Alex lowered his head, burying his face in his scarf, trying to minimize his presence as he quietly followed the wall into the courtyard.
"Alex." The sharp-eyed old man still saw Alex sneaking into the yard; his voice rang out shrill like metal scraping against metal.
Alex stopped, silently cursing a few words in his heart, but on the surface, he maintained a smile as he turned around.
"Good morning, Eddie." He greeted the old man unwillingly.
"I'm not saying this just to scold you, Alex, but it's almost noon now." Eddie's slit-like eyes assessed Alex from top to bottom, his hand holding a pipe and tapping it on the table:
"Even if you were sick and asked for sick leave, that was a matter of yesterday and the day before. You shouldn't be late today either, do you hear? Do you think this corpse collection station is a market, where you can come and go as you please?"
