As much as Abel refused to acknowledge, the second his nostrils were blasted with the powerful aroma of fried noodles straight from the pan, saliva continuously surged and flooded his mouth. Not only did he have to swallow them back, but he also had to resist the temptation to pounce on the freshly cooked food lying in front of his very eyes.

Screw this.

Forcing himself to stare as Mairi opened up the basket - watching the vapor breaking free was kind of satisfying though - and revealed the dim sums was the perfect epitome of mental torture. Not to mention, the smooth texture of the noodles and its golden brown color made him gulp as his empty stomach groaned in pain.

Come on dude, you can't give in. He clenched his hands. Keep your cool.

"This is our special chow mein and dim sums," divulged Mairi. "Careful, they're extremely hot," she warned before Abel could respond. "I understand gobbling them up but then you wouldn't want to burn your tongue."

"Appreciate your concern, Mairi, but I ain't doing that shit," he scorned. "I'm simply looking at the presentation, and so far..." he pulled up, breaking apart his chopsticks. "... it's not as bad as I expected, but it all comes down to the taste."

On the bright side, at least the meal served as something he could focus on instead of having to directly confront Mairi. Perhaps a couple of glances sufficed, but he wasn't risking himself to strangely react to all of her mischief, which had always succeed on making him look like a total freak. Fuck... why do I get so easily flustered these days?

That didn't stop his peripheral vision from peering at the poker-faced server, who stood there with no additional helpful comments. Instead, she gestured two thumbs-up before she ultimately withdrew, sprinting for some pick-up orders. What a seal of approval.

With her out of the way, what was he waiting for? With everything prepared, Abel could immediately dig into his exceptionally late lunch. Regardless, he wasn't intending on becoming a voracious pig, so after some deep breaths, he slurped the noodles.

Not even a second ticked by, and a burst of savory flavor diffused to every corner of his taste buds. Not only did the spices punctured through his tongue, but the crisp consistency of the noodles... it practically sent his tired soul right into the utopia it had been nagging for. What the fuck... this is just too...

Yeah, he wasn't going to waste his time finding further descriptions for this shit. His appetite had broken through the roof and knocked all of his other reflections out of his head. Turning into a hog was the least of his concerns, especially now that he had crammed down a huge chunk of the noodles.

I need this so fucking much... This is literally heaven compared to Mom's cooking.

The dim sums were ineffable. Even vividly describing the soft texture of the food would be an underplay. Nothing even mattered anymore; he should be devouring every single food from this restaurant. I have been to a lot of places, and never have I eaten something like this before...

"You watched Food Wars before? You looked exactly like that blonde girl."

Ugh, Mairi...

This friend of his was really determined in pulling Abel out of his euphoria and shoving him back to the bleak reality. With his twitching brows and a withering smile, he contorted his face and waved his chopsticks. "Can't you see I'm eati-"

"I can finally understand why the characters from that show have such lewd faces. Your orange-head friend was like that too." And obviously, she also had the need to interrupt him. "It's like what the dumpling-pregnant boy said... something to do with foodgasm."

Dumpling-pregnant boy... He resisted the urge to smack his face. "His name is Adrian. The other one is Charlotte," he groaned. "They introduced themselves twice, Mairi..."

"Oh. I don't remember."

My God, she can be so hopeless... It was as if she just got to know them, although they had pretty much interacted. Mairi was awfully silent with them, however.

"But you remembered they're my friends and what they did, surprisingly. I'll keep on reminding you until their names stick in your brain," retorted Abel before he devoured another dim sum, savoring another round of the heavenly taste. How did they make this so perfectly?

Mairi backed out, but swiftly returned with a jug and poured the tea into his empty cup. "I was about to ask how the food was, but then you were eating so ferociously. Told you they were good."

Welp, if Abel were to argue, that wouldn't explain the empty plate - with a few strands of noodles left - and the sole dim sum sitting on the basket. It wouldn't explain his body begging to taste more of the overflowing flavor. Within a few minutes, he had already ravaged every single food to nothing. What a way to prove her point.

"Fine, they're... kinda passable. Not a crappy place, after all," Abel murmured as he scratched his cheek. "They're much better than my hideous lunch."

"Hmm, what did they serve?"

"This strange-looking calzone... It was so pale and extremely greasy. Made me wanna puke, so I threw it away." He shivered. "I'd rather go hungry than eat that shit."

"Fair enough." Mairi promptly cleared the plates once he finished his last dim sum.

The grotesque image of that disgusting piece of garbage shouldn't be sticking in his head in the first place. The depths of hell was where it belonged. Maybe he could even use that as a weapon to stuff Jethro's mouth from babbling nonsense. Yeah no. That idiot's probably gonna like it.

At least I got a good meal. A jog with Rocky this evening will be great too. Abel sighed and leaned back on his chair, placing his head on his arms. Too bad Charlotte wasn't able to come along; she would have treasured this place like her second home. She had a piano competition in a couple of weeks, after all.

"Before you leave..." Mairi approached his table with the bill on hand. "I wanna talk about something."

"Yeah, what now?" questioned Abel. Was this going to be another one of her friendship plans? Yeah, most likely, now that they were officially friends.

"If you can't already tell, we're short-staffed." Mairi scanned around the vicinity, where he realized... there were actually no other servers besides her and a woman dressed in a white blouse - none other than the manager. "Right now, it's pretty quiet, but it gets real hectic during lunch and dinner."

"You don't have anyone else?" He asked, tapping his fingers. What does it have to do with me though?

"A couple or so, but they have different shifts. Well, my manager's trying to hire more people. Perhaps you're interested in becoming one?" She proposed. "She'll be happy to take you in."

...the fuck? Abel's head jerked towards her direction while he blinked repeatedly. With the roundest eyes, he stared at her as if she committed the most heinous crime the world had ever observed. Is this another one of her plot twists?

"Definitely not," he snapped and crossed his arms. "Why the hell should I work here? If I wanted to, I could have-"

"Not only do you get those noodles and dim sums for free, your shifts are flexible so you can work anytime after school. You even got your own money and used it for conventions."

Seriously... there was a slim chance this woman wasn't messing around; she had been chucking all those cheap praises right into his face, deriding his poor soul to no end, then offering him a job with absolutely no context. She didn't even allow him to finish his sentences. Despite that enigmatic look she had always wore, he was already coming to terms with her camouflaged antics. Her mask's slightly opened there, but what are her next schemes?

Better be ready.

"You did well convincing me, but it's not working." He simpered. "I've earned enough from my own cosplays and competitions."

"That's nice," she chipped in. "Your passion's admirable, so that really paid off."

That typical compliment was supposed to foster his dignity and brimmed him with pride, but then... a reminder that it all came from Mairi popped out like a notification. Aside from him shrinking away while something warm flooded his insides, he found himself incessantly caressing his neck.

What a way to start.

"Yeah, n-no shit. If I wasn't then I wouldn't be as charismatic." But then a charismatic person wouldn't have floundered on their words, and they wouldn't allow anyone to crush them down. Alas, for Abel, he was currently acting the polar opposite of those traits. Congratulations, you played yourself.

"It would be nice to have a friend at work, but... oh well," said Mairi nonchalantly and shrugged. "Hopefully my manager finds better suitors by next month or so."

There was really nothing to comment, so Abel simply paid the bill before he adjusted his shirt. However, the fact Mairi now referred to him as a friend despite what had occurred, was a bit too uncanny for his taste. Obviously he wasn't used to her, especially when she had always been... ignorant.

"Anyway, thanks for coming." A fleeting smile bolted across her expression before she started wiping the table. "Let me know if you change your mind, though."

That familiar smile... Not only did his stomach suddenly turn into a professional acrobat and rigorously perform somersaults, his legs instinctively propelled him squarely for the doors, without even muttering a goodbye. He didn't bother turning back; it was like an unknown entity had taken charge of him and forcefully yanked him out.

Had he gone mad? Well, was that supposed to be a rhetorical question? Because hell... I don't even know what I'm doing.

That damn Mairi and the way she managed to strike him down no matter what he did... She got more than just some guts.

***

11:29 PM.

As soon as Abel finished scribbling all the questions of his stupid homework, the tremendous wave of relief that had swept him off his feet... was beyond words. Throwing his hands into the air, he groaned as he promptly smacked his torso against his desk and tucked his face between his throbbing arms. Finally... done with this bullshit.

Calculus can go kiss my ass.

This was supposed to be the perfect time to escape into the world of manga, indulging in each and every of their plot. Instead, he was stuck with this unnecessary work for tomorrow but Adrian swooped in like those superheroes and guided both him and Charlotte into the light. If not for this dude, prepare for that teacher's constant bitching about life.

Adrian: you're welcome, my beloved pupils ;))

Abel loudly sighed as he checked the new text in his phone. Honestly, he would do anything for his friend to replace that teacher for good. What a true superhero... he should have tried cosplaying as one.

Before hopping straight to bed and catching up with new updates, he quickly beelined for the bathroom. God, who knows how long he had been glued to his chair; unmistakably hours after his daily jogging with Rocky.

Flushing the toilet, he brushed his short bangs, flattened his tousled hair in the mirror, and shot the ultimate smirk. Before he could trod back to his safe haven, the abrupt click of the front door followed by vague but audible murmurs stopped him dead in his tracks.

Those voices...

The thought had him clenching both of his fists and jaw. They belonged to none other than his nonexistent parents, who decided that this was the perfect moment to emerge. It was pretty odd that they showed up this early at night, but not that he gave a shit. They can do whatever they want as long as I don't have to interact with them.

"I don't understand why you still even give Abel money."

Abel rested his hand on the door handle, but the fact that his name had to slip out of his father's lips paused all of his actions. And so, another amazing speech by that good-for-nothing man had commenced. So, why is he talking about me...? What more do he want?

"Don't you see how he had been buying those dress-up shit and worthless comics?! He's not even 10 anymore!"

From that instant, the urge to scream almost conquered him had he not restrain himself. There was no way he would foolishly give away his presence. He bared his teeth as his body trembled, but he continued eavesdropping on their needless convo.

"Sam, don't be so hard on him. I understand where you're going, but he's still young," Mom's placid voice resounded. "He'll figure something out when he grows older."

"That's always your excuse!" Dad bellowed. "He's not gonna grow up when you're babying him every single time. You see Jethro? He's already planned out his career and even had jobs in high school, then you have Abel painting his hair and acting like some punk. I swear to God, he's gonna end up like those basement dwellers."

Abel wondered why his palms remained unscathed from the way he thrusted his sharp nails into them. Scratch that; he should have exploded from all the steaming blood rushing through his system. I'll rather live in the streets than in your fucking basement.

Concurrently, Mom zipped her lips, like she always did. Hoping for her to bat an eye was like anticipating a second season of his favorite TV show. To be more precise, she had always stared at Abel like he was the most disappointing human being to ever grace the earth, so what was the point of defending him?

"You better stop giving him money, yeah? See how he likes it."

Abel lowered his head, nearly biting his tongue as he gingerly ⁠- and even that was a struggle ⁠- swung the door to his room and quietly closed it behind him. With his smoldering gaze drilling into the floor, he tramped towards his bed... and before he knew it, thuds bounced through the walls as his balled hands clobbered against his pillow.

He could neither meditate over nor reorganize his scrambling thoughts; his brain was virtually a furnace. Grunting for breaths, his lungs burned with might as his punches eventually grew sloppier, until he helplessly collapsed onto his mattress, left with nothing but aching arms and heaving chest.

... I don't care.

He hauled himself up.

I don't fucking care what you want.

Seizing his phone, Abel scrolled down through his abundant list of contacts and pressed his thumb on a certain name.

Keep trying, asshole. You won't stop me.

His fingers jabbed on the keyboard buttons with no hesitation.

I'll always have my ways.

Abel: hey Mairi

Abel: when can I start working?

***

A/N: I'm really sorry for not updating for almost a month T_T I'm so caught up with a lot of things in my personal life, but anyway, I finally updated! ^^ Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! :)

- Tara