Val rested his chin on his hands, taking a long breath.
"Heh," he saw an old photo, two young men standing arm in arm in front of a building, they were probably his age. And one of the young men, indeed, looked like him, exactly.
Two days ago, while still in the hospital, someone, an unexpected guest, came to visit him at the hospital.
"You are the grandson of Raymond Carlton, my business partner who passed away twenty years ago. He lost his only son, Lance Carlton, who, due to many problems, ran away from home when he was young. He is your biological father. When I managed to contact him, your parents then planned to come and see his father's condition, which he himself did not know had already passed away. For years, he searched for his son but did not succeed until the end of his life," said the old man, Chief Commissioner Ian Garber. Val looked at the man for a long time. Was he joking? Was this just a dream?
"I, don't remember who they are, how are you so sure that I am your friend's grandson?" Val asked. The sounds of the vital monitor machine filled the silence in between.
"Nut.. nut.. nut.."
Ian Garber smiled. He took out a folded piece of paper from his jacket pocket. Val wanted to see the contents of the paper, but, in his current condition, reading it would also be useless. He couldn't even lift his hands; the effect of the medicine made him float. This might not be real either. He was just dreaming now.
"Heh"
Ian Garber smiled.
"Forgive me to come at the wrong time, but when Jason isn't here, I can finally tell you, he's always sticking to you day and night. I didn't want to tell him before everything was certain."
Ian placed the paper on the table beside the bed.
"You can see it later. I've done a DNA test on you and matched it with your grandfather's, and you are indeed his grandchild. One thing that makes me sure you are his grandchild is that your faces are very similar to each other. I was surprised when I saw you that day, and since then, I've been trying to find out about your family. Pardon me for doing this secretly, because Jason said you forgot about what happened in your childhood"
Back to the office.
Val stared at the photo in his hand for a long time. He quickly hid it away when he heard footsteps approaching.
"Val"
It was Jason who approached and entered the room. Val straightened his sitting position.
"Boss"
Jason took Val's hand.
"Come on, let's eat, leave that."
Val stammered; he still had lots of papers to be done, but Jason pulled him up from the chair and out of the room.
"Boss, but, there's still a lot of.."
"Leave it, you can do it later again."
.....
The restaurant in the building next to the office. Jason enjoyed his steak, can't stop smiling at Val, who was still struggling to cut his steak.
"Is it hard?" asked Jason.
"Let me"
Jason reached out his hand and took Val's plate. Val widened his eyes, seeing his plate being taken.
"Uh, that"
"I'll cut it for you; you're taking too long. When are you going to eat it? Didn't you say you were so hungry?"
Val pursed his lips, watching his boss cut the meat, wait unpatiently. And he was fast; soon his plate was back in front of him.
Jason smiled, seeing Val's amazed face as his steak was cut into pieces and ready to eat.
"Heh, stop staring, come on, eat it."
Val puffed out his cheeks and started enjoying his food. He looked around. This was not the restaurant he usually went to for lunch; the food must be so pricey, his salary for one day alone might not be enough to pay for it. Jason realized what was on Val's mind.
"Um, that steak costs two hundred thousand,"
Hearing that, Val, who had just put a piece of steak into his mouth, took it out again, looking at his boss with big eyes.
"S-so expensive, boss," he covered his mouth, almost screaming. The people around him wouldn't look at him strangely because he couldn't afford the food there. If steak alone cost that much, what about the ice cream and drinks, and he had already sipped a little of his cold water?
"Uh, boss, this is more than my salary. Can I borrow some money, boss?" Val whispered.
Jason couldn't hold back, finally chuckling at Val's adorable face.
"How about this? Looks like they don't accept credit. Um, it seems you'll have to wash dishes in their kitchen."
Val pursed his lips because he had already ordered it, and it was very expensive; it would be a waste if he didn't enjoy it as much as possible. He enjoyed the meat while grumbling.
"You know your employees have small salaries, still invite them to eat at an expensive place, deliberately making people bankrupt, huh?"
Jason almost choked because Val was so adorable that he couldn't hold back his laughter.
"Alright, alright, this time, it's on me, you don't have to pay anything."
Hearing that, Val raised his head, looking at his boss with wide eyes.
"Really, boss? Wow, how lucky,"
Jason raised his glass, leaning back in his chair.
"Heh, but this might be our last meal out, at least until you get better,"
Jason's words made Val raise his head, looking at Jasonseriously.
"Why, boss?" Val asked. Jason straightened his sitting position, reaching out his hand to wipe the remaining sauce from the corner of Val's lips. Val was startled and almost pulled his head back, not expecting his boss to do that. Jason casually licked the remaining sauce he had taken with his finger.
"Well, since the doctor said you have to eat healthy food, no excessive processing, starting tomorrow, we will order home-cooked meals for breakfast, lunch, and even dinner. If I still have time to go home to cook at night, I will do it; otherwise, we won't eat out either," Jason said.
Val stopped his hand. Slowly, raised his head, intending to look at his boss with his usual sad eyes.
"Don't say anything, Val," but before he could say anything, Jason preempted him.
"What do you mean, boss?" Val asked, looking at Jason with his big, round eyes.
"Well, words like ' bothering me, making me anxious, making me dizzy, took my time."
Val pursed his lips.
"That's how it is, isn't it, the reality."
Jason finished his water in one gulp, slowly placed his glass on the table, and looked at Val for a long time.
"I want to do it, who do you think is forcing me. Just wait if you're thinking about running away again. Looks like I should start making a contract."
Val puffed out his cheeks. His boss seemed serious about his words.
"What kind of contract, Boss? What are we going to do?"
"Well, as a guarantee that you won't run away from me again. If that happens, I'll sue you for hundreds of millions."
Val widened his eyes. His boss was truly outrageous. Annoyed, he continued eating.
"Dictator, do whatever he wants," she grumbled.
Jason glanced out of the corner of his eye, pleased to see Val's annoyed face.
Soon, a waiter placed two tall glasses of ice cream that they had ordered. Jason dabbed some cream and got it on the tip of Val's nose. Val was surprised. He widened his eyes, looking at him. His boss did it on purpose.
"Boss,"
Jason chuckled.
"Don't just daydream like that, I won't wait for you to enjoy the ice cream, it will melt soon."
Val pursed his lips in annoyance.
"I was just starting to eat. Why is the ice cream already here?"
"That's why, hurry up and eat, chew, and swallow. Don't rush too much or you'll choke."
"You say hurry up, but not too fast, what's wrong with you? Can't you make up your mind?" Val grumbling.
Jason couldn't help to laughed, Val's face was indeed very adorable when he was annoyed.
"hahahaha"