Chapter 4
The Next Day
I got ho late yesterday and found my mom asleep, surrounded by papers scattered across the table.
My sister will be returning soon, and Mom already looks more exhausted than usual. Kai's words from the day before—asking to et him—echoed in my mind.
At 5 a.m., I t him just outside the gate of our apartnt.
I've never had a friend like him. Seeing him, I greeted, "Morning, Kai."
"What's up, Elijah? You seem sowhat ready," Kai replied.
He was dressed in a hard hat, a hoodie, gloves, sweatpants—the only visible skin was his face.
anwhile, I had on a plain black shirt, so pants I found, and sneakers.
"Yeah, you need to change those clothes," Kai remarked, eyeing my outfit.
"Right now?" I questioned.
Kai sighed. "Maybe next ti you're running. Anyway, I'll just show you what to do today. If it starts getting easy, co to for the next steps."
I nodded as he instructed, "Now, follow ."
We started jogging.
At first, we didn't talk much, but after about 5 kiloters, I shouted, "Bro, where the heck are we going?"
Kai, 5 ters ahead of and seemingly unfazed by the jog, just smiled.
"Co on. Are you this weak, huh, Elijah?" he teased.
I stopped talking—speaking seed to sap my energy—and focused on jogging.
The pain in my sides grew worse as we kept going.
By the ti we hit 10 kiloters from ho, I was nearly collapsing.
Kai stopped and turned to see doubled over, panting heavily.
"Now I know why Lisa said no," he said with a smirk.
I frowned but didn't respond, too exhausted to banter.
Kai chuckled and motioned for to follow him.
We entered a rough part of town, where unnad gangs often hung out.
I felt uneasy, especially when I noticed a group of n watching us from afar.
Kai, however, seed unbothered, so I tried to hide my fear, though inside, I was freaking out.
Eventually, we arrived at an old building.
The windows looked like they were about to crack, and the front door was unlocked.
Kai seed to know the place, so I didn't ask too many questions.
"Hey, old man, where are you?" Kai shouted after entering.
A door on the other side of the room—beside the staircase—opened, and a man appeared.
He looked like he was in his 30s, with green hair and eyes, and a fit physique.
His bored expression turned to Kai as he asked, "What do you want, kid?"
"Well, do you rember that friend I'm always talking about?" Kai asked.
"You an Elish or sothing, right?" the man replied.
"It's Elijah, Mike," Kai corrected, shaking his head. "This is him. I was wondering if you could find a job for him."
Mike gave a once-over before looking back at Kai. "What do you see in this skinny kid?"
A vein throbbed in my forehead, but Jack just grinned. "Just answer the question."
Mike shrugged. "Take him to the factory on Monday. That'll do." With that, he disappeared back into the other room.
Kai patted my shoulder with a smile. "I won't be able to take you there on Monday, but here's the address. You start at 5 p.m., two hours after school. Just stick with it for a while."
I looked at the papers Kai handed and frowned. "What the heck is this?"
[Tasks Updated]
-Go for a 10 km jog
-Do 100 push-ups
-Do 100 squats
-Do 100 sit-ups
-Do 50 pull-ups
-Work for 3 hours starting at 5 p.m.
-Study Math and English for one hour each
[Reward: Money and a cheap snack.]
[Penalty: Walk shirtless for 10 minutes outside.]
I hung my head in defeat as Kai patted my back.
"You'll be earning 20 bucks a day, and this workout will get you the muscles Lisa's been missing out on."
Motivated by that last line, I straightened up. "When do we start?"
"That's the spirit," Kai laughed.
We headed to an open space nearby and began the workout.
Almost imdiately, I regretted my decision.
Crying through the process, I wanted to quit so badly.
It took us three hours to finish, and by the end, I was walking like a zombie.
Kai laughed and said, "Progress takes ti, but stick with it, and you'll catch up to eventually."
At 16, Kai was already fitter and better-looking than most guys.
Even through his clothes, you could tell he worked out, which was part of why every girl at school liked him—along with his devilishly handso face.
'Why are we even friends again?' I wondered bitterly.
"What's with that face?" Kai asked.
"I'm going to kill you," I growled before chasing him.
Kai just laughed, easily outrunning with a grin
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