Chapter 54：Don't Forget To Pick Your Pride Off The Floor

Takeshi comes out of the taxi and in hurry walks toward the lobby's door of a skyscraper building where his company rents ten highest floors. He joins a crowd of employees that just gets back from lunch to pass through some reporters that sit on the terrace floor. "Hey.. that's Hasegawa !" a reporter sees him and shouts to other reporters. They are quickly after him, but Takeshi has already entered the lobby.

Once gets out from the elevator, Takeshi feels like every attention is pointed at him. Employees that pass through him at the aisle stops and stares at him, some also whispers to each other. Takeshi sees Hiroshi that walks toward his partition and calls, "Hiroshi !"

Hiroshi turns to him and stops walking. "You really are looking for trouble," Hiroshi says with closed lips while shaking his head.

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"What are you doing ? Stand up !" Mr. Hamada says to Hiroshi who kneels and bends down his body on the floor. Still in the same position, Hiroshi raises his head to see Mr. Hamada then shakes his head. "I won't stand up until you forgive him and accept him back," Hiroshi says,

"What do you expect by bowing down like that ?! Our company has lost millions of yen, the sponsors are ready with their lawsuits. What did he do to fix them all ? Did he clarified ? Did he apologize to the sponsor ? No!! He even mocked me and disappeared to his village !! Then, what do you expect me to do ?!!" Mr. Hamada getting more and more upset as he finishes his sentences.

Hiroshi pushes Takeshi's raising head back down. "We really don't know what to do, Boss. That is why we come bowing down before you to prove that we are really really sorry," Hiroshi says with his head touches the floor. "You are sorry, aren't you, Takeshi ?" Hiroshi asks to confirm. "Takeshi ...," Hiroshi hisses in urge when his friends didn't immediately respond.

"True. 本当本当にごめんなさい (Honto hontoni gomenasai - Really really sorry for that)," Takeshi softly says.

"We beg you. Really-really beg you to forgive him and accept him back," Hiroshi continues. The silence is growth for a couple minutes.

After staring of the two that still bow down before him, finally Mr. Hamada sighs and shakes his head. "Fine. Fine. Now stand up," he then says. Hiroshi immediately jumps up and stands. "You, too. I forgive you," Mr. Hamada says to Takeshi who still touches his head on the floor.

Slowly Takeshi raises his head and straightens up his back. "Thank you," he says with head still bowed down. Now he feels like he has no face to raise his head. The only person he has ever bowed is his mother. Even he said that Mr. Hamada is like a father to him, Mr. Hamada is not his father.

Mr. Hamada stands in front of Takeshi who still on his knees. "Please, stand," Mr. Hamada tells him while helping Takeshi to stand.

"In this kind of situation, just throw your pride on the floor," Hiroshi said earlier when Takeshi objected his idea to beg Mr. Hamada's mercy.

While standing Takeshi glances at Hiroshi who secretly raises a thumb up for him. I hope I don't forget to pick my pride off the floor, Takeshi says inwardly.

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"Takeshi is not fired !! Last night he publicly apologized to his boss and other parties that has been let down by his act. Then his boss forgave him, and they hugged each other," Xiao Ping excitedly tells Yu Jin the news she read on the mailing list.

Yu Jin smiles wide. "That's great. You lover is eventually a gentleman," Yu Jin says. Hearing Yu Jin called Takeshi as her lover, Xiao Ping is blushed. "He is not my lover," she denies it.

Yu Jin brings two plates of omelette with both hands and giving it one to Xiao Ping. "Why not ? You love him, don't you ? So, he is the one you love. 你愛人 (Ni ai ren - person you love / your lover). Isn't it right ?" Yu Jin explains keeping his amused smile to see Xiao Ping shyly nods to agree.

They both walks back to the sofa. "But actually it was not 100% his fault. Even an ant will bite if being stepped," Yu Jin says while eating his omelette. "What do you mean ?" Xiao Ping asks, she still busy cutting her omelette. Instead of answering right away, Yu Jin puts his plate down to the table and takes Xiao Ping's plate. He then cuts Xiao Ping's omelette neatly before giving it back to Xiao Ping. "Thanks," Xiao Ping gratefully says.

"Maybe he has been too exploited all these times. Didn't you say he complained that he had too many jobs ? Maybe yesterday was his saturation point," Yu Jin continues to explain. "Saturation point ?" Xiao Ping asks in confused.

"Have you ever felt bored at school until you want to skip class ?" Yu Jin asks, trying to explain with a simpler example. Xiao moves her head slightly to the left to think then shakes it. Yu Jin smile. She really is a good girl, he thinks.

"Or.. what if you eat ice cream every day, then what will happen ?" Yu Jin gives another example. "I'm going to have a stomachache, " Xiao Ping answers while grimaces to be reminded when she had that. "And you will stop eating ice cream for a while, right ?" Yu Jin asks. Xiao Ping nods. "Your stomach had a saturation point of ice cream thus it refused to accept ice cream by creating the ache," Yu Jin explains. Xiao Ping's mouth forms an 'O'.

"So.. Takeshi was forced to accept jobs over and over until he didn't want to accept a job anymore ?" Xiao Ping is trying to translate Yu Jin's explanation to Takeshi's condition. "More or less," Yu Jin says.

"But before this he was also very busy," Xiao Ping says, postponing Yu Jin who is about to eat the omelet. "I mean.. back then, he could only send me email one a month. But lately.. he did it almost daily. So, it means that he couldn't be busier than before. But he was never had a saturation point," Xiao Ping makes her argument. Yu Jin turns silence for a moment then thinly smile.

"Did you email him routinely ?" he asks. Xiao Ping nods slow and hesitate. She doe not understand the correlation between Takeshi's saturation and her diligently sending email. "But.."

Yu Jin widens his smile. "Why don't you send him an email," he suggests.