Nine

"Over there was the bathroom. You take a half bath first and then get dressed. I'll just get you ready for bed." She said.

"Where are you from, Mitch?" Zander asked.

“Ours is in the province. I’m only here in town because of my job. It's so hard there, so I thought of working here. If I didn't think of working here, I would probably be able to get married there early. Some women there were thinking about marrying so that they can escape poverty but they marry a man who is no stable job. It's always the same.” She said.

Zander got up and went to the bathroom. He took a half bath first and then got dressed and came out of the bathroom three minutes later. He found Mitchelle changed clothes as well.

"You didn't take a bath?" he asked.



“I don't like to take a bath or even a half bath at night because I get winded and my stomach suddenly hurts. You know, I'm the only one here, so no one will take care of me when I get sick. " She replied.

Zander nodded in response.

"You sit here and sip the soup,” Mitch said.

Zander sat down in a chair and grabbed the cup of noodles. Now he still feels hungry when he smells the cup noodles with the seafood flavor. Minutes later he finished eating and threw the empty cup of noodles in the trash can.

“Take a rest, Zander, I'll be out in a minute."

“Don’t stay there long. It's late at night and you still have work tomorrow," Zander said.

Mitchelle abruptly stopped walking out and stared at him intently before nodding with a smile. He was suddenly embarrassed by himself. He was like a boyfriend who cares about his girlfriend, but Zander suddenly felt something for Mitch that he didn't understand. He was stunned inside the room when she came out for a brief moment. Zander also decided to lie down and sleep. He just closed her eyes, but he didn't fall asleep right away because the place was unfamiliar to him.

Mitch entered after hearing the door open. Zander sensed her approaching his bed and hugging him. He erroneously judges her. He thought she was a jerk, but why is she looking after him? And what is the significance of the hug? Nothing like this had ever happened to him in his entire life. It even came from a woman he had only recently met. Zander had only just heard her whisper in his ear.


"Can't you sleep?" It was as if all the hair on his body stood up because of what she said.

He didn't say anything and just felt Mitch's body on his shoulder. Maybe she noticed he didn't move, so she didn't talk to him anymore and go to her bed.

The next day,

Elodie woke up early because today was the day they were going to the beach. She got dressed and left her room and found Devora in the living room of the house, ready to leave.

"I don't think all of you are too excited," She said.

“Miss, we woke up at four o'clock. We were so excited that we couldn't sleep well.” Lazzy said.

Elodie laughed. Then she noticed her phone rang. She answered it because Donald calling.

"Hello, Donald. Why?" she asked him on the other line.
“Miss, Mr. Yun called this morning, he said he wanted to talk to you," Donald said.

Elodie's eyebrow rose.

"I texted you last night that I would not be coming into the office today. I hope you told him that earlier,” she said.

"I already told him, Miss, but he doesn't want to believe it," Donald replied.

“Do we have anything else to talk about? As far as I know, he will pull out his investment in our company, so what else can we talk about? That man is very annoying." she said, frowning.

"I don’t know. "Miss," Donald said.

She put the phone in her sling bag after Donald cut the call. That Mr. Yun gave her concerns.

"Let's go, girls," she told them all.

Elodie walked out of the house first but was shocked at the person she saw leaning against the hood of her car.

"Good morning. I know you were surprised when I visited you now. How come you don't pay attention to my message and call? So I came to your house on purpose.” Mr. Yun said.

Her eyebrow rose and look away. For her, this is the worse beach scenario that she experience so far because of this person.

“Do we have anything else to talk about, Mr. Yun? This is my day off and one more thing we are not in the office." Elodie said in a rush manner.

“It’s not about business. It’s personal matters," Mr. Yun replied.

"Can that wait? Maybe next week. We are going somewhere." she said.

"Can I come along?"

Because of what Mr. Yun said, her brow furrowed. Why did he think they were close to each other? They didn't close enough to include him in their trip.

Zander woke up to the noise coming from outside Mitch's room. He got up and saw Mitch sitting in a chair near the table.

"Zander. You’re awake." Mitch said.
"What time is it?" he asked.

"It's nine o'clock," Mitch replied.

Zander's stunned. He got to go to school right now and his mother for sure is looking for him. And he became late if he try himself come to school.

“I’m leaving, Mitch. Thank you," he said.
Mitch gave a nod. He then exited the room and continued walking until he could exit the apartment. He was looking for a motorcycle to ride home on. He got off and walked into the house, where he saw his mother sweeping the front porch. He walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek.

“You should eat. I have prepared food for you.” his mother said.

Zander was surprised because his mother didn't even ask him why he came home in the morning.

“I'm sorry, mom, I just got home today,” he said.

“You are too old enough to ask why. Go ahead. You should enter the house and grab some breakfast." she said.

Zander entered the house and went directly to the kitchen to eat. He recalls Mitch's clothes from that time. It's a good thing his mother didn't notice why he was wearing different clothes and where he left his evening clothes.
Minutes have passed, and he is now waiting on the side of the road for a ride to school. He kept looking at the time. It's a shame if he arrives late to school. He is not a student, but a teacher. Duke had called earlier, but he didn't bother answering because he was upset. He wouldn't be late today if he had delivered him last night.