Work Text:
Kinn’s day started as any other working day, to be quite honest.
He got up at 6:30, took a shower while his morning coffee got cold enough to his liking, had a light breakfast and dressed for work; suit and matching tie. By 7:15 he was already out of his apartment and driving downtown to where his office complex was located and at exactly 7:49 he clocked into work.
It was just enough minutes to spend sighing in his desk chair before he had to dive into work he oh-so-conveniently left unfinished the night before, and then the night before that. It was a never-ending cycle of mild procrastination and probably a lot like a small avalanche that gets set off by a loud sneeze or cough—once it starts, the only thing that could stop it is to just lay down and play dead, at least figuratively.
When he was killing both his soul and body in pursuit of that MBA Degree in Economic Studies, Kinn never thought it would end like this—a desk job with a great salary and even better benefits, but a desk job nonetheless. Managing funds and financial reports was not quite the end game he saw for himself during those nights fueled with energy drinks and cup ramen (chicken flavor, mind you) but there he was—barely alive in a pristine button down shirt at exactly 8am and ready for another day of numbers and auto-filled forms.
The only thing that he’d look forward to six days a week and all day long, were nights, or to be more precise the moments when the lights would start shutting down on their office floor and he’d pick up his already packed bag and head home. Netflix was his friend, but so was whiskey and Kinn loved the perfect combination the two made. On rare occasions he’d join his colleagues for drinks or dinner and even rarely go out with friends.
It was not that he didn’t like hanging out or something, quite the contrary. But the fact was that at the age of thirty, Kinn was chronically tired and probably developing rheumatic problems (if the constant pain in his lower back was anything to go by). The last time he’d gone to the gym he cramped his butt muscles, so you could imagine how physically active his body has been in the past year or so of constant work and nothing but it.
The days when he used to take care of himself were long gone, and the only reason behind it, as Kinn would argue, was the fact that he was caught in a never-ending sleep-eat to survive-work-sleep loop. He hasn’t seen his parents in two months now despite the fact that they live barely an hour away and the last time he’d seen his best friend was at the intersection downtown few days ago where they just waved at each other in a hurry and an offered an apologetic smile; them with their hands full on a coffee run and Kinn with five manila folders overflowing with papers.
That was probably one of the few things that kind of struck close to where his heart was beating—the fact that they all grew up and had lives of their own. He missed those carefree days of hanging out with friends or just laying in his old bedroom when his mother calls him for late breakfast or lunch. The consensus was, life sucked. Being an adult sucked even more, but it had some pretty great benefits.
First time Kinn shifted his eyes from the spreadsheet in front of him, he checked the time and almost squealed in glee when it showed 11:50 which roughly translated as cigarette break in his world. Ten minutes were more than enough to enjoy one at the east corner of the rooftop, his favorite spot with a worn-down bench and a nice view of the city below.
He started smoking sometime in his second year back in college, and it was stupid really. He’d always considered himself as someone strong minded, with iron will, but the first one turned into just one more and by the time he was graduating, he’d moved onto smoking half-a-pack per day. These days it was far less, given that even if he could take as many breaks during the working hours, he’d feel guilty about abandoning that stack of papers which would then lead to piling up and yeah, the loop. He liked to consider smoking as his only vice which was probably true to some degree. And why not just have that one bad habit?
By lunchtime, he’d finished around 80% of the mess he’d left behind during the week, including the long overdue financial report for the previous quarter. That was more than a success and Kinn hoped nothing major would come up by the end of the day because he actually had plans on Sunday and more work would completely ruin his mood for what’s supposed to be a fun trip to the mountains with his best friend.
And given how snarky that little brat is, he would not waste an opportunity to pester Kinn about his current workload and emotional distress. They’d been planning this short trip for weeks now and almost each time Kinn was the one who had to postpone for some work related reason and in no way would his friend allow that to happen again.
Kinn sometimes wondered what it would be like if he had a partner, living together in that apartment of his (or theirs, he really wouldn’t mind) with the current schedule of life he had.
The few relationships he’s had over the past years always ended with him being the sole reason or to be more precise, his obsession with work. Kinn never once noticed that somehow he put work first because he really didn’t—it was something he had to do given his degree and years spent on getting it. It was not a half-assed job and it could never be done that way, so he really had to give his all every single day.
His partners did not understand that and he really didn’t have it in him to put up with the same complaints over and over again. So, he’d walk away. And those were probably the only times in life he’d do so.
Before he even knew it, 19:42 came round and with a smug smile on his face, Kinn packed up his things. He was free, at least until Monday. Picking up the manila folder with the most recent reports, he walked towards the main office on the floor and knocked on the door before coming in.
“Ah, Kinn! I was just about to—”
Kinn froze. His boss had that facial expression that said ‘I am really really sorry but-’ and what would usually follow was not something he’d like. Hell, at this moment, barely fifteen minutes before his work day and week were over, Kinn detested it. Placing the manila folder onto his boss’ desk, he sighed out.
“How long will it take?”
The man just gave his apologetic smile and handed him a solid stack of papers. “We really need to include this in the quarter report, I’m taking it to the head of department later tonight.”
With a dejected whine that had his boss wincing in sympathy, Kinn took the papers and walked out the office as slowly as he could and with that same pace he went back towards his small corner office. The floor was empty now apart from him and their boss still being there and he cursed out fuck it before taking a cigarette out of an almost empty pack and lighting it right there in the office. After all, who came up with the dumb rule anyway? Kinn really didn't care.
—
He walked into his apartment at 22:17, exactly.
Kinn remembers the time clearly because he had almost cried calculating just how little time he had to sleep and get ready for his trek at the crack of dawn.
Throwing his suit jacket somewhere in the direction of the hanger, he slipped his shoes off and left them at the very entrance. He was going to trip on them in the morning, he was sure about it, but he really just didn’t fucking care. He was hungry and tired and probably more tired than hungry so he opted for the couch instead of the kitchen; his bedroom felt like miles away at that point.
He only had strength to place his bag onto the carpet next to the couch and he undid the top two buttons of his shirt. Shower seemed like a great idea but given the state of sleepiness he was falling into, he was more likely to die in that bathroom than get out of it fresh and clean, so Kinn decided he'd take one in the morning.
The damned report was finally done. His boss actually gave him a sobbing hug when he handed him the folder.
Checking his phone for the time again, he groaned and re-set the alarm to 4am instead of the planned 5:30. Just as he was about to lock his screen it lit up with an incoming call from an unknown number. Frowning, he craned his neck a bit to see the number better and debated up until the 4th ring whether he should pick up or not. Who the fuck calls at 11pm? He swiped the touchpad left.
“Oh shut up Ny, we all know you sucked his dick to get to that spot!”
Kinn gaped at the screen. “Hello—?”
The person on the other side cursed softly and coughed. “Ah! Good evening! We apologize for the delay, may I know if I’m speaking with—Kinn Anakinn Theerapanyakun?”
Kinn blinked twice to clear his vision. “Yes, this is him. May I know who’s asking?”
“Evening sir! My name is Porsche and I'm calling from TeleThai:com, I was wondering if you could answer a few of my questions?”
Kinn cursed mentally. He really hated his life. “I’m really busy at the moment so—”
“It will only take half a minute, sir! We were wondering just how satisfied you are with your current service provider?”
“Uhm, yeah, pretty—”
“Because we can offer you a much better data and cell plan for almost half the price as them! With our basic M package you’d get an unlimited monthly data plan at the speed of 256Kbps with the option to upgrade it after three months. You’ll also get a bonus of 500 minutes and 1000 messages to use towards any number within our service provider.”
Kinn sat up abruptly. “Listen, I don’t mean to be rude but—”
“Great sir! So you’ll be taking our M package? Or would you like a bigger data plan?”
Kinn mouthed a ‘what the fuck’ as he stared at the screen of his phone, wondering if it was a prank call.
“Listen, Porsche—right? I am really not interested in purchasing a data plan or changing my provider so—” The man on the other side of line interrupted him again and Kinn could hear him mouthing something to another person that was probably right next to the man.
“Awesome, sir! We will need your home address so we can mail you the contract.”
That was probably the last straw for Kinn. “Porsche! Listen! I. Am. Not. Interested. I will not buy anything and I will not give you my home address and I'm going to hang up now and you can just kindly—” There was shuffling on the other side before the telemarketer spoke again.
“Waitwaitwait please, listen. Kinn, my superior has been breathing down my neck for the duration of this call which I had to make if I want to keep my job, which bingo I do because hell— who can afford to be unemployed in this economy so can you pleaseee just give me your home address so I can sign this deal before it’s too late because my work hours end in exactly eleven minutes and that’s not nearly as enough time to make another sale pitch for this goddamned company.”
Kinn was standing in the middle of his living-room, phone to his ear and an expression of shock, wonder and the fuck all over his face. This cannot be happening to him. A part of him, the sane part, knew that these sorts of things were only ever meant to happen to him of all people because that was just his karma coming to bite him in the ass. The delusional part, however, still thought this was some kind of a joke.
“Kinn? Are you there? Kinn, please just sign this damn deal so I can keep my job I swear I will pepper spray everyone in here if I'm fired and you’ll have that on your conscience, it will be your fault because you could have signed but noooooo Mr. i-like-my-current-data-plan refused to do so—”
Kinn groaned into the microphone. “Are you for real?? You know what, Porsche? I will hang up this call and then I’m going to call your operator to have me connected to your supervisor and then you will wish you never made this call because even if I just had the shittiest day at work—I can even barely stand on my feet—I will drive myself to your office building and hold up a ‘KARMA’ sign as you exit the building after being yelled at and fired. How does that sound Porsche. the TeleThai:com-marketer?”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Kinn could hear him try to yell with a hush, probably not wanting to attract the attention of his coworkers. With a glance at his phone’s status bar he saw it was three minutes to eleven pm.
“Oh, I would, I really would. And you know what, I’ll even—”
“I’ll pay you. Just—accept the offer please and OH GOD my superior is coming and I swear Kinn I’ll pay you to sign this okay I’ll even suck your di— awesome sir! My superior would just like to confirm your purchase! Could you repeat your home address once again?”
Kinn gaped like a fish. As much as he wanted to deny it, the past ten minutes of his talk with Porsche (what was his last name?) were as amusing as baffling and the thought of someone losing his job because he was cranky and tired made something clench inside his chest. He of all people understood just how tiring long hours could be and something even deeper inside him wanted to hear the end of that interrupted sentence.
“Mr.Theeranpanyakun are you still there?”
Kinn heard hope in his voice and folded.
“Yes, I’ll be purchasing the M package and will switch my provider to your company.”
He heard shuffling on the other side and a grunt from someone unfamiliar. Just the thought of Porsche being surrounded by his coworkers waiting to see if he gets fired or not made Kinn cringe. Proceeding with giving his address, Porsche thanked him in the usual telemarketer manner and the last thing he heard before the line went dead was a ‘YOU WIN THIS TIME KITTISAWAT!’ and Porsche’s laughter being cut off.
His first thought was, had he just been scammed? But then again, once the contract arrives he was under no legal binding to sign it, TeleThai:com can kiss his ass.
Weirded out by this whole situation and in no condition to sleep any time soon, he put on his jacket and went down to the park of his apartment complex. He really needed to catch some fresh air and then inhale some smoke, because yeah. Not as healthy as he made it sound but necessary nonetheless. After all, he just needed a couple of minutes of absolute bliss and calmness.
The air was fresh and a bit chilly as he took the first drag and pocketed his hands for some extra warmth. If someone were to see him like this, he’d probably come across as some kind of a gangster with his cigarette in between his lips, but then again who sits in a park an hour shy of midnight, all alone at that? Shady people and himself, apparently.
He was barely halfway done when his phone buzzed with a message. Seeing another number he did not have saved or recognized at all, curiosity beat him to debate should he read it or not.
He almost burnt his lips with the cigarette as he did so.
< 02-7136115
Hellooo! This is Porsche, from the call earlier? Just wanted to thank you for agreeing to sign that deal and saving my job… I was probably over the top and I apologize sincerely if I said anything that offended you… Also, before you freak out, I wrote down your phone number so I can contact you about that payment because I was serious. Hit me up when you figure it out and we can arrange something about it. Porsche Pachara Kittisawat
With a laugh, Kinn typed down his response.
As weirded out as I am by everything that occurred tonight, I appreciate the sentiment behind this message and I’ll take you up on that payment. I’m kinda glad you did not lose your job? But then again, you should probably change that sales tactic if you do intend to continue working that job.
Well, it did land me that sale after all, didn’t it? I think I'll just stick to it ;)
“Touché,” Kinn laughed at the remark.
To be quite honest, you landed that deal with me because I felt sorry for your ass. I don’t think you remember just how pathetic you sounded over that phone...
It’s okay to admit that you agreed to it because I offered to suck your dick. :*
Kinn was now quite certain the universe was arranging something truly hilarious for him.
Oh really? Wasn’t that just desperation seeping out of you or was that like a genuine offer? Because, I could be persuaded to take that as payment.
—