All Jokes Aside (Imperfect Series #3)

Chapter 08

Maganda ang gising ko ng sumunod na araw dahil nakatulog ako ng maayos pagkagabi na walang inaalalang mabigat na alintuntunin. How I wished I wake every morning without anything to worry about. It felt nice to wake up in the morning without heaviness on my chest. Yung inaalala ko palagi noong nakaraang gabi ay yung bago kong amo sa part-time job ko. Hindi siya mahirap pakiusapan pero nakakahiya. Pero pera yun at ayaw niyang pag-usapan namin yun.

So from that time onward when we talked about the amount he paid me, and the other day, I decided to stop worrying. Pera ang rason kung bakit ako nagpapakalunod sa stress kaya tatanggapin ko kung ilang amount pa ang ibabayad niya sakin.

The other night, the blizzard was strong and I couldn't keep walking in the middle of the cold street. The streets were also dusted with snow and it's too dangerous to walk through on the slick road. Nabawasan ang snow sa daan dahil agad na nililinis ng mga nagtratrabaho sa kalsada para hindi maging sanhi ng aksidente especially sa mga sasakyan.

Pagdating ko sa hotel ay nagbihis ako ng uniporme ko. Dinaanan ko pa ang restaurant nina Shin-Ah dahil kumain muna ako bago ako sumabak sa panibagong araw ng trabaho. Ang bilis lang ng panahon at kinabukasan ay off day ko.

"My parentst and my siblings are going to Busan tomorrow. I'm super jealous."

Shin-Ah told me about the plan of her family outing. She wasn't able to go with them because of our work lining up every day. Tapos na ang day off niya. Hindi siya pwedeng lumiban sa trabaho dahil bawal ang lumiban kapag walang matinong rason. Pwede siyang magleave sa trabaho pero sa susunod ay wala na. Sayang din ang araw niya dahil araw-araw sa trabaho namin ay may pera sa outing wala.

"No regrets of taking your leave earlier than that?" I meant her first leave last year.

She shook her head and bit her lower lip. "No because we went to Jeju island last year. But it's okay, if I have time I'd take a visit to my grandparents. They're just going to visit our old people."

"Maybe you'd call them after our work is done."

"Yeah, I will. That's better option than sitting all night." she answered with her rough accent.

We started to work our ass out until we'd finished to clean. Hapong-hapo akong pumasok sa locker area para magbihis. Natapos akong magbihis bago pa pumasok ang ibang kasamahan ko sa trabaho sa locker room. Kinuha ko ang shoulder bag ko at sinabit sa balikat pa-ikis kong sinabit. Hindi ko kasama si Shin-Ah dahil hindi pa siya tapos. Nauna akong lumabas ng hotel at nakita ko yung bodyguard ni Hyunjin Nam na nasa labas ng hotel.

Pagkita niya sakin ay agad niyang iminuwestra na pumasok sa kotse. Sa shotgun seat ako pumasok. Pag-upo ko palang sa Royce ay naamoy ko ang maanghang at maangas na pabango ni Hyunjin Nam. Lumingon ako sa kanya na diretso palang nakatingin sakin.

He handed out his hand, motioning something. "I want your phone number." he towed with his sleek accent as his hand was still hanging in the air.

Surprised, I fished for my phone from my bag. I opened the screen and sought my contact number before giving him my phone. He copied my number to his phone in just a few seconds and after that, he gave back my phone to me.

"Tomorrow, you're going to clean my house but I'm not going to stay here in Gwangju until the end of the month. You only have to clean my house thrice a week, I want every corner of my house to be dusted. Clean everything and Heesu would give you your payment after that. Are we clear?"

Sa bilis ng pagsalita niya ay wala akong ibang nagawa kundi ang tumango nalang. Narehistro lahat ang sinabi ni Hyunjin Nam nang makaalis na sila at naiwan akong mag-isa sa gilid ng kalsada. Nagsimula akong maglakad pauwi. Nakayuko ako at nakakunot ang noo habang iniisip parin ang sinabi ni Hyunjin Nam sakin.