside his office, Mr. Smith yelled furiously at the guards. Mr. Fredrick was one of eight guards present in the office. The guards, with the exception of Mr. Fredrick, had their heads bowed.

“You can‘t find who? Fredrick, answer me? You can’t find Midas? How did he manage to slip past three guards? Frederick, that’s my son missing!” He shouted at the man, jabbing him with his finger. “And you know what happens if Midas stays outside for too long, so where is my son?!”

.

Aiden informed Midas, “I’m going to the bathroom.” Midas nodded, indicating that he had heard him. Not long after, two ladies passing by noticed Midas from where he was seated and approached him, drawing Jason’s attention from where he was sitting.

“Aren’t you Mr. Smith’s son? Oh my goodness, Mr. Smith‘s son is at an LGBT club?” One of the ladies asked.

Midas stared at them silently, fear slowly creeping into his heart.

“So, do you identify as gay or bisexual?” Another lady asked. “Oh my goodness, this is the biggest news,” She shrieked, pulled out her phone and took a picture of Midas.

“Guys! It’s Mr. Smith’s kid here! Who’d have guessed that one of the world’s most influential men has a gay son? Take a look at the sweet baby, he’s adorable,” As she took his pictures, one of the females screamed out to the others in the club, and people rushed to take a look at Midas, even taking his pictures.

The boy appeared scared because he had no idea what was happening. In the midst of this, Jason appeared and quickly dragged him outside of the club. Midas, who was still reeling from the shock, and had no idea who was holding him down collapsed in his arms.

“Can you hear me? Jason’s soothing voice called out to him as he glanced at the boy in his arms.

Not long after, Aiden ran out of the club and found them both outside. The first thing he did was remove his jacket and ask for Jason’s help.

“He can‘t catch a cold, please help me,” Aiden pleaded, and the two of them set Midas down on the pavement and wrapped the jacket around him.

“Please, my car is over there, can you help me move him there?” Aiden said, his voice trembling, just as the wind picked up.

.

“Roland, David, both of you should return to duty tomorrow,” A deep voice said through a phone that was placed on a loudspeaker to two guys who were sitting in a living room. They stood as they received the call, dressed in army apparel.

“Where’s Michael?” The man on the other end of the call asked.

“Right here, boss,” Another voice called out from inside.

Coming out was another guy who was dressed similarly as the other two. Michael, a captain in the army force, in his late twenties but already received a few stars in the military, 185 cm tall, attractive physique. He had a tattoo on his left arm and wore a glove on his right hand.

He walked to where the phone was. “I am to resume to duty tomorrow also, but now you’re telling me to resume at Mr. Smith’s house as his last son’s personal guard. What is this about?” Michael asked in a calm voice, waiting for his boss to reply.

“Look Michael, I have no excuse, but he paid a lot of money and he said he wanted you. There’s some news right now about his son and he wants full protection on him. I know you don’t use social media and you don’t know what’s going on, so I already sent you the details about his son. The boy is twenty-two years. a check your email and resume at their house tomorrow. Thank you!” The boss said and quickly hung up the phone before Michael could refuse. which made Roman and David his friends smile after seeing the so done on his face.

“He wants me to babysit a twenty-two years old boy,” Michael said as he walked to his laptop to check his email, clicking on it to check the necessary information on Midas. He got stuck in the middle of his words after coming across a picture of Midas in a white and big Hoodie, it was a photoshoot taken in a studio on his recent birthday.

Midas was sitting on a white sofa, with a lot of plushies around him. He was looking so soft and pretty in the picture;

“What’s going on?” Roland asked after he noticed the expression on Michael’s face. Both of them walked to peer into the laptop.

“Wow!” David muttered.

“Who’s this?” Michael asked, “Is this for real? Dude, that’s the person you are to guard. Smith's son”

“No. I’m not going to do this,” He said as he rubbed a hand through his hair.

“Believe me guys, I....i actually questioned my sexuality just now,” Michael confessed.

“Dude, are you serious?” Roland asked him, bursting into laughter along with David.

“I’m serious. Oh no, I’m finished” Michael muttered as he ran his hands through his hair.