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It was a wonderful day for Cherry Bottom to start another day serving customers at their ice cream parlor.
Well, except for one.
"I don't care. You can't give every cute girl a free cherry."
Standing behind the counter, Film had her hands on her hips as she talked to Bonnie, who once again gave a free cherry to the last female customer that had just left.
Bonnie hugged the jar of cherries, pouting. "It's not just because they're cute.."
"Because they're women?"
"...happy pride?"
Film looked at her in disbelief. "Uh, huh? Happy Pride, but they're still not free, Bonnie."
"Consider it an investment, P'Film." Fond spoke from behind them. "Customers will come back on the off chance that they may get a free cherry–"
"They are NOT free, N'Fond."
"–from their favorite confectioner~" Bonnie continued.
The two shared a high five after their great display of teamwork, while Film was left gripping the last ounce of patience she had for the younger women in front of her.
At the same time, Ciize and Jingjing, another two coworkers of theirs, walked into the shop. They looked at the grinning, yet guilty girls, then at Film, who was currently crossing her arms.
"...It's about the free cherry again, right?" Ciize asked.
Fond turned in her direction and winked. "Bonnie's still at it."
"And I still have to remind all of you that we're not 'confectioners'." Film rolled her eyes. "We're not even full-time, and we're going to get fired if you keep giving things away!"
"She's right." Love peeked from the kitchen window as she was still busy prepping the new flavors for their shop.
Film could finally sigh in relief. "Finally, a sane one."
She turned to face the guilty woman again, but she saw that Bonnie wasn't listening anymore. Instead, she hid the jar of cherries behind the counter.
Film looked over at Bonnie with a mix of confusion and concern, hearing her sigh.
"What's wrong now?"
"Oh no.." She heard Ciize mutter as she hurried back inside the kitchen.
Bonnie could only let Film fix the crooked tilt of her hat as she pulled the small bucket of free spoons, free sugar, and free napkins behind the counter.
"Hey, why are you hiding those as well?" Film asked in confusion. "Those are the free ones."
"They're here again, P'Film.."
A small group roughhousing outside had caught Bonnie's attention, and Film followed the younger girl's gaze through the bright front window of their shop and saw the cause of Bonnie's sour expression for herself.
"And here I thought I'd get a better day ahead..." Film groaned.
The bicycles were parked haphazardly in the rack, almost ruining their plants outside. Film could tell from a mile away how they all wore mismatched leather jackets with badly sewn-on patches of a pug that Film had become far too familiar with by now.
Jingjing watched with increasing dismay as the blonde, Janhae, tried to kick open their door, only to crouch in pain when she realized it said "pull" and not "push."
"So stupid.." She could only roll her eyes before following Ciize into the kitchen.
"You're not supposed to kick it!" Bonnie heard the shortest woman, Emi, say.
But instead of reading the sign, Emi decided that it was smart to push the door in hopes that it would magically open.
Mind you, this wasn't their first time entering the shop.
"Should we hide?" Mewnich, the waitress assigned to wiping the tables, finally spoke.
"It's no use." Mim answered from beside her.
And indeed, the group finally got themselves in after the third attempt from their so-called leader, Namtan.
"Hi, cupcake." View winked in Mim's direction. "I hope you didn't miss me too much."
Mim watched her in horror, debating whether she'd have the chance to hide herself in the back room, but she couldn't just abandon the other girls like that.
Film actually thought the same, especially when it came to the notorious bicycle gang, the Mad Dogs.
They gave themselves that name after their embarrassing performance during their school's foundation week, and ever since that day, the thought of being the coolest never left their stupid damn minds.
It was bad enough that these eight annoyed everyone endlessly during the day, but did they have to harass them at their after-school job as well?
Namtan, the leader, walked straight up to the counter with her two assistants, Milk and Emi.
"Hi, kitten." She leaned heavily against it, doing her best to wink.
She can't wink.
"What do you want, Namtan?" Film asked as she tried her best not to roll her eyes.
Namtan was obviously unbothered by her cold demeanor.
Matter of fact, she had been coming here ever since Film decided to start her part-time job to support her studies. It was only her role to bring income to the place she worked at, right?
So she stuck her tongue in her cheek and squared her shoulders.
"I brought my gang today, as I am thinking of something special for my birthday." She said.
"So.. how about your number?"
"That was smooth, phi!" Emi crowed in delight, giving her a high five.
Milk, who towered over the two of them, cupped her hands around her mouth and made airhorn noises.
Film looked at the three in horror, already getting tired despite starting her shift late in the afternoon.
"Is it really your birthday?" Bonnie asked just before Love elbowed her.
"Are you doubting our leader?" Kapook leaned in. Her sunglasses were still on despite already being inside the store.
But Namtan only laughed at her, patting Kapook's chest in a gesture that said she got this.
"Two weeks from now, sweetcheeks." Namtan held up two fingers as she fished around in her pockets for proof.
She patted both sides of her leather jacket as she continued searching around her person.
"Where's my goddamn wallet?"
Impatiently, Film watched as Namtan started arguing with her gang about the possible location of her wallet.
"How am I supposed to know that?" Janhae whistled.
She was currently leaning on the other end of the counter, occasionally winking in Jingjing's direction.
"Didn't you buy Pahn a bottle of bubbles on our way here?" It was June who asked.
She was seated neatly with Pahn in front of her.
True to her words, Pahn was busy blowing bubbles inside the store.
Inside. The. Store.
Fond had to grit her teeth to stop herself from committing arson against Pahn, who certainly didn't care about anything happening right now.
"Whatever!" Namtan said, pulling at the collar of her leather jacket as she composed herself.
"Did you find it?" Emi asked.
"It doesn't matter." Film grimaced as Namtan tried to laugh the situation off.
"Anyway, we'll have three vanilla." She pointed at herself, Kapook, and Janhae. "Two bubblegum.." She pointed at June and Pahn. "One chocolate.." She pointed at Milk.
"And one..." She paused and looked at Emi, urging her to say her line.
"Why don't you surprise me~?" Emi continued, waggling her eyebrows at Bonnie.
The woman could only hide herself from Film's small yet terrifying figure.
"What sizes?" Film growled.
"Uh, make all of them medium and one small."
"What? Come on, I want a medium!" Pahn cried from behind them.
"Will you finish it?" Namtan accused pointedly.
"I will!"
"Last time you wasted it."
Defeated, Pahn slumped back in her seat. "I didn't like the flavor, P'Tan.."
Film tried to recall if she had any painkillers in her bag, as she felt like her salary wouldn't be enough to cover her incoming doctor bills because of this group.
"Seven medium sizes and a small. That'll be 1,200 baht," Film said as she finished ringing them up.
"Oh yeah?" Milk asked, raising one eyebrow menacingly. "Even if I do this?"
Love had to physically close her eyes as Milk picked up one of the waffle cones on display and crushed it in her gloved grip.
"Still want to make our leader pay?"
"Yeah, better think twice before you mess with us!" Emi added from beside her leader.
"...And one chocolate-dipped waffle cone," Film spoke once more, adding another 100 baht to their bill.
Milk and Emi gasped.
"P'Jan, get over here and help!" Milk cried as she pointed at the ruthless waitress.
Janhae pretended not to hear them as she sat at the other end of the counter, where Jingjing was located.
"So what time do you get off?" She asked the poor woman who was just trying to scoop their ice cream into cups.
"Don't answer her." Ciize called from her side flatly.
"That's rude behavior, baby." Kapook cooed, which earned a middle finger from Ciize.
Gasping in disbelief, Janhae pushed herself off the counter, walked over to the register, and slapped five 20-baht bills on the desk.
"You owe me this one, leader." She pouted. "That's my last allowance today."
Namtan grabbed both of her hands and muttered a sincere and genuine thank you.
"I appreciate your kindness, bro."
"You're 1,200 baht short." Film interrupted the wholesome moment between the two.
She was losing godly patience from her coworkers, and now she had to deal with this stupid gang that just wouldn't leave them alone.
"Why are you being so rude? Don't you know how much protection we provide this place?" Namtan questioned now that her whole team was there to back her up.
"The Mad Dogs are feared across the whole block. Maybe even the whole neighborhood!" Emi boasted.
"That's right, so you might want to start showing us a little more respect!" Milk demanded, though she soon realized that Film, Bonnie, and Love were no longer listening to any of them as the three ice cream attendants had turned away from the counter.
"Well, that was rude." Namtan furrowed both of her eyebrows.
She was about to express her dissatisfaction when she heard the jingle of the bell above the parlor's entrance.
The whole group turned and saw a new group of college-age men enter.
They all had clean-cut hair, while their hands were tucked into their pockets. The only thing different from Namtan's group was that they weren't wearing matching jackets.
At the same time, Film muttered a quiet, "Here," as she, Bonnie, and Love shoved all 8 medium cups towards Namtan.
"You'd better go after this." The sour expression never left her face.
Namtan looked at the cups, then at the waitress who didn't even bother looking in her direction.
"I ordered 7 medium cups onl—" She was about to protest, but she was roughly shouldered away from the counter by one of the men.
"Don't make us wait in line, kid."
Namtan backed away from them, absently handing the ice cream to the group.
"They gave me mint chocolate??" Janhae whispered. She looked at Kapook's side and saw how the woman got rainbow with a dash of sprinkles that spelled "fuck off."
"Hey, how come you got a cherry?" Milk asked Emi, who could only grin in Bonnie's direction.
"I got it from my princess."
Namtan, with her plain vanilla ice cream, led all of the girls away to the table that June and Pahn had sat at earlier.
While her group continued bantering about the random flavors they got, Namtan watched the men at the counter.
This time, Film and Bonnie managed the front, not even looking up at the men as they tried to take their orders, though all Namtan could hear were snatches of lascivious comments.
An eyebrow twitched on Namtan's face.
One particularly nasty remark drew loud high fives and deep, dark chuckles from the men, and before Namtan could stop herself, she accidentally snapped her one-time-use plastic spoon.
The group stopped talking.
"We can't ask for a new one, you know.." Emi chuckled awkwardly.
"You can have mine!" Pahn popped the spoon out of her mouth as she offered it to their leader.
"Bro, that's disgusting.." View squinted her eyes, shoving the used spoon back in Pahn's mouth.
But Namtan didn't pay any of them attention, as both of her ears were focused on what those freaks were saying towards the girls... towards Film.
Milk seemed to understand the mood.
She signaled everyone about what was happening at the counter. And when they did, all of them lost their appetites.
"Film, huh?" Namtan watched as one of the men leaned over the register and fingered Film's nametag.
The others laughed behind him, patting his back in hopes of giving him moral support.
"She's more like an ice queen, bro." The man looked behind him before looking back at Film. "Come on, babe. It's just a phone number."
"We don't have phones," Bonnie tried to lie.
"Bullshit. What are you holding out for?"
"Maybe they already have boyfriends." One of them chimed in.
The man in front of Film made a disgusting sound.
"I don't see any men here, though?" He gestured around the parlor, paying Namtan and her group a few seconds of attention before turning back to Film.
Unlike her interactions with Namtan and her group, this was far more uncomfortable for Film.
First, she didn't know any of the men since this was their first time coming here. And she wasn't weirded out by Namtan because all of them were schoolmates from the same school.
It looked like she was about to step back from the register, but he reached out and snatched her wrist before she could get away.
"Now, mis–"
"Hey!"
All of the men looked back when Namtan shouted, her chair falling backward onto the floor with a clatter as she stood.
"Go put it back!" View harshly whispered at Kapook, who hurriedly put the chair back in place.
Her senior high school figure managed a few steps forward before her trembling legs got the better of her, and she stopped just a few meters away from the men.
"Leave her alone, you creeps!"
"Yeah!" Janhae shouted as well, her mouth still full of mint chocolate ice cream that she hoped Jingjing gave her.
"Or else!" Milk unfortunately added.
"Or else what?" one of them asked.
He had this very punchable smug look on his boyish face. And even though he was the shortest of the three men, he was still at least half a head taller than Namtan.
The Mad Dogs were a little shaken by his deep voice, but they remained seated with Namtan as their front.
"Or else we'll have to make you." View challenged.
"If you're not aware, this is actually our special joint." Namtan pointed a finger at one of the men as she glared at them. "And I've just decided that I don't like any of your faces!"
June and Pahn glanced at their leader briefly, hearing that kind of mandate for the first time, but quickly nodded their heads in support.
The man in front released his tight hold on Film and turned his full attention to Namtan, blinking at her in mild amusement.
"And who are you supposed to be?" he called over, eyeing their somewhat matching jackets.
"We're the champions of the GMM Junior High Dance Competition last summer." June boasted confidently.
"Can't you see the logo, idiots?" Milk added, pointing at the bulldog logo that Namtan personally designed from her own dog.
"Who?" the men asked in confusion.
"The Mad Dogs!"
All of them stood up to strike a pose.
Love had to drag Film and Bonnie away from their position in an attempt to save their faces from embarrassment.
Finally, Namtan clapped her hands, and all of them went back to their original positions.
The men burst out laughing.
"The... the what?" The man in the middle was the first one to speak.
"Like a gang?"
"A dancing gang, bro."
The three of them clapped their hands in amusement.
After a few more laughs, the first man stalked over, jabbing two fingers into Namtan's chest, sending her back a pace.
"So what, you gonna rough us up?"
Namtan glanced at the spot where the man had jabbed her, then back at the man in front of her.
"We just want you to stop bothering the waitresses."
But instead of stopping, the man stooped lower toward her, and Namtan could see the other two men smugly watching the exchange.
"And what if I don't?" He smirked. "Will you pricks do your stupid dance in front of us?"
Namtan paused.
She remembered how Film went berserk at her last week for damaging a chair because of some pervert idiots like the ones she and the group were dealing with right now. And she didn't want the woman angry, so she hesitated.
The man seemed to notice the hesitation, so he took the chance to shove her again, this time with both hands as she fell back against Milk and Emi.
Then, before she could react, the man grabbed her leather jacket by the collar and brought her face close to his.
"Let's not fight in here." She glared at the man before her.
"Or else what? You'll punch me?" The man laughed. "Go ahead, punch me."
But before he could continue his next statement, a hand landed hard against his cheek as Namtan punched the hell out of him.
"WOAHHHH LET'S GOOO." All 6 of them reacted the same phrase as their leader punched the guy right at his cheek.
"Cool? Cool?" Namtan turned back at them to grin, but soon held back a sob because she didn't expect a punch to hurt that much.
"Damn that hurts." She whispered, before whipping her head back at the guys.
The man touched his cheek as he looked back at Namtan in disbelief.
"N-No fighting, please..." Mewnich's weak voice called from the counter where she wrung her little paper hat in her hands.
"You're as stupid as you look, huh?" the man said. "You think that will hurt me?"
He walked near her again and grabbed her shoulders, his hands gripping tightly as if he were aiming to punch her back.
"Come on, man," one of the other men finally said. "She's just a little girl."
"So what?" the first man asked, though he roughly released her. He looked at all three of them before turning away.
"They're the ones stupid enough to start it."
The shortest of the three grabbed the punched guy, dragging the two out of the store.
"It's not worth it. Let's get out of here."
The man glared in Namtan's direction one last time.
"This isn't over!"
It wasn't until the bell jingled as the door to the ice cream parlor shut that Namtan collapsed back against the table in exhaustion.
"My hand hurts!!" she finally complained.
Her hand was bruised from the impact of her punch. She truly believed she managed to rattle a few teeth in his mouth, but it still hurt!
"You almost got us killed!" Janhae complained.
Namtan pouted. "They were annoying me and our girls."
"Didn't you ask for Film's number too?"
Milk nodded. "P'Jan also harassed Jingjing earlier."
"Why am I included here!?" Janhae stood up. "Emi got a free cherry, and none of y'all reacted!"
"It's different when I do it, okay?" Namtan protested.
"Ew.." June grimaced. "How is that different?"
Namtan wiped the blood from her knuckles as she carefully righted the chair that Janhae had dropped.
"...Because I don't actually expect her to give it to me..." she admitted quietly.
"Are you guys alright?" the woman in question asked as she approached the group with Love, Bonnie, and practically every worker of Cherry Bottom.
They were used to hearing perverted comments from customers, but this was the first time someone had stood up for them and even punched a guy over it.
"I told you guys to leave." Love tried to harden her voice, though there was more concern in it as she looked over them, especially at the wounded leader.
Almost immediately, Janhae sheepishly sat back down in her chair.
"We're not scared of some punks." She crossed her legs.
Milk nodded, much braver now that the men were out of sight.
"As our leader said, this is our turf, and we've got to protect it and you." Kapook added, not failing to wink at Ciize, who had been wanting to give her a farewell punch.
"Would it be selfish if I wanted you all for myself~" Emi even sang in front of Bonnie.
"Can we get a free spoon?" Pahn intervened.
Film, however, was giving Namtan a small yet concerned smile.
"Is your hand alright?" she asked, sitting down to reach Namtan's position.
Namtan immediately widened her eyes as she removed her own jacket and placed it on Film's lap. Their uniforms were short after all.
"Uh.. yeah!" Namtan grinned, wriggling her hand around in an attempt to convince the woman that she was alright. "It doesn't hurt anymo—ouch!"
She glared at View when she tapped the wounded area on her knuckles.
"What?" View asked innocently. "You said you weren't hurt anymore."
Film could only chuckle at the interaction.
"Your turf, huh? I guess it was a good thing you were around," she admitted. "Thanks."
Namtan scratched the back of her neck. "Does that guarantee my chance on getting your number?"
"She has no shame, but I'll still support her nevertheless." Janhae whispered from behind.
Film's mouth was about to reach, but she quickly regained her posture as she stare at the grinning leader of Mad Dogs.
"I'll think about it," Film watches as Namtan held her breath. "Only if you come back tomorrow."
Namtan shot up from her seat so fast she almost flipped the table. She immediately called the whole group for a group hug.
The entire Mad Dogs erupted into celebration.
"Our leader finally got a maybe!"
And before Film could fully regret any of her life decisions, she stood up and went toward Namtan.
"Namtan."
Namtan turned around.
Tiptoeing, Film pushed Namtan's face to the side and plant a small kiss on her cheeks. "That's for helping us."
Namtan's whole body froze.
"And before you get any ideas," Film added, poking her forehead, "you still owe the store 1,200 baht, okay?"
The end.