Melting the Devil

Saying No to the Devil

Cantaloupe "Can" Kirakorn has a nice life.

Well—okay, life might be a generous word for whatever it is he's living. He has a nice... living situation. Yeah. That.

He has to leave his house at seven in the morning to go to his boss's house, where he spends the most of the day following him around, running errands, putting out fires, and making sure he's where he needs to be at all times. Nevertheless, the pay and benefits of his job more than support his lifestyle, and he still has plenty of time to bake and unwind on the weekends and when he gets home. Not only is his boss understanding, courteous, and competent, but he's also not exactly a pain in the ass as far as bosses go. It's okay.

It's obviously not a life, though. Cantaloupe is aware that his initial motivation for working at Medthanan Group was to gain experience in the corporate side of the food industry and accumulate enough capital to eventually launch his own company. However, over time, he discovered that he was genuinely enjoying his work and making friends with his coworkers. Being skilled at what he does and so close to the top at such a young age is a satisfying feeling. He also knew that Tin Medthanan was the best mentor in the business, as she seemed to have the Midas touch when it came to struggling food companies. (Naturally, Cantaloupe discovered that beneath Tin Medthanan's devil-like exterior, he is one of the most diligent individuals Cantaloupe had ever encountered, and to think that he continued to take medicine and visit a therapist for his  emotional distress.)

If he stayed on as his assistant for an endless number of years, he would be perfectly fine financially, perhaps even better off, but Cantaloupe had begun to realize that working the crazy hours he did would never get him to his ultimate goal. Since he began working for Tin, he hasn't gone on a single date and has hardly had time for his friends who weren't employed by the company. It had been a good four years, but the more he thought about it, the more it bothered him. It was time to move on.

Fortunately, Cantaloupe was on an athletic scholarship at the time, so he didn't have to worry about student loans. He'd already saved enough money to cover rent and other expenses for the first couple of months of operation, plus his own living expenses. He also had a good deal of practical knowledge from observing Tin Medthanan running various businesses all over the world. He'd built a solid network of suppliers and potential business partners, and even knew the name of the bakeshop. The only thing left for him to do was to resign from his current position.

His boss took the news very well; he looked a bit confused at first, but then went back to business mode, just shaking his head and telling him to start recruiting so he could begin training his replacement right away.  Cantaloupe breathed a sigh of relief; he hadn't planned on resigning so soon, but Tin had presented him with the perfect opportunity, so he could finally put his resignation on the backburner and start making his dream a reality.

The following morning begins as usual with Tin Medthanan's house at seven in the morning and the office at seven twenty. After two blissful hours of routine work, Tin calls him into his office, where he uses the time to review some minutes and post an announcement about a job opening on the company website. No, calls, not buzzes.

Cantaloupe answers on the second ring. "Mr. Medthanan's office, how can I help you?"

"Can."

Cantaloupe frowns at the sound of his boss's voice and peeks through the glass walls of his office. "Is everything okay, sir?"

"Can, can you come in?"

"Oh, uhm. Of course! Did you want me to bring anything?"

"Just yourself, thank you," Tin says curtly before hanging up.