9 Budding Friendship

"Ah!" Lai exclaimed, stretching her hands in the air, "The day's finally over."

"Tell me about it," Wen yawned.

They walked to the changing room together. Lai opened her locker and changed back into her suit.

"Argh!" Wen heard Lai groan.

"What's wrong, Lai?" Wen asked as she wore her Levi jeans.

She pointed at her suit, and Wen frowned in understanding.

"Reminds you of that evil, prejudiced job interview, huh?" Wen asked, closing her locker.

"And this," she smiled and gave Wen a sudden hug, "is why you are my best friend."

Wen laughed and watched as she took out the brown folder with the offered contract. She placed the folder in her tote bag and closed her locker.

"You got a lot to think about when you get home," Wen said, "but don't stress too much about it. Whatever choice you make, I'll fully support you."

She smiled at her best friend, feeling genuinely thankful to have met someone like her. They had met a month after she had started working at the café.

When she saw Wen for the first time, she was baffled as to why someone who wore designer clothes and shoes would work in a café.

A café that barely paid enough money to buy such expensive attire. She thought maybe Wen was someone who liked to live a lavish lifestyle and, in turn, had too much debt to pay to support such a lifestyle.

She was surprised when she found out that Wen was the eldest daughter and first heir to the Yazhu Furniture company.

Wen was a distrustful colleague at first as she was afraid that Lai would be like those fake friends who only wanted to befriend her because of her wealth.

Wen always kept to herself, not talking to her colleagues unless necessary. It took them two weeks to open up to each other.

Especially since they were the only female employees of the café.

What was the event that caused Wen to put her complete trust in Lai, you ask? Well, it involved one of her ex's. None other than Shou, the scumbag she caught at the love hotel.

He had come to the café after finding out that Wen worked there. He had stood by the counter, and instead of ordering, he said that he wished to talk to Wen.

She refused to speak to him, but he was persistent and began to cause a scene in the café.

"Sir?" Lai said, holding back her anger, "Please calm down. You're disturbing the other customers."

"Wen, please!" Shou yelled, completely ignoring Lai, his gaze fixed on Wen and her alone, "Let's talk things out, please. We'll figure-"

"There's nothing to talk about," Wen sharply and coldly interrupted, "Now go! You're holding up the line."

Shou was losing his mind and continued yelling out her name.

"I won't stop causing a scene until you agree to talk to me," he had said.

At that time, the male employees were apologising to the other customers for the chaos and commotion caused by the guy.

They tried to take him outside, but he was so furious that he began to fight them in a fit of rage.

The customers shrieked at the altercation, and Lai gritted her teeth in irritation, finally reaching her anger limit.

She walked out of the counter and stood in front of Shou.

"No, Lai!" Wen yelled, "You'll get hurt too!"

"Wow," Lai said to the angry Shou, clapping her hands as if amused, "Are you the Hulk or something? It seems like your anger gave you so much strength that you managed to hurt my colleagues."

She quickly glanced at them and saw that they were groaning in pain. They were injured, but not too severely. Shou was also wounded, but his injuries were nothing compared to her colleagues.

She clicked her tongue and shook her head.

"You've had your fun and spotlight," she told Shou, "I believe it's time for you to leave now-"

Shou scoffed.

"-while I'm still being nice," she slowly finished her sentence.

Wen's ex-boyfriend growled like an angry wolf and pushed Lai, causing her back to hit the counter. She groaned at the pain that was coursing through her back.

"Lai!" Wen cried out in fear and surprise.

"That's it," Lai said, getting up and rolling her sleeves, "I've asked nicely, and you pushed me first, so now what I'm about to do is-"

She paused, furrowing her brow.

"-let's say self-defense?".

"Huh?" Shou raised his eyebrows in confusion.

He reached out to slap her, but she blocked him, directing a punch to his stomach. He cried out in pain as he clutched his chest.

She immediately grabbed his hands and pinned him to the floor. She pressed his face down on the marble floor and tsked.

"Someone call the police," she instructed.

A female customer informed her that she had already called the police when Shou began to fight the employees.

She thanked the customer, and Yu crouched beside her, holding Wen's ex-boyfriend down.

"You okay?" she asked him, scanning his face, which had a few bruises.

Yu nodded, and Ren helped her stand up. Wen rushed to her side and gave her a big hug.

"D-don't you e-ever d-do that again!" she heard Wen stammer with sobs in-between, "I was so worried..."

Lai smiled and hugged her back. She then pulled away and crouched down, staring at Wen's ex-boyfriend dead in the eyes.

"If I ever hear Wen tell me that you tried to talk to her whether remotely or in person," she whispered a warning in his ear for only him to hear, "I'll make sure your stomach is not where I punch. Got it?"

Shou vigorously nodded, fear evident on his face. The police came a few minutes later. Their statements were taken, and the crazy ex-boyfriend was taken away.

"Sorry about that, everyone," she apologised to the customers, bowing in every direction.

The customers began clapping their hands, and she blinked in surprise.

"That was awesome!"

"Lai was like Wonder Woman!"

"What a scumbag that man was!"

"She's definitely my type!"

"She can pin me down any day!"

"Bro! Don't say that out loud!"

These were some of the statements going around in the room. The customers were more astonished and amused than angry at the fight that had occurred.

She blushed hard, and everyone went back to work.

At the same time, Teng, who had been too heavily engrossed in his duty of washing the stacked cups and plates in the kitchen sink to hear the commotion occurring in the café, administered some first aid to his injured male colleagues.

Ever since then, she and Wen grew closer and closer, becoming the best friends and sisters they are today. Their friendship was so great that Wen had insisted on clearing off Lai's father's debt.

Still, she had refused. Not wanting to burden other people with her family's problems. Now in the present, Wen was excited about the job prospect.

"I think it's a great opportunity," the excited rich girl told her, "You get to work for a billionaire Lai. And he's fucking handsome! What more can you ask for, Lai?"

She puffed her cheeks and turned to face Wen.

"But Weny, he's part of the mafia," Lai pouted, "That's way too dangerous. You saw how dangerous the mafia was when we watched the beginning of Vincenzo-"

"That was the perspective of the mafia through a Korean drama," Wen laughed, "Don't base your perception on the mafia through movies and series. This is real life, honey. Besides, I don't think his family deals with illegal activities."

"But you don't know that," Lai sighed, "I...I'm just scared that something bad might happen to me."

They now stood by the counter and watched their colleagues neaten the chairs and tables.

"I wouldn't mind working for him if it meant seeing his handsome face every day," Wen licked her lips at the thought.

"Of course, you wouldn't," Ren chimed in as he stepped out of the kitchen, "You get easily fooled by looks."

"Shut it!" Wen yelled at him as she walked towards him and jumped on his back, pulling his ears in the process.

"Ow! Stop that! Get off me! Hey!"

Zhou stood beside Lai and sighed.

"They're at it again," she said to him, to which he nodded.

"I'm telling you one day they will fall for each other," Zhou said.

"Never in your wildest dreams!" Wen and Ren both yelled at him in unison, their faces showing disgust and horror at the thought of dating each other.

Teng and Lai laughed simultaneously. Yu ushered for everyone to head out so that he could set the alarm system.

They stood outside the café, waiting for Yu to set the alarm and lock the café.

"Well then," Zhou said, "See you later, losers."

"Thanks for your hard work today," Teng bowed at them.

Teng and Zhou waved goodbye and headed for the subway as they lived together as roommates.

"Tsk," Wen clicked her tongue aloud, "Who's he calling a loser?"

"We'll take our leave too," Yu said, "See you tomorrow."

"Can't every guy be like Little Teng?" Wen pouted, crossing her arms, "He's such an angel."

Lai nodded in agreement.

"No, we can't. Take care, loser," Ren playfully winked at Wen.

Wen fisted her hand in the air and pretended to want to punch him. Ren flinched, a chuckle escaping his lips. He waved them goodbye and walked away with his twin brother, Yu.