Obviously, she wasn't. But she was going to be - now that he asked.
The new part-timer, that is.
< She did not know it could be this beautiful >
开⃝ 始⃝
< Chapter Proper / Riko's POV >
“Yes, but not officially yet.” When he raised a brow, I added, “I still have to talk to the manager.”
With a nod, he immediately proceeded to move the boxes. “Yeah, the new manager doesn't show up that often. You'll have to catch him by chance. The previous one, Mr. Lee, was good at his job but his wife got sick so he had to quit to take care of her.”
“You miss him?”
“I guess you can say that,”he shrugged.“Things went smoothly here with him around.”
“I'll help you with that.”
“No need,” he refused, mentally counting the remaining boxes. “You should man the counter.”
I grabbed one and passed it to him anyway. “I doubt there's customers coming. It doesn't seem to be that busy here.”
He paused and nodded slowly. “Until it's 7 by the time the office workers get home. Then, it gets a little busy for two hours.”
It was around 2 o'clock when we finished sorting the boxes. I headed straight to the counter and gobbled a sandwich while he closed and locked the storage room.
Then, he walked towards the counter and manned the second till, five feet away.
“There’s a vest under the counter,” he pointed at it. “Do you know how to wear it?”
I reached for it and saw that there were two strings in front.
“Here,” I heard him say.“I'll show you.”
He untied his own and waited for me to wear mine. “First, right over left. Push it up then pull. Then, left over right. Push up, pull.”
“Like a knot.”
“Exactly.”
“But why?”
“Who knows what the boss is thinking.”
“Might be a girl scout.”
“Or a boy scout.”
“Possibly.”
I had just thanked the customer for his patronage when I looked Haoran's way and saw that he had fallen asleep. He must be exhausted. Does he work a lot of part-time jobs?
I looked around and cleared my throat, waiting for two minutes to pass before resting my head on my arms on the counter, facing him.
His bangs were cut half an inch above his thick eyebrows. Below that particular area, were sharp-edged eyes.
Sometimes, he moved like a clueless person. But I know it was just a front. It couldn't be the case.
How many letters had he written to Kafka anyway?
That reminds me, did he drop a letter at the box today?
I bolted from my seat and ran across the street. It's too easy to identify his in just the way it was folded.
I intentionally grabbed a handful again to locate his and dropped back the others with a sheepish smile. Then, I wrote mine:
Dear Mr. Earwicket,
Does the Queen of Hearts still believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast? Now, I'm going to try and believe in love.
< Postscript / 3rd Person's POV >
Riko tried to slip in as quietly as she could on her spot. Haoran was still fast asleep but who knows when he might wake up.
Turning her back on him, she opened the second letter:
YOU ARE READING
Dear Kafka
Romance[CPN] Riko was nearing the end of her life. What she decided to do for the remainder of it was to find someone to love. She never knew it would be so beautiful, maddening...turbulent. She got what she wanted and Lord knows it was the first time.
