Wednesday, April 3rd.

Two days ago, Eren was hired. Erwin did say he had a little difficulty before officially hiring him, but it worked out anyway. Eren was looking in the bathroom mirror; they had a uniform to wear, just to look rich, Eren supposed. Eren was wearing a deep royal blue suit, brown classy leather shoes—those kinds that you usually see business men wear. For the first day, Eren had purposely styled his hair with some gel, and honestly, it worked quite well. He looked more put together.

Eren looked one last time in the mirror before turning off the bathroom lights. He walked to the kitchen counter and saw the two letters he hadn't opened from the strange person. Eren refused to read them, letting them stack up. He grabbed his keys, his phone, his small wallet where his cards were, and turned off every light before closing up.

He took the stairs because his apartment didn't have an elevator—one of the main reasons his father didn't want him in this place, but Eren didn't care. Eren quickly turned on his phone and ordered an Uber. After 15 minutes of waiting, his Uber arrived. Eren quickly sat in the backseat, greeted the driver, and gave the location.

It was a beautiful day. Eren was super excited to finally start working—or at least to find a job on his own! Even though Armin had helped, Eren really meant not relying on his father's money or reputation. That was, of course, his second option, which he had promised his father. He just hoped to be independent on his own and not rely on his parents.

"Sir, we will have a little bit of a delay; the traffic is building up," the driver said. Eren shrugged, and the driver looked at him in the rearview mirror.

"It's okay. Not your fault," Eren replied. The driver nodded and refocused on the road. Eren decided to check his phone. He looked at his notifications and swiped away the irrelevant ones. His finger hovered over a notification—a message from a random person. Who's this? Eren clicked on it.

Unknown:Tsk, ignoring my letters already? Do I have to write you a text now instead? People these days, putting the standard so high...

Eren frowned at the text. It was obvious who this person could be... but how did they get his number? Obviously, a stalker knows everything. But what really creeped Eren out was that he couldn't delete or block the number. How the hell is that even possible? Not being able to block or delete? That's some messed up stuff. Eren decided to ignore the text. Fuck that person—he knew how to ignore people. Besides, they texted him on Messages, not on WhatsApp, where he was actually active. Messages in the Messages app were just gathering dust.

Eren closed his phone and shut his eyes. He felt so... nervous? It was stupid, really. He was the most extroverted person in his friend group, but this felt different, though he couldn't quite figure out why. Maybe it was the feeling of getting serious? Maybe it was actually having to earn money. Sometimes he wished he could go back in time, just be a kid with no worries. Lately, everything had changed—everything had gotten so expensive. He wondered how the future generation would even be able to buy a house or apartment. They were already half a million. People were so greedy for money these days.

He had a huge dream, a dream that started as a dream and would end as a dream.

What he wanted wouldn't be possible to achieve—maybe a place to help people in need. Give them a little place to stay, like a hotel. Get them clean, help them find a job. He wanted to expand it across the world, become a big company. But if he ever suggested it, he'd be laughed at so hard. It was financially impossible to even start something like that. What would he earn? Nothing. He'd lose money instead of making a single penny. It would always stay a dream, and that's okay. Though, it's still a cool dream to have.

A throat clearing made Eren open his eyes. He made eye contact with the Uber driver.

"We have arrived, sir." the driver said.

Eren nodded and smiled. "Thank you." He opened the door and stepped out of the car. He looked up at the huge building. It always amazed him how people could be so successful. It was awesome—if only most rich people weren't such assholes.

He adjusted his clothes a little and walked into the building. A woman with glasses walked up to Eren. She looked familiar.

"Hey! My name is Hange. You're Eren, correct? The new hire?"

Eren accepted her hand and shook it, even though her grip was too tight, but he didn't complain.

"Yes. Pleasure to meet you."

"You've had some experience with jobs, like being a cashier on the website, I heard?" Hange asked. Eren nodded in confirmation. She smiled brightly and pulled Eren along with her, never letting go of his hand.

She brought him to the cashier area, where a few employees were already helping customers who reeked of money. She led him to the third computer, the only one not occupied. The cashier desk had just three computers. Finally, she let go of Eren's hand, and he had to force himself not to sigh out loud in relief. He was pretty sure his blood circulation had stopped for a moment—his fingertips even looked a little purple. Never judge a woman's strength, noted. As if Mikasa wasn't already the perfect example of that.

After that, Hange thoroughly explained what Eren needed to do and how the system worked. It wasn't too complex, which he appreciated. Everything seemed advanced but was very neatly organised, designed, and customised. The website, app, and more were easy to navigate, and the cashier system was well set up. In some other jobs, the systems were so complex that he needed days to understand them, but this one felt straightforward.

Hange was a great explainer too. If Eren didn't understand something, she didn't mind going over it again, never making him feel stupid for asking questions. In fact, she encouraged him to ask more.

Their first customer was an older man who looked happy.

"Ah, Mr. Collins!" Hange greeted him cheerfully. The man gave her a polite nod.

"What would you like today?" Hange asked, taking over the controls. When Eren gave her a questioning look, she leaned down and whispered, "He's a particular, not-so-easy customer. He doesn't like new cashiers or anything—he prefers me. Let me handle it. Sit back and watch."

Eren nodded and stepped to the side. Hange wasn't kidding when she said he wasn't easy. Mr. Collins wanted everything exactly how he'd drawn it. The man had even made a detailed drawing of a ring and a necklace he wanted for his wife. Eren had to admit, the man could really draw.

༺༻

After a long day, Eren was finally done with his shift. He was exhausted—rich people were so damn annoying. Out of everyone he dealt with, onlyoneperson had actual manners. Are people really that allergic to basic decency these days?

Just then, his phone buzzed, notifying him of a message. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the notification. It was from the unknown number. Eren clicked on the text to see the rest.

Unknown:Your outfit looks so good on you, love. Your ass really catches my attention the most. So beautiful. When may I touch it? Massage it as I'm doggy fucking you into the mattress?

Eren's jaw dropped at the explicit language. This person wasn't shy at all, just wrote whatever was on their mind. Eren knew he should feel disturbed, but he couldn't help the flutter in his stomach and the faint pink dusting his cheeks.

Wait a second... this person can see him?

Snapping his head up, Eren looked around, but the street was practically empty. He stood there, feeling like a fool in front of the entrance, staring at his phone. He quickly glanced back inside the building, but all he could see was his own reflection in the privacy glass. Whoever this person was, they were either nearby or had been watching him at some point.

Eren looked back at his phone and saw another message.

Unknown:Don't try to search for me, wait for me.

Eren felt a chill. Were they coming to him? His heart raced as he swallowed hard and found the courage to type a response.

Eren:
Are you coming to me? Right now?

The reply was instant. Eren noticed how quickly the person had read his message, clearly not having left the chat.

Unknown:No, I will come to you at the right time. Wait for me.

Eren's pulse quickened. Whoever this was, they weren't rushing, but the idea that they had a "right time" made his skin crawl. The unknown figure seemed to know exactly what they were doing, leaving him in a mix of anticipation and dread.