REQRUITMENT

"So if you're not feeling well, the treatment is this it?" A smile is reflected on the long shaggy man's face, as are tendons protruding around his neck and forehead.

"I—I apologize, Senior!" Ashley immediately bowed down 90 degrees as an apology to his senior in front of him. He lied for the first time in his life and was caught right then. Maybe God wouldn't have blessed him with a lie, every one of them.

"Oh my God~ don't be so formal," Jacob said. "But if you're sincere with that apology, how about giving me two cups of this espresso for free?"

Ashley looked up, his lips twitching, once hesitant to answer the Senior's request. If he says 'yes', it is confident the price will be cut without the mercy of the half-demon girl. But if Ashley says no, his future in college will go wrong. He can even imagine how the senior degree would antagonize him, and then there are nasty rumours that make everyone look at him badly. Because of two cups of espresso, his college days would be as easy as turning over a palm.

Goodbye, paycheck...

"O—okay, let me treat you senior—"

"Hahahaha!" Ashley's words cut out as Jacob burst out laughing with his hands clapping. What part of his speech seemed funny? He thought. "I'm just kidding, don't be so uptight." Jacob rubbed the tip of his eyes.

Ashley smiled awkwardly, wondering what made this Senior laugh out of tears, whether his words or face had now been like a comedian. But Ashley is also grateful that she didn't have to pay for these two cups of espresso.

"But in exchange, you have to chat with me for a while? Would you do it?"

"Eh?"

"Or would you rather pay for my drink? I'm fine with—"

"I'll accompany you!" So nervous, without realizing that, Ashley turned his voice almost as if screaming out loud. It startled Jacob. Ashley immediately covered his mouth when he realized the reflexes were terrible.

"Hahaha~," said Jacob, patting the shoulders of the brown-shaped youth. "I thought you were a lost soul when we spoke on the phone earlier, but you were so excited~."

Ashley didn't know if it was a compliment or a veiled insult, but as long as the Senior looked radiant, he'd managed to get the shaggy man's mood back on.

Turns out. However Ashley has chosen, it always ends with cutting out his pocket money. Hah~ goodbye money that even his presence hasn't appeared but just disappeared.

Whenever Jacob had withdrawn from his body, sit down before a senior enjoying a cup of espresso and frowned upon his brow, perhaps because a bitter sensation had just bitten into his sense of taste. I wonder why the shaggy man chose the coffee with the most bitter flavour. For Ashley himself, he'd instead drink a cup of milk that wouldn't hurt his tongue or stomach.

"So, you're ditching for part time work?" Jacob asked.

Ashley nodded a little in answer. He had been so afraid of his Senior all the time. He had made a fatal mistake on the first day of college. God, it feels much better to take a punch than to be asked those snide questions. His body was far more trained because it was often forged by the blows of the demon queen.

"You should've just said that, no need to lie like that."

"I'm sorry senior!" Ashley lowered his face even more, with the current sitting position making his body more and more equal to the floor.

"He—hey, there's no need for that." Jacob quickly held the lads back in their seated positions. "Oh, you don't have to apologize so much," he patted Ashley's wide shoulder and then stammered when he realized that it was hard enough to break a brick.

"I'll do whatever it takes to get senior to accept my apology."

Jacob smiled rigidly. In this case, he's the one who feels bad. But he can't waste a golden opportunity this time, either. After all, it was not he who pushed but his Junior's volunteered.

"Will do anything? Really?"

Ashley nodded quickly and firmly. "Right, I'll do anything!"

"A promise to keep it?"

The second time Ashley nodded, his feelings filled with doubt. It's obvious from how his eyeballs move wild. Let's just hope the shaggy man didn't ask for anything weird.

"Don't get tense." Jacob laughed quietly in the midst of him, though he actually enjoyed watching Junior's anxious expression. "Relax. I'm not gonna ask you for anything weird. You have to be my assistant."

"Assistant?" Ashley's eyelid blinked twice trying to digest the meaning of the word 'Assistant' in order not to look stupid. But in fact, he was too blind to know it. "What assistant?"

"Journalistic club assistants, one that covers anything about our college. From achievements to 'Spill Tea," Jacob explained.

"Journalism club?" ASHLEY scratched her non-itchy cheeks. "I just heard, what's a new club?"

"Journalism club?" Ashley scratched his non-itchy cheeks. "I just heard, what's a new club?"

Ashley's question instantly made Jacob strike his own forehead with a long sigh. "It's an old club, even when I first came in here, it was already there. The club was once famous for its accuracy and moderation, until it published a newspaper in print and was a bestseller at a time.It was, in a way, the campus version of the 'Wall Street journal'. So many members joined us that it had to be very strict. And, I'm the one who passed that rigorous selection. Unfortunately, just after senior year's graduation, that's where the journalistic club collapse is. Almost half of the senior class members have ceased their club activities and are affecting other levels as well. Then the club is slowly forgotten..." Jacob concluded by taking a sip of espresso and frowning as his mouth filled with the bitterness of the coffee.

"Oh, I see," Ashley nodded without any interest. From the previous, it can be concluded that the future of the journalistic club was already dreary, just waiting to be officially closed. No matter how much effort you put into it, if there's no interest in it, it means digging your own grave. And the shaggy man was pulling him into the pit.

"But don't worry." Jacob smiled five fingers. "I have a really good plan, but with a little help, we can get the journalism club back to its old days! Just trust me on this!"

"Okay senior.." Seeing Jacob's beaming face, there was no use against the call of the hairy man. It doesn't matter much anyway, at least it will last a month or two. Ashley isn't swearing at this journalistic club falling apart, but the facts practically say that.

"Then there's one more thing?" Jacob said, leaning his seat towards the front so that Ashley could hear clearly. "Could you please introduce me to the waitress over there?"

The tip of Ashley's brow twitched after hearing the man's request, instantly feeling bad. Because the only female staff here is his own Sister, Helena, the half-demon girl.

For God's sake. Who was only fair to give him a handsome face. All the women in the world, all around this place, why did Jacob's choice have to be Helena?

"Senior, I think you'd better give up your intentions," Ashley said with a quieter voice than ever. He didn't want their conversation to be heard by the demon queen smiling at the buyer, hiding her devil's horn.

"Huh?" Jacob squinted, giving the young boy a googly look. "Don't tell me you like her, too?"

"No way!" Ashley's said, so surprised that he was already standing out of his seat. "She's my big sister!"

Ashley didn't know that the answer to that question would invite another of Jacob's insidious intentions. One way to approach a person easily is to close their family first. In Jacob's case, it would be easier to become the young brother of the girl, who happened to be his Junior.

Like the law of the jungle, Ashley will surely do as his senior says.

"Ashley, my bro~" Jacob's voice sounds soft but seems threatening simultaneously. "You must want the future of college life to go smoothly, don't you? Then leave it to your lovely Senior. Then we can trust each other, right?"

Ashley suddenly fell silent. He sensed the same horrible aura between Helena and Jacob. They were just as scary, except Helena seemed dangerous when she went on a rampage, but Jacob was way more frightening with his sweet words and gentle smile. People say they're bound to be similar if they're meant to be. Ashley picked up that proverbial passage today.