Chapter 314 - Members Taking Rest

In the intersection street, the roadside had completely turned into a parking space for the customers of Chronos company. Cars come and go from one side to another. The once empty street turned into the busiest one in the entire district 7.

"Young master Clark, I may not be able to park anywhere near here," Clark's driver announced while double parking near the Chronos company. "We've managed to park this morning. But now, it's not impossible."

"I've never imagined that the people in district 7 owned so many cars! How come the streets just a few days ago were almost empty?" Sofia supplied while looking in her left and right direction. Not only cars but there were a lot of press media that were filming the busy street.

"I'm surprised too, Miss Sofia," Clark's driver responded.

Even so, Sofia knew one thing about the situation. The citizens of District 7, for a strange reason, were there just to join the hype. Because of the sudden popularity of their dining business, everyone wanted to have an experience of it.

"Just drop me here," Sofia stated and faced Clark. "Do you have other errands today?"

"No, I don't, Sof. I want to stay with the group for the entire day," Clark shook his head and smiled.

"How about the others? You have plans?" Sofia looked at Stephen and Joey. Both also shook their heads.

"It's now 3 PM. But we've experienced tiring hours. It's okay for us to rest and call it a day," Sofia added, giving consideration to how exhausting their day had been already.

Clark's driver could not help but eyed Sofia with an approving expression on his face. 

"Miss Sofia is really a dependable squad leader," he complimented directly.

"I just know that we are tired," Sofia softly replied. Not only physically, but they were also emotionally tired. Sofia may be able to adjust to what had happened to them in Jone's Studio. But, the four teens would need time to feel better from the maltreatment.

With Sofia's suggestion, everyone felt relaxed. They stretched their arms and legs and even moved their shoulder.

"Yes, let's call it a day! I suddenly want to play basketball. Do you want to play, bro?" Joey asked Stephen.

"Yeah, sure. We can go to the public covered court and see if we can play!" Stephen responded with enthusiasm.

"Sure! It's been a while since I played in court," Joey chuckled while rubbing his hands together.

"You guys won't sleep?" Claire inquired and turned in the direction of Joey and Stephen. 'How could these two play basketball when Sofia told us to rest?'

"Resting does not necessarily need sleeping. As long as you feel relaxed with what you are doing," Sofia spoke after sensing Claire's confusion.

"Ohh... right. How about we play online?" Claire suggested.

"I think, I'll go home and take another hour of sleep first," Clark muttered in between a yawn. "I'll chat after I wake up to play online with you, Claire."

"Okay. I'll go back to my unit and sleep too," Claire gently replied.

"Then, the four of you, go and relax for the rest of the day. I'll check sister Jing first. Let's continue to communicate in our group chat," Sofia said and lift her right hand to brush her bangs to the side of her ears. 

The van that they were riding had come to a full stop, double parking on the road. Before Sofia went out of the car, she looked at Stephen and Joey. "I'll probably watch your basketball game later."

"Mmn," Stephen grinned and nodded his head.

"I'll bring the food that we did not eat for lunch," Joey stated after remembering that the food containers were placed inside his bag.

"Okay. I'm going now. Drive safe!" Sofia said and stepped out of the car. Her members watched her retreating figure until they lost sight of her.

"Clark, you don't want to play basketball?" Joey invited Clark.

"I'll pass. Maybe next time," Clark replied. "My eyes really want to sleep," he added and put his head on Claire's shoulder.

"Okay. Then, it's just me and Stephen. Let's play with random players there," Joey mumbled.

After Sofia left the car, the driver quickly speed up and drove away. Minutes passed and Clark seemed to have fallen asleep using Claire's shoulder.

"I'll take a turn towards the public covered court for Mr. Stephen and Mr. Joey. Then, I'll drive young lady Claire to her apartment. Is this arrangement fine, young master Clark? Or do you have other instructions?" the driver inquired after hearing no orders from him.

"Hmm... that's cool," Clark muttered without moving an inch. Claire tilted her head too in a comfortable position and slowly closed her eyes.

"This level of public display of affection is suffocating me... Uncle, maybe you can drop us here?" Joey stated while gazing at Clark and Claire.

The two only giggled and ignored him while Stephen patted Joey's head with a helpless expression on his face.

Meanwhile, Sofia made her way to the entrance with a crowd gathering around.

She had been muttering "Excuse me, please excuse me," several times.

"Girl, fall in line behind, please! We came here first!" one of the customers suddenly called. Then whispers started to bubble around.

Sofia did not pay much attention to them as the surrounding was already noisy. And she was not expecting that the subject of their talk would actually be her.

After Sofia continued to walk, a hand suddenly grabbed behind. It was a female that looked like she was in her early twenties. 

When Sofia turned around and faced her, the lady immediately let go of her arms.

"Miss, you are causing a ruckus. There is a line if you want to enter inside. Wait for your turn. We are also scheduled for 3 PM tables," the female explained.

"Ah... no, so sorry... I apologize," Sofia quickly gazed at the people that glared at her. "I'm not a customer. I'm also part of the staff."

"Ohh... Then, go and quickly help them clean the tables so we can enter now," the first customer demanded.

Sofia bowed her head to the first customer and smiled at the lady that held her wrist.

"Sorry if I hold your arm... I did not know you are one of the employees there. And they are complaining," the lady also apologized before Sofia could turn around and walked away from her.

"It's okay. I'll go inside," Sofia excused and swiftly moved her feet to the entrance. 

Jing Jing was surprised to see Sofia entering the dining area. She quickly put her phone in her pocket and walked towards her. "Welcome back, Miss Sofia! How's the endorsement shooting?"

"We have finished it, sister Jing. How are the customers so far?" Sofia inquired too.

"It's okay... no troubles while you are gone, Miss Sofia. The next schedule is about to enter. The staff is just cleaning the tables," Jing immediately reported.

"Okay. Great!" Sofia mumbled and went to the kitchen area.

The moment she entered, she saw Danny chopping onions while another staff stirring a pot of soup. There were also two others who were wiping the plates on the sink. 

All the staff glanced at her and offered a respectful bow after recognizing that it was Sofia. And Jing Jing also walked behind her. 

"This is the fourth time that we refill the soup, Miss Sofia," Danny stated after chopping the onions.

"It's okay," Sofia replied and took a chair. She casually sat down and stretched her legs. Her hands were also placed on the table.

Jing Jing watched her silently with a concerned look in her eyes. 'Miss Sofia must be tired from the photoshoot.'

"The others had gone to take rest. I did not imagine that endorsement activity is that energy-consuming," Sofia giggled when she noticed that Jing Jing was staring at her.

"Do you want to eat, Miss Sofia?" Jing Jing asked.

"Yes, I actually return to have a proper meal, sister Jing," Sofia admitted with a playful grin on her lips. "Stephen was supposed to eat with me too. But, Joey invited him to play basketball."

"They play basketball?" Jing Jing looked surprised. She easily grabbed some plates and scooped food. Danny also helped her put food in front of Sofia.

"Yes. Joey is a basketball player in the school before he decided to play E-Sports. It was because he had an injury and was no longer allowed to play until he got healed," Sofia replied and started to put food on her plate.

"I see. No wonder they have an athletic body," Jing Jing commented.

"Only Joey played basketball school tournament. As for Stephen, I think he plays a different sport to have his physique," Sofia stated.

"You don't know, Miss Sofia? I heard that the Ching family is good at taekwondo. Perhaps, Stephen practiced that sport,"  Jing Jing made a wild guess.

"Taekwondo...? I'm not sure. The taekwondo players that I've known are calm and collected. Stephen... on the other hand, is easy to react to using violence. Maybe it's a different sport. I'll ask him if there is a chance," Sofia mumbled.

Not long after, she focused her attention on eating.. And Jing Jing did not speak a word anymore to avoid disturbing her.