01: VEGAS PETE SIDE STORY

PETE

What am I going to do? I have no idea! I shook my head in frustration. My life was becoming more complicated every minute, and I'm left restless and helpless. The situation back here at home was already stressful enough. How could I be so stupid? I wasn't careful enough. I made a mistake again. Damn it!

"What the hell are you doing walking back and forth?" Arm looked at me, puzzled.

"I'm stressed!" I said, placing my hands on my hips. My brows furrowed and I could feel the blood vessels in my temples throbbing. I've been like this for many days. I was thinking that if this kept going, the veins in my brain were going to rupture someday.

"What are you so stressed about?" Another bodyguard walked over to place a plate of rice on the table and looked at me with a weirded look as well.

"Arm!" I dragged my chair and sat next to Arm who raised an eyebrow in question. "Can you go follow and spy on Boss Vegas in my stead?" I asked seriously.

"What? Why me? Pete, you've been like this for two days now." Arm put down his coffee mug and crossed his arms, turning to look at me.

"Dammit!" I shook my head vigorously. The two of them looked at my incomprehensible behavior with bewilderment.

They were startled when I suddenly slammed my hand on the table so loudly. I suddenly leaned over closer to them and lowered my voice so that the people around us wouldn't hear what I was telling them about.

"What am I going to do? It seems that Boss Vegas found out that I've been secretly following him all this time." I couldn't stop thinking about it for several days.

The other day, I was just following him like usual and watched him go around his usual routine. I saw him go home already and I was about to find more information, but fuck! I was shocked when Boss Vegas, who I thought at the time was taking a shower back at his house, stood next to me at the convenience store and talked nonsense about a mosquito repellant. I had to pretend that I wasn't tired from following him all day and even until night. Damn it! But it was true that there were many mosquitoes around the house.

"What?! What are you going to do about that?" Pol asked, his face looking stunned about what I said.

"Did you tell Boss Kinn yet?" Arm asked.

"I wouldn't dare!" To be honest, I couldn't even dare to look at Boss Kinn's face this time. He was extra moody now because of his wife. He would be annoyed in one second and he'd be elated in the next. I couldn't believe someone like Porsche will have the ability to wrap Kinn around his little finger.

Now, the atmosphere in the house was so gloomy that you had to raise your hands to pay homage to Buddha before you could even step inside. You might have to check your daily horoscope as well before you step out. You have to be composed to be living inside a house at the same time with Boss Kinn.

"You should've told him! If Boss Kinn finds out later, he'll get angry," Arm said, terrified.

"Would you dare to do that? It's true that Boss Kinn doesn't have the same anger as Boss Tankhun, but still." My eyes flickered and I felt a chill in my spine just imagining how our boss would react.

"But you should know. If Vegas really found out about you, he will be more careful. You have to hurry or else you won't get any evidence! You know that!" What Pol said made sense. I was ordered to follow Boss Vegas because Boss Kinn suspected that there was a connection between the missing documents and the corruption occurring in the minor clan's company.

Boss Kinn said that he had a feeling that Boss Vegas might be behind many terrible things. Especially since the two families never agreed with each other. He knew what was happening behind the scenes, but he couldn't get any evidence. It became even harder every passing day most likely because the power from the fathers' generation was being passed down to the successors. It was like a rift of change. Both Boss Vegas and Boss Kinn had to fight in order to take power into their own hands. There were strange things happening around the house recently. Really, this should be about Vegas and Tankhun. But that one? Let him go. We all agreed to raise the state of the household without him.

"I really want to tell him, I swear. But I need to have to wait until Boss Kinn is in a slightly calmer mood."

"You know, there's only one person who can save you from being punished. I assure you that he can turn this big problem into a small matter," Arm said with a thoughtful snap of his fingers.

"Porsche," I said, tiredly. The two nodded in unison. I already knew from day one that only Porsche can help but how can he do that when he wouldn't even answer all my calls? "So I'm really going to get scolded then," I said with impatience.

That bastard was stubborn. I didn't know what he was truly feeling in his heart, I just knew that they were arguing for sure. I warned him already about Boss Kinn's flirting ways, and if I'm correct, that was probably the case. But who would have thought that Boss Kinn was such a jerk? Now the matter had become heavier. There was a time when both of them were livelier than fire. Now it's been extinguished like someone had turned off the lights in the whole house.

"If you can't do anything, then you just have to lower your head and accept your karma. We need to be more careful. Boss Kinn ordered me to spy on Big. I won't dare to disobey orders at this time," Arm said, declining my request.

So, I turned to Pol who immediately shook his head. "I'm the only one left with Khun. If I don't accompany him and play with him, he's going to go rampant again."

"Argh! I'm so stressed!" I leaned against the back of my chair in a state of despair.

In the end, I needed to continue doing my job and just be more careful. I looked at the clock that showed seven o'clock. It was time for me to leave the house and wait for Boss Vegas at the entrance of the alley like every day. Come on! I'll keep my head down and pay for my karma.

I drove a sedan out of the house. Just in case, I changed my cars every day so I wouldn't seem suspicious. It was thanks to the wealth of the major clan that almost every car brand, from cheap to expensive, gave me a unique choice every day. But only the head bodyguards had the right to choose what type of car they could use for the day.

I parked my car in front of the alley that led to Boss Vegas' house. Soon, I saw a familiar car drive off swiftly. I followed the car but from a reasonable distance. Boss Vegas' routine would be the same. He goes to a coffee shop, a Starbucks, before going to the university. Some days, he would stop by a fast-food restaurant. It was as if he never ate breakfast at home.

As I walked, I tried to keep the tall figure in my sight at all times. I was wearing casual clothes because it was more comfortable when I had to walk around. Actually, it was Porsche who taught me that if I didn't want to stand out and make people look at me too much, I should stop wearing that unlucky suit so I wouldn't be a target. Looking back now, it was true. What idiot would wear a suit in their everyday life?

I took notes on a notebook because Boss Kinn told me to follow his every step no matter what I do. I've been following him for a week now, and it's conflicting to say whether Boss Vegas' behavior was suspicious or not. If I didn't know he was a villain deep inside, I would think that he looked like a normal person. He seemed to have an optimistic outlook, looked like a smart person, and had a good personality. He had a handsome face and spoke properly as the representative of the minor clan even though Boss Kinn was enough as the face of the whole family. But it turned out that the minor clan's eldest son was a madman.

Boss Vegas had already finished paying for the things he bought. I was watching him from the other side of the store and was about to head out and follow him.

"Oh! I'm sorry." I sat up. I didn't see the employee holding a coffee cup that walked in front of me at first.

"Iced hochija tea latte." The waiter handed me the glass.

"I didn't order this," I immediately refused.

"Oh, someone bought it for you."

"Who?"

"I don't know. Excuse me, sir." Before I could ask more questions, the employee put the coffee cup in my hand and walked away.

What the heck? Was it Boss Vegas? Not again! Fuck. He was sitting in a corner a bit far from me. How could he have seen me? Was he being thoughtful? Of course not! Maybe it was the woman from that other table, she might've been fascinated with my handsomeness which was why she bought it for me. So, I looked at the woman sitting across me and she looked back, and I gave her a big smile as a thank you. But I immediately stopped when she frowned at me strangely.

"Maybe not. Or maybe it's that other woman? Fuck!" I took the straw and inserted it inside the glass, before finishing almost half of it.

Suddenly, I realized that I should be doing more than just standing there and drinking coffee, looking at a woman in a shop who wasn't even paying attention to me. Shocks, Pete! You were stupid again! I immediately put on my jacket before running after Boss Vegas. Dammit! How could I forget that I have to follow Boss Vegas?

"Ah! Fucking Pete, you idiot!" I shook my head violently as I cursed myself in irritation. Boss Vegas' car was gone! But it's fine, right? If he'll just follow the daily routine, he will be in the university next. But on the way there, he might stop somewhere or not, or maybe he'll change his mind after and I wouldn't know because I failed to follow him!

I ran across the road to the other side and rushed towards my car as quickly as possible. Maybe I could still keep up with Boss Vegas if I drove fast. But because I was such in a hurry, I didn't see a car that was driving towards the park in front of me.

"Hey!"

What was that?! I yelled in surprise when I felt someone's arm hold my waist to save me from getting hit by the speeding car. I probably might've gotten hit if I took another step forward closer to the road. Thank goodness I didn't.

"You should look around when you're crossing the road," said a deep voice behind me. I hurriedly removed the hand around my waist and immediately turned to look at the person who saved me.

"It's gone," I said through gritted teeth.

"Where were you going in such a hurry? You could've died."

At this moment, I wanted to run out of here and shout as loud as I could, just so I could vent out my frustration. Damn it all to hell! But for now, I could only take a deep breath. Try to stay calm and act as normally as possible.

"Oh, Boss Vegas! Hello. This is such a coincidence." I raised my hands and bowed at the person in front of me with a big smile on my face. I needed to act properly for now.

"Um... What are you doing here in the morning?" I asked, clearing my mind.

He opened his eyes and made a face that made it seem like he was surprised as well to meet me here. But Boss Vegas didn't say anything to me. In his hand, he held a bag of four sticks of toasted pork. Then he walked away, crouching down on the edge of the sidewalk, pulling out one of the toasted pork sticks when two dogs approached him, wagging their tails at the speed of light. Boss Vegas fed them the pork while his other hand rubbed the dogs' heads.

How do I get away? Should I run? But if I run, I would look totally dubious.

"I see the dogs here are tame. It looks like they like grilled pork." What am I talking about?! I swear to god! I think my brain's efficiency decreased because I've been sleeping less lately.

"I don't know. I'm not a dog so I don't know what they think. But if you say the dogs like it, then they probably do," Boss Vegas said without turning to look at me. I immediately smiled brightly but inside I was cursing. Dammit! Is he calling me a dog?

"Yes, I guess so."

"But dogs are nice. A dog is always honest. As a dog, you will obey your owner in whatever he says. You don't think for yourself, so you let the master hold the leash to drag it around like this. But be careful... You'll get dragged to death." When he said the last sentence, Boss Vegas glanced at me with a mischievous smile on his lips. I immediately swallowed the lump in my throat.

I'm not stupid and I understood what Boss Vegas was trying to say. I was a hundred and a thousand times more confident now that Boss Vegas knows that I was stalking him in every step of the way.

"Yeah, the dog thing is complicated. Anyways, I think I'd better go now. See you, Boss Vegas. Goodbye." I waved my hand to Boss Vegas again before turning to look left and right, crossing the road to the other side as I hurried to get into the car.

"Fucking Pete! Hey Pete, what are you going to do?!" When I got inside the car, I banged my forehead on the steering wheel over and over again to wake myself up.

I felt so dumb. It was just a simple job to stalk people like that, why did I have to make a mistake and make such a mess? It was like the proficiency of my work was getting lower and lower. It's not appropriate for the head bodyguard of the major clan's eldest son. Although before this, I even did my job efficiently. Foolish Pete, so dumb!

Either way, this matter was getting complicated. I had to tell Boss Kinn right away. I might get fired from being too careless. I guess I would just have to go back to the province to help Grandma in her shop and cut tires like in the past. It seemed I won't be able to escape my fate. But before I tell Boss Kinn, maybe I should ask someone for help so the situation can be eased even a little bit.

I dialed Porsche and prayed for him to answer my call one more time. I would be so thankful if he answers even once so I prayed harder. Amen!

"Porsche! Pick up the phone!" I said with enthusiasm. Thankfully, the end of the line was answered.

[What's wrong?]

"It's me..."

[Hold on. It's about that bastard, isn't it? Don't even say his name or I'll hang up immediately!] Bitch! What the hell am I supposed to do then?

"But I have a favor to ask of you. Well, uh – if I were to talk about him, what should I say instead?" At least I didn't say Boss Kinn's name so it wouldn't irritate Porsche's ears. Would he listen to me now?

[I don't want to talk about this. I'm hanging up!]

"Wait a minute! Listen to me. It's about my job. At least hear me out for a moment. I'm really in trouble." This bastard was so impatient!

[Motherfu-]

"I'm troubled. You need to help me," I said, lowering my voice to ask for his sympathy.

[Well, if you're going to talk about him, let's just say fuck the dog.]

"It's really important!" Dammit! I've got two headaches now. One from my friend, one from my boss.

[So explain then.]

"Okay, okay." Dammit! Kinn, I'm sorry.

"Don't get confused. Please go talk to, uh, that bastard for me!" It sounded so disrespectful, I don't know. I'm really sorry, it wasn't my intention. Boss Kinn's wife asked me to do this. "Would you please go and talk to the son of a bitch and tell him to change the person in charge of my job?"

[Oh, I'll just go tell him myself. Do as I say and he will believe.]

"You sure? One hundred percent sure?"

[Aha! Why don't you go tell him yourself?]

"For now, his mood is it's unstable. It's either I'll get punished or fired. To be honest, I made a mistake and Boss Kinn will– Hello? Hey!"

No, no, no, no. Porsche! He couldn't even calm down and listened more to his friend. I just mistakenly mentioned his name and he hanged up immediately without consideration. Dammit! I beg you, Kinn, have mercy on me. I sat in the car for a long time until I eventually had to regain my sanity because I still had a duty to finish today. Then I would go back and admit to Boss Kinn my mistake.

I was a little confused when Boss Vegas parked in a place then suddenly shifted to another. But when I came out of the coffee shop, I didn't see his car. It's not strange to be in a hurry. Today, Vegas' life is the same as every day. Go to the university, study, and talk with friends as usual. I added more distance between us to try to become more careful. In the evening, Boss Vegas drove straight to the front of a private school to pick up Macau. On days when Boss Macau doesn't have tutoring lessons, his brother would always come to pick him up in front of the school.

From the way it looked, Vegas cared for Macau so much. It seemed that he loves his brother. Like now, the two brothers entered the mall near the school. If Boss Macau wanted anything, Boss Vegas would buy it all for him. He looked like a normal person. But when he talked to me this morning, there was something different about him.

I was now standing in front of the cinema. The two brothers seem to have decided to watch a movie. They walked to the ticket booth, standing there, looking over at the tickets they purchased, then disappearing inside the theater.

I let out a sigh of relief as Boss Vegas and his brother relaxed inside. He had yet to notice me following him again. I would wander here for a while, waiting for the movie to finish, and I would continue to watch him until he goes home. This time, I'll find a better place to rest. At least a ten-minute nap would do. I needed to recharge myself, but I couldn't do that until I finished my duty for the day.

Suddenly, the number one bastard in my life called my phone and I had to roll my eyes in irritation. Why is this day so tiring?!

"Yes, boss?"

[WHERE ARE YOU?!] The shouting voice almost came out of the speaker. I had to put the phone away from my ear.

"A mall."

[No. Are you ignoring your job to go to the mall, Pete? I've gotta say, you've finally lost your mind. Wait and see, I'll cut your salary! And then you can only eat fish sauce while you watch.]

"Wait, sir. I came after Boss Vegas because Boss Kinn ordered me to. He came to the mall, so I had to follow him here, too," I said, shaking my head indifferently. This person was beyond words above all things in the world.

[Oh, I forgot. I thought you were stumped again. I'm sorry.] Forgive what? I was told that he was working. Oh die, die, die!

"Yes. Do you need anything else?"

"What movie should we watch?" I walked away from the group of teenagers that were buying movie tickets.

[Oh! Are you around the cinema?] Boss Tankhun made a noise. Khun must've heard the kids talking near me.

"Yes."

[Great! I want to eat Major's popcorn. Buy me a big bucket. The series I'm watching ends tonight, too. Get me some so I can eat it while watching.] What the hell, Khun?

"But it will get cold by the time I return. Can you just please order Pol to come and buy it instead?" I said truthfully. It might take hours before I could even go back to the house.

[Why?! You've changed, Pete. You need to buy it, not anyone else! You have to buy it for me!] I wondered sometimes how kind I must be to suffer like this. He's so selfish, he must always win no matter how unreasonable his orders are.

"What flavor do you want? But you also need to tell me that you won't get mad even if I get home late." I closed my eyes and held back my emotions. If he wasn't my boss, I would've gone insane already.

[I know. Get the cheese. Buy a big bucket. And tonight, you have to watch the final episode with me, that's all.] And the call ended.

I stomped my feet on the ground in annoyance and exasperation. I imagined that the floor was Khun's face. I stepped on it for a long time until I felt satisfied. The people around me were looking at me with confused gazes so I had to take a deep breath and calm my heart.

Dammit! For days, I hardly had time to sleep because I get home at two or even three a.m. Then I even had to wake up at seven o'clock to follow the man again. So of course, I was going to be irritable and blurry especially lately!

"One big bucket of cheese popcorn, please." I walked over to the counter and ordered. My brain was still blurry and dizzy, and I was only thinking about the bed in my room.

"A big bucket of sweets as well, I see. Here's the payment for this." Both the voice and the hand that held out the credit card in front of me made me startled again. I got found out again for the second time. I must've stepped on the wrong foot when I left the house earlier today. Did I forget to even open my eyes this morning? Fuck!

"Oh, Boss Vegas, another coincidence?" I turned around and smiled. I was already feeling sleepy earlier, but I forced my eyes to light up.

"The world is full of coincidences," said Boss Vegas as he put his hands in his pockets. I waited to receive the popcorn that the staff scooped.

"This is one of brother Tankhun's men. Don't tell me that brother Tankhun is here somewhere. Goddammit!" Boss Macau looked left and right with paranoia.

"No. You must've come alone, right?" Boss Vegas narrowed his eyes and looked at me in a way that I could only describe as evilly.

"Did you come to see a movie? You're wearing casual clothes today. Normally, brother Tankhun goes crazy when it comes to this. His subordinates have to wear a suit and tie to walk together in procession." Boss Macau spoke of Boss Tankhun with a bored expression. It would've been like that in the past, but Porsche has revolutionized the whole household. Unlike in the past, Khun would now wear casual clothes often when going to the club to blend in.

I smiled dryly. Then I turned to pick up the bucket of popcorn that the employee handed over.

"What movie are you going to watch?" Boss Macau asked me without hesitating. Boss Vegas pretended not to care and turned to get the soft drinks they bought.

"Uh. That. Yeah, that one." I pointed to a random movie poster pasted on the wall.

"Oh, it's the same as us. Where are you sitting?" Now I kind of understood why Khun wanted to slap Macau over and over. Dammit! Why does he keep asking so many things?

"Oh..." Of course, I wouldn't know where I'll sit because I didn't come here to watch a movie. Fuck! I should've said that I just came to buy popcorn for Khun and I'll be going home after. But I didn't think of that because my brain isn't functioning properly.

"You haven't bought a ticket yet," Boss Vegas said matter-of-factly.

"Really? Oh, that's right! Here, take this ticket. We were supposed to watch with a friend, but he couldn't come. You should have this so it wouldn't go to waste. It's a pity if you leave without watching." Boss Macau stuffed the movie ticket into my hand.

My knees started to feel like they were about to collapse. I must've looked like a poor child earlier. Why did they have to be kind today? Can they just be kind some other time?

"I'm sorry, I can go buy it myself." I handed the ticket back to him.

"It's fine! Go ahead. Just promise not to tell brother Tankhun. If I'm not mistaken, you're probably brother Tankhun's favorite, hehe." Damn it! Why did he have to be specific to me?! Why, why, why, why are you so stupid? Why is Khun so naughty? Why did he have to be obsessed with eating popcorn today? Fuck all these people!

"It's okay, really."

"Come on." Boss Vegas handed me a cup of soda. "Just take it. It's boring to wait here outside." He leaned forward and made a sly face. The situation seemed so coercive now.

I furrowed my brows and bit my lower lip. The blood vessels in my brain felt like they were going to explode any moment now. I finally gave in and entered the movie theater with them. I sat at the edge seat and Boss Vegas sat in the middle with Macau on the other side. So now, we had to watch while sitting next to each other. This was too much of a surprise. A new level of stalking. I didn't want to imagine if Kinn came and saw us, how shocked he would be. Would my knees collapse? Would I cry or something? This was too unexpected!

In all honesty, I was so terribly incapable of acting. So damn stupid. What kind of movie were we even watching? I didn't even know. I had no idea what to do with my arms and legs while sitting there. Argh! Was the movie playing in time? It was almost halfway through but it felt like I've been here for ten years. It was too long. Why was time running so slowly? So, I just tried to distract myself by eating the popcorn I bought for Khun. I had no idea what to do and I didn't want to look at Boss Vegas who was sitting next to me.

Get a grip, Pete! Try to focus. Clear your mind, do anything to do that, whatever it may be. What movie were you even watching, you bastard? I thought that after all this I would confess everything to Boss Kinn. Whatever happened, it just happened. I couldn't change that. Let it be done according to karma. Sigh!

The movie that Boss Vegas and Boss Macau chose wasn't bad. It was a mafia movie, something that involved investigative foreign affairs. The scenes and characters also caught my attention a little. I ate the popcorn while alternating with the soda that was placed between me and Vegas.

"Why is the heroine so stupid?" I remarked to myself softly. Eyes only focused on the screen.

I put another popcorn in my mouth and was about to grab the cup of soda to drink. But there was the hand of another person that held my hand and raised the cup so he could drink it. He did it with an unreadable expression even though my hand was still holding the cup as well.

"Uh, is this yours, Boss Vegas?" I tried to pull my hand out of the grip, but his hand squeezed it tightly that the cup was starting to become deformed.

"Oh, wrong cup," said Boss Vegas, pretending to be naïve. He let go of the cup and my hand and I put it back in its place.

What the heck?! Hair stood up across my arms. I felt goosebumps. I saw him narrow his eyes and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, I could feel his savage rays. I tried to move myself a little to the left of the chair, still tensed. I felt so frightened that I almost wanted to scream because of how uncomfortable I was.

I closed my eyes to silently suppress my emotions. But with the exhaustion of my body plus the cold air of the theater, my eyelids became heavy and it was difficult to force them open against the flash of light on the screen. The blinking of my eyes started to slow down. I closed my eyes for a long time until I forgot my goal for the day. Eventually, my consciousness faded and my vision was cut off until all I could see was nothing.

"Sir? Sir, the movie is over."

I shuddered violently. The lights inside the theater made me quickly squint my eyes and adjust my focus. As I began to calm myself, I turned around and saw no one except for the staff cleaning the trash. I was stunned by what I saw.

I fell asleep! Why didn't Boss Vegas and Boss Macau wake me up when the movie ended? What the heck?! I was embarrassed. I checked my things and got up from my chair. That's when my eyes stumbled upon a small post-it note on my right arm.

'Sweet dreams :)' was scribbled in the handwritten message on the note. I picked up the post-it, gripped it tightly and threw it into the trash bag brought by one of the theater employees. Argh, Boss Vegas! The nerve of that man. I swear to god, this whole family is just too much for me!

Damn! And now, I lost sight of Boss Vegas once again. But this time, he should be back home. Oh, I needed to drive to the house again. Not my house, but our nemesis'.

I walked out of the cinema, stopping by the bathroom to wash my face. I rubbed my eyes to get rid of my sleepiness and exhaustion. There were dark circles starting to appear under my eyes. I slept less than four hours a day, and then every day I got only headaches. Looking at my shape, I should probably workout soon.

I walked back to the car before picking up my phone to check and I remembered that I put it on silent when the movie started. It's been almost three hours since then.

As soon as I unlocked the screen, the light suddenly flashed to my eyes and I saw the ten rows of missed calls from Arm. And five more rows, and another five. What is happening? I hurriedly called him back.

"Hello."

[Fuck, Pete! I thought you were already dead! Where are you?!]

"Oh, uh, I'm in front of Boss Vegas' house?" I lied because I was supposed to still be following Boss Vegas at this time, but I was knocked out in the cinema for too long. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone that.

[That's probably enough for today. You should come back home now.] Arm said in a serious tone.

"What happened?"

[Porsche is here. He's taking all his stuff out of the house!]

"Huh? Boss Kinn is there to stop him, right?"

[Oi, don't mind Boss Kinn. Even if his father came to stop him, Porsche would still get away. You need to come back quickly!]

"Okay, I'm on my way." I hung up the phone and immediately drove the car home. Why was this happening? Seriously, a blood vessel in my brain was going to burst now. I'm so tired and I still want to sleep.

~~~

When I got home, everything seemed quiet, gloomy, and awkward. The atmosphere wasn't as pleasant as before, probably because there were just too many things happening lately, both in the house and the company. The whole story in the house came together as if it was a misfortune for the people here. I stood in front of Boss Kinn's large doorway and tried to calm myself down for a while. In the end, I made a mistake and I had to accept the consequences. I knocked on the door three times before opening it.

"You're back, huh?" I heard Khun's voice said as soon as he saw me enter. I lifted my head to look at the entrance of the room again. This was Boss Kinn's room, why did Khun show up here? Not just him, there was Boss Kim and his subordinates sitting, face down, staring at the rows of papers laid on the floor.

"How long are you going to stand there? Come in," Kim's voice spoke up. I smiled slightly as I closed the door of the room.

"It's good that you came here. Help us separate this pile of documents. Write down all the income and expenses in this book." Arm beckoned to me and explained what he was doing right now, which was to help each other find evidence and observe errors from the list of customers and all the income and expenses.

I looked at Boss Kinn and I decided that I won't talk to him for now. Because looking at his face and eyes, he was too serious about finding information on the table that he was cut off from the outside world.

"Pete, my popcorn!" Shit! It disappeared! I forgot! I only ate half of the bucket and the other half was forgotten and left at the cinema.

"Well, I forgot, sir." I bowed my head and admitted my mistake. I raised my hands and stood still, preparing to cover my ears because I already knew he'll be yelling at my face for what I did.

"Bastard! How brave of you to forget me! If this was any other day, I would've ordered for you to buy another one now! Son of a bitch! You changed! You have changed since you only care about Vegas, you don't care about me now! Huh?!" Khun said with an irritated expression, but his voice, although sounding angry as well, was in a volume that was acceptable. He probably didn't want to disturb Boss Kinn, too.

"Sir, I'll go buy it tomorrow. I'll even buy two buckets. My treat, okay?" I had to find a way to survive. Let the matter end as soon as possible. I was already tired and I wanted to know how many times must I shout and deal with this sort of thing.

"Okay, fine." Good thing Boss Khun didn't go too crazy about it. It's not even a big deal. He looks callous, and even when he takes things seriously, he's still callous about it. Let's just say that this kind of response was already more than enough for me.

After that nonsense, I carefully looked at each document one by one and slowly crouched down to the ground. I went from sitting upright to sitting while leaning forward. For a moment, I lowered my face down. My eyelids began to feel heavy again. It was the same atmosphere as the movie theater; the air conditioner was making it cold, the music coming from Khun's phone became a good sedative for me. I realized that if something bad were to happen, I wouldn't be aware because of the lack of alertness in my body. And now, the pile of papers in front of me became a fine pillow as support for my head. At least let me rest my eyes for fifteen minutes.

~

~~

"Pete, head back to your room and go to sleep." A voice came over to wake me up.

I suddenly jumped and vigorously sat up. I did it again! Fifteen minutes was a total sham. I glanced at the clock on the wall. I fell asleep for almost six hours. That was definitely my longest sleep in days. Oh no, I didn't do anything at all. Everyone began to gradually leave Boss Kinn's room. Khun walked with his eyes closed like a sleepwalked straight to his own room. When everyone else left, I hurriedly sorted the rest of the documents before going to rest in my bedroom.

"Pete, are you really tired?" I looked up at Boss Kinn in a daze. As soon as I saw his face, I realized that I had to tell him the truth about everything that happened today.

"Uh, a little, Boss Kinn. I guess."

"Oh, take this," said Boss Kinn before handing me a white envelope.

"What is it, Boss Kinn?" I approached him curiously.

"Something to give back for your hard work." I opened the envelope and immediately frowned.

"Isn't this too much?" Dozens of thousands of banknotes were packed inside it.

"Just take it. I don't know how else to thank you," Kinn said calmly. But I could see that his eyes were tired and gloomy.

I sighed softly, feeling ashamed to take all of these money. I made mistakes that I couldn't even forgive myself for. Once again, I opened my mouth to speak but Boss Kinn spoke first.

"There's one more thing I have to bother you with," said Boss Kinn, the expression on his face more tensed than before. I had no choice but to hold back everything I had to say and listen to him intently.

"..."

"When does Uncle Kan go to the casino?"

"Every Saturday."

"Then in two days, I need you to sneak into their house. Find the missing documents, even if they're really there or not. Or even if you find anything out of the ordinary. You can gather all the evidence. I'm going to be able to get a real one."

"Yes, Boss Kinn," I quickly replied.

"But it's very risky. Is that okay with you?" Boss Kinn asked, looking at me worriedly. I would be happy to do it, just so I can pay for the mistake I did being caught by Vegas.

"I can do it."

"Um, can you do it alone? I want other people to know as little as possible. For now, I don't trust anyone but you."

"I understand."

"But if anything bad happens, contact me as soon as you can, Pete."

"Yes, Boss Kinn..."

"Or if you can't do it, just tell me."

"I can do it," I replied firmly.

"Thank you very much, Pete. For the time being, you don't have to do anything until Saturday comes. Have a good rest. You look so tired. Go to sleep," Kinn said before walking straight to the bathroom without looking back.

"Understood, Boss Kinn."

Until then, I wasn't able to tell Boss Kinn about the incident. But hey! At least I can compensate this time for everything that happened today by sneaking into Boss Vegas' house to bring evidence.

That reminded me of the scene from the movie we watched. It's pathetic. Damn it!