This Close

Meanwhile, Jason introduced his apartment mate, Iyan, a big man with a friendly face. He is a chef at a multinational five-star hotel who has unlimited income. It is not surprising that he can rent the apartment even though Jason deliberately set a high price.

"Val, this is Iyan, Iyan this is Valiant, he will occupy the other room starting today."

Val accepted Iyan's handshake who had been waiting for him for a long time. The man's hand was so wide that it swallowed all of Val's palm in his grip. The man saw Val's face with a very big smile on his face, while Val was a little awkward.

"Hey, I'm Valiant"

Jason didn't really need the man's rent, he already had everything, but living alone and lonely made him think a lot of strange things, so he was willing to share a room with a stranger, whether he was nice or not. Even though he had previously checked the background of his apartment mate, who knew he might be a criminal or something. The man smiled broadly when he saw Val in his apartment too, as if he was the happiest at that moment.

"Hey, welcome Val, make yourself at home, okay?"

Val nodded, it took a long time for the man to release his grip, the man's hands were so big which make his looks so tiny.

Val couldn't wait to meet his room which Jason had prepared beforehand. Soft bed, private bathroom, spacious bedroom window with a view of the very small city below, he could even see their office building from here. This is so great, he shouted in his heart.

"Thank you, Boss, this is really cool"

The next day is the weekend. Jason and Val are busy arranging Val's new room by adjusting the position of the furniture according to Val's wishes. He and Jason carried the large single couch and moved it from the living room into his room. Jason loves to give him that couch.

"Come on, tilt it a little, watch your legs," said Jason, trying to carry the big couch through the door.

"Be careful, Boss"

"Pay attention to your own feet, move them slightly to the side. It has to be tilted a little to fit in"

"Oh, why is the bottom part so big, Boss?"

It took a lot of effort to put the single couch into the room and put it near the window so Val could wake up and see the morning sky there. Val threw his body onto the bed, sweat dripping down his face and onto his shirt.

"Hoh, so tired"

Jason also threw himself beside the young man, laughing a little when he saw Val who was exhausted, including him too.

"That's just one couch, not the others."

Jason lifted his body, covering Val's body from above, seeing the young man's face from a very close distance. Val was surprised, but he smiled broadly showing his clean white teeth and looking at his Boss's face which was also full of sweat and even some parts were dirty with dust.

"Hey Boss, your face is so dirty, where does the dust come from?

Jason smiled, put one elbow next to Val's head, and looked at him from a close distance until finally lowering his head to wipe the sweat off his chest with Val's clothes.

"This is all because of you"

Val squirmed in amusement, his Boss rubbing his sweaty face on his clothes.

"Ah, Boss, it's ticklish, stop it!"

Val tried to push Jason until finally, Jason grabbed his hand. Both of them then stopped, especially Jason, stunned to see Val's beautiful smile on his adorable pink lips. That hand is so little and soft touched, really can't help to touch it.

"He"

Val swallowed hard, both of their breaths sounded louder, louder than any sound around them. Jason, who had been stunned, finally pulled himself up from the bed.

"Eh, there's still a coffee table, I'll get it from the warehouse." Jason almost fell onto the large couch behind him. He hurriedly left the room, leaving Val still stunned in his position. Val's hear beat so fast, he could have the heart attack because of that.

"Hoh"

...

Diamond Building, before lunch.

Jason approached Val who was sitting in front of the emergency stairs. It's lunchtime and Val hasn't moved to look for food, what is he doing there? Jason thought after looking for the kid for a while.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Why aren't you looking for food yet? It's lunch. I saw that Anwar and Alex had been out."

Val turned around, a little surprised because he was not expecting someone would be there, he had just received a call.

"Boss, I'm on the phone, um, aren't you eating out?"

Jason frowned,

"I was the one who asked, are you on a diet?"

Val smiled at Jason's teasing.

"No, who's on a diet, let's go get something to eat"

Val stood up, excitedly heading back towards the elevator. Jason was still staying where he was, he thought these couple of days Val's behavior was strange, he often daydreamed when he was left alone.

"Okay, this time I'll treat you to Japanese food," said Jason grabbing Val's hand.

"What for, any occasion?" 

Soon the elevator door opened.

"Umm, to celebrate you're moving to my apartment, how about that?"

"Why should we celebrate, it's just nothing"

"Oh yeah, Grandpa told me to invite you to dinner tomorrow at the restaurant near the apartment, you have to come, okay?"

Val smiled, he had heard about it since yesterday, how strange, why suddenly the big boss invited him to eat? Did he still hold the grudge and going to scold him?

 "Eh, do I have to come, Boss, he wants to fire me, right?"

Jason shrugged his shoulders, he thought it was also strange because his grandfather had rarely invited anyone to eat before. Is it because Val is so cute and sweet? That clearly cannot be allowed, that old geezer.

"Yeah, that's weird, he's not usually like this, I'll ask him what he really wants"

The elevator opens on the lobby floor.

"Well, I've never eaten at a five-star restaurant either, the food must be so good, is it?"

Jason hugged Val and left the tall office building.

"Well, that's not bad"

But dinner didn't happen, because Ian Garber had guests from abroad, so he had to stay in the office and then eat out with his guests. Of course, this was very comforting news for Valiant, who knows what that old man wanted from him? What was clear was that he still felt at home working there and his internship period still had approximately eight months left.

 .....

Evening comes. The atmosphere on the basketball court was quite noisy.

An open space on the roof of an office building can provide a refreshing break from the afternoon fatigue. Jason's clothes were almost entirely wet, just like Val, who was on guard at the front. That night, the two of them, along with Anwar, engaged in a battle with a team from the HR department.

The sound of enthusiastic shouts from the female staff, including Ilyana among them, made the atmosphere even more exciting.

"Come on Val, huh!!"

Val was already out of breath, but the ball came quickly. Jason was very agile in taking the ball past his opponent and passing it to Val.

"Val!" Anwar exclaimed.

Val brings the ball forward, jumps, and goes in, the score increases for them.

"Looks like someone is treating our lunch tomorrow!" Jason exclaimed, mocking the opposing team. The atmosphere was very relaxed; they even taunted each other without regard for each other's positions.

"It's not over yet, we'll catch up later, it's only ten and six!" exclaimed Mr. Jay from the team.

Jason laughed "hahaha"

Val watched from his spot.

His breathing was heavy; his stomach felt nauseous as if he wanted to vomit. However, Jason's cheerful spirit that afternoon gave him strength. The voices of the supporters on the sidelines, including Ilyana's, were loud and clear, which helped too.

"Come on Val, let's finish them off!" Jason exclaimed.

Val's vision began to blur, the sky suddenly turned black, and when he looked down, a drop of blood fell in front of his shoe. 

"Oh no," Val wiped his nose quickly. Especially as Jason and the others drew closer, he had to muster all his strength, despite being almost exhausted.