An Unpleasant Surprise

Mr. Rodriguez sighed before placing his papers away. " Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Sir, I didn't have the time."

Mr. Rodriguez leaned back in his chair as if to refute but he still nodded in understanding. "You– Sigh, fine. I'll accept your excuse but l'll have to deduct it from your future paychecks."

Kian hesitantly spoke up in protest. "You can't, sir, You know I worked overtime this whole week–"

"You decided on your own and didn't inform me about that beforehand."

"I apologize, sir." He honestly admitted before pausing. "But I really need money right now, sir."

"Basically, you want an advance but don't want a deduction from your future paychecks since you worked overtime anyways?" He simplified.

Kian nodded. "Yes, sir. I want you to deduct it from my overtime work instead."

Mr. Rodriguez chuckled. "I thought you're doing it voluntarily."

"Sir, I really apologize for that. I'll make sure to inform you about my work matters from now on. But I'm pretty sure you noticed anyways and didn't stopped me because you want–"

Mr. Rodriguez cut him off, scratching his chin "Fine, fine, I'll approve of this."

"Really? Thank you, sir. I really appreciate it." Kian brightened up at his words.

Mr. Rodriguez reached into his drawer, pulled out an envelope, and handed it to Kian. "Here, the advance is in cash."

He quickly took the envelope, and bowed with gratitude. "Thank you so much, sir–"

Mr. Rodriguez immediately cut him off and gave him a split seconds smile before patting his back. "Yeah, yeah. Just make sure to tell your younger sister I said happy birthday. Now, go, go."

---

The cooling breeze passed by his whole body, yet the lingering heat seemed to cling on his body. His body probably felt exhausted.

Maybe he overworked himself too much?

He sighed ignoring the pain and used the back of his hand to brush his hair soaked with sweat back. Carefully looking around, he passed by countless shops.

After a few moments of endless walking, he finally caught sight of the bakery he's been looking for.

He headed inside leaving the door jiggling. Afterwards, he was greeted by a modest display of pastries. He looked around, and caught a whiff of freshly baked goods. It smelled so sweet, rich and inviting that they almost made his mouth salivate.

The bakery owner noticed the young man and came closer. Her eyes and lips both smiled softly at him.

"What can I get for you?"

Kian's gaze flickered over the rows of pastries before landing on a single cake. It was a strawberry-flavored cake. Archelle likes strawberries.

"Can I get that one?" he asked, turning to the woman.

"This one here?" she clarified, gesturing at the cake.

He nodded, already reaching into his pocket for cash.

"How much is it?" He hesitated briefly.

"It's 39 dollars."

Calculating the costs in his head, he nodded.

"I'll get the cake."

He believed that Archelle would love this cake. Though it was simple, it's special enough. Good thing, it wasn't that expensive.

The woman swiftly boxed it with care, and handed it over. He gave her his payment and the woman returned him the change while thanking him for his purchase.

He politely bid the woman goodbye before stepping outside. Holding the box with his left hand, he smiled, seemingly proud of his own decision.

On his other hand was the change. Seeing how little was left, he paused, then decided to walk home instead.

In his grasp, the box felt quite weightless. While walking, he imagined Archelle's reaction. He pictured the way her eyes would light up once she sees this cake. At the thought, a faint smile crept onto his face.

His stomach grumbled from hunger, but he barely noticed. Only the idea of surprising his younger sister with the cake filled his mind.

---

Arriving at their home, Kian immediately opened the door in excitement but he noticed that the light was turned off.

Confused if his sister left the house with lights off on purpose or if the electricity have been cut off again without their knowledge, he immediately took off his shoes, left it by the shoe rock, then went inside to find the light switch while still holding the cake box.

He turned the lights and was delighted to find that the electricity wasn't cut off. Then, he finally noticed the odd silence.

That's weird because she's always loud when at home. Also, she's usually home by this time as well.

Or maybe she decided to head out?

Unsure, he grabbed his pockets to reach for his phone, planning to message his younger sister. But before he could even open his phone, he heard a sharp scream instead.

"Ahhh–!"

The strawberry cake he was holding dropped, his heart dropping along with it.

The obviously muffled scream, was abruptly cut off as if stopped by someone, and it sounded unmistakably like his younger sister's.

Worried, he rushed inside where the sound broke out and saw his younger sister on the ground. On top of her was a man, one hand pressed over her mouth while the other gripped a knife.

Seeing the scene, he knew that the man was planning on using that knife to stab his younger sister.

Thankfully, the knife was held tightly by his younger sister, blocking it.

At his arrival, both looked back at him.

He was stuck in his place and it feels like his whole body was drenched in cold water. The sight of his younger sister being close to danger makes it harder for him to breathe. His stomach tightened.He don't even wanna think about the scene that could've unfolded if he hadn't come earlier.

As countless thoughts began to ran on his mind, thinking of the possibilities that could've happened, a voice snapped him out of it.

"Brother–! Run!!"

Even though his survival instincts are telling him to run just like she said, but he don't want to run away. So he did not run away. Instead, he swiftly came closer and kicked the guy harshly.

The guy who was stunned realized his arrival but acted a half beat late, staggered for a moment but still acted quickly in response to his attack, hastely turning the knife at him instead thought he blocked the incoming attack.

"No! don't hurt him!"

His younger sister yelled as if begging.

The way she said those words sounded exactly the same as that time when their Uncle Ben started becoming distant with them and gradually began beating them to release stress.

Kian not wanting his younger sister to get hurt, volunteered to be the one to get beat up every time because he felt the need to do so.

That's also because he felt desperate to protect his younger sister even if it meant getting hurt.

It's the main reason why he didn't run away.

He looked back at his younger sister and hinted for her to go but she just shook her head.

"Just go! Ack–!"

Distracted, a knife plunged at his shoulders but he took it as an opportunity to grab the other guy's wrist, the wrist that was grabbed, gripped the knife tightly as if afraid it would fall.

However, Kian added more strength to make the other guy weaken his grip.

"Clang"

They both stared at the knife in unison.

The other guy quickly reacted and tried to reach for it but surprisingly, Kian kicked it away from him.

The knife that was kicked away from him happened to lay an arms' reach away from Archelle who stayed by the door and disobeyed her older brother's words.

Both guys looked up at her at the same time. One guy stared at her with worry and the other guy looked at her with wary.

Why didn't she run?!