My manager is a total grandpa but he can kick some ass? [ ZhongChi Modern AU ]

chapter 3

Ajax wakes up feeling fine, just fine. He feels perfect. Totally not like his muscles were screaming at him and were threatening to collapse, and definitely not like his eyes were burning red– he was absolutely not putting any effort into keeping his eyes open.

Lies! He's hundred and one percent fucked. Royally fucked.

"What will I do?" he groans while dragging his hands down his face.

There is a concert scheduled today, later in the morning and getting sick was not part of his schedule. Out of all the days, why did he need to get sick now? He has been feeling a little strange this week but chalked it up to exhaustion... He should have known better, especially last night when he was feeling extremely down and lethargic after he had to do a little bit of rehearsal for the concert, even though it was his day off.

Guess he'll just brave through it by popping some painkillers and call it a day. After all, the concert is only two hours long.

He should manage. It will be fine. It should be fine, Ajax thinks to himself.

.

There's a notification on his work phone, followed by a call. Ajax struggles to pick it up as he's pulling on the pants of his outfit. It's really tight, and he's scared that the seams of it might rip off– but nevermind, he successfully closes the zip and breathes out in relief. He turns to his phone and checks that it was a missed call from Zhongli.

He redials it and waits until a deep voice answers, "Ajax, I have arrived. Please come down to the parking lot."

"Got it, hold on, I'll be right there. Give me five minutes," he replies and hits the end call while trying to figure out how to lock the leather thigh strap.

"Aha!" he cries as the strap finally clicks. Now he's just left with the ripped white t-shirt and the white jacket. His stage outfit may be a little strange this time, but his stylist team knows what they're doing, so there's nothing to worry about. Ajax throws the shirt and jacket on, uncaring of how it messed up his hair. After grabbing his keys, he makes his way to the entryway and puts on his sneakers.

It's already 5 AM as Ajax leaves the apartment and makes a run to the parking lot. He didn't even run that much or climb down that many stairs, yet just from a few steps, his heart beats like a boombox and his lungs struggle to grab for air.

Not a good sign, he thinks. Hopefully, the painkillers will kick into his system sometime soon.

Once he spotted Zhongli's black car, Ajax waved a little before making his way inside.

"Sorry, hope I didn't take too long."

"Not at all. There's a lunchbox on the seat. Have it now while I drive. I am well aware you've skipped your meal once again." Zhongli looks at him pointedly from the rearview mirror.

Ajax replies with a nervous laugh, "...Right. Thanks, and good morning, by the way."

"Hmm."

He grabs the paper bag next to him and takes the lunchbox out. It's blue with tiny narwhals drawn all over with cartoony ocean waves. It's cute. He didn't know Zhongli was a connoisseur of cute items. Ajax stores it in his mental list of 'things about his manager'. He opens the lid to find a fluffy bed of egg fried rice and some juicy looking chicken. He takes a bite of the rice (thankfully, a spoon was provided this time), and the flavours burst into his mouth. A wide smile grew on Ajax's face as he savoured his breakfast.

It isn't long till they reach the venue's parking lot and Ajax is helped out of the car.

His manager frowns when he takes hold of his hand. Zhongli's eyes focused sharply from behind his glasses. "You're heating up. Are you unwell?"