The Heartless 🖤

The day has come!

Answer of the previous chapter's riddle: Cold 🤣🤣🤣
First one to give right answer is mahazeer
But I also liked the answer of jeonjunkie729 it's kind of lovely.

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Author’s (Pov)

Joe’s bicycle screeched to a halt as he pulled up to the garage. The clock ticked closer to 10:30 p.m., and Joe was late again. Not like he enjoy coming late but, no matter how fast he paddle he never manage to be on time.
Though he know that paddling fast or slow is not a reason for him being late. He can be on time only if he doesn't go home after his restaurant job, which is impossible, so here he is, late as always.

He let out a long sigh as he parked the bike, pushing it against the wall.
After checking in on his aunt and little cousin, his life was a race against the clock which he always lost. With a quick glance at the garage's open door, Joe hoped that Phi Prasert, the garage owner, wouldn’t notice his tardiness.

The familiar buzz of the dimly lit garage greeted him as he stepped inside. Fewer people worked the night shift. Usually, there were only three or four of them hanging around, quietly fixing up cars. Tonight, though, it looked like there were only two: himself and a young guy he'd only seen around a few times.

As soon as Joe entered, the younger mechanic looked up from his phone call, waving at him with an apologetic smile. "Phi Joe," he said, using the respectful term for an elder, even though Joe was only a year or two older. "Boss isn’t here tonight. He had something to take care of.”

Joe sighed in relief, feeling the weight lift from his shoulders. He wasn’t the type to slack off, but life had a way of pulling him in a hundred directions at once. If Phi Prasert had been around, Joe would have had to endure that tight-lipped silence that always came with his late arrival.

“Oh, okay” Joe said, his voice low. The younger guy, Anon, had been working here for a few weeks now, but Joe didn’t know much about him, except that he was the kind of person who was always on his phone with his girlfriend. Joe had overheard Phi Prasert scolding him about it multiple times, but Anon was young. Joe chalked it up to teenage distractions.

Joe grabbed his tools and got to work, the hum of the night falling around them. His hands moved with practiced ease, as if the rhythm of fixing things was embedded in his bones after four years of working here.

At first, he had only been the garage’s cleaner, doing odd jobs like washing cars and running errands like passing tools. But over time, Phi Prasert had trained him to repair cars. Joe never complained about the hard work. He needed the money, and working with his hands gave him a sense of control—something his hectic life often lacked.

As he leaned over the hood of an old sedan, Anon shuffled over, his phone still in hand. He had that pleading, almost childlike look in his eyes that Joe had come to recognize.

“Phi Joe…” Anon began, his voice dipped in that sweet tone people used when they wanted something. “Can you do me a huge favor?”

Joe didn’t look up, still focused on tightening a bolt under the hood. “What is it, Anon?”

Anon hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck before pushing forward. “It’s my girlfriend’s birthday tonight, and I promised her I’d be home early... You know how it is.”

“You’re on call with her all the time, aren’t you?” Joe teased, his lips curling into a rare half-smile.

Anon grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, well... tonight’s special. Come on, Phi Joe, please? I promise it won’t take much. I just need you to drop the school van off at the driver’s house. It’s on the way to your place anyway.”