Watching the last customer leave the shop, Velma sat on her chair tiredly.
"It must be exhausting when the boss isn't here." Liam came to Velma's side after the work in the kitchen was finished.
Velma nodded and said, "Yes, it is very tiring, I wish the boss was here."
"I hope the boss comes tomorrow or we might not be able to open the shop tomorrow," Liam said anxiously.
"Huh? Why?" Velma said in surprise.
"The food stocked by the boss ran out today, and we can't cook hamburgers if we don't get new ingredients tomorrow."
"I see, but since the boss stocked up for two days, he must have calculated that he wouldn't come here for two days.
"I hope so, Velma."
DING!
The door of the shop opened.
A thin and tall man dressed in black clothes entered. He was looking around as if he was looking for someone or something.
Velma patiently said to the man who entered the shop despite the closed sign on the door, "Sir, the shop is closed, please come back tomorrow."
The man continued to look around without paying attention to Velma.
"Luck Evans...is he here?"
"No he is not here, do you know the boss?" Velma asked curiously.
"So he's not here either...too bad." Adam sighed.
Velma realized that the man was lamenting that he couldn't find the boss and wanted to help him "The boss is not here but if you have something to say, I can tell him when I see the boss."
The man looked up and looked at Velma "Can you help me deliver a message to your boss?" a disgusting smile appeared on his face.
Velma realized something was wrong when she saw the sinister smile, but it was too late to retreat "Yes... I guess."
"Good... Tell your boss he's not a good guest, a guest shouldn't leave his host's house unannounced." A ball of flame appeared in the man's hand.
"There must be a penalty for such impudence, right?" The fireball flew towards Velma's head.
When Liam saw the target of the flying fireball, he shouted "Velma!"
Later that night, Luck's shop was engulfed in flames.
...
Wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, his mother said, "Vaahhh that was tiring."
Seeing his mother's tired but happy expression, Luck couldn't help smiling.
"Mum, how about quitting your job?"
When his mother turned to Luck, the indecision in her eyes was visible.
His son's shop was profitable enough to earn his monthly wage in two days at worst, right? Did he need to work in the factory? Did he need to moonlight when the money wasn't enough?
But he was still hesitant to quit his job if something happened to this shop and they ran out of money, "I'm not sure."
Luck said persuasively, "Mum, what aren't you sure about? Don't you see how happy the customers are and how they keep saying they'll come back? You don't have to worry about money anymore."
His mother averted her eyes from Luck and said, "But...but you..."
"But what am I, Mum?" Luck couldn't understand what his mother was trying to say.
"You only know how to play games! What if you mess this place up somehow!" His mother had finally let out the doubt she had been holding inside.
"Huh?" Luck couldn't believe what he was hearing.
'What if I screw up? Do I only know how to play games.... mother, am I such a useless son in your eyes?'
Luck was one hundred percent sure that if he was in an anime world, there would be black lines on his face right now.
"If you're worried that I'm going to mess this up, why don't you work here and check it out?"
"Work here..." His mother's eyes lit up. Working in her own son's place was a very attractive idea.
Trying not to show his enthusiasm, he put his hand on his chin and pretended to think "I've never worked in a hamburger shop before, so what can I do..."
When Luck realized his mother was playing hard to get, he turned to Albert and said, "We were short a dishwasher, weren't we Albert?"
"Yes, boss, it would be nice to have another dishwasher," Albert nodded, even though there was no such shortage.
Luck turned to his mother, a mischievous smile on his face "See Mum, we need a dishwasher, I think you can do it..."
"Are you going to make me a dishwasher?"
Luck seemed to sense the murderous intent in his mother's voice, his back shuddered.
"I was joking... hehe hehe it was a joke mummy."
His mum nodded, "That'd better be ."
Luck locked eyes with Albert and could see the sympathy in Albert's eyes
Albert's eyes seemed to say 'You are swimming in dangerous waters, boss'.
When Luck heard the sobbing sounds, he turned around in surprise and didn't know what to do when he saw his mother crying.
Luck anxiously checked his mother and said, "Mum, why are you crying, did something happen?"
When his mother felt that the sense of worry and responsibility that she had been burdened with for years was relieved, the feelings she had kept inside for years came to the surface.
When she heard her son's worried voice, a smile appeared on her face and she turned and hugged Luck.
"Thank you..."
Luck was surprised " For what?"
His mother continued to hug Luck tightly without saying anything else.
'Thank you for sharing the burdens on my shoulders...thank you for being a very good son even though I couldn't be a good mother to you...thank you for sailing into a life where your brother won't worry about money like I made you live...' These were the unspoken words...
...
In the evening, after all the customers had left and the shop had closed, Luck sent his mother home with the lie that he was going to mess with Zack and went to the warehouse he had rented to deliver supplies to Gliese.
It was full of all the frozen food you needed to make a hamburger.
"It's been two days since I said I'd be back in the evening... They should have enough food stocks, but if I don't restock today, they won't be able to sell tomorrow..."
Filling the bags with food, Luck opened the door, thinking of the door to the warehouse inside the shop in Gliese, but he passed through the door without experiencing the now-familiar darkness and the feeling of stepping into the void.
"Huh? Why did I fail...it was like there was no door on the other side anymore..."
This time, thinking of the main door of the shop, he opened the door again and stepped through, but the same thing happened again. He could not make a connection with the door in Gliese, as if there was nothing on the other side.
"I wonder if I can't get through because the doors are open or someone is using them?" said Luck as possible scenarios swirled in his mind.
The idea that he could not pass through the doors he was thinking of passing through if someone else was using them at that moment made sense as he had never tried such a thing before.
"It makes sense that I can't just appear out of thin air through a door that someone else is using, I'd better wait a bit and try again."
After half an hour had passed, Luck again tried to pass through the door into the cold room on Gliese.
Failing again, he passed through the door normally
"Huh, there's someone using the cold storage..." Checking his watch, Luck thought that the shop in Gliese must also be closed, "so I'll go in through the main entrance."
Failing again, he passed through the door normally
After one failure after another, a doubt grew inside Luck.
Luck worried, "What's going on? Have I lost my strength?"