"Where do they sell these nice lunch boxes? Tell me the spot too. Damn… must be expensive. So damn good."
Zade silently chuckled as he ate his lunch, the other lunch box shared between his friends, while his closest friend here, Shawn, rambled on, pestering him to find out the place.
"Yeah, it was expensive."
'Because the chef is a little feisty and likes to insult. It cost your dignity, basically.'
"Why the fuck are you grinning to yourself? Hey, hey! Maybe this is from your secret relationship? You've been weird since yesterday, and now you suddenly bring us lunch that weirdly looks...homemade."
Zade chuckled and kicked Shawn lightly.
"From where the hell did you get the idea I have a relationship? I'm single, like you."
Shawn took another bite and tsked, looking upset as Zade followed up with a laugh.
"Okay, okay. No need to remind me I'm single. We all are single, after all."
Shawn dragged the others along, who rolled their eyes and continued eating, as they had a busy day and had to get back to work as soon as possible.
Zade also had three surgeries to operate on today, in the evening, but unlike usual, he wasn't the busiest today as they were small and quick ones too.
So he was feeling more relaxed than other days.
Actually, Zade's specialty was general surgery.
In reality, he wasn't supposed to be here. He literally had a position waiting for him when he finished his internship abroad, as he had the honor of interning under one of the best surgeons, which basically guaranteed him positions at bigger hospitals.
But he intentionally chose this location to stay away from his father and escape the constant nagging to find a partner. He loved his father, but at one point, he had had enough and decided to go against him for once after doing everything as he expected.
Maybe that was the best decision he ever made.
He really enjoyed being here. There were so many good people, and his father, used to luxuries, didn't like visiting often as it was inconvenient. So this was just perfect.
He was free. At least more than ever.
"I promised to buy Rose the white chocolate she's been craving recently. She was restless, and I seriously didn't have time to buy it yesterday. When she saw me come home empty-handed, she basically cried. Pregnancies are brutal… I have to buy it today no matter what. I'm leaving for the supermarket now. Does anyone want anything?"
One doctor, basically the only one with a partner, married, ranted as he hurriedly got up, making Zade think for a moment before he got up too.
"I'm coming too."
"Okay."
After others also quickly asked for a few things as well, the two left for the supermarket, a little far away where they didn't go often.
Zade went to one aisle while the other looked for chocolate for his pregnant wife.
After walking around, Zade stopped at the savory snack aisle, eyes scanning quickly for the familiar sign.
'Here it is…'
Zade grabbed a big bag of salsa-flavored chips, examining it for a second before he thought for a moment and grabbed two more quickly.
On the way, he picked up some of his friends' requested items as well, and the two finally left the store with hands full.
"I saw you got chips. That's also salsa-flavored. They're not for you, are they?"
The friend asked with a smile, earning a chuckle from Zade as he looked at the three bags of chips in the bag.
"Yeah."
"Mm…"
The friend didn't say anything else, and they finally gave the others their items upon arrival while Zade carefully kept the bags of chips away from his friends, especially Shawn, who would literally eat anything left out without a warning.
"Yeah… yeah… we know. It's your girlfriend's snacks."
Shawn rolled his eyes as he headed to the ward, leaving Zade laughing as he stared at the bag of chips again.
'Tsk! I can't believe I bought not one, not two, but three. That bastard doesn't need three.'
Yeah...they were for him, obviously. Zade doesn't even like savoury snacks. He always go for sweets so this was not for himself.
Not for 'his girlfriend' either...
They were for the bastard back at home...
Zade sat down, his mind racing back to the memories of when he saw Rai always buying these and him always teasing him about it...
Almost 15 years ago...
It's been so long but Rai would still like these, right?
Zade wasn't going to buy or even bother usually, but like he said before, he wasn't ungrateful. Still, no way would he go and say thanks directly to that guy because he would rather pull off his teeth, so he would just give these to him, and they would be equal then, right?
Zade smirked, satisfied with himself, and finally left for work, now getting teased as the whole friend group grew suspicious about the chip bags he was so overprotective of.
'A girlfriend, huh?... But I would say even better.'
Zade was sick in the head, and he would rather have Rai hating him and always around him, on his nerves screaming, than a woman clinging to him, acting like she loves him...again.
At least Rai wasn't fake or annoying.
Well… he was annoying, annoying as fuck but at least less annoying than people who acted like they care just to please him.
Rai was real.
He hated Zade with passion, and Zade was aware.
And,
He fucking loved it!
.....
After coming back home, Rai went straight to the kitchen, curious the whole time if Zade actually took the food. Despite it being unlikely, he still thought Zade might take it because, despite being an obvious asshole, he was a responsible person.
'...He did…'
Rai stared at the clean kitchen, literally speechless as he even checked the trash can wondering in case Zade had thrown the food away.
No… He had indeed taken them...
'Would he eat them? Or is he giving them to someone else? Maybe… really to a dog?'
Rai sighed, realizing he was just worrying too much, and walked back into his room, trying to stop thinking about that bastard all the time because he can't even count how many time he thought about Zade, even while at school.
Actually, he had to admit, he lost the slightest nervousness when he saw Zade that day, standing there instead of a stranger.
Obviously, he was someone he knew already, so… it was normal. But maybe he shouldn't feel so relaxed, because their past was only filled with curses, fights, and constant hate.
Also, he really regretted the punch he threw the very first time he saw Zade.
What was he thinking?! Did he really want to start a fight after fifteen years later, when maybe the hate between them had subsided from not seeing each other for so long?
Well, that didn't make much sense because no way they could ever forget each other or... forgive each other but still, Rai admitted to himself that he should have held himself back.
Also, in a fight, he wouldn't win against Zade. That man was huge now. The difference was obvious. Rai definetely wouldn't win in a fight now.
'Fucker looks like a mountain now.'
He also just realized today that Zade seemed to have already known he was his housemate.
But Rai didn't figure it out fully and ended up being surprised by Zade there...
'Maybe Principal sir told Zade about me and he figured it out… I should have asked for more info back then… sigh…'
Either way, now it was over, and he wasn't planning to leave.
After all, he was paying rent anyway, so he shouldn't even worry about any of this.
"Should I buy a washing machine too? It's not easy hand-washing. It's been so long since I last hand-washed clothes, and I can't even breathe properly at the end of it now. Damn it… I'm getting old…"
Rai squeezed his waist and sat down like an old man, leaning back as he stared at the ceiling before closing his eyes for a second.
'Maybe I'll stay in this village till I die. Haa… it's peaceful. No one knows me, and it feels oddly calming.'
Rai sighed loudly and, to distract himself, took a bath, then busied himself checking children's books and studying some other subjects because he agreed to teach subjects that didn't have teachers.
Rai taught history, but he also took over English, using his diploma and knowledge he never got to use. He also taught geography and information technology.
Doing all this was definitely not easy, but he liked seeing the students' excitement when they learned new things. They were all really nice.
While the school had only around seventy students and fewer than normal teachers, it still needed more staff, which the higher-ups didn't seem to care about or maybe nobody cared at all.
'It's okay… I'll do my best…'
He cared.
So he would do his best.
For the children...