Flowering Whispers

-~ Chapter One ~-

My morning that day was nothing special. I stuck to my usual routine, though I was practically vibrating with excitement.

However, that afternoon gave me a hint at the fact that my life would be changed forever.

I was heading to a job interview for a place called Pigsy's Noodles.

One of my friends, a girl named Sarah, was fangirling over the fact that the famous "Monkie Kid" worked there, and they were hiring. She complained that she couldn't work there because her current job had higher pay.

"Live my dream, for I cannot, I must not!" She'd dramatically placed the back of her hand over her face, falling back onto the couch and promptly hitting her head on the armrest.

I gave a small laugh at the memory, then spied a glowing pink sign a few steps ahead.

Before entering, I texted Sarah: "I'm at the place, wish me luck." I almost immediately got sent a video, which I would watch later.

I put my phone in my jacket's inner pocket, took a deep breath, and walked through the door.

There was the sound of a bell above the door, and I saw a man with glasses look up at me. He sat on a stool at the counter, eating a bowl of lo mein.

I heard yelling from the kitchen, unable to make out the words.

I stepped further into the shop, peering into the area the shouts were coming from. I froze, not knowing what to do with the information my eyes were sending me.

A pig demon (who I assumed was Pigsy) was trying to wrestle a bowl of noodles out of the hands of a massive version of who I thought was the Monkie Kid.

The huge man seemed unphased, simply sipping out of the bowl he held.

Suddenly, the door burst open and a regular-sized Monkie Kid with a large bald spot rushed through.

"Mister Tang!" The man at the counter and the demon both turned their attention to the new guy. I assumed from this that the man in the glasses was "Tang."

Pigsy seemed confused, looking between the two Monkie kids, before coming to an answer.

"Let me guess; this is some kind of mystic monkey business?" he asked. "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," Monkie Kid said, rubbing the back of his neck before turning back to Tang.

"How did Monkie King get rid of his clones?" I raised a brow.

I thought Monkie King was just a legend? I wondered.

As I was thinking about the possibility of the king's existence, the Monkie Kid had created some kind of golden blast, and the large clone was gone. In his place, there was a massive amount of hair covering just about everything, including me.

I was broken from my stupor, frantically trying to get off all the hair.

There was a moment of silence where no one spoke or moved, trying to think of what to say.

A phone that someone had dropped rang from the floor, and the Monkie Kid and Pigsy leaned over it to see the caller.

"Oh no, Sandy!" The Monkie Kid said this and immediately ran out of the shop.

I had mostly gotten the hair off, so I turned to face the two men. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was a little startled when I saw them both looking back at me. Pigsy put on an amazing customer service smile to greet me.

"Hello dear customer, how may I help you on this fine day?" I gave a small smile before speaking.

"Actually, mi- um, si- mi- Mister Pigsy Sir?" I stumbled over my words, nervous and unsure of how to address my maybe-soon-to-be-boss. The demon gave a small laugh.

"Please, just call me Pigsy," he directed. I nodded, looking to the right of him to avoid eye contact without seeming rude. Eye contact was probably my least favorite thing ever.

"Alright then, Pigsy. I'm here for the job interview," I explained. Tang seemed a little confused. "I didn't know you were hiring Pigsy," he said, though it seemed more like a question.

"I forgot to mention it, the place has been hard to run with just the kid working," the pig demon said, looking pointedly at the eating man. "Especially you freeloading all the time."

Tang looked down at his lo mein guiltily, eating faster before his noodles got possibly taken away. Pigsy sighed, turning back to me.

"Sorry, what was your name again?" Pigsy asked. I fiddled with the hem of my jacket. "Y/n L/n."

"Are you good at following directions?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you have any experience in jobs before?"

"No, sir."

"Why do you want to work here?"

I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes at that question. The answer was obvious for almost any job. I forced my voice to stay level and unaffected, despite my annoyance.

"I need the money, sir."

"How did you hear of this place?"

"My friend is a fan of the 'famous Monkie Kid', and she found out he worked here and suggested I try to get hired and all." I cringed internally at my bad wording of the answer.

Pigsy stayed silent for a few seconds, studying me. I tensed under his gaze, anxious for him to continue.

"You're hired."

I blinked, confused.

"Really? I thought that job interviews normally got answers after like... I dunno, weeks? I said already I don't have experience, I'm just confused, I'm gonna be honest I have no clue how getting a job works-" I didn't mean to ramble, but my brain wasn't letting me stop talking until I got cut off by a laugh.

"Normally, you'd be right, but this place is not the most typical working environment," my now-boss said. I nodded, not knowing what exactly to say. Turns out I didn't have to say anything, as Pigsy said he would be right back with the contract thingy, letting me know I could sit at the counter.

Which chair do I sit in? Sitting right next to Mister Tang would be weird, but sitting at the far right could be rude, and I don't want to sit in the middle chair and seem like I have main character syndrome. Oh gods why am I overthinking where to sit?

"You can just... sit, right?" Tang asked, setting down his now-empty bowl and raising a brow at me.

"I- yeah, yeah, I will," I said, panicking and sitting on the far right. I prayed internally that the man didn't see me as a bitch. I glanced over and he didn't seem to mind, though I was notoriously bad at reading expressions/body language.

After a little bit of silence, Pigsy came back with a paper and pen. He set it down in front of me and let me read through all the stuff, which only took a minute or so. I nodded when I was done, signing at the bottom and smiling and my new boss.

It was then that I remembered the hair everywhere, and Tang seemed to as well, as he coughed up some hair that was in his food. Gross.

Despite this, I was near ecstatic for the next day: my official first day at my job.

~1,226 words~