Jeff Wants to Work
I puffed out my cheeks, glaring at the dinosaur-shaped water bottle filled to the brim with green juice. Just as my cheeks, swollen with discontent, were about to reach their limit, Amy chuckled and spoke. "Is it really that bad?" "Yes," I nodded. She was asking the obvious.
I thought I'd be able to chug cola to my heart's content once training was over. I thought that if I passed the exam, I could live every single day drinking cola. But that wasn't the case. Amy was still trying to feed me green juice.
"It's good for you." Amy's long arm slid forward, pushing the dinosaur bottle toward me. The dinosaur, thrusting its gaping maw in my direction, looked terrifying. Wearing a tearful grimace, I picked up the bottle.
Slurp, slurp. My face puckered as I sucked the green juice through the straw. Amy had added honey, so it tasted sweet, but it couldn't mask the distinct, grassy smell. "Good girl, you're drinking it well." Of course I had to drink it well. I knew how much effort she had put into preparing it. Amy gently patted my head as I sat there with a tearful face.
I looked around the room as I sipped the juice. This was the office we were visiting today under the pretext of "going to work." A large Team Harmonize logo was painted on the door, with a small nameplate hanging beside it. It seemed much larger than the offices of other teams, which was undoubtedly due to Amy's influence.
Nothing had really changed. They didn't give Shine and me any work. Our daily routine simply consisted of coming here, watching Rain, Victor, and Amy work, and playing. I opened a large sketchbook. Amy, Victor, and Rain were all diligently doing something. Since Shine was studying too, I felt like I should do something. I began to mindlessly doodle.
"Amy." "Yes?" "Don't we have any work to do?" "Work?" "Yes. Like being deployed somewhere." "We don't get missions all the time." "Is that so?" "If there's a laboratory conducting illegal experiments, we first need to verify if it's true, right?" "Yes." "And if they really are doing such things, they'll try to hide all the evidence. Our job starts with finding that evidence." "So is that what you do, Amy?" "No. Finding the evidence is another team's job." "Then what do we usually do?" "Raids, seizures... and support?"
Hearing it explained didn't give me a precise picture of what we did. But I got the general gist of it. A small, mobile team with three Team Leader Level individuals gathered in one place. Their combined combat power would be beyond imagination. It was obvious we would be entrusted with incredibly important tasks. Unable to hide my excitement, I swung my dangling legs from the chair.
"Jeff." "Yeah?" "It's time for gymnastics." Just then, Shine, who was sitting next to me, shook my arm and spoke. Was it already that time? I checked the large clock hanging on the wall and stood up.
"Rain!" At my call, Rain, who had her head buried in paperwork, jerked upright. Meeting my gaze, she checked the clock on the wall and hopped down from her chair just like I did. "Ughhh~" Rain yawned and stretched, loosening up her stiff body. Shine, Rain, and I headed to the center of the office and took our positions.
"Amy, please play the music." "Alright." Amy nodded at my request. She moved her mouse and soon started the music. A familiar intro began to play. Until last week, we had done our exercises without music, but because our timing was always off, we had no choice but to play a song. Shine, Rain, and I took our stances and began the routine. Putting our hands on our hips, we swayed our butts side to side.
"Here they go again." Victor scowled, clearly annoyed by the exercise music, and plugged earphones into his ears. Rain stuck her small tongue out at him. "Blehh." Victor didn't even react.
We stretched our arms and legs, channeling our desperate desire to grow taller. If you put your heart into every single movement, you will definitely grow. That was what the YouTuber who made the exercise video had said. And his words were true. Shine and I were growing taller by the day. As for Rain... I glanced over at her as she diligently exercised. Well, she was still taller than before.
The song built toward its climax. Now, we had to prepare for a fairly difficult pose. Spinning our bodies, we leaped into the air. Whoosh. Rotating in midair, we maintained our balance and landed perfectly. All three of us looked relaxed, fully accustomed to the movements. I giggled softly and struck the final pose. Arms stretched high toward the ceiling, legs extended. My finger pointed to the sky, as if screaming to the heavens my desire to grow taller. "Done!" Today's gymnastics were over.
"Good job, everyone~" Amy clapped and praised us. Even Rain, who had been terribly embarrassed at first, was now used to it and remained unfazed by the praise. If anything, she looked rather proud. "Shall I get some milk ready?" "Yes!" At my reply, Amy stood up and headed to the refrigerator.
The office actually had a massive refrigerator. It wasn't even in a separate breakroom. Could this place even be called an office? Shine's and my toys and stuffed animals were scattered everywhere. There were even comic books piled in the corner of Rain's desk. And some workout equipment, which seemed to belong to Victor, sat in the corner of the room.
I headed to the wide table to drink the milk Amy had prepared. On the table, small, beautifully packaged snacks were waiting for me. Just look at that mouth-watering sight. They were sweet angels destined to dance in my mouth. But I couldn't eat them. I had already eaten my allowed snack portion for the day. Licking my lips wistfully, I wrapped my hands around the cup of milk.
"Jeff." "Huh?" Just then, Shine, who had been quiet, offered me a small snack. It was the treat she had received today. "This is...!" "You eat it, Jeff." "Shine!" Unlike me, who had devoured mine the moment I got it, Shine hadn't eaten hers. The snack, slipped secretly under the table to avoid Amy's watchful eyes, deeply touched me. I quickly reached out and grabbed it.
"Ah..." But in the end, I couldn't bring myself to steal Shine's snack. The wrapper rustled in my excited grip, asserting its presence. "It's okay. I want you to have it." "But..." "If Jeff is happy, I'm happy." Shine smiled, urging me to eat it. It felt as if a bright halo was shining behind her. She was absolutely dazzling.
But I still couldn't eat it all by myself. Keeping an eye on Amy, I carefully tore open the wrapper. Having already returned to her desk, Amy was immediately absorbed in her work. "Shine, I feel the same way. If Shine is happy, I'm happy too." And so, I held the snack out to her. "You want to eat it too, don't you?"
Shine loved snacks too. There was no one in the world who hated sweet sugar. Probably. Seriously, even Victor enjoyed eating candy. Shine's eyes wavered intensely as I offered the snack back to her. She swallowed hard and shook her head. But she couldn't hide it. I pushed the snack right up to her lips.
"Ah." Shine resisted at first, but as the snack crumbled slightly against her lips, she opened her mouth. Seizing the opportunity, I tried to pop the whole thing in, but Shine bit down firmly when it was only halfway in. Chomp. Half of the broken snack remained in my hand. "You eat the rest, Jeff."
I hesitated for a moment at her words. Seeing my hesitation, Shine giggled softly and spoke again. "Since I had some, I want Jeff to have some too." It would be rude to keep refusing when she was being so persistent. I nodded and quickly popped the remaining half into my mouth.
Since Rain had no one to worry about, she was stuffing her face with the snacks laid out on the table. She had already devoured ten Couque d'Asse cookies with just a single glass of milk. She wore an incredibly satisfied smile.
Now that gymnastics were over, it was naptime. Letting out a long yawn, I headed toward the small bed in the corner of the office. Shine and Rain, rubbing their sleepy eyes, followed me. The three of us crawled onto the bed with practiced ease. Just as we pulled up the blankets and rested our heads on the fluffy pillows... Victor called out to Rain. "Rain!" "Huh?" Rain, who had just lain down, bolted upright in surprise.
"We've got a request for support." At Victor's words, Rain, who had been cozying up in bed, jumped up and started running. Shine and I sat up as well. Support? Was our first mission finally starting? I was sleepy because it was naptime, but my excitement was uncontrollable.
"Jeff. Shine." Just as we were about to run after Rain and Victor, Amy's voice stopped us in our tracks. "Yes?" "You two aren't going." "Huh?" "Only Victor and Rain are going." "Why?" "Because this job only requires the two of them." "But why?"
Victor brushed past me as I stood frozen. He gave my head a light pat before walking out of the office. Rain also grabbed her chick bag and scurried out. "I'll be back!" Shine and I could only watch their retreating backs.
"I want to go too!" "Me too," Shine agreed, nodding along. But Amy shook her head. "No." I looked back and forth between Amy and the office door. After agonizing over it for a while, looking left and right, I finally let out a heavy sigh and trudged back to the bed.
"I guess it's not our turn yet." "Yeah." Still, I could bear it. Seeing that Amy wasn't going either, it probably wasn't a big deal. I pulled the blanket over my head to hide my pouting cheeks. Behind me, Shine slid closer and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.
"Shine, this is uncomfortable." "I'm cold." "You're not cold. It's hot." "I'm cold. Jeff, do you want me to lie here shivering?" "Well, no..." I turned around and hugged Shine back. Was she really cold? The warmth radiating from her felt so cozy. Lying face-to-face with me, Shine wore a deeply satisfied smile. Somehow, I felt like I'd been tricked.
"I want to go out too," I muttered softly, unable to shake the disappointment. Shine stroked my cheek and replied, "Jeff, the outside world is dangerous." "I know. But I want to help Amy. Don't you, Shine?" A brief silence followed. Then, Shine slowly opened her mouth to speak. "I'll help."
Shine whispered softly, pressing her forehead against mine. Her warm breath brushed over my face. "Because it's what Jeff wants." "Yeah. Let's help her together." At my words, Shine smiled softly and closed her eyes. I closed my eyes too, letting sleep take over. A bit of exercise and a glass of milk were always enough to bring on a quick nap.