Today my eyes are swollen like walnuts. I cried until 3 am and I have to wake up at 5 am to get ready for work because I’m afraid I’ll be late. When my colleagues see me looking like a zombie, they immediately understand that it must have been because Khun Sam called me in the freezing room the previous day.

“Poor thing. She’s just an intern, but she’s already been marked by the boss.”

I keep silent and force a smile before going about my business. As for Khun Sam, she is working normally, but something has changed.

The freezing room, which always had the windows in frosted mode, is now set to a clear mode. Amazing. It’s the first time I’ve seen such an innovative wall that can change its opacity by the snap of a finger. Now that the frosted mode is no more, I can see inside the freezing room.

Everyone in the office is working in deep focus. No one dares to take their eyes off their work since Khun Sam can now see our every move from inside her office. In my case, I’m feeling both disappointed and excited to see Khun Sam clearly. But I don’t pay attention to her. I stay focused and tell myself to forget about her.

The sounds coming from keyboards and mouse are all we can hear as we work. Everyone wants the loud sound to reach the freezing room. But I feel that everybody is full of stress and pressure. We’re being watched and someone is probably going to freak out soon.

A few moments later, our boss comes out of her office with a smile on her face.

“Everyone is working hard today.”

This is the first time since I started working here that I’ve seen her smile. But everyone in the office is focused. Nobody takes their eyes off their workstations to look at her, they are scared to death.

“I’m going to buy you some snacks.”

And with that, Khun Sam leaves the office.

“Ow! I’m going to go crazy. Aaaah!”

Yah, who is sitting next to me, rests her head on her hands and sighs as if she is sinking into deep water. I look at her strangely.

“Khun Sam looks happy.”

“Then it means she’s not happy at all.” Yah answers me sternly. “Whenever she smiles, it means she is in a bad mood. We will definitely be working late today.”

Everyone here feels the same way as Yah. But the respite is short lived. Khun Sam is back. She opens the door with several bags full of snacks in her hands. She shares them with all of us.

“Take it. It is a reward for working so hard for me.”

Khun Sam stops by my desk and sets down a milk yoghurt bottle for me. I just say thank you.

“Don’t you like milk yoghurt? I brought plain milk too.”

She looks so weird today as she puts a bottle of milk on my desk. I just say thank you again.

“Juice?”

“…”

“Water?”

“…”

“Mineral water?”

“…”

“Tea?”

Now, there are tons of drinks on my desk. I just nod my head and thank her. I don’t feel anything, I just wonder why she is staying at my desk longer than she did for everyone else. There must be a reason.

“What do you like?”

“I do not like anything in particular.”

“Aren't you human? There must be something you like.”

“It wouldn't be good to eat or drink in the office”

“Really? I don’t see the problem.”

Khun Sam takes one of the drinks from my table, opens it and puts in a straw. I look at my boss who is still next to me and I feel like something is going to happen with her hanging around.

I need to be careful…

“Have nothing to do?”

My simple question seems to hit the bullseye. Khun Sam, who is drinking and watching me closely, falters and puffs her cheek.

“I do have things to do. I just brought you some drinks.”

After saying that, she goes back to the freezing room. All my colleagues around sigh in relief. She looks better in her glass room than around our desks.

The pressure goes away. It’s lunch time.

But nobody wants to be the first person to go have lunch since Khun Sam is sitting in the freezing room and the walls are on clear mode. If the boss herself doesn’t take a lunch break, who would dare do it?

Pit-a-pat.

Pit-a-pat.

It’s just a lunch break, why does it have to be so complicated? I’m troubled. Why did she switch the walls glass to clear mode? It’s making everyone feel distressed.

It’s twelve past noon now. Everyone is still sitting on their chairs. Yah and some other colleagues look at each other as if they are searching for a volunteer who will be willing to get up first. No one dares.

But then.

“Why is everyone so diligent? Aren't you going to have lunch? Oh! It’s clear.”

Mr. Kirk, the owner of the company and Khun Sam’s fiancé, looks in surprise into the freezing room before entering it. They both talk inside for a while and then leave together. Now everyone is relieved again and get ready for lunch. It's as if everyone has reached the top of the mount Everest.

“Ah. We’re finally having lunch.”

One of my colleagues mutters fatiguely. Yah looks at me like her energy was totally drained.

“What happened to Boss M.L.? The clear glass, the smile, the snacks. She is frightening us.”

“She wanted to be kind. Perhaps.”

“Impossible.” One of my colleagues, Numpeung, said. "You should be wary when she is kind. She placed so many drinks on your table. Boss M.L. really is targetting you. What did you do? Tell us the truth.”

She blamed me for trying to befriend her.

I don’t want to tell anyone because they will misunderstand. It’s true that I want to be her friend. But she doesn't want it to happen.

If I want to be her friend, I’ll have to try harder.

Anyway.

On lunch break, everyone is in a hurry, afraid of being late for work. And rightly so. When we get back, Khun Sam had just returned too. The glass is still set to clear mode.

If there’s anything different, it’s that now Mr. Kirk is also inside the freezing room. And after a while, the walls switch to frosted mode for privacy.

My desk phone rings. Everyone looks at my desk as if they already knew who is calling me. I slowly reach for the phone to answer. It’s Mr. Kirk.

[Come over to Sam's office please.]

I hang up the phone and swallow down hard. Everyone looks at me wondering silently if they were right. I don’t say anything, I just head towards the freezing room and when I open the door, I see the most intimidating woman inside.

“Good afternoon.”

I greet my two bosses, Mr. Kirk, the handsome guy, and Khun Sam, who is sitting on the couch with a bunch of snacks and drinks on her table. I see. That’s why they changed the wall mode to frosted. They don’t want us to see that they are eating.

“Is it her? The one from the file you read? Wonderful. You are prettier in person than in picture. Only twenty two years old?” Mr. Kirk talks to me in a friendly way. I just nod my head and keep smiling. “Her height is not that different from yours, Sam.”

“She is a few inches shorter than me."

“Same thing. You won’t be able to tell the difference if you’re walking together. Finally! You found someone the same height as you. My shorty has a friend now.”

Mr. Kirk laughs and puts his hand on her head to rub it gently, but she takes his hand away, seemingly annoyed.

“Do not touch me.”

“You're too much Sam… Well, Miss Kornkamon. Maybe it's better if I called you Mon. Have you eaten yet?”

My full name is uttered by Mr. Kirk. It’s easy to guess who told him. Khun Sam must have read it in my background file.

“I have eaten already.”

“Even if you already ate, you can still eat more. Please help me clean this up, there are a lot of snacks to eat in here.”

Why did he call me here? I dare not ask since he is my boss.

“Sam told me about you.”

“What did she say?”

Khun Sam looks at her fiancé with a big smile, as if sarcastically.

“You talk too much, Kirk.”

“I really love your smile Sam.” And his sweet fiancée instantly loses her smile when he compliments her. “Nothing much. I just wanted to see you in person, that’s why I called you here. Ever since we left for lunch, Khun Sam hasn’t stopped talking about you. You’ve been working here for less than a month, correct?”

Khun Sam was talking about me?

“Yes. I have been working here for a few days now.”

“Sam was wondering if you met her before?”

So, she didn't give up. She discussed this matter with her fiancé. This is what she's been worrying about.

To protect myself, I must make it clear.

“We haven’t met before."

“Why are you being so nice to me?” She interrupts. “We are not close and you are being nice to me. Are you trying to be my friend?”

“Because you were sick. We are not friends, I dare not be your friend. If it were a puppy or a kitten I would have done the same, I just can’t ignore it, I was just worried."

“Oh.”

Mr. Kirk looks at me with a shocked face by what I’ve said to Khun Sam, the one everyone in the office is afraid of. But I can’t take it anymore, I need to vent.

“For your comfort, if in the future I see you sick again, I will not care about you."

“Even if I am dying?”

“Yes. I will pretend that you are air. Because we are not friends.” I reply and decide to leave the room. “I'm leaving, I have a lot of work to do.”

Then, I walk out with confidence. I never imagined acting this way in my entire life. Now I’m in the boss’ line of sight and I’ll probably fail the three months probation. Either way, it’s best to leave even if she gets overly suspicious about me. I won’t be happy here.

Well… Working here is so tiring. I can't force myself anymore.

When the day is over, everyone heads home. Today, I don’t stay behind, I hurry to leave too. But Mr. Kirk is waiting in front of the elevator with a beautiful smile on his face when he sees me.

“Mon.”

“Good evening Mr. Kirk.” I salute him. “I thought you already left.”

“I’ve been waiting for Sam. When I heard you say she was sick, I got worried about her and so, as her fiancé, I wanted to look after her.”

“I see.”

I don’t understand why he is talking to me here though. I’m just an intern.

“Did you fight with Sam?”

“No.”

“Sam seems anxious about you.”

I look at him in wonder. ‘Anxiety’ is not the word I would use for what she feels towards me.

“No, we don't even know each other. Besides... I doubt she is anxious at all.”

“Yes, she is. Believe it or not, she is interested in you.” Even though these weren’t special words, I feel embarrassed after hearing them and my cheeks get warm. What is this... “It could be because you looked after her. No one has done this before. When someone does something nice for her, she becomes weird.”

“Weird?”

“I don’t know how to explain. Has she acted strange with you?”

I’m remembering the Line stickers from last night and the tons of drinks on my desk this morning. Furthermore, there are the windows of her office in clear mode and the smile she gave everyone, even though she had never done so before and everyone in the office could only just frown in surprise.

“She has. Today she gave me several drinks.”

“She did?” Mr. Kirk laughs. “Have you two argued?”

“She called me and blamed me.”

“Because of friendship?”

I lift my head to look into his eyes and nod, feeling ashamed.

“Sam might feel guilty and is trying to reconcile.”

“Oh, really?”

My heart races when I hear the word ‘reconcile’. It's usually used between friends or close friends. But I’m not her friend at all, I'm just an intern. This is weird.

Oh, my heart is beating fast.

“She’s weird anyway. You need to interpret what she does and says. But to help Sam reconcile and to make her feel better, would you please let us drive you home today?”

Huh?