Suddenly, looking at his reflection in the glass window beside him, he realized he looked completely out of sorts right now—bloodshot eyes, deep dark circles sunk under them, unkempt hair and he was still in crumpled nightwear. Honestly, his appearance wasn’t the least bit flattering, if you say lightly and completely wrecked, if a bit hard.
Earlier,his mind had been too preoccupied to care, but now, seeing himself like this, he felt embarrassed—not much, just a tiny bit. And the reason? Because he wasn’t the only one wearing clothes like that.Around him were people in even more outrageous attire: pajamas, slippers... which honestly isn’t a big deal here in the States. But for a bit of a neat freak like him, it was a big deal.
So, He quickly stood up and walked over to the counter to settle the bill—which was surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, much less than he had expected.
But then, he discovered an even more embarrassing fact...
He didn’t have any money on him. Not even a penny.
Panicking a little, he patted his pockets again, hoping money might magically appear.
The waitress also looked at him with suspicion as he embarrassedly went through all of his pockets... but still found nothing.
The waitress’s expression began to shift, growing darker with every passing second.
"Sir, is there any problem?"she asked, her voice polite but clearly wary.
He let out a nervous chuckle, hand rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to play it off. "Haha, looks like I rushed out and forgot my wallet at ho."
But the waitress wasn’t buying it, and her eyes looked ready to eat him alive. The nearby diners had also started to pick up on the tension, and more than a few curious glances were sent his way.
Seeing the varied expressions on the diners’ faces, he felt so embarrassed that he wanted to dig a six-foot hole and throw himself into it.
"Sir—"
Just as the waitress was about to speak, a deep voice cut in from behind. A firm hand landed on Rex’s shoulder.
"Hey! Rex! Long ti no see, man! What are you doing here all alone?" the stranger said with practiced ease. "You didn’t even call . Not fair, bro! You just got a new sports car, and you still haven’t given us a proper treat!"
The word sports car echoed like a gong.
Hearing the words "sports car", the waitress’s expression imdiately shifted. The pressure in the air vanished like dark clouds under a bright sun. Even the other diners perked up, their interest now fully piqued.
From their expressions, it was obvious what they were thinking: How can soone with a sports car wear clothes like that?
Rex stiffened at the sudden contact, but as soon as he recognized the voice, he relaxed.
Turning around, he saw the person — as expected, it was Victor, looking at him with a cheeky smile as if they had really been close friends for years.
"What? Why are you looking at like that? Victor continued, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I’m telling you, I won’t let you go without a party this ti. And don’t try to dodge it like last ti when you bought your black one. This ti, you’ll have to bleed. And not just anywhere—we’re going all out at Nova Nightclub!"
Hearing this, Rex imdiately understood that Victor was trying to save him from embarrassnt.
So, he too awakened the spirit of a drama king and went along with him.
"Okay, okay, I give up. Let’s set a ti and have a celebration. But I’m warning you, if the bill goes beyond half the value of the car, you’re on your own." he said, raising his hands in mock surrender, his face wearing a pained look.
Victor gasped dramatically. "Deal!" he said quickly, as if afraid Rex would take it back.
"By the way, " he added, glancing Rex up and down, "what are you doing here? And what’s with the clothes?"
Rex shrugged. "Nothing much. Just got up after working overti last night, had to handle an important eting... ca out for breakfast."
"Ohh, tough work, dude," he said with a mock-caring expression, patting him on the shoulder with exaggerated sympathy.
Turning towards the cashier, who looked stunned hearing their conversation about sports cars, top nightclubs, and etings, he tapped the desk and asked, "Has this gentleman paid yet?"
"N-no..." the cashier shook her head absentmindedly.
"Okay, great. Here, I’ll pay for him," he said, placing a crisp hundred-dollar bill in front of her. "And the remaining is the tip."
Rex feigned outrage. "Hey man, what are you doing? I was just about to pay—"
Victor waved him off. "Co on, you’re already planning a party. Consider this a deposit."
"Oh, you sly bastard," Rex said with mock indignation. "Trying to play gas now?" As if he had just had a sudden realization.
Placing his arm around Victor’s shoulder, he tightened it slightly.
"Hey hey, slow down! Don’t crush !"
Playing around like that, the two of them walked out of the diner.
Suddenly, the silence behind them was broken by a wave of whispers and gasps.
"Gasp— Nova? Did he say Nova?!"
"Yeah! I heard it too!"
"Is it the Nova I’m thinking about?"
"Fool, how many Novas are there in LA except that one?"
"B-but... isn’t it the number one nightclub here? I heard the bill starts from thousands..."
"Didn’t you hear their conversation? They’re definitely rich second generation. What’s a few thousand to them?"
Gasp
"And don’t forget—he said half the value of a sports car. That’s gotta be six figures!"
On the other side, stepping out of the diner, the acting spirit left them, and they returned to normal.
Ahem! "Thanks, man."You really saved back there."
"It’s nothing. I was just doing what I should do. Don’t fret too much."
"Anyway, thanks," Rex said sincerely.
Honestly, it may seem like sothing trivial, but the kind of embarrassnt you feel in monts like these... it haunts you for life. He still rembers sothing like this from his last life—just after he left the orphanage. He went to a seemingly ordinary mart and grabbed so instant noodles to fill his stomach. But when he went to pay, he realized that he didn’t even have enough for a single pack. Apparently, they were so kind of imported premium noodles or sothing.
He was so embarrassed that he couldn’t even describe it in words. And still rember it to this day—even in this new life.
Thinking about it, he smiled wryly.
"Anyway," Rex added, clearing his throat, "tell William to give you and Kaelan an extra bonus."
Hearing this, Victor’s face lit up instantly, and he hurriedly expressed his gratitude. "Thank you, boss! We’ll keep working hard!"
Who would refuse extra money? Especially when their salaries were already at the absolute ceiling of the industry, with tons of benefits. And bonuses here weren’t symbolic—they were the equivalent of at least two months’ pay.
Victor hadn’t expected this random little favor to pay off like this. It seems like I should keep a close eye on the boss from now on... and maybe pray mo— Ahem.
Hearing the sudden cough, Rex turned to look at Victor curiously but didn’t find anything, so he just shrugged and walked toward ho.
Victor slowed down and t up with Kaelan to share the good news of the bonus.
The sun was starting to dip lower in the sky. Glancing at the ti, Rex noted it was nearly 5 PM.
Which ant... the stock market had just closed.
(End of Chapter)
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