Chapter 9.1 - Flirting (First half)

Flirting

Flirt (n). a person who habitually flirts.

(v.) behave as though attracted to or trying to attract someone, but for amusement rather than with serious intentions (Oxford dictionary)

The next morning, if only Geerana didn’t come to knock on my door calling me that I’m going to be late, I wouldn’t have gotten up from my bed at all. Actually, I am seriously contemplating whether I should just pretend to be dead… When I wake up, I am still wondering if the scenes of horror movies mixed with action-fantasy from last night are just my own imagination.

I dragged my body to the office just in time to not be late. Once I press my card on the reader, the time immediately changes from 8:00 to 8:01 A.M. People who saw me running like mad are all chuckling… that’s not right, none of them are actually ‘people’!

While taking the elevator up the floor of my department, I try to recall what I know about Himmapan creatures… How many of them are carnivores? I think until my head starts to hurt before giving up. To be honest, the only thing I can think of from the word Haimmapan is the expensive Himmapan nuts that taste very rich when chewed. Now that I think about it, I also start to feel hungry…

But this is not the time for a joke! Those creatures are now my colleagues! I gulp down my saliva while looking outside the glass, the garden outside is still as beautiful as always, but now it’s starting to make me scared too…

“Hello/ Hi bro.” The sound of two of my colleges greets me at the same time. Both of them are still not looking at each other as if by doing that the spicy makeout scene from yesterday will just become fictitious. I put myself between their desks which face each other.

“Can I ask you guys something first… What are you?”

“Ho… Bro, I almost thought you are going to stay oblivious forever. So, what do you think I am?” Yu giggles like a small child. I glance at Nopparat who answers me slowly.

“I am a Naga.”

I turn to Yu with a big smile on my face. “Then you must be a lord Garuda.”

“I’m just a Garuda.” Yu protests with a pout, making me feel like pinching his mouth. “My rank is not that high.”

“Wait, but don’t Garuda usually eat Naga?”

“…” Yu look at me quietly, his gaze clearly conveying that I just asked him a very ridiculous question. “W- What?”

“Bro… Do I look like someone who eats Naga for lunch?” Yu points to himself while I look at him.

Today, the redhead is wearing a pink v-neck t-shirt with a picture of a programmer typing on a keyboard with the word ‘BUG’s life’ screened on it. On his lower half is knee-length jeans along with a pair of sandals… Furthermore, he also wears a silver bracelet with a bird ornament on his ankle which jingles when he shakes his legs… Do you even realize that you are an office worker? I look at him again from head to toes before summarizing.

“…Not really.” I have only seen him eat KFC chicken, not any snake.

“Then, do you think I will suddenly catch a Naga to eat one day?” Yu pouts again, this time, I really stretch my hand out to pinch his lips together. Now the duck mouth kid slapped my hand repeatedly. “Were you born like this?”

“Yeah, of course. Did you think one day I got bit by a Garuda and then turned into one?” …Clearly, you watch too many Spiderman movies. “I was born in the lineage of Garuda.”

“Then why did you.. you know, go to a normal school like me? Not like, um… with your own kind?”

“You watch too much Harry Potter movies, bro.” Holy shit, he knew what I thought, and even changed it to Harry Potter which has more parts? I feel strangely beat. “Every single one of us that you see all live a life like a normal person. It’s just that we mostly work in this company since it’s more convenient… Usually, the whole lineage will all work together here, except for some individual who might choose to work elsewhere.”

I repeatedly blink.

“Well, this place also used to be a school for our kinds in the old days.” And you still have the face to berate me for watching too much Harry Potter! “But after our ancestors graduated.. they found out that they couldn’t find a job outside.”

“…Yeah, I get it. Imagine if you graduate from Hogwarts and then go to work as an office worker. You won’t even know how to use Microsoft Office.” I mutter in agreement.

Yu laughs loudly. “Exactly! So… Those elders decide that instead of creating a secret school hiding from society, it’s better for us to blend in and live with humans. Instead of purposefully trying to protect us from being known by humans, we would gain more benefit by living with them instead.”

“Hm… When you were in school, did you have a friend like you?” I start to wonder.

Yu nods, before giving me a side-eyes. “Your friends are also like me. Big bro Pong, for one.”

My jaw drops open while Yu continues to shoot names after names at me. Turns out, there are more inhuman creatures around me than I thought. Fortunately, my best friend, Nung, is still a normal human… Maybe I should start a fan page called ‘What should I do, people around me are all inhuman.’

“Wait. Then yesterday, when you say that the PR department is the Kinnree department…” Those sisters that almost give me an aneurysm “Don’t tell me that…”

Yu smiles, and then nod. “Yeah, the Kinnree of Mount Kailash. All of them.”

Oh my… I whip out my inhaler and take a deep breath. My life becomes a fantasy…

“Good morning.” Yu and I simultaneously stop our conversation and turn to Geerana who just walks in with a 7-Eleven bag in his hand. He is wearing his university uniform today as well, but with an additional employee card hanging on his neck. The card he is wearing is for temporary use just like me, which I was told by the PR department that all new employees will be using it until all departments finish selecting new recruits so we can all take a picture on the same date and not waste time repeatedly setting up the blue screen.

Geerana’s and my work hours are disparate since he still needs to go to university every morning to do something, so boss allows him to start working at 10 A.M. instead. This morning after waking me up, he immediately excuses himself to go to his university. Ge put down the bag in his hand in front of me with a sweet smile which lifts his eyes into a crescent shape. “I bought this for you.”

“What’s the occasion?” I pretend to turn my attention to my computer screen, actively controlling my own face to not showing any expression.

“You didn’t have breakfast this morning…”

“But you also don’t have to buy them for me.” I glance inside the bag… Strawberry-flavored milk again. I won’t deny that I like to drink this, but how did he know my preference so well?

“It’s alright. It’s my pleasure.” and then he smiles again… Oh my god, I think I really need to go see a doctor.

“Woah, Woah, Woah! What are you doing, man? Are you trying to flirt with big bro Phat?” Yu joins in with a sly smile, but instead of refusing with a polite smile, Geerana only looks at me with his sparkling eyes, his mouth that is still shaped in a pretty smile and replies with a word.

“Yes.”

And with that, a figurative bomb goes off in the office. Ye immediately let out a howling laugh while I hurriedly dragged Geerana out of the room before things gets even more embarrassing.

I dragged him to the area near the toilet which doesn’t have a lot of people walking passing by, before beginning to ask the question that stuck in my mind.

“You.” I point at him. “Are you flirting with me?”

“Yes.” He answers innocently, face full of smiles. Those pairs of glittering eyes curve into a crescent moon once again. “Not just flirting, I am chasing after you… Did you really not notice?”

…Um, it’s not like I really didn’t notice, but this is just too strange for me to believe! I can only shout in my head while trying to calmly compose a reply.

“Chase as in, pursue me romantically? Trying to get into a lover-relationship?” I try to confirm with him again.

“Yes.” He continues to reply with that one word as if programmed to reply with that as the only response. While I am still trying to figure out how to handle this situation, suddenly, those phenic pairs of eyes are gazing at me pitifully. Making me feel as if I am looking at a very big, kicked puppy. “can’t I?”

F*UKKKKKKKKK. How am I supposed to reply to this?

“Phat” …don’t call my name like that! “Can’t I chase after you?”

The me who is attacked by those eyes can do nothing but open and close my mouth rapidly like a drowning person trying to find air. “I- I didn’t say that you can’t”

Great.. Very firm! Very decisive! Rattiphat!

Before I can even finish my sentence, his face blooms into a smile as if a flower receiving water. That smile is so bright that I can feel my face burning… The overgrown pup decides to use the moment that I’m still stunned to move closer and place his mouth on my cheek without getting any permission. Muah! Followed by a deep sexy voice in my ears that made me melt like wax. “Thank you.”

Boom! My brain has gone offline.

An almost thirty years old man like me can only stand there with a hand covering one of my blushing red cheeks, while another hand holding a fist on my chest. I lean my back on the wall, gazing at the young man in front of me who has suddenly transformed from a big golden retriever into a big bad wolf in a heartbeat. He licks my ear softly, before dropping another sentence.

“I won’t be holding back, then.” He smiles sweetly yet again.

I smile back, my eyes saying… Have you ever held back at all, this pup!?

end of the first part

Translator’s note:

This chapter is the longest so far, and I don’t have enough time, so I decided to split it up into 2 parts.

I want to ask my readers if you prefer that I split a long chapter and post them on schedule (1 update per week) or wait until I finish the whole chapter before posting (which might take 2 weeks)?