At one point in time today, Tiger heard my prayers. I’m holding Khun Sam and I place her on the couch in the middle of the office. Like a good person, I run out to buy medicine for migraines. This is my chance to get closer to her.

“Are you feeling better?”

I kneel beside Khun Sam while she has her hand on her forehead. She is trying to hide her eyes from the light.

“I’ll get better in a jiffy.”

“I didn’t know you had migraines.”

“And why would you need to know?”

Because I’m your biggest fan. Of course I didn’t answer that out loud. But as I begin to answer, I’m interrupted by her.

“Why didn't you go home?”

“Oh… Oh. I like to work late after everyone else is gone.”

“And you came to see me in here?” She takes her hand off her forehead, revealing her chocolate eyes. “Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“Why would I be afraid?”

“Ha ha, I don’t know why they are all afraid of me.”

She places her hand back on her forehead and continues to lie there in silence. As for me, I’m still on my knees next to the couch because, I don’t know what to do.

Has she fallen asleep?

It’s been ten minutes. Finally, she stirs.

“Why don’t you go home? How long will you stay here? I cannot sleep.” She moves her arm and sighs. “Are you going to stay here all night?”

“If I leave, you will be alone.”

“And?’

“You will feel lonely.”

She looks at me again with confused eyes, but I could see that a small smile crept up on her face. She turns her head away.

“You are weird. If I feel lonely, what about it?”

“Nothing. I’ll stay here and keep you company.”

“It’s late now. You are a girl, you should hurry up and go home.”

“Is it already midnight?”

“If yes, will you leave?"

I disagree.

“Where do you live, Khun Sam? I’ll take you home.”

I help her sit up. Our heads turn at the same time and we are so close, we hurriedly break away from each other.

“Hey, why are you so worried? It’s just a migraine.”

“You better go home. I can accompany you.”

“No, I will stay here.”

“Then, so am I.”

We’re looking at each other like we’re fighting. Then she sighs as if I wasn't here listening.

“Do you even know where I live?”

“You can tell me.”

Even though I’m her biggest fan, I don’t know her address because no magazine or article had this specific information. Of course. In any case, I’ll take her home tonight. How can she sleep here without a pillow and a blanket?

“Can you drive?”

“No, I can’t.” Her countenance now looks defeated. So I quickly add. “But I can call for a taxi. Please tell me where you live.”

After much insistence, I finally manage to take her home with a taxi. The house is huge, with two floors. It has a strange appearance, as if no one lives here.

“Is there no one home?”

I look at the whole place, looking for a living being. It’s huge and extravagant like a soap opera palace.

“Hm.”

“Do you live alone here?”

“Yes.”

I get out of the taxi and help Khun Sam to the entrance. But she tries to stop me.

“We arrived.”

“But-"

“I’m already home, I don't want you to stay much longer.” She stares at me for a few seconds. “You also need to go home. Get your phone.”

“What?"

“This is my phone number. 062-446-****.”

I’m looking in awe at her, who’s speaking briefly to me. I take my phone and immediately save her number.

“Please, call me.”

“Call? Oh. Okay.”

I do as she says and soon, her phone starts to ring. She looks at it and nods.

“Text me when you get home. I’ll know you got there safe. Don’t forget to send me a picture of the taxi plate too.”

“Alright.”

After ending the conversation, she pushes me towards the taxi. I notice her touching the side of her head. I look at her until I completely lose sight of her from inside the taxi.

Gosh. How long did I talk to her today?

And I took her home.

Brilliant!

I arrive at my house with a huge smile on my face. Of course, my happiness is spreading everywhere. Even if I was bitten by an ant or a mosquito now, I wouldn’t care. There would be no reaction from me.

My heart is still racing.

“You are scaring me.”

Someone says while I’m walking distractedly. I smile at my childhood friend, who lives close to my house.

“Nop. Were you waiting for me?”

“Yes. I’ve been waiting for a while. Do you have to work that hard?” He looks displeased at me. “Your mother and I, we were worried about you.”

“I already talked to my mother. But, how are you? We haven’t seen each other since we started working.”

“I’ve been waiting for you here with crab noodles, your favourite. Have you eaten?”

“Not yet.”

Today is my lucky day, I’ve been with the person I admire and now I’m eating my favourite food at home. Nop stares at me as I devour the crab noodles until I turn my head in embarrassment.

“Please, don’t stare at me. I cannot eat.”

“Seeing you enjoying my food is one of my joys. It’s great to have a job and earn money, I’ll be able to buy your favourite food.”

“Before that, you’d have to make time to see me. I hear you’ve been busy, so we haven’t seen each other in a while.”

“I’m very busy. But I can find you.” Nop’s serious tone makes me smile and nod because I don’t know what to reply. “What about your new job? You are working with your idol now.”

“Hm.” My mother is such a gossip that he knows a lot about me without me telling him. “I came back late because of her. She was sick.”

“What do you mean?”

“I bought her some medicine. It was great to be able to help her."

“Got it, so that’s why you came home smiling from ear to ear. If Khun Sam was a guy, I would be jealous.”

“Jealous?” I almost choke on the noodles. He is looking at me with a smile on his face but I feel nothing when I see it. I’ve known for a long time that Nop likes me, not just as a friend.

I must turn him down. I don’t want to hurt anyone, especially not my childhood friend.

Nop is the boy who has lived near my house since I was born. We played together as children, studied at the same primary school, middle school, high school. We went our separate ways when we went to university.

At first, he wanted to study at the same university as me, but his grades weren’t good enough for that. In my case, I wasn’t that smart. But I tried very hard in order to study at the same university as Khun Sam.

And I did it. Moreover, I get to work at her company now.

As for Nop, while we were in high school, our friends were supportive of us dating. But I ignored them all. I didn’t accept it nor deny it. But I didn’t know that in his head, we were in a relationship.

Should I reject him more clearly? I will hurt him. Oh, oh…

“Why are you so quiet?”

“Hm? Oh, I’m just thinking.” I take another bite of the crab noodles and drink some water. Nop looks at me and smiles.

“Whenever I flirt with you, you always go silent.”

“I don’t know what to say. I’m so full. My eyes are closing and it’s late now. I'll talk to you another time. Tomorrow I need to get to work early.”

“I heard your office is quite far from here.”

“Hm. I need to catch several buses.”

“Is it worth it? Your salary is not much for a beginner.”

“Worth it, totally worth it.” I tell him positively. “One day, my salary will increase. If I’m as smart as Khun Sam.”

“One day, I will meet Khun Sam.”

“And then?”

"I'll tell her that you've always adored her and that you went out of your way to work for her and for this you have to take so many buses. I'll beg her to fire you."

“Then you won't get to see her.”

Even if it was very far away, as far away as the horizon, I would still work in the same place as Khum Sam. This has been my wish since I was in university. Even though I get exhausted going to work every day, I’ll be excited again when seeing the freezing room.

But today… It’s so awful. The freezing room is emitting a worse aura than usual.

“I don’t care, I’m quitting anyway. I hope you won’t make the same mistake I did!” A young man shouted from inside the freezing room. As he opened the door, he threw his name tag on the floor and stomped on it several times. “, no romantic relationships in the workplace! Are you even human?”

His voice is so loud in the silent office. A woman leaves the room after him, hands covering her face. She pushes his back to rush him out of the way.

“Hurry, hurry up. We are leaving.”

And everything is silent again. The HR employee who interviewed me runs towards Khun Sam’s office with a ton of documents in her hands.

“Boss M.L. is demonstrating her supernatural power.”

The colleague sitting next to me is whispering to others. I don’t join the conversation, but I listen quietly.

“Can you believe that? There is nothing to worry about with their relationship. They are not in the same department, he is from accounting, and she is from purchasing.” No one is whispering anymore. It's like they think the same and disagree with the rule.

“It’s just a precaution. If they are in love and working in the same place, what will happen when they break up? It’s difficult then to work together. Firing them is a way for her to warn us.”

“Boss M.L. is heartless. She really doesn’t have a heart.”

And there’s more chatting again. When the HR employee leaves the freezing room, I see her throw a worried look my way. I’m discouraged now.

Did she really look at me?

Touché.

My desk phone is ringing.

It’s HR calling me.

[Mon, did you do something wrong?]

“What did I do?”

[I don’t know either, but Boss M.L. asked me for your background. So I called to ask you first. You’re just an intern, but now you’re in the crosshairs.]

“I don’t know what I did.”

[I’m warning you to be careful. She will call you soon. Behave yourself.]

She hangs up the phone, putting me under pressure. Not for long. The phone goes off again and I let it ring for a while, afraid that the person calling is the one in the freezing room. That is, until my colleagues beg me to pick it up.

“Answer it, please.”

“Okay.”

Even though I’m scared of Khun Sam, I’m considerate of my colleagues. I need to answer the call.

“May I help?”

[It’s Sam. Come over here, please. We need to talk.]

Her voice is so unique and despite the situation, it sounds like honey to my ears. I get up, straighten my clothes and make sure my hair is neat and tidy. Then I make up my mind to walk towards the freezing room. My colleagues, who usually ignore me, are now looking at me in surprise.

“Did Boss M.L. call you?”

I nod like I’m about to start crying. Everyone waves at me as if to say goodbye.

Okay. I didn’t do anything wrong. Everything will be fine. She is very kind!

Knock knock knock.

I knock on the door before I open it. Khun Sam is reading my background files. She looks at me and slowly says.

“Close the door please.”

“Yes.”

I do as she asks, then meekly walk over to her table. Khun Sam looks at my face, and then thoughtfully back at my background files.

“Tell me the truth.”

She looks more serious and closes the folder in her hands.

“Have we met before?”