Gu Ning glanced at the ssy lines in the textbook. "..."
Alex said, "If you’re tired, we can skip class today."
Gu Ning quickly wrote in his textbook: Sorry, I didn’t sleep well last night.
Alex took the pen and textbook from his hands and set them aside. "If you’re sleepy, go rest in my room."
Without waiting for Gu Ning to write a response, he added, "You still have work hours to make up. Including the half-day you took off last ti, you’ll have to work the night shift for the next three days."
Hearing this, Gu Ning finally rembered that he had to make up for the hours he’d taken off.
He sighed internally and slumped onto the desk.
"Don’t sleep here," Alex said. "You need to be well-rested to work properly. I won’t dock your hours. You can start working with Kloer whenever you wake up."
"Eat lunch first." Alex checked the ti. It was just past eleven, not quite lunchti yet, but if he was going to sleep, there was no telling when he’d wake up.
Gu Ning was indeed exhausted. His body felt incredibly weary. But sleeping in Alex’s room? ’Better not,’ he thought. He’d be fine just napping here.
He wasn’t hungry either. He had eaten an egg on the way here for breakfast and had another one in his pocket. The breakfast Barto had packed for him was still in his bag, unopened.
He wrote a note back to Alex: No need, I’ll be fine just resting my head here~
Seeing his insistence, Alex moved the heater from under his desk to the side of the sofa.
This way, the little female could at least sleep on the sofa.
After placing the heater, Alex made an excuse about having sothing to do and left the office.
When he returned half an hour later, Gu Ning was, as expected, curled up asleep on the sofa.
Alex gently placed the lunch he’d gotten from the cafeteria on the coffee table, then went to his room to get a blanket to cover him.
Looking at the little female’s fully-clothed, defensive posture even in sleep, he sighed to himself.
He crouched by the sofa and watched the little female for a while before sending a ssage to Kloer:
[Don’t call for Gu Ning today. Let him start work whenever he wants.]
Kloer: [?]
Kloer: [Boss, are you really spoiling him to this extent?]
’These next couple of days are the busiest ti at the construction site. Everyone’s working practically around the clock, and the boss wants to give the little Mixed Breed a day off?’
Kloer: [Boss, is he seriously not so long-lost brother of yours?]
Alex: [Don’t call him for als either.]
After sending that, Alex thought for a mont and added bluntly: [Don’t disturb him.]
Kloer: [???]
’Wait, what does that an?’
Alex didn’t reply to Kloer’s string of questions. He had a lot of work to deal with.
He called two subordinates to stand guard at his office door, gave them a few instructions, and then went to get busy.
’I need to get this work done as quickly as possible.’
Once these tasks were finished, he could focus all his energy on the little female.
Three hours later, Gu Ning woke up.
After the nap, he didn’t feel more refreshed. In fact, he felt even drowsier and a little cold.
He had no desire to get out from under the blanket, but realizing he was in the office, he didn’t dare go back to sleep.
’I’m so close to finishing Cook’s contract,’ he thought. ’I can’t drop the ball now.’
The two Beastn guarding the office heard him stirring and brought him a fresh, hot lunch.
Gu Ning stared at the mountain of food piled in front of him but still didn’t feel hungry.
He forced down a couple of bites but couldn’t eat any more. ’Who cooked at the cafeteria today? It’s not as good as before. The braised pork belly looks delicious, but it tastes like soap.’
Gu Ning forced down a little more, then sent a ssage to Kloer: [What’s the work for today? (confused puppy)]
’Why hasn’t Kloer sent the work info for today?’
He checked the ti. It was already past two in the afternoon. ’Hasn’t Kloer co looking for either?’
Gu Ning was about to ask Kloer again when his finger suddenly paused over the chat box. ’These are the busiest days. Maybe Kloer is too busy to co get ?’
Gu Ning stared at the blanket on the sofa for a mont, then glanced at the half-eaten al on the coffee table. He belatedly realized soone had been looking after him. He quietly folded the blanket and headed outside.
The weather began to worsen again in the afternoon. The sky turned gray, and cold gusts of wind blew intermittently.
Gu Ning hunched his shoulders and tightened his scarf. He found a familiar-looking Beastman and asked where Kloer was. After being told he was inspecting Zone C, Gu Ning trudged through the knee-deep snow toward Zone C.
Behind him, two Beastn followed at a discreet distance, sending a ssage to Alex as they went.
...
Gu Ning was quite familiar with the construction site by now. Using a pre-written note to ask for directions along the way, he quickly found Kloer inside one of the tunnels in Zone C.
Kloer was in the middle of his usual inspection rounds. He was surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"
Gu Ning: ? ’Am I not supposed to be here?’
Kloer said, "Well, since you’re here, you’re here. Let’s go. We’re done here. Ti to go up on the wall."
As he spoke, he slung an arm over Gu Ning’s shoulder, guiding him toward the elevator and chatting as they walked. "You’ve got it way too easy. The boss has never been this good to ."
Gu Ning was feeling unwell and his reactions were a beat slow, so he didn’t dodge Kloer’s arm like he usually would.
Listening to Kloer chatter on in his ear, his head grew dizzier, and his steps beca unsteady.
Kloer suddenly said, "Oh right, aren’t you almost done with your contract?"
Gu Ning caught the keyword "contract," and his focus returned for a mont. He slowly took out his pen and paper and wrote: [Three days left].
He rembered Kloer’s earlier comnt about how well Alex was treating him and figured that as Alex’s second-in-command, Kloer might feel a bit resentful. So he added: [I have to make up the hours I missed. Alex is making work the night shift.]
Kloer took the note and read it, and a new suspicion began to form in his mind.
’The boss told this afternoon not to bother the little Mixed Breed. So he was just catching up on sleep to prepare for the night shift?’
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