Chapter 147. An Assassin’s and Friend’s First Interview for a Job (7/8)

“Yes. I… want to help my mother and relieve her of some of her financial burdens. She’s been working three jobs to raise me and my little brother for the last two years since our father died in a car accident. Two full-time jobs and one part-time job.”

“Oh? That’s quite noble of you. But do you have your mother’s permission to work?”

“Uhm… I’m working on that. I’ll definitely get her permission.”

“What? You mean you came to this interview without even bringing the written consent form signed by her?”

“Aren’t I able to provide it after the interview if you have an interest in hiring me?”

“Certainly, you can do it that way, but the odds are stacked against you when you do it that way. Whether I have it now or after can significantly impact my decision. There’s no guarantee you will get consent, as such, I must factor that into consideration when finalizing my choices on who to hire. If I think I’m hiring you, but it turns out your mother doesn’t give you written consent to work, it could put me in a spot where I’ve already turned down another candidate. I could contact them again to see if they’re still interested, but there is always the chance that they may have accepted another job offer by then.”

This was hopeless.

“That is-”

“Haaaaaah.” I let out a long sigh. I’d held in my breath for quite a while now.

Alicia’s words were cut off mid-sentence when she heard the sigh. When she realized it hadn’t been the Owner who sighed, her eyes darted about the room for the first time since she entered and finally noticed my presence.

She looked surprised when she saw me and her eyes brightened up a bit. What? Did I look like an oasis in a barren desert to her or something?

“Owner, sorry to interrupt, but the truth is, as she’s close friends with my girlfriend, I actually know a bit about her circumstances at home. This girl's mother is extremely against her working and there is zero chance she would ever consent to her daughter working..” My words which should have completely shut down her last hope actually had zero effect on her. 

She didn’t believe for an instant I was trying to sabotage her. She didn’t get the slightest bit dejected. What’s with her blind trust in me?

“Oh? Is that true, Alicia?”

“Yes, it is true. However, I will absolutely convince her to allow me to work no matter what. I have an ultimate trump card-”

“She doesn’t have any such trump card.”

Alicia still wasn’t phased.

“Hmm… are you sure she doesn’t? Despite you calling her out and cutting her off, she looks so confident. Actually, from the moment you entered the conversation... it feels like this girl has suddenly become a completely different person.”

“It’s your imagination. Anyway, Owner, why are you wasting my time with this farce? You already told me you have no intention of hiring her from the very beginning and I’d like to get back to work. The way the conversation between the two of you has gone is more than enough evidence that you have no intention of hiring her either. You immediately interrupted her when she was greeting you and you didn’t even greet her back or introduce yourself. Is this how someone who should be a professional conducts herself during an interview?”

“Would you like to be fired?”

“Fired? Sure, go fire me. See if I care. I’ll just go live on the streets and die or something. It’s really not a big deal.”

When her threat didn’t have its intended effect she was caught off guard. Though caught off guard, she still responded to my bluff, “Hoooh. You sure you don’t want to take that back? I might really just fire you here on the spot.”

“Please don’t fire him!” Alicia stood up and slammed the desk.

“Why not? Did you not hear what he said? I never had any intention to hire you from the very beginning. But… if I do fire him, another position for the time slot you want to work would open up, would it not? Wouldn’t it be in your best interest if he did get fired?”

“Absolutely not! I’m fine with not getting hired if it means him being fired because of me.”

“Is that so? Then please get out and stop wasting my time. When trying to get a job, being nice isn’t enough. The job market is a dog eat dog world.”

“I’m not doing so to be nice. It’s because he is renting a room at my place and has allowed my mother to quit her part-time job as a result. It would only trouble my mother now if he were to be fired.”

“Renting a room at your place? Huh? Wait. When? Why? What! Ran, what the hell does she mean by that?” She directed her furious violet-colored eyes toward me and demanded an answer.

“Well, you remember how my girlfriend mentioned she moved in with a friend, she meant Alicia. Since they had another free room and they found out I lived alone, similar to my girlfriend, her mother offered to let me stay with them for free. I couldn’t accept simply living with them for free like my girlfriend, so I made the proposal to rent the room out instead. Doing so, I’m able to save a lot more money now.”

“What? You never told me you moved out. You’re supposed to update your address with your workplace.”

“I only just recently moved in and haven’t had the chance to notify my… workplace.” My pause was specifically to convey, ‘I’m not on the books, so why should I?’

“This no-good punk… getting cocky again,” the Owner grumbled under her breath just loud enough for only me to hear.

“I see. I see. So it’s not out of the kindness of your heart that you can’t see him be fired. I understand now. In that case, how about we have a little wager? If you can win this wager I won’t fire this insolent employee of mine and I’ll even hire you. However, if you lose this wager, not only will you not receive this job, I will fire him on the spot. If you don’t accept this wager I’ll just fire him right here on the spot.”

“Hah, fire me? You don’t need to fire me, I’ll quit before you can fire me.”

The Owner let out a furious breath of air through her gritted teeth as she stood up from her chair and slammed the desk. She was incensed.

“Hahahaha! I see. I see! The little lost defanged puppy has regained its fangs and even remembers how to bite. Well, Alicia, do you accept this wager?”

“I’ll accept it. I will not let you fire Ran.”

“Oh? You’re more concerned about Ran than you getting the job? What are you to Ran exactly? It doesn’t feel like you’re just his girlfriend’s friend or like your relationship is just that of you renting a room out to him. If I didn’t know any better, I might think you were interested in him in a romantic sense.”

“Well, that’s because I am. Is there a problem with that?” You idiot! What are you honestly confessing to her about that for! 

“Huh? Wait. What? What the hell do you mean? He’s your close friend’s boyfriend, you know. Is it really fine for you to so easily admit you’re romantically interested in him like that?”

“If I like him, I like him. I can’t help how I feel about him. He also knows I like him.”

“Ran! You two-timing asshole! Since when did you become such a piece of shit! I don’t remember you being that type of lowlife scum!” The Owner was enraged to an extreme degree I’d never seen before. I shrunk back in my seat, terrified.

Scary. Owner was as scary as I remembered when she was truly angry about something. All sorts of PTSD surfaced in my mind. Like the time I ate the special pudding from overseas she put away in the fridge at my mother’s friend’s place when paying her a visit one day.

That one experience made me never want to anger this woman ever again. She was just too scary. She occupied my heart as a demon-king-level existence.

“He’s not two-timing. Rosa is also aware of my feelings toward him.”

“What? Huh? Wait. Hold on. What’s going on here? Now I’m just confused. How is she okay with this? I mean... he’s living with both you and her under the same roof.”

“It’s… complicated. But we’re actually… both his girlfriends.”

“Hah! And you’re fine with that!”

“Yes.”

“What about your mother? Does she know about this?”

“Yes.”

The Owner suddenly collapsed back into her chair.

“How? How the hell are two girls fine with this? It makes no sense. No sense at all. If the guy was a super hotty I might be able to understand. But this is Ran, Mr. Gloomy Face Ran. The dorky little kid that was a bit good with fixing my electronics. That stupid little snot-nosed brat who ate my special pudding from overseas a little over a year ago.”

“So you were still holding that against me after all these years!” I couldn’t help but stand up and raise my voice.

“Shut the hell up before I murder you. I’m not in the mood right now. I’ll deal with you later.”

The courage I had to talk back to her instantly vanished as I immediately learned my place and meekly sat down in my seat. As expected, she’s the only woman around me whose authority I can do nothing against.

Why do I even try to have a backbone in front of her when she’s genuinely ticked off? Am I an idiot? I mean, I know I did this all intentionally. But still.