After a few more seconds of Lunar's whimpering, a human silhouette emerged from the door, it was Lila. With her hands behind her back, she slowly approached me and Lunar, even though she tried to stifle her laughter. When she finally reached us, I said, "So, I guess Lunar showed you mostly what we have upstairs in the store, right?" The blonde girl nodded and replied, "Yes, he showed me everything, even the back where the trash is, the smoking area, and the parking lot." I nodded and told her I understood.

When Lunar calmed down, I turned to him and said we needed to open the store. He didn't refuse, so the three of us went upstairs. Lunar opened the store, and Lila and I started putting merchandise on the shelves. At first, we didn't have many customers, and the ones we had were mostly buying bread or small items for the morning. But later, more people started coming, as usual, our boss wasn't in the store today either. "Well, it's not like it's anything new," I whispered to myself as I scanned items. The sound of scanned products echoed constantly as I thought. 

It's like I'm a robot, right? I work and do everything the same every day, nothing new happens, and there's nothing special, especially in this job. I've been working here for 2 years, and yet I haven't changed, I'm still as boring, and as for my life? Hah, even more boring.

Once I finished collecting money from the last customer, I wished them a good day and got up from the soft chair. Sounds were coming from the chair, but there was nothing I could do, after so many years of use, it's normal for it to break down too. I stretched my hands, and legs, and cracked my fingers.

"Oh, I'm already tired," I said a little louder than I should have because Lila, who was 10 meters away from me, heard me. But this time, she didn't say anything, I guess she's either finding it hard or she's tired, right? 

Time passed quite quickly, and it was already 3 pm. Usually at this time, Lunar and I take a break for half an hour to an hour. We took Lila with us and went to the back to the smoking area. There wasn't much space, but still, 3 or 4 people could fit there. There was a round white plastic table, 5 white chairs, an ashtray, and a trash can where we throw our garbage. 

The three of us sat at the table, and Lunar and I lit a cigarette each, took a puff, and let the tobacco smoke into our lungs. After 3 seconds, I exhaled deeply and took the first step into a conversation.

"So... Lila? How did you end up working at this store? You're 18 years old, I think you could still go to school, right? Plus, you know very well that the salary here isn't anything special," I said as smoke came out of my mouth with my words. Lila, on the other hand, remained a little silent and thoughtful, after some time she finally said, "Well... I wanted to go back to school, but no matter how hard I tried, I didn't have good enough grades to pass, so I gave up..." she wanted to continue but suddenly seemed super shy, so I had no choice but to let her be, if she didn't want to say, then I couldn't force her. 

Lunar, on the other hand, was looking at his phone while smoking. Almost every break, he looks at his phone, either on Twitter or texting someone, but I haven't found out yet who he's texting so much. It's not like it's any of my business, but slowly curiosity is eating away at me. I realized I'd been staring at Lunar for too long because Lila also showed curiosity about why the tall boy was texting so much. Lina, while sitting down, says, "So... Lunar, can I know why you're so focused on your phone? Mh... maybe texting your girlfriend?" 

I don't believe that, I said in my mind. As tall and muscular as Lunar is, I can't see him having a girlfriend. It's not because he can't, but because he doesn't want to. I know he has other plans and other problems, and a girlfriend would do him more harm than good. Lunar left his phone on the table with the screen facing down so we couldn't see if he received a message and said coldly, "As much as I want to tell you and Alex, I can't. I don't want to seem rude, but please don't interfere in my life." 

These words gave me an unpleasant feeling in my stomach because Lunar is mostly pacifist. He doesn't resort to violence, and if there's a problem, he'll try to resolve it calmly and without too much action. But it seems like this time, Lila hit a nerve.

At Lila's words, he shrunk in her chair and looked down while playing with her thumbs. "I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like that, I apologize if I overstepped," she said softly. It seems that every person has their limits. Because the atmosphere around us had become even more unpleasant, I sighed and got up from my chair. "Well, I think it's time to continue, right?" I said directly as I put my almost-finished cigarette in the ashtray. 

The two nodded and got up. I let Lila go first and waited for Lunar, but he was looking at me as if waiting for Lila to leave. I realized this so I closed the door and leaned against it, saying, "Do you want to tell me something, huh? I'm listening." Lunar approached me slowly, a little anxious, and asked, "Alex, I know we're not the best of friends, and I know you have a grudge against me," he paused and looked away when he continued, "And not just against me, but against everyone... I've realized that and I won't ask why or what happened to make you hate them, but I have a request for you." 

With his back straight and hands behind his back, he looked down at me and continued, "Do you think you can not tell our boss that I'm leaving earlier today? In an hour, I need to go somewhere... to an important place, and I know our boss, Asto, won't accept it. That's why I'm asking if you can not tell him that I left earlier." 

Hm... I didn't expect such a request from Lunar. I put my hands on my chin and looked down as I thought. It's going to be hard to do this, but it's not impossible. But this made me even more curious as to why he had to leave. Of course, I can't ask him, but maybe I'll get the answer sooner than I thought. I looked up at Lunar and said, "You know you're giving me more trouble, right?" I let my words flow for a few seconds for Lunar to better understand what I'm asking him to do. Timidly, he says, "Does that mean that-" I raised my hand as a sign for him not to continue. "I didn't say no, I'll do it, but I have one condition. When you come back tomorrow, I want you to apologize to Lila for how you made her feel. I think that's a pretty small price for your favor, isn't it?" Lunar nods. , Then, so be it." I shook hands with him and opened the door, letting him inside the store.