006: Half Of One's Monthly Salary?

Thrown in the limelight, Zayn had no other choice but to walk forward. With a low bow, he apologized,"Sir, it's my fault this time. Don't blame Mike. I'm sorry."

Mr Mikhail laughed sarcastically. "Of course, it's your fault. That's what you said the last time too. Say, do you earn more cash secretly from these deliveries? The job I employed you for is the post of a cook not a delivery boy!"

No one said a word. There was a pleased smile on Noor's face. He's always hated Zayn's pretentious self-righteous behavior. Everytime the latter gets into trouble, Mike is always there to rescue him.

The funniest thing is that he is Mike's new roommate not Zayn so why does Mike insist on showing more compassion to Zayn than to him!? What's so good about Zayn anyway that even Mr Mikhail who's usually grumpy isn't too strict with him?

Let's see how he'll get out of this mess this time.

"I remember the last time this happened, I said something," Mr Mikhail looked at them. The staff exchanged a confused look. What was that? They all couldn't seem to remember what their boss had said.

But all of a sudden, Noor spoke up,"Sir, you mentioned that if this kind of incident of taking someone else's shift were to happen again, the person at fault would have their monthly salary deducted by half as a punishment."

Gasps rang out in the room. H—half of their monthly salary!? Some of them vaguely remember that Mr Mikhail had mentioned something like this but they'd brushed it off, thinking he was only joking or that the incident wouldn't occur again.

But no... They were proved wrong and it's the same Zayn that was caught the last time that repeated it. Thinking of this, they all gave Zayn an angered look.

Half of one's monthly salary? Isn't that too much???

"Good," Mr Mikhail sounded pleased at Noor's reply. He turned his gaze to Zayn and Mike who were now standing next to each other.

"Who should I hold responsible this time?"

Mike gulped at this. He knew his cooking skills weren't as good as Zayn's but he'd still offered to help. Isn't that what good friends do for each other?

While they were living together at the camp, Zayn had helped him on several occasions so it wasn't too much for him to exchange duties with him.

But now that they had been caught and told the punishment, he felt a strong sense of sadness. Half of his monthly salary?

He only manages to earn 2000 dirhams per month. After deducting the rent payment and the money he needs to send back home, there is barely any money left for feeding.

Now his salary is being split into half... He's already owed house rent for the previous month because he had to send more money home than usual due to the weak health of his mother.

Wouldn't he get thrown out this month if he can't pay up the rent fees?

Noor's eyes twinkled as he looked at Zayn and Mike, his gaze particularly strained on the latter. He could already guess what Mike was thinking.

With how hesitant he looked, he's most unlikely to help Zayn out this time.

But, who would have expected that Mike would suddenly raise his head and answer,"I am sir... I asked him to do the delivery for me because I was feeling a bit ill and couldn't handle the bike."

Noor gritted his teeth angrily. What is wrong with this roommate of his?

Zayn was also surprised because he looked at Mike. He was the one that begged the latter to help in doing his delivery because he also wanted to deliver something important so what is Mike saying now?

"Sir," He immediately protested. "I'm the one at fault. I begged Mike to let me do his delivery and asked him to cover up for me so I'm the one responsible for this. I'll accept any punishment you give me."

Mr Mikhail looked at the two of them with an annoyed look. "I don't appreciate these kinds of confusing answers. If one of you doesn't own up to being responsible for this, both of you will be punished!"

Mike and Zayn exchanged a look. When they both didn't say a word, Mr Mikhail decided,"Then both of your monthly wages shall be split into half. If this happens again, then you two should forget about receiving any salary this month!"

Then he dismissed them. He instructed one of them to go out and remove the sign they placed outside the restaurant. That's when Zayn realized that the reason why the restaurant was empty was because they had probably put out the 'closed' sign.

As the staff slowly dispersed, Zayn moved forward to apologize to Mike when Noor suddenly obstructed his path.

In a loud voice, the latter asked,"Are you satisfied now? You've finally gotten the poor boy who has always considered you like a friend into trouble. Some friends you are... Do you even know how Mike has been struggling, the amount of bills he has to settle and what your insolence has caused him?"

Noor's loud tone stopped the staff that were already living together again. Most of them had heard Noor's words and they also noticed the disheartened look on Mike's face even though he didn't say anything.

Right then, Noor appeared like a good friend/roomie worrying about his friend's well-being and his words portrayed Zayn to be an ingrate.

Their colleagues began to whisper furiously while pointing at Zayn.

Zayn however remained calm even though he was irritated. "What right do you have to talk about Mike's struggles in public?" He berated Noor instead. The latter clearly wasn't expecting this reply.

"If you were really so concerned about him, you wouldn't have gone for that delivery and gotten him into trouble. If you must know, he will probably get thrown out of the camp this month if he is unable to pay up his bills!"

The hushed voices round them grew even louder when their colleagues heard that Mike would probably become homeless this month because of what happened just now.

They began to accuse Zayn openly.

"It's really hard struggling as an immigrant and that boy is pretty hard working. His only mistake is having a friend like Zayn," One said.