A Boss And A Babe

Episode 07: Learning to be Friendly with People (Part 2/2)

I don't know when I fell asleep. The next time I woke up, it was when your grandmother came in and startled us, telling her and her grandson to go to sleep. The man went to his own room, which she had already left the air conditioner on. Cher was probably too sleepy to get up anywhere, making whimpering sounds, rubbing his head against his grandmother's leg until she laughed. But in the end, they agreed to sleep together.

The strong scent of an old person's fragrance permeated the room, causing a suffocating feeling. They both slept side by side and let their bodies rest after talking for a long time. Gun thought that he might be able to sleep soundly because the atmosphere was good all around. However, he forgot to wake up several times because of the feisty person beside him who would kick his legs or hog the blanket.

Gun wasn't a patient person, so he moved closer and reached out to hold the other person's arm and wrap it around his waist. He himself fell into a peaceful sleep.

He took a shower and dressed in about half an hour, while Cher probably didn't take more than eight minutes for everything. He didn't know if he was hungry or if he was someone who did things quickly. Nonetheless, he saw him darting out to his mother's somtam stall without waiting for him.

But when he arrived, the food was already prepared and waiting. Seeing the feisty kid sitting under the table, holding sticks and keeping his hands still as if being told not to eat until the owner gave permission, a smile escaped him.

"Waiting for me?"

"Of course. Don't fidget. The villagers from the canal will get to eat breakfast at noon." Laem shrugged, breathing out as if he didn't know how long he had been dressing up. The somtam became unappetizing.

"Please, have a seat," he said, trying to maintain his composure. The boss finally managed to use his hands as utensils and picked at the food before sitting down beside him.

"If there were zombies, I think the boss would die first, my friend. He takes the longest to dress up."

"The person who rushes to escape would probably get bitten first because it's a time when the infection spreads throughout the town. Maybe I might survive because of taking too long to dress up," the sharp-faced kid half-joked, mimicking his words before flinching and frowning because his boss pressed his mouth shut. "Stubborn."

"Either way, the boss will die."

"And do you think you'll survive?"

"Survive? I'm a zombie game god, let me tell you. I've competed in speedruns with Jack before and beat his ass in just half a minute. It was a close call, but I lost to that crazy guy Tee. But hey, that's an exception. We can compete in anything, but not gaming against crazy people."

"Well, next time I'll take faster showers, hoping that you'll be kind enough to wait for me." He looked into the eyes of the person next to him, knowing that when it came to this matter, Cher would always wave the white flag and surrender.

*

The som tam shop continued to have customers coming in one after another. Gun was quite busy compared to yesterday, receiving compliments from his niece's friends, who willingly came together to work on a report here, totaling seven to eight people.

As the afternoon approached, the som tam shop owner and the employees took a necessary break. Gun thought it was a form of physical exercise, even though the weather was scorching hot. Seeing Cher walking around in a hurry in this area was still something he could handle, just like before.

"I'll be back in a moment, got some errands to run."

Although he could leave without saying anything, the rebellious kid's outward appearance made it seem like he was doing something simple without caring much. Gun used to think that was how Cher was. But now they had become closer and Gun liked hearing these small, subtle remarks.