Opening

Deng! Deng!

Heavy steps caused the thick metal drain below someone to vibrate and ring.

" Oh! The beast is back! Guys, time for work!" The man walked toward a construction site, only for these words to assault his ears.

"...Oi, Shane, didn't I warn you not to call me that?" He walked a couple of steps before arriving in front of a bobcat.

" Hmm? Don't sweat the small stuff, David! We all know you are a beast, so why not say it?" Inside the bobcat, looking into a small handheld mirror was a muscular, middle-aged man without a strand of hair on his head.

He rubbed his head as if shining it, a stupid grin on his beardy face.

" Who's a beast? I'm as human as you." David said.

" You say that every day, but then what do you do?" Shane stuck his finger into his ear, digging around before blowing on it.

" Rescued that heavy-ass, ancient ground compressor from a crevasse, Stopped a gigantic water tank from falling over when one of the support beams snapped, and held up the roof of a collapsing building for the others to escape, alone I might add, before jumping from the window, some 10 stories high and only broke one arm!" Shane counted on his fingers as he recalled.

" I only survived that jump because there was tarp filled with water below for some reason. Furthermore, I fractured my other hand and almost broke my neck." David said.

"-The fact that I can recall many more events like these only cements your status as a monster." Shane continued as if he hadn't heard him.

"..." David kept silent.

" And why are you so against it? You survived a jump from a 10 story building, even if you bragged about it till the day you died, no one could say a thing!" Shane said.

" In addition, you even helped your co-workers escape before gambling for your own life! I will never understand why you wanted it to be kept under wraps." Shane said.

"...I just want to live in peace. Stop calling me that." David pointed as he walked off.

" Hey! The crane hasn't arrived yet, so we're relying on you to bring the Iron Beams around by hand!" Shane grabbed the side of the bobcat, as he shouted around at David.

" Whatever!" David said without looking back.

...

A few minutes later.

"..." Pulling back a blue piece of tarp, David walked into a temporary lunchroom.

It was just a wooden frame with some leftover construction tarp thrown over it, and a few lights hanging from their cords.

" David." Someone greeted.

" Ms. Beckett." David nodded and greeted back.

In a corner, sitting on a wooden bench was a middle-aged woman.

She wore a large black jacket, along with a black beanie and a pair of Bluetooth headphones.

She hugged herself, silently listening to the radio.

Crunch!

"..." David found a bench on the other side of the room and sat, before opening the paper bag he had brought and taking out a thin plastic bowl.

He took a compacted sandwich from the bowl and bit into it with a crunch.

After finishing, he got up to leave.

" David." Seeing that he was leaving, Ms. Beckett called out.

"..." David turned.

" Good work." She said, before retiring to her own world.

"...Thanks." David said.

Although some people called her weird, he found that Ms. Beckett was a nice lady.

' I heard that she has a couple of young children. And that, since she emptied her bank account when her husband was critically ill, she now has to work even after retiring to support them.' David thought as he walked.

'...Too bad her husband passed away in the end.' He thought.

" Yo, David! The H-beams are over there!" A young guy wearing a hard hat, along with the standard safety clothing pointed.

" I know," David said.

" Cool!" The guy walked on.

"...Let's get to work then." After walking for a while more, he arrived inside a temporary shed of sorts, before a neatly stacked pile of H-beams.

"...Hup!" He stood backing the pile, squatting slightly as he grabbed two, one in each hand.

He then extended his arms, lifting the beams on both sides while gradually turning his wrists as he brought them onto his shoulders.

" fuuu." He breathed out heavily, before sliding the beams forward, to a more balanced back-to-front ratio.

Step, Step!

Deng!

His steps were like those of a giant as he carried the two beams.

" Ohohoh! That beast is at it again!" Someone shouted from the distance.

" The construction god, working his miracles another day!"

" But, compared to the other stuff Mr. David does, lifting H-beams is fairly tame. Furthermore, H-beams are at least light enough that you guys could probably lift them by yourselves one by one. You lot are just too lazy to do it, ar-" The person was slapped at the back of their head.

" Shut up, Booky! Unless you want to go and lift some of them!"

" String him up! Crucifixion! I demand it! Such blasphemous words!"

"Let's go weld some of those beams together for his ass!"

" Stop screwing around and work!" David screamed, his face red.

" I say, David, isn't your face a little too terrible this time? You smell a fart or something?" Someone sniffed the air.

" Haha! Old man, you know how David is! You better stop talking nonsense!"

"..." David wanted to rush over and beat up the bunch of fools, but instead slowly made his way back to the pile of H-beams.

...

Dang!!

" Huff!" David wiped some sweat with the back of his gloved hand.

After around the 3rd lap, the crowd had dispersed.

" Only two more laps to go." David sucked in a breath before going back from where he came.

A few minutes later, he arrived before the new pile, only, at this time, an inactive bobcat was beside it.

" Hey David, do you hate our supervisor? If so, why? She's super gorgeous!" Shane suddenly questioned.

Deng!

An H-beam was placed down, ringing as it vibrated.

" Haa! I don't hate her! And if I did, whether she was pretty or not would have nothing to do with it." David panted lightly.

" Hmm." Shane hummed.

" More importantly, when is that crane going to arrive? I know there are a few more piles of these, you can't be planning to make me move them all by myself, right?" David asked.

" I'm human too, you know!" He said.

" C'mon, don't be that way! You can get it done, so why not just do it? you know how these guys are! They sure as hell aren't going to do it without the machinery." Shane said.

" I think someone said that the crane broke down somewhere, so it will be delayed even further." He said.

" Humph, You guys are taking me for granted. I'll quit, you know?" David said.

" Sure you will, like you would've last week, and the one before that," Shane said.

" But you don't have to worry." He said.

" Hmm?" David turned his head mid-squat.

" I heard that we might be pulling out from this project," Shane said.

" Either that, or we're being forcefully removed since the clients aren't satisfied with our work." He said.

" Oh," David said.

'...I'll take what this guy said with a pinch of salt.' David said.

" On a completely different note-" Shane said.

" Isn't that our supervisor's car?" He pointed as he stuck his head out from the bobcat.

" Fuck!!" David chucked the H-beam, forgetting about proper posture, before bolting.

" Haha! That guy, he's like one of those superheroes from back in the day, but runs and hides every time this lady appears. Ha, if I didn't know any better, hehe." Shane said.

" If a woman like her was chasing me, then I'd just let myself get caught!" He said.

" But seriously, running from our...You know, I just thought of it, but frail is not the word I would use to describe our supervisor..." Shane suddenly said.

" If anything, her personality is quite strong...Kinda makes sense why the guy is running for dear life..." He smiled sympathetically.

...

" That lady just doesn't give up!" David leaned against a wall.

" Ahh? Say that again!" A shout drifted across to him.

" Hmm?" His ears perked up.

" Day in, day out! Because of your broken-down machines, my old mother can't get a wink of sleep!" A shout sounded.

"..." David silently walked around.

" Jay, let's just go back. These old bones are fine." An old woman with snow-white hair stood, slouching.

She held one hand behind her back as she reached out with the other.

" Ma, be quiet! I'll solve this quickly. Till how long are you guys planning to stay? Get you shit and scram!" The guy in front of her consoled, before screaming at a few of David's colleges.

They didn't know what to do. They couldn't tell the pair to screw off, who knew how that would come back to bite them?

And the son didn't seem reasonable enough to listen to anything they said. Telling him anything might even make the situation worse.

In the end, they could only endure the curses in silence.

" 'Scuse me, what's going on?" David walked over.

"...David!" A short and fat middle-aged man saw him first.

" You gotta help us out!" A younger guy mouthed when he saw David.

" Huh? Are you someone important? Great, get over here!" The son said in an ordering tone.

"..." David looked at the guy as he walked closer.

He wore baggy black pants, along with a pair of sandals. A funky, unbuttoned black vest, displaying his skinny, hairy chest. He had a light mustache along with an untidy stubble. His black hair looked greasy as the sun shined down on it.

" Is there a problem?" David asked solemnly.

" Problem? What the fuck do you think?!" The guy shouted, kicking up more of a fuss.

" Did my co-workers cause any trouble? If so, I wo-" David was interrupted.

" I don't want to hear it! Gone! I want all of you gone!! Because of your noise, who knows if my old mum will die of sleep deprivation!" The man shouted, shooting spittle as he spoke.

" But sir, all residences in Atlan, regardless of the district are soundproofed either during or after construction," David said.

" Even if some noise still made it through, it wouldn't be enough to prevent sleeping..." David said.

" Enough! Enough! Enough! I don't want to hear it!" The man shook his head.

" I don't need you to explain anything, just scram!" He shouted.

" But sir, you have to understand that we can't just stop working..." David tried to reason.

" Pitue! Are you deaf! I don't care!" The man spat.

" Just wait a tiny bit longer! I hear that we might be leaving soon..." David said carefully.

" This mentally disabled...Fuck! Don't you understand human speech?!" The man screeched.

" Jay, let's just-" The old lady called out.

" I don't want to hear it, ma! These guys have to leave today!" The man cut her off.

"..." A bead of sweat rolled down David's face.

" Again? How do you always end up in these situations?" A crisp voice sounded.

"!!" A chill went up David's spine, as a strong urge to run overwhelmed him.

" Run, I dare you!" Miss supervisor threatened.

"..." David's body stiffened.

" And who the fuck are you! Ahh, I don't give a shit! Just pack up and piss off!" The man roared.

" Who might you be, sir?" Miss supervisor asked kindly.

" Did this bitch not hear me?!" The man felt helpless.

" Bitch?" Miss supervisor recited, her face darkening.

" Miss, please remai-" David was interrupted.

" Bitch? Motherfucker, you better get your homeless ass off of my work site! Don't blame me if you lose a limb or two in an accident!" Miss Supervisor blew up.

' Big sister, great ancestor! Please don't threaten the locals! Again!' David and company thought.

"..?...Wa-What?! Are you fucking threatening me?!" The asked incredulously. Who had ever heard of such?

' If you know she's threatening you, do all of us a favor and get lost! You don't want to see how this lady gets when she blows her top!' They thought.

" Uhm, sir, please don't mind her. She's-" David was cut off by a punch to the face.

"..." He stepped back while holding his nose.

" My hand slipped! Don't come too close! Right now, I'm scared for my life!" The man shouted.

" And fuck! Why is your face so hard, bastard?!" He shook his hand.

" Jay-" The old woman was cut off once again.

" Quiet, ma! Until we get back!" The man shouted.

Click!

"Click?" Everyone recited the sound, confused.

" What makes you so sure you're getting away from here?" Miss supervisor asked as she held a small black pistol, her thumb on the hammer.

' Ahhh!' David and Co. screamed internally.