Ramen

by Asamin

“A prince who acquires a principality with small effort has to work hard to keep it. A prince who acquires a principality through hard work would have an easier time ruling it.”

One day, in a dimly lit room filled with papers, boxes and pens, Narumi said those words. It was almost the end of the year, just a few days before Christmas and around a week before New Year. She was currently beside me, a pile of paper divided us.

I glanced at her, and sure enough, she met my gaze with those hazel colored eyes, her brows furrowed. Her gaze felt exhilarating, it was as if I stepped on some landmine.

“You must always finish your work or you’ll come into contact with failure.”

“Who the hell asked me to finish half of their work because she ‘got distracted’? Hey, Narumi, who was it?”

I said in a low voice, trying to sound as mad as possible. She averted her gaze then closed her eyes.

“If you’ve got time to banter with me, why don’t you put it into good use and finish what I said, will you? You’re wasting my time?”

She said in a slightly stern voice, then proceeded to do her work.

“And you’re wasting my precious break. I could’ve bought some manga and read all day. Why am I supposed to work here even though I’m not even a part of this department.”

The accounting department was never, and never has been part of my specialty. I am a sound engineer and yet, here I am doing arithmetics instead of actually doing audio stuff.

I sighed then turned back to the monitor. I won’t finish anything if I just bantered with her here. Not like I can actually just let her be. Her health is already near to not good, worsening it will just be creating a path for future problems to occur.

What a pain…

Taking a sip from my lukewarm cup of coffee, I continued to work on the remaining two stacks of paperwork.

Checking the budget report, as well as balancing it is already a pain. So much so that I still call Narumi to check on it. Of course, she gave me instructions and helped me on some parts that I didn’t get.

After about 3 hours of continuous work, the two stacks of paper which gave me literal hell were now non-existent, just like my last brain cell. If I were doing sound engineer stuff, I would’ve finished doing some modifications to the company’s IEM lineup.

Still though, spending time with her like this isn’t so bad at all. Bantering with her is fun in its own way, and her giving me those stern looks, I love that. I don’t have a thing for them though. Hopefully. Probably. Supposedly.

Sitting here, breathing, existing; having nothing but those to do, I got bored. Fiddling with the stuff here won’t work as it will just be a waste, using the company desktop won’t do any good either. Which leaves me resorting to listening to music.

“If you’ve got time to laze around, why not help me finish these last few papers?”

She said as she lightly yawned, her brows slightly furrowed, then her eyes glanced at the papers left on her desk. It was a pretty thin stack and from the looks of it, it’s only about fifteen pages worth of work.

I could probably finish it in just under 30 minutes. Narumi’s usual spice wasn't working as her voice sounded a bit dead. Well, I can’t have her dying on me now.

I took all of the papers she had left and placed it in front of the PC I’m using. Her droopy eyes went wide as well as her mouth.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Her voice sounded a bit deep compared to her usual tone, but it still sounded cute. I don’t know, I’m probably a simp for her.

“‘What’? You mean… You’re already exhausted, right? Why not just finish that last paper you’re holding and take a break.”

I said then pointed at the wall clock on her right.

“Look, it’s almost time to leave. At least, let me finish these for you.”

I said and gave her a smile. She looked at me dubiously then sighed heavily, resigning herself to my tempting offer. Well, I’ll probably won’t get anything in return but getting on her good side after the earlier banter will work out in my favor. Probably.

“I really hate you.”

“Yes, yes. I hate you too. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get this done.”

She smiled then faced the monitor again. I did the same and grabbed one of the papers.

Let’s see… 100pcs of 10mm dynamic drivers, 100pcs of Knowles balanced armatures, 800 meters of gold plated cable—Wait, what?

My hands trembled as I inspected the budget report. From its contents, it seems that this came from the audio department—where I’m usually at. Although I’m not the one who usually handles this kind of work since it’s just a pain to work on anything not related to sounds.

To think that we sell some of the cheapest In-Ear Monitors on the market. Take for example the one I created, the frequency response of that is almost similar to the Harman Neutral target—in which, the bass and treble are emphasized more than the mids creating a somewhat ‘fun’ and ‘balanced’ tuning. And we sell it for like what, $50? For something like that, I feel like I did an amazing job at keeping the price low.

Well, the one who handled this kind of stuff is Narumi’s sister—Yume Nakamura. She is pretty good with arithmetics. Not that I’m saying I’m bad at it, just that it’s a pain to do stuff that is not related to sound.

Looking at it, almost all of the equipment and parts I’ve been using in my research and experiments cost a lot.

Thank you, Bossuu!

The boss permitted me to do all those things; assembling and disassembling the drivers, pushing the BAs to their limits, tuning them to what I think everyone will love, even at the expense of a high cost of the development and research, he really is a great man.

“I’m done… wait, why are you smiling like a creep?”

I heard Narumi saying beside me, making me face her. Her face contorted, her body alongside her swivel chair ever so slightly backed away. After a moment of awkward silence between us, I let out a wry laugh.

Please kill me!

She stood up then tidied up her table. She intently picked up chocolate bar wrappers and empty cans of soda. I looked around and saw that everyone was also packing up their things, preparing to leave for the day.

Seeing that she didn’t mind me at all, I turned to my desktop and began working again. I picked up the papers and laid them out.

Budget reports, proposals, vouchers, refunds… this will probably take me about an hour or so, might as well start now.

I reached for the keyboard and began sorting and typing everything. However, without even reaching the first minute of my work, my vision became blurry and my head started aching. I reached for my IEM and walkman, then played my work playlist which consists of BGMs and idol songs.

After about what seemed like an eternity, I finished the whole thing. I took a deep breath and slumped on the chair.

“My head feels heavy…”

I muttered to thin air. Working with numbers is hard, but it’s pretty enjoyable in a sense that even I don’t know. I glanced at the clock on the desktop.

19:00 huh…. I literally took my time.

I shrugged my shoulders, saved the spreadsheet on the company cloud and stood up to fix my things. Pens were scattered on the desk as well as some of the choco bars I ate, the empty cup of coffee was still there, standing menacingly. Good thing this station is the one used by Yume so I know that she has some garbage bags in her cabinet.

I pulled out a piece, and began throwing out the food wrappers and coffee cup. After that, I picked up the scattered pens and sorted out the papers in her table. I can’t leave this table as it is, nope, absolutely not. I used her belongings as well as her workstation to do her work.

Now that I think about it, shouldn’t I be doing something important as well? What was it again?

As I was pondering about that, my phone rang. The upbeat sound of the ringtone is only for this person. I swiped my screen horizontally from the left and brought the phone to my ear.

“Andrew? Are you still at work?”

“I’m just about done, what is it?”

A feminine voice greeted me.

“Buy me some ramen on the way home.”

“Why should I?”

“I’ll spoil you rotten when you get home, Darling~”

The sweet but deep voice of Akane rang through the speaker, making my blood boil and my right foot jitter. I felt my cheeks numb and my vision became fuzzy.

“Hello? Andrew? You there?”

I clutched my head and sat back on the swivel chair. This girl… she doesn’t even know that she’s about to kill me. I sighed and slouched on the chair.

“You’re going to kill me, Narumi. Don’t just use Akane like that.”

I said without any life yet. I am already dead, that sweet voice—that damn deep but sweet voice. The voice that I love to hear and I would even die for it.

“Well, I figured that if I don’t use it on you, you might not buy me ramen. And I know you can’t resist Akane's voice.”

“Give me a break…”

“So? Buy me a bowl, darling~”

She said then hung up. I sighed and calmed myself. Getting a request from the renowned Akane Nakagawa is already heaven in itself, and getting spoiled by Narumi would just take it even further. I might die from this.

I hastily cleaned the workstation, packed my things while making sure I didn’t leave any valuables behind, and rushed off to the parking lot where my new baby is waiting for me.

In my usual parking space, my beast greeted me with its aggressive aerodynamic accent, its yellow color that was pretty much the standard color of it, and not to mention the iconic logo of a golden bull in the front. The brand that everybody loved and wanted, the car all boys and men wanted, the Lamborghini. Specifically, the Lamborghini Murcielago.

I unlocked its doors which open upwards, went inside, then closed it. Its interior is very classic, but also the ergonomics on this thing is top-notch, for me at least.

As I turned the key, the roar of the 6.5 Liters V12 sent shivers to my spine. I sure do love everything about it, and it’s all thanks to Ayase and Narumi.

Months ago, Ayase’s new song became a hit and literally sold millions in its first few months. And the cut Narumi received apparently was the highest she’s ever gotten. And to that point, she gave me money to support my hobby, no, she bought me this car without me even knowing about it.

She may be like that, but damn does she love me…

As I made my way out of this parking space, I immediately floored the car making it instantly go to 100 kph.

After a five minute drive, I stopped by the ramen shop where Narumi and I frequented. I parked it beside the shop, and went inside. The hustle is not that felt at this hour since most people are either at their homes eating with their family, or at the pub where they go loose with their colleagues and friends.

As I approached the counter, a bald man with a decent body build looked at me and smiled.

“What could I get ya, sound freak?”

“Just the usual, body addict.”

The shop owner, whose name is Ichika, greeted me. I sat down on the counter seats. Ever since I came here from the Philippines, he was the one who helped me live here and he was also the one who taught me japanese. In any case, I still feel indebted to him in more ways than one.

He gave me food, shelter, and company. He also went out of his way and asked customers where I could get a job. And up until two years ago, I lived with him under the same roof and boy does he help out a lot. Of course, during my stay, I worked for him here in this ramen shop.

“Right on it, Missy would like some extra garlic, no?”

“Just add a wee bit, I’m gonna trigger her tonight.”

“What a sly man you are.”

“Well, I did get a sick gift from her.”

I tilted my head to the left ever so slightly. His gaze followed through the window of the shop, and what greeted his eyes was my new car.

He gave me a degrading and disgusted look, as if I’m some kind of scum. I waved my hands, and exclaimed,

“No! She bought it even before consulting with me.”

“I don’t think so… here you go.”

He said as he handed over the two bowls of ramen.

“Oh, thanks, but she really did buy it for me without even consulting me!”

I denied with vigor.

“I can honestly say that I am not one of those scumbags who leeches off of their girl and leaves them when they get bored of them or when they won’t give them money anymore… And even then, her kindness isn’t something that I should take advantage of.”

I said and calmed down. He handed me a cup of water which I gladly took and drank.

“In the first place, I am pretty serious about her, it’s just a matter of time before I marry her. I’m saving up for the best diamond ring I could afford after all. And unlike any other girls I’ve been involved with, she is basically the only one where I feel at home.”

I rambled as I drank another cup of water, Ichika gave me a wry smile while scratching his cheeks. He sighed then showed a relieved smile.

“Looks like you are serious about her, and the fact that you know how kind she is, you’re not a bad man at all.”

He said as he sighed. However, his sigh was one of relief and not with grief. His usual tense face was unusually relaxed, it’s basically written on his face that he’s happy for her—for the both of us.

“Well, I think you’ll be an even greater man if you’re on her side right now instead of me.”

I stood up and made my way to the door. But before opening it, I turned back to him and said,

“Don’t tell her any of this!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t!”

I gave him a smile and went back to my car. As I sat in the car, I felt a vibration on my lower half. I reached for the source, which was my phone, and looked at the screen.

Another call from Narumi, huh…

“Where the hell are you? You’re taking so long.”

I accepted and what greeted me was not the sweet voice of the angel, Akane, but the stern voice of the devil, Narumi.

“Well, we talked for a bit and…”

“What did you talk about?”

She probed. There’s no way I can answer her right now.

“Oh, just normal everyday stuff, nothing to worry about.”

“Suspicious.”

She said, and I inadvertently averted my eyes. It’s a good thing that this is a call, though.

“I’m about to go home now, I have two here, both for you.”

“You’re forgiven.”

“Thank you, goddess. I love you. Bye, darling.”

I said and hung up. I started the engine and quickly made my way to my apartment, where my queen was waiting for me.

Just a month more to go and I could probably do it… right now, I must calm her down and spoil her rotten. And here I thought that I was the one who’s gonna be spoiled.

I thought as I drove in the evening street of Shibuya, a wry smile forming on my face as I glanced at my visor.