The Pauper's Prince

*The Temp*

Nine was amazed by the huge building, it's one of the most extravagant places he's seen. He was just wearing a plain white shirt, some old faded jeans and worn out shoes. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. The door swung open and he was greeted by Wayo with a warm hug. "I'm sorry to hear about your mom!" Nine awkwardly returned the hug. "She's about to go through the operation tonight" Nine said.

"I pray it goes well."

"I hope so too."

"Well let's talk about business, I am in dire need of an assistant. I am willing to hire you but I need to assess your skills first."

Nine suddenly became tense, he doesn't have any work experience other than being a waiter.

"I assume you know how to use the computer?"

"Yes, I am adept. I am proficient in using word, excel, even google sheets."

"Okay, I pretty much know that you can multitask, I saw you in the restaurant last night... hmm... do you know any other languages aside from Thai?"

Nine answered in english "well, do you want to test that?" and then he spoke in tagalog "May tanong ka pa ba? (Do you have another question?)"

Wayo laughed "well, look who's showing off." Nine smiled, feeling extra proud of himself.

Wayo was really impressed with Nine and was willing to hire him "So when can you start?"

"NOW!" Nine answered enthusiastically.

"Okay, I would need you to sort out some files and my schedule. You can use the laptop on the table."

Wayo showed him what he needs to do and observed him, he gave him the easier tasks first and Nine went through them like a breeze. He started to test him with other more complicated tasks and it's as if Nine has been doing this all his life. And he realized that Nine is such a diaond in the rough: smart, talented, organized and he's not bad on the eyes.

Half the day flew by and Nine was finishing up some files for Wayo when his phone rang. "Hello Nine, how was it?" It was Mr. Kim who called "Mr. Kim, I have great news! I got the job!" Nine contined to talk with Mr. Kim and checked up on her wife. "I  owe a lot to you Mr. Kim, I will help you as much as I can. Call me for anything, I'll go there after work"

"Uhm Nine, I have a question..." Wayo said, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop but why do you call your father Mr. Kim?"

Nine gave out a small smile and told Wayo the story of how he met them "I'm actually a runaway. I've been doing odd jobs here and there. I got kicked out of the apartment I was renting and was sleeping on park benches when I met them." Nine gave a sad smile. "It's been a year since I started working for them buy you know what? They treated me like I'm their own. It's that kind of kindness that is rare in the world. And I will always, always be in debt to them. They are my new family now."

Wayo was moved by Nine's sincerity, "I'm happy you guys found each other but I'm just curious, why did you run away?" He asked.

Nine looked out the window for a while contemplated then said "I was set to marry someone. It was arranged by my father. I told them I'm gay and he still arranged me to marry the son of his friend." Nine stood up and stretched then took a lung full of air "I don't want to marry like that" Wayo noticed a sad smile from Nine "I want to marry for love."

Wayo stood up and gave Nine a big hug. "You know what, dinner is on me. Wait for me, I'll get something from the restaurant." Before Wayo left Nine, he gave him one more hug.

Nine went back to work when he heard a knock on the door. He opened it and saw Chen standin on the other side.

"Who are you? Wait... you're the waiter from last night! What are you doing here."

Nine's heart was beating so fast, he did not expect to see him, he seemed to be more handsome now that he's sober. Nine started to blush, did he really just start to have a crush on the guy that gave him an indecent proposal? "Uhm ah..." Nine was lost for words "I'm the new temp here."