BCJ 2 • hired

***

"Eze, I know I don't have enough time for you but can you at least behave when you're at school? Your professor called me yesterday saying that you got caught smoking inside the campus."

Pete inwardly groaned as he covered himself again with the duvet. "Daaad, why are you even here?"

He literally just woke up and the first thing that greeted him was his father's voice ranting about him getting caught by his professor.

"So I can't visit my son now? Care to explain what happened?"

It was intentional as he was expecting the professor to call his mom.

He was hoping his mom would check on him—something that she hasn't done for months.

"Dad. It was just one cigarette stick. I barely even finished half of it. And besides I was about to go home that time. He just caught me at an unexpected moment."

"So it's your professor's fault now, huh?"

He didn't answer and just pretended to sleep.

He knows his father is doing his best to take care of him, but he craves for his mom's attention.

Ever since she got a new family, she barely sees him so he does the most ridiculous ways for her to see him, and that includes crashing his car and injuring himself but his mom didn't even show up at the hospital, not even once.

And when he knew that she was busy taking care of his sick future step son, he hated her even more.

"Son, I know that you miss your mom, but she has a new family now. She's about to get married even. You're not the only one who misses her. I miss her, too."

He controlled his tears under the cover.

Over the years, he saw how his father tried to save their marriage and their family. But it was a total failure. It was a total mess.

And so they had to part ways.

From then on, he vowed to never love anyone. Not after seeing his parents marriage crumble down in front of his very eyes.

"Why would you miss her? Did you even love each other?"

"We didn't. But as time passed by, I learned to love her. That was why I tried saving our family but it was too late."

Silence then followed. No one dared to say a word. It was his father that broke the silence by delivering him a news.

"I'm gonna hire someone to accompany you here. Your place is a total mess."

"I don't need another helper, dad. Aunt Ying regularly cleans my unit anyway."

"Tss. Aunt Ying is getting older. Why would you let her go through all the trouble of travelling back and forth just to clean your dungeon?"

"It's still a no. I don't want anyone else invading my place."

"And I still have the last say. Come on. You better take a shower. You smell awful, son."

"Yeah, whatever old man."

***

Kao took a deep breath as he stared at the list of fees he has to pay by the end of the month. He is barely making money and he has also given all his savings to his mom to pay for his younger brother's hospital bills. And to top it all, he just lost his job at the convenience store.

The store manager apparently did not believe that the customer caused the commotion even after reviewing the CCTV and even went as far as making him pay for the damages.

He really wanted to file a complaint but he realized that Pete will only make his money move and that would deem him even more helpless.

"Hey, you okay?"

He looked at his friend, Julian Third, before sluggishly sitting on the nearby bench.

"Yeah, just a bit of money problems."

"I can lend you some."

He immediately shook his head. As much as possible, he doesn't want to be indebted to others.

"Have you found a new job?"

"Nah. I'm planning to look for one after classes."

"Uh, actually, my father's business partner is looking for a babysitter. You may want to try. The pay is large, too."

He contemplated as he ran a hand through his hair. Babysitting isn't actually a tough job as he is used to taking care of his younger brother and nephews.

"How old is the baby though?"

"I don't know. My dad just said that his son needs someone to take care of him specifically on weekends. So, you up for the job? I'm gonna call my dad so he can ask his friend for the contact details. It's not bad anyway. And besides you can still juggle another job on weekdays."

"O-okay. I'll give it a try then."

"I'll just send you the details then. I gotta go ahead first."

"Okay, thanks Third."

He once again glanced at his list of fees before deciding to head to his next class, but as he was about to grab his bag from the bench, a familiar face appeared in front of him.

As much as he wanted to land a fist on the jerk's face, he opted to ignore Pete and walked ahead of him, but Pete grabbed him by the arm before pushing him back on the bench.

"Are you ignoring me?" Pete sneered at him to which Kao only returned with a straight face.

"Why? Should I be entertaining you, then?" he fired back for he was still pissed at Pete for ruining his job.

Kao's response agitated Pete. No one has ever tried to defy his words and the guy in front of him was just brave enough to talk back to him.

"Don't you kn-"

But even before he could finish his statement, Kao already left him.

***

"What's his name?" Pete asked Khai as they were on their regular spot at the cafeteria.

"Who?" Khai furrowed his brows at Pete as he munched on his sandwich. Pete barely takes interest on others, well aside from girls of course, but this time, the look on Pete's face totally intrigued him.

"That guy. The one standing by the fountain."

Khai followed Pete's gaze and eventually noticed the guy Pete was referring to.

"Ah, Kao, Jameson Kao. He's from the same faculty with the girl I'm currently flirting with. Why?"

"I don't like him."

"Tss. Since when did you like anyone aside from girls?"

"Hey! You make it sound like I don't settle with one."

"Why? Do you? You can't even settle with one girl for a month."

"Psh. Just, just finish your food."

"Tss. Oh just admit it. You probably couldn't even count the number of girls you have under your belt."

"Stop it, okay? Stop making me look like a total jerk."

Pete stilled as he uttered that very familiar word, reminding him of the night Kao called him one.

"Psh. Okay fine, Saint Pete."

He just totally ignored Khai's taunting remark and started poking his food. His eyes still fixed on Kao who seemed to be in a deep thought while staring at his phone.

"Tss. Why do I even care?" he mumbled before focusing his attention on his food.

***

Kao carefully adjusted the straps of his backpack as he stood in front of the office of the man he talked over the phone earlier.

Apparently, his soon to be boss, if he ever gets the job, is the CEO of a large construction company.

At first he hesitated as babysitting will entail such minute details, but when the man told him about his initial pay, he couldn't help but agree to meet him.

The man's secretary ushered him in, announcing his arrival to the man sitting by a large desk. His face exuded authority and dominance and that made Kao nervous, but the moment the man smiled and told him to sit, he started to somehow loosen up.

Well, maybe just a bit.

"Good morning, Sir."

"Kao, right?"

"Yes, Sir. Jameson Kao Sanchez."

"Okay, I'll get straight to the point, Kao. You're hired since someone I trust referred you to me. Now, all you have to do is take care of my son and make sure he doesn't do anything ridiculous. Here's the key to his unit and the address and a list of things that you need to remember. You just have to be with him on weekends."

Kao furrowed his brows as the man slid a piece of paper in front of him.

1. Make sure he has strawberries in his fridge.

2. Make sure he doesn't smoke a single stick of cigarett—

His forehead creased even more as he finished the second item on the list.

"Excuse me, Sir bu—"

"Oh, I've got a meeting in five minutes so let's quickly wrap this up. If you have questions you know how to contact me. Anyway, here's your initial pay. It's for three months as I hope that you could stand my son's behavior for that long. And if ever you do a great job, I'll double the amount. Steven, can you prepare my things for the meeting."

"Yes, Sir."

Kao just remained seated, his eyes bouncing from his boss who was already fixing his suit to the piece of paper in his hand.

He has never been this confused.

***